...clever titles...

good bye ad

2006-02-11T21:11:00.000-05:00

I'll really miss arrested development. *tear*

That's me and my roommates being sad about the lack of future AD in our Arrested Development themed clothing.

(p.s. I know I haven't updated in like 4 months and I suck)

50k

2005-10-28T00:04:00.000-04:00

Okay, so this actually happened like 3 weeks ago...

My little ol' jetta (I never did give her a name, I tried Moritz for a bit but I decided the Jetta is a lady), hit the 50K mark. I know its no 100K but it was worth a picture with my camera phone.

Super Mega!!

2005-09-27T00:26:00.000-04:00

Whew. I spent most of the summer and the beginning of the fall writing/preparing for my A-Exams. Once they were done we decided to have a long-awaited party at my house. Somehow Taryn & I came up with the name "Super-Mega Party" and it stuck.

I would have posted these pictures earlier, except my camera fell in the toilet and was toast. I had to wait to order a new camera to transfer them to my computer. I am pissed about the camera, by the way, but other than that the party was super mega fun.

Here is the super-mega liquor we had. We inherited a lot of it from Matt when he left town.

There was a lot of random liquor in there, like some sort of Israeli Coffee liqueur. There were also a lot of people named "Sarah" at the party (including myself). Because I am a dork I said at one point "Sarah is the modal name here." That went over about as well as the joke I made this weekend when I was helping Tri Delta with rush and I said "Yeah she's not normal. She's like 3 standard deviations from the mean." In any case, because there were so many Sarahs, we decided to do a "Sarah Shot."

There were actually multiple Sarah Shots. I think the Sarah Shots are what did me in the next day.

I'd like to say that the reason I am pretending to touch Zoe's boobs is that she is so tall and her boob was just in my face. But actually, I have a thing for pretending to touch my roommate's boobs in photos.

Taryn isn't tall so I have no excuse.

princi-pal

2005-09-09T23:38:00.000-04:00

Sometimes we can be pretty starved for excitement here in Ithaca. But occassionally minor excitements come our way. The other night I was at a bar with some friends when we noticed none other than Dennis Haskins, better known as Saved By The Bell's Mr. Belding at the bar. He joined our table and had drinks with us. We were all quite excited about having drinks with a "celebrity."

Here's a shot of my friends Heather and Daphna with Mr. Belding. Daphna was REALLY excited to see him

As you can see, he's gained some weight. Here's my roommate Taryn with him.

Taryn was also pretty excited. The entire bar was pretty excited about the Saved by the Bell experience. Some of my friends wondered if maybe Dennis was annoyed by being asked repetedly to take pictures. I think he loved it, I mean, c'mon he decided to come to a bar in college town. You could tell he was eating it up. When your celebrity goes as far as a crappy series of Saturday Morning pre-teen comedy shows (though the college years may have been on Prime Time, I can't remember now), its nice to be noticed I'm sure.

baby k

2005-09-04T13:33:00.000-04:00

Seriously, I have the cutest niece ever. I've been restraining posting tons of pictures of her up here since nobody wants to see a whole bunch of pictures of babies and what not. But I think this one deserves to be posted.

free stuff

2005-08-20T22:39:00.000-04:00

First, sorry about the nearly 3-week lapse in posting. I was really trying to update more regularly. However, I'm in the midst of a super-busy period, and I took a trip to the Midwest last week.

When I got back from my trip I had an exciting piece of mail. As I have previously posted I had an unpleasant trip flying United Airlines a few months ago. Since one of my hobbies and interests (according to my friendster profile at least) is "emailing companies whose products and services I am dissatisfied with" I wrote United a letter explaining my dissatisfaction. I actually didn't expect anything to come of it. However, my exciting piece of mail was a $150 United discount certificate good whenever (no blackout dates!) How exciting!

So far, I have received the following from writing companies:
*2 $1 coupons on blowpops (The apple blowpops in my bag of blowpops had no flavor)
*1 Free item from Taco Bell (They didn't put my soft taco in my bag)
*1 12-pack Wegman's brand diet Wedge + 1 2-Liter any Wegman's pop (there was an empty can in my 12-pack)
*1 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts (I got the wrong donut)
*2 Free Starbucks beverages (The cafe mocha I ordered at a hotel bar serving Starbucks was a late + Swiss Miss)
*$10 Friendly's Gift Card (Overall poor service)
*$150 United Travel Coupon

i'm not good at doing stuff

2005-08-01T22:38:00.000-04:00

I said that a couple of days ago and my roommate's boyfriend made fun of me. But its true. I'm good at thinkin about stuff, and writin stuff, but doin stuff, not so much. Two recent cases in point:

1. I got my new CDs and tried to do that CD trick to easily remove the adhesive label off the top of the jewel case where you pop the cover off. Yaeka walked me through this trick when I was in Seattle. I was not successful. I just broke the jewell case.

2. I had a collage frame to fill for over my TV. The pictures are 3.5 x 5, but I have 4 X 6 pics so I had to some cutting. Even though I traced the space onto the picture and cut on the traced line I somehow cut the pictures about a half in too short. I actually had to tape them back together so they wouldn't look retarded.

Seriously, I'm not good at doin' stuff.

listen

2005-08-01T22:35:00.000-04:00

So I know that like 99.9% of the time the people who are reading this blog are Yaeka & PhiLL, but just in case someone else happens to be here, I'd like to highly recommend checking out the Phill(er) Podcast. I really haven't jumped on the whole podcast bandwagon overall, but I do enjoy Phill's podcast and if you have similar tastes in music as I do (as can be evidenced by my CD collection link below) then I think you might like it too.

random news notes

2005-07-26T23:33:00.000-04:00

Arrested Development Season 3 premiers on Sept 19. Season 2 will begin airing Fridays starting this week on Fox. This Friday the first 4 episodes from Season 2 will air. I HIGHLY recommend watching these episodes and definitely watch Season 3's series premier.

John Vanderslice will be releasing his fifth full-length album, Pixel Revolt on August 23 on Barsuk Records. Notice that although I have his other 4 albums he is not on my list of do not buy for awhile. I *heart* him.

Nada Surf will be releasing The Weight is the Gift on September 13 on Barsuk records.

Cedar Point (America's Roller Coast!) has changed their policy on loose articles. All items must fit in cargo pockets or fanny packs. Since nobody actually uses fanny packs anymore, that pretty much means all loose articles must fit in cargo pockets. Keep that in mind if you are heading there. Hopefully I will be in a couple of weeks.

That's all the random information I have to share with the world right now.

cd list

2005-07-26T23:16:00.000-04:00

Last night in a fit of not feeling productive, I decided rather than do the pile of readings I desperately need to do, that I would make a list of my CDs. The list really serves no purpose whatsoever, though I guess if all my CDs were stolen I would have a record of it. Although I don't have renters insurance (which I know I really should) so I'm not sure what the record will serve me other than the fond memories of the CDs I once had. Though, they are all in my iTunes playlist so I still will have my fond memories (and songs). So pretty much making this list was just a complete act of procrastination.

I'm not going to post the list all here, since its long (well not super long, not like 1000 CDs or anything, but too long for a post) but if you happen to be remotely interested in my CD collection you can see it here.

Looking at my collection in a list form like this made me realize that I think I don't need anymore Death Cab For Cutie, Damien Jurado, Elliot Smith, Radiohead, or Pedro the Lion for awhile. I think I'll make sure that my next 10 CD purchases or so are different bands. (I also don't need anymore Nerf Herder or Weezer, but I had no intention of buying them anyways).

Yeah, this is just a lot of pointless procrastination.

Note The link was broken before. Its fixed now.

ad season 2

2005-07-25T12:04:00.000-04:00

Arrested Development Season 2 DVD will be released October 11. You can preorder it already on Amazon.com. I haven't preordered it JUST yet, but I'm sure I will soon.

cd purchases

2005-07-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

So apparently I didn't win the amazon.com wishlist sweepstakes. Damn...I was really hoping to get $5000 worth of CDs. I also didn't with the $170 million Mega-Millions jackpot on Friday. That was a disappointment because as usual, when I play the lottery, I had big plans for that money. Among them to buy all the CDs (and everything else) on my amazon.com wishlist. I was also going to give a lot to charity.

Even though I didn't win the big bucks, I did decide to make some recent CD purchases. The impetus for my CD buying were the 3 CDs (The Minders Hooray for Tuesday, Decemberists Picaresque and Nick Drake Bryter Layter) I bought in Seattle. I have all my CDs organized in CD binders, and adding these CDs into my collection will be quite the reorganization project. I decided to buy more CDs now, so I wouldn't have to reorganize until I get some CDs for Christmas. So no more CD shopping for me. My purchases:

Heartless Bastards - Stairs and Elevators

This was a "diversifying my CD collection" purchase. The Heartless Bastards have been heavily played on my Yahoo LaunchCast customized station and I have really dug every song. They have the kind of sound that you "dig" rather than "enjoy." Even still, I usually don't buy CDs without downloading some of the songs and putting them on rotation for awhile before making the decision if I like it enough to buy it. I actually was planning on buying The Fiery Furnaces Blueberry Boat but it was out of stock, and Heartless Bastards have a similar sound so I figured I go with them and still give my CD collection some diversity.

Modest Mouse - Good News for People who Love Bad News

Ok, so this is not a "diversifying my CD collection" purchase. Granted I only own 2 other Modest Mouse albums (Building Nothing out of Something and The Moon and Antartica) but my CD collection is full of generic, "everybody who kinda likes indie rock or ever had a college radio show owns at least one of these bands albums" type CDs, which I think Modest Mouse fits. I had delayed purchasing this album for awhile even though it had gotten good reviews because I wanted to diversify-up my CD collection some. Plus once I saw Modest Mouse playing on MTV (or maybe it was some special on Comedy Central) I decided they were big enough that my couple of illegally downloaded songs weren't going to break their banks. (Although I don't feel bad about an illegal copy of No Doubt or Eminem, I don't like not buying the albums of indie bands because I know a lot of them actually really are very dependent on their album sales to make a living). I don't know why I decided to buy it now.

Damien Jurado - On My Way to Absence

I actually almost bought this in Seattle. Then I almost bought Ghost of David because it was like 4 bucks cheaper. I decided not to buy either. I almost bought Ghost of David this time. I decided that I should try to listen to more new releases. This is a really dweeby motivation; basically I was thinking at the end of the year everyone will be talking about what the best albums of 2005 were and I won't know anything because I haven't heard any albums released minus Picaresque.

So none of these CDs have come yet, so I can't say if they are good or anything. I actually haven't heard any of the Damien Jurado tracks at all, but I'm going on faith the its Damien Freakin Jurado so its gotta be okay.

picaresque

2005-07-18T23:30:00.000-04:00

Getting my iPod changed the way that I listened to music. I had always been a fan of the mix, but my listening primarily revolved around listening to albums. Once I got the iPod and downloaded all my CDs to my computer my album days were over. I almost exclusively listen to my music library on random - or at best a playlist consisting of my 4 and 5 star rated songs. I still buy CDs, and will give the whole CD a spin or two, but mostly that's just to rate the songs on it so they can be smart playlisted.

Since buying Picaresque about 2 weeks ago, I think I've listened to the entire album at least 10 times. I think this is the most times I have listened to a single album in its entirety in the last 18 months.

What has compelled me to keep playing Picaresque? With about 3000 songs at my disposal why I am choosing these same 11 songs over and over again?

At the most basic level, its just a damn catchy album. But there are lots of damn catchy albums that I'm not listening to all the time. What makes Picaresque more than just a damn catchy album is that the poppy tunes are layered over rich lyrics and intricate story lines. The Decemberists are known for their theatrically-minded songs often revolving around maritime, sea-faring, Victorian European-esque themes. When my brother played me a song he'd written about wandering gypsies, my immediate reaction was, "That sounds like it could be a Decemberists" song and played him "A Cautionary Song" from Castaways and Cutouts. Picaresque also maintains this theme (especially in The Mariner's Revenge Song, which is one of my favorites on the album). However, as has been noted in most reviews of this album, Picaresque deals with a number of modern themes, particularly (as most everyone who has heard the album has noted) Sixteen Military Wives, clearly an anti-war protest song. However, despite tackling more modern themes, the album maintains its sound.

I've always felt the Decemberists were sort of old-worldy in a hip rock and roll sort of way. I think I had this impression before I saw them live on New Year's Eve 2003, all decked out in 1920's style tuxedos and dresses (the drummer and keyboardist/accordionist are both female) with their bassist playing a stand-up bass rather than a rock and roll electric bass. However, in listening to past Decemberists albums I've had a hard time putting my finger on the definitive aspect of their sound that gives them this "old-worldy" feel. Obviously the subject matter of many of their songs drives this impression, but I was struck that even when singing about "modern themes" they maintained this sound. I think I've finally got my finger on it.

First, most Decemberists songs are instrumentally thick. The addition of keyboards and accordion to most songs adds unique dimensions, especially the accordion whose sound is lacking in most other modern pop-rock bands. Secondly, lyrics show evidence that Colin Maloy, the bands frontman and songwriter, clearly scored really high on his SAT Verbal portion. The language is reminiscent of late 19th fiction and poetry with lines like "Below the tamaracks he is crying, 'Corncobs and candlewax for buying!" This romantic language populates even the "modern" themes. For example, the espionage themed romance The Bagman's Gambit includes, "And for a tryst in the greenry I gave you documents and microfilm too."

What this album does best is supplant these poetic versus of wayfairing sailors, child kings, forbidden lovers, academics, and athletic failures on top of poppy tunes that make you want to keep listening, even if you have no idea what "Picaresque" means. It is able to be unpretentious; it is intellectual while at the same time completely accessible.

And it's a damn catchy album.

(By the way, I had no idea what picaresque meant either, so I looked it up)
picÂ·aÂ·resque
adj.

1. Of or involving clever rogues or adventurers.
2. Of or relating to a genre of usually satiric prose fiction originating in Spain and depicting in realistic, often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social degree living by his or her wits in a corrupt society.

transformation

2005-07-17T11:16:00.000-04:00

Last weekend Taryn and I finally painted my living room. I'd been saying almost as soon as I moved into this house that I wanted to paint the living room, which was a lovely light brown wood paneling. We also had a beautiful mirror collage consisting of a 4 by 5 grid of smaller squares of mirrors. It was clearly a decorating choice out of the early 80's or late 70's.

The color we chose was "iconic ivory." I would have gone with a strait off-white, but Taryn wanted a little color, so we chose this color that was the lightest in one of the green palates.

Although we ran into a minor catastrophe (Sherwin-Williams sold us an alkyd primer instead of a latex primer - we didn't realize this until about 11:30 pm when we tried to clean our brushes and rollers with water) the project was fairly easy (just a Saturday and Sunday's worth of work) and I think was a major improvement to our living space.

We also did some re-decoration that I have been dying to do. With the exception of Yaeka's Klimpt-inspired self-portrait all of our wall art is black and white. We also have more stuff on the walls, and no more African-themed items (my last roommie was from Africa and had a lot of tapestries etc. I can't say I'm a fan of elephants and what not in my living room).

Here are some photos to show the improvements. The "before" pictures were taken after we had already removed some of the furniture etc. for painting plus the lovely mirror thing was taken down. Imagine it above the TV.

Before shots:

After Shots:

Now if we could just do something about the lovely drop ceiling....

are they all not elitist bastards?

2005-07-16T18:27:00.000-04:00

I have previously posted on my concerns with elite colleges failing to reach out to economically disadvantaged youth. Since entering college at Colgate I became aware of this issue, as a student from an economically disadvantaged background. I feel that there are two related issues to economically disadvantaged youth's access to higher education: 1. Unless these youth are a racial or ethnic minority they're background is often not considered when making admissions decisions (e.g. affirmative action does not generally apply to them) 2. Because the high schools these youth attend are not gearing them towards college, and because many of them are first-generation college students, they are often unaware of the opportunities available to them. They clearly know about such elite schools as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Cornell, but they see these schools as the domain of prevailed classes that do not apply to them.

While the first issue may not be addressed adequately yet, it appears that at least some universities are finally addressing the second issue of student's perceptions. A friend of mine, whom I've discussed these issues with in the past, sent me this article. (You may have to sign up for a free Boston Globe account to view it). This past year, Harvard has begun leading the way in creating initiatives that reach out to economically disadvantaged youth. They increased their financial aid budget (however, I don't think they are currently "need blind") and have begun a number of outreach programs, such as having current students who come from modest incomes call potential students from modest backgrounds and producing a brochure on how to attend Harvard on a "Shoestring Budget." Following suit, Yale and the University of Virginia are beginning similar outreach programs.

I find these initial steps commendable and I hope that similar universities will follow suit. Indeed, I plan to email the admissions department at Colgate regarding this issue. I never actually responded to the email that Gary Ross sent me over a year ago. What is attractive about these measures is that they open the door for students without costing the university very much. Colgate already offers fairly excellent financial aid packages, I left there with only $6000 in debt, and my parents' yearly contributions were less than they would have been had I attended the local community college. Colgate may only need to advertise what it already offers in a targeted fashion.

all nite diner

2005-07-10T23:43:00.000-04:00

So I was listening to Modest Mouse's Building Nothing out of Something when I heard "All Night Diner." I never got this line before...

"I was sitting at an all-night diner, the sign said triple X but they were talking about rootbeer."

Now after visiting Triple X in Issaquah I get it. (See the "good eats" post below). Modest Mouse is from Issaquah where Yaeka currently lives and where Triple X is located.

Here is Yaeka and me in front of Triple X.

happy birthday amazon.com

2005-07-09T02:28:00.000-04:00

My love for amazon.comhas already been well-established. Today, I logged on to add some new releases to my wish list when I learned that my dear friend Amazon.com is turning 10 years old. To celebrate, they are giving away an entire wishlist! Okay, so its only a $5000 value, which definitely wouldn't cover the massiveness of my amazon.com wish list, but it would definitely buy me a whole lot of CDs. All you have to do to enter is create a wishlist. Now amazon lets you make multiple wish lists. I made a CD, DVD, and Book wish list all with items on my main wish list. Man, winning that prize would be totally sweet!

note to self?

2005-07-08T00:20:00.000-04:00

things purchased in seattle with yaeki:

1. versitle summer bottoms - 2 kahki skirts, 1 denim crop pants, 1 kahki green crop pants
2. tops - 1 plain white t-shirt with stretch, 2 polo shirts, 1 halter top, 1 dressier tank top
3. accessories - 2 bracelets, 2 necklaces, 1 pair of earrings, 1 handbag
4. bras - 1 very comfortable nude colored bra
5. cds - decemberists, nick drake, the minders

don't ask me how much i spent on the above.

good eats...

2005-07-07T22:56:00.000-04:00

I'm back from Seattle, and not a moment too soon. Not that I didn't have a wonderful time, but my gut and wallet couldn't take too much more vacationing. I had good intentions of spending time hiking and working out, but somehow things didn't really work out that way. I did do lots of shopping, and eating, and drinking. I'd say about 75% of waking hours were devoted to those activities or the pursuit thereof.

The ridiculosity started at XXX. A great 50's cruiser themed rootbeer/hamburger stand. It wasn't schticky at all. One of their specalties is the "tool box." The toolbox is basically all of their fried goodies thrown together.

There's onion rings, chicken fingers, curly fries, french fries, fried mushrooms, and cheese balls. We also had a whole array of dipping sauces. Of course, they are also known for their rootbeer floats. They were quite large & quite good. I'm not sure if this picture really captures the goodness.

In addition to these treats, XXX also serves enormous hamburgers that are literally as big as your face. We didn't get one of those. The regular burger I got was too much with the toolbox and rootbeer float. Next time toolbox and float will be more than plenty for me.

Another good little diner location we visited was Tweed's Diner - best known as the setting for the "cherry pie and damn fine cup of coffee" from Twin Peaks. (I only get this reference from the Twin Peaks segment in VH1's I Love the 90's Part Deux.) We didn't have cherry pie or coffee, but we did have milkshakes and frenchfries. We did a 5 mile hike on Little Si before then, so we figured it was okay.

Another food highlight from the trip was happy hour at The Melting Pot. Despite the fact that the Melting Pot has a restraining order against Yaeka's brother, they do have very fine cocktails and fondu fun.

