this is funny

from a wikipedia entry:

“He had a number of nicknames in the 1940s, 1950s and also the 1960s.”

superreal

almost like surreal, but not weird. just really really real!

yesterday natalie met up with me after work. she brought me a caramel and we went and sat outside at the happy village and caught up. she successfully distracted me from the work i desperately need to to. oh well, it’ll get done.

then we went to leigh and michael’s house for a (sort of) impromptu bbq. the conversation veered into topics previously undiscussed, like gun control and personal experiences with guns. i generally enjoy target sports such as archery and when i was a camp counselor i was in charge of target sports one summer, so the riflery range was included in that responsibility. keeping in mind that this is in Indiana, which doesnt have the most stellar reputation when it comes to, uh anything (which is stupid- Indiana is a great state with lots of smart interesting people and things to do) I don’t know if the camp I worked at still has riflery classes but I imagine it doesn’t. Well, I just checked the website and it’s still offered as a clinic. Huh. It’s an interesting thing to think about. It freaks me out to think of people on the train with concealed weapons, but I think shooting a Coke can is pretty fun. It’s actually a lot like bowling. I also believe that guns are really bad, and understand that they are not always used for fun things like target sports at a summer camp. I mean, generally they are not used for things like target sports. This is such an American concern! Guns are bad! Stick with bows and arrow!

I just found a link to the Lincoln Park Archery Club. Now I am thinking of joining.

shrinky dink

shrinky dink you say? sarah, lindsey, and abra came over on friday night for a night of mobile making and shrinky dinking.

this was our craft table. it got really messy. we made drinks and sipped on them as we crafted.

when you bake shrinky dinks, it’s important to remember to let the bake the whole way through. you might get scared that they will stay curled, but perservere, and you will be happy with the results.

be careful when you take the shrinky dinks out of the oven, because they will probably be really hot!

you can make little charms for the people you love and leave them all over the place as reminders of your affection.

shinky dinks are fun!
we made mobiles with some wooden beads and tinkling bells.

i feel communion with all woman kind, the ancient ones who cleaned berries and the newer ones who went to quilting bees.

i think i am going to start quilting.

ok

what is with my love for jay-z? and his duets with ladies?

riahanna isn’t bad. this video makes me like her more, mostly because it’s so obvious that she’s a singer, not a dancer and when she’s interacting with the umbrella, it looks like something i would do in my living room after a long night or in the morning if i were really geeked about something.

they lyrics are nonsensical, the beat is almost too simple, but the synths are like the 80s and that’s good.

i also appreciate the brigette bardot shout out when she’s all metallic in a triangle.

and who knew that umbrella could have 5 syllables, you know, if you felt like it?

i CANNOT WAIT FOR THE REMIX!

however, the shout out to cover girl at the end of the you tube broadcast isn’t appreciated. you mean if i wear cover girl glossers i can look like rihanna? get me a grocery cart full, mkay?

day #1

hi

no myspace! in over 24 hours! no celebrity blogs in 24 hours!

instead of checking the internet every 5 minutes, yesterday i volunteered at all saints episcopal church through an organization called first slice.

this is getting silly

i have decided to abstain from the internet, in the form of reading other people’s blogs and myspace and celebrity gossip pages for the next week.

i don’t know if i can do it. but i am feeling kind of weird about looking at people’s blogs, then checking the link to his/her myspace, then going back to the blog and putting a face with a name. it is just freaking me out too much. it’s not the same for people whose number i have in my phone.

one person in particular has appeared in my dreams 2X in the past week! i’ve never met the person, seen him on the street- now i know where he works and i just feel a little awkward about it. a few of my friends find this fellow to be dashing, i think he’s a little greasy (aforementioned non-affinity for early 90s grunge types discussed in previous entries) it’s not sexual, but it’s completely voyeuristic. and making me feel a little, well a lot C-R-E-E-P-Y. does anyone else have this problem, fair readers? all 3 of you?

i fear my life becoming completely virtual if i don’t get a hold on it quickly. today i was obsessively checking the weather and then did the same thing while i was doing homework. i spend at total of 15 minutes, if that, outside. recently i’ve also been checking the traffic. i don’t even drive. ever, haven’t since 2003. yeah, maybe i should get that license renewed, but global warming and insurance. you know.

it’s so easy. i’m doing work. i check a blog when i need a break. IF i just finished my work, then i wouldn’t spend so much time on the stupid internet and i would actually make all the things i’ve been talking about making. and i would get done with my work faster.

