new dog (for my parents): Lady

"I'm going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come": brief review of Kansas City and Lawrence, KS

emmy, patrick, and I in front of the Nelson-Atkins Art Museum

So, being lame, I went to Kansas City for my last spring break of my college career. I had the lowest expectations possible for any city on planet earth. I have been raised in St. Louis, and so have been raised with the lowest of views of Kansas City. They are smaller than us (metro area: 1.9 million vs. our 2.8 million), have a crappier airport than us, do not have Forest Park, do not have the Cardinals, do not have the City Museum, do not have our history (Gateway of the West, Lewis and Clark, etc.), and generally suffer from an inferiority complex that is pitiful.

However (and this pains me greatly to say this), after this spring break I think Kansas City is better than St. Louis. While St. Louis has very cool parts of town, they are all 20-minutes away from each other. St. Louis is very fragmented, each county harboring a suspicion of all the other counties. Never will I give up on St. Louis, but KC's downtown and midtown are in far better states than St. Louis' right now. Their Power and Light District that is being built looks super-cool, they have more gay people, more art events, more hipster kids (how I love those hipster kids), and as sad as their Royals are they still love them, which is cute.

It is almost as if the ego of St. Louis is standing in its own way. As I'm looking forward to moving to the great city on May 18th (maybe for good), I am trying to figure out exactly what St. Louis' problem(s) is/are.

One problem is the stubbornness/corruption of the city politicians. They don't like change. (as can be seen in this article about the Metrolink).

Another problem I want to find out more about is how the city is split up, tax-wise. Somehow, the tax money from the counties does not reach downtown. Why? This adds to the cultural/geographical/psychological fragmentation of the city. We are a house divided and we don't let our kids go downtown.

----

Also, another blow to my city-love ego came when I found out that Lawrence (home of the hated Kansas University) has an Urban Outfitters downtown and is generally cooler than Columbia. Go ahead and stab me in the heart.

Waiting...

(allposters.com)

I saw the movie 'the Terminal' last night, and it was pretty good, but kind of forgettable. I think Steven Spielberg is kind of stuck in the late-80s, there were a bunch of shots with streaming light highlighting the characters - reminiscent of E.T.

Oh, and the movie is based on the true story of Mehran Karimi Nasseri, who lived in the Paris airport for 18 years.

But something struck me - I think people outside of America have a greater ability to wait on things. Working in the computer lab last week, there was a tax help session for international students. Often, the people running the program were 15-30 minutes late in showing up and when I told the students that this was the case they shrugged and said that they would wait in the corner. If the tax program was for Americans, people would get pissy and hang around my desk and ask for information about who they could call.

Perhaps this is because America is a democracy and things get done because people complain about them. Maybe it's because we're more individualistic. Maybe it's because we don't have the normal 20-minute to 3-hour grace period of lateness that many South American and African cultures seem to have. Whatever it is, it's kind of interesting.

Anime Conference of St. Louis

Practically the only character I recognized, Princess Peach in all his glory.

My friends Shannnon (as Cloud from Final Fantasy on the left) and Shaun (Zak from something, on the right)

No idea - help, Patrick?

the lobby of the hotel, shock.

So I went to the Anime conference in St. Louis this past weekend for a bit, to see my friends Shannon and Shaun, who were in town for it. It was stunning. Subcultures fascinate me, especially high-school ones. Every high school I've been involved with or been around has had a group of Anime-enthusiasts, and I want to learn more about it. Here's what I learned from this weekend:

- the sense of community at these things is huge, people yell out the name of the character you cosplayed as and hug you.
- 'Anime' is kind of an umbrella term that includes Star Wars, gaming of all types (there was a Guitar Hero battle room), 'goth' culture, and everything Japanese.
- Shannon told me that the age demographic for Anime conventions has shifted dramatically down in the last decade, from people in their 30s and up to now mostly high school.
- This subculture is mostly caucasian.

ANTHONY BRADLEY ON CNN/HEADLINE NEWS WITH GLENN BECK

Anthony Bradley is a professor at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis with my dad and works with the same youth group I do at Chesterfield Pres.  I think he's awesome.

Viral Marketing

Warner Bros., who is releasing the new Batman movie, sent their marketing team to Mizzou last Thursday for a little viral marketing. Patrick told us all about this. Basically, instead of the production company spending a lot of money on TV ads that people ignore, they send a van with free t-shirts and a couple charismatic 20-somethings to a college campus and let the college students do the rest of the work.

