D in the Big D

Why I don't have a Kindle, Part 2

2010-09-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

Despite lots of sewing and no book posts, I am in fact continuing to read. I "ran out" of books this week and went to Half-Price Books.

As I returned home with a stack of 9 new books, requiring me to find about 9 inches of bookshelf space, I wondered if maybe I should reconsider a Kindle. They are getting cheaper, and maybe that's something to add to a Christmas list. I decided to go onto Amazon and figure out what the same books would cost me.

Half-Price Books Total: $53.82 plus tax
Kindle Total: $59.15 plus tax

"Look," you say, "it was only a few dollars cheaper at the bookstore, plus you won't eventually have to have an extra bedroom to store all your books. A Kindle is definitely worth it!" Unfortunately, you would be wrong. The Kindle total is only cheaper because 3 of the 9 books weren't available as eBooks!

Between the expense of books and lack of availability, there's no justifying a Kindle for me yet. $5.98 vs. $9.86 per book means a 65% premium for eBooks. That's a bit too much for me to swallow.

Anthropologize

2010-08-24T21:10:00.001-05:00

Anthropologize: verb. 1. to modify or augment an item so that it appears to be have been purchased at a usually overpriced store with a fetish for the unique 2. to make something mass produced look handmade through the artful addition of details

This post starts with a story. Many moons ago, I was offered a job a few days after graduation from college. They wanted me to start within 2 days. I talked them up to 5 or so, which allowed me enough time to find an apartment, move a suitcase full of stuff and an air mattress into that apartment (having sent the majority of my belongings home with my parents mere days before while I informally subletted a room in some friends' rented house), and desperately shop for a work wardrobe on a very limited budget.

One of the things I purchased was this boring green cardigan from Target. I'm going to guess that I paid about $10 for it; it had to have been pretty cheap because I bought an identical white one at the same time. I wore it all the time when I first started working since I owned approximately 5 work appropriate tops. Over the years, I built a more extensive work wardrobe and the boring green sweater fell out of favor. Why wear this when I could wear a purple or teal or yellow or grey-with-embroidered-birds cardigan? It was retired to the laundry drawer--the bottom drawer I desperately rummage through at 7:15 on a weekday morning when all my other work clothes are dirty.

I decided it was time to make something more of this sweater. I looked through my scrap fabric and cut out some shapes. I arranged them and tried to sew them on with the machine. Tried is the operative word, as I used the seam ripper and detached them from the sweater. I cut out replacement shapes, rearranged, and sewed them on by hand. I found some beads in a bag of craft supplies and sewed them on as well.

Ta da! Anthropologized.

I'll admit that I don't love it yet. I'm afraid the black beads on the yellow look too much like cheetah, especially from a distance, which isn't really my style. I might have liked it better when it was just the leaf shapes. Any thoughts or suggestions? No beads? Different beads?

Even though it's still a work in progress, I feel very industrious in taking something that I rarely used and making it more fun and special. It's the first real "wardrobe remake" that I've tried, and it has emboldened me. Next up: "J.Crewifying" a tank top?

Inspiration Fulfilled

2010-08-20T16:20:00.001-05:00

It's been a stressful week for me. However, I am excited to share my newest completed dress. In fact, it turned out to be fortuitous that I waited to post it.

If you'll recall, I was inspired by the Anthropologie Grand Island dress and confident I could recreate it. I was possibly a bit too confident and ran into some difficulties. Since I was working without a pattern, I had to base it off measurements and clothing I already owned. This led to the first draft being a giant tube of fabric. I always think that I don't want it too tight, and so I should add a little ease to it. I also make sure to remember that I'll have seams. Then I end up with giant things that would fit two of me.

After significant trimming and way too much staring at the pictures posted on Anthropologie's website to figure out exactly how all the pieces fit together, I ended up with the following.

I don't think it looks much like the original, but I like the end result. The collar is admittedly difficult, but I think that pinning it into submission with a vintage daisy stick pin is a good solution.

Also, you might notice that I'm not wearing the dress, yet it is supported by a vaguely human form. This week my husband and I celebrated the 3 year anniversary of our engagement. We're dorky like that, because why just celebrate our wedding anniversary when we can have two anniversaries? We usually do small gifts for such semi-pseudo celebrations--for comparison, I bought him a pretty bowl for ice cream and cereal to replace one he liked that was broken--but Ben was an overachiever, now as ever. He'd seen dressforms on sale and bought one a month or two ago. He planned to keep it until a real holiday, like Christmas, but he wanted me to have it now since I've been sewing more. He also wanted me to have the opportunity to return it in case I didn't like it. Fat chance; it's fantastic! I can take pictures, refine the fit, and step back to see how it looks. Now it just needs a name. Ben suggested Chesty La Rue. I thought about naming it Dennis (or possibly Denise) since it is a dummy. We are taking additional suggestions.

Inspiration

2010-08-08T21:27:00.000-05:00

More sewing here. I guess I'm on a roll.

I have three weddings coming up in the next few months, and that requires some clothing coordination. I have to drag out the dresses from my closet and figure out which ones I've worn around each friend group--high school, college, husband's friends, etc. While I know my friends love me no matter what I wear, I'd prefer not to wear identical outfits to weddings where the same people are in attendance. I don't want it to turn into the Seinfeld episode where Jerry dates the girl who is wearing the same dress every time he sees her.

This process inevitably leads me to search for dresses online. Buying an entirely new dress is an excellent way to ensure you're not wearing the same dress. In browsing different websites, I ran across this dress at Anthropologie.

I really like this dress. The neckline is interesting without being strange, and it's so simple and classic overall. It's a little casual for an evening wedding, but I think I could make this dress in a similar color but a different, thicker, less wrinkly fabric. In fact, I went to Jo-Ann's to use my 50% off coupon to buy just such a fabric today. I think I'm going to lose the buttons down the front and just put in a zipper along the side or back--again, an attempt to make it a little dressier. But not too dressy, because I'd still like to be able to wear it to work....

I'm already picturing wearing it with my yellow patent leather shoes. I might be a little ahead of myself.

I'm not sure when I'll start working on it. I've got a busy week ahead, and I promised my sister a yellow skirt so I've got that on my to do list as well. We'll see how my projects shake out. I may be in a bit over my head on this one.

Paper Bag Waist Skirt, featuring AMAZING photography

2010-07-31T16:43:00.000-05:00

As promised, here's the paper bag waist skirt. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera and had to use my camera phone. It's a few years old, and it was free. Needless to say, the pictures are not impressive. Be prepared.

As mentioned in my previous post, I was inspired to make a paper bag waist skirt after reading a tutorial on Adventures in Dressmaking. I won't put together a step by step tutorial, but I thought I'd share some pictures from my experience.

First, I went to the fabric store. I found the type of fabric I wanted (a cotton sateen, 50% off), but I couldn't decide on a color. Navy? Forest green? Chocolate brown? After some pondering, I narrowed it down to two choices. Practical Darci said, "You should get the grey. It will look nice for work and you can wear it with lots of things." Fun Darci said, "Hot pink! Pretty!"

So I bought both, thinking I could use one for a different project. Then decided to start with the hot pink. Practicality is overrated.

Second, I learned my lesson from a previous disaster and prewashed the fabric. I know you're supposed to do that, but I never did it consistently until I washed a simple top I made a few weeks ago. The color ran, the fabric warped, and I nearly lost 3 other shirts that had soaked up some of the apparently water-soluble dye. I suppose that fabric was in the clearance section for a reason.

Luckily, there were no laundry disasters this time. After prewashing, I laid out my materials. Nermal helped.

Then I cut out some fabric and worked on installing the zipper. Nermal continued to be helpful.

Perhaps due to Nermal's helpfulness, the first time I sewed one half of the zipper on backwards and had to rip out the seam. Such setbacks happen, and it's always better they happen early in the process. In the end, I ended up with this.
Where's the zipper?

Ta Da!

Although this tutorial didn't call for one, I prefer to use invisible zippers. I think clothing calls for a little magic, and where's the magic in this trend for visible zippers? I didn't like it when whoever it was did it on Project Runway, and I don't like it now that it's everywhere. It's just not my style. Call me old fashioned.

Anyway, with the zipper semi-successfully installed (more on that later), what's left is sadly a lot of grunt work. Unless you're making something with dozens of pieces, like a quilt, it's surprising how little "sewing" there is in the sewing process. The good news about this pattern is that it doesn't call for a lot of pinning. The bad news is that it does call for a lot of pressing. Have to press the top and bottom hems. Have to press the belt. Have to press the tiny little belt loops. In the end it was worth the lightly toasted fingers (this fabric got HOT), but it was definitely a tedious process. Oddly, Nermal had no interest in helping me press things.

I also have a very technical measurement system. When something needs a 1 inch hem, I cut out a piece of scrap paper to measure the fold. Much easier than messing around with a ruler or tape measure.

It also got a little toasted.

Here's one "action shot" of me pretending to sew a belt loop (right before I actually sewed the belt loop).

I also did some hand sewing to make an invisible hem around the bottom. I could have used the machine, but I think that if you're not using a professional machine a blind hem usually looks better.

After the hard work, I ended up with this:

I know, it's a terrible picture. Not only am I using a camera phone and taking a picture of myself in a mirror, I didn't even bother to put on a non-clashing top. I'll try to post better ones once Ben comes back with my camera. Here's an equally terrible close up of the top.

I'm not sure if I am too impressed by my own handiwork, but I think it looks pretty good.

One thing I learned for future sewing endeavors is that I should have tried it on before I finished sewing the zipper seam. I bought a long zipper, then thought it seemed way too long when I pinned it to the skirt pieces. I only used ~7 inches of the 12 inch zipper, and it's a little tight. I have to put it on over my head. Oops.