Though Yaeka said getting the cheddar fondu was boring, we both really enjoyed it. Seriously, doesn't Yaeka look like she wants to make out with that melty cheese goodness? We also had a chocolate fondu that was quite delightful. In addition, the melting pot has some damn good specialty martini's. The first one I ordered was the Yin Yang. It just might be the most beautiful thing ever served to me in a martini glass.

Seriously...yum! They also had the most fantastic chocolate martinis I've ever experienced. They used Stoli Vanil instead of regular vodka. I've decided from now on when I order a chocolate martini I'm ordering it with Vanilla vodka instead of plain old vodka. Its quite delicious!

I also have a theory that bacon is delicious with everything. Bacon on french fries = Yum! Bacon on salad = Yum! Bacon on baked potatoes = Yum! Bacon on hamburgers = Yum! Bacon on Chicken = Yum...You get the point. While in Seattle, I found more evidence to my bacon theory. First, to celebrate Yaeka's birthday we visited Sea Star, an upscale-ish restaraunt and raw bar where Yaeka's brother is employed. The sushi chef, who is friends with Yaeka's brother sent us over a couple of plates. He introduced us to the "BLT" roll. Bacon on sushi (if I remember right, there was no fish, but some really yummy sauce and avacado as well as the bacon). We didn't take a picture of the BLT roll, but it was quite good. Probably the best sushi roll I've ever had! A couple of days later we went to the Original Pancake House. And I ordered the bacon pancake.

I had to get used to the Original Pancake House pancakes whick are made slightly differently than other pancakes (something about the yeast, I forget exactly) but I did enjoy the bacon in the pancake. I stand by my statement.

Our food fun also included a delightful evening of food and drinks at Bleu on Broadway, which left us all reaking of garlic for days; birthday dinner at a Thai Kitchen in Bellevue (where "medium" is pretty spicey, but I think not too spicey although Yaeka disagrees); BBQ fun at the Pirate Party (Patriotic Pirates 2005!!!!); super yummy mexican and frozen beverages at Mama's Mexican Kitchen (which also had a fun kitchy theme); french fries (I tried ketchup for the first time in probably 20 years and realized I actually don't hate it after all), quesadillas, beer, and martinis at The Garage in Seattle; and hand-dipped icecream at Boehm's in Issaquah. We never made it to Frites for the most fantastic fries in Seattle, the Hookah Bar (I have no idea what it's name is) for fallafal and "tastey air," or the Hurricaine for a giant omlette. Hopefully they'll all still be there when I come back to Seattle again.

fly the friendly skies?

2005-06-28T13:00:00.000-04:00

I'm not a big jet-setter flying all over the place, but I've flown fairly frequently, especially recently. So far I've only had my luggage not show up when I did twice. Both times were on United Airlines, and one of them was this trip to Seattle. Oh I've also only flown United twice as well. So far they are 0-2 in the bags department.

I was really annoyed when I got into Seattle at 1 AM (4 AM EST) and my bags weren't there. The trip already started out pretty crappy. My flight was originally supposed to leave Syracuse for Chicago at 6:55 pm. We ended up leaving at about 9:15 (8:15 Chicago time). My connecting flight in Chicago was supposed to leave at 10 pm. The airline people encouraged us to go to our destinations - even though everyone on a connecting flight was on the last flight out for the night, there were absolutely no flights out of Syracuse the next day on any airline - you'd have better luck at the destination city. They told those of us with 10 pm connections that we'd probably make our flights and we'd be due into Chicago at 9:15-9:30. We got in at 10. I only made my connection because that flight too was delayed 40 minutes. 40 minutes seems like it should be enough time to transfer my bags....apparently it wasn't.

The woman at the baggage claim counter told me my bags would be arriving on a 10:15 flight to Seattle the next morning and I'd have them in the afternoon. By 2 pm I still had no bags, so I figured I'd call the airline and see where my bags were. If they were at the airport by this point, we'd just go there and get them. So I called the 1-800 number listed on my receipt. I got the automated voice activated service, that told me my bags were located and were to arrive on the 10:15 flight - I already had the information. I tried connecting to an agent after I went through the whole automated thing, but all agents were busy and it wouldn't give me the option to sit on hold. I spent nearly an hour trying to find a local number for United Baggage Claim. No luck. I kept trying the automated service and still got the message with the info I already had and then no conenction to an actual person.

Finally Yaeka found the number for the United Red Carpet club at Seatac. Obviously they wouldn't be able to help me locate my bags - but I figured at least I'd get to talk to a person and they might have the number for me. I did get to talk to a person, who told me there is no "outside" line for the baggae counter, that the automated service handles everything. BUT she did give me the secret to talk to an actual person. When the automated voice menu comes up - instead of choosing the "Delayed Bags" option say "A Different Problem." (Sometimes you have to say it a couple of times) this will conenct you to an agent, and they will put you on hold. I did this and was told the hold time would be 31 minutes. Forget that - Yaeka and I decided to go to the mall instead.

At 6 pm we returned from the mall. Still no bags. I called the 1-800 number again and this time was told the wait would be 37 minutes. I waited that long. Finally I got to talk to a person who told me that my bags were with the courier service and they'd be here by 8 pm. 8 pm came - no bags. 8:30 came - I was about to call them back again when the baggage guy finally called. He said he'd be here in 10 minutes. 30 minutes later he showed up. I finally had my bags.

I've decided that I will not fly United again. They obviously have some serious issues with their baggage dept. Its clear, really, that they are understaffed in general. Back in Syracuse there was 1 lone girl there to help us at the counter. With both United Airlines flights out of Syracuse delayed she had her work cut out for her. I was giving the passangers more info then she was because I had the Orbitz travel updates calling me. They obviously don't have enough people working their baggage phone center, if there is a 30 min+ wait to talk to a person. And they obviously don't have enough people working their baggage center, if they can't transfer the baggage during a 40 minute layover. This ticket was considerably cheaper than other tickets ($240 to Seattle) - but in the future I'll pay the extra.

As a side note, Independence Air has a garuntee that if your bags don't show up with you, your flight is free. They are at most cities on the east coast - at least most smaller market cities (like Syracyse, Columbus, Rochester, Indianapolis, etc) and they started flying limited West Coast destinations. They are currently my airline of choice.

life aquatic

2005-06-26T10:22:00.000-04:00

I'm a big Wes Anderson fan. Rushmore is one of my favorite movies of all time and Bottle Rocket and The Royal Tennenbaums aren't far behind. So, I was very excited for The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou to come out. However, I heard not really great things about it and never saw it in the theaters. I finally ordered it on Movies on Demand (a great feature of my digital cable) last night.

It definitely was my least favorite of the Wes Anderson films, although I think I enjoyed it more than other people I heard. I appreciated the Wed Anderson quality of it, the somewhat storybook feel, the bordering on ridiculosity, the fairly one-dimensional characters, etc. The soundtrack was also really good, with music by Mark Mothersbaugh as well as one of the characters adapting David Bowie songs in Portugese. It wasn't incredibly funny, but that didn't bother me. Really none of Wes Anderson's films are laugh out loud funny (although Bottle Rocket has some laugh out loud moments). They are more witty, whimsical, and absurd.

My least favorite aspect of Life Aquatic was the cartoonized computer-animated sea creatures. I wasn't really sure why they were done that way. I'm sure Wes Anderson had some reason for choosing to do ridiculous sea creatures in this manner, but I felt like it cheapened the movie. This movie also lacked 3 key Wes Anderson actors: Luke Wilson, Kumar Pallana, and Dipak Pallana. All three have appeared in every other Wes Anderson film. I've already stated my preference for Luke among the Wilson boys. I'm surprised the Kumar and Dipak were also not given roles. Though Dipak usually has a small part (e.g. teacher at the beginning of Rushmore, the doctor that comes to check on Royal in the Royal Tennenbaums), there seemed to be plenty of room for small parts in this film. Plus, the role of Esteben seemed perfect for Kumar.

In any case, my final thought is that The Life Aquatic is probably the most absurd of the Wes Anderson films, and has the most storybook like quality to it. As a Wes Anderson fan, I apprecaited it, but its not particularly funny (at least in a laugh out loud way) and I could easily see how it wouldn't fit everyone's tastes.

get a haircut and get a good job

2005-06-25T08:28:00.001-04:00

Here's my plan: Finish grad school in 2 years and have an academic tenure-track position.

I think that might be a little too ambitious of a plan.

Finishing a dissertation won't be a problem. I'm not sure how it is in all disciplines but in the social sciences (well I guess I should say in my field in particular, I don't want to speak for all social sciences) the dissertation is the least of your worries. Especially with my advisor. He's notorious for not caring about people's dissertations. If I didn't actually want a job, I could probably use this project I was just working on as my dissertation, defend that, and be done. Ah, but the job is the sticky part.

I'm sort of tired of being a student and living a transient life. I was thinking the other day "It feels like I've been a student forever," then I realized I have in fact been a student forever. Since I was 4 years old and started preschool there hasn't been a point in my life that I haven't qualified as a student. Being a student, especially a grad student, has its pluses and its minuses. On the plus side, I have a lot of flexibility in my schedule (both my daily schedule and overall). I usually can work when I want to, which tends to be early to late afternoons. If I need to take off in the middle of the week, I don't have anyone really yelling at me, as long as I get stuff done. I can sleep in if I want to. I also spend the bulk of my time working on things that I'm interested in and enjoy. I don't have to spend a lot of money on nice clothes, I can still wear jeans and t-shirts all the time. I'm surrounded mostly by people who are about my age and many of whom are in the same stage of their lives as me. I get paid to go to school. That's the good. The bad: I don't get paid very much to go to school. I can afford my jeans and t-shirts, and an occassional trip to visit a friend, but I can't afford to live alone (I have 2 roommates) or in a place I REALLY like (I live in a typical college town rental house). I can't afford to have things that grown-ups have, like a nice couch or a good set of knives. Relationships are difficult. For one, being serious about an academic job means that I can't realy limit myself geographically and very few institiutions have multiple openings at once. Since most of the people my age here are also grad students they are also serious about academic jobs - it becomes difficult once you are both on the job market which makes having a serious relationship that might actually last seem silly. Even though I can work when I want, I work more than I probably would if I had a 9-5 job. Non-academics would have diffciulty understanding why I am at my office at 9 pm on Saturday night, not at home making out with them.

So, after nearly 21 years of being a student, and 3 years of being a grad student, I'm starting to get antsy. I also made up my mind that I don't want to take a post-doc. Even though I'd make more money (about double what I make now), I'd still have that transience issue. Pick up, move some place for 2 years, after I'm there a year go on the job market again. Doesn't sound all that appealing to me.

Thinking about the possibility of actually getting an academic job in 2 years from now has put me in a slight freak-out mode. Mostly because you go on the job market about a whole year in advance, which means I have about 1 year to make myself marketable enough. That means primarily getting publications. I'm not sure exactly how many I need to be marketable. I know its more than the 3rd author jounral article and 1 book chapter I have right now. To get publications I need to do research. The usual estimate is that from beginning of a project to publication takes a minimum of 1 year but for larger projects it can take 2-3 if not more. To do research I need to get money. To get money I need to write grant proposals. That's about where I'm at right now, although I have a lot of other things on my plate which makes the thought of also adding grant proposals by the end of the summer stressful. You can see why I am approaching freak out mode.

I've been thinking about starting a blog dedicated solely to the academic job search. I'd keep it updated more regularly than this. It would be all anonymous, so that no potential employer could stumble on it and think I'm an idiot or said something disparaging and any hope for a job for me would be destroyed. That would suck...24 years of school down the tubes after a blog....I'll have to keep thinking about this.

note to self...

2005-06-18T10:57:00.000-04:00

Things I need to buy while shopping with Yaeki...

1. Casual, versitle summer bottoms
2. Plain, nicely fitting tank tops
3. Accessories - Neckalaces & Earings - Cheap that don't look cheap
4. Comfortable white or off white bras

Don't buy things that aren't on this list unless its a ridiculously good deal.

happy traveler

2005-06-17T09:17:00.000-04:00

I've been traveling a lot lately. In April I went to Atanta for a conference. Then 2 days later I left for Japan. About a month after that I went to L.A. for a conference. It was my first time in California. The conference was pretty hectic, but we got to do some site seeing the first day out. We went down to the beaches of Santa Monica (which were chilly that day) and up to Hollywood.

That's me & Amber, the girl who I shared a hotel room with at Mann's Chinese Theater.

That's me with Ron Howard's handprints. Not a lot of celebrities actually have handprints in front of the Chinese Theater although many have a star on the walk of fame. A lot of the handprints belong to old-timey Hollywood types who I think were friends with the guy who originally owned the theater. The most recent handprint I saw belonged to Adam Sandler.

There are some stars to characters rather than people. Like Godzilla or Mickey Mouse. I'm posing with the star that belongs to The Simpsons. It kind of sucks that the characters get a star but the creators or the people that have been doing their voices for the last 15 years don't.

So we went to a diner for dinner one night. I was kind of in the mood for breakfast food, although I ended up just getting a club. Anyhoo, the girl I was with ordered this ridiculous omlette. If you've been watching AD then you know about the Skip's Scramble. That's what this Omlette reminded me of. It contained: Sausage, Bacon, Ham, Peppers, Onions, Mushrooms, Salsa, Chedder, & Montery Jack Chesse. I might be missing something there too. It was ridiculoso.

She ate every last bite of that omlette plus all the hashbrowns too!

The weekend after I returned from L.A. I went to Baltimore (pics of that are below). I have another full week in Ithaca before I head off for 10 days in Seattle. That's going to be party metropolis. Or it'd better be at least!

nascar weekend

2005-06-07T12:27:00.000-04:00

I know that its supposed to be the number 1 sport in America, but I have yet to understand the mystique of NASCAR. However, a couple of weeks ago I was chatting with my friend Stephen, and he invited me to come down to visit him in Baltimore and go to the MBNA 400. May was a pretty crappy month for me, so I thought "What the Hey...a visit to Baltimore and NASCAR might be interesting..."

(Before I left I thought I charged my digital camera, but as it turned out the charger wasn't plugged in so my battery was really low and thus I don't have as many pictures as I would have liked.)

We got up really early Sunday morning to head to the Dover Speedway in Dover Delware. It should have been about an hour and half trip. However, due to the heavy NASCAR traffic it was more like 3 hours before we actually got out of the car. There were something like 200,000 people in Dover that day. The stadium held about 120,000 but a lot of people come with RV's etc and set up near the track and tailgate and watch the race on TV. I don't think I've seen so many people in one place in my entire life.

Here's one shot of the crowd behind us.

That guy in the red Bud shirt was a big Dale Ernhardt Jr. fan, which I'd say about 60-70% of the crowd was. Everytime Dale Jr. would drive by the guy would stand up and pump his fists in the air. I thought that it was kind of dumb, I mean its not like other sports where the athletes can have some sense of the crowd's reaction. These guys are going around FAST and they are in a car. There could be noone in the stands and they'd have no idea. Also, as it turned out Dale Jr. did really bad. I wasn't sure if this was just a really bad day for him or if he isn't all that good considering how many people were there in support of him. I'm sure they were all just Dale Sr. fans.

Here's another shot of the crowd & you can see some cars racing as well. This was towards the end of the race, somewhere around lap 370 when I took this picture.

The make-up of the NASCAR crowd was definitely unique. Usually when you go to a sporting event there's some mix of people. Stephen and I were definitely oddballs in this crowd. I don't think I've ever seen so many moustaches (not beards or goatees, just the moustache) and tatoos in one place in my whole life. Stephen tried to "disguise himself" by wearing his Baltimore Sport and Social Club kickball t-shirt that has a Miller Light logo on it. I still think we stood out. Almost by virtue of the fact that we weren't wearing any NASCAR clothes.

Here's a shot of Stephen at NASCAR.

Another weird thing about NASCAR is that before the race started there was a prayer. Usually when I've heard prayers at public events (like graduations) they tend to be really non-denominational. This wasn't. It was a pretty Jesus-y prayer, with the "In Christ's name we pray, amen" at the end. But then the minister added "Shalom" after the Amen. I guess in case there were any Jewish NASCAR fans. Actually, my friend Stephen is jewish but not really a practicing jew. He was probably the only Jewish guy there. He also invited some of his African American fans, but they refused to go saying they'd be the only black people at the event. I did see a couple of African Americans, but overall it was a pretty Honkey event.

Overall, NASCAR was kind of cool, but I still don't see the mystique. Yeah they go pretty fast, but its still just cars driving around in a circle. I did get to see a pretty big crash, so that was cool, but otherwise just cars in a circle. Once they started lapping each other it got really difficult to even keep track of who was in the lead and what not. I think it would be even more boring to watch on TV. So, although it was a pretty fun day, I still stand by my position that NASCAR is dumb.

Unfortunately my camera died before I could take a picture of myself at the race, so here's a picture of me in Baltimore the day before we left.

For more pictures and info about the race you can check out the official NASCAR website's info on the MBNA 400.

coke and lays

2005-05-31T23:39:00.000-04:00

When I was about 2 years old, I was sitting on the front porch with my mom and dad. A Lays potato chip truck came down the street and I pointed to it and said, "Lays." I don't think I was "reading" it given that I was only 2 and couldn't really read. Obviously, I just knew the Lays logo at that tender age. I really enjoy potato chips. This will come up again.

I just returned from L.A. this week from the American Psychological Society conference. This was my second conference presentation in as many months. There is more conference related stuff I could write, but really I don't think anyone is interested in that.

However, on the way to the airport my friend and I decided to stop and get some snacks for the plane. I made the decision to purchase a new flavor of Lays Potato chips. I haven't eaten traditional Lays in a long time. Usually my chip purchases are Baked Lays (which I REALLY love, I could devour an entire bag of BBQ Baked Lays in 1 sitting without a problem) or Pringles. The new flavor was Chile Limon. I have to say that I really enjoyed this new flavor sensation!! The chile was spicey and the Limon flavor added just the right amount of tangy. My mouth is watering just thinking about these chips.

My friend purchased the new Diet Coke with Splenda. Its AMAZING! It tastes just like real coke, only without the calories! I checked Wegmans as soon as we got back, and they only had it in individual 20 oz bottles and 2-liters. This is the greatest diet soda innovation since Dr. Pepper introduced Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper (DCDVP), and I'd have to say it outdoes DVCDP by a mile. As soon as I see it in 12-packs my DCVDP purchases will be replaced by Coke with Splenda.

I really enjoy trying something new and finding out that I really like it.

Update: Wegman's now carries Diet Coke with Splenda in cans. I also realize that my link is to Coke Zero which is NOT the same as Diet Coke with Splenda. I'll have to give that one a whirl as well.

still getting arrested...

2005-05-18T22:19:00.000-04:00

It's been a stressful month, but things are starting to look up. I think the stress started when I was in Japan. While there I had a dream that Arrested Development was cancelled. In my dream I was incredibly hysterical over this fact. I was literally devistated. I don't know if my reaction would have been that severe had Arrested Development actually been cancelled, but I definitely would have been pissed.

Good news today though...Fox is renewing Arrested Development for a full third season. This makes me very happy. And, wouldn't y'know, this great news comes just as some other stressing me out things have been resolved.

I was looking for a good Arrested Development quote to end this post with, but I couldn't really find one that is appropriate...so perhaps I'll end with one of my favorite...

There's unlimited juice? This party is gonna be off the hook!

coincidence?

2005-05-15T18:44:00.000-04:00

The other day when listening to Launch Cast I noticed that there is a very strong similarity between Sufjan Stevens' "Kill" (off of A Sun Came) and Elliot Smith's "Roman Candle." The chord progressions are really similar, as well as the lyrics, at least in the chorus.

Kill: "I want to kill him, I want to cut his brains, And when its over, I know I'll feel okay."

Roman Candle: "I want to hurt him, I want give him pain, I'm roman candle, My head is full of flames."

Has anyone else noticed this similarity?

well that was an excellent idea...

2005-05-09T20:18:00.000-04:00

About as quickly as they started my running days are over. For now at least. I think I may have developed plantar fasciitis as a result of jogging in poor shoes, just starting to jog, and the fact that I also recently realized that I walk with an excessive pronation, all of which can contribute to developing this condition. I'm not sure exactly if this is what I have, I'm going to the doctor on Wednesday, but I do know I have been unable to walk normally for the past 3 days because of pain in the arch and heel of my left foot. Since walking is pretty difficult, jogging is out of the question. As is Tae Bo, which is my favorite work out activity. Pretty much anything that involves my feet is out. Hopefully with some rest my foot will start feeling better. After which I'm going shopping for good running shoes with my friend Taryn, who ran a marathon and knows good athletic footwear. In any case, even though I do feel like run-ning, I'm not right now.

i just felt like run-ning

2005-05-04T23:44:00.000-04:00

I also thought about titling this post "You can do it!" In my head it's in Rob Schneider's voice from The Waterboy, which I didn't think would come out in print as well as Forrest Gump's "I just felt like run-ning." In anycase, the point.