Viral Marketing (by my definition) is when a company does one major act that startles people into talking about the company or what the company is promoting (like a movie). So we end up doing all the work for them (yes - like blogging about it. Sorry) Wikipedia: 'Viral Marketing'

So, this is what happened. Allie and Jake were in town from St. Louis because Jake is going to go to Mizzou next year. So we were taking him around campus, showing him stuff, etc. We met up with Patrick and he told us about viral marketing and that the van promoting the new Batman movie was outside of Memorial. So, like the pawns we were, we went and saw what was going on. Jenna was there too.

The people with Warner Bros. (who wouldn't tell us that they were from Warner Bros.) told us that if we stood outside their van with posters saying "I Believe in Harvey Dent" for 20 min. we would get free t-shirts. Yes, we are that easy.

I felt like I was in a cult, I got all excited about Harvey Dent and started making up cheers and marching around Lowry Mall with everyone and encouraging everyone that Harvey Dent really was the one who was going to turn around Gotham, etc.

So there were all these Mizzou Facilities trucks driving by all the time and I told Jake (the high school senior) that it would be funny if he ran up to one and slapped a bumper sticker onto the bumper while it was driving by. So he did. AND THEN A BIKE COP CAME OUT OF NOWHERE and came up to Jake and said "I'll give you two options, either you chase down that truck and take the sticker off or I charge you with vandalism." Poor Jake.

So Jake borrows Jenna's bike and takes off after this truck (down a road in a campus he's never been to before) and the bike cop follows him. After about 10 minutes of waiting and laughing we start walking in the direction that Jake went and can't find him anywhere. Eventually we see Jake riding triumphantly down Hitt St. with a crumpled bumper sticker in his raised high-schooler fist.

We saw the same van later on that night out in front of the Methodist church downtown and finally realized how obnoxious we had been. Another table at Shakespeare's pizza were making comments about how all of the Harvey Dent people should be demonstrating for something that actually matters instead of the Gotham DA who would become Two-Face. It's true.

Something Else I'll Miss From College: Passive-Aggressive White Boards

Actually, come to think of it, I'll still have roommates once I move back to STL (woo, Sharon and Allie!) - So, hopefully we'll have a white board to blame each other with.

St. Louis has a Fashion Week?

(stl-style.com)

Yeah, well, I guess we do, kind of. It was in the Metro section of the Post-Dispatch this morning. What?

St. Louis Fashion Week (website)

Some events will be held at the Contemporary Art Museum of St. Louis, which looks really legit. I'm excited about going there when I move back.

But most of the events are at the garish new Lumiere Place Casino down on the riverfront, a little north of the arch.

Oh well, at least it's something.

And, according to this blog, Kimora Lee Simmons (Baby Phat) will be headlining our fashion week. Oh gosh.

For some real St. Louis fashion, see STL-style.com Tshirts, they're wonderful (here).

Cutest Biological Anthropology Class Ever!

(smh.com.au) newborn albino pygmy marmosets


(viewimages.com)

Galago (Bush Baby)
- sub-Saharan Africa
- mostly solitary (except when forced into teacups)
- nocturnal
-fast, agile insect hunters

Things I will miss about Columbia #2

risking my life crossing 4 lanes of traffic 4-6 times a day on College Ave.

March 22 - I want to add to this post, saying that the street sign in the picture is now non-existant. While walking back from class on Thursday, I noticed that it had been mowed down by (I suspect) a car or some other large object, probably being driven by someone under the influence of something. RIP.

Brief Senior Tour Update

(columbiamissourian.com)

MU Basketball Game - finally went to one. It was kind of sad because Mizzou isn't that great this season. It was literally the last home game of the season - my last chance. Patrick went with me (after 1.5 hours of convincing). We only stayed for about 45 min, and found out later that Mizzou beat Iowa State in two over times. Dang it.

Universal Thrift: kind of like a garage sale in a building (I know that's what most thrift stores are like, but this seemed crappier). Mostly home furnishing stuff. Did not meet expectations.

CJ's Hot Wings: absolutely wonderful. Went with Julie and Stacey. Really really good food and quite cheap. You know you're in the right restaurant when construction workers come in for dinner after work. They know.

