this is my L.A. look

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

Happy Class Day!

AHHHHHHHHH graduation is weird stuff.

but not as weird as this: