these times, they are a changing

i'm moving back to texas. woohoo! 6 years later...

i've asked for an office transfer. to austin, texas. in september.

wow. should be fun.

really gotta make the most of my last few months up here. operation rock boston will start today!

im a loser. the end.

"ughh.... i wanna get marrieddddddd!"

my roomate and i in unison while watching the opening scene in "you, me and dupree". we are such losers. this might be related to the fact that we went to the draft at 530 to get a late lunch special of $3 burgers and $9 pitchers.

so sad.

but woohoo! its summer.

the end.

i said no, no, no.

a bar i was at last night played amy winehouse's entire "back to
black" from start to finish. we left the second time rehab started
playing. i love that song. i loved that bar not only for their
martinis, but for their music choice. very wise. great lounge music.
:p

so today i've spent a lot of time listening to amy again. ellen thinks
i'm crazy. i know. sometimes i get into things and listen to them far
more than any normal person could stand. good thing i have headphones.

posi thoughts for june

2 weeks ago i was feeling pretty poopy. here i am, just a few days
later and feeling much better. there are a lot of positives floating
around. here are some of my little highlights.

+ ACLfest schedule was announced. i now have 3 months to plan out my
show-hopping, hour by hour.
+ i bought cute shoes on super sale. not only do i like them, but
other people do too!
+ i've made a decision regarding my life come september. now i just
have to tell people.
+ someone put up cups in the fence along cambridge st to read 'you are
beautiful.' it totally made my morning yesterday.
+ going "out" in providence made me realize it maybe wasn't so lame a town.
+ it's really, officially summer. and it's actually pretty out in
boston (for now).
+ i managed to convince myself there is a silver lining to the fact
that i have to work on my birthday-eve, which is a saturday.
+ my mom and bro's visit was really great and helped cement decision
for september.
+ i'm getting over the angst of turning 24. very important since that
age is quickly approaching.

+ i'm trying to do a mini-earth-lent project for a week or two. kinda
like easter lent in that you give something up. but instead of for
your faith it's for the earth. i've given up disposable drinking
containers. obviously it's not a big sacrifice, but in one day i can
go through 3 or 4 paper cups between breakfast, lunch, and tea breaks.
and if i do buy a drink out that involves a plastic or glass or metal
bottle. so no more disposable containers for a while. not so bad at
lunchtime- i always have my water bottle with me, but i do really wish
i'd brought a cup for tea, the a/c is on full blast today and it'd
help to warm up...

focusing on the posi parts of life. it's sunny out and my ankle's not
broken, how can i not be happier?

i'm a baby and i like my mommy

i've been alone for the last two nights. my mommy and baby bro were up for about a week visiting me. it was a slumber party every night. then they left on monday.

when most people talk about their mothers coming to town it's usually accompanied by a grimace or a groan. not me. i love my mommy. she's great and fun and helpful, even her craziness is part of her charm. i was excited to have her visiting. and i enjoyed the time she was here.

same with my bro. he's pretty much one of my most favorite people on the planet and i don't even know why. i usually call him 'baby' instead of his name. this has to do with my attachment to the kid. he's like my baby that i always try to mold and direct. it's even better when he listens. having him hanging around, even if it's just to complain, is still great. baby.

we didn't do much activity-wise while they were here. went to some dinners, arts festival in coolidge corner, shopping on newbury. my favorite part of their visit was just the part where we hung out in my room watching tv and telling jokes.

i love my family.

which brings me to my next thought which is somewhat tangentially related.

today at work my boss brought up the fortune magazine article he read about generation y. he talked about how gen y-ers were needy and overly confident. we tried to prove that gen y was better than gen x. then, the convo ended with my boss telling me that when he read the article he said it described me to a T. needy and overconfident- was he insulting me? should i be offended? he said no...

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/05/28/100033934/

then i read the article. it says other things about gen y-ers besides being needy. the article mentioned the importance of parents in our lives- true. talked about the gen y's generally high expectations in the workplace- yep. "self-absorbed, gregarious, multitasking, loud, optimistic, pierced" i'm not all that, but yeah, some of it for sure.

i'm less offended now. i can accept that. i can agree that i do fit into this stereotype quite a bit. it's true. it's partly how i was raised- my parents, society and the environment. i think another part of the current stereotype is due to my age- i'll admit that i'm immature, ignorant and naive in some ways. it would be ridiculous to say i'm a true adult. i still depend on my parents for advice. and some times i'm probably overly naive in my optimistic view of mankind and various individuals. hopefully these things will pass with time and experience. i can't be a baby forever.

that's my brother's job.

p.s. the spurs won the championship in a 4 game sweep of the cavs. i'm so glad that my mom and disinterested brother were here to watch the game with me. having 2.5 spurs fans in boston was super exciting compared to previous games where it was me yelling at the tv and clapping alone in my bedroom. wooooo!! spurs '07. duncan dynasty fo sho.

the poop continues to flow

casey reyes-jimenez
(1996-2007)

one more time i've hated myself for being thousands of miles from home.

my dog was put to sleep today. my mom called me yesterday afternoon to say he was acting weird and sloppy yesterday and at the vet today they said it was cancer. it would have been lots of pain and lots of money to even try to help him through this. and it might not have even helped.

so today i told my mom to go ahead and let him go while standing on the street trying not to cry in the middle of coolidge corner. i was laying in my bed face down when she called crying to say she, daddy and baby had all said goodbye to my casey. i was on the steps of st.ignatius when i asked my mom to bury him in the backyard by my bedroom window.

i feel horrible. most of casey's life i was living in dallas or boston. when i was home in san antonio i never spent enough time with my ornery, fluffy, little puppy. last month while i was in town my mom mentioned he was acting weird but he had seemed fine when i played with him so i didn't take him to the vet. i don't know, but it might have helped.

i hate being so far away.

icky poop

today's been a poopy day.

first this morning, i was almost in a car accident. people braking too quickly and not quick enough.

then i went to lunch at a seafood place and ate lots of clam strips and fries. 10 minutes later i felt like puking.

got home to work kinda early so rach and i decided to go play basketball at the park. and by "play" i mean have shooting practice. anyways. while i was bending over to pick up the ball once, i stepped on a curb and totally twisted my ankle. sprained it. hopefully no fractures or anything. dunno. it hurts.

dang it.

so poopy.

kel's almost to my house so maybe tonight/this weekend will get better. hopefully. ugh.

(yay spurs!)

its the finals

i love my spurs.

went to dinner at white horse. the pre-game show started while i was there. abc was doing a profile of tim duncan and had a video of him just sitting there. a guy at the next table wondered aloud, 'i wonder what duncan looks like when he's excited..." his friend answered, "that is duncan excited."

yeah. i love him. i love them. also, i love when the camera pans over to david robinson. cos i LOVE david. so much. since i was like 10. i remember being in 5th grade and declaring my love for david robinson.

spurs pride runs deep. it's times like these that i really wish i was home in san antonio. besides my family there's just that city pride that i miss during times like these (aka spurs in the finals). boston during basketball season sux mostly. people here only care about sox. and bruins and pats. no bball love. all they know is larry bird. lame. east coast poopers.

girly note: cavs player pavlovic is hot. and made a hot basket. thats nice. still...

go spurs go. forreal. i originally said spurs take the series 4-2, but i'd rather 4-0 at this point. safer.

also i like how they keep mentioning how the spurs are the winningest sports franchise in the last decade. oh yeah. still no respect. lame-o.

cumpleanos

today is my mommy's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY!!! XOXOXOXOX!!!

she's one year older, wiser and more experienced. she's always got too many more years on me. dang it. mommy's are like that. older/wiser.

i'm sad i'm not with her this year. unfortch. however, she is coming to visit me very very soon. YAY. baby's coming too. he's cute.

momma's birthday today. roomie's birthday on monday. mine is coming up in less than a month. that just hit me today. birthdays = passage of time.

turning 24. which means 25 is a blink away. 24 is so old. (in my teenie kid mind) and 25! that's adult age! where did that come from? so soon?!?! i'm such a baby in so many ways, how can i have accumulated all those years? where'd they go?

