One's destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things. - Henry Miller
This past week and a half has been another whirlwind of travel. As always, I learn more and more of myself, the world, the universe and my place in it as I continue traversing oceans, peoples, and places. I can honestly say it's not easy being a traveler, and more often than not, it can become a chore if you are but only touring through.
Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on, deep and permanent, in the ideas of living. - Miriam Beard.
http://www.bravenewtraveler.com/2008/03/07/50-most-inspiring-travel-quotes-of-all-time/
Friday, January 23, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
let the anxiety commence
Ah... post-application nausea.
Week 1: Call from director of grad studies in Mizzou. Rejected because of lack of hard-science background in undergrad. Ah, the sweet life of an anthropology/liberal arts undergraduate upbringing begin to haunt me... At least Matt was sweet about it, and he offered to buy me a drink at the AAPAs. Nice.
Program Acceptance vs. Rejection...
Week 1: Call from director of grad studies in Mizzou. Rejected because of lack of hard-science background in undergrad. Ah, the sweet life of an anthropology/liberal arts undergraduate upbringing begin to haunt me... At least Matt was sweet about it, and he offered to buy me a drink at the AAPAs. Nice.
Program Acceptance vs. Rejection...
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
- Washington St. Louis
- Harvard University
- George Washington University
- University of Missouri - Columbia
- SUNY Stony Brook
Thursday, January 08, 2009
done...and done.
It was so nice to have reassurance that my choices in life are the right choices. That the path I'm taking is the right path. And that I will be successful and be able to inspire others the way I have been inspired.
And that my instincts are right. I already know the answers. It's just a matter of clearing out the noise and listening to the universe, taking things as they are, and most importantly, getting rid of the negativity.
I am feeling better.
I am feeling free.
And tonight I found out that I'm not new to this world. That I've been here before and I have had a powerful influential past. An entertainer. A traveler. A learner of cultures. Everything makes sense.
Deadline - Program
Take life as it is.
Time to repack my two-pair underwear.
And that my instincts are right. I already know the answers. It's just a matter of clearing out the noise and listening to the universe, taking things as they are, and most importantly, getting rid of the negativity.
I am feeling better.
I am feeling free.
And tonight I found out that I'm not new to this world. That I've been here before and I have had a powerful influential past. An entertainer. A traveler. A learner of cultures. Everything makes sense.
Deadline - Program
- Nov 6 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Nov 14 Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
- Nov 20+21 SUNY StonyBrook visit
- Dec 30 Graduate Record Exam (GRE) - great depression
- Jan 1 Washington St. Louis application deadline
- Jan 2 Harvard University
- Jan 5 George Washington University
- Jan 10 University of Missouri - Columbia
- Jan 15 SUNY Stony Brook
Take life as it is.
Time to repack my two-pair underwear.
Monday, January 05, 2009
mentally slitting my wrists
F*@!$#k!!!
I hate the how my life works sometimes. Stupid GREs. Why??? Why???
Why does the ONE professor I want to work want want to work with me as well? And why does that program and those professors begin speaking about what grants they can nominate me for? Why??? Why when it all comes crashing down thanks to ETS and the program's unbelievably near-perfect minimum for acceptance?
Why?
Slit my throat now please... the disappointment is unbearable.
...
I'm mostly disappointed I left my mentors down. And myself. And the professors who actually want to work with me.
Fuck me.
Fuck me for overachieving in highschool and totally bypassing mathematics and english because I fulfilled requirements before entry into college.
Fuck my overachieving teenage self.
Deadline - Program
I hate the how my life works sometimes. Stupid GREs. Why??? Why???
Why does the ONE professor I want to work want want to work with me as well? And why does that program and those professors begin speaking about what grants they can nominate me for? Why??? Why when it all comes crashing down thanks to ETS and the program's unbelievably near-perfect minimum for acceptance?
Why?
Slit my throat now please... the disappointment is unbearable.
