Friday, January 23, 2004
Happy belated Chinese New Year, yesterday. I talked to Jeremy for long hours on the phone at one in the morning under the covers with the lights turned off, and with his voice in my ear he was all but next to me. It's one of those things you wish could last forever.
But then I had to go to sleep and wake up. I wore red and new clothes for good luck. I got money in red envelopes. It's Hou Nian, the year of the monkey. You know this. It's the first time I've really had a relaxed Chinese New Year... before, I've always been in school. If I was lucky the lunar new year might happen to fall on President's Day, but still, I'd never had quite as stress-free holiday as this.
David from school called me to wish me happy new year. He's a big fat Asian man who plays video games and has no friends and in this way reminds me of myself as I had/could've been. I figure that if he has low self esteem and thinks about killing himself the least a member of the human race can do is to talk to him every once in a while. I'd given him my number when he asked for it because I felt sorry for him but ever since then he's been rather liberally taking advantage of my patience. He has no sense of humor so to speak of. When you try to crack jokes with him he'll be very silent for a few moments and then just continue talking about whatever it is he was speaking of before. And it doesn't matter how you respond, he just keeps talking, on the same topic. It's not that he has boring topics; he taught me how to build a good snowman and told me all about Stargate SG-1, but he has a big loopy fat man voice, you know, the kind that goes: "waugh waugh waugh" very monotonously, like "Hoom hoom hoom" but not as Entish. It's horrible. I may sic Jeremy on him if he bothers me. It's one of the benefits of having a male defender.
I went shopping with T for Valentine's day gifts at Montgomery mall (known as Monkey Mall perhaps, so suiting). I had a Gap gift certificate from way back when, the year 2000, given to me by Pearl, a family friend. Apparently she'd given T one of those too. Unfortunately, neither of us actually shop at the Gap, which is one of the reasons that it took me so damn long to use my certificate. This is why gift certificates should be banned and people should give each other either gifts or money. Anyway, after a long while of desperately looking at things hoping maybe my heart might feel the faintest sort of spark of consumer desire, I got myself a jacket, which is admittedly quite nice. It's cute. We also went to Sharper Image and loafed around on the massage chairs without buying anything in that time honored tradition, and contemplated manly gifts (read: sharp, pointy and violent) from Chesapeake Knife and Tool/ the Discovery Store. It was all too expensive. I got V-day gifts (not anything sharp, pointy, or violent) for Jeremy (not at the Gap) but what they are I'm not at liberty to say.
Went out to dinner with my family and T's family and Pearl's family, all at once. It was rather hectic, but all Chinese dinners are.
But then I had to go to sleep and wake up. I wore red and new clothes for good luck. I got money in red envelopes. It's Hou Nian, the year of the monkey. You know this. It's the first time I've really had a relaxed Chinese New Year... before, I've always been in school. If I was lucky the lunar new year might happen to fall on President's Day, but still, I'd never had quite as stress-free holiday as this.
David from school called me to wish me happy new year. He's a big fat Asian man who plays video games and has no friends and in this way reminds me of myself as I had/could've been. I figure that if he has low self esteem and thinks about killing himself the least a member of the human race can do is to talk to him every once in a while. I'd given him my number when he asked for it because I felt sorry for him but ever since then he's been rather liberally taking advantage of my patience. He has no sense of humor so to speak of. When you try to crack jokes with him he'll be very silent for a few moments and then just continue talking about whatever it is he was speaking of before. And it doesn't matter how you respond, he just keeps talking, on the same topic. It's not that he has boring topics; he taught me how to build a good snowman and told me all about Stargate SG-1, but he has a big loopy fat man voice, you know, the kind that goes: "waugh waugh waugh" very monotonously, like "Hoom hoom hoom" but not as Entish. It's horrible. I may sic Jeremy on him if he bothers me. It's one of the benefits of having a male defender.
I went shopping with T for Valentine's day gifts at Montgomery mall (known as Monkey Mall perhaps, so suiting). I had a Gap gift certificate from way back when, the year 2000, given to me by Pearl, a family friend. Apparently she'd given T one of those too. Unfortunately, neither of us actually shop at the Gap, which is one of the reasons that it took me so damn long to use my certificate. This is why gift certificates should be banned and people should give each other either gifts or money. Anyway, after a long while of desperately looking at things hoping maybe my heart might feel the faintest sort of spark of consumer desire, I got myself a jacket, which is admittedly quite nice. It's cute. We also went to Sharper Image and loafed around on the massage chairs without buying anything in that time honored tradition, and contemplated manly gifts (read: sharp, pointy and violent) from Chesapeake Knife and Tool/ the Discovery Store. It was all too expensive. I got V-day gifts (not anything sharp, pointy, or violent) for Jeremy (not at the Gap) but what they are I'm not at liberty to say.
Went out to dinner with my family and T's family and Pearl's family, all at once. It was rather hectic, but all Chinese dinners are.
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
A typical phone conversation (which I have nearly nightly) with Jeremy, arranged by topic, chronologically:
Grocery shopping -> factory farms -> milking machines -> making butter/cheese from human millk/ milk porn -> the location of udders on minotaurs -> improbable anatomy/evolution -> crystalline eyes on starfish that focus light -> diamonds -> the cool ability to form diamonds through magic to make obscene amounts of money/solidifying light -> magic powers -> if Jeremy could have any ability at all it'd be the ability to accelerate objects ridiculously fast -> dangerous projectile pebbles -> bullets and how slow they are -> dodging bullets -> how we talk about such weird shit -> -> how it would be terrible to be a telepath because you'd hear everyone's completely random thoughts -> trying to remember what we talked about -> the strange processes of human memory -> how you forget what you're going to say and then remember it fifteen minutes later, or in the middle of the night -> lucid dreaming -> How Dean Acheson or some guy in the Watergate trial was asked to testify regarding the Nixon tapes, and when the actual tapes were found and compared to the testimony it was discovered that he'd paraphrased the tapes accurately but the exact wordings were mostly off -> being recorded over the phone and wearing tin foil hats -> how we know so much crap and should play Trivial Pursuit over the phone -> chess over the phone -> Battleship over the phone -> telepathic chess in X-men -> some Darkover book wherein these telepaths instill the essence of fear into an enemy army -> random books we've read ...
Grocery shopping -> factory farms -> milking machines -> making butter/cheese from human millk/ milk porn -> the location of udders on minotaurs -> improbable anatomy/evolution -> crystalline eyes on starfish that focus light -> diamonds -> the cool ability to form diamonds through magic to make obscene amounts of money/solidifying light -> magic powers -> if Jeremy could have any ability at all it'd be the ability to accelerate objects ridiculously fast -> dangerous projectile pebbles -> bullets and how slow they are -> dodging bullets -> how we talk about such weird shit -> -> how it would be terrible to be a telepath because you'd hear everyone's completely random thoughts -> trying to remember what we talked about -> the strange processes of human memory -> how you forget what you're going to say and then remember it fifteen minutes later, or in the middle of the night -> lucid dreaming -> How Dean Acheson or some guy in the Watergate trial was asked to testify regarding the Nixon tapes, and when the actual tapes were found and compared to the testimony it was discovered that he'd paraphrased the tapes accurately but the exact wordings were mostly off -> being recorded over the phone and wearing tin foil hats -> how we know so much crap and should play Trivial Pursuit over the phone -> chess over the phone -> Battleship over the phone -> telepathic chess in X-men -> some Darkover book wherein these telepaths instill the essence of fear into an enemy army -> random books we've read ...
Vikings and Mongols and Goths, Oh My!
