As you may remember in May, I decided I need a change of pace and new scenery after graduation, which lead me to the Golden Coast of California. While so many good things happened for me out there (especially in the midst of LSAT prep), it wasn’t what I was looking for. In fact, a lot more was pushed upon my plate than I ever intended or imagined.

While a lot of people in my day-to-day life think I’m crazy for the flip-flop, and many people think “Why would you move away from being so close to LA to go back to the Southeast?” I have to do what is best for me – like any post-grad, college student, or human being should. When I tell people that I’m moving back, they immediately think “It didn’t work out for her” or “It was too hard.” And then some think this was just some minor decision I’ve made without any consideration at all.

Surprise! It’s not. There’s always more to the story.

Just as most post-grads do, we dream up our lives after college. And then if those dreams and ideal images don’t fit into the picture perfect box of hopeful life-after-college expectations, we do what we can to alter them. While I have done everything I can do to keep up with my dreams and expectations, I’ve had a lot of other stuff I never asked for fall onto my plate. See, I moved in with my dad – who is an alcoholic. And with that came tons of things I wasn’t prepared to handle. Every day it seemed like something new would happen or some kind of drama would ensue. Every day I find myself worried about what could happen. And I’ve had enough.

We live in an age of Intervention, Lindsay Lohan’s rehab stints, and constant talk about addictions. It’s life – seriously, who doesn’t know someone who is struggling or once struggled with an addiction? But like anyone who has ever loved someone with an addiction or some kind of life-altering problem, it’s not easy trek – and I’m done. I’m 22, and as much as I want to fix and help my dad, I can’t.

So with the New Year to look towards, I think it’s time for me to put my best shoes on and hit the road once again to see what else is in store for me (especially once those damn LSAT scores come out – yes, I’m still waiting)!

Fall semester is in full swing and it’s starting to feel like you’re doing the same thing every week. Class. Study. Drink. Hangover. Poor Theme Party Costume Choice. Homework. Switch things up by taking advantage of a long weekend or your fall break (if you’re that lucky) by checking out our Weekend Getaway guides.   We’ve already covered Boston, Toronto and Austin. Now, we wanna take you on a road less traveled (unless you’re Paula Deen)…to Savannah, Georgia.

To the young, curious child version of myself, Savannah, Georgia was synonymous with Girl Scouts —the scratchy uniform I hated, the vest that always seemed to have less badges than the rest of the other Brownie Scouts, and, of course, Girl Scout Cookies! Yum, I love those things!

However, that’s only one part of Savannah. Yes, Girl Scouts of America was founded there by Juliette Gordon Low and I’m sure visiting brings back many fond memories to the to former Girl Scout tourists.  But, Savannah is filled with centuries of history, charm, and even some ghosts! If you’re looking to get out of the hustle and bustle of your college campus for a long weekend, head down to the ol’ South and check out quaint Savannah, Georgia!

Touristy Spots:

River Street- Located right on the Savannah River, River Street is one of the most historic areas of Savannah.  The cobblestone streets take you back in time hundreds of years as you take in the historic beauty. There are numerous shops, restaurants, and even street performers that will provide entertainment for hours.  One of my favorite shops is the River Street Sweets candy shop.  Here, you will find the most delicious saltwater taffy, as well as fudge, chocolate, praline treats…you name it, they have it!  Seriously, bring your wallet and your sweet tooth! At the end of River Street is the Waving Girl statue.  According to legend, Florence Martus waved at passing ships, waiting for her own true love to return.  She never missed a ship in the forty years that she greeted the passing ships. Tell me that’s not romantic?!

Take a Tour- Seeing Savannah by tour trolley is the best way to soak in all the history it has to offer.  I suggest Oglethorpe Trolley Tours. For only $15 you can see 90 minutes worth of historic hot spots, beautiful churches, and cemeteries. All tours are narrated by a tour guide, so you’ll learn some interesting facts about historic Savannah. Plus, you can get on and off the trolley and explore on your own. Seriously, this is the way to go—you’ll get the most bang for your buck!

