prone to hyperbole

i would be your garage band king

2009-07-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

a great transformation has taken place in my life. with the help of a neglected tie-dye kit from my childhood, i have changed a rather drab pair of canvas shoes into something rather gaudy and ridiculous and altogether fantastic.

The upper image is a composite which I made on the chuck taylors website, as I did not have quite enough foresight to take before-and-after pictures when I dyed them. But rejoice, for the awkward off-white shoes are no more!

by the rivers of Babylon, where he sat down...

2009-07-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

This summer, partially as a crusade against boredom, but more so as an attempt to live more in my body than in an ever-increasing variety of machines, I planted a garden. This effort began in May, when I tore up a 6x6 plot of grass in my backyard (the grass is ever-encroaching, as you may well see from the above photograph) and spent about a day getting all the rocks out of it. When people talk about how rocky the soil in New England is, they really aren't exaggurating. It is. Then when my dad and I hauled ass out to Home Depot, we picked up a couple of tomato and pepper plants, and also a tiny new rosemary bush to replace the one that had suffered a gruesome death by dehydration in its cute little green pot thing. (I tried to transplant it to my fledgling garden. My efforts promptly failed.

This is my new and improved rosemary plant, which happens to be flourishing in the ever-so-clumpy soil. Sometimes I think that stuff is about 60% weird-as-shit clay. The basil (see skimpy little green plant abovee) is also doing quite well. It smells better than it looks.

My ever-fruitful tomato plant. It's scarcely a foot tall yet, but it's growing well, and.....

IT BE PREGNUT! No, but seriously. That's a baby tomato in between my fingers. It used to have an adorable little white flower covering it, but it outgrew that and so it dried up/fell off. Hopefully, this tomato will grow up big and strong, and is also a good omen that I will have other tomatoes in the future. Normal reaping season is August anyway, so this little one is pretty early.

I always give this one extra water because it's eating for two. Teehee. I have another tomato plant too. I don't judge it for being a late bloomer, and neither should you. I also have a rather leafy bell pepper plant, which has of yet shown no signs of bearing fruit. I also used to have a jalapeño plant, but i think a deer ate it. (Boo! Hiss!) As I am currently off on a tangent, I will now show you my flowers.

My boyfriend's favorite color is purple. I used to think this was really weird until I realized one of two things: first, that he looks really good in purple as a function of having black hair and tan skin, and second, that purple is the color of irises, which are only the most architecturally striking and cool flowers ever. Therefore I am reminded of him a little every time I see them, as he's abroad for the summer and will not be home for, like, a month. (If anyone is curious about where he is, my post title is your hint.)

Hydrangea is my mother's favorite flower, and these are some very early blossoms that we have in our side yard as they usually don't bloom until August. Something interesting: hydrangea flowers function as a kind of natural pH counter; that is, the blossoms are blue if your soil is acidic (pH <> 7). I suppose my soil is a tad acidic, as we've never once had pink flowers. I'm not sure what happens if your soil is perfectly neutral - if anyone knows, feel free to tell me!

Ah, pansies. I tend to these mostly every day, as they can be a little high-maintenence if you want them to bloom all spring and summer. My favorite thing about pansies is that exact thing, though: if you pull off (gently) the dead petals, they'll grow back all season. We've had these since May.

When I was a really little kid, these daises were my absolute favorite flowers. (Once they were fully matured, of course. Eventually they become this really stunning fuschia.) My parents always gave me bouquets of them after I performed in one of those ballet recitals that little girls are so fond of. Somehow they ended up in our garden, and now I have around fifty of them to look at whenever I want to.

This is my secret hideout. The couch used to be covered with a cornucopia of random shit, which I cleared off and threw somewhere. I then proceeded to sweep the floor - and walls! - furiously, and beat the hell out of the cushions so as to get the dirt out. I also put the covers in the washing machine, as that tends to work better than exorcism.

Today, though, the sun was smiling, the trees were trembling, and the creek was chuckling, so I emerged from the Batcave and sat in a chair. Just a chair, in the middle of the lawn. The chair you see above is the exact one I sat in - not a replica, not a reproduction. You can also buy neither of those on the Home Shopping Network. I don't know where I'm going with this, except that since the weather was very good, I decided to try something I hadn't done yet but had extensively prepared for: coloring my hair lighter with lemon juice.

The above is a lock of my hair. My hands still reek of the lemons that I used in my semi-futile attempts - It kinda looks like it worked, but i'm also pretty sure that I'm just trying to reassure myself that my efforts were, in fact, worthwhile. At any rate, I still have my curls.

