Yesterday, after two hours of discussing information behavior models which grow ever-more confusing, and doing some homework, I eventually made my way downtown to the Paramount Theatre to see Regina Spektor. Also, when you're riding the bus and it makes its way downtown, it goes into tunnels underneath the city and the bus stops feel like real train stations. O London Underground, how I miss thee! I got dropped right outside the Paramount's iconic neon sign, but since I arrived far too early, I made my way to the nearest Barnes & Noble--locating bookstores is a sixth sense of mine. I bought a copy of GQ because my magazines haven't caught up with my new address yet, and my mom probably threw away the November issue since January Jones's boobs are falling out on the cover. I also got How to Read and Why by Harold Bloom since that's a Bloom title I don't own, and Lillian mentioned that she loved it. I then flipped through Shelf Discovery which is about the teenage books that girls never stopped reading. I didn't buy it, but I did read an essay about Bridge to Terabithia--a dumb, little two-page essay--and it made me cry. Well, almost. So then I headed over to the children's section to buy my favorite children's/YA novel since I lost my other copy some time ago. And then I made my way back to the Paramount for Regina.
The Paramount Theatre is gorgeous. Anyway, once they opened the doors, we all settled in, and the opening band was Jupiter One. They're an indie rock band from New York, and they're all right. After another half hour of setting-up for Regina, she finally came on stage--so exciting! And if somehow you didn't know, Regina Spektor is an adorable porcelain doll. How is someone allowed to be that cute? Zooey Dechanel--indie goddess that she is--is the only girl who has her beat. Regina is out promoting her latest album Far which is hands down my favorite album so far, and she waited all the way until the encore to play "Samson" which is hands down my favorite song of hers.
I've heard so much made of Seattle music fans, but for my money the audience for Tori Amos in Salt Lake was so much more passionate. Of course Tori fans are crazy and obsessive, but even Tori said that she will always play Salt Lake because we're so passionate. And I believe that SLC audiences in general are always very excited. Anyway, there was a lot of Regina love last night, but the energy didn't even compare to the Tori concert. There was one guy who shouted "I want to have your babies, Regina!" And then a girl chimed in, "Me too!" Regina laughed, and said there's one in every city, and then thanks . . . I think. There was another obnoxious girl who shouted "Ghost of Corporate Future" after four different songs. It was like, honey, it's either on the setlist or it's not, and shouting it out isn't going to change that, you're only giving Seattle a bad rep. Speaking of the setlist, here it is:
The Calculation
Eet
Folding Chair
Ode to Divorce
Riot Gear
Machine
Laughing With
One More Time With Feeling
Two Birds
Blue Lips
On the Radio
Dance Anthem of the 80s
Silly Eye-Color Generalizations
Bobbin' for Apples
That Time
Apres Moi
Poor Little Rich Boy
Human of the Year
Man of a Thousand Faces
At this point she left, and after what I felt like was an unnecessarily long period of ovating, she returned for the encore:
Samson
Us
Fidelity
Hotel Song
Love, You're a Whore
Technically, this is the Portland setlist, but I'm pretty sure it's identical. On the first twelve songs she was accompanied by a violin, cello, and Matt Chamberlain on the drums, even though I thought he was still touring with Tori. Maybe he was just on the North American leg. On "Dance Anthem," she moved to the keyboard, she went a capella on "Eye-Color," played the guitar for "Apples" and "That Time." "That Time," by the way, was the first song I heard by Spektor that wasn't "Fidelity," and was introduced to me by Rae. It's still one of my favorites. She returned to the piano alone until the encore, banging a chair with a drum stick on "Poor Little Rich Boy." Awesome. "Samson" was also solo, the violin and cello were back for "Us" and Chamberlain was on the drums for the last two songs which she sang standing up. Versatile performer.
I think what's impressive about Regina live is that even when she's just on the piano by herself it still sounds as good as the album. She has a set of pipes and can scat or amp up a section if she wants to. The Russian bridge of "Apres Moi" was amazing, and I don't even like that song very much; in fact that whole song was so much better live. Also, you never realize just how funny some of her songs are until you're in a full theatre and she's singing and winking and the whole audience is tittering.
So then I took a bus back to campus, and which point I walked home, and thankfully didn't get mugged, the U District is all sorts of scary after dark, so that was good. It was in all, a lovely night, and if you can see her concert, it's definitely worth it. You missed out, Alex.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Monday, November 2, 2009
Catch-Up
I just mapped out my bus route to the Paramount Theatre for tomorrow because I am going to see Regina Spektor, so obviously everything is just dandy.
This was after doing all of my reading for tomorrow--a rarity--though it seems no matter how much you do, you're never entirely caught up. I still have two papers due this week, two group projects to work on, oh-so-much-more reading, and my inbox is overflowing with emails--of which most of the information will already be outdated by the time I get around to reading them. "Yesterday's news more remote than a cuneiform tablet smashed to bits." Also, information overload.
Today, I realized that I hate LIS 510--Information Behavior--and that I want to be more on the library side of LIS than the information science part. After most of the readings, and classes, I ask "So effing what?" The so what is a question that our professor told us is the staple of our program. That and "stuff." The Information Science field is still maturing and much about it is ill-defined. She also wants us to think critically about our readings. Thing is, it's backfired. I'm critical of the class and think "so bloody what?" about the readings, most of which are written by our professor. Also, the last three weeks of class will be devoted to group projects and no lecturing. Aside from my own group project, the workload will be rather light, but that's not what I'm really paying thousands of dollars in tuition for.
