September 2010
Classes started last week.
Midterms are this week. I am not kidding.
Last night, I saw the funniest thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
We were at an 80s-themed party at a nightclub in the next town over (located behind the supermarket, obvs). My friend, who was a big streaker in college and tends to remove clothing from time to time, pulled his pants down on the dancefloor, revealing white cotton briefs. No one else noticed for several minutes (and I probably only did because he had asked me to hold his drink while he undid his belt). Finally, our friends started noticing, and a few minutes later one of the bar employees came over. I was thinking, “Oh, shit, he’s going to tell _____ that he has to put his pants back on, or kick him out of the bar or something.” Instead, the guy gestured toward _____’s drink and said, “You can’t have a drink on the dance floor.” He didn’t even notice the lack of pants. _____ handed over the cup and went back to dancing.
Dude is 6’5 so he’s pretty conspicuous to begin with. I have no idea how that even happened. But I laughed so hard I can probably lay off my ab regimen for another month.
Basically, a cat is an animal who will see that your day can't possibly get any worse
and take the opportunity to shit on your roommate’s bed. Again.
I wish I could hire someone to tell my mom for me.
We broke up.
I don’t want to talk about it, nor do I have the time to do so. I have to do my Stats homework by 2 p.m.
“She has the hottest glasses ever.”
—I seem to have stepped into some bizarro world where enormous glasses are a turn-on for men.
Saw a car today with the decal 'I drive like a Cullen.'
What does that mean? You drive like a sparkly vampire? How does a sparkly vampire drive?
SO CONFUSED.
August 2010
“You’re the first person I’ve seen pull off glasses like that. You must have a ton of confidence.”
—Well, guys, I’ve managed to impress the class player/Dylan McKay stand-in. I think my work here is done.
Caught in a bad romance.
Overheard at my bus stop.
Her: Why? Why did you do that? I don’t know why would do this to me?
Him: What? What? It’s not that big a deal! Gurl, you gotta chill.
Her: Don’t tell me what to do! That was my last can of Pringles! You fuck, what am I gonna do now?
Him: Buy another?
Her: That is not the point. I hate you. You do this all the motherfucking time. I’m done with you.
Him: Why you gotta say that? That ain’t right. Baby, I’ll get you some more.
Her: Damn straight. I need a cigarette.I need a cigarette, too.
I love my new computer.
It is so fast. Also Windows 7 is the jam. The commercials make sense now.
Just realized the teddy bear I have had since BIRTH is missing.
There is no logical place for him to be. I am freaking out.
This tells you a lot about me:
I had a dream the other night where I was in a heated argument with another woman (a fictional dream person) and I slipped up and called her a gendered epithet (OK, two). I then paused the argument and said, “I’m sorry, I don’t mean that; I shouldn’t have called you [X] when what I really meant is that you’re a terrible person.” Even in dreams, I manage to remember that language matters and words have meanings, and that there are certain words I don’t use and why. Pretty funny.
Mood pendulating between Elle Woods and JWoww.
Best. Job Quitting. EVER.
They should give this guy a medal:
A flight attendant ran out of patience on a plane that just landed at JFK on Monday afternoon, so he allegedly cursed a blue streak over the P.A. system, grabbed some beers, pulled the emergency chute, slid down and ran from the plane, sources said.
How can the story get any better than that?
Slater was later arrested at his home in Belle Harbor by Port Authority officials. Police sources said that when authorities found Slater he seemed to be in the midst of having sexual relations.
That’s how.
I should try this tomorrow. Although with the advance notice, it might not have the same impact.
“Once, feminists fought for a woman’s right to explore her erotic impulses honestly, freely and without shame. If we are to protect that legacy, today’s feminists must preserve a clear distinction between the ongoing struggle to protect women and girls from abuse, and the misogynist impulse to control and police female sexuality as soon as it develops.”
—
Laurie Penny (via gauntlet) (via a-eliz)
I think abuse and policing women’s sexuality are two sides of the same coin, that coin being attempted male ownership of female sexuality.
ETA: And yet of course it’s not always men doing the policing/abusing.
Wikipedia | Regulate (song) →
en.wikipedia.org
From the Synopsis portion (H/T to my friend Spencer):
The third verse is more expository, with Warren and Nate explaining their G Funk musical style. Warren displays his bravado by daring anyone to approach the style. There follows a brief discussion of the genre’s musicological features, with special care taken to point out that in said milieu the rhythm is not in fact the rhythm, as one might assume, but actually the bass. Similarly the bass serves a purpose closer to that which the treble would in more traditional musical forms. Nate displays his bravado by claiming that individuals with equivalent knowledge could not even attempt to approach his level of lyrical mastery. Nate goes on to note that if any third party smokes as he does, they would find themselves in a state of intoxication almost daily (from Nate’s other works, it can be inferred that the substance referenced is marijuana[8]). Nate concludes his delineation of the night by issuing a threat to “busters,” suggesting that he and Warren will further “regulate” any potential incidents in the future (presumably by engaging their antagonists with small arms fire).