Guess what! It's Barbarian Week on the History Channel! I'm so excited! ^___^
Guess what! It's Barbarian Week on the History Channel! I'm so excited! ^___^
Wherein Sushi is Served from the Torso of a Naked Woman
This sounds like a marvelously creative, as well as tasty, idea. Too bad about the protesters though.. personally I think those Asian American women protesting this are doing worse by enforcing the stereotype that all Asians are tightasses. And if you're in a women's group I think your time would be better spent not complaining about the artsy presentation of food at a restaurant somewhere, but helping poor single mothers put bread on the table. Besides, it's a double standard. You know if it were a male model doing this, nobody would complain, though maybe there'd be a few jokes about the size of his sashimi.
This sounds like a marvelously creative, as well as tasty, idea. Too bad about the protesters though.. personally I think those Asian American women protesting this are doing worse by enforcing the stereotype that all Asians are tightasses. And if you're in a women's group I think your time would be better spent not complaining about the artsy presentation of food at a restaurant somewhere, but helping poor single mothers put bread on the table. Besides, it's a double standard. You know if it were a male model doing this, nobody would complain, though maybe there'd be a few jokes about the size of his sashimi.
Thursday, January 15, 2004
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Wherein Angie, Unlike on Sunday, Does Not Walk Into a Sex Toy Store and Say, "Ooh, I Have One of Those!"
Tuesday night, went to Malex's party wherein we made fun of Air Force One. AF1 is super-nationalistic with very bad dialogue, which makes it easy to make fun of. I do give it credit for maintaining suspense though, which is mainly what held it together. Socially though, it was actually a rather quiet night, as a lot of people are already back at college. Nick and Ben Evans showed up, and Janis and Jen (thanks for the bundt cake!) and Silvia, with James arriving later. Janis left late in the night to pick up Lauren from Giant, where she works.
So it was fun. It was quiet. Yeah.
Lauren decided rather spontaneously that we should have a sleepover at her house, so I went, with Janis and Malex (!). Strangely enough, we actually talked about serious topics like depression and healthcare and the job market, which ended up with Janis getting all fired up: "Open your eyes, Alex! There are people starving in America!" ;) This was counterbalanced by Lauren playing her AMVs for us repeatedly, at one point with some anime guy lipsynching Dr. Evil: "I have one simple request - sharks with friggin' laser beams attached to their heads, and it can't be done? Remind me again why I pay you people?" Malex also got Janis to read the Very Secret Diaries aloud, often to more comic effect than intended with Janis mispronouncing names.
We went to bed at around four, and woke up in the morning (and by morning I mean near afternoon) to Scat Man blasting on the speakers of Lauren's computer, looped. We had breakfast, or lunch, and I mentioned that Jeremy had been over and that Malex had met him.
First question from Lauren: "Is he hot?"*
A long tactful silence from Malex ensued.
We spent all of Wednesday... driving around New Hampshire Avenue getting lost and headbanging to loud music in the car... We kept driving around these rural roads which I usually ride along on my way to school, so it felt strange. After an hour or so we did finally make it to our destination, a thrift store at Laurel. Lauren ended up buying a cool "Air Force Intelligence Agency" army jacket and we got leather pants for Janis (which did not fit), leather pants for Malex (which do fit), and some hot t-shirts, the hottest of which is a tight black one that reads "University of Michigan Dance Marathon" in front and is totally gay in a gay gay way. We had Malex try on the army jacket too, but the jacket and the shirt declared a fashion war of attrition on each other and we had to abandon the cause.
I myself got a Pirates of the Caribbean shirt for $4.
I marvel when I realize that I actually do have my very own group of friends, which is rather surprising because I always thought I just followed other people around, meeting their friends instead of having friends of my own. I'm not sure when this changed.
*Yes. Yes he is.
Tuesday night, went to Malex's party wherein we made fun of Air Force One. AF1 is super-nationalistic with very bad dialogue, which makes it easy to make fun of. I do give it credit for maintaining suspense though, which is mainly what held it together. Socially though, it was actually a rather quiet night, as a lot of people are already back at college. Nick and Ben Evans showed up, and Janis and Jen (thanks for the bundt cake!) and Silvia, with James arriving later. Janis left late in the night to pick up Lauren from Giant, where she works.
So it was fun. It was quiet. Yeah.
Lauren decided rather spontaneously that we should have a sleepover at her house, so I went, with Janis and Malex (!). Strangely enough, we actually talked about serious topics like depression and healthcare and the job market, which ended up with Janis getting all fired up: "Open your eyes, Alex! There are people starving in America!" ;) This was counterbalanced by Lauren playing her AMVs for us repeatedly, at one point with some anime guy lipsynching Dr. Evil: "I have one simple request - sharks with friggin' laser beams attached to their heads, and it can't be done? Remind me again why I pay you people?" Malex also got Janis to read the Very Secret Diaries aloud, often to more comic effect than intended with Janis mispronouncing names.
We went to bed at around four, and woke up in the morning (and by morning I mean near afternoon) to Scat Man blasting on the speakers of Lauren's computer, looped. We had breakfast, or lunch, and I mentioned that Jeremy had been over and that Malex had met him.
First question from Lauren: "Is he hot?"*
A long tactful silence from Malex ensued.
We spent all of Wednesday... driving around New Hampshire Avenue getting lost and headbanging to loud music in the car... We kept driving around these rural roads which I usually ride along on my way to school, so it felt strange. After an hour or so we did finally make it to our destination, a thrift store at Laurel. Lauren ended up buying a cool "Air Force Intelligence Agency" army jacket and we got leather pants for Janis (which did not fit), leather pants for Malex (which do fit), and some hot t-shirts, the hottest of which is a tight black one that reads "University of Michigan Dance Marathon" in front and is totally gay in a gay gay way. We had Malex try on the army jacket too, but the jacket and the shirt declared a fashion war of attrition on each other and we had to abandon the cause.
I myself got a Pirates of the Caribbean shirt for $4.
I marvel when I realize that I actually do have my very own group of friends, which is rather surprising because I always thought I just followed other people around, meeting their friends instead of having friends of my own. I'm not sure when this changed.
*Yes. Yes he is.
Sunday, January 11, 2004
If I Had All the World, And Time
On Friday Jeremy came over and stayed the weekend and I was happy because I remembered how it felt like to wrap my arms around someone again. We spent all of the afternoon lying next to each other in that state of sublime time-stopping happiness, as if it were some kind of Activity*, with the curtains drawn shut and the room turned a soft orange by the light through them, and fell asleep around each other. In the evening we went to T's to play with her guinea pig and we all went to dinner together, with my family, and her family, for Cantonese cuisine. My parents were pleased that Jeremy could use chopsticks. Also, those hokey Chinese zodiac placemats are oddly accurate for him which I thought amusing, and also it says that he is compatible with an Ox, which is me. We went to Barnes and Noble in a cozy bubble of nerd-puppy-love and pointed out all the fantasy paperbacks we'd read and flipped through manga, opening the books left to right, and had hot cups of coffee, his a straight expresso at 11 at night. When we got home we played Trivial Pursuit and put together an Empire Strikes Back jigsaw because that's his favorite of the original trilogy, and had extreme headaches at three in the morning trying to piece the edges of the puzzle together, which of course, being Star Wars, were all uniformly black and littered with stars.
*And also splashing around in the bathtub while my parents weren't home. I actually don't think I'll repeat that again. Fun as it is, it can get very cramped in there.
Saturday we went to Starbucks and Forbidden Fruit, the sex toy store, with Malex but not Nick (who had a headache) and played around with cheap platex costumes, like some kind of X-rated dollar store except expensive. I tried the tester samples of "scented pleasure oil" and poked the squishy dildos. Whee! Squishy squishy! This thoroughly disturbed everyone, except for me. We went to the ice cream shop and ordered bubble tea and pastries, but didn't drink out of the same cup with different straws because that'd've been too sickeningly cute, and we went around all the different shops like the Chinese bookstore and TenRen and that store for souped-up Asian cars and the Oriental Market but not the bridal store because that would've been freaky. We went to the music store (where we made crude jokes about trombone slide oil) and the hobby store at Congressional Plaza, and when we got home we put together a 3D apple puzzle which boggled Jeremy's mind due to his lack of depth perception, but he triumphed in the end. Jeremy did flashy things with my foil and my dad talked his ear off at dinner, which was mushrooms.
