whimsical happenstance

three years later...ehem...

2009-09-11T13:23:00.000-07:00

So...haven't touched this thing in three years. I didn't even know that google took over. I will probably cancel this blog as I have already been lured tot he darkside by facebook, but my "kitchen experiments" blog should stay up, and hopefully become fast friends with Kylie Sullivan's "...with cherries," also a food blog.

unicorns will steal your kidneys.

2006-10-29T09:20:00.000-08:00

oh, pointless, mind-numbing joy of the interweb!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnJAozfBq7w

also, i tried to update my kitchen experiments blog with meaty goodness, but the blog is having problems. emotional, technical, who knows? but look for new food goodness soon...

hm.

2006-08-18T07:10:00.000-07:00

looking down, I see I have abandoned my blog for too long. Myspace caught up with me and snaggled me by the hair with its claws. That and the fact that it is summer. in the world am I to sit inside talking about doing things, when I could be DOING them? I shall make my glorious return, though. just you wait.

Ah, Valentines Day.

2006-02-14T12:55:00.000-08:00

The day I hole up with a box of chox, a bottle of champagne, and watch Mr. Orange kill Mr. Blonde. Maybe I should throw in some 12 oz. Mouse for good measure.

walking on water

2006-02-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

I went to the winter carnival on Boston Common yesterday with the aim of finally seeing eighteen inches of snow on the ground--something we have been sorely lacking all winter. Okemo came in the day before and blanketed the west end of the Common in the fluffystuff, and I was all ready to play. The hills there make Nashoba look daunting, but it could still be fun grabbing a board or skis and mucking about on a Saturday morning. I arrived, I ran around, ate maple syrup on snow, watched boarders grind on the rail Okemo had set up, and signed up for various prizes. I made my way over to the ski borrowing booth. And then I saw them--snowshoes. I have never tried snowshoeing, so I thought I would give it a chance. Jon was a poop and would not try out a pair, so I had to fork over my license, strap into the bindings and venture out myself. I ran. I jumped. I nearly fell on my face. It was so rad. I have always wanted to run on the snow instead of trying to plow through it in wet sneakers. I was running around like a toddler on speed.

I tried hitting my parents up for a pair for my birthday next week, but I think they already did their shopping. No worries--my REI dividend comes in a week. Happy Snowday to me.

Body, mind, and CPU

2006-02-06T17:18:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend, Chris helped me reformat my harddrive. Oh, sweet release! Lulu Dahlin' is faster and has lost all of her annoying idiosyncracies. She is a whole new lady now--the FreezQueen no longer.

All you never wanted to know: Zinc

2006-02-03T06:18:00.000-08:00

I have come down with a cold in the past few days, so I walked up to CVS for provisions: throat drops, zinc drops, vicious green NyQuil, tissues, and liquids. With the Green Death as a last resort, I pulled out the ColdEeze and read the ingredients. I like to know what in the heck I am putting into my body. Of course, I had no idea what 13.3 x 6 mg of zinc would do to me, so I decided to investigate.

Dr. Ronald Acu's website gives a detailed rundown of zinc and its importance to the human body, as well as side effects of over/underdosing. He states that about 1.5-2.5 mg of zinc are found in the body, and that it does not produce this necesary mineral on its own. Zinc is accountable for functions of the body that include wound healing, DNA/RNA synthesis, reproductive health, growth and learning development...the list goes on. Read the article.

While one must ingest it to keep up healthy zinc levels, too much of a good thing is ultimately a bad thing. Abnormally high/low zinc consentrations in the body seem to effect men and the production of testosterone most adversely, with low levels connected to higher estrogen levels in men (as zinc is necessary to stop testosterone from changing over to estrogen) and all that this entails: obesity, heart disease, and the desire to buy more shoes than you could ever need. High levels are also found in men with prostatitis, and cause many more nasty side effects in the reproductive functions of the body for both men and women.

However, this is not answering the question of "how much is too much?" The Recomended Daily Allowance of elemental zinc is about 15 mg. However, the therapeudic range of the mineral is much higher: Dr. Acu says it is 10-250 mg/day and the U. of Maryland Medical Center says it is 30-60 mg/day (These varied numbers seem to come from different causes for zinc therapy for different lengths of time). The ColdEeze website claims that as long as you do not take more than the recommended daily dose (six lozenges/ 16 sugar-free tablets) you will not experience "Excessive dosage" with the product, and that you should not take more than 150 mg/day even under therapeudic conditions. The daily recommended dose of ColdEeze turns out to be about 80mg of zinc, which is far below that cap. It is within the therapeudic range put forth by Dr. Acu, and just outside UMM's nubers.

Conclusion: I am not going to suck down the full six lozenges per day, but I should not be too worried about side effects if I am only taking the amount over a 3-4 day period. You can feel to load up on zinc and adversely effect your repro organs if that is your bag, but I would not recommend it. The next time you are sucking down oysters (the richest natural source of zinc), think of this post. Your prostate will thank you.

Local Pride Series

2006-01-31T10:18:00.000-08:00

I have decided to give a little more...structure...to this blog. as fascinating as my sporadic musings are to the six or so people who read this blog, I am going to try a little information dissemination combined with local pride. I bring you....

Somerville/Medford

in all its glory.

I am going to tell you all about great locales, oddities, and facts in this area, are you are going to like it. How about we start with Food.

