03-31-04
So, that's probably not what you're looking for, huh?
Someone was just here looking for pictures of prom hairstyles in magazines. I put 'prom hairstyles' into one of the databases and came up with nothing. I tried 'prom hair' and that had three results. Finally, I just searched for 'prom,' and the first result on the list was, "Prom: see Premature Rupture of Membranes."
np: work
03-30-04
That's where I'm a viking!
When I was at my grandparents' house a couple of weeks ago, I asked all of my aunts and cousins if they would teach me how to sew (look! i haven't forgotten yet! attention span, you are a pal!), all of them said things like, "No one ever taught me how to sew. I just learned on my own" or "I kind of watched my mom, but mostly I taught myself" or (my favorite) "You're a smart girl - you can teach yourself" (that was my grandma).
So, I borrowed my mom's sewing machine (and a dusty and old sewing machine it is) and I bought a skirt pattern for 3 dollars which had "EASY" written across the top of the package in bold letters (or, possibly, E-Z, I can't remember). My mom had some spare fabric lying around (once upon a time it was going to be a dress for me, but she never got around to making it) that wasn't too ugly, and I arrived back here overflowing with fresh-faced hopefulness.
As it turns out, the joke is on my family, because actually, I can't sew. I can get thread/fabric wrapped around part of the sewing machine so tightly that it refuses to move at all and the room becomes filled with the smell of overheating rubber. I can thread and rethread the needle until my eyes hurt. I can close the sewing machine box on my fingers, leading to pain and bruises. But I cannot sew.
At least I'm still good at watching crappy daytime tv and wasting money and napping.
np: Franz Ferdinand-Tell Her Tonight
03-30-04
Now I go out alone if I got out at all.
Granted, I haven't been getting a lot of sleep recently, but did I really just see Space Ghost in a Quizno's commercial?
WHY MUST QUIZNO'S STEAL EVERYTHING I LOVE?
The next time I turn on the tv, Bill Haverchuck is going to be trying to sell me sandwiches. Just you wait.
ps: oh oh oh oh my - new Snow Patrol tomorrow. Finally!
np: the Walkmen-The Rat
03-29-04
Also, today I wore a shirt that I bought at an old man's garage sale in 1999.
My gel eye mask is the best headache remedy I've found. Plus, it has the added bonus of making me look really cool.
I bought my first gel eye mask two years ago when I lived in the co-op (i am no longer using that one since its gel gradually disappeared). As soon as I got home from the store, I ripped open the package and tried it on in my living room (it had been right on top of some frozen food, so it was nice and cold and ready). One of my housemates was wearing cds in her hair (for some reason), and we looked at ourselves in the big living room mirror and I said, "oh my gosh, we are SUPERHEROES." And we were.
np: Super Furry Animals-Arnofio/Glo in the Dark
03-28-04
Wildliferiffic
I had a dream that Oprah died and my mom and I were talking about it. I said something like, "But I just saw her show in the tv guide yesterday." And she said, "Well, yeah, Cameron Diaz took over," like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
And then this morning I saw three deer leaping majestically through the arboretum. And a small child almost get attacked by geese. And a dog chasing a squirrel. It was just like the time I went to Bear Country USA.
np: Iron and Wine-Such Great Heights
03-26-04
I am bad at math. But I can spell! sometimes.
Someone just made a phone call while standing at the catalog computers to ask someone how to spell Rachmaninoff, when he could've just as easily walked three feet over to my desk and asked me! I know how to spell Rachmaninoff!
I feel so rejected.
I will feel kind of silly if it is actually Rachmaninov.
Earlier, I thought that by exchanging my five pennies in for a nickel, I would have enough money to buy something out of the vending machine (i had discovered some random change in the bottom of my bag and was quite excited about it). Apparently, though, 25+10+5+5 doesn't equal any more than 25+10+5+1+1+1+1+1. I fed all of the change into the machine and was totally bewildered when it stopped at $0.45. I'm not sure what I was thinking.
np: work
03-26-04
Cookies: breakfast of foolhardy decisions.
yay! Extra shift acquired directly following the one I am working now!
boo! No food or money with me today.
It's a good thing I augmented my breakfast this morning with those cookies.
np: work
03-26-04
And all I ever do is think of yesterday.