Oh, and this week I need to arrange and register for next quarter's classes. Add that to the "to do" list.
I'm not very fond of the term "guybrarian," but ever since beginning the LIS program, I have become ever so much more domestic. Okay, all I'm doing is cooking--my room, the living room, the bathroom--they've all been taken over by chaos--but the kitchen is loverly. I'm also spending way too much money on food--my grocery bill is at least twice what it used to be as an undergraduate in Cedar City--and it wasn't cheap then either. However, I am buying real food. In college, I didn't cook, I heated various frozen, canned, and boxed foodstuffs with the microwave, stove, or oven and called that good. It can't have been that healthy, but watch how the pounds melted off of me. Now eating supposedly healthy real food has the opposite effect. FML. Of course, all the beer could be affecting the results. Still, I'm eating well. I've made moussaka, potage parmentier, real macaroni and cheese, risotto, and the like. Delicious. And on Fridays when I don't have class, I sleep in and then watch the Food Network. I make a day out of it. Beautiful.
I miss being an English major, though of course I'm not so sure I want to pursue a post-graduate degree in the field, and though English professor was my ideal job for a while, I know I can't handle the competitive nature of the field. I'm not even so sure I'm going to get a job as a librarian at the end of this thing. Going into the program, I thought I will have my Master's before I turn twenty-five. Now I'm starting to think that the five+ years of work experience that my fellow students have on me might be to my disadvantage. Today I thought I would like to be a personal assistant/secretary. I know right away that I would make a terrible one--I'm not detail oriented. But I also thought--it's not my life, it's someone else's life. I would get to pay their bills with their money--that's a lot more fun than paying my own bills, an activity I tend to avoid for as long as possible. So I'm still deciding what I want to be when I grow up.
The lines are being drawn and the ranks are closing in. It looks likes I'm pretty much set up with my friends in the program, and while the lines will be redrawn based on the classes we take in the future and group projects, I'm not going to be making any new friends this quarter. And the people I am friends with are a lovely bunch, and I'm sure (well hopeful) that our friendships with flourish, but it's never quite what one expected. I believe, and have believed for some time, that my perfect best friends are out there, waiting. This brings me to three realizations: 1) I already met them are they are Elise, Dain, and Whitney; 2) I really just want to meet myself and apparently I am unique; and 3) I am never the best friend. So it's a sorta fairytale.
Thursday night's alright for drinking. On Thursday, after class, I met some members of my cohort at the College Inn Pub for happy hour. Our time there lasted a long, long time past happy hour and then some of us moved along to Brauers for more beer and more importantly delicious frites. On Friday night, I went to a game night in Greenwood with Maggie and met some gaming people--that was interesting. I came home to find Netflix sent me the first disc of The Forsyte Saga. I am not sure how I feel about this BBC miniseries. Sidecars are a delicious amusement when watching a confusing and semi-boring miniseries.
Saturday was Halloween, and I needed to buy a couple of things for my costume, such as black shoes since I foolishly left my one and only pair in Utah. So I went to the GAP and bought a lot of lovely clothing but nothing that helped me in my costuming endeavors. So then I drove to Northgate Mall and bought a bitchin' pair of black Robert Wayne dress shoes. They're a bit narrow but I chose them over the much more sensible and comfortable Steve Maddens which weren't nearly as cool. Once my Newsie outfit was complete (with newsprint on my face), I went to Jeannie's for our pre-party game plan, much wine, beer, and champagne was consumed. We then piled into a taxi and went to the Baltic Room in Capitol Hill--a very loud dance club. More beer. And we picked up Emily. Then we stuffed ourselves into another taxi and were headed to a so-called "rave" but decided that the cover charge was too much and ended up in Belltown instead. We went to the Buddha Bar, more beer, and there was a costume competition and a screening of Orange County. WTF? We then stumbled to Belltown Billiards where there was a $10 cover just for the guys, and we were a bit strapped for cash at that point. Have I mentioned that I don't like clubs? Bars are great, but I hate clubs. Emily and I were about ready to crash, so we finally left, got into another taxi and went back to Jeannie's and eventually I got myself back home. Home, sweet, home. Also, my feet really hurt.
And then yesterday I woke up at noon only to realize an hour later that I hadn't set my clock back, so it was noon again. Lovely. I ignored my homework, went grocery shopping, and decided to see Bright Star which is a film about John Keats and his love affair with Fanny Brawne. The performances are good and the cinematography is beautiful. Afterward, I stopped at Dick's Drive-In and got myself a deluxe and some fries. Dick's it's perfect fast food. SO effing good! And then it was Monday. Blerg.
Class today was an exercise in staying awake. All that's keeping me going is Regina tomorrow. And Guy Fawkes Day on Thursday.
This was after doing all of my reading for tomorrow--a rarity--though it seems no matter how much you do, you're never entirely caught up. I still have two papers due this week, two group projects to work on, oh-so-much-more reading, and my inbox is overflowing with emails--of which most of the information will already be outdated by the time I get around to reading them. "Yesterday's news more remote than a cuneiform tablet smashed to bits." Also, information overload.
Today, I realized that I hate LIS 510--Information Behavior--and that I want to be more on the library side of LIS than the information science part. After most of the readings, and classes, I ask "So effing what?" The so what is a question that our professor told us is the staple of our program. That and "stuff." The Information Science field is still maturing and much about it is ill-defined. She also wants us to think critically about our readings. Thing is, it's backfired. I'm critical of the class and think "so bloody what?" about the readings, most of which are written by our professor. Also, the last three weeks of class will be devoted to group projects and no lecturing. Aside from my own group project, the workload will be rather light, but that's not what I'm really paying thousands of dollars in tuition for.
