Du bist zu geil für diese Welt

2008-11-05T08:18:00.004-05:00

There has been a lot going on in my life recently, but here's the one thing that will prompt me to write another blog post: the reaction to Obama's election. Jesse Jackson was in tears. So were people at the election party I attended. Aunt Mary seems awe struck that she was born before the civil rights era, and lived to see this day.

What affected me more though was the reaction here in DC. This is an overwhelmingly liberal city, and majority black city, and a politically engaged city. DC has gone more than eighty-five percent Democratic in each of the previous four elections, and went ninety-four percent for Obama. I drove down 18th St to U St. last. In both of these nightlife districts, people had poured out onto the streets in celebration. Police ended up having to close off the streets to vehicles not too long after. There were fireworks. We were honking. People were yelling and clapping and dancing. As we drove slowly through the crowds, passersby were reaching into the car to high five us.

I have never seen this city jubilant before. Let me tell you, I liked what I saw. It was Christmas and New Years', and graduation, and birthdays. People were literally overcome with joy. Of course, some of it had to be relief as well. George Bush's approval rating is low enough nationally that I don't want to imagine what it is here in DC. Inauguration day is going to be exhilarating for the people who live here.

There is no way that Obama can live up to his own hype. But for right now, I'm going to bask in the glow of a happy city.

2008-04-29T21:08:00.002-04:00

It seems like wherever my life takes me, I end up in the same place. Empty, worthless, and wanting to disappear for a while. I know this has to be relatively normal, but it seems like something is wrong. Something's missing. Or maybe I just have some growing up to do. Who knows.

2008-04-18T08:58:00.002-04:00

Not that anyone reads this anymore, but since my projected vacations for the year have all been canceled, I need new plans. They must be low stress, and more focused on me than the needs of others. I don't want to drive to Canada for the weekend. I don't want to follow some one else's friends to a drink fest. I need a vacation to recharge. Ideas welcomed.

2008-02-13T09:12:00.001-05:00

2008-01-08T08:26:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm a bad blogger, life goes on. A few topics to address soon though:

It's spring in January
The elections
The Simpsons Movie
I've become bad at life

Stay tuned

2007-11-28T12:44:00.000-05:00

The Thanksgiving roadtrip to Montreal was lovely, but the twenty-degree snowy weather in November reminded me why I should not live any farther north than DC. I brought back Coffee Crisp and the French Harry Potter book 7 as souvenirs for relevant friends. However, due to my wimpiness where cold is concerned the only photo I took the whole weekend was at the duty-free on our drive home. Enjoy:

2007-11-20T12:49:00.001-05:00

This is my latest entry into the "monkey of the moment"category. It's an emperor tamarin, apparently named after its resemblance to German Emperor Wilhelm II. This guy is rather fittingly at the Berlin zoo.

2007-11-08T17:41:00.001-05:00

I'm pretty easy to please when it comes to talking up the incredible ethnic mix that exists in LA. I just like to see a little love from others as well. Though, props to Chicago, the expected home to the second largest concentration of Mexicans in the U.S.

2007-11-07T06:49:00.000-05:00

Just to recap the past couple of months: I'm getting old. I've never been a night owl, but now have reached the point where I'd rather be home by eleven and asleep by midnight. Boy's probably right when he attributes this to being overly tired from a second job. However, I also just think that maybe I've gotten over the urge to drink myself silly. And that's not such a bad thing. Or maybe I'm just boring. That one's also pretty likely as well.

Regardless of the change in my nightlife habits, life's going pretty well overall. The job continues to be a good use of my time, as does boy. We're going to Montreal for Thanksgiving. I may report back on how that turns out. Otherwise, I guess the most interesting thing in my life right now is the Project Runway premier. Ouch.

Ok, enough procrastinating. Time to get ready for work.

2007-11-02T06:32:00.001-04:00

I don't really know what to say to this. It's from a Japanese trade show, but designed by a Dutch woman...

2007-10-31T07:17:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween, everybody.

2007-10-30T08:29:00.001-04:00

Well good god damn and other such phrases, I've just been chastised for not sharing this, so here you go.

2007-10-26T11:32:00.000-04:00

My concern: I look more like mother with each passing year. Her lips are bigger than mine, but I feel we have similar features otherwise. She's aged as gracefully as one can hope for given the particular circumstance of her life. My body type is more like my grandmother's. I'm the same height and general build. Even in her seventies though she wasn't skinny, she was never fat either. I call us a solidly built family. ;-) Perhaps I'm too young to worry how I'll look as I age, but there is that one gray hair that keeps making it pop up in my mind. And every girl worries about turning into her mother. As I've said before, I'm more likely to turn into Aunt Mary. I just don't look anything like her. My sister on the other hand...

On the topic of that hair, dubbed Marcella in honor of my Grammy, I had not been able to find it for some time. Now it's cropping up again. Apparently the last time I had my cut, the stylist just cut it out entirely. Now my little friend is growing back.

2007-10-26T10:45:00.000-04:00

This photo falls all too much in line with recent concerns over product safety from China. An entire section of road just kind of tilted? That's some fine engineering and quality control. I'm astounded. Though, the funnier thing is that no one died. Just a couple of injuries. Maybe the cars are safer than the highways. Of course, these two things could be related.

2007-10-22T14:40:00.001-04:00

I feel like this turns out funnier than it has any right to be.

2007-10-10T07:04:00.000-04:00

I finally ordered a bed. Maybe my body will begin to forgive me soon for the way I've been mistreating it.

In the meantime...Monkey Day anyone?

2007-10-05T08:52:00.000-04:00

I make a point of loving the Metro. Coming from a land of piss-poor public transit, I appreciate what I have. However, I'd like to highlight three things Metro has done to piss me off recently:

They make it as hard as possible to fix problems with fare cards. My Metrochex were demagnetized when I got them. First, this meant the usual patronizing speech about not leaving paper fare cards near credit cards and cell phones, then it became clear that I would have to go to Metro Center during business hours to exchange them. Clearly no one that rides Metro regularly or receives Metrochex from their employer has any place better to be between 9:00 a.m and 5:00 p.m. on a weekday...
I had a conductor the other day that decided to stop at Farragut West, but not actually open the doors. Good thing that's not a popular stop. Wait a minute...
This morning my conductor announce McPherson Square as Farragut West. I didn't realize the mistake until it hit me that the escalators looked different.

That's my rant. I'm ok now.

2007-10-04T22:28:00.000-04:00

Proof that I've been abusing my body for the past year or more? I just took my first ever yoga class and lost all feeling in my arms. It got better as we went through, but my fingertips are still kind of tingly. Odd.

2007-09-27T11:17:00.000-04:00

In case any of us were in question about the fact that I'm very much a girl, let's recap some highlights from my birthday.

Gifts I received:

Fondue pot
Chocolates
Orchids
Spa Day

What I did to prepare:

Mani/pedi
Dress Shopping

Memorable points from birthday happy hour:

Cosmos
Cleavage
Chocolates
Attempting to order Guinness and champagne
Lots and lots of photos

It was a great night, and I'm reminded that I love my friends. I think we've all become less fun recently, but things might be turning around. All-in-all, I'm happy. The whole thing was just delightful.

2007-09-26T15:01:00.000-04:00

Now that September is almost over, I've just discovered that the Governator has pronounced the past three Septembers "California Wine Month." Here in DC, we'll refer to it as "California Wino Month" in honor of my birthday. This validates the opinion that I should spend tonight ingesting rancid grapes. Woo.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to me.

2007-09-25T09:17:00.000-04:00

The first rule of keeping a blog is to not talk about work. We all know that. I'm going to break that rule for one moment to say something that's been weighing on me: I'm satisfied with my job. I'm one of very few people I know that actually say that, and I end up feeling guilty about it. Most of my friends are underpaid, underutilized, or otherwise unhappy with their situations. Personally, I'm doing pretty well.

Of course, I'm about due for my review, which has my stomach turning in knots. We'll see how that goes.

