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Monday, December 29, 2008

things I'll wait in line for

Yesterday's ASSSSSCAT at UCBT featured (along with my personal faves John Lutz and Chris Gethard) Jack McBrayer, Rachel Dratch, and Amy Poehler.

After the show, I was standing with a group of friends who were having their own conversation and me in my post-comedy-nerd-heaven interrupted their conversation by dreamily saying something like "She's fantastic," to which they replied "eh, she's kind of bland." I then went off on them about how women comics shouldn't be judged based on their looks and how dare they since she just had a baby and looks beautiful and blahblahblah, until I realized that they had been talking about some friend of theirs' girlfriend and had no idea what the fuck I was yelling about. ...oops.

my new food obsession


Not my picture, but 'twas what I ate

I'd been dying to try Caracas Arepa Bar for months and it did not disappoint. My first experience with arepas was in middle school when this Venezuelan kid Ronny used to bring them in for the whole class and it seemed like I was the only one who liked them. His arepas were quarter-size corn patties, slightly sweet but pretty plain. My next arepa-obsession was mozzarepas, those greasy-ass things they sell at street fairs.

But the arepas at Caracas are far superior to any arepa/arepa-hybrid I've had previously. They're more like a sandwich with corn cakes substituted for bread. We went on Friday night and had the following:

~guasacaca & chips (Venezuelan-style guacamole)-- Pretty on par with most restaurant guacamole, but not as good as the chunky-style guac they make at your table at Mama Mexico.
~yoyos-- Deep-fried balls of plantain stuffed with white cheese. You know the episode of Friends where they show what it would have been like if Joey and Monica had gotten married and she cooks his favorite food for him, "fried stuff with cheese." Yeah... it's hard to screw up fried stuff with cheese.
~Mimosa de Parchita-- Billed as a passion fruit mimosa, but 'twas less exciting than I hoped for. More like real passion fruit, less like the delicious passion fruit flavoring they use at bubble tea.
~La Del Gato Arepa-- Based off the waiter's recommendation, I got this arepa stuffed with cheese, avocado and sweet plantains. So perfectly delicious.
~La Gordita Arepa-- Almost all of my friends got this special that came with slow-roasted pork, guava jelly, and avocado. Almost as delicious as the previous.

Also, I got kind of obsessed with the sauce they put on the table, which Eric insisted was chimichurri sauce. It tasted good on everything!

Btdubs, everything was under 8 bucks.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

overexposure

In Andy Samberg's most recent digital short, Jamie-Lynn Sigler makes a cameo. This is about a week after she was on How I Met Your Mother and two weeks after her series of appearances on Entourage. What is she doing right now? She just guests on TV shows? And how many shows that I don't watch is she also on? For all I know, she showed up on an episode of Cold Case yesterday and I completely missed it.

Monday, December 1, 2008

omg it's december

So today's the day that Obama finally announced that Hillary would be his Secretary of State. Can someone explain to me why every day for weeks now someone has been saying that it was even more official-er that this would be the case? Why can't it just be "There is a rumor" and then "Now it is official"? Isn't "official" one of those black/white words where something either is or it isn't?

Friday, November 21, 2008

Headed to Harvard-Yale!

So excited!!!! Even though I really hate drinking during the day and the fact that from 2 pm on, I am always freezing and exhausted with ache-y head and feet. No matter. I have bolt bus tickets and crimson-colored nail polish (kind of, it's a little dark). Huzzahzles!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

probably my favorite thing to talk about



From Barry's phenomanable blog, re: the new ladies of SNL:

Interesting how it seems all the ladies these days (and a lot of the guys) they pick are attractive. Harken back to the good old days when people like Mike Meyers, Chris Farley, Cheri Oteri were on the show...who were clearly not picked because they of their dreamboat potential. We'll see how they do. Kristin Wiig manages to be gorgeous and hilarious, why can't they?


In response to Barry, I don't think that Mike Myers or Chris Farley is a great example because SNL is still chock-full of men who aren't necessarily dreamboats. Besides the fact that Mike Myers is definitely more conventionally attractive than many famous comedians today. But I do think standards have changed for women.

Wanda Sykes' recent out-coming also made me think of how the old mold of comedienne is a brash, brassy woman, many of whom are lesbians and many of whom are less conventionally attractive than the traditional Hollywood actress. Compare women like Roseanne, Rosie O'Donnell, Joy Behar, Susie Essman, Wanda Sykes, Whoopi Goldberg, Paula Poundstone, Judy Gold, Ellen DeGeneres, Sandra Bernhard, Janeane Garofalo etc. to today's most famous comediennes (ugh, kind of hate that word) and comic actresses: Tina Fey, Sarah Silverman, Amy Poehler, Kristen Wiig, Amy Sedaris, Elizabeth Banks, Anna Faris, Chelsea Handler, Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher. It's not that these women aren't afraid to look ugly or make a fool of themselves: Sedaris, Poehler and Wiig all transform themselves deftly into unattractive characters. But they're all petite, hot, straight girls who show up on the red carpet in dresses and makeup. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But why are today's female comedians so in line with traditional standards of beauty and femininity? How about the fact that a lot of these women have dated or married successful male comedians? Or the fact that even these women are constantly down-playing their hotness: Tina Fey once said in an interview, "I have to say, I'm really not that attractive. Before I met my husband, I could not get a date." God, what hope do the rest of us have?

One major change that occurred between the flourishing of these two different molds of female comedian is the move from traditional stand-up to other forms of comedy. Many of the latter group of women are improvisers, sketch comics, or film actresses. A stand-up comic is much more likely to create an onstage persona that's in line with her offstage persona. Not to say that a comic isn't also playing a character, but that character is much more likely to share a name, face, and a number of true stories with the real person. In contrast, if you do a crazy, loud, or ugly character in a sketch or movie, you can wipe off the makeup and walk offstage and no one associates you with the character you played. Stand-up also allows you to tell your own story as opposed to someone else's. I'm sure there are far fewer parts for big, loud women than for hot actresses who can play the romantic lead.

Honestly, now that I think about it, ever since Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin, SNL has always favored cute pretty girls. I'm sure one could find plenty of counter-examples on either side, but the truth is, I can't really imagine a Roseanne getting a sitcom nowadays. It's not like I don't think the women who are successful today should be famous, or that I think their hotness is what made them famous. Every woman I put on that list I have a tremendous amount of respect for and truly believe is phenomenally talented. But I'm sure there are also talented women out there who aren't getting recognition or roles because guys don't want to sleep with them.

Anyways, I could write an entire paper on this. I wish I had... especially considering I took a class called "Gender & Performance." But alas, my schooling days are over. Thoughts?

Monday, November 17, 2008

how to score cool points with me

re: Jack, who wants to be part of my group of high school friends but, alas, is not; and yet, scored some cool points this weekend, at least in my book

Rachel: Did you tell Sachi?
Me: Tell me what?
Rachel: Did you know Jack was in an '80s cover band?
Me: What??? Why didn't you tell me you were in an '80s cover band?
Jack: I don't know.
Me: What do you play?
Jack: Drums.
Me: Are you kidding me? You play drums in an '80s cover band and you didn't tell me this!!!
Rachel: That's what I said.
(pause)
Me: You guys play any Hall & Oates?

tim & eric awesome music videos (great job!)

I can't really remember where my love of Tim & Eric came from, although I know it had something to do with Nelson, Mams, and Steiner, all of whom meant to go to the live show with me and all of whom waited until the show was sold out to think about purchasing tickets (as did I). The first video I ever remember watching is the "do da do do" video with the Black guy dancing. This was followed by my discovery of my favorite lactose-intolerant, Dr. Steve Brule. This video remains one of my favorite things of all time.

Anyways, since then, I try to remember to watch their show on Adult Swim, although the absurdity-level is sometimes so high that I have no idea what I'm watching. However, since the season finale, I've been getting my fix with music videos:

Ben Folds f. Regina Spektor ~ You Don't Know Me

What's not to love? I've loved Ben Folds since I got Whatever & Ever Amen for xmas '00 and Spektor since "Fidelity" became the best-overplayed-song-that-I-can't-stop listening-to around soph year of college.