Oh, and this week I need to arrange and register for next quarter's classes. Add that to the "to do" list.
I'm not very fond of the term "guybrarian," but ever since beginning the LIS program, I have become ever so much more domestic. Okay, all I'm doing is cooking--my room, the living room, the bathroom--they've all been taken over by chaos--but the kitchen is loverly. I'm also spending way too much money on food--my grocery bill is at least twice what it used to be as an undergraduate in Cedar City--and it wasn't cheap then either. However, I am buying real food. In college, I didn't cook, I heated various frozen, canned, and boxed foodstuffs with the microwave, stove, or oven and called that good. It can't have been that healthy, but watch how the pounds melted off of me. Now eating supposedly healthy real food has the opposite effect. FML. Of course, all the beer could be affecting the results. Still, I'm eating well. I've made moussaka, potage parmentier, real macaroni and cheese, risotto, and the like. Delicious. And on Fridays when I don't have class, I sleep in and then watch the Food Network. I make a day out of it. Beautiful.
I miss being an English major, though of course I'm not so sure I want to pursue a post-graduate degree in the field, and though English professor was my ideal job for a while, I know I can't handle the competitive nature of the field. I'm not even so sure I'm going to get a job as a librarian at the end of this thing. Going into the program, I thought I will have my Master's before I turn twenty-five. Now I'm starting to think that the five+ years of work experience that my fellow students have on me might be to my disadvantage. Today I thought I would like to be a personal assistant/secretary. I know right away that I would make a terrible one--I'm not detail oriented. But I also thought--it's not my life, it's someone else's life. I would get to pay their bills with their money--that's a lot more fun than paying my own bills, an activity I tend to avoid for as long as possible. So I'm still deciding what I want to be when I grow up.
The lines are being drawn and the ranks are closing in. It looks likes I'm pretty much set up with my friends in the program, and while the lines will be redrawn based on the classes we take in the future and group projects, I'm not going to be making any new friends this quarter. And the people I am friends with are a lovely bunch, and I'm sure (well hopeful) that our friendships with flourish, but it's never quite what one expected. I believe, and have believed for some time, that my perfect best friends are out there, waiting. This brings me to three realizations: 1) I already met them are they are Elise, Dain, and Whitney; 2) I really just want to meet myself and apparently I am unique; and 3) I am never the best friend. So it's a sorta fairytale.
Thursday night's alright for drinking. On Thursday, after class, I met some members of my cohort at the College Inn Pub for happy hour. Our time there lasted a long, long time past happy hour and then some of us moved along to Brauers for more beer and more importantly delicious frites. On Friday night, I went to a game night in Greenwood with Maggie and met some gaming people--that was interesting. I came home to find Netflix sent me the first disc of The Forsyte Saga. I am not sure how I feel about this BBC miniseries. Sidecars are a delicious amusement when watching a confusing and semi-boring miniseries.
Saturday was Halloween, and I needed to buy a couple of things for my costume, such as black shoes since I foolishly left my one and only pair in Utah. So I went to the GAP and bought a lot of lovely clothing but nothing that helped me in my costuming endeavors. So then I drove to Northgate Mall and bought a bitchin' pair of black Robert Wayne dress shoes. They're a bit narrow but I chose them over the much more sensible and comfortable Steve Maddens which weren't nearly as cool. Once my Newsie outfit was complete (with newsprint on my face), I went to Jeannie's for our pre-party game plan, much wine, beer, and champagne was consumed. We then piled into a taxi and went to the Baltic Room in Capitol Hill--a very loud dance club. More beer. And we picked up Emily. Then we stuffed ourselves into another taxi and were headed to a so-called "rave" but decided that the cover charge was too much and ended up in Belltown instead. We went to the Buddha Bar, more beer, and there was a costume competition and a screening of Orange County. WTF? We then stumbled to Belltown Billiards where there was a $10 cover just for the guys, and we were a bit strapped for cash at that point. Have I mentioned that I don't like clubs? Bars are great, but I hate clubs. Emily and I were about ready to crash, so we finally left, got into another taxi and went back to Jeannie's and eventually I got myself back home. Home, sweet, home. Also, my feet really hurt.
And then yesterday I woke up at noon only to realize an hour later that I hadn't set my clock back, so it was noon again. Lovely. I ignored my homework, went grocery shopping, and decided to see Bright Star which is a film about John Keats and his love affair with Fanny Brawne. The performances are good and the cinematography is beautiful. Afterward, I stopped at Dick's Drive-In and got myself a deluxe and some fries. Dick's it's perfect fast food. SO effing good! And then it was Monday. Blerg.
Class today was an exercise in staying awake. All that's keeping me going is Regina tomorrow. And Guy Fawkes Day on Thursday.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Toriphilia
Yes, this is going to be one of those blogs where I discuss my deep and abiding love for Tori Amos. (You can stop reading now if you would like.) In particular this is where I list the top ten songs that I will always love by Tori. A few weeks ago, sitting in class, I decided to list my most favoritest songs, and then I spent some time talking to Kristen P to help me. Today, sitting in a meeting, I decided to revisit my list. To be clear these are the songs I personally love the most and expect to love the most forever. This is not the same list I would make of what I believe are her best songs, or the list I would make to introduce someone to Tori--though if you would like suggestions, I am happy to make them! Anyway, I decided ten was way too limiting, so I opted for twelve since that's the usual number of tracks on an album. So it's my top ten plus two (out of so, so many) alternates. Still, this list has been an epic struggle. However, without any further ado*, I present my list.
