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| Thursday, March 20th, 2008 | | 10:05 am |
| | Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 | | 5:31 pm |
cat stevens
Bring tea for the tillerman
Steak for the sun
Wine for the women who made the rain come
Seagulls sing your hearts away
cause while the sinners sin, the children play
Oh lord how they play and play
For that happy day, for that happy day | | Friday, March 14th, 2008 | | 10:16 am |
final finals
Next week is my very last week of finals of my undergraduate career. AWESOME! Instead of feeling extremely burnt-out and unmotivated, I actually am doing quite well at making sure I am studying my material for my exams (I had 3 tests this week in addition to next week's finals). I find that I actually don't mind staying in the library to study, that I enjoy the feeling of reward I get when I take the test and feel like I do well, and that the material is engaging and interesting. WHERE WAS ALL OF THIS HIDING THE LAST 2 YEARS OF MY LIFE? That is all. I have 2 hours to finish a paper, then it's time for 2 hours of lecture, and then 7.5 hours of work directly thereafter, followed by 8 hours until my next shift at 5 am. I am extremely busy... BUT I AM ENJOYING IT. Who knew I was such a masochist? Current Mood: slightly delirious | | Monday, February 25th, 2008 | | 7:47 am |
our downfall
Our society will eventually be done in by laziness. | | Friday, February 15th, 2008 | | 9:38 am |
fantasy conversation based on a real-life occurence
All events that didn't actually occur presented here in italics. I approach the register at the on-campus UW bookstore, my purchase in hand. I forgot to bring a pen to campus today and have no desire to write all my lecture notes in crappy, dull pencil. Plus, I lost my only black pen a few weeks ago anyway, so I'm willing to pay the exorbitant price of $1.50 to buy a replacement pen of my favorite variety, the Pilot G-2.There's no line, but I'm the first of a rush of people. The lady looks at me and simply says, "Cash only." Apparently the computer system is down and they can't take card payment. This is no problem for me: if I ever have money to spend, it's usually in cash anyway, because it's how I budget. Using my debit card leads to overspending. Plus, the pen only costs $1.58 with tax. As I'm gathering together exact change, I hear a female voice behind me: "What if we don't HAVE any cash? What are we supposed to do?" I roll my eyes to myself. As someone who's worked in retail part-time for the last year and half, this sort of righteous indignation really gets to me. So the system's down. It's not the employees' fault. And don't you sometimes need cash? It's still the #1 accepted currency format in this country, no matter how much credit card companies try to convince us otherwise. I flash back to a few weeks ago, when I was working at the store on President's Day. We had a rush of customers when suddenly one of our 9 registers went down. It couldn't accept plastic anymore and we had to temporarily convert it to a "cash or check only" line. I remember the forlorn, almost angry looks I got when I would step out and declare to the lines that were 10 people deep: "If you have cash or check, I can help you at this register." Most of the time, nobody moved; not one of them carried a checkbook or had enough cash to pay for their groceries. I understand the convenience that credit and debit cards have to offer, but is it unreasonable to expect people to carry cash anymore? I turn to the girl. "You know, there are ATMs in the lobby. Bank of America and US Bank," I offer. The girl wrinkles her nose. "I'm not about to take out cash. Those things charge me a dollar seventy-five per transaction." As I'm handing over my money, the clerk speaks up. "If you're just buying a bubble sheet, you can go down the hall to the newsstand. They take Husky Card." "That's not all I'm buying," the girl snaps rudely. "I guess that means you're SOL, then." The words pop out of my mouth despite my better judgment. So much for trying to be helpful.
"What did you say?" the girl snarls.
I turn and take a few steps toward the girl. "You don't have cash, and they can't take your card. It's circumstance, and you lose. You'll have to walk out of here without making your purchase."
The girl glares at me. "I have class in five minutes, and I need both the bubble sheet and this pencil. They should be able to take my card. This is unbelievable."
"Listen," I say, my voice rising. "There are children starving to death in Africa, and you can't buy a goddamn pencil because you're not carrying any cash. Give me one good reason why I should waste my sympathy on you."
The girl flinches and opens her mouth, then closes it again without saying anything. I pick up my pen from the counter, give her one final look, and walk out of the bookstore. | | Wednesday, February 13th, 2008 | | 1:59 pm |
avenue jew
When I was in high school, I played the role of Golde in Fiddler on the Roof. It's a great musical with a fantastic score, and I have nothing but great memories from being in that play. I also am a fan of numerous other musicals, one of which is Avenue Q, a show containing several adult themes and done entirely with puppets. (Think Sesame Street, where any and all themes that could be bastardized ARE bastardized.) Given these parameters, it's safe to say that I belong to a very small subset of the population that would find this video hilarious. | | Monday, February 11th, 2008 | | 2:58 pm |
new favorite website
There is a young poet named Herman.
