crafts/politics/hip-hop

out of retirement

2009-05-12T20:30:00.002-05:00

I was watching the video "Unpretty" this evening in order to study for a final. (Yes, that is studying.)

This afternoon I was watching Miss California's press conference. (No, that is not studying.)

What do they have in common? Everything. Why in the world does anyone care what Carrie Prejean thinks about gay marriage? Because she was competing for Miss USA? Really? That's who the National Organization for Marriage thinks we should listen to.

WTF, America. I have enough trouble with the idea of beauty pageants in general that I don't want to get into that right now. I'll save that for later. All I care about is the fact that because she is "beautiful" (thank you breast implants!) she gets her opinion heard. Yes, it helps to be attractive to get your opinion heard---look at Barack "Dreamy" Obama. But when that's all you are there's something tragically wrong with the message we are both sending and receiving.

been awhile

2009-05-08T21:37:00.002-05:00

I'm kind of sick of blogging. I still like keeping up twelve.second.timer, but this is just a hassle. I might change my mind in a day or two, we'll see. I'm not about to get rid of the blog, just don't expect too frequent of posts.

freakonomics

2009-04-26T20:50:00.002-05:00

"People exist to satisfy the needs of the economy, not vice versa," warned my econ textbook.

This was in a description of the system most closely visible in our economy. You know when an econ textbook is warning the reader of where monopolistic competition in a free market capitalist system leads it's not a good sign. Then I started thinking, this is true. Now, I don't think we should start having a top down system for choices, etc. Being a Russian major I've heard of the horrors of the food that was available back in the USSR and I don't want to start eating what the federal government decides I should (although that organic garden makes me think it might not be too bad). But when our economy has gotten to the point where people are what prop up our economy and without "consumer confidence" everything falls apart, something is wrong. The economy should be satisfying the needs of the consumer, not thinking of more and more ways to get our money. I think Western Europe is a good model of what this should look like. Yes, I said it. We need to be more like Europe. Stop playing the supply role, people, and start being the demand.

i used to hate him

2009-04-21T12:21:00.003-05:00

I used to hate Mac Lethal. Like, I'll pick a fight with you at a concert hate. But this video and song totally changed my opinion. It's just so jumpy you can't say no. Also, he released another track from his album that references Nabokov. So, I might start having to change my opinion.

Also, today I made biscutis for lunch. Halfway through mixing the dry ingredients I realized all I had was soy milk. And I needed buttermilk. So I risked it and used soy milk. Oh man. DELISH. With some honey on top. Mmmm.

Also, I've been exploring the realms of female rappers. Here's an amazing video by Invincible out of Detroit.

college life

2009-04-21T11:48:00.002-05:00

I'm a student at UW-Madison. A proud student at UW-Madison. Unfortunately, due to MTV's brilliant idea to give 4 18 year olds video cameras, my degree will mean a little less. Or at least be tinged with the stink of that show.

Let's make a youtube of the real College Life. You know, studying, work, school, maybe a bar, studying, and work. Not everyone gets 33% of their first midterm.

Ugh. I'm too angry to talk about it.

normally i'm very cynical

2009-04-16T18:03:00.002-05:00

I also don't like doing things other people do, so when I saw so many statuses and whatnot about Susan Boyle today I refused to watch the youtube video. Then I watched it. And, like other people's statuses said, I cried. Actually. I don't cry at anything. I think the thing that sticks with me is that had she not had that voice we would still be laughing at her. That's not right. That's mean, but that's what we do and we shouldn't. We should be nicer people.

next project?

2009-04-15T10:53:00.003-05:00

The Onion is constantly a source of inspiration and/or accidently accurate news.