Added to the list:
- Go to Mojo's (club/venue)
- Go to the Mizzou Observatory

Things I've had to look up for class: Link between Plastics and Estrogen

(vestaldesign.com)

Wired: "Reproductive Disorders Probably Caused by Common Plastic Ingredient, Scientists Say"

Wired: "Male Births Drop Mysteriously in US and Japan"

"The synthetic chemical called bisphenol-A is used to make dental sealants, sturdy microwavable plastics, linings for metal food-and-beverage containers, baby bottles, and numerous other products. When consumed, the chemical can mimic the effects of estrogen. Previous tests had found that bisphenol-A can leach into food and water and that it's widely prevalent in human blood." (Sciencenews.org: "Diabetes from a Plastic? Estrogen mimic provokes insulin resistance")

Frederick vom Saal (Mizzou researcher in this area) - "Researcher Provides Evidence Against Common Household Plastics"

PBS Frontline "Fooling Around with Nature" interview with Frederick vom Saal.

Wikipedia "Plastics": "Research in Environmental Health Perspectives finds that BPA - bisphenol-A (leached from the lining of tin cans, dental sealants and polycarbonate bottles) can increase body weight of lab animals' offspring, as well as impact hormone levels. A more recent animal study suggests that even low-level exposure to BPA results in insulin resistance, which can lead to inflammation and heart disease."

Um - so all major recent health issues are caused by plastic containers? Wonderful.

WebMD "Danger in Plastic Baby Bottles?: Common Plastics Chemical Linked to Genetic Damage" "Other animal studies have linked BPA to low sperm count, hyperactivity, early puberty, obesity, small testes size, and enlarged prostates. But Hunt's is the first study to suggest that BPA can affect future generations."

thegreenguide.com, "The Bisphenol-A Debate: A Suspect Chemical in Plastic Bottles and Cans": "Ninety-five percent of Americans were found to have the chemical in their urine in a 2004 biomonitoring study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."

Which means that it's going into our water systems and into streams and rivers. Oh no.

The Sartorialist went to New Delhi

Columbia Peace March

Here's the KOMU coverage of the 1,000 strong march for peace today in Columbia.

And...Julie and I are in the video (briefly). I think this is the first time I've ever been on TV, pretty exciting. And for a good cause.

Here are some of my pictures:

Shaking and drumming down 9th Street.

There were Journalism kids from Mizzou everywhere. I swear, everything in Columbia is very well documented because of the J-school. At one point he was hovering near a woman and she started yelling and riling up the crowd, almost because he was there. It reminded me of a part in Don DeLillo's White Noise, when there's a disaster somewhere but no news crews come and one of the characters says something like "Where were all the cameras? It's like it didn't even happen this way!"

Where in the World is: Kel?

(link)

Keenan and Kel, awesome Nickelodeon show of the 90s, starred Keenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell, who were also in the more awesome show All That.

Well, Keenan, as you might know, is on SNL, but where's Kel?

Well, according to Kel's Wikipedia (here) and IMDB (here), he's basically producing parodies of rap songs on his MySpace page. Wanna listen to them? Neither do I, but just in case, here they are: Kel Mitchell's MySpace

Threadless: Nude no More

Threadless tees, famous for ironic t's for my generation, has a design contest. This was the winner:



I don't really understand it, if there is something to grasp, but I think it's pretty cool looking. And...this one made me laugh out loud:



this last one is thanks to Sharon, by way of posting it on Tony's Fbook wall.

Outside Target this afternoon:

I feel like this needs no comment.

What I'll Miss About Columbia, part 1:

Today I want to start a series of what I will miss when I leave Columbia in 64 days. The first one happens three days a week when I walk to my Biological Anthropology class in Engineering Building West (way the heck away from my apartment). So here it is, the view of the columns and Jesse Hall in red campus.

Diem Chau

Artist Diem Chau carves tiny sculptures in crayons. Amazing.

- found at Honey Skunk

Book I plan on reading when I am 30 and contemplating the fact that I will someday die:

The Undertaking by Thomas Lynch (poet/undertaker)

Cool Stuff: Nike Air Force Ones

image stolen from (these guys)

My lab partner last week in my Environmental Bio class was wearing these with argyle socks on underneath. Very cool.

I really like what Kanye's 80s B-boy/Prep style has done to fashion. Much appreciated.

Book Report

Well, I'm still plugging away at Henri Nouwen's Intimacy, which is more about community than sex (can you hear the disappointment in my voice?). But, it has given me a lot to think about and has addressed a lot of questions I have. Actually, most of my current questions are addressed by this tiny (150 page) book.