“Second, as of August 24 I will be living in sin with my boyfriend, Joe, in the West Village. And yes, I realize that if I’m giving away the milk for free, there’s no incentive to buy the cow, and that it’s probably not wise to take the plunge with someone who once served as Notre Dame’s campus representative for Playboy, but he said he’d get me a kitten and I’m a sucker for fluff. Anyway, if he doesn’t make with the rock in about a year and a half or so, I foresee an “accidental” pregnancy in my future.”
—an excerpt from the last life-changes-themed mass email I sent, almost exactly three years ago
Female Soldiers and Rape: War Within for Military Women →
time.com
What does it tell us that female soldiers deployed overseas stop drinking water after 7 p.m. to reduce the odds of being raped if they have to use the bathroom at night? Or that a soldier who was assaulted when she went out for a cigarette was afraid to report it for fear she would be demoted — for having gone out without her weapon? Or that, as Representative Jane Harman puts it, “a female soldier in Iraq is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy fire.”
So I moved the blog that's under my name.
I am going to turn that URL into something that would be OK to have pop up for recruiters on Google.
Oliver needs a new carrier.
He has to get a soft one because otherwise he bashes his head into it and gives himself a nosebleed. He is a small kitty but I don’t want him to feel claustrophobic in it, and I don’t want to spend more than $50 (would prefer to spend ~$30ish). Any suggestions?
July 2010
Can't find a good picture of Lucy Hale's haircut.
Wonder if it’s safe to roll up to tomorrow’s haircut assuming my hairdresser watches Pretty Little Liars.
I just remembered that I stopped at H&M last night and bought those flamingo/margarita sunglasses.
I can’t wait to wear them all weekend, especially indoors.
Meloukhia's photos sold me on the PowerShot →
meloukhia.tumblr.com
…
So. If you are just wanting a camera to go around with, and take fun pictures with, and you’re going to be in places where your camera might get stolen/dropped in the river/beered on/what have you, I would highly recommend something from Canon’s Powershot lineup. They are pretty powerful little cameras and they are workhorses, and, I mean, here are some pictures from mine, they do not take bad pictures:
See? Those are all pretty good pictures.
…
And I was able to get an Amazon Prime free trial, so next-day shipping was only $4. Plus the one I ended up ordering is $20 off until Saturday.
“You don’t move to NYC to write; you move there to publish, whether commercially or with the clique you meet in your favorite Sunday pub. If you want to move somewhere to write, go somewhere where you’re just beginning to learn the language. The excess of what you haven’t been able to say all day will make your writing the most intense it has ever been. Neurology, though admittedly still a young science, backs me up on this.”
—
Brilliant, and something I never would have thought of.
Somewhere between totally superficially and actually personally meaningful.
I don’t think I’ve talked a whole lot about why I took (back) up yoga last fall, besides the fact that I enjoyed it in college.
I joined yoga to regain control of my body. I broke my collarbone in a really bad car accident, 6 years ago, next month. Given that I had much worse injuries (like a busted right femur: hello titanium rod down the inside of my bone, and bruised lungs) the doctors “didn’t bother fixing the shoulder because as far as we’re concerned a scar on your shoulder is no worse than a bump. WRONG. ANSWER.
Despite physical therapy and general physical fitness, I had been in near constant pain for 5 years. Every time I started to really get back into shape, and feel good about myself, physically (because how I feel about my body affects my whole mental state, I have a shitty self image) I’d get hurt again. My hips and the tendons in my lower back would rebel, and I’d end up nearly crippled in pain for days.
So I joined yoga again, at a fancy, but very highly regarded studio with extremely attentive, well trained teachers, paying a membership fee that makes my budget tight, hoping that it would help me build strength and flexibility, and that it would help me get control of my body back. And it’s doing that, better than I could have even imagined. I’ve been almost entirely pain free for months now. Chronic pain is emotionally and physically debilitating. A lot of people don’t realize what a toll it takes on your mental state. Being free from that is incredible.
Today I noticed that the improved posture and openness in my shoulders has also pulled back my collarbone. And that’s a small victory that means much more to me than everything but the pain relief. This is something that, to me, is very important: the protruding lump from my broken collarbone has become only barely noticeable, even for me. And I see it every time I look in the mirror. Most other people never even notice it, but it has always bothered me.