After two nights of not getting to sleep until sometime after five, I fell asleep last night at 10:30, while eating a pear. I woke up briefly at 1:30 to remove pieces of pear from my bed and close the windows, and then slept right until 8am, when I leapt out of bed fully awake and ready to face the day.
And, whatever I said the other night about the Delgados was untrue, because "Tell Balgeary, Balgury is Dead" "Under the Hedge" "Biomusicology" every song Ted Leo played the other night is the best live song ever. Also, I have decided that Fred Thomas must have discovered the mathematical equation for making perfect pop songs. There is no other explanation.
Oh! And yesterday I invented a casserole! You should be very jealous, because it involved elbow macaroni and sauerkraut. It wasn't actually too bad, although by 'not too bad,' I only mean that it was edible. I ended up feeling kind of ill after I ate it and went to work, though. And by 'kind of ill,' I mean that there were several times when I was certain that I was going to pass out. In retrospect, that was probably brought on by yesterday's humidity, my headache (which was probably not caused by food), lack of sleep for the previous two nights, and the fact that it was 100 degrees inside the library. However, even after taking all of those things into consideration, I still can't convince myself that that casserole wasn't somehow involved. It was an evil casserole intent on ruining my day. It did seem like a good idea in my head, though.
np: Super Furry Animals-City Scape Sky Baby
03-24-04
Ted Leo 2 nite.
Unrelatedly, the sour cream cookie recipe.
np: Snow Patrol-Velocity Girl
03-24-04
I'm sure that it says something not very positive about my life that I feel so very much happier and more content after a rock show.
-"No Danger" may be the best live song ever. It is better than it is on the album (where it is already pretty good).
-The Shelter is in the basement of Saint Andrew's Hall, and if you park on the front side of the building you have walk down an alley and around the back of the building. There is a big empty parking lot (that you aren't allowed to park in) right outside the door to the basement. On the door tonight, there was a sign that said, "PAY INSIDE! Do not pay anyone outside."
-The way the roads are angled, it feels like you never exit the highway, and suddenly are just in the middle of downtown Detroit.
-I still love Detroit.
-The one Delgados guy (i don't know any of their names. i also didn't know what any of them looked like until tonight. both of these things are decidedly odd.) just could not believe that the People Mover is really called 'the People Mover.'
-The man at the door guessed our ages, which was fun! And more people should guess my age.
-Malcolm Middleton is my Scottish-sad-bastard boyfriend, a position that has been vacant since 2001, when Stuart Murdoch turned out to actually be pretty goddamn chipper.
-I'm tired, but not sleepy at all. And actually, I've been having so many nightmares that sleeping hardly seems worthwhile.
np: Enon-Sold!
03-23-04
And cookies are mostly ghosts.
Since I traded my shift today for one later in the week, I ended up with nothing to do today. So I made cookies.
Every Christmas we make sour cream cookies, which are kind of like sugar cookies except that they are good. This year, though, we didn't have them because my mom had just had some dental work done and could only eat soft things. But last week she was supposed to study outer space with her day care kids, and she made them sour cream cookies shaped like stars for a snack one day. She had one left on Thursday and it was so so so so good that I decided I needed to make my own, even though it is not Christmas.
As you might have guessed, sour cream is necessary ingredient for sour cream cookies. Since I didn't have any, I went to the store and got some. When I opened it, I discovered an inspirational message.
After I had mixed everything together, I realized that I didn't have a rolling pin. I remembered using jars as rolling pins in the past, but today is the day the recycling gets picked up, so all of our glass jars were gone. After some mildly desperate searching through the cupboards, I found some pink glasses (which I don't use because I don't like drinking out of plastic, and had therefore forgotten about), and for a brief afternoon, it got to live out its lifelong dream of being a rolling pin (i am like the make-a-wish foundation for crappy plastic drinking glasses).
I also realized that the only cookie cutter I have is a ghost one that I bought for 10 cents after Halloween. So, ghost cookies it was.
And, into the oven they go! Except, of course, that is a different batch since that is a cookie sheet and not the previously pictured pizza pan.
After baking, the cookies took some time out to relax.
After a while, they were cool enough to touch (and, more importantly, cool enough to frost).
The finished cookies aren't very impressive looking, because both the cookies and the frosting are the same buttery color. This is because food coloring is more expensive than I thought, and I couldn't talk myself into paying $3.50 for something that I would use two drops of and then let sit in the cupboard until I move out in August. And also, the frosting turned out kind of weird. It tastes good, but it is quite a lot more shiny and wet than it should be.