Your summer work assignment is in no way related to the American colonial experience, like mine is. (Although I do enjoy a good Samuel Eliot Morison! But don't tell anyone or they'll call me a geek.) Yours is to listen to at least a few (if not all) of these songs:

thewarmthofthesun mixtape

"Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay,

"Remember the Mountain Bed" by Billy Bragg & Wilco,

"This Will Be Our Year" by OK Go,

"Not Fade Away" by the Rolling Stones

"The Sound of Settling" by Death Cab for Cutie

"All I Want Is You" by Barry Louis Polisar

"July, July!" by The Decemberists

"Tick of Time" by The Kooks

"June" by Pete Yorn

"Photobooth" by Death Cab for Cutie

"Daylight" by Matt & Kim

"California Stars" by Billy Bragg & Wilco

"Rivers of Babylon" by Sublime

chronofunction.

2009-06-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

in one day: i will have a chemistry double header. it wouldn't be the first time, but it also will be the last. praise jeezus.

in two days: we'll finish a really terrible movie in my european history class. (fade in...fade out.)

in ten days: my sophomore slump will be over.

in fifteen days: i'll be wreaking havoc in Edgartown, Mass.

in twenty days: The Boy will leave for Israel

in twenty-five days: annie and i will be leaving Martha's Vineyard

in thirty days: i shall learn to scull... properly.

the abyss starts at 1500 meters.

2009-06-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

hollerin' at ya from 5 seat. that's the 5th from the back. or the 4th from the front. which is actually the stern. don't ask questions, okay?

desperado, why don't you come to your senses?

2009-04-13T07:54:00.000-07:00

come down from your fences, and open the gate.

travelingwestplaylist

"Life on a Chain" - Pete Yorn

"This Velvet Glove" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

"My Generation" - The Who

"Walking on the Moon" - The Police

"The Late Greats" - Wilco

"Leave the Bourbon on the Shelf" - The Killers

"Arizona" - Kings of Leon

"Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses" - U2

"California" - Rogue Wave

"Jesus, Etc." - Wilco

"Desperado" - The Eagles

"Mexico" - Jump, Little Children

"Road Trippin'" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

"Katherine Kiss Me" - Franz Ferdinand

"At Full Speed" - Jack's Mannequin

the definition of dysfunctional

2009-04-12T15:03:00.000-07:00

Background: The gang and I recently decided to intermarry so we would all be related.

Legend:
-"Lil'" or "Big" denotes someone's younger or older sibling.
- A plus sign (+) denotes marriage.
- A tilde (~) denotes a love child or clandestine couplehood.
- A hyphen (-) denotes siblings.
- A vertical line (/\) denotes the child-parent line.

Canadian + The Anime One__
__/\___
Half Asian One + The Short Blond One - The Athletic One + The Israeli One - The Floor Eater + The Instrumental One
__________ /\___________________________/\____
__The One Who Eats Kitchens ______ The Veggie One - The Feline One___
___________+_____________________+____________~__
_______Big Veggie One____________CurtisCurtis___Lil' Theater One
___________/\___________________/\_____________/\__
___The Jewfro One + The Shepherdess___/\____ TheaterKid/Madrigal + Irish Madrigal
_______________________________ /\___________________ /\ __
___________ Toddler One - Toddler Two - The Soft-Haired One__The Classy One
__________________________+__
_______________________Lil' Athlete__

every morning i pick jasmine flowers...

2009-04-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

It is Easter Sunday, and like any other good Catholic, I stayed up until 4 am talking to my Jewish boyfriend and woke up at 11:30 to eat waffles and watch Persepolis, an animated film about life in Tehran during Iranian Shah's reign of terror throughout the 1980's. Despite the fact that it was not live-action and based on an extremely disturbing true story, I found the graphic novel adaption to be compelling and even funny at times.

I haven't been to church yet today, and probably won't go due to my mother's ill health. For those of you who have never sat a Roman Catholic Easter mass, you are not missing anything.

I mean, it's pretty and all, but honestly.

this is not an FML.

2009-04-11T19:42:00.000-07:00

Today, my mother interrupted my 3rd viewing of August Rush, a movie in which Jonathan Rhys-Meyers still manages to be beautiful nearly a decade after Bend it Like Beckham. The conversation went something like this:

Mother: I need you to go on an errand with your father.

Me: ...

Mother: I need you to get Easter presents for your Nana and Aunt Kathy. Go to that store in town that sells those silver napkin holders, you know the place I'm talking about, right? The one next to the bank and the nail salon? I was thinking that you could get some of those weights to go on top of the napkins, maybe some beachy ones? Make sure they're silver or else they won't match. Nana and Aunt Kathy like blues and yellows. Make sure the napkin holders are nice because they always get you something.

Me: Okay.

(Some Background Information: My mother is ailing and therefore cannot go out herself due to a combination of bathrobe and Lyme Disease.)

How harmless could this be, I thought to myself. I knew exactly what she wanted me to buy; they were little trinkety things from a store only good for housewarming gifts and Lilly Pulitzer ties. Welcome to New England, darlings.