2007-09-24T09:26:00.001-04:00

Thank you Shiri. I think you know exactly how much this pleases me.

2007-09-19T21:24:00.000-04:00

My parents are notoriously bad at gift giving. They mean well, but just don't know how to do it. Well, this year for my birthday, they were smart enough to heed some advice. There were no knick-knacks or Disney movies. The only bad habit they fell into was the inclusion of chocolate. However, it was a chocolate that was guaranteed to make me happy. I came home today to three pounds of See's candies in a cooler box on my doorstep. When my parents asked the aunt and sister what to get me, this time they actually listened. A little taste of home. Well, not little. It's more chocolate than I'll ever eat on my own. Yay.

2007-09-05T09:33:00.000-04:00

Last night I went to a fund raiser to humor the boy, and came away with a piece of comedy gold. Mya performed. Of course the sound system was terrible and I couldn't name anything she's done solo, but she's adorable, so we'll let that slide. What we won't let slide was her crowd pumping question, "We got any ghetto superstars in here?" Yes, we were in NE DC, so there were maaaaaaaaaaany ghetto superstars in the immediate vicinity, but at a campaign fund raiser, the most ghetto person there probably lived in Cap Hill group house. We were all young, educated, white, and professional. And that's exactly how we danced. Ghetto superstars indeed.

2007-08-24T15:25:00.001-04:00

Some of you will know exactly why this makes me happy.

2007-08-24T14:55:00.000-04:00

DCist made me quite happy today. Between hearing about Butterstick's new rival, and the fact that the arena where the Beatles played their first U.S. show was turned into a "trash transfer station", the site's kept me giggling.

2007-08-21T09:08:00.000-04:00

I'll get around to posting about the topics below around the same time I clear the backlog in my inbox and post photos from Sonali's wedding. In the meantime, I thought I'd share a little comedy gold with all of you. It makes me wish that I still had friends at the Center on Budget or had kept contact with a certain ex. Those of you with the time and energy, please feel free to organize an opposition contingent.

2007-08-16T09:09:00.000-04:00

I've actually had a fair amount to blog about since getting home from Thailand, but zero time in which to so. Here are some highlights. Hopefully I'll get around to them this weekend:

-two stories with elephants
-the wedding
-my impressions of Bangkok
-flight home and the best layover ever
-flooded apartment
-becoming an internally displaced person
-my growing fondness for the D1 bus
-photo posting
-jetlag, and the napping Meg

2007-07-25T07:10:00.000-04:00

I feel that Bryce is about to yell at me again for the lack of posts, so I thought I'd just drop a little update. I've been busy and relatively happy. May not have two jobs for very much longer. Had a lovely beach trip with boy, and came back bright red. I feel that once the burn fades I might be somewhat closer to my pre-DC pallor, which is clearly just that little bit less blinding. The past week has been absorbed with cockroach hunting. We got some that were huge and could fly. I might have screamed like a little girl and run away. It appears that we have them kind of under control now. Next week will be all about Thailand. Yes, the trip is almost upon us. This is mainly big because the number of things that have been put off until "after Thailand" is growing quite large.

On the Harry Potter front, a prediction I made as a joke to Bryce came true within the first 30 pages of the book. Kind of funny. I'll probably read it about a year or so from now when all of the plot twists have been properly ruined for me and the German version has become available at a more reasonable price.

If anyone needs furniture or has a queen sized box spring, let me know. Also, Rilo Kiley's going to be in DC on my birthday. Care to join me?

2007-07-13T12:39:00.000-04:00

This story makes my soul happy.

2007-07-10T18:42:00.001-04:00

I check this comic with some regularity. It's the only one I do check. The main page does warn that it may not be suitable for liberal arts majors, and as such, many of the jokes fly right over my head. Or sometimes I get them, but it's like when my dad tries to be funny. Quite often though, there are installments that make my soul happy. This is one of those, and my historical favorite. Just thought I'd share.

2007-07-09T23:11:00.000-04:00

Just for good measure, here's the next BBC installment about California and the environment. =)

2007-07-08T22:48:00.001-04:00

Naturally, while planning a trip to Bangkok, this song gets stuck in my head pretty frequently, and gets brought up by others. What I always thought was funny was that Sonali had never heard of it. What entertains me now is that no one in the video appears to be Thai...or even Asian. There's a very 80's white woman with Robert Palmer-esque make up meant to make her look "eastern". But that clearly doesn't get to count any more than Mickey Rooney playing Mr. Yunioshi in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

2007-07-06T15:49:00.001-04:00

In addition to the earlier post regarding my overall sleepiness, I'm adding what may become the second entry in the Daily Californian Series. Though, since we know of my ambivalence toward Berkeley, I'd be better off find an Aggie related name for it.

This article is meant to be about how the mayors of the two most important cities in CA are hoping each others' indiscressions will cancel out. What I think the non-Californian author is missing is the inevitable regional rivalry debate to be spawned by such an election. That could get ugly. Obviously, I'd do whatever I could for Villaraigosa, just to make sure that those smug bay area kids didn't get something to gloat about. That, and his name's just more fun to say. Also, isn't it only right for CA to have a Hispanic governor?

2007-07-06T15:38:00.000-04:00

As it turns out, one of what I'm assuming to be the primary downfalls of having been born a morning person is the undeniable fact of the afternoon sleepies. I recall distinctly that for about the past decade, the 1-3 pm hours have been my worst. No after lunch course in college ever resulted in my ability to stay awake reliably. I can load up on coffee all I like, but no amount of caffeine will ward off the effect. I've noticed recently that my most dearly loved habit of going for a walk and/or reading outside over my lunch break simply makes the situation worse. Sunshine apparently turns me into some sort of a house pet, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a patch of it and go to sleep.

So what is the lesson here? That I may have more to learn to Spain than I thought. I was already a huge fan of sangria, so it seems only natural that the best friend of that deliciousness would be a nap. I'll simply have to become a woman of leisure. This will go hand in hand with friends and I being ladies who lunch. Yes, that sounds like a wonderful like. I've got no chances of financing it, but it sounds delicious regardless.

2007-07-05T12:25:00.001-04:00

I'm in favor of anything that's pro-California, but have to admit that I was entirely unaware we had a state parliament.

2007-07-04T09:57:00.000-04:00

At 9:30 this morning, after getting out of the shower and before making breakfast, I was the recipient of a drunk dial from Baghdad. Actually, I don't know that he was that drunk, but he was certainly enjoying the holiday. What was the purpose of this drunk dial? To point out to me that I hadn't posted in about two weeks, and that was unacceptable. Yes, these are the 4th of July greetings I get from half a world away. Do I offer excuses for my recent absence? No. I've been moderately busy, but no more so than usual. I've started a new job where I actually do work. Maybe that's the culprit? Honestly, I think it's just that I haven't had much of anything to post about. Life's not been terribly exciting, but it's also no been bad. I could inundate you with photos of Knut, but feel that I've done quite enough of that. Essentially, the problem is that I'm content, so the blog has suffered.

What does this mean to you? It means that I require suggestions for topics, and questions to answer. So if you honestly care about whether or not I continue to post on a semi-regular basis, you'll kindly provide me with a prompt.

2007-06-21T08:49:00.000-04:00

This one is from Carla, but entirely for Kelly:
There's absolutely nothing wrong with a photo that involves the Dalai Lama and a koala. That Bindi Irwin kid's kind of cute as well, but she can't stack up to the elite force of adorability next to her.

2007-06-20T12:47:00.000-04:00

I may have commented before that it's hard to work up the motivation to post when I'm happy. The past week or so have been fairly wonderful, so I'm really only posting now to point out why I'm not posting. Friends, family, and other are all going well. The one thing worth mentioning here is my trip home. I find that I breathe more easily just being in Southern California. It strikes me as slightly tragic that the place I feel most at ease, and two of the people I love most in the world, are situated so far from the place I foresee spending the bulk of my productive years. Regardless, I ate much Mexican food, had an odd adventure with TexMex, walked on the beach, hugged, shopped, laughed, and generally enjoyed myself. In the past, it's been hard to come back to DC, but this time, regardless of how much I love home, there's so much goodness happening here, that it's hard to prefer one over the other.

