Fashion faux paz

Nothing says sharp, professional or elegant quite like my all black. I've got on a ruched black tank, subtly striped black pants. I look hardcore. Except for my bright yellow undies poking out the back where the tank scoots up. Doh!

At least it matches the bright yellow sweater I brought to keep off the chill.

on Pandora: "Ain't No Good" - Cake

Odd recommendation

As I begin tying up loose ends in Athens, I have been making phone calls to the utilities and such, balancing checkbook (I like to jump with as clean a slate as possible).

I called to check on my electric budget, and to see if I could adjust before leaving. Ended up talking to a customer service agent, who was both helpful and personable. My budget is pretty much based on the usage by last year's tenant. But generally, I run way under the budget. Mostly because it's just me, and I am a total miser. I can't justify running the AC for just me, unless I am having allergy problems or feel not only warm but disgusting. The woman laughed and said I would make some man very happy as his wife. *snerk*

I feel like I should add that to some marriage resume of sorts. She can be a reference. I can list my mad grocery shopping skills and ability to read a map (and on a good day, fold one). I know how to change spark plugs. Sadly, I am rather graceless in heels, and I get styling aids stuck in my hair. So much for that one!

Wii!!

Now, you can't say it like "wee" as in Scottish for small ala "wee bairn". You have to say it like "Whee!!!" - the sound you make when you bike down a hill or through a huge puddle.

For graduation, I bought myself a Wii. Because nothing says higher education quite like video games. I paid for it using money I that is no longer designated as car payment in my ledger. Because as of May, I had paid off my Civic! I also bought this as consolation prize for not working Semester at Sea, instead opting to temp in Athens. Now, Athens is a lovely town, but damn is it dull! So it's just been me and Wii.

I am getting better at Wii tennis, even though I still haven't learned the scoring system. Baseball would be more fun if I could throw something other than a fastball. (Watching lots of Cubbie-ball has taught me terms like breaker, slider, split, etc). But I LOVE Boxing. I still haven't lost a match. Mostly because I am ferocious, with absolutely no strategy. And it's a great work-out that is way more entertaining than running.

I also found a cheap copy of Rayman's Raving Rabbids, which has me laughing out loud on a regular basis. "Bunnies like disco dancing" is totally my favorite - big surprise. I wish I could explain it, but really, it's delightfully silly, and that's about the best I can do.

(dude, it's a bunny with a plunger!)

Borrowed some of Smokin' Fairy's GameCube games, although really, I have only been playing MarioKart. Because I like nonsensical racing games, and the sound Paratrooper makes when he's happy.

Currently coveting Wii Fit and Rock Band. But these are expensive, impossible to find, and just more equipment to fit into MY Civic in September. But anything to alleviate the boredom.

on Pandora: "Missing" - Everything But the Girl

Loafin' Like a Pro

I blame it on the Mondays. I actually did work at work, which was good, but somewhere along the afternoon, the mood tanked, I looked down and saw that I was wearing the cranky pants. Came home and took a nap, thinking the moody was the "marissa needs to go down for a nap". When that didn't work, I inhaled a candy bar. Well that didn't work.

I pretty much entirely gave in. Returned a bunch of stuff to the library, and have since been pretty much parked on the couch. Which I now moved into the middle of the living room so that I can simultaneously loaf on the couch AND play Mario Kart Double Dash. I'm in jammies and the big sweater Cheese Fiend made me, ignoring the dishes that need to be done. I gave in and had a happy meal for dinner, the remains of which litter the spool. I can honestly say that i feel alot better now that I am completely embracing the disgusting/loafing/whatnot.

Healthy habits can resume tomorrow. Although, I think B&J is on sale...

Freaking out the animals

This one is random, but after hearing two items to the same effect, I had to share.

All of these floods are freaking out the animals. In the midwest, the rivers are so swollen, and currents so strong that the carp are totally flipped and now hugging the edge. To the point where, if you were dumb enough to stand at the edge of a raging river, you could reach out and touch the carp. Just what they need - a human petting them - in case they weren't sufficiently stressed. (as reported on NPR)

And then this morning, the front page picture/article covers the devastating typhoon in the Phillippines. But the picture isn't your usual people on makeshift rafts, but rather pigs fleeing the flood. I don't know what panicked pork is like, but I imagine it can't be good.

(from msnbc.com)

Dumpster Diving

I will say that staying in Athens after everyone else has cleared out does have its perks. Admittedly, it did take a bit of getting used to.