I have this problem where after I make food, I no longer have any desire to eat it.
np: the Shins-Young Pilgrims
03-23-04
yay.
Actually, someone did trade shifts with me! And at first I thought I was going to miss Malcolm Middleton because my roommate (who wanted to go too when she heard about it) has to work until 8pm, but I just checked again and there are actually three bands. So, even if we don't get there until 9, we're sure to catch at least some of Mr. Middleton.
Have I mentioned how much I love it when everything works out? Because I do.
ps: I am going to marry Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It has actually made me rethink my 'all movies suck' policy.
pps: if you try to point out that with the movie, two shows, and two trips to and from detroit, i am going to spend a whole lot of money this week, i will most likely clamp my hands over my ears and say, "i can't heeeeeearrrrrrrr yoooooooouuuuuu" in an absurdly high-pitched voice. just a friendly warning.
np: the Jelly Beans-I Wanna Love Him So Bad
03-22-04
I thought I was on top of things because I knew that the Ted Leo show was on Wednesday
The Delgados and Malcolm Middleton (of Arab Strap) are going to be in Detroit tomorrow night? Why am I only finding out about this now?
Doors are at 7, but I have to work until 9. It is probably too late to get someone to cover my shift.
Last time the Delgados were in town was last April, and my car didn't start. I remember it very clearly. It was a Saturday and there were icicles hanging from the electric line outside of my window.
np: leaving work as soon as this is done
03-22-04
I am boreding
In case it wasn't already terribly obvious that I am bored and at work, I would like to say that the most exciting part of yesterday was when I saw a man who looked exactly like Britt Daniel.
Also, tonight I think I'm going to go see Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Or possibly Dawn of the Dead. I wrote an email to someone a long time ago asking them if they wanted to go with me (and which one they'd rather see), but they haven't written back yet. I don't mind (actually, I would probably prefer) going by myself, but then I would have to decide which one I wanted to go see. And I'm not good at making decisions.
np: work
04-22-04
Party, Tea
Regarding Saturday's tea party:
I would've liked very much to have stayed at my grandparents' house and played with Sadie, the world's least ferocious German shepherd (example: my grandma bought her a water dish kind of like this one, but Sadie was afraid to use it because of the gurgling noise it made), but since no one else wanted to go either, I figured it wouldn't be fair if I stayed home.
Having never been to a tea party full of old Mennonite women, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I did not expect them to put up a podium in front of the snack table and have a very long program including a mini-sermon, songs, stories and inspirational poetry. I also did not expect my aunts and cousins to become so bored during this program that they would begin throwing red hots at each other (i did not participate in the red hot throwing because i love red hots and hate to see them wasted). One thing I did expect, though, was lots of fattening and delicious food! And after the program (finally) ended, that is exactly what we got. Donuts (made by my great aunt (who makes the best donuts ever!), who made little tiny ones especially for the tea party. she called them 'lady-sized,' but i could've easily seven or eight of them, if other people hadn't been watching (and if there was some way to avoid getting monstrously ill afterward))! Tiny little pickles (the kind that someone actually pickled, not the ones you buy)! And actually, there were a bunch of other things, but I was so starstruck by the pickles and donuts that they were all I ate.
And then when we got home, all of my male relatives (the tea party was for girls only) complained about being hungry, so we ordered a bunch of pizzas. Basically, I spent about six hours eating on Saturday afternoon. Which is kind of nice to think about, since today when I got home I realized that the only food I have in the house is a big jar of sauerkraut, three boxes of elbow macaroni, salt and nutmeg (and if you put those things into an ingredients search at Allrecipes, the computer will laugh at you).
np: work
03-22-04
Naming names
One thing you might not know about me is that I was almost named Amanda.
I have an older brother named Jason. A few weeks before he was born, my great aunt and uncle also had a baby boy and named him Jason. A few years later, my mom was pregnant with me and had decided that my name would be Amanda if I was a girl. However, that same great aunt and uncle were expecting a baby. Their kid was born a few weeks before me, was a girl, and was named Amanda (surprise!).
