Apparently living in D.C. for spring quarter made me tanorexic...photos may appear soon.

When all else fails, discuss Harry Potter

Either Harry Potter or the Spice Girls reunion tour. I'm learning that these are excellent conversation starters when talking to people you don't know very well.

Lately I've been hanging out with my roommate Kaylan's work buddies, (all Starbucks minions), and it has been quite entertaining. I already hear enough about all the crazy customers they get from Kaylan, so I feel like I can join in practically any conversation.

Also, while hanging out at Sudwerks last night, I got to meet some new Germans (YES! FRESH GERMANS IN DAVIS!). And not only were they German, they were actually cool to boot! (This was indeed a rare find.) I probably lost of coolness points because I spent a good part of the conversation explaining to them how great the Harry Potter books are.
Unfortunately, it turns out that they are all leaving Davis in a week. My only hope is to Facebook them and then try to track them down when I visit Germany again, whenever that might be--hopefully within the next couple of years.

In other news--I'm home again (Monrovia) for the weekend. WOO hoo! It's always nice to be home for a while, as long as my stay doesn't last longer than about a week at a time.

The animals are TAKING OVER! We live in the foothills (ie at the bottom of small mountains), and because of the drought, all the wild animals have been leaving their forest homes and taking over the suburban areas. My mom told me that a bear broke up an 8-year-old's birthday party last week! Skunks are EVERYWHERE (they keep getting hit by cars, too, which is sad and makes the area smell horrible), and my sister ran into THREE rattlesnakes last week on the hiking trail. I just don't know what to do. This could be more serious than anything in the Middle East.

OK, that's all I got for now. I need to become more literate and learn vocabulary for the GRE. No magazines for me! I'm trying to read Herzog, by Saul Bellow. Has anyone heard of it? I saw it on a "Books Everyone Should Read" list somewhere. The plots really slow so far, but I'm only on page 41.

Apparently I am a Type 3

Has anyone heard of enneagrams? They're these psychological tests that put your personality in a number category, ranging from 1 to, uh, 8 I think. Leah took a psychology class and already knows that she's a four, the "individualist." Like the French intellectual Proust, apparently. And the closest category that fits me is a three, the "achiever," the category also taken by Irving Berlin. It's all rather strange.

But one does things like personality tests when one has entirely TOO MUCH free time on one's hands. Not that I'm complaining. It has been wonderful relaxing the last few weeks. I'm in SoCal for the week, awaiting news on the healing of my gum grafting on Friday. So much fun!

But for now, Happy fourth!
I'm going to Six Flags tomorrow! It's going to be DEATHLY HOT. But I will try to survive.

Mir ist langweilig

And here I am, back in Davis!
I'm back in my Davis house, with the six roomies I love (well, minus Liz unfortuantely since she's at band camp, but now I get to sleep in her bed!), and I'm in Davis for possibly the last time in a while! Although I actually kind of doubt that, since three of my friends haven't even graduated yet, and I really hope to visit them soon.

The weather is HOTTT here! It was 104 yesterday apparently. I forget how drastically different the two coasts are. Just last week I was pouring off sweat and getting frizzy hair at 1am while walking around the monuments, and here I am pouring off smaller amounts of sweat, but still sweating in a dry heat. Yikes. So far, Monrovia wins for best summer weather.

So we woke up today (me, Jessica and Alicia), and our TV was missing. We hadn't locked the door last night, so were a little panicked at first. However, it was kind of weird because the Playstation was still there, and the antenna for the TV had been carefully unplugged. What kind of criminals do that? Alicia went to the next door neighbors' house, the six boys who like to come over and visit randomly when drunk, and whaddya know? It was in their garage. Funny, funny.

So this is becoming a very boring post. But I felt like I should update. I guess I'm not that good at reflecting with deep thoughts at 10 am. And I'm definitely already in summer mode.

Na ja, that's all for now. I'm going to the POOL later! An OUTDOOR pool! (Something that apparently has not yet been invented in the East). Can't wait!!

Unique New York

The last few weeks have been filled with paper writing (bilingual education and two-way immersion--ask me about it sometime! On second thought, don't), presentations (more bilingual education, Cherry Trees of Washington D.C.!), making cookies, making birthday cakes, and not least of all, traveling to NEW YORK CITY for the first time over Memorial Day weekend.

I loved New York. I want to live there. Does anyone want to move there with me? There's just SO MUCH to do and see, and the people are cool (we didn't meet anyone mean in our extensive 3-day visit), the style is funky, the atmosphere is edgy, the vibe is marvelous. OK, I don't really know what that last sentence means.

But I did have a marvelous time on our speed-racer tour of the city; we saw the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, SoHo, Greenwich Village, Wallstreet, Central Park...you name it, I saw it. I also got to see Liev Schreiber in the thought-provoking Broadway play Talk Radio, and afterwards I talked with him and got his autograph!! And, as all fans say about whatever celebrity they love, he was really nice! I was a bit starstruck. Then I met two women from Jersey who joined me in analyzing all the possible interpretations of the play.

Also took a whirlwind tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (yeah, I actually only saw two full exhibits, both of 19th century paintings, which is pretty cool anyway), and the MOMA.

