Life in Pennies

Boys x Girls x Punk Shows

2011-01-26T12:02:00.001-08:00

I recently read Lauren Denitzio's article about sexism in punk (via a link posted in Facebook). Lauren is someone I know tangentially, and I've only ever had one or two conversations with her, but I found the article very interesting. She talks frankly about things that make her uncomfortable at shows, and most seem very obvious: rape jokes, questions about whether she is IN the band or WITH the band. One thing she mentioned is something I have been bothered by for years:

So, for those who might not know what I’m talking about: you know what makes me feel unsafe? When you’re the only guy in the pit who doesn’t get the message to not fly full force into someone half your size or strength.

I spent years being annoyed and feeling put upon because I had to hang out in the back if I wanted to watch a band unmolested. I felt affronted that I couldn't see my brother or boyfriend perform because getting closer meant getting pushed around. Why should I have to deal with that? I thought. So when I read Lauren's article, I felt myself nodding in agreement...and then I started really thinking about gender, privilege, alienation and entitlement. And I remembered 2 things.

The first is Ali Carr's TED talk about how we're losing boys in the classroom. She doesn't pander to gender stereotypes, but does acknowledge that there is a difference in the way majority of girls learn vs majority of boys. There has been a lot out there lately about "getting" boys, both in educational terms but also in marketing/sales terms. How to get boys to watch certain shows, read certain books, attend certain colleges. As a girl, it's hard not to bristle at all that -- are girls not worth the same effort? But that bristling stops when we talk about education, because Ali Carr is right. Boys deserve education that works with them, not against them. Has focusing on girls in education left boys out of the conversation? What implications does that have?

The second thing that came to mind was a show I attended years ago at a random AOH hall in upstate New York. It was swarming with young kids, and I spent most of my time at the adjacent bar, happy to be out of the dancing mess. Wanting to watch a specific band, I slipped into the main hall, staying in the back as always, hoping to avoid the moshing and pushing that passed for dancing to teenage boys. As I stood watching them, though, I stopped feeling so put upon and judgmental and started to think about how amazing it must feel to those kids to be so physically liberated, to dance in a way that was socially acceptable to their peers, to move to a beat without having their sexuality called into question. To be un-ironically into dancing.

Fifteen-year-old boys are still very much figuring themselves out, pushing at boundaries, and the ability to be emotional and find their place in an environment tailor-made to them (a mosh pit full of noise and sweat and boy-ness) is nothing to scoff at. I remember thinking, This is why parents should let their sons come to shows...they get to really let go and bond in a way no other situation allows.

So, then, I come back to Lauren's thoughts on being at a show, and I'm suddenly faced with a question: why does my preference on how I want to watch a band take precedent over someone else's? If someone wants to dance, why should they be held back just because I don't want to dance? If a show is made totally comfortable for me, what happens if that alienates someone else, boy or girl? If boys are uncomfortable at a show that caters to girls then is that just a different side of the exact same coin? Is alienating boys a just revenge, or completely missing the point? And if the goal is to make everyone watching a band feel comfortable, what do you do when one group's "comfortable" is another group's "terrible show experience"?

I mentioned the word entitlement* up at the top because it's a concept that I find very frustrating and I am convinced is intimately involved in the discord in this country right now. My normal reaction to being near a mosh pit or violent dancing is simply to remove myself from the situation (this is my reaction to pretty much any situation I don't like). I'd rather hang out at the back, but I know not everyone feels that way. Is anyone entitled to a certain experience at a show? And, again, what happens when those "entitlements" are in direct conflict?

Who needs a thesis topic? Entitlement and Gender at a Punk Show

*In this sense, entitlement refers to a belief that one is deserving of certain privilege. I am not programs such as Medicare, where the term carries slightly different connotations.

The Rules of Ownership

2011-01-24T07:48:00.000-08:00

So John Green, a favorite author of mine due to his great writing skills but also his great speaking skills and his great being-someone-you'd-like-to-have-a-beer-with skills, says a lot of really great stuff. One of his strengths as a writer is coming up with wonderfully short sentences that manage to convey infinite amounts of wisdom. Behold:

“...being the person who God made you does not and CANNOT separate you from God's love.”

See? Brilliant—that’s an entire religion in one sentence.

One thing he said in his video today really struck me, because it’s something that I have felt and I have said in different ways, but not as eloquently and...you know...not in public. About his debut, Printz-winning novel, he said:

“The Looking for Alaska that you read is not quite like the Looking for Alaska that anyone else reads.”

In essence, the reader makes her own meaning, and, in a way, owns a story. This immediately made me think of a memory from my childhood, one that I feel defines me in a very precise way. The memory is about tornadoes, briefcases, bathrooms, and books. It has multiple endings, as most stories in life do, but the first one, chronologically, is the most applicable here.

Tornadoes are a scary reality for anyone living in Nebraska and North Texas. Those residents know the hard-and-fast rule about where to go when those sirens go off: preferably a basement, but at the least an interior room with no windows. In Nebraska, we had a basement full of toys, so when an alarm would sound, we would gather in the room where my most precious possessions (i.e. the Pony Paradise Estate) already lived. In North Texas, however, basements were scarce and the only room in the house that offered protection from a storm was a small bathroom off the kitchen. Two adults and four children could barely fit in it, so the GI Joes and My Little Ponies had to take a backseat. The rule was: each child could choose one thing, and one thing only, to bring into the bathroom.

It was during this period of my life that I stumbled on a book in the library called Kristy’s Great Idea by Ann M Martin. I quickly fell, be-speckled-eyes first, in love with the Baby-Sitters Club series. I saved up allowance dollars and bought the books at book fairs, garage sales, and used bookstores. They topped my birthday and Christmas lists for years—especially the Super Specials, which were larger and more expensive. There was a four-foot horizontal shelf in my closet specifically reserved for the series, which quickly filled the space with its pastel rainbow. The collection was my pride and joy. I strutted around my room, secure in the knowledge that I could quickly name off the titles of the first thirty or so books. I kept them neat and dust free, always in order. I adored each one and never leant them to any one.

When the sirens sounded, then, there was no doubt in my mind what was coming into that bathroom with me. Luckily, my father had recently traded his old briefcase in for a smaller and sleeker model. The old briefcase, with its tattered leather cover and brass combination locks next to the handle, became mine. In the minute and a half we had to scramble everything together, I could stack 60 books very neatly into that briefcase, snap the locks and haul it across the house. The bulk of the series fit into the main compartment, lined with worn down cream velvet, striped with pen marks. The Super Specials were lined up in the lid where partitions meant for organizing papers and files held them in quite snugly. I would pause for a moment before slamming the lid and admire the covers, the way they lined up in each stack to form a perfect grid of smooth, slick paper.

I am sure my mother had actually meant for us to bring one small item in—a picture album, our baby blankets, or perhaps a small toy. I still maintain, as I did then, that the books were all enclosed in a briefcase, which is one item, and therefore was allowed.

Looking back, I wondered why it never occurred to me that those books were just about the most replaceable items I owned. If a tornado did in fact rip through our house, tear our roof off, and destroy the contents of my closet, the cost to replace the entire series would be under $400.00. Today this seems like a rather paltry sum—less than the deductible on my renter’s insurance. At ten, however, that was more money that I had ever seen.

I don’t think the money was really an issue, though. I doubt it even occurred to me that there was a way to replace the books. In my mind, the books that I owned were the only ones I could own. They were mine, no force of nature had any right to take them away from me. I had marked in the margins, dog-eared the pages with my favorite passages, stamped a “This Book Belongs To” note in the inside cover of every single one. By being in my possession, they had become part of me, each book was not only the means by which I experienced the story, but part of the story itself. The way I read the story was imprinted on them—a little bit of me being left on every book I read. A newer, cleaner edition with whiter pages would not have the same familiarity, would not tell the story in the same way. Those books in the bookstore belonged to someone else, would be read by someone else and interpreted by someone else. I wanted my books, my stories. Those, to me, were truly irreplaceable.