Is your idea of international cuisine take-out pizza and chinese? This area has some great international restaurants which will open your mind to new possibilities. No matter the palate or how disgusted you are by New Things, you can find something to satisfy your munchies.

Japanese/Korean:
Yoshi's in Powderhouse Square is the best Japanese restaurant in the area. It is tasty, quick, friendly, accurate, and reasonably priced. I also like the atmosphere; small but bright and clean, with a nice little sushi bar. I have never seen it crowded; I have never seen a table go unbussed for ore than five minutes. I recommend the dinner boxes: two entrees, salad, rice, a surprise sidedish and miso soup for about $14 (There is a lunch version with slightly smaller portions and a lower pricetag.) For entrees, there are choices of sushi, nigiri, japanese and korean hot items, and vegetarian options. Let the server know if you are a vegetarian or have any special requests; they are very helpful. They also have excellent noodles, bulgogi, and bim bab dishes. Just feeling peckish? Get one of their sushi appetizers and some red bean ice cream. Feeling lazy/chained to a radiator? They offer free area delivery with a $20 minimum purchase. digs& digits: 132 College Ave., Somerville 617.623.9263

Indian:
I am sure you have all seen Diva down in Davis Square. It is really too bright to miss. Go a little farther down Elm, though, to Namaskar--you will thank me. The service is better and it tends to be less crowded--except for the weekend brunch. The best part about this place is the SEVEN DOLLAR, all-you-can-eat weekday brunch buffet. Holy gulab jamun, Batman, it is phenomenal. It is cheaper than any buffet I have ever known. Weekdays are key, though, and early--it gets busy and hard to get a table otherwise. They have a tandoor in the back, and if it is not busy the chef might let you in to watch your nan cook and feel the heat. Grab an indian beer or lassi, a clean plate, and tuck in for an amazing meal. digs& digits: 236 Elm St., Somerville 617.623.9911

Brazilian:
If you think the only thing better than eat on a stick is more meat on a really big stick, try Oasis Restaurant in Medford. Not a true churrascuria, but there is plenty of skewered bife to go around. Lots of down home traditional dishes, brazilian TV, and a very tiny dining area make this place seem more like your friend joao's gramma's kitchen than a restaurant. They portions are huge and shareable. There are daily specials (very cheap) and a lunch buffet ($5.99 per pound). They also deliver to the area. Vegetarians...well, Brazilian soulfood is not usually veggie-friendly. It also helps to know a little portuguese here, but not necesary. digs& digits: 373 Main St., Medford (near the Harvard St. intersection) 781.396.8337

There are so many more...but I am a busy woman. Leave me your recommendations and restaurant contact info. Obrigado!

GRE, Grad School, and Jobs! oh crap.

2006-01-31T10:00:00.000-08:00

I am back. This time I am going to be more dilligent in my upkeep of this blog. It is sad, lonely, and barraged by comments from strange entrepreneurs.

Right now I am in the thick of jobsearches and preparing for graduate school. Have you ever tried applying for schools and jobs at the same time? Don't. Go on a walkabout across Northwestern Australia. Swim with openly bleeding wounds in the Amazon River. Talk politics with your inlaws. Do not put yourself though the stress of kowtowing to the whims of Johns Hopkins' SAIS program and explaining to 40 employers why you are the best research librarian/barrista available. Your brain will thank you.

I have scaled off the job search and replaced it with time at the Tisch Library, studying for the GRE. Sure you may ask: why study for a standardized test? Minimum requirements are easy to reach and the scores do not weigh that heavily in the grad scheme of admissions. The truth is I am a dork. I study for everything. I am one part party girl, three parts booknerd, and a splash of boyscout: Be Prepared.

That plus my dazzling credentials and beguiling charm--harhar--are hopefully going to get me into the cumbersome list of schools I have yet to whittle down. Tufts, Johns Hopkins, Seton Hall, George Washington, Duke, Harvard, Princeton, and UMass Boston (wow...which of these things is not like the other?..) all have great public policy/international relations programs. Tell you what: pick three for me and I will apply to those in the Fall. If they throw in a Juris Doctorate, all the better.

I have decided a "zen & eeny-meeny" approach will best preserve me from the stroke to which my brain so longs to succumb. peace out, all.

ca-ching

2005-10-28T18:01:00.000-07:00

whatup, mah beotches? i have been crazy hyper the last few days. it is either i have been getting too much dawn & drew (is that possible?) in my podcast diet lately or too many chicken and cranberry sauce sandwiches. i just ran out of leftover roast chicken, so i will soon find out who the culprit is...

i cannot believe how much money i found today. when i was doing my laundry, i found two dimes on the floor of the laundromat (which can never replace the five dollars i wasted trying to dry my clothes in the machines that never work...I am such a suckafool). then i found thirty-two dollars in a sweatshirt i have not worn since april, but that does not count as it was money that was already mine. then i decided to walk down to davis square and get a roll of quarters and deposit a check i got from the symphony (which i was not expecting...sort of like extra cash). on the walk i found a quarter and six pennies. after all that, i walked up to the salvation army to get some pants to replace the black pair that is losing material in the crotchal area. it was pink tag day, and we all know that pink tag clothes bite. but i decided to search for a pair of pants. i found a dollabill in the pocket of a pair of cords, wrapped around a recipt from the dollar store in lawrence.

okay, tally:
.20
.25
1.00
+ .06
-----------
1.51

hmm. maybe i will count that thirty-two bucks.

lesson for today: eat less chicken, pick pockets in the salvation army for extra moneys, and listen to more dawn and drew podcast show.

