It's a silly time to learn to swim when you start to drown...

After three weeks of being back in upstate New York, I finally have a gym membership! The best part is, it's only $20 a month for six months! Incredibly cheap for this area. I'm super excited to get back into working out after a few weeks of sitting around. I think that's one of the factors resulting in my intense moodiness. They don't have a lot of classes though which sucks but oh well. Maybe I can find some cheap yoga classes in the area or just force K. to do yoga DVDs with me.

Now that I have a membership, I can start making new work-out playlists! I typically listen to hardcore while exercising (underOATH, From Autumn to Ashes, Every Time I Die, Drop Dead Gorgeous) but lately it's been more electro (The Bloody Beetroots, MSTRKRFT, Boys Noize, Uffie, Blank & Jones). Sometimes there's even my typical indie choices in there (Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, The Pierces) What do you recommend?

I just read "This is Not Chick Lit" which is a collection of short stories, edited by Elizabeth Merrick. I absolutely loved it and would recommend it. Some of the stories are heartbreaking, others comical and heart warming, while there are those that are just disturbing in a way that really makes you think about different situations you may have never considered before. It is not a cheap shot at "chick lit" as many have come to see it, including the editor of "This is Chick Lit" but rather an opportunity to give the spotlight to eighteen female modern literary talents. I think my favorite story was Cristina Henríquez's "Gabriella My Heart" about a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality.

Reason Why I Wish I Lived in Europe #872

Am I the only one who wants to run out and dress their boyfriend in an outfit like this?

 

Probably.

Am I okay with this urge? Yes. 

Would he let me? Questionable. 

*From The Satoralist, 21 January 2009. 

I'm still in your blood, you're still in my blood.

I'm all for a bi-partisan government (as left-wing as I am). I think it is crucial, especially right now. While I do not agree with everything he has done in naming his cabinet members, I applaud Obama for treading on middle ground thus far. So why is it that Congressional Republicans cannot play nicely, especially after they got the tax cuts and other provisions written into the stimulus bill, provisions they insisted on? And then have the gall to say to Durbin, "Don't give up on us. We still want to work with you." I don't think this will continue on when it gets to the Senate but I do have to say that I'm not liking Pelosi lately.

On that note, The Huffington Post (and GoFugYourself) is why I never get anything done, I swear.

I'm not sure how many more articles I can read about families involved in murder-suicides. It makes me incredibly nauseous. Has our country really fallen this far?

I adore this photograph and I'm not sure why:



Interview tomorrow. Keeping my fingers crossed. Although now I've posted that fact on here and told some of my friends, I'm sure I've jinxed it.

Next up: 101 in 1001 Days project
(I take back the words "next up" - I can't promise that as it might take a while to compile this list, as I would like it to be sincere)

Go download the Bloody Beatroots - erm, if you like electro musc. If that's not your thing, try "Time Lapse Lifeline" by Maria Taylor or "Bitches in Tokyo" by STARS.

(sometimes it's impossible to be motivated enough to take the first steps)

May we please move on?

I realize that President Obama's inauguration was one week ago. So why is it that today I opened the newspaper to the editorial section and still find people complaining about the cost of this inauguration in a time of recession? Further more, are these people serious? Do they really need someone to break it down to them? Please let me know if you disagree with me but here's my take on the situation.

The 56th inauguration attracted the largest crowds in history, estimated at just over one million people in attendance. 8,000 police officers from all over the country as well as 10,000 National Guard troops were flown in to assist with crowd control. This is a necessary cost for the safety of the citizens who wanted to be a part of this historic event. I agree that some of the security costs incurred by the whistle-stop train trip could have been scaled back but at the same time it was a wonderful way to reach out to every day people who do not have the means of seeing the inauguration in person.

As you've noticed, we are in a recession, which is the original cry for the spending. Generally, one would think that with a recession would come deflated costs since no one is spending as much. Unfortunately, costs are still inflated, not dropping fast enough. Therefore, all the costs for an inauguration in 2009 are going to be exponentially higher than they were in 2005. Not to mention, media outlets keep throwing out figures of $42-70 million from 2005. This is wrong! After the cost of security and transportation, which no one seems to be factoring in, Bush spent close to $115 million.

Please note that a majority of the $150 million+ spent on this event was paid for with private funds. The inaugural balls were paid for entirely from these private funds. You can't stop wealthy donors (read: celebrities) from spending their money in a recession.