It even talks about depression in the seminary. And I'm going to seminary! He takes an interesting view on it, being a Catholic. The seminarians he's talking about are pledging themselves to a life of celibacy

Very cool: self-charging mp3 players

she loves her natural mp3 player and so should you (link)

Today in the New York Times there's an article called "Cranking Out Music Off The Grid" which highlights a couple mp3 players that can recharge themselves through a hand crank or solar panels. Very cool.

"There's a secret bonus feature, too: you can use these players to recharge other portable gadgets. Yes, these players can drag less environmentally enlightened electronics off the grid along with them.

To make this work, you connect your secondary gadget to the eco-player's U.S.B. jack using the appropriate adapter cable. The eMotion Solar comes with 12 such tips, most intended for cellphones and things that can be charged from a U.S.B. jack (including BlackBerrys, Treos and even iPods). The Eco Player, on the other hand, recharges only cellphones (it comes with five cable tips), and only while you're cranking."

eMotion Solar from Media Street for $169 for 2GB of memory (solar power)

Baylis Eco Media Player at $200 for 2 GB of memory (hand crank)
(info and video from cnet)

• fyi - here's a DIY crank charger you can connect to your iPod
  

Tights

this is from my friend Bailey's blog, a picture from her baby shower. I'm pretty sure I did this all the time when I was in elementary school and had to wear tights to everything. Most of them ended up having bloody holes where the knees should be and the feet were black as dirt.

The Pill

(link)

To continue the estrogen-fueled rampage...today in my Human Evolution (Anthropological Biology) class, we talked about male contraceptives a bit, and it made me wonder how technology is shaping up on that front. It can't be that much harder to make a male version of "the pill," it's been 48 years, after all.

"It is now believed that an MHC (male hormone contraceptive, i believe) in the form of a daily pill could be available on the market within 5 to 7 years and implants could arrive even sooner."

“It is time for men to have some control. I think it would empower men and deter some women out there from their nefarious plans,” says Brown. “Some women are out there to use men to get pregnant. This could deter women from doing this. An athlete or a singer is someone who could be a target and they could put a stop to that.” (MSNBC.com article) Hahaha...

Wikipedia article on Male Oral Contraceptives (here)

Graphic description of how male contraceptives work (here)

If you are a girl...

...you will surely appreciate this* (and echo its sentiment).

(SIDENOTE: My sister said this of the article because apparently she thinks I'm insane: "so I got that email that you sent about the maxi pads... that girl is like your long lost twin or soulmate or something. I could hear you in her letter ...except she wears pads, which is kind of gross.")

*This is an actual letter from an Austin woman sent to American company Proctor and Gamble regarding their feminine products. She really gets rolling after the first paragraph. It's PC Magazine's 2007 editors'choice for best webmail-award-winning letter.


Dear Mr. Thatcher,

I have been a loyal user of your 'Always' maxi pads for over 20 years and I appreciate many of their features. Why, without the LeakGuard Core or Dri-Weave absorbency, I'd probably never go horseback riding or salsa dancing, and I'd certainly steer clear of running up and down the beach in tight, white shorts. But my favorite feature has to be your revolutionary Flexi-Wings. Kudos on being the only company smart enough to realize how crucial it is that maxi pads be aerodynamic. I can't tell you how safe and secure I feel each month knowing there's a little F-16 in my pants.

Have you ever had a menstrual period, Mr. Thatcher? I'm guessing you haven't. Well, my time of the month is starting right now. As I type, I can already feel hormonal forces violently surging through my body.Just a few minutes from now, my body will adjust and I'll be transformed into what my husband likes to call 'an inbred hillbilly with knife skills.' Isn't the human body amazing?

As Brand Manager in the Feminine-Hygiene Division, you've no doubt seen quite a bit of research on what exactly happens during your customer's monthly visits from 'Aunt Flo'. Therefore, you must know about the bloating, puffiness, and cramping we endure, and about our intense mood swings, crying jags, and out-of-control behavior. You surely realize it's a tough time for most women.

The point is, sir, you of all people must realize that America is just crawling with homicidal maniacs in Capri pants... Which brings me to the reason for my letter. Last month, while in the throes of cramping so painful I wanted to reach inside my body and yank out my uterus, I opened an Always maxi-pad, and there, printed on the adhesive backing, were these words: 'Have a Happy Period.'