Still, not too shabby. Paper bag waist skirts are a trend, and I hesitate to buy trendy things. I figure if I make trendy items for myself, I can save money AND theoretically be fashion-forward. Here's the rundown of cost:

1 yard of fabric: $4.99 (50% off)
1 invisible zipper: $1.79 (used a 40% off coupon)
Approximately 5 hours of my time, during which I watched 3 episodes of Pushing Daisies and Confessions of a Shopaholic (not as bad as expected, btw) via Netflix Watch Instantly

Total: $6.78 plus tax*

I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to find a skirt for less, or at least not until the trend has run its course. Plus, I never would have bought a skirt in such an impractical color.

*If we wanted to be technical, I should also throw in a few pennies for thread and amortize the cost of my $7 iron, but I'm going to write those off as sunk costs. (The iron's probably fully depreciated by now anyway since I bought it 10 years ago.) The sewing machine was a gift from my Aunt Monna, and my Grandma Mary Lou bought me my nice Gingher sewing scissors when I was a child. It took a decade or so for a love of sewing to kick in, but I definitely appreciate them now.

Bad Blogger

2010-07-30T16:35:00.001-05:00

So, I pretty much suck at this blog thing. I've tried and failed and tried and failed. It might not be in the cards for me.

I thought that having a point to my blog would help. "I love reading, so I will blog about books!" I thought. But then books felt like work, and I had trouble writing about books without giving away too much. So much of my love of books is based on finding out what happens that I'm too sensitive in writing about them to people who haven't read them. It was much easier in college to discuss and write papers about books that everyone in the class had also read (or should have read) and the professor had read approximately 400 times.

At the same time, I like reading friends' blogs and hearing stories about their lives/babies/projects/passions. I like the idea of being in that sort of community.

Thus, welcome to reboot number 3 or 4 (I've lost count). I've decided I'm going to blog randomly. I'll post links to other, better blogs or to things at stores I love but can't (or shouldn't) afford. Maybe mention books I've enjoyed or not. Possibly post pictures of the cats or tell stories about how sweet my husband is. Hard to say, really.

First up, though, I'm going to try to make a paper bag waist skirt based on a tutorial from a sewing blog I read occasionally. I promise to post pictures regardless of how terrible the result, so be sure to check back in for possible train-wreck type carnage! (Although I just realized my husband took the camera on a trip and won't return until Sunday. You may see pixelated camera phone carnage. Gritty! Viral! Possibly unintelligible!)

However, don't be surprised if a brief period of blogging enthusiasm is followed by a dry spell. That's how I roll, apparently.

The Big Short

2010-04-25T23:03:00.004-05:00

The Big Short, Michael Lewis' new book on the subprime mortgage crisis, was already timely. The recession caused by subprime mortgages and the multiple bets for and against the bonds created from them is only now officially lifting, and the impact is still being felt with high unemployment and struggling markets.

Then the SEC filed fraud charges against Goldman Sachs this week, and the whole book looks a little different.

The Big Short is about some investors, mostly small hedge funds, who made money by going "short" or betting against the success of bonds created from subprime mortgages. The fraud charges against Goldman Sachs came from transactions similar to those described in the book, although the specific Goldman trade is covered more thoroughly in Gregory Zuckerman's The Greatest Trade Ever, which I haven't read (yet).

The ins and outs of the trades can be better described by professionals, but the short (no pun intended) version is that banks like Goldman Sachs packaged groups of mortgages into bonds so that they could be sold and traded. The thought on Wall Street was that the bonds were not terribly risky because they were made of many different mortgages (or pieces of mortgages) from different areas of the country, meaning they were diverse. A few investors thought, correctly, that the housing market was being fueled by inflated house valuations, and if house prices didn't continue to go up, people with adjustable rate subprime mortgages wouldn't be able to refinance when their rates went up. Those investors essentially took bets that the mortgages would fail with the Wall Street banks, and the banks either took the "long" side of the bets or passed that risk along to companies like AIG or other investors, often organizations (like pension funds) that were required to make conservative investments.

The fraud charges from the SEC give the stories from Lewis and Zuckerman another dimension. One way you can read The Big Short is as the story of plucky underdogs who saw that disaster was imminent and unavoidable and figured out ways to make money from it, enduring mockery until their bets paid off. The other way is to see it as people who made money at the expense of less sophisticated investors, possibly due to criminal activity. While Wall Street firms lost a lot of money being long on subprime mortgage bonds, the charges from the SEC say that once Goldman Sachs realized that they were on the wrong side of the crisis, they dumped massive amounts of risk onto less sophisticated investors by deceiving them about the origin of those soon-to-be toxic assets. What's interesting is the "shorts" who made money as a result of these transactions are not under investigation; Goldman Sachs is in trouble for allegedly lying to their investors about how the specific mortgages were chosen and weren't upfront that the asset was being put together solely so John Paulson could bet against it.

I really enjoyed The Big Short, and I think I'd like to read The Greatest Trade Ever. I would recommend picking up one or the other if you want to better understand subprime mortgages, collateralized debt obligations, and credit default swaps. The Amazon ratings are higher on TGTE, but a lot of that seems to be caused by a bunch of low ratings frankly whining that TBS isn't available on Kindle*. What I do believe from reviews I've read is that TBS less scholarly and more character driven, while TGTE is an in-depth, investigative report on one trade by one man--the one trade being the one that the SEC is now alleging was fraudulent. I'll agree that TBS is not big on technicalities and skims over some of the negative impact, but it's very readable and I definitely understand more about the crisis that sunk the economy worldwide, resulted in billions in bailouts to banks, and led to the unemployment of friends and family. I think the recession was personal to everyone, and it's important to learn more about how it happened.

*I highly recommend reading the 1 star Amazon ratings for entertainment value. Some are legitimate concerns (not technical enough, too sympathetic to opportunistic investors), some are personal (Lewis is honest that he is not an investment advisor, but some reviews criticize him for contradicting something he said a few years ago about derivatives), but many are about the lack of a Kindle edition. People complain that the lack of a Kindle edition is tantamount to segregation in the American South, that bookstores should set up garbage cans so people can throw away hard copy Michael Lewis books in protest, and that it might as well be published on post-its, written in crayon. Which then leads to joke bad reviews that it is not published in Na'vi or serially in a magazine like a Dickens novel. The interweb is funny.

The Remains of the Day

2010-04-18T15:39:00.001-05:00

If you recall, I was not impressed by Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans. I decided to give him another try and recently read The Remains of the Day. It's a character study of Stevens, an English butler in the mid-1950s. His previous employer dead, he now works for an American who bought Darlington Hall, the house Stevens ran for many years.

Stevens takes an opportunity to visit former co-worker Mrs. Benn née Miss Kenton. With permission, he borrows Mr. Farraday's car and goes on a road trip through Devon and Cornwall. As happens in all good road trips, Stevens encounters some interesting people and beautiful scenery, stumbles into some comic misadventures, and has plenty of time to reflect on his life.

Through the stories of the past woven into the experiences of the present, we learn that Miss Kenton served as a foil to Stevens over the years they served Lord Darlington. Stevens, preoccupied with propriety and duty, accepted his employer's word as law; in doing so, he gave up some of his humanity and supported some questionable decisions. Miss Kenton was more compassionate beneath her similarly high professional standards. Because of their differences, there are many misunderstandings between Miss Kenton and Stevens, and she ultimately leaves Lord Darlington's employ to marry. Stevens' road trip is, in part, a trip to see if Mrs. Benn would like to return as housekeeper to Darlington Hall due to the unhappiness with her marriage she expressed to Stevens in a letter.

It's hard not to include spoilers in these posts. I will say that I found the ending of the book very poignant and definitely recommend The Remains of the Day. Stevens isn't always a sympathetic character, but by the end Ishiguro leads the reader to an understanding of Stevens' motivations and Stevens to an understanding of his own mistakes. The ending is surprisingly hopeful, even if there is an undercurrent of melancholy. In some ways, it reminds me of the ending to The Sun Also Rises. While Hemingway's book ends with regret, Ishiguro's takes half a step back from the "Isn't it pretty to think so?" lament and substitutes the truth that the past doesn't have to determine the future.

Instances of the Number Three

2010-04-13T22:36:00.000-05:00

I picked up Salley Vickers' book Instances of the Number Three mostly because I thought it was an interesting title. There are better reasons to read a book, but I think there are also worse ones.

In the book, a woman named Bridget connects with her husband's mistress and mysterious young friend Zahin after his death in a car accident. We learn about Peter through each of them. For example, we learn that much like the protagonists of every Graham Greene novel I've read, Peter is an adulterous Catholic, although only mistress Frances knows of his faith. (I'm not hatin' on GG - I really liked The End of the Affair even if I was disappointed by The Heart of the Matter, mostly because it was similar but not as good.)

Despite the dark subject matter, it was actually a fun and fast read. There's a bit of a mystery element to it as the reader learns more about Peter and the three he left behind. The book shares some theories on the afterlife that I don't think the Catholic church would bless, even if there are some interesting ties to Hamlet. Not great literature, but definitely a step above your standard chick lit.

I'm still behind - posts are upcoming on The Remains of the Day and The Big Short.

Grace (Eventually)

2010-04-04T21:10:00.000-05:00

I can't justify getting a Kindle, Nook, iPad, or other e-reader. It's appealing. The bookshelves are full. I wouldn't have to use as much valuable luggage space when I travel. I could carry around hundreds of books at a time.

But two things stand in the way. One, I am frugal. The readers themselves are pretty pricey, and most books tend to run in the $8-$15 range. I can do better at the used bookstore. Two, there is something nice about having a book that can be shared with a friend, even if they don't always find their way home. (I'm talking to you, guy at work who still has my copy of Freakonomics three years after I lent it to you. Too late to ask for it back now without seeming crazy.)

Recently, I found a third reason. When you buy used books, they sometimes tell a (bonus) story.

Take, for example, the copy of Grace (Eventually) I purchased. Usually I flip through all the pages of a used book and make sure it's not terribly marked up, but I forgot this time. When I got it home, I discovered something interesting.

It appears that this particular book was either purchased at or brought to a discussion and reading by the author. First, it's autographed.