Now if only I could find a pair of size 9 Calvin Klein Monica shoes in French blue, I'd be set. ;-)

2007-06-15T10:49:00.000-04:00

I was initially quite entertained to see this painting:It was presented to me as a cell phone picture taken by Boy at the National Gallery. I love me some National Gallery, but looking up the context of the painting prevented this from becoming my favorite part, because it takes the twinkle out of my eye. And these beautiful greens should always be atwinklin'. However, since I do love the NGA, it reminded me of my undisputed favorite thing there: the moving walkway in the basement connecting the two wings. Nothing brings out my inner six year old faster than skipping down that bouncy conveyor belt. It doesn't hurt that there's a delicious gelato and espresso stand at one end either. My most recent anecdote related to the NGA basement has to do with a killjoy guard. Apparently, he had little patience with 20-somethings acting like children, and yelled at Steven, Catherine, and me to stop skipping, because: "It's called a walkway, not a jumpway." Clearly, he'd seen this before, and had been waiting for a chance to use that line. I'm glad that we could grant him the satisfaction of displaying his creativity, because it has not deterred me from future interludes of skipping.

Thinking of my favorite part of the NGA also reminds me of my favorite part of the National Portrait Gallery. In a hallway off of one of the historical exhibitions, there is a large map of the US circa I don't know when, but probably the old west some time. Generally western artifacts or anything else having to do with cowboys, indians, and ghost towns will cause me to walk the other direction, but this particular map is special. As Steven and I were pointing out to each other the specific places in CA where we'd grown up I noticed something quite strange. Just west of Sacramento...what was that...? Davisville? Davisville?! It's unusual for present day maps of the US to feature Davis, but this one was clearly made long before it was an affluent town home to a large research university that had cornered the market on viticulture and enology just in time to capture a large share of the funds generated by the American food renaissance, and there it was clear as day. At the time of that map, it couldn't have been anything more than a couple of farms. So, National Portrait Gallery, with a breast full of Aggie pride, I solute you.

2007-06-13T14:10:00.001-04:00

Random baby animals of the day:

2007-06-12T11:53:00.001-04:00

This is a map of the US with states renamed for countries with similar GDPs. Pretty interesting idea. =) You're going to need to click on it to make it legible.

2007-06-12T11:34:00.001-04:00

I've just succeeded in making Bryce jealous, which is a nice change. For reasons best left out of the blog involving boy, job, home, and roommate, yesterday was pretty fantastic. I hadn't realized how much I needed just one solid day to kick me back into shape. So now Bryce is envious of my solid day, if not the specific causes.

Maybe it's temporary, but I'm visibly happier, and getting back to my old self. It's funny how a lot of things that started going downhill at around the same time last year seem to have rebounded simultaneously. Here's to karma. Am I finally about to make good? Regardless, I'm bursting with uncontrollable rays of sunshine that are only being magnified by the fact that I'm going home this weekend.

2007-06-11T09:30:00.000-04:00

It's a funny thing, the interaction of emotions and critical thought. I'm not always certain whether I feel a particular way or if my brain is talking me into or out of those feelings. What's strange is that I can feel like I'm talking myself into and out of the same set of feelings simultaneously, making me all the more confused about what I want and how I feel. If only there were time to stop worrying about it.

2007-06-08T12:27:00.000-04:00

This video was part of a hard sell relating to the rivalry below. When I sent it on to a friend, I mentioned to ignore the fact that the audio is in German. Her response was that she was surprised I was more apologetic about the language than the fact that it was not a panda.

In other baby animal news, the release date of the GLT family has been postponed due to the recent birth of yet another set of twins. My take on all of this procreation is that I guess it's understandable that no one wants to put an endangered species on birth control. The roommate's assumption is that at some point the mother will just develop a very long headache and start swatting at the father if he comes remotely within humping distance.

2007-06-07T15:06:00.000-04:00

My eager anticipation of the potentially impending Butterbrother at the National Zoo led to a discussion today regarding relative cuteness of our Exalted Leader and the primary challenger to his throne. I do not take sides in this debate. Clearly they are both unrealistically adorable and cause me to collapse into an inarticulate mass of squealing 6 year old glee. Even beyond the cute factor, one is in DC and the other in Berlin, so my loyalties are entirely conflicted.

The one thing that's certain is that I ended up with an undeniable urge to visit Cute Overload, Stuff on My Cat, and the Daily Puppy. Still not nearly as adorable as our baby bear friends.

2007-06-05T09:05:00.000-04:00

Two quick tidbits related to home. First, this entry on MSN relates the most overrated parts of a bunch of cities and then offers alternatives. I realize that I'm not likely to take any of it seriously as the first mention goes to downtown Anaheim. Is there a downtown Anaheim? And does anyone go there? Even if they've just spent the day at Disneyland? Though I do quite like the Orange Circle, so kudos on that. Additionally, it speaks volumes to the fact that LA is not a tourist town that their "overrated" entry there was car culture. Traffic's overrated? Huh? (If you head all the way to the end of the 6th page you'll find that the opinion closely mirrors my own, which led to a giggle.)

Second, there was an article in the Express this morning detailing how violent crime has gone up in 8 of the nation's 10 largest cities recently. Buried at the end of this blurb was the fact that in the other two crime had actually fallen. I might have done a smug little victory dance on the metro when I saw that Los Angeles was one of those two.

2007-06-04T14:46:00.000-04:00

An old friend of mine once told me that I try to know myself too well. That statement strikes me as just as odd now as it did then, but seems less true than it once was. Likewise, the conversation with Aunt Mary that I'm the most cerebral member of my family (her response being that I was the only cerebral member of my immediate family). I'm still more introspective than most of the people that had influence over my formative years, but feel less so than I have traditionally. Have I become dumber? More shallow? More self-centered? Less independent? I see that my friends seem to appreciate me and care about me the same way they always have, so whatever change I feel may just be one of perception. I feel dull in a way that I haven't since early undergrad, and stupid in a way that is entirely unique to my post-6th grade psyche (6th grade being the first time it was ever pointed out to me that I was smart or capable). It seems like all of the things I was once proud of about myself just don't qualify anymore. I'm old enough, and have been out of school long enough that they're not special. And thus, I'm not special.

I am currently not terribly well able to engage my own emotions, and that worries me for the potential implications it has for my relationships with others. If I'm not in touch with my own thoughts and feelings, I'm going to necessarily be less conscious of others' as well. As a cynical and analytical person, I've always had a tricky relationship with emotional responses. When I'm hurt, I feel ridiculous for letting myself be (as I've described in the past) a "sobbing mess of a human being." On those exceptionally rare occasions where I feel I might be falling in love, I question, question, question, all but talking myself out of it, in fear of coming off as too much like a 14 year old girl. Strange then that I'm worried about a lack of emotional engagement rather than a surplus. Is this because I've finally learned to let people in, and that progress is being threatened? I don't want to be cold, bitchy, shallow, self-centered, or empty. I want to deserve the love and respect of the people I value so highly.

2007-05-31T09:00:00.000-04:00

Don't much feel like posting, but knew that some of you may be interested in this event. Don't know that I can make it, but it is tempting.

2007-05-25T09:54:00.001-04:00

Last night I discovered just how misanthropic the past year of working two jobs and being a retail slave have made me. My poor mood during the evening doesn't need to be discussed, we'll just say that I was ready to get home and dreading the long metro ride. Of course, as it turns out, while I was at work the birthday festivities of one of my favorite people had been moved to within a block of the second job. So regardless of how long the day had been and how tired I was, there was no way I was not going to at least stop by. Standing there, the dull ache of most of my body became unpleasant tingling and shooting pains, and it was determined that I needed to sit. This put me out of the circle of conversation until the quite lovely folks out for a fun time moved over my direction. You'd think that at this point I'd be happy to be with people I enjoy out in a venue I quite like. Alas, that was not the case. I couldn't even summon polite conversation, and pretty much came off shrewishly. It was a sad moment in Megan land.