My parents were perplexed. They already had a pair of Jasons in common with this other couple and they didn't want to look like big fat copycats. At the last minute, my dad saw the name 'Kimberly' in the newspaper and thought it seemed like a nice name, and my mom also didn't hate it. And that is why I am named Kimberly and not Amanda.
This moment of nostalgia was brought to you by the fact that I saw the Amanda at a tea party (i am using the word party kind of loosely) at my grandma's church on Saturday. She has a baby and a haircut. I found the haircut to be a more surprising development than the baby.
np: Arab Strap-The Week Never Starts Around Here
03-21-04
Sometimes I feel like I'm over and out
It's difficult to have a conversation at my grandparents' house because there are a whole lot of people there and they all talk at once. Also, of my mom and her six brothers and sisters, five of them (along with my grandma) can't hear very well, so people are constantly repeating something (very loudly) for someone who missed it the first time. So basically, you end up hearing beginnings of some stories and ends of others, and some parts of stories five or six times, but you very rarely hear a whole story all the way through.
However, the good thing about years of being 'the quiet one' is that when I decide I want to say something, people say, "Sssssssh! Kim's talking!"
np: dEUS-Little Arithmetics
03-19-04
The reason cassettes were succeeded by compact discs.
Tonight I am at my parents' house, because tomorrow I am off to the great white north to see grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and various (and numerous) other people who are related to me in mysterious ways that I don't quite understand.
Tonight, though, was all about immediate family togetherness (sans brother), and we celebrated by trying to reassemble a cassette that my mom bought at the library book (and apparently tape) sale without realizing that the tape inside was ripped apart. It took all three of us and the Ott-Lite, and we thought we had fixed it three different times before we realized that we had (scotch) taped the (audio) tape in such a way that it had a twist in it, but on the FOURTH try, we actually fixed it.
After we repaired the tape, I proceeded to knock one of the tiny screws needed to reassemble it onto the floor. I then amazed my dad by finding it hiding among the orange and green flowers on the linoleum. I said, "Well, my eyes work really well. . .and I have two of them," which was, of course, a jab at my dad's glaucoma-induced one-eyed-ness (which was very unlike the jab I took at my mom's two-eyed-ness once when I poked her in the eye and she had to wear a patch over it for a week. which was an accident).
np: the computer is making a loud, painful sounding noise
03-18-04
Sweating up a storm in that terrible month of June
My favorite thing to do when I am home alone is to open up the windows in my room and listen to quiet music at an inappropriately loud volume.
np: Sparklehorse-The Most Beautiful Widow in Town
03-16-04
I can't find my hairbrush.
Lately my hair has been impressively shiny, but my face has been all broken out and flaky and dry. I wish that all of the components of my physical appearance would simultaneously have a good day once in a while.
Also, my dad said that we are supposed to get four inches of snow today. I hope he is wrong, but by the looks of things, he isn't.
np: Beulah-If We Can Land a Man on the Moon, Surely I Can Win Your Heart
03-16-04
The juice aisle and a list that isn't about juice at all.
I went to the store tonight for the express purpose of buying juice boxes. I like that you can store them unrefrigerated, because I tend to open a bottle of juice and drink a little tiny bit, leave it in the refrigerator for several months, and then throw it away when I see it and remember that it is mine.
Anyway, in the juice aisle tonight I learned two things: (1) juice boxes are now a lot smaller than they were in my day; and (2) juice pouches are TAKING OVER! All of the boxes were cowering down at the far end of one of the shelves.
And, as it turned out, juice in bottles was on sale, and I couldn't justify paying more money for less juice just because they came in cute little boxes. So, I bought a 64 ounce bottle of grape juice, most of which I will throw away some time in June.
Other things that I am too lazy to form into paragraphs:
1. I went to see a movie the other day. It was horrible, but we did see the trailer for Troy. It's weird, because it doesn't seem like something I would enjoy at all, as I prefer my movies to involve either humor (the funny kind, not the kind that is supposed to be funny but isn't) or zombies (although, in a pinch, i'll settle for aliens). . .but that trailer. . .oh man. (note: it isn't nearly as gripping when viewed in windows media player.) I have described it in depth to everyone I know, but my description would be less impressive here as it involves a lot of incomplete sentences and me waving my arms around a lot. I have the feeling that if I do go see it, I'll be bored, but I honestly don't think that I can not go see it. Also, it comes out pretty close to my birthday, so even though it doesn't look like anything any of my friends or loved ones would like, I can make any of them go with me (and pay!) by playing the ol' "but it's my birthday " card. I can't lose! (question: what is proper theater etiquette during the trailers? because the people behind me were talking throughout all of them. and you have to talk really loudly to be audible over the theater sound system.)
