thank God Dan Savage is around, that's a all I have to say. In today's Savage Love column, I came accross this:
"I suppose I’m obligated to say a few words about Tiger Woods. First, let’s pretend
that Elin Nordegren cheated on Tiger and that Tiger went after Elin with a golf club.
Would Elin be viewed as the sole transgressor in the marriage then? Probably not.
And second, daily papers and cable-news outfits reacted to Tiger’s “transgressions”
by changing the names in the same “Why do powerful men cheat?” stories they’ve been
pimping since Bill Clinton blew a load on a White House intern. For the millionth
time: Men cheat for the same reasons women cheat, i.e., because they’re bored or
horny or unfulfilled or desperate to see someone else naked for a change. People
cheat because monogamy isn’t natural, and we are wired to cheat. That doesn’t make
cheating right, of course; people should honor their commitments, and blah-de-nine-iron-blah.
But we shouldn’t encourage people to make commitments we all know they’re unlikely
to keep. The end.
"
yes, yes, and yes. I couldn't have said it better myself.

I went to therapy this morning, got my latte at Starbucks, and came home. That’s it. I’m taking a personal day. I’m watching the L Word, eating hummus and cucumbers and olives and Vosges truffles, and not doing anything productive. It’s snowing, it’s cold, and I’m 100% tired.
That is all. I’m so deliciously warm and happy and I feel like a big rebel. Sad, eh?

p.s. the questions foremost in my mind right now are: why is Jenny so psychotic? and why do I suddenly find Bette hot? ah life.

i had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday with Courtney, her husband Adam, and their friend Pat. Pat did most of the cooking, and brought me some red pepper risotto and carrot soup. totally unnecessary, but so very kind of him to do so. I always think it's funny that non-vegetarians think we are missing out so much at thanksgiving, not having any turkey. but really, it's the stuffing, potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie that makes the holiday worthwhile for me. we had all that, and a ton of appetizers, plus the truffles I brought from Vosges. mmmm so very expensive and delicious. totally worth it. Courtney and I had lots of gossip to catch up on, and a huge debate with the guys over whether or not Transformers is cool (you can guess which side we were on).
without further ado, here are some things I am thankful for, not necessarily in this order:
1. wonderfully supportive parents who back me in everything I do and taught me independence, respect, kindness, and courtesy.
2. friends whom I couldn't live without: Teresa, Aurora, Noelle, Cassie, Kevin, Ulises, Courtney, Nikki, Ly. i have so much support and they have seen me through these last few months. i hope i am half as good a friend to them as they are to me.
3. an awesome job that I love. I am so, so spoiled there.
4. awesome coworkers that make work fun.
5. a roof over my head, food in the fridge, my space heater, scarves and mittens... all the warm things to get me through Minnesota winter.
6. all of you on my friends list who read everything i fling into the cyberworld: joy, fear, sorrow, nervousness, and the mundane musings of my life. thanks guys. :)

I fail to understand why, in this god-forsaken city, streets must turn into other streets without any warning or consultation on anyone’s part. I had an appointment downtown this morning at Hamm and am now, finally, ensconced in a plushy chair at Dunn Brothers enjoying a white mocha and cranberry scone. I hope that if I slam down enough carbs, sugar, and caffeine, I will have enough gumption to hit the streets again and go to GAP for the afternoon, because I have a ton of paperwork to do and since my officemates are not coming in today, it’d be a great time to catch up on everything in solitude. But honestly. How many streets must there be in a one mile radius… Cedar, Wabasha, St. Peter, Washington, Market… not to mention all the damn numbered ones: 4th, east 5th, west 5th, 6th, 7th, west 7th, 7th place… seriously. According to metro transit, I only needed to walk like one-tenth of a mile to get to a coffee shop and I ended up wandering around for a good hour. Minneapolis is soooo much easier to navigate, and I don’t think it’s just because I’ve lived there longer. Plus, I’m not sure whose idea this was, but most of downtown is currently torn up by construction. Why they didn’t do this in June and not late November is completely beyond me. I am beyond frustrated right now, and bordering on that thing that I loathe in myself, self-pity. I better distract myself before that sets in.
On the other side, there is something magical about just sitting here by myself having coffee, not on anyone’s schedule but my own. That so rarely happens that it gives me an almost giddy feeling of freedom. I’ll try to hold onto that for a while.