*quarter life crisis will now commence*

No Impact Man: Why I make environmental action personal…

“Public opinion polls show a significant increase in the number of Americans who support strong climate action. Deeper digging shows this support is superficial, too thin to drive the rapid sociopolitical change now required…”polar bears make everyone want to be more eco-friendly...



read more | digg story

the debates

watching the republican debates on cnn. they were talking about the bilingual question. i was about to throw something at the television it was making me so mad. we do NOT need to be an english only country. period. muchas gracias.

mccain saved it. i know these are politicians trying to sell themselves to voters. still. after my upset at the other guys, it was marginally better.

blabbers. talkers. politicians.

what does it take to be an american? answer - "cut ties with your past..." are you f-ing kidding me? that is stupid. if everyone who is 'american' cut their ties from the heritage country we'd all be celebrating native american traditions and that's it. ha! like that would've ever happened. no. how many of these white republican candidates regularly celebrate their scottish, english, irish roots? what bad americans. yes. listening to the party line on the 'immigration' issue is so upsetting.

sidenote: mitt romney is a tool. invoking the 'greatness' of reagan from his way too orange-tan face and his gelled hair bobbing around. that whole romney memo about his hair looking 'too nice' to convince voters- yeah, they were right. he looks like a ken doll fo' sho! and he REALLY loves reagan. i feel like mitt read reagan's bio last night and wants to recite all the fun facts he just learned!

should've watched the dem debates. could've ragged on them too. :)

/rant

international superstar

it's only 10:30 am and i've already spoken with people in 5 continents
and 8 countries: australia, india, ireland, uk, us, brazil, argentina,
mexico.

that makes my job kind of cool... sort of. if only i could travel to
allllll of those places. that'd be actually cool.

morning call from my brother:

*ring*ring*

me: hello.
baby: helloooo.
*silence*
me: what are you doing?
baby: i'm walking the bunny.
me: in a harness?
baby: yes, but she keeps slipping out.
*silence*
me: why do you sound so low? are you sad?
baby: kind of.
me: why?
baby: i have to get a haircut...
me: and that's why you're sad?
baby: yes. well, i'm sad and excited.
...

i love that weird little boy.

the fan is really loud

i'm back in boston after my quick visit south of the border.

i really do like mexico city. my last night there i wandered around zona rosa doing some shopping, taking in the sights, and being overwhelmed and eventually lost for a bit.

no worries. i found my way home with the help of my pops who gave directions over the phone. from texas. yeah...

i REALLY want to go back there for vacay and when its not the rainy season. for sure.

back in the bean. it's been toasty warm and i bought a new camera. so taking pictures outside is now even more fun. love it. its big and has super zoom and image stabilization. fun. not really for 'party pics'. more for graffiti and flowers. cos i'm in to that.

after being in mexico for a week and then enjoying a 3 day vacation i am SO not in the mood to return to work tomorrow. like, at all. ugh. work is so blahhh after hanging out for 3 days straight doing nothing. oh well. gotta make the $$ to pay off my credit cards from all this shopping. eek!

spurs playing game 3. 2-1 series. eek! go spurs go!!!

John Mayer @ Comedy Cellar In New York

everyone knows how love him.

cos he's funny. and plays a mean guitar.

soy embarasada (NOT)... i do know what that means...

i'm not embarasada but i am embarrassed. i'm such a loser.

this morning on the way to the office i went to starbucks. got a coffee and fruit cup. only the girl didn't give me a fork. so i was about to leave and was like, oh crap! and for the life of me, i could NOT remember the spanish word for fork.

executive decision time: did i really need that fork and was i willing to ask in spanish? or should i just go up to the office and eat the fruit with my fingers?

fork... fork... spanish? argh.

i decided to ask in english, as embarassing as it was. embarassing cos my last name is mexican and i'm very brown and i'm sure i looked like a loser asking in english.

so i ask one of the coffee dudes, 'can i have a fork please?' too bad he didn't understand english. neither did anyone else behind the bar. i tried to mime eating my fruit. crap, crap, crap. getting more embarassing. i'm now holding up the line. crap. finally some guy in the coffee line was like, "tenedor! ella quiere un tenedor." si, si! that's what i need. so they handed me one. grrreat. GRACIAS!

i then ran out of starbucks and towards the elevators. ugh. i really wish i was fluent. or at least competent. you learn tenedor in like sixth grade spanish. tenedor, cuchara, cuchillo. ugh. so dumb.

also, coming in to the building today, which is the largest office building/tower in latin america, there was a line of police in riot gear. awesome. i wasn't really scared, mostly i was thinking, 'man, i hope they let me in on some other dude's badge i'm using.' i think the fact that i was not scared or worried about a line of armed police in riot gear in front of the building i am entering signals something very wrong about the world we live in. (and the audio for this thought would be 'mad world' by gary jules)

according to the viri, the girl i'm working with, the police are there because there was some threat of a big protest or something. so really, no big. (and i can call her a girl cos she's only 22 and i'm older. wow. i'm so old.)

p.s. THE SPURS WON. YAY! 2-0 against the jazz. i predict a sweep. then, spurs/cavs final with spurs getting a ring after a 4-2 series. what do you think?

ok, that's the end of this morning's mexico city brief.  it says 1245p but its 1145p in d.f.

necesito que practicar mi espanol

so i'm sitting in my hotel room in mexico city, surfing the net on some wifi i found...

all the websites have been acting normal, no big, but then i loaded blogger. and the site is en espanol. nice. cool touch. except, two things are in english, "draft autosaved at..." and "return to list of posts". those two things are in english. wonder if someone forgot to do the make the switch. i should log a sir... (inside joke. inside my head. i'm lame...)

i'm so tired and probably going to sleep soon. even tho its only 930p. little sleep last night. long day sitting in a conference room. i hate sitting in conference rooms.

i do like mexico city though. i'd really like to come here when i dont have to work all day. i want to explore and wander and visit and shop. now i just work, eat, work, sleep. kinda boring. and it's not even so sunny. dangit.

anyways. the public art scene down paseo de la reforma is great. pretty benches and sculptures all the way down. i like walking to work, even in heels. the honking reminds me of boston but the whistles from the police directing traffic reminds me i'm in mexico.

i really wish i spoke fluent spanish. then i'd definitely be able to explore so much more. maybe next time...

note: i actually did find the spurs/jazz game on television here. the commentators speaking spanish are not as excited about commentating. maybe they wish it was futbol... whatevs, spurs are winning. woohoo. vaya spurs vaya! (is that how you'd say go spurs go! in spanish?) eh. sleep time.

poooooop!

i'm supposed to have landed in sao paulo about 2 minutes ago. instead my boss just called me and woke me up in a hotel room in DC.

i hate united airlines.

i was supposed to fly a single flight from boston to dc then on to sao paulo. same flight number. flight in boston was delayed 1.5 hours. then we land in dc and there's no one there to open the door. they'd gone home for the night. so we were stuck in the hot airplane for an extra 15 minutes. during this time my flight to brazil departed. so did everyone else's connection.

i got to a hotel around 1am and found no one at the front desk. awesome. i yelled down a hallway and finally knocked on a random locked door and this old guy came out and checked me in.

ugh.

now its a dumb idea to fly down to brazil for 12 hours. so i might go to mexico city or nothing. poop.

and the worst part is that yesterday afternoon i totally expected something annoying like this to happen. and yet when it did get ugly, i was still annoyed/surprised at my horrid luck. ugh.

i blame united airlines. poopers.

Castle for Salein Western Mass

my dad and i took a peek from the gate of this castle last september. it's really cool and random in the middle of this quaint little town in western mass. interesting...



read more | digg story

greys anatomy

i'm such a greys junkie. it's lame, i know, whatevs. i hate meredith but all the mcDoctors are so cute. and karev.

i missed the last two weeks and have watched them online yesterday and today. this last one was great, particularly because it featured songs from both amy winehouse AND paolo nutini. i love them. really.

ok. enough online tv for one night.


also. has everyone seen the tonyparker/jared subway commercial? it's so whack. and yet i'm so proud. cos the san antonio spurs neverrrr get national commericals. cos they're sooo un-dynamic and not cool. the whole lot of them. tim duncan is a sick baller, but no onscreen presence. really. i think that's why he's not as famous as michael jordan. definitely. the only reason. obviously. :p

last thing. i am SO excited that rob&big is coming back to mtv. that show cracks me up. and now there's going to be a pony?!?! omigosh, yay!

beanie weenie

back from texas.

flew in to san antonio friday morning. after what-a-burger i logged on and did work. then the first of 3 lyssie events.

bbq at my cousin's house. it was so nice, and yum with food from rudy's. my cousins alec and luc played guitar for alyssa and alec said some stuf. and told bad jokes. my favorite line: people all around the world love cash, but here in texas, we love johnny cash. it had not much to do with anything besides the fact that we were in fact in texas, but still funny and so alec-y.

it was great seeing all my cousins and aunts and uncles i hadn't seen in ages. a mini-family reunion. the addition of 6 kent-kids running around definitely made things livelier.

saturday morning was a b-fast back at the kents, then ma and i ran some errands and went to fetch the boy from austin. i love my brother and his crazy clothes and his crazier hair. really.

