Hmm

I have never participated in a strike. I don't really have much of an opinion on them, to be honest. I assume that the people striking feel that they have one or many grievances that need to be addressed, and that they would like to be taken seriously.

So why, I ask you, do they do very silly things while striking? I was also listening to NPR this morning on the way in (as I admit to doing every morning...my nerdiness was established long ago on this site, so no shame) they were covering the writers' strike in LA. And what do I hear in the background? Singing. And not just any singing...I'm thinking I've heard this before...ah, yes, the song from "Remember the Titans" (everywhere we go...people want to know...who we are...so we tell them...). Granted, one of the picketers probably wrote that song, but it still didn't come across as particularly dignified. And the chants are usually stupid too (hell no, we won't go!). I mean, really.

In DC, they have this huge inflatable rat that they camp out in front of the building where I assume the Man and his friends reside. But it's like a communal union rat, because I've seen this same rat all over town, and for different unions and causes. I wonder if the AFL-CIO headquarters keeps this rat and then lends it out, like a library book? I wonder if they'll let me check it out?

Fun Game (with a little charity thrown in)

At work, we are sponsoring several second grade classrooms in a DC public school. When we got the list of "needs", I have to say I was a little appalled. I mean, I realized that DC schools have a bad reputation and are very underfunded, but seriously. The main request is for copy cards from places like Kinkos or FedEx, because there isn't a working copy maching in the entire school and as such the teachers are spending their own money to make copies of worksheets for the kids. They also requested used books for the classrooms, anywhere from pre-K to 4th grade reading levels. So being that I once was a reading nut (and still have that nut somewhere deep inside of be, which will be nurtured in approximately 1.5 days when I leave for Texas on Christmas break and have free time), I went to Border's over the weekend, just to see what I could find.

Shopping in the children's section of a bookstore is some serious reminiscing fun. I wanted to buy everything in sight, and I really wanted to buy some of the books for myself, just to have. Who wouldn't want to curl up with a nice new copy of the Berenstein Bears or Mike Mulligan and the Steam Shovel? I did a quick texting poll of friends to ask what their favorite books were at the age of 8, and got this list: Little House on the Prairie, Captain Underpants, Choose Your Own Adventure, anything by Roald Dahl, Hardy Boys, The Hurry Hurry Book, Where the Wild Things Are, Dr. Seuss, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and "something about animals." What I failed to take into account in my texting is that my friends were probably a wee bit more advanced readers than the average attender of a DC public school, so many of those will be over their heads, for now anyway. So I settled on Amelia Bedelia, Little Bear (the same guy that illustrated Where the Wild Things Are did the illustrations for Little Bear too, which was a fun thing to learn), Curious George, and a children's world atlas that was on sale and had pretty pictures.

So now I'll ask you - what were your favorite books when you were 8?

Two Songs and a Phrase That Confused Me at the Age of Six

"Hark the Harold angels sing...."

"Give my regards to Broadway, remember me to Harold Square..."

"Okay kids, get in the car so we can run some Aarons..."

Just some Christmas stuff

I absolutely love the holidays. I do not, however, enjoy in any way the most of the holiday commercials. Most particularly, the jewelry commercials are wearing me out. Between the vapid "every kiss begins with Kay" to the stupidly named "Jared's Galleria of Jewelry" (this one, really, who knows anyone named Jared that they also would associate with diamonds? I've known many a Jared, none of whom brings to mind any sort of gemstone), I want to throw things at the TV. But they are EVERYWHERE, on the radio, on my computer...and most of it is really ugly. Guys, not that any of you read this for shopping advice, but just in case, DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES buy the featured Christmas gift. They are all ugly, and it will not end well for you.

I'm still behind on my Christmas shopping, but progress is being made. I haven't had any particularly brilliant ideas this year, but I'm slowly working through what I hope will be meaningful gift ideas. I've still got some movies to see as well, to get me into the reminiscing that I so enjoy. These include, but are not limited to, Santa Claus: The Movie, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and Babes in Toyland. I have already seen the Charlie Brown Christmas and White Christmas, so they're crossed off my list. Any other suggestions are welcome.

Mostly I'm looking forward to being away from my desk, which is currently involving things including, but not limited to, intellectual property rights, university administration, and natural disaster relief. But not all in the same project, thankfully :).

Talent

I would imagine I'm the only person you know that has burned the roof of their mouth while eating an artichoke.

So, this blog...(sigh)

You have probably noticed, but I haven't really been updating all that much. It's not that I'm not busy with things to report (quite the opposite, in fact), it just turns out that I don't really feel like relaying it all, or nothing strikes me as things that will be particularly interesting for others to read about.

So, in quick recap, things that I have thought about recently and/or enjoyed, that might have been full blown entries if I wasn't so blah about the whole thing:

This website is awesome. I already paid my $2 in search of some books I read at age 10-ish. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I'm getting a bonus at the end of this month, and I think (against some of my better fiscal judgment) that I will be spending a chunk of it on one of these.

I'm obsessed with the New Pornographer's (it's a terrible name for a band, I know! Please don't judge me!!) "Go Places," "Myriad Harbor," and "Mutiny, I Promise You." Actually scratch that, the whole CD is wonderful.

I want my next car to be a Volkswagen Golf, even though I keep hearing how often they break down. Can I help it that I think they are so adorable and cute and little? Nope, I sure can't.

This is a great way to kill some time and also laugh out loud every now and then.

Holy cow can you guys believe it's mid-November already? I better start coming up with some Christmas ideas pronto.

That's all for now. Let's all hope for more creativity in the days ahead :).

Quick Update

Sandy won! She's number 132 in the comments, and that was a good number to be on Friday!!

Thanks to all of you for dropping by, and for offering so many nice things as well!

Taxi Strike in DC

Okay, so maybe it's a little mean of me as I do have a car and as such am not dependent on taxis to get me places. But really, a taxi driver strike? Best day for driving ever. No crazies cutting you off and honking at you if you don't leave within .5 seconds of the light turning green. No super slow cab blocking your way as he trolls at 5 mph for a fare. They should have these more often.

Oh, and happy halloween. I barely even remembered it was today, except that all my tutoring students had to reschedule, because duh! Halloween is totally like today, and they totally do not want to be studying French while all their friends are at the cool party. Can't say that I blame them :).

Follow Up: Whoa, Y'all

Okay, so I'm a bit impulsive. I know it doesn't seem like it sometimes, but every now then I just jump directly into something with so little forethought it is quite incredible.

Take for instance, this contest thingy I posted. I don't regret this a bit, mind you, but now feel totally like the weird kid who thought that this fall party was a costume one, but it is fact NOT and now I'm the only person in a room full of adults dressed like a lady bug (or a rabbit, a la Elle). I did NO research whatsoever, and come to find out this group of bloggers are all some serious moms. For the real. Except for Anne, who got me into this in the first place :). I have no problems with moms. Really...I read some mommy bloggers regularly, I have a mom, I would like to be a mom someday, but I'm soooooo nowhere near that now. So imagine my surprise that most of the other blogs are giving away kid/baby related stuff. Awkward.

All that being said, I still think the concept is awesome. And I'm still totally making that hat and scarf. And if you're here reading because of this, and you're a mom with a blog (and probably a church-goin' one at that!), you are more than welcome and I will gladly check out your site as well.

Fall Y'all Bloggy Giveaway

Okay, so I got this from Anne, who got it from here, and I completely love the idea.



I'm giving away a matching hat and scarf set, made by me, and in fall colors like dark red or brown or orange or yellow or really whatever your little heart desires.

I'm going to ask Anne about this random number generator thingy, otherwise I'll just ask someone in my office to pick a number. I'll choose and post the winner on Friday afternoon. Don't forget to shop around at the other sites, as they have tons of cool stuff!

The Trip for Ginger's Wedding in Review

Flying: D-
I seriously had the most hellish trip getting from Philadelphia to Houston. The only reason flying didn't flunk entirely was that my trip home was uneventful (albeit a little tight, as I was in a window seat with two rather large people next to me, and they encroached on my seat space a bit). Getting to Houston involved being bumped off a flight, melting down at the ticket counter (at which some nice lady took pity on me and gave me her seat and some kleenex), hanging out on the runway for an hour, running low on fuel and having to stop in Shreveport, having mechanical problems in Shreveport and waiting there for two hours, and finally landing in Houston approximately 4 hours late. And then my taxi got a flat tire on the way to the hotel, which technically doesn't count as flying, but was a fitting end to the journey, I think.

