Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
return and revise
I have returned from Mexico.
It was a beautiful trip and a wonderful escape.
I revised and added to the list below, if anyone is at all interested in reading a few more random things about me...
It was a beautiful trip and a wonderful escape.
I revised and added to the list below, if anyone is at all interested in reading a few more random things about me...
Thursday, February 12, 2009
25 random things
1. I think the ways people choose to represent themselves online (via blogs, facebook, myspace, etc) and what information they choose to divulge with the world is very fascinating and can be quite telling. I feel shy, even online. So we will see how I do with this list...
2. I am leaving for Mexico in less than 3 hours.
3. I remember being 5 years old and taking ballet classes. I remember never grasping the concept that there was any pattern or rhythm or choreography to it. I distinctly remember thinking it was just a chance to wear cute poofy skirts and leap around. My skills in organized dance have not improved much to this day. I still just want to leap around.
4. I love foraging for fruits and nuts. This past fall I collected great quantities of walnuts, grapes and apples through foraging. Next fall I plan to redouble my efforts as novice hunter-gatherer and collect even more food.
5. I think my new-found foraging passion comes from this exhilarating sense of going back to the basics and connecting with my primitive roots. I also love dancing around fires. and making up tribal chants and rhythms. and face-painting.
6. When I lived in Chile I became good friends with a classmate who was convinced he was going to lead the country (or at least our school) in a Marxist revolution. We would have long conversations about politics and I even participated in a few of his organized student strikes. I also might have been slightly in love with him.
7. I have decided that between passion and moderation, passion is the greater virtue. I fear that so-called moderation often turns into laziness and complicity. Better to be passionate than moderate.
8. Currently my ideal marriage proposal would be for my husband-to-be to quote (or sing!) to me the following Animal Collective lyrics:
"I've been having good days
I think we are the right age
To start our own peculiar ways
With good friendly homes"
9. I went through a period of life where I obsessively researched autism spectrum disorders. I read books, watched movies, visited websites and read many essays on the subject.
some recommendations:
Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
Emergence: Labeled Autistic by Temple Grandin & Margaret M. Scariano.
wrongplanet.net
the movie Mozart and the Whale
10. I got in trouble in high school for using my AP English speech assignment to talk about how corrupt and ineffective I found the educational system. My teacher thought I was being disrespectful to all the hardworking educators at our school and docked my grade...
11. I have been a vegetarian for almost 5 months now. I started eating a semi-vegetarian diet over a year ago.
12. I have no favorite color.
13. I am very interested in gypsies. I just checked out 3 discs on gypsies and flamenco dancing from the library. Also, apparently I gave an overly-enthusiastic presentation on gypsies today and my Spanish teacher felt compelled to balance my glowing report with the hard facts about how conniving and dishonest and lazy the gypsies can be. I chose not to listen to or believe her.
14. I like collecting odd noises. The sound of the lid on a clay jar, bird calls, the squeak of the dishwasher door. One of the most soothing sounds to fall asleep to is a train whistling. I am glad I live near railroad tracks.
15. I think I would like to name any future daughters after favorite female folk musicians: Violeta, Joanna, Vashti...
16. I made a Virtual Hogwarts website when I was in 5th grade using the free Homestead page maker. It became quite popular for a while and I had people twice my age signing up to be sorted into Hogwarts houses and to buy their own virtual owls from the owlery.
17. The first real concert I ever attended is still my favorite: Sigur Ros, Hawaii Theatre, August 2005.
18. I currently only own 3 pairs of pants. I do laundry about once a month. I swear it is not gross.
19. On a similar note: I greatly admire those who can live an extremely minimalistic lifestyle. I would love to live in an earthen hut. or a re-modeled barn. and hand-wash my clothing and grow my own food. and stuff like that.
Eduardo Verástegui in Bella
Devendra Banhart
Oregonian Fire Dancer Man
2. I am leaving for Mexico in less than 3 hours.
3. I remember being 5 years old and taking ballet classes. I remember never grasping the concept that there was any pattern or rhythm or choreography to it. I distinctly remember thinking it was just a chance to wear cute poofy skirts and leap around. My skills in organized dance have not improved much to this day. I still just want to leap around.
4. I love foraging for fruits and nuts. This past fall I collected great quantities of walnuts, grapes and apples through foraging. Next fall I plan to redouble my efforts as novice hunter-gatherer and collect even more food.
5. I think my new-found foraging passion comes from this exhilarating sense of going back to the basics and connecting with my primitive roots. I also love dancing around fires. and making up tribal chants and rhythms. and face-painting.
6. When I lived in Chile I became good friends with a classmate who was convinced he was going to lead the country (or at least our school) in a Marxist revolution. We would have long conversations about politics and I even participated in a few of his organized student strikes. I also might have been slightly in love with him.
7. I have decided that between passion and moderation, passion is the greater virtue. I fear that so-called moderation often turns into laziness and complicity. Better to be passionate than moderate.
