This just in: I love sushi.

Episode 55: Christmas

Episode 54: A Sign I Saw on the Way to Can Can This Morning Begs the Question: Is There Meat on the Outside?

Flashback Episode: Fun With Nighttime Photography


Bobby's House Edition (Nov 08)



Project Inclusion Edition (Dec 08)

Also the lyrics to the next song you must download (here here or here), "For Emma" by Bon Iver:

NARRATOR: So apropos: "Saw death on a sunny snow"
HIM: For every life--
HER: Forgo the parable.
HIM: Seek the light...
HER: My knees are cold.
(Running home, running home, running home, running home)
HER: Go find another lover to bring a--to string along. With all your lies, you're still very lovable.
(I toured the light--so many foreign roads--for Emma, forever ago.)

Episode 53: Vegan Raspberry-Chocolate Cupcakes with Raspberry Filling and Homemade Chocolate Icing a la Lane Russo (with Assistance from Carly)

Episode 52: Kissing A Statue of Benjamin Franklin From A Distance Due To Penn Students' Habit of Peeing on Him

MY SISTER IS AWESOME

and I love her:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UQygQMOiDI

Episode 51: The James River, at the buttcrack of dawn, in the middle of December, right before morning community circle at Project Inclusion.

Episode 50: A Painting Job of Questionable Legality

Episode 49: Steph at Red Robin in Potomac Mills of Black Friday

not pictured: Eric, Pussy incense, delish food

Namesake

Episode 48: A Photo of Zack Outside Plan 9 That Would've Been Artsy and Lovely Were it Not Taken From My Phone

Episode 47: The Framed Photograph of a ROSMY Volunteer's Greyhound Which Had Been Dressed in Drag--More Specifically, a Homemade Dress Made of Condoms--That Was Donated to ROSMY and Will Probably End Up In My Office.

Episode 46: The Insense Kiosk at Potomac Mills

Episode 45: Post-Club Hipster Breakfast Place

"Employeez must wash hands before returning to work"

Episode 44: Carly And Seth At A Lesbian Bar

LOVE

oh conor

le sigh

Simone, Simone, Simone.

Conor Oberst!!!!

Visit richmond, wear silly hats!

oh my god: I'm 23.

So it's been a week since I last updated, and here's what's been going on.

In the span of 7 days, I have:
- secured a place to live in Richmond (address and photo below, please note jeffersonian columns)
- moved all (okay, 95%) of my belongings into my apartment in Richmond (from Roanoke)
- been to 3 days of work and one 7-hr weekend training
- had my apartment cleaned by the Green Earth Cleaning Crew
- spent $200+ at target
- gotten my bike fixed and ridden it around
- hung out with a variety of friendly richmond folk, incl. my dear sister, bobby, and new friend zack (who i met at megan's wedding!)
- found a fantastic thai restaurant
- discovered how to make my gmail status into a lobster (type in "V.v.V")
- officially decided not to do Explo again next summer, and experienced the sadness involved--ie. MISSING ALL THE COOL PPL (and i think you know who you are).
- formed an undeniable coffee addiction and a possible Ellwood Thompson addiction

Things I still need to do:
- find and volunteer at the Richmond BOHQ
- go to the farmer's market
- buy a light for my bike
- finish unpacking
- purchase a couch, comfy chair, desk, and broom
- get paid.


home sweet home, 110 N Boulevard #10

Get Used To This:

110 N. Boulevard #10
Richmond, VA 23220

and put it on all the snail mail you send me!

I GOT A JOB!!!!!!

That's right, darling readers: I am now gainfully employed. I am the new Youth Programs Coordinator for ROSMY (The Richmond Organization for Sexual Minority Youth). That means that basically I will help plan events for the young folks that come to our youth center and I'll also manage our volunteer team. Otherwise known as: I'LL BE KICKING BUTT!! IN RICHMOND!!

more later when I'm not super tired

Birthday!!

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i love gofugyourself.com

"It seems to me that the crux of the attraction of a book/movie about a super hot vampire boyfriend would be THE SUPER HOTNESS."

Hehe

Allow me to summarize:

Helping put together a haunted house + good friends + post-painting back porch boozing = AWESOME mid-week all-nighter!

woo!

Picking up steam!!

Hellooo friends!

Time for an all-around update! In the past couple of days, my job search has really picked up steam! Today I had a phone interview with U.S. PIRG for a spot as a campus organizer (I know, sounds a little sketchy, I'll stay alert for weirdness, don't worry). Friday I'm heading over to Richmond for a job interview with ROSMY (like I mentioned before) and also to check out some apartments, just in case.