Juliette Gordon Low’s Birthplace- In case you weren’t able to visit as a brownie scout, you must visit now and pay some homage to the lady, Juliette Gordon Low, that made those Thin Mints so famous!  Her southern mansion gives insight into early Girl Scout history, as well as shows some of what daily life was like during the early 1900s.

Restaurants:

Huey’s on the River- Located right on River Street, Huey’s on the River offers some New Orleans’ flair in Savannah.  Expect long waits, but the food will make up for it, especially the beignets, or the gumbo, or the muffalettas. Yum! Order anything on the menu, you can’t go wrong.

The Lady and Son’s Restaurant- Paula Deen. Need I say more?! Paula Deen is my absolute favorite chef, so when I heard that she had a restaurant in Savannah I had to try it! Everything she cooks clogs my arteries makes my mouth water! I don’t know if it’s my butter obsession or because when I eat any of her recipes, calories don’t matter to me, but her food is pure bliss.  And The Lady and Son’s Restaurant is no different!  The food will leave you more than satisfied and the dessert will warm your soul! Lady and Son’s is definitely a must-try!

The Pirate’s House- This restaurant has been in service since 1753.  Originally, The Pirate’s House was an inn for seafarers and offered them food and drink in exchange for stories about sailing the seven seas.  Today, it acts as a restaurant serving only the most delicious food! The menu ranges from seafood to pasta to steaks and burgers. Try any of the jolly ol’ grub and you won’t be disappointed.  A fun fact: the restaurant is claimed to be haunted because of the secret passageways under the restaurant that led to the river. Spooky!

Nightlife:

Oktoberfest- One of the biggest festivals in Savannah takes place on River Street each year.  Enjoy a part of the original Oktoberfest, Savannah style.  Between the Weiner Dog Races, bratwurst, and hundreds of beers from around the world, you can’t go wrong. There’s even a fried beer stand this year! At night, you can enjoy the Fireworks put on annually by Wet Willies Restaurant (also another cool restaurant to try)! Sounds like a good October weekend to me!

Ghost Tour- No history is better than haunted history! Savannah is known for the supernatural occurrences so you MUST try out one of these tours.  There are many companies that offer ghost tours, so pick creepiest one and put your ghost hunting skills to work!

Kevin Barry’s Irish Pub- The good ol’ Irish settled in Savannah, so there’s a huge Irish cultural influence there.  Check out this pub for some delicious Irish-American pub grub, grab a pint and enjoy the awesome performers that will have you singing along to “Molly Malone” all night long. Slainte!

Lodging:

The epicenter of Savannah is River Street. Some recommended hotels are the Hyatt Regency or for a more historic feel the River Street Inn, which dates back to the 1800s.  Both are quality hotels, located right on River Street, and provide you with easy access to numerous historic hot spots, restaurants and shops!

But it was for these 4 people who were thisclose to getting the infamous Time cover. And then they didnt. What happened? Why weren’t they chosen?

We have a pretty good idea:

Henry Paulson: As Secretary of the Treasury, this guy has a lot on his plate. Mostly the collapse of the entire economy, the bailout that hasn’t done much, and other major American industries going down the tubes. It may not be his fault, but he is the face people see when they watch their investments dwindle to nothing.

Nicolas Sarkozy: We heard about the President of France a lot over the summer, beginning with the Georgia conflict. People seem to love him and his abilities as a leader, and see him doing some really great things in the future. That all seems pretty cover-of-Time-worthy, but could he really rival the first Black president? I don’t think so.

Sarah Palin: Surprise of the year? Yes. Winker of the year? Totally. Beehive of the year? You betcha! But person of the year? Puhlease. The fascination surrounding this woman is in how she made it so far, not in anything she has done or can do. She didn’t deserve to be VP of this country and she definitely does not deserve Person of the Year.

Zhang Yimou: He put together a pretty spectacular show for the Opening Ceremonies of this year’s Beijing Olympics. He also has a pretty spectacular life story. If we didn’t love and respect Barack Obama so much, we’d say Yimou had been robbed of the title.