...
I'm mostly disappointed I left my mentors down. And myself. And the professors who actually want to work with me.
Fuck me.
Fuck me for overachieving in highschool and totally bypassing mathematics and english because I fulfilled requirements before entry into college.
Fuck my overachieving teenage self.
Deadline - Program
- Nov 6 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Nov 14 Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
- Nov 20+21 SUNY StonyBrook visit
- Dec 30 Graduate Record Exam (GRE) - great depression
- Jan 1 Washington St. Louis application deadline
- Jan 2 Harvard University
- Jan 5 George Washington University
- Jan 10 University of Missouri - Columbia
- Jan 15 SUNY Stony Brook
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
the light at the end of the tunnel
rocking out to:
the darkness - i believe in a thing called love
Deadline - Program
- Nov 6 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Nov 14 Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
- Nov 20+21 SUNY StonyBrook visit
- Dec 30 Graduate Record Exam (GRE) - great depression
- Jan 1 Washington St. Louis application deadline
- Jan 2 Harvard University
- Jan 5 George Washington University
- Jan 10 University of Missouri - Columbia
- Jan 15 SUNY Stony Brook
- Jan 13 - flight to London
- Jan 14 - arrival in london: drinks with UCL friends, possibly meeting up with Emily G, MEETING LEAH'S NEW FIANCE!!! and hanging out with Saskia's lovely Courtald pals
- Jan 15 - Borough Market (and Portobello Market if I can help it)... mmm epicurian fantasies...
- Jan 16 - MADRID!!! ...possibly running to meet with the Alcala folk!!!
- Jan 17 - Saskia & Museums!!! a date with the madrilenos (and re-enacting excavation summer...ie. tapas and lots of liquor)
- Jan 18 - ...
- Jan 19 - mmm, escaping to Granada (Marisa has been informed) yay mini-holiday with the *ahem*
- Jan 20 - happy birthday poet!
- Jan 21 - back to madrid
- Jan 22 - back to ny
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
muppet the cornsnake
Feeding time at the museum. Ugh... also known as a terrible distraction. Muppet is one of three. He/she is, by far, my favorite. Mostly because he handles so well, doesn't hiss, and is so damn PURTY!
I may like snakes. In your face Indiana Jones!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
language is a living thing
Prop 8 and its denouncing gay marriage as a human right is absolutely ridiculous. As an anthropologist, I find that the 68% of the American population that voted for the ban on same sex marriage are masking their homophobia for a conservative belief that the word marriage is strictly restricted to a life-long union between heterosexual couples.
Really? A 5000 year-old definition should be upheld? Well then, 30-year old men should be allowed to force 8-year old children to marry them. Men should still stone a 15-year old female to death because she was raped.
"Religion is far more of a choice than homosexuality…we protect religion, and talk about a lifestyle choice."
People get so hung up on the definition of a word that they forget languages are living things. It changes over time with the norms and standards of decades, cultures, and societies. It is all hypocrisy in my eyes, and when people finally begin to admit that Prop 8 is just one more way for close-minded folk to spread hate and hang on to their prejudiced hateful beliefs, then a true conversation about equality and basic human rights can begin.
Disappointing.
The worst part is that I'm related to these people.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Begin at the beginning...
...and go on until you come to the end: then stop. - The King, Alice in Wonderland.
Why I adore my friends:
-because when I start a conversation saying a random line of a random song, they continue it but reciting the rest of the song like it was a real conversation.
-because food excites them.
-because they know food excites me.
-because warm and fuzzy feelings are understood to be induced by warm and delicious goodness.
-because they appreciate it when I nerdily insert random information about the human body, human evolution, and bipedalism into everyday conversations about, say, fixing shoes at the cobbler.
-because we talk dirty about good food.
-because they know I love "appreciating" dorks/nerds...and they still hang out with me. hahaha.
-because they share my irrational fears.