Are you f------ kidding me? What I mean is, does any part of your tiny middle-manager brain really think happiness - actual smiling, laughing happiness, is possible during a menstrual period? Did anything mentioned above sound the least bit pleasurable? Well, did it, James? FYI, unless you're some kind of sick S&M freak, there will never be anything 'happy' about a day in which you have to jack yourself up on Motrin and Kahlua and lock yourself in your house just so you don't march down to the local Walgreen's armed with a hunting rifle and a sketchy plan to end your life in a blaze of glory.

For the love of God, pull your head out, man! If you have to slap a moronic message on a maxi pad, wouldn't it make more sense to say something that's actually pertinent, like 'Put down the Hammer' or 'Vehicular Manslaughter is Wrong',

Sir, please inform your Accounting Department that, effective immediately, there will be an $8 drop in monthly profits, for I have chosen to take my maxi-pad business elsewhere. And though I will certainly miss your Flex-Wings, I will not for one minute miss your brand of condescending bullshit. And that's a promise I will keep. Always. . .

Best,

Wendi Aarons
Austin, TX

Speaking of Stephen Colbert, this was supposed to be my first post

Originally, I was going to take over Marta's blog Stephen Colbert style (see article), make one brilliant post, and then never do it again. But (1) Marta said she wanted me to post all the time (rather than relentlessly send her stuff to put on her blog), and (2) I am not nearly as brilliant as Stephen Colbert.

My brother-in-law got I Am America and So Can You for Christmas last year, and I died laughing just reading the cover/back. For the author bio photo, Colbert has an illustration of him as the Hulk standing on a beast with the American flag. I mean seriously, he is on comedy crack.

So PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, read this article, probably the SINGLE GREATEST ARTICLE I HAVE EVER READ IN MY LIFE. No exaggeration. It's pure gold:
NY Times, "A Mock Columnist, Amok"

Also see makemeamerica.com if you are "interested in a game of nation building." Oh, Stephen.

Androgynous Street Fashion

My friend Lauren, from L'Abri, wrote something interesting in her blog: "I'm aware that modern street fashion is hideous and unflattering to everyone who isn't androgynous." Are these guys or girls?


(sartorialist)


(facehunter)

Speaking of androgyny, in my adolescent human development class today we debated whether to teach androgyny (that is, taking all beneficial traits from both sexes) in classrooms. Some people said that we shouldn't teach any kind of gender traits as superior, some people said that we need really feminine people and really masculine people to fill roles in society, some said that androgyny is the way to go, since you can have the best of both worlds. To me, the concept of androgyny seems like you're giving up more than you're gaining. Instead of being a feminine female or a masculine male, you're kind of neither and both at the same time. It's interesting, sure, but i'm not sure it's the best option.

Girl Scout Season!

I couldn't really figure out how to write about this, in order to capture its full beauty. It's hard to blog about articles, I wish they had a button that would just transfer the whole thing, linked, to a post. They probably do. People are so smart.

Wired Magazine has been pretty consistently interesting lately, whatever I've had to look up. They're pretty witty. Ok - here's the article, also mostly for Julie.

'How to: Kill Someone with a Girl Scout Sash'
A martial-arts expert is trying to hawk a "Cold Steel Sarong" as a martial-arts weapon: "Sarongs aren’t just isn’t ordinary items of clothing though, they’re blankets, sunshades, cloaks, backpacks, and a formidable self-defense tool as well." Watch the vid, it's worth it.




- in other news, I got the Vampire Weekend CD, I'm quite pleased.

John Legend + Steven Colbert = too hot to handle

John Legend = hottest man alive. This is of him and Steven Colbert singing to lady liberty.

This is mostly for Julie.

MySpace Love

I forgot that I can listen to music for free on MySpace, it seems like a temporary fix for my moral/ethical dilemma of downloading music. Here are some peeps I'm listening to:

Matt Costa
Wild Sweet Orange
Santogold
Feist
Vampire Weekend
Guitar Slim

Re-shirt

check this out: "Reinventing the idea of the worn-in t-shirt, re-shirt collects tees with special memories (a shirt worn while making out with a hottie), cleans them, and sells them with an identifying serial number." (re-shirt.net)
GOOD magazine, Mar/Apr 2008

I don't even know where to start on this. Is this the commodification of experience, or what? Meaning is put into these objects by someone else's experience and then you appreciate the experience by buying their tshirt. What? This is completely bizarre.