Vive le...

2005-10-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have taken to the queen of the romance languages. merci beaucoup, Sebastien, for your podcast:

French Pod Class

Why french has not been added to my list of languages yet, i do not know.

flooding my style

2005-09-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to taking the kayak out onto the Charles today...then the rain came....and I do not have a sprayskirt for the new boat. I was almost at the point where I would have trashbagged it, but then I remembered my mounting dirty laundry situation. As long at my dirty socks do not kill me, I will live to yak another day--like tomorrow. mmm.

gone, but i haven't forgotten

2005-09-05T19:00:00.000-07:00

it's just too damned nice out to post. especially this weekend...but, pending unemployment, i will return in full force...

for now, get thee outside and do something exillerating.

kayaks and holidays

2005-07-12T09:11:00.000-07:00

i bought it, finally.

in an upset to my planned ibook purchase, i decided to direct my money toward outfitting my new kayak:

she needs a name. I'm leaning toward Wanda.

ultimate

2005-06-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

mike has had one of his brilliant ideas--

www.when-where-what.blogspot.com

it is just a bunch of people getting together to play a different sport every week. tonight it's ultimate frisbee @ alumni field behind the brown n brew, 7 pm.

guilty pleasures

2005-06-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

PostSecret

in case you are feeling nosey...or lonely...or different...

i predict a riot

2005-05-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

who wants to come with me to see cowboy mouth at the 'dise on 1 july? it is the friday of the long holiday weekend, doors and 8, $14...check out the links for more information. they put on a great, rowdy, and loud show.

mmmmm i do love rukus.

standing in the same deep water as you.

2005-05-24T22:09:00.000-07:00

it's grayer out there than a cure album. rain may make things green and pretty, but i do not want to live in a transplanted london for the sake of my grass and gardenias. i spent the commute to work making an on-the-go playlist of rainy songs suitable for the drear. such a list is not conducive to excercise, though. not much of a running mix...

on a much, much happier note, i have decided that i like gmail enough to keep it. google's answer to email is all about restructuring the organization of emails. i like their 'label' feature over the standard yahoo/hotmail 'folder' concept; they also make it easier to 'flag' (i.e., 'star') a google emaili an immensely fond of the conversation-style organization of emails--especially when i am having a boring day at work and emailing people back and forth.
sucks to my yahoo, i've gone google.

you sick, sick little mooocow

2005-05-21T04:45:00.000-07:00

i think a little of the recent iFog has cleared and i can write about things other than my aching need for more mac. and since i can here the collective groan from you guys, i will throw in something completey sophomoric:

iBeer

now that is something i could do with my old g4 if i did not bequeath it upon jen. harks back to the old cube mac fishtanks.

so now that i have figured out how to have a modicum of social life around my hectic work schedule, i can hang out with jen & co. i have caught up on family guy, which is freakin' sweet. i think there is some star wars and jontime in my future. i played poker until midnight with jen's roommates, and jonathan cleaned me out of five bucks.

now i just have to work on revising my "zombie survival scenario," which was severely debunked by matt. but zombies are an important post for another time.

a mac is forever....

2005-05-19T16:50:00.000-07:00

that ___ in the last post was 'ipod shuffle and dock'. jon is very happy with it, but he is running a pc on windows 98. that means he needs a mac....*ahem* or just windows 2000, i guess...

i just cannot steer myself away from the apple store, though. my appetite unsated, i built (yet again) my dream system on apple.com.

ten thousand, three hundred, and forty-four dollars.

tres daunting, chere.

what did you spend on your system, chri5s, ten grand? is it worth it?

forget about diamonds. i want an apple supersystem. in fact, whosoever proposes marriage on me should do it with the aforementioned computer--or at least a down payment.

drooling at you.

2005-05-14T17:49:00.000-07:00

I went to the c-side galleria mall this morning at about 9:30 to purchase a _______ for my boyfriend (damnit, jon, i am not ruining the surprise). of course not much is open there at 9:30 on a saturday morning because sensible people are still asleep, but after 10 i was able to get into the mac store.

oh, sweet temptation.

it was the shiny tiger box that got me. when one of the floorwalkers caught me stroking a box, i nearly ran away, puce with shame. amused, he led me to where they keep the _______ and the ______.

there is no such thing as a simple in and out trip to the mac store, though. some women have handbags, or clothes, or a large assortment of once-worn manolos. I have apple peripherals. I have bluetooth and airport and ipod. i have a savings account specifically for my future ibook.

if neiman marcus sold alligator ipod covers, i would be up there alongside the manolophiliacs.

earbud kama sutra

2005-04-29T17:54:00.000-07:00

they're at it again. like damned rabbits.

the ipod that i received for my birthday has brought me much joy and much rocking. it makes the weird noises on the t fade away behind a curtain of mile davis, cancels out the huzz of fluorescent bulbs at the library with toe-thumping progressive rock, and dampens the screams of tiny children in the supermarket--substituting them for the lilt of bob marley. there is one thing about my little device that disturbs me.

earbuds.

