It’s been a while since I’ve updated this blog.
Because it had been so long, I felt this overwhelming
pressure to make the next post a literary piece…you know, because I *am*
halfway through a grueling academic year at Harvard. (Insert eye roll)
But it did make me think about my writing and vocabulary. You
would think that my being at Harvard would have caused my vocabulary to have
grown exponentially. It hasn’t.
Don’t get me wrong, my classmates and I joke about some of
the “expanded” language that is in our required readings. I think some of these PhD’s use the trick of verbose
language to meet chapter length since their publishers dictate font and
spacing. Then we students read it and
get nothing out of it because it is 2AM, the coffee has long worn off and we
have another couple of hundred pages to read for another course before 10AM. It gets old quickly.
So, my new phrase which is concise, to the point, and shouldn’t
be repeated in the presence of minors is: That’s fucked up. I don’t like using it, because the f-bomb isn’t
very lady-like, but the more I read about what’s going on in the world, the more
appropriate the phrase is able to articulate what I’m feeling. Unfortunately, I seem to be saying it more
and more.
Mitt Romney and his 47% comment: That’s fucked up.
Honey Boo-Boo and Family: That’s fucked up y’all.
The Taliban shooting a young girl in the head because she
wants an education: That’s fucked up.
An in-class discussion about the practice of murdering twins
at birth because they’re bad luck, when I have a twin brother: That’s doubly
fucked up.
M23 + DRC + Rwanda + rape as a weapon of war: That’s fucked
up
The NRA spokesperson’s response to Sandy Hook and his solution
to gun violence: That’s really fucked up.
The list goes on…
So, when you hear me say “That’s fucked up” it’s not to
minimize what happened; it’s just my first gut reaction. Then my brain and heart
engage to start the dialogue on to what to do in an attempt to fix the problem
at hand.
I’m not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. Right now, I’m just thankful that I haven’t
started a comment in class with my new phrase.
It might make for an interesting spring semester though.