Second, there are notes from the talk. Some of the notes seem to be directly related to one or two essays, but others are more generally about being a writer or artist. The notes cover virtually every blank or partially blank page at the beginning and end of the book. My favorite is a bit ironic - Ms. Lamott apparently gave the advice to always have a pen and index cards to take notes about things or people you encounter, which would probably be better than scribbling all over your paperbacks.

As for the book, I think you either like or don't like Anne Lamott. She writes about Christian spirituality from a very liberal perspective. Although I'm more conservative and traditional in my faith, I think she's thought-provoking. Even if I'm shocked by statements that I find borderline heretical, at least it makes me think about what I believe about the nature of God and the promises of Jesus, as well as what the role of Christians is in the world. She's also good for the occasional belly-laugh. Although I think I liked her Plan B better (the essays about teenagers and starting a Sunday School are so priceless I marked those two essays for my mom, currently starting a Sunday School and raising a tween and teen, hoping she would skip over the essays that included more colorful language), I found plenty to think about while reading Grace (Eventually).

I hope everyone had a fantastic Easter. He is risen!

Excuses, Excuses

2010-04-03T20:04:00.000-05:00

I've been neglectful of the blog, but I had good reason. Three weeks ago I had an infection. I dutifully went to the doctor, got antibiotics, and started feeling a little better. But not completely better. Two weeks ago I would come home from work each evening and fall into bed. This is unusual, but not unprecedented. I rationalized that work was stressful, and I was still recuperating. I didn't want to be the obnoxious patient running up healthcare costs and strengthening bacteria by demanding more antibiotics if I didn't feel better immediately.

Then last weekend I really started feeling poorly. By Sunday I wasn't eating or drinking and was running a 104 fever, so I abandoned my plan to wait until Monday to go to the doctor and ended up at Primacare. The urgent care nurses and doctors were lifesavers, and I left about an hour after arrival having been pumped full of antibiotics and in possession of a prescription for a much longer and stronger run of antibiotics. By Sunday night I had my first adult encounter with Pedialyte (disgusting - how can they do that to children!?) and my fever had dropped from severe to merely moderate.

I'm now feeling much better. Not quite eating, sleeping, or living normally, but getting much closer. I was able to go to work three days this week and really feel like I turned a corner today. Ben has been indispensable, and if he didn't faint every time he sees or even thinks about blood, I'd say he has a gift for nursing.

My illness did allow for plenty of reading time, so I'm now three books behind. Stay tuned - I'll be posting again soon.

American Wife/Primary Colors

2010-03-22T22:24:00.002-05:00

Disclaimer: These book choices were made apolitically and will be discussed as apolitically as possible.

I picked up American Wife as part of the "Buy 2, get a 3rd free" promotion at Barnes and Noble (along with Netherland and Stumbling on Happiness). When I read the back, I thought it sounded kind of like Laura Bush. Turns out the similarity is more than coincidental, and it's essentially a fictional memoir of the former first lady (and our current "neighbor," if you consider people living in much fancier neighborhoods two or three miles away to be your neighbors).

A few months ago I picked up and read Primary Colors. It was only $1 at Half Price Books and a book I'd wanted to read. I think it's been well-established by now that it's about the Bill Clinton campaign.

In an attempt to kill two birds with one stone and save some typing, I've made a helpful reference guide comparing the two books. Please remember that any observations are about the fictional characters, not the real life people they are depicting, even if I decided not to bother with their fictional names. (Click to enlarge)

I'll let you decide which one seems like more fun. Both books are about a character who compromises because he or she thinks it's for the best. Both will make you feel pretty cynical about politics and politicians--but who doesn't feel that way anyway? American Wife is certainly more a relationship drama than a novel of political intrigue but is not for prudes, despite its seemingly wholesome protagonist, while Primary Colors is about the thrill and mudslinging of the campaign trail. Finally, if you are a huge fan or critic of the main characters' real life counterparts, I would recommend you stick to non-fiction. There's no need to get riled up by praise or condemnation of a fictional character.

Why I Live in Dallas

2010-03-14T23:11:00.000-05:00

I'm only about halfway through my next book. It's the City of Dallas' fault. If it weren't so darn nice here, I would have been reading more.

Here are some of the distractions Dallas has thrown at me this week:

Rise No 1 - Ben and I celebrated our anniversary by going to a new-ish restaurant here in Dallas. Rise specializes in souffles. We tried two--the truffle-infused mushroom and a port and pear dessert souffle. Everyone raves about the "marshmallow soup"--which was good even though served at the temperature of lava--but they have the best french onion soup I've ever tasted. If you find yourself in Dallas craving a light but satisfying dinner, I recommend Rise. As long as you let me come with you, of course.
Weather - With temperatures hovering in the mid-70s for the past few days, the out of doors has been tempting. Three kids I'll estimate at 10 years old even joined Ben and I as we tossed around a frisbee at the park down the block from our apartment. Part of me wanted to warn the kids they shouldn't play with strangers, but hopefully they are just good judges of character. (Note: I took a class during college to learn how to throw a frisbee. It was my required "wellness" course, and it met at 11 pm on Thursdays. Seriously. It finally came in handy, as I was able to teach the kids to throw the frisbee so it flips upside down; it's a great advertisement for the benefits of higher education.)
Dallas Stars - Wednesday night we met up with a friend at a team sponsored watching party. I prefer to watch hockey on TV in the comfort of my home, where the refreshments are free (or at least cheaper) and I can pause the game on the DVR. However, the benefit of the watching party is that they give away free things. Ben won a puck autographed by Stephane Robidas and I won a hat and lower bowl tickets to today's game.
E-Clinic Emergency Vet - My sister's dog Blueberry cut himself while they were out for a walk on Tuesday night, and there was a night and weekend vet clinic nearby. He is now recovering nicely.
Shopping - There are 25 square feet of retail for each person in Dallas. Sometimes this is a reason NOT to like Dallas, as it is all a part of the materialistic culture. However, if you are looking for something, you can generally find it at your desired price point. We hit several stores this weekend, including one of our new favorites (Nordstrom Rack). Dallas does need to get an H&M though.
Proximity to family - Although Dallas is about six hours away from home, it's a drivable distance even for a weekend trip. My parents and two youngest sisters are coming down for Spring Break for most of this week, and I'm very excited to have them here.

Perhaps it is all excuses, but part of me thinks that the "random things Darci is up to" posts might be more interesting than the ones about my latest read, if more narcissistic.

Stumbling on Happiness

2010-03-07T22:37:00.000-06:00

If you enjoy reading those articles about the latest strange discovery by psychology researchers, you will love Daniel Gilbert's book. It is 263 pages of "that's really interesting," a string of anecdotes about the things that people don't realize about themselves. It's well-researched, as far as I can tell, but written in a funny, informal style.

On one hand, the book is a bit depressing--essentially, studies show that people are really bad at knowing what makes them happy. However, the fascinating aspects outweighed that for me.

Two parts in particular resonated with me. The first is that our now selves have a really difficult time determining what our future selves will want, even though we most of our decisions are for the benefit of our future selves rather than the here and now. We put money in our 401(k) instead of blowing it on a trip around the world because we want to retire comfortably, but our 70 year old self is disappointed we didn't have more exciting experiences when we were young enough to enjoy them. Now, clearly we can't live in the moment and have to make decisions for the benefit of that stranger waiting for us in the future, but it does explain that moment when you look back 5-10-15 years in the past and say, "Why did I ever think I would(n't) want to do that?" (In my life, see my young self's resistance to sushi and quickly abandoned plans to major in Communications.)

The second is that the reason we sometimes feel much worse about little things is that our emotional immune system doesn't kick in. When something horrible happens to threaten our self worth, our mind starts generating rationalizations--she was having a bad day, he was just joking, they're a bunch of idiots. It happens so automatically we don't realize it's a justification and can believe it. But the small things don't trigger the same defense mechanisms, which is why we have trouble getting over the tiny slights (like the sales manager at work who once condescendingly called me "sweetheart" on the phone--I still regret not hanging up on him) and sometimes resent people more for insults to our loved ones than to ourselves (as much as we'd like to think it's just because we're selfless).

In short, a fast, fun read that will provide you with much psychological trivia.

Personal note: Tomorrow I celebrate my second anniversary with my wonderful husband. I am a very blessed woman, and it's a safe bet that my future self won't disagree with my now self on that fact.

USA! USA! USA!

2010-02-21T22:10:00.000-06:00

I was going to try to keep the hockey to a minimum when I re-started the blog, but I can't resist.

The US men's hockey team just beat Canada! I'm not sure I'd call it a "miracle" (or even a "Millercle" as twitterers are doing in honor of the US goalie), but that was a truly amazing game. It was like 60 minutes of overtime. I was possibly too invested.

The Olympic hockey tournament just got even more interesting.

Netherland by Joseph O'Neill

2010-02-21T00:03:00.001-06:00

I didn't notice until after I started reading it, but my most recent read has a very famous and powerful fan. The book had a lot of stickers on it, and I was so distracted by the square one touting it as "Buy 2, Get the 3rd FREE" that I missed the red circular one right over the title.

That's a Presidential sticker of approval!

It's a bit of an odd choice for an American president, really, as there are precious few Americans in it. The narrator Hans, a Dutch financial analyst and his wife, an English attorney (or should I say barrister?) move to New York from London. Their marriage falls apart, with Rachel taking their son back to England after 9/11, purportedly due to the danger but really because of the growing space between them. Hans finds solace in the city, cricket, and a cricket umpire/entrepreneur named Chuck Ramkissoon--the only American in the book, having earned his citizenship after immigrating from Trinidad.

We learn early in the book that Hans moves back to London after several years in NY, and that Chuck has been murdered. Oddly, the book mostly ignores this grisly fact; it's clear that Chuck is involved in shady dealings, but the book is not a whodunit or an exploration of how things went wrong for an ambitious man. It's primarily about the dislocation people feel--dislocation between home and residence, between morality and expedience, and between love and disgust.