day after day i wind them carefully around my ipod or fold them neatly into my bag, and every time i take them out or pick it up they've managed to entwine themselves inextricably. they wind around eachother in ways unthinkable; they creat knots and weaves and kinks. i could put the ipod down on a table for 10 minutes, pick it up, and they've entangled themselves like starved lovers. it would take less time to pry apart tommy lee and pam than it takes to finagle apart these tiny nymphophones. they are mad about each other.

they will be separated and in my ears for the 8 hour bus/train trip down to philadelphia tonight. they will pine for each other from midnight until breakfast time, and once i put them away i may never untie the loveknot that they will manage.
------

i'm riding the greyhound down to new york tonight. then the nj transit to trenton...where i hope to pick up jen and continue on with her to spend the day in philly. then it's a mini roadtrip in the uhaul to quincy street, mmmmmmeffid. after a seven-year absence, jen is back. (o:

jenny, you're barely alive

2005-04-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

one of my best friends, jen, is moving up here in a week. very exciting. i just took a look at a place for her on quincy street in medford, just north of the tufts campus. i like that neighborhood, and the house was really great. the place she saw in allston was maybe a little better, but having her a few minutes away would be pretty neat.

now i'm going to go recover from a massive lunch with some of the family. the nap definately helped...mmm...nap...it's not just for college anymore.

oomph.

2005-04-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

it has been a long couple of weeks. i am working at the boston symphony now...good stuff....

meanwhile, jackie and lauren's adventure in boobgrabbing has earned their picture 131 hits.

131 hits.

the rest of my pictures have maybe 18 at the most.

wow. you all need girlfriends or something.

I am without definate plans tonight, so I think i will read, clean my disastrous cave, and celebrate said mess-purging by going to el guapo for a margarita later.

you have to love a place that has house margaritas on tap.

if you go to el guapo in ball square, somerville, ask for walter to give you a shot of the jose cuervo reserva de la familia.

rack stars

2005-04-03T13:28:00.000-07:00

i just got my photo cd back from cvs--rockstars, "love", and some good old fashioned miscellany. i had never used iphoto before [gasp!], but it was totally spiffy. i am going to have to look into all of its options.
my current fave is:

we got a little grabby that night, and poor lauren suffered the most. a few drinks eased her into complacency.

check out the rest of the new pictures on my flickr site. peace!

it's the most wonderful time of the year...

2005-04-02T16:22:00.000-08:00

it's that time of year again. the early buds start appearing on trees and bushes, sweet songbirds sing songs of springtime, bugs start zwapping into your face when you go for a run...

and the northern rivers churn with melting snow. hell yes! it is time to kayak!

I went into ems & rei the other day to look for gear and to turn in my rei member's dividend. i want to trade up my old perception acadia/expedition for the new model and get a nice zippy whitewater kayak, but that would cost approximately $i,nsa.ne, so i am just going to invest in some new peripherals. i used my dividend for a new one-man tent, the 05 sierra designs light year cd:

i brought it up to jon's house and we set it up in the basement. not a free-stander, but good for solo overnights in the kayak or on the bike. at a measly 3 lb. 4 oz., i could carry it anywhere. there is definately only room for one person in there, though...unless you stacked a couple of people...

anyways, the next thing I'm going to evaluate is my framepack/sleepingbag sitation, as well as try to recreate my old tin can girl scout stove. i have a feeling many a saturday night is going to be spent boiling water over sterno and reading by flashlight. tee hee.

i want my life to make more sense to meeeeeee...

2005-03-31T10:06:00.000-08:00

i went on a crazy frames spree. of course, i missed their u.s. tour, but if i crank up the live stuff in my ipod, it's almost like being there...

josh and i checked out this art show opening at montserrat in beverly. it was all illustration, which was a refreshing change from the typical fine/modern art. josh and i particularly liked the guinea pig with a guiness. josh, siobhan, mike, and i could argue about where would be the best place to hang it. i have some pictures of that to develop (including one in which i blinded josh's right eye--sorry dude). that plus a pint of guiness (sans pig) at kitty o'shea's ended a bad day nicely.

tonight is the saturn effect show in dracut. 21+, $2--come watch chri5s, josh, j.d., and alan rock out. first person to find me there gets a free drink.

dandalvism

2005-03-30T08:39:00.000-08:00

SMASH!

guess what woke me up at three o'clock this morning? the sounds of beer bottles hitting my house, my car, my street, and my driveway. every few minutes, the dead silence of my neighborhood was punctured by a loud crash. i did not see anyone, though, which is strange. i fell back to sleep and then went outside to clean up the glass this morning. not only was is all over my street, but up and down william street as well.

there were no broken windows or any other major damages, though. so much for a quiet neighborhood.

on a better note, i start my gig with the symphony on monday. woot. oooh, and tiger is looking snappy. not as amazing as panther, but it is enough to distract me from my anger at those bottlehucking jackasses.

spring cleaning

2005-03-23T14:54:00.000-08:00

new template, some new links, and a new spot for blogs i like to peek at.
where are you on this machete-sherpa test, people? you can aim me at 'astrosequis' if you must make your smartiness known to me immediately.

everybody cut loose

2005-03-22T18:40:00.000-08:00

with lady's wedding coming up, and jen freaking out about what to wear, and that whole ban on track pants/red leather, i decided to mosey on down to the ghettoglen mall for some dressage, or rather some snazzywear for the shindig...

out of this visit came a list:

1. NO PURPLE.
2. no, my boobs will not fit into that.
3. indian weddings do not share a dresscode with rave parties or fetish fridays.
4. if you take the lady's survey, you get four bucks. woot.
5. if i couldn't wear it to church, i couldn't wear it to the wedding.
6. they should not play 'wang chung' and 'footloose' in succession while i am trying on dresses. the dance i tried to do while half in an anne klein shift nearly killed me.
7. i am a part-time tomboy but a full-time hater of buying shoes and trying on dresses.
8. the employees all fail the machete-sherpa test*

i made it out alive and with aforementioned snazzy duds and four dollars in hand. sonia, your wedding better be worth a pink dress (o:

* the machete-sherpa test was something introduced to me by my buddy, the ever-classy tufts grad matt. it is quite simple: without looking these terms up, what is a machete and what is a sherpa? he has his theories about who would know these things...boys...bookish sorts... so lay it on me, yo: what are they???

starry-eyed

2005-03-21T19:02:00.000-08:00

i scored tickets to go see stars, some band named ivy, and some other band named astaire. but what is important is that i am going to see stars.
i want to have, like, 10,000 of their babies.
sure, they are from canada, and they are not very screamy, but they still rock in my book. you should check them out. you should come with me to see them at the paradise on may third. you should buy me a dress for my buddy sonia's indian wedding. if i can wear it to the concert and the wedding, all the better.

in other nutter news, i had really screwed up dreams last night about everyone i went to high school with. seriously, people i haven't seen in 5-plus years do not have any right to be in my sleeping head. it's fucked up enough in there without peter, moose, and alyssa sitting there, smoking hash, talking in tongues...
that'll teach me to look through my yearbook for an hour.

rokkk

2005-03-20T06:57:00.000-08:00

i finally did the whole photo-setup in flickr--because picassa is a WhoreSoft supporter. (yeah, i went there.) here is some eye-candy...or eye-broccoli, if you will...

Picture002
Originally uploaded by astrosequis.

yeah, I'm totally yawning, but i look like I'm rocking out. and that is what counts here.

this is an oldie jon and i took with the trusty .0000003 pixel phone camera..

in the green...

2005-03-17T22:26:00.000-08:00

happy saint irish day to you all, as jon would say! fnx had this 6 am breakfast thing with music and beer and food over at the black rose, which of course poor joshua had to attend. i could not coerce meself out from under my down comforter at 5 this morning--not even for beer and the joshua tree. being employed in the rock biz has some perks for josh, though--6 am irish punk shows are always made brighter by the throngs of cute irish redheaded girls in attendance--or so he says. don't feel too badly for him. (o;

i am going to start at the malden i.a.c. for a few drinks and some corned beef sandwiches. yum.

have a great and safe night, everyone!

leave the gun. take the cannollis.

2005-03-16T10:00:00.000-08:00

yesterday i was cruising the burlington library 'for sale' shelves and happened upon a vhs copy of the godfather. i had never seen the movie, it was a dollar, and i needed some cheap entertainment for the night, so i bought it. never mind the fact that i bought it with the change i found distributed through the nooks and crannies in my car...

[hold up--did she just say she had never seen the godfather?!?!]

yes. before last night, my only experience with la famiglia corleone was in the pages of mario puzo's book.

i always like to read the book version of a given movie first, if such a book exists, because movies ruin reading experiencesmore than books ruin movie watching. since books are almost always better (except for out of sight, a book so bad the movie had to be better), i find reading books without actual visual comparison much more enjoyable. i like to form my own ideas of what is happening in the book; if i do not, then guy montag would perpetually look like oskar werner in my mind, and--geecchhhhh--marlon brando would be my mental image for dr. moreau.
another problem is that even when a movie is very well done, like the recent lord of the rings trilogy, it differs from the book to such an extent as to completely bewilder a reader. the movies were amazing on their own, but reading the lord of the rings and picturing elijah wood as frodo and orlando bloom's legolas in the book's context is completely befuddling.
the latter reason is why i am glad i read puzo's book before tackling coppolla's vision. the godfather is, of course, a breathtaking expanse of cinema; but the book filled in the gaps that no movie can avoid. the character depth that puzo achieves is shades of stephen king--albeit more succinct. in the book: sonny's pernicious temper becomes a far more serious danger to the family; connie becomes an even whinier brat and her husband a most thoroughly incompetent goon; and michael's transformation from a man apart to corleone patriarch is far more rich, cold, and believable. as excellent as the movie is, is barely touches upon the profundity of the book.

slightly contrary to my above beliefs about reading books first, i recommend puzo's masterpiece the godfather to anyone who has or has not seen the movie. even if you must always see al pacino in your mind as michael corleone, is that such a bad thing? not for a book as good as this one.

sucks to your assmar, piggy!

2005-03-08T00:23:00.000-08:00

it's howling like ginsberg outside, there is much snow...and i am stuck at my mother's house. it is too cold here....ahhhh! must...drive...home...

besides, like a dolt i left blue latitudes at home, and i really want to finish it up. the pile of half-finished books by my bed has reached monolithic status..
oh, and i want to replace the horowitz book with power's a problem from hell, which i finally aquired in paperback for implausibly measly ducats.
mmmm pile of books, i will drive through foul weather on the decrepid boston winter roads for you.

ping!ping!