2. another question: What is a banana split? Growing up, my parents would give me a bowl full of sliced up bananas, ice cream, chocolate syrup, and peanuts (if we had any around) and call it a banana split. But my roommate claims that a banana split has to have three separate lumps of icea cream, and each lump must have a separate sauce (chocolate, strawberry and pineapple). We argued about it for a long time until I proclaimed, "This sounds like a question for the internet!" But the internet doesn't seem to be sure about what a banana split is either, and a google images search has retrieved many pictures of ice cream, a couple of bassett hounds, and one of a nekkid woman holding a chimpanzee.
3. Although there have been no major changes in the shoe regime here at the casa de kim and other less important people, the past several days have seen the arrival of many new and very painful blisters.
4. My #1 favorite thing about Saint Patrick's Day is that cabbage is on sale for 22 cents a pound.
5. March 15 wouldn't be complete without mentioning the fact that many years ago, I ate a Caesar salad on this date (I think it was the year that I was in 10th grade, since that was when I read Julius Caesar. I told my roommate about that salad five times today. Happy Ides of March!
np: Low-Over the Ocean
03-12-04
I wonder where its other leg went.
There is a scary, yellow, seven-legged spider in my bathroom. It is hanging above the sink and I washed my face by standing up very straight and throwing handfuls of water at myself, because I didn't want to take my eyes off of it for one second. After my face was washed, I threw handfuls of water at the spider, but it just waved a few of its overabundant legs triumphantly at me.
Being afraid of spiders makes me feel stupid. The only bad spider-related memory I have is one time when my cousin and I were playing with little people* in her basement and a huge spider appeared out of nowhere and started crawling toward us. We screamed like little girls (we were little girls) and her brother came and killed it for us. Everyone laughed at us, but that spider was as big as my hand (my hand now, not my hand them). Anyway, though, I was already afraid of spiders by the time that happened, so my illogical fear of something that I can step on and kill wasn't a result of that incident.
Oh, and once last year I found a spider in my hair while I was washing it. But it was already dead by the time I found it.
*my cousin always had the best little people accessories, like this camper (i always thought it was the greatest thing ever! and i would usually cry if i didn't get to play with it.), and a bus and a school with a real chalkboard in the side. I only had a house, a barn, and an airplane.
np: Spiritualized-Shine a Light
03-10-04
I like to think of it as tree porn.
Today the sky was clear and bright, and I spent my walks to and from work studying the bare tree branches against the blue sky. The sky is gray here during most of the leafless months, and I always forget how the sharp, dark branches look against the smooth blue sky.
[If the weather is good tomorrow, I think I will take pictures. But I think that it is supposed to snow.]
np: Mogwai-Dial: Revenge
03-10-04
I like to pretend that I live alone.
Today my roommate was sweeping the kitchen and found something that "might have been" mouse poop behind the stove. She was disgusted and couldn't eat lunch and felt horribly dirty.
[Just an aside, unless we have very polite vermin who open and close food neatly and clean up after themselves when they are done, it is old mouse poop from when we first moved into the house.]
And therein lies the difference between my roommate and me: she will feel absolutely filthy after sweeping up mouse poop, whereas I am wearing the same clothes that I wore yesterday.
Also, I think my rommate needs to relax a little a lot.
np: work
03-08-04
Five items from work
(1) I'm sick of The Da Vinci Code. I'm sick of hearing about it. I'm sick of looking for copies of it that are supposed to be available but aren't. I'm sick of people asking me to check to see where they are on the request list. I'm sick of seeing people's faces fall when I tell them that there are over 200 people on the list before them.
(2) a melodrama in lowercase letters:
ten million people: why is the catalog not working? the catalog on the computer next to mine is working, but it won't work on this computer! why?! it says it is not available! what is wrong?
kim: um. i don't know. but i will help you in this trying time by repeatedly hitting the 'refresh' button. and together, i am sure, we will come through this tragedy relatively unscathed.