All my pics are on Facebook, should you wish to see some visuals!

And so, my weeks in D.C. are rapidly drawing to a close. The final research paper is due next Monday, followed by five days to soak up the culture in D.C., and then we all fly home on June 9th! And then I graduate.

Books: better than friends?

After months of trying to check out the book Children of Men at the library, I finally gave up and just bought it. Apparently all copies are always checked out because of that movie. That same movie I was semi-obsessed with because I found it so enthralling and thought provoking. Those of you who heard me rave about it can attest to this.

Let me tell you kids, the book is just as, if not more, intense. Sometiems I find myself grimacing while I read it. And the plot's more interesting and more believable as well. If anyone wants to borrow it, or just have it after I finish it, let me know! I want to spread the good-bookness around. I bought it on powells.com for $6, including shipping! Thus the willingness to give it away.

I wish I were talking to a pretty boy

...rather than sitting on a hot oven.

Could time pass any slower than it does at work?

And yes, I'm at work now. The fact that I can blog here should tell us all something.

Real post coming soon!

An obscene chili pepper

I think this is one of the grossest things I can possibly imagine eating. Thoughts, anyone? Has anyone actually tried this?!

Step back a minute here

As I type this, my roommate is talking on the phone while brushing her teeth. Yesterday, I saw a girl talking on the phone while jogging (at a fast pace!) on the treadmill.

People, there are times when you talk on the cell phone, and there are times when you should just CALL THE PERSON BACK.

The Phantom Headphones

Apparently if you wear iPod headphones for extended periods of time (e.g. 7 hours while at work), and then take them out, it still feels like you're wearing them. Even though you're not. What could be creepier? I keep trying to take them out of my ears! But there's NOTHING THERE.

I get the point.

YES! I'm finally DONE with Flags of our Fathers! I have to say, if there's one thing I learned while reading that book (It was required for my class), it's that I really don't enjoy nonfiction books (or probably fiction ones for that matter) about huge war battles. Who really does? I honestly think every time I read five pages or more I cried a little. WAR IS BAD.

by Billy Collins

Another Reason Why I Don't Keep a Gun in the House

The neighbor's dog will not stop barking.
He is barking the same high, rhythmic bark
that he barks every time they leave the house.
They must switch him on on their way out.
The neighbor's dog will not stop barking.
I close all the windows in the house
and put on a Beethoven symphony full blast
but I can still hear him muffled under the music,
barking, barking, barking,
and now I can see him sitting in the orchestra,
his head raised confidently as if Beethoven
had included a part for barking dog.
When the record finally ends he is still barking,
sitting there in the oboe section barking,
his eyes fixed on the conductor who is
entreating him with his baton
while the other musicians listen in respectful
silence to the famous barking dog solo,
that endless coda that first established
Beethoven as an innovative genius.

Not that I'm a lesbian or anything

I feel slightly awkward in my head because my roomies have a friend named Ruby who comes by a lot, and WHENEVER I hear her name or see her I get that freakin' song in my head that has the chorus

Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby!
Do ya do ya do ya do ya?
Know what you're doing doing to me?
Ruby Ruby Ruby Ruby!

I try to avoid singing it aloud when she's over; it might just be a bit too creepy.
But I just looked it up and it's by the Kaiser Chiefs. Interesting. It's a freakin' annoying song. But after it's been in my head about thirty times I'm starting to warm up to it.

Man!

What if I want to see Ben Folds and NOT John Mayer?! Why do they have to tour together?
(Sorry any John Mayer fans, but he's just not worth the money he charges for a concert ticket.)

While talking on the phone tonight, Mom gave me a small lecture about how Leah and I need to stop thinking about whether boys are "worthy" of us, and basically that we need to stop scaring boys away because our standards are set so high.

Does anyone else get lectures like this from their parents?!

Playlist of the day

"Everything's not Lost"--Coldplay
"Everything Will Be Alright"--The Killers
"Even the Bad Times are Good"--The Tremeloes
"Everybody Hurts"--R.E.M.

All the songs happened to be in the "E" section of my iPod songs, but they made me feel just a little better about yesterday's tragedy.

?

Cover of the White Stripes newest album, revealed!


Please don't ask me what they're wearing.

He doesn't know what to do with himself*

There's a rumor going around that Jack White will have a cameo in the film Walk Hard as...Elvis. This love-hate relationship I have with Jack continues. Why does he constantly do such bizarre stuff? I guess it could be worse (like writing a Coca-Cola jingle), but still--I'm somewhat baffled.

And mensch, is that guy gonna need to get a tan if he's really gonna do it!

*A song by Bacharach, covered by the White Stripes on Elephant. In case you cared.

Wherever I go in this world, my

Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki comes with me. (I just bought a bottle today, realizing how incomplete and boring my life was without it.)

This is the only story I can think of right now

Last night, while wandering the streets, I found a free newspaper with a picture of an old man playing accordian on the front. It delighted me to such an extent that I took it with me to a salsa club, intending to put it on the wall when I got home.
But when I put the newspaper down so that I could dance better, the waitress took it and threw it away.

No one warns you about the heartbreak that is Washington, D.C.!!