The resulting decision is that this weekend will be spent in a low key manner, no rushing and lots of sleep. There are some social events planned, but I may still just hole up in my empty apartment and try to recover just a little bit, because the next three weekends are going to require that I be well behaved and fun. It's summer, life's picking up, and I want to enjoy it. If this mood and fatigue continues, that just won't happen.

2007-05-24T09:49:00.000-04:00

This one's for Carla:

And this one's for me:

2007-05-22T14:38:00.000-04:00

Yet another piece of randomness for today. This photo set on Flickr presents the aftermath of the Griffith Park fire. There are plenty of adjectives to apply to the heavy feeling of dread and despair that hangs over the images. To me it comes somewhere between Blade Runner and a spaghetti western in its presentation of Los Angeles as the dystopian remnants of the old west. This is the end of the trail, and we're all doomed.

2007-05-22T13:53:00.000-04:00

Since we're on the topic of graduations.

2007-05-22T10:11:00.000-04:00

I thought I would share this blurb from President Trachtenberg's farewell message as well as a mini-angry rant on the topic. How does this make it through editing and get published?:

Love, when it's real, does not have to be requited - Though it's a lot more satisfying when it is returned. No matter, for 19 years I have been in love with GW and especially its students. That makes me sound promiscuous, I suppose, but it's possible to be promiscuous and faithful at the same time. We haven't been just hooking up - we've been going steady, you and I and all the students who came before you. I'm going to miss you as I miss every graduating class, but you more than any other. This is, as you know, my graduation, too.

The whole of the two page cliche that was Trachtenberg's farewell message had those of us sitting through Sunday's graduation ceremony a little quizzical, but he couldn't seem to top that opening paragraph.

2007-05-21T13:02:00.000-04:00

I clicked on this article today out of curiosity. The BBC's been running a series of stories on anti-Americanism globally, but also with a certain focus on the Anglo-American relationship. While I've not been terribly impressed by the articles, and feel that the primary author is probably approaching the topic from an overly pro-American point of view, I have been interested to read a British perspective on the US that doesn't center on the sort of topics one gets sick of hearing about when staying overseas.

With that as my primary motivation, I discovered that the article was more of a tribute to Caltech. We all know my love of California, so while I'd prefer to ignore the tangent about Einstein in Hollywood (I'd like to think better of him than that), the following quote made me the slightest bit homesick given that the description could be applied to any number of places in the southland:

The institute sits at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains, in a lush landscape. Graceful jacaranda trees smothered in a purple haze of blossom, and soaring emerald-leaved palms, shade beds of bird-of-paradise flowers and headily-scented star jasmine. A long avenue of mature olive trees runs through the sunlit campus, to a pool on whose edge dozens of ebony-coloured turtles sun themselves among the reeds. Arched colonnades covered in bougainvillea border and connect the cool stuccoed buildings.*

Anyway, it was an easy read, and the author is clearly idealistic and starry eyed, but it's still worthwhile even if you don't have a near problematic preoccupation with California.

*Please note that the links are provided because these are some of my favorite plants that don't really grow much around here. See also Lily of the Nile.

2007-05-18T13:39:00.001-04:00

I've just come from the Elliott School graduation, and I think that exhausts my collection of friends there. Not being a terribly sentimental person, these ceremonies don't exactly tug my heart strings or get me thinking about the great promise of young lives etc. It was mainly just nice to see a few friends and share in their joy. Now, as it was for both of the previous Elliott School ceremonies I've attended, it's cold and rainy. Unlike past years though, I have an afternoon free to fill as I see fit. I'm not going to lie, that may involve a nap

2007-05-17T14:55:00.000-04:00

The funny part about having deemed myself undatable is that it forces me to accept the emotional numbness with which I'd been so dissatisfied a while back. I don't really miss the person or the relationship that broke me out of that state to begin with, but I do miss actually feeling something. The rush of falling head over heels stupid for another person and the pain of losing them were both refreshing compared to the feeling of just floating along aimlessly. I suppose the current malaise has something to do with my feeling that I've lost pieces of myself over the past year. Being emotionally numb blends in with the overall graying of my life and personality. So much that I like about myself has been buried or forgotten.

This summer's project is to reclaim my life and my soul. They've disappeared somewhere. In the meantime, a state of being that I'd previously labeled unacceptable has become (temporarily at least) entirely necessary.

2007-05-15T09:57:00.001-04:00

It turns out to be good that I didn't feel like blogging the last couple of days because I've been roller coastering a bit. Luckily, an evening with the lovely ladies of Rosslyn and some quality roommate time served to settle me considerably, and now I'm pretty much back to normal. Since this is something to be happy about, I thought that I would share something else that pleases me.

2007-05-14T09:33:00.000-04:00

I <3 Globalization.

2007-05-10T11:04:00.001-04:00

Aside from being a sad and jarring sight for anyone from the area and fond of the observatory, this is also guaranteed to spawn a few screenplays. "Los Angeles is Burning" will feature in the soundtrack. Personally, I'd like to see it as the key scene to a Rebel Without a Cause sequel. Wouldn't we all love to catch up with Jim and Judy and find out how their angsty selves dealt with raising teenagers of their own?

2007-05-09T12:15:00.000-04:00

Three brief topics:

First, random adorability:
And the official graffic for the "My Pope was Cuter than Yours" bumperstickers:
Love me some JPII. Also, this photo reminds me of Kelly, which anyone can tell you is the fast-track to my adoration.

Second, we have the slightly hilarious story from the weekend of a 737 that was abandoned in the streets of Mumbai when the guy driving it made a wrong turn. Of course, it later disappeared. Two questions here, I can understand getting lost in just about any city. That's easy to do, but while towing a jet? Really? And then you abandon it? "Huh, guess that won't work, might as well head home." And then it just disappears? How does one discreetly dispose of a 737? I'm intrigued.And my final topic is of the entirely nonsensical and shallow variety. Why does France get such better looking presidential candidates than we do? There's definitely a nerdy sexiness to Obama, but that's still just hot for Washington, not actually hot.

2007-05-08T15:11:00.000-04:00

Two articles from the LA Times today:

This article raises several reactions in me:

"Hard-core tiki enthusiasts"? WTF?
I liked that they put fresh gardenias in some drinks and served others in skull-shaped mugs.
They gloss over the fact that the place is expensive with bad food, and in an inconvenient location. That might also help to explain why it was always empty.
I wonder what's happening to the awesome bartenders.
Matt needs to make field trips to local flee markets to track down the paraphernalia.
I wonder if there are any tiki bars in DC. I know that's what 3rd Edition calls their back patio, but really not the same thing.

And this one elicits mixed emotions. On the one hand, I'm very much in favor of recognizing a population that is admittedly underserved in the area. The primary connection I've heard regarding Central American immigrants in the LA area is to violent street gangs imported from El Salvador, so the residents have a point. Also, ethnic towns and neighborhood monikers help to make some sense out of the vast and diverse tapestry that is the Los Angeles basin. On the other hand, I react strongly against the language of keeping non-Central Americans out of the area, and preventing them from opening businesses. Fighting gentrification is one thing, but promoting the continuation of racially based segregation is quite another. Of course, the deli owner they quote sounds like something straight out of Orange County. I associate him with the popular bumper sticker: "Last American out of Garden Grove Take the Flag". Why does their opposing view have to come off as a racist redneck? The whole article leaves an unpleasant taste of xenophobia.

2007-05-08T11:26:00.000-04:00

In attempting to plan a flight home, I'm having several logistical issues: money, scheduling, and location.