Today I also found out that I've been accepted to the interview stage of the New York City Teaching Fellows program, which is a program through which you earn a [subsidized] master's degree in education whilst teaching at a school in NYC (and getting paid the same as a regular teacher!!). I got to the interview round last year but dropped out at the last minute because I got accepted to Explo.

Ohhhh Explo. I don't yet know if I want to go back next year, so I'm keeping it on my radar (and joining the 09 Staph fbook group for good measure). Also on the radar:

Taking the GRE at the end of this month so I can apply to:

1. UMD's PhD Program in Women's Studies
2. CUNY's Master's program in "Liberal studies" (w/ women's studies concentration)
3. Whatever else I want!!

Annnndddd of course, there's always COLUMBIA!!

So that's what's going on in the long-term future right now. In the near future, I've got:

- This weekend: Megan's wedding/reception/partayyy!!!
- Halloween weekend: NYC!!
- Nov. 7th(ish?) Tamar's show!! (Rachel's going too right??)
- Nov. 10th: Felice Brothers and Conor Oberst in DC!!

woo! So it's been getting busy and things are rolling. In a good way. Not like, heads. No heads are rolling.


...yet

wish me luck!

I have two interviews this week: a phone interview tomorrow for a position as a campus organizer through U.S. PIRG (I've heard mixed things about the program) and an in-person interview on Friday in Richmond for a position with ROSMY (the Richmond Organization for Sexual Minority Youth)!! I'm super pumped. Wish me luck!!

Also, I caught this off cnn.com, it's pretty cool: the Oxford Project

Is it just me...

...or does this come off a teeeeeeensy bit racist?

[The McCain campaign] will try to reframe the economic issue as part of their overall theme against Obama: You don’t really know this guy — and you can’t trust this guy. The words in their new ad say it all: “risky… dangerous.”

Maybe I am just reading too far into this (I was recently accused by a friend of "claiming everything a man says or does against a woman is sexist"), but it sounds to me like all they haven't said outright is that they are relying on the good old "Black people are scary and dangerous!!" notion prevalent among many conservative white folk (esp in The South).

Boo McCain/Palin

THIS JUST IN: I love Conor Oberst

yup, I'll admit it--I'm a huge fucking conor obert fan. I love his off-key voice and his floppy, swishy bangs. What I really love though is that he's playing ANOTHER show with the felice brothers, at the 930 club in DC, and my lil seester and I are going to it!!

here's a sample of how great mr. oberst is:

Um, Excuse Me?

Not that we needed it, but this new quote regarding Palin's latest fuck-up from McCain really shows how insane he is:

"[Palin's] had more experience in leadership than Senator Obama and Senator Biden put together."

WHAT??

Biden, who was also asked the question of what supreme court cases he disagrees with (spoiler: Palin couldn't name one), took it as a chance to talk about the work he's done to end violence against women:

"You know, I’m the guy who wrote the Violence Against Women act. And I said that every woman in America if they are beaten and abused by a man should be able to take that person to court. Meaning you should be able to go to federal court and sue in federal court the man who abused you if you can prove that abuse, but they said no that a woman, there’s no federal jurisdiction and I held, they acknowledged, I held about 1,000 hours of hearings proving that there’s an effect in interstate commerce.
Women who are abused and beaten and beaten are women who are not able to be in the work force. And the Supreme Court said there is an impact on commerce but this is federalizing a private crime and we’re not going to allow it. I think the Supreme Court was wrong about that decision."

I've never been a huge Biden fan, and I think it's a little dicey to be all "if you can prove the abuse" because a lot of times it's a he-said-she-said sort of thing and women need to be trusted, but otherwise I think he had a great answer.

I Don’t Like Where This is Going

This November, Colorado voters will get to weigh in on the infamous “Is a fertilized egg a person?” question, courtesy of the proposed Amendment 48: the Human Life Amendment. This amendment has been promoted mainly by a group called Colorado for Equal Rights, (interesting use of traditional feminist language there) and what it would do is pretty simple: “give fertilized eggs the same legal rights and protections to which people are entitled.” Yes, legal rights. Yes, fertilized eggs.

While many anti-choicers are tremendously excited about the fact that this amendment would make way for the outlawing of abortion, there are some other pretty scary implications that come along with defining a fertilized egg as a “person”:

1. A woman who suffers a miscarriage could be investigated for it, and if she is found to have contributed to the pregnancy’s termination, she could be charged (probably with manslaughter).
2. A woman who is pregnant and engages in behavior deemed risky for the fetus (smoking, drinking, riding roller coasters, cleaning litter boxes, going in hot tubs, etc), she could be charged with negligence or child abuse; this is particularly worrying because many women do not know they are pregnant until up to weeks after conception. Which means…
a. …it is conceivable that all women who are sexually active could be subject to regular (government-regulated?) pregnancy tests and/or behavioral restrictions (no smoking/drinking/roller coasters/litter box cleaning/hot tubs, etc)—to protect the health of the possible person inside her, of course.
3. As Scott Moss, a University of Colorado Law School professor, notes: “If a pregnant woman is really two people with exactly equal rights, then it is not clear the pregnant woman can undergo any medical treatment that jeopardizes a fertilized egg,”
4. Several forms of birth control, including Plan B (“The Morning After Pill”) and Intra-uterine devices, both of which have been shown to prevent a fertilized egg from implanting, would become illegal.

