Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Justin Grays' LiveJournal:

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Sunday, November 29th, 2009
9:11 am	Update from my Facebook. A post of my own soon. Jason Caesar sometimes marvels at how some are unable to understand systematic racism. The floor is now open for discussion; please post stories, situations, and points of view here. Thank you. Yesterday at 9:52am · Comment · LikeUnlike · View Feedback (13)Hide Feedback (13) Dowg and Kelly Marie T.-C. like this. Annie W. Just tell them about the GI bill/ federal housing act of 1946. Done. Yesterday at 10:35am · Delete Jason Caesar I had thought that the federal housing act wasn't until 1949, though? Yesterday at 10:59am · Delete Annie W. Was it? Gosh, I suck at dates. Still, once you make the connection between the home ownership opportunity of one generation and the education opportunity of the next, the rest of institutional racism starts to kinda fill in on its own. Americans have short memories; we have a hard time seeing how the past relates to the present. If we can't quite think back to slavery (what, only 4 or 5 generations ago?), or what thanksgiving was really about ("hey! we're gonna take a two year break from genocide! 'Cause we're starving to death.") maybe we can at least think back to the 40s and 50s and start to see some of the connections. 'Cause we're sure not able to see the present clearly without the past!... See More Yesterday at 11:47am · Delete Jason Caesar Five Generations ago, my third great grandfather was working on the Underground Railroad. What you've said here is fully accurate, though. Thank you for posting. :) Yesterday at 11:51am · Delete Annie W. And one of my ancestors was probably trying to hunt him down. Sigh. So, what encounter prompted this lil' discussion? Yesterday at 12:07pm · Delete Jason Caesar The main reason is that I was reading a friend's post on LiveJournal about racism/prejudice, and was thinking about how racism and sexism go hand in hand. Some events of this morning contributed to the thinking after the post, and so I wrote out this status update (as well as a LiveJournal post that copies it exactly; you can see it here: http://... See Morehttp://jasonecaesar.livejournal.com/1032631.html ). After reading a friend's response on LiveJournal, it occurred to me that I failed to explicitly say "racism, sexism, heterosexism, and ageism." Yesterday at 12:19pm · Delete Roger M. IMO, racism, sexism, and the like are always going to be here, and we need to come to grips with that first. I think it comes down to people making decisions based on not much information. What I mean is that, when faced with someone you don't know well, the brain asks questions, and a couple of those questions are inevitably "How close is this ... See Moreguy's thoughts to mine?" And, "Does this person *look* like someone I'd trust?" Which then begins a mental comparison of that person to your internal concept of an 'average' stranger. This 'average stranger' concept will be based off of the people you see around you every day. If that person doesn't seem to have many characteristics you associate with 'trustworthy' people, you will not give them the benefit of the doubt, even though you have no demonstrable reason for it. Suspicion breeds more suspicion, and pretty soon you have hate which can't be explained, but people just *know* that they're right in feeling it. All of this is my opinion, and should be taken with whatever size grain of salt you like, but that's how I see it. Yesterday at 12:55pm · Delete Mom S. We just finished watching "Roots" both the original and the next generation series. Landmark. Eye opening. Embarrassing. A must see for everyone, imo. If I had my way, every child in school would watch this as an important part of their education in the history of this country. The sad thing is that it has everything to do with the color of your ... See Moreskin. Your ancestry has nothing to do with it. Think Mulatto. I have known many people in the past who had to choose, white or black. Not surprisingly the choice was most often connected to skin color. Yesterday at 2:38pm · Delete Jason Caesar Indeed! Another excellent film to watch is "500 Nations." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/500_Nations Yesterday at 3:21pm · Delete Alexandra K. racism is based in assumption and/or hatred. hatred is based on fear. fear is frequently based on insecurities, which in the case of racism is handed down from rumor and assumption (and ignorance). we must be taught to fear and suspect. fear of that which is different has driven us ever backwards, while exploring that which is different tends to lead us forwards. i remember being intrigued, years ago, when i learned that due to the presence of different oils in the skin, a black person can touch a gardenia without it withering. a white person cannot; the petals will brown and wither.... See More we all do have categorical differences. ignoring that is a mistake. but the biggest mistake lies in thinking that has any bearing on the content of a person's character. if you're going to judge at all, judge based on the content of one's character - it's the only real qualifier. besides, then you can't judge in ignorance. 11 hours ago · Delete Dowg i'm not racist, i think everybody should own a color TV Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: "Moskau" Dshinghis Kahn (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