Clothing: B
Mercifully after that trip everything in my luggage arrived on schedule, with nothing spilled or damaged (including my dress for the wedding, which I was stupid enough to pack in my checked luggage, but it all worked out). Unfortunately, the red dress for which I spent a great deal of time hunting in the spring ended up being a wee bit snug in the um, bosom area, so I was not the most comfortable person on Saturday night. I got a few compliments though, so apparently I was the only one aware of the squeeze situation.

Food: A+
I ate so well - favorites included my fish (trout with almonds) at the rehearsal dinner, Dos Salsas in G-town, and of course some good old-fashioned BBQ at Rudy's. I think the wedding food was pretty good too, but I wasn't all that hungry due to adrenaline and such. And the dress, as mentioned above, did not really lend itself to comfortable eating.

Book, Devil in the White City: A
Now I really, really want to visit Chicago. And am very glad I wasn't born in like 1880 or anything. If you like history/architecture/murder psychology, this is a good book for you too!

Amtrak Station at BWI: F
Seriously, BOTH of the elevators are out of service? Both? What the heck am I supposed to do with this giant suitcase and a freakin' sewing machine in a box, huh? Better yet, what do people in wheelchairs do?

People to whom I would send thank you letters if I knew their names and/or addresses:
Nice lady at the PHL airport
Two guys at BWI that helped me lug suitcases up and down the train station stairs
Taxi driver who continued all the way to the hotel on a flat tire
The people who invented champagne

Happy Marriage, Ginger and James!

It's Tuesday, But I Want it to Be Friday

And not just in that "I'm so done with work and wish the week were already over" sort of way (even though that's a little true as well...).

Here are the lovely activities I have to look forward to this upcoming weekend:

Arlington Library Book Sale! I limit myself to $20, and usually walk away with a sack full of books. I know it's uber-nerdy of me to be so into it, but if the books were not on shelves, but in a big pile on the floor, I would probably roll around in them, because they are THAT EXCITING.

Dupont Circle Farmer's Market! Not for shopping mind you, I will be selling this super smelling soap. I don't exactly know why I'm so into farmer's markets anyway, but the thought of working at one is a whole other level of happy. Plus there's the added bonus of taking a twenty minute break and buying all of my fresh veggies and fruits for the week.

And then there's also sleeping, which is going to be exciting too.

**EDIT: There's also Crafty Bastards, featuring stuff from Joi!

Signs I might be aging

Hello interweb,

Today is my birthday! I am now 28. I've spent most of my birthday so far writing work emails and answering the occasional birthday call/email. Getting in touch with all of you lovely people out there is my favorite part...but the presents, they are also nice too :).

I took off yesterday as a present to myself, since it just wasn't going to happen for today with my work schedule, and let me tell you, I sure do know what I need, present-wise. I didn't even do anything exciting: I slept in, I ran errands, I began a major overhaul of my room. Everything just seemed nicer though: I slept with the windows open with a hint of a fall breeze coming in, I ran all of my errands in record time since no one was around, and my room is actually approaching some form of organization, which it hasn't in well...years. I also picked up my new glasses (which are very nerd chic - I like them). Then later I met up with friends and ate Caribbean food in the park, picnic-style. There was (and will be) no big party, no bar hopping, no super fancy dinner, but I am already relaxed as I head to the beach for the weekend, and that in and of itself is a lovely birthday place to be.

I'm it, apparently...

Courtesy of Joi. See comments in last post for details.

Seven (oh so very) random facts about me. In the order that they popped into my head :).

1) Any time I get really nervous or stressed out, I get sick to my stomach. I inherited this trait from my father, who got it from his mother, so basically anyone on that side of my family is ill at any given moment. Actually, my father promptly threw up after I was born, because there had been some problems with the delivery, and as an OB, he knew what that might mean. I think with that sort of christening, I never really stood much of a chance to avoid the stomach thing.

2) I love just about anything that is cheese flavored - cheeze puffs, cheetos, cheese straws.

3) I have read (and own, come to think of it) practically every book that L.M. Montgomery ever wrote (there are LOTS more than the Anne books, in case you were wondering).

4) I have terrible, terrible eyesight, and sometimes have nightmares where I have to do something very important or there's a big emergency but I can't see anything.

5) I took a semester of beginning figure skating in college for a PE credit, and was pretty good at it, if I do say so myself.

6) I love snuggling into bed when there's a big thunderstorm raging. I don't find them the least bit scary.

7) I can still perform the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy in it's entirety, although probably not that well.


Whew...

I tag Ebony, Barbara, Stephanie, Ava, and Anne (Like I have much choice. More of my friends need to start blogging. Not that y'all aren't fabulously entertaining...you get what I mean...I hope :).

Re-Entry

As a few of you may know, I recently ventured back to Texas for a long weekend. Which ended up feeling like a week (at least) due to a lot of activity. Not that I had anything planned mind you. Actually I had no plans at all, beyond eating things and visiting and staying up too late and sleeping in, at which I was remarkably successful.

I also managed to make a purse for Ebony (happy birthday Ebony!), and make coin purses for others with the leftovers, visit with both sides of my family (all of the grandparents, which is a miracle in and of itself, and no less than 6 cousins if you count spouses), and track down our repeat offender escapee cat. My mom talked me into yoga twice, and I am still feeling the after effects. It was freakin' hot in Texas...like lay in your living room languid on the couch because you have lost the will to move hot. I shopped at my favorite cheap jewelry store, went to a Target that was not completely stripped free of sale clothes, and visited the new hip store that Sarah's managing. I woke up at the crack of dawn this morning and still managed to miss my flight, and as such had to take one that left four hours later. Yep, FOUR hours. So I finished reading one mindless fluffy book and then bought another. Part of me felt a smidge guilty, in that I should probably be reading something more high brow, and even though I recognize it's pretty much a waste of time, I still have to admit that I enjoyed myself immensely, and it was a great way to push through an entire day. Plus, a girl can only be so intellectual on 4 hours of sleep.

Coming home to Arlington is a little less hot, a little more crowded, and a little bittersweet. Apparently I'm going to be straddling between here and there for quite some time.

Oh, and my car died. Awesome. So for another $600 (that brings the total to a whole, whole lot that I've put into my car this year) it will be fixed and ready to trade in for something more reliable. Any advice on that front would be very, very welcome, if any of you are so inclined :). It seems like such a grownup sort of thing to face.

So tomorrow, back to work. And oh, there is so, so much work to be done. So. Much. Work. But it was totally worth it.

Sound investing

- Aquaphor lip balm
- Cetaphil lotion
- Planter's Cheeze Balls
- OPI nail polish
- Mylanta
- Gap clothing
- Nine West shoes

Given the amount of business that I personally give to each of the above, I'm thinking buying stock in some of them might be a nice way to balance myself out.

Of course, that assumes I have money with which to buy stocks :).

So cool

This couple (along with their two sons) dropped by my work today. Check out the website, and then try to make me believe that you aren't the littlest bit jealous.

I am too. And planning a road trip :).

Adoption link

I don't know if any of you that read this are particularly interested in the topic, but adoption is something that always seems to lurk in the back of my brain as a "someday" sort of idea. Not that I am anywhere near something like that, but there are lots of ways to get involved with adoption and orphan care that doesn't actually involve bringing a child into your home.

Just today, I heard a really wonderful story as part of a series on adoption on NPR. You can listen to all of them here, if you're interested.

What does your Netflix queue say about you?

Mine says that I'm into French and Spanish-language stuff, random dance documentaries (krump, anyone?), BBC miniseries, satire, social change, weird independent films, old school heist adventures, classic Disney, Agatha Christie mysteries, and handsome leading men of the 40s and 50s.

Woohoo split personality disorder.

Association

There's been a lot of talk amongst my various groups of friends about showers, both baby and bridal. And most of the time, I end up thinking, "Hmm, I could really go for some cake right now."

Mind, changed (a little)

After all of my railing against reality television, I would like to state here and now that I'm most definitely hooked on "So You Think You Can Dance." This show, in a word, rocks.

That is all.

How to Find Out if You Are a Nerd of Incurable Proportions

Take this quiz:

1. What music do they play on NPR's "Marketplace" when the stocks are up? How about down?

2. Name your three favorite BBC miniseries.

3. On a beautiful summer day at the beach, your preferred discussion would be about:
a) the fashion magazine you are currently reading
b) your favorite gulity pleasure summer television show
c) the impact of human rights legislation on global trade

What others did I miss?

With all of my talk of crafty-ness, I still haven't posted a darn thing. That's not going to change today :).

However, in my recent craft-like activities, I attempted iron-on transfers. I, along with girls in my church small group, decided that volunteering to help out with the t-shirts for the vacation Bible school would be great. I loved going to VBS as a kid, and the thought of helping out with that is great. Also, how hard can it be to make t-shirts? I'll tell you...really effing hard.