2005-03-07T15:42:00.000-08:00

i am officially wired. i think i fed myself too many stimulants, or sugar, or political ideas...anyways, I'm converted to 7 year old girl mode for the time being...

i had my very last pottery class today. i made all of two things: a tubey-shaped canister thing, and something that i might turn into an inkwell. i also, in true megan fashion, spun the pottery wheel around so fast that i nearly shot myself with the metal pick tool i left on said spinning wheel.

how do i continue to thrive and stay out of the roll of the darwin awards?

life is crazy, ya know?

2005-02-25T14:07:00.000-08:00

it's been a while. hmm...

thanks everyone who came to my birthday, listened to the music, and contributed to my debauchery. it was most excellent (o: i am enjoying my g. love and special sauce cd set, my library kit, my ipod and everything else immensely.

i do not, however, want to drink liquor ever again.

you laugh!?! yeah, well, we shall see just how long i can remain a teetotaler--if only for the reason that my liver needs a recovery period.

ok, more later--time to start my day. at 2pm. sweet cheesies, i need more work.

the real lengua materna

2005-02-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

i like to flip through the other blogspots when i am online as if it were a book of lives, each page a new person. one thing i have definately noticed is that there are a great deal of portuguese blogs. there are a few brazilian ones as well, but most of the portuguese language weblogs are by people from portugal. it provides a great source of vocabulary and usage for a person like myself trying to learn the language, on top of the added bonus of peaking into different cultures and different lives.

my two favorite portuguese language blogspots are lapís exílis and incontinência poética. the former is a collection of striking abstract paintings and poetry, among other things. the latter site is a site full of personal poetry, most of which i have a hard time understanding. i have never been the best with poetry in general, so poetry in a language i do not fully comprehend is ever more trying.

the blessed thing about art, though, no matter the language, is that it is almost prue emotion; the feelings and perceptions being conveyed can be picked up by anyone willing to look...or hear. emotion knows no language other than its own; and it is a language that everyone speaks. it is the mother tongue of all people. however, while it is simple enough to speak this language, understanding it takes more effort.

if you only pay attention, you can understand a lot more than you think.

feed me.

2005-02-11T13:12:00.000-08:00

here's the link to my new weblog about food, beverages, and tea, which surpasses all less divine classification of comestibles. i just updated it, though i still have to get a handle on the recipe-posting.

i think I'll have a cup of ko-kei cha to celebrate. mmm...

none of this gimmick crap.

2005-02-10T19:31:00.000-08:00

ok. so i was thinking that my journal needs some sort of focus--like, my obscene consumption of tea, why i must lick certain things to figure out what they are, or i could just write the whole thing in medieval spanish. with the spanish thing, i wouldn't even have to pay attention to spelling. i mean, no one on any continent spelled anything the same way twice even in the same sentence. it's a puzzling thought.

i really don't think my life needs any gimmicks. really, what it needs are trips to south america and maybe more work--and a place to rant about how ridiculous bostonians truly are.
hmmm...

there is a strange man who wanders through ball square periodically, coughing as loud as any human being could possibly manage. i think he gets his jollies from actually coughing on other people and watching them flee to the other side of the street. i am just happy that i have become aware of regularly occuring events near my house.

maybe i should buy him some 'tussin. the 'tussin cures all.

my tunes:

joe satriani - a train of angels
there is just something about that man and his guitar...

ay, amigos!

2005-02-10T11:19:00.000-08:00

mkmoo: y quiza...
mkmooo: eres un barracho ridiculo
pcbaby: i am not a ridiculous burrito
mkmoo: ROFLMAO
pcbaby: you're an insane enchilada

one giant leap backward...

2005-02-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

Yahoo! News - Va. Bill Sets Fine for Low-Riding Pants

I can barely comprehend this one. is it any wonder why the legislative process moves so slowly? it's because senators are worried about their constituents seeing your joe boxers/ass floss.

this just means teenagers will protest be bringing back the butt cleavage look. i really think uptight virginians would rather see a lunar eclipsed than a half moon.

forbidden fruit.

2005-02-08T17:32:00.000-08:00

michael has given me a plethora of new fonts, many of which are very tasty. thanks mike! i especially like this one that is all images--which look very spike & mike inspired. peeking at them all and deciding which fonts i wanted to download has taken most of the evening. but fear not! it is mardi gras, and i am sure that the drunken revelry will continue early into the morning (except for in somerville, as those puritanical bastards close everything at 1 am). i was helped out immensely by font book. that you, apple.

speaking of apple, if anyone wants to get me the mac mini for my birthday, i would be incredibly appreciative. hell, i will settle for an ipod of some sort--though i think that the ipod has killed the art of 'mix tape' creation much as video killed the radio star.

this post is brought to you by the word of the day from merriam-webster online, mostly because today's word is making me thirsty...

The Word of the Day for February 8 is:

rathskeller

   \RAHT-skell-er\   noun
     : a usually basement tavern or restaurant

Example sentence:
     Many workers from the town's mills and factories liked to
gather after hours at the rathskeller located underneath the
banquet hall.