-because they come up with random -isms like "It's like when a clown car rolls in, and 40 clowns come out" and use it as an everyday metaphor.
-because they appreciate my macabre sense of humor sometimes.
-because they share my appreciation for irony and sarcasm.
-because they get why I dislike Metamorphosis because it pains me to see unfair things happen to unsuspecting people, even if they are only fictional characters.
-because they totally ARE the coolest people in the world.
I <3 my friends.
Happy holidays!
FYI: this list is only going to get longer...and longer...and longer.
Why I adore my friends:
-because when I start a conversation saying a random line of a random song, they continue it but reciting the rest of the song like it was a real conversation.
-because food excites them.
-because they know food excites me.
-because warm and fuzzy feelings are understood to be induced by warm and delicious goodness.
-because they appreciate it when I nerdily insert random information about the human body, human evolution, and bipedalism into everyday conversations about, say, fixing shoes at the cobbler.
-because we talk dirty about good food.
-because they know I love "appreciating" dorks/nerds...and they still hang out with me. hahaha.
-because they share my irrational fears.
-because they come up with random -isms like "It's like when a clown car rolls in, and 40 clowns come out" and use it as an everyday metaphor.
-because they appreciate my macabre sense of humor sometimes.
-because they share my appreciation for irony and sarcasm.
-because they get why I dislike Metamorphosis because it pains me to see unfair things happen to unsuspecting people, even if they are only fictional characters.
-because they totally ARE the coolest people in the world.
Why I <3heart<3>
-because with you guys, the HIGH FIVE is still alive.
-because none of us want to wear jeans and will happily go on living our winter lives with tights if only our asses wouldn't grow out in all kinds of directions like J-lo.
-because we all complain about our extra weight, but still love to love food.
I <3 my friends.
Happy holidays!
FYI: this list is only going to get longer...and longer...and longer.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
just a little heartbroken
Ughhhh!!! #$%@$#$%$!!!
Oh sure, the ONE chance to see The Ting Tings live, be filmed for New Year's Carson Daly, and party it up FOR FREE, and I can't do it. Sadness. Boo not having a life and freedom. Boo.
boo-hoo.
And boo-hoo, Anne is leaving for Chicago. :-( I like wasting my time in Gisselle's office chatting with Anne about the crazy men she meets in NY and our ideal wedding dresses... and how awesome our outfits and bags are. Booooo.
Enjoy the monkeys, Anne!
Sadness. Heart brokenness. Boo. Boo-hoo.
rocking out to: The Ting Tings
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
dooms days deadlines
Deadline - Program
- Nov 6 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Nov 14 Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
- Nov 20+21 SUNY StonyBrook visit
- Dec 30 Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
- Jan 1 Washington St. Louis application deadline
- Jan 1 Arizona State University
- Jan 2 Harvard University
- Jan 5 George Washington University
- Jan 10 University of Missouri - Columbia
- Jan 15 SUNY Stony Brook
Monday, November 24, 2008
Doing that thing you doo
Here we go. The new hair. Before and after (note the obscene natural volume... yeah, that's without the blow-dryer).
Japanese straightening. Now my hair is straight, but I have insane volume, and I'm just too lazy to keep ironing it out. So almost every year (or every other year) I have to get it permed straight so I don't have to deal with it. It's a bitch when you travel a lot and just aren't the high-maintenance type. Besides, constant blow-drying and ironing dries out and ruins hair cuticles.
So on a whim I went to the Hair Village in Woodside (near the 61st St 7-train stop in Roosevelt). Normally after washing it out a little, it stops looking like a wig (i.e. picture 2). I think I'm back to being comfy with it again. I just hate that the lady at the hair salon decided I needed to get a trim. I wanted my regular stylist at Sei Tomoko to do it... but oh well. Saves me a 2-week appointment trip, though I could use their free shiatsu massage (mmmmmm...massage...).