"Tear In Your Hand" Little Earthquakes
"Cooling (B-side Version)" A Piano: The Collection
"Bouncing Off Clouds" American Doll Posse
"Silent All These Years" Little Earthquakes
"Space Dog" Under the Pink
"Hey Jupiter (The Dakota Version)" A Piano: The Collection
"Precious Things (Alternate Mix)" A Piano: The Collection
"Spark" From the Choirgirl Hotel
"Bliss" To Venus and Back
"Winter" Little Earthquakes
"A Sorta Fairytale" Scarlet's Walk
"Sweet Dreams (B-side Version)" A Piano: The Collection
*Further ado: The listing here is largely in descending order starting with my most favorite and not (necessarily) in playlist form.
The first five were easy, not so easy after that. Notable mentions go to "Crucify," "Cloud On My Tongue," "Merman," "Playboy Mommy," and "Professional Widow," among so many others.
Many of the songs have multiple versions: single, album, alternate, remix, b-side, etc. So I am listing the specific song title--basically how it appears in iTunes. Most of the time it doesn't really matter, except for "Sweet Dreams" where the B-side version is vastly superior to the Tales version.
"Tear In Your Hand" Little Earthquakes
"Cooling (B-side Version)" A Piano: The Collection
"Bouncing Off Clouds" American Doll Posse
"Silent All These Years" Little Earthquakes
"Space Dog" Under the Pink
"Hey Jupiter (The Dakota Version)" A Piano: The Collection
"Precious Things (Alternate Mix)" A Piano: The Collection
"Spark" From the Choirgirl Hotel
"Bliss" To Venus and Back
"Winter" Little Earthquakes
"A Sorta Fairytale" Scarlet's Walk
"Sweet Dreams (B-side Version)" A Piano: The Collection
*Further ado: The listing here is largely in descending order starting with my most favorite and not (necessarily) in playlist form.
The first five were easy, not so easy after that. Notable mentions go to "Crucify," "Cloud On My Tongue," "Merman," "Playboy Mommy," and "Professional Widow," among so many others.
Many of the songs have multiple versions: single, album, alternate, remix, b-side, etc. So I am listing the specific song title--basically how it appears in iTunes. Most of the time it doesn't really matter, except for "Sweet Dreams" where the B-side version is vastly superior to the Tales version.
Friday, October 23, 2009
OMFGG!
So I just watched Misery.
*warning: spoiler alert*
Yeah, that happened.
So then I watched Monday's episodes of Gossip Girl for some Chuck Bass-on-guy action to relieve the tension.
Yeah, that was totally hot. Now he just needs to end up in the sack with the guy.
But it didn't really work, because when I close my eyes I don't see Ed Westwick locking lips with Neal Bledsoe. I see Kathy Bates holding a knife.
I am SO scared!
*warning: spoiler alert*
Yeah, that happened.
So then I watched Monday's episodes of Gossip Girl for some Chuck Bass-on-guy action to relieve the tension.
Yeah, that was totally hot. Now he just needs to end up in the sack with the guy.
But it didn't really work, because when I close my eyes I don't see Ed Westwick locking lips with Neal Bledsoe. I see Kathy Bates holding a knife.
I am SO scared!Monday, October 19, 2009
Welcome to Seattle!
So chilly, rainy, autumnal Seattle weather has begun in earnest now. and there was much rejoicing. yay.
Yesterday, I was really committed to doing my homework for . . . a little while, before blowing it off to do frankly more important things. Maggie and I were going to see Ballard Sunday morning, but I decided to sleep in instead. In the afternoon I met her and her friend Flannery, who is American but grew up in the Netherlands!, for tea. Flannery is an econ major who has seen the error of her ways and so is now taking English classes, because she missed writing essays--no, really!--and wants to get an MLIS once she graduates. During tea, we decided we wanted to see Inglourious Basterds because neither of them had seen it and I was totally up for seeing it again. So once we figured out which bus to take we made our way downtown.
Downtown! Sometimes when I walk across I-5 making my way to and from Wallingford and the U District, I see the Seattle skyline and it warms my heart, and I think, "Look at Seattle, isn't it so pretty?" Because living in the U District which is technically Seattle, doesn't feel like it at all. If you really want to feel like you're living in a major metropolitan city, you make your way downtown after dark and see all the crazy people and all the homeless people and think, yes, this is what a city is.
So after getting off our bus, it was like Hello Pike's Place, Goodbye Pike's Place, because Pike's Place is mostly closed on a Sunday evening and we were hungry. This was only the second time I had been downtown, the other time was on my first, full-day in Seattle when I foolishly decided to drive to Pike's Place by myself--this was on my aunt's advice--and so white-knuckled I drove right through the market but didn't get out because I wasn't going to pay $20 to freaking park, so instead I ended up in Shoreline. Anyway, sans car, downtown is a delightful place to walk around--so many buildings, so many stores, so much city! We grabbed some quick Mexican grill food and made our way to the Pacific Place mall which houses a movie theater. In Utah, when people complained about how expensive the movies were, I was like "You're crazy!" But now living in Seattle, I understand. The whole damn city is bloody expensive and they have a super high sales tax. This is an offset for having no state income tax, which must be nice if one had an income. As it is, it's all of the pain, and none of the fun. Still, Inglourious Basterds is even better the second time around. "Ooh, that's a bingo!" Classic. And downtown = awesomesauce. I can't wait to go back. And then it was Monday. Boo.