“Sorry, dude. I don’t want to get evicted.”

Ok, so it’s not a perfect excuse, but it’s something. Especially if the dude is younger than you…and also considered a minor.

That’s exactly what has happened to Wendy Whitaker. According to reports, the state of Georgia considers Whitaker a sex offender (and charged the woman with sodomy!) for performing a little somethin’ somethin’ on her then 16 year old boyfriend. When she was 17.

Oh yeah. This was 10 years ago!

The state is forcing her and her husband from their home because it just so happens to be near a school, which is illegal for registered sex offenders. Not only that, but they have set the eviction date for Thanksgiving. Such kind people.

Whitaker has attempted to appeal this ruling, but things aren’t looking good. The woman just can’t catch a break. Here’s hoping someone down there in Georgia puts their head on straight and realizes just how effed up this whole thing really is.

Until then…I’m anti-oral. I just can’t take any chances!

If you haven’t heard, Russia decided to go wave their giant international schlong around in the Georgian region of South Ossetia last week. And then, since Georgia’s military consists of two tanks and a three-legged dog, they decided to just run all over the damn place – go for the gold, perhaps. Oh, hey, how topical.

Russia, what gives? Were you thinking that everyone was too enthralled with the Olympics to notice? We’re not blind, Russia. We see you over there. Mr. “I’m only the Prime Minister” Putin, wipe that snide smile off your face, you’re not fooling anyone. We are ready for swift, decisive action. It’s not like we’re too busy chumming it up with the women’s volleyball team or anything.

Russia, really, we’re sorry you haven’t had a bona fide invasion in sixty-odd years. We know your country is huge and hard to invade. We know you just want to sit in your snow palaces and chortle heartily as the fascist armies starve to death on the tundra. But could you at least have waited until the world-wide quadrennial moment of community was over? Man, we really had some spirit going on.

Couldn’t the one-sided massacre of civillians in a thinly veiled land grab along with grotesque human rights violations have waited at least until after the BMX competition? Maybe?

Not like anyone’s surprised, of course. Government people have a pretty terrible record of ruining the fun of decent, normal human beings. Let’s have a look back at some of their more belligerent moments:

- The upcoming Democratic convention

I love politics: the back-and-forth verbal fencing, the earnest campaign volunteers with bake sales, the YouTube dance remixes of embarassing gaffes. It’s all so invigorating! And I love huge mobs of people all standing around in the same place — that’s just a fun thing, right? So the Democratic convention should really be a nonstop festival of fun and games.

Except that someone couldn’t keep it in his pants for five minutee, and so now we’ll all have to worry about these domestic issues. Can’t we just have a stress-free convention for once? Last time, it was “damnit! why did we choose such a creepy, bland old man to run for the White House”; now it’s “damnit! I just can’t concentrate on the forces of change that are sweeping the country — I need to know where else Edwards’ dick has been!”

- The 1936 Summer Olympics

These aren’t the only Olympics that stupid jerks have managed to screw up. You know who opened the 1936 Summer Olympics? Adolf Hitler, better known as the worst guy ever. I don’t know who thought it’d be a good idea to invite that cranky douchebag, especially when we had so many awesome people like Jesse Owens showing up (giving racism the “knock-out punch” All right!) Like, can you imagine being there, watching the Olympics on your hand-crank TV, and going “Wait, what? Who? Is that…?” Yeah. I know. It is.

- The Cold War

This is really inexcusable. While most of us were trying to have the Sixties (and Seventies, and Eighties…), a bunch of old guys who like making up acronyms thought it would be funny if we all just trembled in fear of apocalyptic firestorms that would explode out of our toilets. It wasn’t funny, old guys, though I understand how frustrating it must be not to be getting any in the age of Free Love. Big props to the folks at NORAD, though, for keeping tabs on Santa Claus; if only we’d spent the rest of our national defense budget on jolly fat toymakers, maybe we could have played Scrabble with the Viet Cong instead of shooting at them. Oh, well.