I think this year I'll let my hair grow out before chopping it down to a bob again. I like bobs. Maybe bob it for the spring? Or before excavation season? I don't usually look too well with super-long hair. And it always gets caught in zippers.
Japanese straightening. Now my hair is straight, but I have insane volume, and I'm just too lazy to keep ironing it out. So almost every year (or every other year) I have to get it permed straight so I don't have to deal with it. It's a bitch when you travel a lot and just aren't the high-maintenance type. Besides, constant blow-drying and ironing dries out and ruins hair cuticles.
So on a whim I went to the Hair Village in Woodside (near the 61st St 7-train stop in Roosevelt). Normally after washing it out a little, it stops looking like a wig (i.e. picture 2). I think I'm back to being comfy with it again. I just hate that the lady at the hair salon decided I needed to get a trim. I wanted my regular stylist at Sei Tomoko to do it... but oh well. Saves me a 2-week appointment trip, though I could use their free shiatsu massage (mmmmmm...massage...).
I think this year I'll let my hair grow out before chopping it down to a bob again. I like bobs. Maybe bob it for the spring? Or before excavation season? I don't usually look too well with super-long hair. And it always gets caught in zippers.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Comfort, thy name be Puffs Vicks
Wow this week has been a whirlwind. Not that the past weeks have been easy-breezy, but wow. Between my severe body-shutdown illness/period/thing, exams, and graduate program interviews, I have had the total of 8 hours of sleep this week... and my body craves more.
But yeah... Okay will amplify this entry tomorrow when I get back from a FULL Stony Brook day. SO EXCITED!
On the agenda:
-5am train to the end of the world, aka Stony Brook in Long Island
-chat up all the professors I want to potentially work with
-GROSS ANATOMY (i get to borrow scrubs... and potentially see real dead HUMAN bodies)
-hang out with all the grad students
-drink and have dinner with (and try to forget whether or not i passed out/gagged at sight of human bodies... or felt hungry thanks to formaldehyde)
-take night train back to nyc
Hmm, I'll let you guys know.
Then this weekend:
Saturday night: PRE-THANKSGIVING FOOD-LOVING with Lyssa and friends! YAY! (Which reminds me, I need to stock up on Sangue di Giuda)
Sunday morning: Pancake brunch @ Jess&Alex's
Man, either I have to curb my appetite a lot and resist the temptation of amplifying my love-tires from this summer... or go on a serious diet after this weekend. Ugh... I hate how i LOVE the holiday season.
Oooooo... Union Square HOLIDAY MARKET!!! Yeah, I'm broke this year so unless I find the PERFECT present for someone, everyone else will just have to make do with my home-made presents (which this year won't be a painting, but would most likely be some photograph I took and framed).
yaaaaaaaaaay!!!
But yeah... Okay will amplify this entry tomorrow when I get back from a FULL Stony Brook day. SO EXCITED!
On the agenda:
-5am train to the end of the world, aka Stony Brook in Long Island
-chat up all the professors I want to potentially work with
-GROSS ANATOMY (i get to borrow scrubs... and potentially see real dead HUMAN bodies)
-hang out with all the grad students
-drink and have dinner with (and try to forget whether or not i passed out/gagged at sight of human bodies... or felt hungry thanks to formaldehyde)
-take night train back to nyc
Hmm, I'll let you guys know.
Then this weekend:
Saturday night: PRE-THANKSGIVING FOOD-LOVING with Lyssa and friends! YAY! (Which reminds me, I need to stock up on Sangue di Giuda)
Sunday morning: Pancake brunch @ Jess&Alex's
Man, either I have to curb my appetite a lot and resist the temptation of amplifying my love-tires from this summer... or go on a serious diet after this weekend. Ugh... I hate how i LOVE the holiday season.
Oooooo... Union Square HOLIDAY MARKET!!! Yeah, I'm broke this year so unless I find the PERFECT present for someone, everyone else will just have to make do with my home-made presents (which this year won't be a painting, but would most likely be some photograph I took and framed).
yaaaaaaaaaay!!!