Did you know?
     "Rathskeller" is a product of Germany, deriving from two
German nouns: "Rat" (also spelled "Rath" in early Modern
German), which means "council," and "Keller," which
means "cellar." The etymology reflects the fact that many early
rathskellers were located in the basements of "council houses,"
which were equivalent to town halls. (The oldest rathskeller
found in Germany today is said to date from the first half of
the 13th century.) The earliest known use of "rathskeller" in
English dates from 1766, but the word wasn't commonly used until the 1900s.
Although the German word is now
spelled "Ratskeller," English writers have always preferred the
spelling with the "h" -- most likely to avoid any association
with the word "rat."

it's a good day

2005-02-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

yeah, so the pats took the superbowl. hot damn! that was a pretty good game. the eagles made some great plays, and t.o. was a force to be reckoned with, but it all comes down to teamwork. the pats are a unit, a single force, a true team with a coach that really drills that idea into them. i am very happy for them all. yay! oh, and here's a goofy little thing about boston sports, courtesy of callie's away message:

"Boston sports teams are like men in relationships: the Patriots are like the new boyfriend that you really like- he's awesome but almost too good to be true, so you worry. The Bruins are like the guy that you just casually dated and you dont really care about him, he's just something to do.The Celtics are like the marriage that was great at one time but has lost its spark and you always kinda look back and think about how great it was. And the Sox are the hard core abusive husband who just absolutely tears you apart, but day after day you always go back to him cause you always believe that tomorrow will be different and you just love him too much."

meanwhile, i was trying to bike to my pottery class, and i blew out a tire. i cannot go today. grrrrr. well, i will have to see if marc will give me a tutorial so that i am not completely behind the rest of my class. what do you say??blat?? meanwhile, i need to go grab a new tube for the rear tire and change it over. it figures that it would be the rear tire, but at least i know how to change it.
i still need to figure out the html a bit more before i stick a section for music in this blog. meanwhile...

my current tunes:

the toadies - possum kingdom
filter - hey man nice shot
rock out.

weblog couture

2005-02-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

this is total swank, eh? i got my snowy template from richa who made some really great free blogger templates. this is my favorite, but the are all superb. i still have to sort trough the html and put up my links and tunes, so give me a little time to do that.

still no answers on the nepali takeover, hmm? well, it's going to just have to wait until after the sooperbohl tomorrow. we are going to win another one. I am hunkering down on jon's parents' couch in front of high-definitioned greatness to watch the boys bring home another win to new england.

but first, i am going to finish this avocado and go down to the royal white to finish up my laundry.

go pats!

somebody please...

2005-02-03T15:25:00.000-08:00

...update me on the coup in nepal. i know precious little about the political history of the country, especially since 1991, and i haven't had a chance to look into it. enlighten me, anyone?

i'll be back tonight. i have to go tutor out in lexington until 5. ¡chao!

what a tiny, tiny world...

2005-02-02T18:44:00.000-08:00

ok, so i know i should be a good political scientist and watch the state of the union address, but he's such a funny-looking man. i would really rather read the transcript so i do not have to feel awkward and shallow about how dopey he looks. it should make for a good fake-argument with chris anyways. more on how i feel about that later though, once i become more informed.

the real reason i'm up here in the blue room is because i am talking to my buddy callie from college on aim. as it turns out, she is dating someone with whom my mother works--thirty or so miles removed from the college. there's whimsical happenstance for you. i know the two of them will have fun, and they are both coming to my birthday on february 19th now.

who's coming to my birthday bash up in chelmsford, anyways? i forgot to invite a few people, i am sure. it is a public event, a battle of the bands even, so anyone in the area is welcomed to come. if i have to hoof it from medford to chelmsford on my birthday, there had better be a whole lot of people there to greet me. come play pool, listen to music, drink, eat, and be merry. post me a comment on this entry with your email address and i will send you the evite. if you're willing to have a good time and bring me cake, then you are invited.

someone had better bring a cake.
i mean it--there

will

be cake.

permiso...

2005-02-02T17:34:00.000-08:00

jonathan, is it alright with you if i have a teeny crush on gael garcia bernal and diego luna alexander? it's not huge. it's a phase. i swear.

after watching y tu mama tambien, the terminal, el crimen de padre amaro, todo el poder, diarios de motocicleta, i think i'm a little hooked on the two very talented actors. muy diferente y muy muy bien. it makes me wish we made movies up here like they do down there. sigh.

other than this tragic fascination with two people i've never met, i seem to be coming down with a stomach bug--or, as my dad likes to call it, the scambeze crud. really, the crud is anything that makes one sick as a dog, and particularly if one vomits several times a day. that's what he says, anyways. it's getting in the way of learning portuguese, which is going to push irish-gaelic back a few more weeks.

but soon! i will be able to order cheesebread at the brazilian bakery in magoun square, and they won't look at me like i have ten heads.

or could it be that incident last night with the too many beers and the too little food and empathetically watching mr. bernal wheezing as el che?

tal vez.

rabbit rabbit

2005-02-01T11:00:00.000-08:00

su·per·sti·tion
Pronunciation: "sü-p&r-'sti-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English supersticion, from Middle French, from Latin superstition-, superstitio, from superstit-, superstes standing over (as witness or survivor), from super- + stare to stand -- more at STAND
1 a : a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance, or a false conception of causation b : an irrational abject attitude of mind toward the supernatural, nature, or God resulting from superstition
2 : a notion maintained despite evidence to the contrary*
[*from the merriam-webster dictionary online, www.m-w.com]

there is a superstition that states: if the first words out of one's month are 'rabbit rabbit' on the first day of the month, that person will have good luck that whole month. i am not a particularly superstitious person; this might account for why i do not remember to say 'rabbit rabbit' first thing in on the first day of each month. however, the fact that i remember this little auspicious trinket makes me wonder if i am not just more absent-minded than paranoid about things i do not understand...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have not posted here for a long time. between finding more tutorees and teaching myself new languages, i will find the time. it is, as portuguese speakers say, uma coisa muita catartica.

word of the day

2004-09-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

you are getting a twofer here. i have decded to share with you my passion for words...

