big news comes in pairs

my step-sister is at the hospital now going through some stress tests and readying herself for the oncoming labor. i’ll be an aunt by this weekend. i’m so excited! and i can’t wait to visit when it calms down a bit and help out. babies make me nervous, generally, and i’m not too keen on the idea of having one for myself. but the idea of a close friend or relative having a baby feels so comforting to me. you know the saying, “she was born to be a mother,” right? well, i was born to be an aunt.

in other big news, my supervisor is leaving for a really awesome job elsewhere on campus. the moment it was announced, people started coming to me asking me to apply for her spot. yesterday in a budget meeting, the department head asked me to apply for the position, which pretty much seals the deal. the job involves a lot more responsibility and i’d essentially be in charge of the workings of the whole department. i already deal closely with a lot of high maintenance individuals, but this would be adding more to my list. but it’s more money that we can save over the next year before we move, and i’d have my own office. i applied officially this morning.

rupee's japanese sister

this is a pure (or should i say purrre) cuteness treat.

i didn't sign up for this

i’ll warn readers that this is an especially honest and personal entry. and it’s about my brother. i don’t generally talk about him in this kind of detail with anyone, but i am starting to think i should more. dealing with the challenges of this kind of relationship should be talked about more and i guess this is my attempt at doing so. and even more than that, i guess i’m acknowledging that i am diary-ing up my blog, which is what i said i wasn’t going to do. but this thing has never had a consistent theme or motif to it, so why start now?

my younger brother has a significant, yet borderline cognitive disability. the state of arkansas has assessed him as a level two of three on their scale of mental disadvantage and his last IQ test scored him in the low 70s. he can move about the world with very few people ever knowing the extent of his handicap, and most of which would assume he was of average intelligence. it works to his advantage, because he doesn’t suffer the consequences of prejudice, but it also works against him when his personal relationships grow beyond acquaintance. by masking much of it through silence, he manages to get people to entrust more than they would normally, which ultimately leads to more disappointment than is deserved to him.

on top of this, he also deals with a hefty amount of psychological hindrances (quick temper, debilitating shyness, habitual lying), which have come on in part from growing up in an especially long (11 years) and painful parental divorce. the rest of it probably comes from the fact that he’s smart enough to know how shorted he’s been in life. i imagine that most anyone facing as much unmasked disappointment and chastising as he has, would want to lie every once in a while to catch a break. but he’s also not a very skilled liar, which means it almost always backfires on him and he pays twice for every one mistake. his gift of intellectual facade also robs him of the help he really needs, as most organizations and government agencies do very cursory assessments and they fail to provide him with the correct help. being borderline also means that someone else is always more worse off and more worthy of the slim resources available. had he grown up with a severe disability, i hate to say it, life may have been easier for him.

and even worse to say, it may have been easier for us. he’s always had a hard time staying out of trouble. he has made threats against everyone’s lives at one time or another, had a warrant out for his arrest for an ignored traffic ticket, over drafted a couple of bank accounts beyond his ability to fix it, destroyed and stolen property (usually belonging to those taking care of him), been kicked out of every residence he’s entered because he simply does not respect personal space and/or property, and has been fired in less than a few months of every job he’s ever had. however, he’s also made a lot of progress lately, and i’m hopeful. he moved out to arkansas to make it easier on me to watch over him and i’ve since helped him get into a trade school for people with disabilities. thankfully, it’s completely paid for by the state (including room and board), because i’d never be able to afford it. he’s doing well, for the most part, learning how to do minor repairs on cars. when he leaves the school, he’ll have his driver’s license, his GED, and a reasonable paying job.

look back fifteen years and you’d see that he grew up doing everything years behind expectation, walking at age two, reading at age seven, etc. it became apparent to my parents early on that their child had some challenges before him. and being five years older, i suppose i could see it early on as well. and because i’ve always felt very protective of him, i’ve long been his champion. but it hasn’t occurred to me until the last few years that i will grow to be his only champion. my mom is emotionally unstable and only recently has become to admit that she can’t handle his affairs. she shuts down at the thought of caring for him. my dad would never admit it, but it’s too much for him as well, but in another way. he simply fogs up with frustration, often pushing my brother to his limit and the result is rarely positive. there’s also the even more depressing thought that my parents will not be around forever. my dad (who is the most helpful) is older than most fathers of 20-somethings.

i’m not writing this to fish for comments on my role in this. i’m writing it to talk about the reality that hits you when you know someone else is beholden to you. in varying degrees and in different ways, new parents reach this realization and so do children of parents who become older and incapacitated. it's so frustrating and overwhelming at times. and if you're not careful, bitterness swoops in fast, making you forget the reasons behind your role. in the last few years, i’ve really realized how much i love my brother, more than i can explain, even in an entry that has become as long as this. but it’s going to take all of that and then some.

"mike huckabee's message to iowa" or arkansas latest political superstar

kelly: hey
kelly: congrats on your surging native son presidential candidate
me: haha
me: yeah, thanks i guess
me: huckabee=pretty cool for a republican (minus that whole aids thing, ergh)
kelly: i dunno
kelly: he worries me
kelly: it's like he sugar coats the evil
me: maybe so, but he's really likeable as he does it. and i guess that makes him dangerous.
me: he did do a lot of really socialized things for arkansas, while wording it nicely for christians/republicans.
me: he created the no children without healthcare program here, which supposedly is one of the best ones in the country.
me: and he argued that it was justified, because if someone is pro-life they have to be pro-life past birth, which is the biggest irk i have with the christian argument against choice but against benefits for kids too.
kelly: yeah, it's the religious social welfare state
kelly: super paternalistic
kelly: yeah, i like(d) him
kelly: but the more i find out the less i do
me: yeah
me: funny that he’s he's likeable in a way that clinton was/is too, and from the same small town
kelly: he's folksy
kelly: and doesn't appear to take himself too seriously
kelly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuWUdUDUIDQ
kelly: this is hilarious
me: hahahaha
me: that was awesome
me: and that sums [your argument] up nicely
kelly: yeah

FERRET TIME

Q: Your step-mom of thirteen years leaves your dad suddenly without much warning or contact info; what do you get him for Christmas to cheer him up?
A:

pet sounds

list of pets i've had:

-(3) tortoises: adopted by my dad starting in his early teens. each was named one, two, and three, consecutively.
-(1) raven: cleverly named edgar and rescued by my dad
-(6) dogs: shea (german sheppard mix), coco (doberman pincer), sandy (a very ugly mutt with epilepsy), “puppy” (dalmation), penny lane (chocolate lab), and holden (chihuahua, professional jerk)
-(6) hedgehogs: numbered names like tortoises, consecuvitely
-(1) chicken: also cleverly named drumstick rescued one summer working at the family chicken house
-(10+) fish: who knows anymore?
-(2) cats: rupee nintendo, and foxtrot titty

it's been a month

a month worth of weeks have gone by, huh? wow. i should say: i feel lost recounting it all on the blog (partly because it feels too obligatory). and instead of this being a diary-of-sorts, i think in the future i’ll use this as a repository for stuff i want to remember and share. but in this case, i do want to share...

times been good lately.

one weekend last month, karl and i flew to san diego to be in claudia’s wedding (photo a: i helped her make that veil and she designed her own dress, which was really hip). the couple channeled their inner goth-chic when putting the event together, which meant that karl and i, groomsman and bridesmaid, wore black and blood red for the event. karl jokingly said it was like being in a fall out boy video. after the wedding, we hung out with kelly and enjoyed a new bar in town (now my favorite SD bar), hamilton’s.

the following week (which included halloween), karl’s sister, inga, came out to stay with us for about a week, which was like-the-best-week-evah. i love having visitors from home and showing them fayetteville and i do believe she and i get along really well. who knew i’d marry into a family with such a likeable sister-in-law? she was here for halloween and because we had a party/band’s show to go to, we dressed up as a barely recognizable three’s company (photo b: and yeah, that’s not a wig, that’s my hair, big-style). the band, the darksuits, was a ton of fun and the night filled itself with goofy dancing (thanks karl) and getting our ukrainian friend who dressed up as an amish dude to pose with two random, “sexy” costumed ladies. the rest of inga’s stay included a lot of fun hikes/walks and eating out (not that kind, you perv).

weekend featured in photo c is from karl’s flickr series, which was taken at the tulsa, ok zoo. we randomly decided to drive out there to see the zoo and have indian food. zoo highlights include the world’s largest freshwater fish, nonchalant chimp sex, super cute meerkats, and a photo-op diss from a llama. the indian food was also a treat, aside from the small piece of sharp metal (?) found in karl’s dish. small, dangerously sharp object in food is a small problem, right? erm.

and finally, last weekend i went on a trip with a couple of my lady friends, ali and ki, to OK city to see modest mouse. it was a great show (especially because we managed to get floor tickets) and man man, who opened the show, also managed to steal it, in my opinion. karl’s sister introduced me to man man last year and i kind of forgot about them until seeing them live this last weekend. imagine a catchy, rockin’ band full of dudes that resemble animal from the muppets and think about how fun it would be to see that in person.

so, yeah, that’s what i’ve been up to.

"honey badger vs cobra"

take those boogers out of your mouth!

in defense of (great) television

it’s been awhile. i wanted to write an entry about my new sewing/crafting set-up in our office, but then i stopped using it the moment i set it up (but i'll share later, because i am excited about it).

the blame for my neglect falls on mad men and the wire, which are two really excellent cable TV dramas. i'll craft later. right now, mad men’s season one is stored temporarily on on demand and seasons one and two of the wire are on loan to me. so, i have to diligently watch them in blocks, because i don’t want to miss the deadline or keep my friend waiting. but i really want to watch them; they’re both really exceptional shows. and they both share critical acclaim, but neither seem to have the commensurate viewership. the earlier is set in the 1960s, capturing the dramatic metamorphosis of american social norms as it follows ad agency executives and their lives. what i like most about it is its look into middle and upper-middle class american gender roles, which are realistically driven more by individual interests than an over-arching allegory. the characters are simply people, flawed and relatable.

though i am not quite done with the first season, i feel comfortable saying the wire is probably one of the best shows ever made. i’ll say upfront that it is a cop drama, but quickly add that no other cop drama before it is as realistic and as compelling. it takes place in the baltimore ghettos, surrounding a homicide police unit focused on drug-dealing gangs. i love this quote by its writer/producer, david simon, who says of the show, "[it] really [is] about the american city, and about how we live together. it's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how... whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge [or] lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to." it's smart, gritty, and forces you to think about it, especially when you're not watching it.

and because this entry has become a recommendation list, i will also say that small town gay bar, who the #$&* is jackson pollock, and sicko are documentaries you should see, if you haven’t already.

i have zero problem enjoying TV or movies with the same enthusiasm that i give reading novels, doing puzzles, playing chess, video gaming, or crafting. everything in moderation, as the saying goes. but i wanna say that i think TV and movie watching gets a bad rap as being lowbrow and/or a waste of time. and although karl and i have our guilty pleasures like wife swap and real world, there’s a difference between those and, say, a documentary or a realistic cop drama that do something more for your awareness, bringing you to see and learn things that you might never be able to (or want to) experience. anyway, i guess what i am saying is anti-TV movements brought on by groups like adbusters are kind of silly to me. watching TV and movies can be as rewarding experience as you’d like it to be. and on that note, i’ve saved you the time of finding some good ones.

romy and melissa's myspace reunion

dear web journal,

karl’s sister recently attended her ten year high school reunion and had some mixed feelings over the event. as per usual, her blog even when "a confusing rant" (her words) is a good read. it got me thinking about my own, which is just at my heels.

i seriously doubt i’ll go. if i can’t have a romy and michelle type reunion, i want nothing of it. and besides the friends i’ve still managed to keep in contact with from my graduating year, i think i can safely assume that rest of the people i’d be interested in seeing wouldn’t go anyway.

and better than that, the internet is a much more efficient (even if creepier) way of tracking down the answer to the question of ‘what is he or she doing these days?’ hell, even my mom decided to get a facebook account, which is a disturbing fact. but the point is, the resources are out there.

and then sometimes you’re in a random store and you stumble upon a maybelline ad with a close-up shot of a face belonging to some girl you did skits with in drama class. apparently, this girl, who everyone said should become a model, became a model and very successful one at that.

or sometimes you watch an episode of project runway season two, which you love, and find this guy who you knew in high school and at the time swore was gay, but his closest friends who were some of your closest friends swore he wasn’t. it’s pretty clear who was right, i guess.

but back to using the internet and simultaneously becoming a total creep. see, there’s something in me that generally has little interest in actually communicating to these ghosts of my past. but i still have the curiosity that usually brings me to myspace: who becomes what they set out to be? do those friggin’ AP classes really matter? who had a slew of kids? what druggie/alcoholic became an overnight christian? and so on. and of course, these questions are never limited to my graduating class. i guess i am a nosey one.