Here's a story from a shirt that was sold recently:
"Die Sterne" are one of my favourite German bands. I like the saying of this shirt which means "all is so sweet and sugary" . But I don´t like the cut. Hope it fits you better and gives you a sweet look."

It's kind of interesting that people are looking for a more personalized shopping experience. They're longing for community and a story everywhere. There's another social shopping site called This Next, where you can watch what other people are looking at around the world and kind of shop along side them.

Vampire Weekend - "Mansard Roof"

I saw these kids on an SNL re-run last night. I'm really digging them. Their myspace has a couple full-length songs (here). They kind of remind me of Paul Simon (Rhythm of the Saints) and Peter Bjorn and John (Writer's Block - one of the only CDs I can keep on constant repeat in my car, the other being B'Day by Beyonce). Enjoy.

FYI - (I had to look it up) this is what a mansard roof looks like: (here)

Metro Madrid

Very cool Metro Madrid commercial. It looks better on this site (here). Found it on Cool Hunter (here).

The Puffy Shirt, 2008

Seinfeld - puffy shirt (wiki article)




Christian Siriano

Marvin Gaye Even Makes Inanimate Chocolate Objects Want to GET IT ON

This commercial immediately reminded me of Marta. One, this song is her ring tone. I don't remember for who, but probably Nina or something. Two, it's hilarious because it insinuates that the chocolate bunny and the peanut butter got it on, and the mating of these two objects created an egg. Quite biological, dontcha think? Lovely :).

Christian vs. Tim Gunn Walk-off

Fabulous. Fierce. Also, check out: projectrungay.blogspot.com

The Artisan

A Jazz Poem by Dan Robinson
performed at the Cherry Street Artisan, May 4, 2007
(Italicized portions are sung; the rest is spoken.)

There’s little place I know
on Cherry Street.
It’s a place where people like to go,
where people like me like to meet.

I’m partial to this particular place.
You might even say I’m partisan.
It always brings a smile to my face.
It’s the Cherry Street Artisan.

The Cherry Street Artisan:
it’s a place that reminds you
that walls exist to hang art on,
that a stage just a foot off the floor
can consecrate a space
and create a place
where something magical happens.

Live music at lunch?
Too much of a luxury?
It makes you feel like you live
in a civilized country.

Cherry Street
is where people meet
and it’s very sweet
and you can even eat there.

They make the most amazing hummus
Better get you summus.
I like the green machine
if you know what I mean.
And I’m a big fanada
O Canada
pizza, but my favorite is
the turkey apple and brie
got to get that sandwich inside of me
at the Artisan

Students hyped up on caffeine
devouring their books
they’re flirting, they’re blogging,
they’re surfing the web
they’re planning how to change the world.

Artists and philosophers make coffee behind the counter
and future mathematicians sweep the floor.
There’s a huge ungainly object attached to every key
that you need to unlock the restroom door.

Who’s the boss at the Artisan?
It’s not a person. It’s a sandwich.
At the Artisan, you eat the boss.
That’s what we think of hierarchy here.
There are bearded revolutionaries at every table
plotting the overthrow of capitalism.

Don’t you know,
we’re talking about a revolution
that starts at the Artisan
Finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin’ ’bout a revolution...

I’ll always remember
that night I walked in from the rain
and it was a jazz jam,
musicians of all ages onstage,
people smiling at every table
and I felt like I was home.
It’s that kind of place.

You’ll always find a friendly face at the Artisan.
You say, there’s Jeremy
he’ll take care of me
he’ll make me feel at home.

There’s Andrew, and Alex, and that cute girl
who always makes me laugh.
When you come and see those familiar faces,
you feel like all’s right in the world.

At the Artisan, there’s a bronze tiger
you can drape your scarf over.
There’s a clock on the wall
that always says it’s later
than you want it to be, because
when you’re here
with the people
you love to be with,
you want now
to last forever.
And my favorite time of all
is when the little chalk board says
“Poetry Jam Tonight!”

I love to see the poets step up to the mike:
Steven and Carmen
and Amy and Seth
and Shane and JaKeitha
and Korey and Beth
and Barret the gentle giant
with his tales of lost love
and yearning
and breakups done by text message.
And when I step up on the stage,
my friends are looking back at me,
and there’s no place on earth I’d rather be.

That’s right, it’s the Artisan...

