wow

article in the new yorker about oriana fallaci. she sounds amazing, i would love to meet her and if i ever did i hope i wouldn't be too overwhelmed. here's a link: hurray for people who don't give a shit. she might be bigoted, but DAMN is she interesting.

long weekend cont'd

oh, one more really super-important thing to report about this weekend: mister suss himself, sherlock, had to have surgery after he tripped over a huge stick that he was carrying in his mouth! it punctured a big hole (as big around as my pinky finger) right above his back left leg and they had to punch another hole and put a dredge through and stitch it up so it could drain and heal. poor puppy, he's got a lampshade collar and everything and he's been moving so slowly. he'll be okay, but it was scary that he got hurt so badly--and that it could have easily been so much worse. and izzy, our other dog, was a nervous wreck on sunday when dad and jack took sherlock to the animal hospital. she's been much more gentle with him than usual. on a slightly non sequitor note, it's amazing how much we project our own emotions onto animals, especially our pets.

long weekend

nice to have three days off. always nice. even if i spent most of the time slaving away in cori's backyard trying to move an unending pile of sticks. i swear to god it was like jesus with the fish and bread, feeding the multitudes. the sticks just kept multiplying. three vanloads to the dump later, and there's still a huge amount left to do, and here i was thinking it'd be two loads, at most. sheesh.

monday was the best, though. hat tournament down at the polo fields was tons of fun. i played really well and the people on my team were great. i should sign up for rec again this year, even though i'm not going to be here for most of the season. we went 2-2 while i was there (i had to leave before the last game, more on that in a minute) and i had a VERY high scores/assists-to-turnover ratio. hurray for being young, comparatively fast and experienced! then i rolled my ankle and it was all over and i sat out the last half of the fourth game. not a bad injury, but enough that i couldn't sprint or cut and it really isn't worth it to push something like that at such an inconsequential tournament. also i wrenched my back twisting for a catch, but that's nothing new and didn't really hamper me like the ankle did. i really hate being injury prone, it's pathetic that i should be bitching about shit like this at age 19. what's wrong with me that i take so long to recover from stuff and hurt myself so easily? i stretch better than anyone i know, i eat well, i'm never sick (except for that bout with whooping cough in february). that all being said, the tournament was SO much fun. props to sarah, jessica, melissa, andrew, john, paul, raylin, bruce, lauren, jamie and marcus for being awesome teammates. frisbee is the shit.

another awesome thing about this weekend: i picked up "the amber spyglass" by philip pullman, which i haven't read in probably five years, and started devouring it again. it is an amazing book. the whole "his dark materials" trilogy is fantastic, but this is really the best book. the depth of each character, the beauty of the concept, the unerring accuracy of the social observation, and, as my dad pointed out, the deep respect that underlies all the strongest and most important relationships in the book--as opposed to mere "liking" that passes for most relationships in real life and in fiction--make this one of the best books i've ever read. and, if i must say, i've read a lot of books for someone my age, especially these days. lincoln announced over the weekend, i forget the context, that he "doesn't read." to my mom. big mistake. if harry potter is good for nothing else, at least it's gotten millions of kids excited about reading who previously approached anything resembling a book with deepest suspicion, if not outright hostility. my brain wants me to launch into a long rant about education reform, which will catapault me into a rant about economic reform, but i don't really know enough about either of those things to make such a lecture worth writing out. arguing out loud, sure. an off-the-cuff essay? not yet. perhaps i'll go read about them now. or maybe i'll go back to my book, which i snuck out of the house because i knew dad would want to read it and i'm selfish. enough writing for now, i'm going to sip my cranberry juice and spin around in my chair for a little while. bye!

dj gallo on barbaro

"Outside the facility where Barbaro had surgery yesterday, well-wishers posted signs with sentiments such as: 'Thank you, Barbaro,' 'We Love You Barbaro,' 'Good Luck, Barbaro' and 'Believe in Barbaro.' And if Barbaro hadn't been heavily sedated, I'm sure he would have posted a note of his own after surgery: 'Thanks so much for the kind words. But I'm a [bleeping] horse, so I can't read, you stupid, stupid morons.'"