I no longer have those BSC books. They were lost to the attic or to yard sales after I grew out of them and moved on to such rich literary classics as Christopher Pike’s Remember Me and Lois Duncan’s Stranger With My Face (don't worry, my taste in books got better in college). That sense of ownership remained, however, and is probably a contributing factor to my very packed bookshelves. Once I love a book, how can I let it go? It’s mine, after all. All mine.

New Year's Scream

2011-01-05T06:45:00.000-08:00

2011 is a weird year, there's no getting around it. All the "00" years seemed kind of cool because we were still in that "It's the new millennium!" excitement. You know: "I can't believe it's 2005!" Then 2010 came along, and it's such a nice number, so round and bouncy. Sure, it's kind of square but even so it seemed like a really partial number, an even keeled one. A number that could see all sides of an issue, wouldn't judge you, and would totally be willing to help you move that couch.

And now it's over and it's...2011. You can't make funny New Year's glasses with it. It's a prime number, which either makes it very cool and exclusive, or the sad loser year that no one wants to hang out with. Either way, it's odd. (Ha ha. Sorry.)

Looking down the barrel of this year from January is kind of intimidating. You know that scene in Home Alone (the first one) (great movie) where Kevin has his hands to his face and is screaming? The scream is actually in response to aftershave and therefore ripe for a metaphore about growing up, but that scene became representative of the whole movie, of Kevin's feelings about two burglars trying to break into his house and ruin his already-terrible Christmas. And it's how I feel right now, like I need a moment of unbridled screaming to calm myself before tackling the bear that is 2011.

Like last year, I'm not doing resolutions this year but rather listing things I'm looking forward to/need to focus on.

1) Women in Children's Media
I'm now the V.P. of an amazing organization, which means it's time to quit making excuses, put my big pants on, and get shit done. Those are all things I'm telling myself while I panic about how little I know about how to host media online.

2) The Work Move
Our offices are shifting around inside our building, and it's going to put a strain on pretty much the entire company. This year will require a lot of patience, flexibility, and some really great noise-cancelling headphones.

3) The Wedding
Anyone who had fun planning their wedding must have had a much bigger buget than we do, as I've spent the last 2 months either overwhelmed by guilt for how much we're spending or in a total panic that no one will have any fun because we aren't spending enough. A lot of deep breaths (and about 10 excel spreadsheets) will help. Also, I need to keep in perspective the best part of all this: marrying Dan.

Also, I guess I should blog more. Or just write more. And start getting to work on time. And stop eating so many bagels. And run more. Train for a half marathon. Talk to my friends more. Clean the apartment more often and dust more than once a year. Call my mother weekly and talk to my siblings more and see my new nephew and be more organized and oh my God the closet shelf needs work and AHHHHHHHHHH. Hands on face!

Toast and Bananas

2010-10-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

It is fall and I am upstate, driving west on Route 17. Mid-afternoon sunlight saturates the car, tumbling unfiltered from a brilliant blue sky that is trimmed at the bottom with riotous leaves: some still green, but most yellow, orange, and the deepest, darkest auburn red. I guide my boyfriend’s car—a very responsible sedan—off the highway and towards 208, checking my speed just as a 30-year-old who is more concerned about car insurance than looking cool should. At the stop sign, the car is silent for a moment as my iPod switches tracks, and in that pause I hover between present and past, between the time I am in now and those years I spent on these roads as my character was shaped and formed. The speakers open up and a pop punk song from high school spills out, filling the car as I make that hazardous left onto one of the most familiar roads I know.

Suddenly, I am 17 and behind the wheel of the boxy, hopelessly dorky white LeBaron that my parents insisted on and that I was both embarrassed by and enamored of. It’s very hard to hate the vehicle that is your means to freedom and possibility, but it’s also very hard to love a practical white car with a thin blue and red stripe running along the length of it. It was just so wholesome.

My shift at the Bugle Boy clothing store—at the bottom of the social hierarchy that is life as an employee at the Woodbury Commons— is over and nothing else matters but getting to my best friend’s house. The night, the world, and my whole life unfurl in front of me as I round a bend and dive into a straightaway, and my entire body pulses with joy. It’s not the actual plans for the night that make my heart sing, but the possibility of what will be. This could be a night where something actually happens, and to a suburban teen girl, the possibility of something is everything.

For a moment, self-awareness takes hold and I am fully alive to how young and fresh I am, how little I have lived and how much time I have ahead of me. My adrenaline spikes and giggles involuntarily escape from my lips and I am simply—and please forgive the cheese—high on life. I crank the volume knob, knowing the music can never be as loud as I need it. I want it to surround me and suffocate me, seeping in until it’s sweeping through my veins and coming out my pores. It should be so loud that I can’t hear myself belting out the words, so loud that my ribs vibrate to the bass line, so loud that the car can’t contain it and the music pours out through the cracks. If I could just make it loud enough, the song will overwhelm me and permanently infuse me with its magic.

In the present, in my 30-year-old body, I wonder at the power music from adolescence has, its ability to transport you. I can feel the youth and naïveté of my younger self, that skin I shed years ago. I can reach out and touch it from enough of a distance that it seems sweet instead of sad. It makes me a little wistful—not enough to actually want to be 17 again, but enough to remind me how powerful music can be and how what you experience when you are young affects you in ways nothing ever will again.

[I think I need to lay off dashes for awhile...]

Next on the Life List

2010-09-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Life List #...er, I'm not sure because the list is at work and I'm at home: attend a TED conference.

I mean, how amazing does this look??

The price tag is a bit out of my reach, but there appear to be "watch parties" akin to those live broadcasts of the Opera that the Met has been doing lately. Until I have $2,200 burning a hole in my pocket, I'll make do with watching the talks in a movie theater.

As always, thanks to Mighty Girl for the Life List inspiration...

Life list: Ride my bike to work? Check!

2010-09-14T19:19:00.001-07:00

Five things I learned while biking to work today:

1) Safety before pride.
It really doesn't matter if you slide through that yellow light or beat out that cab if it leads to you getting squashed by a bus. There is no prize for getting to work 3 minutes early.

2) NYC needs to put in some cross town bike paths in Manhattan.
The 20s and the 90s? Really? Nothing in between? That's like 70 blocks of heart-pounding, terror-filled, small margin of error bike riding. Give me just one lane somewhere in the 50s!

3) Streets are safer than sidewalks.
Intimidating though they are, biking in the streets is still more predictable than going up on the sidewalk. Also, pedestrians don't have to roll down a window to yell at you.

4) In NYC, there's even construction on the bike paths on the bridges.
And it requires a large van that forces everyone to dismount and walk their bikes, which always feels alien after having ridden for so long.

5) I love riding my bike.
This sounds much more new-agey than I usually go, but I truly end up feeling at one with my bike while shooting through intersections and navigating around potholes.

I may just make this a regular thing...until the sun starts setting at 5pm. But that means it's boot weather, which is a fair trade to me.

Leave a Light On...

2010-08-12T10:12:00.000-07:00

Last night I had “Leave a Light On” by Belinda Carlisle stuck in my head, and it kept rattling around in my brain while I lay there, trying to sleep.

That song reminds me of a video I saw when I was twelve. I had to endure the unique brand of religious torture that public school children of Catholic parents are subjected to: CCD class. Mine was a class of 10 middle school kids fervently trying to make sure that everyone knew how little we cared about religion, how cool and above it all we were.

We watched a lot of lame videos, but for some reason the ending of this one stuck with me. It was a classically cheesy story in the vein of after school specials: a boy who seemed much older than me at the time—meaning he was probably 17—gets into a fight with his parents and decides to leave home. I remember that he left with just a backpack, and I thought, “That’s not nearly big enough to fit all my stuff.”