I've made jogging my new thing. Okay, its not really "my thing" per se, given that I have lots of things, like a wicked competitive streak or an avid devotion of Fox's Arrested Development. And lots of people go jogging so its not like MY thing (nobody is going to refer to me as "oh you know, the girl who goes jogging.") But I've decided its my new thing to do.

So why is that interesting?

Anyone who knows me at all should be surprised by my new jogging thing. I'm not known for my athletic prowess or my workout fanaticism. During college I would occasionally go through periods where I would be motivated and go to the gym, but that usually wouldn't last more than a couple weeks. The stupid "dessert whores" (the eating disordered girls who would pick at the dessert cart in the dining hall so their friends wouldn't see them eat it at the table) were also gym sluts, and would totally hog all the good equipment. Plus, I didn't like looking at their skinny anorexic/bulimic bodies when I was hauling my fat ass to the stair stepper. Its not all their fault. I should also mention I'm lazy.

When I was in high school my friend Jennifer and I once got in a conversation about running. She said I could get in shape and I could start running. I said, I can't do it. She said I could if I tried. I said I really couldn't do it. When I was a toddler they thought I had muscular dystrophy because I ran so awkwardly. No matter how much I tried I wasn't going to be able to be a runner and I wasn't going to be in shape. She argued that I should just try. I argued that she should shut her skinny butt up. It was easy for her to say, Miss 110-Pounds-Perfect-Body.

Okay...so I know this is starting to sound like a chunky girl tirade, but I'm going somewhere.

When I came to Ithaca, I was about as fat as I ever had been. And then two things happened. First, having never used public transportation before I was nervous about taking the (Ithaca) bus to campus. So I walked...up a big ass hill every day. Second, my boyfriend broke up with me. I'm one of those people who doesn't eat when they are upset, and I was upset so I didn't eat. Oh, and I also picked up smoking. While quite unhealthy, I managed to loose 30 pounds and drop about 2 sizes in about 2 months. I threw out nearly all my clothes and bought a whole new wardrobe.

Eventually, I figured out how the buses worked and I stopped being worked up about my boyfriend and so I walked less and ate more. The following New Year's I made a resolution to quit smoking, which I did with success. Of course, without diligence the pounds started creeping back. I soon discovered that my (not so) new wardrobe was fitting me less. I couldn't afford to buy all new clothes AGAIN! So, I needed to do something about it. I bought Billy Blank's Tae Bo Cardio DVD ($14.99 much cheaper than a new wardrobe OR a gym membership). And as cheesey and cornbally as it is, it works and I started doing it religiously. If I didn't do it I felt bad. (Oh Billy, how you changed my life! But that's a post for another day....)

So one day last summer I said to myself..."Well, you can do this Tae Bo pretty well, why don't you try jogging." We have lots of trails by my house that I like to walk, so I figured I'd give jogging a go. Hrm, not so much. I made it about 3/4 of a mile. The only reason I went that far is because I jogged past some people who were walking and I didn't want to be lame and have them see me stop so I tried to make it around a curve. That was it, no more jogging for me, EVER.

But Billy and I, we stayed friends (although I definitely have times when I am not as regular as a friend). The month of February and March had seen a lull and Billy's and my relationship, and I finally decided I needed to get it back into my life around spring break. I was doing pretty well, when my trip to Japan started looming. I didn't think I could do lots of Tae Bo in my sister's apt, given the new baby and all, but I figured I could go jogging. Though, I wasn't sure if I COULD go jogging.

And so, a couple of weeks ago I decided to try my self at jogging again. To my surprise I jogged double what I did a year before. So I went again. And then again. And while I was in Japan I went jogging nearly every day. I started out at about 1.75 miles. Today I reached my new high of 2.5. I jog ballz grandma slow, but I've decided it doesn't matter. Six months ago I thought this was something I couldn't do very well. A few years ago, I didn't think it was something I could do at all. I usually don't do things that I suck at, but I've decided that I'll keep doing this. After all, maybe eventually I won't suck.

OK...so I know this was a bit of a cheesey post. I think I've been reading too many inspirational stories in Reader's Digest while I poop.

true birth month

2005-05-03T23:29:00.000-04:00

Your True Birth Month Is January

Loyal

Social

Logical

Easily jealous

Loves children

Rather reserved

Highly attentive

Likes to criticize

Needs close friends

Ambitious and serious

Smart, neat and organized

Hardworking and productive

Loves to teach and be taught

Quiet unless excited or tensed

Sensitive and has deep thoughts

Knows how to make others happy

Searches for the greatest romance

Resistant to illnesses but prone to colds

Romantic but has difficulties expressing love

Always looking at people's flaws and weaknesses

What's Your True Birth Month?

Interestingly, I WAS born in January. Also, this list describes me eeriely well.

i suck

2005-05-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

After I finally dragged myself out of bed this "morning" (at noon - I don't know if its Japan or other stuff but my sleep is fucked up) I decided I wanted to go jogging. I wasn't sure what the weather actually was, and instead of just stepping outside, I decided to check weather.com. But instead of going to weather.com I went to my blog page. And then, I realized that I have had this blog for a whole year, so I decided to read some of my archives. I read April through June. Basically the whole point of this long story, is that my blog used to be a lot better. At least I thought it seemed a lot better. It was updated a lot more regularly. And I posted more than "what I did last weekend" style posts. Man, I'm sorry I got a little crappy here. I'll try to work on that.

sluts mc gee

2005-05-01T01:31:00.000-04:00

Last night I was out with some friends, and we decided to stop by a bar and play erotic photohunt. This was not our night for erotic photohunt. Part of the problem, I'm sure was from the margaritas with dinner. I think the other part was the fact that I was playing erotic photohunt with 3 boys, and they were just too distracted by the boobs. In fact, one guy kept referring to one of the women (or maybe even two) as "hot." In my humble opinion, the ladies of erotic photohunt are, by no means, hot. If they were hot, they'd have better modeling jobs than erotic photohunt.

So, needless to say we quickly got tired of erotic photohunt given our lackluster skills. Unfortunately we put a dollar in the machine (this one had a bill collector), it wouldn't give us change, and we had 3 credits left. So we decided to play one of the trivia games. Our first game wasn't too bad and we had one of the top scores. Then we just started doing pitiful. The top score was something like 67,000 and we were getting like 2000 or 600. We were 3 (one of the guys had left by this point) PhD students, in fact all with our master's degrees (one friend successfully defended his the day before), and yet we couldn't get a high score on a trivia game at an undergrad bar (and IC bar at that, not even a Cornell undergrad bar!) where one of the top scorers was "Sluts McGe." (I assumed with was Sluts McGee but the last "e" was inadvertadly left off). Our goal was now to beat Sluts McGee, and so after our 3 credits had been used, we started popping in the quarters.

Eventually, we had one good game and made our goal 1,950 points. I even took a picture.

Its not a great quality picture, but you can see how we (MVR Dorks, MVR is the building we work in) edged out Sluts McGe. I'm not sure why it was deemed necessary to take a picture of this occassion. I think its because we were drunk.

first conference presentation

2005-04-28T20:01:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I attended the Society for Research in Child Development conference in Atlanta GA. This was my first official conference presentation. Well, it was a poster presentation, which is essentially like a big middle school science fair except with better research.

Here's a photo of me with my poster and my poster co-author.

When I was walking to the conference center from my hotel I passed by two guys. One of them yelled out at me "Hey Boobs!!" Although inappropriate, I did find it funny. Apparently that guy needs to work on his cat calls. It was odd because it was a Sunday morning, and I don't think my outfit was all the boobular.

Two days after returning from this conference I went to Okinawa, Japan to visit my sister who just had her first baby. Photos of that to come.

Emo Guide

2005-04-28T02:06:00.000-04:00

I was going through my old documents folder and came upon this. I thought it might be amusing to post here. If I remember correctly, much of this was designed to be a jab at an ex-boyfriend.

The Complete Guide to Being an Emo Boy
Frankly, I don’t like emo. To give it some credit, I am not immensely familiar with “emo” music, and as some critics have argued, the term is so loosely applied that it is difficult to argue what actually is emo. These days everything from Death Cab for Cutie to Rainer Maria is being labeled as emo. From what I can tell, these bands are definitely not emo (in the true “emo-core” sense of the word), but would be more aptly labeled as “indie rock.” In any case, true emo, “emotionally charged punk” (as I have seen it defined), just isn’t my bag. But with the wide spread popularity of such bands as the Get up Kids and Promise Ring, emo is the wave that is sweeping the nation. And, you may be thinking to yourself “I’d like to jump on this emo bandwagon. I want to be an emo boy!” Despite my lack of appreciation for the musical genre, I am always here to help a bandwagon jumper, so here it is….Your complete guide to becoming an emo boy.
The first and most important part of being emo is capturing the look. If you want to be emo, you have to look emo. Emo boys DO NOT shop at the Gap, so throw out your khaki’s and boot cut jeans. While you are at it throw out your sneakers too…Emo boys don’t wear gym shoes (unless they are a pair of old black Chuck Taylor’s.) Head to the nearest thrift store and purchase yourself a pair of heavy trousers. Don’t try them on. Your better off if they are too small. Buy cardigans, polyester button-ups, and a denim jacket. Get yourself chunky black shoes. While it is not an absolute prerequisite, skinniness helps. If you are worried about that spare tire or beer belly interfering with your emo style, quit eating. Don’t go to the gym…this will only make you buff and being buff is not emo. Once you have lost the unwanted weight, you can start eating again, but eating meat isn’t cool, so you may want to consider being a vegetarian (or better yet, a vegan!!) Die your hair black and make sure it is nice and greasy. Blow-drying your hair is not emo. Wear dark rimmed glasses. If you don’t wear glasses, that is ok, just buy a pair of non-prescription frames.
Now that you have the style down your next step is to capture the mood. The mood is key. Emo stands for emotional, so you must be emotional about something and that emotion should be sad/depressed/lonely. Happiness is not emo. The best object for your emotions is the elusive girl. Work on your self-loathing attitude, which along with your greasy hair, would likely cause your rejection by the opposite sex. Go after girls that are out of your league. The key here, is rejection. Do what ever it takes to be rejected, you need this sadness to fuel your emotions. If you happen to be happily involved in a relationship at the time you decide to become emo, you must end the relationship immediately! Come up with any reason to break it off, be sure to make it a bad break up, and be sure to do whatever it takes to make her hate you forever. Now, you must pine…pine and mope. Write sappy poems and songs about the girl you once had. Think every day how you ruined your one shot at happiness, how only if only the relationship could work out everything would be all right. (Of course it can’t work out because that just wouldn’t be emo.) Absolutely under no circumstances should you start a new relationship. Remember, you need to be pining at all times. If you find it absolutely necessary to become involved with someone, be sure that the girl is herself emo and that the relationship is fueled with negative emotion so you both have something to be sad about.
Now that you have the complete look and you are sufficiently sad you must engage in emo activities. Go to shows (preferably emo shows, though other indie shows will do) alone. Never go with friends, remember you are lonely and don’t have any true “friends.” Nobody can really understand you. Stand by yourself and watch all the cool kids that you will never be and the pretty girls you will never have. Be sure to feel really bad about yourself, but it’s quite all right to enjoy the music. Especially when that emo lyric touches your soul. When you hear words like “Every time I see a shooting star I wonder if it is where you are, and if you see it you can’t be far…” be sure to feel the pang of regret and remorse and loneliness. You may also want to consider frequenting coffee shops and cafes. Again, always go alone and if you must have companions be sure that they are sufficiently emo themselves. You definitely cannot look popular. You are not a cool kid, you are an emo kid. The rest of your free time should be taken up by some form of moping. Listen to emo music in your room by yourself. Be sure to shed a tear or two. You may want t expand you musical horizons slightly, but only slightly. Don’t listen to anything mainstream, unless it is mainstream emo. Emo boys do not listen to rap. You may also want to find a creative outlet for your sadness, so you may want to dabble in art. Be it painting, drawing, music, or poetry, be sure that all your work encompasses the empty sadness in your life. Keep a journal. Better yet, keep a webblog. Make sure everyone knows just how sad and depressed you are.
This should be a sufficient start for you to jump on the emo bandwagon. There are many nuances to this emo biz, and you may want to do some research on your own in order to perfect your emo skills. The over arching theme, though, is to always remember….you are sad, you are lonely, you are depressed…you are emo.

quarter a century

2005-01-24T01:02:00.000-05:00

that's how old i am. man i am old.

anyways, per usual my birtday was nice but not hella exciting or anything. mostly because of the weather, which in general, sucks at the end of January.

Originally I was supposed to go to Rochester on Saturday to party with the twins. Unfortunately, inclement weather made that not happen. I tried to capture how bad it was out, but snowflakes made photographing it hard.

That's the view from my street on Saturday evening.

This is the view from my street today. It finally stopped snowing this morning so some shoveling had occurred.

Last night, to make up for being bummed that I couldn't go to Rochester, I forced a couple friends to brave the inclement weather and come over to play games. We played 90's edition Trivial Pursuit and ate cookies I baked using my new baking tools from Yaeka and drank wine. My team lost, despite the fact that I had just watched I Love the 90's Part Deux on VH1 on Friday. Though to be fair, my teammate wasn't an American (which really makes the game hard since so much is about American culture) and didn't come to the states until 1999 - so I think we were at a little disadvantage, and we came close at the end. Athough, I DO really hate not winning.

I forgot to take pictures from then, but I did take a picture of our empty wine glasses.

The first bottle we drank, Matt brought and was very delicious. The second bottle was a Reisling Charm I had bought because it looked like they sold a lot, and I never heard of a "charm" wine before, but it wasn't all that charming. It was a little tart. Although, not too bad I guess.

Matt also bought me the Arrested Development Season 1 DVDs. I love that show. I spent the majority of my birthday watching these DVDs. I was able to catch 3 episodes I previously hadn't seen, which included references seen in this season such as STEVE HOLT! and the corn baller.

After a relaxing day of AD DVDs, I went to dinner with some friends at my favorite restaurant, Just a Taste. I had enough wine to feel fuzzy and warm but not enough to be drunk and obnoxious. I ate a lot of food and am still stuffed. I also got more presents which is always fun times.

Thats all of us at dinner, minus Jui who took the picture.

Now its after midnight so its not my birthday anymore. I'm still bummed that I didn't end up going to Rochester or having a crazy fun party, but the weather wasn't having any of it. I'll probably go to Rochester next weekend and have a crazy fun time, with hopefully not blizzard like conditions.

Also as you can tell, I really enjoy my digital camera and the ability to take stupid pointless photos.

New Years Eve

2005-01-20T23:15:00.000-05:00

I got a digital camera for Christmas. I finally have the ability to post photos on my blog. Pretty much the only photos I really have to post are from New Year's Eve, so here they are gang....

I spent New Year's Eve at my highschool friend Aubrey's house. Aubrey is one of the few people from Marion that I still talk to, which says a lot. However, I don't really talk to her all that often. Usually once or twice a year when I am home. Regardless she is usually good times.

Here is a picture of me and Aubrey. Aubrey wanted to play beer pong. I never played beer pong in college (or its near Cousin Beruit) because I didn't drink beer. It never occurred to me that I could play beer pong with something other than beer.

I had Smirnoff Twisted in my cups. I sucked at beer pong. Later I tried playing with cheap champaign, but I had drank way too much and seriously couldn't make myself drink more. That's saying a lot.

That's me and Rusty, Aubrey's brother. He's a good kid. Well, he's not really a kid but when I met Aubrey he was like 12, and I always think of him as being a little kid, even though he's only 2 years younger than me. We did some mean Karaoke duets later in the evening.

Did I say I had a lot to drink? I think this picture pretty much highlights that.

I ended up throwing up lots after that night. But all in all it was good times.

My birthday is Sunday, hopefully something fun enough will happen and I will have pictures to post from that.

cinema of 2004

2005-01-02T13:56:00.000-05:00

For some reason 2004 was a very movie-watching filled year for me. I think I watched more movies in 2004 than any other year. I thought I'd share the movies I saw and what I thought of them.

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King - I'm not like a tremendous LOTR fans. I never read the books and wasn't pumped about the movies being released or anything. In fact, I hadn't watched the first movie until it was out on DVD (I watched it the night before I watched the second movie). I did enjoy the first two movies, and enjoyed this as well. Of course when Sam is carrying Frodo up the mountain side I couldn't help silently chanting "Rudy! Rudy! Rudy!" Overall - A -

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - I absolutely LOVED this movie. I watched it recently on DVD and the person I watched it with said he didn't like it because it was "depressing." I never thought of it as a depressing film, I actually left the movie theater with a big smile on my face. I predict it will probably win the oscar for best original screen play, and hopefully Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet will at least receive nominations. Overall - A+

Saved - This movie got Christians' panties all in a bunch. Although it definitely takes some stabs at Evangelicals, if one actually watches the movie they would see that in the end its a very faith-affirming film. I also found it very hysterical, but as I said before, I think Jesus is funny in general. There were some parts that seemed a little over the top - but being an avid TBN (that's Trinity Broadcasting Network) watcher I know that it wasn't so far off the mark from reality. I was also impressed with Mandy Moore's character. If you really love Jesus or are an Evangelical I'd probably not watch the movie, but if you are at all like me I'd highly recommend it. Overall - A

Kill Bill Vol. 2 - The story with Kill Bill Vol. 1, was that after seeing it my friend Matt was so excited that he vomited in his mouth. It was a pretty hysterical sight. Having ended Kill Bill Vol. 1 on an extreme cliff hanger, I was quite excited and impatient for the release of Vol 2. I liked Vol 2, but it was a very different film compared to Vol 1. Originally Quenten Tarritino had planned to release both films as 1 big movie. I can't imagine that - half way through the movie I just would have thought "wait what the hell?" Overall, it was enjoyable, though it did not have the kick-assness of Vol 1, and was no Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. Overall B+

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - I saw this movie because my friend who likes Harry Potter didn't have anyone else to go see it with him, so I went. I was entertained, although I never read any of the books (but did see the first but not the second HP movie). At the same time, I wasn't anxiously awaiting for the DVD to come out or anything. I'd say, for my tastes, it was entertaining but not exceptional. Overall B

Fahrenheit 9-11 - This movie probably ties The Passion as most controversial movie of 2004. I know that it was a one-sided presentation of the facts - but even discounting some content of the film cannot deny many of what was presented. Perhaps it wasn't the best documentary, but it was by far a very entertaining and enlightening movie. I couldn't imagine watching it and supporting Bush. I was never less proud to be an American after watching that film, and now given the election results I don't know if I'd want to watch it again. I think it would just depress me too much. At the same time, if you haven't seen it, I think you need to. Everyone should watch this movie at least once. Overall A

The Stepford Wives - This movie had good acting. Unfortunately it had absolutely nothing else. My immediate reaction was "Well, that movie entertained me for 2 hours." Then I thought about it for like 2 seconds and realized that it was really dumb. There were an incredible number of plot holes, and stuff didn't make sense at all. I read that the original ending, which made the movie make a bit more sense, tested poorly so they shot a new additional ending that seriously dumbed up the movie big time. Even the likes of Christopher Walken, Glen Close, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Middler, and yes even Jon Lovitz couldn't save this stink-fest. Overall D+

Coffee and Cigarettes - I wanted to see Napoleon Dynamite, but my friend didn't want to. I wish we would have seen Napoleon Dynamite. This movie definitely had its moments (i.e. Cousins?), but overall I was neither entertained nor felt that I had watched anything worthwhile. It was one of those movies that I felt like I SHOULD like but at the end of the day, I really didn't. I know admitting that really hurts my pretentious indie creds, but if I said I liked it, it would just be because I am supposed to say that. Overall C+

Garden State - In the theater I liked this movie until the end. I thought it was overall a good film with a ending more appropriate for the season finale of Friends. I watched it again on DVD and liked it a bit less. I think Mere put it best when she described it as one of those movies where every line is about life, or finding yourself, or relationships, or something like that. It does have a killer soundtrack though. I would say in sum, not a bad movie, worth watching, but not like amazing or anything. Overall B

Team America World Police - FUCK YEAH!! That's about all I can say about this movie. It was absolutely hysterical. Everything about it was hysterical. I'm not sure if there is another movie that has made me laugh as much as Team America has made me laugh, not just this year, but ever. Overall A+

I *heart* Huckabees - This movie has Jason Schwartzman of Rushmore who I found really attractive, and was immediately added to my list of celebrities to sleep with. (I'm not really sure what it is about Jewish looking guys with shaggy/raggity hair that really does it for me). Also this movie has Jude Law and Mark Whalberg, who - although they are not on my list - are definitely eye candy. Yet the attractive guyness of this movie was not even its major selling point. It was a quirky, funny, existential romp. It was similar in style and writing to Charlie Kaufman and Wes Anderson work (I would situate this film somewhere between the Royal Tennenbaums and Being John Malkovitch). While definitely not a movie for everyone (especially dumb folks), I really enjoyed it quite a bit and probably will buy it when it comes out on DVD. Overall A

The Incredibles - Normally I wouldn't go to the theater to see an animated film. I'm not really sure why I went to this, maybe there wasn't much else playing or something. I did, though, really enjoy this movie. I thought it was incredibly well done and I was very entertained. The animation was fantastic (I was really impressed by all the hair on the female characters), and there were quite a bit of funny parts. I actually thought it might have been a little too violent to be a good movie for young kids, but probably not so much for older kids and definitely a movie adults could enjoy just as much if not more. Overall A-

Ocean's Twelve - This is one of those entertaining, hot guy filled, fun movies that I enjoyed watching but could have lived my life without ever seeing or seeing it again. It was a good movie, and worth the $8 at the theater, but not anything that spectacular. There's really not much else I feel I can say about it. Overall B

These were just the movies I saw in the theater. There were a number of movies released in 2004 that I saw once they came out on DVD including Mean Girls, Napoleon Dynomite, Open Water, Supersize Me, Anchorman, The Manchurian Candidate and others.

Well, now then, wasn't that informative?

back from the dead

2005-01-02T13:48:00.000-05:00

I know I haven't posted in like forever. So long that anyone who may have read my blog probably stopped reading it since it hadn't been updated in 3 months. Well first the whole election thing really upset me, and seeing how the majority of my "recent" posts had been election oriented it just pained me too much to post anything. After I got over that, I just was really busy and didn't have time to post anything really. So yeah...I will try to post more. I promise.

eminen that political gansta

2004-10-26T15:09:00.000-04:00

I have a (not so) secret cursh on Eminem. He pretty much reminds me of every guy I ever dated in high school. There's something about his ghetto trailer park white boy ganster act that really does it for me.

In anycase, the reason I mention Eminem is that he has a new politically charged video out. I saw it first on Daily Kos. Maybe if MTV picks this up it might encourage some of the MTV crowd to vote (and not for Bush). I myself am not part of the MTV crowd since I stopped watching MTV on principle 4 years ago.

Anyways, here's the clip: Eminem Video

scrappy new englanders defeat the evil empire

2004-10-21T21:00:00.000-04:00

Let me first just say that I'm really not a Boston Red Sox fan. Ever since I started paying any attention at all to sports I have been a Cleveland Indians fan. In fact, from April to September I really dislike Boston. I'm still sour after the 1999 American League Division Series when the Indians were up 2 games to 0, and lost it to Boston 3 games to 2. Despite this, more than I am not a Red Sox fan I really, REALLY, REALLY, hate the Yankees. And so, for the last week I became a Boston fan, and I couldn't be happier today.

Someone asked me why I hate the Yankees so much. Basically there are 3 types of people in this world: Yankees fans, people who hate the Yankees, and people who give two shits about baseball. The Yankees are the epitome of what is wrong with baseball. Sure they win, A LOT. But they win because they have the highest payroll in all of baseball. The suck up available players just because they can not because its necessary. When they had arguably one of the best (if not [it pains me to say this] the best) shortstop in all of baseball, they pick up the highest paid player in baseball, also a shortstop and make him a third baseman. Why? Because they CAN because they ARE the Yankees. Teams in smaller markets just can't compete, and so those bastards just keep winning.

Sports fans like teams with heart. Like the song says in the Yankee bashing musical Damn Yankees (which incidentily I was in when I was in high school) "You gotta have heart." They don't say "You gotta have the biggest payroll in baseball." Fans don't like teams that buy their way into championships. Sports fans like to believe that its not about money -- its about be about love of the game, guts, spirit, giving it all you got, and yeah heart. Year after year, those Yankees victories ruin that dream.

Until now.

The Yankees didn't just lose the series. The lost the series to Boston (of all teams!). They lost the series to Boston when they were 3 outs from sweeping the series. They allowed Boston to complete a baseball first. Not only is Boston the first team in MLB history to win a series when they were down 3-0, they are also the first team to even FORCE a game 7.

Never giving up hope. Fighting for until the very last out. Late game rallies and extra inning wins. Bouncing back from a 19-8 defeat, pitching with your ankle tendons sutured together and blood soaking through your sock, defeating the team that supposdly cursed you way back in 1918. THAT is what sports is about. Red Sox fan or not, you have to appreciate that...unless of course you are a Yankees fan.
---
Commentaries from ESPN.com and elsewhere:
Jim Caple
ESPN's Sports Guy
Mitch Albom (Detroit Free Press)
New York Times

i can't upstage alec baldwin

2004-10-17T09:52:00.000-04:00

I wanted to title this post "America...FUCK YEAH," as that was the theme song to Team America:World Police, that I've had stuck in my head since seeing the movie on Friday. I decided to be somewhat polite and not put, "Fuck" in the title of my post. But seriously, watching this movie really wants to make me say, "Fuck Yeah."

For real, it was hysterical. Offensive, but hysterical. Trey Parker and Matt Stone are genuises of satire. I have heard some people suggest that this movie is "right leaning" and thus not worth watching. Seriously folks. Its puppets. Puppets that blow shit up. Granted, there are some stabs at Hollywood actors turned activists (including Alec Baldwin...the greatest actor ever, acording to Gary in the movie and my dear friend Mere, Michael Moore, and Matt Damon). There are also stabs at Kenny Chesney, and the mentality of using extreme military power to hunt down terrorists. Just because team America prevails in the end (I don't think I am giving too much of the movie away by saying that) you still walk away knowing they are a bunch of dicks.

Even if you ignore the satirical elements of this movie, it is still really, really funny. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a funnier movie. Of course, its only funny if you find parody, puppet sex, vomit, Alec Baldwin, and soliloquies about dicks, pussies, and assholes to be funny. Luckily, I do, so I give this movie two really big thumbs up!

review #6

2004-10-17T01:10:00.000-04:00

Remember the box 'o CDs? Yeah I almost forgot about them too. I've been able to get through 1 more CD in the box. Here is my mini review.

Vonray Self-Titled - My first thought was "Wow theseguys might as well be Creed." Then I read in the liner notes that they toured with Creed, so I am not making this Creed stuff up. Except, these guys suck worse than Creed -- if you can actually imagine that being possible. I think this might have even been thinly veiled Christian rock. There was nothing that blatently mentioned the big JC, but it seemed like he was lurking in the background. I do wonder though, if the bands name comes from Stevie Ray Von. Sort of like how Buck Cherry was a play on Chuck Berry. But regardless, these guys suck. Unless you like Creed. Then I 'spose they rock.

why young people are nervous

2004-10-08T01:22:00.000-04:00

A great speech from Rep. Tim Ryan - D (Ohio) from the house. Check it out.

Here.

Read comments (mostly praise) about this clip (and find it in different formats) Here.

you and me an amazon.com

2004-10-07T14:42:00.000-04:00

Y'know, the most interesting thing about my history of amazon.com purchases (below) is not the ridiculous amount of money I have spent buying CDs, books, and movies. Nor is it the fact that I apparently like to buy cookbooks as gifts for people. Nor is it even what appears to be a tendancy to shop amazon.com in spurts (e.g. purchases just a few days or a couple weeks a part and then no purchases for months). What I find most interesting about purusing my shopping history is the way that it fits into my actual life history. In reviewing these purchases, I can place almost every one within some major life event or in the context of my life at the time.

For example, take Anthony. The whole Anthony affair seemed (especially at the time) like a major portion of my life. When put in context of my Amazon.com history, he only spans Nerf Herder to The Photo Album. Only 9 of my 34 amazon.com purchases were when I was with him. Put that way, he doesn't seem so important.

Or take the Simpson's Clue game. That was the last gift I bought for Matt before we broke up. In retrospect it seems like sort of a weird gift for him, but that also says a little something to me about our relationship. We had been together on and off for 5 years by that point, and what did I buy...a board game. A kind of lame one at that. It wasn't like he was this tremendous Simpson's fan or anything. I'm not sure why I bought it. I remember to, after I went home and right around when he was all crazy I noticed the game, still unopened in his closet.

My new commitment to try and shape up is also evident. The first attempt of this, with the pilates and abs VHS tapes that I did pretty religiously for about a month before a slacked off. The second were the purchase of the AM/PM stretch (which I did like once) and the Tae Bo II tapes. I bought those after about a month of serious Tae Bo Cardio. I have been pretty religious with my Tae Bo (save the month of September), but I still like the original tape I bought from Wal-Mart best.

For nearly every purchase, I can remember making the purchase and situate it in my life during the past 5 years. The list is more than just a catelogue of all the ridiculous money I have been spending...it also really is a walk down memory lane.

amazon.com and me

2004-10-07T01:49:00.000-04:00

I recently discovered that you can track your entire purchase history on Amazon.com. I decided to take this trip down memory lane starting with my freshman year in college...

1/21/99 Creed - My own Prison Yeah...I am very embarassed that is was my first Amazon.com purchase) Toadies - Rubberneck
2/3/99 Protien Power: The Metabolic Breaktrough I never really read this book or went on a low-carb diet, so I'm not sure why I even bought it.
4/4/99 Fashion Nugget - Cake
2/5/00 Pocket Bunny (Pocket Pals) My first "Pals Day" gift for Yaeka, along with some hot dog shaped gum
2/18/00The Frugal Gormet Cookbook Gift for my mom
7/13/00Superfast - Dynamite Hack Gift for my brother
9/29/00 Kid A - Radiohead
10/15/00 Simpson's Clue A gift for "psycho Matt" the last gift I ever did buy him
5/17/01 Nerf Herder - Nerf Herder & Magnolia: Music from the Motion Picture
5/17/01Amnesiac - Radiohead
10/23/01 Meet the Feebles (VHS) Christmas gift for Anthony. He had a strange fascination with puppets.
11/25/01$25 Gift Certificate (Dad)
2/6/02 Is this it - The Strokes
6/13/02 Walking With Thee - Clinic & Life and Death of an American Four-tracker - John Vanderslice
6/17/02 The Simpsons Complete First Season Gift for my brother
9/10/02 Winners Never Quit - Pedro the Lion; Veni Vidi Vicious - The Hives; & The Moldy Peaches - The Moldy Peaches
9/17/02Mass Suicide Occult Figurines - John Vanderslice & The Photo Album - Death Cab for Cutie
12/16/02 Kitchenaid 4 1/2 qt mixer - chrome Christmas gift for my mom (My dad gave me most of the money to buy it).
4/8/03 - Bandwagoneqsue - Teenage Fanclub; Dear 23 - The Posies; & I'm Sorry I'm somtimes Mean - Kimya Dawson I only bought the Teenage Fanclub and Posies because they were on sale super cheap (like $7 each), but I ended up not liking them and selling them within 4 or 5 months.
6/15/03 Hail to the Thief - Radiohead & Bridges Worth Burning - Kind of Like Spitting
6/17/03 Face Foward (book); The Lusty Lady (book); & Mystery Men (DVD) Presents for Yaeki
7/11/03 Cannibal! The Musical & Crooked Rain Crooked Rain - Pavement Presents for my brother
8/9/03Pilated Beginning Mat Workout (VHS); Living Yoga Abs Yoga for Beginners (VHS); & Mistaken Identification: The Eyewitness, Psychology, and the Law (book)
12/3/03 - Adventures of Indiana Jones Boxed Set (DVD) Gift for my Brother & Martin Scorsese: Best of the Blues Gift for dad
12/3/03 Friends: The complete fifth season (DVD) & The Candle Cafe Cookbook Gifts for Butts
12/4/03 Friends: Trivia in a Tin & Friends: The complete 1st Season (DVD) Gifts for Lea (Yaeka bought the gifts for Mere)
1/7/04 Transatlanticism - Death Cab for Cutie; Garfield - Adam Green; & Holy Blood Holy Grail (book)
1/14/04 Castaways & Cutouts - The Decemberists
1/22/04 Developmental Psychology: An Advanced Textbook
2/1/04 The Creek Drank the Cradle - Iron & Wine & Waters Ave S. - Damien Jurado
4/14/04 AM/PM Stretch for Health (DVD) & Tae Bo II: Get Ripped Basic Workout (DVD)
6/22/04Moosewood Restaurant New Classics Cookbook & Mossewood Restauraunt Book of Desserts Gifts for Yaeki
8/9/04 Gift Certificate $100 (Butts) Lea, Mere, Yaeka, & I went in on this after some jerk offs broke into Butts car when she was moving cross-country and stole a lot of her stuff
9/28/04 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (DVD) & Lost In Translation (DVD)

This list of course does not include items from my wish list that were purchased by others. Damn, I really do *heart* amazon.com

just because there are dwarfs...

2004-10-04T23:45:00.000-04:00

I watched a lot of movies this weekend (translate: I sat of my ass a lot this weekend.) Here's what I saw and where they stand in my book.

The Station Agent - I saw a preview for this earlier in the year and thought it looked good. I tend to really like quirky, off-beat indie flicks. And okay, maybe I was biased because the main character was a dwarf, and I am biased to think anything with little people has gotta be good (I mean come on...Willy Wonka, Wizard of Oz, Simon Birch...). And maybe that was the point of this movie...just because someone is a dwarf doesn't mean they are full of whimsy. But the whole thing revolved around trains and the guy lived in a train station, so making a completely serious movie didn't seem to be the point. I actually didn't see the point to be honest -- I guess in the end you were supposed to be left with the feeling that the three main characters needed each other in their own strange ways, but getting to that conclusion was a long and boring road. Additionally, little things can really kill a movie for me. In this case, I thought the white trash characters that pick on Fin were way too stereotypical. Pick-up truck, moustaches, mullets, and trucker hats. I mean, they were like strait out of Joe Dirt. At the same time, the white trash guys' girlfriend drove a Suburu. Having grown up in central Ohio and living in Ithaca now, I know many people who are white trash and many people who drive Suburus and they aren't the same crowd. Overall C+

Bottle Rocket - After watching the Station Agent, I needed a pick me up so I watched my DVD of Bottle Rocket. Although I own this movie, I only watched it once before. The first film from Wes Anderson/Owen Wilson, Bottle Rocket is a gem. There are many clearly Wes Anderson moments that you see in Rushmore and The Royal Tennenbaums, although Bottle Rocket lacks some of the whimsy of the later Wes Anderson/Owen Wilson movies. There are so many quality scenes, though my favorite would probably be when Dignan (Owen Wilson) tries to convince Anthony (Luke Wilson) to join his new gang and comes riding up on a mo-ped wearing a yellow jumpsuit. After Futureman (Andrew Wilson, the lesser known Wilson brother) makes fun of Dignan, Anthony can't help but join his gang but only if HE can get a jumpsuit too. You gotta love a movie with lines like, "Here are just a few of the key ingredients: dynamite, pole vaulting, laughing gas, choppers - can you see how incredible this is going to be? - hang gliding, come on!" Also, Luke Wilson is REALLY hot in this flick. Watching it reminded me why he is on my list of celebrities to sleep with. I know that's so lame to put in a movie review, but there are few actors I say that about and Luke Wilson happens to be one of them. I am very much looking forward to The Life Aquatic, even if it is sans Luke Wilson. Overall A

American Splendor - The life and times of clerk and underground comic legend Harvey Pekar. This film did a nice job combining film and documentary formats. Most of the "real" characters also appeared in the movie. Its a good thing the actual people were in the film, because I'd almost not believe the actors portrayal of them if they weren't. In short, this wasn't the best movie I've ever seen in my entire life, but it was well worth the 90 minutes I spent watching it. Overall B+

Mean Girls - When I first saw previews for this movie, I really wasn't interested. I mean c'mon...Lindsay Lohan and Lacey Chabert? But, the movie was written by Tina Fey (head writer for SNL) and the cast included a lot of SNL cast members and alumns. I have to admit it was pretty funny. It was sort of clueless-esque but the rich snotty girls were a bit more believable to me. Plus it had Tim Meadows in it...you gotta love Tim Meadows. Overall A-.

I'm also hella excited because Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind came out last Tuesday and it is currently en route to my house. This is the best movie of 2004 in my book. I cannot wait to watch the DVD. (I really don't usually get super excited over DVD releases for real...this movie is, as they say in Mean Girls, "so fetch!").

future soundtrack for america

2004-10-03T23:07:00.000-04:00

While I'm at it in posting a bunch of political-esque links, I thought I should mention Future Soundtrack for America

This compalation includes tracks from such artists as Sleater-Kinney, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, They Might Be Giants, The Long Winters, and Nada Surf. All proceeds go to Move On.org and other progressively minded organizations. You can pick it up from Barsuk Records. If you do, you can get 15% off all your other purchases. I did that awhile back and also picked up Nada Surf's Let Go (which was a good decision, its been on my list of things to buy since it was released, and I'm happy I did). Overall its a pretty good listen, though I usually skip past the Blink 182 and Black Eyed Peas tracks. The posthumous Elliot Smith track is really great.

band of sisters

2004-10-03T13:16:00.000-04:00

Check out this New Ad from Band of Sisters a group of women who have lost family members in Iraq. They are working on raising money to put this ad on a national telivision market.

more politcal schtuff

2004-10-03T01:56:00.000-04:00

The debates have really gotten me fired up about the election. I think they really hit home what an idiot George Bush is and how incredibly awful the world will be if he remains in power. I have spent the past 3 days doing lots of internet surfing. I just wanted to post some links of some pretty interesting stuff I've come across, that will hopefully help to fire up us apathetic 18-35 year olds....

New draft? - I don't know how true this is. I've heard other places that this has been de-bunked and then elsewhere that this particular news item hasn't been debunked but that another "draft scare" has. Check it out for yourself and see what you think. If its true, its very scary.

Daily Kos - Political Blog, its obviously very lefty slanted, but I have been enjoying it quite a bit. There is a ton of info on there posted by lots of people. I don't know how credible everything is. It was posted that Poland is pulling out of the coalition (just one day after Bush reminded Kerry not to forget Poland) but I haven't been able to verify this.

The Unfeeling President - My dad forwarded me this op-ed piece about how Bush lacks remorse for those who have died as a result of his war (and others who suffer as a result of his other policies.)

The Democratic National Committee has a great video clip montage of Bush's reactions to Kerry during the debate.

Also from the DNC Two Faces of Bush. Similarly, The Daily Show has a clever "President Bush versus Presidential Hopeful Bush" clip.

Fox News, which everyone knows is incredibly conservative, apparently posted a Joke Story as a real news item on its webpage.

Its late, so I am going to go to sleep but I will be keeping my eyes peeled for interesting stuff out there.

if you're not outraged....

2004-10-01T01:22:00.000-04:00

There is a bumper sticker I see around here a lot that reads: If you're not outraged you're not paying attention. It seems like the majority of American's are NOT paying attention. Despite the ballooning deficit, the stagnant economy, the complete disaster in Iraq -- the majority of American's plan to vote for George Bush. Despite his substantial lack of judgment, many American's prefer a leader who is "decisive" to one who actually makes good decisions although in a bit more tempered manner. Are Americans really so ignorant to support a president who's best argument for re-election is, in the words of John Stewart "Yeah, I drove us into a brick wall, but at least I didn't blink"?

In case you haven't been paying attention. Here is why you should be outraged:

The United States suffered a great loss on Sept 11, 2001. Nearly 3,000 innocent U.S. citizens lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on NYC, Washington D.C., and in the plane crash in Pennsylvania where the civilian passengers thwarted the terrorists for even more loss of life. The U.S.'s reaction was outrage, as it should be.

After Sept. 11, the U.S. began viewing the world as much less safer place. Partially in response to this world view (or at least in theory in response to this world view) the United States, along with a small coalition of other countries, invaded Iraq. The pretense for going to war was that Sadaam Hussein was not cooperating with weapons inspectors and failing to turn over his weapons of mass destruction. To date, those weapons have not been found. Over 1000 U.S. soldiers have lost their life in Iraq, and more than 6000 additional have been wounded. The majority of the casualties have occurred AFTER George Bush claimed that major combat had ended. The U.S. constantly faces more Iraqi insurgents. George Bush calls the insurgents "terrorists" and claim that they are fighting against freedom. Perhaps they are fighting against occupation. Consider the ASTRONOMICAL number of Iraqi civilians who have died as a result of the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. It’s easy to imagine how Iraqi's are looking around their environment and not seeing a world better than the world they lived in with Sadaam Hussein. From their perspective, the "free" Iraq is just as bad as the Iraq they lived in before, if not worse.

And why did we really go to war with Iraq? There are a lot of conspiracy theories out there. I do not, in my heart of hearts believe that the real cause of the U.S. war with Iraq was that the U.S. saw Iraq as a state-sponsor of international terrorism and possessor of dangerous weapons of mass destruction. Though the Fahrenheit 9/11-esque war for money/oil conspiracy seemed a bit far-fetched to me at first, I am starting to reconsider. My dad passed me this great article in Harper's magazine. It's a bit long, but I highly recommend it. It highlights the Neo-Conservative theoretical perspectives. Essentially, Neo-Con thought is that a completely unregulated capitalist market is the most utopian society (sort of the complete antithesis of Communism.) The Neo-Cons believed they could create this society in Iraq through political upheaval. The policies that Paul Bremmer (who was the interim man in charge) were essentially designed to make Iraq the most open international market in the world. Rather than making Iraq a beacon of business and enterprise - and thus wealth and prosperity, these policies alienated the people of Iraq and fostered more hatred and violence. In the end, the Iraq experience was a failure, and yet (as the article notes):

The Green Zone neocons and their masters in Washington are no more likely to reexamine their core beliefs than the Taliban mullahs were inclined to search their souls when their Islamic state slid into a debauched Hades of opium and sex slavery. When facts threaten true believers, they simply close their eyes and pray harder.

I think the religious metaphor is extra poignant when it comes to George W. Bush. I am often wondering how his supporters can support him despite so much evidence (only a small fraction of which I discussed here) that points to his inadequacy as a president and leader. I have to wonder if part of this doesn't come from the fact that much of Bush's support comes from the Christian Right. Fundamentalist Christians are well practiced in denying facts to make room for faith. I don't think I am slandering Christians too much when I say that, even in the 18th century famed philosopher Immanuel Kant noted, "I have therefore found it necessary to deny knowledge, in order to make room for faith." It seems that for many, they have denied the realities of our current world to make room for their faith in George W. Bush.

diggin it

2004-09-27T22:29:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to say that I have really really been enjoying the Unicorns lately. I actually need to purchase the album and stop listening to these illegally downloaded songs. I have especially been really enjoying I was Born (A Unicorn), Child Star, and Les Os.

Really that is all I have to say. I know this is like the lamest blog entry and I try not to post incredibly lame blog entries, as it is not the fortay of Clever Titles to post very short very random posts. Okay, I know I am very random but I generally at least set up what I am talking about and talk about it for awhile. I have been really busy, but I want the world to know I am not giving up on my blog. I just haven't had time to post some things I have wanted to post. Though when some free time comes look for the following:

1. More box o' CDs reviews. I haven't had a chance to listen to more, but once I do I will post the reviews.

2. A big pre-election rant. I've had some political thoughts in my head I have wanted to post, but I think I need to sit down and write them out mildly elloquently, and that will take time. But hopefully I will have it soon as the election is beginning to loom.

3. Arrested Development is Awesome! I was going to post last week after their incredibly Emmy victory. I might just hold out now until the new season starts.

4. Although there is nothing looming, I am sure sooner or later someone will piss me off or get on my nerves and I will have to write a post bitching up and down about them.

For now folks, its back to work for me. But listen to the Unicorns if you aren't if you like poppy fun boogy goodness.

iPod pyramid scheme

2004-09-09T22:40:00.000-04:00

We all know I *heart* my iPod. I would also *heart* having a new 20 GB free iPod. Then I discovered THIS.

Its essentially an iPod pyramid scheme. You sign up and do one of their offers (like sign up for a credit card) then you get 5 other people to do it and you get a free iPod. Apparently this really works. I would really like a free new iPod.

So yeah...join the scheme and get your own Free iPod.

first 5 down

2004-09-07T21:42:00.000-04:00

So I have made it through 5 CDs in my box o' CDs. My first thought -- just from listening to only five is why in God's name was Phill toting these CDs around with him in the first place. I can maybe see how they got from Colgate to Earlville, but why they were deemed necessary to carry across the country when he moved to Tacoma, and then from the apartment in Tacoma to Yaeka's condo in Issaquah is beyond me. Overall, these CDs are total crap. But to be more specific...

David Dondero Shooting at the Sun with a Watergun - The sound on this album was similar to Kind of Like Spitting or Bright Eyes, though overall the album was a bit more bluesy and exhibited less maturity. Whereas the previously mentioned artists come off as emotionally driven and sorrowful, David Dondero just sounded whiney. The vocals were featured prominantly but the lyrics were mediocre at best. The best track -- Proposal -- was simple, lo fi, and understated. It actually made its way to my iTunes library. Overall, I'd say this album had some potential, and perhaps with a bit more maturity David Dondero will be able to put out something of note.

Ken Chambers Above You - Pretty generic early 90's alterna-rock in Posie-esque fashion. There was a very nice cover of Jesus Christ Superstar that I transferred to my iTunes library. Overall, though, the sound was too dated for my taste. 10 years ago I may have liked it.

Geno Delafose French Rockin Boogie - French/American jazz-blues by a black man in a cowboy hat and shirt that would make Garth Brooks proud. Apparently ol' Geno is one of the world's premire zydeco players. I never heard of a zydeco before reading the liner notes to this CD, as far as I can tell its an accordian-esque insturment. I didn't get very far in this CD because it was clear that this style of music wasn't my bag. Though I think my dad may appreciate it, so I'll be sending it to him. He tends to enjoy things with the word "boogie" in the title.

Sun Jam House Wah - This was early 90's alternative rock metal grunge, something like early Soundgarden or Alice in Chains, but a lot worse. I couldn't make myself listen to more than 2 songs on this CD. In addition to be incredibly painful to listen too, they were all really long. The CD has 17 tracks most of which are in the 4 min + range. Songs like this were not meant to be that long.

Lucy Wood - While You Can - This album sounded like the soundtrack to an ABC Family Original Movie. Female vocal pop that tries to be something more than current teeney pop by influsing more guitar driven back-ups and more "soulful" lyrics. In the end, you just get dreadfully bad music without even anything catchy or booty-shaking. There was something I was attracted to in the first song, "Dumb Girls." I was sure it wasn't the lyrics since they were essentially "This only happens to dumb girls, it wasn't supposed to happen to me, now I'm a dumb girl" (I sort of paraphrased). Then I realized it was the back-up guitar riff was the chord progression from Led Zepplin's Kashmir. Unlike Geno Delafose and Sun, though, I DID listen to the whole thing.

box o' cds

2004-09-02T18:22:00.000-04:00

Yaeka sent me a box of random CDs. Apparently they were CDs PhiLL acquired through his days as the music director at WRCU. In any case, I'm planning to work my way through them. Some of them look like they will be stinkers...if you can judge a CD by its cover. Check back and I will post my mini-reviews of the CDs as I get through them.

maybe she's just stupid...

2004-09-01T13:55:00.000-04:00

One of my greatest sorority moments was when I was at a conference of other chapter officers from all around the country. We were at a session discussing how our standards committee (which is sort of like the chapters' internal review/disciplinary committee) could be open minded. This one girl stood up and told a story about how they had a woman in their chapter who continuously had a GPA below the chapter minimum and was placed on social probation. After 3 semesters of working with this woman, the officer reported they thought.. "Well maybe she's just stupid, and that's the best she could do." Imagine her saying it in a voice that is a cross between LuAnne from King of the Hill and the girls in the Saturday Night Live Delta Delta Delta skit. "Maybe she's just stupid!?" I found that particular moment funny, since obviously this officer telling the story wasn't so bright herself. Every so often, though, I find myself in situations where I am left to wonder....Maybe she IS just stupid.

Case in point. My roommate. (This is a different roommate than the dishes roommate I have discussed before.) There a number of people who don't like my roommate very much...including one of my roommates who just moved out. There is just cause to not like my roommate. She has a number of flaws. Some people think she just is a not so nice person. Other people think she is completely delusional about the world. Others think she's fully manipulative and self-serving. I've vacillated between many of those options, but now I wonder...maybe she's just stupid.

Okay, so Monday she really really pissed me off. I already had a pretty stressful weekend. I was incredibly busy from Friday to Sunday. Our refridgerator broke during the few hottest days of the summer. My watch broke. All of which put me in a grumpy mood. Then she says to me Monday morning, "Did you see someone parked in my spot?!" I said yeah, that it was the neighbor's girlfriend.

Just a sidenote for background here, we have supposedly 4 parking spots, one for each of us and one for our neighbor downstairs. The spots are tight and the way that we park you can only fit 3 cars. Also, my old roommates boyfriend came often and parked in our lot taking our downstairs neighbor's spot. In fact, many of our visitors have done that. Granted, they MAY not have been my roommate's visitors, but the downstairs neighbor doesn't know this. And never once did he complain.

But my roommate, she tells me that she has put a note in his mailbox. I told her that I thought this was a bad idea given that he often has his spot taken. She said, "Well its not my fault." Given the situation, I thought talking about it with the neighbor would be better. We'll return to the note later...but at the time I let it drop.

This conversation all happened while I was doing some laundry. I put a load in, and then I had to go do something, coming back soon. I was already irritated about the note incident. When I returned I found my clothes removed from the dryer and the washer. The washer had a load of my roommate's stuff and the dryer was empty. (Her sister had been visiting and was leaving that day & I think she was doing her sister's stuff for her sister to pack.) The clothes that had been removed from the dryer were all piled up and some were not even fully dry. This irritated me even more. So I started ironing my stuff that got all wrinkled making my irritation pretty clear.

Now a normal person would probably say, "Oh hey Sarah, sorry I took your stuff out. I didn't think you'd be back today and my sister needed her clothes done." That would be normal and no harm done right? Well instead, she takes my stuff out of the dryer AGAIN, but this time starts folding it. I was there the whole time. I come downstairs and she's there folding my stuff. Not just folding...but working REALLY hard on folding my pillow case. She says, "I took your stuff out because it was getting too hot, but I can't get the creases out of this." Instead of making a simple apology she tries to make up for it, by doing something else stupid.

Now back to the note...I was so irritated with her by late afternoon, I decided to check my neighbors mailbox to see if the note was still there. It was. And it was NASTY. Essentially she said, "If this car is parked here again and I can't find the owner I will have it towed. Sorry, but tired of people parking in my paid spot." Towed!! Its happened once to her. He never had our friends towed from his spot. That just made me furious.

Now you might be wondering...geeze louise, you are right, your roommate does seem really wack. No wonder people don't like her. I'm biased to wonder about her personality myself. But then she does things that make me think that yeah, maybe she's just stupid. On this same day as the laundry and note incident I look in our broken fridge. We were still storing some things in there as it was cooler than the shelves, although we knew it wasn't working. (We had each had a carton of milk go bad in about 24 hours time, which was the biggest clue there was a problem). What did I see...but a new carton of milk. Yes...she bought MORE milk. To store in a broken fridge. Yeah...that's just stupid.

hacked off

2004-08-17T21:29:00.000-04:00

In 1998 I sufferred a great hair disaster. My senior year in highschool I did a lot of funky hair experimentation. Most of these new dos worked out pretty well. But, right before I left for college I decided to go for a new daring cut. I was going for something a little bit Natalie Imbruglia-esque. I made two mistakes with that decision. First, I shouldn't have done a new daring haircut right before leaving for college. Second, I shouldn't have gone to JC Penny's to get that cut done. It was not pretty. I blamed the lameness of my social life that year on my really ugly haircut.

After that disaster I stopped doing things to my hair. At most I'd get 2 or 3 inches taken off, but not major cuts. After almost 6 years my hair was pretty long. Here's a fairly recent picture that highlight its length:

Long hair like that is a pain in the ass. I decided at one point that I was going to donate my hair to Locks of Love, a charity that makes free wigs for children with long-term medical hair loss. The longer my hair got the harder it was to cut it. But when Yaeka came to visit, she decided that my long hair was anything but luxerious, and I needed to cut. So today I did. And its short. This is my new haircut:

Its short. I think it makes me look more my age, or older. I am sure it will be less a pain in the ass. Though I do sort of miss having long hair that people comment on. But its for a good cause. The hair they cut off is over a pound heavy.

i am a lame iTunes dork, but i can admit it

2004-08-01T22:58:00.000-04:00

Am I lame for spending the last 2 hours working on my iTunes organization? I'm revamping the system I have going. For awhile I was trying to make the genres more specific. Instead of the generic Alternative/Punk defult that usually pops up when I import my CDs, I made them Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Punk, etc etc etc. Then I decided I wanted to be even more specific, adding things like Indie Singer/Songwriter, Riot Grrrl, and Indie Post Punk Revivial. It was becoming quite cluttered with over 70 (yes 70) different genres (there were also some genres that were essentially the same thing but I hadn't cleaned up like rap, hip/hop rap, hip hop).

I then realized, through the helpful advice of PhiLL who was doing a good job helping me come up with good genres, that I was really thinking more along the lines of styles or sub genres. I decided to then to go back and change all my genres to basics, and then add an additional column of "grouping" which includes my sub-genres. Much of this project has involved the helpful world of All Music.com, which has provided me with most of my sub-genre groupings.

So far my basic genres are: Rock, Indie, Classic Rock, Hip-Hop/Rap, R&B. Pop, Vocal, Instrumental, Country, Jazz, and Classical. I have over 40 sub genres so far. I had them all listed out here, but then I erased the list given that it just highlights the extent of my dorkiness.

The next step in the grand iTunes reorganization is to create smart playlists based on these sub genres. I've been trying to think of clever titles for my smart playlists, but since I am not all that clever I think they are just amusing to me. "Umm, I don't listen to main stream music" is the title of my indie playlist. "If I were doing drugs I'd be listening to this" is the name of my ambient pop/neo-psychedelia/prog-rock/psychadelic/post-rock experimental playlist. I'm struggling with the name for my folk rock/alternative country/ lo fi/ singer-songwriter list. Right now its "Play your accoustic guitar white boy" but I don't know how I feel about that.

All of this is to say that I am a big lame dork. And now you know too, in case there was any question.

my pal lori

2004-07-26T19:55:00.000-04:00

The world seems filled with people who enjoy making everyone their friend. There are those people who refer to everyone they sorta kinda know as "my friend." There are those incurable social butterflies who are always surrounded by people and seem to thrive off the company of others. Then there are those who treat complete strangers or near strangers like an old dear friend. The cashiers at the grocery store who divulge all their problems to every customer who comes through their lane. Customers who do the same (once when I worked retail a woman pulled out photos of a wrecked car that she was recently in an accident in).

My new pseudo-friend is Lori, the custodian on my floor. My first encounter with her happened when I came into my office a little early one day. I was surprised to find Lori sitting at my desk talking on my phone. When I walked in she explained to me that her teenage daughter had run away from home and she was on the phone with her high school letting them know that they are not to discuss her daughter with her ex-husbands girlfriend even though her daughter was living with the girlfriend. Then she said, "You work with kids, you should be able to figure her out." I told her I worked with young kids and couldn't help her with her daughter, but that it did seem like a tough situation she was dealing with.

I thought this was a little weird. But I had heard of students walking in on building staff doing much worse in the early morning hours so I decided not to be weirded out too much by it. Lori, though, seemed to be warmed by my kind response. I'm the only grad student on my floor, perhaps the faculty that have offices there are generally less than friendly. Or perhaps, they just aren't around much in the mornings to interact with her. Maybe Lori just thought I seemed cool. I'm not really sure exactly what it is, but suddenly Lori started acting like my nest best friend.

It started out small. She would say hi to me when she would see me come in. Once when I was gone for the weekend I returned to newly mopped floors. I was okay with being nice to the cleaning lady. Then things got a little weirder. Once she was refilling the bathroom with toiletries and came buy my office with a bag of toilet paper, "Here" she said handing me a roll. "Do you want more for home? Take them in your bag." I really didn't need to lug home multiple rolls of one-ply toilet paper so I declined. She also gave me a whole bunch of garbage bags and told me where the unlocked supply closet is, in case, I suppose, I am ever in desperate need of one-ply toilet paper, gallon trash bags, and those brown paper towels that fill public restrooms.

Then she got on this kick where my floors needed to be waxed. She told me repeatedly that if I told my boss to email her boss and ask for my floors to be waxed she would wax them. I wasn't going to ask Professor Wang to email building services asking for a floor being waxed. Still, she wouldn't let up on the whole floor wax thing. One morning I was in a meeting with a professor when Lori walks in the professor's office and interrupts our meeting. "I'm gonna say something to you, and you are gonna say something back to me," she said. "Uh okay.." was my response. "If you tell me that you want your floor waxed I can wax it, but you didn't hear me say that." So I told her I'd like my floor waxed. This seemed to bring her a lot of pleasure. Currently, my whole office is sitting in the hallway waiting for Lori to wax my floors tomorrow morning.

There are other things she has done that seems to go beyond the friendly exchange of people who work in the same building. She brought me donuts one day for donating money to a kid who was doing relay for life she was collecting for, she asked me to sign a sympathy card for another member of the custodial staff that I had already told her I did not know, and once when my research assistant was leaving me a note on the door that she was going up to her other job but to IM her if I needed anything Lori added a note to the bottom that said "But it don't matter because I'm not gonna do nothing."

I'm not sure if Lori is just one of those naturally friendly people who makes everyone she comes in contact with her friend. From my observation she seems extra friendly to me, but there really aren't many people on my floor to be friendly with. If I am special, I'm not sure what singled me out for her friendliness. Maybe for once someone in an academic building didn't turn their intellectual noses up to the custodial staff. Maybe faculty are generally to late arriving and too busy to take the time to talk with her. I'm not really sure. Though I did notice the other day there were a number of long distance calls made on my phone, that I did not make. Perhaps its not me at all, but just my telephone.

In any case this new friendship has at least gained me unlimited access to all the toilet paper I want.

just a note...

2004-07-24T11:55:00.000-04:00

I changed my commenting settings back to my old halo scan account. Now anyone can comment. I realized after I went and did this that I could have gone back and made my blogger commenting avialable to anyone. But I had already entered the code and was too lazy to go back and take it out again. So now, anyone may add comments to my posts.

I promise that I will write something more substantial soon. I realize I have been a bit lazy lately with posting. By lazy I mean not posting anything at all in the past 3 weeks. I just don't want to post if I don't have anything mildly interesting to say, even though I do provide the disclaimer that you shouldn't expect me to say anything interesting. I'd hate to turn into my old blog where I'd write stupid posts about how I like grape nuts or my roommates were cooking soemthing with onions. I also don't want to turn into one of those blogs where people try really really really hard to be interesting and so they go into these "deep" tirades that just make them sound like someone off of My So Called Life. (A really great example of this is a former student in my departments page. Unfortunately its been down for about a month now).

So yes, I promise when I have something not dumb to talk about I will talk about it. Untill then, you all can go back and add comments to all the posts that were commented on post comment change.

bad karma

2004-07-06T00:39:00.000-04:00

Once Yaeka and I wrote a song about bad karma. I don't remember it too well, I think there was a line that was something like, "Stub your toe, BAAAD KAR-MA." Essentially the whole song was "Something bad happens to you, BAAD KAR-MA." I think it would have been one of our hit songs, after "Rockstar Party" and "Fish and Tomatoes." Unfortunately, we never did start our band, and so the bad karma song has been lost for eternity.

The reason I mention this song, is sometimes I wonder if their really is a such thing as karma. I mean I see some people, and I think, "Man oh man, they really should be racking up the bad karma..." And yet, I see no evidence that this bad karma they should be racking up has come back to bite them in the ass. Although I may invent crazy stories to placate myself, I'm always left with the nagging knowledge that their is no cosmic justice.