9:54 am	From my Facebook status: Jason Caesar sometimes marvels at how some are unable to understand systematic racism. The floor is now open for discussion; please post stories, situations, and points of view here. Thank you. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: None (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, November 20th, 2009
8:45 am	Problems with the iTunes digital copy of Star Trek. Has anybody had any problems with the digital copy of Star Trek that comes in the box set? I keep getting a gray screen and no sound whenever I try to play it and am wondering if anybody else has the same problem. I didn't have the time this morning to investigate further, but will be getting to that as soon as I get home from class this afternoon. Current Mood: curious Current Music: None (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 11th, 2009
7:36 am	Huh... Why are the widgets not working? Anyway, I have fallen way behind. I'm at 13447, and I am supposed to have 18333 by end of the day. Let's see what I can do. Current Mood: confused Current Music: Track 13 (Comment on this)
Saturday, November 7th, 2009
4:43 pm	NaNoWriMo and Friends. Progress Report Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: None (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, November 1st, 2009
12:34 am	It's that time! Progress Report. So! Who wants to participate in a word war? =D Good luck, everyone. ^_^ Current Mood: sleepy Current Music: None (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 24th, 2009
6:21 pm	Facebook has replied to my email. Hi Justin, Facebook has these limits in place in order to prevent behavior that others may find annoying or abusive. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Keep in mind that warnings and blocks are sent out based on a number of different factors, such as speed, time, and quantity. For this reason, we ask that you monitor the nature and rate at which you use site features, rather than attempting to abide by any numerical limits. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide additional information about this system. When you are allowed to resume using this feature, we recommend that you proceed with caution to avoid reaching the limit again. Thanks for your understanding, Gianna User Operations Facebook That's not very helpful. I mean, seriously. I'd like to write back with something along the lines of "that's not very helpful" and "can I speak to someone who can, you know, PROVIDE ASSISTANCE?" Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (14 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, August 21st, 2009
12:37 pm	I've decided to write back to Facebook. Greetings. Today, I received this email: Hi, Our systems indicate that you've been misusing certain features on the site. This email serves as a warning. Misuse of Facebook's features or violating Facebook's terms of use may result in your account being disabled. Thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation. Please refer to http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=421 for further information. The Facebook Team I do not understand why I am receiving this message. I have restricted my overall use of Facebook after the last time I had my account suspended, and now I do not know what I can do further to prevent the Facebook systems from automatically disabling my account. Yours, Justin Grays Current Mood: angry Current Music: None (4 Comments |Comment on this)
12:23 pm	Warning: Your Facebook Account Hi, Our systems indicate that you've been misusing certain features on the site. This email serves as a warning. Misuse of Facebook's features or violating Facebook's terms of use may result in your account being disabled. Thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation. Please refer to http://www.facebook.com/help.php?page=421 for further information. The Facebook Team Current Mood: angry Current Music: None (8 Comments |Comment on this)
11:33 am	Curse you, Facebook. I just started receiving warning messages that I am abusing Facebook. I don't even know what I'm doing wrong this time! I haven't been posting links, I haven't been taking quizzes, I'm not updating every hour. I've made a few more comments than usual because of Fest starting tomorrow, but that is it! I haven't even used messenger yet! So, fellow El Jayers, what do you think that I should do? Just stay off of Facebook for the rest of the day (and by extension, the weekend, due to Fest) and see what happens, or email them now and see what BS they give me? For the new readers, check out the Facebook tag for the backstory. Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: None (Comment on this)
Sunday, August 9th, 2009
3:57 pm	So, I went to the store with my friend Jack last night. They were doing stock, and a box of giant novelty candles fell off of a top shelf. "Watch out for the candle, Jack!" I shouted. Jack tried to do a barrel roll, but unfortunately he- Current Mood: amused Current Music: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, August 6th, 2009