I live in party-central. Which starts clearing out pretty much as soon as classes are over, and is completely empty by the Sunday after graduation. Hell, even that Saturday was kinda eerily quiet. Like if I saw a tumbleweed blow across Mill, I wouldn't even be surprised.

So now, the only people in my neighborhood are me and the people forced to clean up the disaster areas left by the undergrads. A truly unenviable job. But it's quiet and dark. There are no lines anywhere and abundant parking! Unfortunately, the library is on super-restricted hours.

But oh the dumpster diving! A scavenger by nature, this was a very exciting weekend. One yard was the designated dumping ground for all nasty couches. (Not everything can be as swanky as the rich kids' trash in Hoo-ville.) It was mostly super-disgusting trash, but I got a 19" TV someone didn't want to schlep. And I have my eye on a propane grill. Both of which will stay in Athens when I leave, but will make my summer much nicer. (OK, while I love the taste of a charcoal grill, it is a waste for just one person, and I am entirely too impatient to wait for the coals to get the right color/temperature).

And with the gorgeous weather of late, I am able to leave all the doors and windows open, play MY music really loud, and generally enjoy some downtime. The next task it to find playmates.

on the iPod: "Higher Ground" - Red Hot Chili Peppers

new normal

*Yawn*
Today is the first real day of work at my current temp gig, which is scheduled to run for 3-4 weeks, leaving me off right around 4th of July. It's been about 6 months since I did office work fulltime, so it's a bit of an adjustment.

Let me tell you what I think of being at work at 7.45AM. And what I think of having left my cup of coffee on the stove. Right now, I just wish Donkey delivered. A nice tall Shot in the Dark with a pump of chocolate. And maybe a bourbon bar. Especially because my body just wasn't buying the 11.30 bedtime crap.

I can't complain but so much since the office is a 5-minute walk from my house, which means I can go home for lunch or walk to Court Street. I am the transition admin, but I have been given free rein to reorganize everything as I see fit. Woot! Sadly, I am not allowed to surf the internet during our usually quiet days. Still have to work on that, and ideally some book-reading. Must bring iPod and speakers at least. And a book of sudoku. It's days and jobs like this where my efficiency can be a liability.

But it's something to keep me busy while all of my friends are away and until the Wii arrives.

Graduation - the details

Now that Athens has emptied out, peace reigns, giving me the chance to think more clearly.

Graduation was pretty intense. I am only now really recovering and processing.
I got out of work a bit early on Thursday, which gave me a jump on cleaning up my apartment for my guests. Washed a mountain of dishes, cleaned the bathroom, packed up a bunch of winter clothes and books for my parents to take home. Dug out the clean sheets. Domestic God and J. got into Athens after 10, and we were up generally shooting the shit till quite late.

Which was unfortunate, since we had to be up mighty early. Everyone had to be showered, dressed and assembled at the Convo at 8.30 to meet Domestic God's fam. But part of that involved multiple attempts to remove the wrinkles from the extra-chitzy robes. Hanging for a week only removed the plasticky funk. Taking them into the bathroom during a hot shower does nothing. The hand-steamer couldn't put a dent in it. Domestic God, the newest costume tech MFA, then hosed his down with wrinkle release, which couldn't touch it. So we hung the gown outside while we sipped tea/coffee.

(girls fussing over Dr. J)

Spent a while waiting in the heat, being steamed in our crappy gowns, watching everyone else fighting with their hoods, as I choked on my tassel. We didn't actually process into the over-ACed Convo Center for an hour, which gave us lots of time to find new ways to amuse ourselves. Lots of sexy scholar pix, playing with our silly sleeves and such.

(lookie - we're seals!)

The ceremony was long, dull, but unlike the audience, we couldn't escape as readily. Amazing CoFA wasn't the last to be called. There were only 5 of us walking from Theater. But the announcer was pretty amazing, especially with all the ethnic names. Cross stage, shake hands, try not to trip, get paper saying "Your diploma will be mailed once we verify that you have completed all of the requirements." Oy.

Had to find the fam in the crowd, which is always a fun challenge. Hiked across the grass to the reception in a really pretty rotunda. They served WANGS, which made me happy. Mostly I was happy to be able to pee. So I unloaded all the crap out of my sleeves (camera, phone, "Sunny D," sunglasses. Although that still isn't as memorable dashing into the bathroom as we began to process (I was at the very end of the line). Kept smacking myself with my sleeves, trying to put my hood over my shoulder as I did a catholic-school pee, when Lil Sis runs in screaming that we are on the move. Which induced an unnecessary panic, since we still had quite ways to travel.