So today Cassie and I finally saw Fame, which was a bit of a disappointment. usually i am totally into musicals (i dunno, they just make me happy) but I just didn't care about anybody in the movie. I couldn't connect or sympathize with any of the characters, and there wasn't even particularly stellar singing to keep me occupied. to be honest, I was kinda bored. maybe watching the original in all its glorified 1970'sness would have entertained me more.
spending time with Cassie was great though. Afterwords, we went to the Olive Garden, which I never go to up in the cities, since the downtown one closed very shortly after I moved there. I can't say no to those overly-garlicky breadsticks. and I have a slice of pumpkin cheesecake in the fridge for dessert later. I can't wait.
I always forget how much I miss Cassie when I'm in the twin cities. she is honestly one of the best friends I've ever had.
Sentimentality over.

So today I went shopping because nothing and I do mean nothing fits me from last year. I really hate shopping, especially for clothes, because nothing ever fits me. No matter what I weigh, i still have no boobs and a big-ish butt, no hips but a bit of a belly, so everything is always too big in one area and too small in another. But three hours and a few hundred dollars later, I should be set for fall and winter. I bought most of it from Classic Closet, Sioux City's answer to Savers/insert your consignment shop here, so i got a lot for my money. I realized that I always buy black and brown, because I can match all my various scarves with neutral colors without having to go all blindie and ask my housemates or worry about clashing all day. Sigh, i'm no fashionista. I also got a pair of Earth Shoes for only $20, which is amazing. I love me my earth shoes, but they are old and worn out from hiking through Ecuador and a few European major cities, so these came in the nick of time. I also got some snuggly sweaters at Old Navy, and a rust-colored knee-length sweater coat which i will probably wear daily until it looks like a rag. I eyed a pair of black boots that would have looked good with my new black pants, but they were too much. Ah to be rich.
Now I'm watching the Iowa game and drinking a Blue Moon pumpkin ale. Which, unfortunately, pretty much just tastes like beer to me, and not pumpkin. I don't know a damn thing about football, but i enjoy watching it because it is a very autumn-y thing to do. plus my parents, being big Hawkeye fans, are very amusing yelling at the TV.
I can't believe a week from today I will be back in St. Paul. I am so nervous and so excited. I guess i just need to focus on the excitement and I'll be okay.

Autumn is finally here, and this summer is finally, finally over. Thank god.
I celebrated by deleting a bunch of my facebook friends whom I never talk to ever in real life. there is no reason I need 500 facebook friends; it's just unreasonable. and I've just added people who add me because they want everyone in their high school class or God knows what else. I think I need to put more focus on bettering my relationships with close friends than having a bajillion facebook friends I don't care about. it's a little thing, but it's a start.
i'm craving autumnal foods in the worst way. I think tomorrow I might bake a crisp or some bread. and I want a steaming bowl of soup in the worst way. and my yearly attempt to like candy corn. (i hate it, but i always experience some kind of candy corn amnesia and think that this year just might be the one that I'll finally begin enjoying candy corn. don't ask, I'm weird like that.)
happy Equanox everyone!

My dream job is to learn a bunch of languages and travel around the world talking to people and learning about their lives and culture. Then, I’d invent one language that incorporates sounds and ideas from all the world’s major languages. This language would be international and everyone would learn it, while keeping their own language and traditions intact. We could all communicate with one another using this universal language.
Sadly, I will never have this job. The universal language seems to be English, or at least that is how the trend is going. This is bothersome to me because it makes me feel like Americans are getting lazier and lazier about learning second languages because they assume everyone will just speak English wherever they go. This is arrogant for one thing, to say nothing of the intrinsic satisfaction learning an additional language or three brings.