On Sunday we had coffee and cake for breakfast, and snuggled up next to each other watching the hilariously dubbed Mothra III in our pajamas. At lunchtime we went for dim sum and afterwards to Best Buy, then came home. I suggested that we take some pictures around the house, ostensibly for those last three shots remaining on the roll of film, but in reality to keep the farewells from dragging on for too long because goodbyes are terrible things. Jeremy's parents came in, having brought my Christmas present which had just been delivered by UPS over the weekend, and I kissed my Pie goodbye (several times) and then he went home.
My house and everything is still the same as before (except for residual gossip amongst my mother's friends and stern Talks about the Nature of Boys), as if I've woken up from some dream-like state and he was never here.
On Friday Jeremy came over and stayed the weekend and I was happy because I remembered how it felt like to wrap my arms around someone again. We spent all of the afternoon lying next to each other in that state of sublime time-stopping happiness, as if it were some kind of Activity*, with the curtains drawn shut and the room turned a soft orange by the light through them, and fell asleep around each other. In the evening we went to T's to play with her guinea pig and we all went to dinner together, with my family, and her family, for Cantonese cuisine. My parents were pleased that Jeremy could use chopsticks. Also, those hokey Chinese zodiac placemats are oddly accurate for him which I thought amusing, and also it says that he is compatible with an Ox, which is me. We went to Barnes and Noble in a cozy bubble of nerd-puppy-love and pointed out all the fantasy paperbacks we'd read and flipped through manga, opening the books left to right, and had hot cups of coffee, his a straight expresso at 11 at night. When we got home we played Trivial Pursuit and put together an Empire Strikes Back jigsaw because that's his favorite of the original trilogy, and had extreme headaches at three in the morning trying to piece the edges of the puzzle together, which of course, being Star Wars, were all uniformly black and littered with stars.
*And also splashing around in the bathtub while my parents weren't home. I actually don't think I'll repeat that again. Fun as it is, it can get very cramped in there.
Saturday we went to Starbucks and Forbidden Fruit, the sex toy store, with Malex but not Nick (who had a headache) and played around with cheap platex costumes, like some kind of X-rated dollar store except expensive. I tried the tester samples of "scented pleasure oil" and poked the squishy dildos. Whee! Squishy squishy! This thoroughly disturbed everyone, except for me. We went to the ice cream shop and ordered bubble tea and pastries, but didn't drink out of the same cup with different straws because that'd've been too sickeningly cute, and we went around all the different shops like the Chinese bookstore and TenRen and that store for souped-up Asian cars and the Oriental Market but not the bridal store because that would've been freaky. We went to the music store (where we made crude jokes about trombone slide oil) and the hobby store at Congressional Plaza, and when we got home we put together a 3D apple puzzle which boggled Jeremy's mind due to his lack of depth perception, but he triumphed in the end. Jeremy did flashy things with my foil and my dad talked his ear off at dinner, which was mushrooms.
On Sunday we had coffee and cake for breakfast, and snuggled up next to each other watching the hilariously dubbed Mothra III in our pajamas. At lunchtime we went for dim sum and afterwards to Best Buy, then came home. I suggested that we take some pictures around the house, ostensibly for those last three shots remaining on the roll of film, but in reality to keep the farewells from dragging on for too long because goodbyes are terrible things. Jeremy's parents came in, having brought my Christmas present which had just been delivered by UPS over the weekend, and I kissed my Pie goodbye (several times) and then he went home.
My house and everything is still the same as before (except for residual gossip amongst my mother's friends and stern Talks about the Nature of Boys), as if I've woken up from some dream-like state and he was never here.
Friday, January 09, 2004
I had this dream that I was watching the Return of the King Extended DVD with my mom, and she was like, "So, what does Legolas do for a living? Is he a ranger that patrols the forest?" and I was like, "No, mom.." In this (nonexistant as of yet) DVD I was watching commentaries where they talk about the scoring of the Gondor theme, and the making of RotK, the video game.
Yeah, I'm so sad that LotR invades my subconscious.
-----
I'm not on painkillers anymore because it doesn't hurt enough to warrant them, but I'm still on antibiotics. I'd like to believe that it's not as nauseating.
Yesterday, Malex came over to visit and brought me smoothies. How sweet! (BTW, I've noticed that "how sweet" is a phrase almost universally used by women only) I thought this was particularly nice of him considering that Elliot is also in surgery (brain surgery (!!!!), so mine really does not compare) and Malex would be forgiven from not worrying about anyone else.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and the room Jeremy will be staying in, mainly by throwing out old magazines, so that my house is now presentable, if not clean.
I called Jeremy in the evening to confirm things... in hindsight it might've been better to have him come next week when I'm not recovering (and therefore am not swollem and can actually kiss him proper), and also because next week is our four month anniversary, and by next week UPS should've delivered my belated Christmas present to New Oxford, but feh. I'll take what I can get.
He's coming at like 1:30 today. ^_____^
Yeah, I'm so sad that LotR invades my subconscious.
-----
I'm not on painkillers anymore because it doesn't hurt enough to warrant them, but I'm still on antibiotics. I'd like to believe that it's not as nauseating.
Yesterday, Malex came over to visit and brought me smoothies. How sweet! (BTW, I've noticed that "how sweet" is a phrase almost universally used by women only) I thought this was particularly nice of him considering that Elliot is also in surgery (brain surgery (!!!!), so mine really does not compare) and Malex would be forgiven from not worrying about anyone else.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and the room Jeremy will be staying in, mainly by throwing out old magazines, so that my house is now presentable, if not clean.
I called Jeremy in the evening to confirm things... in hindsight it might've been better to have him come next week when I'm not recovering (and therefore am not swollem and can actually kiss him proper), and also because next week is our four month anniversary, and by next week UPS should've delivered my belated Christmas present to New Oxford, but feh. I'll take what I can get.
He's coming at like 1:30 today. ^_____^
Thursday, January 08, 2004
I went to get my (right-sided) wisdom teeth pulled today, and it really sucked. The surgeon couldn't find the vein in the crook of my arm, and when he did and injected IV into it, it hurt like hell as if my veins were about to explode.
"Feeling sleepy?" he said.
"No," I said.
Anyway, he found another vein in my wrist and injected the anesthetic into that, and I spent the next several minutes with my head leaned back in the chair staring at the ceiling wondering what would happen next, since the surgeon and nurse were obviously waiting on something. Then I blacked out, and slept fitfully; I recall waking up a few times in the middle to feel people pulling my teeth out or putting in sutures. I waved to them, then decided not to be a troublemaker and went back to sleep. Something annoying was on my arm, and I scratched at it, and the nurse would bat my hand away. I learned later that I'd pulled out my IV and my arm was swollen and mottled/discolored and hurt (more than my teeth) later on. I put it in warm water, and now my arm is okay, but my teeth hurt like nothing else. I spent some early hours basically drinking my own recycled blood like some kind of environmentalist vampire, despite the gauze on the wound. If I take the painkillers they make be groggy and feverish, so I'm almost not sure what's worse, the painkillers or the pain. Any sort of screen or reading anything makes me queasy and I'm not supposed to do physical activity so there's really not much I can do except sleep when I can, and listen to people talk. I called Jeremy so that I could hear the sound of his voice and had a relatively fun two hours and then my dad yelled at me for being on the phone too long, even though it's my cell and I have free night and weekend minutes. But the good thing is that Jeremy apparently is coming over on Friday afternoon and is staying the weekend.
"Feeling sleepy?" he said.
"No," I said.
