| Writer's Block: Listen to This |
[Jul. 5th, 2009|11:52 pm] |
I'm such a music geek.
Most recently, I've been listening to Middle Cyclone by Neko Case nonstop.
Also:
Two Suns by Bats for Lashes
Abnormally Attracted to Sin by Tori Amos
Elephant, Icky Thump, and Get Behind Me, Satan by the White Stripes
Felt Mountain by Goldfrappe
Viva la Woman by Cibo Matto
Andrew Bird, Arcade Fire, Belle and Sebastian, Bowmans, Cocorosie, The Decembrists, Gogol Bordello, Joanna Newsom, Peter Gabriel, Rasputina, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Tom Petty, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and Ai Otsuka have been making the rounds heavily on my iPod.
I imagine you could choke to death from the twee on my iPod but I like it so it's ok. |
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| Booty! |
[Jun. 26th, 2009|07:45 pm] |
Worked late last night because my totally useless coworker called out again. It was kind of worth it though because I walked past this hotel in Tribecca and found $50. I almost got hit because it caught my eye as I was crossing the street. I picked it up and ran which is very unlike me because when I find money I usually try to find who it belongs to.
I decided to splurge and buy art supplies. I haven't spent this much money at once on art supplies since I took an intro to drawing class. This is what I bought:
1. 12" sketching manikin
2. Masking fluid (Use this when you want to keep an area unpainted in a watercolor painting)
3. White Winsor & Newton ink. I love the pictures on the boxes.
It's tiny but there's a wee polar bear on the box.
4. Cobalt blue Winsor & Newton ink--I couldn't find a picture of the cute box but it has a blue flower with a bee.
5. Brush cleaner. I got tired/ran out of Turpenoid.
6. Sanguine conte crayons
7. Origami paper. I'm wrapping it on a cardboard cuff using Mod-Podge, then I'm covering that with Crystal Clear and then I'll have a bracelet.
8. Rubber cement pick-up. Useful for removing the masking fluid.
9. 3 6x6" masonite panels
10. Deco oil-based markers in copper, teal. pink, & light blue. My kitty's tombstone is all faded so I'm redecorating it
My bill came to $47.45. Yay, money! |
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| From the "Hoomanity is Dumed" File |
[Jun. 18th, 2009|07:28 pm] |
I work at an art-supply store on Canal Street in NYC. This is in Chinatown, which is notorious for vendors selling bootleg designer bags. They're usually knockoffs or ones that fell of the truck. Either way, it's illegal and about once every couple of months you'll see one of their stores shut down. The area is usually incredibly crowded with slack-jawed tourists ogling cheap plastic crap. This is a phone-call I received yesterday.
Me: Pearl Paint, how can I help you?
Customer: Hi, I was over there last week and I bought some bags from the bag vendors. I was wondering if you knew the address for any of them or if you had any of their phone numbers?
Me: ...You kind of just have to see them in person...
Customer: But I'm in Florida!
...
I swear, next time (Yes, this has happened before) I'm going to say, "Oh, you mean the illegal bag vendors? I'm sure the first precinct knows how to contact them." I wouldn't mind the vendors if they weren't so aggressive. The Asians mostly recognize me and leave me alone but the Africans will get in your space and follow you until you have to yell at them to back the fuck off. Also, they run some criminal scams like selling fake ID's to teenagers from Ohio (The NYC teens know to just go to the place promising passport and ID photos to get their fakes.) Before they give them their ID's, they tell them that there's a metal detector and that they'll need to take their cell phones, MP3 players, jewelry, and wallets. They take those and run. Of course, it takes a special kind of stupid to fall for that. I was stupid as a fifteen-year-old but if you'd asked me for my wallet, MP3Discman and jewelry in exchange for a fake ID I would have laughed in your face.
...
Sadly, that isn't the stupidest question I've ever been asked. The stupidest is when a person asked if they could speed the drying-time of an oil painting by hanging it over a fire. ... Hoomanity is dumed. |
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| Weird Political Thoughts |
[Jun. 12th, 2009|07:39 pm] |
It's weird. I was reading posts at ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) thrifthorror and noticed one comment about gay people stealing the rainbow symbol from Christians. I checked the user's profile out of curiosity and noticed that the person had a counter counting down the days that Barack Obama will be out of office.