spider and the fly

dear web journal,

look, i know that spiders are "our friends." it's just that some friends are not worth cavorting with. like that time at age ten, one attached itself to my legs and it kindly sank its little fangs into me repeatedly.

and yes, most spiders are harmless to humans. like the beastly one i found next to our back door. it's just when you turn around in the dark and come face to face with one the size of a child's fist, you have to take the time to warm up to it (and google it). black and yellow argiopes are menacing looking, but completely safe to handle, if you were that kind of weirdo. i'm not.

i've named our little pest-murderer, gaia. she's supposed to be big on cicadas, which is good news to me. and besides having some pretty color to her, gaia's kind is famous for really beautiful and intricate webs that they maintain daily. sometimes this kind of spider is known as a "writer spider" because they create this weird zipper design down the side of their webs. ours does this and then undoes this and then redoes it. it's a pretty good show.

maybe, just maybe, gaia will help me get over my thing with spiders. ugh.

wiiiiii

law skoolz: where to go?

dear web journal,

studying for the LSAT (and spanish, but that's another story) is back to full force. and because it is a year or so away, i've got to start thinking about where i'll be attending law school.

i've got one small advantage being a minority, which is also coupled with fairly good grades and some nice letters of recommendation. the results of the LSAT will play a really big part in where i can fall on the map, though. but here is the list of schools i am interested in:

-stanford
-uc berkeley
-duke
-ucla
-usc
-vanderbilt
-ut austin
-washington university, st. louis
-university of minnesota, twin cities
-university of illinois, urbana-champaign
-uc davis
-uc hastings
-university of new mexico
-university of oregon
-university of san diego
-university of arkansas

naturally, i am not applying to ALL of those. i hope to get some application fees waived, but not all of them will be so generous. and let's face it, at an average of $50 a pop, that's a lot of money when you add it all up.

but i would like some help considering the list above. karl needs to live where they're still developing and/or have city planning positions and that naturally plays into my choice of school. my personal requirements are: to go to a fairly good school with an immigration law program. as i write this, i really miss california and i would love the chance to go back. but that goes back and forth.

so, do you know anything about any of these schools? do you have a suggestion that's off this list that i should consider? help!

(oh yeah, and because i obviously needed a distraction, we bought a wii this weekend)

love/lust: pretty things

dear web journal,

at the risk of sounding like a completely vapid shop machine (or maybe it isn't a risk, because it is already firmly established!), i want these very pretty items. but with ticket prices far outside of my reach, it isn't likely. maybe, just maybe, a husband of mine might stumble onto this entry and think christmas (or 'look honey, i bought you this amazing coat just because!'). anyway, please let me share these items of love/lust:

a: jcrew's bella jacket, wool and ultra feminine. i'm fond of the "heather coral" shade.
b: button-up ankle boots, from anthropologie. i've never owned a pair of shoes at a price so far above 100 bucks. but they're so perfectly my taste, even if so imperfectly outside my budget.
c: gold dust earrings, by rachel sudlow. all of her items are so simple and clean looking. one more reason that etsy is so awesome.
d: insepreable rings, by anthropologie. i am not big on wearing jewelry and most of what i do wear is barely noticeable. but rings, i love them big and cocktail-like. and strangely, i don't even normally like the color of gold, but this one is so pretty and romantic.

my little dead dick

dear web journal,
i wanted to share this, from viceland and perhaps not quite safe for work:

My Little Dead Dick is the visual diary of photographers Madi Ju of China and Patrick Tsai (aka Pat Pat) of the USA. They got together on July 17, 2006, when they both traveled to Macau in order to meet face-to-face after a month of intense internet correspondence. After nine days, they went back to their own countries, quit their jobs, settled their accounts, and said good-bye to their friends and loved ones to pursue their dreams of a life spent together taking photos. This issue is coming out like right on their one-year anniversary, so we asked them for photos from their first nine days together to commemorate it. That’s what you can see here in these photos. True love in bloom. It makes us feel not so cold and sad for a little while.

built to spill

i turned a guy at work onto built to spill this week and it went and made me get nostalgic all day: just finishing high school, hanging with mike talking and thinking about music in a way i never had before.

anyway, this guy (clip above) likes bts even more than i do.

break out the stereotypical pink shit!!

IT'S A GIRL!

i am going to be the best aunt, ever. pinky swear.

later, i gotta find some cute baby clothes.



**photo courtesy ann wood

southern (summer) comfort

dear web journal,

this is the third installment of my fav things, but specifically those things i love most in summer. have i complained enough about how much this stifling summer is kicking my butt? well, whatever i’ve said hasn’t been a fair enough representation. bugs have been eating me alive; the heat has ruined whatever workout regimen i had; and karl and i are getting a lot of unwanted conflict-resolution practice lately. i promise myself right here and now that i’m not going to let that continue.

but materialistically, i found a few things throughout the summer that help make this hot, sticky season less painful.

item 1: world wildlife fund (wwf) tee, sometimes i get in the habit of only purchasing work attire (or those that can double as both work and casual), which is efficient but also kind of boring. this comfortable item also includes a small donation of the proceeds to the wwf. also, i love tees, especially those don't say stupid stuff on them.
item 2: i hadn’t bought a new pair of tennis shoes in more than a year and my last pair of asics were starting to tear in places, so i started looking for a new pair of casual shoes. i didn’t want to get another pair of asics, but i saw these; they’re really comfortable; and they keep to my promise to wear more color.
item 3: i love a good ballet flat and thought these keds were a good, easy match for me. i got them on a really great sale through the keds website, which made me even happier. unfortunately, they don’t carry them anymore, but their recent sale has quite a few cute ballerina flat styles.
item 4: another tee. certainly colorful and comfortable. see, i don’t have to always look like a character from beetlejuice. sometimes i can look like another ‘80s nightmare altogether.
item 5, 6, and 7: shorts! for quite a few years, i’ve avoided wearing shorts because i had this thing where i hated how big my legs look. well, it’s too hot for that and i’ve since come to terms with the fact that muscular legs are far hotter than my other alternative which more resembles a curdled cheese product. anywayz, i really only like wearing levis and i pretty much never wear any other brand of jeans, because levis are flattering on me and they never cost a small fortune. all pairs can be found here.
item 8: i just really like this lip gloss. it works exceptionally well and it reminds me of the chapsticks that sati and jessi would bring me back from germany.
item 9: my step-sister finally turned me onto the mineral makeup craze, i think. it is light, wears well through sweat, and looks more natural than caking on some layer of paste-like foundation.
item 10: i’m back to reading a bunch and it helps actually looking for items i might actually be interested in. so, during an amazon.com search, i found a collection of short stories and poetry (which also appears in a magazine subscription form) called tin house: summer reading. tin house often features works written by some of my favorite authors like sherman alexie, dorothy allison, pablo neruda, charles simic, seamus heaney, etc.
item 11: nintendo ds. i don’t need to say much. nintendo systems are almost always great and the ds lite is no exception.

my little eskimo

dear web journal,

since finishing up my antonia (which was really good, btw), i keep thinking back on a particular passage of the novel:

`So was my mother's father,' murmured Lena, `but that's all the good it does us! My father's father was smart, too, but he was wild. He married a Lapp. I guess that's what's the matter with me; they say Lapp blood will out.'