At some point he decides that he misses his family and would like to return home. I think there might have been a priest involved, some kind of counseling. The boy calls his parents and ends up leaving a message on their answering machine (the kind with a tape—I miss those).

The gist of his message was this: “I want to come home. I’m going to walk by the house tonight. If you want me to come home, leave the lamp in the living room window on. If it’s not on, I know to keep walking.” Cheesy, right?

So, there he is on the top of his street, backpack slung over his shoulder. It’s dusk, and most houses on the block are dark. Except his—his house is lit up like Christmas, light blazing from every window. He walks to it and stands outside, drinking it in.

And I, straining to remain cool and detached, was horrified to find myself crying.

I still get a little misty-eyed when I think about the story. All those lights! They really wanted him home!

Wonder if it’s on YouTube…

Chipmunks

2010-07-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

On a road trip with the fam, and we stopped the car on the side of the road to Estes Park, Colorado, which sits on the eastern edge of Rocky Mountain National Park. This little pull off is home to the sweetest and most polite chipmunks in the world. They run up to you, stand on their hind legs, place their little paws gently on your hands and take the food you've offered them.

Seriously, I want them as pets. Here's what might just be the best picture ever.

2010-07-14T07:10:00.000-07:00

I think that the ability to publicly compare Obama to Hitler and Lenin without fear of government retribution completely invalidates the point of this billboard.

After all, it wasn't so much their fiscal policy that was the problem. I think it was the mass murders and the wars and the media control and the closing of the borders and the brutally violent repression of opposing ideas...and kind of the overall crazy-pants dictatorships that were the problem.

America: College Drop Out of the World?

2010-06-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

You know that stereotypical happy jock character in popular culture? This kid, we'll call him Brad, was the king of high school. He was confident and nice and a bit incorrigible, did mediocre in class but amazingly well on the football field.

Teachers always forgave Brad his transgressions because he was just so damn charming and funny. His main goals were playing a sport, dating girls, and getting drunk with his friends. He was all about having fun and enjoying himself. Brad sounds like a pretty cool dude, right?

But then, as high school came to an end, Brad didn't really have much direction. Most of the kids who spent high school working hard and studying went off to great colleges, but Brad's grades left him no choice but a community college.

Perhaps Brad quickly realized that he should put some effort into his education, right? No, he partied too much to actually learn anything, and didn't really get why he needed to take all those "dumb liberal arts" courses. Brad ended up dropping out and getting a low-wage job, maybe as a salesman in a sporting goods store or a similar position that requires charisma but not skill.

Perhaps Brad worked really hard at this job and quickly advanced, right? No, Brad didn't really want any responsibility, and, anyway, he didn't really get how to use the computer system and didn't want to learn. He spent his free time hanging around, watching TV and amassing a pretty amazing empty beer bottle collection. But man, did he have some fun times.

All the nerds coming home from college--and eventually from their high-earning jobs--kind of felt bad for him. All the confidence he had that his charisma would get him by, that he could continue to float on the good feelings people had about him, have finally bitten him in the ass, and he didn't even know it.

Those kids, the ones who worked really hard in high school and college, went on to get jobs creating new software platforms, launching companies that change the way people do business, researching how to cure diseases, or being Steve Jobs.

But what happened to Brad?

Sometimes, I feel like America is Brad, with India and China looking at us with pity as their stringent academic standards allow their citizens to take over all the high-tech jobs. America had such potential after World War II, full of booming factories and a great education system. But in the intervening decades, the country has gone from sweet high school jock to over-confident college drop-out.

Our academic standards are slipping, with some school districts tightening their belts and meeting budgets by shortening the school week. Forget not getting new books, or cramming too many kids in a room. There are schools where kids are losing entire DAYS.

If we truly allow the education of our children to become such a low priority that days begin to fall off the calendar, that we'd rather invest in less taxes than a population that can find their country on a map, we're going to go from that over-confident yet low-paid college dropout to an illiterate migrant worker...working on Chinese and Indian farms.

Fancy Pants and Dress

2010-06-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

Dan and I got all dressed up last night for our dinner at Babbo -- he in dress pants and a black and gray striped shirt, me in a dress with heels that aren't really logical for walking (but they have ruffles on them!). First thing I have to say is that they give you a large piece of really incredible Italian bread that they continually replenish throughout your meal. This should be industry-standard as far as I'm concerned.

I did not take any pictures, but I did bring the menu home. Behold:

As you can see, there's a lot of Italian on there. Here's my translation:

COMPLIMENTS OF THE CHEF
(not on the menu)
Chick peas marinated in some kind of balsamic-y vinegar and oil with some herbs, sprinkled on top of tiny toasts.
Verdict: good

FIRST COURSE
Sweet peas whipped into a tiny little cake-looking mold, covered in carrot vinaigrette with slices of duck meat laid next to it. I think this was one of the best examples of flavors melding together to blow your mind.
Verdict: very good

Wine: a light white wine that was very, very good. And I don't even like white wine that much. Looks like I've been buying the wrong kind.

SECOND COURSE
Wide pasta noodles with tiny mushrooms in a garlic, butter, and olive oil sauce with thyme sprinkled on top.
Verdict: OH MY GOD

Wine: bolder white wine that felt like it was a touch carbonated. Good, not my fave.

THIRD COURSE
Duck meat in folded pasta that looks kind of like tortellini, covered in red sauce that has been cooked with pancetta. Very bold sauce that also had a lot of oil in it.
Verdict: very, very good.

Wine: really nice red wine, my favorite of the night.

FOURTH COURSE
Small slices of steak covered in a sweet and sour sauce that actually tasted a bit like A1, sitting on roasted turnips and mushrooms.
Verdict: the steak was a little rarer than I usually like it, but it was all really amazing. Great sauce.

Wine: really bold red, good but not what I would normally go with.

FIFTH COURSE
Cheese! Goat cheese with peppercorns in it, with some fennel honey on the side. I love goat cheese, so this was perfect for me, though I am still kicking myself for not even noticing the little toasts on which to spread some cheese. I just ate it all with a fork.
Verdict: mmmmmm....

Wine: Champagne. I normally don't really like champagne, but this stuff was amazing. Dan left the table for about 3 minutes after this course and I came thiiiiiiiiiis close to finishing his off.

SIXTH COURSE
Dessert! A fig cooked with a wine reduction, served with marscapone cheese. The fig was good, but I was all about that cheese.

Wine: our first dessert wine, a really sweet red. Not my thing.

SEVENTH COURSE
More dessert! Hazelnut gelato covered in very, very good chocolate with a cherry in the center. Apparently this is a very traditional dessert in Italy.
Verdict: Would move to Italy to eat this more.

Wine: white dessert wine, too sweet for me. Sweet wine makes me ill.

EIGHTH COURSE
2 dessert: one from the tasting menu, and one a surprise from the chef.
Chestnut cake with a cherry sauce, some roasted nuts, and some kind of whipped cream on the side. The second was Saffron Panna Cotta with "Tre Agrumi" which is a panna cotta with orange sauce, pieces of grapefruit, and grapefruit sorbet.
Verdict: Both were incredible...but I'm all about the cherry stuff.

Wine: peachy and appley dessert wine. Still not my thing.

COFFEE
Dan got espresso while I got a decaf cappuccino and these came with biscotti and tiny cookies. The coffee was amazing, but I'm not a big fan of biscotti. I ate it all, though.

Final verdict? Great bread (I would go back just for more of that bread), good coffee, amazing food. Worth a month's wait for a reservation? Maybe. It's casual enough that you don't feel pressured to act perfectly, but it's still pretty damn fancy. I look forward to going again, but as far as becoming my "favorite" goes? Nah, I'm a casual girl, so I'd rather go to Vesta.