Where all the poets
wear their souls on their sleeve
and make you laugh with them and make you grieve
and break your heart with beauty
then it’s time for a little break:
Alex puts on some Death Cab For Cutie,

The musicians go outside to smoke their cigarettes.
You step out with them,
the cold is delicious,
the sky is a shiver of stars.
and you suddenly realize how exciting
it is to be alive.

The other night, I came in from the cold and damp,
sat down, and the couch was already warm.
I thought, “That’s just like the Artisan.”
You can go away for a day, you can go away for a year.
They’re going to keep it warm for you.

Now it’s time to say good-bye.
I won’t cry if you won’t cry.
Good-bye to every poet—
you’re beautiful, I hope you know it

When I get down from this stage,
I’ll wipe the tear from my eye,
hug my friends,
I’ll divide tips with the musicians,
I’ll say “see you later” to the cool bass player
and Alex the light & sound man
(coolest guy around, man).
I’ll say “hasta la vista”
to the barista
and I’ll slip into the night.

Good-bye is hard to say,
wish I could stay,
but I’ll be back someday.
Good night,
Cherry
Street
Artisan.
Good night.

(link)

Time for a little something special...

Turnaround, every now and then I get a
little bit lonely and you're never coming around
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll never be the boy you always you wanted to be
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's nothing any better and there's nothing I just wouldn't do
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Time for a little something special...

memorize these (lyrics)

be sure to catch the alien alter boys and the loin cloths at around 3 min.

Dove Evolution

Flood in the Grand Canyon

An article from Yahoo! on why they did it (here).

Dirk Kempthorne, the Secretary of the Interior, reminds me a lot of Bush. One of the first reasons he states for why they're releasing billions of gallons of water into the Grand Canyon is for "the visual effect." It'll look cool, let's do it.

Color Forecasting

colors for Spring '08 (budgetfashionista.com)

This kind of stuff gets me really excited, being a Cultural Studies major. My friend from high school, Nancy, is at school at Colorado State in Fort Collins, studying Fashion (or something related, like Textile and Apparel Management). So she's doing a project on who gets to decide what colors are cool each season. This sounds like a conspiracy theory mixed with '1984', but such is life in the fashion industry, I suppose.

So who are these people? Well, one of the major groups is The Color Association of the United States

this is from the wikipedia article on them: "Many Color Cards or palettes are created for various industries each year. For each area of focus a committee panel is formed consisting of eight to twelve people, referred in the business as the "Color Czars." Each member of the committee performs their own research on what colors they feel will, should, dominate the next few years in that industry. The committee then convenes and they debate the merits of the member selections. In the end they choose 44 colors that will make it to the palette. According to Forecaster Ken Charbonneau, the process is a lot of debate before consensus."

Debate on what? Color fashion seems completely subjective to me. Yet, I know that I would not buy a tshirt that is mustard yellow right now but in 2 years I might paint my entire room that color. I am owned.

A list of the "Color Czars" (here).

Another major organization that decides these things (thank God there are more than one - we wouldn't want a monopoly) is Pantone.

In case you're curious, (here's) a huge PDF file from Pantone on what colors and styles are going to be cool for spring.

math = cool

(primegrid.com)

I cannot overemphasize how much I do not value math. I'm taking the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) this Saturday and a portion of it is on math. Really, it's supposed to be math at a junior high level, but, as I studying up on it now I am gaining a lot more respect for myself for passing Pre-Algebra in 8th grade.

There is one thing that has always baffled me - prime numbers. I downloaded this program on my computer called SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) which scans for signs of alien life while my computer is idle. I know, I'm doing my part. But the same organization (BOINC) has a program (PrimeGrid) where you can use your extra computer power to search for new prime numbers. What? Exactly.

Well, studying for my GRE I re-learned what prime numbers actually are, and they're pretty cool. "A prime number is a number that is divisible only by itself and 1." Wanna know a quick and easy way to figure out if a huge number is prime? I know I do. "An integer is divisible by 3 (aka-not a prime number) if the sum of its digits is divisible by 3. For example, we know that 2,145 is divisible by 3 because 2+1+4+5=12, and 12 is divisible by 3." Whoa! Math is cool.

a crying baby was just carried into the computer lab, it's surreal seeing a baby on campus.

Making this tonight:

Sauteed Cod with Lentils (epicurious.com)

Marc Jacobs, Spring!

(style.com)