made a slightly late entrance to the final lyssa party but did get to see a great slide show of my baby cousing growing up. and i got to laugh at david getting dragged around the room by my gram, earning his place as #1 grandkid.

home to pass out, wake up early, b-fast with ma, pa, gram and baby before heading to the airport and flying back to the bean.

it was a quick and hectic trip but i'm definitely glad i was able to go down. i got to see my lovely family and celebrate alyssa's graduation. and soak up a little more texas sun and love. and even though i didn't get to watch the spurs beat the suns, but knowing i was in the same city as the victory was still good.

so in conclusion, yay family and go spurs go!

banksy tattoo

its just weird. like 8 people in the last day or so have come to this site b/c of google searches for banksy tattoos. i wonder what they were looking for. i wonder if they had tattoos, read an article about banksy, or what... they were linked in cos of that post i wrote a while back of the girl w/ heart stencil that i want. i realllllly do want that. on my skin.

ha. my fam would kill me.

also makes me wonder who out there in the world actually reads these ramblings. i know like 3 or 4 ppl who read semi-regularly. but i also know there are some rando's i havent identified that also come in regularly. i assume i know them... maybe. dunno. whatevers.

anyways.

we got to leave work at 330p today to go to the bar to drink beers. it was kind of awkward but very sunny and warm. good times.

tomorrow i'm going to the brazilians consulate to apply for a visa.
i leave for san antonio on friday morning.
family time all weekend.
back to bean/work on sunday.
kiss concert next saturday.
fly to sao paulo on sunday.
rock latin america thru next saturday.
fly back to beantown the next next sunday.
memorial day holiday (on the cape?)

and then it's june. whoa. june-july(i.turn.24)-aug-then MOVE time. weird. so close. eek. i'm freaked out more than a little, yeah.

the end.

GO SPURS GO. game 2 tonight. tho i love the suns. i LOVELOVELOVE my spurs. of course.

the end end.

oh yeah, i love flickr. end end end. stop.

Dept. of Popular Culture: Banksy Was Here- The New Yorker

new yorker mag has a profile of banksy, one of my heroes...



read more | digg story

Slide Show: In Plain Sight- Banksy: The New Yorker

In the Innovators Issue, Lauren Collins writes about Banksy, the invisible man of graffiti art. Here is a portfolio of his work, including an exclusive image that he e-mailed to Collins, as described at the end of her article.



read more | digg story

may is going to be busy

things i have to look forward to, in date order:

3- red sox vs. mariners game in fenway
5- cinco de mayo cookout, oscar/mayweather fight
11- fly to san antonio
12- alyssa's big grad party
19 - kiss concert feat. gym class heroes and some other ppl
21 - mexico city
23 - sao paolo
26 to 28 - memorial weekend

also- spurs charging thru the playoffs (knock on wood!)

awesome. i'm happy!

ahem. my current feelings:

one of my hobbies

i love to look at graffiti (in case u haven't noticed). it's kind of the most consistent and long-lasting hobby/interest i've ever had. blogging is probably a close second or third.

most people i know, particularly close friends and family, are aware of my love of street art. i periodically have tags and stencils as my desktop wallpaper at work. i take pictures of random graffiti i find while walking to lunch with my roommates. i even spent an evening showing my grandma banksy pictures in a book... and she was interested. getting other people interested or even understanding and less offended by graffiti is enjoyable for me. i also think it makes people be more appreciative and aware of their surroundings. noticing street art makes you look up to see the highest roof edges and low to the bottoms of streetlights which in turn just makes you LOOK. which is huge sometimes...

so while home in san antonio last week, my dad took me around to visit a couple of areas he'd spotted in his travels that he thought i'd be interested in. from a bridge underpass to a huge warehouse on the side of some railroad tracks, and a jogging path in the park- they were all great. after posting some pictures, getting feedback and doing a bit of googling i found out that two of them were "clogged caps" locations. huge organized graffiti showcases. i remember reading about the clogged caps 3 movie a few years ago, probably in the san antonio current, and i was annoyed that i missed the showings they had. so while i still havent seen the movie, i'm glad i got to visit two sites in one day. and i'm glad events like clogged caps exist. (and also makes me think more opportunities like this would cause less need for stringent and annoying graf laws like what they're pushing for in SA right now.) i would love to attend one of these next time around. really. it'd be awesome and so smelly.

here's an article i found about the event last year, for your education and my history: http://www.austinundergroundfilm.com/2006/08/12/clogged-caps-5-aerosol-art-fest/

-- on a different note --

show i love: workout. i started watching it with my mom last summer. last saturday on the plane i watched like 3 hours worth. (oh jetblue and bravo marathons!) brian, one of the trainers, is adorable. he's so country-cute and jock-y. even if he is balding- love it. none of the trainers at my gym are as country as him. if they were, i might go more often. :p

argh

even though i got compliments on it...

my haircut i got last week still feels mullet-like. mostly when i touch my own hair. i guesssss it doesn't really look like a mullet. it just feeeeeels that way. i'm weird. i know.

i'm ok with that.

it's playoff season, kids

spurs are in it. about to start game 4 (up 2-1) in denver. i love my spurs.

tony parker is so hott. i hate that i still think this, but there's no denying it. i love tp.

and charles barkley on tnt. this is also a big reason for me loving basketball on tv. he cracks me up. i wish steve kerr was here with him. oh steve.

oh yeah, that timmy guy. he's got game. HA. timmy. please squash melo yellow and yank on one of iverson's tight tight braids. thanks.

wouldn't it be so cute if iverson and carmelo came out with matching braids for game five? all the spurs are shaved or cropped close. i wonder if popovich makes them do that...

ok, watching the game now.

sanantonio

been in south texas since friday afternoon.

 

i've already done mini graffiti tours in san antonio and austin, spoken to two teenage boys about their sweet rides, been poked prodded and hugged by at least 20 little old ladies (lol's) and danced the boot scootin' boogie with about 20 of my cousins.

 

time well spent with my ma, pa, bro and grams. i love them and this place. i really am ready to come back. forrealz.

 

this afternoon, after some pizza and mexican coke, my dad dropped me off at my mom's elementary. they kids were making little fiesta floats out of shoeboxes. i loved doing that when i was in school. then we went out to play in the toasty sun. after a water break and snack one of the kids asked if they could listen to john mayer (he asked in spanish) and all the other kids cheered. yes, these little kiddies love the j.may. i love that.

happy

happy cos i'll be in texas in two days with my family. it'll be warm there too. and i won't have to do work for a week.

it's fiesta week and there's tons of stuff going on. a luncheon, a wedding, and a baby shower. parades and festivals. hiking trips, movie dates and graffiti explorations.

i lived in san antonio for 16 years. then on and off for the last 8. (even though i've been working in boston the last two i still consider myself only here part-time.) every trip home is great and especially now, i haven't been home since x-mas- almost 4 months- it's like a big re-connection for me.
i need to charge up my 'hometown' batteries. climb a giant hill with daddy and just cuddle with mommy. pinch baby david. get full of shrimp fajitas and whataburgers and cherry limeades. it will all be good for the soul, ya know. it'll help me get over the grey slump of current life and get more pumped for spring in boston.

i'm so happy. feel like singing a pat green song.

(i feel happy like this only when i stop watching the news and don't troll the internet for the latest updates. still. the latest news today has me sad about the families of the dead, sympathetic to all the vtech kids, worried about all the outcasts at american college, and horrified by the number of people killed in iraq.)

manic monday

this morning i woke up to more rain showers, as was expected.

drove to work and spent the day obsessively reading news reports on the tragedy at virginia tech. i have this weird addiction to newsfeeds, particularly when something horrible happens.

this really was horrible. the first report with one dead and 7 shot, from the morning, was sad enough. being out of college for only 2 years, this setting and location is so close to what i know. the reality of it makes it scarier.

today is ending with 33 people dead including the gunman. the biggest mass shooting in us history. completely tragic.

when reading the same news report for the third or fourth time today, it hit me though- 33 people died, not a small number at all. but compared to the number dying everysingleday in iraq and elsewhere in the world its only a small sample. those people in the middle east were also just going about there business - schools, cafes, parliament- when they get killed by bombs and guns and suicide attacks. nyt reports that 34 people died in baghdad on sunday. thats one city and one day alone. these things happen everyday.

