Michael Stipe is doing electronica? Kickass.
Month: March 2002 (page 7 of 11)
Are you an international (wo)man of mystery? I am. I correctly translated 9 out of 10 phrases in this quiz. I only missed one of the Spanish ones. Actually, that’s pretty surprising, since I pulled the French, Italian, and Portuguese answers out of my ass. (Link courtesy of Kristen.)
Sars (of TSFKAMBTV fame) has written a great essay about teenage girls and how cruel they can be. I never really experienced much of what she’s talking about. I wasn’t part of the popular crowd, but I didn’t rebel enough that they singled me out or anything. I was smart, and – while they didn’t reward that trait – they at least respected it (especially when they’d get assigned to work with me on a project). I had my persecutors though. In my case they were the non-popular kids, the ones who are all dropouts and single mothers now. They picked on me because I was a “brain”. One low-life stole my brand new Umbro shorts (which I’d saved up to buy) out of my gym locker. I knew exactly who’d done it, but I didn’t say a word. These were the kids who hated anyone that they perceived “above” them, and unlike the popular kids, I didn’t have the group armor or the ability to look down my nose at them. I was vulnerable and they knew it. I had a scientific calculator stolen as well. I used to honestly wish that I wasn’t so smart. Can you believe that? That a person would honestly wish to be less intelligent? Nowadays I can’t. Nowadays I’m different. I haven’t run into many of these people since high school, but on the few occasions that I have, it’s been a delicious experience. “Oh, you’re still working at the air conditioner plant? Yeah, I got my degree from Notre Dame, lived in London for two years, and recently moved to Australia. Have a nice life.” Yeah, it’s mean, but I feel a little occasional revenge is justified, don’t you?
How Smart Are You? I’ve been kinda worried that my brain has been atrophying, what with me being out of work for five months and all. Fortunately, no permanent damage seems to have been done. I scored only three less than Bill Gates!
Two more sleeps til my birthday! Two more sleeps til my birthday! (Can you see the restraint I’m using here?)
Walk Against Want
The Snook and I have finally received our sponsorship books. If you’d like to help us out, you can donate by credit card, check, or PayPal. I can even send you a receipt if you’d like. Please drop me an e-mail if you’d like to help out. Seriously, even $5 would be great.
Wow! My friend Jann’s weblog has a new URL, a new design, and a new “now-frequently-updated” whiff of freshness about it. Check it out.
Since Snookums has been busy with his computer (recently unpacked from three months in transit), I’ve kinda been avoiding mine. It just doesn’t feel right that both of us should be hunched over computer screens for ten hours a day when we’re not being paid for it. So instead I quilt. I quilt and I watch Buffy. This is a picture of my quilt so far. That’s five rows out of about twenty-five that I have planned. (Yeah, it’s massive, I know. But I like big blankets.) All the colored squares are different shades of blue, some with patterns and stuff. It’s gonna be awesome.
Oh, and re: Buffy. When you Americans finally get your Season 3 DVD, be sure and listen to the commentary on “Bad Girls”. The guy speaking (the writer) talks quite candidly about the “lesbian subtext” of Buffy and Faith, and how Eliza Dushku was always pushing for more. Snookums and I found it both hilarious and fascinating. 🙂
Holy crap! How did I miss this? Notre Dame’s in the NCAA Tournament! Go Irish!
Amusing anecdote: Hugh Jackman was being interviewed on Australian TV about his movie Kate and Leopold, which is just now opening here. The reporter asked him about Meg Ryan, and he started spouting off about how nice she was and what a good friend and how she made him feel welcome and how she just loved everything Australian– and the interviewer interjected with: “Well, she would, wouldn’t she?” It was pretty funny, considering that’s what everyone was thinking. He just kinda chuckled and shook his head, as if to say, “You’re gonna get me in trouble.”