Monday, November 17, 2008
officially a pathological procrastinator
Katherine Hepburn as Alice Adams in RKO's 1935 "Alice Adams".Future wedding dress will be a rendition of this dress... even if I have to marry myself. Haha! I will also have to grow legs the size of Hepburn's otherwise it just wouldn't work as well.
Ughhhhhh... I can't see straight. My nose is stuffed. My throat is irritated. My glands are swollen. I have kleenex all over the floor trailing behind me like Hansel and Gretel's bread crumbs. I've managed to lose my house keys in my house, and on top of all that, I have the wonderful GREs in two days.
:-(
I just want me some warm dance biscuits... And for my neighborhood Walgreens to start carrying the damn Kleenex w/ the scent of Vicks vapor rub (because it makes me feel better sniffing vicks).
Is that too much to ask?
Sunday, November 16, 2008
warmed up like dance biscuits
***My sides hurt from laughing so hard. I just want to say that Justin Timberlake has been on some of my all time favorite skits from SNL (cue in Homelessville). Totally made my evening. I will probably have some amazing dreams of JTim and Andy Samberg in leotards forever.
And yes, Justin TOTALLY owned the "Single Ladies" move.
"We're the dahncers."
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The universe wants me to go to grad school!
My ass hurts from sitting non-stop in front of this computer trying to focus and get my last grant in before the deadline after a whirlwind (and chronologically frivolous) escapade out to the west coast.
When I went to upload the missing essays into the grant website, lo and behold in giant red letters:
The application deadline has been extended.
Submit before 11:59 pm (EST) November 17, 2008.
Isn't that lovely? I think God and the Universe actually want me to go to graduate school even though the American system seems to be so against it. Yeah, that's right. If you've had as much stress over the past month and a half as I have had, you would be conjuring the almighty powers that be right about now as well.
So instead of having a deadline 30 minutes from now, it's been moved to 3 days from now. YAY! Not that I'll be heading to sleep before finishing this application, I do have the evil GREs coming up. As a safety, I have decided to apply for Cambridge and UCL as well. Hopefully the European recession will continue to even out the sterling (sorry, I'm a horrible human being sometimes, but 2-quid to the dollar is a bitch of an exchange rate to be honest).
At anyrate, because I need a break (and am so good at procrastinating), I am linking my escapade photos. Very glad some halfway decent shots did come out of it (after a bit of tweaking, because my anciently modern camera is now falling sub-par). I just might take this hobby up into serious-level since my uncle seems to be convinced I have "the eye". Eh, it can be plan C should being all scientific not work out. Plan B is top secret.
Here's the link to my San Francisco escape with Nohemi:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kmarian.viterbo/HaciendoElGuiriStateside#
And the link to my relaxing getaway to autumn California with my aunt and uncle:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kmarian.viterbo/MarinCountyCA#
Nature always seems to have the answer for me.
Future escapades are currently in the works. Yay! Jess is totally in on hopping over to London to have tea with Saskia (and her future Duke-entitled husband). Who else might want to come with? The plan: 7-10 days, but NOT all in London because I will shoot myself if I have to spend that much time in a place that lacks sun.
***
Well here's the rundown:
Deadline - Program
Two down, and only the rest of my life to go.
I just keep telling myself, one day I'll be able to google-scholar myself!
When I went to upload the missing essays into the grant website, lo and behold in giant red letters:
The application deadline has been extended.
Submit before 11:59 pm (EST) November 17, 2008.
Isn't that lovely? I think God and the Universe actually want me to go to graduate school even though the American system seems to be so against it. Yeah, that's right. If you've had as much stress over the past month and a half as I have had, you would be conjuring the almighty powers that be right about now as well.