Sometimes, though, it's nice to get fancy.

Becoming a Biker

2010-05-17T10:49:00.000-07:00

My last post was Feb 8th. That's just embarrassing.

I spent this past Saturday riding a bike around Queens. My bike is an old Giant, rescued from the refuse pile and fixed up by my mechanically-inclined boyfriend. It’s not shiny or pretty, but the worn body makes it look like I’m much more of a biker than I am, like I’ve been riding for ages and know my way around the city’s bike lanes. Which I don’t, at all.

The Giant is quite a step up from my first and second bikes, both of which were pink. My first had a white banana seat with pink polka dots on it that I absolutely begged my parents for, and thin white streamers coming out of the soft white handlebar covers. It was a single speed with pedal brakes, and I’m pretty sure it came from Target.

The second bike, which I graduated to in Texas, was a pink ten-speed, though I never actually used the gears—I mean, I flipped the little switches, but couldn’t figure out what they did beside make it much harder to pedal. On this bike I moved up to handle brakes, and I remember the amazing feeling of coasting around corners in Texas, the hot air suddenly much cooler as it blew through my sweaty hair.

The Giant is a city bike, covered in dings and with some of the paint peeling off. It’s the first bike I’ve owned that doesn’t have a kickstand but does have a lock attached to it. The grip tape is dingy and some of it has slipped off, but there is a light on the back that blinks for when I’m riding at night. I’ve become familiar enough with the gears to use them all, but I still need a little reminder on how they work (“Go UP for downhill, and DOWN for uphill,” I sing to myself).

This it the bike I rode up and down the hills of New Paltz, through the busy streets of Park Slope, over the Pulaski Bridge from Queens to Brooklyn, and along Vernon Boulevard and the East River. This is the bike on which I rediscovered that wind-though-my-hair feeling, that freedom that comes from using your own human energy to propel yourself forward, and the feeling of coasting—which might just be the most delicious reward in the world.

What I have been missing, up until now, is a helmet. Rest easy, Mom, I bought one.

On the back it says “I love my brain.” I should add “and my bike.”

Books in the Attic

2010-02-08T20:38:00.000-08:00

Due to a very long story, I was recently up in my parents' attic in Florida, digging through some old boxes of my books. My main goal was to rescue a few old copies of my Baby-Sitters Club books, but I stumbled on some old favorites as well, including:

The Kid in the Red Jacket
Ramona Quimby, Age 8
Katie the Pest
The Boxcar Children

I loved, loved, loved books with multiple children -- whether they were all main characters, like in Boxcar Children, or just the foil, as in Katie the Pest. Living with several siblings leaves you predisposed towards books like this, I guess.

Life List, Part 5

2010-01-22T12:34:00.000-08:00

Part 5? Really? Hm...perhaps I need to stop spending time thinking up things to do and start spending time doing them. Which reminds me of what I keep telling myself recently: "Stop being so lazy."

41. Go back to Finland in warmer weather
I visited Helsinki while I was studying abroad, but had the bad sense to do it in February. Even though I spent most of my time trying to get warm (except for the time in the sauna, when I was trying to not die), I was totally charmed by the city. It's somehow modern and quaint at the same time, and I image it would be an amazing vacation during summer.

42. Go back to Prague with Dan
He was supposed to visit me when I was studying abroad, but his car burst into flames one day and effectively put an end to that plan. I'd like to go back and spend some time there without having to think about the paper that's due in my Media and Communications class.

43. Own one amazing dress
At the moment I own about 5 mediocre dresses. I want one that takes my breath away. In my head it has a very full skirt.

44. Own one pair of designer shoes
I'm not one for buying stuff just for the name, but I would like to own one pair of really special shoes.

45. Throw a fancy-dress dinner party
For my 30th birthday, we all got drunk in a bar. I'd like to do something a bit classier, though I might have to wait until we move to an apartment that can accommodate more than 3 people at a table.

46. Take a tour of the Library of Congress
How have I not done this??? I only live 5 hours away from it! I really need to make friends with someone who lives in or around DC.

47. Take a tour of the White House
Apparently this is harder than just calling and making a reservation. It stays on the list, though, because it's not impossible.

48. Visit Mount Rushmore
Sometimes I get all dreamy-eyed thinking about all the other countries I want to go to and all the things I want to see there, and I forget that we've got some pretty cool stuff here, too.

49. Go to Montana
I've been to a lot of states in my life, but there's an entire swath that I haven't stepped foot in, and I'd like to change that. Plus, I imagine its really beautiful.

50. Camp in Yellowstone
So long as I do it in the Montana section, I can hit 2 goals with one trip. Of course, after learning that Yellowstone is a GIANT VOLCANO, I might rethink this goal.

Not enough distance...

2010-01-21T14:28:00.000-08:00

Kudos to Pamie for having the courage to post her high school journal entries. I was also fortunate enough (or...really...is it "unfortunate enough"?) to have rediscovered all my high school journals in a box at my parents' house.

She has this to say about her vantage point:

I don't know how many of you out there are fifteen..And know that in like, ten years you'll find these letters and it still won't be funny, and in like, fifteen years you'll find them again and someone will laugh and you will be like GET OUT OF MY ROOM, but right around the twenty year mark you might see a couple of these letters and be like, "Wow. Okay, maybe that one went a little too far."

So...yeah, I'm just at the 15-year mark for most of what I wrote in high school, and it's still cringe-inducing enough that I can barely bare to read it, much less release it into the wilds of the internet. Maybe in five years my self-indulgent anger, ill-advised crushes, wandering poetry, and haughtily judgmental ramblings will seem charming.

For right now, however, stay out of my room.

Things To Do In 2010

2010-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

You might recall (all 3 of you) that I have been posting pieces of my "Life List" (tm Mighty Girl) for the past few months. This post will be another list, but a much more short-sighted and immediate list: Things To Do In 2010.

This is not a list of resolutions, because I don't really like making resolutions for the same reason I don't like giving things up at Lent: I tend to forget promises I've made to myself, then I do things/don't do things I promised to I wouldn't/would do, then I remember how I forgot, then I feel bad.

I have a really good feeling about 2010. 2009 felt like a strange, twisted, hard, uncomfortable year -- a 365-day struggle to stay afloat. I'm happy to leave that all behind and look forward to what's up ahead. Perhaps the optimism has to do with the feeling of a new decade starting (I know, I know, it's actually the end of the last decade, no year 0, etc, but whatever: there's a zero on the end of it, it FEELS like a fresh start), or perhaps I'm actually redirecting my "I just turned 30" anxiety. Regardless, I'm excited.

Things To Do In 2010
- run 2 1/2 marathons
- ride my bike to work one day
- see my brother get married
- go on a road trip with my family
- get my finances in order (I'm looking at you, small-but-annoyingly-hard-to-kill credit card debt)
- focus on creating amazing events for Women in Children's Media
- focus on saving money wherever and whenever possible

Not exactly the most ambitious list, but who says everything has to be a list of goals? Can't we make a list of stuff we are really looking forward to, rather than a list of crap that we need to fix about ourselves?

Valentine's Day, the movie

2009-12-20T18:10:00.000-08:00

The first time I heard about this movie, I thought: "lame." When I read the synopsis on IMBD, I continued to think: "lame." When I saw the cast list, however, I wanted to give the trailer a try. I mean, Julia Roberts? Anne Hathaway? Bradley Cooper? Topher Grace? Jennifer Garner? (Of course, when I saw Joe Jonas on the list, I kind of recoiled.)

The trailer had me right up until the last 15 seconds, where Jessica Biel manages to ruin it. (Though, to be fair, it's not her acting so much as the line she was given.)

Really? We're still making "cell phone as vibrator" jokes? Just because the phones are now iPhones are Blackberries doesn't change the fact that this is a really tired joke.

