I'm listening to some random "Music of China and Taiwan" cd from the library, and it sounds like nothing so much as Aaron Copland.
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02:18:02 PM,
Tuesday 28 March 2006
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Valid Passport to Dreamland.
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(15)
11:46:30 AM,
Tuesday 28 March 2006
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I frequently get engrossed in an East Bay Express article -- sometimes a profile of a rapper I've never heard of, or something I'm equally unlikely to read -- and realize halfway through that it must be by Rachel Swan because it's so darn fascinating.
The same thing just happened with this article by Christopher Hitchens -- just replace "so darn fascinating" with "so egregiously polemical."
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12:17:54 AM,
Tuesday 28 March 2006
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Call me crazy, but I think Hazel Dickens refers to the concept of surplus value in "Working Girl Blues".
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04:40:01 PM,
Sunday 26 March 2006
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Thanks to a very kind tech support staffer I have internet access at home. That + late-night coffee = megabloggage.
Anyhow, I stumbled across this surprisingly thought-provoking personality test. I was amazed at how many times my answers about self-confidence (in particular) were of the "yes, dammit!" variety. I forget how hard-won that's been.
Turns out I'm a
But that doesn't mean you can borrow my studio space!
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(12)
04:52:58 AM,
Saturday 25 March 2006
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You know how some women -- and maybe men, I've just never heard them do it -- say they have almost physical cravings for babies? (Not in that Swiftian way, Julia.) I think I have the same thing but for shoes.
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(11)
02:09:47 AM,
Saturday 25 March 2006
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Ok, you know how "whatever" as a term of dismissal can, like, totally be shortened to "whatevs"? Well goddamnit, that's not disaffected enough. Let's make w'evs (or "wevs") the new "whatevs."
Say it like you mean it!
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(7)
02:02:10 AM,
Saturday 25 March 2006
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This article in Salon about peak oil and the relocalization movement got me all het up -- it intersects with my interest in development work and appeals to my love of dystopia. I find that vision of the future so alluring that I'm forced to suspect my motives. What exactly makes the thought of apocalypse so attractive?
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01:46:03 AM,
Saturday 25 March 2006
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Faxination.
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12:50:34 PM,
Thursday 23 March 2006
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Overheard outside the library:
"He stabbed that dude? I thought he shot him."
"No, no, he just shot him."
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05:34:50 PM,
Wednesday 22 March 2006
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My plans for a June trip to Amsterdam fell through but I'm still itching to put stamps on my passport before I go to Mali. Right now I'm thinking about flying to Poland to smell the linden blossoms. So, two questions: anyone ever been to Poland? And can anyone recommend a good place in Europe or Central/South America to spend a week?
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(7)
02:46:33 PM,
Tuesday 21 March 2006
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Nonviolent resistance really does work: For about six months Damian and I had an intense jinx war going on, with vast quantities of cokes owed on both sides, and the development of several avante-garde jinx methods (e.g. "thought jinx"). A few weeks ago, however, he abruptly refused to play. I jinxed him, and he looked at me very seriously and said, "I don't want to play that anymore." By now I've almost entirely lost the impulse to jinx him, although we haven't settled the outstanding soda debts.
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(9)
06:24:17 PM,
Thursday 16 March 2006
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It would be nice to believe in the afterlife. Not that I think that's why people generally do believe in it -- but if I did, that would be the only reason.
I'll probably get around to it when I'm faced with my own death, but until then apparently not.
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(8)
01:28:23 PM,
Thursday 16 March 2006
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Unsurpassable daffodils.
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(3)
07:35:38 PM,
Monday 13 March 2006
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Saw my parents, agreed to sell them my laptop when I move, ate hella Indian food, cleaned my bedroom, watched some Samurai Champloo, drank too much coffee, and lost three avocadoes. Which leaves out Saturday. Saturday = farmer's market + bicycle ride + Dave Chapelle's Block Party + $16 worth of lunchmeat. So this week = sandwiches every day.
Last night I roasted cumin seeds and ground them in a spice grinder while they were still warm. When I pulled off the lid a viscous steam poured out.
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12:42:14 PM,
Monday 13 March 2006
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This week's East Bay Express cover article, about the development of anti-HIV microbicides with a focus on HIV transmission to women in Oakland and East Africa. Fascinating stuff.
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09:36:36 PM,
Saturday 11 March 2006
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OMG I knew it!
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(1)
05:07:00 PM,
Friday 10 March 2006
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Has everyone already seen Malcom Gladwell's blog?
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12:08:22 PM,
Friday 10 March 2006
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Yeah, I, um, really need to learn how to hold my peace before I go to Mali.
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(2)
06:04:47 PM,
Thursday 9 March 2006
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The new guy at work still hasn't learned not to to bring up the Bush administration with me. Oops.
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03:15:25 PM,
Thursday 9 March 2006
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Off-topic highlight from philosophy group last night: "You haven't seen Dune until you've seen it on mushrooms."
Overheard later, on the bus: "I saw that Ninja Turtles movie when I was a kid and I really wanted to live in a sewer."
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(5)
12:48:34 PM,
Wednesday 8 March 2006
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Christ it's been a while since I blogged. I went to Baltimore for four days and just got back last night. Anyway.