Jill and I made it through a rockin' 10 shirts in 2 1/2 hours...and most of those didn't look all that great. How many are we supposed to do, you might ask? 100. 100 preschool size t-shirts with four iron-on transfers per shirt. It's going to take FOREVER. And in the end some cute kids are going to be walking around in some wonky-looking shirts, so I apologize in advance. At least know they were made with love (and some minor amounts of curse words, burns, plastic melted on irons, etc.).

At Sarah's Suggestion

This is currently my favorite thing on the internet.

Here comes Peter Cotton tail...

Oh, internet...where did a whole month go? More than that even. I have been one busy girl, if I do say so myself. So what happened?

Well, first, Barbara got married to this great guy named Zach. And I flew back and got to hang with everyone. And it turns out, there are a lot of you that read my blog, and I had no freakin' clue. So now I feel like such a slacker, and since the wedding was May 5 and that's where I heard all about you blog-readers, you would think that I would have updated more. But that's where you're wrong...

Because I came back to a new position at my job! It's only a seasonal promotion, but it comes with an office, with a door that I can close, should I choose to do so (although I haven't yet). I have to give the office back in October, but it's good experience for me, and lets me use my brain in all sorts of new and interesting ways. But leaves sadly little time for internet perusal and/or blog writing.

Last weekend I went to West Virginia, home of...John Denver? Was he from there? I mean, I know "Country Roads" references it, but it just could have been that he liked it there. We had a very historical afternoon at Harper's Ferry, and then drove through a town with the world's best diner-like/hometown fastfood place (they had FUNNEL CAKES, people. And FRIED CAULIFLOWER. I cannot begin to tell you how delicious fried cauliflower is...I don't think I'm going to be able to go back to it healthy-style). If you ever find yourself in Fairmont, West Virginia, give me a call and I will totally hook you up.

So after the grease-binge, we drove on to a state park that also had a nice lodge to stay in (they called it a resort, which sounds fancier and snottier than it was, though it was really very lovely). It was right next to a lake, where we kayaked. That's right, I, Rachel, paddled a kayak around a lake. And LOVED it. Wasn't even sore the next day, which I think is totally a fluke thing. I felt like such an Amazon though...I mean, KAYAKING. Me! We also spent a ridiculous amount of time at Wal-Marts (yep, plural) because we first needed snacks, and also I forgot pajamas. At the first Wal-Mart stop, Kandi found $1 sequin tube tops for each of us (there were exactly 4 left! Providential!), which will perhaps be making an appearances at an upcoming 80's concert, assuming I'm feeling brave :).

My most recent adventure today involved a last minute decision to stop into the so-named "Oriental Grocery Store" that is across the street from my house. I have all these fresh herbs, because I had this romantic idea that I could grow them in my window box, and holy cow, I can, but whoa are there now a lot of herbs and I really haven't had a great deal of time to cook with them. So I decided to make spring rolls, and what better place to buy the wrappers and noodles than the local asian dive grocery store? The best part though was the 10 minutes I spent gawking in the frozen section. Have you ever seen an entire frozen eel curled up in ziploc baggy? I have! Also, whole frogs, crates of fishes with scales and eyes still there, and random bags of stuff labeled (helpfully) as "seafood." It was the most fantastic and horrifying thing I have seen in a while.

Well, I do believe that is enough rabbit chasing for the night. I'll be back soon...er than last time, anway.

You can take the girl out of the south...

"Do you remember hearing the word 'wampum'?"

"As in, I'm goin' to womp' um upside the head?"

"Um, no, not exactly."





(Just for the record, neither of these people is me.)

Hold the presses!

I am cat-sitting for a friend for a few days, and I packed for the night in quite a hurry. So this morning, I didn't have the following: toothbrush, clean socks, or makeup. You read the last part right - MAKEUP. None of it.

For the first time in my entire adult life (at least that I can remember), I am at work without a stitch of makeup on. No mascara, no powder, nada. It feels surprisingly the same; however I will be avoiding any mirrors and will be operating under the illusion that I look pretty much the same. Is it Wednesday yet?

This is getting way out of control

Okay, so I know I mentioned a little while ago that I started crocheting, and have yet to post any sort of photographic evidence to that effect. However, that does not mean that I haven't been making things. Lots of things. Some things are completed, some are mostly finished but lacking one last little touch for them to be totally done (i.e. those Christmas slippers I made for all of you guys...), some are just started, and others I just have big plans for. The list currently includes: slipper add-ons, two baby blankets, a wrap, a sweater, and a throw blanket. And that's only what I could think of off the top of my head.

In addition to the crocheting, I also am trying to learn how to knit. Sort of slow going in the very literal sense: crochet is much more instant gratification because it progresses really fast, and I'm realizing that I'm a very instant gratification kind of girl (reference any past shopping posts, if you doubt this!). So far I have about two squares of a scarf, and I haven't had any huge gaping holes in these squares, so at least that's progress from anything else I've tried to knit.

Then a friend gave me a lamp base (i.e. a lamp with no shade), and any sane person would just go buy a new shade. But me? I thought, "I will make a shade! With beads! Melted beads!" So I then began this process of melting beads in my oven in a muffin tin and then remelting the circles together to form a sheet that forms one side of a square lamp cover. I ran out of beads about halfway through, so I'll finish the rest of it later. It's going to be so awesome when it's done though, probably around this time next year, given my current rate of progress.

Most recently I was reading about people who make homemade soap, and as I am addicted to all things bath product, I am already thinking about jumping on that bandwagon. There may be an outside hook-up with this activity though, so I won't have to also do this in our kitchen. I'm hoping anyway.

But just imagine, if I actually become good at any of this stuff, many of you are going to be on the receiving end of some kick-ass presents!

Suggested New Slogans for DC

(via NPR)

"Visit your tax dollars!"
"Capital of crime!"
"The U.S. Capital: Contributing to global warming since the 1700's!"

Hola Paco. Que tal?

I just finished tutoring a Spanish student, and man is my brain fried right now. Couldn't even figure out how to do the upside question mark up there (don't judge me, okay...I KNOW it's wrong) which I swear I used to know how to do.

I would like to point your attention to one of my favorite websites to frequent: postsecret.blogspot.com. I know this is old news, and it was so the rage like a year ago or something, but I am drawn with tractor-beam force to the site every Sunday. The confessions are mesmerizing...sometimes disturbing, sometimes graphic, sometimes sort of foreign, but it's always worth the click.

I often muse as to what secrets I could send in. Some are bitter and hateful (and as such, will not be shared in this oh-so-not anonymous setting), others are proof that I am crazy. Most are just silly. For instance, I often catch myself deciding on what perfume I will choose for the day based on the perfume bottle's coordination with my outfit. Like the smell has a color? But I associate it with one, and as such would prefer everything to match. Maybe this is a crazy indicator as well as a silly thing. Anyhoo. There are others that I can't summon right this minute, but you get my point.

I love the silly non sequiturs into other people's brains. But then are those tidbits really all that irrelevant in the end? Is it possible that they reveal something really important that "deep" conversations don't even touch? Answer: I have no idea. But I like to let the thought roll around in my head a little.

And with that, bedtime.

Text message redux

This idea was blatantly stolen from another blogger, which I think should be taken as a compliment, because it's such a good one.

In no particular order...

"Don't ever make out with your son."

"Hiney. I hate the word hiney."

"Toothless man @ bus stop just smiled at me and said 'Hola.' I am so impressed and flattered. How very multicultural of him. Or not at all. Even a little bit."

"Whiney white boy music at tonight's concert. Bleh!"

"There's a woman at the bar w/ light-up shoes! Thought u'd appreciate that."

"I do what I can for my nation and its people."

"What Ninja Turtle am I?~ ~Raphael.~~Sweet."

"Damn you extreme home makeover for making me sit here crying like a baby"

"When you stand beside the ocean, i hope you feel small."

Good haircut = new lease on life (a saga, just so you're warned)

I had been annoyed with my hair for quite some time. I was growing it out...which seemed like a really good idea when I started. I looked back at photos of me in college, with long, pretty hair, and remembered all of the fun I had fixing it and being creative. And there were other justifications - wouldn't have to get my hair cut all the time, which is cheaper, and when I straighten it, I wouldn't have to wash it every day, which allows me to sleep more in the mornings.