...I'm still going to see it, though.

Currently reading and listening to...

2009-12-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

A Widow for One Year by John Irving.

I like Irving, but he's kind of predictable. Sure enough, I got about 5 pages in and there was some weird sex thing. His predictability, however, also means that I have a good read to look forward to.

The Boy Who Knew Too Much by Mika.

Can't get enough of him.

Life List, part 4

2009-11-18T11:45:00.000-08:00

This month is NaNoWriMo, in which people dedicate themselves to writing 50k words in 30 days. Anyone who has ever written anything knows that that is kind of crazy, that it takes incredible discipline to write over 1k words a day (working all 30 days) or over 2k words a day if you take the weekends off. I don't really have that type of discipline, but watching others commit to it reminded me that I've also slacked off on this blog...which does not require nearly as much writing, and therefore is even more pathetic when I can't manage to do it.

So, I'm going back to working on the Life List (I actually checked it in hopes that, in the time since I had last looked at it, I had accidentally accomplished something on it. I had not.), and here are the next 10:

31. Win an award for a book I worked on
- This could mean editing or writing...or copyediting...or fact checking...basically I just want some kind of award.

32. Create a lasting legacy at work
- Meaning, create something on my own that people will continue to use after I am gone.

33. Have a window seat with a cushion on it
- There was a show on when I was younger that had a family in it named the Torklesons (anyone remember this show?). One of the daughters was roughly my age and she had a window seat that she sat on every night when she talked to the moon. I was totally enchanted by it.

34. Have a backyard with a deck and a grill
- Mmmmmm hambuuuuuuurgers...

35. Live within walking distance of a town
- Preferably one with a dessert shop that I can walk to. Just to balance out the walking, you know?

36. Parasail
- Floating along above the water in a seat with a giant parachute on it sounds awesome. I suspect I will be terrified most of the time.

37. Organize an event for over 500 people
- I think this one actually has the potential to happen soon, which is exciting and also anxiety-inducing.

38. Meet more authors
- Authors are awesome.

39. Hire someone
- I should probably add "and manage" after "hire" since I mean at my job and not a contractor or plumber.

40. Read every book on the EW New Classics List
- Out of 100, I've read 25. That's sad.

Link to laugh at

2009-11-18T11:42:00.000-08:00

Because sometimes the funniest thing is watching someone else laugh...

Colbert's Best Crack-Ups

Go to Egypt? Check!

2009-10-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

I always felt a little smug about living in New York City. It's big, it's exciting, it's filled with people and motion and excitement.

Then I went to Cairo, a teeming city jam-packed with 18 million people, all of whom drive like maniacs and want to know where you are from and if they can interest you in something. Their 24-hour stores aren't limited to bodegas, and people walk the streets at all hours. Suddenly, New York City looks much more like Omaha than it used to.

***

Part of our trip included a cruise down the Nile, during which we were divided into groups by language. Our English group (dubbed "Ramses" by the tour guide, Hamoud) included J, me, a couple from Boston, a couple from Buffalo, and a 16-member Indian family from outside of Mumbai: 4 sets of parents, 7 children, and a grandfather.

One of the temples we visited is situated on an island, and requires a boat ride in what looks like a sail boat with a motor slapped on as an afterthought. Ours was captained by a kid who could not have been older than 14. During the trip, I sat next to the grandfather, who had been quiet for most of the tours. We were all chatting about Egyptian culture vs Indian culture when he turned to me and asked a strange question.

"Are you an anthropology student?"

I am about 7 years past getting my Communications degree, but most people in Egypt assumed J and I were much younger than our 29 years. Still, anthropology? Nonplussed, I told him no.

"Is your friend an anthropology student?"

I again said no, and then asked why he thought that.

"You both ask so many questions and pay such close attention to the guide."

Ah, I understood. Unlike the Indian children, who (like most kids) only paid attention for the first 5 minutes of anything before wandering off, J and I had planned this trip for awhile, saved up for almost 2 years, and paid for it ourselves. We both find Egypt fascinating, read the guide books and wanted to know everything we could, get as much out of the trip as we could. He was right, we did hang on Hamoud's every word, stood directly in front of him when he spoke, ran to catch up when he charged ahead, and asked many questions about what things meant.

In short, we are giant Egypt Nerds. I'm not sure if that would translate, so instead I just said, "Oh, we're just really interested in Egypt."

He didn't talk to me anymore after that, but I spent the rest of the trip thinking about the short exchange. It reminded me how lucky I am that I could go to Egypt, and how it made much more sense to do it now than when I was much younger and more interested in looking cool than appreciating where I was. Now I don't care if someone notices how much of a nerd I am. I've earned it.

#1 On My Life List: Run a 1/2 Marathon

2009-10-12T15:42:00.001-07:00

CHECK

I ran the Westchester Medical Center 1/2 Marathon on Sunday, October 11th. Initially, I was planning to run a 1/2 up by Albany that had a mostly flat or downhill course. It closed before I could register, leaving me to either find another run or not do one at all. After training for so long, the latter wasn't really a choice at all. This course was quite a bit harder, what with all those hills and gravity working against me, but I'm so glad I signed up.

First and foremost, I have to thank my running partner Sara for being game to run this with me. And also for being willing to pace me and therefore not make me feel slow at all. It was an awesome experience, and one that would not have felt the same had I been by myself. Also, it would have been much less funny, though breathing might have been easier with out all the laughing.

Secondly, I used the SmartCoach personalized training program available at Runner's World to get my body ready. There were a few moments at the very end on some hills where I really had to push myself, but for the most part my pace was smooth and even, and I felt really good. I owe that to my training schedule (and to sticking to said schedule no matter how much I wanted to just sleep).

My thighs still ache and I've got some wicked chafing issues to deal with, but I'm so happy to have accomplished this. It turns out I actually like running long distances (so long as I can run them in my own time) and I think this will be the first of a few 1/2 marathons for me.

Anyone up for the Brooklyn half in the spring? I'll take that resounding silence as a "yes."

Life List, part 3

2009-09-23T13:57:00.001-07:00

There are some things on this list that I consider "easy," because I know they are going to happen. That doesn't mean they don't involve effort or aren't important -- coordinating ANYTHING with my family is an exercise in patience, planning, and map reading ability. So apples and oranges stay on the list. Really, I should add "annually" to them.

21. Visit all 50 states [Though I have stepped foot in many states, I only count 15 of them that I've actually spent time in. I'm going to enforce a 24-hour and 1 tourist attraction rule.]

22. Visit Madison, Minneapolis, Portland (OR) [There are many American cities I want to spend some time in. Orlando is not on that list.]

23. Sew something well ["Sew something so terribly that no one will know what it is" was accomplished a long time ago.]

24. Have a head board and foot board for my bed [Can be homemade.]

25. Refinish something [Not wood necessarily, just taking something I own and making it new again.]

26. Make pickles [Dill, specifically.]

27. Go to Cedar Point, OH [To ride roller coasters, not just visit.]

28. Go apple picking with my siblings

29. Go orange picking with my siblings [A Christmas-time tradition.]

30. Publish a short story in a real publication [Hardest one on the list...]

Books I Am Thiiiiiiiis Close to Buying

2009-09-23T12:13:00.001-07:00

This just makes me laugh so, so hard.

Crush

2009-09-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

I really like the word, and concept, "crush." To me it connotes somewhat innocent, puppy-dog love, where it's more about adoring and being in awe than actually knowing and being in love. Crushes are from a distance, from down a hall, from across a classroom. They're uncomplicated, usually unrequited, and often times slightly embarrassing.

In college, "crush" came to refer to things we liked to a point of shy obsession. There were categories: "Intellectual Crush" for the really smart and insightful grad student teaching your Semantics class, "Book crush" for the characters in books that you want to hang around with, "Non-sexual Crush" for the person of your gender-of-interest who you adore and can't get enough of, but have no interest in being physical with.