MGMT ~ The Youth

I'm less of a fan of MGMT, but this video is directed by Eric Wertheim and has a great Donnie Darko-Sparklemotion vibe.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

links and lists for the holidays

It is getting super-wintry up in here, but I am looking forward to the Christmas season. I think the two most instrumental things that make me excited for Christmas (besides people selling trees on the street) are Starbucks and the Gap. Isn't that sad? But holla to awesome marketing. Check out Rainn Wilson in these adorable Gap holiday ads.

Things I don't really understand but like nonetheless:
-The Book of Numbers.
-Sprint's Now.
-Hamster on a Piano (I would feel too ashamed if I were to embed this video on my blog.)

Movies I want to see that are out in theaters now:
-Synechdoche, NY
-Zach and Miri Make a Porno
-Role Models
-Good Dick
-Slumdog Millionaire
"I don't go on double dates. The closest I've been to a double date is playing beirut against another couple."

Saturday, November 15, 2008

things that scare me vol. 1



Why is this necessary? If I wanted to see pig-men, I'd go back to 1999 and read Animorphs or go back to 1963 and watch The Twilight Zone. (Those are guesstimates on time. Don't make me google things.) This guy is horrible. Have you seen the commercial where someone drops a penny in his head and he smiles? That thing haunts my dreams. The worst part is the goo-ey looking ears coming out of his head. They're like loose flaps of hairless skin just kind of shmushed onto his head. vom city.

Friday, November 14, 2008

well, bake me a crack pie and call me sally


I am dying to try the Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar. These pictures are like porn to me.

Especially sound-good-y:
-The Candy Bar pie (pictured above)
-The salty pistachio soft serve ice cream
and
-The Volcano (a knish filled with potato gratin and gruyere cheese).

They even have something called Crack Pie.

a change of face and a cry for help

I've been playing around with changing up the way my blog looks. Blogger doesn't quite allow for the edits that xanga did. I contemplated just starting a new blog somewhere else, but I can't decide what platform would actually be worth moving to. I even created a tumblr account, but it doesn't seem to allow for comments (not that there are ever very many of those). Wasn't Blogger created by Google? Shouldn't it therefore be perfect?

Things I want to do my blog but can't:
-Change the colors of that part that says "musings on life after senior spring"
-Changing the background color of the body of the blog
-Make the body wider

If someone knows html well and wants to help me, I'd be much obliged. Anyway, none of this is particularly interesting, so I'll just keep playing around for the time being.

Monday, November 10, 2008

my comedy central blogs

I recently got the opportunity to cover the NY Comedy Festival for Comedy Central's CC Insider blog. Here's what I wrote:

The Kick-Off: Stand Up for Heroes, Frank Caliendo and NY's Funniest Stand-Up Finals

Katt Williams at Carnegie Hall

MySpace Secret Stand-Up with Michael Showalter and Michael Ian Black

The Daily Show Writers' Panel

Sarah Silverman at Hammerstein Ballroom

Please check them out! The festival was nonstop work but one of the coolest weeks of my life.

overworked and underpaid

You know you're working too much when you start dialing 9 on your cell phone before you make calls.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

immediate and uncontrollable glee

I don't care if it's overplayed or so over or if nobody even likes it anymore. There is no feeling that compares to being at a party and having MIA's Paper Planes come on. Every single time it happens I am just as excited as I was the time before.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

The Office vs. 30 Rock

Nelson and I were talking about which is better, and it's weird because they can't really be compared. Their sources of humor come from such totally different places. Like The Office is recognizable and subtle while 30 Rock is fast-paced and outlandish. Everyone knows people like the characters on The Office, but I can't say I have a whole lot of Tracy Jordans, Kenneth the Pages or Jack Donnaghys in my life. The Office takes place in the kind of banal, tedious world most of us live in whereas 30 Rock explores a much more glamorous, fun 30 Rock occasionally has bits like a live-action Family Guy, where they'll cut to something so outrageous, it could never have happened in real life. Meanwhile, the funniest parts of The Office often come from a subtle look, awkward silence, or facial expression. I think that's why the dramatic parts of The Office often work as well as the funny parts.

You can watch the season premiere of 30 Rock on hulu.com, but for some reason, I'm waiting until Thursday. Or until I get more bored than I currently am. Call me old-fashioned like that.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Paul F. Tompkins is having the Best Week Ever

Not sure how I feel about this, but Best Week Ever is changing its format to be more like The Soup. The NY Times has an article about it today. Personally, I prefer The Soup, but I think Best Week Ever had a good thing going with its unique format. It was kind of the prototype (along with I Love the 80s et al) for all those shows which feature snarky "pundits"/out-of-work comedians sitting in front of a green screen and talking about shit. The new Best Week Ever will be hosted by Paul F. Tompkins, who is funny, but I think lacks the charm and likability of Joel McHale. It's not the format that makes The Soup more successful than BWE, it's McHale's charisma and personality. However, it seems like E! is also going format-happy since they also recently created Sports Soup and Topanga's The Dish.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Required Reading

I am doing a lot of web reading at work. This is mostly because from my new job, I no longer have access to my google reader because my computer is like the John McCain of computers (read: old, not a POW). So here is what I've been reading this week:

The Trouble with Paul Feig (John Bowe, New York Times): Everyone credits Judd Apatow with Freaks & Geeks, but Apatow was only the producer. The real creator was Paul Feig, who has done such awesome things as directing episodes of The Office, Arrested Development, Weeds, 30 Rock, and Mad Men, and writing a book entitled Superstud, or How I Became a 24-Year-Old Virgin. He also played Mr. Pool, the science teacher, on the first season of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. This profile of him is FANTASTIC and the best writing about success vs. failure since J.K. Rowling's Harvard commencement speech. As Bowe describes it, "it's the myth of Sisyphus in the key of geekdom."

The Terrorist Barack Hussein Obama(Frank Rich, New York Times): Also from the NY Times, this opinion piece about race and the terrorism rhetoric in the election is fascinating. Things I learned from it: that Sarah Palin used an unattributed quote from racist and anti-Semitic writer Westbook Pegler in her convention speech, and that "a black senior writer from The Tallahassee Democrat was mistakenly ejected by the Secret Service from a campaign rally" just because he looked out of place.

Speaking of the election, Pop Hangover delivers an awesome take on the weird-looking people in the audience of last week's debate, but missed the old-timey mustachioed father and son that my friends and I noticed.

Finally, if all of this bores you, MONKEYS IN A RESTAURANT!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Did you know that Michael Ian Black has never appeared (or even been asked to appear) on Late Night with Conan O'Brien? He wrote it on his blog and sounded sad. Someone should keep track of this stuff.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Ah, the start of fall.

I had my first hot Starbucks drink yesterday, which was a milestone. I love hot Starbucks drinks when it's cold but the whole get-an-espresso-add-milk-yourself-save-two-bucks thing doesn't work as well for hot drinks as it does for iced drinks. I suppose you have to reconcile yourself to seasons changing. So I'm transitioning from doppios on ice to pumpkin spice lattes and from flip flops to suede scrunchy boots. All the empty calories and tendency to fall apart on the streets of New York, twice the warmth. This is my first falling into fall where I haven't gone back to school in 14 years. How weird is that.

This weekend, I went to Boys' Life with Kara on Friday and Margaret Cho: Beautiful with Ryder on Saturday.
The more I think about Boys' Life, the more I really liked it. At first, I was annoyed by how shallow and one-dimensional all the female characters seemed. The way I described it to Kara, it reminded me of how sometimes you'll be arguing with a boy and you'll be being totally rational and you know that the boy is just sitting there shaking their head, going "Man, girls are crazy. They have no reason for doing anything." And you want to be like "No, you are the reason I am sad/mad/etc." That is how I felt. But about halfway through, the male characters started to become just as unlikable and the women started seeming more rational. It's similar to Juno, where at first you're totally on Jason Bateman's side and by the end, you're on Jennifer Garner's side. Ah, male-female relationships... so heteronormative.


