Gypsy Rose Lee

Academy Award-Nomiated Short Films

2010-03-02T12:23:00.001-06:00

Hello, everybody. Twitter has been working well for me; so much so that I rarely feel the need to blog much anymore. But today I have something I really want to share.

On Sunday John and I went to the Alamo Drafthouse in order to watch all the Oscar Nom'ed (and "Highly Commended") animated short films. I've always been a big fan of animated short films, and just started making a point of seeing as much as I could of them last year, back when I discovered that the Alamo shows them. It really is a shame that unless they're Pixar-made they don't seem to be able to reach a wide-audience, as many studios refuse to share them on the web...usually for copyright reasons.

Anyway, the group of films I saw at the Alamo last year were much stronger - I loved "Lavatory-Lovestory" and I was fucking obsessed with "La Maison en Petits Cubes" which is fucking fantastic and I highly recommend you guys try to find it if you can - but 2010's group did have a few standouts. My very favorite of the bunch was a French short called "Logorama," which since I saw it Sunday I've been desperately scouring the internet. And today I found a full copy of it on some tiny (what appears to be) Dutch website. Apparently the creators took six years to finish it, and right now they and the production studio are kind of shitting themselves as they *really* don't want it to be available online since it contains over 2,500 corporate and brand logos for which they never requested permission.

Well, I have no way of knowing how much longer this site will be able to keep this video up, so watch this ASAP! I've never seen anything like it...

Logorama
16m Runtime

twittwittwittwittwit

2009-11-16T21:18:00.000-06:00

I've started tweeting and love it so far. Hooray.

A Letter Inspired by the new Cotton ad

2009-10-08T22:07:00.003-05:00

Dear Zooey Deschanel,

WHO THE FUCK RIDES A BICYCLE IN STILETTOS. Get over yourself! I liked you as Trillian, but you're quickly making me regret ever watching any of your movies. It's sad, because I want to see 500 Days of Summer, I really do, but now I'm not so sure I could enjoy a movie with that much of you in it.

And, please, please, please, stop dressing like one of my mother's dolls from the 1950's.

-Me

I'm sorry, too

2009-08-24T21:09:00.004-05:00

About a week ago I first read about this breaking news of a model's body being found in a dumpster in outside of Los Angeles, but I couldn't really find any photos of the victim at the time. So I looked up her model mayhem page (it's like facebook for models) and after coming to terms that she might have one of the weirdest faces I've ever seen, I began reading all the messages on her wall. When you think about it, it's kind of a new phenomenon to write an unlimited number of messages to a deceased person in a place that's public and highly accesible to everyone, you know? And, while I haven't studied a great deal of "memorial walls" or whatever you wish to call them, I've seen so many cases of people just not knowing how to appropritely express their feelings. Hence, I share with you what I found on Jasmine Fiore's Model Mayhem wall that has had me chuckling over the past few days:

Quickie

2009-08-04T17:34:00.001-05:00

Just forced John to watch the new Target Women: Doofy Husbands with me. It was cute. Not the funniest one, but fun.

Now back to my head exploding from all the packing left before London!

we know a place where no ships go

2009-07-29T21:39:00.004-05:00

i envy the people who know what they want to do and are doing it. lots of people make this claim and are just lying to themselves, but there are a few out there who really are happy. it seems that these few are the fortunate ones for whom opportunity and chance collided at the perfect moment.

2009-07-03T23:10:00.001-05:00

HOLY SHIT I FINALLY DID IT I FOUND A GOOGLE SEARCH TERM THAT ONLY HAS 1 FUCKING RESULT GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

What I learned yesterday.

2009-06-26T15:00:00.001-05:00

Don't watch someone get a mole removed.

Just...just trust me on this one.

Ahead of the Game

2009-04-19T14:17:00.002-05:00

So for the first time in at least three attempts to enroll in this digital photography class that I've had my eye on I'm actually aware of when registration opens and you bet I'll be waiting for 11:59PM to pass on 4/27 so I can grab a spot. Yeah, they go fast. I have learned that now.

It sucks that the course would eat up a good chunk of my Saturdays, but it's something I know I love and hopefully good things will come from the time investment. I'm also amused at how perfectly the course squeezes in between the St. Louis wedding in May and the trip to London in August. Well, maybe not "perfectly," as I would miss the first class from being in St. Louis, but I'm optimistic that it wouldn't be a major snafu. After the final class meeting John and I would drive to Dallas in order to fly to London. Nice.

I'm in the process of acquiring appropriate attire for this upcoming wedding, and acquisition of proper clothing has never been one of my strong suits. I also dread the process of online shopping - checking the sizing charts and squinting at low quality photos and eventually the excitement of receiving the package only to ultimately go through the trouble of returning everything - but it's probably the most practical way to go about it right now so I'll have to deal. I'm also realizing that online shopping is one of the fastest ways to find incredibly marked down stock at j. crew for example.

I feel like accomplishing something today, but I have a suspicion that it might only be something like logging a few more hours in Fallout 3. Speaking of games, I must finish the article I started yesterday on Bioshock 2, which sounds incredible.

the 101st post!

2009-04-01T15:28:00.002-05:00

Over the past few weeks, the tree outside my window has blossomed, so to speak, filling my view with bright green, delicate, fresh leaves. It's very beautiful. I wish I could tell what kind of tree it was, but I'm sorely lacking when it comes to tree knowledge. Maybe someday I'll find some kind of book randomly, online or in some bookstore's miscellaneous section up by the registers, and know.

Last week I went to half-price books and picked up a few selections of London travel guides for the trip to London in August. Hopefully I'll start reading through them soon.

BTW, trivia last night sucked. Fucking Shakespeare.

Probably the most thought-provoking thing I've read about this

2009-03-19T13:38:00.001-05:00

IN the hallway of Hostos-Lincoln Academy in the Bronx this week, two ninth-grade girls discussed the pop singer Chris Brown, 19, who faces two felony charges for allegedly beating his girlfriend, the pop singer Rihanna, 21. At first, neither girl had believed Mr. Brown, an endearing crooner, could have done such a thing.

“I thought she was lying, or that the tabloids were making it up,” one girl said.

Even after they saw a photo of Rihanna’s bloodied, bruised face, which had raced across the Internet, they still defended Mr. Brown. “She probably made him mad for him to react like that,” the other ninth grader said. “You know, like, bring it on?”

The full NY Times article here.

MOST OUTLANDISH SONG EVER

2009-03-18T22:15:00.001-05:00

ugh.

I See The Want To In Your Eyes
Sung By: Conway Twitty
Written By: Wayne Carson

I see the sparkling little diamond on your hand
It's plain to see that you've already got a man
I can see you're not about to fall for any of my lines
I See the want to in your eyes

Deep in your smile there's a quiet, soft desire
Like the embers of a once raging fire
You know I could light that fire again, you know it isn't why
I see the want to in your eyes

How strong's a band of gold
Is it strong enough to hold, when a love has grown cold
And a woman wants a love, sweet and warm

How many women just like you have silent schemes,
How many men like me do they sleep with in their dreams
You can stay or you can go and although I sympathize
I still see the want to in your eyes
I see the want to in your eyes

The Muffin Escapade

2009-03-15T16:25:00.004-05:00

Banana Chocolate Muffins.

They're all the rage, nowadays. Well, they have been since Robert, John, and I went to Fricano's Deli and stumbled upon them.

By the way, Austinites both former and current, Fricano's Deli rocks. Best deli in Austin, I think. And the owners, who are the nicest ever, went to PSHS - woah!

Back to the muffins. Over my next few visits, I've been in negotiations with the Fricano's staff concerning the making of more muffins. After a few phone calls and visits, they finally came through for me, preparing six of these hot bastards for to pick up this past Thursday.

It's now Sunday, and there are 2.5 left. One was consumed immediately after purchase (gotta check 'em, right? RIGHT??). Another was nibbled upon by the muffins' cohabitants over a span of several days, and finally, last night, I came home tipsy and gobbled a half while I sobbed to myself over how fantastically nommalicious they were.

In a few hours, Robert, Marion, Priya, and Kyle will be here, and I don't expect the innocents to last much longer with so many predators afoot. I will be calling Fricano's again. Soon.

And that is my muffin story. The End.

What.

2009-03-08T00:09:00.001-06:00

People actually exist that enjoy Elizabethtown?

What.

Saucer Trivia Night

2009-03-04T12:07:00.002-06:00

Last night was the third time I've been to the trivia competitions at the Flying Saucer. Although our team has not been having much luck, I think we've all been enjoying ourselves.

The very first time I went, I was delighted to participate in a round where the theme was "video games." One of last night's rounds wins for worst theme, though. It was "the residences of past presidents." Who the fuck even knows shit like that?...unless you give tours of Monticello and shit. Hopefully it'll get better.

The Alamo Update, Vol. 1, Ed. 2

2009-03-03T16:04:00.001-06:00

I started writing this a week or so ago, but it just took me a while to finish it. So, sorry for the lateness. Enjoy!

I suppose this could become a reoccuring post, seeing as how I love reading the bi-monthly Alamo calendars and my hunch that this could potentially lead to more Priya-Marion-visits. Anyway, I just got my copy of the March/April calendar last night as John and I left the "Oscars at the Alamo" shindig. It was sadly not that fun, so I think I'll just go back to watching the Academy Awards at home.

So without further ado...

RANDOM EVENTS
3/2 - Music Monday: URGH! A Music War (tickets just $2!)
"...Unbelievable live footage of the groups and artists that changed sound forever, including Devo, Klaus Nomi, Dead Kennedys, The Go-Gos, Wall of Voodoo, Oingo Boingo, XTC, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Pere Ubu, Gang of Four, X, 999 and many more...Not available in any format..."

