Sore loser? What, me?

Okay, I have to admit this before I get rolling too much- this is a bit of a sour grapes post. I guess if I was forced to really introspect- I'd say it's a whole wine made of sour grapes. But you know what? This is my blog. My frickin' blog. And so I reserve the right to b*tch and moan. At any given time.

Why am I so upset? What earth-shaking event could have possibly happened to disrupt my equilibrium? I am pissed that I didn't get invited to see President Obama speak at Northern. Perhaps irrational (no, definitely irrational)- but pissed, nonetheless.

The funny thing is- I didn't realize how much I apparently cared about seeing the President until they announced the manner in which they were going to disperse the tickets. Tickets were not made available to the public- this was an invitation-only affair. Say good-bye to Barack Obama, closet socialist, and say hello to Barack Obama, he who caters to the Elite.

I know I am technically no longer a 'student'- but I guess it's a little frustrating that I feel like I fall into the category of the 'little guy' that Obama seemed to champion so much for during his campaigning. This whole trip had a sort of executive fly-by-pants-seat feel to it- I mean, just last week we get a threat on our campus, and then all of a sudden the President wants to come see us RIGHT NOW. BTWs- it was funny to see the Northern web-site change from 'Northern. Naturally' to 'Northern. With Teh Interwebz'.

So they had to come up with some system to stem the tide of people that wanted to see the President. That makes sense- obviously lots of people wanted in on this action. Whether you agree with him or not, he's still the President of the U-freaking-nited States of America- coming here. To Marquette.

I am not a staunch Democrat. I don't donate large sums of money to a political party. I didn't even vote for Obama. But that doesn't mean that I didn't want to go see him, or that I'm not interested in what he has to say. I just wanted a fair shake.

I'm not a student organization president or a participant in the Superior Edge program (which I had never even heard of until this whole fiasco)- but frick man! I graduated summa cum laude while helping raise two toddlers and working basically through that time. Upon graduation, my wife returned to school full-time towards her music education degree. And I know there are tons of people like me, with a story of triumph over adversity.

Instead, I am on the outside looking in, like so many Marquettians. I'm not impulsive enough to let this affect how I view the President- but doggone it, it sure is affecting how I view my 'friends' that got to go see him. You are all a bunch of overachieving, elitist, suck-ups. There, I said it.

Seriously, this is the most volatile political climate we've ever had since the last President was in office. It's now this cycle of self-perpetuating hatred towards our fellow man. President Obama had a chance to spread love and good will simply by allowing me...I mean, other people...to come and see him speak. Instead, we have more bitterness and division in a place where unity used to reign supreme.

And the real kicker is that the speech, which was supposed to start at 1:20, didn't start until 1:34- which means I got stuck watching the Today Show and Days of Our Lives. So not only was I kept out of the loop from seeing the President- I had to watch television crap while I was being kept out of the loop from seeing the President.

I'm a low key guy who is normally pretty chill. I will get over this very soon, and I don't really harbor (very much) any animosity towards those who were lucky enough to fall into the chosen demographics. But still- as one of those faceless masses left on the outside looking in- well, we're just not as happy as this great day in NMU history should make us feel.

This post is brought to you by Teal. Teal- the official color of sarcasm since 2009.

Obama to host rock concert in M-town

If you didn't know, you do now- President Barack Obama is coming to Marquette, Michigan. If you don't know me, that's the town that I currently lay my head in. If you do know me and are having trouble connecting the dots, that's the place I call my home.

Now I'm not often prone to fits of narcissism or delusions of self-grandeur, but I honestly think that I am at least partly responsible for his decision to come to Marquette. Please everyone- don't thank me/grab your torches and pitch forks all at once.

Let's look at the time-line, shall we?

This tale actually originates back in early January, when my investigation into graduate school ended up with me popping up on The List. You know The List, right? The one where they train a satellite at your house, and tapping your phone line, and having hot girl secret agents send you drinks at the bar with an address and instructions written on the bottom of the napkin- that List.

Fast forward now to Groundhogs Day, and some wacko wakes up and comes out of his hole in the ground, sees his shadow, gets depressed, and decides to write a threat against NMU on his blog (note- it was not this wacko). Someone catches wind of this and calls NMU, which goes into full scale lock-down mode.

Meanwhile, I decide to write a blog about Threat Day (which in many ways was like Snow Day, except we had to stay inside because there was possibly someone trying to kill us). Unbeknownst to the five people that read my blog, I was actually sending an coded distress signal to try and take advantage of my place on The List.

Obviously President Obama got my message, and is coming here to meet with me personally. I'm sure of it. He might be telling the public that it has something to do with our universities Wi-Max 4G network or some such shenanigans- but that's just an elaborate ruse and an encrypted message to yours truly.

In all seriousness, I am definitely excited that the President Obama is coming up to da Yoop. It's kinda like a politician and a rock-star mixed into one bag. Obama is probably the most polarizing figure since...well, since the last man who presided in the oval office. I'm definitely going to call in all (two) of my connections and try and see him when he comes to town. Love him or hate him, he is the President of our country, and this is not something that happens every day (unless you live in Washington, D.C.). In the meantime, I have to go close the curtains- there are a couple dudes with sunglasses and a black SUV sitting out in the parking lot.