Tuesday, July 31, 2007

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

Friday, July 27, 2007

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

Thursday, July 26, 2007

"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'.

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

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

Friday, July 20, 2007

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.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

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.

Thursday, July 5, 2007

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.