In other weekend adventures, on Friday night I attended a Scrabble tournament, and this is where I, the former English major and future librarian, admit that I hate Scrabble and am absolute trash at it. Still, I won a chair prize which ended up being a beer certificate. Go, Fight, Win! Afterward, Maggie came over and we watched The Devil Wears Prada because she had never seen it, a travesty we quickly remedied. And I finally dipped into my bar because I had finally bought ice--perhaps the most important ingredient of any cocktail. I also had somebody to drink with, but that's just so much less important. And I watched some more Mad Men via Netflix and the show, which I have never really gotten into but am watching nonetheless because it's cultural currency, is finally getting interesting--to me anyway.
And on Saturday, after sleeping through most of it, I went to the Seattle Book Arts Festival which was all right, and chatted with Lillian which is always a pleasure. And then I went to Alex's house in Fremont for a little party. I played "Wizard Slap" which is a lovely little game where one does a shot and then gets one's face slapped off before (or after) reciprocating the favor. Supposedly, the slap acts as a chaser while the shot numbs your face. And you get to slap someone, so really how can you lose? I also smoked my first hookah, and my wasn't that interesting, while watching really bizarre YouTube videos. The night ended with pizza and watching Harold & Kumar which I had never seen before, so it was a night of firsts.
Yesterday, I was really committed to doing my homework for . . . a little while, before blowing it off to do frankly more important things. Maggie and I were going to see Ballard Sunday morning, but I decided to sleep in instead. In the afternoon I met her and her friend Flannery, who is American but grew up in the Netherlands!, for tea. Flannery is an econ major who has seen the error of her ways and so is now taking English classes, because she missed writing essays--no, really!--and wants to get an MLIS once she graduates. During tea, we decided we wanted to see Inglourious Basterds because neither of them had seen it and I was totally up for seeing it again. So once we figured out which bus to take we made our way downtown.
Downtown! Sometimes when I walk across I-5 making my way to and from Wallingford and the U District, I see the Seattle skyline and it warms my heart, and I think, "Look at Seattle, isn't it so pretty?" Because living in the U District which is technically Seattle, doesn't feel like it at all. If you really want to feel like you're living in a major metropolitan city, you make your way downtown after dark and see all the crazy people and all the homeless people and think, yes, this is what a city is.
So after getting off our bus, it was like Hello Pike's Place, Goodbye Pike's Place, because Pike's Place is mostly closed on a Sunday evening and we were hungry. This was only the second time I had been downtown, the other time was on my first, full-day in Seattle when I foolishly decided to drive to Pike's Place by myself--this was on my aunt's advice--and so white-knuckled I drove right through the market but didn't get out because I wasn't going to pay $20 to freaking park, so instead I ended up in Shoreline. Anyway, sans car, downtown is a delightful place to walk around--so many buildings, so many stores, so much city! We grabbed some quick Mexican grill food and made our way to the Pacific Place mall which houses a movie theater. In Utah, when people complained about how expensive the movies were, I was like "You're crazy!" But now living in Seattle, I understand. The whole damn city is bloody expensive and they have a super high sales tax. This is an offset for having no state income tax, which must be nice if one had an income. As it is, it's all of the pain, and none of the fun. Still, Inglourious Basterds is even better the second time around. "Ooh, that's a bingo!" Classic. And downtown = awesomesauce. I can't wait to go back. And then it was Monday. Boo.
In other weekend adventures, on Friday night I attended a Scrabble tournament, and this is where I, the former English major and future librarian, admit that I hate Scrabble and am absolute trash at it. Still, I won a chair prize which ended up being a beer certificate. Go, Fight, Win! Afterward, Maggie came over and we watched The Devil Wears Prada because she had never seen it, a travesty we quickly remedied. And I finally dipped into my bar because I had finally bought ice--perhaps the most important ingredient of any cocktail. I also had somebody to drink with, but that's just so much less important. And I watched some more Mad Men via Netflix and the show, which I have never really gotten into but am watching nonetheless because it's cultural currency, is finally getting interesting--to me anyway.
And on Saturday, after sleeping through most of it, I went to the Seattle Book Arts Festival which was all right, and chatted with Lillian which is always a pleasure. And then I went to Alex's house in Fremont for a little party. I played "Wizard Slap" which is a lovely little game where one does a shot and then gets one's face slapped off before (or after) reciprocating the favor. Supposedly, the slap acts as a chaser while the shot numbs your face. And you get to slap someone, so really how can you lose? I also smoked my first hookah, and my wasn't that interesting, while watching really bizarre YouTube videos. The night ended with pizza and watching Harold & Kumar which I had never seen before, so it was a night of firsts.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Two Weeks
The largest difference I've noticed between being an undergraduate in Utah and a graduate student in Seattle is that the latter involves oh-so-much-more alcohol.
So I've just wrapped up my second week of classes here at the UW which also means that I've finished (mostly) one whole class. LIS 500 aka Life Cycles of Information which was basically iSchool boot camp. Last Friday and Saturday, I spent ten hours in class--which wasn't nearly as dreadful as it sounds because there were several different lecturers, group activities, and breaks--but it was still a lot. And then this week there were seven online lectures and/or readings with discussion forums. We were suppose to do them all and then comment on at least four boards at least twice. I have posted two times to the four lectures that I have completed. I will (should) do the rest . . . sometime. Thank goodness this is only a credit/no credit course. So 500 is over. mostly. Yay! I learned about such things as the Value-Added Model, Management, Systems of Knowledge, and FRBR--yeah, I don't really know what they are either. What I found out at orientation is that our program is largely theory-based which is not information I knew beforehand--I'm going to be a great iStudent!