I don't count myself among the swarming liberal horde cheering Obama's every move but I'll admit, it's nice to have a president whose decision making process isn't guided by the Bible and who can form a sentence. I just never really thought that there'd be people who think that Barack Obama is really bad.* While I certainly disagree with some of his decisions, I do have a certain respect for him which I didn't have for Bush. It's nice feeling that way about the president again. For me, Bush represents things that are wrong with this country--unearned power that's inherited, cronyism, small-mindedness, religiosity, and the power of money to make your way in life. I don't normally fall for the Ragged Dick hard-luck stories, but Barack Obama has made his way as far as Bush with less help.
Anyway, I remain cynical about President Obama because he is a politician and we should be suspicious of them, but I don't think he's malicious. There was a hatefulness and arrogance about the Bush administration that I can't stand. And that's why it blows my mind that people would choose Bush over Obama.
*Except for my Uncle Jack, who I love dearly, but who embodies the term hillbilly. I visited him this spring and he went on a rant that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim from Saudi Arabia trained by the imams to destroy capitalism and turn America into a theocracy and take away our guns. Apparently, my uncle was interviewed by The Daily Show at a Sarah Palin rally but he wouldn't let them show the interview unless they ran it in its entirety. |
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| From Behind the Scenes at Sunnydale |
[Jun. 4th, 2009|07:54 pm] |
Or very close to Sunnydale, since Sunnydale is now a crater.
The Buffy reunion was last night and it was awesome. I had no clue there were so many Buffy fans. Seriously, no one at my job likes Buffy so I have no one to talk to about the show. I went to the party alone, which felt weird but I met some cool people. I shelled out $16 for the two-drink-minimum so that I could actually sit close to the stage at a club that they made look very Bronzey (It was actually Galapagos Art Space @ 16 Main St. at the corner of Water in Dumbo.) The party was put together by the people who do the Buffy Sing-Alongs at movie theaters to "Once More, With Feeling," so they definitely payed attention to details.
My $10 ticket bought me the identity of a surviving student at the party, plus a promotional Season 8 poster, and a Class of 1999 playbill. I was very pleased with my identity. Lucky me, I got to be Amy Madison, the girl whose mom stole her body to be a cheerleader again. You know, rat girl.
Here are some of the blurbs that were written in the playbill. I've included explanations of who the characters were for those who don't remember:
Life is like basketball...it involves a lot of dribbling. Of course that's because Michelle gave us triplets! [He married homecoming queen Michelle Blake] Thank goodness I finally got that diploma, cause otherwise I wouldn't even make enough money to pay for all the diapers Percy West, the guy that Willow had to tutor and was beaten up by her doppelganger
Little did I know that the science skills I learned back in high school would help me in my current career: as a mash-up disc jockey known worldwide as 'Doctor Funkens†ein.' If only my brother could see me now Chris Epps, resurrected his dead brother and used the bodies of dead girls to create a Bride of Frankenstein for him
I entered a fast track training program for the FBI, and now work in a specialized field tracking people with unique abilities. It's really exciting that I'll get to see you all again Marcie Ross, aka Invisible Girl
My brother Andrew won't be attending as he is currently living overseas. But Iw ill be happy to show up and reveal to all you lemmings how successful I've become (esp the girl who broke my heart--you know who you are!). Will the reunion be formal wear? Tucker Wells, the guy who trained hellhounds to attack the prom
Unfortunately, I couldn't stay for the whole thing. The night consisted of Buffy Trivia, music videos from the 90s, and Buffy tribute videos. I have to say, a cheer went up whenever Angel came on screen but even more people cheered when Spike and Dru came on screen. Yay! The trivia portion was fun, if only for the names that the teams created. My team was Dingoes Ate My Baby, but there were also The Potentials, The Bronze Bombers, The Powers That Be Awesome, and The Shut Up, Dawns. I won't recap all the questions, but there were some pretty memorable answers. When asked the name of the brand of chocolate candy that they sold in "Band Candy" one team answered Giles Viagra. Also, when asked what Giles did before coming to Sunnydale one team put that he was employed by Taster's Choice.
