January 2008
66 posts
sweet juniper is selling his photos! →
One of the books I’m reading now begins with a youngish guy discovering a crate of forgotten documents in a used bookstore in rural Japan. The documents helped establish the historical record of Japanese experiments in biochemical warfare in WWII. I dream about someday making a similar type of serendipitous discovery the way many women of my age dream about Clive Owen.
pre-empting the backlash to the backlash is the... →
WatchMGMT’s “Time To Pretend” managed to reach my 25-most played list in less than three months, so believe me when I say this song rocks and I was deeply bummed with their show with Yeasayer sold out the Black Cat backroom days before the event. This video isn’t how I pictured the song— I imagined something more Bret Easton Ellis meets Trainspotting— but...
signs
The universe is full of them, and so is the New York Times.
The vitrol in Moe’s writing and especially in the comments of this Jezebel post really surprise me. I started reading The Lost Girls this winter after they were mentioned in an article on open-jawed tickets in the Times and enjoyed stories of their adventures. Having taken courses in travel writing and service journalism and done some freelancing, I can testify that it is a deceptively...
“We must realize that all traditions are ambivalent and that it is therefore...”
– Jurgen Habermas
it's a catch-22! aw hell, he's gonna be there...
If I watch full episodes of 30 Rock on NBC’s website because there is absolutely nothing besides Project Runway worth watching on regular TV, am I helping or hurting the writers? On the one hand, my pageviews help line the pockets of the overlords at the Shinehardt Wig Corporation (or, um, NBC). But on the other hand, the very fact that they make money off my desperation validates the...
“Stupid slack-jawed yokels. Why don’t they understand that we are right...”
– September 2004 email from [redacted] re: [redacted] political campaign
“Liberal intellectuals, who have rather well-rationalized systems of political...”
– Richard Hofstader, The Age of Reform
Having seen neither There Will Be Blood or No Country for Old Men, I keep thinking of them as one movie full of dirty dudes and over-emotive acting called There Will Be Old Men or No Country for Blood.
Hydrox eaters tend to be independent-thinkers,... →
why things suck →
i freely admit to having a lot of similar... →
No joke, seven people just simultaneously emailed/Gchatted me about Heath Ledger dying. As one of them put it, “I think this got a bigger reaction then the death of Benazir Bhutto.” Very bad year for broody, scruffy actors. Very, very bad indeed.
It never fails to shock me that when faced with a situation like this, many people’s first response is to defend the instigators and pick to death the people who find fault with them. Someone does something bad, another party calls them on it and that party is mercilessly dissected by trolls and a misguided need for a “balanced perspective.” Who cares if people...
Dear Em, In future meetings with your associate dean, don’t use your sex toy party “Hottest Sleepover in DC!” souvenir pen. Smooches, You/Me P.S. We’re out of CabSav, so pick some up on the way home, ‘kay?
so what if it was for best makeup?
People, we live in a world in which Norbit was nominated for an Academy Award. Ready your affairs and say your goodbyes, for the horsemen are drawing nigh…
gee whiz, you don't say →
after cloverfield
Jen: Jeff has suggested that there be a sequel, and all it is is James Lipton interviewing the monster
me: bahahahaha
"what... is your.... favorite sound?"
Jen: GHRRARAAAGHGHGHGH
me: "BLARRRRRRRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
Jen: "excellent."
"just remarkable."
me: "i see we have a question from the audience"
"hi, i'm on the director's track and---"
"BLRAAAAAAAARGHRGRHREHRGRHNOMNOMNOM"
Jen: AGGGGHHHH!!!! IT BIT ME!!!!!!!
explode
i only ever made a subdivision radioactive, so i... →
selling a car in dc
I’m thinking about selling my car. Now that I live in NW, steps from a decent grocery store and a reliable bus line and the Metro, it really doesn’t make sense to have one. I’ve spent over two grand in the last year on insurance, repairs, gas and taxes. That’s money I don’t really have to spend on something I use a few times a month. Have any of you privately sold...
i don't know what hurts worse: not having new... →
want: DC guerilla gardening →
holy côtes du rhône, batman. good first dates do still exist! so, um, thanks.
first jonathan brandis, now brad renfro. all my early teenage crushes die tragic, early deaths. prince william might want to be extra-careful in pilot school this month.
Traci: Do you think there is a correlation between organizational democracy and the bottom-line? Ari: We measure on three bottom-lines: finance, food quality and service, which includes staff, customers, and the community. I think that having a more involved, engaged and open workplace is just a better way to live. We’ve made it 25 years in a very difficult industry. Last year we had our best year...
to the dude smoking pot outside the library around...
Friend, It’s the first day of classes. You might want to pace yourself. At this rate you’ll be injecting heroin into your eyeballs by spring break. Fondly, Em
is anyone really surprised it's made of plastic? →
stolen from g's facebook, because i have too much...
made squash ravioli from scratch last night with EJ. it wasn’t that hard, and it was really fun. here’s how you make it: pasta dough (for any type of pasta) -5 cups of fine flour (preferably “tipo 00”, but i couldn’t find it at my ghetto safeway. i think it affects how thin you can get the pasta) -12 egg yolks, 6 whites either make a “volcano” with the...
the times we live in
Jonas: you posted to your blog about your bedding?
me: sure
it's 2008
no action is too self-absorbed
lernen
I started taking German lessons last fall, in the hope of having a decent enough proficiency to apply for some funding to study in Germany after I finish my masters. This will almost certainly not happen, in large part because I foolishly signed up for 9:00 AM Saturday morning classes. The brief era of responsibility and drive lasted about five weeks before, felled by a triple-play Friday night,...
february 26th! →
“However, Barack Obama is a muslim period. He should NOT be president, period and...”
– From a Glamour magazine blog comment section. To summarize: Barack Obama is a Muslim. Muslims are Terrorists. Having a spouse in the military means you can say whatever you want and no one can call you a clueless bigot. Muslims are GODLESS Terrorists. Muslims are Communists. Muslims only go to...
me: do you remember the old green carpet in the basement?
[redacted]: it was like grass! very good for playing
me: pretend camping, si vous plait
[redacted]: i used to pretend i was homeless and had to live in a park, and i'd make a fort and pretend it was a big tree. god knows why i'm still a virgin.
my father, on the evening of the new hampshire...
“You will never win favor in the end if you make your mark by telling other people why they are wrong.”
Dear Ohio State, Nyah-nyah-nyah-boo-boo. No, seriously, I’m so glad this football season is over. I don’t remember a worse year of Michigan football in my lifetime. But seriously, Ohio State still blows. Buckeye? More like SUCKeye! Yeah! I should really not attempt trash talking. (But they still suck). Em