- The Dinosaurs

Damnit! Dinosaurs make the worst decisions. You know what I bet? I bet the mass extinction of the coolest creatures ever to tread this earth had nothing to do with a meteor or climate change or volcanic eruptions. I bet the Dinosaur Council of Dinosaurs ended up passing some bill that was like “Hey, let’s all go stop eating food and see what happens”. I bet that’s exactly what they did, because the Dinosaur Council had no foresight, and then they went extinct and now we will never see a Tyrannosaurus Rex in downtown NYC during rush hour. I hate the stupid Dinosaur Council!

It’s time for your daily dose of news with Kandy Korrespondent!

The Myanmar death toll from Saturday’s Cyclone Nargis is now estimated at 22,500 with 41,000 still missing. Despite such a large body count, Myanmar’s government has thus far only given a few aid organizations access. According to the New York Times, UN disaster assessment officials were still waiting for visas as of Tuesday night.

You can help! The following aid organizations are working to send aid to Myanmar, World Vision, Save the Children, Foundation Burma, and Direct Relief International.

In yesterday’s presidential primary, Obama secured North Carolina with a 14% margin, and Clinton barely squeaked by with a 2% margin. Indiana proved to be a tougher battle ground than most expected. It was after 1am before CNN and other TV networks called the state decisively for Senator Clinton.

Check out my real time continuing coverage from last night to find out more.

Dmitry Medvedev takes office today as Russian President with ex-president Vladimir Putin as his Prime Minister. Many believe that Medvedev will simply be a puppet of the Prime Minister, thereby allowing Putin to retain the outward appearance of constitutionality even as he continues to control Russia.

In related news, on Tuesday, a Georgian State Minister told reports in Brussels that the situation between his country and Russia was “very close” to war. Russia began sending extra troops to the Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia last week to counter supposed Georgian plans to attack the province.

Seventy-five San Diego State University students have been arrested during a drug bust. Apparently undercover narcotics officers infiltrated SDSU frat houses and allegedly uncovered an extensive drug-dealing network.

And Now for Something Completely Different…

On Saturday, the Austrian national rugby suffered a humiliating loss to Lithuania 48-0. To sooth their wounded male egos, the team staged a massive striptease in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnus. The spectacle was caught on video and uploaded to the net and then to a Lithuanian news agency. The Lithuanian rugby federation President Aleksandras Makarenka told Reuters,

“Yes, these were the men we played against on Saturday … I guess the defeat could have prompted them to do that.”

Thats the News. See you tomorrow!

As the price at the pump soars beyond $4 in some parts of the country, President Bush attempted to distance himself from the crisis, stating during Tuesday’s news conferences,

“I firmly believe that, you know, if there was a magic wand to wave, I’d be waving it, of course […] I’ve repeatedly submitted proposals to help address these problems, yet time after time Congress chose to block them.”

These proposals for the most part have to do with allowing the construction of more coal and nuclear plants and opening of an Alaska wildlife refuge to oil drilling.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer then responded to the President’s criticism of Congress by stating,

“The president has proclaimed that he is ‘the decider,’ but this morning all he tried to do is pass the buck to someone else rather than accept responsibility for his administration’s failed economic policies and escalating gas prices.”

In related news, on Tuesday Federal Judge Claudia Wilken ordered the Bush administration to decide on whether to place the polar bear on the endangered species list by May 15th. The inclusion of the polar bear on the list will hamper the future of oil and gas development in the Artic circle.

On Tuesday, Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama denounced Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s comments made on Monday at the National Press Club as hatemongering and “divisive”. He told reporters in Winston Salem, North Carolina, that “Whatever relationship I had with Reverend Wright has changed as a consequence of this.”

Family members of the 81 victims linked to tainted Herapin, a blood thinner used during kidney dialysis, called upon Congress to take measures to protect patients from unsafe drugs. The drug was recalled in February following the FDA’s discovery of a contaminant in several batches of the drug. There is some thought that the contamination was deliberate.