Here's my latest inspiration. "Nation's Grandmothers Swept Up in Textile-Messaging Craze."

getting his nails did

2009-04-13T08:46:00.002-05:00

Zebulon has this issue where he scratches himself more than Driz and Zvez. And when his nails are too long he bleeds. Well, his back has a couple cuts on it, and on his cream fur it's sad looking. Well, it'd be kind of sad regardless. So, I bit the bullet, and last time I went to the pet store for food I bought a little nail trimmer for small animals (cats and smaller). Well, Mr. Zebulon is a bit squirmy. I have a feeling this might take a long time. So far, two nails trimmed. Two.

a bowl of springtime

2009-04-11T19:20:00.004-05:00

I made a bowl of asparagus soup tonight. Nom nom nom. Asparagus is my favorite food and I've been trying to expand my uses of it. So I sauteed some green onions in butter, then added asparagus and broth and simmered for awhile. Added some pepper and red peppers. Then finally I added a couple tablespoons of both flour and cream cheese and whisked it up to smooth. It turned out pretty decent, very spring-y.

loyal opposition

2009-04-07T11:27:00.002-05:00

After reading last weeks Newsweek, I decided I should write my own little loyal opposition piece. I'll make it short as not to bore you.

Basically, I worked a lot to get Barack Obama elected. You all probably know that. Really, what was the alternative? But now what's happened? While I didn't expect to wake up January 21st and be living in a utopia, I expected a lot more would have happened by now. Or, perhaps more appropriately, I expected fewer things to have happened that have happened. Like all the bailouts. I expected Barack Obama to be better than that. It's the same things over and over. I think there needs to be regulation because regulation is what makes sure public goods exist and whatnot, which is very important, however, markets should be allowed to run their course. If something is failing that badly that it needs trillions of dollars pumped into it (multiple times!) then something is wrong and you should fix the problem not just prop it up. You might say, wow, that sounds pretty conservative! But f*** it if it is. I'd say I'm angry that that's where our taxes are going, but it's more likely where China's tax dollars are going and then our tax dollars are going to pay the interest on our debt to them to pay for that. This rant could go on for awhile, so I'll stop it here for now and go get my hair cut.

eternal sunshine

2009-04-06T18:55:00.002-05:00

Now, I love the movie Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. I also love pictures of cute rats. However, I don't like this New York Times article, even though it includes aforementioned pictures and is basically ESofSM. Seriously, erasing parts of your memory? That just screams not a good idea.

wrd

2009-04-04T12:29:00.001-05:00

Hi guys. It's been forever since I wrote anything. I need to work on that. I need to try to write something almost every day. That would be good.

So here's all I got for today.

Happy World Rat Day!

aprons

2009-03-29T10:49:00.000-05:00

Parker is moving back home on Monday. He visited his grandparents (with whom he'll be living) recently and received another pile of vintage aprons from his grandmother that he gave me. I need to take some photos of them for the blog, as well as make another apron rack since the one I have is overloaded already. Some of the colors are absolutely dope combinations. Mint and orange, etc. My favorite is a pale blue smock with red piping. Photos coming soon...

oh no!!

2009-03-28T14:03:00.002-05:00

I had a busy day yesterday and I realized this morning that I forgot to take a twelve.second.timer picture. I can't believe it. I had hoped I'd never forget a day. But there it is. Now the project is just a little compromised.

Then I had this crazy creepy dream. I dreamt the Zebulon got Drizilla knocked up through the bars (and separation) of their cages (not very realistic). Then I didn't notice she was pregnant until the little dudes were born. They were about the size of a stick of Orbit gum when born. Which meant they could walk in and out of the cage and there was nothing I could do. I then tried to make them makeshift cages out of rubbermaid containers. Then I had to leave to go deal with an escalating police standoff in my apartment building (right, logical). Then I realized I had probably killed the babies by putting them in rubbermaid containers. Does that dream mean something?

fml

2009-03-23T19:55:00.002-05:00

My FML for today.