Anyway, he found another vein in my wrist and injected the anesthetic into that, and I spent the next several minutes with my head leaned back in the chair staring at the ceiling wondering what would happen next, since the surgeon and nurse were obviously waiting on something. Then I blacked out, and slept fitfully; I recall waking up a few times in the middle to feel people pulling my teeth out or putting in sutures. I waved to them, then decided not to be a troublemaker and went back to sleep. Something annoying was on my arm, and I scratched at it, and the nurse would bat my hand away. I learned later that I'd pulled out my IV and my arm was swollen and mottled/discolored and hurt (more than my teeth) later on. I put it in warm water, and now my arm is okay, but my teeth hurt like nothing else. I spent some early hours basically drinking my own recycled blood like some kind of environmentalist vampire, despite the gauze on the wound. If I take the painkillers they make be groggy and feverish, so I'm almost not sure what's worse, the painkillers or the pain. Any sort of screen or reading anything makes me queasy and I'm not supposed to do physical activity so there's really not much I can do except sleep when I can, and listen to people talk. I called Jeremy so that I could hear the sound of his voice and had a relatively fun two hours and then my dad yelled at me for being on the phone too long, even though it's my cell and I have free night and weekend minutes. But the good thing is that Jeremy apparently is coming over on Friday afternoon and is staying the weekend.
Tuesday, January 06, 2004
Wherein Angie Pathetically Attempts to Spew Political Commentary in Some Sort of Rational Discourse
Suzannah from the UMBC NOW chapter put a nice little comment on my blog (the November 24th entry)! I'm not quite sure how she found it.. probably by Googling UMBC and NOW in the same search window.
Hmmm... more readers..... UMBC! NOW! UMBC! NOW!
Anyway.
Everybody now... "Hi, Suzannah!"
Suzannah says this:
Wassup. Greetings from the girl in the combat boots.
So what's wrong with this particular woman in combat boots? I would love to know.
Yes - they are the National organization for Women. There is not one woman in this country who has not benefited from NOW. NOW has been a major fighter for women to have equal access to education, job security, health care, housing, domestic violence shelters and countless other things. It isnt the organization for liberal women because NOW's work over the last thirty years has benefitted plenty of racist, bigoted individuals as well. I am constantly amused at the women who throw snide remarks at us while in a university enviornment - while we raise our voices attempting to secure equal access to education funds such as Title IX. Or the women who go home every night and take their birth control and rant about us being too liberal, too vocal about protecting their right to take that birth control, while we fight for their right to take it without shame or high expenses.
I dont get it. You support the cause, but we aren't supposed to talk about it?
For good or bad, we fight for the rights of all women, even you, no matter your scorn. And we will continue to. Thats part of the mission statement, you see - for ALL women.
And when your student loans are cut in half we will still be clamoring Congress to reinstate them. And when the cost of birth control skyrockets we will still be there to fight for family planning funds. That's our job. We are concerned about women who are not necessarily concerned about us.
I am sorry you are so affected by what other people think. I'm not. I'm not because I have heard women who have stood up and talked about rape and domestic violence, women with far less strength then you. I have watched women decide between money for food and money to terminate a pregnancy, and make crucial decisions with far less strength then you. I know plenty of women with less access to education, less access to reproductive health care, less opportunities than you and they are fighting for your rights. Dont worry, you can be silent, eat your lukewarm lunch. We will still be here supporting you. It would just be nice if you cared what we think, instead of what your image might risk.
Before I counter, I should say that I think this is well written, and also a very polite response considering that I had, in my blog, called her a "combat booted broad." I mean, if someone had said that about me I would've torn her a new one. In any case, I feel I should apologize. It's not very nice to go around insulting people you don't know. That particular epithet, I recall, was used for effect more than accuracy. I vow henceforth to amend my ways. It's not that I won't insult people anymore, it's just that now when I insult people in the future, the insult must be true. But I digress.
Now, time for the counter... the premise of Suzannah's response seems to be that I, among scores of American women, hold the same beliefs as the NOW, yet oppose it for being outspoken. This is not quite accurate. I (though I can't speak for scores of other American women) have no issue against outspoken-ness in general; you certainly cannot be too loud in vocalizing opposition to, for example, domestic and sexual abuse, discrimination in the workplace and academic environments, exploitation of women in the media, and a slew of other things. The issue for me is not that the NOW is outspoken in positions with which I agree, but that the NOW is outspoken on things with which I disagree, or at least things which I do not hold a strong enough opinion on to consider myself Right and everybody else Wrong.
For example, I don't understand how "not one woman in this country has not benefited" from the stance that "Bush is an equal opportunity hater who hates everyone who isn't white, Christian, rich and straight," <----- (this is ripped from the NOW rally, not Suzannah's comments on my blog). Also, the statement, "It isnt the organization for liberal women because NOW's work over the last thirty years has benefitted plenty of racist, bigoted individuals as well," implies that Suzannah, a spokesperson for NOW (in UMBC at least) believes that "racist, bigoted individuals" are somehow the polar opposite of liberals. I feel that playing on the fear and stereotype that conservatives are all close-minded redneck bigots is equally, if not more, irresponsible than the stereotype that liberals are all communist, promiscuous, drug addicts, since liberals are the ones that make the biggest deal about the value of tolerance and understanding. Those of you who read my blog and are Libertarians, or any other type of open-minded fiscal conservative might be slightly annoyed at a generalizing brown-washing (the opposite of whitewashing :D) of conservative America. My opinion is that if, by opening its mouth, the NOW makes all liberals and feminists seem like rabid opponents of any and all conservatives* indiscriminantly, then the NOW would be better off not speaking on partisan issues at all. It just gives the rest of us a bad name.
The NOW may certainly help many non-liberal women, but that doesn't mean it's not a liberal organization, in the same way that a Christian organization that provides charitable services and education for non-Christians does not suddenly become non-Christian. Despite what services the NOW does provide to all woman, which are certainly commendable, there are no doubt women like me who do not find certain things like abortion rights or affirmative action in their best interests. It seems rather creepy if the NOW is of the opinion that, "We do what's best for you even if you don't think that's what's best for you." I did not dub the NOW the NOLW (National Organization for Liberal Women) because it is not concerned with, or does not help, conservative women. I coined that nickname because, despite who it helps, it still pursues a liberal political agenda and interests.
*I consider the Christian Right to be a rather odious group. Libertarians and normal Republicans are wonderful people.
Suzannah from the UMBC NOW chapter put a nice little comment on my blog (the November 24th entry)! I'm not quite sure how she found it.. probably by Googling UMBC and NOW in the same search window.
Hmmm... more readers..... UMBC! NOW! UMBC! NOW!
Anyway.
Everybody now... "Hi, Suzannah!"
Suzannah says this:
Wassup. Greetings from the girl in the combat boots.
So what's wrong with this particular woman in combat boots? I would love to know.
Yes - they are the National organization for Women. There is not one woman in this country who has not benefited from NOW. NOW has been a major fighter for women to have equal access to education, job security, health care, housing, domestic violence shelters and countless other things. It isnt the organization for liberal women because NOW's work over the last thirty years has benefitted plenty of racist, bigoted individuals as well. I am constantly amused at the women who throw snide remarks at us while in a university enviornment - while we raise our voices attempting to secure equal access to education funds such as Title IX. Or the women who go home every night and take their birth control and rant about us being too liberal, too vocal about protecting their right to take that birth control, while we fight for their right to take it without shame or high expenses.
I dont get it. You support the cause, but we aren't supposed to talk about it?
For good or bad, we fight for the rights of all women, even you, no matter your scorn. And we will continue to. Thats part of the mission statement, you see - for ALL women.
And when your student loans are cut in half we will still be clamoring Congress to reinstate them. And when the cost of birth control skyrockets we will still be there to fight for family planning funds. That's our job. We are concerned about women who are not necessarily concerned about us.