`A real Lapp, Lena?' I exclaimed. `The kind that wear skins?'

`I don't know if she wore skins, but she was a Lapps all right, and his folks felt dreadful about it. He was sent up North on some government job he had, and fell in with her. He would marry her.'

`But I thought Lapland women were fat and ugly, and had squint eyes, like Chinese?' I objected.

`I don't know, maybe. There must be something mighty taking about the Lapp girls, though; mother says the Norwegians up North are always afraid their boys will run after them.'

sometimes when my husband describes me, he does so with an emphasis on my native american heritage. and to be fair, if i am anything, i am mostly native american, as it comes from both sides of my family. paternally and maternally, though, i come from generations of mixed race marriages, of which i am very proud. there’s something to be said about two people meeting, falling in love, and publicly declaring their affection, despite longstanding taboo of racially heterogenous unions. and karl, a full blooded scandinavian, has something for girls with darker complexions. lucky me. not only do i get him, i also get to be part of that history.

this is also why i really enjoyed a family reunion story recently told by a co-worker of mine. her family, ethnically german/scotts-irish, can trace their early history to the pacific northwest, including alaska. like characters in my antonia, two of her uncles, living and working in northern alaska married yupik women. one of these uncles calls his wife, “my little eskimo.” there is something so tender about that, i fear saying anything more about it.

**painting, in-jun 1, courtesy of nicholas kashian

albums i will always love

from left to right (starting from top): a ghost is born, wilco; time (the revelator), gillian welch; greatest hits, neil young; sharpen your teeth, ugly casanova; you are free, cat power; perfect from now on, built to spill; tallahassee, the mountain goats; to bring you my love, pj harvey; tanglewood numbers, silver jews

mean girls

dear web journal,

the lady i work next to was just relating her newly-graduated-from-high-school daughter’s latest female friendship drama. the girl had a falling out with a group of her old high school pals and unfortunately, had left a favorite dress of hers at their place the week prior. when she saw newly posted photos of them last night on myspace.com (yeah, i know, right) she noticed they were all donning new head scarves, pretty ones. closer inspection revealed something devastating to her: the scarves were made from her favorite dress. the girls had shredded it and then showcased their pillage.

let’s set aside the rule that ‘stereotypes are unfair’ for just a moment; girls can really suck.

this brought some memories flooding in. my parents had just divorced and lost everything: their home, their cars, their boat, their savings, everything. the economy had also tanked and my dad, an ironworker at the time, was laid off more often than not because they just weren’t building skyscrapers at the rate they were in the ‘80s. so, he moved my brother and me into our grandparent’s home in an upper middle class neighborhood and we went on welfare. i barely noticed the difference for a long time. at the time, my dad was good at making up for it by showering us with affection. but eventually the girls started to notice when my third grade school clothes became ill-fitting on my fifth grader body. and they made a point of it, calling me a “slut” and a “hooker.” it was a devastating plunge into the reality of the mean girls.

anyway, one such mean girl lived across the street from my grandparents. her parents ran their own successful construction company and with that she had the recipe for youthful coolness -- endless trendy clothes and the best school lunches. and she often sharpened her tongue on me for practice at our crowded bus stop. i can remember being humiliated more than once right before starting my day at school.

so, i don’t know what i was thinking when i accepted her invitation to spend the night of her birthday party one year. i awoke later that night of the sleepover and found my favorite pair of earrings (a gift from my dad) shattered beside my pillow and toothpaste all over my hair and in my nose. the most admired girls in school all lay asleep and smug around me. i quietly gathered my things and walked my minty ass back home.

i’m not going to conclude this by saying i came away having learned a lesson. i still wear my heart on my sleeve. and although adult women can still be cruel, public school confinement is over and we’re more free to disassociate ourselves from those kinds of social circles. but sometimes i do think back on the time and wish i had taken my moment of revenge that late evening when they all were sound asleep.

**painting courtesy of kris chau

"i only ride tomos"

tire on the moped popped a couple of months ago and karl just fixed it this week. w00t, back to scootin'.

green karl

dear web journal,

karl landed an entry-level position with the city doing exactly what he’s long wanted to do (and long gone to school for).

and because city policy can often be political, it is a fitting job with this city. fayetteville and karl are a match made in small, college town heaven. our mayor is green with a huge focus on sustainable planning. in fact, the city (under this mayor) has won awards for its progressive policies, recognized as an example to other communities.

it’s a great starting place for him. and he’ll keep working on writing his thesis on his off time too. i’m proud of him. <3

**"farmer's market 2006" fayetteville, arkansas, photo courtesy of steve moore

what married (love) life is like

el craptastico

dear web journal,

i need some laughs. so, i'm sharing with hopes of receiving (note the location of the news anchor). i especially enjoy news bloopers like the gay mountain climber and "i think she's actually hurt."

but yeah, i feel pretty terrible lately and i don't have any real reason to. the weather might be one of the culprits; lately it is muggier than poseidon's crotch. the dehumidifier at work pulled a gallon of water (i am not joking) out of the air in the last 12 hours. and to some degree this might be why karl and i have been in constant quarrel mode.

to add to it, my social anxiety (despite the help of Pfizer) has cranked up tenfold this week and i'm irrationally consumed with the idea that everyone is annoyed with me. my recent reading spree has tanked with my onset foul mood. so, i bought a new nintendo ds game. it's really fun, but even that becomes depressing when i realize how many hours i've poured into it already.

anyway, enough dwelling on it. it's friday, right? ugh.

wii will rock you

dear web journal,

i'm back. it was a good, short vacation. and it gave karl and i a healthy amount of time to miss each other a bit.

i spent about four days back home in the mojave desert with my very closest friend, mike, and my expecting step-sister, tabitha. and for the record, my niece OR nephew is stubbornly holding out on his OR her gender by hiding coyly behind tab's umbilical cord. needless to say, i am thrilled by the idea of my upcoming role as an aunt and i could really care less, girl or boy. but maybe i'll have news in a week or so.

and it was great seeing mike. saturday, we saw the decemberists (with the LA philharmonic) at the hollywood bowl with his siblings. i'm not a big fan of the decemberists, but i enjoyed the show, nonetheless. the band of horses and andrew bird opened the show; i enjoyed them both quite a bit.

the rest of the time, we all (including tab and her dude, josé) played hours and hours of nintendo wii. i want one soooooo bad. so bad. it'll probably be christmas time or so before we get one. but until then, i will dream of kicking mike's mii butt on wii darts for the wiillionth time.