10:21 pm	10908.05. El Jay Post, Notebook Entry. I shaved about two minutes off of my bike ride to school today. It may be because I wore goggles instead of my glasses so that all of that wind and such wouldn't get in my eyes and blur my vision during the downhill portions of my ride. You see, I tend to lean into the wind so that I am a bit more aerodynamic so that I can have a higher starting velocity when going up the adjacent hill, and if I can't see, I have to slow down until my vision clears. Granted, my vision is diminished without my glasses, but it is still better than with my glasses and no goggles. The goggles should also come in handy in the winter; I hate the cold, how it stings my eyes and turns my glasses into fog and keeps me from seeing. And I don't need to see much while waiting for a bus. I'll have my music and be totally covered from the elements. It would be nice to have something in my prescription, but what can you do? The faster bike ride could aslo have been from not having a lunch bag alter my balance and create more drag... School starts soon! I found out what books I need, and this time it is a lot. While I plan on getting them from <http://www.half.com/>Half.com</a> as I usually do, it may take a little longer as I have a much smaller income this time around. What I need ( is under the cut: ) That's 13 books! I might already have "Martian Chronicles," but my memory is telling me that it is the wrong one, I'll go home and check as soon as I can Also, I think that I have "Diary of Anne Frank," and Dad might have "Colored Museum." Hrm. At any rate, I'm not biking in fall if I'll be carrying an average of 4 books/day, notebooks, possibly my computer, and my bass. Foxtrot. Tango. Sierra. Oh, and lunches! I'm going to have such a patchwork schedule this semester that I'll have to pack lunches most, if not all days! Meal planning will be needed, and I'll have to carry my big lunchbox... Dammit. For the life of me, I cannot find a version of Prince of Persia that I can play on my computer. There is an online version of Chopper Commando, but I want to play Prince of Persia! Also, Spectre Supreme. Seriously. I have Ride of the Valkyries stuck in my head. Does anybody have a copy that they can send my way? Or Holst's The Planet's? Due to a lack of funds and some shenanigans from various departments, I will not be going to Fringe this year. Lord knows that I would like to, but I can't, and that's just the way it is. I really need to start cutting back on Doctor pepper again; I've been drinking entirely too much of the stuff for my own good, and I haven't been eating enough food for my own health. If I am going to become healthier, I really need to start getting better at this. One thing that I am considering (again) is to start meal planning. I've never done it before, and it may bery well be time to start. Especially with Fest and school around the corner! I cannot afford to have my body shut down on me at any point, and eating on a regular basis will keep me alive at Fest and keep me focused in class. I have a bunch of unfinished stories all over the place. One of these days, I am going to finish at least one of them. Hypothetically, that is. There is still school to contend with, books from my favourite book series to read, graduations to achieve, and classes to teach. Bus some of these stories, I just reread them, and they aren't that bad. Not at all. I should learn to play Pachelbel's Canon on my bass. Anybody want to join me? I want a donut. Seriously. I have not practiced my bass since Tuesday's class. Granted, I've been dealing with the move and such, followed by the boondoggle with payroll, but I still need to practice, especially if I ever plan on starting or joining a band, let alone participating in Open Mic Night or a music circle. A jam session is in order. I've had one with utherlothar, and that's it really. I mean, I've tried to use a guitar, but it is a very different creature than a bass guitar is. My roommate and I have planned on jamming together, but we haven't really made the time to do it yet. Nor have I followed up with the Justin's to see about getting together on a regular basis to do this. Time may be tight, but one cannot have time if one does not make time. "Is there an elevator?" Ugh. Really. I'm thinking about a panel for CONvergence: Minorities in SciFi/Fantasy Culture. What do you all think? Is there already a similar panel? Who all would be interested in such a panel? Woo, hungry! I'm about to go to Dad's and dine upon something or another, get a haircut, and then go to the bank. And then I get to go home and attempt to clean my apartment more. I hate moving more than I ahte being hungry. At least my financial situation should improve in due time. Now if only these allergies would bugger off. 35 minutes. 30 minutes. I like having my work-study in the Fine Arts Center; I get a most wonderful view of the park and can get a lot of work done. Especially today; it is a very nice day out (like yesterday), and I keep getting up to go out and enjoy it. I'm going to Irish Fair on Friday; Lizzy and I are going to bike there together. It will be our first date in quite some time, actually. The bike ride there will be relatively painless hypothetically; she tells me that it is not far from where she lives, but I am concerned about the ride back. I'm not generally a distance biker. Ah, well. It will be awesomely good to be able to spend time together, and I mean actually spend it together, We didn't get to see each otehr last week, and the week before was a whole 10 minutes spread over 2 days. There wasn't much more the week before that, and the week before that was CON. And that sucks! But hopefully we will be able to make more time for each other soon. I really miss her. 15 minutes. 10 minutes. There is a lot of nothing left to do. I'm going to have to turn it into something, but I'm also miss out on things otherwise. A guy who looks like Ron Jeremy walked by. Fascinating. 5 minutes. Time to be awesome. Current Music: Star Wars: Episode III (4 Comments |Comment on this)