However, there were some very fatal flaws in this logic. The most glaringly obvious one is that I do not have anywhere near as much free time as I did in college. Fifteen hours of class a week, punctuated by afternoon naps, girly trips to Sonic, doing a little bit of homework, and going to parties left me lots of extra time to do things like fix my hair (and my friends' hair) into elaborate up-do's and funky braids and such. Or just spend forever and a day straightening it. Nowadays I give myself one hour in the morning to get ready, and this includes everything from shower to breakfast to dressing and blowdrying my hair (for which I have allotted about 5 minutes). So lately I've felt like my curly hair was sticking out from my head in every direction but the ones that I would have preferred. And I was going through a LOT of this product, which is like gold for one's curly hair, and costs about the same. So I decided to take the plunge and pay someone to chop it all off.

Cue second part of the decision process, because I do not have any sort of an idea about hairstylists in DC. None of my girlfriends have curly hair (that resembles mine, anyway), and if I like someone's hair, it typically turns out that they pay $90+ to have it done. Which is all fine and good for them, but I just can't pay that and also buy groceries. And a good haircut, while valuable, is definitely not worth going hungry to me. So I went the nerd route and searched the internet for recommended beauty salons. I found one in the Washingtonian (which apparently has information on more things than restaurants - who knew?) that seemed reasonably priced and was close to my work.

It ended up being a great experience too. There are several factors that contribute to me enjoying a haircut: 1) The stylist not only LISTENS to what I have to say, he also tells me what he intends to do before he starts chopping; 2) He does not attempt to chat me up the whole time...there might be a little chit chat, but for the most part, he just does my hair and leaves me with my thoughts; 3) He does not give me layers that in any way resemble Carol Brady's hair or a mullet. All of these factors were present, and in day 2 (having worn the "do" both curly and straight) I am still a happy camper.

I know that few of you that read this actually live in DC, but if you're interested, the place was Subairi, I went to Daniel, and I ended up spending $52 for cut, blowdry, and tip. Worth every penny for the feeling of extra cuteness thanks to my new hair.

Strange things are afoot

Well, only one strange thing in particular. I have had a yahoo! account for a really long time (long in email world, anyway) - it's going on 8 years. I got it when I first moved to London, because we could only access our school email (my very first email address ever) through this weird little window thing that got on my nerves. It's definitely no longer my primary email address, but it's sort of comforting that it's still there...and eventually I will post pictures on my flickr account, and then it will actually be used. I check it every other day or so, just to clean out the spam and occasionally read an article from the NY Times emails that I still get there.

Then yesterday, I tried to log in, and was informed that my password was incorrect. Now, I had just gotten an email in another account (linked to that one) that a yahoo password was changed, but I just assumed it was junkmail as I hadn't changed anything. So then I tried to do the whole "I forgot my password" routine with the computer, but it kept telling me that the verification information I entered wasn't correct. Now, I did have to try about 6 different zip codes (I have moved a LOT in 8 years), but even then, had no luck.

Fast forward to this morning, where I received yet another email in the other account, informing me that my password was changed again, and then I got an email FROM MYSELF telling me the new password. It basically said "Hi Ellie. Here's your new password." I tried to log in and...it worked. I promptly changed all of the information back to my own (the zip code was definitely no place I have lived) and did all the security stuff I had been putting off for a while now. But how weird is that? As far as I can tell, they didn't send any messages to anyone. I keep looking at all of the different sites I visit that are associated with the email (amazon, flickr) but nothing seems to be affected. I had still already notified the Yahoo! people to explain the craziness.

So if you notice a spike in weird spam, maybe that's why they hacked my account. Or just really borrowed it for a while.

Happy Valentine's Day

Now, let me be upfront. This is not my favorite "holiday." It's not that I am sad or lonely because of it, but mostly because I think Valentine's Day is silly.* Silly in an oversaturation of diamond commercials and 1-800-flowers ads, how does one express one's love in relation to chocolate sort of way. I've mentioned this before, so I won't belabor the point.

But on the other hand, I am all for the food holidays. Christmas and Thanksgiving are of course included in these, as is Halloween (candy!) and Easter (my dad makes this killer chicken with walnut sauce...). I suppose St. Patty's is included, if you consider green beer a food, and don't forget 4th of July, which usually involves some sort of barbecue with lots of sides, at least in Texas. All this is to say, I enjoy eating, and eating for an occasion - well, I do enjoy theme parties too. So Valentine's Day: everything is either pink or red (love that) and there are many scrumptious treats everywhere you turn. For instance, I am going to a little get-together tonight, where there will be fondue (mmm...melted cheese to dip things in...) and other treats. I made red cupcakes with a creamy, fluffy icing. I'm sure there are many people planning to go out to fantastic restaurants for a romantic evening. So despite all of the hype and ugly heart-shaped jewelry running around, Valentine's has my approval for celebration (as if it needed, right? But I give it nonetheless).

So bon appetit, mes amis, and have a delicious Valentine's Day!

*In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I do not have a Valentine, so perhaps my views will change when one appears. Somehow I doubt it.

Brr...it's cold in here

So after all of these ridiculous people COMPLAINING that it was way too warm for wintertime, the winter arrived. To the tune of a negative 6 wind chill. I cannot cope with this people, I just can't. Heat, particularly heat that is dry and desert like and not humid, I can deal with. This cold thing is not fun at all.

I'm trying my very best to winterize my wardrobe, but currently own maybe 4 things with wool in them. Everything else is cotton! Who would buy a wool sweater when they live in Austin? Not me! And now I regret passing by those incredibly reduced sweaters on the sale racks (because no one else would buy them either)...just think how warm I could be had I only thought ahead.

Yesterday people were going to walk to a nearby neighborhood for lunch, and asked if I'd like to join. My response was something along the lines of: "Are you out of your mind? I brought my lunch and will be staying where it is warm, until I am forced to go into the cold to go home. I will not voluntarily leave for any reason. ANY reason." And then these well-intentioned but looney people attempted to explain to me that it was SO much warmer now than it had been the day before. Yes, because the day before was the -6 day, and yesterday the high was a balmy 25. So I'm supposed to do what now, break out my flip-flops and t-shirts?! It's still freezing. The snow is still not melting. The wind is still painfully cold. Call me when it's 75.

Come ON, People

Right before I left on my cruise, my aunt asked me if I had a passport. Of course, I replied. I have studied abroad. I would like to be prepared in the event that I A) need to leave the country in a hurry, or B) find some incredible, last minute travel deal that is too good to pass up. Neither of which have occurred as of yet, but one never knows.

Apparently with all of the DHS and TSA and other annoying acronym-using agencies trying to weed out the terrorists, they are cracking on people coming in from Mexico and Canada who, until yesterday, could come in with their birth certificates. And these are only the people who are flying - everyone coming by car or bus or boat (presuming they are coming legally, of course) can still use their birth certificate or driver's license. All the experts are worried about the impact it will have on tourism, because passports are apparently prohibitively expensive (mine was $60 a couple of years ago...and in light of all the 13 year olds I see with iPods, I somehow find the expense argument a little hard to swallow).

So all of this is mostly to say: SUCK IT UP AND GET A PASSPORT. I find it disgraceful that so few Americans have them (around 20%, based on the range of statistics I could find). Get off your lazy asses and pretend that you have some interest in other cultures. Or at least in cultures that allow you to have a fruity drink with an umbrella (and just so you know, if you add an "o" to the English word, i.e. a "seabreeze-o", that's not Spanish). It's much better to actually interact with people from other places, but honestly, if you will even make it to another country, even one that is so white-washed you might as well be in Disneyworld, I'll take it. You have to start somewhere, right?

Last Night Was Fun

Someone said this to me, in front of a big group of people:

"I understand what you're saying, but I get sort of nervous when you're telling me things, because I feel that while you're talking, it's like your hands are also telling me something really important that I'm missing. Like your friend is drowning in lake and needs help. And I don't know whatever sort of crazy sign language you're using, so I'm letting the friend drown. And then I also miss whatever it is you're telling me with actual words, because I'm really worried about your friend." Hysterical laughter ensued. I'm a hand-talker, no apologies for that :).

We had some really intense U2 discussions. If you want to endear yourself to me in a quick fashion, just be able to discuss random U2 trivia, or obscure songs that only hardcore fans would know, or similar. I mean, I won't rule you out as a friend if you don't know a thing about the band at all, but an abiding love for all things U2 at the beginning of our friendship will get you big bonus points.

On the drive home, I heard a favorite song on the radio, which I promptly cranked up and sang along to. It makes me want a blue-eyed boy so at least half of the lyrics will be true. If you catch that reference, are a blue-eyed boy, and like really talkative girls that gesture wildly when story telling*... um, call me?


*I choose to believe that someone will one day find it charming and not annoying. We shall see...