Margaret Cho was as brassy and ballsy as ever. I remember how she was like my numberonesuperhero when I was 15 and read her book, I'm the One that I Want. I think her stand-up has gotten less funny as she gets older and more political. The political stuff she does is a little too preaching to the converted for my taste. Like yeah, you say "I hate Sarah Palin," of course your audience of Asians/gays/faghags/liberals is going to respond like "Yeah, we agree;" that doesn't mean they're laughing at your stand-up. But before I was the converted, I thought she was just out of control amazing. I can't really think of anyone else who has confronted race, gender, and sexuality in the same way as she has. So if I were to judge it on a stand-up scale alone, it wasn't fantabulous, but seeing one of my all-time heroes and role models live (even from what felt like thousands of feet away)... nothing can compare.

Today, I was listening to the Avenue Q soundtrack and realized they say, "You're 22," which I am. And I realize that all the songs are like specifically catered to my age group: What Do You Do with a B.A. in English, I Wish I Could Go Back to College, Purpose, etc. Tres le sigh, that is a depressing realization. But I suppose, as they say, "It's only for now."

Monday, September 29, 2008

Weekend in Boston: SO GOOD. 2(Bubble tea) + 1(highlighter party) + 1(trip to the Kong) + 4(sneaked-in trips to the dhall) + 100(friends whom I miss dearly)= amazing.

Also, don't ride MegaBus. They are con artists. BoltBus4lyfe.

A belated happy birthday to my mom.

An amendment to my previous statement about the new PC commercial:
It's good and it's a good counter to the "I'm a Mac," "I'm a PC" ad. But it plays into the idea that your computer should be your identity. What's brilliant about the Mac commercials is they remind you that your computer is your identity, while simultaneously inferring that PCs don't work that well. It's like if someone ran a negative campaign ad about you where they were like "He's ignorant about the economy, and also he wears bow ties," and you ran a response campaign that was like, "I DO NOT wear bow ties. I wear all kinds of ties," and then took pictures of yourself wearing crazy hipster ties in a desperate attempt to look cool, which only makes you look like you're trying way too hard. It makes you look overly defensive like someone's grandma in skinny jeans. No offense, grandmas.

Finally, love this quote about what SNL will be without Amy Poehler from EW's Popwatch blog
"It depends on how long some of the other recurring mainstays -- like Kristen Wiig's bevy of twitchy/bitchy characters and the digital video realizations of whatever Andy Samberg thinks about when he's (seemingly!) exceedingly stoned -- will become tired."
I love how in the last two weeks, they've had Tina Fey on twice and Chris Parnell on once. They're just like "We can't find new talent that you like. How bout these guys? Remember these guys???" I'm still pulling for everyone to fall in fandom for Bobby Moynihan.

Friday, September 19, 2008

ARRRR!

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys.

Also, did anyone else kind of buy into the new "I'm a PC" ads?



Did they actually get John Hodgman to do it or is that some other dorky guy in a blazer at the beginning? Look, there's a guy there who "blogs for Obama." And if there's anything young people love, it's BLOGS and OBAMA! I'm kind of joking, but I do actually really like this ad. It's like they took Mac's ads and turned them around to serve their own purposes.

Personally, though, I'm still a Mac... even though I'm typing this from my PC at work.

fun fact of the day

In Malaysia, when they play Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl" on the radio, they bleep out the word "girl."

Saturday, September 13, 2008

rainy days turn me emo

[[No One Will Ever Love You ~ The Magnetic Fields]]

You know you are getting old when you see groups of teenagers on the subway and you just fucking hate them. Like they are loud and cooler and skinnier than you, and it just fills you with rage because they seem like they're having SO MUCH MORE FUN THAN YOU WILL EVER HAVE AGAIN. they're not really though. i am always thinking about how much fun i used to be having when really when i was in it, it wasn't necessarily that fun. i feel like that's what substance abuse problems must be partly based on: trying to get back to some fun place you think you remember having which maybe were never even as good as you thought they were. erg.

A quote (which I should mention was introduced to me by Sam K):
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, (attributed)
US essayist & poet (1803 - 1882)


As lame as this sounds, I am rediscovering my love of music.

Friday, September 12, 2008

spoiler alert!

not really. i am pissy because emeffing jezebel can't put an emeffing spoiler alert up on their spoiler-filled page and now i know which projrun designers premiered at Fashion Week. gosh, jezebel, i thought you'd be better than that.

my new show update:
I have given up on 90210 and am giving True Blood one more episode to hook me. I'm halfway through the pilot of Fringe and not bored yet, but I don't like those non-serialized CSI type shows, so we'll see. I'll also prob tune into the Ex List, just b/c I loved Elizabeth Reaser on Grey's.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

my two new favorite songs right now for moments of poignancy and feeling lost in this big wide world:

new york, i love you but you're bringing me down~ lcd soundsystem

favorite lyrics:
"So the boring collect/I mean all disrespect/In the neighborhood bars I'd once dreamt I would drink."
"But you're still the one pool where I'd happily drown."

i am all props to gossip girl for using this song, but i think i'm going to stop watching gossip girl now. it is no the o.c., i will tell you that much.

america ~ Simon & Garfunkel

favorite lyric:
"kathy, Im lost, I said, though I knew she was sleeping
Im empty and aching and I dont know why"

had a long conversation with katie today about EL FUTURO, the job search, how we are all basically fucked, even though i am not now. i should be crying out with joy for being not, but i am too freaked out by the idea of being a grown-up to do anything but cling desperately to the past.

nelson: "It is so much better to be freaked out than bored. That would be the worst." It really would.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

if you're going to wear your heart on your sleeve, cover it up with a sweater.

this has been a tumultous week, to say the LEAST.
a lot has happened in the last seven days. i wrote it all down here, but then i deleted it. if you want to know what's going on, give me a ring. just so that you don't freak out, it's about half really awesome and half kind of depressing.

i don't think i've processed any of it yet.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Fact of the Day

Did you know there are only 18 Starbucks-es in all of Brooklyn? CRAZY.

Monday, September 1, 2008

this trailer makes me pee a little



too exciting.
reasons i am excited for this movie:
-the title alone
-jay baruchel (loved him since undeclared, love him more since he wore adorkable glasses in tropic thunder)
-a girl dressed up as a christmas tree
-new york city!
-guy from spring awakening
-michael cera
-michael cera playing guitar!

and now a digression on michael cera: i wish he could play other characters... maybe he can. but he hasn't yet. however, with each movie he does, that exact same character gets slightly more desirable to girls...
2003-2006: George MIchael, Arrested Development- could not get a girl for the life of him, had a crush on his cousin, dated Bland- I mean Anne. My friends used to make fun of me for having a crush on him. (This may be because I was 3 years older than his character, but WHO'S LAUGHING NOW, BITCHES?)
2007: Evan, Superbad- hopelessly dorky in front of his crush but somehow manages to win her over
later 2007: Paulie Bleecker, Juno- Now, not only does his crush eventually like him in the end but he also manages to get another girl in his crush's absence.
2008: Nick, Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist- Has a real girlfriend at the beginning of this movie and then, another girl starts liking him during the movie.

Doesn't this say something about the cultural zeitgeist? That now dorky awkward guys don't even have to fight for their cousin's affection but rather have cute skinny girls just hanging on their every word and fighting each other for them. Gosh. There was a time when I was alone in my dorklove.

Friday, August 29, 2008

labor day weekend wuwu

Quote of the Day:
"When I tour, I'm neither homosexual or heterosexual — I'm hobo-sexual. So that basically opens yourself up to anything at all — you could have sex with a piece of cheese and it would be totally natural." —King Khan [Pitchfork]

I have no idea what that means... swiss cheese?

It's the end of the summer as I know it, and I feel fine... ish. I am weirded out by the idea of all the '09/'10/'11-ers going back to school. I want to go back to school. I registered for Justice online, so I can pretend I'm taking a Harvard class. Huzzahzles. I can't imagine I will actually watch any of the lectures, but it might be interesting.

Sachi's Political Commentary of the Week:
Does anyone else think that Sarah Palin looks a little like Ashley Banfield + Nia Vardalos with un poquito de TFeyzles thrown in? Does anyone else know who those people are? (p.s. Real life question: Is there a job I could do that would just require me to know names of famous people? I think I'd be good at that.)