**photo courtesy of the iconfactory.

old, married woman

dear web journal,
it’s been a ridiculously long time since i’ve updated. i figured i’d wait until i got all of the photos from the wedding, before i did. but i didn’t realize the professional ones would take so long.

anyway, most people who frequent these blog parts were in attendance of the wedding, so i won’t (and don’t care to) write a novel about the events around it. i’ll say though that it was a wonderful day full of family, friends, near-perfect weather, unexpected tears, both sincere and forced smiles, lots of photographs, gallons of booze, cupcakes, and trees!

and the honeymoon was a life-highlighting, life-infested experience. st. lucia’s rainforest is gorgeous and it was such a treat seeing geckos in our rooms and exotic birds ever-present. but i don’t know what it is about mosquitoes. as if spraying myself down with heavy, anti-pest chemicals was a challenge to them, those stripped jacket beasts feasted upon me. they do the same here in arkansas, too, but the caribbean varieties are like phoenixes in comparison. and they don’t leave simple sting marks; they leave parasite hickies. karl came away mostly unscathed. even still, i thought the trip was truly amazing.

and speaking of trips, i am going on my first solo trip back to california this week. i’ll be back tuesday to put off updating again.

gettin' hitched

dear web journal,

see you in a couple of weeks.

musician protest photos

dear web journal,

i’ve been working on an entry (a couple of them actually) for awhile. but they’re only half done, because i can’t seem to finish a thought lately without something bigger and more important balking for my attention. anyway, i saw this today and i thought i would share, because i thought some of the signs were pretty smart and naturally, there’s something enjoyable about seeing pictures of your favorite bands sharing similar thoughts as your own, eh?

meme a little meme of me

dear web journal,

karl’s sister discovered my lil’ blog, here, when i commented on hers without realizing i was signed in. anyway, she tagged me for this "meme" thing and here’s mine:

the rules:
i will write ten interesting things about myself. and i'll tag three bloggers to do the same. if you've been tagged, you continue this cycle. hungerhurts, ayurvegan love, and something old, something new, condsider yourself tzagged.

1. i have a guilty obsession with real world denver (and at one time, the whole cast was part of my myspace friends).
2. much to my more casual gaming friends’ disapproval, i’m a stickler for adhering to board game rules. basically, i am a jerk.
3. practical jokes, i love them: like the time i took a mr.-t-head bank and poked it around my step-sister’s shower curtain. i’ve not been forgiven.
4. i love painfully hot foods. "thai hot" is for wimps.
5. i dated a girl for about six months and it was probably one of the most fulfilling relationships i’ve ever had (aside from the small detail that i wasn’t gay).
6. i love ~**~<3 jUsTin tiMberLake <3~~**~~.
7. because of a close family member, i grew up around/in the transgendered community. i have a transdar like few others.
8. i constantly call my cats "sluts" and "ho-bags;" when really, who am i to judge?
9. every single day, i still look at wedding dresses, six months after i purchased one.
10. i have terrible, terrible handwriting and am an appalling speller. in fact, i almost just misspelled "appalling" were it not for spell-check (bless you, sp-ck).

guano is the new black

dear web journal,

the stress, at least to the degree it was, seems to have lifted. plans have been ironed out and i will visit my friend, who recently lost his mother, in july for some much needed face-to-face quality time. there’s no resolution to the work scandal, but i will say my attitude towards the person in question has changed since i’ve learned more details. i hate being played the fool, but ultimately, i suppose i would rather that than to start out not trusting someone. and there are no changes on the grandparent-wedding issue. but i haven’t written or communicated anything to them either. i will; i just want to make sure i do it with the best frame of mind.

in other (more uplifting) news, an old college friend of mine recently swept jeopardy! with four wins in a row. and wedding plans seem to be coming together and i have reached my minimum weight goal. i’d like to see that go a bit further, however.

whenever i get in better spirits, i get excited about making plans/goals for myself. as a credible threat to commit myself to these, i’m going to document three here:

-wear more color: i know this sounds like a goofy goal, but i wear entirely too much black. it’s less because i am trying to channel my inner tormented teen goth and more because i thought it could go with everything. before i knew it, black was everything in my closet. with karl’s complaints, i finally realized that i too am tired of how drab it looks. so, brown is working its way into my wardrobe and other earthy colors are on the way.

-go spelunking: and i don’t mean wandering down a paved path looking at sharp stalactites. i mean crawling through bat poo, dodging cave spiders. i mean this. i hope to battle any creepy-crawly, roof-caving-in fears and squeeze my butt through these beautiful, earth cracks. arkansas has too many of these for me to miss out on while i’m here. i just need a partner in grime. any takers?

-save up for my next international vacation: we’re doing st. lucia for the honeymoon and i’m already anxious about the next stamp in my passport. i’m also interested in honing my poor spanish skills too, so i found this organization that combines travel, experience, volunteerism, and language immersion. and the best part about it is i can schedule as much or as little time as i need for it. i’m leaning towards guatemala, but we’ll see if karl is interested in joining me and if he has another choice. it’s probably important to see if your husband is interested in joining you on your vacation, right? one month away until matrimonial bliss!

artwork featured: manatee cove, by souther salazar

blame it on the week

dear web journal,

if you can place blame on a week for being terrible, last week was terrible.

my closest friend’s mom passed away from cancer last weekend and her funeral was saturday. i couldn’t be there and i could only provide distanced support. i can’t stop thinking about how truly sad it is that she’s gone and i feel terrible that i am not physically there for my friend. my mom is giving me some of her flyer miles so i can get out there in the coming weeks when my work events come to a close. but i feel anxious with the separation. i don’t know if that is for him or for me, anymore. his mom was totally charming and always welcomed me with the biggest smiles (even on the occasions that she clearly did not expect my arrival and had to quickly throw on her top after sunbathing nude, ha!). she had even been the special-ed aid to my brother, while he was in middle school. it is crushing because i care deeply about my friend, but it’s more than that too.