i think the repetitiveness and frequency of foreign casualties has caused me to not notice as much. i see the headlines everyday, but they never stick out. it's nothing "out of the ordinary", per se. i grew up with outkast singing 'bombs over baghdad' and for much of my life its just song lyrics and stories from far away. then things like this happen. peoples faces that could be pulled from any street in america and classic college campus scenes i recognize being shown with armed men racing across and injured people being carried away somehow help me to grasp the horrors overseas much clearer. 33 american college students and faculty, people just like me, died today. but also those 34 people that died in iraq on sunday were also like me, because they were human. every death is horrible and tragic. it's ridiculous that it takes events like today to remind me of the relative tragedy near and far every day. reminds me that i am just an ignorant kid living in the american bubble even though i try not to be. i'll just have to have to work harder. can't keep waiting on the world to change.

freaky sunday

spent all day in the house cos it's rainy and cold out. horrid boston. oh well. texas in 5 days. woohoo.

i am now fully caught up on 'black donnelly's', which they were showing on nbc, but now may or may not be cancelled. i hope not. i really like it.

turned on the tele and found 'day after tomorrow' playing on fx. i remember watching this movie the day before heading to nyc senior year. and at that time the ground was coated in snow and i freaked out anna by telling her, what if that happens when we're in nyc!?!?! what if we get stuck in the public library?!?!

now its a rainy rainy day just like the start of the movie, before the blizzard hits the east coast. movies like this are scarier when your surroundings are similar to those in the a 'scary' movie. it's so farfetched and so feasible at the same time. freaky.

favorite parts of the movie:
americans fleeing into mexico
the librarians freaking out about book burning
librarians arguing about which books to burn
every scene with jake gyllenhaal

tried to make me go to rehab

i said no no no.

i heard amy winehouse's rehab song on the radio twice today. once on the drive in to work and once on the way home. both times on fnx. both times it was the first song i heard when switching from cd to radio. and both times i had just been listening to amy winehouse's cd back to black which i am in love with.

i'm glad she's getting played cos i love it and now when i hum/sing the song to myself people will not think i'm an alcoholic or crazy. at least not totally. no more than amy winehouse

whatever.

i might go to her concert on my own next month. i think it'd be good for me to be able to attend a concert on my own. we'll see.

chocolate bubble yum?

from mcsweeney's reviews of new food, http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/newfood/#BubbleYumHersheysGenuineChocolateFlavor:

Bubble Yum:
Hershey's Genuine Chocolate Flavor

Submitted by Angela Colford

I didn't expect chocolate-flavored bubblegum to taste good. I knew better than that. I wasn't surprised by the sensation of eating a never-ending Tootsie Roll. I was only slightly alarmed by the odd shininess that the gum acquired after a few minutes of chewing. I was even prepared for the cocoa-powder-meets-inner-tube texture. The only thing about this chewing experience that seemed extraordinary to me was that, though the flavor's brand was purported to be Hershey's, the chocolate flavor waxing my tongue was oddly Nestlé-esque. Also, it cost 95 cents for a five-piece pack, which is just too expensive for something so fucking gross.

i love chocolate. but of course, one must expect this to be disGUSting. so reading this at 5pm on a friday afternoon is funny.

it's super grey and rainy out

i do wish i really did have a secret boyfriend. that would be fun.

(probably only my roomates will think that is funny.)

(i'm lame.)

btw, listening to chester french and brendan benson and loving these dudes. i like finding things on my computer that i dl ages ago...

haha... um.

these are definitely not all true for me, maybe i'm too young... still, i 'get' the jokes so they're funny none-the-less.

You Know You're From San Antonio When...

• You lost your virginity at mission drive-in
• You know exactly how to get to the "Ghost Tracks" from anywhere in town.
• You think "pro-choice" means flour or corn tortillas.
• You've never been to the Alamo.
• You think a health drink is a Margarita without salt.
• You think being able to read the Taco Cabana menu makes you bilingual.
• You used to live in a neighborhood you wouldn't even drive through now.
• There has been a road crew on your street since before the Alamodome was built.
• You remember when Crossroads Mall used to be called Wonderland.
• You've been to Midget Mansion.
• You know all about the "Dancing Diablo" and the "Donkey Lady" bridge.
• You know that Wheatley and Brackenridge is the same school.
• You remember the Captain Gus show.
• Your subwoofer has twice the value of your car.
• You have three rodeo outfits but never have been on a horse
• You're an expert with the brake pedal, but you have no idea what a blinker is.
• Your idea of culture is wearing a Hard Rock T-shirt.
• You think the last supper was at Mi Tierra restaurant.
• You do your grocery shopping at a flea market.
• You think local politicians are crooks, but you still do not vote.
• You have a "Selena Lives" bumper sticker on your car.
• You care if San Antonio is in the "national spotlight".
• A formal occasion is getting a glass with your longneck.
• You believe Tacos, barbecue, tequilla, and beer are the four basic food groups.
• You rented Pulp Fiction to escape the everyday violence of the city.
• You think wearing bows in your hair will get you a husband.
• Your White mother learned how to make Tamales & Menudo from your neighbors.
• You know the "real" definition of FIESTA is "stay home if at all possible".
• You have ordered Mexican food at a Chinese restaurant.
• You had breakfast tacos at Taco Cabana on Christmas morning.
• You remember the Joske's Christmas display.
• You remember when JC Penney's had a restaurant.
• You remember hamburgers from Whopper Burger.
• You're elementary field trip was to the Butter Crust Bakery.
• You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from San Antonio.

happy

easter.

went to church. missed the fam. played wii. took a nap. cut the cheese. HAHAHA!

went to catherine's. played boccie. prayed silently. pigged out. played more boccie. ate three kinds of pie. felt fat. played with cute puppies.

had a good time.

happy rising to one and all.

eastertide

tomorrow's easter. pretty much the most important holiday for christians. the resurrection is core to our faith and tomorrow's celebration of jesus rising from the dead his ascension into heaven makes our holy trinity complete.

(does it seem weird that i wander from talking about snow and concerts on previous posts into a sudden religious rant? trust me. this one's more important to who i am.)

tomorrow i plan on going to an early mass and then in the evening going over to a friend's house for easter dinner. at this easter there may be 2 or 3 or even 4 christians. then some jews, agnostics and atheists thrown in to the mix. kind of different from what i'm used to.

it's weird this year. it's the first time i haven't been able to go home for easter. and the first time i really feel 'out in the world' so to speak. at home in san antonio, a big percentage of people are christian. same for tams. and bc, obviously, a catholic school. even last year i had one catholic roommate. i've always sort of been surrounded by people with beliefs similar to my own.

now i live in a house where i'm the only christian. and it's not like i'm a catholic fanatic. i'm not even a very good, by-the-book type catholic. but i do have beliefs and faith and an allegiance to the catholic church. yet now i'm the odd man out it seems, at work and at home and with friends. kind of a different place for me. it's awkward having people make derogatory comments about things i believe in, my faith. and i know they aren't saying these things as personal attacks on me and they might not even see them as derogatory. they really just don't understand, don't believe, or don't agree with things i have strong faith in.

and it's uncomfortable cos i don't like to just listen to these things without arguing back, defending and explaining my position and faith. also i don't really believe 'defending' my faith should ever be neccessary. i think people believe or they don't, i shouldn't have to convince them to agree with something i find so definite and true, just hope that they find it on their own. and besides, i feel like most times they don't want to hear the other side and it can really turn a social situation awkward by talking about my belief in the resurrection and why easter is so important and so real and how the communion at church really is the body of christ, without sounding like a lunatic or a cannibal. so instead now i just keep quiet, roll my eyes, or leave the room. i don't want to 'convert' all these people to my side of things. and i don't want to live in a world where everyone believes the exact same thing. i appreciate the diversity of life and the people around me.

just sometimes, i like being in a place where i don't feel defensive about my faith. i know it's good to question things so as to learn more and grow. but sometimes i like to sit and be enveloped in common faith. at bc and home it was great because if i didn't feel like being questioned or pushed, there are always people who are more knowledgeable and more faithful right next to me, able to help out and 'show the way.' i feel like in my immediate life situation, locally more than emotionally, i am the person with the strongest faith. and it's a heavy burden. i guess that's what they're always talking about in the bible tho. bearing that mark of faith is a challenge and it/i will only come out stronger.

/end rant

so yes. tomorrow church and food and friends but no family which sucks.