Crushes of mine:

1) Keanu Reeves
From Paula Abdul's "Rush, Rush" video right up until Speed. One of the few people whose picture I actually ripped out of a magazine and hung on my wall.

2) Mikey in The Goonies
I've had a lot of crushes on characters specifically, and not so much on the people portraying them. This was a big one for me.

3) JK Rowling
I love the HP series, she's fabulously wealthy, and she seems really smart and down to earth. My version of heaven is a coffee shop where I get to hang out with people like her.

4) John S.
He lived across the street from me when I was a kid. The first of a long line of crushes on my brother's friends.

5) Calvin O'Keefe
He travels across the universe with Meg Murray and helps her save her dad. And he doesn't care how non-lustrous her hair is.

6) Alison B.
Taught a lot of my college courses. She was just so cool. She lived in Harlem, knew karate, was very smart, and not the least bit preoccupied with the rich kids in class. I sort of wanted her life, minus having to teach people.

Like I said, somewhat embarrassing. I could waste a lot of digital ink on the whole "characters (but not the actors) that I have a crush on."

Apple cider donuts = happiness

2009-09-11T10:47:00.000-07:00

Things I thought while walking behind a very skinny girl last night, in the order that I thought them:

1) I would like to be skinny like that.

2) You know what doesn't help when trying to be skinny like that? Eating 5 apple cider donuts.

3) You know what makes me really happy? Eating apple cider donuts. Happiness FTW.

Life List, part 2

2009-09-11T10:42:00.000-07:00

First off, I reread my last post. There are a lot of commas in there.

Secondly, #11 - #20 on the still-unnamed list:

11. Pyramids at sunset or sunrise
12. Boat down the Nile
13. Get married
14. Have a kid
15. Buy a house
16. Build bookshelves
17. Own a library ladder
18. Go on a multi-day biking trip
19. Go on a real back-packing trip
20. Visit Alaska

#11 and #12 are happening in Egypt. #16 should really be clarified, because I mean "from scratch" and not "from Ikea".

Life Lists

2009-09-09T14:24:00.001-07:00

Maggie at Mighty Girl has this amazing project going on where Intel is sponsoring items on her "Mighty Life List," which is essentially a "things I want to do before I die" list. Some are very simple ("Take [her son] camping"), while others are very ambitious ("Watch the sun rise over the Agean"). Or, I guess, more expensive than ambitious.

I often thought about making my own list, but, like many things I plan, I never got around to it. Recently, however, I realized that I'm about to do 2 things in quick succession that would have seemed impossible a year ago:

1) I am running a half marathon on Oct 11
2) I depart for a 9 day trip to Egypt on Oct 16

Clearly, these belong on some kind of list, and I had better start it before these happen and I don't get to count them anymore. Therefore, I have started my Life List. I'd prefer a more creative name, but I fear I will get so focused on coming up with a witty name that I won't finish making the actual list. Hm...maybe "naming the list" should go on the list...

I have only come up with 56 things so far, including these 2, but I don't want to add things to this list just to make it to 100. So, I'm taking it slowly.

Here are, in no particular order, the first 10:

1. Run a 1/2 marathon
2. Run a marathon
3. Camel ride in the desert
4. Safari in Africa
5. Ride an elephant
6. Travel to India
7. Cross the Canadian border
8. Cross the Mexican border
9. Have my eyebrows "done"
10. Sleep on the roof of a building

More to come in the next few days. Got suggestions? Leave a comment.

2009-08-25T11:18:00.000-07:00

From Lonely Planet:

Denmark’s hydrocarbon-rich economy is booming; it has the highest per capita GDP in the European Union (EU); literacy is 100%; unemployment is low; and its social-welfare programmes are the envy of continents. Education is free, and about half of all Danish students who graduate from secondary school continue on to higher education.

[Bolding is mine.]
Hm...Copenhagen 2011? Or should I just move there? After all, I'm pretty sure they're all as pale as I am -- I'd fit right in!

Librarians don't want to be parents

2009-08-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

John Green is one of my favorite authors, partly because I like his books, and partly because I like him. That may seem like and odd thing to say about an author, but thanks to social networking and blogging, I feel like I get to know authors more than I did when I was younger. But that's a whole other post topic.

Recently, he referenced a NY Times article about how the Brooklyn Public Library handles challenges to the books that are on its shelves. Included are not only the letters that the challengers send in, but the response from the Library, which includes beautiful sentences like this one:

Librarians and library governing bodies cannot assume
the role of parents or the functions of parental
authority in the private relationship between parent
and child.

That text is from the ALA's "Free Access to Libraries for Minors," and is spot-on for how I feel about library materials.

The best line, and my favorite, however, is this one:

Librarians and governing bodies should maintain that
parents-and only parents--have the right and the
responsibility to restrict the access of their
children--and only their children--to library
resources.

Man, I love libraries.

Cat Ladders are a real thing

2009-07-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Did you know?

I like my "offensive" material, thank you very much

2009-06-25T18:07:00.000-07:00

While sifting through my updates from Publisher's Weekly, I ran across this story. Here's the gist:

Bills have been introduced in Utah and Louisiana this year that give private citizens the right to sue booksellers and other retailers for committing an "unfair" trade practice by selling "offensive" material to a minor.

There are so many problems with this, I almost don't know where to begin.

1) There is no definition of what material is considered "offensive." The Bill stipulates that the material would contain "sexually explicit conduct," but that is all the description given.

2) Unlike movies and video games, there is no generally accepted ratings system for books. Publishers can put recommended age grades on their titles, but are not required to. Therefore, booksellers have no tools at their disposal to guide them.

3) A 17-year-old is still a minor, but is a much more mature reader than a 10-year-old. However, this law would still apply to books they bought.

4) There is no indication in the language of the bill that the person bringing the suit has to be the guardian of the minor. It could be just some crazy lady on the street who thinks your 13-year-old should not be able to buy The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian because it talks about masturbation.

5) Worst of all:

The defendants in these lawsuits would have to hire a lawyer to defend them and could be forced to pay thousands of dollars if they lost.

Quite a blow to independent booksellers, especially those who stock a lot of romance novels and might be forced to abandon those lucrative titles in case they accidentally sell one to a 17-year-old, get taken to court, and end up bankrupt because of lawyer fees.

The good news is that a similar bill that was passed in Utah was eventually vetoed by the Governor, and the Louisiana legislature decided to delay a vote on the bill when they realized how much it would cost to enforce: $1.6 million.

Hm...let's think about the numbers:
The government policing what children read: $16 million in taxpayer dollars
Parents policing what their children read: free for everyone.

The point of Twitter

2009-06-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

Someone asked me recently what the point of Twitter was. I made a joke about how following comedians is the only reason to join.

I'd like to change my answer.

The election in Iran is the point of Twitter: skirting around official lock-downs, fighting back against voter fraud, organizing protests in not only a town, but a country, a continent, the world.

Social media can seem silly and self-involved. But when we all need a fast, efficient means to communicate information that is vitally important, that media's built-in ability to do so suddenly becomes the thread that ties everyone together.

BookExpo America 09

2009-06-01T11:19:00.000-07:00

A summary of my BEA experience, in the form of a list of galleys I got and can't wait to read (in no particular order):

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (already finished it, AMAZING)
War Dances by Sherman Alexie (excerpt)
That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo
Spooner by Pete Dexter
Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
Lips Touch by Laini Taylor
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathon Tropper
Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman (already out, but I didn't own it)
Elephants on the Edge by GA Bradshaw
The Day of the Pelican by Katherine Paterson (she wrote Bridge to Terebithia)
Between Us Baxters by Bethany Hegedus

Recognizing a Right

2009-05-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

Protests Precede Obama at Notre Dame
I think it's fantastic that students at Notre Dame were able to protest the President's speech. Speaking as someone who tends to shy away from organized demonstrations of any kind, it strikes me as a brave thing to do.