Monday, August 18, 2008

more like romantic vom-edy



Welcome to the epitome of romantic comedies. Inspired casting, an original title, a brilliant poster... Does anyone else feel like they've already seen this movie? If someone told me that this movie had come out two years ago, I would've totally believed them. Let me guess. Kate Hudson's character is whimsical and flighty. She is dating the uptight but loving Jason Biggs until along comes (UH OH) his best friend, ladies' man and overgrown fratboy Dane Cook. Hilarity ensues???

If Hollywood can make good universally-liked movies using genres normally reserved for men (The Dark Knight) and children (Wall-E), where is the good romantic comedy? this is poop.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

it's the end of the weekend as we know it

The promo for The Margaret Cho Show looks wunderbar. I am loving VH1 for giving this girl a show. It looks like My Life on the D List except with a much cooler lady at the helm. Loooooove her.

When I was 16, I took Margaret Cho's book out of the NYPL and wrote down this quote from it:
"Never underestimate the power that you have in the world." Then, I put this quote on my blog along with these two:

"I have the strange feeling that I'm gonna be telling this to my therapist one day."- Lisa Simpson.

"When you look at pain as material, it makes all the difference in the world." -Francesca Lia Block

Could I have been a more emo little girl? With role models like that, a girl's sure to turn out okay, right?

P.S. If you're bored, check out The Line Starring Superbad co-stars Bill Hader and Joe Lotruglio and written by Boston hottie Seth Meyers and Harvard wunderkind Simon Rich.

the importance of getting lost

i wanted to describe this weekend as epic. and i can't say it was, really. but it was fun.

a tourist on how to enjoy new york:
Look at Google Maps for a second. Zoom right in. There are millions of ways to get lost, murdered, drunk, fall in love, etc. You can go missing very easily. Just open the door and start walking in any direction. With over 8 million people in the city (more hot girls than you’ve ever seen before) it’s kind of hard not to act like you’ve just escaped from prison. You might make people nervous with your sweating and your speed walking and your huge eyeballs. Actually, fuck it- that’s a great feeling.

Friday, August 8, 2008

8-8-08 bitchezzzz... in which i mostly just talk about sytycd

The soyouthinkyoucandance FINALE... as long as I got to see this again, I was sated:



I thought I would cry when they announced the winner. I didn't. I cried during Courtney and Katee's montages. I really wanted to see the Joshua and Twitch montages, too, but I guess that kind of ruins the flo-o-the-sho. What really makes me cry though is the above dance. Which is just gorgeous. There is no better dance representation of abandonment issues than this piece. This season may not have had the best dancers, but I think the top 8 are all just phenomenal actors/performers. Mark's crazy-eyes in the Wade Robson piece, Chelsie's sad face at the end of this, Twitch being hilarious in anything, Katee and Joshua in the Adele piece. Amazing.

Other things this season had a lot of:
-Girls who spell their names weirdly like Kherringttonn, chelsieieie and kateeeeeeiiiieeeeiiiiiooooo.
-teeth. Granted, every season has had the triple threat of enormous scary smiles from mary murphy, cat deeley, and nigel lithgoe. But add to that, Josh's braces, Twitch's gold teeth, and Katee's out of control smiles.

My other favorite thing about the finale:
Seeing Neil again. he is soooooo hottttt and altarboyz is perfect for him. Also Sarah, the original half-asian dance supreme-o.

Things I did not need to see:
Mary Murphy doing ballroom. vom.

Today is:
-the start of the Olympics
-the start of the Olympics of improv i.e. the Del Close marathon
-Tom Compton's birthday
-three 8's in a row. woooooo.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

a dissertation on fro-yos



i had my first red mango experience. here is what i noted:
-a red mango opens up one block from anywhere a pinkberry opens. what is up with that? their strategy is just to get the overflow from the pinkberry line?
-red mango is creamier and sweeter than pinkberry.
-red mango has a weird flavor to it that i couldn't pinpoint and eventually figured out was fake cheesecake flavor.
-red mango has more toppings choices than pinkberry.
-NEITHER RED MANGO NOR PINKBERRY IS AS GOOD AS BERRYLINE. tres le sigh... i miss berryline. i wonder how mamram is surviving without it.

on a separate note, i also miss bubble tea, but i haven't even thought about it until now. i thought i would be dying without it. this is what's called maturity, people.

Monday, August 4, 2008

from my blog when i was 16 years old:

"i have this idea of this lifestyle that i wish i was living, and i feel like all of these ridiculous shallow things are gonna get me closer to that lifestyle like having a boyfriend, playing guitar, going to concerts, getting a belly-button ring, sitting on the steps at st. marks place eating okonomiyaki, taking dance classes, maybe that's just who i want to be but don't have the time or energy to be that person right now. once i get back from college, i will be that person and i will be an actress and have the most amazing david-like actor boyfriend and the most amazing david-like gay best friend..."

for the record, david is a character/actor from the compleat works of william shakespeare, abridged who i had a supahcrush on immediately post-watching.

am i that person? medium. or maybe? i don't know. maybe i should have had loftier goals. a job, an apartment, a future. nah, the belly button ring has really helped shape my identity.

also, this is one of the less lame entries from that blog. ha. what a trip.

weekend superlatives

new favorite word: dramamedy. say it out loud. it's hilarious.

weirdest thing i saw: i saw a guy (homeless?) on the 1 train take from a plastic bag a boom box. then, he took out a jar of mayo and placed it on the floor carefully. next, he took out a box of tea, removed two bags and threw the box onto the floor. he gingerly used the two teabags to wipe off the top of his boom box, then placed those on the ground as well. this was all very perplexing.

new favorite monster: THE MONTAUK MONSTER!!! as scary as the maraschino cherry-eyed baby, but with half the scientific explanation and twice the photo-shopping.

least favorite thing about new york on the weekend: subway weekend service
second least favorite: paying full price for drinks

best equation: stepbrothers + 40sindatheater = ABSOLUTE HILARITY.

new favorite bar: the stone crow

new favorite book: female chauvinist pigs: women and the rise of raunch culture ~ Ariel Levy

thing i keep doing lately and i'm not sure why: raising my hand before i talk
e.g.

wow, way to get on the funny train three years too late: the New York Times' coverage of Tim and Eric
(sidenote: this is like how BWE used to have this thing called "...OF THE DAY" where they'd say like "Best excuse," "Worst haircut," etc. but eventually, they just stopped using superlatives and started writing whatever they wanted. Now I understand why.)

Saturday, July 26, 2008

summah movie spectacular... and a bleeding heart



This video for Gnarls Barkley's "Who's Gonna Save Your Soul?" is a little bit scary, but Jorma Taccone is adorable. An accurate representation of how it feels to get dumped, I suppose except for the whole heart carrying a little tiny stalk of broccoli and singing like a creepy version of California Raisins.

This summer is the first time I've ever been totally caught up in terms of watching movies as they come out and being able to talk about them instead of just putting my fingers in my ears and going "lalalala" because having people tell me the ending before I've seen it is my pet peeve. This summer is also the most hyped-up movie summer EVER. It's like a movie can't come out without every critic and their mom just jerking off all over the reel. The Dark Knight and Wall-E both managed to crack IMDB's top 10 films of all time list days before they were even released. What the eff does that even mean?