Of course, if I were smart, I wouldn't even be thinking about spending $300 to fly home for a weekend without a specific event to attend. I just very much need a weekend in SoCal to recharge and get a taco, possibly some margaritas. Seeing the ocean wouldn't be a terrible plan either. Theoretically, this would be largely for Kelly's birthday, but it's really entirely for my own benefit.

The weekend I had chosen had been pre-approved by all relevant parties, and the previous two weekends vetoed for various reasons. Now I find myself having the selected weekend potentially also struck down. I can't push the trip back much farther for fear of getting too close to Thailand. For my own mental health, it needs to fall within a certain window. This throws another wrench into the works where Dave's wedding is concerned, but I've pretty much given up on that. Having to schedule with other people is getting a tad bit annoying.

As for location, I'd clearly prefer to leave from DCA than IAD, but that might be a pipe dream. The bigger issue though is destination airport, as for some reason Burbank seems to have the lowest fairs at the moment. I know that one way or another I will be able to make it from Burbank to either West Hollywood or Seal Beach, but worry about the logistics of it all and the hassle involved for others. I suppose that I could just rent a car, but that brings us back to the same cost issue.

Seriously, I'm trying to plan a weekend home, not some complicated excursion.

2007-05-07T10:22:00.000-04:00

Leave it to the Germans to have an article plus photo gallery dedicated to umbrellas. Actually, no, that seems far more British.

The weekend was good, we'll just ignore the parts that weren't. Stressful times can be good for reminding me how wonderful my friends are, and how fortunate it is that I've managed to find such a healthy support structure here in the area. When family's 2,500 miles away, it's important to have close and caring friends. Here's to warm fuzzies and random giggles due to the joy they've engendered. =)

2007-05-04T12:54:00.001-04:00

It took me a while this morning to remember that District residents are called Washingtonians. That sounds too much like something that would crop up only on the local news. The term I hear most often is honestly just "District Resident". The honorable Russ proposes that DCite is the way to go. Personally, I'd like to seize on this opportunity to refer to myself as Columbian. The subtext in this politically preoccupied, overwhelmingly liberal city that quite often comes to the mercy of conservative law makers is delicious.

In the past I've been a Garden Grover and theoretically an Angeleno. Though I lived there for four years, I don't think I'd ever count as a Davisite, and what does some one call a person living in West Hollywood? (Others may respond with "gay", I'd more likely go with "Russian.") Arlingtonian has an old-timey ring to it that honestly does nothing for me. I'd say that Angeleno tends to win for best resident descriptor, and not just for places I've lived. Angeleno is arguably the best name for locals anywhere in the continental US. I dare you to find something better. New Yorker, Chicagoan, Baltimorons, etc have nothing on us. I think that's because city names are just cooler in Spanish. Something that I wish we'd do more of though is resident nicknames that have nothing to do with the name of the city. Residents of Buenos Aires are called portenos. How cool is that? Of course, I'm afraid that if that sort of thing were done for DC we'd end up being called nerds and wonks. Not quite as fun.

I guess the actual point of this post is that I'm no longer a Virginian. There's no way to reclaim the little piece of my soul that died when I gave up my California license (Though I'll always be a Californian. I can't change the way I was born.), but this move to the District at least makes me feel a little more like I belong here. I was happy in the Commonwealth, but it never managed to become a piece of me.

2007-05-03T09:33:00.000-04:00

What was that squealing you just heard coming from the West End? Why it was Megan reading this year's Screen on the Green line up of course.

Monday, July 16: Annie Hall

Monday, July 23: The Thing From Another World

Monday, July 30: Wait Until Dark

Monday, August 6: All the King's Men

Monday, August 13: Casablanca

Not only am I thrilled for the film choices (Wait Until Dark is fantastic, and the others speak for themselves), but I'm excited that free movie season has started up once again in DC. Additionally a good time is the NIH Film Festival. I know there are others, but this is enough to get me going for the time being.

2007-05-02T09:46:00.000-04:00

A few thoughts on moving:

I never thought I was that sensitive to smell, but Jenny claims that the strong au de gas I'm picking up is entirely my imagination. Meanwhile the air freshener plug-in that I've set to the lowest possible level is kind of overpowering. This is quite possibly just me.
I can't move my furniture in until I unpack, but I can't really unpack without some of the furniture.
We need to do something about the bathroom.
Why are the things I've forgotten those items most necessary to my day-to-day routine?
This is the first time I've moved by myself. It was good to see how much Betty can hold. She's pretty much a bottomless pit.
We get surprisingly good light for a basement.
The major downside for me of switching to a DC drivers' license is going to be the ID photo. My Virginia license features me looking hot enough that bouncers regularly comment.
I'm going to do everything in my power to keep the papasan chair that was left in our living room.
I spent 15 hours moving yesterday and still have to go back to the old place to take care of things.
It turns out that there are actually things I need that Target doesn't carry.
Even on an inflatable mattress, it can be near impossible to drag myself out of bed.

2007-05-01T07:24:00.000-04:00

It's a little bit astounding to me the amount of stuff my car will hold. The first Betty load has been delivered to the new place, and while my apartment looks like it's barely been touched, I can assure you that a large portion of my possessions has been moved. This is going to be a full day.

2007-04-29T19:00:00.000-04:00

Part of the fun of packing this time around is discovering the things I've inherited from Sonali. On the upside, that includes pots, pans, a rice cooker, and a blender. On the down, what on earth am I going to do with a dozen vases? When I was making fun of her for having a boyfriend that sent her flowers because it was Wednesday, I never really thought it would end up turning into something I was going to have to deal with after she moved.

The housecooling went well. It was a funny reminder of who my friends are that at a margarita themed party we barely touched the tequila, but went through roughly a bottle of wine per person in attendance.

2007-04-28T14:36:00.000-04:00

I took a mental health evening, and have calmed down quite a bit. Once the move is complete, my next project is finding an affordable trip home. There are times when family sounds fantastic. Yes, you did just hear that from me.

Funny observation: the one upside to having bloodshot eyes and irritated skin is that it makes the green really pop. I could use a nap.

2007-04-26T22:27:00.000-04:00

It's official. This week should just not have happened. It's been a complete disaster from start to finish. The monkey meeting remains the primary highlight. Here's hoping that Jenny and the job situation both make a quick recovery, and that I don't behead the new girl.

2007-04-24T17:39:00.000-04:00

This has been a frustrating week, and it's not even halfway through. There are a few high points to look forward to though. Tonight is the first monkey meeting for the season. That means that very soon now I'll be resuming my quest for a tiny orange pet. Tomorrow night brings Jenny time in a fashion that could only be replicated with Bryce or Russ. Too bad they both live far away now and are thus unable to partake. Funny that the same activity would be associated in my head with such different people, though the four of us would have a FABULOUS time attending together. Might need to recreate it upon the return of the prodigal friends. Of course, I haven't had much time to devote to the housecooling, but I'll fit that in somewhere.

This week also needs to include some packing. I move in seven days, and leave the Commonwealth for the foreseeble future. Hopefully this will mean a minimum of 2-3 years with the lovely Jenny before we part ways and flee to all corners of the globe. There's much nesting and couch time that can take place in that span. Hopefully a fair amount of travel as well.

With any luck this week will turn around and I'll retreat from the ledge of frustrated rage that I've been approaching.

2007-04-19T10:38:00.000-04:00

I quite like this image for some reason, and was surprised to find out that DC doesn't appear to have a similar signpost or marker (or at least one that turned up on a Google image search). I was likewise quizzical that our nation's capital doesn't have more sister cities. It seems to me that something like a sister city is ceremonial fluff to begin with, and what city does that sort of thing better than DC? Why on earth would this be a bigger deal in Los Angele s?

2007-04-17T15:41:00.001-04:00

I think it's pretty common for less than profound songs to strike a chord with one's emotions. There's a reason why songs like “Long December” and “Move Along” have nailed down little strongholds in the far reaches of my sentimental soul, while I often forget about better songs that I actually like more. Honestly, this seems to hold for any song called “American Girl(s)” as well, though that one I can’t quite explain.