Well, i was inspired to update my LJ thanks to Ms. V., though i have no idea if anyone reads it any more. it's a rainy gross dreary day in the cities, which also inspires me to write, and puts me in a very autumny mood even though we are barely half done with July.
This morning I went for an interview at Hamline to see if I could get into their masters program for the fall. I'm going to apply, and take a few basic linguistics courses, then get my certificate in teaching English as a second language to adults. After that, I can enrole in the ESL masters program, if I'm still in St. Paul by then. I'm having all kinds of thoughts about what I want to do after my second year of AmeriCorps, and even if I will be completing that year, but that is for another post. I have to say that I felt very awkward meeting with the professor this morning, because even though I've only been out of academia for a year, a lot has happened since I last set foot on a college campus. I felt very ignorant and that I was stammering a lot and not getting my points accross well. Dr. Mabbott was also very serious, and she would let long silences laps between us after I answered a question, which made me uncomfortable. It's funny, I also had a very hard time not swearing in front of her. LOL what the hell! i fear that GAP is making me uncouth and impolite, since it's pretty much a free-for-all when all the staff get together and nothing is sacred. I hope I made a better impression than I felt like I was making.
On a different note, on the bus ride to Hamline i overheard a conversation between these two ladies who were going out to Rosedale to see a movie. One had some kids with her, who wanted to see Harry potter. I haven't seen it yet, I was supposed to go on Wednesday but was feeling sick, so I can't comment on the accuracy of the conversation. but the women were going on and on about all the Satanic messages in the movie, and about how there's all this "ritualistic chanting" in it. Oh the horror! not chanting for the love of God! and one of them told the other to say an extra-long prayer before she went to see the movie. I couldn't believe it. are people still freaking out about this stuff? i get so sheltered in my group of friends, I sometimes forget how dumb people are. i have nothing against religion, as long as it's practiced with a minimum of common sense and courtesy towards others. but that was just ridiculous.
Well, since I have the rest of the afternoon off from GAP, i think it's time for tea and some reading. And possibly a nap.

my dinner... spring greens, sugar snap peas and dried cranberries with raspberry vinaigrette; a a three-seed flatbread cracker with a few slices of garlic-herb cheese; fresh strawberries; spiced tea. i feel like such a heathen right now. it's all thanks to finally receiving my food stamps, which are back-dated from December when i applied. so i have december, january, february, march, and april stamps to get through, more than I'll ever use... and my epic two-hour trip to the Wedge yesterday. i could literally live in that store and not see all of it, methinks. i wanted to take pictures, the spring produce was so colorful and it smelled so fresh. i pretty much had a produce-gasm. i got the sweetest tiniest cherry tomatoes, wild asparagus which i've never tried, a huge bulb of fennel, baby artichokes, red red ruby chard, and about a million things more besides. and i still have like four hundred dollars in stamps left. i hate to waste it, but i have no idea what to do with them.
of course since i have to go back to work tomorrow after my spring break, I'm getting the beginnings of my annual spring cold from hell. tomorrow is a planning day with a bunch ofm eetings, so i might try to go in late if i'm still feeling sniffly and sore throaty.
it's getting warmer and thus I am not feeling as hermity. with the extra money I'm not spending on groceries, i'd really like to get a YWCA membership. every time I go with Molly using her guest passes i feel great afterwords, and since she and a few other of my friends are really pushing themselves to get in shape, i figure i should get off my lazy ass and follow their example.
hmmm.. what else? tuesday starts the last quarter of this school year. i can hardly believe it. we have summer school though, so i'll most likely be spending the summer working a lot. which is good for my hours and bad for my wanderlust. It's been nearly a year since i've traveled outside the U.S. and i'm getting kinda... itchy for some globetrotting. however, since i can barely afford to even go to a Twins game right now, traveling is pretty much out of the picture.
well that's all for tonight. back to my dinner of deliciousness.

