January 2009
31 posts
Or I could cut my losses and become a sha(wo)man
As I play around with the idea of grad programs, the idea of studying “cultural criticism” has leaped out at me. It hones in on the one thing I think I’m half-decent at: looking at people, wonder why they do the things they do (in the context of what they’ve done before) and compare it to the things that other people do. Only one hiccup in the plan, though.
Who the hell...
cigarettes also look more delicious on screen
There are a couple foods that I wish were as fun to eat in real life as they look on screen. The first memorable one would probably be the pizza slices in the early 90s cartoon version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the gooeyness of it all, how the pizza just seemed to melt off the fingers, how it was all consumed in one bite. the act of eating a real pizza seemed laborious in comparison: all...
“Diplomacy is a subtle art, and when it is conducted à table, it requires subtle...”
– Mike Steinberger | How Obama can improve White House policy on wine
blame it on the halls
I don’t think there’s a patch of carpet on the ground floor halls of the U.S. Capitol. And why would there be? The authoratative click-click-click of your heels tapping against the stone floors; your movements, your conversations amplified by the cavernous chambers; all of this fuels the ego, the amplified sense of importance that powers this city. It’s the sort of place where...
“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food, security, and love, are so...”
– M.F.K. Fisher | The Gastronomical Me
and brush your teeth after every meal
This year, rather than starting the year with a slate of ambiguous resolutions (be more organized, go to the gym, take an online course), I’ve made a list of 12 specific things I want to do, and each months, I’ll focus solely on one of those things. This is actually something I started last year and it had worked pretty well….although I admitedly dropped the ball once my birthday...
10 Take Aways From the Bush Years - by Bob... →
Powell was right that to conclude that Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden did not work together. But Cheney and Powell did not have this crucial debate in front of the president — even though such a discussion might have undermined one key reason for war. Cheney provided private advice to the president, but he was rarely asked to argue with others and test his case. After the invasion,...
“If you’re thinking about addressing income inequality, you’ve come...”
– Marc Fisher - Make Yourselves at Home, Obama Family - washingtonpost.com
a spelling question
empty nester? emptynester? the former sounds like some lonely, hunched-over neighbor in a children’s book, or some depressed cartoon donkey. the latter seems like a messy congregation of letters forming less than the sum of their parts.
Q Tip | We Fight/Love
Dear Today,
Here are some things I love about you already:
first cup of chai tea in well over a year
using the good china an hour into the day
waking up before 10 am (jet lag, you can suck it)
getting my hurr cut in Mini-Vietnam
b/c we're not supposed to crank the thermostat no...
I have deep respect and admiration for those who can dress well in the winter, basically because I haven’t a clue how to do it. I hadn’t a clue, really, when I lived in D.C., with its foul, biting, interminable winters. And now I really haven’t a clue, now that Vietnam has spoiled me with its monotone climate.
So, my winter dressing has boiled down to the basest level of...
“‘Dear, dear! How queer everything is to-day! And yesterday things went on...”
– Lewis Carroll | Alice in Wonderland
addendum: time travel and returning home will def. spur this type of reaction
ladies...start your engines
I woke up yesterday intently focused on getting my shit together for my trip back to the US. Somewhere between waking and going to bed, my room mate and I stumbled on a great deal on a newly availably apartment, two floors up in our apartment block. The apartment, while a little shorter on furniture than our current one, is much sleeker and, well, sexy: the decor is stunning, the bathroom...
“Your home life is about to become a main focus of your attention and an enormous...”
– January horoscope from astrologyzone….a bit eery, actually
malay-lay photos are up →
bringing in the New Year in relative sobriety and a flood of consumerism. ay-men.
don't swallow
The new year begins with a room full of piles. One pile is of clothes I haven’t worn in months, another of books I’ve already read. I’ve collected jewelry that have become redundant, thrown together a bag of shoes who wreak more physical discomfort than aesthetic pleasure. Not only do I have to keep my limited storage place from swelling with trifles, but I need to use this next...