3/3 - Terror Tuesday: Lifeforce (this is free and sounds *amazing*)

3/5 (and 3/12, 3/26) - Monty Python and the Holy Grail quote-along
(I wish I could have seen this after the wedding)

3/10 - Girlie Night: Empire Records

3/14 - Kung Fu Theater: City Hunter (free showing!)
"This Jackie Chan martial-arts comedy is about as close to insanity as we ever hope to get...Here's one example of of the craziness that awaits you: Jackie gets thrown into a Street Fighter arcade console and electrocuted cartoon-style. When he wakes up, he is inside a low-budget live action version of the video game..."

3/22-3/23 - Princess Mononoke

3/26 - JAWS 3D w/ Brad Neely live
"...we had comic genius Brad Neely out at the Ritz several months ago...the Q&A session went in some pretty strange directions. One person asked him, "What's your favorite 'Part 3?'" He thought and replied, "JAWS 3D!" and then proceeded to act out a large part of the movie...his pantomimic evocation of Dennis Quiad straddling a sea-doo made more than one attendee jump onto his chair and scream "YEEEEEESSSSS!".

4/2 (and 4/9) - Young Frankenstein Quote-Along

4/4 - Adventureland w/Martin Starr live! (You know, the dude who recommends saving up bathroom breaksin case you need to go #2!)

4/11 - Saturday Morning Cartoon Cereal Party (w/ all-you-can-eat cereal)
"...Your eyes will devour classics like MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, REN & STIMPY, THUNDERCATS, and RAINBOW BRITE until your pajamas practically burst with excess!"

4/13 - Music Monday: Rolling Stones' Rock 'n Roll Circus (tickets $2)

4/14 - Terror Tuesday: Never Too Young to Die (free!)
"...Gene Simmons is Velvet von Ragnar, a supervillainous hermaphrodite overlord bent on world domination...We are proud to bring you the types of images that are normally only experienced at the moment of one's death."

4/16 (and 4/23, 4/30) - 1987 Sing-Along (I like the idea of this)

4/20 - Music Monday: I Need that Record! (just $2)
"The death (or possible survival) of the independent record store is examined in this doc that aggressively tackles why over 3,000 independent record stores have closed across the U.S. in the past decade."

4/25 - Kids' Club: Secret of the Nimh (I fucking love this movie...I'm just not sure about all the kids, though.)

4/27 - World's Most Dangerous Improv
"Legendary improv fanatic Les McGehee brings you the cream of the local improv crop, special improvising guest stars from TV and film, and... The Most Dangerous Improv Comedy in the World!"

4/29 - Fantastic Fest presents: Dr. Infierno w/ the director live!
"...a demented gynocologist discovers a cure for all the world's illnesses and uses it as leverage to become the sole dictator of the earth."

MASTER PANCAKE SHOWS

The Matrix (3/6)
Jurassic Park (3/13, 3/14, 3/20, 3/21)
Lord of the Rings (3/27, 3/28, 4/3, 4/4, 4/10, 4/11, 4/17, 4/18, 4/24, 4/25)
and "Choose Your Own" (4/26)

:(

2009-03-02T12:46:00.000-06:00

UT = nope.

Oh, if only I ran into this fucker on the street

2009-02-26T18:15:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday morning I rang up a customer for the correct price of his drink, despite the fact that he tried to word his order in a way that I would charge him less. (People like that are my least favorite types...and sadly they are pretty abundant.) Well, when I apologetically wouldn't budge on the price (my manager was right next to me!) he left without getting anything.

I found out today he called the corporate line to file a complaint about me. He told them I was very rude and embarrassed him in front of the other people in line. If my manager hadn't been working with me when this occurred, I'm 99% sure I would have been reprimanded and had corrective action taken against me. But since she was there, she backed me up and pointed out his lies. Corporate, however, did not back me up, and told us that we should have basically let him get away with his (flawed) logic.

The difference in his drink price, folks?

Fifty fucking cents.

GTFO.

Morning times!

2009-02-24T11:46:00.006-06:00

I'm the kind of person who stresses over many things, but something peculiar has started happening where the more things are completely fucked up behind the counter the more serene I become at the register. It's really quite lovely. A coworker once told me that one of the reasons she loves opening is that you pretty much know what you're walking into and what needs to happen. It's a clean slate, I guess. That may be why I stress over mid-shifts so much - I just don't know what I'll be walking into.

But yeah, this morning was good (for me at least). Also, my manager mentioned me in the weekly store notes, saying that customers come up to her frequently to complement the drinks I have made for them. Weird, I know. I guess they're just trying to get into my pants or something. On that note, we really do get some creepy ass dudes in the store who like to leer and slip inappropriate comments into the normal business conversation. One of my other female coworkers (who is a latina [and this is relevant]) has even had a dude try and kiss her! She also has had some dudes call her "brown sugar." Gah-ross.

T R I V I A and why St John's sucks.

2009-02-18T18:03:00.003-06:00

Last night was too much fun. It was around 8:30pm, and John was on his laptop and I was probably on mine, and we had eaten and were doing that thing where one of us is like "what do you want to do tonight, watch a movie?" and the other says "yeah, sure" and then nothing happens.

Then I think I sent Robert a random text and he calls and invites us to join him at the Flying Saucer, because it's trivia night and he and a few guys are going over to play. And without really asking what John wants I'm immediately like "we're so there."

Well, I don't really say things like that, but you get the idea. John was dragging his feet (haha) but we went and had a BLAST. We didn't place, but we scored like three points less than the winning team and got an honorable mention. One of the rounds was "video game trivia" and although there were no FF or Elder Scroll questions, our team collectively shat ourselves and answered everything perfectly. Maybe even too perfectly.

The final round (and the hardest round) was "Euros," and I was really terrified that it would be all about the currency and that the game would fall on my shoulders as the only coin-collector. There were a few non-coin-related questions, but sadly a few were and I had no clue about them. However, one question asked something like "which European country has featured or will feature King Juan Carlos I on a coin?" and I totally knew it was Spain (duh) but an overly-confident teammate (who went to St Johns HS [ew] and happens to be currently going to UT Law) was fucking determined that the answer was Portugal. I really couldn't offer any reasoning besides my gut feeling, and so the group decided to go with Law School Dude. :( It wasn't the difference-maker, but the first thing I did when I went home was pull out my coin collection and find my King Juan Carlos peseta. Sigh.

Last Week

2009-02-16T20:51:00.004-06:00

Last week was a weird one. I didn't have to work on Monday, so I was going to go to lunch with a friend and take it easy, but my mom called and told me that my grandmother had died. Everyone thinks that her heart just gave out after 99 years, which I guess I'm inclined to believe as well. The assisted living staff found her in her favorite chair, and since she never pushed any of the call buttons for a nurse she probably went in her sleep.

I still have her birthday invitation on my fridge.

It's kind of funny how even though she was 99, and even though my mom and dad had been giving my brother and I the whole "we need to go and visit for ____ occasion because it could be her last!" for what seemed like the past ten years, no one really seemed ready for it. Nor okay with it. I mean, this is only the second funeral I've experienced, but the entire congregation of people seemed drastically more upset than at the first funeral I ever went to, Dylan's, and he was in his teens and it was much more tragic in that respect. But maybe I'm biased, being that it was the first death in my family, and that I was sitting with and hanging out with all the other family members. By the way, if there were a prize to be won for the weepiest person at that gathering, I would (amazingly) win it. I guess I say amazing because I was definitely not as close to her as many of the other people there.

I think even if I tried I will never be able to forget the image of my grandmother's sister, the last living sibling of that family, walk up to the open casket at the end of the service and just lose it. It required three fully-grown men to lift her from the floor and help her back to a pew.

So I'm still a little bummed about all of the past week's events, but my coworkers and bosses were so nice and helpful when I had to get all of my shifts covered at the last minute, and John was definitely there for me when I needed him.

Excerpt from "The Meaning of Tingo - and other extraordinary words from around the world"

2009-02-10T12:13:00.003-06:00

Kicking the Bucket
Other languages have highly inventive euphemisms for the tricky subject of passing on:

nolikt karoti (Latvian) to put down the spoon
colgar los guantes (Spanish, Central America) to hang up the gloves
sucrer les fraises (French) to sugar the strawberries
de hoek omgaan (Dutch) to go around the corner
bater a bota/esticar a perna (Portuguese) to hit the boot or to stretch the leg
avaler son bulletin de naissance (French) to swallow one's birth certificate

I like the fourth and sixth ones the best. The fourth is pretty cute and comforting while the sixth just makes me laugh.

Colossopendium of New, Revolutionary Sex Positions

2009-02-02T22:59:00.002-06:00

In another attempt to get my friends interested in Achewood, I am transcribing an article from the Achewood zine Man Why You Even Got to Do a Thing, written by Ed E. Haskell (aka Roast Beef [aka Chris Onstad]).

Stick of Nitroglycerin
As everyone knows, a stick of nitroglycerin is extremely dangerous, likely to explode at the slightest scrape or movement. In this position, the lady treats your "companion" like it could blow up at any moment, and moves extremely slow and careful as you lay on your back and "have wood." It is extremely important that she is nervous, and has shop goggles on. If either of you talks, the other person has to say "ssssh!"

The Sugar Loaf
The man lies on his side under a single white sheet, curled in the fetal position. The sheet is tucked pretty tightly around him. He is in the middle of the bed. When he hears the lady come into the room, he quietly says, "don't you want to examine this sugar loaf?"

The Gammalon
This is the only sex position believed in by the Church of Scientology. It is said to lead to superior offspring. The principle is that by lying on one's back on a large ball or convex mattress, with the man's "companion" being the highest point of the body, only his strongest seed are able to scale the heights. This concept is easily disproven when one considers that seed are always scaling that height whever the dude is on his back, not just when he's on a dome-shaped mattress.