It reminds me of Voltaires's (or Evelyn Beatrice Hall's, depending on your research) thoughts on the freedom to speak and write. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the students, I fully support their ability to protest the President (and the government) without fear.

Long live the Bill of Rights and the First Amendment.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

2009-05-14T19:16:00.000-07:00

Sherman Alexie's YA novel goes on my "checked it out from the library and loved it so much that I will be purchasing my own copy of it" list. It's a long list.

You know what I don't like?

2009-05-11T13:50:00.000-07:00

Axe commercials.

First off, this is just gross. Is that supposed to be sweat shooting out, fire-hose like, into people's faces? Blech.

Second off...no, I'm still twitching from the first off...move along...

Hey, Sarah Haskins, can you take Axe on next?

Headlines that make me happy

2009-05-06T10:01:00.000-07:00

I like it when people pound the Taliban.

Banning all books

2009-04-29T11:59:00.000-07:00

I tried to post a comment to this story, which is about the dismissal of 4 librarians in Wisconsin due to their refusal to remove material from the library that some found objectionable. One line in particular caught my eye:

[two] patrons...demanded that the library add books “affirming traditional heterosexual perspectives.”

Wouldn't this apply to any book that includes a male and female involved in a romance? Which would include about 95% percent of fiction. Libraries don't need to add books affirming traditional perspectives -- those dominate.

Here's a question: are they going to ban books that include divorces? Or that showcase dysfunctional heterosexual relationships? How about books where couples fight and then break up? Or have premarital sex? Because there goes all the Gossip Girl books.

Libraries exist for the public, which includes all sexualities. Boards should not have the right to tell people what they can and cannot check out of the public library, which is funded with public tax money. Responsibility for deciding what underage readers can and cannot read belongs solely to that child's parent or guardian.

Just because you don't agree with a book doesn't mean I can't read it or give it to my child to read.

Backpack

2009-04-15T12:17:00.001-07:00

The new backpack arrived today. I went with the Hermit, and the accent color is actually white, not pink or purple. So far, it's awesome.

I lead a very exciting life, I know.

More apartment pix to come now that we have all our shelves up and the desk assembled. ETA: next week sometime, b/c I will be out of town all weekend.

Pirates

2009-04-08T07:25:00.000-07:00

Pirates hijack American ship.

If this were a movie, this is where there would be a scene of the President going into the Situation Room, all angry and determined, yelling "That pirate scum has messed with the wrong country! Send all the fire power we have -- [insert cool names of helicopters and fighter jets that I don't know]."

I really hope that scene is actually happening. And that there are actually helicopter, fighter jets, and pissed off Marines on their way to take care of this.

After all, this is no corporate oil tanker. It's a ship carrying RELIEF AID. At this point, I'd volunteer to help fight them myself, but I have a feeling that our military would prefer I didn't touch anything that is explosive.

Backpack

2009-04-07T14:08:00.000-07:00

I went with this one:

Egypt:

2009-04-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Booked!

(Busy day here, huh?)

Best industry to work in right now:

2009-04-07T11:01:00.001-07:00

Gay Weddings

Seriously, moving to Iowa or Vermont and becoming a wedding planner no longer sounds crazy.

Best named company, ever:

2009-04-07T09:49:00.000-07:00

Puppet Heap

What an awesome mental image.

Apt pix, finally

2009-04-04T08:28:00.000-07:00

Before looking at the video, you need to read this disclaimer (though I think most of you will just jump down to the video, impressed that I was able to actually make one, watch it, get confused, and then say "Jeez, Karen, why is your apartment so messy and undecorated?" To which I say: read the disclaimer):

We have not decorated yet. Or bought the desk and new shelves we need. Or hung all the shelves we have. Or figured out where to hang the shelves we have. Or really finished unpacking. Everything in the apartment right now is, as we say in the biz, FPO -- for placement only. It all might move. Also, I have a lot of stuff to go on the walls as well as a lot of stuff I want to purchase to go on the walls.

(Digression: is it totally pathetic to purchase a poster of a band you don't really know and might not like just because you like the actual poster and the people who made it?)

So, now that you know, enjoy!

Opinions needed

2009-04-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

I've decided to upgrade to a backpack that was NOT meant for a 4th grade boy. Here are the ones I am trying to decide between:

Ogio Hermit Pack:

- Cute, fits my laptop.
- Kinda sticks out a bit.
- MIGHT be pink, but I'm pretty sure accent color is purple.

Dakine Campus Pack:

- Plaid!
- Not quite as cool as the Ogio. Also, not as cool a name.

Ogio Chamaco Pack:

- Basic, simple.
- Kinda boring.

So?

Love Hate Elephants

2009-03-24T10:51:00.000-07:00

(Warning: bad language ahead)

This is one of the funniest things I've read in awhile.

Also, an awesome word: "unwieldy." The word itself is what it means. It also makes your mouth do funny things when you say it. (Insert dirty jokes in the comments.)

2009-03-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

I love this (and by "love" I mean "can't f-ing believe"):

We cannot attract and retain the best and the brightest talent to lead and staff the A.I.G. businesses — which are now being operated principally on behalf of American taxpayers — if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury.

— Edward Liddy, chief executive, American International Group

1) Last time I checked, docking bonuses for bringing down THE ENTIRE ECONOMY was not considered an "arbitrary adjustment." It's a very rational adjustment.

2) As others have said, these are the best and the brightest? Clearly not, what with the whole BRINGING DOWN THE ENTIRE ECONOMY thing.

3) I think I know a finance guy who is in need of a job. His name is EVERYONE WHO USED TO WORK AT BEAR STEARNS. Let me see if I have his number around here...

Should I buy this?

2009-03-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

I love Gonzo

Propa-gaaaan-dhi

2009-03-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Went to see Propagandhi on Friday. Found out that they pronounce their name with their Canadian accent in full effect: Prop - a - gan - dhi. I have been calling them Prop - a- gahn - di for years.

The show was sold out and fantastic. The main floor was a mass of wriggling testosterone, with bodies squwanched together up against the stage, a circle broken open in the middle for dancing, and the rest of the crowd in the back just trying to enjoy the band. Then there were the people up in the balcony, myself included, who had a perfect bird's eye view of the band and the stinky mess of humanity below. I feel a bit too old to be down there, legs numb from standing on tip-toes to see the band.

First off, every single member of that band looks like they are all of 25. They're not.

Second off, the bass player Todd wore gym shorts for the show. Gym shorts! No hip, too-tight pants, no attempt at looking nice. Gym shorts. I loved it.

And lastly, they played Anti-Manifesto, which is one of my favorite songs of all times.

A more accurate rendering

2009-03-13T11:17:00.000-07:00

Updated version of the apartment. Still not totally to scale, as I don't have AutoCad or anything. However, after measuring, this version more closely resembles the actual dimensions of the apartment. Notice how much smaller it is this time around, when I'm not drawing it from the idealized version in my head.

(Not shown in the drawing: my scaled-down decorating budget.)

Dickensian

2009-03-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

I don't consider myself a Dickens fan (I only ever read the Cliff Notes to David Copperfield, Longest Book Ever), but I have a deep love for A Tale of Two Cities. This is partly due to the use of my favorite literary mechanism ever: parallelism (I'm sure my Mathlete sister would approve). It is also partly due to the famous opening lines: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."

That pretty much sums up my life right now:

Best of times: new apartment in Astoria, moving in with Drummer Dan, less rent.

Worst of times: layoffs at work, benefit cuts, possibly salary cuts.