what, ellen, you ask me? isn’t that part of the fun of blogs? of the world wide web?

i don’t know, but it’s just making me feel wonky.

so. no more myspace til next tuesday. no more dlisted or perez hilton or thesuperficial.com. no more reading blogs of people i recognize who live mere blocks from me.

only the nytimes and this blog which i will write in and gmail.

an experiment. how exciting!

in other news, i made an unsuccessful peach cobbler tonight, which i tried to make gluten free and failed miserably at.

then i ate some chips. i’ve recently acquired a newly svelte figure, i think mostly due to my consumption of corn tortilla chips in the place of meals. i can’t help that tostitos queso dip is so fucking delicious. it’s not on purpose. and it could get gross. i could end up an emaciated internet addict who exists solely on chips and obsessively checks the weather but never goes outside and never eats a good meal.

this is me, being insane on the internet.

gotta go to sleep now, but that 12 hours from saturday is really catching up with me, as is the coffee i had a 5 pm.

to bed.

to useful use of my time and a brief hiatus from the soap opera of other people’s lives.

cheers!

sabado

garage sales- check (5 of them, 2 cookbooks!)

breakfast at dodo (fancier now than summer, but still delicious)

hike on the abandoned trail (after climbing up on california and bloomingdale)

slide down at ashland walk to north catch the bus to chicago (ave, already in the g.d. city yall)

drink some iced tea

lay out a blanket at eckhart park

stretch out in the sun

rise to learn backgammon

play 2 games accordingly, win one

catch milwaukee bus

go home. shower.

go see Sueno at the Athenaeum, ut on by Greasy Joan and Company (highly recommend it) http://www.greasyjoan.org

eat dinner at el barco mariscos

fall asleep.

it was 84 degrees and loverly.

listen to this

free music for all on the internet!

last summer while walking down the street, i ran into a group of 3 very confused looking people. i gave them directions and we got to talking, and it turned out they are in a band called Balun. They’re from Puerto Rico and i’m impressed with their sweet sounds.

Check out this release:

americagggggh

i always want to start my blog entries out with the title, “a few things” when i survey my days right before my head hits my pillow, so sorry if i seem to get repetitive.

i just took a cab ride home from a cabbie who almost refused to drive past western. it made me think about how segregated chicago is. he said he wouldn’t let his daughter live on my block. i love my block. it’s not pretty, but my neighbors are wonderful and it’s a stone’s throw from the el. he started mumbling about mexicans and i got pissed off. but then i realized i was going off on a guy who came to america and is driving a cab and the cab company probably told him to not drive through my neighborhood. whose fault is that? i went on a rambly monologue about the true dream of america and how we all need to accept each other, which i ABSOLUTELY believe with all my heart, but it’s an easy thing for me to say. it’s easy for me to say we all need to accept each other because, besides being a woman, i am still white and i still come from an upper middle class background. i’m not whining about it, i know i am really really lucky. these interactions make me wonder how much i am practicing what i preach. do i accept everyone and give them all a fair chance? probably not, but my prejudices run towards disliking people at a glance because he has an suv or she is really proud of her brand name purse. which is really no better, it just seems less so.

it reminded me of this weekend, about a year ago. some friends and i went to an event. some of my friends happened to be black. they got stopped at a door while me and my white female friend were allowed in without a fuss. it was terrible and racist and an awful experience. there was a lot of talk that evening about changing stuff and working towards a more integrated and accepting social atmosphere, but really, what the hell have i done differently besides think about the inherent racism that exists inside of oneself when you are raised in a certain group of people with a certain group of social norms. in class we always talk about not letting your personal prejudice affect how you deal with your students. it’s a hard thing to do. to really look at what you were brought up with and what you have to first acknowledge to let go of- prejudice and racism and hate are gross. it is not a fun thing to think about. it is most definitely an uncomfortable conversation to have with yourself and others, but it is one that needs to happen.

you can’t just write off a group of people with a glance or upon hearing a rumor. you really can’t write off anyone. you MUST try to understand where he or she is coming from and how that reacts with where you are coming from and try to find a way to make it work so that everyone is better, not worse, from the interaction. but how to do it? how do we find a way to appreciate differences while understanding that one thing is not better than the other.

i need to talk to my little brother, he is really wise about these things.

i am going to try to stop perpetuating stereotypes, even in small ways. this will involve a lot of doing, rather than just thinking.