The Stick It To Ya
Not as raunchy or straightforward as it would seem, this position is actually all about the lady. There is almost no literal "sticking" of "it" to anyone. In fact there is no penetration of any kind. This position is bad. It is pretty weird for the couple. In this position, the lady dies and the man if foreced to grapple with the tragedy alone. They may not even be at the same place when she passes. He may hear about it on the phone.

Alamo Updation

2009-01-22T11:55:00.003-06:00

I was rereading the post about Alamo shows, and I felt the urge to post that John and I went to see Master Pancake: Pretty Woman and Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash '09.

The former was alright - the latter was absolutely a let-down. Ugh. I was *so* bored towards the end.

But thanks for being a trooper and seeing them with me, "babe".

Order of Events

2009-01-21T16:37:00.004-06:00

I arrived at my parents' house in Houston.
My brother is playing computer games in the back of the house.
He asks if he can help me unload my car, and I tell him yeah, after I use the bathroom.
I exit the bathroom and yell to him to come help me. He says ok.
I start unloading the car.
I finished unloading the car.
I move everything inside and my brother, halfway changed into his work uniform, is already making plans to go hang out before work. He asks me if he can help unload the car. I tell him that I finished already. He is surprised.
My brother finishes changing and takes my car to go get sushi with friends and afterwards go to work.

...and now I'm bored. I guess I'll nap until someone gets here.

Laughing so much I'm crying

2009-01-18T15:56:00.002-06:00

Man, I got John *so* good.

John: (probably looking at woot.com) Man! I didn't know that they make 64 gig jump drives! That might be nice, to not need an external, and just carry around the jump drive.

Lauren: Hmm, yeah, but I bet it'd get pretty heavy.

John: (looks at me with a terrified face) N.... oh... Whew.

Some kind of resolution?

2009-01-13T13:30:00.003-06:00

I've cried so many tears over this, but I've reached the point now where no more can be done. Hopefully the mourning over my (inevitable?) rejection won't be too bad.

I don't know how I didn't keep on top of this

2009-01-12T15:07:00.003-06:00

...maybe it was the christmas errands, the traveling, work consuming my mind. I just checked my UT application status and one of the people that agreed to write me a recommendation has still not sent it in, an entire month after UT emailed her requesting it. I reminded this person a few times when my deadline came and went and she still hadn't sent it in (she said something about it being a different format than she expected) and she said she'd submit it right away.

I'm incredibly distraught, terrified, and furious. This person owed me big time, too. I fucking finished almost the entire fucking yearbook after I graduated when all the other seniors dropped the ball. And now I probably won't get in to fucking grad school.

Gran Bambino

2009-01-09T23:19:00.002-06:00

Right now John is complaining that his fingers smell like weed. He has theorized that our neighbors must be smoking out right now, and that their smoke must be seeping through our vents...and making a B-line straight for his fingers?

Anyway, tonight John and I saw The Wrestler at the alamo downtown. I was initially excited about this because I've been in desperate need of a new alamo event calendar booklet (I hate using their website; it's so oddly organized) - more to come on that in a sec. However, I really did enjoy the film, probably only because of the main character played by Mickey Rourke, who was fucking awesome in the film. I think I may like wrestling now.

By the way, after seeing all the short trailers for Gran Torino, I doubt another trailer exists that could make me take a film less seriously than I take this one. It almost seems like a spoof trailer. It has this sort of "grr, get off my lawn" *point crooked finger in shape of gun* feel to it. Ridiculous! But it must be captivating *some* slice of humanity since it seems to be selling out everywhere.

Ok, so, the part I've been waiting for - Alamo event calendar. I have the familiar problem of seeing too many good things going on there. Hopefully alamo won't leave me broke!

Girlie Night: Mean Girls with special cocktails! (13th)
Anchorman quote-along! (15th, 22nd, & 29th)
90's Pop Princess sing-along (also 15th, 22nd, 29th, & Feb 5th)
Master Pancake: Pretty Woman (16th & 17th)
Super Happy Fun Monkey Bash (17th & 28th) - yay japanese wackiness!
Master Pancake: The Matrix (23rd & 24th, 30th & 31st, 6th & 7th, 20th & 21st, 27th & 28th)
Master Pancake: Choose your own movie (25th) - could be good?
Saturday Morning Cartoon Cereal Party (7th) - this time they're showing Care Bears, Thundercats and She-Ra!
Sickest Fucking Stories (8th) - is it weird that I think this looks interesting?
Three different valentine feasts! Out of the three, I would go with Annie Hall, but Romeo + Juliet and Casablanca don't sound bad either. However, with each film is a specialized feast, and New York cuisine is a fav of mine.
Academy Awards: Red Carpet Bash & Feast (22nd) - this looks absolutely amazing.
Hey Homo!: Top Gun (24th)
The No Shame sing-along (26th)

See what I mean?! Too many things! There are a few things on here that John isn't too keen about, so hopefully I can find some other people to drag along.

2009-01-01T12:25:00.000-06:00

OMG, happy new year, everybody!

I'm boiling inside over this.

2008-12-19T21:20:00.002-06:00

"The Bush administration had signaled its intention to issue the measures, which are part of a flurry of regulations it is announcing before President-elect Barack Obama takes office. The new president will be able to undo the regulations, and is virtually certain to, given his previous comments on the issue. But undoing them will be a time-consuming process."

WHAT THE FUCK, BUSH ADMINISTRATION?!

No, I'm not dead!

2008-12-18T18:22:00.001-06:00

Hello! I can't believe the last time I wrote it was the post about bison jerky. I haven't written much this month, probably due to work and me spending a good deal of time freaking out over my application to UT.

Now that that's done, I'll be posting more.

Maybe.

Bison Jerky

2008-12-04T23:52:00.000-06:00

Yes, I am eating bison jerky right now. Why do you ask?

Co-worker Conversation of the Day!

2008-11-23T13:07:00.003-06:00

Female Barista: Hah, my grandmother just mailed me $5 inside a Christmas card! Do you, you know, have one of those grandmothers that like gives you a nickel or a dime and...

Male Barista: No, I just have one of those grandmothers that takes away your trust fund when you come out of the closet.

Me: *Oh-No face!*

Kristen Stewart on the obnoxious Twilight fans

2008-11-16T22:21:00.005-06:00

"...“I was like, ‘You guys are celebrating something that has not come true yet. So, you are really retarded and have nothing to do with this creative process and I really don’t want to hear you celebrate in front of me. Get out of here! It’s my responsibility!’”..."

I was encouraged to read this, but I also realized how fucked up it really must be for any young actor/actress to take these fantasy roles and then just get stalked and violated from then on. It wouldn't be too surprising if in the future a good chunk of actors/actresses avoid this kind of role. I hope.

On a better topic, I forgot to mention that while Peter was visiting we all went to see a Swedish film called Let the Right One In. I highly recommend it, because even though it's about a vampire, it's not really a fantasy movie, and I think we all really appreciated the restrained realism in the storytelling and the unique treatment of gore/blood. So, yeah, I also have to recommend it because Swedish is not a language that Americans hear very often, and man, is it worth hearing. I actually laughed really hard at the first lines in the opening scene (specifically they way they say "house") and felt pretty embarrassed because it's a pretty dark, heavy scene. Here's the trailer.

John listens to Enya when the weather changes!

2008-11-15T19:41:00.003-06:00

So John was just listening to an irritating song (be sure to listen past 0:26), and it reminded me of a commercial I saw today. In the ad, two dudes are explaining how they buy tickets for the cheap seats at a concert, and then scout out empty seats closer up and move into the pricey sections. You see them do it several times while the camera cuts randomly to the band playing, and I wasn't really paying that close attention to it. But then, the guys get caught by security and kicked out, and credit card info comes up for a card like Citigroup or something, and talks about reward points, etc, and then says hey, if you use our card, you're entered into a drawing to win tickets for three different concerts by Nickelback. So, the entire day, I've been trying to image WHO THE FUCK WOULD WANT THAT PRIZE. It's almost a reason for me to NOT have that card, because I want nothing to do with that band. The marketing researchers that made that choice should resign in shame.

If you hadn't noticed, I'm not really doing much of the whole NaBloPoMo thing anymore. While in Plano for a wedding, it slipped my mind one day and left me forever ineligible. The prizes weren't really my motivation, though. I enjoy using this to keep in touch with my distant friends, and I hoped that by some kind of lead by example thing, I could get my other blogging friends to maybe post more frequently. Anyway, after I realized error I got really angry at myself and ignored my blog for a while. So, let's make a short list of catch-me-up-stuff:

I took the GRE for the second and LAST TIME EVER I HOPE. My score increased, but only in the subject that I wasn't trying to increase, but the overall was higher so I just decided to submit it.

This week I began my training at Starbucks, which I may refer to now on as Sbux, so be prepared. I have yet to actually get behind any register or the bar, but that'll happen soon I'm sure.

Last night John and I were invited to and attended a Q&A with Ian MacKaye at St. Edwards. At first, most people I talk to are like, um, why? Why him there? It was sponsored by the Center for Ethics and Leadership and the MBA in Digital Media Management (to which John is applying) and they invited him because of his work as co-founder and sort-of-president of Dischord Records which has really steered an unique course in how it has remained independent and succesfull. I wasn't that excited about going to this thing, even though yeah, I like Minor Threat and I have seen Fugazi play a few times, but MAN was he fascinating - he reminded me of David Bazan. It concluded after about two hours but I could have listened to him the entire night. Also, the room was an interesting mix of business students and smelly punk kids, all asking a variety of questions. Throughout the entire thing I was wishing that Marion and Jordan were there to hear him, cause I know they would have enjoyed it as well.

Tomorrow my family has scheduled lunch in New Braunfels with my grandfather and his wife. John hasn't met them yet, so it should be a kind of hilarity that only relatives can deliver.

I guess that's all I can remember for now. I'm gonna check out some awesome Disaronno recipies I just heard about. Later.