He's not very good, but he's learnin',
Though he often offends
Because he so often ends
Alle sein Limericks auf Deutsch.
more limericks here. you can post your own as well. | | Friday, February 1st, 2008 | | 9:04 am |
AAAARRRGH
Eddie Izzard came to Seattle and did two gigs last August. And I was in town! I missed them BOTH! and I didn't even HEAR about them until TODAY. IDIOT! | | Thursday, December 13th, 2007 | | 9:14 pm |
the devil makes three
these guys are coming to Seattle at the beginning of January. I want to go. You should too. Let's go together. AWESOME. Final tomorrow. I'm going back to hitting the books... right... about... NOW. Current Mood:  groggy | | Wednesday, December 12th, 2007 | | 2:37 pm |
"The Hour"
Maybe the moment recurs daily at six, when commuters, freed from the staring computers, elbow and bump in unsought intimacy on a station platform with you, and frustration rots what is left of your strength. Maybe the hour comes after dinner, when televised laughter seeps from a neighboring room; maybe the time is the dead of night, when you ponder, instead of dreaming. Whatever the time, you will escape it—by sinking down with a book, or by drinking secretly out in the dark studio, or by unbuckling pants on a stranger, or chuckling, one with a mob, in a deep theater. Soon, though, the hour comes to corrode all your power, pleasure and faith with the damp dread that it daily assigns you. How you evade it defines you. -Michael Lind, Parallel Lives Current Mood:  stressed | | Thursday, December 6th, 2007 | | 12:58 pm |
out of obligation to Ashley...
...and because studying for finals just begs for a distraction. Leave a comment here and I will: 1. Tell you why I friended you. 2. Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a color, a photo, etc. 3. Tell you something I like about you. 4. Tell you a memory I have of you. 5. Ask something I've always wanted to know about you. 6. Tell you my favorite user pic of yours. 7. In return, you must post this in your LJ. | | Friday, November 9th, 2007 | | 1:28 pm |
highlight of my day
this totally lifted my spirits today: i was walking through red square on the way to genome, when i heard the beautiful, sweeping notes to the theme of Tchaikovsky's "Waltz of the Flowers". i looked around to see where it was coming from, and lo and behold, out of the midst of students walked a guy in a red sweatshirt and tight grey jeans, holding an old-school stereo in front of him. he looked completely nonplussed, as if he were just on his way to class and happened to have a theme song to go with his walk. a classical ballet theme song that was loud and awesome. i felt like doing pirouettes around him and following him until the song ended (it was almost over, and the end is my favorite part), but i had to get to class. in any case, i was in a much better mood by the time i got to genome class! what a way to launch into the weekend. i'm excited for the gees show tonight, and all the fun things that are happening sunday and monday... not to mention my birthday on tuesday! it will be a weekend, indeed! Current Mood:  pleased | | Tuesday, November 6th, 2007 | | 3:44 pm |
horrible, horrible statistics
number of bikes that were in my care and stolen today whilst locked up outside the store I was working in: 1 number of RNA pellets that didn't show up when they should have: 3 number of units of frustration I feel: innumberable argh. Current Mood: frustrated | | Wednesday, October 31st, 2007 | | 10:47 am |
A recent email exchange with my father
Dad: "For the holidays, we'll be making double-dipped clams and clam chowder. Click on this link for recipes and save it for our clam extravaganza over the holidays." Me: "Could we perhaps call it... a CLAMSTRAVAGANZA?" Dad: "How about ....... EXTRAVACLAMSA?" Current Mood: cheerful | | Wednesday, October 24th, 2007 | | 11:32 am |
so much you'll never know
a few things you must know about my current state of being: - I cut my dreads a bit shorter to get rid of some of the really ugly rat's nests. They're in a little bob now that gets longer as you approach my face. I'm quite in love with it. - I screwed up again and hurt one of my friends. It wasn't intentional, but then again, things like this usually aren't. So we aren't exactly on speaking terms, though he is more than willing to forgive me. I just don't feel like switching things around, because that's what it would take to restore things to normalcy... and when I don't think about how much I've hurt him, I'm generally happy with the other aspects of my life. Is that vague enough to confuse you completely? - My school schedule is kicking my ass. I do all right 5 days of the week, but Mondays and Tuesdays are packed to the brim and they wear me out completely. I have come to dread these two days, especially my lab class. I don't know if I hate the class because it's on my two most horrible days or because I hate the material, but either way I loathe it. It doesn't help that the instructor's voice always puts me to sleep somehow. It's eerie. Even when she's standing there just talking to me and my labmates, I can't help it. - My left eye won't stop twitching. I think it's because I'm always fucking tired. Perhaps I should try to sleep 10 hours tonight. - I love living in Ballard in my house with my roommates. It is by far the best living situation yet: everybody lives in harmony, does chores, and keeps things clean. three cheers for us! That is all. time to go eat lunch with the international crowd. | | Wednesday, August 1st, 2007 | | 12:21 pm |
weirdest thing
this happened yesterday: -I was working at Trader Joe's, standing near a register talking to a friend of mine who was checking out his shopping -An ex-employee of Trader Joe's (female) came up behind me and slapped me, hard, on the ass -I jumped a friggin mile, and turned around and saw it was her -A blush started on my face and continued to deepen as a I greeted her, somewhat nervously, and then proceeded to try and make small talk, but my unexplained bout of sudden embarrassment swallowed up all the words until I realized I had nothing to say -I mumbled something about having to get to work and quickly walked away. What is WRONG with me??!? | | Friday, July 6th, 2007 | | 3:06 am |
Fratty frat frats
The only time I have ever felt frightened for my personal safety in the U-District was the night before, the night of, and the night after the Fourth of July. Current Mood: pissed off | | Friday, June 15th, 2007 | | 7:24 pm |
Kyla is in San Francisco
And it is fantastic!