So please, may we just move on and focus on the 70,000 jobs across the country that were lost yesterday and pray that Obama has picked the right people to seat his cabinet that can help to save our country and our world?

A Valuable Life Lesson

I'd like to clarify something.
I know that I previously claimed to judge people.

I think I misused the word judge.

I guess that I was just horrified that she claimed to know literature when her perception of what is considered literature varies from mine. I mean really, literature is any kind of writing in prose or verse. I still think she's a wonderful person, which I did mention in the beginning. And unlike her, I won't dismiss someone because they do not choose to pick up a book for recreational use.

Let me give you an example of a time when I did not judge someone but they in turn judged me and really made me rethink my opinion about a lot of things. In December, I went to my boyfriend's company Christmas party with him. I had on a sexy black dress and rocked the four inch black patent pumps. We sat next to one of the people who works in the company's plant. My boyfriend is an environmental chemist and a lot of the people that work for the company in the plant are ex-convicts. This charming fellow happened to have gone to prison for operating a crystal meth lab in Alaska. Sitting to his right was his girlfriend.

Looking at her, you could tell she had a hard life. She was overweight and looked weathered, with her perm, cheap sweater and ratty black pants. I didn't judge her yet I didn't pity her. I had no opinion on her. I tried to say something to her a few times and every time the only response I received was a full-on glare. Throughout the course of dinner, the two argued over who was drinking and who was driving home. The kicker is this argument had nothing to do with the safety of their own lives and others. It had everything to do with the fact that she has a breathalyzer in her car. In order to start the car, you have to blow. Every few minutes while driving, it will instruct you to blow again. This is to make sure no one other than the driver had blown into it to start the car. If it detects alcohol, you have about forty-five second to pull over to the shoulder before the car shuts itself off. How does one get such a wonderful contraption in their car in the state of Washington? All it takes is a few drunk driving convictions! So why didn't they just take his car? Oh, that's right. He had his license revoked and is not allowed to have a car registered in his name.

So it was decided that she would drive. Yet every time he wasn't looking, she reached over and downed his glass of wine. In seconds. I've never seen someone gulp down alcohol so fast. And there was that period of forty-five minutes that she was "in the bathroom." In all, I didn't give much thought to them, other than I thought it was sad that they could talk about the breathalyzer in her car in front of everyone at the dinner table like it was the latest fashion accessory that everyone had.

Come Monday, I get a phone call from the boyfriend. Apparently this woman asked her boyfriend if V. always dates girls who are such bitches. She went on to say that I'm incredibly full of myself and that I think I'm better than everyone. Excuse me? I was the one who went out of my way to speak to her and she was the one who couldn't even spare me one word in return. Was it because I was dressed formally, like everyone else? The fact that I can form a sentence intelligently? Or is it the that I realize it's not 1987 and perms aren't in anymore. Maybe it was the look of horror that flashed across my face when her boyfriend asked me what kind of girl I am, if I am a "bad girl" and then winked. I didn't even mention to her that I will not drive even if I've had only one drink because I think of the safety of others, as well as my own well being.

If I had known she felt that way about me, I would have had no problem leaning over and letting her know that her boyfriend tells everyone at work that his girlfriend is fat and ugly and that he only dates her because he knows she will never cheat on him.

That was my lesson in judging, to the max.

WTF, Google Reader?

Why is it that when I delete a post, it still shows up in Google Reader? Strange. Please stop, GR. I was hoping that nothing would ever come between our love affair, but this is the first (tiny) crack in my affection.

Hmmm. Regardless, I was excited to see that I have FOUR subscribers on Google Reader and THREE followers through Blogger! How absolutely thrilling! And only ten posts in? I swear it's not me on four different Google accounts. . .

I'm completely and madly in love with this studio apartment in NYC featured on Apartment Therapy. It's insanely incredibly and she is so gorgeous. Sigh. I wish I had stuck with dancing. She does need to invest in a little bit of artwork, but I'm sure every penny she earns goes to rent. I can only hope to find a studio half this nice in Seattle, come August.

My other current obsession happens to be Jon Favreau, but I'm sure you all already know about him. He's the 27 year old speechwriter for Obama. Yes, 27 years old. Simply amazing.

Well, I think that about sums up my random items for the day. I generally hate to write posts like this and I promise not to have too many of them, my faithful subscribers and followers!