brief visits

so new york city was fun, if short. i spent almost as much time in transit (10:45) as i spent actually awake in the city (14:30). but seeing halley's movie was cool, especially because my aunt had invited like 25 friends and family, so i got to meet some cool people, like the head movie critic for the new york times, and some of my cousin's friends, too. the movie itself ("stephanie daley") was okay, although some things got to me (a dream sequence, for example, that was not clearly enough a dream sequence; also the role of religion in the story, which was kind of thrown in there and left totally unexplored, to the point where it seemed superfluous--i can understand subtlety, but this was just taking it too far). but the story worked pretty well overall and the acting was very good. it was also quite depressing and grim. i guess i'd recommend it if it comes out on dvd, ever, but NOT as a date movie or if you or anyone you know is pregnant. that all being said, if anyone sees it i'd LOVE to talk about it because it was very thought-provoking.

speaking of my cousin halley, she and my aunt jenny and i were riding the subway yesterday on the way to where i caught the dragon bus yesterday, and a girl on the subway said to her, "you were in 'squid and the whale,' right? i loved it, you were wonderful." awesome. friday night i go to an award ceremony for my uncle after which a couple hundred people are trying to meet him and then on sunday my cousin gets recognized by a stranger on the subway. halley, if you see this, thank your mom and dad and julie for me, and betty for the brazil offer.

then last night i got to hang out with anna and julia for the first time in a VERY long time, and also anna's brother and mom. in anna and them's hot tub, which was very nice, especially with the massive crick in my neck that developed during my slumber on saturday night. thin pillows are the bane of my existence. but that visit was also too brief, because i had to get up so fucking early this morning. i think this may be the theme of my summer: not enough time to do what i want. stupid ifsa, starting in july. also i found out that i can't rent an apartment second semester, even if i want to. we'll see about that.

speaking of apartments, i think i'll go fire up the old search engine and start looking again for places to go and ways to get there over summer break this winter. and maybe at some digital cameras and other fun toys that i can't afford.

so, here i am on friday. it's been an all right week, i guess. rain, but not too much, a good run on wednesday (i need to start doing that more) after an unexpected revelation, more boredom at work. speaking of work, i got extended through june 23, which is fantastic because it means i'll have steady work and make good money through then, but sucks because i'll have to get to work at 8:30 five days a week. this doesn't feel like a vacation to ME. at least i can stop working the 23 and then just be done. THEN i can have a vacation. the office is getting better as i get to know people, learn the ropes, figure out what i can do on my own, etc. if this is as bad as it gets as far as office work goes, i don't think i'll mind working in an office someday when i actually have my own work to do there.

the weekend is looking up. my uncle is getting an award tonight from the smithsonian, and cori and mom and i are going to meet him and my aunt and cousins there and get some free food and wine, if mom decides not to be stupid. that'd be nice. then tomorrow i'm going to the city (stupid katie and nita, why the fuck you gotta be in san francisco?), to hang out and then see my cousin's movie premiere, which should be cool. maybe see some people sunday, then home. not too late cause i still haven't seen anyone down here. this blog is going to be very nice as a diary, especially since my readership is approximately zero.

santiago

i've taken some time this morning to look at apartments in santiago (craigslist, straight google searches, etc.). a lot of them look REALLY nice and i'm never going to be able to find anywhere to live that cheap (100 bucks a month for my own room in a central neighborhood!!!!) in ann arbor. here's hoping the dollar rebounds a little and the exchange rate keeps getting better...