Damian juse sent me this adorable picture of a rabbit, allegedly in its Halloween costume. (I suspect it's photoshopped, but cute anyway.) To quote Damian, "You may die of cuteness. Cuteness."
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(10)
02:58:21 PM,
Tuesday 7 March 2006
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Octavia Butler died yesterday at the age of 58.
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(3)
12:43:16 AM,
Monday 27 February 2006
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Sustainable Ecnomic Development in Mali. I called and accepted as soon as I read through the description of my primary assignment. Hooray!
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(13)
01:50:33 PM,
Saturday 25 February 2006
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Do any of you enjoy listening to Pete Seeger? I find his singing style irritatingly strident and sort of over-sincere. I like Sing Out and admire what he's done to revive folk music -- I just can't stand to hear him play it.
Still haven't gotten my invitation kit. I bet it's still in the Peace Corps Headquarters mailroom.
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(4)
12:39:02 PM,
Friday 24 February 2006
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I just heard from the Peace Corps saying they sent me an invitation kit. One thing to be glad about! I just hope that it's the kind of work (health education/community development) that my recruiter nominated me for.
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(10)
06:20:08 PM,
Wednesday 15 February 2006
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There's no justice in the world. In case you needed a reminder.
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(3)
05:14:48 PM,
Tuesday 14 February 2006
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I can't get "Sex in the Kitchen" out of my head. The "buttered rolls" line especially.
Passing over R. Kelly's use of the phrase "toss your salad" and the weird way he gets turned on by a woman's domestic labor on his behalf (well, weird, but probably not unusual), the really interesting part of this song, to me, is his inability to maintain a consistent scenario. She's in some state of charming deshabille, but does she "walk around in [her] t-shirt/Nothing else on," or is she "chillin' in her robe"? And are they at home -- as one would assume based on the woman's attire -- or are they in a restaurant, making love as if it were closed? And is it closed? One would hope.
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(9)
11:47:15 AM,
Friday 10 February 2006
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A new Malcom Gladwell article, mostly about solving hard-core homelessness but also about how we conceptualize the "offender populations" behind social problems. Features a Bush appointee who actually seems to be worth a damn.
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05:54:27 PM,
Thursday 9 February 2006
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Don't worry, I typed this with my left hand: Yesterday I got my first-ever symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome while typing a long letter for my boss. My job doesn't usually involve much typing, so I blame my recently-acquired Wario Woods addiction. Farewell, Wario, and hello, wrist cushions.
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(3)
07:53:47 PM,
Wednesday 8 February 2006
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Tin-foil hat.
I heart wikipedia.
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04:55:56 PM,
Tuesday 7 February 2006
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Thank you, Moss. And thanks for the bloghosting, while I'm at it.
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(3)
10:09:57 PM,
Sunday 5 February 2006
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New Kids on the Block: Sheik of My Dreams:
Jordan Knight wants to meet -- and ultimately finds -- a girl who likes him for himself and not because he's a member of the New Kids on the Block. How could they know that this romance would lead to an international incident?_
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10:00:20 PM, Sunday 5 February 2006
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Things that make a Johnnie grit her teeth: "I don't think The Prince was very well-written. It gets a lot more credit than it's worth."
This from the same guy who disliked the Tao Te Ching because it "didn't make sense."
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(6)
12:22:41 PM,
Thursday 2 February 2006
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Here's the tracklisting for my blogswap cds. Everyone (except Moss and Julia and Lizzie, but yours will be in the mail this week) should have one nowish.
Chewing Gum in my Ears
Sarah's Winter 2005 Blogswap Mix
1. Cannon's Jug Stompers, “Walk Right In”
2. Dame Satan, “Took All of Me”
3. Dolly Parton, “House of the Rising Sun”
4. Ween, “Monique the Freak”
5. The Advantage, “Megaman 2: Bubbleman”
6. Sleater-Kinney, “Wilderness”
7. Toychestra, “Siren”
8. Toychestra, “Twinkle”
9. M.I.A., “Bucky Done Gun”
10.Fannypack, “Seven One Eight”
11. The Dresden Dolls, “Coin-Operated Boy”
12. Eyeball Skeleton, “Flattop Vampire”
13. Prince, “Cream”
14. Le Tigre, “Sixteen”
15: Casiocore, “Cosmicpants”
16: David Bowie, “Queen Bitch”
17. Guided By Voices, “Kicker of Elves”
18. Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, “Walkin' in My Sleep”
19. John Fahey, “Special Rider Blues”
20. Travis Morrison, “Song for the Orca”
21. Grand Buffet, “Find the Cat”
22. Belle & Sebastian, “Mayfly”
23. Francoise Hardy, “Comment Te Dire Adieu”
Special bonus track: The artist's name is announced at the beginning of the track, and he mentions it a few times before he starts singing.
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(15)
05:19:39 PM,
Monday 30 January 2006
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This weekend: craft party (I made three pairs of earrings and lots and lots of tea), a cleaner house, good surprises and a family get-together. I'm still wearing my weekend clothes, which are entertaining (cowboy boots, stripey tights, monkey head t-shirt) rather than professional. At least I left the plastic hot dog earrings at Damian's.
I am also wondering how long I can bear to wait before I buy a camera.
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(6)
01:01:31 PM,
Monday 30 January 2006
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site & script courtesy of Moss