But behold, I'm starting to come around. Bad karma it seems takes awhile to catch up to you. I know this because the bad roommate karma I gained during my college years has finally come to bite me in the ass. More particularly, my bad washing dishes roommate karma.

Anyone who lived with me from 1998-2002 can attest that I was always the messy roommate. I was the one that didn't clean the stovetop immediately after making rice-o-roni. I was the one who left dishes in the sink (with every intention of washing them) that were more promptly washed by one of my more immaculate roommates. I was the one people were pissed off by on a fairly regular basis. That was me.

Since graduating I have had my share of not so wonderful roommate-ness. Most people know about the situation with my first post-Hamilton NY roommate. She was messy yes, but I think that was the least of her problems. I don't think she reflects the cosmos getting back at me, at least not for doing dishes. If she was the result of bad karma, I must have done some pretty awful things to people. Perhaps I did, and perhaps someone somewhere got word of how my life sucked with her and felt a little better. I don't think I'm that bad of a person though, so I will chalk it up to bad luck and not bad karma.

I currently have a new roommate. She is subletting from one of my previous roommates but will continue to live here in the fall. Overall I think she is a really nice person, and not "nice" in a generic "I don't have anything else to say about her" sort of way. I really like her. Except one thing. She's fucking messy as shit. I mean she cooks all the time. Myself and my other roommate aren't big cookers. She's like a 4 pan a day sort of lady. She cooks and she never ever does the dishes afterwards. At first I bit the bullet given my prior history. Every morning though, after my tae bo cardio, I would do all the dishes in the sink. Usually 1 or 2 would be mine. I was annoyed, but not annoyed to the point that I would need to write a whole blog post about it. But then, then, I realized the cosmos were definitely out to get me. On a rare occasion I did a little cooking for dinner (essentially I am running out of money and thus am forcing myself to eat the food I have before I buy more food, which I generally food you have to make, which is why it hasn't been eaten, but that is not important for the point), and on this rare occasion she was doing her dishes. Given that I had been doing her dishes for her for about a week, I assumed that she would wash mine as well. You can already see where this is going...I woke up the next morning and only her dishes were washed.

I probably should have said something sort of in a nice way like "Oh just so you know, the way we usually do dishes is everyone washes everyone's dishes but we try to take turns so nobody is doing them all the time." I settled on passive-aggressive and just stopped washing everyone's but my own. Then she left for a weekend leaving some (though granted not all) of her dishes still in the sink. I swore I wasn't going to wash them. But then I used her salad dressing to make a pasta salad to take to a picnic without asking her. So I eventually did do her dishes. I don't want any more bad karma.

more about fahrenheit 9/11

2004-07-04T14:46:00.000-04:00

Since my last post about Fahrenheit 9/11 (which again...EVERYONE should go see), I've read some more reviews and comments on the movie. I thought about adding these additional thoughts of mine to the original post below, but I decided it to add a new post.

I've noticed a lot of people criticizing the movie because although it shows American brutality in Iraq it fails to show the brutality of the terrorists who are harming America. In fact, one Midwestern chain is refusing to show the film because of this apparent one sided-ness. Moore, for example shows U.S. soldiers inflicting pain on innocent Iraqi people, but does not show footage of 9/11 (he shows instead a blank black screen where we hear the sounds of terror but do not see it) or footage of American soldiers being beheaded by Saudi terrorists. Therefore, this line of reasoning goes, the movie supports terrorism and the terrorists, and is a leftist one sided attack on American sensibilities.

I agree that the movie is definitely agenda filled. The problem I have with this line of reasoning against the movie is that, it simply misses the point. The point of the movie is that the Iraqi people have nothing to do with September 11 or other acts of terrorism against Americans. Many people seem to be failing to grasp that these acts of terrorism are not important for the war in Iraq because they have nothing to do with the war in Iraq In fact, the movie is quite critical of Bush's lackadaisical approach to Afghanistan and the Taliban post (and pre) Sept 11 (for example he notes that only 11,000 troops were actually sent to Afghanistan, a number that is fewer than the amount of cops in NYC.) He clearly doesn't believe that terrorists should be allowed to roam free and plot to destroy more Americans. Rather, he argues that Bush's foreign policies did a bad job of actually fighting terrorists and terrorism, and the "war on terror" is just an easy way to sell a pre-panned war with Iraq to the American people.

In fact, the war with Iraq seems like a step backward in the war on terror. According to a recent article in Time since the U.S. invasion, Iraq has become an even more fertile breeding ground for Jihadists. The war has incited more hatred and given more fuel to the terrorists, rather than doing anything positive to fight terrorists and terrorism.

So yeah, like I said before, go see Farheneit 9/11 and think a little bit about the issues and our country and the policies of our leaders.

go see fahrenheit 9/11

2004-07-01T12:39:00.000-04:00

I went to see Fahrenheit 9/11 with a bit of skepticism. I'm not the world's biggest Michael Moore fan. I think he's a little full of himself and a bit too Leftish for my tastes. The reviews I had read were favorable, but tended to note that the movie was more entertainment than documentary, and most coverage seemed to focus on the conspiracy with the Saudi's and Bush is a Buffoon aspects of the movie. I'm currently not a Bush supporter, mostly due to his ill-conceived war with Iraq. (I won't go into why I think the war was ill conceived, the movie and more articulate pundits have already highlighted why it was a really bad idea.) At the same time, I'd never consider myself a member of the far left (in fact, I voted Republican in every major election thus far, a trend that will change this year) and while I think the war was ill-conceived, in my opinion ignorance was a bigger contributor than greed (although I won't deny greed matters).

Seeing a movie like Fahrenheit 9/11 in Ithaca is an experience. I originally planned to see it on Tuesday, but we were greeted with a ridiculously long line. The small independent theater that is showing the film only has two shows a day and sells tickets only 30 minutes in advance. We showed up 30 minutes in advance, when we should have showed up about an hour in advance of the 30 minutes in advance to by the tickets. This only made a movie that I sort of wanted to see a movie I really HAD to see, since now there was a challenge (& I DO love challenges!!) I got in line at 5:55 to wait for tickets to go on sale at 6:45. Already a considerable line had formed. As I stood in line men came by registering people to vote, someone passed out flyers for a peace vigil, a woman showed up with her Congo drum and chants, and another group set up their table full of "Bush Must Go" merchandise. Granted, in Ithaca these people probably would have been hanging out on the Commons anyways, but not necessarily targeting themselves to a movie-going crowd.

Context aside, the movie was really good. I don't know how much credit I want to give Michael Moore himself. I read one review that notes that the best parts of the film are when Moore is "willing to forget his personal animosities." I tend to agree. The footage from Iraq is gruesome, the footage of an American mother whose son was killed in service - a mother who is proud her children are in the military and claims her family and those like hers are "the backbone of America" - reading the last letter her son sent her from Iraq is moving, footage of U.S. soldiers in V.A. hospitals stating how pointless the war is and how they will never vote republican again is a powerful statement. These scenes are I think what makes the movie worthwhile, and sends the strongest statement against the war in Iraq.

Although I went into the movie with skepticism, expecting to see an obviously one-sided political charged film, I left feeling a combination of sadness, guilt, and embarrassment for my country and myself as a citizen. Even admitting the film is one-sided, I don't see how one could sit through it and not have the slightest tinge that perhaps it WOULD be a good idea to get Bush out of office.

So yes, I encourage everyone to go see this movie, especially those who are pro-Bush and the war. Even if it doesn't change your mind, it should at least make you think. In my opinion, thinking is always a good thing.

try air! zero carbs for your low-carb lifestyle!!

2004-06-16T22:26:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure who decided that everyone in America is on the Atkins diet, but someone must have. It seems like every other commercial these days is for some low-carb option of an old favorite. Subway has low-carb salads and wraps, as does Arby's. The Arby's commercial prominently featuring the "oven mitt" reading The Truth about Carbs. Slimfast has low-carb shakes. Donatoes, a popular pizza chain in Ohio has no crust pizza for carb watchers. Yesterday, while grocery shopping I noticed "Carb-wise" salad dressing, low carb yogurt, and "Carb Counting" bread. And now, Coke is marketing C2, low carb soda.

The whole low-carb craze really annoys me. First, I don't think this new onslaught of low-carb products and marketing reflects manufacturers becoming more health consious and offering healthier alternatives (I think Kellog's offering some of its kids cereals with less sugar is a move in that direction. While its low carb, they aren't marketing it that way). Yesterday I saw a commercial for Bud Light "Like all light beers its low in carbs, but unlike other light beers it has the great taste of bud light." I'm not so sure that Bud Light really fits into a low-carb healthy diet, but maybe that's just me. Clearly someone noticed that (the now late) Dr. Atkins was making a lot of money marketing his own line of low-carb products for people on his diet, and they are trying to cash in on the craze. So, although Coke has had "low-carb" soda for years they are now offering a new "low carb" soda. Half the carbs...woo! Diet coke has NO carbs. If you were really a carb counter, you'd be drinking that.

Secondly, I'm not convinced that an Atkins style low-carb diet is really healthy. Sure, eating lots of refined sugars isn't good for you. It didn't take Dr. Atkins to tell you that. Is eating t-bone steaks icecream with half the carbs the answer? Probably not. I'm no nutritionist, but I still think eating in moderation is the key. Eat lots of fruits and veggies and lean meats and you will be fine. Some bread or pasta is not going to hurt you every now and then. There are no long term studies showing the health risks or benefits. I know that there have been a few studies showing people lost weight after a year on Atkins, but I am sure if I went on a 1 icecream sundae 1 bowl of lucky charms a day diet I'd loose weight too...though 10 years from now I doubt I'd be healthy.

Finally I'm not even sure its a craze. It seems to be a craze manufactured on Madison Ave. Nobody I know is on Atkins. I know a few people who have tried it, all of whom didn't like it for whatever reason and quit. I know my mom did it for awhile, lost some weight, and gained it all right back. I think people need to get over it. I really don't care about products for my low-carb life style....and I think I will stick to regular diet Coke.

top 10

2004-06-04T10:24:00.000-04:00

Yaeka asked me (and some other pals) to think of our top 10 albums of all time. Apparently there is a recent blog trend to make these lists. I'll join the fun. Here are my top 10 (not necessarily in order):

1. Nirvana - Unplugged In New York
This was like the first non-top 40 pop music album I ever bought. I got it my freshman year in highschool and fell in love with it. This album marked the turning point in the kind of music I listen too and really changed my musical tastes. The last album I had bought before this one was the Body Guard Soundtrack with Whitney Houston. It was also the last album Nirvana released while Kurt Cobain was alive which I think makes it significant.

2. Weezer - Pinkerton
Pinkerton is definitely one of the best albums to come out of the 90's. I loved it when in came out in 97 (or was it '96?) and I still really really enjoy it. Its fun and upbeat and catchy, while still being smart. I think its a clear evolution and progression from the Blue Album which is also good and smart. Then, unfortunately Weezer became an emo band and lacked the wit and creativity captured in Pinkerton.

3. Radiohead - OK Computer
Radiohead is probably one of the most significant bands of modern alternative music. I have to give them props - Despite their ever growing popularity they have yet to sell out. They continue to change and evolve, but I don't think they care much about what everyone else thinks, as long as they are happy with their music. I think OK Computer is their best album, and marks the transition from their earlier Brit-Rock sound to their later synthesized more ambient sound.

4. John Vanderslice - Time Travel is Lonely
Its no secret that I think J.V. is d'bomb. While all 4 of his albums are incredibly fine pieces of musical work, Time Travel is Lonely, is by far the best. As a concept album its not overdone, in fact just listening to it, the concept is not clear unless one reads the liner notes. Including the liner-note aspect adds another interesting dimension. Its really well constructed. While there are a number of stand-out tracks, the album works best as a whole. I can listen to it over and over and never get tired of it.

5. Elliot Smith - Either/Or
Honestly, I wish I owned/listened to more Elliot Smith albums so I could comment on Either/Or in comparison to the rest. I know its superior to X/O and Figure 8, which were both major label releases, though I cannot comment on it in comparison to his self-titled release or Roman Candle (all tracks I have heard off those albums are definitely worthy). This album, although it is very very good, makes my list more because of personal significance. I happened to buy it at a really rough time in my life, and this album spoke to me in a way no album ever has before or since. I really felt like every song could have been written by me or about me. I know that sounds really corny, but its true and makes Either/Or an important part of my list.

6. Stipplicon - Stipplicon
Like Nirvana's Unplugged Album, Stipplicon marks another musical transition for me. The addition of Stipplicon to my CD collection marked my transition from major label "alternative" bands to indie bands. Stipplicon is definitely indie, this album was released by the band's own Pro-Anti Records. I saw them live my soph year in college and fell in love with them. They seriously rocked out. Despite their ever-changing line-up (with the obvious exception of Jack Dishel who fronts the band, and Strickly Beats who still plays drums) they never let me down. This album is a high-energy, highly-creative rock album.

7. The Flaming Lips - Transmissions from the satellite Heart
I first bought this album on tape when it came out my freshman year in high school. I had seen the "Turn it On" video on Alternative Nation on MTV. While "She don't use Jelly" was the most popular song on the album my favorite was ***** (Plastic Jesus). Unfortunately, Transmissions never made it to CD. I recently rediscovered it when I bought it on CD for $8 in a used CD store. Its a shame I wasn't listening to it for all those years.

8. Pedro the Lion - Control
I know conventional wisdom is that Control is not David Bazan's best album. I'm a big fan of it however. Though I know the concept isn't that original (modern marriage falls apart through infidelity), but the music is really really good. I think Rapture is the best song about sex ever, and Priests and Paramedics is excellent song about death and dying. I wish I could say something else smart about this album, but I really can't, I just like it a lot.

9. The Moldy Peaches - Moldy Peaches
I often dream of being in a band, but I lack musical talent of any sort. The Moldy Peaches help me keep my dream alive. Not because they are so bad, but because they are so good. With not much more than a keyboard, a drum machine, and a few friends that can play guitars, Kimya Dawson and Adam Green constructed an album worth listening to. The songs go from inane (These Burgers) to obscene (Downloading Porn with Dave) to sugary sweet (Anyone one else). Its smart, honest, and raw.

10. Neutral Milk Hotel - In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Although this album came out in 1998, I only discovered it recently. That's a shame. The album is thick, intricate, dark at times, but incredibly catchy. From the first time I heard "Two Headed Boy" I was hooked. Its been nearly 6 years, I hope this isn't the last we hear from Neutral Milk Hotel.
(Picking one for the 10th spot was really hard...other contenders include: Modest Mouse, Building Nothing Out of Something; Damien Jurado, Rehearsals for Departure; Death Cab for Cutie, The Photo Album; and 764-Hero, Get Here and Stay.

elitist bastards

2004-05-26T22:49:00.000-04:00

I just watched the finale of American Idol tonight. I was really into the show. Its so weird that I really enjoy the show a lot and really care about who wins (for the record I think Fantasia should have won, though really I thought that Jennifer and LaToya should have been in the final 2), given that I hate pop music. Occassionally, I'll let a song get stuck in my head, like that No Doubt song, but as a general rule I don't listen to pop music. Don't buy pop albums, don't listen to Top 40 radio, don't watch MTV. In the words of a dear friend of mine, "I don't listen to main stream music."

This sentiment, that I don't listen to main stream music, is currently causing a condundrum in my life and the life of my equally musically snobbish friends (alright they are probably bigger music snobs than me). These days, a lot of previously obscure indie bands are starting to make it big. Previously relegated to college stations and public radio like KEXP, indie bands are hitting it big. I realized this most markedly when I saw the line-up for Lollapalooza this year. Acts include: Modest Mouse, Le Tigre, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Walkmen, and The Polyphonic Spree, not mention old staples like Morrisey, The Pixies, PJ Harvey, and Wilco. Three years ago there was talk about brining Le Tigre to Spring Party Weekend, now they are playing the Lollapalooza tour.

I have mixed emotions when bands I like start to hit it big. We played The White Stripes on a radioshow about 2 months before they hit it really big. I thought they were pretty rockin. As soon as I saw their video on MTV I decided I couldn't like them. Despite the fact that I have enjoyed every White Stripes song I have ever heard, I have yet to buy an album. Is it really that big of a deal that Jack White dates Rene Zelweger? For some reason, yeah it is.

The conudrum comes from two competeting human desires. We desire beauty and we desire status. When art (including music) was first introduced to society, only those with status could obtain it. Beauty and status went hand in hand. As the lower classes became more affluent, and manufacturing cheaper and easier, beauty became accessable to the masses. Anyone could buy a recording of the symphony or a painting of a beautiful sunset. So, those seeking status had to look elsewhere. In visual arts this has led to modern art, where the peices are wholly theoretical. If the average man looks at a piece of modern art and says "What the hell, I could do that crap," but the eltitist art snob understands that the painting of white lines on a white canvas is an exploration of space, dimension, and the reality that there is no single entity of "white" then the elitist art snob wins. Their art is not accessable to the masses and they are able to maintain their status.

I'm not really compairing indie music to modern art. While modern art can be quite unaccessable and not easily appreciated by the uninformed, a lot of unappreciated music out there is actually quite good (musically speaking). In fact, the reason these bands are starting to make it is because they are good, and frankly a lot of the mainstream music has grown to be over commercialized, juvinalized, and lacks creative integrity. The problem for me, and those like me, is that before we had status. We were people who were smart enough to appreciate this good music. We were a step above all the rest who enjoyed System of the Down and Brittany Spears and Korn and Backstreet Boys and Avril Lavigne. If all those people start liking what we like, what makes us special?

It is somewhat of a sad reality that bands I favor to not enjoy some success so that I can feel good about myself. But it is a reality. No matter how many White Stripes songs I enjoy, I don't see myself buying a White Stripes album as long as 15 year olds who get their music from MTV are buying White Stripes Albums.

the song remains the same

2004-05-20T00:20:00.000-04:00

I have this problem recently where I get a song stuck in my head and I listen to it over and over and over again. Sometimes I will add a little dance in my chair at my desk when I listen to it. Other times I sing along with it in my car. Currently that song is the Yeah Yeah Yeah's Maps. Previously it was Pavement's Billie. Sometimes they aren't objectively good songs. I went through a week-long period where the song was No Doubt's It's My Life. I'm embarassed to say that No Doubt is the #2 most played song on my iTunes with 38 plays.

I don't know how these songs get stuck in my head, or more appropriately why I become so incredibly obsessed with them. They are probably stuck in my head since I listen to them over and over and over again. I am currently listening to Mapsfor I think the 6th or 7th time today. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to my musical obsessions. Sometimes is something as ridiculous (but catchy) as Beyonce's Crazy in Love, other times something as nondescript as Elliot Smith's Somebody I used to Know.

I just pushed repeat on Maps for the fourth time in a row.

Its really like an addiction. I gotta have this song. I am greatful for my trusty iPod. I can hear the song in my head all through class, but then dash out of the room and get my fix. During my No Doubt phase someone once played it very, very loudly outside my classroom. It was really hard to listen to my professor and not mouth the words.

Shit, I forget the words already. Maybe I should listen to that now.

Maybe its more like a crush. The sort of thing you obsess over for a week or two, and then you realize the guy isn't really all that great or not at all into you, and you're over it and move on to another boy. Yeah, I know that doesn't really happen anymore. I can't say life has been like that since 12th grade. But that is what my music fix is like. Its a string of petty teenage crushes on songs.

I've repeated this song for the 6th time in a row. I think I need to turn my computer off. This crush might become a little too obsessive.

da da da

2004-05-14T13:20:00.000-04:00

I'm taking a little trip to Rochester today. I hope that my car makes it alright. This morning it was doing this weird stally thing it sometimes does. The car is a real peice of crap. That's probably a little unfair, its actually not a bad car its just really old and has gotten to the point where it is a big piece of crap. It has 180K+ miles, the driver's side inside door handle broke off, the other doors seem to have difficulty opening, the air conditioning does not work, the passenger side window doesn't roll down, there is a big dent in the left fender, you get the idea. My mom tells me that if my car breaks down to just leave it on the side of the road...I have a new car waiting for me at my parents house.