BUT.

in two weeks i will be home in dear south texas. it's spring and fiesta in san antonio. i really hope the bluebonnets will still be out. i'm so excited to spend time with my parents and baby brother. i want to go to oysterbake, a parade or two, and niosa. i want to eat bean and cheese tacos and shrimp fajitas and all the paletas i can find. i plan on hiking and shopping and walking and just sitting with people i love in the sun or in the a/c. a late spring break to spend some time with the fam. SO excited, i can't wait. 13 more days. :)

why i need to move, reason #89734

it is april 4 and it is snowing in boston.

it's 80 at home in south texas.

just sayin'. there are differences. and who would actually pick to have soggy, slushy snow in april? after 6 years, its ENOUGH!

i thought of a new way to judge when it is finally decent weather - i won't have to wear sweatpants and a hoodie to bed anymore. yeah, that'd be great...

yizzooo

have a wii controller and a tennis racket. now i can play wii and real tennis. how exciting. if only i had the energy/sun. sometime soon.

ncaa championship tonight. i didn't even complete a pool and none of the teams i like are even in it. i pick florida. just cos. we'll seek.

working downtown has pluses and minuses. today the plus was yummy food and the minus was ouchy feet. we'll see what tomorrow brings...

the queens just a pawn with a bunch of fancy moves... yay! gym class heroes in may!! so excited.

easter on sunday. sad i won't be with the fam. sucks. hope we have a good one here...

south by sad west

ugh. i'm so sad i missed sxsw (as usual). it just seems like everything i read/listen to is a big flag saying, I WAS IN AUSTIN LAST WEEK-WHERE WERE U? poop. i am obsessed of late w/ paolo nutini, amy winehouse, mxpx, gym class heroes... and all of them were where. oh yeah. austin. poop.

bloggers and radiostations and my mean roomate all keep reminding me of what i missed. dang it.

big resolution for march 2008: I WILL BE AT SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST AND IT WILL BE AWESOME. ellen's coming too.

watch me hate every band there. wouldn't that just be my luck?!?
no
that's impossible. there's so many. i have to love a few. or all of them.

ugh.
anyways.
the spoon concert at mfa is sold out. dangit. and i even had rishabh willing to go with. how depressing. i need to find another show for us to go to. and i'm missing fountains of wayne where ellen and i would sing along to sink to the bottom and then i would glower with arms folded during stacy's mom. that song is whack. like ur mom. HAHAHA. i've been at work too long.

jenny, don't be hasty. no, don't treat me like a baby. i love this kid. jenny you are crazy. first i'm perfect now i'm lazy.

also i'm obsessed with 'mind the buzzcocks'. it was on the allfg top10 or something so i checked it out and now i'm addicted and watch like two eps everynight. not every episode is awesome, but on the whole they are v. entertaining and have made me laugh out loud more than once. and for some reason, addicting. i usually hate quiz shows and vh1style dumbness. but this is great.

by the way

i uploaded all my pictures from my trip.

you can find the abridged version in facebook.

a few more in flickr, where i've added ge0-tags and such: http://flickr.com/photos/florajasmine

and a full set is up on my picasa albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/florarj/UKSpringBreak2007

i spend too much time on the internet. yes.

also, music i found over there due to store soundtracks, museum lists and magazine reviews: klaxons, little man tate, and paolo nutini. recently discovered they're playing paolo on us mtv cos i just saw him the other morning before work. i downloaded all those guys and b/c i couldnt find my new teenyboppermusic, gym class heroes, anywhere i went out and bought a cd at the store! after a first listen, i decided, me gusta.

argh

annoyed.

i thought i finished up with this crap in college. ugh.

things i did/saw/ate while in UK

i walked around a TON and hit a million tube stations. tried to cover as much as possible in the week i had. did a lot i think.

check out my list:

edinburgh castle
palace of holyroodhouse
royal mile
sausage and mash at monster mash
calton hill w/ national monument and view of arthur's seat
princes st
george st
national portrait gallery
royal museum of scotland- leonardo, donatello, raphael (real life tmnt)
miniature livestock, highland cattle (on the internet)
scottish parliament
victoria & albert museum
kylie minogue exhibit
tate modern
jacket potato w/ chicken salad and cheese
walk across the millenium bridge
walk along the banks of the thames
boys in tight pants and keds
wicked in the west end
soho
portobello road
buckingham palace
changing of the guard parade
hyde park
green park
st.patty's day parade
westminster
big ben
st. paul's
v. cool punks with creative mohawks
dinner at epicurean lounge
house of parliament
london city hall
girls with flat, pointy 80s boots
walk across the tower bridge
tower of london
london bridge
guy that looked like hannibal
globe theatre
egyptian room at harrods
lunch at lazy daisy cafe
portobello market
cupcake from hummingbird bakery
shopping everywhere
oxford st
bond st
topshop
marks & spencer
harvey nichols
movie in leicester sq
cricket on tv at the bar ALL the time
picadilly
covent garden
kensal green
all of terminal 3 at heathrow

woohoo

i've got my wheels back. get excited. it looks like a brand new car except for the right side where i scratched up the door. yeah. the didn't fix that, understandably. otherwise. purty and shiny.

time to sell.

blip blip blip boom

so, my uk trip was totally awesome up until about 1130a this morning.

edinburgh was fun with anna/ wandering on my own. i saw all the highlights from the castle to the palace and everything in between. i took pics of ppl and graffiti (there wasn't much) and a pub called 'white horse'. aww.

then at and i made our way on the train down to london. it was a sleepy but pretty trip. our days in london were sunny and relatively warm. it was great. we saw buckingham palace, trafalgar square, westminster abbey, and big ben. more than a few times we had to 'step in to the map' just like joey did on their friends trip to london. we also got to catch 'wicked' in the west end though tix to history boys were way out of my vacay price range. the wicked witch had an amazing voice and the cute boy from coyote ugly was in it. so yeah, anna and i had a good time and have tons of pictures with our big heads and tiny landmarks in the background. i'll put them up when i get back to the states.

anna left me on saturday night but it wasn't as lonely as i'd expected it to be. after wandering around leicester sq, catching a movie (good german- eh) and watching the drunks in covent garden i went back to the good old london bridge tube station. i made friends with my new hostel roomates and we got drinks at the hostel bar which is constantly smoky and filled with cricket fans. so yeah, a good time. on sunday i went to mass in st. paul's and then caught a bit of the st. patty's parade along hyde park. i did more touristy wandering and then eventually made it back to the hostel to crash. after a chat w/ the roomates we all passed out into afternoon naps. one of my roomates said she always took them (v. cool obvs, like me) and called them 'granny naps'. thought that was funny. back to the bar again and had a sunday roast that was pretty ick (bar food, what did i expect) but still a good time and lots of magners.

i got up this morning with big plans to stow my luggage, hit london and tower bridges and then make my way back to the hostel to pick up luggage and run to the airport. only after walking past london bridge and across the tower bridge i got lost looking for a tube station. i shouldve gotten on at tower bridge station but i didnt. anyways, finally made it back to the hostel and then no one could find the key to where my luggage was locked up. great. that took up more time. i got my luggage down the tube escalators and ran to catch a waiting train on the platform. only this train ended up having some sort of 'medical emergency'- i think someone was having a heart attack, and the ambulance took more than 15 min to get there. by this time i had 2.5 hrs before my plane left so i went up the escalators to take a different train/route to the airport. of course 10 million other ppl had the same idea so that platform was crammed with people and i didn't get on til a second train came through. eventually i got on the right train headed to the airport but by that point i knew it was a lost cause, there was no way i could make it as there was less than 2 hrs before my plane left. i got to the virgin queue about 45 min before my plane actually took off which was at least 15 min too late. poop.

no other boston flights avail so i had to choose between flying to nyc and figuring something out there or waiting a day and taking the tues morning flight out. i went for tuesday. tres annoying but less annoying then trying to find a way out of nyc it seems.

when i left heathrow to return to the city it was snowing. i had to find an internet cafe to book a room so i did that and then wandered around oxford street for a while. then when i was ready to get a tube out to my hostel the entire station was blocked up for some reason. and it was snowing/raining. so i wandered around more shops, drank tea and read a book, and then made it out to the edge of london to this new hostel. its cheaper/older than the other one we stayed in. this one reminds me of the old wing of tams dorms. funny.

i was going to try and upload pictures now but my camera wont connect so instead i've done this long long post. i'm pooped and probably heading to bed soon. flight is tomorrow at 3p but i'll definitely leave SUPER early this time. no more close calls, unfortunate events, etc. i AM flying back to boston tomorrow. cos london's been great, up until today, but now it's just really really gross and cold and i want to sleep in my own bed. yes.

from the 'burgh

... edinburgh.

got in yesterday. after a overnight flight from boston to heathrow. then customs and a treck through heathrow. then a flight to edinburgh's airport. then a busride to at's place. a very long trip, but not the worst.

now i'm here. safely w/ all my baggage. good.

anna picked me up and we rode a double decker bus w/ plaid seats to her place in the city. after lunch at a little coffeeshop nearby we went up a little bluff to see some landmarks, climb walls, and almost get blown off the hill by the wind. scotland sure is windy! then we came to her place and i passed out to nap while she did a little school work.

last night we met anna's boy for dinner. then some of her friends for coffee a little later. one of her friends is from the same town as a one of my friends from tams. funny. everyone's been nice. :) anna knows cool kids. (obvs, she does like me, right.) walking around edinburgh is totally useful. the stuff is all pretty near and though street names change frequently its easy to tell direction by landmarks and such.

last night i passed out dead asleep (i was pooped) but this morning i was able to wander along the royal mile w/o getting lost or mugged and saw lots of cool/old/new things. and took pictures. anna worked on her paper. grad school, pshh. having to write papers again might be a bit annoying...

now anna's in class and i'm going to take another nap. just a short one! maybe wander around a bit... we'll see.

dish w/o deets

quick update.