So not only does Amendment 48 aim to take away a woman’s right to choose abortion, but it could also take away her right to choose birth control, to get medical treatment, and to live her life as she wishes, riding roller coasters and hanging out in hot tubs. FUCKERS!!

fuckin weird!

Relevant Updates

1. Clay Aiken finally came out of the closet!

2. Oh, so did Lindsay Lohan (and her girlfriend has an odd ability to either look really hot or really BAD).

3. Some McCain supporters made shirts that imply that fetuses have the right to vote, or something. It's just weird.

DO THIS NOW

Go to facebook, click on "English" (or whatever language you use) at the bottom left, and pick "English (Pirate)"

YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED

that is all

cross your fingers for me!

I just applied for a job up at the Women's Media Center in NYC--and I got Amy Richards to write me a little recommendation! SO EXCITING!

Today was my "first" shift (if you don't count the years I worked there in HS) at the Grandin and it felt really nice. Very relaxed, lots of time to knit and read, hanging out with Jason and some really nice new faces too.

The low-down on what happened for the rest of my trip is still coming, swear!

Also, Read This!

Not surprisingly, Jamelle over at the United States of Jamerica has a fucking hilarious (and damn insightful) post about the differences between the McCain and Obama financial plans for our country. I think that what has struck me most about the McCain campaign is exactly what Jamelle points out: THEY THINK WE'RE STUPID! They think they can blame questions about Palin's experience (ahem, or lack thereof) on the fact that she's "a Washington Outsider"? NO! It's because she's not qualified!! They are running now on a platform of "change"--sorry, the real change would be CHANGING PARTIES! Etc etc.

I am adding Jamelle to my blogroll and hope you all will read his blog--because it's awesome.

FINALLY!!

So we all know it's time for an update that is looooong overdue (right Tamar?). The reason I've kept mum about the last ten days or so is because some of the time, I avoided people. Some of the time, it was really awkward. Some of the time it was really fun of course, but overall there are people I wish I could have talked to, hung out with, or said things to that I just couldn't. So it's been hard to sort all that out and convince myself that all the decisions I made were what's best for me, and if that makes me a selfish bitch, whatever, and if that makes me a human, fine.

So starting LAST Tuesday, here's what I've been up to:

Tuesday
Left from Roanoke and drove (the family van) to Charlottesville. Met up with Jen after she got off work and went to Rachel's house for DELISH vegetarian lasagna. At 8 we went to CLAW, which was really hilarious and entertaining and awesome, but in the back of my mind I was thinking of the FIFE dessert party, which was from 8:30-9:30. In the interest of stopping by there and also because the crowd was making me feel a bit woozy, I left CLAW at around 8:45, stopping only briefly to say hi to Harrison and forgetting to say hi/bye to Lauren (sorry Lauren!!)

The dessert party exceeded my wildest expectations. There were tons of people, and all of them were engaged and talking and having fun. My arrival was a bit of a surprise, and I was excited to cause a little stir, but things got back on track quickly and I got to say hi to old and new FIFErs alike. It was fabulous. Afterwards I got to spend time with my favorite protege, one miss Nora Eakin, and I really had been missing that. So it was good.

That night I slept at Joe and Jen's ("The Big Chill!!") and had lunch with them the next day (LEMONGRASS!!!!!)...

Wednesday
...then headed out to PHILLY to see my [Explo] friend, Jay. I found my way to Penn pretty easily--although the traffic was CRAZY--and after I arrived we got some Hummus for dinner (the place is actually called Hummus) and then took his residents (who all think we're dating) to a gelato place, where the oh-so-generous Ivy League school bought me (and all of us) tasty gelato! It was pretty bizarre to be talking to his residents, who were freshmen, because they are the same age as my little sister and it made me feel old and crap, but whatever. They were really nice. Then we went back to campus and took a little tour, and hung out, etc. It was really fun. Jay has a very comfy couch.

Thursday
In the morning, Travis called me to confirm our concert plans for that night, and said that the earliest he could meet me in Old Chatham was around 6:30, which meant that I was going to drive up there veryyyyyy slowly, pack lightning fast, and then when he arrived, pack the van and RUN! That was the plan, at least. What really happened is that I drove up slowly, did some business in [Regular] Chatham (paying off my late video fines, grabbing some stuff at the CVS, giving the lady I was going to work for at the bakery a card thanking her for being so kind and helpful), then went to the farmhouse around 5pm and said hi to Maude and then ran upstairs and tried to pack as quickly as possible. It was hard; I have a lot of shit. I also was filthy. So I showered and packed everything up into boxes, most of which were too heavy for me to carry. The whole time I was thinking about how bad I felt about leaving, but slowly a sense of relief was creeping up...the only thing I still feel bad about is that now I don't live an hour from Rachel Cummings, who is one of the most awesome people I've ever met. (I'm sorry Rachel!)

Anyway, we packed up the van, and by that I mean, Travis packed up the van and I assisted, and soon we were heading up to Albany for the Felice Brothers concert!!!!! We found the place, parked, I locked my keys in the van (eek!), but we put that aside and got into the venue just as the opener was playing his last couple songs. Like the true seat vultures we are (yes, there were seats, not standing, weird huh?) we scooted up to the front rows, asking around for spots that were open, and snagged some FANTASTIC seats about four rows back on the side of Simone, the drummer, who is super intense and super handsome. Their set was great, there was some dancing (both on stage and off), and it was overall a great time. When it was over, Travis and I went back to the vans and remembered that one (mine) was locked, with the keys inside. I then had to go through the humiliation that is calling AAA, joining AAA, and asking them to come save you from being an idiot. A half-hour of dilly dallying later, the AAA guy came and unlocked it in a microsecond. Meanwhile I had called my sister to have her google the location of the nearest IHOP, because what says post-concert meal like pancakes and coffee? Well we drive all the way out there and guess what? IT WAS CLOSED!!! Yes, that's right--the IHOP. Was. Closed. What the fuck? Angry and hungry, we condensed into a single van (left mine in a mall parking lot, because it was too crammed with stuff to fit two people) and drove down some random roads--and found a Denny's! Sweet, sweet Denny's.

**this is getting really long! sorry!!**

Friday
We rang in everyone's favorite day of the week over pancakes (I ordered four, but bluffed that I could eat 8, to which Travis replied that if I ate eight pancakes he would write me a letter every day for a year, but of course I couldn't even eat 4, or 3 even) and coffee. A few hours later we went back to my van and looted it for blankets and pillows, stuffed everything into Travis's van, and fell asleep. I woke up around 9 and had to pee, so I went in the mall. When I got back T was still asleep (what is it with boys and sleeping??) so I woke him up and we went for more coffee (are you noticing a theme here?) and also wandered around in a nearby Halloween store, which was fun until we got to the awkward Sexy Police Officer/Hogwarts Student/Nurse/Fairy costume section. Ew. Oh Halloween, why must you be so gendered? In revolt, we planned to go as a pimp and ho--Travis being the ho of course.

Then we were sort of tired and lazy, so we saw Burn After Reading, which we both enjoyed a lot. Then we ACTUALLY ate at IHOP. Then we parted ways.

I was headed to Brooklyn, but as I was (a) in the van and (b) it was filled beyond the point of any rear or side visibility I decided I didn't want to drive INTO Brooklyn. So instead I drove to Lyndhurst (sp?) NJ, took a NJTransit train to Secaucus, transfered to a Penn-Station-bound train, hopped on the downtown C, transferred to the F at Jay St, got off at 7th and 9th and walked ten blocks to Steph!!! That was a really fun (but too short!!) visit, although I was worried about my Van O' Belongings the whole time. Steph's roommate was nice, and gave me and Steph one of the best compliments I've gotten re: friends, which was that we are "perfectly matched" in pace, the way we talk, etc. Which is so true! It was great. Even though I'm annoyed that you will probably get that PP job, Steph, you know I <3 you.

Okay, this is ridiculously long. If you've gotten to this point, you deserve an award. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will come later.

LUFF to anyone who comments!!

update coming soon! but first...

job search update!

As I prepare to embark on my trek to more northern climes, where I will reclaim all my worldly possessions and possibly marry Simone Felice, I am also starting to search (somewhat frantically) for a "real" job. Now, don't get me wrong, Jason Garnett already put me back on the employee list at the Grandin, and I understand how fortunate I am to get to work at a job in which absolutely nothing is expected of me and I get to eat free popcorn and watch free movies. But something is still missing...

It might be a place of my own. It might be any amount of money over minimum wage. It might be a sense of purpose.

Whatever it is, I've gone back to reading the daily idealist.org digests and today I found out that...

CTY IS HIRING OUTREACH COORDINATORS aka cheerleaders/recruiters. Um, yes please.

So I'm applying to that, and I also applied for a job at the VA Skyline Girl Scout Council, and I have an interview with them next week. I'm also hoping to at least be interviewed for a job I wanted at PP in cville, but someone I know also applied for that and she is pretty amazing and they would be insane to not hire her.

Wish me luck!!

I'm cured!!

Hello faithful readers (haha),

Well it seems that I'm well on the way to being mended from my bout with the big Pneumonia! Woo! Yesterday I left the house and went to the church play, and the day before that I got a milkshake with my friend Andrew and then went to Meg and Mary's for [a super delish] dinner.

If all goes as planned, here's what's up for this week:

Wednesday- drive to Philly and hang out with my awesome Explo friend Jay
Thursday- drive to the OC, load up my belongings, and head up the extra 30 mins to ALBANY for...

A Felice Brothers concert!!!!!!! Woo!! Okay so in case you don't know, I have loved the Felice Brothers since I saw them open for Bright Eyes last November in D.C. They. Are. Awesome.

Here are some youtube videos I've been watching to get myself even more pumped:

her eyes dart round (ps. I have a huuuuuge crush on simone, the one in the stripes)
waterspider
where'd you get your liquor (yes, that guy's playing the washboard)
whiskey in my whiskey

and of course, a cover of my absolute favorite tom petty song EVER that they did while on tour with bright eyes:

"some things are over, some things go on,
part of me you carry, and part of me is gone.
but you've got a heart so big, it could crush this town.
and I can't hold out forever; even walls fall down."

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

hahaha

RNC, etc, etc

I feel a little better but I don't think I'll be leaving here for at least another 4-5 days (maybe longer). So YES that's a call for VISITORS of all kinds--please come see me in Roanoke. We can go to the movies! Or...okay well that might be the only outing I can do. But still. Movies. You can pick any of these.

In other news, Sarah Palin. What the hell, lady? Comparing hockey moms to dogs--how very NeW of you ("intellectual catfight" anyone?) I have to admit two things about how I feel when I watch the RNC:

1. I find myself strongly strongly disliking all the people who are there. HOW, HOW can people be supporting the Republican Party right now? They don't give a shit about the environment, about women, about the poor, about anyone who isn't white (check the racial diversity of the crowd--it's non-existent), health care, or about ending this ridiculous war. They are a bunch of assholes.
2. I keep on waiting for whoever is speaking to just start laughing and say "Hahaha, just kidding. Oh man we totally had you fooled didn't we? You thought we were serious about all these terrible policy ideas, our anti-choice bullshit, and our love of all things old, white, and male." and then everyone will throw away their fucking sexist "Hottest VP" buttons (btw Rudy et al, weren't you just laughing about Hilary Clinton nutcrackers like 15 months ago? STFU about sexism against Palin) and go vote for OBAMA. But that's not going to happen. Because these people are soooo serious. Frighteningly so.

So that's it. I'm a mean, awful, stereotypical, Republican-hating feminist Dem. The cat is so out of the bag!

And Cindy McCain looks like a deranged Barbie.

more health news

Chest x-ray showed (gasp) huge blob of pneumonia grossness in lungs--yuck. I'm on NEW antibiotics, and I have another doc appt on Wednesday to make sure the meds are working--if they are not, then I have to go to the hospital and get an IV of something stronger. EW IVs!!!!! ew ew ew ew ew. Let's hope that doesn't happen.

Otherwise I'm still coughing like crazy and enjoying being home with my fam...!

back in VA

I'm in the Noke and I'm going in for a chest x-ray tomorrow at noon, unless my mom brings me to the ER tonight (which will only happen if the coughing keeps me from sleeping). Depending on what the x-ray shows, I will either start new meds or be admitted to the hospital (noooo!) but either way I will post an update here so everyone can make plans to come visit me if necessary :)

lightning-fast update

so today i realized that i'm not getting a bit better (still have a fever, feel like shit, etc), and my cough has gotten much worse actually. so I called Maude's nearest son, who lives an hour away, to see if he could take me back to the doc, and what he said was that no he really can't, and also, they will probably have to admit me, because whatever i have is resistant to antibiotics.

so then i called my mom very upset because I can't drive myself to the hospital seeing as it's 35 mins away (in another state actually) and i'm on like 3 meds that say "don't drive while on this!!" and she was so mad that Maude's son wouldn't take me that she's going to come up here (on a plane I guess) and take me and all my stuff back to Roanoke to go to the hospital (just me, not the stuff, that goes back to my house I guess).

more as it develops

cough cough hack die

ps. mccain picked a woman VP--big shocker.

bleh

so yesterday I drove to Lenox Mass and saw Rachel and Megan (the latter of whom was giving a presentation at the Edith Wharton Estate, ooo fancy) which was a ton of fun despite the fact that Rachel is sick (pretty sick--she found out last night that she has pneumonia, yuck).

The only bad part was that when I came back, I had a really bad headache and felt all fevery; I spent the rest of the evening in bed and/or video chatting briefly w Ginny, Jen, and Nora (not all at once though); I didn't even go to Albany to hang out with Julia (from Explo) and Jonathan (her <3).

Also, my parents are on their way right now, so that should be helpful (or more stressful, we'll see). More updates later...

fajshfauihblechhhh

Really?? BIDEN??

Bleh.

Right when I was getting pumped for Obama's run for the presidency (I even considered this button:

but I ended up getting one of these:

He goes and picks Biden for his running mate. Really? BIDEN? That guy who voted for the Defense of Marriage Act? That guy who thinks a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border is a good idea? 

Hmmmm. I guess he's not THAT bad, but he's no Kathleen Sebelius.

Some Pro-Choice Internet Activism!

So, many of you probably get NARAL or NOW email alerts or something to that extent, but basically what's going down right now is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is proposing some regulations that aim to give health care professionals the right to refuse women abortion or abortion-referall services. Now for those of you unaware, abortion is legal in the U.S. and is considered a legitimate medical option for women who are pregnant and don't wish to be.

The ACLU has a press release that really taps into how I feel about this:

For years, federal law has carefully balanced protections for individual religious liberty and patients' access to reproductive health care. The proposed regulations appear to take patients' health needs out of the equation.

At a time when more and more Americans are either uninsured or struggling with the soaring costs of health care, the federal government should be expanding, not hampering access to important health services.

click here for a quick and easy form letter to fill out and send to your legislators that states that you are against the regulations! Internet activism: soooo easy!

SO MANY UPDATES

Today was a very busy day. After a bustling morning of lazing about, rifling through my two memento boxes, brushing my hair, imagining different furniture configurations, and throwing clothes around the floor, I made it out of the OC towards RC (regular Chatham) for my two job interviews.

First I went over to Our Daily Bread, a vegetarian cafe and bakery. I met with the manager, Allie, who is TOTALLY AWESOME. Here's the rundown: she's in her late 30s, single, ex-corporate bigwig, very down-to-earth and she once visited cville and went to the Mudhouse and remembers it!! So that was sort a weird connection we had, since I worked there for a summer. We hit it off really well, and she decided to hire me!! WOO! It might be because of the Mudhouse thing (aka because I can pour lattes with little hearts on them) but who cares? She explained that the shop is really laid back and basically the neatest place ever. Here's what it looks like:

SO CUTE!

At one point during the interview, all the customers left and the two [really nice] girls that were working turned up the music (Aretha Franklin!) and started dancing around, and Allie and I laughed along; it was a great moment. I got to meet both of the girls, and they are both really nice. And THEN Allie mentioned that she is sort of sick of the music selection they have and I volunteered to bring in some new tunes (JEN PLEASE HELP ME!). So that is a great perk: getting to pick music. Here are the other perks:

- Getting paid 8.50/hr (off the books if I prefer)
- Free cookies, cupcakes, bread, etc
- I can wear whatever I want
- Friends!! (One of the girls invited me to go out to some bars with her and her friends sometime/this weekend!)
- Being slightly older than most of the employees, which means Allie might let me be the regular closer, which means I would get paid more and also get to boss some people around
- Parker Posey is a regular there

That's all I can think of for now, but basically, I'm thrilled to have SOMETHING to do! I start next week and I'll keep everyone posted on that.

After my interview, I went to the video store (Video Visions, so 80s) and wandered around/pet Steve's (the owner's) dogs, and picked a foreign film called Caramel. Then I went to my second interview, at a fancyshmancy restaurant called The Blue Plate.

The lady in charge there was also nice, but she said she doesn't have a spot for me yet but probably in around a month or so. Also, she said I can learn to BARTEND!!!! AWESOME! I am really excited about that because I have [not-so-]secretly always wanted to bartend because it seems really fun and cool and it gives you great arms (ha). So that's another good thing.

Lots of good stuff. I'm still homesick/cvillesick/fifesick but i'm making it....

My bakery!

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Apple uses psychic technology

So I was just sitting here listening to itunes on shuffle and reading some of my favorite blogs (see right-hand column) and a song came on that so uncannily described a thought I had the other day that I had to write about it.

Maude's physical therapy place is about 30 minutes away in a town called Ghent (well it's sort of in Hudson, which is next to Ghent, but whatever, all the towns are the fucking same anyway: dunkin donuts, gas station, post office, flora, fauna, etc) and on the way there we pass a cemetery. And I always wonder, is it weird to be an old person and look at a cemetery? Is it extra super sad? Especially for an atheist old person like Maude?