Upon arrival at said store, Father and I poked around for a few moments before stumbling upon the much-coveted napkin holders. Lo and behold, they even had clam-shaped weights lying on a conveniently adjacent table. I replaced some hideous blue and green thatch-patterned napkins with a blue and white scroll one, which complimented the mollusk weights nicely. As Father and I were perusing the Venetian glass window display, we were accosted by two women in their mid-fifties who managed to look aggressive even while wearing Vineyard Vines sweaters.

Woman 1: "Excuse me, but you're not allowed to switch out those napkins."
Woman 2: "The manufacturer ships them to us to be sold for $44.50, and all three pieces - the holder, the napkin, and the weight - need to stay together."
Me: "Well, it's the same brand of weight-"
Woman 2: "Were they taped together?"
Me: "No."
Woman 2: "Well, you can only buy the correct napkins with these holders."
Me: "These napkins were on the same display as the-"
Woman 1: "Oh, those are just some inserts. Sometimes people like to buy more napkins separately so they don't have to re-purchase the whole set for $44.50. You know, if you want, you can buy the sets and then buy some more napkins to put in them."
Me: "I don't think it's worth it, they'll run out of napkins fairly soon anyways."
Woman 1: "True, very true."

I live in a society ruled by cocktail napkins.
That is all.

if you left it up to me, every day would be a holiday from real.

2009-04-11T16:44:00.000-07:00

The above is my current daydream and previous childhood escape of Lavallette, New Jersey.

sunsurf&sandplaylist

"I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend..." - Black Kids

"Lola Stars and Stripes" - The Stills

"Sly" - The Cat Empire

"Holiday From Real" - Jack's Mannequin

"Jacqueline" - Franz Ferdinand

"Baby Fratelli" - The Fratellis

"Mother Mary" - Foxboro Hot Tubs

"Don't You Evah" - Spoon

"Once Bitten, Twice Shy" - Ian Hunter

"Rock the Casbah" - The Clash

"Float On" - Modest Mouse

"Rivers of Babylon" - Sublime

"Heavy Metal Drummer" - Wilco

"Soul Meets Body" - Death Cab for Cutie

the complicated futility of ignorance

2009-04-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

I had never tasted blackberry brandy before. I never want to taste it again. It did bad things to me.It made me a crybaby about the war. That is something I swore I would never be.

If I could order any drink I wanted now, it would be a Sweet Rob Roy on the rocks, a Manhattan made with Scotch. That was another drink a woman introduced me to, and it made me laugh instead of cry, and fall in love with the woman who said to try one. That was in Manila, after the excrement hit the air conditioning in Saigon. She was Harriet Gummer, the war correspondent from Iowa. She had a son by me without telling me.

His name? Rob Roy.

*

"Professor Hartke," Jason Wilder said to me gently, reasonably, when the tape had reached its end, "why on Earth would you want to tell such tales to young people who need to love their country?"

"I'm telling them history," I said, "and I had had a little too much to drink. I usually don't drink that much."

-K. Vonnegut, Jr.

your love was the lightbulb hanging over my bed.

2009-03-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

new math

2009-02-23T22:57:00.000-08:00

the time: 2 07 am, eastern standard time. what am i doing up at this ungodly hour, you may ask? what would benjamin franklin say? well, good people, ask me no questions and i'll tell you no lies.
the music: all of Emotional Rescue. hugs (not drugs) to mick and keith.
the ear candy: Sony Studio Monitors. i rock it old school.
the garb: black tights, bluish-gray kimono style sweater dress, discarded brocade flats. i intend to wear it to school tomorrow/today. and maybe even sleep in it.
the hair: the result of two semi-unfortunate haircuts.
the mindset: out to lunch.
the preoccupation: new math by craig damrauer.

***courtesy of NEWMATH by Craig Damrauer. see www(dot)morenewmath(dot)com for more!***

photographs from a chinatown excursion

2009-02-17T19:00:00.000-08:00

i am for some reason obsessed with chinese signs.

yep, you saw right.

my confession

2009-02-17T02:02:00.000-08:00

better late than never

2009-02-16T20:33:00.000-08:00

although i immediately deemed these pictures much too unflattering and/or embarrassing to put on facebook, i knew they had to see daylight sometime. so come one, come all, to reminisce about new year's eve 2008!

we were feeling particularly lively this evening, as you can see. i'd just like to take this opportunity point out the abundance of fedoras, theater kids, kanye west "glasses," and generally attractive people.

mattias with my mom's old company's guitar. product placement!

oh, james. whatever would i do without you.

...and here commences kobias and i being ridiculous with the camera.

actually, the only good picture in the bunch.

just for the sake of juxtaposition....

(there are more, but i won't pain you as my beloved readership by posting them.)

oh, yes. haircut time.

the deceptively intimate me/mattias picture

since NYE is also my birthday, there was cake involved. shoutout to jess for rubix cube cake making!

midwinter

2009-02-13T23:05:00.000-08:00

ever been bored in new england on a wintery afternoon?