Summer movies in the order from best to worst (imho):
The Dark Knight
Wall-E
Iron Man
The Wackness
Wanted
Mamma Mia (so terrible)

Hilariously, this is also the order in terms of how much I paid for them. The Dark Knight was IMAX and I had to buy ahead, so that's 18 bucks. Wall-E was 12 and Iron Man was 10 'cause I saw it in Boston. Then, the last three were all free b/c I have awesome friends with ill connections. So I guess you get what you pay for.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

i learned the word "ennui" from clarissa explains it all

[[And Then You Kissed Me ~ The Cardigans]]

love, you're news to me. you're a little bit more than i thought you'd be

Post-college life is a lot like pre-college life. Somehow after eight years of learning how not to alienate people, I am still sitting on my bed calling up everyone I know at ten o'clock on a Saturday night. The problem in the past has been not being old enough to go to bars. Now I have the ID, but not the money and my friends are summering in the cape... well, not exactly, but they ain't here.

ah, melancholy. if only there was fun to be had every night. if only i lived in un dormitorio with 1001 dalmatians to entertain me til the stars go blue.

movies i've recently re-watched and decided are actually even more phenomnom than i remembered them being:
dirty dancing, fight club

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

a midsummer night's post

[[Who'd Have Known~ Lily Allen]]

tomorrow i start my post-college interning life. which i suppose is pretty similar to during-college interning except without health insurance.

i like the use of "paper planes" in the pineapple express trailer. that is the perfect song for the trailer and i applaud whoever decided that.

today, i went to michael ian black's book signing. literally everything that comes out of his mouth is hilarious. i was dying. as were about 90 skinny hipster girls in big black glasses and urban outfitters dresses. they were all up in his junk. one girl raised her hand and was like, "so how long is your wife out of town?" weird.

my new favorite quote: "directive." ~ eve (from wall-e)
comment on wall-e without mentioning anything else amazingly awesome or slightly disappointing about the movie: was anybody else weirded out that wall-e kept calling eve Eva? If someone were really trying to impress me with their adorable foibles, the least they could do is get my name right.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

i list therefore i am

i saw a guy on the street today wearing a shirt that said "Don't waste your youth growing up."

other things I saw on the street today:
-akiva from the lonely island riding his bike and looking perturbed
-dean edwards (formely of snl, now of those cards that people in times square show you to try to get you to do their comedy show deal)
-a guy who had this piercing that came out of his chin and went down like a devil goatee except MADE OF METAL. badass!

things i am excited about:


Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
reasons why it is going to be both the nerdiest thing ever and the dearest thing to my heart ever:
-JOSS MFING WHEDON
-neil patrick harris
-that guy from the big bang theory who also played the guy who did al pacino impressions on studio 60 on the sunset strip
-the words "sing-along" and "blog"
-the intentional awkwardness at the end of this preview
-people whose names are "Dr. ____" but they're not really doctors (examples: Dr. Demento, Dr. Octopus, Dr. Strangelove)

Saturday, July 5, 2008

what i lack in patriotism i make up for in irony


I didn't take this, but let's just pretend I did.

Went out to Queens to watch the fireworks with friends yesterday. Within the past week, I had had two conversations (one with my friend Alex and one with my stepdad) about how America's kind of fucked (I am using kind of in the way I often do to mean really). So I suppose some of this sentiment was still bubbling up within me when I turn to my friend on a very public and crowded pier and say: "I suppose this almost makes up for the war on Iraq."

Other things my obnoxious over-educated friends and I said during the 4th of July Fireworks (and may I remind you we were SURROUNDED by people):
Eric: OOOOOHH! AAAAAAHH! EEEEEEEEE!! OHHHHHHH! AYYYYYY!

Nick: This all kind of reminds me of the Egyptian myth of creation in which that god ejaculates.

Haruko: Is anyone else getting really turned on by this?
Me: I'm pretty sure Eric has had a constant erection throughout the whole thing.
Teddy: I really wish I weren't standing in front of him for this.

Me (being a spoken word poet): Independence Day/More like Dependence Day/Dependence on oil/Makes my blood boil/So while the fireworks are flying/People are crying/And dying...
Teddy: Are you making this up as you go?

Eric (guessing which color will be next): Red! Yellow! White! Red! Blue! Blue! I'm starting to see a pattern here.

Nick: So I'm thinking of working at an NGO...
Me: In the words of Jimmy Eat World, Nick, "Just watch the fireworks."
Haruko: "Here... you can be anything..."

Eric: (to a stranger, supposedly attempting to be under his breath) Put your umbrella down, you stupid whore!!
::Woman puts her umbrella down::
Eric: Oh, fuck, she heard me (He ducks down.) I'm so sorry. You can put your umbrella back, ma'am.

Eric & Haruko: USA! USA!
Nick: UAE! UAE!
Katie: USSR!

Me: This can't be good for the environment.

Despite the fact that we are all assholes who can't appreciate beauty, we managed to have a pretty good time. Eric & Teddy had been there for hours and hours with a Nalgene of wine and a jar of peanut butter mixed with jam. Afterwards, Eric and I shared a bucket of wings at a BBQ/sushi place with "LIVE AMERICAN MUSIC" and pitchers of Bud Light. (Spencer would want me to say we drank Buds Light.) So I guess we kind of had an "America FUCK YEAH!" night anyway, despite our attempts towards detachment and ruining other people's nights. God bless us, everyone.

Friday, July 4, 2008

belated blogging

I know I haven't blogged for a while. Although it's not like I have anything else to do. My mom thinks I only blog when I have important things ::cough cough thesis:: to do, but isn't finding a job kind of important? Maybe it's more like urgent things.

The rest of my LA trip was phenomenal. We went to see a comedy show at the Improv, ate more In-N-Out, networked with Harvardwood people, snuck into Universal Studios, and watched a sneak preview of Wanted. Now real life begins, I suppose. Kind of.

For my birthday, we picnic-ed in the Shakespeare garden and then took advantage of the Wednesday 50cent beer special at Bourbon St. I had a really good time and got to wear two tiaras, which if you didn't know, is better than one tiara.

I kind of like posting trailers here and this one is one that you probably haven't seen yet:


I like movies about time travel. Or that just generally fuck with time. But I'm calling it right now-- the guy behind the bandages is a past or future version of the main character. Mark my words.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

sometimes i overthink things

still trying to measure exactly how much bounce is in california



This movie looks high fidelity-esque, except it's a documentary. I think the idea is not completely novel, but it does look cute and I think there's something awesome about a guy who actually wants to hear why he was a fuck-up from his ex. some of these girls make me proud to be a lady... and the guy seems kind of adorably hapless and ready to atone. but maybe that is just the kind of optimism that keeps me from being the kind of girl that makes me proud to be a lady.

Is anyone else disgusted by the fact that Tyra Banks won an Emmy for her suck-ass freak sh- I mean, talk show?

So I am in LA now. I had my first In-N-Out Burger and despite the fact that I hate fast food burgers, I loved it. It is all they say it is and more. Now when will they learn to stop being so choose-y and move themselves across the country like Chipotle and Pinkberry?

Other than that, I have swam in the ocean, got the shit kicked out of me by the ocean, had dipndots on the santa monica pier, rode a tram to the getty museum, bought a birthday dress for 15 bucks at buffalo exchange, drank coffee bean coffee, seen two movies at the LA film festival, gone midnight swimming, found two bubble tea places in westwood, played a 21-cup 3-person per team epic game of beirut and seen zero celebrities.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

headed to cali tomorrow


so you think you can dance is aaaaaamazing. i love mia michaels as much as i hate mary murphy. she just used the word "banoodles."

also, a conversation at the spa:
waxing lady: you half-asian?
me: yes
waxing lady, right as she is handling my delicates: chinese?
me: no, my dad's japanese actually.

i'm pretty sure telling your chinese bikini waxer that you are japanese is equivalent to telling your jewish dentist that you come from a family of nazis right before he gives you a root canal. or maybe not.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

tony toni tone

the tonys were actually kind of boring compared to other years.

pros:
1) getting to see former hunter teacher and student lin-manuel miranda beatbox-accept his award, be lifted up and awkwardly be introduced by whoopi goldberg.
2) patti lupone!!!!!!!!
3) the rent cast reunion was actually kind of touching in a dorky way

cons:
1) i might just dislike whoopi because my mom dislikes her, but i still find her irritating
2) along with the nominees for best musical and revival, we had to watch numbers from three shows which weren't good enough to be nominated. that means they were worse than crybaby and xanadu (which actually looks kind of good in a campy heart of glass way... that is a reference that only ryder will get). seriously. it's not that hard to be nominated for best musical or best revival. a lot of bad plays have been nominated b/c there's far fewer musicals on broadway than there are films throughout a year or tv shows throughout a season. so if you're not even nominated, you should not be performing a pity-performance.
3) all the inserting whoopi into other musicals. ew.

sweltering heat vs. yuckydirty rain

yesterday, elissa and i tried to go to the free vampire weekend concert in central park. it was soups crowded so we ended up sitting outside on a picnic blanket which was fine (good 16yearoldhipster-watching) until it started pouring. wahhhhhhhh. we had to peace out. the whole outdoor concert quickly turned into a wet t-shirt and shrunken vest contest. by 6pm, the rain had stopped, but i was already post-bath and pajama-ed. too bad for that.

nelson: vampire weekend? more like rained-out campfire weekend.



today, my mom and i are supposed to go to the renegade craft fair, but it might be rained out. we shall see. my whole fun nyc weekend thing might be a bust.