(3) A woman needed a pencil to use outside at the pay phone, and so I gave her one of the Ann Arbor Reads pencils that are in a cup by my desk and that I've been telling people are free to take and do whatever they want with. She said, "This isn't sharpened," and I told her where the pencil sharpener was. She answered, "But I don't have my purse with me. And I don't want to walk all the way home with a sharpened pencil.
(4)[phone rings]
kim: Ann Arbor District Library, fiction and media.
person on the phone: I have some easily solvable problem for you. It is very simple, but in order to actually find what I'm looking for, you'll probably have to run back to the shelving area and look though a bunch of unsorted carts. Also, I might want to know something about The Da Vinci Code!
kim: [finds book/cd/video/dvd/spot on da vinci code waiting list; hangs up phone]
[phone rings again immediately]
(5) Going home in six minutes.
np: work
03-07-04
It is snowing.
So, the going out and doing something idea didn't really pan out, but I did download the new Beta Band single, and while I was waiting for it to download, I was pretty happy. Then I listened to it and it sounded like U2, and that made me sad. But the album artwork makes me happy (i think. i find it humorous, at least)! As did tonight's episode of King of the Hill (because it reminded me of my high school calculus and physics teacher. and also because King of the Hill always makes me happy.). I was a little sad again when I realized that this weekend was the Hamtramck Blowout (and I missed it), but last year we couldn't get into any of the venues anyway, so I was probably better off not driving all the way there just to stand outside of bars for long periods of time. I also drank some expired diet squirt (very expired. i should start checking on that kind of thing before i just go about drinking whatever i find in the cupboard), and it had quite an unusual aftertaste that resembles nothing so much as when you let aspirin dissolve in your mouth.
The point is, I feel better. I still can't think of anything particularly good about my life, but there are a lot of little superficialities that can make me forget that.
note: i spent several minutes pondering over the paragraphing of this entry and then i decided that since this is how it sounds in my head, this is how it's going to look.
np: the Marvelettes-Beechwood 4-5789
03-07-04
I thought the dizzying mood swings were something that would end with legal adulthood.
I'm not trying to sound pitiful or anything, but yesterday I was so depressed that an episode of Frasier almost made me cry (and would have, too, if I hadn't done some lightning-fast work with the remote control).
I feel a little better today, but not so much better that I don't want to spend the day in bed watching Punch-Drunk Love while drinking something warm. I suppose, though, that I should make an effort to go out and do something.
ps: i think that the milk i've been using on my cereal has been sour for the last three or four days, which certainly doesn't help anything.
np: Simon and Garfunkle-The Only Living Boy in New York
03-05-04
Everyone knows it's windy.
Apparently we have a high wind advisory right now, and for a while I sat around at home trying to figure out if this somehow made it impossible for me to go to work (after only one week, I have grown very fond of the barely-working-at-all lifestyle). Eventually I decided that I am pretty sturdy and would probably make it to work, wind advisory or no wind advisory.
And I did make it!
However, the same cannot be said for my hairstyle.
But my hair never looks particularly good, so I'm fairly sure that no one will notice.
np: work
03-05-04
This actually happened yesterday, and I'm still bothered by it, so you know I'm serious.
People who wait for my parking spot really annoy me. Sometimes I try to wait them out. I'll just sit in my car and listen to the radio or pretend to talk on my phone (is it weird that I pretend to have conversations on my cell phone more than I actually talk to people on my cell phone?* nobody to call. boo hoo. etc. i never wanted the stupid thing anyway.). I usually park far away from wherever I want to go just because I can't stand this (and everyone who has ever ridden anywhere with me has complained about the far away parking, which gives me the opportunity to give them my "You should just be happy that you're able to walk" speech. Which is annoying, but it stops people from complaining (presumably not because they are happy to have the ability to walk, but because they don't want to be subjected to the speech again)), but sometimes people will wait for my spot anyway. They'll wait before they even know which car I'm headed toward. They will wait even if there is another open spot two spaces away. I just find it unbelievably irritating.
I forget exactly where I was going with this. I think I had a list of similarly insignificant things that make me very angry, but I can't remember the other things I was going to put on it. I guess the point is that 90% of the tiny little everyday things that the human race does fill me with rage, and sometimes I think that I would be better off living out the rest of my life in a cave somewhere. But where would I plug in my hairdryer?
*actually, there is no need to answer this, as i am sure that it is indeed weird.
np: Silver Jews-Slow Education
03-05-04
I miss the old days when my parents would just tell me what to do.