Sugery Update

2008-11-06T00:12:00.005-06:00

Back in September, I wrote about John's hip and a possible osteotomy. Well, this afternoon, we went to Southwestern near downtown Dallas and saw the hip specialist to whom we had been referred. Dr. Podeszwa was much younger than I expected, and not foreign as I had anticipated. He actually was born and raised in Michigan. Anyway, he listened to John, myself, Mr. Warren, and Mrs. Warren, then examened the x-rays we brought, and had John lay down while he manipulated his hip joints.

Obviously, John's left hip joint is little more than a complete joke. Socket? Try dimple. And the ball isn't much of a spherical shape, either. Which makes for a hella complicated osteotomy. Another factor is the strength of the bones comprising John's hip, and Podeszwa actually used the word "whispy" to describe them. But the most important thing, and possibly the most strange, is that since the end of September John has not experienced any more pain (or so he says).

Based on all of that, Podeszwa feared that he might cause more problems than good. He recommended that John go about his life, and, if farther down the road he has another episode of pain, he might go for a total hip replacement. Normally, total replacements are reserved for people 50+ years or so, but because John is a "household ambulator" and not a "community ambulator," (lolz) Podeszwa thinks that would be a good way to go.

In summation, no surgery in the near future (yay!), and John should go back to ambulating a.m.a.p., as, apparently, his left hip cannot get any worse.

On a wildly unrelated note, I'm really bummed about the bans passed in California, Florida, and Arizona. I know that change happens slowly, but I really hope I get to see it sooner rather than later.

From the "Father of Modern Photojournalism"

2008-11-05T02:00:00.003-06:00

"Photography is not like painting," Cartier-Bresson told the Washington Post in 1957. "There is a creative fraction of a second when you are taking a picture. Your eye must see a composition or an expression that life itself offers you, and you must know with intuition when to click the camera. That is the moment the photographer is creative," he said. "Oop! The Moment! Once you miss it, it is gone forever."

Comments from Le Monde

2008-11-05T00:03:00.006-06:00

These are from the website of France's main newspaper, and a few made me teary-eyed.

samson.G 05.11.08 | 06h31
Quelle grande nouvelle pour cette merveilleuse civilisation qu'est l'Amérique, à nouveau je ressens de l'amour pour les Etats-Unis. Yes You Can !

Michel S. 05.11.08 | 06h29
Merci au peuple américain d'ouvrir la possibilité d'un monde pacifié et solidaire

Béatrice 05.11.08 | 06h27
Merci Monsieur Obama! C'est une victoire pour la démocratie, pour les Droits de l'Homme, pour la Justice, l'Egalité et la Fraternité. que Dieu soit loué!

Yannick 05.11.08 | 06h20
Merci peuple Américain, merci d'avoir fait ce choix, aujourd'hui est un grand jour pour la planète entière.

hlb 05.11.08 | 06h12
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." --Promesse finalement tenue!

FAB 05.11.08 | 06h04
Cette nuit porte de grands espoirs. Le changement arrive, enfin. Merci, citoyens des EU!

Hindoonet 05.11.08 | 05h58
Quelle émotion ce direct!! Enfin du changement!! Bravo grand OBAMA!! un grand bravo également au candidat républicain très fair play qui a fait un très bon discours!

Johary 05.11.08 | 05h54
Génial !! Un grand symbole... l'Amérique comme on l'aime !! You rocks USA !!

JP 05.11.08 | 05h53
Maintenant, est-ce qu'on peut dire French Fries encore? Vive le monde! (from North Carolina)

Chloé 05.11.08 | 05h50
L'instant où, pour moi, l'expression "rêve américain" prit sens.

Jay le plombier 05.11.08 | 05h49
Mesdames et Messieurs les Américains, toutes mes félicitations, après huit années dans l'ombre vous revenez enfin vers la lumière! Et quelle lumière! Une bonne leçon de tolérance et d'ouverture pour notre vieux continent.

Photojournalism Portfolios

2008-11-04T01:56:00.003-06:00

Photojournalism applicants must submit a portfolio comprised of approximately 24 images that best demonstrate their work. The ideal portfolio would include single images and at least one sequential photo essay of six to eight images that displays storytelling skills. Applicants must submit the images on CD in the jpeg format. Remember that the image content, composition and technical quality will all be considered. You must enclose a self-addressed, correctly stamped envelope if you would like to have your portfolio returned to you.

Please submit your photos on CD formatted to be read on a Macintosh computer. Prepare your images in jpeg format no larger than 6” x 9” and 100 dpi. Do not put images in multiple folders. Put all images on the CD using the following file naming protocol:

Do not submit your photographs with names like: old shoes.jpg. Instead rename and save your portfolio of twenty images using your own name, a hypen and then a three digit image number. The first image in the portfolio would be 001, the second 002, continuing until the last 020. Put single images first. Follow with photo stories. IF YOU DO NOT FOLLOW THESE DIRECTIONS ON NUMBERING, THE IMAGES WILL NOT PLAY IN SEQUENCE

YOUR NAME-001.jpg
YOUR NAME-002.jpg etc. ending with …
YOUR NAME-020.jpg.

If you are presenting a digital portfolio we assume that you work with a sophisticated consumer or professional level digital camera with interchangeable lenses—not a point and shoot camera or high quality scans of your film-based images. We also assume you have at least a rudimentary knowledge of Photoshop software. Your captions should be entered into the file information field found in the File menu of Adobe Photoshop.

If necessary you may also provide a separate document with brief captions keyed by number to the images. Captions should give relevant information--who, what, where, and when. Remember to put single images first, followed by a photo essay that shows your story telling skills.

Um, frownie face.

Apparently she's known for this

2008-11-03T22:05:00.001-06:00

Holy shit, Heidi Klum had the best Halloween costume ever!

Reflections

2008-11-03T15:06:00.002-06:00

After several months with a new laptop, today I'm finally installing itunes and bringing my music over from my external hard drive. And, of course, you'll never know what to expect when you open an external filled with several years' worth of personal, personal shit.

I guess what's really remarkable about what I found and read is how much I lost with the beginning of college. When I look back at the decisions I made, I feel as if I made so many wrong ones* - choosing a school farther from home than I realized, where I knew absolutely no one, and in a town where there was nearly nothing available for entertainment. It's as if I set myself up perfectly for disaster.

Overall, I think my college has its merits, but I'm really disheartened that I come away from it feeling like it lied to me about what it had to offer; like it let me down.

*When I evaluate my college experience, I exclude my relationship and eventual marriage with John from the opinion. One could argue, "if you never went to that college, you would never have met him...yadda yadda yadda," but I think this line of reasoning interferes with a truthful evaluation since meeting a future spouse was not what I went to college for and therefore not one of my goals while I was there.

"To speak behind others' backs is the ventilator of the heart."

2008-11-02T12:30:00.008-06:00

I'm still a little shocked by the outcome of the UT v. Tx Tech game last night. I thought for sure that UT had won with an interception right at the end...but then the dude dropped it. Laaaame.

Anyway, yesterday everybody went to Austin Books & Comics, and even though it was my second time there, I was still as lost as ever. I finally found some bizarre section of the store that was neither anime nor superhero-related and picked up a tiny brown book called AEIOU: An Easy Intimacy. Apparently the author, Jeffrey Brown, writes and draws limited-print comic books detailing each of his relationships after they end. I really love that concept, if only for self-indulgent reasons, but after reading about halfway through I still felt as if I were prying into something not meant for others' eyes and put it back.

I overheard some weirdos nearby talking about Persepolis and another work by Marjane Satrapi, so when they left I claimed their area and picked up a little book called Embroideries (from which the above quotation came). Amazon describes it as a follow-up to Persepolis, and I suppose it helps if you are familiar with the characters a bit, but those books (or the film) aren't really a prerequisite. I purchased and read the thing yesterday and really enjoyed it. I wish it were longer, but it is kind of charming as a small peak into her culture and family life in Iran.

Time for lunch now. We're all headed to Chuy's and then everyone must return to the Dallas area. :( John and I, however, will be following them on Tuesday. Man it's crazy how close the 4th is.

Happy 3 month anniversary!

Sleepy cats

2008-11-01T02:26:00.004-05:00

The past week or so has been filled with visitors staying with us, and I really have enjoyed it immensely. The main reason, of course, is the company, but also when I know that people are coming to stay I become the most productive person in the world. The past couple of days I've used almost every cleaning product and instrument that John and I own and really digged it.

Anyway, some big, sleepy cat just climbed into my lap and now I only have the use of one arm. OMG I can totally hear her snoring. I think it's time for bed.

I want this to happen

2008-10-25T21:31:00.000-05:00

Fuck, yes.

Job Fair

2008-10-20T16:08:00.005-05:00

I thought the phrase "job fair" meant something akin to lots of options brought together in one area for a person to peruse through, but that concept was definitely not the situation I faced today.

Things are still so up the air for us right now, but I knew that I should probably locate a decent part-time gig while we try to ride out the rest of this year. My mental list of interesting places to work in the area included a few book stores, Central Market, and (of course) Starbucks. When my parents came to visit for a day a few weekends ago, my mom and I went to get her some coffee and the Starbucks we went to had a really calm atmosphere and a friendly staff. I thought it would be nice to work there, because it's at a distance that I could easily ride my bike to work. Long story short I ended up with instructions to go to the Starbucks Job Fair on Monday.

When I arrived at the address (which was just another Starbucks location), I saw the normal array of people drinking coffee and then at the handicapped-designated table, a Starbucks employee slaving over a big stack of paperwork. The entire time leading up to that moment, John and I had been envisioning some open office and a few tables with a variety of Starbucks people present to talk to those interested about different positions within the company. I thought there was a chance today that I could apply to work for the rumored "Starbucks police," who go around in plain-clothes and make sure that stores are following regulation. I even had the wackiness of the Office episode figured as a possibility in my head. Looking back, I find my imagination so laughable now.