So instead of having a deadline 30 minutes from now, it's been moved to 3 days from now. YAY! Not that I'll be heading to sleep before finishing this application, I do have the evil GREs coming up. As a safety, I have decided to apply for Cambridge and UCL as well. Hopefully the European recession will continue to even out the sterling (sorry, I'm a horrible human being sometimes, but 2-quid to the dollar is a bitch of an exchange rate to be honest).
At anyrate, because I need a break (and am so good at procrastinating), I am linking my escapade photos. Very glad some halfway decent shots did come out of it (after a bit of tweaking, because my anciently modern camera is now falling sub-par). I just might take this hobby up into serious-level since my uncle seems to be convinced I have "the eye". Eh, it can be plan C should being all scientific not work out. Plan B is top secret.
Here's the link to my San Francisco escape with Nohemi:
http://picasaweb.google.com/kmarian.viterbo/HaciendoElGuiriStateside#
And the link to my relaxing getaway to autumn California with my aunt and uncle:http://picasaweb.google.com/kmarian.viterbo/MarinCountyCA#
Nature always seems to have the answer for me.
Future escapades are currently in the works. Yay! Jess is totally in on hopping over to London to have tea with Saskia (and her future Duke-entitled husband). Who else might want to come with? The plan: 7-10 days, but NOT all in London because I will shoot myself if I have to spend that much time in a place that lacks sun.
***
Well here's the rundown:
Deadline - Program
- Nov 6 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship
- Nov 14 Ford Foundation Diversity Fellowship
- Nov 18 Graduate Record Exam (GRE)
- Nov 20+21 SUNY StonyBrook visit
- Dec 15 Washington St. Louis application deadline
- Jan 1 Arizona State University
- Jan 2 Harvard University
- Jan 5 George Washington University
- Jan 10 University of Missouri - Columbia
- Jan 15 SUNY Stony Brook
Two down, and only the rest of my life to go.
I just keep telling myself, one day I'll be able to google-scholar myself!
Friday, November 14, 2008
Fog. It's like Heaven on Earth except with humidity.
Just got back from a wonderful break in San Francisco. A fantastic treat spending the weekend with Nohemi and relaxing for a few days with my Uncle Tony and Auntie Bombi. Yay autumn foliage and fog, and green gigantic trees. YAY! Will post later entry on that but the more important news:
Virgin Atlantic is having a sale!!! Who wants to come with??? Preferably sometime next year, late Jan/Feb or even early march? Let's go visit SASKIA! And then hop over a few days into continental Europe for face-sized pancakes in Amsterdam? Or...wait...yeah not Paris. Or erm...Madrid? Haha, or you know, whatever. Seriously, for us out there who are stressing out over graduate applications. How about joining me on an escape to the other side of the Atlantic?
That Newark fare is looking mighty inviting!
***
By the way, everyone should look up The Flight of the Conchords. I think they're a Kiwi group with music the likes of Tenacious D, except funnier, more ironic, extra dry humor, and actually catchy tunes. I just spent a 6-hour sardine-flight replaying their album.
My personal favorite: Business Time. Here's a snippet of the lyrics:
| New York (JFK) | $208* $237* | Nov 18, 2008 - Dec 17, 2008 Dec 24, 2008 - Mar 22, 2009 Mar 23, 2009 - May 25, 2009 |
| Newark | $198* $237* | Nov 18, 2008 - Dec 17, 2008 Dec 24, 2008 - Mar 22, 2009 Mar 23, 2009 - May 25, 2009 |
Virgin Atlantic is having a sale!!! Who wants to come with??? Preferably sometime next year, late Jan/Feb or even early march? Let's go visit SASKIA! And then hop over a few days into continental Europe for face-sized pancakes in Amsterdam? Or...wait...yeah not Paris. Or erm...Madrid? Haha, or you know, whatever. Seriously, for us out there who are stressing out over graduate applications. How about joining me on an escape to the other side of the Atlantic?
That Newark fare is looking mighty inviting!
