"We have nothing to fear"

This speech made me feel marginally less miserable after yesterdays vote.  

Thank you Diane!

I want me some boots

A boy I went to school with was photographed for by the Sartorialist.  And as indicated by the comments section his outfit is pretty polarizing.

For me I always loved that Jesse experimented with the mainstream and margins of fashion.  This outfit doesn't really do him justice, but I'm glad Mr. Schuman spotted him anyways.  I don't think there is any denying the boy has got style.

really, really, I mean really

"Well, we're all different. Why should a smoker pay more?"

-- Representative Pete Sessions (R-TX) on why women should have to pay more for health insurance than men.  

Damn you women, and your expensive boobs and vaginas.

november

Things to remember:

-gray november can be fun too

-don't put off today what you should have done yesterday

-call your friends

-make time to eat

-wash your sheets

metamorphosiseseseses

Not that I think I'm changing, but I'm growing. This semester is challenging me in ways I didn't think this school could. 

Photo credit

eff u maine

I'll take my boyfriend elsewhere.

 Crushed my high hopes.

true confession

I am in love with Tim Tebow.

One Art

The art of losing isn't hard to master 

so many things seem filled with the intent

to be lost that their loss is no disaster

Lose something every day. Accept the fluster

of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

Then practice losing farther, losing faster: 

places, and names, and where it was you meant

to travel. None of these will bring disaster.

I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or

next-to-last, of three loved houses went.

The art of losing isn't hard to master.

I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster, 

some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.

I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.

Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture

I love) I shan't have lied, it's evident

The art of losing isn't too hard to master

Though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.

--Elizabeth Bishop

 

Lost homes

Richard Ehrlich

Grey Gardens

"It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present, you know what I mean."

-- Little Edie

Looking on the bright side

to be happy about:

-new books

-old friends

-learning

-having my car

-cooking my own meals (cookbook suggestions?)

-beautiful summer/fall weather

Back at school

It shouldn't have taken me so long.  Sometimes its nice to have a long internet break.

I'm a senior.  And that in so many ways is similar to being a freshman, nerve racking, exciting and promising. I miss my old friends though.

I want to go to the beach

I want to play with my friends in the waves, be sunkissed, and read a nice book.

Almodovar

I've been seeing a lot of Pedro and Penelope on the blogs cause they are out promoting their newest movie, Broken Embraces.  While I'm totally bummed that we have to wait till November (December if you don't live in NY or LA), I've been busy re-watching his older ones.  And agreeing with this quote:

"Cinema can fill in the empty spaces of your life and your loneliness."

Pedro Almodovar

thinspiration

"I don't care if you think I'm racist, just as long as you think I'm thin"

--Sarah Silverman

American Geography

Egypt?

media matters

Summer Loves

Things I've been enjoying:

+the brief wondrous life of oscar wao (SO GOOD!)

+cherries

+finding the little co-op by work

+nightly summer storms

+air conditioning

Wow

I was really touched (Jo put me in her blog).  Coolest thing to happen. Ever.  Funny cause I take inspiration from her (and hundreds of other bloggers regularly).

NY NY

Finally going to see friends!  How exciting, I can't wait to catch up with Peter and Emily, and hopefully see James for the first time in a year.  Not to mention everyone else.

I wish I thought of this

These photos come from a series this man is doing.

Resolutions

To remember:

+use your moosewood cookbook

+ask friends for book suggestions

+record spending

+keep your eye out for an attractive rain coat

+be nicer

I had a breakthrough

.

Inexcuseable

I've been trying to keep up on the Sonia Sotomayor hearings.  And though they lack some drama, this really upset me:

“You’d have lots of ’splaining to do,” Senator Coburn replied, to a hypothetical situation Sotomayor raised over gun rights.

Seriously?  I know he was trying to invoke Desi Arnaz, and be humorous, but it is still incredibly condescending.  Why isn't an elected official held to a higher standard? It's racist.

Also: This cover is...a nightmare.  Since hispanics aren't stereotypically wise, what other minority can we portray her as? 

Burritos

I can't stop eating them.

Perseverance

"Certain motherfuckers think they can fuck with my shit, but you can't kill the Rooster. You might can fuck him up some times, but, bitch, nobody kills the motherfucking Rooster. You know what I'm saying?"

--David Sedaris, or more like his brother Paul

Dress your Family in Corduroy and Denim

Long time in between

I understand its been a while.

I was home visiting the family.  A list of things in no particular order

Things I enjoyed:

+seeing them after almost 2 years

+my Aunt Peggy's sunny disposition

+my sister being happy with her new boyfriend

+my dad telling me I'd get the jetta (WOO!)

+my new haircut:

I asked for 50's James Dean and I think this reference somehow morphed into 90's Zach Morris.  Not that I'm complaining just not what I ordered. I think I'll keep it for a while.

And in an effort to keep this blog positive, I have only one suggestion: If I send you a text with a question, please respond to it.  A call is fine too.

Tired

How is it that doing nothing but riding on a bus can make someone so tired?

Cancer

Today at work Ellen (my boss (who is awesome on another side note)) told me she had cancer. I had suspected it for a while, but it is still sad.  It's odd though, being sick with cancer, or another disease has this very confessional aspect involved with it.

The way she was talking to me about being ill, was sort of like the way someone comes out.  And I don't know if there's a catharsis for her in telling people like there is when you finally say "I'm gay" but I do think the manner in which you have to tell people is similar.  The disclosure is the most important part of both processes.

Does someone dread it? Enjoy it? Not care about it? If you don't seem sick do you tell people?  And how does finally saying "it" change the way you feel about everything? 

(I also don't know why, but this Eakins painting came to my mind just now, and pictures make things more interesting).

Just an idea

Obama

I'm not an Obama apologist, but I just wish people would give him a chance.  I got yelled at on the T for telling my friend (privately) that since Sarah Palin resigned I hope she doesn't run for President.

Women we must hear

"Feet, what do I need them for if I have wings to fly."

 --Frida Kahlo

Planet Earth

We live in an incredible world.  I want to see it all.

Rachel

Rachel is a trooper, and probably one of my strongest friends.  But that's for a different post.  

More importantly she is a key ingredient to her  group of friends' blog (I apologize for the food pun I know they are the lowest form of comedy): FOOD ATHLETES

It's funny, has good pictures, and Rachel figures greatly.

Eat, try, love.

Dreams

Sara wrote about this, but I also fantasize about all my friends living in the same city and we all going over on different Sundays to make brunch and tell each other stories about our week.

Wouldn't that be special?

I missed the sun

In which I quote Sex and the City

Stop it. I know I hate when people do the "I'm TOTALLY a Carrie." That said I'm probably a Miranda (with some of Charlotte's neediness added in for good measure), and so I must quote:

"He doesn't even know me.  The least he could do is wait to get to know me before he rejects me."

I'm ashamed that this quote has so much personal resonance for me right now, but I'm working on it.

I'm ready to be these old mexicans.

Words of Wisdom

"It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak up and remove all doubt."

                                     --Abraham Lincoln

Not that anyone would have thought he was fool, but still.  Remember, to be silent, it will probably help you in the long run.

Side Note:  Is it weird that I think he's sort of handsome?  I actually think he has very kind eyes.

Inspiration

I read Sara's blog, and damn, it was delightful.  She actually stopped writing in it over a year ago, and such a shame, cause she was so great at it.

Anyways a list of things that are making me happy:

+good fun stories from shannon

+finding a trader joe's by my house

+going home next week to see my family

+my internship (surprisingly)

+summer sun

+the titian, tintoretto, veronese exhibit

Hook, Line and Sinker

Well I got back the phone, and the card has been cancelled and they are sending me the new one. I guess we all make poor decisions, and responsibility isn't about avoiding them but dealing with them when they come up.