I didn't enjoy the book quite as much as Mr. Obama apparently did. It was interesting, but it doesn't feel like a book that will stick with me. It certainly tells a story about an unlikely friendship and hints at the complexity of America and Americaness--but to what end? It's a book that asks for rumination, but I couldn't connect with the things it was asking me to ponder. I've never been outside the country, let alone lived as an expatriate. It may be a book that I read the first time and don't quite connect with, then read again at a different point in my life and feel it's speaking directly to me.

Bonus knowledge: The book led me to do a little research about something that had long confused me--do Dutch people come from Holland or the Netherlands? Turns out that people are usually wrong when they say Holland---it's akin to referring to the United States as California or New York. The country is properly called the Netherlands, and Holland is but a large and commercially important part of the country where most of the big cities are. It started out as an honest mistake (most international traders did work with sailors who were Hollanders, and thus referred to the country of origin as Holland) but it's stuck over centuries.

Love and Books

2010-02-14T21:31:00.000-06:00

I started strong with the revitalized blog, but this week conspired to be a bit busy.

My dad and youngest two sisters came in town Thursday night, so we had to get the house in visitor-friendly shape---then entertain our guests once they arrived. Meanwhile, Dallas received an astronomical 12+ inches of snow. Then the Olympics started. My reading list has suffered as a result of all this activity.

Since I'm only about halfway through my next book (Netherland), I will provide a consolation prize in honor of Valentine's Day: some recommendations of books on love.

"It's better to have loved and lost:" On Love by Alain de Botton. This is love that doesn't end well, but it's an experience the narrator wouldn't have given up. (500) Days of Summer if it took place in London with less hipstery people.

A woman's love for her country: The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell. A book about loving something that also drives you crazy---like America. Laugh out loud funny with sobering truths about the necessary evils of politicians and the media buried inside. Not recommended for die-hard conservatives. Bonus trivia: the author, a one-time contributor for This American Life, is also the voice of Violet in the Disney movie The Incredibles.

Love of life and the world: Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. "After that, how unbelievable death was!--that it must end; and no one in the whole world would know she had loved it all: how, every instant..." This a book for anyone who has ever had that feeling that the world is so beautiful it hurts a little. For those who think they wouldn't like Virginia Woolf, if you liked the first 1/3 of Atonement (a book that deserves a post of its own someday), you will like Mrs. Dalloway.

Love, stereotypically: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. It's a cliche, but a deserving one.

If inquiring minds want to know, my Valentine gave me season 2 of Pushing Daisies today---a wonderfully adorable show about an unlikely romance. I'll have to squeeze some episodes in when I'm not watching bobsledding or downhill skiing over the next two weeks.

When We Were Orphans

2010-02-08T21:50:00.000-06:00

I finished reading Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans last night. It was a disappointment.

About 1/3 of the way through, my friend Hilary, who had recommended I read some Ishiguro, noted that it was her least favorite of his books. She probably had told me that before I bought it at Half Price Books, but it was too late by the time she told me the second time.

Part of the problem may be that I don't know enough about Shanghai in the 1920s-1930s, the opium trade, or the clashes between the Japanese and Chinese. The rest of the problem is that I find Christopher Banks unbelievable. The main character is allegedly a "renowned London detective," yet he seems lacking in self-awareness and intuition, particularly as the book builds to a climax. He is the Michael Scott of detectives---socially awkward without fully realizing it, arrogant if well-meaning, and selfishly insistent on his own childish way.

This is established early in the book, as he reflects on an upcoming event to be attended by the rich and important personages of the day: "I was aware, of course, that this particular evening would be on a different level from anything I had ever attended at university; that I might well, moreover, encounter points of custom as yet unfamiliar with me. But I felt sure I would, with my usual vigilance, negotiate any such difficulties, and in general acquit myself well." (page 12, Vintage paperback edition) Yet, when he struggles socially during the evening, he can't accept that the fault is more than marginally his own, and decides he has "every right to despise the people around [him]...they were for the most part greedy and self-seeking, lacking any idealism or sense of public duty." (page 14)

On one hand, it's a beautifully written book and Ishiguro does a fine job painting a picture of a particular type of person. It's understandable that a child raised by expatriates, orphaned at a young age, and sent to live in his "native" but completely unfamiliar country would have trouble fitting in and be hampered by self-absorption. His self-importance is explained by his idealism and his professional triumphs. The issue I have is that I can't quite understand how he could be a successful detective when so hobbled by his seeming inability to see things from other points of view. When things don't go his way, his reaction is to lash out at the people around him--even those trying to help him in the endeavor of the moment--and assert that he knows better.

Of course, I could be just as misled as Christopher, insisting the character makes no sense when I'm too blind to see a deeper truth.

Dressmaking dummy

2010-02-07T17:02:00.001-06:00

I am a bit of an amateur seamstress.

I come by it naturally--except for the amateur part. One grandma has made amazing doll clothes for as long as I can remember--so amazing she sells them at craft shows, antique malls, and even a boutique in Branson if I'm remembering properly. She and my great aunt made the veil for my wedding, my Junior year prom dress, prairie dresses so I could dress up like Laura Ingalls Wilder/Anne Shirley, and a medieval dress for a choir event. Another grandma crochets when she's not painting ceramics. I've heard stories about my great-grandma, who was such a talented seamstress she would make clothes for my mom just by looking at them in stores.

Every few months the combination of genes and childhood experiences coalesces into the desire to create something. My first big attempt at voluntary sewing a cover for a chair I bought at the DAV before I left for college. Grandma Mary Lou helped me create a zebra slipcover. It was pretty awesome. That $5 chair is actually still sitting in our living room, although the zebra is starting to look a bit worn. For some time after that, my only projects were house related--pillows, curtains, reupholstering a couch.

Then I found some adorable fabrics and started making little purses and tote bags. Friends and family had these showered upon them. They humored me like the fantastically kind people they are.

I made my nephew a patchwork blanket. Then I made myself one from the purse scraps. Ben adopted it as his own, even though the primary color was pink. I decided to save my poor blankie from Ben by making him one in the fall.

Late in the fall, I crossed over. I decided to attempt to make clothing. I made an open, semi-wrap cardigan from excess fabric from Ben's blanket. I ended up making another for my youngest sister. Encouraged by my success, I decided to make a skirt.

My budding confidence misled me, as the skirt was mostly a failure. I don't really believe in patterns---partially because they are so expensive but also because it was easier to copy clothes I already owned rather than trying to be my own living dressform. I took a stack of paper grocery sacks (thanks, Whole Foods!), pulled out my favorite pencil skirt, and started tracing. The concept was solid, the execution beyond shaky. The skirt looked fine from the front, but the back was a disaster. I read through half a dozen online blogs about how to install zippers and still managed to make a spectacular mess of it, leading to a disaster of unflattering pleats, a back seam that zigs madly inward as if the skirt's only dream is to be a skort, and a gaping hole at the base of the zipper. I shoved it into a sack in the guest room and swore off zippers.

Then my sartorial muse showed up again and I decided to take another stab at clothing. I planned to avoid my toothed foe by recreating a pullover dress I bought on clearance that's made of a stretchy, almost sweatshirt-like jersey. I've worn it to work, to the symphony, to church, out to dinner. It's the fabulous everydress. However, Max Azria apparently has more extensive fabric choices than I do, as my choices were either nice non-stretchy fabric or paper thin polyester cheapness.

I chose a black and white boucle, and faced the fact that I had doomed myself not only to installing a zipper, but an invisible zipper.

However, my courage was rewarded. It took a solid Saturday, but I managed to make a dress. I found an online tutorial on invisible zippers that was more useful than all the regular zipper ones I'd read before. Had it not been written in 2006 I would have e-mailed the writer with probably frightening gratitude.

The end result is below. I need to take it in a bit on the top, but I think it's pretty impressive for my first try at a dress.

The Blind Side

2010-02-06T11:34:00.001-06:00

In honor of Oscar season, I thought I would start out with a book that is also a nominated movie.

I'll admit I was not convinced on this whole "The Blind Side" movie thing. Looked a little too hokey and feel-good for me, although everyone who has seen it swears up and down that it's worth seeing. I should probably trust my friends and family, but instead I remained a skeptic--until I found out that the book was written by Michael Lewis.

Unless you are interested in finance and/or a man, you may not have heard of Michael Lewis. I loved Moneyball so much, despite it being about baseball, that I (very) briefly had fantasies of diving into the field of statistics. Liar's Poker seemed less polished to me, although eerily prescient of the current economic crisis despite it being published in 1989 due to its talk of collapsing investment banks, mortgage-backed securities, etc. To borrow a phrase from Battlestar Galactica, this has all happened before and it will happen again.

Anyway, I decided that I should embrace The Blind Side when I discovered I could absorb it in book rather than movie form as I trusted ML not to be too sappy or emotionally manipulative. I received it from my Secret Santa at Spencer family Christmas (thanks, Jennifer!), and read it a few weeks ago.

What I liked about the book was its frankness. The Touhy family adpots Michael Oher, and it's not perfect. They make mistakes, Michael makes mistakes. They swing between selfless do-goodery and uncomfortable materialism---Leanne buys Michael his first bed at least in part so he won't ruin the $10,000 couch he was sleeping on before moving in permanently. The academic in me is appalled by some shameless exploitation of grade point average loopholes using the questionable academic standards for online courses at BYU. Plus, I don't like seeing kids looking at college as a necessary evil to make it to the NFL (or anywhere else); young people should have dreams, but not at the expense of their development as thinking adults. However, I think it's admirable that this family welcomed a teenager into their home and made the dream of the NFL--and a career outside of crime--a reality, and I'm happy that the book wasn't a saccharine canonization of a rich white family.

I also now know what a left tackle is, and can say semi-knowledgeable things like "What was Flozell Adams thinking? Did you see Tony Romo get floored by that blind side sack?"