Thursday, June 12, 2008

wtf is a mind sticker?


this ad is creeptastic... ok, fine, it's mostly just creepy.

The heat wave is finally passing and the weather is starting to be kinda sorta bearable in NY.

Have you ever had fried pickles? They are actually pretty durn good in a grossly fried Southern kind of way.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

feelin' hot hot hot

ugggggh new york city is a sauna. i don't know how much longer i can keep up the motivation to do things like unpacking and sorting and cleaning. but for now, the air conditioning is enough of a reason to stay inside. i wonder how long i could have no job and be totally fine with it-- just like sitting on the roof, going running, reading, blogging... probably about a week.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

on a less serious note

1. Where are you from?

I come from a land down under,
Where beer does flow and men chunder.
Can’t you hear, can’t you hear the thunder?
You better run, you better take cover.
I mean it, please take cover ... these chundering men are about to explode!

~ from an interview with paul scheer ~


~ from so you think you can dance (my fave summer reality show) ~

oh drew, how i love you


The best part of graduation was President Drew Faust's speech at Baccalaureate. A transcript can be found here.

I almost didn't go to Baccalaureate.
me before it: What is this thing anyway?
Vicki: It's like a religious ceremony.
Chelsea: I think they pray for us and shit.

Little did I know, it was within the context of this event that President Faust addressed us specifically as undergrads. Far more meaningful than anything that happened at Class Day (which was geared towards us) or Commencement (which made me feel small and insignificant among the thousands of people graduating from each Harvard school that day as well as the thousands of alumni visiting for reunions). But Drew Faust is amazing. She is smart and funny and seems like she really cares about the undergrads. And her advice is the kind of wisdom you hope you will receive before you leave the comfort of college:

"...if you don’t try to do what you love—whether it is painting or biology or finance—if you don’t pursue what you think will be most meaningful, you will regret it. Life is long. There is always time for Plan B. But don’t begin with it.
I think of this as my parking space theory of career choice, and I have been sharing this with students for decades. Don’t park 20 blocks from your destination because you think you’ll never find a space. Go where you want to be and then circle back to where you have to be."

"The surest way to have a meaningful, happy life is to commit yourself to striving for it. Don’t settle. Be prepared to change routes. Remember the impossible expectations we have of you, and even as you recognize that they are impossible, remember how important they are as a lodestar guiding you toward something that matters to you and to the world. The meaning of your life is for you to make."


Now I am home and terrified... but somehow comforted by her words. Vincimus!

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Happy Class Day!

AHHHHHHHHH graduation is weird stuff.

but not as weird as this:

Monday, May 26, 2008

elmo! elmo!

song of the moment: swimming pool ~ the submarines

when you kiss me in ways i've forgotten
love is a swimming pool with no bottom


watching this video makes sad days turn into smiley ones

until you start thinking about how badly this puppy seems to want elmo. poor puppy!!

Lilly McElroy's photos are gorgeous.

this photo makes me feel weirdly poignant.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

All the umbrellas in London couldn't stop this rain.

new rule: never blog when you're sad.

Sunday, May 18, 2008

more quotes from the QG

Ryder: I'm never going to have popcorn chicken again? Never? I didn't even get to say goodbye.
Me: There is popcorn chicken in New York.
Ryder: Not Quincy Grille popcorn chicken.

I'm not sure why I'm blogging right now b/c the four people who read my blog are all here.

in the valley of the bloggers


...otherwise known as the Quincy grille

Guy in the grille: Can you keep it down? I'm trying to order.
Barry: Yeah, whatever. We're trying to make friends with sound.

It's kind of amusing that when you tell people you're sad at this school, they unfailingly offer you prescription drugs, cigarettes, alcohol, or fried food. Seriously. Don't worry, I only accepted the latter.

pamu, pamu pamu... san.

[[Party's Over ~ Nicole Atkins & the Sea]]

You shouldn't have to throw away your whole life. Maybe it was all the moving when I was little. I lived in twelve different apartments before I turned twelve. So now I'm kind of a packrat. I had three big binders on my shelf-- CityStep, thesis, Children of Eden-- and yesterday, I threw out all the papers in them. Senior sale-ing makes me sad.

Anywizzles...
I am obsessed with this video. Soooo funny.

Japanese TV is bizarre. And that exercise stuff Steve Carell does-- they really do that in Japanese offices and schools.

Yesterday was a good day. Aquarium, improv show, berryline, beautiful weather, party, dancing, quincy grille, late-night cookies... denial is a beautiful thing.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

foggy

From Overheard in New York:

Teen boy, with a sigh: Sometimes the world just isn't as shiny as you want it to be.

--42nd St


I feel you, kid.

Also, they say "Beer before liquor, never been sicker." This is untrue. There are all kinds of things you could do to make yourself even sicker than beer-before-liquor-sick. For example, you could eat a hot fudge sundae, horrible horrible shrimp and crab fondue, and drink the worst vodka ever made and then run as fast as you possibly can, naked. That could make you sicker. Hypothetically.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

one more trailer before i go

senior picnic? i am too lazy to get out of bed despite the beautiful weather.



the movie looks pretty good. derivative but good. and it has a lovely cast full of all those stock new wave of frat pack guys we've come to know and love. but i think the most interesting part of this preview is the extent to which it proves that jonah hill is entirely replaceable and any number of stock curly-headed chubsters could easily come along and play the exact part he plays in every movie.

this ad is adorbs



i love lilkiddies

i want to be a visioneer



I'm not quite sure I understand what this movie is about, but it looks AWESOME. as long as it stars the phenomnom zach galifianakis and judy greer, i am in it to win it. doesn't it look like something from the mind of charlie kaufman and michel gondry? even the score sounds wunderbar eternal sunshine-style. well, it's not. according to imdb, it is by newcomers Jared and Brandon Drake. also, according to imdb, if you like this title, you may also enjoy Wild Hogs. thesweetness.

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

modern love college style

[[My Mother was a Chinese Trapeze Artist ~ The Decemberists]]

Trying to muster the energy to go work out...

Modern Love had an essay contest for college students, and this is the winner.

a quote: There was the guy with red hair and big steaklike hands that walked with me arm in arm through Washington Square Park, kissed me on the stoop of my mother’s brownstone and said he wanted to be my boyfriend. Until our next walk, when he kept his hands to himself and said he meant boyfriend “in the theoretical sense of the word.”

I actually do think it does a good job of describing our generation or whatever.

Also, that short-lived facebook thing where you find your five most-stalked or stalks-you-most people thing was awesome while it lasted. Facebook KNOWS. we are all doomed. there is no privacy.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

melon + collie


my door... note the welcome to crazyworld sign. a boy once told me he should have taken that as a warning.

everything in eliot house is broken. it is as if the house is telling us our time is up. my door is off the hinges. the bathroom door doesn't really close. the first of our three sinks is clogged. the thing you turn to turn on the shower (does that have a name?) is loose and falls off making a horrible clattering sound every time you turn it. my door being off the hinges is the worst. it only looks right when it is shut. when i open it, it hangs askew and then eventually falls down really loudly, cracking the paint and messing with the hinge. every time i open and close my door, it is like i am placing a giant unwieldy puzzle piece back in its place. now i know how babies feel.

hopelessly nostalgic thought of the day: When you go through all your facebook photos really quickly, it reminds you that you actually did have a lot of fun. Thank God for facebook photos. If I had this great a record of all the grades before there was facebook, I would feel very lucky.

I added premature nostalgia to my facebook interests a while back. That could be my tragic flaw.

Saturday, May 10, 2008


ugh yesterday I was on the bus for like 7 hours. I read an entire book: The Myth of You and Me by Leah Stewart. Nelson thinks this is an unfair statement because I had already read like 75 pages before I got on the bus. But I have the attention span of a goldfish who hasn't taken his adderal and unless I am reading while walking, I can usually read about 2 pages at a time before I need to alternate with a blogpost or get up and move around. When I was little, I used to alternate reading a page of a book and a page of a magazine over and over again. (this might be another one of those tidbits of information about how i was a psychotic child that should be kept to myself.) Regardless, the book is really good and the first book I've read for fun in a lilbit.