for once I am proud and honored to be from the great state of Iowa. Gay marriage is now legal there as of this morning! of course, our governor can't commit to being happy about it, and will be "considering what it means for Iowans" blah blah blah. and we might have a public vote in three years like California did, which will of course totally shut it down... but... maybe we'll all be more enlightened by then, who knows? and in the meantime, the LGB community in Iowa has at least three years to tie the knot. so get to it kids.
here's an article:
( Read more... )

this is gonna be a long entry because i've had a busy last few days
! first off, it is a sad day to be a dyke in Minneapolis since Pi Bar closed this weekend. i was there on Thursday and somehow got talked into going back Friday as well. I'm so sad they are closing because they are really the only exclusively lesbian bar in the cities, at least that I know of. they had to close because of the housing market; they had to give the building up, so they are trying to find another space. I so hope they can. there's talk of the owner opening something in Dinkytown, so... fingers crossed!
yesterday I went to see the Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I think it is only playing in Edina, at least that is where I had to go to see it, but seriously people... if you are into the Holocaust at all, please please see this movie. it's actually based on a book, which Teresa and I read before we went on our WWII trip. the story is about a little German boy whose father is a soldier who goes to work at Auschwitz. the boy meets a Jewish boy over the fence and they form a frienship. of course it ends horribly, but it is a really great look at the Holocaust and the inhumane and deplorable hell forced upon Jews from a child's perspective. I cried through the whole damn thing, too, which i never ever do during movies. I'm not sure if it was because i've seen Auschwitz or because the story is so powerful.
then i rushed to the Capitol for the proposition 8 protest. i was late and missed the vigil, because i am still an idiot about getting anywhere in St. Paul. I hope all this nation-wide protesting will not be in vain. I really couldn't believe the state of California, of all states, put a ban on gay marriage, which had already passed in the first place! the cool thing is that I did get to finally come out to my aunt, uncle and cousins who live in L.A., and ask them to vote no on the ban. they said they were planning on voting no anyway, since even though they are pretty religious, half their church consists of gay couples. Lol! i suppose eventually i will have to come out to my dad's parents and the rest of the side of that family. ugh. I suspect I have a gay cousin on that side also, so if i can get her to confirm this (no small feat), maybe we can do it together. what a Thanksgiving/holiday treat that would be!
and finally, I just have to say this... i got the Enya christmas CD on sale at Target!!! i have been waiting soooo long for her to do a christmas album i nearly had a heart attac when I saw it. it's kind of a trip, actually. most of the songs are originals, and the strangest part is that in "my My! Time Flies!", there is a throwbackish bluesy electric guitar solo. never never would I have thought i'd hear guitar over Enya's eight million overdubs and (yes i will even admit it) somewhat trite lyrics. but I love love love it. and on "white is in the Winter Night" her adorable Irish accent is so clear and obvious i smile through the whole thing. why am i such a freaking sucker for an accent? i am so going to get made fun of for this, especially since i will probably bring the CD to work tomorrow. all my macho coworkers can go jump off a balcony for all I care.
ok and finally... because it was requested from my last post, here is the cranberry pumpkin bread recipe. i'm giving you the original one from http://www.epicurious.com
and then at the bottom, because i of course have to destroy someone's hard work in developing a recipe, my modifications.
Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Ingredients
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
2 large eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup picked-over fresh or frozen cranberries
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350° F. and butter a loaf pan, 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 2 3/4 inches.
In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together pumpkin, sugar, water, eggs,
and oil. Sift in flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and spices and stir just
until batter is smooth. Stir in cranberries and spoon batter into loaf pan, spreading
evenly.
Bake bread in middle of oven 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean,
and cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes. Turn bread out onto rack and cool completely.
Bread may be made 4 days ahead and chilled, covered.
ok... first, double the spices. I sometimes triple them, but i'm a spice whore. I also add a bit of Nutmeg because... well, it's nutmeg and it's delicious. You can use up to half whole-wheat flour for a more dense loaf, which I like. I've also thrown in some walnuts or pecans sometimes. Finally, if you want to you can omit the vegetable oil and use a bit extra pumpkin, if you want to cut the fat. I myself say fuck the oil and water and use butter. LOL
happy baking!
ok i'm out. for real. sorry for spamming your friends' list.