Best chapter: Chapter 11, Freak of Nurture. After hundreds of pages of "now," we finally get some backstory on Michael's early life. It is very sad, but ultimately uplifting. The fact that he endured so much yet managed to never give up hope is inspiring--as is the fact that sometimes people do the right thing for near strangers just because it's the right thing, and that it's sometimes a chain reaction of people doing the right thing that leads to great things.

Unexpected tie in to my life: FedEx CEO Fred Smith makes a cameo. Although really that shouldn't have been much of a surprise given its setting among the wealthy Memphis elite.

Most memorable quotation: Oddly, it's from the acknowledgments at the end of the book. It made me laugh, although Ben didn't think it was nearly as funny as I did. "Delvin Lane would count as my highest-ranking friend in the Gangster Disciples, if he hadn't relinquished his title as gang leader. When Delvin was Born Again, and decided to dedicate his life to Christ, he assumed he might be killed in the bargain. (The penalty for a senior figure quitting the Gangster Disciples was, typically, death.) So, I'm grateful, I suppose, to the other Gangster Disciples for making an exception of Delvin, and permitting him to live, and to educate me." (page 338, paperback edition)

Has anyone else read the book? Should I relent and go see the movie?

Restarting the blog

2010-02-06T11:10:00.000-06:00

I've decided to jump back into blogging with an updated format. Since "Random things I'm thinking about plus updates on Dallas Stars hockey" are not terribly interesting or focused blog ideas, I'm going to base most of my posts around books I'm reading or have read. I'll include occasional updates on what I'm doing when I'm not reading, but I think that having some guiding principles will help me out.

I will be open to suggestions on books I should read or other topics I should write about,so feel free to comment. (Although I don't mind innocuous stalkers.)

In the words of Tobias, "let the great experiment begin!"

The Final Countdown

2007-04-29T22:01:00.000-05:00

I was watching overtime of the Buffalo Sabres/New York Rangers game today, and at some point they played "The Final Countdown" in Madison Square Garden--on the organ. It was a glorious moment for one of the best worst songs ever. This prompted a conversation with a friend over other appropriate instruments (apart from the original synthesizer) worthy of playing Europe's greatest hit. We came up with the following list:

1) Accordion
2) Kazoo
3) Bagpipes

I am totally open to any other creative ideas. Also any thoughts on "The Final Countdown" in general and its inspired use in Arrested Development in particular.

One Year

2007-04-22T22:11:00.000-05:00

Last night I celebrated the one year anniversary of meeting my boyfriend. We cheesily retraced our steps to our seemingly random meeting. He'd gone with some friends to the SMU MFA show in Mockingbird Station and followed the event up with a drink at Trinity Hall. I was at Trinity Hall to celebrate with a friend who had just finished the MCAT. By chance, these two groups of friends happened to overlap, and the boyfriend ended up sitting next to me because he'd heard me mention something about Kansas (he's from Kansas as well). 4 hours later he left with my phone number, and the rest is more or less history. (Is one year history?)

Anyway, the hows and whys are unimportant. What's amazing is that one year both seems like a very short and very long period of time. I can't believe it was a whole year ago, but at the same time, it's hard to remember what it was like before I met him.

This has been a brief sappy and oddly personal break from the hockey blogging to which I have earlier subjected all 1.5 readers of this blog.

Series 1, Game 3

2007-04-16T19:42:00.000-05:00

Stars lost game three last night, as they are wont to lose games when I am personally in attendance. They played 2 good periods, then couldn't complete a pass to save their playoff lives in the third. Then overtime, and anyone who follows playoff hockey knows what happens when the Stars end up in overtime (hint: they lose).

It was unfortunate, but the Canucks must still win 2 more games. Stars just need to win 3 more before then.

Series 1, Games 1 & 2

2007-04-13T23:35:00.000-05:00

I'm spending far too much time watching hockey lately, so any blog updates will be probably be playoff related. I apologize.

Game 1:
Stars lose 5-4 in the 4th overtime. I was up until 2:30 am b/c by the time I fully realized how late it was I was too committed to give up. What if I went to bed and missed it after investing hours upon hours in watching the game?

Of course, I wish I would have just gone to bed when they lost. 3 hours of sleep is insufficient. Was so tired the next day at work that I drank the horrible work coffee.

Game 2:
Turco shuts out the Canucks on home ice.

Now it gets interesting...game 3 on Sunday.

Stanley Cup Playoffs

2007-04-11T20:51:00.000-05:00

It's Stanley Cup playoff time! Pretty excited, even though I have this horrible sinking feeling in my stomach when I think that perhaps Playoff Marty will show up in goal instead of Regular Season Marty and the Stars season will be over in the next week or so. [perish the thought!]

Regardless, it's good times. Even if you're not a hockey fan, you should check some games out. They are being televised sporadically (as are all NHL games) on Versus, NBC, and/or your local television affiliates if you are so fortunate as to share a city with a playoff bound team. Before you complain that you don't understand hockey, do some Wikipedia research on the rules and flip on the TV to immerse yourself. Trust me, it's a better way to spend your weekend afternoons than watching whatever terrible movie TBS is showing on infinite repeat.

I'll be at the first Stars home playoff game Sunday night, representing Zubie and sitting next to the recently indoctrinated boyfriend.

AFI Dallas

2007-03-31T10:43:00.000-05:00

I've spent the last week primarily at the AFI Dallas International Film Festival. I managed to see 4 films/film programs. Thought I'd put some short summaries/reviews up here.

The Go-Getter:
Directed by Martin Hynes. 19 year-old Mercer steals a car and goes on a road trip to find his half-brother and tell him that their mom died. What follows is a trip down the Pacific coast and through the American West, accompanied in turn by a slutty girl from his past, a salesman who doesn't take crap from anyone, and the voice, via cellphone, of the girl who owns the car he stole. Overall, a great movie. Beautifully shot, well-acted, great soundtrack by M. Ward. Definitely had an indie movie feel, but not too pretentious. Kind of like a road trip version of Garden State.

Shorts Program 2:
Nice mix of drama, comedy, and horror. I particularly enjoyed "Duck Man" and "Troll Concerto." "BITCH" was hilarious. "Lump" was ridiculously disturbing (I spent the last 5 minutes of that movie squirming, but I guess that just means that the surgery scenes were really well done). "Wanted," "The Listening Dead," and "Last Night" were okay. Still, I have to say that some expert eyes, ears, and taste must have been used to select the movies...Sarah Harris, programming coordinator, sure did a kickass job.
(Full disclosure note: I'm friends with the talented Ms. Harris.)

The Rocket:
Directed by Charles Biname. Biopic of Maurice "The Rocket" Richard. It was a beautiful film. Also, if you're a hockey fan, an educational film. I learned a lot that I didn't know about Quebec history (I later did some research on "The Quiet Revolution") and a lot I didn't know about mid-century hockey history. It was released in Canada last year and is due for American theaters in a few months.

Midlothia:
Directed by Bill Sebastian. Don't be mislead by the high rating on IMDB. The theater was packed with fans of this movie, mainly b/c everyone knew someone in it. The three people I went with knew the director/screenwriter/actor, and according to the three of them, the movie was terrible. I thought the plot was tiresome, the dialogue misguided, and the acting occasionally stilted. My boyfriend dubbed it "THE WORST MOVIE [HE'D] EVER SEEN." When I told him that he had to be exaggerating, he would only reiterate his opinion: "I've walked out of better movies." I was silently laughing for the last 30 minutes of the movie. [Spoiler Warning] The movie tagline says, "It's kind of like therapy, only with guns and booze." In actuality, it was like a bad soap opera, just a series of shocking revelations about this group of four drunk friends (apparently sponsored by Shiner, beer of Texans!). He's leaving! She has a gun! He kisses her! He's not leaving! He's getting married! She's a slut! He has a shotgun! He's colorblind! He's gay! He loves him! He's committed suicide! He's NOT committed suicide! She got an abortion! He hates him! He's an alcoholic! She hates him! She didn't get an abortion! He's leaving! He's making the gay guy leave! She wrote a story about a girl who gets an abortion...and then there are aliens! (in the story, not the movie, thankfully) He leaves! Other people stand there! Seriously, terrible movie. Towards the end I started irreverently whispering possible new revelations into my boyfriend's ear. (He's dying of cancer! His wife and kids are fictional! He loves the gay guy back!) We all bailed prior to the Q&A, where we may not have been able to hide our dislike of the movie. There were some good things about the movie. There were about 7 good lines. Some of the shots were interesting. Some actors were better than others. It was a movie based on a play, which is difficult to do well. Still, all in all I would have preferred to see Diggers, our original plan.

Thoughts on Shopping

2007-03-13T20:34:00.000-05:00

A friend related a story in which an acquaintance was appalled at the price of engagement rings; he'd figured he could get something nice in the $199 range. [No one should start trying to figure out who is shopping for rings; this is definitely a friend of a friend of a friend kind of story. It's no one you know.] All you girls out there know precisely how ridiculous that assumption was. I'm not of the camp that says engagement rings need to cost thousands of dollars, but under $200 is pretty unrealistic, as any girl who has ever built a ring at age 17 on www.adiamondisforever.com knows.

When continuing my conversation with this friend (who told me about the hapless fellow looking for bargain basement rings) originally agreed with his friend's shock at prices. However, after complaining about absurdity of the expense and even getting me to agree, he eventually changes his mind entirely and decided that it's not something you want to scrimp on.

This led me to think about men, women, and the different shopping styles associated with each. These aren't universal, but I've certainly seen them in action many times.

The typical man's shopping cycle:
1) Be shocked at price.
2) Gripe about price.
3) When told that there are bargains to be had if you take some time, scorn them as low quality.
4) Declare that if you're going to do something, you should do it right.
5) Buy first thing you see/like in first store you go to without regard to price (or, if you are my dad, buy two of whatever is 2 for 1).
6) Staunchly defend purchase as smart choice, even if absurdly impractical/expensive.