Like most people, I have some songs on my iTunes that I've never listened to, or at least never listened to closely. So just now, one of those songs came on and I was just shocked by its relevance:

Old people in the cemetery
what must they be thinking of?
must be frightening must be scary
to visit the grave of a close friend
who was the same age as you when they died

-Old People In The Cemetery, by Of Montreal

Crazyyyyy

my phone is fancy

This photo of sheep being milked was sent using the Picture and Video Messaging service from Verizon Wireless! If you visit Carly in Old Chatham, she will take you to this sheepherding place! And buy you some cheese! Sheep cheese!

Phew

Well, it's been a day of ups and downs (or rather, downs and ups). This morning my dad called me at 7:50am to say that if I want to buy a computer, he will put it on his credit card, and then dip into the Aunt Sophie Money (aka The Money I'm Supposed To Wait Until I Turn 25 To Use, Oh Well) on my behalf and pay for it. Well too bad for you Daddy because I already bought it with my very own credit card! Woo! I'm still going to need that AS Money to pay it off though. Heh.

Anyway, then I got up and showered and brought my application in to the bakery where I want to work--called Our Daily Bread. It seems like a pretty nice place and it's only 15 minutes away from the house. The lady there told me to come see her tomorrow at 2:30 so that we can have a real sit-down. And you know what the first thing she said was when I handed her my application? "Wow, you've got really nice handwriting!" See? I knew all that practice would one day pay off.

Anyway, that means that tomorrow I have a meeting with her (Allie) and a meeting with the manager of a dinner restaurant (Marcia -- The Blue Plate) in the hopes of finding some way to work, fill up my time, and meet cool people.

Then I drove out to a place called Hudson, which seemed like a pretty nice place. The total number of 20-30 year olds that I've seen in this entire area is still somewhere around fourteen, but maybe two or three of them were in Hudson. Also I saw TWO fliers for the Felice Brothers' upcoming show(s) in the area so that made me happy. I am planning on going to at least two of their three area shows, and hopefully I'll meet some cool folks there!

This entry so far sounds about 748932% more upbeat than I was feeling earlier and most of that is due to my good (amazing) friend RACHEL!!! After Hudson I spent the afternoon moping/napping/watching the neverending story/having a pity party because I'm not having a SUPERAWESOMEFUN time up here. It's effing freezing cold and as I mentioned there's a serious lack of young people. What's more, I'm going to have to get some crappy part-time job in a bakery or restaurant, the likes of which I could just as easily get in VA, where my friends are. Not only that but everything is spread wayyyy out around here, and not in a cute, ride-your-bike-to-the-next-town way, but in a the-roads-between-the-towns-have-55mph-speed-limits way. Boo.

So I brought my complaints up with some of my wisest and nicest friends (Jen, Lauren Russo, etc) and everyone pretty much said that it's up to me and that I can either stick it out or find a way to escape. But then I talked to Rachel and she was like YOU'RE NOT QUITTING!! and she had a rebuttal for pretty much all of my complaints.

After we spoke I still was a little crabby about it but I'm starting to almost maybe think about accepting and making the best of this. I don't know. Rachel is coming this weekend and we're going to go out to the bar (yes there's only one in Chatham and it's a Welch bar called Peint O Gwrw) and other possibly hip places; Rachel is like the #1 person to go try to find friends with because she is SO friendly and SO cool (also she inadvertently attracts lap-dance-loving puerto rican lesbians sometimes).

Well that's it, in a nutshell. I'm on a first-name basis with the guy who runs the Sneak Reviews-esque video rental place, and I keep thinking about all you lucky Virginians (the Roanoke sect and the Cville sect) and how much I MISS YOU ALL but I think I'll make it through this boredom and isolation.

I think.

Please send me letters!
xoxo

PS. NORA and JESSE --> I fully expect for you to video chat me at least once during a fife meeting! Or maybe you can have all the old FIFErs say hi to me during a dessert party!! I miss fife.... :(

I Bought A Mac!

As Tamar would say, I've moved over to the good side. On the way to my little home in my little hamlet of Old Chatham (yes, it's technically a hamlet) is a BRAND NEW iMac (desktop) complete with huge-ass screen, built-in camera for video chatting, and (gasp!) a non-crashing version of adobe acrobat. Wheee!