I am sorry you are so affected by what other people think. I'm not. I'm not because I have heard women who have stood up and talked about rape and domestic violence, women with far less strength then you. I have watched women decide between money for food and money to terminate a pregnancy, and make crucial decisions with far less strength then you. I know plenty of women with less access to education, less access to reproductive health care, less opportunities than you and they are fighting for your rights. Dont worry, you can be silent, eat your lukewarm lunch. We will still be here supporting you. It would just be nice if you cared what we think, instead of what your image might risk.
Before I counter, I should say that I think this is well written, and also a very polite response considering that I had, in my blog, called her a "combat booted broad." I mean, if someone had said that about me I would've torn her a new one. In any case, I feel I should apologize. It's not very nice to go around insulting people you don't know. That particular epithet, I recall, was used for effect more than accuracy. I vow henceforth to amend my ways. It's not that I won't insult people anymore, it's just that now when I insult people in the future, the insult must be true. But I digress.
Now, time for the counter... the premise of Suzannah's response seems to be that I, among scores of American women, hold the same beliefs as the NOW, yet oppose it for being outspoken. This is not quite accurate. I (though I can't speak for scores of other American women) have no issue against outspoken-ness in general; you certainly cannot be too loud in vocalizing opposition to, for example, domestic and sexual abuse, discrimination in the workplace and academic environments, exploitation of women in the media, and a slew of other things. The issue for me is not that the NOW is outspoken in positions with which I agree, but that the NOW is outspoken on things with which I disagree, or at least things which I do not hold a strong enough opinion on to consider myself Right and everybody else Wrong.
For example, I don't understand how "not one woman in this country has not benefited" from the stance that "Bush is an equal opportunity hater who hates everyone who isn't white, Christian, rich and straight," <----- (this is ripped from the NOW rally, not Suzannah's comments on my blog). Also, the statement, "It isnt the organization for liberal women because NOW's work over the last thirty years has benefitted plenty of racist, bigoted individuals as well," implies that Suzannah, a spokesperson for NOW (in UMBC at least) believes that "racist, bigoted individuals" are somehow the polar opposite of liberals. I feel that playing on the fear and stereotype that conservatives are all close-minded redneck bigots is equally, if not more, irresponsible than the stereotype that liberals are all communist, promiscuous, drug addicts, since liberals are the ones that make the biggest deal about the value of tolerance and understanding. Those of you who read my blog and are Libertarians, or any other type of open-minded fiscal conservative might be slightly annoyed at a generalizing brown-washing (the opposite of whitewashing :D) of conservative America. My opinion is that if, by opening its mouth, the NOW makes all liberals and feminists seem like rabid opponents of any and all conservatives* indiscriminantly, then the NOW would be better off not speaking on partisan issues at all. It just gives the rest of us a bad name.
The NOW may certainly help many non-liberal women, but that doesn't mean it's not a liberal organization, in the same way that a Christian organization that provides charitable services and education for non-Christians does not suddenly become non-Christian. Despite what services the NOW does provide to all woman, which are certainly commendable, there are no doubt women like me who do not find certain things like abortion rights or affirmative action in their best interests. It seems rather creepy if the NOW is of the opinion that, "We do what's best for you even if you don't think that's what's best for you." I did not dub the NOW the NOLW (National Organization for Liberal Women) because it is not concerned with, or does not help, conservative women. I coined that nickname because, despite who it helps, it still pursues a liberal political agenda and interests.
*I consider the Christian Right to be a rather odious group. Libertarians and normal Republicans are wonderful people.
Monday, January 05, 2004
Wherein Angie Plays Videogames And Unites Many Nations Under Her Banner
On Sunday, went to John and Sharon's house to celebrate the birthday of Sean, Sharon's son. Sean doesn't speak English and is really into video games, which my mom criticizes in private. "Why do his parents let him play so much after he's done with his homework? They should try to get him to work on his English to catch up!" I think she's being too harsh on him; it's hard being a teenager, especially a teenager in a foreign country. I also found it kind of sad that on his birthday party, he had his parents' friends over but no friends of his own. Well, his present was the newest Castlevania game (Lament of Innocence of the PS2, which I want now) along with a bunch of English grammar books and software, which I think are dumb, miserable presents, like giving a kid a sweater or socks. (I'd like a sweater actually, if it were cute and stylish, since I don't have any.) Your presents are supposed to make you happy, not improve you in ways other people think you ought.
In any case, he took Castlevania upstairs and started playing it, by himself, and I got bored/bewildered by the political talk downstairs among the adults (of which I am technically). My parents said, "Why don't you go play with Sean?" and I wasn't too keen on the idea because he doesn't speak English that well, and my Mandarin is bad, and I don't know him well enough to really care if he's bored or not. But I went anyway, to practice my Mandarin, and actually discovered that playing video games is extremely conducive to conversing in a foreign language. You have a readily available topic to talk about, and if you don't talk you're not being awkward because you're still engaged in something, and there isn't a horrible silence lying about the room. Plus, at least in the case of Castlevania, characters speak often, in English, and slowly, and the dialogue is read aloud for you by the voice actors, so it's almost like a picture book, which is good for Sean and his English. In my case, since the dialogue was slow and relatively simplistic, I could easily translate it into (shitty) Mandarin.
"Your girlfriend Sara is in the castle!"
"Ni di nupengyou Sara shi zai bu lui ni mian!"
You learn item vocabulary as effectively as if you were looking at flashcards; you see something that's obviously a whip, and it says "Whip," so that Sean can learn the word in English. As for me, if I see something on screen and don't know the word in Mandarin, he tells me what it is. It's pretty damn effective. The same goes for actions; swinging, climbing, jumping, hitting, searching, buying items, dropping items, running, dodging, looking at places on maps, opening doors.. they all conduce themselves to simple sentences in Mandarin, as well as desperately trying to translate the instruction manual from English into Mandarin as Sean was getting Leon Belmont beat into a bloody pulp by various supernatural enemies.
"The heart is in in the middle of the room." = "Jege xin shi zai fang zhong"
"You've already passed this place once." = "Ni yijing sheng guo jhege difang yichi."
"You have no more mana" = "Ni mei you mofa"
("Mofa shi 'mp'?" ["Magic is 'mp'?"]
"Dui" ["Correct"] )
"Your whip cannot penetrate his armour. You must use fire magic" = "Ni tiao bien bu keleng da chuen ta di tong jia. Ni yiding yiao yong huo di mofa."
I'm fucking amazed.
Video games bring you such priceless moments as:
-----
"Ni di dian niao tu hua shi tsong Warcraft san ma?" ("Is your computer wallpaper [lit: computer picture, which is best as I can do] from Warcraft 3?"
"Ni wan guo Warcraft 3????!!!" ("You play Warcraft 3??")
On Sunday, went to John and Sharon's house to celebrate the birthday of Sean, Sharon's son. Sean doesn't speak English and is really into video games, which my mom criticizes in private. "Why do his parents let him play so much after he's done with his homework? They should try to get him to work on his English to catch up!" I think she's being too harsh on him; it's hard being a teenager, especially a teenager in a foreign country. I also found it kind of sad that on his birthday party, he had his parents' friends over but no friends of his own. Well, his present was the newest Castlevania game (Lament of Innocence of the PS2, which I want now) along with a bunch of English grammar books and software, which I think are dumb, miserable presents, like giving a kid a sweater or socks. (I'd like a sweater actually, if it were cute and stylish, since I don't have any.) Your presents are supposed to make you happy, not improve you in ways other people think you ought.
In any case, he took Castlevania upstairs and started playing it, by himself, and I got bored/bewildered by the political talk downstairs among the adults (of which I am technically). My parents said, "Why don't you go play with Sean?" and I wasn't too keen on the idea because he doesn't speak English that well, and my Mandarin is bad, and I don't know him well enough to really care if he's bored or not. But I went anyway, to practice my Mandarin, and actually discovered that playing video games is extremely conducive to conversing in a foreign language. You have a readily available topic to talk about, and if you don't talk you're not being awkward because you're still engaged in something, and there isn't a horrible silence lying about the room. Plus, at least in the case of Castlevania, characters speak often, in English, and slowly, and the dialogue is read aloud for you by the voice actors, so it's almost like a picture book, which is good for Sean and his English. In my case, since the dialogue was slow and relatively simplistic, I could easily translate it into (shitty) Mandarin.