So the week before last was a half-week of classes, and it was also the iWelcome Week. What this mostly meant is that I went to a Happy Hour on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and drank free beer! And at one of the workshops I also got a spreadsheet of the local bars and their happy hours. What a great week!
My first class was on Wednesday and it is Information Resources and the prereq for other reference classes which is great because I think I want to be a reference librarian at this stage. Anyway, our teacher is a lecturer who also works at the Seattle Public Library and he's fabulous. He is mellow (which is not always common at the iSchool), knows his stuff, and really wants to help us students. Wonderful, wonderful man. We've only had three classes, but I love it! Our last class we (finally) went around the room and spent (almost) the whole two hours introducing ourselves and recommending to everyone books, music, movies, bars, restaurants, recipes, etc. It was so much fun. There are also about ten recovering lawyers in the program, so Kristen and Amber, if five-ten years down the road you realize you don't want to be a lawyer, you can always be a librarian! Anyway, they all dress really well because they have (had) money.
My second class was on Thursday, and it's taught by Karen Fisher. What I can say for sure is that she's crazy, but she is from Canada (Newfoundland specifically), so we can't really hold that against her. On the first day of class she wore her academic robes and had this crazy, decorated tree stick that rattled (like a rainstick!) which is I don't even know what. The other times I've seen her she's been wearing short dresses. She's young and passionate and crazy. It's the largest class I've been in because it's for our entire cohort. One of our textbooks is by her as are many of the readings, and I think she looks on our class to further her own research. She also seems like the kind of professor who wants to hear her own ideas reflected by us, and I'm sure she'll be an arbitrary grader. At first I thought she was fabulous, but now I'm not so sure--an ambivalent feeling held by many at the iSchool. There's also a lot of group work for her class, and while I have nothing against the people in my group, I'm not the biggest fan of group projects. But there's a lot of collaborative effort in my professional field, so I better get used to it.
So Friday and Saturday I had 500, but now that that's over, and I don't have classes on Fridays! It's beautiful. Also, this quarter, my earliest class starts at 1:30 in the afternoon and my other class is at 3:30, so I sleep in a lot--like every day. So I don't get done till late in the afternoon, but since I'm not working, I don't really mind it at all. However, it does make me very lazy. And this week I didn't have class on Thursday because Karen gave us it off to work on our group projects. That's one nice thing is that she said she will always give us time for our group work. This week we're working on Information Grounds which are places you go for one thing but end up sharing information like a coffee shop--you go to get coffee but end up talking and sharing info.
Our group chose bar trivia nights--oh-so-much-more drinking. Some people from our group went on Thursday, but I went on a pub crawl in Capitol Hill with some friends to help celebrate Jeannie's birthday. It was fun, but we had a rather large group which doesn't always work so well at small, little bars. On Friday I went to the Monkey Pub which was a scary dive bar to find oneself all alone at seven o'clock. But by eight, Deb, from my group, had arrived as well as several other people for trivia night! Deb and I were the Fighting Librarians and for only two people, our group came in fourth (or fifth?) place! Anyway, all the other groups were much larger, and we each won a shot of Jager, so that was fun. And tonight our whole group is going out to the Dubliner in Freemont.
So that is a basic wrap-up of my first two weeks (week and a half) of classes. And yesterday, I took the bus to Northgate Mall which is freakin' far away and bought new shoes (finally!), which look almost exactly the same as my old shoes, and renewed my supply of Burberry London. OMG, it's like my favorite smell in the world. I came home to find my cousin Ernl had sent me two of her famous knitted pumpkins. Check out her work here. Fabulous! And then I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and watched 28 Days Later which wasn't really scary at all, but is rather a drama set within the sci-fi/horror genre. Cillian Murphy does find the perfect intersection between cute and creepy. So anyway, that's what I've been up to.
P.S. Happy National Coming Out Day! (I didn't even know that was a thing. I'm such a bad homosexual.)
So I've just wrapped up my second week of classes here at the UW which also means that I've finished (mostly) one whole class. LIS 500 aka Life Cycles of Information which was basically iSchool boot camp. Last Friday and Saturday, I spent ten hours in class--which wasn't nearly as dreadful as it sounds because there were several different lecturers, group activities, and breaks--but it was still a lot. And then this week there were seven online lectures and/or readings with discussion forums. We were suppose to do them all and then comment on at least four boards at least twice. I have posted two times to the four lectures that I have completed. I will (should) do the rest . . . sometime. Thank goodness this is only a credit/no credit course. So 500 is over. mostly. Yay! I learned about such things as the Value-Added Model, Management, Systems of Knowledge, and FRBR--yeah, I don't really know what they are either. What I found out at orientation is that our program is largely theory-based which is not information I knew beforehand--I'm going to be a great iStudent!
So the week before last was a half-week of classes, and it was also the iWelcome Week. What this mostly meant is that I went to a Happy Hour on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and drank free beer! And at one of the workshops I also got a spreadsheet of the local bars and their happy hours. What a great week!