Today I called my mom to whine about how it's really boring here, and really slow, and really full of old people, and she yelled at me and told me to stop whining. She also told me that I am required to go into Albany tomorrow and find some friends--or at least a nice coffee shop to lurk in for a while. So tomorrow the goal is to find a hip, Mudhouse-esque place (though hopefully a little less snooty) and sit around, check out the bulletin board, drink coffee, etc. So that should be fun. I already did a google search of area feminist groups (there's only the Albany chapter of NOW, boo) and even winterguards (closest one is 2.5 hrs away in NJ!) but maybe something will pop up while I'm there.

If all else fails, I rented Stick It! from itunes so I can just watch that. HA HA HA all you Stick It! Naysayers! You know who you are.

LEAVE ME COMMENTS and/or LOVE please.

I'm Not Good At Blogging!

So I've already lapsed by 2.5/3 days since the last post--sorry! Here is an update on what's been going on in the OC.

Yesterday, Maude and I went into town to go clothes shopping and to pick up a few groceries. There's a fancy-shmancy clothing store that Maude really likes and we went in there and she bought a ridiculous amount of clothes. I bought a skirt that is really cute and colorful, but it cost $40:I think it's pretty obvious that I am doing some retail therapy to counteract the fact that although this house and town and area are all really nice, it's very quiet/boring/lonely. Oh well.

Other attempts at staving off complete boredom have included:

- buying and watching the 7th season of Gilmore Girls
- going jogging
- doing yoga
- starting weekly writing challenges with Jen
and of course, READING!! Please continue to give me suggestions for good books to check out of the library and/or purchase at the used book shop.

In other news, I am planning on going to Northampton, Mass on Sept 5 to see THE FELICE BROTHERS in concert!! SO exciting!! I'm also working on convincing my friend Travis, who lives just outside Utica, to come with me to see them on Sept 11 in Albany. Woo!

Here is a promised photo of my little study area, which is in my spare room/guest room/study/yoga room: that's a map of northern Columbia county on the wall above my desk there.

And last but not least, the anecdote about how cool me and Rachel's friend Megan is:

She is acquainted with Ellen Wittlinger, the author of my #1 most favoritest book when I was in middle school, Hard Love. Ms. Wittlinger has recently published a sequel/companion book to Hard Love and Megan said that she's going to get me a SIGNED COPY!!!!! omggggzhfajsdhlfajk!

That's all the excitement for now!

The First Day

Today, Maude (not her real name, but I couldn't resist the nickname, sorry, shut up, I love Bud Cort) came back from rehab, where she's been staying for about a month because she hurt/broke her leg. Her daughter brought her home and has been helping us get things set up all day. We did a bit of cleaning, a lot of chatting, and then I drove Maude out to her Physical Therapy (PT) appointment, which is about 30 minutes away. We'll be going out there twice a week which is fine with me because a. I get an excuse to drive around and Columbia County is freaking beautiful and b. her physical therapist, Corey, is really cute. On the drive there and back, here are the things I learned about Maude:

1. She married a soldier when she was 17 and he was killed in WWII a year later.
2. She dated her second husband, a novelist, for three years while he was married to someone else before he got a divorce and married her.
3. She typically has a drink every afternoon around 4pm--bourbon or a gin and tonic
4. She is friends with lots of gay people
5. She's really nice.

Also on the way home, we got pulled over by a cop for speeding and/or not stopping for a pedestrian, but somehow (despite the fact that I didn't even have my registration) I managed to get off with just a warning. YIKES! OLD CHATHAM PO-POs HAVE ME ON THEIR RADAR!

For info about what I did Monday-Wednesday, check out my new facebook photo album!

The Beginning of the Project(s)

I am having a lot of trouble starting this blog in a nice and eloquent and creative way, but after sitting here staring at the screen and eating half a bag of veggie crisps for like 15 minutes, I'm finally putting my foot down.

This blog is for:
- uploading pictures of my life in Old Chatham and my various traveling adventures
- writing practice
- keeping everyone updated on my life
- projects that you can help me with (see below)
- feminist commentary on world events
- lists
- and probably a lot more.

Without further ado, here is a description of my first project.
PROJECT #1 - Operation: Read A Zillion Books
How it works - I am going to read a zillion books. (maybe not a zillion, but a lot.) And my list of books is going to be made by YOU, my friends. How, you ask? Well, all you do is leave a comment on this post telling what your favorite book is (or maybe two) and then I will try to find it and read it. OR you have the option of sending the books to me. Soooo easy!

Upcoming Projects
Operation: Watch a Zillion Movies
Operation: Learn to Cook
Operation: Send Letters
Operation: Make a Zillion Mix CDs

and of course, PROJECT #0 - Operation: Photos of my House!
(These are photos of the lower floor; the top floor is still being fixed up and decorated, etc, so photos of that will come later!)

kitchen

breakfast room

dining room

living room

I MISS YOU ALL! More soon, promise!