• bought some silver t-strap shoes. and play-doh.
• sunset last night, love it. dirty ho's all around.
• ellen got a wii. i love wii tennis. and boxing. not golf.
• i like watching other ppl play on the wii. its almost as fun as playing yourself. we've spent most of the day in the living room trying the thing out. activity day at hotel columbia!
• sushi for din.
• acn prom tonight at top of the hub. i'm dressing up and brushing my hair. craziness.
• daylight savings update tonight. spring forward.
• i have to wake up at 7/8 am for work.
• i fly to london at 7:30p tomorrow night.
• arrive in edinburgh at noon on monday.
• annatudor and i get to play together for a week! fun. :) yay for vacay!

lyrics

i think its funny when you're in a certain mood and you hear a song you've heard 10,000 times before. but cos of your mood/situation some of the lyrics just jump out at you, like WHAM. and you're like dude, that's TOTALLY how i feel. even if the song has nothing to do with your situation. i'm projecting. in this case its a girl mark's singing about while i'm thinking about a work thing. hmm... anyways...

why am i still hanging around
when i know it brings me down,  
i'm hating everything

oh mark. this josie chick is important. blink182 always and forever. love it.

this made me laugh

a few of my favorites, taken from a facebook group... 'you know you're from texas when...":

• You measure distance in minutes.
• You say “Yes, ma’am” and “Yes, sir” to your own parents.
• Directions include "down yonder".
• There is a Dairy Queen in every town with a population of 1000 or more.
• You discover that you can get a sunburn through your car window.
• You listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit.
• School gets canceled for 1/2 an inch of snow, your "snowmen" are less than 2 feet tall, and a majority of it is sand and leaves
• You know that roadrunners don’t say Beep Beep.
• You know the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
• Hot water comes out of both taps.
• You realize asphalt has a liquid state.
• You carry jumper cables in your car ... for your OWN car.
• You have known someone who has had one belt buckle bigger than your fist.
• You know what "cow tipping" and "snipe hunting" is – and you know better than to go “snipe hunting”.
• School is cancelled for Stock Show/Rodeo.
• You have 5 pairs of boots and they all serve different purposes.
1) Work boots
2) Rodeo boots
3) Dress boots
4) Casual boots
5) Huntin’ boots
• You attend a formal event in your best clothes, your finest jewelry and your cowboy boots.
• You shop at HEB.
• You can wear a T-Shirt one day and the temperature drop 50 degrees with ice on the ground by the next morning.
• You can drive all day and not leave the state.
• When it rains, everyone is smiling.
• The Pastor wears boots.
• Four generations of the same family sit together in worship.
• You see more Texan flags than American flags.
• You know someone who ate the 72 oz steak and got it for free.
• You prefer Whataburger to McDonalds.
• You're disappointed when a food doesn't come in spicy flavor.
• You can tell a rock from an armadillo at 300 yards.
• You know people with black cars and/or leather seats are just asking for it.
• You know what Lone Star Beer is.
• Your idea of the perfect summer involves floating along in the sweltering hot July sun while your butt freezes in the cold Guadalupe for 8 hours straight!
• 45 minutes to work is the average... on a good day.
• Texas has two political leanings: Conservative and Austin
• On any given day, there's something someone's allergic to somewhere in the air.
• You know that that plural of “y’all” is “all y’all”.
• Yes, it is possible for it to be 3 A.M., 85º and 95% humidity. And then there's Houston...
• There are days when your towels won't dry.
• We have four geographical regions; how many do you have?
• It's called a bluebonnet. Leave it alone.
• Let's get this straight; it's called a "gravel road." Your Lexus WILL get dirty.
• You drive a pickup truck because you want to.
• You know 4 seasons - summer, hot summer, scorching hot summer and Deer Season.
• You go to the gas station and there is a sign in the window that reads, “No Shoes, No Shirt, No Service!”
• You have used/heard the term “booze cruise” when bored on a Saturday night.
• So every person in every pickup waves. It's called being friendly. Try to understand the concept.
• A Mexican restaurant can be judged by its salsa.
• Yes, by "Mexican", we mean "Tex-Mex" -- the only version that counts.u
• you ask for ice tea, and they automatically bring sweet tea
• you remember the last time it snowed in texas right down to the day, hour, min etc
• People can name more Texas cities then capitals of other states
• you know your from Texas when you can dip, drink a beer, and eat bbq all at the same time
• by the time that you are 7 years old... you have most likely driven a tractor by yourself
• when you truly believe Texas could be its own country!
• you don't like people from oklahoma


JUST TO NOTE:
It's a common misconception that everything is twice as big in Texas, really, everything is 1.965 times bigger, but we round up.
It's a common misconception that we have killer bees, fire ants, gigantic roaches and mosquitoes and other awful insects, tornadoes, hurricanes, and damaging hailstorms. We tend to think of them as a few bitty bugs and a bad hair day.
It's a common misconception that everyone speaks with a Texas draw. Y'all just don't know what y'all are talkin' about.


Finally, you are 100% Texan if you have ever heard this conversation:
“You wanna coke?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind?”
“Dr. Pepper.”

up and at 'em

since i went to sleep at 7p last night, i was wide awake at 730am this morn. i always plan on getting up early on saturday to take pictures, so today i finally did it.

it was pretty mild out this morn and early enough that not too many people were out. i definitely got to see some cool stuff and take my time looking around.

while in an alley taking this awesome headshot, a guy stopped to watch me and then talk. he said he was friends with some artist and talked about a recent graffiti show called 'freight' at the store right around the corner. i had read about it somewhere, and now i'm mad i didn't check it out. it was a bunch of miniature trains painted up w/ graffiti. man. anyways, this guy was drunk (at 8am) and asked if i wanted to grab a drink w/ him at wonderbar right then. 'cos he owned the place.' sketch. it was a funny convo and i would legitimately like to talk to him, since he did know stuff/people, but not an 8am drink. no thanks.

so yeah. productive morning. then i got breakfast at mickey d's and came home to pick up the dog and take him for a walk. yosh. always entertaining.

next time i want to take a trip down to the train yards to take pictures. only i'm afraid of hobos and um, train-yard people. i might need to take someone along with me for that one...

oh the places I will go

countries i would like to visit in the next five years (listed in no particular order):

1. mexico
2. ireland
3. egypt
4. england
5. scotland
6. france
7. spain
8. italy
9. costa rica
10. argentina
11. brazil
12. japan
13. china
14. australia
15. new zealand
16. greece
17. turkey
18. south africa
19. kenya
20. switzerland

so that's twenty countries. and i'm pretty sure its not a complete list. but 20 countries and five years. four countries a year? totally do-able. knocking two of those out in a week. and two more *hopefully* come june.

mostly i want to live abroad somewhere for a year or two... for school or working, dont care. i just want to immerse myself in something else for a while...

ugh

i wish i knew what i wanted in life. that would make this whole 'life plan' thing a lot easier. help me narrow things down.

in option 2387907 where i live in san antonio forever and ever starting tomorrow, i would buy this house: http://kuperrealty.cybersunshine.com/633450

i love it. i want it. i am soooo coveting that house right now.

ok. acapulco's tonight. that was fun. embrace boston....

i should make a shirt.

my mom is crazy. obscene republican/right wing ideology. shes hardcore and i love it.
mom: i have no desire to go to greece.
me: WHAT?!?! how can u say that?
mom: i want to go to south dakota. and idaho. i want to tour america.
me: mom, thats ridiculous. how can u not want to see greece?!?!
mom: what do i need to see those old buildings for? how about idaho? when have you ever met anyone from idaho? i want to meet people
me: i cant believe you're saying this. you're so republican.
mom: i know. so what.
me: i love you.

doing tha dang thang

so i said i was going to change my m.o. and embrace boston.