"Your girlfriend Sara is in the castle!"
"Ni di nupengyou Sara shi zai bu lui ni mian!"
You learn item vocabulary as effectively as if you were looking at flashcards; you see something that's obviously a whip, and it says "Whip," so that Sean can learn the word in English. As for me, if I see something on screen and don't know the word in Mandarin, he tells me what it is. It's pretty damn effective. The same goes for actions; swinging, climbing, jumping, hitting, searching, buying items, dropping items, running, dodging, looking at places on maps, opening doors.. they all conduce themselves to simple sentences in Mandarin, as well as desperately trying to translate the instruction manual from English into Mandarin as Sean was getting Leon Belmont beat into a bloody pulp by various supernatural enemies.
"The heart is in in the middle of the room." = "Jege xin shi zai fang zhong"
"You've already passed this place once." = "Ni yijing sheng guo jhege difang yichi."
"You have no more mana" = "Ni mei you mofa"
("Mofa shi 'mp'?" ["Magic is 'mp'?"]
"Dui" ["Correct"] )
"Your whip cannot penetrate his armour. You must use fire magic" = "Ni tiao bien bu keleng da chuen ta di tong jia. Ni yiding yiao yong huo di mofa."
I'm fucking amazed.
Video games bring you such priceless moments as:
-----
"Ni di dian niao tu hua shi tsong Warcraft san ma?" ("Is your computer wallpaper [lit: computer picture, which is best as I can do] from Warcraft 3?"
"Ni wan guo Warcraft 3????!!!" ("You play Warcraft 3??")
Angie's Bizarre, Bizzare Subconscious
I had this dream last night, where Jeremy had an evil clone whose name was Mike, who lived with us at Jeremy's dorm. Except in my dream the dorm looked like my room. Being that it was Jeremy's evil clone, Mike looked exactly like Jeremy except that he was a few years younger, a bit more effeminate, and of course, more evil looking. Also, he was a vampire. And he was hyperactive, and bounced all over the place. "Why do we keep him around?" I asked Jeremy, but I don't think I got an answer. Mike tried to bite me to turn me into a vampire, which I did not allow, but I did let him kiss me because it was nice.
I had this dream last night, where Jeremy had an evil clone whose name was Mike, who lived with us at Jeremy's dorm. Except in my dream the dorm looked like my room. Being that it was Jeremy's evil clone, Mike looked exactly like Jeremy except that he was a few years younger, a bit more effeminate, and of course, more evil looking. Also, he was a vampire. And he was hyperactive, and bounced all over the place. "Why do we keep him around?" I asked Jeremy, but I don't think I got an answer. Mike tried to bite me to turn me into a vampire, which I did not allow, but I did let him kiss me because it was nice.
Saturday, January 03, 2004
I'm boring
why is YOUR livejournal annoying?
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Fools! I never eat mashed potatoes with ketchup!
Friday, January 02, 2004
Did I tell you about the dream I had about Jeremy a few nights ago? No?
So I had this dream. I was with this a very good-looking Chinese boy. He started rubbing my inner thigh, and I said, "No, you can't do that" and he started kissing me, and I said, "No, you can't do that, I'm Jeremy's girl." And my eyes were closed, and he was kissing me, and I didn't know what to do because to be honest, it was a very nice kiss, but it wasn't right (morally, not technically). I was calling out Jeremy's name and thinking, as this boy kissed me, that nobody kisses like that except for Jeremy and nobody except for Jeremy makes me feel that way. Dream logic dictated that if only Jeremy can have that effect on me, and such an effect was being effected, then Jeremy must be the one doing it. When I opened my eyes in the dream, it was Jeremy, and there was no one else, so that I could love him and only him ardently with all my heart.
My earliest dream about Jeremy was way back when, maybe September or October. I had a dream that I was in a white dress with a big hoop skirt and ruffles from the Victorian era, and my hair was done up in ringlets and coifed. I was in an upper-class restaurant, where there were many other stately Victorian couples, ladies in evening dresses and men in black suits, and the tables had cream-colored tableclothes and small ornamental lamps as centerpieces. I was seated at one of them, by myself, trying to look proper, but I was, for some reason, very very horny and thinking about Jeremy.
What this tells me about my Freudian subconscious, I can't imagine. I think it wants me to suppress my urges to make out in crowded elevators.
My second dream was Jeremy saying, "I don't want to have sex with you because you're fat and ugly. As a matter of fact, you're just plain revolting. I don't know why I even went out with you in the first place."
My third dream, the only one which doesn't have some strange element in it, was me and Jeremy in some sunny place, and even though it was nighttime it was still sunny. Then I was snuggling in bed with him nice and warm in the middle of the night, and I said, "Jeremy?" and he said, "I love you," and I went to back to sleep, but apparently that part was real (confirmed in the morning), and my dream had run smoothly into that brief waking so that I had not known the difference.
So I had this dream. I was with this a very good-looking Chinese boy. He started rubbing my inner thigh, and I said, "No, you can't do that" and he started kissing me, and I said, "No, you can't do that, I'm Jeremy's girl." And my eyes were closed, and he was kissing me, and I didn't know what to do because to be honest, it was a very nice kiss, but it wasn't right (morally, not technically). I was calling out Jeremy's name and thinking, as this boy kissed me, that nobody kisses like that except for Jeremy and nobody except for Jeremy makes me feel that way. Dream logic dictated that if only Jeremy can have that effect on me, and such an effect was being effected, then Jeremy must be the one doing it. When I opened my eyes in the dream, it was Jeremy, and there was no one else, so that I could love him and only him ardently with all my heart.
My earliest dream about Jeremy was way back when, maybe September or October. I had a dream that I was in a white dress with a big hoop skirt and ruffles from the Victorian era, and my hair was done up in ringlets and coifed. I was in an upper-class restaurant, where there were many other stately Victorian couples, ladies in evening dresses and men in black suits, and the tables had cream-colored tableclothes and small ornamental lamps as centerpieces. I was seated at one of them, by myself, trying to look proper, but I was, for some reason, very very horny and thinking about Jeremy.
What this tells me about my Freudian subconscious, I can't imagine. I think it wants me to suppress my urges to make out in crowded elevators.
My second dream was Jeremy saying, "I don't want to have sex with you because you're fat and ugly. As a matter of fact, you're just plain revolting. I don't know why I even went out with you in the first place."
My third dream, the only one which doesn't have some strange element in it, was me and Jeremy in some sunny place, and even though it was nighttime it was still sunny. Then I was snuggling in bed with him nice and warm in the middle of the night, and I said, "Jeremy?" and he said, "I love you," and I went to back to sleep, but apparently that part was real (confirmed in the morning), and my dream had run smoothly into that brief waking so that I had not known the difference.
Thursday, January 01, 2004
Auld Lang Something
So last year, by which I mean last night, I went to Stella's townhouse for dinner, which was some very nice Chinese takeout; Cantonese cuisine as it ought to be. We, by which I mean the usual crew of me, my parents, my sisters, and my brothers in-law, spent the time playing music for Nathan from "Baby's First CD Player" and a manually cranked jack-in-the-box ("This is real labor!" Maggie said about cranking it). But it paid off; Nathan seemed to be entranced and so was relatively well behaved. I taped up some ripped up pop-up books* and felt curiously fulfilled by such an activity of mending, and we watched the Iron Chefs marathon. We also got belated Christmas gifts; my parents got many alcoholic beverages, and I got a pretty silver necklace with a pendant shaped like the letter A, and a phone card, which I don't really need (as I have free nighttime and weekend minutes). It was a nice gesture anyhow.