I got in yesterday afternoon, although it seems like I've been here longer. I took the BART to the city center, and then a bus to the neighborhood where I'm staying. My dear friend Tina is letting me stay the weekend at her lovely apartment near Russian Hill. Yesterday, we strolled through Fisherman's Wharf, shopped at Union Square, and admired the city from the top of a hill. We went to the flagship H&M, which I was excited about since I hadn't been to one since living in Germany. Dinner was really good, cheap Indian food near Union Square. Tina is also letting me use her digital camera while I am here, since I forgot to bring mine. When we got home, I was exhasted from all the activity and the travel from Seattle, so I napped for half an hour and then we watched Stranger than Fiction, which was a wonderful movie.
Then today, Tina left for work earlier than normal so she could be out early as well. I took my time getting ready, making a few calls and taking a shower. I left the apartment at noon and made my way down to Chinatown. I snapped pictures of the sloping streets virtually covered in signs and slogans, all in Chinese, and was tempted by numerous trinket shops. I ended up buying a BBQ pork roll and a sesame bun, both of which were delicious, and then I walked to City Lights, an independent bookstore that is both historical and rad. I could have spent all day in there, but in the interest of seeing more of the city, I moved on after an hour or so. From there I walked down Columbus until I hit Lombard Street, and walked up the hill to the section that is supposedly the curviest piece of road in the US. Or something like that. It was pretty curvy - basically a set of switchbacks for cars. Then it was time to meet Tina, so I hopped a bus to the Mission. We killed time until 5:30, which is when the Country Station Sushi restaurant opened. This was by far the raddest part of the day for me (City Lights took a close second). This place looked like a run-down hole-in-the-wall type of place from the outside. Inside, decorations covered every wall and most of the ceiling and chair backs. There were only 8 or so tables, and the sushi chefs were young, cute and already working on making sushi behind the counter that overlooked the rest of the small restaurant. They yelled out a friendly greeting as Tina and I walked in, following the waitress who had just flipped the homemade sign to "open". Japanese punk music played from the speakers above. The place had an open-air, urban feel to it, and I found it wonderful. The food itself was equally amazing, featuring handmade gyoza stuffed with a fantastic non-meat filling, and a "dizzaster" roll wih salmon and mango. Sadly, this place will be closing at the end of June, which I can't imagine because it is really a fantastic restaurant. But I'm glad I got to experience it.
Now, Tina and I are taking a break and resting before it's time to go out tonight. We will be going to a thing called Blow Up, which looks insane. Hopefully we'll take some pictures and post them on the internets... probably Facebook. I'd better go and get my resting on so I'll be ready for tonight's craziness. More updates later, but until then, you can just assume that I'm having a super fun time down here in the City.
Current Mood: jubilant | | Saturday, June 2nd, 2007 | | 1:22 pm |
German Play
Play's over. I'm so proud of everybody in the show! It was so much fun to do, and everyone put in a lot of hard work. I'm sad that it's all done, but I guess now there's time to study for finals... | | Monday, April 30th, 2007 | | 1:58 am |
These people have no sense of self-preservation
Today was a day like any other. Had to work all day, and yesterday as well, which resulted in the weekend flying by much faster than I had hoped. Now it's 2 am, and I have not finished studying for my test tomorrow. Hello, failure!!
Lunch today was a 20-minute awkward chat outside with a coworker/friend whom I value very much. He's one of those people that I feel I could be very close to, if the circumstances were right. But he's just started dating somebody and he's working full time, so most of his free time is already spoken for. And then there's me - I don't exactly have all the time in the world to foster new friendships. Hell, I'm having a hard enough time already keeping my current friendships afloat. But it was a nice chat, all in all, if only for the fact that we hardly ever get to see each other at work (he works mornings and I work nights, usually, and our shifts very rarely overlap). And the weather was gorgeous.
That said, there are a few more people at the store that I want to hang out with and get to know. I feel like I've been trying to do this since the moment I started there eight months ago, but I realize that trying to hang out with all the cool people (about 70% of the employees there) has been too broad of an approach to be fruitful. Ideally, I'd really like to pare it down and concentrate on those few individuals with whom I really feel a connection, and see if anything happy and awesome develops out of it.
There are lots of things I need and want to get done in the next week. I'm going to try and do a little of each task every day, and maybe I'll finally get something done. Oh sweet sense of accomplishment, where are you hiding? Current Mood:  contemplative |
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