That broken collarbone has been a daily reminder of my accident and (since 2006) ex-Boy. (We have the same break, but his was from Jr. High football. He noticed the break when he touched my shoulder our first night together) The seven inch scar on my thigh and the two inch one on my knee from the surgery have never bothered me. I don’t see them, day to day. I do kind of hate the traction scars on my shin, but I don’t notice those either, unless I’m shaving my legs.
So having that small, superficial victory actually means a lot to me.
Reblogging to reiterate that my best friend is super brave, strong, and awesome.
What is the difference, in layman's terms,
between the Canon PowerShot SD1300IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 4x Wide Angle Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.7-Inch LCD and the Canon PowerShot SD780IS 12.1 MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom and 2.5-inch LCD?
Obviously I know what the LCD size means, but which is the better choice? They are about the same price on Amazon, but the latter’s suggested retail is about $40 higher.
that darn kat: I don't know anything about cameras and photography. →
katoleary.com
jgh2:
…
Reblogging because I need to get a new camera before school (and a new suit, and a bag I can take to interviews, and other unfun stuff). A while back, I asked Alexis what she uses, because she always takes such great photos — it’s a Canon Rebel XTi with a 50mm 1.4 lens. I think I…
You can’t really go wrong with a lot of the Canon Powershot cameras. If you don’t want to A) pay for a Rebel (are they like $600 now?) or B) carry around a large camera, I’ve heard great things about these two:
- Canon PowerShot G11 (okay, this one is expensive but I’ve heard amazing things about it)
- Canon PowerShot SD780IS (a friend has this one, and it’s great because it’s super small so you can put it in your pocket. Plus, 12.1 megapixels? I am pretty sure my first digital camera was like a 2 megapixel and it probably cost more than this)
The first one looks amazing, but I think spending $450 on a camera right before I borrow $140k (you have to spend money to make money?) is probably a bad idea. The second is probably better for my current needs — thank you! My current digital camera is from 1978 (OK, 2005), is the size of a small yurt, and has a propensity toward either not turning on at all or doing so very slowly. So I’ve been using the camera on my Palm Pre, but I’m not crazy about the quality of its indoor photos/those requiring flash.
I don't know anything about cameras and photography.
jgh2:
I have a pretty cool Sony point-and-shoot. One day I want to take really cool Travel Pictures.
Should I get something fancier?
Reblogging because I need to get a new camera before school (and a new suit, and a bag I can take to interviews, and other unfun stuff). A while back, I asked Alexis what she uses, because she always takes such great photos — it’s a Canon Rebel XTi with a 50mm 1.4 lens. I think I probably want something a little cheaper/more compact for school, so I can easily throw it in a clutch before heading out for the evening (and not cry when someone spills a Keystone Light on it), so if anyone has suggestions, let me know!
“On the national level, bipartisanship usually means Democrats ignore the needs of the poor and abandon the idea that government can play a role in issues of poverty, race discrimination, sex discrimination or environmental protection.”
—
Barack Obama, 1996 (via novazembla, jonathan-cunningham)
Yup.
Just finished drafting my last set of minutes.
Now I just need to clean my entire office before my replacement starts on Monday.
Also I'm pretty sure this is the kyriarchy's survival strategy -- to tire out anyone who wants to change things.
I haven't been writing about a lot of important stuff lately
because I am sort of overcome by the futility of it all. A lot of (most?) people are set in their ways and don’t seem interested in trying to understand where other people are coming from or expanding their views on the world, and these people are probably raising their kids to be the same way. Humanity, as a whole, is suffering from a major empathy deficit. The world would run a whole lot smoother if people were less myopic and self-serving, but I don’t see anything changing drastically within my lifetime. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
There is a FB thread about gay rights that keeps showing up on my feed
and I can’t respond to it because I don’t know the person whose wall it’s on, but this one jerk is making all of these terrible arguments and then accusing other people of not being able to argue intelligently. Why do people with a total dearth of critical thinking skills always think they’re so much smarter than everyone else? Also, why do people with no lived experience of oppression think they’re the ones best equipped to identify it?
Here’s my theory on question number one: people with no critical thinking skills assume they’re the smartest smarties because it never occurs to them that every question has multiple answers. They live in a perpetual round of 3rd grade Around The World. Remember that game, when you were paired with a classmate and the teacher held up a multiplication flash card, and the person who shouted out the answer first got a new opponent? Well there ya go. If your entire planet has one answer per flash card, you’re going to assume the kid taking several guesses for 5x7=35 is a little slow on the uptake.
This is also why they get all “haters gonna hate” when confronted with opposition. As far as they are concerned, that round was done with they screamed 35.
I am always looking for the less-obvious answer and trying to see things from as many sides as possible, so this approach makes no sense to me. Even from a personal benefit standpoint, it stunts your intellectual and emotional growth. But I think you’re right.