Where this gets a little stickier for me is in the realm of German music. Clearly there’s a little trap door in my soul through which the German language likes to slip. I may not have a ton of interest in the country itself, but the language makes me happy. The result where music is concerned has been that snippets I’d not even notice in English just kind of stick with me. (Please reference the title of this blog.) I hadn’t listened to any of the CDs I brought home from Germany with me in over a year, and have really only been exposed to a tiny sliver of German music to begin with, but recent exposure to a couple of absurd YouTube clips kind of got me in the mood again, so I popped in die Ärtze. Much like going to see Rancid last summer, it felt a little like a warm hug. A homecoming to a place I’d forgotten I loved. Granted, they can get pretty cheesy, but several of their songs prove to be pure joy for me. I end up wanting to quote whole verses.

This poses more problems in German than it does in English for precisely the same reason that it happens in the first place. The songs stick with me because they’re German. If they were in English I’d post them to an AIM away message, or they’d make it into a profile somewhere (please reference the About Me section of this blog). But auf Deutsch, that’s not a realistic outlet. The people that would read those little quotes speak French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic, more French, Portuguese, a little Japanese, perhaps some Greek, and a whole lot more French, but minimal German. I already get eye rolls when I throw random incoherent German phrases around while basically talking to myself.

Something that makes the whole thing funny to me is that I haven’t had reason to use my German in four years beyond reading Harry Potter and some news sources. So, essentially I have no cultural references and my speaking skills are completely shot, meaning that when I do actually come into contact with some one I could talk to, it’s still the same as finding myself in the usual group of Francophiles. Anyway, now more for my amusement than yours, a sampling of songs that have been stuck in my head for the past several days:

Doch ich halt den Schmerz als wärs ein letzter Teil von dir
vielleicht bin ich auch nur ein Masochist, das ändert nichts daran wie schön du bist
Manchmal aber nur Manchmal haben Frauen ein kleines bisschen Haue gern. Immer ja wirklich immer haben Typen wie du was auf die Fresse verdient.
Bitte, geh noch nicht. Am besten, gehst Du nie. Ich hab's Dir schon so oft gesagt, in meiner Phantasie. Bleib noch ein bißchen hier. Bitte, geh noch nicht. Was ich versuche, Dir zu sagen, ist "Ich liebe Dich".
Ich tausch nicht mehr ich will mein Leben zurück. Guten Tag ich gebe zu ich war am Anfang entzückt aber euer Leben zwickt und drückt nur dann nicht wenn man sich bückt -Guten Tag
Und wo du hingehen willst, Ich häng an deinen Beinen. Wenn du schon auf den Mund fallen musst Warum dann nicht auf meinen.

2007-04-17T11:43:00.000-04:00

Longer post planned for later today, but in the meantime, let us mourn the passing of an era. I just dropped Sonali and Kaen off at the airport. There were hugs and tears, and a certain degree of awe at the sheer amount of stuff I was able to pack into my Sentra.

Some friends and I who happen to be rather close to our roommates have taken to calling them our platonic life partners. Since I'm about to move in with a good friend of mine from grad school, she and Sonali have had discussions regarding what exactly is entailed in transferring life partner duties. They both deny that the phrase "You'll take the brunt of the cuddling now" was ever uttered, but I know what I heard.

The basic truth of the choices I've made and the people I tend to click with is that we will inevitably all move intolerably far away from each other. For now it remains steady at California, Baghdad, and Bangkok, but there's reason to suspect New York, Boston, South America, Great Britain, Switzerland, and Germany are all going to enter the equation within the next five years. As Bryce was kind enough to point out, adulthood means that your close friends are the people you see once a year and your best friends are the people you see twice a year.

2007-04-16T11:30:00.000-04:00

One or two of my friends are aware of my nostalgic soft spot for anything from RH Phillips. The winery is located in Yolo County, and we used to drive through/past Esparto to get to Vanessa's parents' house up in Lake County. Some Aggies have their Sudwerks, I have my RH Phillips. We would buy their down brand (with the picture of the woman carrying a bag of grapes on her back) at Albertson's for $4.00. For that price, and considering that we got Merlot of which I'm not generally a fan, it was delicious. After college I upgraded to the Toasted Head. Their Giguiere Ranch Red whose front label didn't say a damn thing about the wine, but was just a larger version of the bear-breathing-fire logo was one of my dinner party staples, even if I could only find it at World Market. It was a crowd pleaser, and plenty yummy.
Now it appears that RH Phillips is undergoing a bit of a brand revamp. I don't necessarily care enough to research this fully, and the brands' websites appear to be under construction, but I think that my two products have both been phased out. I just can't seem to find them in the store or online. This brings up two questions for me. First, what's to become of cork amnesty? Since it was largely the RH Phillips brand whites rather than any of the Toasted Head that practiced it, I'm left to wonder if the company's abandoning the concept. Second, will they offer a suitable replacement for my beloved table red? Their new Night Harvest line should be fun to explore, and I appreciate that they've stayed within their familiar aesthetic for the graphics, but I don't like having to replace old favorites.

2007-04-12T14:52:00.000-04:00

Birthday season has begun with a bang. What sort of bang might you ask? The sort that has me completely forgetting Bryce's. I didn't forget the date mind you, simply hadn't realized that it had passed. So now that I've missed my best friend's birthday and am scrambling to make up for it, I need to prepare for the coming onslaught. As far as I can remember, Carla, Gentry, Jenny, Catherine, and Kelly are all coming up, along with a whole spate of others who occupy less central places in my current consciousness. If I've forgotten you, please let me know.

2007-04-11T10:55:00.000-04:00

I clicked on this lin k expecting something kind of fluffy and sweet. Perhaps the "warm mental blanket of denial" to which the article refers. Of course, that's not what I got.

2007-04-10T15:53:00.000-04:00

When I first saw that LAist was doing a regular bit on 1001 Reasons LA is Better Than Florida, I was entertained. I've joked about it a few times, and even mentioned here my own unjustified and largely comical disdain for the Sunshine State, but honestly didn't expect anyone else to share the sentiment. I shouldn't be too surprised, given one of my favorite points to bring up when explaining this issue to the uninitiated, but since I really don't know that much about our southern extremity, was still kind of surprised.

However, at this point I'm mainly just entertained that they've managed to keep it going since the first of the year. They're a little over 10% through the list. While not keeping up with the promise 3-5 items per day, they're certainly on track to reach their goal in a little under two years. While it's probably a bit overly optimistic to expect a site combining two fundamentally flaky forces (blogging and LA) to focus for quite that long, it's really not bad, and they're making exceptional progress.

The chances of completion would skyrocket were this guy to get involved. He's got the attention span and dedication to make it happen.

2007-04-09T10:21:00.000-04:00

While I'm definitely down with this, I sort of question the sanity of the people who made it happen. Maybe they just have more free time than I do.

2007-04-09T07:26:00.000-04:00

I just reread the last post and realize that I was being ridiculous and pissy when I wrote it. The weekend was fabulous, our house guests were wonderful, and Sonali had a great time. Remarkably, I didn't come off as neurotic, everything went off without a hitch, and the few work arounds we had to make worked out for the better anyway. I'm exhausted, but content.

2007-04-06T12:40:00.000-04:00

This weekend shall henceforth be known as the Nanavati invasion, the high point in the penitential period known as Sonali month, which falls immediately prior to the holy season of Nesting that ends in the much exalted Hosteling Week requiring all faithful to make a pilgrimage to Bangkok for festivities.

I might have been in a more appropriate mood for the next couple of days if they'd fallen a week or two ago, but part of the reason I'm not in the mood for them is the very act of planning for them. I think that all of the details are straightened out, with just one or two phone calls left to make. Tomorrow is going to be like herding cats, and will also serve as a valuable lesson in my own insignificance. I will play den mother, come off as a wee bit anal retentive, and chomp at the bit as I'm reminded that most cultures don't value punctuality the way I do, the whole time being entirely ignored.