Oh, little blog, I have been woefully neglectful of you. Often (well, every now and then) I think, "I should write about this in my blog" but then that thought is always followed by another, "Meh. I don't feel like it." And here we are, the entire month of December passed by with nary an entry.

I mean, stuff DID happen in December. I went on a cruise, which was pretty cool. And no, I did not get a tan because some things are just against the laws of nature. I did buy some fun things, and ate a lot, and was so relaxed by the end that my whole body felt like one giant noodle. I also went to my parents' for Christmas, which was great, albeit crowded. I ate a lot (again) and did some crazy power yoga with my mom and Sarah (and Holly and anyone else the yoga-crazies could rope into it). And when it was time to come back to DC, I was feeling a little mopey at having to leave my family and sad because they live so far away...but then I got back and was driving down Rock Creek Parkway (best drive in DC) and it opens up onto the Potomac River right next to the Kennedy Center, and I thought it was also nice to be home here too. So recent stats: heart is 2/3 in Texas, 1/3 still in Virginia. I'm such a dork. If only I knew what I wanted to be when I grow up - that might make future planning REMARKABLY easier.

So anyway, Happy New Year to you all. Hope you smooched someone fantastic, or had some champagne, or at the very least played dominos and drank red wine with your family like I did. It was a rockin' good time (with no sarcasm at all! Really!).

Oh How We Shopped

It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and unlike some others, we had avoided any sort of shopping on Black Friday. I like to sleep, for one thing, and also, I don't really need anything electronic, and most of the deals seemed to be in that general neighborhood. Plus I like to sleep. But I still had this shopping bug, so Gina and I decided to try it out on Saturday, when there would still (hopefully) be some sales, and maybe fewer people. Our game plan was to try Ross out for some cheap work clothes, run by Kohl's to look at a potential present for her mom, and then hit the big mall. We barely made it out of Ross.

So lucky were we at the first stop that we easily spent our quota in that store. Probably more than the day's allotted shopping funds, if we're being honest. This is where I'll confess a little something: I really, really like a good deal. It is ridiculous to have such a sense of accomplishment from getting a good deal on something, whether it's shoes or DVDs or coats or whatever, but I still love it. But Gina, she loves shopping more than even me. So asking her to take me to stores is akin to asking the alcoholic to take you to the bar - you know exactly how it will end.

We really did get amazing deals: great winter coat, gorgeous shoes, presents for others, smokin' little black dress (that one's Gina's...she also got shoes and lots more), but still...walking out with our trashbag-like sacks of stuff was a little out of control. To reinforce our sense of accomplishment we went home and got out the calculator to add up how much we would have spent had we bought the items for a retail price (which I of course would NEVER do...I can count on one hand the things I have paid full price for) and lordy, we each saved like $300. Good times.

We also did well at Kohl's, and had to stop there, because the mall would have been just too much and I also have to eat and such. Can't spent ALL the grocery money on earrings.

It's Okay, TJ's, I Still Love You

Did you know that the time between 5-6 pm is cranky old lady hour at Trader Joe's? I, myself, did not know this fact until today. But I now I certainly do.

Normally I go early on Saturday or late on a weekday, but got out of work a wee bit earlier than usual, and I'm out of coffee (aka sweetnectar of morning caffeine) so I thought I'd drop by. How could I tell it was said Cranky Hour? Well:

-Apparently the lines were WAY too long. Unacceptably long. And anyone wearing a badge, including the checkers that were working very quickly to get everyone moving, got to hear all about it.
-The clementine oranges (which I bought, by the way) were marked from California, when EVERYONE knows that the best ones are from Morocco [dramatically put out sigh].
-Anyone caught dallying in a place that might slightly inconvenience someone (read: everywhere) got to hear about it with fake politeness: "Um, exCUSE me, THANK you."

The bitching was truly endless. Maybe these people didn't get the laid back memo about Trader Joe's - I mean everyone in the place is freakin' wearing an Hawaiian shirt. The whole reason I go to places like that is to ESCAPE from you uptight, repressed DC dames. Curse you all for invading my clearly designated, laid back, granola-type space.

In other words, lesson learned, and am vowing to keep to my original schedule without variance. And to thoroughly enjoy my Californian clementines :).

Alright, ladies

I was chatting with my mom over the weekend (yes, she came in from Texas for what amounted to the most gorgeous fall weekend ever in DC) about my new discovery in skin care. I am, as I have perhaps previously mentioned, extremely cheap about things. I mean, I can spend money when necessary, but there is nothing I love more than a good deal, whether it be a sweater on sale or gas that is 3 cents cheaper than the station across the road.

So I have recently discovered that oldie but goodie product: Pond's Cold Cream. I have unbearably dry skin, which is just awful in the wintertime, and this stuff is great for it. Plus, it costs a whopping $5 at Target, which is just too cool. It got me thinking: which things do I consider my "secret" deals, and which things do I consider worth the splurge? Here's my list:

Things that are cheap but great nonetheless:
Pond's Cold Cream
L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara (seriously, this stuff costs like $6 as well, and it is AWESOME. I have puny eyelashes and people consistently ask me if I have fake ones on when I sport this)
Lubriderm lotion (okay, this isn't as cheap as some of the others, but I have yet to find an all-purpose lotion that works as good as this stuff does)

Things that I like to spend a little extra on:
Face masks (and really anything) from Lush (the masks are great - homemade, and work wonders - although it could be a placebo effect because I love everything they make* but whatever works, right? - and you smell so very wonderful from even being in the vicinity of the store)
Shampoo, conditioner, and Be Curly from Aveda (keeping the curls in line is totally worth the extra dough, plus it also smells so lovely)

Of course I am listing these things in the hope that all of you will chime in with your fabulous deals and such, because I would LOVE to add to my list. So, dish!

*Because I discovered the store while studying in London - over a weekend in Scotland, to be exact - and Lush has always had a special place in my heart since, although it is so very less coveted now that there are actually stores in the U.S. Things are less of a premium when you don't have to fly across an ocean for them...

A New(ish) Hobby

It's all Joi's fault, really. She (and her many crafty friends) are always making cute things and posting photos on their websites, and it makes me want to make stuff. There's also this side of me that really wants to make things that are tangible and do not deal with Microsoft Office in any way, shape or form. So when I went to visit Joi this summer, she taught me some basics of crochet. And then I went and bought a book, and now, in November, there is yarn all over my freakin' apartment (with apologies to Gina, who is a very nice and understanding roommate).

All of this is to say that, if I can get my act in gear, I might from time to time, show you guys stuff I'm making. So now you are forewarned. Also, this has led to conversations with other people who also do things with yarn (i.e. knit and/or crochet...there's a difference! I'm learning something new all the time!), so notice a new link to the right, so you can go and ogle the pretty things Ava makes as well.

My favorite passage from Everything is Illuminated*

The 120 Marriages of Joseph and Sarah L

The young couple first married on August 5, 1744, when Joseph was eight, and Sarah six, and first ended their marriage six days later, when Joseph refused to believe, to Sarah's frustration, that the stars were silver nails in the sky, pinning up the black nightscape...They remarried four days later...They were sixty and fifty-eight at their last marriage, only three weeks before Sarah died of heart failure and Joseph drowned himself in the bath. Their marriage contract still hangs over the door of the house they on-and-off shared...

"It is with everlasting devotion that we, Joseph and Sarah L, reunite in the indestructible union of matrimony, promising love until death, with the understanding that the stars are silver nails in the sky, regardless of the existence of the bottom of the Brod...agreeing to forget that Joseph played sticks and balls with his friends when he promised he would help Sarah thread the needle for the quilt she was sewing, and that Sarah was supposed to give the quilt to Joseph, not his buddy...ignoring the simple fact that Joseph snores like a pig, and that Sarah is no great treat to sleep with either, letting slide certain tendencies of both parties to look too long at members of the opposite sex, not making a fuss over why Joseph is such a slob, leaving his clothes wherever he feels like taking them off...trying to erase the memory of a long since expired rose bush that a certain someone was supposed to remember to water when his wife was visiting family...
accepting the compromise of the way we have been, the way we are, and the way we will likely be..."

*Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer, 2002.

On the way to work this morning (at about 9:45 am), I heard this line from a comedian who will apparently be featured in a show in the area:

"You know what sucks about the whole 9 to 5 thing? The 9. Seriously, am I a farmer?!"