Nathan went to bed around 11. I guess once a couple has babies nobody stays up till midnight on New Year's Eve anymore. We left, and my parents dropped me off at Josh's party (with a box of pie left over from dinner) in time for me to squish into the pile around Josh's fireplace at 11:30 or so. Malex had for some reason gotten a haircut within the last day, and Nick had gotten a fancy digital camera, but I had them both beat for shock value because I had pictures of Jeremy. Meg said about the Jeremy and dachsund pictures that "the dog is cuter than the boy." No pie for her. It's the dachsund that makes all the girls go, "Awwwww!!" I showed Nick one pic and he fell off the couch because Jeremy evidently looks eerily like him, an opinion also voiced once by Andrew D and Theresa H when they actually met Jeremy in person. Also, Nick led, in the tradition of high school English class, a sullen discussion group, about the great memories of 2003. (It did get more animated later, to be fair). Josh saved us around 11:50, and herded us into the basement to see the ball drop in Times Square on tv. We, by which I mean the usual crew of people who go to Josh's parties*, had a 2003 birthday cake (with the candles being shaped like numbers) and passed around the bubbly, by which I mean cider because we're too young for champagne. We counted down from ten as the ball dropped and the 2004 sign lit up, and sang Auld Lang Syne as random people kissed each other on national television, and by sing I mean hummed, because nobody knew the words except for me, and me rather incorrectly. I called random people (read: Janis, who I got through to, and Kay, whose phone was busy, and not Jeremy because I still don't have his number, HINT HINT) on my cell and wished them happy new year, and then Malex drove me home around three in the morning before he got too tired to drive. We almost died anyway, because after midnight all the traffic lights cease to function. I think this is madness to the point of homicidal neglect because whoever does this ought to know there are tons of drivers on the road after midnight coming home from New Year's parties, and these said drivers are usually all drunk.
New Year's Day was spent reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the writing style of which would be disgustingly Romantic if it weren't for that whole undead monster thing, and watching Gone With the Wind, which is romantic in a good way, and is a good date movie (HINT HINT). As a side note though, if I were to be a slave (and I don't intend to be, but this is a hypothetical situation) I would definitely not want to be Scarlet O'Hara's slave, because she is a psycho bitch. But to be fair to her, she's an equal opportunity psycho bitch to people both black and white. If you really want to have a good time, and by good time I mean not at all, you can play the Scarlet O'Hara drinking game where you swallow a mouthful of booze everytime Scarlet slaps someone. Also I find both Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler singularly unappealing.
We (me, my parents) also went to John and Sharon's house for dinner, which was lamb instead of the usual steak, and on the way home, at the Hebrew Academy parking lot, my dad let me drive, in the dark, and in the rain. But it's always good to try new things on New Year's Day, by which I mean, I hope you had a Happy New Year too.
*I promise never to use "up" so many times in one sentence again, ever.
*I'm listing everyone from the party here because I know people like seeing their names mentioned in other people's blogs. Here goes: Josh the Host, Ruchita the Co-Host, Malex, Nick, Jen, Meg, Dena, Puffy, Ben E, Lizzie, Alison, Ranwa (who I think lost some weight but am too embarrassed to ask about), some random people I didn't know and didn't care to introduce myself to, and, inexpicably (since she neither hung out with us in high school nor at the party), Christine C. Hank, according to Malex, had come earlier, but left.
So last year, by which I mean last night, I went to Stella's townhouse for dinner, which was some very nice Chinese takeout; Cantonese cuisine as it ought to be. We, by which I mean the usual crew of me, my parents, my sisters, and my brothers in-law, spent the time playing music for Nathan from "Baby's First CD Player" and a manually cranked jack-in-the-box ("This is real labor!" Maggie said about cranking it). But it paid off; Nathan seemed to be entranced and so was relatively well behaved. I taped up some ripped up pop-up books* and felt curiously fulfilled by such an activity of mending, and we watched the Iron Chefs marathon. We also got belated Christmas gifts; my parents got many alcoholic beverages, and I got a pretty silver necklace with a pendant shaped like the letter A, and a phone card, which I don't really need (as I have free nighttime and weekend minutes). It was a nice gesture anyhow.
Nathan went to bed around 11. I guess once a couple has babies nobody stays up till midnight on New Year's Eve anymore. We left, and my parents dropped me off at Josh's party (with a box of pie left over from dinner) in time for me to squish into the pile around Josh's fireplace at 11:30 or so. Malex had for some reason gotten a haircut within the last day, and Nick had gotten a fancy digital camera, but I had them both beat for shock value because I had pictures of Jeremy. Meg said about the Jeremy and dachsund pictures that "the dog is cuter than the boy." No pie for her. It's the dachsund that makes all the girls go, "Awwwww!!" I showed Nick one pic and he fell off the couch because Jeremy evidently looks eerily like him, an opinion also voiced once by Andrew D and Theresa H when they actually met Jeremy in person. Also, Nick led, in the tradition of high school English class, a sullen discussion group, about the great memories of 2003. (It did get more animated later, to be fair). Josh saved us around 11:50, and herded us into the basement to see the ball drop in Times Square on tv. We, by which I mean the usual crew of people who go to Josh's parties*, had a 2003 birthday cake (with the candles being shaped like numbers) and passed around the bubbly, by which I mean cider because we're too young for champagne. We counted down from ten as the ball dropped and the 2004 sign lit up, and sang Auld Lang Syne as random people kissed each other on national television, and by sing I mean hummed, because nobody knew the words except for me, and me rather incorrectly. I called random people (read: Janis, who I got through to, and Kay, whose phone was busy, and not Jeremy because I still don't have his number, HINT HINT) on my cell and wished them happy new year, and then Malex drove me home around three in the morning before he got too tired to drive. We almost died anyway, because after midnight all the traffic lights cease to function. I think this is madness to the point of homicidal neglect because whoever does this ought to know there are tons of drivers on the road after midnight coming home from New Year's parties, and these said drivers are usually all drunk.
New Year's Day was spent reading Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the writing style of which would be disgustingly Romantic if it weren't for that whole undead monster thing, and watching Gone With the Wind, which is romantic in a good way, and is a good date movie (HINT HINT). As a side note though, if I were to be a slave (and I don't intend to be, but this is a hypothetical situation) I would definitely not want to be Scarlet O'Hara's slave, because she is a psycho bitch. But to be fair to her, she's an equal opportunity psycho bitch to people both black and white. If you really want to have a good time, and by good time I mean not at all, you can play the Scarlet O'Hara drinking game where you swallow a mouthful of booze everytime Scarlet slaps someone. Also I find both Ashley Wilkes and Rhett Butler singularly unappealing.
We (me, my parents) also went to John and Sharon's house for dinner, which was lamb instead of the usual steak, and on the way home, at the Hebrew Academy parking lot, my dad let me drive, in the dark, and in the rain. But it's always good to try new things on New Year's Day, by which I mean, I hope you had a Happy New Year too.
*I promise never to use "up" so many times in one sentence again, ever.
*I'm listing everyone from the party here because I know people like seeing their names mentioned in other people's blogs. Here goes: Josh the Host, Ruchita the Co-Host, Malex, Nick, Jen, Meg, Dena, Puffy, Ben E, Lizzie, Alison, Ranwa (who I think lost some weight but am too embarrassed to ask about), some random people I didn't know and didn't care to introduce myself to, and, inexpicably (since she neither hung out with us in high school nor at the party), Christine C. Hank, according to Malex, had come earlier, but left.