My first class was on Wednesday and it is Information Resources and the prereq for other reference classes which is great because I think I want to be a reference librarian at this stage. Anyway, our teacher is a lecturer who also works at the Seattle Public Library and he's fabulous. He is mellow (which is not always common at the iSchool), knows his stuff, and really wants to help us students. Wonderful, wonderful man. We've only had three classes, but I love it! Our last class we (finally) went around the room and spent (almost) the whole two hours introducing ourselves and recommending to everyone books, music, movies, bars, restaurants, recipes, etc. It was so much fun. There are also about ten recovering lawyers in the program, so Kristen and Amber, if five-ten years down the road you realize you don't want to be a lawyer, you can always be a librarian! Anyway, they all dress really well because they have (had) money.
My second class was on Thursday, and it's taught by Karen Fisher. What I can say for sure is that she's crazy, but she is from Canada (Newfoundland specifically), so we can't really hold that against her. On the first day of class she wore her academic robes and had this crazy, decorated tree stick that rattled (like a rainstick!) which is I don't even know what. The other times I've seen her she's been wearing short dresses. She's young and passionate and crazy. It's the largest class I've been in because it's for our entire cohort. One of our textbooks is by her as are many of the readings, and I think she looks on our class to further her own research. She also seems like the kind of professor who wants to hear her own ideas reflected by us, and I'm sure she'll be an arbitrary grader. At first I thought she was fabulous, but now I'm not so sure--an ambivalent feeling held by many at the iSchool. There's also a lot of group work for her class, and while I have nothing against the people in my group, I'm not the biggest fan of group projects. But there's a lot of collaborative effort in my professional field, so I better get used to it.
So Friday and Saturday I had 500, but now that that's over, and I don't have classes on Fridays! It's beautiful. Also, this quarter, my earliest class starts at 1:30 in the afternoon and my other class is at 3:30, so I sleep in a lot--like every day. So I don't get done till late in the afternoon, but since I'm not working, I don't really mind it at all. However, it does make me very lazy. And this week I didn't have class on Thursday because Karen gave us it off to work on our group projects. That's one nice thing is that she said she will always give us time for our group work. This week we're working on Information Grounds which are places you go for one thing but end up sharing information like a coffee shop--you go to get coffee but end up talking and sharing info.
Our group chose bar trivia nights--oh-so-much-more drinking. Some people from our group went on Thursday, but I went on a pub crawl in Capitol Hill with some friends to help celebrate Jeannie's birthday. It was fun, but we had a rather large group which doesn't always work so well at small, little bars. On Friday I went to the Monkey Pub which was a scary dive bar to find oneself all alone at seven o'clock. But by eight, Deb, from my group, had arrived as well as several other people for trivia night! Deb and I were the Fighting Librarians and for only two people, our group came in fourth (or fifth?) place! Anyway, all the other groups were much larger, and we each won a shot of Jager, so that was fun. And tonight our whole group is going out to the Dubliner in Freemont.
So that is a basic wrap-up of my first two weeks (week and a half) of classes. And yesterday, I took the bus to Northgate Mall which is freakin' far away and bought new shoes (finally!), which look almost exactly the same as my old shoes, and renewed my supply of Burberry London. OMG, it's like my favorite smell in the world. I came home to find my cousin Ernl had sent me two of her famous knitted pumpkins. Check out her work here. Fabulous! And then I made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and watched 28 Days Later which wasn't really scary at all, but is rather a drama set within the sci-fi/horror genre. Cillian Murphy does find the perfect intersection between cute and creepy. So anyway, that's what I've been up to.
P.S. Happy National Coming Out Day! (I didn't even know that was a thing. I'm such a bad homosexual.)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
OctoberFest
"Ooh. Gaslight!" --Lorelai Gilmore
The Scranton Witch Project
This has nothing to do with Oktoberfest which mostly takes place in September. Instead, it's all about my favorite month--October! Fall is my favorite season and while September brings intimation
s of Autumn, October is the real deal. The tomatoes and peaches may be gone by now, but now there's pumpkins and soup and pie. I also love seasonal "harvest" ales and beers--Redhook makes a great one. It's the perfect weather for sweaters and scarves. I love taking long walks on dark, brisk nights. And fall has two of my favorite holidays--Halloween and Thanksgiving. And who doesn't love Halloween?, but without Ellen and my other friends, I doubt this one will be as festive. Ellen and Melissa are the ones who decorate for the holidays--and I would expect nothing less of an elementary school teacher and a daycare worker--but I did not get the interior decorator gay gene. But hopefully I will have enough cool, fun friends by the 31st to have one amazing Halloween party.
So October is also the time for scary movies and books. I would recommend Edith Wharton's short ghost story "All Souls." Harold Bloom calls it the finest ghost story in the language, and it's quite good, though it's actually more about witches than ghosts. Some Hawthorne or Poe may also be called for (though please, "The Raven"?, nevermore). Other scary reads include Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives both by Ira Levin and fairly short. I've decided to try to read Dracula again (I failed the first time, back in high school) this year. I finished the first chapter, but it's quite long and I have this little thing called grad school, so we'll see what happens.