oh man... i don't even know what to say about the election that has not already been echoed on and off my friend's lists, and much more articulately than i could ever express it... I think the best thing i saw was this morning when I was watching CNN before work, and they showed people around the world celebrating. having been abroad a few times these past few years, i've seen a lot of the bullshit we've done to other countries, especially those in South America. i truly hope and believe that this is a good first step in helping us become good global citizens and neighbors to other cuntries. i never would have believed four years ago that this would happen, and seeing all those people in Kenya and Japan and Australia chanting for Obama, makes me very humble and very proud. and it sure does make me want to cry. :)
also, my kids are sooo excited about this. I've never seen such excitement around GAP before. most are of voting age and i'm so happy to say i talked to many students who voted. i have to hand it to Obama; whoever can get these kids riled up is a hero.
not so happy about Prop 8 and other gay marriage bans. but really, i can't complain. i really only care about bringing everyone home from Iraq and making our world kinder to live in. gays being allowed to marry will happen in time, I hope.
and in the meantime... rock on President Obama!

happy Samhain, Hallowe'en, Dia de los Muertos, and all Saint's Day in one boutiful sentence of good cheer! whatever you're celebrating this week/weekend, i hope it's blessed with good people and good spirit. i'm sitting at work drinking my third cup of Mexican hot chocolate left over from the Dia de los Muertos celebration last night. i'll probably regret it later, but whoever made this stuff is a genious. it is so wonderful nd delicately spiced, some of the best chocolate i've had. today is our school's halloween party, which we've basically been preparing all week, and tonight we take the kids to a haunted house. i've never actually been to a simulated haunted house before, so i'm interested to see what it's like. i love being scared, so bring it!
besides that, nothing really knew. Aurora's lent me a Renaissance costume for today and for the weekend, so i'll probably prowl around for an excuse to wear it as much as possible. it's a muslin underdress with a lovely sage-green lace-up thing overtop; i feel a bit like an Irish rogue in it. my other coworker, Ayesha, is trying to get us all to the 90's tomorrow, but i just went a few weeks ago so have had my 90's quota for the year, methinks.
this post is really not amounting to anything substantial, is it... i just love this time of year!!!
speaking of this time of year... i'm going to be in a few recorder concerts coming up around the holidays. if anyone's interested, i'll fill you in with the details when i have them!
hasta luego for now!

I just got done translating this long-ass German thing about the Loveparade in Berlin. I want to go to Berlin like whoa. Even though the Loveparade isn't there any more, studying about the city has just filled me with wanderlust. Every time I get all these butterflies in my stomach and the almost physical need to travel, I wonder if It is because something isn't right and I want to run away. But I think it is just more that my taste of Spain gave me the motivation and the confidence to get out and see the world.
which is basically what my life has been like lately. Filling out applications, one for the aftermath of World War II short-term program, in which I used the word temultuous", and the phrase "my responsibility as an advocate of human rights", plus my Americorps applications, and then for laughs and giggles, an ap for a program teaching English in either Spain or Chili. at least if Idon't get a summer internship or fall job, I can 'tt say I didn't try.
Sigh oiveh.
Life is full of strange things.
Today I got to see Hillary Clinton at Augsburg, which was pretty fabulous. I almost turned around when I saw how big the crowd was, since I am really scared of being alone in crowds, but luckily I ran into Levi and we got to sit in the special pople section, aka the section for all the disabledees. I am proud to go to a school where I have that opportunity, and proud to be a citizen of Minneapolis, for at least the last three years and next three months.
Well that's all for toinight. I'm just rambling anyway. Gute nacht.