it's been working. i can honestly say i'm putting forth the effort. while most of saturday i spent running errands and hanging out, i did take advantage of the mildly tolerable weather by running around outside.

diane invited me out on saturday night and since its been ages and i'm trying to do different stuff, i was definitely in. it wasn't that cold out and luckily we didn't have to wait in line. 33 wasn't really packed but still SO hot. humid/sweaty hot. but it was nice to get out and dance and meet new kids. i had fun even if i did have to worry about a kid puking on me for a while there. collegekids, pffft. haha. oh, such a recent memory. random observations: i love hearing ppl speak italian, even if i don't understand it all, and i didn't know albanians had their own language. i'm ignorant sometimes. eh. oh well. learn new things.


sunday morning the roomies, esteban and i ventured out to chinatown for dimsum. as soon as we entered the area we could here the drums and smell the firecrackers. apparently last weekends chinese new year festivities had been postponed a week cos of the ice. so while we had a heck of a time weaving our way over to china pearl, we did get to watch the lions dance and i was able to take a few pics of the parade and cute babies. then evan met up with us and we stuffed our faces. dumplings, porkbuns, meatballs. all sooo yummy, i love dim sum. then we did minor shoe shopping before heading home so i could nap and watch the oscars.


good boston weekend. i'm proud of myself. going out and doing stuff and enjoying myself.

now the countdown is on to my uk trip. yay! edinburgh, london and annatudor- oh my! 13 days! i'm working on making lists- what to pack, where to visit, what to buy, etc, etc. i'm excited for this adventure.

then hopefully a week in texas in april. maybe a trip out west in may. then... dunno. i'm basically going to be poor forever. basically.

also, ellen and i's new favorite song: cupid's chokehold by gym class heroes. first i made fun, but actually i love it. apparently they had a concert in cambridge like a week ago. only we didnt know the name of the band that sang that song we liked a week ago. dang it. they're a really fun band. i dig. getting heavy play on my radioblogclub playlist. man, i love that thing.

might see ataris this week. and ellen wants to see fountains of wayne next month. i only want to see them if they promise to play sink to the bottom and promise not to play stacey's mom. i hate that song and f.o.w. from that period. just saying.

modus operandi

i think i need to take a new outlook on life. for the next six months, new m.o.

i need to fully embrace boston and brookline and my place of work. completely give in to living in this place for now. i can handle 6 mo. then i can move. new city.

but for now, i think i need to stop wishing i was somewhere else and just rock this joint. rock this joint w/o injuring my car and spending too much money. :)

internetter

sites i'm currently obsessed with:

• ebay.com
• graffitiresearchlab.com
• tourfilter.com
• radioblogclub.com
• wikipedia.org
• digg.com

random:
we went to charlies kitchen the other night (again) and i kept staring at this kid at the bar. he wasn't even hot. he just kinda sorta looked like kevin rose. which makes me a complete dorky nerdy loser. who checks out guys who look like techy startup dorks. okkkk. i need to stop.

alright, still

saturday we (rach, ellen, me) went to the outlets. got some new sneaks and a purse that i dont need. my addiction is strong and my shopping-celiacy vow is broken. that didnt last long. pooper.

we ate at ruby tuesdays even tho that place always makes me sick, its so tasty. came home and laid around watching tele and chick flix. v. productive and exciting, i blame it on our ice-palace.

around 3am i woke up with stomach grumblings and severe nausea. i was sick every 3o min from then thru like 10am. during an 8am conference call i had to run to the bathroom. it was gross. and to think, there was no alcohol involved!

when i found out another girl from work also had issues this weekend, maybe i cant blame it all on food poisoning and maybe its a stomach flu. i finally ate around 2pm today. yay! food in my belly!

even tho i felt like shite, i dragged ellen to the lily allen concert last night at axis. it was a good time in spite of our slipping and sliding all around fenway. lily's a fun girl. she sang her album plus cheryl tweedy and a few covers. i love that kooks' naive one. i bopped around a bit and sang along. she said f.u. to the brit awards, tony blair, gw, bank managers and fashion mags. her band was good and having a full horns section made it bouncy and fun. and her keyboardist was hot. the crowd was a mix of college kids, indie hippies, and ellen and i. by the end i kind of felt like puking again, i think its cos it was so toasty in the club. anyways, lily was great live and i'd def be into seeing her again, hopefully when i'm feeling better and can really dance around.

anyways, came home and found a tourfilter announcement saying she's going to be back in the bean on april7 at the roxy. slightly larger/seedier venue, but anyone interested?

my car is finally getting worked on. i'll get it back in about two weeks. great. carless for a while. good, that means for those two weeks i can't scratch it on my dumb driveway or get it stuck in a pile of ice somewhere.

its almost time for me to go on my uk trip. yay! uk here i come. figuring out this whole transportation thing will be a big iffy, but it'll get done. then AT and i can hang and be merry and do whatever it is college kids do these days. :p

moving on...

dad just told me spurs are looking at pippen as a possibility for next season. he's 41 and retired! i dont care if he already has 6 rings! ugh. spurs. why cant it be 1999 again w/ a baby timmy and wise old david.

the long and short of the good and the bad

good

• lily allen concert in 2 days
• uk bound in 23 days
• i took some graffiti pics yesterday
  
• i have all the ingredients to make grilled cheese sandwiches, smoothies and mexican hot chocolate in my house
• it's friday

bad

• a piece of tooth fell out of my mouth this morning
• my car is frozen into a block of ice on my driveway
• i have to work this weekend
• my bumper is still falling off of my car

good

• my car is going in to the shop on monday so it can get fixed
• i have at least 3 good books waiting to be read at home
• i got my banksy pics in the mail this week
  
• hershey's kisses in 'truffles' flavor
• i got new business cards that say i work in the prudential tower
  

bad

• i don't actually work in the prudential tower
  
• my car is going in to the shop on monday so i'll be carless
• i have to work this weekend
• i'm getting lilyallen burnout, finally

good

• blink182 and gorillaz soundrack for work
• i don't have to drive myself home
• i'm writing this at work
  

i forgot it was valentines

today was one of the most annoying and tiring and non-productive days of my life. and i've been awake since 545 am.

i woke up first when someone on my street started shoveling and it was light out. i was semi-happy that i still had at least 45 minutes to sleep before i had to get up and shovel. v-day blizzard 2007. only while ellen and i spent an hr shoveling our way out, i totally didnt know it was v-day. that was a gross and very cold hour.

then i spent almost an hour and a half driving very slowly to work. like 30mph on the pike. skidding along. listening to my grammy 2k7 mix. it was weird when the carrie underwood 'jesus take the wheel' song came on. random. i was like, pls dont let me slide off into a pile of snow, or worse- like the woman i saw today who had somehow backed into a rock wall. that scared me.

i got to work and was semi-productive. my eyes hurt from being open too early and i was just... distracted. however, getting to work and checking my email did lead to me getting an v-day email from my mommy wishing me a happy day. that was pretty much my only v-day reminder all day. no big love fests at our office. :p

around 3 when the snow stopped i decided to head out to avoid massive traffic and get a start home. i got home by 430 where rach and i spent about an hour moving slush around. then after a quick trader joe's run, we came home to eat dinner and work on getting my car up the driveway. between 630 and 9pm was a lot of shoveling, icemelt-ing, cursing, digging, gunning of engines, and pushing. my car got stuck twice. a nice neighbor kid had to help us once. i felt so dumb. finally, around 9 we got it up the driveway. i hate my driveway.

so i spent about 4.5 hours outside to day shoveling and such. my body is sore and i am angry at this place that snows and sleets and makes roads and driving so difficult and makes valentines an almost non-issue.

yes, this was one of my worst days in quite a while. just cos its been physically draining. not even cos it was v-day. i forgot about that. so oh yeah, have a good one. or i hope everyone else had a good one... maybe next year there will be more candies and red hearts and xo's. cos i'll be in tx, right? everything seems like its better there. especially when i'm way up here...

i like music a bit much- grammy blog.

watching the grammy's alone cos none of my roomates are all that interested. kinda lame.

stereogum's liveblogging, so i've been dropping in with some of my own comments over there. cos i'm that lame/ loving this stuff. i think i'm going to liveblog the rest over here cos i'm commenting too much and its embarassing.
anyways, the police, mayer, and now chris brown.

been commenting here: http://www.stereogum.com/archives/004584.html

chris brown dancing with little kids. little hip hop dancers are the best. and chris brown has really stepped it up, usher needs to come back on the scene soon if he wants to defend his crown. cos this kid is all over that stuff.