What the job fair turned out to be was whichever store is short and looking to hire signs up for the job fair that week, and the manager comes out and interviews the people who show up. Not as exciting as I hoped, but at least I didn't feel unprepared for not having my resume with me. Again, to shorten the boring details that are usually my bread and butter, the manager present today was from one of the three Starbucks stores that is less than a mile from where I live. And I guess I need to do some uniform shopping now, because I'm due to show up on 11/10 for paperwork and training. Things happen kind of fast, sometimes.

Employment is a mixed blessing.

"Love Lockdown"
-Kanye West

I has new hare kut.

2008-10-10T17:21:00.002-05:00

My hair is short, for which I am relieved. Long hair was such a pain in the ass. I'm not sure how I feel about the new style, though. I think it might be too...girlie? trendy? We'll see.

John and I saw Religulous for lunch. It's definitely nothing near as bad as all the reviewers claim it to be, but I don't think I enjoyed it too much because it just depressed me. Oh, humanity.

John and I re-arranged our entire living room last night. What that means is that John sat on the couch and after I moved something heavy he told me if he liked it there or not. I do need to give him some props, because he actually helped me hoist our giant tv onto the new tv stand. Did you know that there are some tv stands at Best Buy that cost $999??? Isn't that fucking rediculous?! We got this one from Target for about $40 and I'm really digging it - probably because I got to assemble it WHICH IS SO MUCH FUN. I love using my tool box. That's what she said.

Iron Man

2008-09-29T18:16:00.005-05:00

My husband has a cute ass. I'm proclaiming this since it's probably the most innocent thing I could see in his hip x-rays today. Everything skeletal was pretty intimidating.

We confirmed this afternoon that John will soon need to have a "rotational osteotomy" on his left hip within the next few weeks. It will be his seventh surgery. That's pretty amazing to me. Unfortunately, no one in Austin specializes in osteotomies of the hip, but we think there might be a surgeon at the Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas who can help us. I just hope that we won't need to go out of state.

14 hours from now I'll take the GRE. It's not really the top thing on my mind right now.

It's gonna suck.

I love you, Ricky.

2008-09-22T22:42:00.003-05:00

This opinion is something that I'm sure will be wildly disagreed with by everyone I know, but, well, I enjoyed Ghost Town waaay more than Burn After Reading. Don't punch me, okay?

But, yeah, I recommend it.

On another note, I think I've fallen for Austin. This feeling will be more certain when I find a place around here that makes decent guacamole. It's important. If you have any suggestions, please pass them my way.

[update]: So, I've been feeling shitty all day - sneezing and runny nose stuff - but I just chalked it up to the consequence of living with a kitten. It got worse the last few hours, so for fun or something I took my temperature. The readings varied from ear to ear, but overall I'm averaging over 100*F. (<-- Notice the lame attempt at a degree symbol?) I'm going to take some Theraflu and go to bed. The reason I mention all of this, though, is that I'm just baffled as to how/why I have a cold right now? I bet fucking flu season is starting. Ugh.

"Bruises"
Chairlift

"I woke up with the power out, not really somethin to shout about"

2008-09-13T14:23:00.004-05:00

I tried calling but I can't reach any of my friends in Houston. At least I know that Priya and her family are ok via her blog. I hope Marion and Jordan are okay as well.

My family is ok. I can reach them by cell phone. Several branches fell on our roof; one pierced the roof and crashed in our attic. That allowed a good amount of water damage to the ceiling between our living room and the attic and has weakened the ceiling. My parents are really concerned about that collapsing so they have moved everything out of the room. The only other pressing issue really is that almost all of Houston is without power, and I'm reading estimates that it will take a few weeks at least to fix it. I hope my neighborhood gets power again soon, because without it my parents have no way of charging their cell phones.

On a cuter note, I'm sitting on the edge of the sofa and Stella has fallen asleep with her body wrapped around my butt.

[update]: Yesterday a lawn crew tried to remove the branch threatening our roof, but when the supporting branches were cut away the whole thing fell straight through our house and landed in our living room. My brother tells me that the hole in the ceiling is about six feet wide, and is pretty close to the ceiling fan. My dad and the crew put up some tarp and hopefully that will keep the rain out.

The sky looks slightly ominous

2008-09-12T17:37:00.006-05:00

I saw Burn After Reading today at lunch and I think I might have enjoyed the Australian Beef Pie I ate more - but that's because IT'S BEEF PIE. Yum. I need to learn how to make Beef Wellington. That might have been one of the best things I ate in New York. Anyway, about the movie, I was not prepared for how pointless it was and how jumpy it made me.

Yesterday I played Super Mario Galaxy ALL. DAY. LONG. It was embarrassing. I stopped when my arms hurt too much for me to play well.

I signed up to take the GRE on the 30th for some reason. Well, for the reason that it's required for graduate school, but I'm really scared that I'm going to put it off until I don't study for it at all. Should I study? I decided to take it this month so that I would have time to take it again if I bombed. And when I took the SAT, my best score came when I wasn't trying. I think I'm also terrifying because John told me that he had so much trouble with it...and John is smart! Kind of. Well, yes, but not as smart as I am (based on SAT scores, GPA, and the fact that I'm able-bodied).

It hurts me to admit this here, where people can read it, but I haven't done shit with thank you notes yet. Ughhhh. I wish there were a person I could hire to do this, like when Cartman hired some Mexican men to read The Old Man and the Sea for him in season 11. Season 11 of South Park is fucking amazing, by the by.

I just spoke with my parents - they're taking Kirby to the park for one more good run before the storm really begins. My dad told me about this really helpful website, stormpulse. I highly recommend it.

Oh, of course I forgot something. This may be totally common knowledge by now (cuz John was all like, "ohemgee, duh, you didn't know??") but they're making a (non-documentary) movie about Harvey Milk, which I'm really excited about. I really hope that turns out to be stellar, and hopefully more people will know about him and his legacy.

"Skitzo Dancer" - Justice (remix) < --- thx to the Alamo for this one

CANNOT. STOP. WATCHING.

2008-09-02T23:56:00.000-05:00

Austin was slightly more charming without the students

2008-08-28T21:38:00.006-05:00

I am quite amazed by the transformation that has occurred in certain areas of my new hometown. It's funny, because I drive around and gripe, "god damn students," but I'm 110% sure that I experienced the exact sentiment as a college freshman ("those damn highschoolers") and I'm 85% sure that something similar was felt as a 9th grader. Ah, the wisdom of aging, I guess you could say.

Instead of delving into something mopey and questioning, I will entertain you all with a complaint. So far while living here, I have called two different restaurants to place to go orders (one a 24 hour eclectic place, the other a Thai food place). In all my years of to-go-ordering, I have never been posed the question "do you know you are calling the [insert street name] location of [insert restaurant name]?" Oh, am I? I thought I could call you and place an order for your sister location, because, that's how it works, right??? I asked John, how stupid do the people (cough-cough students) here have to be that restaurants need to resort to reminding you which location you are calling?

Really though, I have *never* been asked that question in Dallas, Houston, Plano, Sherman...anywhere.

John just assures me that people living here actually are a little air-headed. Maybe it's all the "Texas Sweet<3's" stickers that I'm seeing.

The other day a few young women (who did NOT look like sorority girls AT ALL, HOW DARE YOU THINK THAT) decided to unload their 4-wheeler while parked on the ramp connecting two levels of our small parking garage. Why? Why would they do something that would so obviously cause a huge traffic issue? Because they were closer to the exit door, that's why.

My anger is the only thing that keeps me going, sometimes. That and my kitten.

PS - Marion, Priya, Jordan - I miss you all dearly.

PPS - Dear DNC, congrats on having the WORST MUSIC SELECTIONS EVER. The rest of your programming is pretty good, though, btw.

new things

2008-08-16T15:59:00.006-05:00

so I have a brand new computer...and I'm realizing that it really sucks when you lose all of your bookmarks. otherwise, this new computer thing is pretty sweet. i like having my laptop actually on my lap without blocking circulation to my extremities.

also, my new computer is small enough that it can share my lap with a kitten! Stella! you are asleep on me right now! it's so cute when she uses my (or john's) chest as a bed. when she sneezes she sounds like the first time you turn a sprinkler on in a long while and all the air rushes out. kind of a pffffft noise.

i'm trying to catch up and re-find all of my favorite blogs, and i'm very taken aback to check my friend priya's and see both jordan and robert commenting?! i mean, wha? pleasant surprise.

marion should be visiting next weekend, and we will go and see some master pancake-ing of jurassic park. it won't be the same without priya, though.

right now john is playing the new madden - i just helped him create his own fantasy team. he made the wise decision of following my advice when choosing his logo/mascot (which is a demon/devil theme), but when it came to the name of the team john pretty vehemently discarded my suggestion of the "Teufels", which is German for demon. i really love it. john said it sounded too funny. there's a really old German poem that talks about when the teufels come out to dance in the graveyard, and how the townspeople are so frightened, which I remember reading in class, but I just looked for it for like 20 minutes and couldn't find it.

we comprimised with "Geist".

this cat is just dead-weight in my arms as I type. she's cuter than a real-life moogle.

anyway, on the topic of the wedding somewhat, i really wish there were more occasions where we could get all of our friends under the same roof to party. that made me so happy.

oh, I almost forgot, I created an ApplyTexas account last night, and I'm working on a portfolio for that. derp...

Shit. I just have four weeks. Shit, shit, shit!

2008-07-02T20:02:00.003-05:00

I have to go and get my bedroom ready for the honored arrival of the groom-elect.

Amount of people coming so far: 132.1

I'm freaking out, man.