to add to that helpless feeling, my friend at work (sole-provider of her college student husband and two-year-old child) was accused of university theft on monday and was subsequently fired. she appears to have been a victim of identity theft and has slowly worked over this past week to clear her name. the atmosphere in the office was heavy all last week and still this week.

i also learned that none of my grandparents are coming to my wedding. my dad’s parents aren’t because they’ve been fighting for the last few years over some things that were said: over inheritance, over misunderstandings, over money. it’s all really ridiculous at this point that neither side will speak to each other. and my grandpa admitted flatly that he wouldn’t come because he didn’t want to see my dad. i don’t think i’ve ever been angry with my grandpa for anything before. but i am now. and it isn’t just because they’re not coming to my wedding. that’s important to me, but the quality of my relationships with them and even my father has been spoiled to too large a degree because of this. most of our interactions with each other are consumed with them trying to fight through me (as some kind of unwitting intermediary) hoping that i’ll relay to the other what they can’t communicate themselves. i’m simply tired of it. i’ve given myself some time to meditate over it, calm down, and really think about why i feel the way i do. i plan on writing them and letting them know. i’ll see i suppose.

anyway, i hope better things for this week. work is busy lately; so, i’ll delve into that.

artwork featured: dear florence, by art and ghosts

"the whole system is REALLY unfair"

dear web journal,

if you know me already, you know the topic of immigration is one dear to my heart. so, you may imagine the kind of joy i got out of the video below.

Immigration: The Human Cost

"limon y sal," julieta venegas

dear web journal,

my closest and dearest friend, mike, shared julieta venegas with me a few months ago, and i've been replaying what i do have of hers over and over. with four latin grammy nominations under her belt, she's already impressed most of mexico. "limon y sal" is very cute and the lyrics of "me voy" strike a personal cord. please enjoy!

steel creek camp-out 2007

dear web journal,

along with this great weather comes a good camping trip. karl and i picked up a trail/camping map of the buffalo river national park west-end (steel creek site), loaded up our camping gear, and stayed two days and a night. i am more and more impressed with how beautiful and clean arkansas is. i won’t bore anyone who reads this with too many details, because there wasn’t anything too significant with our weekend adventure. but it involved a lot of hiking (so much so, i was somewhat incapacitated the next day with sore muscles), reading, and swearing we’d bring more games next time.

i noticed the next day when i returned that target carries a travel-friendly version of monopoly, scrabble, and three-in-one (chess, checkers, and backgammon), which are all classics and favorites of mine. they’re all re-designed by michael graves. i think we’ll be picking up one of these for the next trip.

check-mates

dear web journal,

i’m a competitive person and i love playing games. my friends back home can attest to this, as any get together we have usually includes some sort of board gaming. i’m also a huge fan of video games, though that usually limits my company to stinky, fast-food-eating dudes.

this past weekend, dmytro (karl’s buddy, a ukrainian post-doctoral engineer) took us out to a local pub where we played several rounds of the dart game, cricket. it was spectacular fun! and karl and i have started up nightly games of chess too. we both enjoy playing each other; mostly because i think we’re both at the same skill level and games remain closely matched.

there are a lot of pretty dart boards out there, but that’s just one of those things that i enjoy the pub setting over playing from my home. but i do like the look of this chess board—-modern and simple. i can’t spend any money these days, unless it is life-sustainingly necessary or essential to the wedding. but i can lust, can’t i?

have a favorite indoor or outdoor game? any especially good board games i should know about?

a few of my favorite things, part two

dear web journal,

this is the second installment of a few of my favorite things. spring and summer time clothing is so fun and i am a fan of a good deal. so, these items are just that, an affordable celebration that winter is finally on its way out.

starting from top, left to right:

seven cropped jeans, karl calls these “thousand dollar pants,” because he likes to poke fun at ridiculously priced designer jeans. but at outlets-online, even a thrifty deal monger like me can toy with the idea of having just one nice pair of jeans for as low as $68.

lucas zip up hoodie, by mike and chris, i love mike and chris’ design style, mostly because i am a fan of interesting-looking comfort-clothing. and though you’ll end up paying a little over a hundred bucks for an item like this, it is an item you’ll wear all the time. because let’s face it, jersey material is really comfy, ok.

moss drawing 2, zachary rossman, i love this guy’s work. haunting and detailed, i’m looking for a good print to put up at work to give my desk some character.

heidi sling backs, forever 21 is all over the young ladies' fashion/design blogs lately. it’s great and i share the sentiment that the place is becoming an even more fun place to shop. i remember shopping there when they first opened, delighted by the prices but somewhat turned off by how much digging i had to do to find items that fit my taste. it’s nearly effortless now. these shoes are only $17.80.

scarlet tank, i fear the day that i will become inappropriately aged for shopping at a teen girl’s store like delia’s. but i’m holding out, because too many of their items are so cute. and because i loathe shopping at malls and stores, i appreciate finding a good deal like this tank for $26.50 from the comfort of my desk.

gnome mug, paper-source has been a blessing for DIY wedding planning and attendant gifts. the family i am marrying into are all very proud 100% norwegian fifth-generation immigrants. luckily, my future-sister-in-law, inga, has no idea this blog exists so i can talk about this super cute gift i picked up for her. she’s already got a few campy mugs in her possession and this one, celebrating a little scandinavian gnome, will hopefully be a happy addition to her collection.

i’ve got spring fever

dear web journal,

i haven’t had a cold or the flu since i first moved here, which is pretty great. but i think you could safely say i’m sick of being indoors. the weather, as of late, is coyly calling to me from outside the office window and i can barely concentrate on grant budgets.

this weekend, karl and i enjoyed a good hike through mt. sequoia and around lake fayetteville. but like yesterday, when i am not content enough to just walk and i feel the need to nerd it up a bit, i pull out karl’s fancy GPS device. he’s got a gpsmap 60csx, which primarily is a hiking/exploration gps device, but is also driver friendly (which helped us navigate our alternate snow route this winter when driving back to CA). what i love most about it, however, are its games.