Today, I was walking down the street to teach my evening yoga class. A car was stopped leaving a parking ramp waiting to merge into the busy street I was walking down. In my head I imagined what it would be like if they were dumb and didn't look both ways and instead just left the parking ramp while I was on the sidewalk. Then the car pulled out without looking both ways. FML.

p.s. I'm fine. Just a bruise maybe at most since they were just pulling out of the parking ramp. Funny fact, it was the exact same spot where I broke my elbows/tailbone.

the "liberal" elite

2009-03-22T20:35:00.003-05:00

I'm going to be going off to teach in urban Louisiana next year. I'm very excited. The thing that has surprised me most is people's reactions---especially liberal, progressive people's reactions. I definitely understand the concern about lack of training. Now, I've never been to Louisiana (yet). But where I'm going is not some sort of backwater, inbred place where "you can teach if you just graduated high school." It is a city of about a half million people in a parish (aka county) of almost a million people. The mayor-president is a Democrat, even. You aren't required to have a gun when you cross state lines. Now, I know a lot of this ribbing is in good humor, but there does seem to be an element of Northern, liberal, educated elitism that is automatically assuming a lot about where I'll be living. I am in no way calling any of my family or friends racist, however, I think a lot of the comments people have made feed into/are influenced by racialized or class stratified thought. That's the kind of thought that labels pictures as "looting" v. "stealing for survival."

Here's a poem for these thoughts:

I, Too

BY LANGSTON HUGHES

I, too, sing America.

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes,

But I laugh,

And eat well,

And grow strong.

Tomorrow,

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

I, too, am America.

part 4

2009-03-19T10:22:00.002-05:00

Yesterday I got a massage at the Health Services as the most bougie part of break. Worth the discounted student prices, for sure. Not the most exciting thing to ever happen in my life though.

Today my staycation is turning into a realcation.. And by that I mean vacation. I'm heading home for the weekend to see the family.

Here's an article I just read. It's sad.

apparently rats don't like water, staycation, pt. 3

2009-03-17T14:32:00.003-05:00

Zebulon has issues with his nails where he cuts himself sometimes, so to clean him up in case he bleeds, I was given shampoo when I took him in. Now, I generally think rats can clean themselves (which they can) but he cut himself, so I figured, in the spirit of spring cleaning (which I've been doing a lot of) why stop at dusting and sorting clothes and vacuuming! So I washed the rats.

This reminded me of a time when I was little and we came home to Emily's roommate washing her hamsters saying "dip the hamster, dip the hamster." Maybe that's what's made me averse to washing rodents.

But anyway, I decided to bathe them. I figured I'd start with Zebulon since a) he's the calmest b) he needed the blood off c) he lives alone so he's easier to get out. So I set up a big rubbermaid container with warm water and a washcloth on the bottom for his feet, the shampoo bottle is open, and a little towel is next to it to dry him off. He was pretty good, a little squirmy, but he was in and out in about 25 seconds.

Next up was Rok Zvezda, the littlest dude. She was super calm when she got into the water. Almost looked happy, and as I was putting the shampoo on, she looked at me, and jumped straight up and landed about a foot higher---almost on my shoulder. That was when I sped her bath up. It lasted a little longer than Zebulon's but not much.

Finally, Miss Drizilla. She was pretty easy to coax out of the cage. And even not too bad to get into the water (which by this time, was a little dirty). Then the madness began. She was looking for any escape. The best route she found was through a potted plant. The only potted plant in the apartment, and her wet paws found it. Then they found my dress. I "dipped" her to get the mud off, then quickly wiped her off as much as I could before putting her back in her home. She stared at me with anger.

I then changed into something dry and not muddy and took some cute pictures of them trying to deal with being wet.

staycation, pt. 2

2009-03-15T14:30:00.003-05:00

Today I scrubbed the hard surfaces of my apartment with bleach. It's clean as a whistle now and smells fresh.

Also, I baked some bread. It's been a boring day.

Until I found this website: sexy people. It's hilarious.

staycation pt. 1

2009-03-14T22:15:00.002-05:00

My staycation is not too exciting. I went out for sushi with the old roommate last night. That was very fun. Today though I went to the library and greatly expanded my music collection (the best find I think is Brian Setzer's Rockabilly Riot: A Tribute to Sun Records). I also got (and read already) a book called "Design Your Self," which I realized about half-way through is basically a self-help book crossed with a design book. It was only a couple hour read or so. Odd. The one thing that stuck with me though was the dematerialization part. Especially now that I'm planning on moving halfway across the country. A big goal of this break then: getting rid of "things." (And cleaning and studying, unfortunately.)

it felt like a kiss

2009-03-10T08:23:00.002-05:00

I've been studying for my black music midterm a bit recently. Part of the midterm studying is pretty fun, as I have a 4.6 hour long playlist of music that I just rock out to. Well, by rock out to, I mean, listen to obsessively and write down notes and lyrics about the songs that were on the study guide.