Anyway, on to the movies. Now, I've only recently gotten into scary movies, and I avoid the term "horror" because I generally stay away from slashers and splatter films--also known as "torture porn." I prefer psychological thrillers and ghost movies. My favorite of them all has to be Stanley Kubrick's The Shining which is a classic--everything that can be said about this film has already been done so, but if you haven't seen it then you need to. The Orphanage (or El Orfanato) produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) is a superior ghost story and quite terrifying. The Others, in case you somehow still haven't seen it, is a chilling ghost story, but not really scary at all. On the same note, The Skeleton Key is suspenseful
and dark but not too intense and actually rather interesting. Last year I finally saw Hitchcock's Psycho and that one is quite creepy. Now the ending is what did it for me rather than the infamous shower scene, which I didn't find particularly frightening. And my last favorite scary movie is Interview with the Vampire. This movie based on the Anne Rice novel also isn't terribly scary, though you may not want to drive in a convertible car after dark, but what I really love is Kirsten Dunst's uncanny portrayal of a grown woman trapped inside a child's body. If you're really into vampires, it's worth checking out. So these are the scary movies I love so far. I've added several films to my Netflix que-u-e for this month, and last night I watched The Innocents with Deborah Kerr adapted from the Henry James novella The Turn of the Screw by myself. This is another ghost story, and I was quite scared. The two children, the eponymous innocents, are anything but, and are possibly the creepiest children in film. It's quite old, 1961, but if you're looking for a good ghost movie, I would recommend it.
The other movies I have in my queue for this October include 28 Days Later which is a science-fiction horror film. I haven't seen any zombie movies, and while this may not technically count, I think it's close enough. And Cillian Murphy is creepy enough. Zombieland looks pretty good, but without the zombie genre context, I doubt if I'll really "get it." I also have Misery with Kathy Bates, and everyone I know who's seen this movie swears it's terrifying. And finally I have Les Diaboliques, a French film where a wife and mistress team up to kill their husband/lover only to have the corpse vanish. The Silence of the Lambs is also in my queue, but quite far down the list, and I refuse to watch this movie unless I'm with a bunch of other people and won't have to sleep alone. The Changeling and Alien are both in my in there as well, but it doesn't look like I'll get to them this year.
So, what are your favorite scary films that you like to watch around Halloween?
The Scranton Witch Project
This has nothing to do with Oktoberfest which mostly takes place in September. Instead, it's all about my favorite month--October! Fall is my favorite season and while September brings intimation
s of Autumn, October is the real deal. The tomatoes and peaches may be gone by now, but now there's pumpkins and soup and pie. I also love seasonal "harvest" ales and beers--Redhook makes a great one. It's the perfect weather for sweaters and scarves. I love taking long walks on dark, brisk nights. And fall has two of my favorite holidays--Halloween and Thanksgiving. And who doesn't love Halloween?, but without Ellen and my other friends, I doubt this one will be as festive. Ellen and Melissa are the ones who decorate for the holidays--and I would expect nothing less of an elementary school teacher and a daycare worker--but I did not get the interior decorator gay gene. But hopefully I will have enough cool, fun friends by the 31st to have one amazing Halloween party.
So October is also the time for scary movies and books. I would recommend Edith Wharton's short ghost story "All Souls." Harold Bloom calls it the finest ghost story in the language, and it's quite good, though it's actually more about witches than ghosts. Some Hawthorne or Poe may also be called for (though please, "The Raven"?, nevermore). Other scary reads include Rosemary's Baby and The Stepford Wives both by Ira Levin and fairly short. I've decided to try to read Dracula again (I failed the first time, back in high school) this year. I finished the first chapter, but it's quite long and I have this little thing called grad school, so we'll see what happens.
Anyway, on to the movies. Now, I've only recently gotten into scary movies, and I avoid the term "horror" because I generally stay away from slashers and splatter films--also known as "torture porn." I prefer psychological thrillers and ghost movies. My favorite of them all has to be Stanley Kubrick's The Shining which is a classic--everything that can be said about this film has already been done so, but if you haven't seen it then you need to. The Orphanage (or El Orfanato) produced by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) is a superior ghost story and quite terrifying. The Others, in case you somehow still haven't seen it, is a chilling ghost story, but not really scary at all. On the same note, The Skeleton Key is suspenseful
and dark but not too intense and actually rather interesting. Last year I finally saw Hitchcock's Psycho and that one is quite creepy. Now the ending is what did it for me rather than the infamous shower scene, which I didn't find particularly frightening. And my last favorite scary movie is Interview with the Vampire. This movie based on the Anne Rice novel also isn't terribly scary, though you may not want to drive in a convertible car after dark, but what I really love is Kirsten Dunst's uncanny portrayal of a grown woman trapped inside a child's body. If you're really into vampires, it's worth checking out. So these are the scary movies I love so far. I've added several films to my Netflix que-u-e for this month, and last night I watched The Innocents with Deborah Kerr adapted from the Henry James novella The Turn of the Screw by myself. This is another ghost story, and I was quite scared. The two children, the eponymous innocents, are anything but, and are possibly the creepiest children in film. It's quite old, 1961, but if you're looking for a good ghost movie, I would recommend it.
The other movies I have in my queue for this October include 28 Days Later which is a science-fiction horror film. I haven't seen any zombie movies, and while this may not technically count, I think it's close enough. And Cillian Murphy is creepy enough. Zombieland looks pretty good, but without the zombie genre context, I doubt if I'll really "get it." I also have Misery with Kathy Bates, and everyone I know who's seen this movie swears it's terrifying. And finally I have Les Diaboliques, a French film where a wife and mistress team up to kill their husband/lover only to have the corpse vanish. The Silence of the Lambs is also in my queue, but quite far down the list, and I refuse to watch this movie unless I'm with a bunch of other people and won't have to sleep alone. The Changeling and Alien are both in my in there as well, but it doesn't look like I'll get to them this year.
So, what are your favorite scary films that you like to watch around Halloween?
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