now, if you’re the type that might scoff at a wii player wriggling around, you probably wouldn’t be interested in the public display of total geekdom that gps game play requires. it’s nice that i have such a big yard to play in, which functions as the game board. there’s a maze game, a chase game, and my favorite, a memory game. i like it because i get to be outdoors and i’m slowly learning how to navigate myself more acutely with the device. karl has a few more advanced adventures (geocaching, treasure hunts, confluence hunting, etc.) planned for us that’ll be sure to update with as the weather continues to pull us outdoors. if you know someone with a garmin, i suggest trying some of the games out and then stealing it for your own adventures.

rupee, karl's (much funnier) version

dear web journal,

in case i haven't beat this story to death and anyone might be interested in a humor-filled version of the kitten in a tree story, here's karl, my fiance's, take on the ordeal:

let me tell you a story about rupee. wednesday afternoon i let her out, only intending for it to be for a little while, as always, cause she's still a kitten and i don't want her gone for that long. she's out for about an hour and i have to go to class but can't find her, so i just go and figure she'll be around later. i come home, she's not around. titty (aka fox), the other cat, is and she doesn’t give us any clues or leads on rupee's whereabouts. the sun goes down and she doesn’t come back. we start to get real sad and depressed cause this cat is the nicest fucking cat on earth and is also totally cute and beautiful and healthy and well basically your best cat ever (unlike titty, who can be very rude and self-centered).
so we set out a bowl of food just in case (and fortunately it finally warmed up this week for the first time since thanksgiving to where it wasn't going to get below freezing at night), melissa was all sad thinking someone stole her or she got lost or ran over or whatever. i was too. get up in the morning and she's still nowhere. melissa goes to work all sad, is crying at work because this is our little kitten that we rescued from death before and now god has cruelly plucked her from our family for no reason. i'm out in the backyard looking for her some more, there's a break in traffic on the road nearby so it's finally quiet, i'm calling her name and i hear a meow! holden is with me, he goes nuts. i keep calling and hearing these meow responses, and they sound close, but they're coming from the neighbor's yard, this huge yard with two dogs that roam freely.

the dogs aren't around, so i keep calling and hearing a meow response. i can't see her anywhere so i go around the block to the front of the neighbor's house to go talk to them and see if i can go into their backyard to find her. they're not home. as i'm standing on their front porch and looking out into their backyard, i call for her again and hear her response FROM THE SKY. i look up and she's about 40 feet up in a tree, sitting on this branch, meowing at me from 40 feet in the air.
so obviously the dogs came over while she had ventured into their yard, and scared her up a tree. it was a total relief to know where she was finally and that she was OK, but i had no idea how to get her down. i leave a note for these neighbors asking them to keep their dogs in for a few hours or something so she has a chance to climb down. i go and take some pictures of her up there because it's all funny to me now and stuff.

but she doesn't come down ALL DAY. i go to class again and come back and she's still up there all meowing and scared and now moving around back and forth on this branch. we go talk to another neighbor and get closer to the tree from their back yard, and they're super helpful and nice, this middle-aged lesbian couple in fact, and one of them says we're welcome to hop up on the fence and climb the tree to get her and we're both like "nah" and she goes "well hell i'll do it!" and fucking climbs up into this tree about 20 feet and is calling for her "ruby! ruby!" (what, were we gonna correct her at this point?) and ruby is agitated but not budging. anyway, to make an already long story a little shorter, the sun eventually sets that evening and rupee stays in the tree a second night (last night). we go check on her with the flashlight before going to bed and she's somehow climbed up ANOTHER 15 feet onto a branch even higher and narrower, now pretty much at the top of the tree. still crying at us.

melissa gets up this morning and of course first thing goes out into the backyard to go see if she's waiting by the door. she isn't, and when she looks into the tree she's not even there at all anymore. she frantically wakes me up and makes me come out to try and find her again, and we're looking around in the bushes and we hear her meow again, this time from the bushes around the fence. she's on the other side of the fence though and still really scared, so she runs up to this other tree and starts climbing up it. at this point i hop the fence too and reach up and grab her right as she starts moving out of arm-range.

so now she's home. first thing she did was eat like a maniac and then take a gigantic cat-dump. she's the best. she'll probably be restricted to the indoors from now on though.

the ol' salt mine

dear web journal,

my job is boring. there’s not a glamorous thing about it. and though the faculty-on-faculty interactions sometimes bring on drama, its never the kind of gossip interesting enough to share with a friend outside of my work sphere. that’s just the reality of doing academic engineering accounting work.

but i love my job and as long as i’m working while karl gets his master’s degree, i am quite content to stay here. the staff ladies i work with are best described as friends though some of them are of significant age differences. the IT guy is everything opposite of most IT guys, often bringing us bakery goods or placing chocolate on our desks before we get to work. even though some of the engineers are typical weirdos, most of their quirks are still endearing at times. for the most part, they’re interesting individuals who treat us with respect. i love working in academia and feeling like i am still a small part of higher learning.

it’s been a full year since i received my bachelor’s degree and i’ve grown to miss the stimulation of regular coursework, but this manages to be a good substitute. since law school is the next step, i’ve got to keep that yearning to go back fresh and this manages to fulfill that. and this also allows me the room to fantasize and consider climbing the ivory tower, despite the rational side of me that knows that the academic world is cutthroat and requires a love for the game i fear i lack.

indian sweets

dear web journal,

sabine brandt, a blogger i read on a regular basis, returned from a trip to india recently and has been sharing some beautiful photos of her colorful adventures. because i work at a university in an engineering department, i happen to work with a lot of indian graduate students and faculty. some of them i know well and they are kind enough to bring back photos and treats from their travels. i’ve never been to india (and i hope to someday). but i feel like i have been there, living vicariously through silvery mango candies and shots of red and orange flower adorned weddings.

r crumb: i'm not done with him

dear web journal,

it’s a strange confession admitting to my early interest in r. crumb. i remember being about 11 years-old and my dad handed me a large box full of comic books he had during the 60s and 70s.

i doubt he knew that inside the box, amongst the issues of justice league america and spiderman comics, there were a few issues of original r crumb comics like big ass and other classics. a hungry reader, i read all the comics and of course this included the arguably age-inappropriate ones.

because i was still young, perhaps, it didn’t occur to me that his notoriously misogynistic content should offend me. instead i was fascinated by the taboo content and specifically its existence in comic form. and the artwork seemed so unusual and original to me. ever since then, i’ve been drawn towards the unpolished and intimate nature of amateur art.

and though most of us seem to already know so much about him from the movie “crumb” and have moved past him onto other artists; i come to r crumb’s defense, because he did produce works like this, which remains a favorite of mine:

a short history of america

these are a few of my favorite things, part one

dear web journal,

in an effort to share the random things i am enjoying as of late, i’ve compiled a short list:

-veronica mars:
after netflixing the first two seasons, this has quickly become one of my favorite shows. when i was younger, i enjoyed "inspector gadget" not for the main character, but for his niece penny, who masterfully solved her uncle’s cases while keeping him out of harm’s way. mix penny with the sometimes snarky wit of a more modern character like daria and you’ve got why i like veronica mars. plus, it is filmed on my old stopping ground in san diego, taking place in the fictitious town of "neptune." season one is better than season two, but both are a lot of fun watch.