7:50 pm	10908.04. El Jay Post, Notebook Entry. The AFA can suck my balls. That's all that there is to it. Aren't we supposed to be getting our renter's credit checks soon? I kind of need mine. Well, more than 'kind of.' I've been craving junk foods as of late. I'm not sure what is up with that, but it is quite annoying and very bad for my health. On the other hand, they are so very good. Om nom nom nom. My apartment is a comfortable place so far. The move was highly efficient thanks to those who were able and willing to help, and the cleaning was excellent. I should be getting back my entire security deposit. Also, the roommate is getting along fine, and her cat seems to be adapting well. There will likely be a housewarming party eventually. Maybe... In the meantime, I really need to continue unpacking. I got rid of a bunch of stuff while packing already (old documents and the like), and I plan on getting rid of more (clothes that I have shrunk out of and such). There are plenty of boxes in the living room and in my bedroom that currently have no where to go, and a box of boxes to be sent to some friends who are moving (little_vixen71, shanagba_immuru, and effloresense, we need to arrange a way to get these to you. Also, I have packing peanuts if you want them). That's one of the things about moving, really; I am such a horrible pack-rat, and so I wind up with lots and lots of stuff. Some is kept for memorabilia purposes, some because of OCD, and some because cleaning always feels hopeless to me. But stuff is gone, I need more space, so more stuff has to go. I'm hoping to finish tackling my bedroom first before moving on to the living room (which is currently haphazardly set up). Well, we'll see. Fest starts on the 22nd of August this year. Should be an awesome time as usual, but it will also be a difficult time. The reason for that is that my first day of classes for the semester is August 24th (the 25th for me as I don't have any Monday classes this semester). While that is awesome, I would prefer a larger buffer between the two. Ugh... I need books. And I need money in which to pay for those books. At the same time, I need to figure out which books I need. Garg. Need a haircut. And a shave. Getting close to lunchtime. I need to start exercising again; I'm feeling like I'm gaining body fat and losing muscle mass. That may even be true; I haven't measured myself as of late, let alone weighed myself. I mean, I know that I'm down several pant sizes and a shirt size, but I don't want to reverse that trend. And if it does reverse, I want it to be for having bigger muscles. There are a couple of people who are willing to become exercise partners, if we can get schedules to line up. We'll soon see, I guess. Well, I'm off in 8 minutes. Let's see what happens tonight. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: Star Trek: The Motion Picture (4 Comments |Comment on this)
12:47 pm	Newsbreak. Native American Boy fights Texas School District over haircut. http://www.examiner.com/x-10853-Seattle-Humanist-Examiner~y2009m6d29-Native-American-boy-fights-Texas-school-over-hair-cut http://www.au.org/media/press-releases/archives/2009/06/texas-school-district-has-no.html Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: None (Comment on this)
12:04 pm	10907.16. El Jay Post, Notebook Entry. Once again, the weather outside is perfect for me. Unfortunately, I am a busy person today and will not have much time available for me to enjoy it. Granted, there will be some time immediately after my work-study is over for me to enjoy this gorgeous weather, and I intend to make use of it, but it would be nice if there were more hours in the day for me to bask in the niceness that is today. Yesterday, I acquired 5 banana boxes from Kowalski's Market and had planned to put them to immediate use, but I was feeling too depressed to follow through. Things got better, of course, but then I was too engrossed in Settlers of Catan before it became too late to make such noise. Alas! Perhaps I will get a little done at some point tonight. I've already finished the clean-up of my "office," save for some little objects here and there which I want to file. While I had planned on working on my "bedroom" next, I think that I am going to take another crack at the "dining room" first. It really should be an easy task for me to clear out that stuff there, but I've been unable to make headway due to my being a packrat. A lot of the stuff I no longer need, and yet I have such a desire to hold onto it. MUST DO IT. I've also determined how my room will be arranged. Hopefully I am making the best use of space available to me; my room will be a bit bigger than 10ftx10ft (3mx3m), which should be plenty of space for me to be comfortable with my desk & 1 chair (perhaps both), bed, dresser & nightstand, and 3 bookshelves. It's possible that I can put some of my bookcases in my bedroom instead of my bookshelves, but I am uncertain about that. I'm going to have to use the "wait-and-see" principle for that. At any rate, I am going to assess the availability of people to help me move starting today. The target will be the last week of July (week after next), although I do not have an exact date yet. A Facebook invite will soon be created that will cover the entire week so that the word gets out, and the dates and times will be narrowed as more information becomes available. I'll release the information ASAP, once it becomes available to me. Also, if anybody has any hand carts or anything to help facilitate the move, I would be very grateful. Moving everything by hand will be a nuisance, and both apartments are first floor. Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: None (5 Comments |Comment on this)