Steak with the fam. Mmm steak. Drove back from Parkersburg to hang out with my guests, which mostly consisted of us loafing on the couch, watching Indiana Jones on USA, eating cake and ice cream before totally passing out.

It was a great weekend, seeing people, eating well, and snarking in silly regalia. But in a moment of poetry, I have finalised my housing at UCSB this weekend.

Now I must create a new normal, if only temporarily, for this summer.

on the tube: the Tony Awards.
(I feel a little part of it, if only being part of the Chicago theater scene that supported August: Osage County before it became a phenomenon - even if Steppenwolf wouldn't let me have tickets.)

Graduation - a quickie

I got up early. I sweltered. I walked. I sat. I ate. Cake. And bed.

Last Thursday at the Gator

As the end of the school year rapidly approaches, the work has decreased, and the population of Martini Night has increased. Lil Sis and I met Riff at the Gator for a last supper of sorts (appropriate for a Thursday night) and watched people trickle in.

It was mildly disturbing when a stream of shufflers staggered in, covered in sharpie and bleach-blondeness. While I am not exclusive about the Gator, they did seem out of place in the more lounge-like Gator where all the artsy people hang out, they don't have anything "on tap" and the floors aren't sticky. Their uniformity was also kinda creepy. All the girls were dressed exactly alike, with tick-marks for each bar, and a couple of offensive things scrawled across them. I can't say I helped the situation when I put my sharpie on the table, a temptation that one of the playwright's just couldn't resist.

(looking very pleased with his handiwork)

While the 3 of us had come for dinner, one of the stage managers brought a sheet cake to celebrate all of the June birthdays, of which there are a hell of a lot. We didn't have candles, but like good theatre people, we improvised with what we did have. The cake was over-the-top sweet, and as Guy Smiley pointed out, even tasted pink. But in a strange way, it went well with all of the girly drinks we all ordered.

(me, a birthday boy, a stage manager and a grasshopper martini)

It was a blast seeing all the different populations of theatre people at the bar. Although I did really want to smash my drink over one of the IART PhD turds when he said he was really interested in the feminist point of view, which is extra offensive given his behavior in class towards the women. Oh well.

Now I am spending the first of many lame Saturday nights at home in the jammers. Rented movies in the background, currently writing a paper.

on Pandora: "Love Me Like You" - Magic Numbers

Depositing

The word has so many connotations, all of which delight me in terms of my thesis.

Today was the official deposit deadline for your thesis. The electronic age kinda sucks some of the fun out of that one, because you just whip off an email with attachment instead of plunking down 20lbs of thesis on a counter at McKee. But thesis deposit. It's like gold deposit. Something valuable, hidden, waiting to be discovered by more than the 5 people who have read it. Deposit like a bank. Put something valuable into storage until it accumulates interest and you use it as capital for something else, like a job or credentials.

Or my favorite. Deposit, like dump, like shit. Which seems to hint at its origins much more closely. While I love the notion that my thesis is valuable, I still recall moments, evenings, hours where I felt like I was just laying bullshit on the page. Along with the "I can't believe they are buying this bullshit." Followed closely by "I can't believe I wrote/believe my own bullshit." Usually accompanied by a "I bullshit pretty well."

In the meantime, the gowns are airing so they smell slightly less like plastic and more like my Oust fan, which they have been locked up with. At first I was pissed, because the regalia looks just like my BA stuff. Till I noticed the pointies! Pointy sleeves. Pointy hood. Think elf-pointy. It just makes me crave my doctoral tam all the more.

Step away from the feminism

After spending weeks dealing with the practicalities of my thesis, I am finally able to get back to my feminist theory independent study. I love theory! It's fun to wrap my brain around. Or find humor in the profundity, accidental or deliberate. Helene Cixous' "Laugh of the Medusa" was just brilliant and deliciously snarky towards the end. Ask her what she thinks about penis envy!

But I think I might be a little to into it given my reaction to this:


Driving back from the sleep doctor (who wants to give me drugs to help me sleep better, which last time I checked, I was pretty damn good at already), I saw this sign and it made me all uppity.

1. Why would the egg want to be eaten?
2. Egg = Ovum = Symbol of female
3. Egg/Female only aspires to be commodified, consumed and physically transformed into something unrecognizable, but uniformly acceptable.
4. Can't the egg/female aspire to greater things than serving someone else's needs?
5. Egg wants to stay in the kitchen - bad feminist egg.
6. Why does the mean get to be on top? Is this about male dominance?
   

I quickly also added to that list, "since when are eggs sentient enough to dream let alone know about McDonalds?". I then reminded myself that it was a food product and a freakin' billboard.