***
By the way, everyone should look up The Flight of the Conchords. I think they're a Kiwi group with music the likes of Tenacious D, except funnier, more ironic, extra dry humor, and actually catchy tunes. I just spent a 6-hour sardine-flight replaying their album.
My personal favorite: Business Time. Here's a snippet of the lyrics:
It's on my GENIUS list.Ahh yeah, that’s right baby
Girl, tonight we're gonna make love
You know how I know baby?
Cuz its Wednesday, and Wednesday night is the night that we make love.
Tuesday night is the night that we go and visit your mother, but
Wednesday night is the night that we make love.
Cuz everything is just right, conditions are perfect.
There's nothing good on TV, conditions are perfect.
You lean in close and say something sexy like " I might go to bed I've
got work in the morning." I know what you're trying to say baby.
You're tryin to say "Ooh yeah, it's business time, it's business time."
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
why do i do this to myself?
Crucial point in my life... and I'm having a quarter-life crisis at the worst possible moment. My timing, as always, is impeccable.
Why do I do this to myself? I should count how many sleepless nights I have. There just never seems to EVER be enough time in the day. Maybe I should just move to Jupiter. Granted its atmosphere hardly affords the beautiful blue sky Earth's got, but blue is overrated anyway. Besides, I've always had a fondness for the warmer hues of the color spectrum, as well as Texan-sized eye-ball-looking storm spots.
Jupiter. More daytime.
The downside, I would never be able to weigh myself on a scale for fear of realizing my density can only be rivaled by three elephants.
I should tell myself I do this so that one day I can Google-scholar myself and be proud I've got numerous entries.
http://cusj.columbia.edu/symposium/viewarticle.php?id=45&layout=abstract
*what what! Bone-a-fide scholar, yo.
:-D
Why do I do this to myself? I should count how many sleepless nights I have. There just never seems to EVER be enough time in the day. Maybe I should just move to Jupiter. Granted its atmosphere hardly affords the beautiful blue sky Earth's got, but blue is overrated anyway. Besides, I've always had a fondness for the warmer hues of the color spectrum, as well as Texan-sized eye-ball-looking storm spots.
Jupiter. More daytime.
The downside, I would never be able to weigh myself on a scale for fear of realizing my density can only be rivaled by three elephants.
I should tell myself I do this so that one day I can Google-scholar myself and be proud I've got numerous entries.
http://cusj.columbia.edu/symposium/viewarticle.php?id=45&layout=abstract
*what what! Bone-a-fide scholar, yo.
:-D
Sunday, November 02, 2008
dancing on the tombstones of life
now playing: Jack Johnson - Never Know
Jack Johnson is (surprisingly) rocking my socks off.
In this uberly-globalized world, Philippines now (cheesily) celebrates All Hollow's Eve. The Filipino Channel (TFC for those pinoy-savvy) is filled with odiously westernized celebrities in HORRENDOUS halloween costumes. I mean we have an amazing culture of witches (ie. wak-wak, mangkukulam), monsters (i.e. mananaggal), and scary stories (people are incredibly superstitious for a devoutly Catholic country)... yet the popular media prefer to celebrate lame-ass American holidays (yes, even Thanksgiving--the day Americans celebrate Native American peoples kindly sharing food and turkey to ingrateful Puritans who would later destroy them--has made it across the Pacific). Not saying that I don't like celebrating these holidays with friends and family, but seriously, Philippines has an amazing culture of holidays yet they refuse to give it equal media-time. It leaves a bitter, sad taste in my mouth.
At any rate, normally Filipinos celebrate November 1st--like Mexicans and Spaniards (thank you 300 years of colonization)--as All Souls' Day, and November 2nd as All Saints' Day. When I was little, my town would have all the girls dress up in amazing gowns and we paraded across all the barrios holding candles and flowers, praying and processing into the local church to offer gifts to the Santo Nino and get presents for being the prettiest girls.