Pressing issues:
- Should I go see the Walkmen on Saturday?
- I don't have the newest album.
- but I love the first album dearly
- (and "We've Been Had" is one of those songs that I can listen to hundreds and hundreds of consecutive times without ever getting tired of).
- But also, I don't have much money
- and maybe it's sold out, anyway.
- Where should I live next year?
- I feel like I don't really care.
- So far I have considered here (please no), my parents' house (save lots of money; plus, I would probably be more inspired to actually do things related to getting into grad school if I lived there (as of right now, I've done absolutely nothing)), Louisville, KY (I spent less than 24 hours there, but every hour was golden; also, gas was really cheap), Detroit (yay. but i'm tired of se mich. i'm tired of going to shows at the same three places. i'm tired of seeing the same people at every show i go to. and i don't think that i'd want to live alone in detroit.), Cleveland (this was only very briefly considered. but i do i like cities that are beaten down and sad.), and Chicago (it is the obvious midwestern choice).
- When I say that I have considered these places, I really only mean that I've thought about them while staring vacantly into space at work or waiting for traffic lights or driving on the highway.
ps: Cheaper By the Dozen was terrible. I waited and waited and waited for something funny to happen. And please bear in mind that I didn't go into this with very high expectations. I believe my exact words were, ". . .and one or two funny parts, that's really all you can expect out of a movie these days. . ." which was part of an unusually long speech I was delivering on the subject of 'movies these days.' Unusually long because ordinarily I can barely string two words together, and this was, like, a whole paragraph.
np: the Magnetic Fields-When You're Old and Lonely
03-04-04
Radio's on, feeling alright
The Passion of the Christ is causing some turmoil in my extended family. On one hand, it's a movie, and movies are inherently evil. On the other hand, it's about Jesus. We have a family email list (which i am mercifully not included in. my parents forward me things that they think i might be interested in), and I was reading some stuff from it while I was at home. Most of the letters regarding TPotC started with something along the lines of "We don't often go to movies. In fact this is one of the first times we've ever been inside a movie theater, but . . ." and ended with "I cried for the next three days." And everyone thought it was too gory.*
And see, that is one of the major differences between me and the rest of my family (and probably at least part of the reason that I always feel incredibly anxious whenever I am around large groups of them). I go see all kinds of movies, from arty crap to actual crap (I think that we might actually be going to see Cheaper By the Dozen at the cheap theater tonight.). And sometimes I decide to go see movies just because I think they will be excessively gory (movie gore has never bothered me. my roommate will see a tiny drop of blood and nearly pass out.) (on the other hand, though, i was quite horrified while reading the description of the man being skinned alive in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.)
That being said, though, I don't think I'll be going to see it. I don't think that it is a good idea for someone who has as much religious guilt as I do. I somehow managed to cultivate Catholic-esque guilt without actually being Catholic. It would be better if I was Catholic, because they seem to thrive on guilt. As things are, though, I just feel sinful and, well, guilty. I feel guilty about a lot of non-religious things too. I'm just that kind of person.
Moving on, today I was at the record store and they had used copies of every single Silver Jews album ever! It was a little overwhelming, as I couldn't remember which one(s) I already had. I finally decided on American Water, because I was sure the album(s) that I already had didn't have "Smith and Jones Forever" on it (but I did have "Smith and Jones Forever" downloaded on my old laptop which was stolen/mysteriously disappeared). When I got home, I discovered that I only had one of the other ones (Bright Flight), so I might have to go back tomorrow and buy the rest of them. A windfall like this doesn't come along every day.
I also bought The Magnetic Fields Get Lost. Also used. So, yay.
*: also included in the email list was a conversation debating the goodness and evilness of The Lord of the Rings movies. Seriously. The Lord of the Rings. I think everyone needs to relax a little.
np: Silver Jews-Honk If You're Lonely
03-02-04
Next time she can ask for directions from someone who is standing within thirty feet of her.
Today while I was walking to the library, someone asked me if I knew where the library or YMCA were. At first I thought I was imagining it, because she was yelling at me from across three lanes of traffic so I could barely hear her. And also because what are the chances that someone is going to stop me on the street and ask me directions to the exact place that I am going?