I got taken out for dinner, and it was really nice.  Dad was right: "Sometimes its easier to love a rich man than a poor man." 

Responsibility

Lost phone.

Lost atm card.

Ripped jeans.

Broken blender.

Shattered martini glass.

Take a look at yourself.  A big one.

capitalist PIG

The ads might be temporary, I'm just doing this for me, but what if someone stumbles upon this, and wants to know more about earning a college degree online.  Aren't I offering a necessary service?

Still I can't help but feel like I'm ruining the intimacy of having it be just me, myself and my ideas. And the imagined solidarity a reader might feel too when reading.

Travel

I want to explore the American South.

Also, remember William Eggleston photography.

The Web

"There should be at least a room, or some corner where no one will find you and disturb you or notice you.  You should be able to untether yourself from the word and set yourself free, loosing all the fine strings and strands of tension that bind you, by sight, by sound, by thought, to the presence of others."

                                       --Thomas Merton

I blog because I have a nagging sense of self-importance.  Then again my entire generation does between blogs, facebook, twitter, and the myriad of other social networking sites available to us, we are probably the most self-aware (read self-obsessed) generation yet to come.  

Thomas Merton, though part of the patriarchy, was right.  I need to find a place to be with me.

Sara's Poetry

I hope one day she is famous.

say you love someone, just say

you love someone and holding their hand

or rubbing your thumb over their hipbone is all

you can think about during the week

you punch a clock 9 to 5 and there they are 1200 miles

away with your clumsy thumb

wearing that hipbone down, just say

you love someone and that hipbone

is all you have to help you through the day

the idea of their hipbone is just enough

in your mind you've whittled it down

because your heart got too hurt and the slow

touch of that bone was all that's left like a rut

where a truck tire stayed

spinning, not the way a buck makes his mark, something more

sloppy, but at least it didn't slide downhill, at least

it held steady, maybe as steady as a hipbone, maybe

long enough for the tread to meet what it needed to 

get out at just the right moment, just say

you love someone and you know that

it's best to give that hipbone up sometimes

the idea of that hipbone and all the wearing down

you can't do because 1200 miles 

is what really holds that hipbone

--Sara Slaughter

I miss them all

"I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children’s godparents, the people to whom I’ve been able to turn in times of trouble, people who have been kind enough not to sue me when I took their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister."

                                                                 --J.K. Rowling

I like you

And I think you'd be good for me. 

Dad's day

My father's day card was just returned to sender: insufficient postage.  Sorry Dad.

My dad and I have a relationship that has taken time to build. And he's certainly not like this father, but he is a great guy.  I must resend.

DESTROYER

Remember your size, because no matter how small, you too are capable of breaking things.

And thank you L.L. Bean  for your lifetime warranties.

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

I know going to a liberal arts college I should have more respect for her but the truth is her writing just doesn't resonate with me.  That said, what an incredible play/film.

Who isn't afraid of living a life without false illusions?

You are what you are

We don't really change.  

"You may be wrong about a lot of stuff now, wrong about almost everything, but you might as well get used to kind of person you are right now, because that person isn't going anywhere."

--Jonathan Franzen

Frikin-delicious

Today at work Pia brought in Frikadellers for intern lunch Wednesdays. While I normally don't like meat I found these garlicky flattened meatballs delicious.

Must try again.

I think they would be delightful with a good potato salad.

Bleed the truth

Why him?  

From experience, just be careful.

Verdict is still out.

The Closet

The Closet (Le Placard) is a hilarious French comedy and should be seen.  Repeatedly.

Gay men in the closet, are not people you want to be getting involved with.  They need to be avoided, as far as romantic entanglements are concerned.

Travel

My life was easier in a foreign country.

My summer

I've realized I need this blog to remember the small things happening around me.

And also as a way to reflect on those things I should avoid in the future.  Or, at the other end of the spectrum, fully embrace.