I find nothing wrong with the word beaner. I call my good friend "Beaner" all the time and he doesn't seem to get upset. Just because I make fun of somebody doesn't mean I hate them or dont love them.

It seems absurd to say anything to you because you are always saying things that are like livewires, but... Without qualification on the internet it's hard to tell how you mean it. Well, even with qualification it's hard to tell how you mean it. I just couldn't let it go by without saying something, though.

I was already on my computer, I'm writing a paper... but I popped in here because I just got a crazy automated telephone call from a Republican surveying group... Focus on the Family, I think it was called. They wanted to know if I was upset about Democrats blocking Bush nominees in the Senate, whether I was pro-life, and whether I gave money to any causes. I don't know; it was kind of exciting to get a call like that. Silly me, now I feel like I spoke up about my views!

That subject line refers to my previous attempt. I think this one is better.

pppppthhhhhhhhh

Maybe I'll have more time later

It would be really nice to have a place where we all felt respected. Being made fun of by someone you know is a friend is different than being messed with by someone you can't see and whose motives aren't clear. You have to second-guess everything you do, because you just know they are going to jump all over any loophole. While that's fine enough to leave it at their prerogative to do so, assuming it reflects more on them than you, it's still frustrating to put up with bashing and disrespect. How can you just let it sit there? But then if you address it, and don't do a good enough job, your inadequacies are exposed. Which is lame.

...although who says it's my right to point out someone else's inadequacies... but still, it's just not nice to make fun of people.

A few summers ago I worked at a roadside assistance call center for GM. I learned all the different kinds of GM cars and to tell people how to look up answers in their owner's manuals and how to call a tow truck. I decided never to buy a General Motors car. (I just bought one like a month or so ago!) I made friends with another girl at the call center. We invented a new vocabulary to survive the inanities and follies of working at a GM Roadside Assistance call center, including the phrase, "That's chevroLAME!" Hey, it got us through the day!

Once I had to call around to find a tow truck in Manhattan. HAHA people were sooo rude! The guy with a broken down car had only his American Express card, so I was asking tow companies of they took American Express. One guy says, quick as a whistle, "I take American CASH!"

And I'm sorry, but I really could not understand people's accents in the deep south! My friend loved them, because she used to live in Alabama. She'd tell them where to get the best tomay-tas!

Lulu, those pictures were great. I was just in Tijuana. I hadn't been in a while. It was really fun. It made me want to go back again soon.