The bit that I find hilarious though is that while most of us are less than thrilled with the recent change in the weather, it's kind of a going away gift for Sonali. Being from the UP she loves some winter. Moving to Thailand, she's not going to see much of it for a while. There's something beautiful in the joy on her face when she finds out she gets to wear her favorite coat one last time. The rest of us may be a little bitter, but I'll choose to look at the bad weather as something fortuitous for her.

2007-04-05T14:37:00.000-04:00

From a Slate travel article on Bangkok:

Located inside the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaeo was built as the royal temple, and with its brilliant, outlandish color scheme and oddly sized structures looks like the kind of spiritual playground Donald Trump would create if he happened to be a gay Buddhist dwarf. Speaking of gay Buddhist dwarfs, Wat Phra Kaeo houses the Emerald Buddha, Thailand's holiest icon. Made of green jade, this 18-inch statue sits atop what appears to be a vault-sized wedding cake made of gilt and gold. I'm joking, of course, about the Emerald Buddha being gay—as an enlightened being, he is free from desire for either gender, making him technically a bored bisexual—but he does possess three Liberace-fabulous outfits, which, according to custom, the king of Thailand himself personally changes at the beginning of each of Thailand's three seasons: spicy, steamed, and fried.

2007-04-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

Two more things. First, I give you the German Butterstick. (Also an update on the 'Stick's heir apparent.)

Second, take a moment to guess what event produced this photo:
You know what I'll bet you didn't say? A campaign rally for East Timor presidential candidate Lucia Lobato, of the Social Democratic party.

2007-04-03T08:48:00.000-04:00

I've started and deleted several posts lately, and have not had a whole ton to share, so here's another collection of random snippets:

Much like every other human in the known world, I hate moving. It's expensive, stressful, and a lot of work. The two weekends after the bachelorette party will be devoted almost entirely to cleaning and packing.
Am I really on the wrong side of a technological/cultural cusp? Catherine and I are calling this the Great Facebook Divide. Chances are that if you finished college any time after I did you're way into the Facebook. If you finished college when or before I did you're only on Facebook if you subsequently went to grad school or had a lot of younger friends. This mini revolution has purportedly changed the way people interact on college campuses, and vastly increased internet stalking capabilities. And I'm ending this theme right now, because the urge to say "Back in my day..." is entirely too strong.
I have determined that God does not want Sonali to abandon me. Why else would the weather go from beautiful to crap again right in time for her bachelorette party?
We haven't given much thought to day trips or anything when we're in Bangkok, but the following three themes have emerged, and they remind me why I tend to be so entertained by my friends: 1) Jenny has to ride an elephant before leave the country. 2) We've got a long layover in Seoul so we're getting lunch. 3) Phase 1 of our world wine tasting tour?
Related to the above, my next project is to find Bhangra lessons to take before we go. Jenny's acquiring some vocabulary, I can at least learn to dance for the wedding.
If anyone knows where I can find a bed for the short term, that would be wonderful.
Now that Butterstick is all grown and not as adorable as he once was, my loyalties have temporarily shifted to the delightful red panda.
Monkeys start up again soon! WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And did I mention that the little buggers keep reproducing? That's right, lots of baby monkeys jumping around through the trees. Can you feel the joy emanating from within me?
I opened up a bottle of Grand Marnier for baking purposes *cough* and the first thing that came to mind was "Mmmmmm...smells like margaritas." This may mandate a lime themed house cooling party toward the end of April.

2007-03-26T10:31:00.000-04:00

This was the sort of weekend that's good for the soul. My joy was found less in the much anticipated Snow Patrol/Ok Go/Silversun Pickups concerts than in recovering some little piece of me that's gone by the wayside recently. It was good to be relaxed, joyous, unrushed, and surrounded by good people. The effect was immediately noticeable as I went in to work on Sunday and was actually in a sunny mood for a change. Nice to be myself again.

I'm interested by the way that concert venue seems to have dictated demographics. For the Snow Patrol show at the 9:30 Club, Jenny and I had been fairly representative of the crowd. At Bender Arena Carla, Bryan, and I were a little older than the crowd. Since it was on a college campus, most of the attendees seemed to be undergrads. The real shock came at the Tweeter Center when Jenny and I appeared to be nearly a decade older than most of the other concert goers. That was strange. At 25 and 26 neither of us should really ever feel old. Of course, this led me to wonder: Am I still allowed to love Snow Patrol and eagerly await their next album if they've now been adopted by the teenagers of South Jersey? What does this mean for the fragile balance of my world? I'm not sure how I feel about arena shows either. Definitely prefer smaller venues.

Saturday was additionally spent tooling around Philadelphia. Jenny and I had never been, so it was an excellent opportunity to soak in some history...or visit a brewery... Any guesses which we chose? What struck me about the area was that it pointed out exactly what's lacking in DC. This sounds strange to say, but Philly's just more real. People, places, and things are local, interesting, and authentic in a way that DC can't seem to emulate. It felt like the kind of place where I could belong. Good to have another option.

2007-03-23T13:36:00.000-04:00

Today's pet peeve: film versions of stage shows made from movies.

They're not billed as remakes of the original movies, but as film versions of the Broadway musicals. Is this supposed to give them some sort of cultural cache? Personally, I'd feel that the original Producers or Hairspray would carry more weight than whatever stage shows were made of them. I'm sure that the stage shows were good, though I've zero desire to see them. However, it seems that with the second film something gets lost in translation and you get camp rather than comedy. Musical theater on film is somehow different to me than musical film, and these remakes make me angry largely because they serve as hollow shells of tribute to the originals whose cultural impact they're ignoring.

It doesn't help that much of the public then also assumes that these films started as stage musicals, shifting credit away from where it's due.

2007-03-20T23:29:00.000-04:00

Lacrosse is far more popular around these parts than it is on the west coast. I kind of liken it to waterpolo for places with crappy weather. After three years here I should have grown accustomed to stickers and gym bags bearing the abbreviation for this sport, but that's not the case. I'll give you one guess as to why it takes a minute for the confusion to clear every time an SUV with a sticker that says "LAX" crosses my path.

But is this worse than my UCF problem?

2007-03-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

Before I go into a rant about my parents, I'm going to freely admit that I am not a good daughter. I do not show patience and kindness to my parents on a regular basis, it's all I can do to remember their birthdays and actually see them for a couple of hours any time I'm home. I answer their phone calls less frequently than I should. I realize that even though I've made good, I'm bad progeny.

With that out of the way, how can two people who spawned a being and supervised it for the ensuing 18 years have so little concept of who and what the product is? I think my parents gave up actually knowing me several years ago and have settled with a few cliched personality traits filled in with their own preferences and the person they think I was pre-puberty. The previous paragraph should illustrate that I don't necessarily give them the opportunity to get to know me better very often, but every time I see them or talk to them, we follow the same path of talking about the dog, them espousing beliefs as though I agree, having forgotten that I don't, and then a recital of their complete ignorance of my life, goals, likes, and dislikes related to things I have let them in on. If I can remember details about their dog and work they've done on the house, can they not stop asking me whether or not I've found any good leads at State? It's like reliving the same conversation every time I talk to them. I guess to a large extent that's just the result of my having moved away. I change my outlook and take new turns, but in their minds, I'm still the 17 year old moving off to Davis.

Tonight's highlight was my mother asking why I was moving into the city, not in the "what's your reasoning?" sense, but rather in the, "That's not something that would ever have occurred to me. Who did you offend to deserve that terrible plight?" sense. Yes mom, you're right. I moved far away from Orange County to seek out its east coast twin. Sounds like a solid plan to me.