The typical woman's shopping cycle:
1) Accurately guess price prior to looking at tag because you've researched.
2) Think it's a little pricey, but a fair price considering niceness.
3) Scour every store in mall looking for equal/better alternative at lower price.
Path a:
4a) Via clearance racks, buy 4 things for price of initial nice, full priced thing.
5a) When someone compliments you on something, say, "Yeah, i got it on sale! It was like $7!" in tone of pride even if it's 3 years later.
Path b:
4b) Fail at finding alternative, so go back and buy at full price.
5b) Feel slightly bad.
6b) Love it inordinately to make up for splurge.
7b) Forget exactly how much you paid 2 weeks after purchase, remembering it at a lower price each time you think about it.

Reasons for my lack of updates

2007-02-18T22:48:00.000-06:00

There are a number of things that seem to eat up all my time/blogging instincts.

1) Boyfriend
2) Friends of both girl and boy persuasions
3) Hockey
4) TiVo
5) No one reads this (and I don't blame them)

Add to all of that the amount of time I spend working each week, and you can get an idea of why I never update this.

Maybe I will try harder. Maybe.

No Update

2006-12-04T20:07:00.000-06:00

So, I haven't updated in a really long time. I don't have anything particularly interesting to share, so I'll jot down some random thoughts I've had lately. (Query: Can you "jot down" on a computer? Since the computer is not really "down," is it more like "jot up"?)

1) Dallas at night is creepy. Not b/c it has one of the highest crime rates of any large city, but b/c cloudy nights are actually much brighter than clear nights. The city lights bounce off the clouds and bathe the city in a slightly horrifying orange glow. It's like night in some old movies, where people turn off the bedside light and it somehow magically becomes brighter in the bedroom.

2) I have 20 days left to shop for Christmas and have bought 2.17 presents. That is one full present for a someone, 2/3 of a present for someone else, and a half present for a third person.

3) I spent a week at home in Kansas. It confirmed exactly how much I miss my family. Sometimes I feel about 7 years old. There are days I just want to live at home and have my parents feed me and take care of me and my little sisters entertain me.

4) I got to sit on the 7th row at a Dallas Stars hockey game. It was another opportunity for me to feel 7. You could hear the players yelling things to each other! And hear the puck thumping off the goalie! And watch the players' faces! It was awesome, even if I couldn't really see the other end of the ice and if the Stars lost 0-3 to the Islanders and their 15 year goalie.

That's all for now. I'll try to be better.

Hockey!

2006-09-19T20:35:00.000-05:00

Pre-season hockey has started. Ridiculously giddy over the prospect.

Yes, I know I'm strange. I don't care.

Go Stars!

More from Facebook

2006-09-10T17:39:00.000-05:00

After a rather embarrassing outing against the University of North Texas, some SMU students have mobilized to create a Facebook group: SMU football is dead to me.

The group info is as follows:

"We stayed strong through a winless season. We felt joy in three wins. We charged the field with pride after TCU. But this is too much.

"We've been drinking the kool-aid for too long. A thrashing by North Texas after so much offseason hype and so many promises is just too much. We quit.

"We'll come back to SMU football if:
1. Phil Bennett fires Offensive Coordinator Rusty Burns.
2. SMU fires Phil Bennett.
3. We somehow, miraculously, make it to a conference championship or bowl game.

"Until then we'll find another team to support. Maybe soccer, or something. "

I won't be joining this group, b/c SMU football isn't QUITE dead to me. It's getting there, though. Phil Bennett is a nice guy and all, and he's had a rough life, but SMU football is really, really awful.

Good thing we're not playing TCU this year. It would sting giving back that Iron Skillet.

Enid Collins

2006-09-04T16:45:00.000-05:00

This weekend I went thrift store shopping. I discovered one of the joys of living in Texas: the serendipitous discovery of an Enid Collins box bag.

"Who is Enid Collins?" you ask. She was a woman who began designing purses in Medina, TX in 1959. Her little home business grew into a booming enterprise of quirky purses that have now become major collector items for aficionados of vintage accessories. I had no idea until my vintage-wise friend became obsessed by Collins of Texas' distinctive "box bags" a few months ago. Each design has a name. Mine is "for the birds!" and has 5 multicolored birds painted on the front. My find isn't one of the flashier, plastic jewel-studded creations, but it is still delightfully eccentric and probably worth more than the $5 I paid for it if I decided to put it up on ebay.

P.S. If you ever stumble upon a wooden box purse at a garage sale, thrift store, or your grandmother's closet, you can determine if it is an Enid Collins by looking on the inside for "Collins of Texas." The majority of the purses were designed with a mirror on the inside. Sometimes the mirrors are gone, but you will see a space where one was. It will usually have the design title written on the lower left corner. Most, particularly the older ones, will have an an "ec" logo in the lower right corner of the design; 1970s ones have "Collins of Texas" instead. She also designed canvas totes with wooden bottoms.

Bad blogger

2006-07-18T21:50:00.000-05:00

So, I have not updated in a long time. Terrible.

Nothing to report.

Random thoughts after a long absence

2006-06-04T22:47:00.000-05:00

Has anyone else noticed the disclaimer at the bottom of the screen in the VW Passat commercial? It says "Do not throw megaphones or metaphors out your window." If you have to have warnings for stupid people, the least you can do is include a joke. Props to them.

The Mavs are in the NBA Finals for the first time in their history. Although I would much rather see the Stars in the Stanley Cup Finals, I'll take the Mavs over nothing. If Mark Cuban makes it out of the series alive I'll be surprised. He is going to have a stroke or fall victim to a heart attack or be beat to death by the Miami fans.

Speaking of the Miami Heat, I really hate the whole "white out" thing at their games. All white is creepy. As John noted, it's more like a cult than anything. Very, very disturbing.

With that, I'm out.

Everyone thinks they have good taste and a sense of humor...

2006-05-15T19:32:00.000-05:00

I was just watching TV, and a commercial for a furniture store called The Arrangement was shown.

They advertised wagon wheel coffee tables.

The initiated do not need any further details.

Bad blogger

2006-05-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. I just have nothing terribly interesting to share.

Most exciting part of my day:
I found Krunchers! chips at the store. I am ridiculously happy about this. My family used to get them all the time when I was little. They are thick cut kettle cooked chips that have been made since before kettle cooked chips were cool. In addition, they are virtually the only chips in America not made by Frito Lay...yet they STILL go well with Pepsi.

I also bought sloppy-looking, cargo-esque pants from Gap with my birthday gift card. I suppose that was fun. My wardrobe is becoming increasingly polarized between nice work clothes and scrubby casual clothes.

Least exciting part of my day:
Everything not related to Krunchers! or the Gap.

Immaculate Conception in the Heartland

2006-05-05T18:52:00.000-05:00

Today I was repeatedly confronted with the news that Kansas had passed a law setting 15 as the minimum age of marriage. CNN reported it in a fairly nonjudgmental manner, merely explaining the circumstances and stating the facts. MSNBC.com had the much more inflammatory title "Kansas sets minimum marriage age at 15 (it was 0!)" as if Kansans have been marrying off infants for generations. My friend John sent me a link to the article, asking if I'd seen it and wondering who the 4 senators who voted against the measure were and why they would vote against such a measure. I related a list of fairly snarky reasons, making fun of some of the ridiculous stereotypes attached to the fair state of my birth.

However, his question piqued my interest. I went to the trusty kansas.com, home of the Wichita Eagle, to see if I could find some details on the debate surrounding the bill. Little did I know that truth was indeed stranger than fiction. This article cites a conversation with Sen. Kay O'Connor (R-Olathe) in which she notes that she voted against the minimum age because "many historians believe that the blessed Virgin Mary was 14 when she was married."

Upon hearing this, I was quite concerned. How terrible! If a young girl in Kansas immaculately conceives before the age of 15, she will have to give birth to that child outside of wedlock. Clearly, Kansas is thwarting the divine work of our Lord. The state will not go unpunished! It will be cast into the pits of fire along with the land of the Sodomites (San Francisco?) and the proud towers of new Babylon (Las Vegas?). It would have been much better to let creepy older men travel to Kansas make honest women out of the little girls they have impregnated through statutory rape.

Laura Miller

2006-05-04T21:10:00.000-05:00

Laura Miller, the mayor of Dallas, is attempting to push through a $50 million bond to upgrade the Cotton Bowl. The Cotton Bowl is a giant, old, rarely used stadium in Fair Park.

Yet she publicly said she was against having the George W. Bush library awarded to SMU. There are lots of reasons that the Bush library could be bad for SMU (just talk to the English department), but I still don't think that the mayor should campaign against a prestigious, tourism-producing establishment being awarded to her city, particularly when I sincerely doubt it would cost the city $50 million. It would just cost donors and the (private) University millions upon millions of dollars rather than pouring money into a giant decades old stadium that is used 3 times a year.

Requiem for a Season

2006-04-30T18:28:00.000-05:00

Today, the Dallas Stars' season ended. I witnessed this event from a seat in the American Airlines Center. I was there when Jussi scored with his trademark shootout move, when 50 shots bounced off Jose Theodore, when 20,000 people sat shakily anticipating overtime, and when that puck somehow got by poor beleaguered Turco.

Despite the disappointingly abrupt end to this season, I will remember it fondly, for it is the season I became more than a casual fan. It is the season in which I went to my first game, bought my first piece of fan memorabilia, and learned the words to the Dallas Stars fight song by Pantera. I learned the names of all the NHL teams, the rules of the new NHL and the some of the traditions of the old, and the names, numbers, and on-ice personalities of the Stars players.

There is much hockey left to played for other teams this playoff season. I wish them all well (except for the Avs).

As for the Stars, I'll see them in about 5 months.