I'm geekily embarrassed to admit how much fun I had. I didn't go to my prom--I was dating a college guy who didn't want to hang out with the kids and I despised most of the people in my grade--so this was kind of like a geek prom for me. It was scarily fun dancing to Brittney Spears and Backstreet Boys and all the other bands that I really dislike and despised back then. |
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| Writer's Block: Rabbit Rabbit! |
[Jun. 1st, 2009|11:28 pm] |
You get a wish at the first of the month? I didn't know that. Wait, I think I vaguely remember it. Didn't Mallory Pike or Kristy Thomas engage in that? Yeah, I don't think I want to do anything that they do.
But if I did get one wish, it would be for a job that actually makes me feel fulfilled. The one I'm at right now makes me think that humanity is doomed. I deal with people on a regular basis who are smart enough to know how to become tax-exempt but not smart enough to read a bill. |
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| Culture of Life |
[May. 31st, 2009|08:49 pm] |
But only if you agree with me. Dr. George Tiller, an abortion provider, was gunned down today.
This is a pretty clear message from the fundagelical sect. It's a shame that sometimes fatwa envy is more than just envy. |
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| What I'll Be Doing Wednesday Night |
[May. 30th, 2009|08:29 pm] |
It's been 10 years since the apocalyptic graduation at Sunnydale High School, so I'm going to the Sunnydale High School Reunion!!!! Yes, a high school reunion brought to us by the people who created the Buffy Sing-along. Dress up is encouraged so I think I'm going to go as super-geeky season 1/2 era Willow. I've seen the softer side of Sears.
I did have a moment of nitpickery with the copy in the Village Voice where I found out about this. It says, "It's been a decade since Willow, Angel, Cordelia, and Buffy got their degrees..." Uhm, Angel never got a degree, you don't need a degree when you're a 200-year-old vampire. And what about Xander? He lost an eye, two girlfriends, *and* his high school degree. |
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| Mad Props... |
[May. 21st, 2009|11:35 am] |
Go to Alan Rickman for having been made fun of on Family Guy. You are now officially a pop culture icon and have been harnessed by one of Seth Macfarlane's brain tentacles.
P.S. Your answering machine would never be lonely if you knew me. |
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| A Beloved Series |
[May. 20th, 2009|07:34 pm] |
There are certain books that I turn to when I'm depressed. Like ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) docbrite Stephen King is usually a solid bet.
I started rereading The Silence of the Lambs for a change. I read it for my AP english class senior year--funny story, I was actually supposed to be in honors english but only two people signed up so me and the other overachieving underachiever got pushed into AP for free. We didn't take the test and everyone was so uptight that I ended up reading a bunch of Anne Rice, Stephen King, Poppy Z. Brite, and Thomas Harris books for book reports. Ultimately, Mrs. P. chose me for the senior year english student scholarship, but I didn't know I was nominated and didn't go to the awards show because I was too cool for school.
Anyway, I'm almost done with TSOTL and can't wait to reread Hannibal. The series ends there for me. I read Hannibal Rising and while it was technically well-written, it ruined the mystique of Hannibal Lecter. It was kind of like, so Hannibal had a bad childhood, big deal. By that logic we all should be Hannibal to a degree since no one has a good childhood. Enough of his childhood was revealed in Hannibal to explain his behavior to a degree while leaving a certain amount shrouded in mystery. His past was left up to the reader's imagination.
I had similar thoughts when reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince & to some degree Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when J.K. Rowling describes the pasts of Voldemort and Snape. Although I found it to be different to some degree because the role of fate seems to come more into play than in the Hannibal series. On the one hand, could Tom Riddle have become anyone but Voldemort with his past? But on the other hand, Snape was able to fight his disappointments and past in order to eventually become a hero. |
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| Am I a feminist anymore? |
[May. 14th, 2009|07:39 pm] |
I find myself growing weary of the current state of feminism.
Or is it the community? My primary sources of feminist information are Feministing and Pharyngula. As I grow to enjoy Pharyngula more I enjoy Feministing less.