Wednesday, December 31, 2003
Yesterday I went to the Rio with Malex, Janis, Jessica and Lindsay (who is new, to me, anyway). We had dinner at some expensive and tasty, yet kind of questionable, Mexican place, where me and Lindsay traded dinners. We are both kindred spirits who always, always order bad things when we choose randomly from menus at restaurants we've not been to, and then regret not getting what Someone Else got. Yet I feel bad each and every time about being a Copycat and saying, "I'll just get what Janis (or insert name here) is getting," so I guess I will just keep on ordering bad food for all of eternity.
We went to watch Peter Pan, which was a waste of $9.00, despite Zifei's recommendation. It wasn't bad, I just don't think I should've had to pay for it; $9.00 can pay for lots of yummy food (even if it's the same food everyone else is getting). I thought the theme of the movie was good, which, so that I won't sound corny, I will just steal directly from Zifei's animation website:
"Just saw the film today. Thought it was great. For once it showed the true tragic young Peter Pan instead of the always happy old guy. I really liked how they followed the original novel in that Wendy tempts Peter with her love to grow up yet Peter still turns away from it at the end. I mean, in the end, the audience has to be feeling sorry for Pan 'cause he can never ever enjoying the feeling of growing up, and he knows it. Overall A. "
Yeah, that's what Zifei says. I agree with that bit. Probably the one of the few good things about growing up (having done a fair bit of it, and more than I should like in many ways, in the last few years) is being able to fall in love. The movie was also very pretty. But execution-wise, I think a lot of the dramatic effects used were over the top which detracted from the film, and the motivations of the adult characters made no sense. It's a funny thing about suspension of disbelief; I can follow flying ships and fairies well enough, but irrational and undeveloped characters is another thing.
Also, it was disturbing. Me and Malex laughed like crazy at all the unintentional sexual innuendos (Paraphrasing Wendy: "I'm leaving you, Peter, because you aren't grown up. You aren't a complete man.") and we weren't the only ones in the audience to do so. That aside, the guy who played Peter who is probably all of... thirteen?... was disturbingly hot. Everyone agreed on that, even Malex. And I don't think I'm being a pervert because it was a crucial casting decision to star an older boy, a boy who is on the verge of adolescence and is old enough (according to Malex) to have wet dreams, because he's old enough to start have darker desires but too young to actually pursue them. It's a rather disturbing artistic decision which I think was intentional, to emphasize the choice he has to make (whether to grow up or not, because he's already halfway there). Also, he had the mannerisms of an older, teenage or adult actor, which emphasize boldness, assertiveness and self-confidence, which are generally sexy traits, instead of the active rambunctious of a little kid. Like when he draws a pair of twin rapiers from a sheath at each side dramatically (kwa-shing!). That's an action hero thing. That's badass and rather sexy. You shouldn't make Peter Pan sexy, dude, that's weird.
And there's the strange Oedipal feelings between him and Wendy: "Can you be my mother?" because love and womanhood and motherhood are all rolled into one, so it's almost like he's incapable of making a distinction between romantic love and maternal love. The Lost Boys' quest for having a nurturer figure is somewhat creepy in an almost shamanistic, high priestess kind of way. And there's a quasi-pedophilic Captain Hook (maybe too much Michael Jackson on the brain, but it cannot be denied).
And the undertones of horrific violence were there too. Kids have always been disturbing in how innocently and selfishly cruel they are, and that kind of cruelty does make it in this film (not entirely discouraged by the book of course). Tinkerbell, our wonderful and happy fairy friend: "Let's connive to have Wendy shot with arrows because I'm jealous she's getting so much attention." And that scene where Peter is about to stab this Lost Boy in the throat for "killing" Wendy. It was portrayed as an intended execution, which means they must have developed a primative criminal system and social heirarchy, ala Lord of the Flies, like elementary school recess ("You're not allowed in my club!") with knives and arrows. Also I found the concept of Peter cutting off people's hands and egging the Lost Boys on to fight pirates disturbing too. Of course this is a family movie, so we don't see any kids disemboweled or impaling pirates on cutlasses but it's just a creepy concept. They must be some incredibly trauamatized kids (Malex likened them to orphans from Somalia). After reading Lord of the Flies, a place run by kids seems like a horribly dystopian place; at least a place run by adults, while being equally and arbitrarily cruel, has the pretense of civilization.
Also, the fencing sucked.
We went to watch Peter Pan, which was a waste of $9.00, despite Zifei's recommendation. It wasn't bad, I just don't think I should've had to pay for it; $9.00 can pay for lots of yummy food (even if it's the same food everyone else is getting). I thought the theme of the movie was good, which, so that I won't sound corny, I will just steal directly from Zifei's animation website:
"Just saw the film today. Thought it was great. For once it showed the true tragic young Peter Pan instead of the always happy old guy. I really liked how they followed the original novel in that Wendy tempts Peter with her love to grow up yet Peter still turns away from it at the end. I mean, in the end, the audience has to be feeling sorry for Pan 'cause he can never ever enjoying the feeling of growing up, and he knows it. Overall A. "
Yeah, that's what Zifei says. I agree with that bit. Probably the one of the few good things about growing up (having done a fair bit of it, and more than I should like in many ways, in the last few years) is being able to fall in love. The movie was also very pretty. But execution-wise, I think a lot of the dramatic effects used were over the top which detracted from the film, and the motivations of the adult characters made no sense. It's a funny thing about suspension of disbelief; I can follow flying ships and fairies well enough, but irrational and undeveloped characters is another thing.
Also, it was disturbing. Me and Malex laughed like crazy at all the unintentional sexual innuendos (Paraphrasing Wendy: "I'm leaving you, Peter, because you aren't grown up. You aren't a complete man.") and we weren't the only ones in the audience to do so. That aside, the guy who played Peter who is probably all of... thirteen?... was disturbingly hot. Everyone agreed on that, even Malex. And I don't think I'm being a pervert because it was a crucial casting decision to star an older boy, a boy who is on the verge of adolescence and is old enough (according to Malex) to have wet dreams, because he's old enough to start have darker desires but too young to actually pursue them. It's a rather disturbing artistic decision which I think was intentional, to emphasize the choice he has to make (whether to grow up or not, because he's already halfway there). Also, he had the mannerisms of an older, teenage or adult actor, which emphasize boldness, assertiveness and self-confidence, which are generally sexy traits, instead of the active rambunctious of a little kid. Like when he draws a pair of twin rapiers from a sheath at each side dramatically (kwa-shing!). That's an action hero thing. That's badass and rather sexy. You shouldn't make Peter Pan sexy, dude, that's weird.
And there's the strange Oedipal feelings between him and Wendy: "Can you be my mother?" because love and womanhood and motherhood are all rolled into one, so it's almost like he's incapable of making a distinction between romantic love and maternal love. The Lost Boys' quest for having a nurturer figure is somewhat creepy in an almost shamanistic, high priestess kind of way. And there's a quasi-pedophilic Captain Hook (maybe too much Michael Jackson on the brain, but it cannot be denied).
And the undertones of horrific violence were there too. Kids have always been disturbing in how innocently and selfishly cruel they are, and that kind of cruelty does make it in this film (not entirely discouraged by the book of course). Tinkerbell, our wonderful and happy fairy friend: "Let's connive to have Wendy shot with arrows because I'm jealous she's getting so much attention." And that scene where Peter is about to stab this Lost Boy in the throat for "killing" Wendy. It was portrayed as an intended execution, which means they must have developed a primative criminal system and social heirarchy, ala Lord of the Flies, like elementary school recess ("You're not allowed in my club!") with knives and arrows. Also I found the concept of Peter cutting off people's hands and egging the Lost Boys on to fight pirates disturbing too. Of course this is a family movie, so we don't see any kids disemboweled or impaling pirates on cutlasses but it's just a creepy concept. They must be some incredibly trauamatized kids (Malex likened them to orphans from Somalia). After reading Lord of the Flies, a place run by kids seems like a horribly dystopian place; at least a place run by adults, while being equally and arbitrarily cruel, has the pretense of civilization.
Also, the fencing sucked.
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