Screw the Egg. Pass the Elin Diamond, please.

PS. I just saw an ad for freakin' dishwashers using tango.

Stormy

All of the sudden it's very quiet. But storm season is upon us. I remember during VSF, without fail, it would storm at 4PM. It was practically a cue to start to finish projects and clean up. When I was working last summer, it was a bit more inconvenient, since it wasn't always done storming by the time I had to wait for the bus at 4.30. Right now, as I sit in my little 2-window apartment, I very much miss my room in Chicago with the wall-o-window and skylight that made storms so much more sensory. The tin roof here is a nice touch, but I can't here it from my bed, and nowhere in my apartment provides the amazing vista of a rainstorm that my Chicago room did. And as a bonus, I could see the Hancock Tower light up. Although I remember watching lightning from the Geek's room, overlooking mountains, which was also pretty spectacular.

Instead I sit and read my radical feminism while my socks, shoes and jeans dry in the bathroom from the drenching 3 feet between Lil Sis' car and my door. And I wait for it to stop raining enough for me to take my trash out without having to change every stitch of clothing all over again.

Also making me a bit homesick - Wing Nite. BW3 has Wing Nite on Tuesdays, like Redmonds, but it's pricier, the service blows, and it just isn't as tasty. And they don't have 312 on tap or the Cubs game within earshot. *sigh*

My owwie

It's been a while since I had a good bloody wound that involves neosporon (like skin glue lite) and multiple band-aids. Right now I am gimping around and admiring my newest scar-in-progress. Partially because I am letting it breathe/scab over. Partially because I am pissed that I am out of fun band-aids. And partially because I am weird like that.

Like most of my wounds, this was totally the result of my own dumbassed over-confidence. Swinging from vines and such. And once again, freakin' bricks were my downfall. Literally. Like Williamsburg, Athens is partially paved in locally-made brick. Which makes it photogenic, but a total wreck on your car's struts and my ability to walk in heels. I am not new to the brick-walking, and most of the time, I handle myself well. Athens adds the challenge of hills. And O'Betty's. So after a fun night at the Gator, after seeing Inherit the Whole, I kinda bit it.

Saturday night was remarkable for a couple of reasons, including my failure to remain vertical. It was a different crowd at the bar, including my professor (who never comes out, but should), some actors, Lil Sis. I think there were only 3 rounds, which was enough to have my professor offer to introduce me to Jill Dolan, Lil Sis to mingle with apparent strangers, Woolly Willy to defend his taste in rap music and me to crave even more O'Betty's. I cleared my tab and headed over for some fries. Then I walked home. But not without falling.

(apparently I wasn't the only one doing some falling down)

So I landed good and hard on my left knee because I caught my left heel in the bricks, because I wasn't focused on the act of walking downhill on bricks in my shoes. (Which get so many compliments, and are still totally walkable!) I felt like the drunk sorority girls we all make fun of. But I managed to take a knee and still not drop a fry. And I walked home with both my shoes on, thank you. It wasn't until I got home that I realised the damage. And because of my stupid knee, I missed out on the post-party, which apparently was extra-festive.

I will have a nice knee scar to add to the collection. Because it wouldn't be life experience without a physical souvenir. Right now the wickedly bruised patella hurts more than the cut and scrapes. But tomorrow, I am so heading to the CVS for more fun band-aids.

on Pandora: "Incinerate" - Sonic Youth

Titus Fives

Themed fives tend to be the most fun. After drooling over the Julie Taymor book at last week's fives, we decided to have a viewing of Titus, which became the theme of the week. First, if you haven't seen Titus, sign-off right now and rent it. It's BRILLIANT! Amazing visuals and creative storytelling.
For a while, Titus was going to happen at my house, but Rardin, with its grill and big TV was available. The only problem with the grill at Rardin, besides its propensity for catching on fire, it is placed right under a tree that sheds. Which meant that I held an umbrella over Riff while she basted the cherryaki chicken. I have discovered that as our numbers dwindle, the quality of food has really gone up. We have moved beyond burgers and dogs (which are always yummy) to chicken, gourmet bacon burgers, bruschetta, etc. For my contribution, I brought homemade deviled eggs and key lime pie. Because if there is Titus, there must be pie. Lil Sis brought cherry pie with vanilla ice cream and kahlua, after a pie-crisis at the Kro.

We watched the movie in fits and starts, mostly broken up by the next thing to come off the grill. It was fun to play with people, and to discover who will still be in town over the summer.

on the Tube: Rockies @ Cubs, bottom of the 4th.