More to come

2008-07-01T09:44:00.004-05:00

This is the first time I've ever gotten on here at work - I guess the reason being that I just don't want my page in this computer's history files. Anyway, something rather surreal happened that I want to describe in detail when I get home.

For the time being, I will record here that I just made the floral arrangments for this guy's funeral later today.

It's a weird day.

Bathroom Tech II

2008-06-30T23:24:00.002-05:00

The History Channel just informed me that most toilets flush in the key of E flat. It's been a while since I've had a chance to turn on and actively watch a television, and it's interesting to find that unless I watch it frequently, I have no desire to have it on.

I spent most of my day fighting sleep and training/talking to Jordan. I enjoyed having some solidarity at the shop - someone I could commiserate with.

Anyway, I must return to the assembly of my new camera. It's so beautiful, I'm almost afraid to use it!

battered broken - jude

2008-06-16T18:13:00.000-05:00

OMG QUIZNOS GREEN CHILI CHICKEN SOUP = SOOOOOOO GOOD

the clock ticks, ticks, ticks

2008-06-08T17:40:00.006-05:00

By noon on Monday everything will be so much better; all this shit will have cleared. The book will be done and gone. I will escape from the flower-store-stress. My mom will have gotten used to the idea of dress alterations that cost almost as much as the dress itself, and I will have temporarily forgotten the recurring agony of making my family poorer by getting married. It's just difficult to envision that future right now.

At least my brother is happy. That was the most important part of today.

Rolling Stones - Gimme Shelter

sueños mojados

2008-06-05T00:43:00.002-05:00

Do want. Now.

[Edit]: I've found it cheap(ish), and it will soon be mine. Bwaha.

never.

2008-06-04T02:23:00.003-05:00

I'm wide awake and I can see the perfect sky is torn.

2008-06-03T01:45:00.003-05:00

Over the past year or so I've been witnessing a situation where two individually decent people I know dated each other and became unbearable for a lot of people to be around.

I don't know whether or not this is a weird thing to blog, but right now I just really have to write down that I love Priya and Kyle. You see, Priya is awesome, and Kyle is awesome as well. And together, they're still awesome.

Sometimes, when you combine two awesome things, you can end up with something terrible. Take, for example, the cheesy, baked oysters I had in BA and place a few inside a homemade chocolate milkshake...those things individually are delicious, but, fucking fuck, keep them the hell away from each other!

But, thankfully, Priya and Kyle are more like chips and queso. Or maybe sour cream sauce and chicken enchiladas.

I'm hungry.

PS - I kinda wanted to fire a crossbow filled with rusty arrows through the face of the pilates instructor tonight. I'm pretty torn over whether I'll go back or not. Actually, I'm pretty torn over everything. (Yay for this sentiment helping me choose a title for this post!)

Today's my mom's fifty-ninth birthday

2008-06-01T00:42:00.005-05:00

I would really enjoy any opportunity to encourage or induce some inter-friend groups-mingling. I used to dwell on the thought often, but not as much these days. I suppose because I just realize how impossible it would be, to connect London to Boston to St. Louis to New York to Los Angeles... etc. etc. ...to here.

However, this rare meeting of the worlds will come to pass on Friday the first. It will be eagerly yet anxiously anticipated event taking place at the church, and in the dining room of the Magnolia. I think if everyone doesn't get along I will find a way to blame myself for it.

I miss all my German things.

James is a good name. I come across it too infrequently.

I wish I were at Star Pizza right now. It's one of the good places very conducive to story-telling.

Death Cab for Cutie - I will possess your heart
The National - Mr. November

Incongruous Thoughts Concerning My Return

2008-05-31T02:56:00.005-05:00

I'm back in Houston today, for the summer. As far as I know, it's the last time I'll really be living here, in my parents' house, which is sad to me (especially since they keep forlornly mentioning that in passing).

Even though I've left Sherman and I'm done with school, I'm still really stressed out because of:

Wedding Invitations
Fixing The Yearbook**
...and other things I can't remember

But I'm confident that the bride-elect will make it through, in part due to my friends. Speaking of friends, tonight I finally got to spend time with them again.

We went to a midnight showing of Jurassic Park and seeing it on the big screen again was everything I could have hoped for. I was definitely surprised and pleased to discover that my friends could recite many of the lines throughout the film with the characters.

It's odd and wonderful to have done a lot of growing up far away from someone, but when reunited, everything is as it was before. What is frustrating, though, is when you have to catch up on all the stories that took place while separated.

Part of me wishes that I could have been at John's house with tout le monde this evening, but seriously, tonight kicked ass.

Tomorrow the work begins anew. So I return to the addressing...

Vampire Weekend - M79

**Um, I'm on the yearbook staff, and I finished my section a while ago now. However, things are all kind of going to hell in a hand basket, and I'm taking on Editor-In-Chief duties because, well, no one else is!

EXAMS ARE EVIL

2008-05-12T19:46:00.002-05:00

This is brilliant, in my opinion, and I don't know why I was completely unaware of it until now. Sign me up for that! I can't wait for German and Japanese versions.

Yay for part 1 of the House season finale in 10 minutes.

i feel like things are crawling on me

2008-05-07T03:28:00.002-05:00

Through the noise emanating from my television, I thought I could hear something rustling nearby. I muted the TV for a while, and recognized that dreadful noise of some bug creeping-crawling through your possessions. After I turned on all the lights, I spotted a black, medium-sized beetle or cockroach. This angered me very much. After playing cat and mouse for a few minutes, I finally squashed the speedy creature. But then, when I was washing my hands in the bathroom, I noticed that the rather loud cricket noises weren't only coming from outside, but from inside the bathroom as well! This pissed me off even more. I searched around for a while, but I've come to the conclusion that this cricket lives somewhere behind the sink cabinets.

I can't wait to leave this wretched place.

the end?

2008-05-07T01:23:00.001-05:00

For maybe the first time, the opinions I hear on my television on MSNBC right now are relaxing me.

geez, this post is a downer, huh?

2008-05-01T15:05:00.006-05:00

For the past eight years (or more?), my birthday has coincided with finals, exams, tests, and other forms of frippery. So, as far as I presently know, this will be the last year of that.

So, yay.

The sensation of having one's birthday forgotten is not something I've personally had to experience, and I'd like to think I'd handle it gracefully if that were ever to occur. However, I've noticed a trend in the college years that if I don't surround myself with people or plan/prepare something I end up getting really depressed. And I want to stress that it's not because I'm a "look at me, look at me" person, but rather I just dwell on the fact that almost all of my closest friends and loved ones are so very, very far away. And I miss them.

So, here's hoping that a distraction presents itself, because I have no time to look for one right now.

On the brighter side, I can't wait to eat some Guerreros tonight! That stuff is as yum as all get out.

and now back to the present

2008-04-30T02:14:00.002-05:00

I just signed up for a mailing list that will be activated in 2010 when London begins searching for volunteers for the 2012 Olympics.

That would be fun.

four hours of no progress

2008-04-26T17:03:00.002-05:00

i just counted it up, and i have 10 days of class left. and i don't know what to do to get my work done because i feel like i've failed everything already.

Car damage is upsetting

2008-04-22T01:44:00.000-05:00

Why are there such things as wakes?

2008-04-18T04:01:00.006-05:00

A second ago I was sitting here, at this desk, formulating the next sentence in the French essay, when an image on the television screen took me back to the afternoon of January 30th. I lived over again the memory of sitting against their kitchen wall, near a table of pastries, and furtively glancing over to look at Mrs. Davis. My mind could not and still cannot fathom what she was feeling and how she could feel it and yet carry that somber, withdrawn face. It wasn't uncaring. It was ill with grief. How can someone invite so many people into their home to socialize when that person's son died three days prior? I don't understand it. And I guess that might be partially why I just could not look her in the face. I had to avoid her. All I wanted to do that day was weep, and the last thing I wanted in the entire world was to cry in front of her when she was trying so hard to make it through that day. It was wretched, all of it.

I still have the program from his funeral. I keep it in the red bag with all of the wedding papers, because it happened when I was doing a lot of wedding things. I wish so desperately that I could take someone who didn't know him back into my memories with me, show them what I saw, and share it so that it won't hurt me so much.

All the Apologies in the world wouldn't make this ok

2008-04-14T15:24:00.001-05:00

The dc Talk version replaces the lyric "Everyone is gay" with "Jesus is the way"...

typical

2008-04-08T22:07:00.002-05:00

So as I was reading more from the book in which I found the quotation below, John (who is on the phone) alerted me to direct my attention to the TV. When I looked at it (and it was on mute) all I saw that "Secret Lives of Women" was playing, and several women were in a living room talking. So I glance back and forth from the TV to John with a questioning look on my face: what's so important? John made motions instructing me to keep watching. One of the women the women went to a supermarket, and they showed her buying syrup. Then they showed her buying pudding snack packs. I thought, "oh, they're talking about pudding, and John loves pudding so that's why he's excited." So I turned to John triumphantly, convinced I had found the answer. Then John, who is still on the phone, begins to make motions like a woman pouring something on herself and rubbing her body with it while sticking out his tongue. It was then I began to think "oh no.." and as I turn back to the TV I see the topic of the episode. My fears were confirmed. I made the face of the Grecian tragedy mask as I read: Sploshing

ilikethis

2008-04-08T21:57:00.002-05:00

nam gawa the wei woe lu yoe; phung dang si yang they nang yoe

fun and pleasure are located below the navel; dispute and trouble are also found there

(It's from the Dzongkha language, which is spoken in Bhutan.)

fingers crossed

2008-03-31T23:54:00.003-05:00

I moved a lot of academic things around today and met with a bunch of professors and I think I will survive. And graduate, maybe. And (perhaps) make up these late assignments.

In other news, I found a tattoo artist I like!

the photo and video in this article are hilarious...