A quote from the book:
“With moving, I have always been partial to the in-between, the blurred highway outside the window, that suspended time when everything you were lies behind you like a molted skin, and everything you might become shimmers at the horizon. You might choose anything and make it happen, constrained by nothing but your own imagination, sure that not even gravity can hold you.” (77)

song of the day: (Lack of) Love Will Tear Us Apart ~ The Honeydrips (courtesy of quickbeforeitmelts)

There is something unnecessarily poignant about staring out a Greyhound window while the rain beats down outside. Especially when you're sitting by yourself and your phone is dead. Does it make it less poignant that it was actually fung wah? Doesn't quite have the same ring.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

picture time



me and stoney mcstonertons backstage at 24hourplays. he is the best alcoholic rat-lovin marriage counselor in the world.

the last couple of days have been schmawesome

24hourplays were awesome blossom. def the best one i've been a part of and one of the best i've seen. also prob my last time acting. kind of weird to think about, but toodeloo. hopefully, mary ellen will put it up on the interwebs soon and then people can see it if they didn't get to.

the eliot fete was gorgy porgy pudding & pie. the weather was loverly, the people were loverly. you can always tell the freshmen b/c they wear their prom dresses, which are like regular dresses but longer and more sparkly. i certainly wore my prom dress freshman year fete. at this one, i was finally able to drink legally and take advantage of the unlimited champagne and i prob drank less than at all the other fetes. maybe this is because i was distracted by the far more impressive UNLIMITED SHRIMP. actually, it was very limited shrimp. it looked unlimited at first but people kept eating the shit out of it, forcing us all to see the limits of the giant tray of shrimp.

also, after e-gotiations, i have been added to the gossipgeek blogroll which means i am one step closer to the achievement of campus fame, or fame-pus.

anyways, now i am home in new york for 24 hours, previewing my life post-college in which i live at home and watch a whole lot of tv. on the bus ride home, we stopped at a mcd's and they have all kinds of new ish. i feel out of the loop. chicken biscuits... wtf.

Sunday, May 4, 2008

oh dear lord



"should I choose a noble occupation
if I did I’d only show up late and
sick and they would stare at me with hatred
plus my only natural talent’s wasted
on my alcoholic friends
the party never ends
my alcoholic friends"

~ the dresden dolls

paper #1: feminism and the construction of femininity in The Golden Compass and Matilda 8-10 pp. (miraculously prof moved due date back til tuesday, hell yeah)
paper #2: food and hedonistic consumption in Sex and the City 12-15 pp. (due tomorrow)

sounds kind of fun, right? gahhhhhhhhhh. goodbye arts first weekend, hello me sitting in my bed trying desperately to write my last papers at harvard.

p.s. i think i ate more yesterday than i had the entire week leading up to it (thx to corn dogs, arts first bbq, grafton st, ihop, bubble tea, and the quincy grille... i am not kidding).

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

a quote from The End of the Affair

Song of the moment: A New England ~ Billy Bragg

Background on The End of the Affair-
It was the one book in James Wood's class that he didn't really like and spent a lot of time trashing in contrast to Naipaul and Nabokov. And yet I loved it. Okay, so it's not quite as subtle in terms of language, but I think it's still really touching and beautiful.

Me in section: "What's wrong with a book that doesn't make you think but does make you feel?"

But then I spent the last two days writing a paper on it and now I am kind of like bleeehhhhh there is no subtext how can you write about style when there's just too much substance and everything's said so simply. Anyways, rereading it you discover all kinds of little nooks and crannies you didn't notice before. So here is one:

"Yesterday I went home with him and we did the usual things. I haven't the nerve to put them down, but I'd like to, because now when I'm writing it's already tomorrow and I'm afraid of getting to the end of yesterday. As long as I go on writing, yesterday is today and we are still together."

delightfully sentimental.

free stuff > stuff you pay for

happy free cone day!

a story about free cone day:
I once missed an hour of work to go to free cone day. Meaning, I could have made ten dollars and bought myself three ice cream cones, but instead, I got one free ice cream cone.

I will go far for free food, a trait I inherited from my mother who taught me the fine art of acquiring Zabar's cheese tasters and Tasti d-lite samples.

At Harvard, it is really really easy to get free food. There is free food EVERYWHERE and ALL THE TIME. I think there should be an open list designated specifically to telling people where the free food at. And all this free food is for students who already have UNLIMITED FOOD. Can't I save some of these giant trays of pad thai and chocolate decadence finale cakes for when I am living off cup o'noodles and cat food?

Monday, April 28, 2008

How do I feel about Jimmy Fallon taking over for Conan in 2009?



This is something I have been thinking a lot about lately in my quest not to write papers or think about the future.

Jimmy Fallon is one of those people like Carlos Mencia or Dane Cook who the alt-comedy blogosphere is not like all gaga about. It is really hard to like people when you read 80-100 snarkariffic blogs a day talking about how they do not like that person in an oh-so-subtle-yet-bitter way. I mean, you just start to agree. The blogosphere does not hate JFal quite as much as the other two but at the same time, a lot of people seem unhappy with his taking over for Conan. Meanwhile, despite the fact that he laughs in like 80% of his SNL sketches and despite the fact that his hair went through several unfortunate phases on the show and despite the fact that he did some shitty movies post-SNL, I still really really love him. Not quite as much as I did back when my screenname was IluvvJimmyFallon and he was my awkward skinny funny boy of the moment (between Seth Green circa 2001-2002 and Adam Brody circa 2005-2007), but I do still have a Jimmy Fallon pillow on my bed which my mommy made me for Xmas03. If you don't think he's actually talented, re-watch his impressions or his song parodies. Is that enough to carry a talk show five nights a week? Tal vez. But at the very least, he is pretty (although Sopen strongly disagrees with this fact, saying that his "bit" is that he's ugly) and semi-charming (not to be confused with semi-charmed). So I'm in. Jerks.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

i should be reading atonement right now

[[happy alone ~ earlimart]]

i guess sometimes the feeling of uselessness just creeps up on you out of nowhere. or maybe it's just been a particularly long weekend. the last normal, non-named harvard weekend. i can't help but look on each day as moments before the edge of a cliff. there will come a friday when i will just have to pack up all my shit and go back to new york and hopefully, at that point, i will have some idea of what i'm doing and not just curl up in a fetal position in my high school bed clueless clueless clueless and nursing a four-year hangover without the prospect of going downstairs and finding chicken rice soup to console me.

i usually hate writing personal shit on this. like emo-ness. but my own love of attention and inability to keep sad feelings to myself always gets the better of me.

when i think of how many times i have successfully walked up and down flights and flights of stairs (i've lived on the fifth floor twice) while reading a book, wearing high heels, or delightfully tips, it makes me really sad that sometimes i have no excuses and just manage to hurt myself b/c i'm dumb.

...said too much. the next entry will just be shallow pop culture criticizz, i promise.

Friday, April 18, 2008

It is unlikely you will meet the love of your life on the subway


Awesome song of the mo: Can't Get It Right Today ~ Joe Purdy

I used to be like weirdly obsessed with the NYC subway. Despite the fact that it is gross and stank and filled with the juices of homeless people and despite the fact that my friend once got jizzed on by a crazy person in the subway, I thought the location was like crazy romantic. I wrote like three stories (well, 2 stories and 1 play) about people meeting in the subway. I used to think subway musicians were communicating with me through their choice of songs. I think I may have even included this fact in a college essay (which begs the question, Really, Harvard? Really? ~ Seth and Amy). I also used to think that it'd be really awesome to make out with a stranger on the subway and then leap off and they would spend the rest of their life wondering who you are.

That is why I'm all like omfg about SubwayCrush. It's like Craigs List missed connections, but more specialized and just as unlikely to set you up with your soulmate (read: that creepy person you kept staring at on the A train).

meow meow meow best website ever

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

t-t-t-t-t-touch me


OMG Susan Sarandon's boobs are out of control. She is 61. Jeez Louise. (Get it? Because she played Louise in Thelma and Louise.)

