Last Night, This Summer

So last night I was looking at the bags of stuff on the floor when my mind went "Sh*t, Anthony!" .

The last time I had seen Anthony he told me that he was leaving La Jolla on a Thursday, though he didn't say of which week. Since it was Wednesday I called him to inquire about when he was departing, to which he replied "tomorrow". I asked him when we should meet up. He was having lunch with a professor before his flight today, so that was not an option. Then he asked, "How about right now?". I confirmed that that sounded like a good plan, and he said that he was going to walk down from the university to meet me. This was around 9:02pm.

Around twenty minutes later we met in front of Ralph's. Anthony had brought a friend, Liam, with whom he had apparently been drinking. They both had had around four beers each at that point. We sat in front of Starbucks until it closed talking about culture and history, then went into Ralph's. Since we were trying to determine where we should go at this point, I decided to invite them both back to my house. There was a lot of construction going on in the store and we got lost several times trying to find chips, pizza, and in Liam and Anthony's case, beer. They both bought a bottle to take back with them. No, I did not break my no-alcohol-for-Marisa rule. We sat up until 2:00am talking and at some points listening to music. We were all completely exhausted by the end of it and I have dark circles under my eyes today, but it was completely worth it. I'm sad to see Anthony go, though I don't doubt he misses his wife and his cats.

I studied for a little while afterward then fell asleep.

I haven't really slept that much this week. I can't believe that tomorrow finals week is over. I kind of wish I didn't have to go back to LA immediately but I think I'll be back here in around a week or so. There is a feeling of freedom in the air.

My parents are getting me a punching bag, by the way. I am psyched, as I've always wanted one.

I think a lot of victim-blaming takes place in our culture. If someone invites a person they barely met back to his or her apartment he isn't being smart, but having a had a lapse in judgment doesn't mean that he wants to be mugged. Many people victim-blame in cases of rape, citing stereotypical coy female behavior as the true impetus behind the act when the victim is a woman. If someone is being heavily flirtatious while drunk, is he or she being smart? Not necessarily, but that doesn't give anyone the right to rape her. I don't know anyone who writes Santa asking for post-traumatic stress disorder. Making a smaller mistake is no reason for a much larger hurt to be imposed on someone.

In a twist on this, last night when we were talking Liam mentioned how Hitler used to "preemptively strike" countries. I replied that it was the "she was wearing a short skirt" reason for war. Note that I was only replying to Hitler's reasoning here, as other preemptive strikes must be considered on a case-by-case basis.

During the summer I will be more social. I've made various claims on here about what I wish to do, and I intend to stick by them. I'm looking forward to what I hope is going to to be an interesting, fun, and productive time.