On All Souls' Day Filipino families head over to the cemeteries to pray for their deceased loved ones, and then party and dance and eat Lechon afterwards. Yes, we quite literally party on graves. It's pretty fun actually. We spend the night lighting candles, then eat. Yay for fiesta!
Ah, but those were the days. Mine, on the other hand, has been spent locked up in my room listening to Pandora-dot-com and my surprise mixes of Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Bob Dylan, Allison Kraus and Dolly Parton (my study, read, write mix). My eyes are burning and I can't seem to get past one sentence.
I am a hot mess, if I do say so myself. And no, it is SO not a good thing.
On a happy note, I've finally managed to send off those postcards I've been meaning to send. I hope they make it to their wonderful destinations. It took me a while to write a measly paragraph on each of the postcards... I hope they're not too cheesy or stupid.
Side note: The best book of NYC postcards I've found
(I've spent weeks scouring New York for beautiful postcards) has to be the New York Times's book of New York City postcards chronicling decades of the newspaper's best historic photographs of NY. It's really pretty and I can't bring myself to rip out the postcards to send to people. It's just too good of a compilation and I wants it all to myself.
I really should take Paolo's advice and just print out my own postcards since I have amassed an entire collection of stunning NYC scenery... Except I do enjoy finding gems in unexpected places.
Jack Johnson is (surprisingly) rocking my socks off.
In this uberly-globalized world, Philippines now (cheesily) celebrates All Hollow's Eve. The Filipino Channel (TFC for those pinoy-savvy) is filled with odiously westernized celebrities in HORRENDOUS halloween costumes. I mean we have an amazing culture of witches (ie. wak-wak, mangkukulam), monsters (i.e. mananaggal), and scary stories (people are incredibly superstitious for a devoutly Catholic country)... yet the popular media prefer to celebrate lame-ass American holidays (yes, even Thanksgiving--the day Americans celebrate Native American peoples kindly sharing food and turkey to ingrateful Puritans who would later destroy them--has made it across the Pacific). Not saying that I don't like celebrating these holidays with friends and family, but seriously, Philippines has an amazing culture of holidays yet they refuse to give it equal media-time. It leaves a bitter, sad taste in my mouth.
At any rate, normally Filipinos celebrate November 1st--like Mexicans and Spaniards (thank you 300 years of colonization)--as All Souls' Day, and November 2nd as All Saints' Day. When I was little, my town would have all the girls dress up in amazing gowns and we paraded across all the barrios holding candles and flowers, praying and processing into the local church to offer gifts to the Santo Nino and get presents for being the prettiest girls.
On All Souls' Day Filipino families head over to the cemeteries to pray for their deceased loved ones, and then party and dance and eat Lechon afterwards. Yes, we quite literally party on graves. It's pretty fun actually. We spend the night lighting candles, then eat. Yay for fiesta!
Ah, but those were the days. Mine, on the other hand, has been spent locked up in my room listening to Pandora-dot-com and my surprise mixes of Norah Jones, Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Bob Dylan, Allison Kraus and Dolly Parton (my study, read, write mix). My eyes are burning and I can't seem to get past one sentence.
I am a hot mess, if I do say so myself. And no, it is SO not a good thing.
On a happy note, I've finally managed to send off those postcards I've been meaning to send. I hope they make it to their wonderful destinations. It took me a while to write a measly paragraph on each of the postcards... I hope they're not too cheesy or stupid.Side note: The best book of NYC postcards I've found
(I've spent weeks scouring New York for beautiful postcards) has to be the New York Times's book of New York City postcards chronicling decades of the newspaper's best historic photographs of NY. It's really pretty and I can't bring myself to rip out the postcards to send to people. It's just too good of a compilation and I wants it all to myself.I really should take Paolo's advice and just print out my own postcards since I have amassed an entire collection of stunning NYC scenery... Except I do enjoy finding gems in unexpected places.
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