There's one song though (not on the study guide, but I'll be using it if "Respect" shows up on the exam), that is not very fun to rock out to. Is anyone familiar with The Crystals? If you are, you probably remember them for "Uptown" or "Then He Kissed Me." But you might remember the song "He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)." The song is pretty messed up. According to Wikipedia, the song was written to be sarcastic (it was written by Carole King). However, then Phil Spector produced it. If there is one thing I learned from this class so far, that man is f*ing nuts. Like, makes Octomom look sane. His arrangement makes the song even more disturbing than the lyrics do. While married to Ronnie Spector he picked out her coffin. It was solid gold with a glass top. Then he showed it to her. Messed up.

But, there was a point to this (or at least a semblance of one). I had my music on shuffle, and forebodingly my iPod shuffled "SOS (Rescue Me)" by Rihanna after "He Hit Me." I don't want to make any unfair comparisons or be too preachy since I'm not in the same situation, but, to use "Savage Love" terminology, she needs to DTMFA.

staycation

2009-03-09T19:09:00.002-05:00

I was planning on rocking out in Mexico City this break with my friends from the summer for spring break (starting this Friday). But with the whole becoming less and less safe thing, this for example, I decided to nix the trip, unfortunately. So, instead, I'll be trying out a "staycation." I'm leaning towards a massage right now as number one on my doing nothing list. I'll keep you posted. But not on the boring "reading econ" stuff.

pudding cups

2009-02-28T19:27:00.002-06:00

The shorts were bad at the Romanian Film Festival. I don't want to talk about it.

But I got some adorable pudding cups today. From Anthropologie of all places. I like them. They are cute and colorful and will make me smile when I eat my berries/yogurt/granola mix out of them. I also got some good ideas for embroidery projects from the $$$ tea towels they were selling.

tache

2009-02-27T22:03:00.002-06:00

Continuing the Romanian Film Festival reviews...I saw Tache today. It was a riot of a black comedy. I wish I understood Romanian because it seemed that script was ripe with things that would have been funnier in the original. But even with that said, I laughed so hard I almost cried. And not my squeak laugh. I laughed my other laugh, because that laugh can be sustained a lot longer. It was great. I highly recommend seeing it if you get the chance.

romanian film, pt. 1

2009-02-26T21:33:00.004-06:00

I figured I'd give my opinion of the Romanian Film Festival as it happens, rather than wait until the end to review what I saw.

Tonight I saw a film called "Crossing Dates." I think it was pretty brilliant. The structure reminded me of Pulp Fiction to some degree, in that it chronicled the ways people's stories intersected. However it was in pairs as well. It was broken into three portions, each about a different pair that had to do with a prison in Bucharest and the stories intertwined. At points the film felt a little overly structured or like the writer/director tried a little bit too hard. But, with that in mind it was still a fantastic film and worth seeing. The prison element of it was perhaps the most innovative part of the film, as it was so cleanly mixed with life outside the prison that at no point did it seem like a prison movie at all, but rather it explored the ways the the justice system (in this case in Romania) interacts, or fails to interact, with the rest of society.

Oh, and completely unrelatedly, I got a new rat today. A co-worker of my friend had a rat with some interpersonal relationship problems with another one of her rats and he needed to be rehomed. Siddhartha (as she called him), or Zebulon (as I call him), is settling in pretty well. Perhaps his best quality (besides that he's way calmer than Rok Zvezda or Drizilla---which is a common difference in rat gender) is that he's an "odd eye" rat. That means that his eyes are different colors. His red eye is in this picture but the other side is black.