Evil Giraffe for Jaime

Christmas has begun!

This is the BEST Christmas because...
I finished all my shopping yesterday.
I get to see my cute nieces every day.
Julie is a great cook!
Columbus is sooo much less expensive than Los Angeles.
Talking to my siblings in person is even better than reading their blogs.

Here is a cute picture of Mandy knitting a gift for someone: who could it be?



The only thing that could make me happier would be if Ben and Grushka were here!

Favorite Things/People of 2007

No Country for Old Men



Once



Lives of Others (released in Germany in 2006, but seen by me in 2007)



The Bryant Park Project/Alison Stewart/Luke Burbank



Gillian Welch



Feist




Grushenka



Common



Silver Lake

Regarding family members disappearing

So...I don't like to think of myself as CONTROLLING or anything...but when Dad up and goes to Paris without letting anyone know, and then Mandy doesn't really tell anyone when she's going somewhere in Canada for several days, I get a little anxious. But, then I thought about it some more, and I think that, although Dad as a parent has an obligation to inform me when he's leaving the country for ten days, Mandy really should be commended for going off on her own adventure. So, Mandy, as long as you don't come back married, I think it's GREAT that you go off on adventures visiting random boyfriends in Canada in the dead of winter. That said, I think you should have a cell phone just in case something terrible happens. After all, I have just seen No Country for Old Men, and the only thing that could have made that movie more terrifying would have been if it were really, really cold outside.

Why don't people steal Netflix from other people's mailboxes all the time?

Bad odds

Yesterday Ben and I went out to Claremont to see Scripps, where I have applied to do my pre-med stuff. After four long months at USC, I wasn't expecting much, but the Claremont colleges are really in a beautiful spot, and Scripps in particular is quiet, well-manicured, and architecturally consistent, which is, sadly, what I've been craving. Now I know what those college guides mean when they say "dorms like palaces". Why is St. John's SO poor?
Today, I had my stats exam at eight. I absolutely rushed through it so that I could leave as soon as possible for Scripps, because it's at least 45 minutes away (which in L.A., sadly can mean 1 1/2 hours away) and my interview was at eleven. I made it, happily, with plenty of time to spare. Overall, I think the interview went well, but I have learned that there are 150 applicants for 14 places, so I'm trying valiantly not to get my hopes up. Sadly, the last couple of days have really convinced me that this program is perfect for me. I like the people I met, I love that the program is small but integrated into the college, and I LOVE LOVE that it is supportive rather than competitive. They seemed interested in St. John's, and although they haven't had any St. John's students there, they have had students from St. Thomas Aquinas, which is about five minutes away from Ben's house in Ojai. They said that the Aquinas students have tended to be immature, sheltered, Catholic boys, which I clearly am not, so I hope that goes in my favor. Anyway, fingers crossed!

Enchanted. Really!

This is embarrassing, but I talked Ben into seeing Enchanted last night in Ventura. We really wanted to see Atonement or Juno, but they're only playing in L.A. and we've been spending weekends in Ojai. So we were looking at rottentomatoes.com and the only movie other than No Country for Old Men (which we've seen and is definitely worth seeing-filmed in the backyard of Santa Fe, by the way) that had good reviews was Enchanted, which I'd always sort of hoped would be good. It was hilarious and sweet! The premise is that a cartoon amalgamation-of-all-Disney-princesses-ever princess finds her true love and goes to the castle to be married and live happily ever after, when the prince's wicked stepmother tricks her into looking down a wishing well.

The princess, Giselle, falls down the well and ends up in a New York sewer, then promptly climbs out of the sewer and wanders around the city asking where the palace is, etc. This movie comes off well because the real-life princess, Amy Adams, plays her part sooooooooooooo sincerely that she's almost believable when she meets Patrick Dempsey, a divorced divorce lawyer, and lectures him about true love. The songs are also pretty wonderful, but the best part is the gently ironic tone of the entire movie, which makes countless amusing references to Disney cartoons past. Anyway, if you haven't seen this movie, which I kind of assume you haven't, I highly recommend it. And if you don't trust me, read someone else's review, because I honestly can't imagine someone sitting through this without laughing out loud.

2 years!

I Heart Huckabee

If I worked on an admissions committee, I would bust my ass to make a decision so that some poor, hopeful (but not tooo hopeful) girl sitting in her apartment waiting patiently (but not THAT patiently) wouldn't be disappointed every time she checked her
email. This is going to be a loooooooong six weeks.

On a brighter note, I am now officially content with the outcome of the 2008 presidential race. Why, you ask? Because of Mike Huckabee. Please don't expect real substance from this post.

As a long-time Edwards-lover and realist,I know that there is no way he is going to win the primary. Thankfully, this year there are so many entertaining, generally sane (or at least entertaining) people running for the Democratic spot on the ticket that I can't lose.

Hillary:


A little severe and power-hungry, but who doesn't want a woman to be president? Plus, she's composed and competent. (That was a pretty non-rhetorical rhetorical question, actually...there are probably millions of people who don't want a woman to president)

Obama:

He's upbeat, articulate, and all this talk about his inexperience is irrelevant: he'll pick good advisors. I also like that he isn't as hyperpartisan as Clinton and Edwards. Hope IS audacious. Plus, who doesn't want a black man to be president?

Richardson:

He isn't going to win, and I don't want him to because he's way too good for New Mexico, but if he did win he'd do really well. Plus, who doesn't want an Hispanic man for president? By the way, if anyone wants to start a crazy new hobby, following New Mexico politics is a good one. It's the wild west out there.

Kucinich:


He is THE reason to watch the debates. Some highlights:
"Everyone should have health insurance? I say everyone should have health care. I'm not selling insurance."
"I am running for President of the United States to enable the Goddess of Peace to encircle within her arms all the children of this country and all the children of the world."
From his website: If you love Joe Biden, you’ll love Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Richardson, and Dodd – but not Kucinich

Plus, who doesn't want another crazy Ohioan to be president?

So, any of these people would be just fine by me.

That brings us to the real news: why I wouldn't mind if a republican won.
Mike Huckabee:


or, as I like to think of him: "red" Jed Bartlett. I want him to beat Giuliani and Romney so badly! He rocked the YouTube debate last week. If he were the republican nominee, I really wouldn't be as scared next fall. Plus, who wouldn't want to vote for an American who's LOST weight? I heart Huckabee.



Sorry, John- I just don't think it's going to happen.

Application limbo

I turned in my applications to Scripps, Bennington, and Goucher and am awaiting responses. I always check my email a lot, but I hate the times when I feel the compulsion to check it every time I walk by the computer or think of the computer. I feel like Marianne waiting for Willoughby's letter, but I hope I'll have a better outcome.

Christmas Wish List

New as of 12/9:
-Having Our Say by the Delany Sisters

Old:
-The Richness of Life- The Essential Stephen Jay Gould
-Better by Atul Gawande
-Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks
-Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson
-Any good book.

-Black choir folder (can be found at musicfolder.com- "The Black Folder-standard")

-Yoga mat

-Art/prints/photographs to decorate my apartment. I have VERY blank walls currently.
-A nice wall map of the world
-A 2008 wall calendar (but only if it's really cool- and only one, please!)

-A YMCA membership

From JCrew:
-Tall city-fit herringbone Parker pant (size 4 or 6 tall-heather charcoal)
-Any of the JCrew stretch vintage cords (size 4 or 6 tall-any color other than orange and red)
-Wool-cashmere Dani coat (6T)
-Perfect-fit long-sleeve crewneck tee (size small-bright colors!)
-York leather driving mocs- I REALLY WANT THESE!!!!
-A good choir dress, like the Flannel Serena dress or Kaylie wool jersey dress (only $99!) at JCrew. Must be black and modest and built to last.

-Any nice sturdy reading-with-tea cardigan (I must replace mine-they all have holes!)

-Running shoes

-A good mug

AWOL

I left many messages on Dad's phone this weekend and then called Mandy to see what's up. Mandy spied on his Expedia account(to be fair, it's our Expedia account too) and found an itinerary. Dad is in Paris. He's going to be gone for ten days. I think this makes him ineligible for emergency-contact status.

Last weekend was great! Ben's mom made an appointment for me to have a facial and got me this amazing cleanser and lotion. This may sound like no big deal, but I have really really really not been taking care of myself lately, so it feels great to have something nice to motivate me to do so. I also worked on my applications for post-bac programs, watched OSU beat Michigan (thank God!) and took Grushka on a looooong walk.


She's been sleeping for the last 24 hours.
I'm working really hard on a good Christmas list.

Update

I hate USC. It is a horrible place where horrible people go to be in a Legally Blonde-ish, sorority-obsessed, ANTI-educational environment. At least for undergraduates. Anyway, psychology is not at all what I'd imagined, but is a kind of sad, underfunded, disrespected science, overshadowed by neuroscience. I am still really interested in it, but when I started to imagine my life in twenty years, became depressed by the thought of writing grant-proposals, teaching undergraduates, or being responsible for other people's mental health. Yikes.

Soooooo, I'm going to try to be a doctor and be responsible for people's lives instead. I have been really put off by the idea of giving all of my 20s to medical school and internship and residency, but what the heck- I can make it work! Besides, I really don't do well with unstructured time. Being un-busy is so not fun.

So I have to apply to post-bacc programs, which all take one year and which I would start next summer, so that I can then apply to medical school after that. It's going to be a long haul. I'm applying to Bennington (VT), Bryn Mawr (outside Philly), Goucher, Johns Hopkins (Baltimore), and Scripps (suburban L.A.) All of these programs are competitive, so I may very well not be accepted by any of them, in which case I begin applying to second-choice schools.

Applying for things is not fun.

Meanwhile, I am finishing this semester at USC, keeping my eyes open for a full-time job in L.A. for the new year, and tutoring eight elementary school and middle school students.

Grushka

HI all. I'm sorry for not posting very much (understatement, I know). But I refuse to feel guilty about it and have even unprivatized the blog to make it easier to check up on. So! For those of you who have been out of communication for a while, I wanted to send out a little update.

Ben and I adopted a pup from a rescue in L.A., she's called Grushenka (named after a character from Brother's Karamazov) and she's been incredibly difficult health-wise, but such a good dog in every other way! She had serious bowel problems for the first two weeks or more that we had her-she would throw up, didn't touch her food for the first week, and had really terribel diarrhea (including all over the house). We took her to three different vets and then finally to a critical care hospital, which was like House for dogs, where we were met by a laughably sexy Grey's Anatomy-like diagnostician vet. Soooo...after bunches of medication, a barium series, IV fluids, and more than a month of cleaning up diarrhea and boiling chicken for her, she is much better. The vet says that there is nothing we can really do except feed her this special food, keep her out of all other kinds of food, and watch her stools to make sure they don't change. Apparently German shepherds often have really sensitive colons. Who knew?

The upside of all of this (we've had her for a month and a half now) is that I've learned a lot about my good side from working with Grush. I don't know when it happened, but it's like all of a sudden I've grown up: I know how to be consistent, patient, responsible, and calm with her and it works! She knows her basic commands, responds to my whistle, is house-trained, and walks well on a leash. It really makes me wonder- did we ever even try to train Chags and Buffy or are Cavaliers really that stupid? She was obviously really poorly socialized as a puppy, but she's already learned to be friendly with strangers (although she still surprises me-the other day at the park she REALLY didn't like the homeless guy) and she's not aggressive at all-the real work to be done will be helping her be calm around unfamiliar dogs, because she is really afraid of them so far.

Victorious!

Yea Ben! The Columbus Dispatch says you won third place! Congratulations-now take Julie and yourself out for a romantic politicians-wife-post-campaign dinner like she deserves.

Ben for City Council

It's ironic that you have eight siblings...and none of them can vote for you! Happy election day, Ben!

Also, I think that this eagle may in fact be even cooler than Jaime's kittens.

I am such a bad girlfriend (And I'm going to be talking about Harry Potter)

So...about Harry Potter. I couldn't go to the Midnight Wizard Ball because I had to work really early the next morning, so I resolved that I would wait to get the book on Tuesday, when, in Ben's absence, I could read happily without feeling guilty for being so single-minded. I carefully avoided going to the bookstore, but then we were going to go out to a movie Sunday night and, of course, went to Target to buy snacks to smuggle into the movie theater. Target had Harry Potter, for the discounted price, sitting RIGHT THERE. Tempting me. So I bought it (and now own an extra copy that will arrive here tomorrow via Amazon...anyone need another copy?) and spent Sunday from 8pm until Monday at 9pm reading (excepting a few hours for sleeping, working, and tutoring). Completely ignored Ben for 24 hours, even though I'd tried so....hard...not...to.

In other news, Ben and I are moving to Silver Lake next Wednesday. Lilly is going to drive out to help us move. My home phone number won't work anymore, but my cell will. Also, I am being kicked off of St. John's email, so I had to get a hotmail account. Gmail wouldn't give me an address even resembling my name. New address: annemariekessler@hotmail.com

SPOILERS BELOW









And you know...I was very pleased with the way that Harry's sacrifice was handled. I really kind of hoped that he was going to die, because it seemed like the only way to guarantee that Voldemort would die...but I think that in the end, the explanation that a part of Harry died, the Horcrux part, was pretty convincing.

Weird when Mrs. Weasley screamed at Bellatrix Lestrange, and the word BITCH was in capital letters. I bet you enjoyed that part, didn't you Jaime? So, anyway, post away about HP. I am completely satisfied by the ending (although it was a little lacking in imagination that they all end up in neat little pairs-so happy Neville didn't die by the way). And I kind of thought that Harry would be defense against the dark arts teacher. I feel free.

In other news, Ben and I are moving to Silver Lake next Wednesday. Lilly is going to drive out to help us move. My home phone number won't work anymore, but my cell will. Also, I am being kicked off of St. John's email, so I had to get a hotmail account. Gmail wouldn't give me an address even resembling my name. New address: annemariekessler@hotmail.com

P.S.- I am addicted to HBO

Ben and I were starting Big Love on DVD and saw an ad for HBO shows. Then I realized. I don't even watch tv anymore. Just HBO on DVD.

Employed!

I had such a great time in Ohio. It was great to see family so much and really fun to bond with Mandy and Ben K with a fun, traditional, Kessler-y project. In addition to tutoring and babysitting this summer, I got a job as a waitress at Cloud Cliff, a wonderful, slow-food, organic, bakery/restaurant. I was pleased to find out that there are no creepy behind the scenes things going on there, and that the people are actually as friendly as they seem. The best part of my first day of work was getting to know the numerous, amazing Mexican men who work there. All of the waitresses are cute girls, and all the rest of the staff are Mexican men, who are soooooo nice and absolutely hilarious. Only difficulty that arises is explaining special orders to the chef. Must learn Spanish. Yay! Ben H started his horsecamp job yesterday and is working right now...the lady who planned this whole thing embodies the stereotype of the irresponsible rich lady, flitting through life without working, and hatching schemes which she only executes halfway. If this sounds at all like me, just remember that I have THREE jobs and am working very hard at growing out of my phase of phases. Sort of.

So far, life after graduation has been amazing. I never quite realized how much emotional energy St. John's drains until this month...I have been generally happier (except for those moments when I am overcome with how messed up the world is) and more in love with Ben H than ever. It is fantastic to be back in Santa Fe with him. We watched Maxed Out the other night (another depressing documentary-this one about how the credit industry seeks out and takes advantage of high-risk people) and it was soooo cute how much it freaked Ben out. He spent the next couple of times opening the mail completely outraged that he was getting solicited by so many credit companies. I have been looking at Idealist.org for job opportunities in L.A. and am considering looking for a longer-term, more noble, job than waiting tables when I get there. We'll see, I guess.

Don't worry Moira, I haven't forgotten you!

This is to Moira,

Happy birthday, Moira! I'm sorry I didn't call you on your birthday...I forgot that from L.A. to Columbus is a three-hour time difference (because I'm used to Santa Fe to Columbus, which is only two hours) and when I picked up the phone to call you it was 10 instead of 9, and then today I just totally dropped the ball again, but happy birthday! But the cool thing is that I'll be in Columbus from this Thursday until next Wednesday, so maybe we could all (your family and Mandy and Ben K too!) go out for ice cream (or whatever you'd like) and celebrate belatedly. What do you think? Can't wait to see you and can't believe you're soooooo big! Love, Aunt Anne

Oh man...traumatic time of life.

So, I know that all times of life are a leeetle bit traumatic for me, but this graduating from St. John's thing is especially difficult. I mean, I LOVE St. John's. I am also 100% burnt out and actually wigged out a little bit at my math tutor yesterday (the penultimate day of math class after four years and I lose it?!) so in a way, I'm glad to be going.

Also, the fact that I am soooo sick of soooo many St. John's students (and these are the people I really have something in common with, right?) is worrying. Very worrying. I fear all of the people out there in the real world who I could potentially not like. There are probably MILLIONS of them. That alone is enough to overwhelm me.

On the bright side, graduation itself is going to be super-fun. I've made all the necessary preparations for my concerts on Sunday and Tuesday of next week, I scheduled a petit-concert for family members on the Friday night everyone will be here, made reservations for two nice dinners, scheduled Mandy's private tub/sauna and massage (with a "therapist" called Sundown), and am extremely excited about a new game I discovered called Koob. You will all play it. Mwah ha ha. It is a Swedish lawn game which pretty much involves (on teams if you like) throwing sticks to try to knock the other team's blocks over. It's super.

I'm also reading Barbara Kingsolver's new book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" which is about her family's attempt to eat only food produced within her Southern Virginia county for a year. She's a little too cute, but her writing makes otherwise for a very enjoyable book. I've started basil, sage, and tomatoes from seeds and they are all doing really well, except you're supposed to grow tomatoes under lights to keep them from getting "leggy" and breaking, which mine will probably do. Oh well. But at least the herbs are doing well. Anyway, I'll try to post more, especially about graduation. Oh, and I got an a- on my senior essay. Yay!

Oral completed successfully!

I had my senior oral this morning at 9am. It went really well. The tutors seemed to have enjoyed my paper, and our conversation was friendly and productive. I'm going to refrain from telling you what the tutors wrote on my essays, because that would be bragging, and instead just bring it up and let you know that their comments were really nice. See how I just bragged, but indirectly? Anyway, I only have six weeks left, which should be a good thing but is sort of sad, especially since I will probably get very little accomplished between now and then. I included the picture above just because I like it...it was taken after the oral this morning.

Happy Birthday

I feel more affection for Mandy than I do for anyone else. I think she may actually be the best little sister. EVER. She went through that great submissive stage, during which I could trick into giving away pretty much anything I desired: half her rights to the playhouse, her halloween candy (she always saves the best for last), or her shotgun rights (mom used to try to make us take turns...hah). (Note to those with misconceptions about Ohio: that last comment about shotguns was about the car seat). ANYWAY. Other good things about Mandy. Eventually, one sad, sad, day, I confessed to Mandy that she actually didn't have to do what I said, that she could just "say no". She took it to heart and whenever she feels like being stubborn, brings up that conversation. I regretted having said anything.


One of her most stubborn moments was on a day when she refused to go to orchestra practice. I think mom was waiting in the car for her and she refused to go, so I tried to bodily remove her to the car. It didn't work. It was pretty funny, though, actually, because now that I think about it I have no idea why I thought I was strong enough to win. So, yeah, Mandy's really really stubborn, and this is probably a reaction to what a domineering sister I was in her early childhood (or so she would have me believe), but all in all, Mandy's sweetness, her loyalty, her weeeeird sense of humor, her honesty, her independent spirit, and her complete cuteness make her the most lovable girl in the world. I've only ever been one year and four months ahead of her, and I guess that she's pretty much caught up now, although maybe I'll still be able to rent a car earlier? so I should probably break myself of the habit of calling her my "little sister". Thanks mom and dad, for giving me such an amazing friend. Happy birthday, Mandy.

Catch-up

Hey everybody. Sorry it's been so long, but I haven't been on the computer very much at all since spring break began. First of all, I have to congratulate Ben on the successful (even triumphant!) completion of his senior oral. Everyone really enjoyed it who could be there, and we went out to a delicious meal to celebrate.

Since then, I've been on spring break. (Actually I wasn't on spring break last week, it only felt that way...haha (darkly)). I love using parentheses within parentheses. I spent my spring break with the three Bens. I was with Ben H's family at a beach house they rented for a week, (went whale watching!) then at Ben K's house becoming acquainted with Ella and reacquainted with the rest of my family (because it has been more than a year and half since I was there last. During that pleasant visit, I went to the zoo with Ben and Jaime, they took me out for lunch, and I got the girls ice cream. Even though I'm sure it's just one more silly, semi-boring (because, as angelic as those girls are, what four (almost five!) and eight year old children enjoy long conversations about midwifery, politics, etc.?) outing for the girls, for me it is the complete fulfillment of my auntly being. Playing with Ella on the floor and eating ice cream with Moira and Evie makes me so happy that it's always the little kids I end up missing the most when it's time to say goodbye. I also really enjoyed my conversations with all of my older siblings.

Happy almost 21st birthday to Mandy! 21. Sweet. That means when you come to Santa Fe I can take you to my favorite bar. I only go there to eat their really really yummy chocolate mousse cake and fries (this is a combination I like, it's not written up like that on the menu) but it's a very fun Santa Fe-y place. I have spent the time I've been writing this blog listening to:
-O Happy Day (Sister Act)
-Bye, bye baby (Franki Valli etc.)
-The Water is Wide (James Taylor)
-Billy Jean (Duh.)
-Dream a Little Dream of Me (Mama Cass)
Before this I listened to bunches and bunches of Stevie Wonder. I think I'm going to listen to O Happy Day again. Then more Stevie. Coolest thing on this playlist: Sunshine by Mos Def. Lamest: Homeward Bound by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (It was the ONLY recording I could get that was remotely acceptable of this song...and actually, now I think I should have gone with the Navy Choir). My favorite song on the list is Thugz Mansion, which is a posthumous reworking of a 2pac song.
Ok. So probably, Brad was the only person who read that part. Brad: I read your American Idol updates because I watched the first show but can't be bothered to watch any of the others...but I definitely did not read your last post about baseball. But, I did tell Ben H today during the basketball game that if I won two tickets to the final four next year, I would take you with me.

Speaking of which: Shout out to the Buckeyes! I am now really rooting for Florida, and then I will be able to cleanse myself of the horrible experience of January. I won't say anything more about that.

I saw a documentary called "Flag Wars" last week. Columbusites: Seen it? It's set in the near East side, and is about the gentrification of urban areas by upper class white (and primarily gay) couples. A couple of my thoughts: people from Columbus seem shockingly inarticulate, and this was the first time I've ever felt like gays were the aggressors. It was a very confusing sensation: "Gay people of Columbus: How could you!?" However, this feeling was overcome when they showed members of the KKK (WHAT??!!!) gathered on the steps of the capitol building and threatening both blacks and gays. Also, the occasional shot of a church group throwing things at the gay pride parade and of their children holding Ken dolls in sexual poses with nooses around their necks quickly restored my gay allegiance. Still, it was pretty awful to hear the black population and the gay population, who are neighbors at this point, talk about each other. It was also weird to realize that restoring a house could have such far-reaching consequences. I am still very, very confused about this issue.

Another thing I've become very upset about: overfishing. If you haven't already, you MUST read the three articles in National Geographic this month about the state of fish populations. It makes a lot of really good points which I can't really summarize here, because I would just be incoherently (though certainly vigorously) butchering their very well-constructed argument. But read it. And when you do, and then you want to know what kind of fish you can eat responsibly (AND IT SURE AIN'T THE TUNA YOU'VE BEEN EATING AT YOUR LOCAL SUSHI PLACE) you can go the Monterey Bay Aquarium website and print of your region's Seafood Watch guide. This week, I really really want to go to New Zealand and work at one of their Marine reserves.

OK, well, that's a lot I already ranted about. I also want to say that it's really cool that we get to see Mandy's art, and that I saw pictures of Olivia Dawson on facebook of her at an anti-war march in D.C. That was really cute. Mostly when I think of Olivia, I think of her playing with her new puppy, who is now probably 12 years old, if not dead. My senior oral is this Friday at 9am. Woo. Hoo.

Strange Happenings

Tell me this isn't a little bit strange: every semester of every year (beginning as early as 1st grade with Mrs. Kuder) I have struggled with waking up and going to class. Now, at the very end of my forseeable academic pursuits, I have suddenly reached a new state: I have no desire to miss class. I enjoy getting up and coming to school to eat my breakfast of yummy biscuits and pepsi. I like sitting in the library for long stretches of time. I don't mind all of the crazies in my classes. I have a lot of homework and I don't mind doing it. What is happening to me?

CNN...Wow.

The voice of reason and high-spirited debate in America. Watch to the end.

Congratulations Mr. Ghetia!

Andrew Ghetia managed to make an oral about Dmitri Karamazov funny. Congratulations, Ghetia! (For those not completely immersed in my culture, an hour-long oral administered by three tutors follows completion of the senior essay: mine is sometime after spring break and Ben's is next week). Ghetia's essay was called, "How is such a man alive?": Dmitri Karamazov's Three Suicides. I may have messed up that wording, but it's something very near to that. I have a bunch of pictures of Ghetia dressed up for his oral and everything, but I think I like this one better:



Sorry I'm not posting very much. I'm pretty busy and am really enjoying these last couple months of university liberty. News: I'm going to Ohio for a few days in March during spring break. Grandma and Grandpa Callahan are back from Brazil and any phone calls from their grandchildren would make them soooo happy. This year is Grandpa's birthday as well as their 60th anniversary. I am now completely confident answering the question, "So, are you going to get married?" with a firm: "No." (Followed by my own disarming nervous laughter at my bold answer) The St. John's administration has become increasingly LAME in their responses to student parties, gatherings, signs, pretty much everything. If someone like ME is getting pissed off at their evil legislating-for-virtue tactics, then it must be REALLY bad. In protest, I am getting rid of my spring cleaning leftovers by holding a rummage sale this weekend and breaking the rule against making a profit on campus. (I think this rule is funny because I make $35 an hour using the school's lab supplies to tutor my boys) This whole rummage sale could blow up in my face... but here's hoping it doesn't!!!

House in Santa Fe

To see a few more photos of it (Mandy), go to Kokopelli real estate and find Canyon Road Historic Adobe. It is in a great location so we can walk to downtown places instead of struggling to find a place to park, but it only has two bedrooms and a sleeper sofa, so my brothers will have to share. Man, am I getting chubby these days. That was a non sequitur. Another non-sequitur: Faulker is soooooo great. Another non-sequitur: Ben's oral is on March 6. Yay!

Invite

I am, of course, finished with senior essay and am now enjoying...not a well-deserved decrease in work, but a bizarrely unreasonable quantity of work: 60-pg. Darwin readings (which are AWESOME, everyone should read Darwin), 50-pg. Faulkner readings (which are also AWESOME), and then 55-pg. Marx readings for seminar. A secret: 100 pages of Darwin goes by twice as fast as 50 pages of Marx= Marx is four times as boring as Darwin. Maybe more, really. I do not understand how such boring, Hegel-like writing inspired people to inspire the masses. The best part about my Marx seminars has been watching people argue about capitalism and communism. The uber-capitalist in my class, who always seemed perfectly nice before, is actually evil...something I only realized because of his cruel, heartless, arguments in favor of increased production. Scary. On the other side is this crazy girl who thinks that an argument for communism consists in giving examples of people who have been hurt real-bad by capitalism (like we don't all (except for the crazy capitalist) feel bad for the factory workers!) and then asks questions like, "wouldn't it just be so much better if (insert haughty, superior tone, ironically, here) we all just rose to a state of species-being and really partook in our community and weren't estranged from our products anymore?" And then people are like, "You know, Ms. Greer lived in a commune in India for like, thirty years, and so it must work." And then the next day in class, Ms. Greer, my language tutor is like, "Ummm...yeah it worked pretty well because we all gave up our ideals to survive and turned a blind eye to the lady in the dairy who was stealing milk from the community so that her baby wouldn't be malnurished." So. Marx. Not so impressed, I have to say.

Any-whooo. Santa Fe.



How GREAT IS IT? I just wanted to extend one final invite to all of ya'll for my graduation, which is on May 19th. Dad is going to be in Santa Fe in a house (a nice house) from May 17th-22nd. So far I have commitments from Ben K, Mandy, and Brad. Anyone else interested? I know Ben I and Jaime are interested, but Ben's quarter doesn't end until an uncivilized date sometime in June, so they are excused. Any and all are welcome. I guarantee really good food, a silly speech by the president of St. John's, a great game of senior-staff softball, a view of my receipt of a diploma, and any extent of relaxing/invigorating recreational activities.