Anyway, after I stared at her in bewilderment for a while, I said, "You turn right here and then on William," which, when I think about it, are actually some incredibly bad directions. In my defense, I meant that she should turn right (the direction) at the intersection she was stopped at and then turn right again on William and since there were three lanes of cars between us, I just yelled the very basic-est of directions. Attacking me, though, someone who studied language for four years should be able to come up with more comprehendible directions, even under pressure.
In any case, she went straight at the intersection.
np: work
03-02-04
Cobwebs.
General housecleaning sort of things from the last week that I meant to write before but forgot:
- My mom gave me a Valentine's Day card the other day. The front featured kittens with short legs, and as you may or may not know, I believe that kittens with short legs are the cutest things in the whole world. She didn't sign the card, saying, "This way you can just give it to someone else next year." She also gave me a bag of black and white almond M and M's. I mentioned that they weren't very festive and she shrugged and said, "These ones were cheaper than the red and pink ones." It was the best belated Valentine's Day ever!
- Every time I am waiting for the computer here to dial into the internet I think, "Oh boy! The internet!" And then when it finally connects, I think, "Wait. Why was I going to do on the stupid internet, anyway?" If my cable modem is reading this, don't worry, I am returning to you tomorrow. I love my constant connection because it reminds me that the internet is nothing to be excited about (except when it tells me that I have just sold Grettir's Saga! My Icelandic saga books have been going fast.).
- Don't try to read Haruki Murakami while listening to Neutral Milk Hotel. It's just confusing.
- I hated the orange-flavored toothpaste that I bought, but the cinnamon kind is the best toothpaste-related thing that has ever happened to me. It is like eating a handful of those little round cinnamon candies first thing in the morning and right before I go to bed (you know the ones I'm talking about - they fuse together into a gigantic mass if you leave them out in a candy dish - during the Valentine season they're heart shaped - you know).
- I haven't gotten my hair cut since September. You have probably already jumped to the conclusion that this is because I am too lazy and/or cheap to get it cut, but it is actually because I am growing it out (however, I am only growing it out to circumvent the necessity of a haircut that I am too lazy and cheap to get). But now whenever I think about my hair (you know, those long periods of time when you just sit and imagine what your hair looks like at that moment - you know), it looks like this, without the bangs, so I think it is time for a trim.
- I'm not scheduled to work very many hours this month. This will make my life very mysterious. The mysteries will be things like, "Where will this month's rent money come from?" and "Who will pay the cable bill?" On the other hand, though, I'll have lots of free time. And nothing beats free time (except free time spent with short-legged kittens). (I, however, will probably be spending my time with people who will take plasma out of me and give me money. if i can find my social security card. and actually talk myself into going.)
And, things I am looking forward to:
- the day when Starsky and Hutch arrives at the cheap theater. (owen wilson+ben stiller)/kim=best friends forever! but is still not worth $7.50.
- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists AND Saturday Looks Good to Me at the Magic Stick, March 24. wahey!
- Snow Patrol in Detroit in April. SNOW PATROL! and the thing is, I know that I looked at this page a long time ago and thought, "UK, UK, SXSW, Ireland. Screw this." and then stopped reading.
- other things that i can't remember right now.
np: Weezer-Buddy Holly (yay! party like it's 1995!)
03-01-04
never misguided
Today I went to church with my parents. Their church has several different preachers, and today's was one of the boring ones, so I spent my time there thinking about how much I enjoy it when the Kids in the Hall dress up as women. I rated them (best woman to worst: Dave, Scott, Bruce, Kevin, Mark), but then I realized that thinking about boys in skirts during church is probably one of those things that can send you straight to hell. So after that I thought about cookies.
Anyway. After we ate lunch, we realized that it was sunny and fifty degrees outside! So we did what any sensible people would do.
We went to the beach.
We saw icebergs!
I stood ON the lake! ON it!
As you can probably tell from the extravagant use of exclamation points, a splendid (if slightly muddy) time was had by all. Except for my mom, who fell down when we were sort of near the lighthouse on the right side of this picture. Being the dedicated and thoughtful daughter that I am, I said, "oh no! are you ok?" and then carried on with the task at hand (which was finding something heavy to throw over the side and onto that ice. why? um. to see if it would break. which it wouldn't have, but i wanted to see it. next time i go to the beach i'm bringing several large rocks with me, in case a situation like this ever comes up again).
np: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists-Biomusicology
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