8. Currently my ideal marriage proposal would be for my husband-to-be to quote (or sing!) to me the following Animal Collective lyrics:
"I've been having good days
I think we are the right age
To start our own peculiar ways
With good friendly homes"
9. I went through a period of life where I obsessively researched autism spectrum disorders. I read books, watched movies, visited websites and read many essays on the subject.
some recommendations:
Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
Emergence: Labeled Autistic by Temple Grandin & Margaret M. Scariano.
wrongplanet.net
the movie Mozart and the Whale
10. I got in trouble in high school for using my AP English speech assignment to talk about how corrupt and ineffective I found the educational system. My teacher thought I was being disrespectful to all the hardworking educators at our school and docked my grade...
11. I have been a vegetarian for almost 5 months now. I started eating a semi-vegetarian diet over a year ago.
12. I have no favorite color.
13. I am very interested in gypsies. I just checked out 3 discs on gypsies and flamenco dancing from the library. Also, apparently I gave an overly-enthusiastic presentation on gypsies today and my Spanish teacher felt compelled to balance my glowing report with the hard facts about how conniving and dishonest and lazy the gypsies can be. I chose not to listen to or believe her.
14. I like collecting odd noises. The sound of the lid on a clay jar, bird calls, the squeak of the dishwasher door. One of the most soothing sounds to fall asleep to is a train whistling. I am glad I live near railroad tracks.
15. I think I would like to name any future daughters after favorite female folk musicians: Violeta, Joanna, Vashti...
16. I made a Virtual Hogwarts website when I was in 5th grade using the free Homestead page maker. It became quite popular for a while and I had people twice my age signing up to be sorted into Hogwarts houses and to buy their own virtual owls from the owlery.
17. The first real concert I ever attended is still my favorite: Sigur Ros, Hawaii Theatre, August 2005.
18. I currently only own 3 pairs of pants. I do laundry about once a month. I swear it is not gross.
19. On a similar note: I greatly admire those who can live an extremely minimalistic lifestyle. I would love to live in an earthen hut. or a re-modeled barn. and hand-wash my clothing and grow my own food. and stuff like that.
20. A while ago I created what I call "the Good Beard List" which I am constantly adding to and amending when I make new and wonderful bearded discoveries. Some of the leading members:
Sam Beam
Sam Beam
Eduardo Verástegui in Bella
Devendra Banhart
Oregonian Fire Dancer Man21. I was in Girl Scouts from the age of 5 until I graduated from High School and I got both the Silver and Gold Awards (equivalent of the Eagle Scout award). Also, my mom did a 3 month internship at the national Girl Scout headquarters in New York City.
22. When I was younger my brothers, some friends and I made a Power Rangers rip-off movie called Star Squad. To this day I think it is a hilarious comedic masterpiece.
23. In high school two huge mounds of dirt mysteriously appeared in one of the grassy fields on campus one day. When no one knew what they were for, I decided they were the grave sites of a deceased Giant couple and held an impromptu funeral for Marthew and Glenda Longfellow. Later, I wrote a NaNoWriMo novel about it.
24. The few times I got into trouble during high school it was for ridiculous things like planting sunflowers and vegetables around campus or having French-themed picnics in the hallway during Layout Week in my Newswriting class.
25. I wish I had classier or more sophisticated taste in food, but I honestly think a little bit of peanut butter improves just about any dish.
22. When I was younger my brothers, some friends and I made a Power Rangers rip-off movie called Star Squad. To this day I think it is a hilarious comedic masterpiece.
23. In high school two huge mounds of dirt mysteriously appeared in one of the grassy fields on campus one day. When no one knew what they were for, I decided they were the grave sites of a deceased Giant couple and held an impromptu funeral for Marthew and Glenda Longfellow. Later, I wrote a NaNoWriMo novel about it.
24. The few times I got into trouble during high school it was for ridiculous things like planting sunflowers and vegetables around campus or having French-themed picnics in the hallway during Layout Week in my Newswriting class.
25. I wish I had classier or more sophisticated taste in food, but I honestly think a little bit of peanut butter improves just about any dish.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Freezing Feet Freezing Face
I woke up this morning and my room was only a dozen degrees above freezing.
I felt like an icicle, shivering in my sheets.
The power outlet shorted-out during the night and the space heater shut off.
Casualty of living in an old house. Now it's all fixed up again.
We still live most days like thrifty eskimos and go without heat in the day to avoid high gas bills. Layers. Blankets. Hot rice.
I've decided one of my least favorite feelings is waking up cold...
Speaking of icicles. I still contemplate re-creating the icicle band--music made entirely from the noises of ice clicking. and whale mating calls. and cell phone reverb. and it can only be played in the winter time. or in a giant walk-in freezer.
I felt like an icicle, shivering in my sheets.
The power outlet shorted-out during the night and the space heater shut off.
Casualty of living in an old house. Now it's all fixed up again.
We still live most days like thrifty eskimos and go without heat in the day to avoid high gas bills. Layers. Blankets. Hot rice.
I've decided one of my least favorite feelings is waking up cold...
Speaking of icicles. I still contemplate re-creating the icicle band--music made entirely from the noises of ice clicking. and whale mating calls. and cell phone reverb. and it can only be played in the winter time. or in a giant walk-in freezer.
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