I am VERY excited about this car. It is a 2001 Jetta GTS with a sunroof. I have been wanting a Jetta for quite awhile, I think starting when they had the really cool ad campaign in the late 90's showing how hip VWs were. It wasn't just the hip-ness of the Jetta ad-campaign that made me want one. (Though, it was brilliant marketing. Currently VW ads aren't as smart, though Saturn seems to be moving away from the "join the saturn cult" campaign and filling the hip car campaign void, but I digress.) So many people around Colgate had Jetta's and everytime I saw one I thought they were the cutest little cars in the world. At that time I was driving a 1986 Dodge Charger with over 260K miles, I was allowed to covet cute cars.

When I was considering buying this car my friend told me not to buy a Jetta. He didn't think they were bad cars, but his reason was that "everyone our age drives a Jetta." While that statement is somewhat of a hyperbole, there are A LOT of recent model Jettas out there. I don't really have a problem with this. My current car, a powder blue 1989 Toyota Camry is also a very popular model. Despite being nearly 15 years old, I still see many many many powder blue Toyota Camry's on the road, especially here in Ithaca. Not having a particularly unique car is not a particularly big problem for me.

Besides, in the past I haven't driven cars that really fit my personality. My 1986 Dodge Charger said something like "I'm a guy in my 20s, I went to vocational school, I smoke Camels, I have a mullet, I wear T-Shirts for bands like White Snake and Pantera with the sleeves cut off." That really doesn't describe me at all. So what if I drive a car that says, "I'm a female in my 20's, I shop at the Gap, I know very little about cars but I want something reliable and cute, I like to drink Chai Lattes, Barnes & Noble is cool." That, for once, is a car that actually describes me.

is it the end of an era?

2004-05-06T19:04:00.000-04:00

So the big news today is that Friends final episode is tonight. I don't know, I just don't think its that big of a deal. Its not that I don't care about TV shows or anything. I'm not going to pretend like I have this big moral high ground to sit on or something. I would be totally lying if I said I do not become very invested in my television watching. I was devistated when Seinfeld went off the air, and I cried buckets at the series finale of The Wonder Years. But in reality, I don't think I will miss Friends that much.

Listen, I don't think its a bad show. It might be a little over-rated, but in fact, I think its generally pretty funny. However, I've never been invested in the show. The more the writers and producers tried to make me care about the characters, the less I did. Monica and Chandler get married? Rachel has a baby? Joey and Rachel are in love? Pheobe marries Mike? The producers wanted me to say, "awwww..." but I was just felt "eh." The show became less about being funny and more about "Look at us grow up and mature and you care about us and our lives." Not so much.

Unlike Seinfeld that really left in its prime, Friends has overstayed its welcome. The characters have become charactetures of themselves. Monica was never that crazy, or Joey that dumb, or Ross that boring in the early episodes. And like I said, the focus changed considerably and the show became a lot less funny.

So though I plan on watching it tonight, I don't expect there to be any surprises. I'm sure the whole thing will wrap itself up in a nice little bow, and maybe they'll pump enough schmaltz into the whole deal to make some viewers (not me) shed a tear or two. And then that will be that, and I can watch Survivor without having to share the remote with my roommates who want to watch Friends.

god damn they are fucking geniuses

2004-05-02T13:14:00.000-04:00

First a sidenote: I have been accused of having an "emo blog." Jeez louise, a girl says twice that she doesn't like being single and all the sudden I'm all emo. For the record, I have no intention of having an emo blog. Nobody said anything when I had two posts in a row devoted to Jesus.

In any case, yesterday I was in my office analyzing my master's data. (It was a beautiful day out, but I couldn't wait to see my data so I chose to do that instead...that's how you can tell I was meant for grad school.) Since it was Saturday and I was the only one around, I decided to listen to some music on my computer. At first I tried listening to KEXP. At the time though it was a talk radio show, which happened to be devoted to discussions on the monorail project in Seattle. Considering 1). I can't hear the word "monorail" without thinking of that Simpson's episode where they build a monorail, and thus find the whole concept of monorails funny and 2). I don't live anywhere near the greater Seattle area (or even near Pacific time zone), I really had no interest in the discussion at all.

So then I decided to try to find a good internet station that would play me decent music and change things up from my "Quality Tunes" playlist on my iPod. That is when I stumbled upon Launch at Yahoo. For most of the afternoon I was grooving out to Launch's Indie Rock station which I was really enjoying. I even started making a list of songs and artists I didn't own that I liked. That alone was a nice find. But then, it got cooler. In taking a break from my work, I noticed that the Launch window had a little rating thing, where you could rate each song. This is where this stuff gets really cool. Basically you sign in and give them like 5 bands you like. Then it begins playing songs from those bands and from bands that people that like those bands like, and then you rate those, and then it plays you different songs based on your ratings. Essentially, its Amazon.com's recommendations only in a radio station. Luckily I discovered this towards the end of my work, because I just became to enthralled with rating songs and seeing what would come next on my personal radio station.

I think its fucking brilliant.

This find, however, came only 2 days after I updated my iTunes software only to discover that those people at Apple are so fucking smart too. Now you can publish your playlists on the iTunes Music Store. All the songs that you have on your playlist that they have available gets put in a list, and people can buy your mixes. I was really impressed with their selection. They even had Stipplicon. I spent, oh at least a good hour and half making new playlists and publishing them on iTunes.

Now, if I could only combine the geniuses at Apple with the geniuses at Yahoo. I predict in the next 2-3 years they will come out with an iPod with wireless network abilities so that in addition to playing mp3s they will also play internet radio stations, and if they are smart, custom radio stations based on the music you like. I would totally buy that. Maybe I should patent this idea before they think of it next!

random musings on the dorkiness of freshman bowling couples

2004-04-30T22:51:00.000-04:00

The other night a friend of mine commented that people often misuse the terms "dork" "nerd" and "geek." I called him a dork, and he said that officially that must make him socially inept. I think he is a dork because he knows when every Harry Potter movie for the next 5 years is coming out and re-reads the Lord of the Rings trilogy every year. Though, I wouldn't say he is at all inept. But he's right, officially those words mean some form of social or intellectual ineptness.

In any case, last night we all went bowling. By "we all" I mean my dorky friend mentioned above and another dorky, but not as dorky, friend. I mean in grad school we are all kind of dorky really. "Super cool" and "grad student" don't mix very well. After a couple of games of bowling (where I of course lost but continually improved my own game) an undergraduate couple showed up. (They were clearly undergrads and I think clearly freshman. If we weren't at the Cornell Lanes, I might have even suspected they were Sr's in high school). In any case, these kids were nerds, and I mean that in the proper sense. At first I found them amusing. The girl with her colorful print shorts, that sort of looked like she sewed them in Home Ec class, the guy with his thick glasses and pants a little to high, the girl's attempt at a "sexy dance" as she came back from bowling a frame to the music on the juke box, the things they would say to each other after the got a strike or a spare. The whole shebang was amusing to me.

Which I know makes me a bad person. I never claimed to be a particularly good person. I'm a nice person, whose nice to people, but I'm also the kind of person who enjoys gossiping and pointing out the foibles of others be they friend or foe. And yes, I know glass house and all that. I shouldn't be throwing stones considering that I am no where near perfect, and I have enough character flaws of my own to keep people like me talking about me.

And yeah, these kids were really nerdy (Their nerdiness was lighyears ahead of my too-cool-for-the-cool-kids, don't blame me I'm a grad student dorkiness), but they were incredibly happy. And yeah, I found it amusing that when they would highfive they would lock fingers for a second or stop in the middle of bowling to give each other a hug. But at least they had someone to lock fingers with in a bowling alley. I was there with two guys who I won't be locking fingers with at bowling alleys any time soon (nor would I have any desire too), and in fact I haven't had someone to be that happy with in quite awhile. So be it, that they are socially awkward people, at least they have each other and that's really all the counts.

So who am I to judge them, and call them nerds, and make fun of their homemade shorts? Can't I just put away my single jadedness and let these kids be happy in peace? Eh, what fun is that?

credit card relationship counselor

2004-04-27T21:36:00.000-04:00

Last night I called one of my credit card companies to cancel one of my credit cards. I have too many cards, and too much credit for my income. Since a car loan is hopefully in my future, I thought it would be smart to cut some of my excess credit baggage. Besides, once the card is cancelled I can't be enticed to use it anymore. I had once nearly cancelled my Verizon Visa, only to put a $2700 computer purchase on it a few weeks later.

In any case, calling to cancel a credit card is not an easy task. I've tried before (sometimes just as a trick to get them to lower my APR) and it usually ends with them spending 5 to 10 minutes coming up with ways to get me to keep my card. Before that though I have to spend 5 to 10 minutes of navigating through their menu-option puzzle, listening to every option before I get the "speak to a real person" option, and then waiting on hold to speak to said person. This company was no different. The twist, though, which almost made me want to keep my card, was that instead of waiting for a "customer service representative" I was waiting for a "relationship counselor." Yes, that is correct, a relationship counselor.

I was waiting for something along the lines of..
"Yes ma'm I have your account here in front of me. It shows here that you have been single for 1 1/2 years, is that correct?"
"Yes that's correct."
"And let's see, your last romantic encounter was last June? Is that correct?"
"Yes that is correct."
"Uh Huh. I see here that you went dancing last Saturday. A guy asked you to dance with him, and you turned him down, is that correct."
"Yes but he wanted his friend to dance with my friend. His friend was wearing a vest. I wasn't going to make her dance with a guy in a vest."
"Okay, Ma'm. Well it also looks like your friends told you to "flirt" with one of their friends."
"Yeah they did. I tried. I guess I'm not a good flirt."
"Mmhm, I see. Well, it looks like you don't have many transactions here. How often do you go out and meet people?"
"Well, I go out, but I don't meet people."
"Yes uh huh, well that's the problem ma'm. Now I can offer you this date protection plan..."

You get the idea. Instead I got...

"Alright, well we are sorry to lose your buisiness but I will go ahead and cancel your account for you."

And that was that. They didn't even try to offer me a low balance transfer rate or anything. Just, sure thing, we'll cancel your credit card. Quick, easy, and I was dumped. That's a relationship counselor for you.

pieces of superhumans

2004-04-23T02:00:00.000-04:00

My three siblings and are three very different people. I was talking to my mom and commented, "I got the brains, Meggen got the brawns, and Drew got the personality. If you put us all together you'd have a superhuman." My mom agreed. Unfortunatley, my parent's superhuman genes got split up amongst the three of us. I wonder though, since we had to split it up who got the best deal in the end?

I'm the brains of the family. In actuality, I'm the brains of my entire extended family. I'm not actually very sure where I got these brains from. Looking at everyone else you would really have to wonder. Not to say anything bad about my family. They are good people, just not thinking people. In any case, I'm not sure how beneficial getting the brains are. Being a braniac, I chose an academic career. Given the amount of time we spend in school, we really don't make the big bucks. Besides, being book smart doesn't get you so far. I'm not a complete personal retard, but I definately don't have the people skills some others do. I'm an awful networker, which is, I suppose, why I chose to become and academic rather than say, a lawyer. Plus I ablosultely suck at doing anything with my hands. Chopping vegitables, threading needles, doing pushups, driving while talking on my cell phone, building shelves. Pretty much anything like that. But I can think about stuff, which I suppose is good.

My sister, she got the brawns. Seriously. If she wanted to, she could probably be a female body builder. When she was in 7th grade she wanted to prove to the boys in her gym class how strong she was, so she did 300 pound leg presses. She could run fast and beat up any boy. I am sure she would have had a good athletic career, except for the fact that she hates organized activities so she was never any good at joining sports. Along with her brawns comes mechanical ability. Unlike me she's really good at doing stuff with her hands. When she was 4, she got a tool set complete with hammer and saw. I think she built a stool, that was actually pretty sturdy. Of course my sister lacks the book smarts. She hates playing games, like Trivial Pursuit or Tribond, with my family because "her peice never moves." And peoplewise, she's pretty likable, but she seriously a hothead. If you run into her, stay on her good side. She probably won't punch you in the face or anything, but she'll definately get mad. Right now she works as a tech in the airforce. Its probably a good career for a girl who is brawny and has mechanical skills.

My brother, he's Mr. Personality. He was recently voted by his highschool Sr. class as having the best personality in the class. He's also class president which at his high school (which used to be my high school) is completely a popularity contest. He's nice to everyone. He never gets angry or upset. He has the patience of a preschool teacher. He's funny a witty, and plays guitar and listens to cool music. He's unfortunately lazy as sin. Although he is smart, he completely lacks the motivation or attention to excell academically. He doesn't do poorly, but he's very left brain and would rather be doodling than taking notes.

So who got the best deal of the 3 of us? My vote is on my brother. While he is a lazy ass, having people like you gets you the furthest in life. Of course the three of us together would probably make the best team. I can think it up, my sister can build it, and my brother will make you like it. Of course, since we're not a family of crazy inventors, we will probably just end up being 3 very different people from the same family.

i need my sleep

2004-04-22T01:44:00.000-04:00

Seriously. I'm not sure whats wrong with me. For the past 2 or 3 weeks I have been wholly unable to fall asleep at a normal time. Despite forcing myself to wake up at a normal early (by my standards) time, I have not been able to get on a regular sleep schedule. Its quite frustrating. I'm tired. I want to go to sleep. But I can't. I've tried reducing my caffine, tried doing a PM strech routine, triedall sorts of stuff and nothing seems to work.

Perhaps I am stressed. I don't feel particularly stressed. I mean I do have a master's thesis that I am supposed to finish by August. And I am working on 4 other projects for my research assistantship. I'm not quite sure what my summer deal is yet or how much money I will make. I have class presentation due this week. I am single and I hate it. I'm going to buy a new car. I want to lose 5 pounds but I can't seem to get my self motivated enough to diet. My current car sucks and I am afraid will break soon. But seriously, I'm not stressed.

Maybe I am. I don't know. Tonight I was convinced that I was going to fall asleep. I was almost there and then I thought about how Jennifer Hudson TOTALLY should not have been voted off American Idol since she clearly was the best singer in the whole competition and then I was bothered and couldn't sleep. If stupid American Idol is all I have to keep me awake at night then I should be doing alight.

But I'm not.

we're having a sit-in on the quad

2004-04-17T18:58:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I overheard a couple of undergads talking. One was telling the other that she was wearing red and white that day out of protest (or maybe it was solidarity something along those lines). Apparently, there was a "very offensive" article in the Cornell Review. She hadn't read the article, but had only heard about it. She thought that it was racist (though she wasn't sure) or something like that. Some students had staged a sit-in on the quad regarding this article. She was lamenting that she missed the sit-in. But, the sit-in organizers had also apprently urged students to wear red and white in protest to the article. Again she had not read the article.

That really bothered me. Its one thing to read something be offended by it and take action. Its another to take action because someone tells you to. Mindless activism is a bit of an oxymoron. Activism, by definition is active. Simply doing something because someone else tells you to or because it seems to be the "in" thing to do, is not activism in my book. Maybe that's just my book.

This was a constant problem during my undergrad. Students would join the students for social justice (SSJ) and protest everything under the sun, without any real understanding of what they were protesting. Once, my sophomore year, there was a group of students in the dining hall who asked me to sign their petition to asking the federal government to create a regulation requiring food manufacturers to put lables on genetically modified food. Someone approached the table the same time I did. She asked what this was all about. The long haired hippy guy responded "Because we don't want THEM fucking with our FOOD!!" The girl signed the petition. That wasn't a good enough answer for me. I mean, yeah food manufacturers are always fucking with our food. Pasturization is fucking with our milk, but I don't see anyone starting petitions against pasturization. I'm quite happy they invented it. Needless to say, I didn't sign their petition.

Its okay to be passionate about something, but you have to know what you are talking about. And you have to think through your activism all the way. Just saying X is bad isn't enough. You have to think of real reasons of how you can change X. Another example from the SSJ highlights this. For at least 2 years they protested the Taliban. They would dress up in Burquas and walk around campus handing out anti-Taliban pamphlets. The U.S. should do something about the Taliban and the awful way they treat women. So, when the U.S. finally goes and uses military action to take down the Taliban, what do the SSJ do? They had a sit-in on the quad. When they were protesting the Taliban, what did they really expect the U.S. to do?

Don't be an activist for the sake of being an activist. Know a little bit about what you are protesting. Do research on your own. If you want to wear red and white in protest of a supposedly racist article in the Conservative student newspaper, go for it. But for God's sake, read the article.

save my tv

2004-04-16T00:35:00.000-04:00

There isn't a lot of good stuff on network TV these days. Especially not good sitcoms. During the 1980's and 90's sitcoms were networks' bread and butter. Seinfeld, Cheers, Rosanne, Murphy Brown, Family Ties, The Golden Girls, The Cosby Show, etc. all started and ended their runs during these two decades. (I know that The Golden Girls is no Seinfeld, but its a damn funny show). Today, network television swimming in a mire of reality programming. I know there is a hook to these shows, and the "classics" (if there can be a classic in this genre) such as Survivor and American Idol still remain, for the most part worth watching. (At least I watch them, I don't know if that actually makes them worth it). I know everyone loves The Apprentice, but I refused to watch. The Donald just doesn't do it for me. In addition you have The Swan, Average Joe, The Bachelor, Extreme Makeover, Extreme Home Makeover, Fear Factor, Forever Eden, Joe Millionaire, Who Wants to Marry My Dad, and so on and so forth.

If reality programming weren't bad enough, the rest of network TV is simply dismal. Friends is still okay, but the past couple seasons have just been a big schmoltzy love-fest that lacks the real comedy before the Monica-Chandler wedding of the century. Besides, in May it will be off the air for good. Everybody Loves Raymond is still alright, though all the other CBS Raymond wannabes aren't so great, and besides IT will be off the air next year too. When it comes to sitcoms it seems networks just aren't trying anymore.

Except Fox. I never thought the network that brought us year after year (after year) of Married With Children could be such a oasis of sane TV. Granted Fox also has some of the most outrageous reality shows (e.g. they invented "Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire") but at the same time being a network willing to take risks has paid off. Most notably, their new program Arrested Development, is by far the best show on network television.

If you haven't seen Arrested Development yet, watch it! (9:30 pm, after Malcom in the Middle). Its one of the most clever, fresh, and unusual comedies that have come along in awhile. While many have compared AD to Seinfeld, I think the best comparison is to the late 70's/early 80's ABC Comedy Soap. Both shows are wacky, smart, innovative, and involve messed up wealthy families. Soap lasted only 4 years, but ran its course well in those years. It also launched the career of Billy Crystal. Arrested Development probably won't launch any careers (the cast includes many well-established actors including David Cross and Portia de Rossi) but I hope it lasts at least 4 more years. (Unlike the Bush presidency...sorry for the political sidebar, but you can't hear "4 more years" and not think presidential elections.)

There's talk that despite AD's critical acclaim (for example Time named it the "Best American Sitcom of 2003"), it may not be returning for a second season. I desperately hope this isn't true. This show has the potential to save network TV from falling into an abyss of sensational reality programming.

If you happen to care as much about TV as I do, you can sign this petition to keep AD on the air. Also check out USA Today's Save our Shows page.

This show is so good. It should be no wonder that creator Mitchell Hurwitz got his start as a writer/producer for the Golden Girls.

misery

2004-04-14T17:33:00.000-04:00

I love baseball season. I think baseball is the greatest sport ever. Americans are smart for inventing it. Unfortunately I don't get as much enjoyment out of baseball as I should. This is because I am a Cleveland Indians fan.

Recently, ESPN.com posted an article about the MLB Misery Index. The misery index is a 60 point system that measures two types of fan misery: despair and pain. Despair is caused by losing seasons, pain is caused by having an excellent winning season only to be sorely disappointed in the post-season. And my team, gotta love 'em, are number 2 on the Misery index.

We have historic despair. The Cleveland Indains were so bad, that they made a series of movies making fun of how bad they were (Those would be the major league movies with Charlie Sheen in case you are not up on your funny baseball movies). They were so bad, that they would give out tickets for free. You'd come out from the grocery store and there on your windshield were a couple of tickets to the Cleveland Indians. In fact, word had it that their stadium at the time (Cleveland Municipal Stadium, that was shared with the Cleveland Browns) had a gypsy curse placed on it. Luckily for me, most of that despair occurred before I really started enjoying baseball. My interest in baseball began around 1994 (the year of the strike and the year Cleveland got a new, supposedly curse-free, stadium) and Cleveland was actually good. Which leads to the pain.