christina popping out from below the stage. her hair is outta control but the girl's got some pipes. i like that she holds on to her red lipstick/white hair look. sticking to her fashion guns. props.

still ahead: ludacris and mary j. love it. love love love luda. hungry, ham sandwich time. i'm such a fatty. oh well.

oh, my head hurts. and target totally must have spent a billion dollars on grammy commercials. and tony bennet buyoffs.

president of the academy talking about music in schools. boring. stop talking stop talking. kid playing restaurant background piano. i wonder if he would rather be jamming. probably. i hope so.

hahaha, closeup in john mayer in a tux. he looks so uncomfortable.

now the sad 'ppl who died this year' part. its sad.

chris brown is back to do some james brown crazy dancing. that kid should do broadway i think, more than his pop/r&b/whatever thing hes got going on.

jamesbrowns cape is getting a standing ovation. good.

even the heineken commercial looks like a target add cos of the shape of the speakers in it. they dont even sell beer at target.

red balloon. what is it with those guys. why are the balloons always red?

finally, back to the show. rhianna looks pretty. sometimes shes not. david spade looks so old. mary j and luda! whoop. w/ some earth wind fire vibes. luda really is hot i think. and i dont even like this song. runaway girl... mary looks nice. and young. little girls holding candles. ok, i totally agree with the sentiment and the idea of this song. just not the actual song. is whats going on.

now james blunt. i liked this song for liek a week. a long time ago. and does anyone else think he looks like napoleon dynamite? hes awkward.

big commercial windows.

j.hud! yay. i like her. even if she can't read the teleprompter. a girl named robin gets to sing w/ justin. thats cool. her dress is short and i love justin. he must have read the nyt style article about white sneakers for men. she's kind of an awkward dancer. really. she does sing well. and now ti. hes hot. justin kinda looks like mike skinner. a bit.

bennet and tarantino. both quentin and i can't believe they let him present. he freaks me out. i just saw paris hilton in the audience. they let her in? seriously? thats funny.

danger mouse never looks happy and cee-lo is always busting out.

dixie chicks get album of the year. good music or political statement? or both? dont know.

chris rock! i love him. rhcp, not so much. they're ok. what's flea wearing?!? a soccer kit. and the other two stole their outfits fro brandon flower's samtown closet. ok.

ooh, i hope j.may trio wins. home. oh no. broken boy soldiers!! yes. best rock. its going to be rhcp. gross. yep. boo. thats annoying.

don henleys so old and has gross hair. scarlett is recording an album. eh. good thing shes pretty.

album of the year- dixie chicks. no big surprise after the whole show.

and done.

productivity in the eye of the producer

my weekend was productive cos i finished reading straight up and dirty and now i'm all caught up on heroes. oooeeeeowww. i also am continuing to control the shopping impulses as well as eating out. technically i only ate out once and it was anna's which barely even counts. and drinks at charlie's and hongkong? there was no food involved! eh. oh, and a vanilla chai at dunkins at 2am. which was technically part of a new week, so yeah.

now if only i could get the motivation to finish cleaning my room and do all my laundry. and my taxes. i need to fini those out soon as well.

also, i made chicken and dumpling soup and its delish. i've been craving this food for ages, but its definitely a southern thing and not found at restaurants around here. so i finally made some for myself. how resourceful! i know. i'm sure eating it 4 days in a row however, will not be fun. i think i need to freeze some.

grammys on the tele tonight. lily allen concert in a week. woohoo!

driving in

driving to work with ellen this morning, while through an intersection i heard a gigantic BOOM! sound. i thought, shite! something fell on me. or my car just got shot. or my bumper fell off. then ellen was like, 'dude, i think the water bottle in your trunk just exploded.' oh. yeah. that thing thats been rolling around like a giant bowling ball all week, throughout these below freezing temps. only my trunk is currently sewn shut to preserve the semi-attached state of my bumper. gee whiz. i need to get out these ice chunks before temps warm up... and i have a mildewy trunk... ugh.

i'm listening to my own little custom mix-list at work. and a sublime song came on. it's a live cut and the beginning is filled with people laughing and talking, you know, background noise at a bar. and it just is kinda depressing in a weird way. like the fact that the 100- 1000 people in the room were there for a sublime concert. during the relatively brief life of brad nowell sublime played live constantly. and here it seems like these people werent fully appreciating their reggae skater punk music, which i think is a great genre and should have more bands cos its something i like....

anyways. i dont know. obviously, people are always talking at concerts. but it just feels like lots of times we have these limited opportunities to experience something like a great concert or just quality time with people we love. and we can get distracted carrying on and doing 10 other things at the same time. when really we should be focusing wholly on one experience at a time, because you never know when or if a similar experience will present itself again. everything's finite. especially time and life.

also, last night instead of going to sleep at a decent hour, i watched a movie on ifc. cos that makes sense. it was last night. sandra oh was in it w/ some other random canadian actors i dont know. it was another 'end of the world' movie. this one follows 6 ppl's stories, as they live their final day. it was kinda random but interesting. how people come together and split apart, etc. and what people would do and say if they knew the world was coming to an end very soon. interesting.

it's friday. whoop, i suppose.

go on and work it out

so i went to the gym today. i know, i know. its once every ten years. such a good use of my money...

anyways, i saw a couple guys walk by in shorts. and their blindingly white legs made me think - oh, if i ever married a white guy, i'd totally make him go tanning in the summer cos that's gross. then i thought to myself, wow, flora- that was really racist. but actually, its just a matter of aesthetics. and then, i realized, duh flora, you dont have to worry about that blindingly white leg thing. cos duh, you'll live somewhere warm where everyone can be tan and pretty year round. no fake baking at the electric beach. duh! so yeah. duh. i will live a happily ever after nicely tanned married life, no matter what race my future husband is. cos we'll live somewhere warm, obvs. that's so affirming. :)

we're going all the way

ellen and i are always complaining that we're poor. right after we've bought our latest pair of shoes or pants or cute purse. we shop a bit too much.

at least we got to the first step, admitting we have a problem.

so now we're challenging each other. no shopping for 2 months! thats pretty extreme and we know we're addicts. so just like dieters get that allowance for a slice of chocolate cake every now and then, we're giving ourselves an allowance. $75 per month of fun money. that's it. that's all we can spend on funstuff. of course we can still buy groceries and necessities as needed w/o cutting into our fun money. and also, limiting our dining out to 3x week. for some people, that a lot already. but considering how lazy i am... 3x is not enough.

challenge starts today. thru april 7. this is going to be good. good for me. right?

ugh. i'm still looking at stuff on ebay... just looking! and besides, i have my $75 discretionary fund...

for boston, for boston

this city kills me. everytime i think the mayor cant sound any dumber w/ his hardcore accent. then he got in a big giant tizzy over this little guy.
a guerilla marketing campaign caused the city to freak out thinking it was a terrorist bomb scare an they spent $750,000 on this "hoax". only it wasnt a hoax, they weren't trying to scare people. it was just a marketing scheme. some graffiti.

there was one of these pieces just a couple blocks from my house. i must've driven past it at least 3 or 4 times. and i never saw it. boo.

i know the outrageousness reaction by massachusetts and boston police was ridic but partially understandable in light of 9/11 etc, i guess. and turner should have said something. sooner. in advance of the whole thing, gotten permits or something... both sides are at fault.

the two (or more) guys who actually did it and got hauled into jail over night, its not their fault. but they're making a good show of it. smiling during their court hearing and having a press conference about 70s hairstyles. great performance art. oh boston.

the smart kids selling shirts and stickers on ebay, saying up yours and 1-31-07, with a nice little mooninite flicking off the world. they're awesome. i was actually thinking about it on the way home when talking to my dad. but actually, what i want to make is a bit more... public and illegal. cannot disclose. obvs.

anyways. tried out soulfire for dinner and it was ok. grey's was great today and iska and i screamed a lot.

also, mini freakout. its february first. already 2nd month of 2007. gee whiz time is passing slowly. 5 more months and i'll be 24. officially out of my early 20s and into my mid 20s. thats disgusting.

but on a good note. i tried to get lily allen tix last week, but i was mad about ticketbastards surcharges, so i didnt buy them. then i finally decided- actually, i am willing to pay for my lily allen obsession- i go to buy tix and they're sold out. i was so mad at myself. and ppl were selling them on craigslist and ebay for $50. wtf. lame. but today i went on to ticketbastard.com just to check. and turns out they opened it up some more. yay. i bought two. ellen's going with me. yay. feb18 i can sing along and act like i'm 14. awesome.

what good roomates i have. grey's watchers and concert goers. whoop. and rachael is always willing to try out my baking and cooking experiments. :)