At heart, I believe in the tenets of economic, social, and political equality for women. But I find myself tired of the endless dissecting of jokes and media. I mean, I understand media awareness. Hell, I discovered it when I was still in high school when I started reading Adbusters. And I really hate being the person saying, "Can't you think of something more important?" but...it gets tiresome and the list of things that I can't enjoy because they're unfeminist grows longer and longer: MIA is culturally insensitive, Family Guy makes fun of rape, all pictures depicting women dead are wrong (I guess I'm a terrible feminist because I have this odd habit of drawing myself dead.) Even in a post about enjoying the woman sign with a fist engraved on a zippo descends into "They stolez it from Black Pantherz" and Stop Buying Everything. Part of my problem is my own morbid temperament. I find humor in the absurd and some of the worst tragedies that have occured are also absurd. Fuck, a guy that can't paint a compelling watercolor manages to orchestrate mass murder on an unimaginable scale? How does that happen? People that hate science and would have us back in the dark ages use airplanes to level two buildings? Irony1
I'm mostly just tired of the hive-mind. There are a few long-time commenters that shut everyone else down. Jessica's awesome, but it's like the blog has been taken over by very loud ignorami.
So, hello feminism, goodbye Feministing. |
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| The movie was inaccurate? |
[May. 12th, 2009|06:39 pm] |
Just finished reading The Last Days of the Romanovs by Helen Rappaport. Apparently, the animated movie had some flaws. Shock of shocks! (I say this jokingly. I'm not like the anonymous coworker who said, earnestly, "Weren't they the people killed by Hitler's crew?" She's a sweet girl, but American schools have failed her.)
Anyway, this tidbit has stuck with me;
No one seems to have given a thought beforehand as to how they would carry 11 badly bleeding bodies out to the waiting Fiat, or cope with the large bulky body of Dr. Botkin, which slipped to the floor as they tried to raise it. Worse came as they moved one of the daughter's bodies--probably Anastasia's--on to the stretcher, for she suddenly shrieked and sat up, covering her face with ehr hands. Ermakov grabbed Strekotin's rifle and started trying to finish her off with its bayonet, but finding it impossible to penetrate her chest pulled another pistol from his belt and shot her (194).
Imagine, somehow surviving the brutal massacre of all you hold dear and waking up midway through it only to be shot *again.* Oh, they couldn't bayonet her because of the jewels sewn in her camisol. Contrary to popular myth, the jewels didn't block the bullets but probably caused agonizing surface wounds. |
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| Only Stephen King can tell... |
[May. 5th, 2009|08:12 pm] |
Is it swine flu or Captain Tripps? Despite my statistically probable lack of immunity I hope it's the latter, if only to get out of peddling art supplies. |
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| Writer's Block: Wild Life |
[Apr. 28th, 2009|06:05 pm] |
"Sooner or later the question comes up in every medical student's career. How much shock-trauma can the patient stand? Different instructors answer the questions in diffferent ways, but cut to its base level its answer is always another question: How badly does the patient want to survive?" "Survivor Type" Skeleton Crew by Stephen King
It doesn't really apply to me but the question made me think of this short story that I read recently. Picture it: a surgeon on a deserted island with no food, no water, a first-aid kit, and a kilo of high-grade heroin. It's one of those volcanically-formed tiny islands in the south Pacific surrounded by a coral reef with no actual soil or plants. A seagull lands occasionally, and he eats the ones he can catch, but that's it. He can't even find any fish. Then he fractures his ankle. The ankle starts to go gangrenous, well, and he has a surgical kit, and he has something that can act as anesthesia...And he hasn't had any food in several days and his foot is just there so. You can put two and two together. How much of yourself can you consume before you succumb to shock?
I am a survivor type, I think that I would do ok in the wild. I actually have read a lot of survivor's manuals, mostly out of my morbid interest in the apocalypse. |
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| Thank You For Being a Friend |
[Apr. 25th, 2009|08:23 pm] |
Bad news. My BFF from tv, Bea Arthur, has died. This is seriously sad news. I can't remember a time when The Golden Girls *wasn't* on the air, and I grew up watching All in the Family. Here's hoping the Bea/Dorothy is in the Wolfie's in the sky drinking an egg-cream with Estelle/Sofia. |
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geeky
tired
angry
thoughtful
silly