Addison, TX and why it is absurd

2006-04-29T11:56:00.000-05:00

I live in a tiny, northern bump of Dallas proper wedged between two suburbs: Richardson and Addison. Richardson is a typical Dallas suburb. Lots of families, houses, schools, churches, and a smattering of office buildings. Addison is a different breed. I have lived about one block from Addison for nearly a year now, and I have yet to see a church, a school, a non-huge house, or a family. I have seen lots of restaurants, bars, fancy condos, ostentatious corporate headquarters, and yuppies though. It is a land without God, educational entities, or people outside of Nielsen's favorite age demographic.

To be fair: This is what Addison wants to be. It's massively convenient. They have about 200 restaurants crammed into 4.3 square miles, yet they still have a beautiful park with trees and fountains and promenades and bizarre massive pseudo-artistic structures. Nestled between a corporate airport, office buildings, and one of those retail-residential-restaurant complexes of which Dallas is so fond. (See Addison Circle, Mockingbird Station, and the West Village for a few examples.) Until I realized the disturbing lack of children, schools, and churches in Addison I was completely sold. You can almost walk around, and once they install the DART rail as early as 2030 (the "ambitious" date given in a recent Dallas Morning News article) it will allow people to car-lessly commute. Not that many people will, it being Dallas, but that's another post altogether.

All of this is a bit strange for a city, but the final straw is the Addison Beverage Center (ABC). Nestled just past the southern city limit of Addison is a couple of run-down liquor stores. There is a tiny sign driven into the street median confirming that you have indeed reached the Addison Beverage Center. At the end of the block, just past these fine establishments, is a stuffy brick and gold letter sign informing you that you have entered the Town of Addison. (I can't reproduce the small caps used, but trust me, it is plenty imposing.) Why they didn't just bother to put down train tracks to indicate that you are indeed on the wrong or right side of said tracks is beyond me. According to the website, the ABC has many retailers, many with specialized stocks, but I saw the dependable Hasty Beverages and Goody Goody Liquor, the K-Marts of alcohol.

Apart from the distinct line between the gilded Addison and the apparently barely tolerated ABC is the hypocrisy of the whole system. I'm sure Addison has town fathers (it doesn't seem like a place with town mothers) who declare that the ABC is there simply for the convenience of shopping within a compact geographic area. Yet the run down nature, the designation with signs, the clear demarcation between Addison and the ABC is too much to not be planned.

I don't blame Addison for not wanting liquor stores being "sin-mongering" eyesores scattered throughout a city that is a poster child for (sub)urban planning. Yet you can go get plastered at any one of those 172 restaurants that Addison so proudly advertises. I'm not a big drinker; I've had about 5 drinks in the past 6 months. I don't particularly care that the city is "dry." What does bother me is the absurdity of the situation. Why the false appearance of uprightness? Why the other-side-of-the-tracks mentality? Why did I feel like I was crossing the border to buy drugs in Tijuana when I picked up a host gift for a friend's party?

Catching Up

2006-04-20T19:04:00.000-05:00

My computer decided to stop letting the internet work, so I haven't been able to post in several days. It has now magically recovered, so I figure I ought to post while I have the chance.

Nothing monumental has occured, but I thought I could follow up on a few topics:

1) Received TV 5 on Saturday. This time I bought an entirely different TV. Things I have discovered since receiving El Cinco:

34">30">13"
Sony>Philips
HDTV>Standard Definition

I have no idea how I have ghetto A/B analog cable yet still receive HD channels. This TV reads channels with decimal places, so all the HD channels are things like "59.3" or "61.2". I will not complain of this unexplained cable/TV miracle, as it allowed me to feel fulfilled by my investment in HDTV which really is clearly better than standard.

Meanwhile, I wrote a letter to Philips purely to make me feel better after getting 4 piece of crap TVs. Ostensibly the letter was "to inform [them] of [their] incompetence," but we really know it was to vent to them. I mean, otherwise I doubt I would have called them incompetent. Is there a greater insult than incompetence? I welcome all comments on that subject. If it's good enough, perhaps I will send angry but calm letter #2 to Philips. Perhaps I will send 4 letters total, once for each broken TV.

2) The Dallas Stars will play the Colorado Avalanche during the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Go Stars. A friend of mine has put together the most elaborate interactive bracket I've ever seen. Check it out and be amazed. My favorite detail is the link to each team's website via their logo. [FYI: The bracket is for a pool. Let me know if you want info, and it's before Friday afternoon. To Homeland Security/other gov't agencies who may be monitoring me: No, of course we are not gambling. That would be wrong. And Un-American.]

3) Food for thought on executive compensation. "If salaries of the average worker had kept up with that of a CEO [from 1990-2005], he or she would be making $110,136. Had the minimum wage risen at the same pace as CEO compensation, it would stand today at $23.01." The article provides some fascinating statistics even if it doesn't really offer any ideas for solutions to this problem (if you agree that it's a problem, because there are arguments to be made that it is not).

4) I'm currently reading a biography of Joseph Smith, the "Mormon Prophet", who wrote/discovered (depending on your religious leanings) the book of Mormon. (My friend John the religious studies major lent it to me when I lent him Saturday.) Not being Mormon, I, like the author, think that Smith wrote rather than discovered the "Golden Bible." While I expected to find the story interesting, I did not expect to find it so disturbing. I had not really thought of the implications of an individual founding a religion that becomes established. It's easy to dismiss the Branch Davidians, the Heaven's Gate followers, and other flash-in-the-pan cults. But something as permanent, respected, and widespread as Mormonism that also formed around a single, charismatic, autocratic leader is something of an anomaly and in many ways is more troubling even if the members aren't wearing matching Nikes and drinking poisoned Kool-Aid. The big question: is it all that different from being a Christian and following the teachings of Jesus? I would say yes because of my personal faith, but it's interesting to ponder how one might feel differently if one were separated from Jesus by the less than 200 years we are separated from Smith.

That's pretty much everything interesting (or not interesting) in my life. I'll try to post more often, not that it really matters, just that I figure I should post semi-regularly if I've committed myself to maintaining a blog.

The Past 5 Days

2006-04-12T17:00:00.000-05:00

So, the three people (estimate) who read my blog are probably wondering where I've been. I know that you are all dying of suspense for my next fascinating post. I don't blame you, I am pretty fascinating.

[Note: It's a good thing you all know me, or you would think I was an arrogant little snot.]

While I did not plan for this to be a blog where I (merely) talk about the banalities of my life, I think that some occasional news about my doings is not totally unwarranted.

Friday:
Went to work, flew to Chapel Hill, NC. Met up with my best friend from high school (Hil), her husband (Graham), and their cat (Binx).

Saturday:
Slept in a bit then ate an authentic Southern brunch complete with grits (verdict: *shrug*). Hil and I got our hair cut then picked up her husband from work and ate sushi. The three of us met up with an old friend from my early years at SMU (Drew). We went to a party with the English grad students and various other UNC-affiliated folk. I drank some "Danger Punch" (grapefruit juice, rum, and something coconut), expressed some opinions about E.M. Forster, pet the cutest corgie I've ever seen, and met a lot of really nice and very interesting people. After that we recruited a few people from the party, ventured out in the rain in search of some low-key revelry, and ended up at the West End Wine Bar on historic Franklin St. After some pinot grigio and conversation, we walked down to the IP3 for some late night pizza. Following the total decimation of a large pizza, we headed back to Hil and Graham's apt for board games.

Sunday:
Spent most of the day shopping and spent entirely too much money. Eventually met up with Graham and Drew for dinner at the inimitable Pepper's Pizza. Was made to drink Pabst Blue Ribbon. Nothing like really cheap beer from a can (Yuengling wasn't an option) with AC/DC blaring in the background. After that we went to Visart Video, rented Wedding Crashers, and closed out the evening.

Monday:
The three of us drove to Wilmington where we ate lunch and did some exploring. Then we drove to Wrightsville Beach. Amazingly enough, it was my first beach trip ever. At low 60s, it was a bit chilly for sunbathing-appropriate clothing, but we walked around on the beach, pretended to suntan, ran up to the ocean for the sake of it, picked up seashells, etc. We ate some amazing frozen custard before we drove back to Chapel Hill, grabbed dinner at Carrburritos (best burritos ever, with amazingly Carlos O'Kelley's-like salsa), and had girls' night in (Graham was banished upstairs).

Tuesday:
Thoroughly explored Chapel Hill, particularly Franklin Street and the UNC campus. Spent the last little bit of time with Hil before another long separation (location-wise, as we communicate multiple times daily), then went to the airport, flew back to Dallas, picked up my cat, and made it back to my apt by 10 pm.

This morning I went back to work. Nothing against work, but it is indeed inferior to vacation.

Weekend in two days.

Meanwhile, I need to find TV 5 so that I can return TV 4. (TV 4 doesn't work perfectly either, although it is the least broken of the 4 TVs.) Tonight, however, is slated for recovery. I had a great long weekend, but I'm exhausted.

Turnover, Max Barry, and France

2006-04-01T12:02:00.000-06:00

Currently, young people in France are staging riots to defeat a proposition to make it possible to fire employees under 26 within 2 years of employment. Not just in France, but throughout Europe, 20-somethings graduate from college and not just want, but expect a job for life. In France, not only do dismissals for any reason require large severance payouts, employees can go to court to challenge ANY dismissal--and more often than not, courts rule that the employer does not have the right to fire the worker. These young people experience an unemployment rate of 22%, yet refuse the opportunity to work without assurance of employment indefinitely.

Being a cynical American whose second manger in six months is moving on to bigger and better things, I find the prospect of a job for life not just fanciful, but vaguely horrifying. A job for life? Why on earth does anyone find that appealing? While I would enjoy being guaranteed employment for life, being "stuck" in a job for life seems disturbing to me.

[Notice to Corporate Spies: I have no intention of leaving. I like my job. Don't fire me.]

Then I read a book over the past weekend and wonder if I'm not just putting an idealistic spin on some of those unfortunate conservative impulses that occassionally arise.

Max Barry takes a much darker view on the idea of "employment at will." I don't know what Hewlett-Packard did to him, but the bitterness filling the book he cheekily dedicated to them is pervasive, shocking, and (often) hysterical.