Less applicable is my actual favorite part of the opening: "...it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity..." I just really like the words "epoch" and "incredulity." I could probably write an entire entry on words that I like, but I doubt anyone would find that interesting. (Preview: "catalyst" and "sarcophagus" Bored, right?)

[Updated floor plan to come, once I figure out how to scale it in InDesign. I can't do proportions any more. My Mathlete sister is disappointed in me.]

A rough sketch, by request

2009-03-09T13:59:00.001-07:00

Not the one we originally thought we were getting, but we love this one more. Not drawn to scale, or drawn with a ruler, or drawn carefully.

Click to see it bigger.

The solid shapes are things that are already there. The outlined shapes are things we will be moving in with or (hopefully) purchasing.

Green are doors. Yellow are windows.

Hunting Apartments in the Wilds of Queens

2009-03-01T22:08:00.000-08:00

This weekend was long and arduous, but the results are worth it: we have found an apartment we love. Though it lacks the two things we really wanted (laundry and outdoor space), its proximity to the local laundromat and Astoria Park is close enough.

The apartment's real charm is its proximity to something more important: people we like.

...and the subway.

p.s. to The Drummer: eeeeeeeeeee

This month is too short

2009-02-20T11:53:00.000-08:00

First weekend in Feb: up to Port Jervis for a birthday celebration.

Second weekend in Feb: back up to Port Jervis for more birthday celebration and family time.

Third weekend in Feb: Taxes. All day movies. Gym. Dan.

Fourth weekend in Feb: All apartment hunting, all the time.

Blogs I Love, Vol 4

2009-02-12T06:59:00.000-08:00

Tomato Nation
I tend to skip the baseball commentary, mainly because I don't follow the game and therefore it reads like Greek to me. However, her advice column--The Vine--and her language and usage commentary are the reason I love the site so much. An example:

Re: Why we need the Oxford Comma

The function of language is to communicate; the function of usage rules is to aid in that communication, and it's clarity and accuracy we should prize...

An entire entry on punctuation! As an editor, you would think I would be passionate about spelling and grammar rules. Really, though, my true love is punctuation. Ah, nerdiness.

Books, Movies, Music

2009-02-10T18:27:00.000-08:00

I just finished Schuyler's Monster. I had been wanting to read it for awhile, as I follow Robert Rummel-Hudson's blog, and have found his writing to be just what I love: smart, funny, sarcastic, and touching. The book is exactly like that, causing my eyes to well up several times while riding the B train to work. I also laughed out loud a lot, which might be even more embarrassing. A fantastic book. "Rire!"

Next weekend I'll be going to see all five Best Picture nominees in the theater. The tickets were all sold out at Times Sq., but Kips Bay still has them, and you can buy them online. I even gave up the $5 discount I was entitled to as a Movie Watcher member (card-carrying, thank you very much) and paid the $1.50 surcharge to ensure I got my ticket. My butt will be numb, my stomach will ache with popcorn, and my contacts will dry out. I can't wait.

Lastly, Julia Nunes is awesome. I discovered her through the Vlogbrothers, who are also thoroughly enjoyable. I was blown away by a video she did in which she layered the audio of several videos of her singing to create an amazing harmony. I'm in such awe of people who can sing. I bought her CD I Wrote These and have been listening to it incessantly.

Blogs I Love, Vol 3

2009-02-10T06:44:00.000-08:00

Design*Sponge

Because it's so pretty to look at, even if I can't ever afford to buy the stuff I see on there. It has, however, given me a lot of ideas about how I plan to decorate my future mansion.

Employment

2009-02-06T12:53:00.000-08:00

Any time I start complaining about anything to do with life, someone please remind me that:

1) I am employed

2) I am employed at a job I really like

3) I am employed at a job I really like where I got to spend my morning here:

I'm a lucky bastard.

Blogs I Love, Vol 2

2009-02-04T14:39:00.001-08:00

Dooce.com is also celebrating a birthday today: Heather Armstrong's daughter has turned 5.

Reading that entry and watching the video, I started thinking about the next generation of children and how they will react to technology.

People in my age group are old enough where we remember the "time before the computer," but young enough where it's kind of a distant memory. We have adapted pretty quickly, embracing new technology and new ways of communicating with each other. I was in college when Napster blew up, and spent a lot of my time IMing with friends.

The next generation of kids, the ones who are being born now, are growing up not only knowing technology, but being in it. Some are having their lives documented as part of a blog. Their growth, their changing faces, and bodies, and vocabularies.

What will it be like for them, how will the approach technology when they are old enough to interact with it?

Hard decisions to make:

2009-02-04T13:05:00.000-08:00

Should I go to Egypt for 9 days or 12 days?

As you can see, the 9 day trip is more affordable. However, the 12 day trip does allow me to break out my red polyester pants suit:

Tough call, right?

Blogs I Love, Vol 1

2009-02-04T10:11:00.000-08:00

Happy Blogiversary, Brooklyn Arden!

Cheryl Klein has been blogging for 4 years now, along with being a guiding force behind the Harry Potter books. As an editor at Arthur Levine (an imprint of Scholastic), she has one of the only other jobs I want beside my own.

Congratulations on both the longevity of the blog, as well as the ALA kudos for A Curse as Dark as Gold.

Right now I'm...

2009-02-03T13:17:00.000-08:00

Reading: Octavian Nothing II

Listening to: Julia Nunes, I Wrote These

Enjoying both very much.

A thought...

2009-02-03T06:42:00.001-08:00

Could Obama please pick someone for his cabinet who knows how to fill out a 1040?

It'd be cool if the people running our government -- you know, spending our tax dollars -- knew how to actually pay their own taxes.

Fracture

2009-02-02T07:22:00.000-08:00

Some movies feel like the writer or creator had a single idea and then built a move around it, instead of fleshing out a full plot.

In Fracture's case (SPOILER!), it is the idea that attempted murder turns into murder if the victim dies after the trial, and those are two different charges, negating double jeopardy.

Take that idea, cast Anthony Hopkins as a smart-as-hell bad guy, pit him against Ryan Gosling, and bam! Movie. But when Hopkins's character is built up as an incredibly meticulous man who has thought of everything, it's hard to believe that the flaw in his plan was his failure to realize that attempted murder and murder are two different charges, which seems quite an obvious thing to me. And I've never meticulously plotted anything.

Monsters

2009-01-31T16:14:00.000-08:00

Monsters--cute ones--are part of my job, and I honestly can't get enough of them. Clearly, neither can this guy. The site is in German, but Monster humor is a universal language.

Link via Media Macaroni.

This is why we're friends

2009-01-31T15:28:00.000-08:00

Last night I spent almost 10 hours hanging out with my friends from high school. I laughed a lot, drank a lot, and had multiple serious conversations.

Today I spent four hours in a cafe with my friends from my old job. When we weren't eating, we were laughing and talking and probably annoying the hell out of our waiter.

This is, as far as I'm concerned, time well spent. As much and I enjoy my alone time, I am focusing this year (as I did last year) on making sure I dedicate time to my friends. I used to find myself floating through life in an isolated bubble, not returning phone calls or keeping up communication. I miss a lot that way, and I'm determined to change that.

Plus, my friends are a lot of fun to hang out with. So: win win. Win.

I love bands

2009-01-30T09:59:00.000-08:00

Two shows to look forward to:

Propagandhi and Superdrag

Both at the Music Hall of Hipsterville, which boasts some of the best women's restrooms I've seen at a concert venue.

Why pennies?

2009-01-30T07:41:00.000-08:00

An explanation of the name of the blog:

1 - It is a reference to a part of my name. And no, my first name is not Penny.

2 - It is a reference to my salary. I work for a non-profit.

3 - It is a reference to the little things in life. They tend to make it awesome.

4 - It is a reference to the length of the posts. I'd like to write often without feeling the pressure to write a lot.