So close!

Wow...only ten hours left. I have never lived a week so full of the same boring and exhausting shit. My essay is well-written but tragically short on substance, I feel. Alas. Alas. I spent four hours (it took four hours!) to copy-edit Ben's essay last night, which was 40 pages long and is now only 35. My essay is a modest 23 pages long. We keep getting notes through campus mail telling us about our choreographed evening tonight...one of the problems with tradition is that you get notes that say, "Get dressed up and come to the president's house. Then walk in the door, at the left you'll see a closet. Turn right. A man will be there to take you're oeuvre (it actually says that!) and will ring a gong. Stand there and he will announce your name and your essay title. You will then be greeted by the dean, the president, etc." I've, of course, lost my note and don't really remember what to do except that there will be a gong. I will try really hard to take amusing pictures of the whole thing. This is really one of the moments when I wish I'd bought that video camera. A gong!

Still Going Crazy

It's Sunday. The end is near (next Saturday at midnight...but not near enough. Ugh. Oy. Bluh. One treat: I'm going to Ten Thousand Waves tonight for a private bath. This sucks.

Ironically going crazy

Yesterday I resorted to writing down all the words I could associate with Jung. Then I cut them out into little strips and played with them on the floor. This was actually quite helpful. I have to hand in my senior essay two weeks from tomorrow, though, so I'm beginning to be a BIT (read: REALLY) worried about my time.



It kind of worked:

Evidence...coincidence?

Mom in her red coat...in the snow...wearing boots just like mine.

Waz and Lenny

Oh my goodness...you are all TOTALLY going to thank me for this. So, those of you who were in Maine may remember my interest in the Time Person of the Year article. Well, I tracked down a few of the websites that they talked about, with mixed results. One of them was in Chinese so...no luck there. One of them was that girl on MySpace who has made a living out of having the most MySpace friends and being super, super trashy. I didn't find that one so interesting either. What I DID love was Crashtestkitchen.com.



Meet Waz and Lenny, an Australian couple living in Britain who film their attempts at cooking various recipes...sometimes with success...other times not so much. Their bickering is really cute, and it is SO COMFORTING to watch people follow recipes more improvisationally, the way we all do, than normal cooking shows. This website is a treat.

Unrelated...really unrelated...things

I saw Curse of the Golden Flower sometime last week (I can see movies and go out whenever I want to-mwah-ha-ha-because it's writing period!) and Jaime is soooo right about the Chinese breast thing. Americans don't really know anything about China (except Chinese Americans) but the ONE THING WE DO KNOW is that Japanese/Chinese/Korean women are supposed to have flat chests and be really really good at fighting ninjas.


Armies of women with prominently displayed bosoms.

Curse of the Golden Flower, despite this minor flaw, was actually super enjoyable. For those of you who may be worried that this movie will be like its predecessor, House of Flying Daggers, Golden Flower is WAY more interesting. This movie is Greek in its scope (tensions between various family members of the Imperial family) and completely over the top, full of Chinese goodness in its execution. I'm trying to think of examples...like the palace, which is ornate to the point of psychadelic hanging cloth, or the palace timekeeper dude, who announces the hour of the day along with various crazy sayings about rivers, suns, etc. in town-cryer-y fashion throughout the movie. The best thing, though, is that this movie relies more on super-intense relationships than on the visual spectacle of fighting. Visual spectacle is totally fulfilled by the palace, the fighting that comes later on (not to give anything away), but most appropriately, by...the golden flower!

Moving on to the unrelated thing...I did eventually get those pictures of the Bosque developed, but they didn't turn out very well because the TSA people over x-rayed my film, I guess. Whoops. Here are a couple of the pictures from the roll of lower-speed film, taken later in the morning and so not as dramatic:

Thanks Heilveils!

Check out my very warm, wonderful boots!




Things like this make the best Christmas presents because they're just the sort of thing that you would never buy for yourself even though you really, really, want AND need them.

Apartment

Here are some views of our lovely apartment. First, you see several different views of our fabulous, all-purpose room.







Bedroom/Office:





And the big finale: bathroom.




Now, wasn't that exciting?