2008-03-28T02:35:00.003-05:00

Anti-Emo Riots Break Out Across Mexico

ok, just one more fark.com story:

The case of the OU Sooner fan attempting to castrate a Longhorn fan in a bar is going to trial

Threat Level: Midnight

2008-03-25T02:31:00.008-05:00

Just a couple of quick things before bed...

John is watching some Office dvds and I'm surprised by how much I've missed this show. Hopefully, when it comes back, it will come back as strong as the second season was, and not as heavy on the Jim/Pam awkwardness. I feel like less = more in that area. Also, Jan needs some dignity back, dammit.

Earlier today the woman printing the wedding invitations sent John and I some proofs. I'm excited about it in the way that I want to email it to everyone I know to show them. Seeing it and our names makes me very heureuse.

Il faut que je dors maintenant. If I want to get at least five hours of sleep, that is.

[EDIT]: I wanted to mention this last night but didn't really have the time. Some of you out there may not be following all the political stuff and if that's the case you will probably be just as flabbergasted as I have been seeing this video of HRC lying about a trip to Bosnia and then getting called on it.
And it's even more dumbfounding when she tries to poorly brush it off: "so if I misspoke, that was just a misstatement".

Keith Olbermann

2008-03-13T00:12:00.003-05:00

Watching this, just now, was one of the more moving and thoughtful things I have seen in journalism in a while.

I'm just really impressed with his sincerity.

Right Now

2008-03-12T03:53:00.002-05:00

Right now John's in bed and he just started snoring. Right now I'm working very slowly on a paper. Right now I'm fighting the increasing weight of my head and the urge to rest it on the desk. Right now I can't see the end of the tunnel. Right now I'm frighteningly apathetic and scared shitless.

this post is boring but i'm gonna post it anyway

2008-03-07T22:49:00.005-06:00

Last night I received a deliverance of an email in which my French professor canceled class and postponed the due date of our paper. So because my weekend had unexpectedly started early, I decided to try something that I'd been waiting to try for a while. I tried to make the unicorn from Blade Runner.

All I've been making lately have been paper cranes and flapping birds, so I was excited to find a website with step-by-step photos of the unicorn's construction. However, I realized after a while that this one would require more than one sheet of paper, and for some reason I find origami that requires more than one square kinda lame. In the end, I have the front half of a unicorn and maybe someday I'll make the little guy a rear.

Priya - thank you so much for the finger video; I found it to be very inspiring in a way. And don't worry about being too dark - I like dark.

kind of like this post?

2008-03-04T16:17:00.001-06:00

I voted. It felt really anti-climatic.

At least I can caucus later, right? Me like.

but nothing can beat this song in french

2008-02-28T00:25:00.003-06:00

I just found the best translation of "Ne me quitte pas" I have ever come across. Not perfect, but close. And this is big, for me, because I still have not really found any other song, movie, or story as beautifully desperate as this song is.

Don't go away
If you can't forgive
Believe, just to live
You must forget
Forget the times
You misunderstand
Let them slip through your hand
With the sand of time
Forget those hours
When 'perhaps' has died
At the hands of 'why'
And our lack of faith
Don't go away
Don't go away
Don't leave

Me, I'll offer you pearls
Made out of the rain
That falls in a world
Where rain never falls
I'll ransack the earth
By day and by night
To cover your body
With gold and with light
I'll make a domain
Where love will be king
Love will be everything
You'll be the queen
Don't go away
Dont' go away
Don't leave

Don't go away
I'll invent for you
Words just meant for you
And you'll know what's meant
And I'll tell you the truth
About how other lovers
Looked into each other
And how they were moved
Then I'll read to you
The story of kings
Who lived without meeting you
Died without knowing you
Don't go away
Dont' go away
Don't leave

And just when you think
The volcano's expired
The craters turn pink
And the ash turns to fire
In a charred barren land
You can still be surprised
Wheat suddenly stands
Like a dream of Julys
When the sun sets
In a brilliant sky
The black and the red
Never touch as they die
Don't go away
Dont' go away
Don't leave

Don't go away
I won't cry anymore
I won't talk anymore
I'll crawl under the bed
And I'll watch you from there
As you smile and you dance
And I'll listen to hear
How you talk, when you laugh it's enough
In the shadow of you shadow
In the shadow of your hand
The shadow of your man
Don't go away
Dont' go away
Don't leave

that's me in the corner - losing my mind

2008-02-27T06:40:00.004-06:00

The thing I wish I could do the most at this moment (besides going to bed) would be to step outside of my body, turn and look me square in the eyes, and slap myself with all the strength I could muster.

Luckily, I know somebody who tells a lot of battery jokes, so I think he can help.

best puppy video ever?

2008-02-26T18:56:00.001-06:00

Time is scary.

2008-02-25T00:28:00.003-06:00

In 10 weeks I'll be 22.

In 11 weeks I'll finish school.

And in 21 weeks there will be a wedding.

...But, for now, I have 8.5 hours to write this French paper.

"and to this day, when everything breaks, you are the anchor that holds me"

2008-02-14T09:59:00.001-06:00

Happy 3rd birthday, relationship!

2008-02-09T01:14:00.001-06:00

C'était le quatre juin, le soleil tapait depuis le matin

Je m'occupais de la vigne et mon frère chargeait le foin

Et l'heure du déjeuner venue, on est retourné à la maison

Et notre mère a crié de la cuisine "Essuyez vos pieds sur l'paillasson"

Elle dit qu'elle avait des nouvelles de Bourg-les-Essonnes

"Ce matin, Marie-Jeanne Guillaume

s'est jetée du pont de la Garonne"

-
Et mon père dit à ma mère en nous passant le plat de gratin

"La Marie-Jeanne, elle n'était pas très maligne,

passe-moi donc le pain

Y'a bien encore deux hectares à labourer dans le champ d'la canne"

Et Maman dit "Tu vois, quand j'y pense

C'est quand même bête pour cette pauvre Marie-Jeanne

On dirait qu'il n'arrive jamais rien de bon à Bourg-les-Essonnes

Et voilà qu'Marie-Jeanne Guillaume s'est jetée du pont de la Garonne"

-
Mon frère dit qu'il se souvenait quand lui et moi et l'grand Nicolas

On avait mis une grenouille dans l'dos

d'Marie-Jeanne un soir au cinéma

Et il me dit "Tu te rappelles ?

Tu lui parlais ce dimanche près de l'église

Donne-moi encore un peu de vin, c'est bien injuste la vie

Dire que je l'ai vue à la scierie hier, à Bourg-les-Essonnes

Et qu'ajourd'hui, Marie-Jeanne s'est jetée du pont de la Garonne"

-
Maman me dit "Enfin, mon grand, tu n'as pas beaucoup d'appétit

J'ai cuisiné tout ce matin, et tu n'as rien touché, tu n'as rien pris

Dis-moi, la soeur de ce jeune curé est passée en auto

Elle m'a dit qu'elle viendrait dimanche à dîner, oh, et à propos

Elle dit qu'elle a vu un garçon qui t'ressemblait à Bourg-les-Essonnes

Et lui et Marie-Jeanne jetaient quelque chose du pont de la Garonne"

-
Toute une année est passée,

on ne parle plus du tout de Marie-Jeanne

Mon frère qui s'est marié a pris un magasin avec sa femme

La grippe est venue par chez nous

et mon père en est mort en janvier

Depuis Maman n'a plus envie de faire grand chose

Elle est toujours fatiguée

Et moi j'vais de temps en temps

Ramasser quelques fleurs du côté des Essonnes

Et je les jette dans les eaux boueuses du haut du pont de la Garonne

John can even back me up on this

2008-02-04T12:08:00.000-06:00

OMG I TOTALLY THOUGHT THE SAME FUCKING THING.

oh, and, on a related note, i was totally apathetic about the super bowl in the hours preceding the game, but shit what an awesome game it turned out to be!

also, my favorite super bowl commercial is this one!

Give me your cents

2008-02-02T00:26:00.000-06:00

What movies does this make you think of? For me, the first thing I thought of was Elizabethtown. And maybe the first half of Rambo. I'll add any more if they come to me...

austin and i miss you.

2008-01-30T20:17:00.001-06:00

DYLAN LAKE DAVIS, the 6th of March 1991 to the 27th of January 2008, our beloved son, brother, cousin, and friend touched our hearts and changed our lives in so many ways. He wheeled through life with tremendous enthusiasm and a contagious smile. Even though his physical life was more complicated than some, he greeted each day with a positive attitude. He swam, jet-skied, and rode kneeboards at the lake, and enjoyed his summers at Camp For All. An avid sports fan, Dylan loved them all: from baseball and basketball to the X-Games to the WWE. He loved his time running the lighting board for theatrical productions at Memorial High School, where he had many friends. Dylan was a whiz at video games, Guitar Hero, and his favorite computer game, World of Warcraft. Dylan was loved dearly and will be greatly missed by his parents, Leslie & Brad, and brother Thad; aunts and uncles Ron & Mary Ruth Davis and Susan & Phil Schawe; cousins Jay & Jessica Davis and Skyler, Hannah, & Ella Schawe; the McGraw and Ricks families in Brenham, TX and the Breed family in Boston, MA. Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from six until eight o'clock in the evening on Tuesday, the 29th of January, in the Library of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston. The funeral service will be conducted at eleven o'clock in the morning on Wednesday, the 30th of January in the Sanctuary of Chapelwood United Methodist Church, 11140 Greenbay in Houston, where Rev. Bob Johnson and Rev. Joseph Klam will officiate. Interment will follow, via an escorted cortege, at Memorial Oaks Cemetery, 13001 Katy Freeway in Houston. In lieu of usual remembrances, contributions in memory of Dylan may be directed to: Spina Bifida Association of Houston Gulf Coast; 440 Benmar, Suite 3052, Houston, TX 77060. Published in the Houston Chronicle from 1/29/2008 - 1/30/2008.