The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day is:

dragon's teeth   \DRAG-unz-TEETH\   noun
    *1 : seeds of strife
     2 : wedge-shaped concrete antitank barriers laid in
multiple rows

Example sentence:
     The political analyst insisted that the government's policy
was misguided and would only sow dragon's teeth by increasing
poverty and discontent.

Did you know?
     In Nathaniel Hawthorne's _The Scarlet Letter_, Hester
Prynne's child, Pearl, is said to have "never created a friend,
but seemed always to be sowing broadcast the dragon's teeth,
whence sprung a harvest of armed enemies, against whom she
rushed to battle." In Hawthorne and elsewhere, "dragon's teeth"
alludes to a story involving Cadmus, the legendary Phoenician
hero reputed to have founded Thebes and invented the alphabet.
The tale holds that Cadmus killed a dragon and planted its teeth
in the ground. From the teeth sprang fierce armed men who
battled one another until all were dead but five. These founded
the noblest families of Thebes and helped build its citadel.

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.

at liberty.

2004-09-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

there is something to be said for finally gaining control of one's own life--breaking free of the ties that bind a person solidly and opressively to an unwanted fate. the feeling of freedom is such a beautiful and terrifying thing to those who experience it at long last. it is liberating but also, ironically, petrifying. for not only does a person have to break physically free but also emotionally free. the old habit of submissiveness must be broken; the comfort of familiar complacency forgotten. life cannot truly begin unless you have not only been freed, but also have freed yourself.

i was walking along the bike path to davis square and crossed the street with a woman who began talking to me. it was one of those interesting conversations with a total stranger that most people brush aside or veer away from, completely xenophobic. she explained to me that life does not begin until you are twenty-five--after you get to know yourself and are comfortable in this world. while it was a wise observation, i think that life for some begins once they gain their freedom, their independence. maybe it's earlier, maybe it's later; maybe it's an uncertain and wobbly start.

but it is always the realization of a very old hope. it's the reason why the caged bird sings.

Why megan is not allowed to go to the mall

2004-06-11T21:18:00.000-07:00

Jill: smell this.
Megan: *sniffs bath and body works lavender-scenty thing*
Jill: do you like it?
Megan: I don't know why; but when I smelled it, the first word that popped into my mind was 'crotch'.

Waiter at mall restaurant: I'm sorry, but the cake does not come with an actual sparkler like it shows in the picture.
Megan: that's ok. the new hampshire, maine, and massachusetts state police banned me for life from playing with fire ever again.

Megan to Vicky Secret's saleswoman: Why does this place look like an expensive frederick's of hollywood now? is the dominatrix thing in?

*Megan, jumping up and down, runs over a small child in the discovery channel store*

*gets into fake-sparkler fight with 6 year old at the restaurant*

*inserts fake sparkler into ponytail and pretends to be part of Gem and the Holograms*

*tries to lick fake motorized alligator at the rainforest cafe*

*vehemently dances to all store music*

oh,

2004-06-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

..and windows fucking sucks.

discuss.

2004-06-11T14:16:00.000-07:00

there is a noticable lack of freaks in copley square for some reason. even the street performers are a no-show today. there was only the crazy guy who sits outside the library and yells at himself in spanglish. hmmm...

i think they're out plotting to take over the city, but that's just me.

meanwhile, it was a beautiful day today, and i got banana lip balm. how rad is that. i also got my dad's gift for fathers' day, and i found something for chri5s. (haha! you'll have to wait to find out!!) if anyone else wants to be on my random gift list, just have weird conversations with me aboutt he stuff you like (or reeeeally don't like), and you might find something zainy in your mailbox. or crawling out of your mailbox...

tee vee

2004-06-01T20:21:00.000-07:00

after a television coma of approximately 4 months, i have resurfaced in front of my mother's digital cable-equipped magnavox. i have come to a conclusion after several televisioned days:

tv is scary.

maybe i haven't given tv enough time to explain itself. maybe i've given it too much time. all i know is that it has jilted me. all the cool cartoons of my youth have been replaced by dancing purple dinosaurs and a really bad power rangers ripoff. Reality shows, which derive their popularity from the fact that they are so fake, are ridiculous. Where has my teevee gone? has it truly crumbled into only 6 hours of law and order (rock) and adult swim?

i am moving to a place where there is noo teevee. i will be happier for it.

well hello there.

2004-06-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

okay. so i've started this thing. i think i copied chr5is's idea (the 5 is silent), but mine won't be so political. i know this infuriates you dude, but i'll try to throw some politics in for good measure. i figure the best way to collect my thoughts is in writing, and this way my friends can do a little responding (eh-hem) and ask me questions like: "megan, why don't you make any sense? is this a special education journal?" or more hopefully: "i totally agree with you! here is your own tiny island nation to dictate over benevolently and a lifetime supply of bananas and chocolate-covered pretzles!"*

a sad opening to a journal indeed, but maybe I'll post a little something later...

*do you have these things? can I have them?