To Do List

My friend Anne has inspired me: she has a goal to see all 50 U.S. states by the time she's 30. Really I don't care about an age deadline, but it would cool to check them all off. As of now, I have 21 to go:

1. Nevada
2. Oregon
3. Arizona
4. Massachusetts
5. Connecticut
6. New Hampshire
7. Vermont
8. Maine
9. Rhode Island
10. Kentucky
11. Ohio
12. Indiana
13. Illinois
14. Michigan
15. Wisconsin
16. Minnesota
17. Iowa
18. South Dakota
19. North Dakota
20. Alaska
21. Hawaii

Now, I don't define having been to a state too narrowly, except that a layover in an airport does not count. Driving through a state, however, does count. Not that that will help me much with Hawaii.

What are your random goals?

My life is spinning wildly out of control

I just realized that I'm going to be out of town for the third weekend in a row, and the thought made me want to break down and cry at my desk from despair. I doesn't help that I'm running on about 5 hours of sleep, because there's this long story about my flight being delayed from Seattle and having to spend the night in St. Louis with no luggage, and then to have my luggage arrive at 4 am this morning (via a courier who called my cell phone in the freakin' middle of the night to let me know he was downstairs), and then I couldn't really go back to sleep, and I have really bad sinus headache. And a lot of my stuff is still in boxes and our bathroom smells really funky and there's just NO TIME to deal with it all.

But then I realized that I don't have to work on Monday, and that thought made me so happy I considered tap dancing on my desk.

I'm feeling the strain of the emotional roller coaster - as I haven't felt it since, oh, we'll guess the age of 14.

Something you should know about me

I take immense pleasure in using a thread ripper to tear off obnoxious little bows that always appear on random clothing, particularly pajamas.

Also, I had pomegranates for dinner.

Things at Work that Make me Laugh

My boss keeps lots of really high quality candy in her office for people to eat. People that come by to eat this candy often feel the need to rationalize their snacking to me: "I swear this is my last trip!"..."I only took one this time!"..."It's just to tide me over to lunch!" As though I am on chocolate consumption detail.

There's a guy at my office who A) is loud, and B) loves speakerphone. LOVES speakerphone. And he likes to bellow on speakerphone to his assistant, who sits quite close to me and who I can also hear when she talks on the phone. The result of all this is surround-sound phone conversations, generally about minor details of our job. But it's coming at me from every direction! There is no escape!

The way that we throw stereotypes about international types out with no shame whatsoever. You're probably thinking that it's a horrible thing to laugh at...but really, we have stereotypes for a reason, people. They started somewhere based on the way certain groups act. For instance (related to my job, anyway): Asians=very particular about details, Middle Easterners=very demanding and likely to treat you as their personal secretary/slave, Latin Americans=loud and fun, Eastern Europeans=sometimes surly (especially government workers) and like to drink a lot, particularly vodka. Now these of course do not apply across the board, and I have worked with very lovely people from each of these places. But I find it funny that someone will gripe about a project they're working on, and we always ask where the people are from. "Russia." "Ohhhh."

THE RETURN

...of Guest Post Through Paraphrase!

Seriously though, my friends have all of these funny ideas and stories. But in the end it's always, "Hey, you should put this on your blog!" So here we go:

My friend (let me emphasize, my FRIEND, not me...you'll see why in a minute) has this friend that she's known since they were preschoolers in Sunday School. And because they are sort of trapped in a small town with few cool people to hang out with, they have been spending some time together at parties and such - I think she dog-sat for his parents while they were out of town too - little stuff like that.

So the other night following a margarita-themed birthday party, they were hanging out and visiting. He was telling some story about giving blood, and my friend is pretty grossed out by normal needles, much less big huge needles to funnel blood out of one's arm. So she was squirming and cringing and pleading for the story to be over, and he reached over and grabbed her hand. At this point, you could imagine it was a comforting, friendly hand grab, meant to reassure her that life would go on once the needle story was over. But then the topic changed to lighter things, and he kept holding her hand. And as my friend would tell you, she is quite the hand-talker - there is much waving and gesturing and such - so at points she would break free, but when she was done, he would grab her hand again. She was puzzled by all of this, and finally said to him, "Hey, it's kind of funny how you grabbed my hand to comfort me, but then you just kept right on holding it." In other words, "Look, dude, what exactly are you trying to do here?" And he sort of mumbled this, "yeah well, I just wanted to hold it...mmph...er...yeah" and continued to hold her hand.

Now this guy is a little on the goofy, artsy, emotionally-connected side of things, so the initial hand-hold could be overlooked...but the continuation? So strange. Finally she got up to leave, taking her hand with her. And that was the end of the hand-holding. But not the end of the puzzlement. What exactly was he going for there? Was he going to put on some moves? Was he just seeking the comfort of another hand? We may never know.

So I'm back from this long, rather unintended hiatus, to bring you all a list of what pretty much boils down to selfishness. In other words, things that I have found strange, and I wanted to share. If you participate in any of the following, this is your clue to never let me know, unless you want to be mocked:

-Couple profiles/email addresses: Seriously people, are you so much into the identity of being with someone, in a couple, proving that you do have a significant other, etc. that the idea of having something still all by yourself is too much to bear? I think the jimandalicesmith@hotmail.com-types are about the dorkiest thing ever. Ditto with any sort of profile, especially on places like myspace or friendster. The whole point is for it to be JUST YOU, not the both of you.*

-The other day, there was a big rainstorm here. I was taking the bus home, and of course didn't have an umbrella. I made it, damply, under the bus stop, to then fight for space with a women who had her umbrella open. Under the bus stop. Where there was no rain. She stood like that for 20 minutes, waiting for the bus, dripping on those around her. I know you might wonder that I didn't say something (and believe me, I thought about it) but then I was really curious to see if she would ever clue in. She didn't. So I took a picture of her, for mocking purposes:















If you know this woman (not that you could probably tell from the picture), please tactfully explain to her why this is ridiculous, okay?

-I'm currently cat-sitting for two very nice guy cats, Sterling and D'Artagnan. Their owners about as granola as it gets though - they even buy holistic cat food and organic kitty tuna. I think they might actually spend more on their cats than I spend on myself. I'm all for eating healthy, but these cats also regularly eat mice and birds, which they probably find hanging out near the trash cans in the back alley.

*This does not include, however, blogs that are shared amongst two or more contributors. In my world, that is more of a forum, and not at all the same thing.

Gastronomy: the art of living well

Ebony came to visit me these last few days, making it a nice, long food-rich weekend. We ate our way all through DC, North Arlington and even West Virginia. Ebony and I share a very important philosophy about vacationing: eating well makes every trip better.

Ahhh...

So let's review the goodness:

Dim Sum in Chinatown (enough said)
Wine festival, with acres and acres of vineyards backing up to the Blue Ridge mountains, and ten different wines to try
Ben's Chili Bowl: DC landmark that completely lives up to its reputation for the best chili half-smokes in the land
The brunchiest of brunch places in DC, with books to peruse beforehand, and pancakes and eggs benedict during the brunch hour...

...and the crowning jewel in our gastronomic adventures:
Lebanese Taverna (oh sweet wonderful essence of all things yummy...this was a GOOD meal): involving spicy stuffed baby eggplant, hommous with pine nuts, chicken shwarma, kibbeh yoghurtlieh, and Lebanese chilled white wine, served al fresco in the gorgeous summer air

Seriously, food does make all trips better. Served up with great company and some cooperative weather, and I didn't even need to leave home to have a vacation.

In seeing the new Superman movie, I have developed a little bit of a crush. It's not on Superman himself, although he is certainly worthy of a crush, but it's on a rather unlikely person. John Williams, to be exact. One of the most thrilling parts of the whole movie - the part where I decided I already loved it - was when the "Superman" theme began to play with the opening credits. The music is so amazing! And Mr. Talented Composer didn't just do this, no no no, he has done so many more: ET! Star Wars! Schindler's List! Raider's of the Lost Ark! Harry Potter! The list could go on and on.

I've noticed a trend lately (with myself) that inclines more and more to instrumental and/or classical music. It's really the background music to my childhood - if you dropped into my parents' house right this moment, they would have on the classical music station or a similar CD (assuming they're home, of course). And then there were 14 years of ballet lessons, all performed to classical music. This also has an interesting side-effect, in that I can hear Chopin or Grieg, and immediately my muscles want to launch into a barre routine. Frappes! Degages! Musical memory is a strange thing indeed.

Don't get me wrong: I still love my rock'n'roll and all the others, but there's something so soothing about music that is purely instrumental. You don't have pay attention to or be distracted by the words, because there aren't any.* It leads me to one of my favorite quotes, which I collect for moments such as this: "It is only that which cannot be expressed otherwise that is worth expressing in music." (Frederick Delius). Beautiful.

*I sort of lop opera music into this category as well, because there are words, but I can't understand them.