"Sometimes girls tell us not to measure their bust yet because they're getting boob jobs."

2008-01-20T02:46:00.000-06:00

Today my mom and I attended our very first trunk show.

Somehow I had gotten the impression that trunk shows are when a salon or store gets a designer's entire, new collection and has some casual models walk around in selected pieces of the collection, and sometimes the designer themselves comes too. When I awoke this morning, I was thinking "hmm, will I need to buy tickets?" Well, apparently trunk shows like that do exist, but only as special events. No friends, when someone says trunk show, that likely means that a store has all the new pieces in a designer's collection for you to come in and try on. And usually you need to have an appointment. Also, they only have one of each dress, and they're all the ones that the ("six foot tall, anorexic") models wore. what!

That quote up there is how my consultant liked to describe the models. (And the quote in the title is her, too, but she was describing their clientele.) Anyway, I went to a trunk show for three different designers at Houston's premier salon Louise Blum. And I was almost scared shitless, once I realized that I would be trying dresses on, because, well, I'm comfortable shopping at places like Old Navy or Urban Outfitters, where you sometimes must mount an expedition to find employees to help you out. Also, every item in that place is around the price of three years of rent. It's not my element. (My mom even found a tiny, white flower girl dress that was around $800. Seriously, it was like 1.5' of fabric.)

**I also want to add that when I look back, I realize that it's probably pretty uncommon for people there to work with anyone with a facial piercing. I really forget that thing is there almost all the time. Ha.**

Overall it was a good experience. Luckily the consultant I was paired with was a nice, older woman who used to teach high school history and english literature. She secured a large dressing room in the back of the store and never hinted/suggested that I needed to step outside of it (and stand on the pedestal in the middle of the store). It also just so happened that one of the designers featured at the trunk show (Christos) turned out to be a designer I really liked. Which I wish to qualify by saying that it's hard to find dresses I like because I dislike beading or anything sparkly 99% of the time, which means that I dislike the majority of existing dresses in the world. But I'm not picky, I swear!

The only downside to the visit is that my consultant warned me that with a wedding in August that I should order my dress by Feb. 1st. Yipes!

Okay, that's enough wedding shit for today. Goodnight!

The eyes of Garai & McAvoy emote like few others

2008-01-17T23:54:00.000-06:00

I want to warn everyone out there that if they consider themselves romantic then they should NOT see Atonement.

I suppose this qualifies some form of an explanation. Was it a bad film? No, quite the contrary. It very well may be one of the best love stories I've experienced; one that might have the staying power of some of my other favorites (The Painted Veil, I Capture the Castle). And cinematically ... well it's perfect. Really well made, filmed, written, etc.

I've heard an ad comparing it to Titanic for some reason. It's nothing like that movie. No, the reason I say do not go is because it is so realistic and so heart wrenching that it will haunt you.

Plus it's too sad.

PS - Hey, I thought the male lead was familiar...he's Mr. Tumnus from Narnia!

?!

2008-01-15T02:33:00.000-06:00

I'm watching an old episode of Chappelle's Show, and suddenly I notice Karen Filippelli in one of the skits. Look!

The £inal Harr¥ Potter movie will b€ released in two part$

2008-01-13T02:48:00.000-06:00

So did you hear that "deathly hallows" is gonna "kill bill"-it? Good thing or bad thing?

[EDIT]: I wanted to add to this that I read that they make not make any more of the golden compass series because the first didn't gross enough. I hope that doesn't happen, though.

nothing nice to say

2008-01-12T21:19:00.000-06:00

I don't know where the fuck I've been, but the first web comic I ever loved returned over a year ago. I'm very excited to discover this, and that might have a lot to do with the fact that I'm so lonely and bored right about now, but...shrug.

It's interesting to read more of Mitch Clem's work now, now that I have gotten into the likes of Achewood and Penny Arcade. Nothing can make me laugh like Achewood, but the return of NN2S is like re-finding an old friend and realizing how you've missed their simple, but unique style of humor.

Also, does anyone know if a black, circular sticker with a white number is a traditional way to honor deceased teammates in the NFL? I find it weird that the redskins' design and the patriots' design for their teammates are identical. Couldn't they use a different font or change the color?

No! Bad quarterback!

2008-01-12T19:03:00.000-06:00

Gerrard just referred to the time that his son was in utero as the time that his son was in the stomach of his wife. That's maybe acceptable in front of your neighbors' young kids who don't understand gestation, but don't say that on national television.

Weird!

2008-01-12T04:03:00.000-06:00

If you have ever wondered how people with no hands type, you can try out the program here (java required):

The Link

or...

http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/dasher/
TryJavaDasherNow.html

*I hate how this blog cuts off web addresses...

*Hey, I learned something!

News Headline of the day

2008-01-12T00:12:00.000-06:00

"Flasher in minivan drives away after two young girls scream, point, and laugh"

Unfortunately, it's not true, but I loved it anyway. Go fark!

Mass Effect is "moral danger"!

2008-01-11T16:03:00.001-06:00

Sex in Video Game Makes Waves Through Industry
By Evan Moore
CNSNews.com Correspondent
January 11, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - A new, best-selling video game, Mass Effect, made for the Microsoft Xbox 360 console, allows the characters to engage in explicitly graphic sexual intercourse. Some game experts and pro-family analysts say Mass Effect is marketed to young kids and presents a moral danger to them and that the companies making and marketing the game should be prosecuted.

The game is "clearly marketed to minors," Cathy Ruse, a lawyer and senior fellow for legal studies at the Family Research Council, told Cybercast News Service.

"There are cultural implications for feeding porn to kids in this way," and "when you do this, you're teaching them a distorted lesson about human sexuality and human dignity. These are lessons that they will take with them into adulthood and ultimately society," Ruse said.

Mass Effect is made by BioWare Corp., in Alberta, Canada. The game has a strong, plot-driven storyline reminiscent of the Star Wars films or television shows like Babylon 5.

As part of that story, the playable character can become romantically involved with a woman, if playing as the default male character; a man, if playing as a woman; and an alien that looks and talks like a woman, for any play-through. This storyline culminates in a cutscene in which the characters copulate in full digital nudity.

The game is rated "M" for mature, as are many video games, and was banned in Singapore last year, though the decision was later reversed. Mass Effect has sold over 1.6 million copies since its release in November 2007. The game scored "Best RPG" in the 2007 Spike TV Video Game Awards, and it has been nominated for Game of the Year.

Critics blast

Bob Waliszewki, media specialist with Focus on the Family, told Cybercast News Service, "We never shy away from sexuality in the media. It's just a question of how is that sexuality portrayed. One can use the media to portray some very healthy forms of sexuality. And when done wisely with taste and age-appropriateness, it can be done well."

"Unfortunately," he said, "Mass Effect doesn't do that and even goes so far as to allow homosexuality to be on par with heterosexuality and heterosexuality outside of its proper context of marriage."

Ruse said, "I don't know if people are really aware about what's in this game, but [the people who made it] should lose a lot of money, and they should lose consumer confidence, because this is a stupid move."

She noted that "when you expose children, whose brains and personalities are still developing, to degrading and harmful material, you've got to believe that's going to have an effect on the way that they view themselves, others, and the world."

"People try to raise a straw-man argument and say that people from my perspective are saying that everyone who views something is going to go out and become a serial sex killer. Nobody's saying that," Ruse said.

"But, it is profoundly naive to suggest that feeding children graphic sexual material is going to have no effect on their psyche. That's just stupid to think that," she added.

Waliszewki noted that numerous reputable studies from firms like the RAND corporation have emerged over the past four years that show causal links between exposure to sexual images, profanity, smoking, and violence to a higher degree of sexual activity, greater use of profanity, higher smoking rates, as well as higher aggressive tendencies and violent action.

"This is about money," Ruse said. "This isn't about a First Amendment debate. This is about [BioWare] making as much money as it can. It's putting elements in its games which they think will help them sell more games. They don't care about what they're doing to kids."

She concluded, "This is unethical, and they have a duty to be good corporate citizens. There's no First Amendment right to exploit children ... They're making money at the expense of children in America, and they ought to be vilified for that."

The state of the industry

Calls made to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) for comment were not answered by press time. However, a report from the ESA says that the game player population is older and diverse than conventional wisdom would assume.

According to the ESA, the average game player is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years. Also, 38 percent of all game players are women. Women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (31 percent) than boys age 17 or younger (20 percent).

The voice of the video game industry also says that parents are strongly involved when their children buy or rent games. Eighty-six percent of game players under the age of 18 reported that they get their parents' permission when renting or buying games, and 91 percent say their parents are present when they buy games.

Furthermore, the ESA reports that the field of choices available to consumers is very family-friendly. Eighty-five percent of all games sold in 2006 were rated "E" for Everyone, "T" for Teen, or "E10+" for Everyone 10+ by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

Cybercast News Service also sought comment from BioWare Corp but did not receive a reply.

Preventing exposure to children

"When parental involvement is at a high level," Waliszewki said, the warning labels provided by the ESRB could deter children from being exposed to inappropriate material. But he warned that "in many cases, where parents are less involved and oblivious to the world of entertainment these days, an 'M' rating is almost a badge of endorsement."

"Parents really just need to be involved in [their children's] entire entertainment world," he said. "There's just too much gunk out there for parents to be 'hands-off.' They have to be involved. They have to know ... what their kids are into in today's entertainment."

Ruse noted that "most states have what's called 'Harmful to Minors' laws on the books that say that selling sexual material that a jury would deem 'patently offensive to minors, which lacks literary, artistic, political or scientific value.' ... might be prosecutable."

However, she also noted that these laws are "very likely not enforced." Rather than new laws, "we need state and local prosecutors with spines and backbones to prosecute some of these companies that are violating the law" in order to prevent children from being exposed to indecent material, she said.

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200801/CUL20080111a.html