11:10 am	I just noticed something further about Facebook. Despite being down (you can read about it from the BBC here or from Read Write Web here), I ventured into the waters of Facebook as I often do. Deciding to take a risk and post a single link, guess what I discovered? All of my links are gone. Jerks. Yes, all of my links. And you know what? I'm not going to bother trying to get them back, despite the fact that I want to resave them elsewhere. Because Facebook is not going to help me. And yet, I still use the site. Garg. Also, WTF is Russia up to, patrolling without communicating with us? Read about it here. Current Mood: annoyed Current Music: None (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 5th, 2009
9:56 pm	15 days later, Facebook got back to me. And here is what they said: Hi Justin, Facebook has these limits in place in order to prevent behavior that others may find annoying or abusive. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Keep in mind that warnings and blocks are sent out based on a number of different factors, such as speed, time, and quantity. For this reason, we ask that you monitor the nature and rate at which you use site features, rather than attempting to abide by any numerical limits. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide additional information about this system. When you are allowed to resume using this feature, we recommend that you proceed with caution to avoid reaching the limit again. Thanks for your understanding, Gianna User Operations Facebook Well, it is a moot point now. Jerks. Current Mood: sleepy Current Music: None (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, August 3rd, 2009
7:59 pm	Making a post. Yep. Well, let's see... I got an A in each of my classes this semester. I'm excited for fall semester to start, but a little annoyed that it starts the same week as Fest (if Saturday was the first day of the week). Ah, well; I'll just have to be awesome. I've moved. Although it was my second shortest move ever, it was also my easiest move ever. A lot of people actually came and helped me move, and I am ever so grateful. =D I'm not feeling very motivated at the moment. ( Yes. ) It occurs to me that my infrequency on here as of late, combined with meeting so many new people and trying to keep everybody straight in my head, has created a situation where I'm not sure if I remember all of the El Jay users properly. So, if you could take a moment and refresh my memory? If you don't want to comment here, feel free to send me a message with that message service thinger El Jay has. Current Mood: lonely Current Music: None (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 27th, 2009
8:42 pm	I am feeling quite epic. After starving myself (on accident, honestly) and nearly passing out, and then having an empty briefcase land on my head, I finished packing my apartment. And I did it before Thursday, which in itself is remarkable. I've never finished packing before a move before, and now I have packed everything except for the very fragile and the things that I need to get by until Thursday. Well, and the kitchen an cleaning supplies; I need to wash the hell out of this place to get back my entire security deposit. I am now in considerable pain, of course, and more than a bit hungry. I'm going to have a snack and practice my bass. Current Mood: accomplished Current Music: Star Trek VI: The Undisovered Country (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
9:58 am	My reply to this Facebook boondoggle. I had decided that diplomacy would be my best weapon in trying to figure out WTF is going on. Also, some friends pointed out that I do post a lot of links, and so I am thinking that that might be the cause. Also, I am unable to edit my own event about when my move is going to be so that I can place an exact day and time. I don't want to have to send out a fresh invite, but I will if I have to. We'll see soon. Hello Gianna. I understand that Facebook has limits in place to prevent annoying and abusive behaviors, but I admit that I did not think that one or two messages wishing people "happy birthday" a day was too many. But as you've been able to tell me that it was writing on walls too many times, I have come up with the following ideas to try to figure out why this has happened: 1) I've been posting too many links 2) I've taken too many tests 3) I've said 'happy birthday' to too many people 4) I've written on my own event wall too many times Although these do not seem logical to me, I will be taking the following actions: 1) Posting my links elsewhere and then at the end of the day making one link to where I posted them 2) Either reduce the amount of tests that I take or stop taking them altogether 3) Send emails when saying "happy birthday" instead of writing it on the wall If these ideas will help reduce my wall post count, please let me know. I would be most appreciative for any help in the matter. Also, I do not have the ability to edit my own event anymore, and I am loathe to send out a new one. Is there a way to get this corrected, or do I just have to send it out? Thanking you in advance, Justin Current Music: None (6 Comments |Comment on this)