Things That Rock

Tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad (with hearts of palm)
Superman Returns
Tank tops
Oscillating fans
Plans to see a matinee on a Tuesday
No more rain
Federal holidays

Regarding the Warren Buffet big donation story:

His children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth. These actions are consistent with statements he has made in the past indicating his opposition to the transfer of great fortunes from one generation to the next. Buffet once commented, "I want to give my kids enough so that they could feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."

How wrong is it that I sincerely hope that this makes the Paris Hilton-types of the world wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night?

Fun new twist on an old, old forward-type thing

So I saw this on Danielle's and Babs's blogs, and loved it and decided to play along.

I know you're all disappointed that this isn't about my time in Huntsville, Alabama and Space Camp and all, but oh my dear lord there are photos to post so very soon...and they can be summed up in two words: taxidermy convention.

But back to the forward-thing:

Google your answers to the questions/topics and choose a picture from the first page and post it.*

Where I was born:
Where I live now:
My name:
My favorite food:

My favorite drink:
My favorite superhero:

My favorite smell:
My favorite TV show:
My favorite sport:

My pet's name:

My favorite color:
My favorite holiday:

My favorite vacation:

*Although I would like to add that I didn't exactly do this so much as run a Google image search and picked the one on the first row that I liked. I had good intentions, but it didn't really go very quickly and it was either search for images or scrap the idea entirely...

I often have random associations with songs. And I just got a new mp3 player in the mail yesterday - it holds LOTS more songs than my former one (which was stolen off my desk, or I would still have...as discussed with the phone situation, I am too cheap to upgrade voluntarily). So with all of the music on it, I'm on a very bizarre walk down memory lane.

For instance: "Shake Ya Ass" by Mystikal. This song was huge my junior year of college. And because I have so much space on this thing, I sort of threw whatever on there. This song makes me think of Ebony's mom. She LOVED this song. I think the exact quote was "He sounds like James Brown!" I just think it's awesome that this dirty rap song makes me think of a little Hispanic woman in Austin.

Another one, not up on the shuffle deck just yet but the Mystikal song makes me think of it, is "Up in Here" by DMX. It makes me think of Joi's dad, because apparently he used the phrase "Y'all goin' make me act a fool" in his everyday life, prior to the song coming out. I totally love that.

Some more:
"Mundian to Bach Ke" (Panjabi MC) = African-ish bar in France and Cuba Libres
"2 Times" (Ann Lee) = drunk guy friends singing falsetto in a London flat
"Lady Marmalade" (the Moulin Rouge version) = blow-up plastic microphones and Babs, Eb, and me dancing in our campus apartment.

Tell me yours!

Train!

While I was at home for my sister's graduation, I learned something very interesting. My grandmother, like my sister, was the valedictorian of her class. We were chatting, and I asked her about the content of her speech. She told me she couldn't remember, but it was also a pretty sad time, because her grandfather had just died in an accident two days before the graduation.

I asked her how he died. Her reply was something along the lines of, "Well, he had some chickens. And there was this grass he liked to feed the chickens that grew along the railroad tracks. Now, he was about 90 years old and was pretty deaf, so I guess a train came along and he didn't hear it coming. So he died because he got hit by a train."

This was startling to me for a number of reasons. First of all, I was pretty sure my mother had NEVER heard this story, and as such had no idea how her great-grandfather had gone to meet his Maker. Turns out I was right - she was also pretty startled. Then there's the weirdness around the mere concept of my great-great-grandfather being hit by a train. And finally, holy crap I have an ancestor who lived to be 90 in freakin' 1935!! I might actually live forever, barring any run-ins with transportation services.

So then it gets stranger. Apparently on my dad's side, his father lost not one but two grandparents to a train accident. His grandparents were driving along (do you still say "driving" if it's in a buggy with a horse? I suppose so, as I can't imagine what else you'd say) and they apparently stopped on or very near to a railroad crossing. Again, they are both hard of hearing (I believe Grandaddy's exact phrase was "deaf as posts") and a train came along. So they both died. If you're wondering, no one seems to know what happened to the horse.

I would say I would try to avoid trains now if possible, but frankly that's just not going to happen around here. I will, however, be getting my hearing checked at my next doctor's appointment. Just in case.

Awesome

(Scene: Rachel is sitting at the front desk filling in for the receptionist. A large group of Afghan visitors arrives at the office).

R: Hello!

Tall Man in Turban: Thank you!

R: (pause)...Hi!

TMIT: THANK YOU!!

R: Er, you're welcome?

It's SO embarassing...

Actually, it's not all that embarassing, but I don't think I realized this side effect when signing up for a blog last year: all the entries are still here! Granted, not everyone knows what they're referring to exactly or what I was feeling at the time, and as much as I have attempted to make this as non-diary as possible, dramatic writings and such have still snuck their way in. So I won't go back and edit things (because those sorts of revisions seem like cheating), but I would like to clarify:

The sappy paragraph I wrote about my Turkish visitors? They were a total pain in my ass the ENTIRE THREE WEEKS they were in the U.S. The problem of abuse=still awful. My tolerance for Turkish women=very low.

#2 makes me sound very self-righteous, especially since I reactivated that bad boy this afternoon.

I still use smileys like ALL the freakin' time.

I was not specific enough here. Random straight boys are often not all that better, and sometimes WAY creepier.

I seriously regret any rhapsodizing I did about certain music and/or concerts...not that I don't still feel the same way, but my writing skills are apparently not advanced enough and they all came off as though I am fifteen. Which I am not. Ditto for anything about London or Paris.

There, I feel better now. If only I had this option for the adolescent years of my life.

The games we play

Work here can be a little slow sometimes. Other times it's super-busy, but there's always the off-hour or two (or day or two) when not a whole lot is going on. Fortunately the people in the cubicles surrounding me are very creative:

The Spam Emails:
Literally: Spam. So you know when you go into the "Spam" folder in your gmail account? Usually there is a recipe that ranges from icky to totally vile. We like to email these to each other. Some examples:
Spam Vegetable Strudel - Bake 20 minutes or until golden, serve with soy sauce ("is it Chinese or German? Who can tell?")
Spam Confetti Pasta - Spoon SPAM mixture over pasta ("this is SO not kosher")

And my favorites by far...
The Pictionary Emails:
There really are no words to describe this one, but I will try. We didn't have internet for a day and a half last December, which is already a slow month anyway. So our solution was an extended game of Paint pictionary. Some samples (with answers...):

(Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)




(Kermit the Frog, performing "It's Not Easy Being Green")

(And the best one: Saved by the Bell, Hawaiian Style)

Never doubt the places a college degree will take you.

Reasons I haven't really been updating at all

1. Gina keeps getting "Alias" dvds from Netflix, and I am a wee bit obsessed.

2. I might be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from an incident that involved stabbing my big toe with a salad fork.

3. I had to bake a lot of small cute dessert-like things for a bridal shower over the weekend. And I had to find all my summer tank tops to take to Texas so I don't die of heat stroke.

4. I'm working on my secret plot to take down UPS...they have messed with me for the LAST TIME. I'll show THEM "not a working address."

5. I got this really badass t-shirt that I have been wanting for just about forever, and I'm spending all my free time trying to figure out how to post a picture of it for you all to admire!

Technology is ruining my life

Well, that's not exactly it...it's more like, I am so reliant on technology, that when it's taken away from me, I get really annoyed. Like last night, we encrypted the wireless network in our house, and it now won't let me log on, even though my roommates can. Grrr. And in addition to that, I got my new cell phone in the mail (yay!) but couldn't activate it because my stupid internet wasn't working.

But onto the new cell phone - expect flickr pictures soon, because I have a camera phone! I know I'm like the second to last person in the U.S. to get one, but my love of gadgets is overruled by my cheap nature, and I was not getting a new phone until my cell phone company gave it to me for free with a new contract. I still have really no idea how to load things from the phone to flickr and then from flickr to here, but I think the possibilities of doing so are quite cool. And I'll be working on that.

I wonder what my first picture post will be? Oh the pressure...

On the radio

As I'm listening to the news on the way into work, the announcer is promoting an upcoming show.

"It turns out that people who eat less calories actually live substantially longer."

Snippet from Dr. Expert: "Yes, but the problem is that you're hungry all of the time. So really the result isn't necessarily that you're living longer, but maybe that it just FEELS a lot longer."

A real, less funny, answer

About a year ago, I kept getting all of this German spam in my work email box. The title that intrigued me the most was the one I chose as my subject.

Turns out, it's a real title of an article, published here in Der Spiegel (in English, of course). It's a sad story, and ultimately now related to me, as we just hosted four Turkish women determined to stop honor killings in their country. It is hard for me to fathom how such things could still occur.