I DID experience pain with my team. 1995 wasn't so bad. Even though they lost the world series, after years and years and years of sucking, it was nice just to be there. 1997 was painful. It was bad enough for me to watch my team come within 3 outs of winning the world series only to be blown by Jose Mesa's grotesque closing pitching ( I later referred to him as Jose Mess-up, and once made a sign that I held up at Jacobs Field reading "Mesa Sucks"). It was really bad for my dad. He's spent his whole life as an Indians fan, through years and years of dispair he then gets shot through the heart with searing pain. Its sad really.

1998 and 1999 were not so bad seasons, though the loss to Boston in the playoffs was quite distressing, and I agreed with the decision that Mike Hargrove should get the boot. And then, new owners and new GM. They decide they need to rebuild the team. Why do you need to rebuild a team that has Jim Thome, Manny Ramierez, David Justice, Robbie Alomar, Omar Viszquel, and Kenny Lofton? Not so sure, but they apparently thought it was a good idea to trade all their good players for prospects and now...more dispair.

Currently, my Cleveland Indains are in last place in the AL Central. This is the same division that is home to the Detroit Tigers. Granted its only the first week or so of baseball, but I think it speaks of things to come. We are in store for 40 some odd years of despair to be topped off by 7 or 8 years of pain. Oh the misery!

i heart you amazon.com

2004-04-13T16:08:00.000-04:00

If I were going to marry a website that website would be amazon.com. I think its the most amazing website ever created. I know that as a general rule people like amazon.com. Recently, Time placed amazon's look inside the book feature as one of the top inventions of the year (after Apple Computer's iTunes music store). But I don't think these other people have such a strong affection to amazon.com the way I do.

I wish all websites could be amazon.com. They are the smartest marketers out there. I don't know how they do it, but every time I visit they say "Hello Sarah, we have recommendations for you," and what do you know? Their recommendations are almost always right. Amazon.com introduced me to some very wonderful bands. I discovered Neutral Milk Hotel, Iron and Wine, The Decemberists, and Sondre Lerche through Amazon.com's recomendations. I almost always buy my CDs from amazon.com even if I can find them cheaper elsewhere, just because I love the company so much I WANT to give them my money.

In addition to making shopping a pleasure, amazon.com is great for procastination. I love wish lists. I think your amazon.com wish list really says a lot about you as a person. Mine says I like to have stuff. Currently there are 125 items on my wish list. I sort of have a shopping problem, and a lack of money problem. Being able to add things to my wish cures my shopping bug without causing undo financial harm. To make wish lists even better, amazon.com has the comments function. I've added a comment to about 90% of the items on my wish list. I thought that it would be nice if you could put your wish list in order of how much you wanted something. I emailed this concern to amazon.com. Now, I'm not saying its entirely because of me, but now you can give each item on your list a priority and sort lists by priority.

If wish lists were not enough for the bored, procrastinating, person like myself, you also have the ability just to make lists. Just lists for fun. I have a list of movies I would play if I owned a cable movie channel and a list of CDs I would bring if I were trapped on a desert island. There's not real purpose to these lists. They are just there to waste my time, and man oh man do I love 'em for it.

Everyone has been heralding their search inside the book feature. I have to admit it's been pretty nice. Occassionally I've been writing a paper and I realize I just need one more citation to prove my point. Instead of going to the library and trying to find a book that will work, I can amazon.com it. If its a minor citation I can get enough info just from the website to use in my paper. I've also been able to really check if a citation I found through a literature search eingine will really help me out. In short its great.

Yes. Amazon.com I love you. You can get anything from amazon.com. They are cheap. They have free shipping. They have nice customer service. They understand my need to procrastinate and my desire to go shopping without spending money. They are brilliant.

WHISHLIST!

it seemed like a good idea at the time

2004-04-11T01:08:00.000-04:00

I'm not a lush. Seriously, I'm not. Now that I'm in grad school I go out maybe 2 or 3 weekends a month. And often, going out involves visiting the classy bar/restaraunt type places drinking a single glass of Dry Riesling or White Zinfandel and heading home. There's no prepartying, or frat parties, or any of that glorious undergrad drinking behavior. And yet, I still remain the queen of bad drinking decisions.

So far we've only had 3 fairly big parties in our department this year (not counting my birthday party, as I was the hostess, being sloshed was not an option. I was too worried about our clogged toilet and guests showing up early and every other mini drama to drink too much.) And so far, every party has ended with me being escorted home with much concern by more sober others. There are people in our department who go out way more often and drink a lot more than I do, but I don't think they are gaining the reputation of "department ridicuous drunk girl." I'm afraid that might be slowly becoming me.

How do I always end up passed out on the floor of the host's bedroom or underneath a pile of guest's coats? Do I completely lack self control? Do I have the wimpiest tolerance in the world? Am I so socially awkward that I'm afraid I can't have a good time without being inebriated? I have to say its none of the above. I end up this way because I am the most competetive person I know. How does competetiveness equal drunken debauchary, you may ask? This is partly because I also have been labouring for about the past 8 years or so that I can drink a lot more alcohol than I actually can, and believe that I am a master chugger. I cannot turn down a drinking competition or a chugging challenge.

Last night after 3 fairly strong rum & cokes I was about to call it an evening. I think i even had my jacket on and was heading out the door. And then, someone challenged me to a beer chugging contest. By the way, I never drink beer (which always comes as a shock to everyone who knows me). This was probably the 3 beer I've ever drunk in my life. But I decided to take the challenge. Much to my dissapointment, I lost (though the girl who defeated me also won a guinness chiugging contest against a much bigger guy, so I think she's just a master beer chugger). Then, I suppose to defend my honor or something, I was challenged to a tequilla drinking contest. That one was called a tie, though I think I won. Considering that my challenger was a guy, and had not just finished a beer chugging contest I think I should have been granted the win if it were too close to call.

Needless to say, I spent much of this morning on the bathroom floor and the rest of the day in bed. I was convinced for awhile that perhaps I had caught the flu. It was just a coincidence that I happened to be very much hurting the day after I had made more than a few bad drinking decisions. It probably wasn't the flu.

I don't know why I always do this. Maybe because I actually go to these sorts of parties so rarely that I've already forgotten the misery that ensues afterwards. There should be some conditioning taking place here that would lead me to stop chugging contests. And yet, sadly, I don't think I will. As my friend here often says "As Mason Verger says in Hannibal 'It seemed like a good idea at the time.'"

jesus is my coauthor (pt. 2)

2004-04-08T20:58:00.000-04:00

I'll appologize in advance for spending two whole days talking about Jesus. But something really important related to Jesus people struck me today, and I really think I need to share. Well, not really important, but important enough for my blog.

So Jesus people have always creeped me out some. I think its why I really don't like Christianity so much, especially compared to other religions. I think Jewish people are great. In fact, I've decided that dating Jewish guys will be my new schitck. The creepy Christian phenomenon also probably has something to do with why I find Jesus so funny. I had some difficulty putting my finger on exactly what is so creepy about them, though (it wasn't JUST that they wear jewlery depicting a man nailed to a Roman torture device, though that is pretty creepy when you think about it). I finally figured it out today. Jesus people have really, really bad social skills. I mean they are nice and all, usually a little TOO nice but they really don't get the normal social cues that most people pick up on.

I have a roommate that is a good example of this. I think she's alright, despite her Jesusness, though there are some annoying things about her. Some of my friends though really don't like her. She's completely, 100% clueless to this. Despite the fact that they give her obvioius "I don't like you" cues (like never inviting her to do things, never engaging her in conversation, and EVEN telling her they don't like her) she just simply doesn't get it. She also talks REALLY loudly at inappropriate times, like on the bus, and doesn't catch on that people are giving her the "OMIGOD will you shut up" look. And I think she's just a mild case of the Jesus-Social-Akwardness problem.

She has this friend that I think is totally creepy. I won't name names, just in case the guy ever stumbles onto my blog, but he's a real creep-out sort of guy. I mean is really, really, really nice. Nice to the point that something's gotta be wrong with him. If you've ever seen Cannibal the Musical this guy is totally Isreal Swan. Okay, so being really nice I can kind of deal with, though it does sort of creep me out. The other problem, though, is this guy just does not pick up on subtle social cues. Like he'll be talking to me and I'm watching TV, and I really don't like him much but I do really like Seinfeld or whatever it is I am watching. So I don't make eye contact, I give the shortest answers possible, don't engage in the conversation. Still he keeps right on talking to me. He's been coming over more and more lately, often uninvited. Now, he'll come over at like 11:30 or 12:00. I'll have my door shut, lights off, in bed reading or something and he's knocking on my damn door. "I've got ICECREAM!!" Seriously. That actually happened. Who comes over to someone's house and knocks on their roommate's door late at night when the roommate may be sleeping? Does he not understand that door closed = please don't bother me unless its important? Even today, I think my roommate is getting annoyed. He came over to make dinner with her, and really I could sense she was annoyed with him. Normal people pick up on these sort of things. He was totally clueless. I found it really amusing to watch.

I'm not sure why Jesus people tend to be like this. Maybe because of their lack of social skills they're unable to make friends, except in the church where everyone is everyone's friend, and everyone's friends with Jesus. I don't know. But there's definitely something with them. That's why I don't get mixed up with those Jesus types.

jesus is my co-author

2004-04-08T00:18:00.000-04:00

The other day a group of us grad students were meeting to help another fellow grad student edit one of her papers for publication. This is the sort of things grad students do in their free time, as we are all hopelessly dorky. In any case someone made the comment that she should change her wording to make it sound less like she knew everything there was to know, since she wasn't God. Then I said, "Wouldn't it be funny to add Jesus as your coathor?" I can picture now, my name, my advisors name, and then "Jesus H. Christ." He would be third author of course. As funny as it was, I started to think that actually yeah, I can imagine someone really adding Jesus as their co-author. I mean, the guidelines for authorship in scientific papers is that the author has made a "substantial contribution" to the work. People will add their advisors as junior authors on papers "just because," even if the advisor really didn't do anything on the project. And really, when you think about it, isn't Jesus the ultimate advisor? At least if you believe in that sort of thing.

Which I don't. In fact, I think Jesus is about the funniest thing out there. I'm not sure how I developed my anti-Jesus attitude. I suppose it has something to do with attending an "elite" liberal arts college. People are pretty anti-Jesus in academia. However, its not just that I'm not a fan of religion. I do think that religion has real merit, and I can definitely see the psychological reasons why people follow religions. I try to be respectful of other people's religious beliefs even if I don't agree. At least respectful to their face. When my roommate goes to her weekly fellowship meetings I do disrespectfully refer to them as her "Jesus Meetings," but I am sure never to do that when she is in earshot. I don't think Jesus is funny, as I know others do, because there are so many people out there that blindly follow him (er Him) without any real reason. Being cynical about religion is one thing, but for me there's just something that has become intrinsically comical about the ol' JC. You just say the word "Jesus" around me and I crack a smile. I own a Jesus porcelin night-light. I used to own a "I love Jesus" air freshiner, and dubbed my old beater car (even older and beatier than my current ride) the "Jesus Mobile." When my friends from home send me Jesus related forwards (being from Ohio and never attending college, they tend to be big fans of Jesus related emails) I laugh and delete them, or occassionally forward them to other anti-Jesus people for the comic value. I'm not sure how Jesus has become a comedy device in my life, but he has and I suppose if you are a Christian then, yeah that's kind of sad. It does make me sort of sad that a religious icon has become just as funny to me as poop.

Maybe I will make Jesus my coauthor on my next paper, just to make up for all my previous anti-Jesus ways. If it turns out that the millions (or BILLIONS) of Christians are right, Jesus might appreciate this gesture and not send me to the firery furnaces of hell. He really hasn't written much in awhile, I think he might like to improve his publication record.

i'm a minority, really i swear

2004-04-05T17:10:00.000-04:00

I finally received an email back from Gary Ross, Colgate's dean of admissions. I emailed a week ago after I found out that my brother's friend did not get into Colgate. I was literally shocked by the school's decision to deny him. I could maybe see if they admitted him but did not offer financial aid, or even possibly if he were waitlisted. But the fact that he was completely denied outright made no sense to me. He has a 4.0 GPA on a 4-pt scale, a 30 on his ACTs (we Midwesterners don’t take the SATs), played 2 varsity sports, is a member of National Honor Society, etc. Now, I understand that college admissions are increasingly more competitive, but his academic record is very impeccable. The only reason for not admitting him is looking at his overall extra curricular record and deciding that he is clearly a good student, but not necessarily "exceptional."

Now, he might not be an exceptional student if he were coming from a private school or even a good public school system. But given the economic and academic background of my hometown, he is actually an incredibly exceptional student. That is, when you consider his achievements in the context of his background, he should shoot up to the exceptional student status. This is generally the argument in favor of affirmative action programs. Sure, admissions counselors will argue, some of minority students admitted to top colleges are lacking on objective measures of achievement, however when considered in the context of their background the achievements are quite note-worthy. Because the student was born a member of a disadvantaged racial or ethnic group, objective measures of his achievement do not necessarily capture the full range of his ability. Therefore, race should be considered when deciding whether or not to admit an applicant.

I'll buy that argument. The problem I have is that race alone is not the only measure of disadvantage. Economic status is also an important measure of disadvantage (and in my opinion even more so). A student from an economically poor background should be given the same sort of special consideration that other minority students are given in college admissions processes. However, based on an (albeit very small) sample with this particular student, it appears that economic background is not considered as a special circumstance.

Gary Ross tried to argue two things in his email response to me. First, he highlighted the "strength of the accepted students" this year. Average GPA 4.0, mid 50% ACT scores 30-33. Throwing these numbers at me does absolutely nothing to quell my concern over this situation, considering that the student in question is well within these numbers and thus should have been considered academically strong. He also tried to point out that no, indeed, Colgate DOES accept poor kids. Why…this year alone they accepted 200 students who parents make under $40K a year. My response to this is that 1). Of course I know they accept poor students, considering that I was a poor kid accepted to their school. 2). These 200 students represent roughly 9.5% of the students accepted. Racial minorities represent 24% of the accepted class. While I am sure financial aid dollars prohibit nearly a quarter of the student body to be in this income bracket, these numbers are hardly comparable. Furthermore, given the unfortunate situation in our country where racial minorities are more likely to be economically disadvantaged I would argue that there is much overlap between the 9.5% and the 24%. If I had to guess, the proportion of poor, white, males would probably be 1-2% of the admitted class. Furthermore, spouting off numbers does not provide any insight into the admissions procedures. One charge against affirmative action programs is that entering minority students have lower objective measures of achievement, though as admissions professionals will argue these lower objective measures do not necessarily represent lower ability. Of course there are smart, high achieving economically disadvantaged students. However, the question that is still not answered is if these economically disadvantaged kids are considered in light of this adversity, and thus would tend to have lower objective measures.

That's enough of that tirade. My mom just called me and told me brother did not get into Ithaca College which was his first choice school. I think, based on their student profile, that he should have gotten in. I'm happy I’m not applying to college again this year, obviously it's a really crazy year for admissions.

worst day ever

2004-04-05T01:07:00.000-04:00

I seriously hate daylight savings time. Seriously. The first Sunday in April is my least favorite day of the year. Even if I do get to eat peeps and chocolate bunnies it sucks. I really enjoy my sleep. REALLY. My whole life is being structured around my ability to sleep as much as humanly possible. Its my whole reason for going to grad school and persuing an academic career. In grad school, for the most part, I can maintain a college-like sleeping schedule and wake up around 10 am every day. Once I am a professor, I'll only teach afternoon classes. I'm not sure if I want to have kids ever. Kids require waking up in the morning, babies require waking up at night.

Loosing an hour of sleep is a precious loss for me. It takes me days to get back on track. Since it happens on Sunday I sleep in and wake up like I normally would. That led to me waking up this "morning" at 12:35 pm. Which explains why I am still up after 1 am. The unfortunate part will be tomorrow when I need to wake up at my normal time. There is a big difference to my body between 8:30 and 9:30. My body is going to think its 8:30 when my alarm goes off and it won't be happy.

Not only does loosing an hour of sleep suck it hard core, but the whole evening hour of light throws me off completely. I almost missed watching the Simpsons (and the rest of Fox's brilliant Sunday night line-up) because I was working away at my computer and had no idea it was nearing prime-time television viewing. It was still light outside for Pete's sake. Luckily I happened to glance at my clock at 7:45 and made it in time. Unfortunately, the first Simpson's episode and Malcom in the Middle were reuns. But there was a new Arrested Development (the best new show on TV!) so it was all worth it. However, I digress. I was talking about why today sucks.

And if stupid national energy-saving time change laws weren't enough to make today sucktacular to the maximus, mother nature has decided to take a crap on us. Figuratively of course. Its the beginning of April and we practically have a blizzard brewing outside. Snow, cold, and wind. Hurray! What a lovely way to enjoy the extra hour of light we got this evening.

am i really that old? or are other people just stupid?

2004-04-03T00:48:00.000-05:00

So word on the street is that my younger sister got married today. Its so bizaare that I don't even know the particulars of this supposed blessed event. She calls me from Japan like 3 weeks ago and says that she's getting married to her boyfriend. Last thing I heard before that was they were broken up because of some ex-fiance of his. Needless to say, my mom flipped when she heard the news. I was surprised but not completely shocked. The one thing I know about my sister is that she is wholly irrational. The second thing I know about my sister is that when she gets an idea in her head it stays stuck there. You can't talk her out of it for anything. When she was a kid she was fixated on owning hampsters. She begged my parents for a hampster. Finally they let her have one. When it got out of its cage and crawled into our heating ducts and died, she asked for another. This happened more than once. When my dad redid our heating he found multiple hampster carcasses in the system. I don't know what this says about my sister's marriage, but its gotta say something.

In related news, I'm having a baby shower tomorrow for another grad student in my department. Yesterday another student told me she was expecting. A few weeks ago a friend from highschool called me to tell me she was expecting (again). My best friend just bought a condo and lives there with her boyfriend. Luckily she's not having any babies. All of this marrying and babies and buying houses seriously makes me feel old. Well, more than old, it makes me feel inadequate. I'm hopelessly single. I live in a house with two roommates in a college town. I drive a beat-up car my parents so nicely gave me 2 years ago. They still pay my car insurance. I'm still in school (albeit grad school) with no chance of having a real job for at least 3 more years. And no chance for a real car, a real house, or a real relationship while I'm at it. I feel like at 24 that shouldn't be problematic. But when everyone around you seems to be growing up, and your still stuck feeling like your a junior in college (or better yet a sophomore) you start to wonder if something isn't wrong.

I think I will conclude that no, nothing is wrong with me. Psychologists now suggest that adolescents lasts until you are 30. I'll take my time to grow up, and all those people having babies and getting married are just jumping the gun and not enjoying their youth. At least I'm old enough to know that if I had a baby (or a husband) I'd probably end up loosing him in a heating duct.

what's the deal with...

2004-04-01T19:16:00.000-05:00

I know that it is very cliche to whine about people who talk on their cell phone in public. Its like a bad Seinfield routine, "What's the deal with cell phone users? Are you SO important that..." Its not even worth finishing the sentence. So, part of me is saying not to make my first post all about cell phone users, since it really is pretty much the epitome of passe. Like the sort of thing you talk about when you think you are being funny/clever/witty/etc. when in reality you are anything but. Since I am fully aware that I am none of the above, I'm just going to go ahead and do it.

It seriously amazes me, literally AMAZES me that some people do not realize how abosolutely annoying it is to force other people to listen to your conversations on cell phones. I live in a college town. People really aren't that important here. I can't imagine that their calls cannot wait. And yet they don't wait. The phenomenon of bus-cell phone talkers is ridiculous. Today, for example, this girl is on her phone, going on and on about how her boyfriend will spend $1000 on her one week and then the next won't even spend $20, and how he gets drunk so easily. I picked up on all this while I had my headphones on. Luckily for me, I could crant the volume up on the ol' iPod. The passenger sitting next to her had no such luck. It was obvious to anyone that she was REALLY annoyed, anyone I suppose except the perpetrator.

I've experienced worse though. A few weeks ago, I was, again, on the bus when the woman sitting behind me decided to make a call. Normally that's annoying enough. But, I suppose she felt bad for the person sitting next to her so she decided to lean forward in her seat, I guess so she wasn't yapping in this guys ear. Literally, though, the woman was talking right into my neck. She was speaking Chinese or Korean or something, so I didn't have the benefit on at least eaves dropping on an interesting conversation. Even if she were telling the juciest story, I don't think it would have been worth it. Ick, I can still feel her breath on my neck. That's a really gross feeling.

I won't belabor this subject anymore, I think I've given it as much space as it deserves.