-black apple’s felted rabbits:

living with a dude, i have to be careful about the amount of cute "dolls" that occupy our shared space, but i am so tempted to snag one of these up. i am wondering how difficult felting is. keeping in mind, the lady behind black apple makes the beautiful and difficult seem effortless. i could see myself really enjoying this craft.

-alex chilton/big star:
apparently, another one of my favorites, paul westerberg, was influenced by alex chilton (even wrote a song about him). karl introduced me to big star this weekend and i’m totally astounded by how ahead-of their-time their sound is. if you’re not already aware of this memphis power pop goodness, you may unknowingly be familiar with their work by the opening song to "that 70’s show" (covered by cheap trick). i would suggest downloading the song, "the happy song."

-this diesel bikini:

i’m a fan of the semi-boy-short bottoms, the colors, and the fact that it might be a flattering item to wear on the beaches of st. lucia (our honeymoon spot).

-kale:

sometimes produce can be difficult to find, expensive, and cause for guilt when buying it during the winter in the part of the country i now live. while i love nectarines, buying peruvian ones in february for three bucks a pound is ridiculous. so, i am trying to be smart and make winter friendly produce purchases. kale is the perfect solution—tasty and good for you too. karl makes an inexpensive and delicious kale, white bean, and sausage stew.

ferocious feline documentary

here’s a youtube video of our cutie.

rupee nintendo, the kitten

dear web journal,

it has been a whirlwind of emotion around our house. on wednesday afternoon, karl let our cats, rupee (our newest kitten) and foxtrot (our year-old cat), out to play and went to get his hair cut. when he returned, rupee was no where to be found.

so when afternoon turned into night, we became pretty alarmed. she is sociable, but not the kind of cat that would wander off too far and we knew something was wrong when she’d been gone so long. we called and called for her, searching our quiet neighborhood. nothing.

so, i panicked wednesday night, thinking of life without her. it was rough. to most people, even maybe those who have and love cats, this may seem like needless worry. but she’s not only pretty young (5 months), she's also kind of extraordinary. she’s probably the most loving creature i’ve met. she’ll roll around in complete happiness at your voice or touch. she’s also fond of playing hide-and-go-seek and fetch (which she often initiates). and in my biased opinion, i think she’s super cute.

not only that, we saved this cat's life. when we rescued her from the shelter, everyone working there tried to warn us that we were adopting a kitten on its deathbed——frighteningly thin, not eating or drinking, and covered in mucus. karl and i were aware of it, but the connection we felt with her was undeniable. thankfully, my dad has taught me a few things about medicating and healing animals. when we told the vet what we’d do to bring her around, the vet admitted that rupee’s going home with us was her only chance of making it through the night. it was rough, but she made it and now is a chubby little thing.

well, karl ended up finding her in a neighbor’s tree with the help of our dog, holden (she was scared up there by the neighbor’s dogs). this alleviated the worry that she was gone for good, but now presented a whole new thing to worry about. the internet is a wonderful tool for learning things and sometimes those things are horrifyingly scary. according to the websites i found on the subject, kittens have a much harder time climbing back out of trees and will often just fall out and hurt themselves (sometimes fatally). not to mention when they’re small, they’re victim to avian and tree dwelling predators.



she finally jumped out of the tree this morning on her own sometime between 3:00 am and 6:45 am when i checked on her. not finding her was unsettling, because of my fears mentioned above. but when i finally heard her cries, i knew the whole ordeal was finally over, thank god.

needless to say we’re very happy to have her back home and will mind the fayetteville law that requires cats be tethered outdoors or kept inside.

scooter time

dear web journal,

funny how just a few entries ago i was writing about the darned snow. this week promises weather warm enough to start riding my tomos moped to work again. we originally bought it because campus parking is somewhat expensive (with no promise you’ll find a spot) and parking a moped costs nothing. not to mention, it also gets 115/mpg.

so this morning donning my dorky bike helmet, i rode less than a mile and parked right in front of the building i work in. i never really exceed 30/mph so it seems silly to say i enjoy the wind in my face. but it is true. and because it feels like forever since the weather was this nice, i will say it was really hard getting off the thing to sit at a desk playing with numbers all day.

also, happy fat tuesday!

shortest entry ever

dear web journal,

i finally finshed our charity based wedding website. i'm not so keen on the web design, but for what it is, i don't care. anyway, please take a look:

http://www.idofoundation.org/melissandkarl

the shriners loaned us cars

dear web journal,

we bought the honda fit because we wanted a new and reliable car, but we also wanted something that would get us better gas mileage. everything i’ve read says most of the hybrid models still have kinks to work out (like very expensive, not-so-eco-friendly, and sometimes dangerous batteries that die and have to be disposed of). and because even the super-fuel-efficient, less expensive models are still out of our range, we decided to look at the non-hybrids. the only other non-hybrids within our $$$ range on the “top ten most fuel efficient cars of 2007” were the toyota yaris (only two door) and the scion xa (which also looked great). the consumer rating for the honda fit was still better than both of those. so, we decided to test drive a fit and we fell instantly in love.

even after buying my cute eco-friendly car, i can’t help but continue my research on the subject. while some dudes get excited about the detriot car show (ew, dirty american car companies), i’m finding myself drooling over the japanese cars of the future. they sometimes border on the ridiculously space-agey-side, but they also boast 150+/mpg. even the modest mpg of honda fit, while a new model to the american market, is old news to most of europe and asia. here are a few of the concept cars that i am excited about:


honda wow concept, a car designed specifically for dog lovers (notice the dog cubby compartment)


suzuki lc concept, a model designed for fans of euro classics like the austin mini


daihastu ufe-iii concept, boasts a 170/mpg and the 1+2 seating is kind of a neat idea


honda fcx, a second-generation, fuel cell hydrogen-powered zero-emission vehicle, already used in big cities like LA as employee cars (i want one!)