His (condensed) take on the subject:

"There are stories--legends, really--of the 'steady job.' Old-timers gather graduates around the flickering light of a computer monitor and tell stories of how the company used to be, back when a job was for life. [...] The problem with employees, you see, is everything. You have to pay to hire them and pay to fire them, and, in between, you have to pay them. They need business cards. They need computers. They need ID tags and security clearances and phones and air-conditioning and somewhere to sit. [...] They want raises. They want management to notice when they do a good job. They want to know what's going to happen in the next corporate reorganization. And lawsuits! They sue for sexual harrassment, for an unsafe workplace, for discrimination in thirty-two different flavors. For--get this--wrongful termination. Wrongful termination! These people are only here because you've brought them into the corporate world. Suddenly you're responsible to them for life? [...] The old-timers' stories are fairy tales, dreams of a world that no longer exists. They rest on the bizarre assumption that people somehow deserve a job. The graduates know better; they've been taught that they don't" (Company 41-43).

Now, I realize that the complaints of the French and the satire of Max Barry are aimed at different targets--respectively, the government and corporations. Yet the underlying argument is similar. What, precisely, do employers owe employees (and vice-versa)? What is the correct balance between protecting the bottom line and protecting your employees? What is the tipping point between treating your employees like "assets" or "resources" and guaranteeing them employment under any circumstances? Do you scare employees to make them efficient, or do you care about them to make them grateful?

********************************

As far as Company goes, I recommend it with reservations. It's essentially 1984 set in a corporation and somehow made funny. The language is bitingly clever, and the concept is real enough to make a statement but absurd enough you don't have to identify with the characters. The plot started out strong but flagged a bit towards the end. Barry really can't blame himself for the slightly disappointing ending; in order to make his argument he had to write himself into a corner where his only options were to be all Nick Hornby and have no ending, end in despair, or end in ridiculousness.

The New TV: Strike 3

2006-03-28T23:03:00.000-06:00

Tonight Circuit City helpfully replaced malfunctioning TV 2 with TV 3.

Guess what? TV 3 is also broken.

While this TV does turn on (unlike TV 1) and stays on (unlike TV 2), the "normal" screen setting annoyingly flares at the top. It's very minor, only affecting the top inch or so, but it is enough to be obnoxiously noticeable. Intense perusal of the manual (which has mysterious detritus on it) did not provide me a way to fix this. In addition, the remote rattles and has a giant chip in the side of it. To add insult to injury, they brought me the floor TV. While I officially have nothing against floor TVs, replacing my brand new non-working TV with a display model and not offering me at least a perfuctory discount is not exactly pristine business practice.

I have never had such a terrible customer experience in my life. I love this TV, and I don't want a different model. However, I feel that this line must be fundamentally flawed. What does that mean? It means I'm going to get bullied into a more expensive TV (and this one ain't exactly cheap...), make unfortunate delivery people walk up and down the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment with a 122 lb. TV again, and generally be despondent that I couldn't get a single unit of the perfect TV (for me) to work.

Moral of the Story: Don't buy the 30" Widescreen Philips Flat Tube HDTV.

The New TV: Strike 2

2006-03-27T18:47:00.000-06:00

I got the replacement TV. It turns on, but it also shuts itself off within 45-90 minutes after it's turned on. (No, sleep isn't on. I am at least that tech savvy.)

It was only dragged up 5 stairs on a dolly. I suppose that's why it only slightly malfunctions. How many TVs need to be delivered to get one that works? Seriously, nothing should be this hard. Sigh.

(It's lovely though. I just wish it worked properly.)

Mythbusters

2006-03-25T23:09:00.000-06:00

I love the Discovery Channel (except for those "true crime" shows). Yay for something good being on at 11 on a Saturday night even if it's on my tiny television. Any show that shows people trying to start a fire with ice is more than fine by me.

I needed something to replace the brain cells lost while watching "Cheaters." What else is one to do when you get released from family stuff at 9ish on a Saturday, get home from Grand Prairie at 9:45 even with a stop at the trusty B&N, and don't feel like harrassing your friends who are doubtless in the middle of their fab Saturday night plans?

Speaking of B&N, Company by Max Barry wasn't in stock. I read a review and was intrigued. (Yes, I read book reviews. I have to read something when I'm not plowing through the Salman Rushdie tome currently on my nightstand, keeping up with msnbc.com, or perusing the dictionary. Plus, you can only find so many good books by picking ones semi-blindly off shelves at Half-Price Books.) Seriously though...a book about a corporation with a riddle for a mission statement? Vendettas over stolen pastries? Written by an ex-HP marketer? I think it's a must read.

The New TV: Strike 1

2006-03-25T22:08:00.000-06:00

I decided to be a grown-up and upgrade my current TV (Brand: Sansui, Screen: 13") for a reasonably sized TV (Brand: Philips HD, Screen: 30" widescreen) primarily because I was tired of not being able to read the scrolling news updates on CNN or see the hockey puck during Stars games from my desk chair. Today it was to be delivered by Best Buy. The delivery truck arrives early. I am cheered by the apparent efficiency.

I sit in my apartment as they bring the TV up the stairs to my 3rd floor apartment and hear a slightly concerning noise. THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP. They have put my precious new TV on a dolly and are yanking it up the stairs one jarring step at at time. 30 thumps later they arrive at my door and carry the TV into my living room. They remove it from the box, plug it into the wall, attach the cable, press power....and nothing happens. One of the delivery men presses power on the remote. It beeps for a few seconds, but the screen remains blank. After using various outlets, pressing all buttons, and reading through the manual, the TV continues in its infuriating blankness.

I refuse delivery and the delivery people carry the TV back down the stairs after assuring me that delivery of a new TV should be able to be arranged for tomorrow. I immediately call the Customer Service line. After navigating through a veritable labyrinth of pushbutton menus, I am greeted by a semi-friendly customer service rep. After explaining 7 times that the TV doesn't work, I've already sent it back, and that I'm not merely a moron who can't press power, I am able to set up delivery of a new TV. "Okay, ma'am, the first free delivery date we have is April 20th." I ask that the order be cancelled immediately and my money be refunded. Considering that TV one could have been delivered within 4 days of ordering it, I'm not willing to wait a month for TV two when they won't bother to even treat a customer nicely when she has been delivered a faulty (or possibly broken in stair-transit) TV.

So I go to 4 stores all over North Dallas/Plano, feel very depressed upon seeing hundreds of televisions that I'm getting a 30" HD but not flat panel TV when I could be getting a 50" DLP HDTV (they were so much prettier even if they cost 5x more), and finally buy the same TV at another store. The TV actually costs slightly less at Circuit City...but once you add the $50 delivery charge and the Dallas-instead-of-Minnesota sales tax I paid due to internet ordering, I end up paying $2 more.

Supposedly the TV will be delivered tomorrow. Hopefully it will not be delivered broken.

If I see a dolly anywhere near TV two, I will turn into evil high-maintenance customer and demand it be carried up the stairs even if I have to chain myself to the dolly to prevent its use.

Apostrophes

2006-03-21T19:59:00.000-06:00

I saw two horrific miscarriages of grammar and taste tonight. I had to share.

The first on a license plate cover:

"In case of rapture, cars yours!"

While I appreciate your attempt to imply that you are completely righteous and I am a sinner doomed to suffer during the apocalypse with the cold comfort of your awesome ride, I am offended by your total lack of understanding of the English language.

The second on an apartment complex:

"Size matter's. Big 1,2 bedroom's."

The double wrong apostrophe and general tackiness. Impressive. Except, wait, not at all.

Things like this make me sad for humanity--and its lack of humanities knowledge.

Seafood Enchiladas

2006-03-19T18:58:00.000-06:00

Friday night I had a craving for sushi. This is somewhat unusual. People from Kansas tend to distrust all seafood in general and raw seafood in particular, yet occassionally I enjoy some salmon tempura or California rolls.

Anyway, I figure that the fancy grocery store by my apartment has sushi in the deli area. I drive there, run inside in the pouring rain, wander around, and find no sushi whatsoever. I ponder my choices as I sit in my car. I can go home and eat pasta for the 7th day in a row, or I can move forward in my quest for sushi. I decide that I will continue in my search and go to the super fancy grocery store a few miles away. I drive there, run inside in the pouring rain, wander around, and again find no sushi whatsoever. By this point I'm hungry and grouchy, so I decide to buy something else so that I can eat before I run to the airport to pick up a friend. I browse the other ready-made options (aka food for lazy single yuppies). I want to get the ah-mazing vegetarian egg rolls I'd discovered on the last trip to the mecca of fancy food, but decide that I should stick with the fish craving from earlier and branch out to something new. I see that there are "Seafood Enchiladas." I don't particularly like seafood. I really only like crab and salmon. But I figure I should try new things.

I go home and eat my enchiladas of the sea. It was less of a success than one might have hoped.

Moral of the story: Don't try new things, particularly if those things are seafood enchiladas.

Blog Two

2006-03-18T21:27:00.000-06:00

So, blog one was buried under a landslide of personal, professional, and academic demands during my senior year of college. Now that I am out in what is called the real world, I have significantly more time on my hands. I suppose it's one of the benefits of being a soulless cog in the corporate machine: free evenings. I have been told I should take up something useful in my spare time; I should study for the GRE/LSAT (just in case), learn a foreign language (how I lament my loss of my mad Spanish skills!), or take up a hobby (decoupage, bowhunting, etc). In the 10 months since graduation, all I've done is become addicted to hockey and buy a pilates dvd. Thus, due to a lack of motivation to do anything useful and fear of feeling shamed for the stagnation of my current life, I am going to start a blog.

We'll see how the second attempt goes. I have only three goals:
1) Pretend that I am culturing the life of my mind by "writing"
2) Not get fired for being too snarky about my job
3) Entertain the very small number of people I will tell about this

Wish me luck.