Okay, that is all.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

i may chain myself to a tree and refuse to leave

the days pass by faster and faster. which leaves me feeling supes-emo. like all this talk of pre-frosh weekend and arts first weekend just reminds me that these are the last ones.

in honor, a haiku:
i don't have a job
i refuse to graduate
i will be homeless

Okay, so it's beautiful out. This is not consoling me.

Phrases that need to be used more often:
bitchin'
Heavens to Murgatroyd!

Finally, I watched the Golden Compass yesterday night in the SOCH (where they had FREE CANDY!!! and dr. pepper. eat your heart out, steiner.) And this guy was in it:

AMAZING! He drank your milkshake and rode your polar bear.

Does your brain ever start operating in lolcat language and you can't make it stop?

Monday, April 14, 2008

i am struck with occasional celebrity infatuation



This is adorable, the kind of thing that used to make me melt when I was obsessed with Jimmy Fallon and Adam Brody.

John Krasinksi imagines his alternate-universe life as a teacher, from Entertainment Weekly:

I go by Mr. K. I'm teaching English at a prep school in rural Connecticut. In my class, homework is not homework, it's preparation for the next day. I love teaching books that have been pigeonholed as ''epics,'' and my big thing is discovering for yourself why you like them. I'd have a lot of stuff written in some cryptic way on the whiteboard where you can't understand it until we start talking about the book. I'd throw desk supplies off bridges... I've gone out on several dates with the bio teacher. Her name is Sarah, and she's just a really great girl. I'm more gregarious than she is; she brings me into the underground indie-world stuff and I bring her sonnets. It's weird because the kids are talking about this new show called The Office and they're like, ''You guys are so much like Pam and Jim!'' and I'm like, ''I don't have a TV. Sorry, I'm not into pop culture stuff.''

Friday, April 11, 2008

happy weekend!!

my mom: It's pretty obvious that your blog was just a procrastination tool for not writing your thesis when as soon as your thesis is handed in, you completely stop writing in it.

I hate when people can see through you.

Some stuff that freaks me out:

A picture of a baby kangaroo.

Even worse, there is this video from a Japanese news show of a monstrous alien baby with maraschino cherries for eyes. It's severely freak-tastic and not for the faint of heart. On the other hand, i can't stop thinking about it. I'm not embedding it because I wouldn't want to force people (like K'idar Miller) to watch things that they are physically and emotionally unprepared to see, but having read this warning, if you are still interested, go here.

Speaking of things I am obsessed with, Leona Lewis's Bleeding Love is the catchiest song evah.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

this outfit is crizzle cray-cray.



my eyeballs hurt just looking at it.

wtf is up with this ad?

So Woody Allen is suing American Apparel for putting up these ads which feature his image without his permission.



Is anyone else really confused by this ad? I have no idea how it is selling anything whatsoever besides perhaps fake beards. I think this is a prime example of post-irony or post-post-irony. Or maybe that's just what American Apparel wants you to think when really it is just an example of idiocy.

Here is the only possible translation of the ad I could understand/muster up:
We are sick of showing you half-clad hipster hotties looking coked out of their minds. This still from the movie Annie Hall represents a change in our policy. Now that bright-colored 80s spandex can be found at such mainstream retailers as Urban Outfitters and your local thrift store, we recommend going one step further in irony and wearing a long black robe, fake beard, and rabbi hat. You already have the glasses.

Monday, March 24, 2008

off to cancun


not me...

i am leaving campus for mexico tomorrow, which inspired me to make a top 10 list of my favorite things about post-spring-break at harvard so i have lovely things to look forward to:

10. Until Kuelli ruined them for me by telling me exactly what was in them and how many calories they have, frozen cappuccinos from the lamont cafe.
9. when TFs let you have class outside
8. free cone day at ben & jerry's
7. jogging by the charles
6. prefrosh weekend
5. arts first weekend
4. wearing cute clothes instead of bundling up
3. skipping class to sit in the eliot courtyard and read
2. the fete
1. midnight walks... Honestly, some of the best memories I have of Harvard involve walking around late at night with no destination in mind. Especially by the Charles.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

kind of obsessed with these videos



Barry got me stuck on watching all these videos from UMich's musical theatre program's Dance workshop. They are all gorgeous and it is watching ish like this that makes me miss dancing and performing. I haven't really performed in anything since sophomore year, which is an incredibly depressing thing to think about. And I can't really imagine having a lot of dance performance opportunities post- college. Tres le sigh. If I could do it all again, I would do everything and nothing differently. I could have done a few more extra-curriculars, no? Probably no.

Anyways, these people are phenom b/c you know they must also be good at singing and they are so versatile.


This one's really good, too. Romaaaaaaantic and cheezy, but the choreo's gorgeous and they actually really capture the essence of each song.

I think the Crimson should write something about post-thesis anxiety. It's also just kind of lonely on campus and yet, I"m still too lazy to get out of bed. I've never been good at the whole relaxing thing.

WHOOOOOOOOOO.

I FINISHED MY THESIS.

i thought that deserved a post to itself.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

yay for ellen page!!


she is adorbs.

"I call myself a feminist when people ask me if I am, and of course I am 'cause it's about equality, so I hope everyone is. You know you're working in a patriarchal society when the word feminist has a weird connotation."
~Ellen Page, in the Washington Post

Monday, March 17, 2008

i have a little doggy, but i don't know how i can carry it.

Thisreminded me more of my mom than anything I've ever seen.

It's crafty. It's knit. It enables you to carry around a tiny little dog. Okay, so I know my mom would say that either a, it's not artistic enough for her; b, it is animal cruelty to carry dogs around in what looks to be an extremely uncomfortable harness thing, or c, it's just ugly. ( Look in the comments section and see what she says.) But the combination of elements at work here is so her.

Days til thesis bomb is dropped: 3.
Days til I will be sitting on the beach in Cancun: 7.
Days til I have a job: Hopefully fewer than I think.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

love/hate

this shirt is cray-cray:

First, I just stared at it for a while and was like 'So? They photoshopped the mirror picture" b/c I am stupid and my brain is fried from sitting in front of my computer... Ha. I have done little to no work this weekend. Okay, back to "work."

Friday, March 14, 2008

tv rots your brain


This is horrifying and frightening. I am so glad I was raised by a young mom who let me dress myself in my own horrifying and frightening choices. Can you even imagine who these children are and who they're going to grow up to be? Reminds me of the Motherboy episode of Arrested Development.

Speaking of television, last night's episode of Lost made me cry. For a ridiculous and probably accurate theory on the entirety of Lost, go here.

Also on the topic of television, check out these new America's Next Top Model dolls:

So correct me if I'm wrong, but the one on the right looks Asian, no? Which is funny considering there have been 1 1/2 (East) Asians in the entire 10 cycles of Project Runway (and only like 2 South Asians besides that). That's out of 130 girls. One of the two (the half-asian one, obvs) was fierce, in the words of Christian Siriano, and one of whom was a total idiot. Like more of an idiot than most of the girls on that show. I mean, on Project Runway, there were Asian models in the fashion week shows and there are Asian models in Vogue and Elle. And Tyra makes SUCH an effort to be "diverse" in terms of black and white girls and in terms of making sure the winners switch off between black and white. But WHERE THE EFF are any Asian people on that show? I know this is not like a HUGE DEAL, but I'm just adding it to my list of grievances with Tyra Banks, who I'm pretty sure is the Anti-Christ. Okay, she is a human being who probably googles herself on a minute-ly basis so maybe it's not fair of me to say that, but really, put some Mothereffing Asian girls on your show. Or at the very least, don't pretend you have Asian girls on your show by making an Asian-looking ethnically-ambiguous doll when 99% of the girls on your show are BLACK OR WHITE. (this is not statistically accurate, but i'm sick of statistics b/c of my T-word.)

Thursday, March 13, 2008

gergenfloss

someecards speaks the words my heart can't say. or does say.


anywizzle dizzles, one week left. now that my midterms and papers are done, everything seems far more manageable although i'd still rather be curled up in the fetal position than at my computer.

and one sent from mamram:


I don't really get what's so disturbing about Laughterbirth or No Poon Intended, Harvard's 2nd best all-female improv group.