A Story to Keep an Eye on:

Tensions are building up to a dangerous level between Russia and Georgia over the breakaway province of Azbhazia. An unmanned Georgian drone was shot down last week while flying over Azbhazia. Georgia claims a Russian jet shot it down, Russia of course denies this, and Azbkhaz rebels meanwhile claim that they actually they shot it down—so who knows what really happened. On Tuesday, Georgia retaliated by warning it will block Russia’s entry into the World Trade Organization.

And Now for Something Completely Different…

(…and rather disgusting)

Seven German artists along with their lice, yes lice, are being hosted at the Museum of Bat Yam in Israel as part of the gallery’s exhibit around the theme of “hosting”. In addition to stirring controversy in the art world, the exhibit indirectly touches upon the tainted relations between Germans and Jews–Nazi propaganda characterized Jews as parasites. But so far the exhibit seems to be going well; one of the artists, Stefan Reuter, said “People ask about it – we had one woman who came and thanked us for making such a great statement against the fascist rhetoric of German history.”

Ick. I’m sorry… as moving as this all is given the history of these two groups, they have head lice!

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow!

Half the internet has made this an issue of white vs. black, about double standards and race discrimination. Don’t get me wrong, there are still some places in the South that still think the Civil War was an impass, but this poor kid was convicted because we have a judicial system that goes by absolutes. “If/Then” statements rule half of the laws out there. Genarlow was considered an adult, while his partner was a minor – that is the legal justification of the “crime”. PLUS, they have demanded that he register as a sex offender.

In this case, there are many other factors: he was also accused of raping a 17 year old girl (ACQUITTED), he and all members at the party were drunk and stoned (NO CHARGES FILED) and some idiot video taped the whole thing for his personal whack-off library. Everyone is bringing up all of these other charges, when they discuss this case, but there is no reason – he was found NOT GUILTY – which is only the basis of our entire judicial system.

How does this case involve us?

A judge ordered him released and prosecutors in Georgia appealed so that he would stay in jail. The local government wants to lock this kid up and throw away the key.

This could happen to any of us. I am 18 and this case horrifies me. Every now and then someone brings up their friend from highschool (usually Seniors) and they are fair game. They go to a party, we all party and then hook-up afterwards. Oral sex is almost like a given – now I can goto jail for that?

I am trying to be straight-up here, and you can all hate on me for the honesty, but it is true. This is the time when we figure out what sex is all about. This is like charging athletes as criminals for delivering late hits (sorry for the sport’s parallel). In Georgia no less…which is point #2. I know I said it was not the major issue of the case, but really? WTF was with all of the social reformers when this kid got canned? Leave Imus alone and help this f*&%ing kid! Can you imagine spending over 2 years in jail for getting head from a girl/guy within a 2 years age difference?

We may think we are above race in this country but we are wrong. The worst part is that growing up we were taught to see without prejudice, and yet it is our parents and the older generation that is so damned socially imept it is nausiating. Who is the jackass who thought this was a 10 year prison sentence crime? His name is Goober and he is a pissed-off racially intolerant red-neck who is bitter that his sister turned him down for a BJ. But it is not just the rednecks, there is a whole generation of prejudice that is under wraps. The Georgia legislature passed a law closing the loop-hole that sent Genarlow Wilson to jail. Oh, but they didn’t make it retroactive – i.e. Genarlow Wilson stays in jail, but thanks for the heads up that the law is wrong.

F^%& Paris, where is the outrage for this kid? FOX and CNN aren’t all over Genarlow?! Why not? You have to ask that – the only visible answer makes me sick.

Genarlow, I am sorry dude. As an 18 year old white kid from NY, you got shafted. You really did. Not sure what I can do to help, but I will think of SOMETHING. Maybe a petition, letter to a congressman – petition to let a celebrity drunk driver free, but a 17 your old in prison for a BJ…uhhhhhhh ok, missed that memo.

We are with you.