2007-03-16T07:29:00.000-04:00

I went to see Breach last night, and regardless of Ryan Phillippe's terrible attempt at acting, quite enjoyed it. There was one thing that bugged me though. I understand that when some one's making a movie shot in a recognizable location they're not always going to pay attention to continuity and the locals are going to say "Ha! That's not where that is!" However, in this case, something entirely inconsequential was changed. One of the more important scenes in the movie takes place outside of the Archives/Navy Memorial Metro Stop.
The problem? This stop is on the green and yellow lines:
However, in the movie, that signpost above is very clearly shown displaying stripes for the orange and blue lines. This leads me to assume that it was shot on a sound stage and some flunky just screwed up, but I'm left to wonder. If it actually was filmed in the Navy Memorial, did some one just make the decision that orange and blue would look better on film? And why did it matter?

2007-03-15T19:44:00.000-04:00

The 2007 concert season kicks off soon with back to back Snow Patrol shows. There are two more shows I'd like to see coming up, one of them largely due to a cover I heard. That's right, a cover. I fell for the band when I heard them play an obscure song by a more obscure artist. Well, that also depends on your definition of obscure. I've certainly met plenty of people who love Mason Jennings, but under no circumstances would I class him as well known. And California isn't generally the first song of his that gets mentioned. However, the Kooks covered it, and that led me to investigate. Now they're coming to the 9:30 Club, and I might find myself compelled to go see them.

The question though, actually comes back to Mason Jennings. If I'm planning on seeing a band that I learned of through their cover of one of his songs, should I also plan on seeing him in Charlottesville? That would be a two hour drive on a Sunday night, and I'd likely get home around 1:00 in the morning providing that I don't get lost in BFE Virginia as has happened on several occasions. I'm pretty much fifty fifty on this, likely opting out due to the other festivities in the coming weeks. I'm just left wondering if the Kooks show will make up for missing the Mason show, or just make me wish that much more that I'd gone.

2007-03-15T12:15:00.000-04:00

I came across this on LA City Nerd the other day and was unexpectedly drawn in. I guess not so unexpectedly given that I'm a sucker for anything having to do with southern California. The two things that struck me simultaneously were how little has changed and how much has changed. That seems to be the pattern that occurs with every journey back in time. Facts seem to have changed, but the overall character has remained the same, with one notable exception:

The question left in my head has to do with the inherent optimism of Los Angeles. It's still largely a city of dreams, but when did it become jaded? I'd imagine that the LA portrayed in national folklore was no more accurate then than it is now, but there did have to come a turning point where Hollywood went from being glamorous to just being dirty. Of course, the article does reference the Black Dahlia, but leaves out the Zoot Suit Riots entirely. It focuses on the romanticized film noir version of Los Angeles the same way that more recent writings have focused on the dystopian. It feels like Tomorrow Land where other accounts feel like Blade Runner. Is the shift one of perception, reality, or fad? Or is it just in my head?

2007-03-14T09:17:00.000-04:00

I may have actually found a reason to pay attention to the NCAA tournament. It's called hometown pride. Well, maybe not pride, but at least sympathy. Long Beach State is in the tourney. That's right, the local state school that tries to be cool by calling itself "the Beach", even though no one else will, is making a run for glory. My immediate thoughts are of course not of basketball or that god-awful pyramid in which they play, but of how much I miss the smell of eucalyptus on a foggy morning, Coffee Bean, Taco Surf, PCH, and relaxing walks down 2nd St.

But here is where the little devil on my shoulder steps in. On the off chance that CSULB wins its first game and advances it could very well be facing UVA. I cannot express the joy it would give me to see the 49ers crush the Cavaliers and hear the whining of every frat boy in the DC area. I believe this feeling comes in part from a love of the underdog, in part from love of California and the LBC, in part from the ambivalent feelings I hold for the Commonwealth, and largely from a sort of anti-elitism that will crop up in me from time to time. UVA likes to forget that it generally places second to Berkeley in rankings of public universities, which results in mixed emotions for me. I do like Berkeley, and feel the need to defend it, but also feel that the university messes with people's heads in a negative way. From this combination of loyalty, pride, and disgust sprouts my reaction to UVA. They equate to Berkeley in the ways I dislike, so I want them to fall. However, they present a challenge to the supremacy of my home state, so I again want them to fall. This means that Long Beach is the perfect protagonist in the meaningless little drama set up in my head. Not only is it a team from California, but it's a forgettable school that serves its local purpose admirably, but will never really warrant much in the way of national recognition. Well, unless Steven Spielberg inspires others to go back and graduate. As unlikely as it is, a 49er win would help to restore a little bit of balance to my universe, with both California and the underdog ending up on top.

2007-03-13T11:05:00.000-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that some one in Las Vegas is giving out a fake phone number that just happens to be mine. Maybe she's originally from Long Beach and just mixed up a couple of numbers. Maybe it's something more nefarious. However I just keep getting calls from the 702 area code, and it's getting kind of annoying. I've missed most of them. The voicemails sound either like sales or billing calls.

Previously, when I've gotten wrong numbers they've been from CA area codes that I recognized, and were clearly mis-dialed numbers from people who barely spoke English, largely in the middle of the night. Or a doctors' office. That's kind of what I expect these days. Outside of that set of circumstances there are very few reasons for me to get a wrong number. These people from Vegas need to realize that the voicemail message they're hearing does not carry the name of the woman they're looking for and stop calling me. The doctors' offices I'll call back. The rest of them? No.

2007-03-08T09:30:00.000-05:00

I seem to have forgotten my blog's birthday. Been doing that with everyone lately I guess. Well she's now 3 years, 5 days old.

2007-03-07T08:56:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago some friends and I were out at a bar and talking to a couple of strangers. During the course of the conversation one of these friends said quite matter-of-factly to these strangers that many of the people she knew had forgotten how to have fun. When I argued this point she looked me dead in the eye and said. "Yes Megan, you've forgotten how to take joy in life." Or something to that effect. As you might imagine, I was a bit taken aback, perhaps slightly offended, definitely deflated. Over the recent days however, it's sunk in for me just how true her statement is. I'd already commented on my inability to flirt. This weekend's Idiotarod left me feeling as though I should be having fun, but enormously out of place. Then followed the several day bad mood which moved from anger to depression. I know that much of this is cyclical, but I've also gotten so mired in my current situation that I'm out of the habit of enjoying myself.

The trouble is that until things turn around, I have no real motivation to try to get the old me back. I've managed to lose myself somewhere over the past year, and am letting her slip ever farther away. I know that nothing's really all that wrong, it's just that nothing's right either. I keep telling myself that I'm lucky, I have wonderful people in my life and a lot to be joyful about. Things will turn around soon. But that almost makes it worse, because I feel guilty for feeling so low, as though I'm not allowed to be sad.

For now I'm going to take joy in the flowers sent by a lovely friend, and throw myself into planning Sonali's bachelorette party. I know that everything will look better soon, and I'm just being overly self-indulgent at the moment.

2007-03-05T22:16:00.000-05:00

Another multiple day bad mood has been broken by the realization that if I can classify the past year as one of my worst, then I'm actually pretty lucky. Hurray for perspective. I'm still going to keep hoping for a return to good, but try to be happy in the meantime.

2007-03-01T07:23:00.000-05:00

So I finally got around to watching Defenders of Stan. Is it bad that my favorite part was Captain Ultra singing Sweet Caroline using his brother's groans of pain as the "do-do-do" section? Of course, Episode 4 is now to be known to me as the Bryce episode for the combined "super salad" and Family Circus references.

2007-02-28T14:06:00.000-05:00

I stole this from Instructables via Slashfood, and am enormously entertained by it, if only because it's German. I understand that posting a translation here invites criticism of how bad my German's gotten, but here you go:

A Cheer for the Whopper!

He's the king of our burger.
You can build him a little throne out of delicious King fries,
set him on it, and worship him before you eat him.

But you can also just unwrap him,
bite in, and excitedly enjoy.

2007-02-25T09:46:00.000-05:00

Last night some friends and I went out, had a good time, talked to semi-random boys. It was nice. The strange thing is realizing after the fact that I was being babysat by the wingman. There's clearly nothing at all abnormal about that, and he was nice, so it's cool, but I just wonder why that took until the next morning to sink in.