Mostly I'm just feeling very fortunate right now.

Promise to return to happy postings soon.

When I was mentally composing this post, I had three things I wanted to talk about. But now I can only remember two. I think this is very indicative of my long travel day yesterday.

Speaking of which, there was this guy on the second leg of my flight. And it was a little windy and bumpy during the flight, especially at take-off and landing times. Poor guy was not taking it well. He started stream-of-consciousness talking to me, the total stranger to his right to whom he had not introduced himself, about all sorts of stuff. Particularly his anti-anxiety medication that he forgot to take. The bumpiness made me feel a bit queasy, so I didn't mind the conversation (if you could call it that, monologue with interjected "oh's" and "rights" from me is really more appropriate) because it took my mind off my own troubles. But let me tell you, it's a good thing I don't have any flying-related phobias, because on the way down he chose to cope by telling me flying horror stories. The one where the plane crashed in Charlotte because of a sudden wind gust when it was taking off (he wasn't on that plane, but lives in Charlotte). The one where the plane had to take off at the foot of a mountain in St. Martin's and was flying up at an 80 degree angle (he was on that plane). The one where the plane hit a huge air pocket over the Pacific Ocean and dropped 1800 feet, sending those not buckled in knocking into the roof (that one too). So understandably he was a little paranoid about flying, but I don't really see how recounting scary plane times helped. If we had a big lurch he would have to pause (while white-knuckling the tray table) to regain his composure. I guess I just find the whole story interesting because I didn't talk at all, he just talked to me, and I can't decide if it's something nice, like I have a sympathetic face, or less nice and I was the body that happened to be next to him.

Also, on an unrelated note, does anyone have any good book recommendations? Now, when I mean good, I do not mean anything written by this or this person, for instance. It is important that we delineate between "entertaining" and "good." The last really good novel I read (that I can remember, anyway) was The Kite Runner. I've also read some good memoirs, Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Bookseller of Kabul, so a memoir would work too. My brain has been feeling a bit like mush lately, and I'm not okay with that. Any thoughts are much appreciated. Gracias, merci, and thanks y'all.

For your reading pleasure

I'm am SO going out of town this afternoon. I'm beyond excited (not to mention ready) to do so.

Blogging is unlikely, so I will leave you with links to two of perhaps my favorite related posts I have found on the internet.

Mighty Girl and Harry Potter
Defective Yeti and Harry and other

You should also check out this.

And this. (Seriously, this guy is hilarious).

Hope all these keep you satisfied for a bit. Toodles!

irony

I have applied to a lot of random jobs. Some, I would have given my eye-teeth to just be asked back for an in-person interview (I am great in person, over the phone not so much I think). Others were sort of in the "why not" category - I was either over or under-qualified for them, they don't really relate to my skills set, etc. But usually they were related in some way to international development work, which is what I think I want to do when I grow up.

So today I get a call-back for a job I applied for in November (!) and it's with some policy council that deals with agriculture and international trade. Even I can't figure why they want to interview me for this...I have NO experience whatsoever with either agriculture or international trade. The closest I think I have come to agricultural experience is the cows that would graze on our back acre at my parents' old house. That, and the occasional hayride at Halloween. Maybe they think all Texans are farmers. Whatever.

But I'm wondering, why a call-back for THIS position?! There have been some places that look SO great, that I was SO VERY qualified for the position. Now I can't even find the original job description for this one anywhere, so I don't even really know what I'm interviewing for anymore. I'm still going, because primarily I think any interviewing practice is good for me, and also because I know so very little about what I have in fact applied for, that it could very well turn out to be something interesting. As interesting as international agricultural policies can be, anyway.

Sigh.

Come On! Feel the Illinoise!

Okay, so I'm a little mad at all of you. Why didn't anybody tell me that Sufjan Stevens was going to rock my freakin' socks off??!! Seriously people, when I think of the hours I've wasted listening to lesser music, I get a little depressed.

Yet I only need to crank up "Chicago" and hear the opening notes and I am happy again. And then I perhaps set the repeat and listen to it over and over again for a couple of hours.

My first meme-thing...does this make me one of the cool kids?

Four Jobs I’ve Had:
-coffee barista...twice
-summer nanny for 4 kids (which fits in nicely with this theme, no?)
-receptionist in posh British hotel
-substitute teacher

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
-Amelie
-Garden State
-Zoolander
-When Harry Met Sally

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
-Scrubs
-Grey's Anatomy
-Er...I guess Desperate Housewives
-Oprah (but only certain shows)

Four Places I’ve Been on Vacation:
-Yellowstone
-Florence
-Estes Park
-Monaco/St. Jean Cap Ferrat

Four Favorite Dishes:
(these are the first four that came to mind, not a definitive list!!)
-creme brulee
-fried chicken
-fatteh blahmeh (sounds weird, tastes like Lebanese heaven)
-queso and chips

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
-daily mumps
-hotmail (compulsively...)
-que sera sera (always optimistic for an update)
-Washington Post games (sudoku, anyone?)

Four Places I’d Rather Be:
-napping on the hammock in my parents' screened-in porch
-sunning on a beach (any beach) with a good book
-skiing in Colorado
-drinking a margarita in Austin

Four Others I’d Like to Tag:
(I SO do not know enough bloggers for this...)
-Joi (who could use a break from lawyering)
-E (which, if she does it, I will post in her absence of a blog. But really, start a blog already, E!)
-Sarah (ditto)
-Holly

Yesterday, also known as "Polygamy Day"

Seriously, I had like four conversations or instances with random people yesterday about polygamy. It began at lunch. Granted, I was at lunch with representatives from five francophone African countries (Niger, Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo, and Chad, to be exact) and they asked me about marriage in the U.S. Whether or not we can get married wherever and by whomever we want. The concept of getting married in a garden or on the beach was really weird to them. They also wanted to know if men could be married to more than one woman at a time. Not legally, I said, at least that I know of. Actually (and I didn't say this) most of us find it a bit creepy to tell you the truth.

But then they started talking about the tribal societies in their countries. And how women have very few rights if they are unmarried, and how illegitimate children in their countries have no rights at all, even as adults. So in some ways, because there are other greater issues in the society, polygamous marriage is a bit of quick fix. I still am unclear how this works because it seems to me like there would always be a shortfall of women to go around for all of the men if each guy gets two or three wives.

So then last night I was flipping channels and saw a special on "Inside Polygamy" on A&E. So I thought, why not? And it was exactly what I thought it would be: women with long, bad eighties hair and long dresses, passels of kiddos trailing behind them, all talking about how great their common husband was. I think the whole system is complete crap, and I can't even believe that it still happens. But part of me feels really sorry for them, because even if I haven't personally experienced marriage, I least know that they are being cheated out of something, forced to share their family with other women.

But then, this only seems true when love is a factor. C, who used to work with me and as such was fairly heavily featured in other posts, also lived in Mali, and once told me that if she was in an arranged marriage, she would prefer that the guy also had other wives. That way, at least you would have friends. And you wouldn't have to deal with the husband all the time. The whole thing is a bit weird to think about, if you ask me, yet for some reason it keeps coming up in conversations. So I'm thinking about it. The concept that is, not becoming someone's third wife.

You go, Sarah Brown

Here’s the thing: as much as guys like to whine about how “girls only like assholes,” 99% of the guys making this complaint only like crazy chicks.

This is exactly what the other Sarah and I have thought for YEARS. We didn't phrase it quite this well, though.

Some Things of Which I Am Inordinately Proud

(in no particular order)

1. I have managed to floss and rinse with Listerine (in addition to brushing) almost every day for about a month now.

2. I intend to delete my facebook account.

3. I parked right next to the elevator in the parking garage this morning, where this other guy who drives a fancy sports car usually parks. Hey, it's not like we have assigned spaces anyway.

4. I can speak three words in Arabic, taught to me by some of the nicest men I have ever met - they were from Syria.

5. I consider myself to have a fairly good grasp on most goings-on in international affairs.

6. I got up before 7:30 this morning.

7. I went to both Target and Bed Bath and Beyond this weekend, and didn't buy anything frivolous.

8. I cooked dinner last night (with lots of leftovers), even though I wasn't really hungry, because I knew that I wouldn't have time to cook tonight or tomorrow night, and didn't want to waste money on eating out.

9. My friend brought me coffee from Jamaica, and I'm giving half of it to my mom for her birthday. Not only am I giving her really fancy coffee (which she will love) but I am ahead on the birthday shopping by more than two weeks!

10. Considering all of the things I always intend to bring to work with me each day, I don't think I forgot anything today.