a monday, a monday, a monday is very very good

i'm starting to write this with three minutes left before i actually am supposed to start work, but thanks to my little brother i have to get to the metro mad early, which means i get to work 20-25 minutes early. i really could use those minutes for sleep. oh well, life goes on. it was a good weekend, even though it was kind of gross outside. saw inside man, which i loved, and con air, which was kind of funny. jerry bruckheimer is ridiculous. the man has got it all figured out and he has no shame at all whatsoever. good for him. but inside man...wow. good work, spike lee. although i thought the bit with the italian cop and denzel was kind of stupid, because no white person with an ounce of intelligence--and this character is obviously set up to have some--would call a black person a nigger to their face, let alone a superior within his or her own profession. that was just spike being spike, but it was clumsily done and distracting from an otherwise tight, clever, exhilarating movie that's even more impressive once you finish watching it and realize that not a moment is wasted, even the ones you thought could have been left out (except spike's homage to himself as antiracism crusader; and don't get me wrong, i love do the right thing like everybody else, but come on).

i got some new shoes and a functional dresser--finally, i can unpack. once i build the damn thing.

yesterday i went and watched jack's frisbee game against field, which was hilarious because it's so discombobulated. dad was there, too, and we sat on the sideline and cracked up every time somebody rushed a throw and put it in the ground, or cut one of their teammates off, or got hit in the face because they weren't paying attention or moving. fun times. then we all went with the dogs to great falls and went for a nice long walk, even though it started pouring at the end and the dogs were completely soaked and covered in sand by the time we got back to the car. also saw some psychos kayaking down the falls. one guy fell out of his kayak and had to watch it go careening down the river and out of sight. he's lucky he's not dead. three other guys made it through the part we could see, though, including a 15-foot waterfall, so that was cool. there were a ton of people gathered along both sides of the river, watching.

to do list for the week: get background check, health/hiv test, passport photos for visa; go in cori's hot tub at least once; play pickup ultimate at least once; start seeing people as they come home from school, finally.

friday morning

these anagrams have been my project for the past hour. in that time, i've also answered the phone once and restocked the fridge with mini water bottles. ah, the joy of office work.

1) tone the bible, hubby
2) dang clear
3) woo! i wank with kin
4) moot bugs
5) male call
6) so, does she hold moons in her fate?
7) fuck! rain drains, see?
8) she-moles
9) oozy vulva, crome towel
10) they stow, harm a tour
11) all dour, halt, wonder

HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE bonus points to anyone who can figure out A) what those are anagrammed from and B) what they all have in common. a hint: figure out B first, and A will be easy. actually, huge bonus points to anyone who's actually reading this. leave a comment and i'll write you a little thank-you note. not that it really matters, i guess. i'd be writing this whether anyone was reading it or not, although i it is kind of fun to imagine that people will see it. whatever

in other news, i am very tired, despite going to bed before midnight for the first time in recent memory last night. oh well. also, i'm reading a really good book, called "founding brothers" by joseph j. ellis. more will probably come later. that's it for now.

d.c. house vote?

they're talking again in congress about giving d.c. a voting representative (article here). well it's about damn time. it's a travesty that 550,000 people in this country don't have full citizenship rights just because of where they happen to live. i mean, i know a lot of people here don't have full citizenship rights because of racism and language barriers, but at least they have de jure equal rights. and not only that, d.c. residents never been given a choice about it, like puerto ricans were 7 or 8 years ago. here's hoping the bill gets passed, so at the very least the d.c. m.v.a. can start printing license plates with a new slogan.

Day One

well, i've finally started a blog. took until i was working at a desk with almost nothing to do for 8 hours for me to do it, and we'll see how long i keep it up, but here goes. i didn't even start looking at blogs until monday of this week, and you see how fast i got addicted? i'll include links to some of my favorites as soon as i figure out how to do that. i really don't have much else to say at the moment, so i'll include a poem that i really like and have memorized, because it's beautiful and hopeful and everything in the news is depressing. except that article about how women can tell whether a man would be a good father/long term partner by looking at a photograph of his face. amazing. okay, here's the poem.

"gift"

a day so happy.
fog lifted early, i worked in the garden.
hummingbirds were stopping over honeysuckle flowers.
there was no thing on earth that i wanted to possess.
i knew no one worth my envying him.
whatever evil i had suffered, i forgot.
to think that i was once the same man did not embarrass me.
in my body i felt no pain.
when straightening up, i saw the blue sea and sails.

-czeslaw milosz