Vote Caribou Barbie

The fake one, that is. Please?

Costume Contest

Wedding Stuff

I found my dress!!! And I saved several hundred dollars on it because there was a sale today. I wasn't even looking for a dress for me, I was looking for one for my bridesmaids. I'm getting it in light blue (I'm a nontraditional gal). More to come later -- I must go babysit.

That's President Obama to You!

I'm really excited about the election. Bummed about Prop 8 in CA, but happy Prop 4 didn't pass and f-ing ecstatic that Obama was elected.

For a while I was confident that he would win but then I got nervous a few days before the election when I started thinking about the Bradley effect.

At any rate... In attempt to make up for my long absence I'm posting this photo to hopefully get a smile (or chuckle?) out of you. It might not've been quite as funny if Obama had lost.

Anyway, it's me dressed as Caribou Barbie for halloween (saying "pew pew!" like Tina Fey in the Couric interview spoof). I spent HOURS making that damn box!!!

Life, etc.

How about this for a full review of "An American Crime:" Don't see it!

It's an incredibly depressing, and important story, but it simply does not translate well into film - and by no fault of Ellen Page or Catherine Keener. I could say more, but I doubt you really want to read a whole page on why you shouldn't see a movie. So no full review. Sorry, I lied.

It's my birthday on Thursday and my mother is flying in to spend time with me. I was talking to a 5-year-old girl that I babysit for every Saturday (the daughter of one of Will's professors) explaining to her why I wouldn't be coming today and why my mom would come with me next week.

"So my mom is coming to Michigan to be with me on my birthday."

- rolls eyes - "Well, make sure to tell your mom you're not a baby anymore!"

Let's see... I have another funny kid story. My nephew is obsessed with balloons, and has been since before he'd even seen one in real life (he would point excitedly at balloons when he saw them in books). The other day he was sitting on the couch, squeezing a balloon - I think he's technically too young for balloons...isn't the age 3? He's 1 1/2, but whatever, it wasn't unsupervised. My sister warned him it would pop if he kept squeezing it, and, of course, it did. He was startled for a moment, cried, but then got over it.

Ever since, multiple times a day he tells this story about what happened

"Balloon...BOOM!" (raises arms)

"Yep."

"Ball."

"What about a ball?"

"Balloon boom!"

No, I Didn't Drop Off The Face Of The Planet...

I've just been overwhelmed. Things have picked up a lot with school and work. I quit the restaurant job and have been watching kids a lot more, which I love to do.

(Babysitting > Other Work) = Happy!

Any fans of Mo Willems? I love his pigeon books and "Leonardo the Terrible Monster"... I just picked up "I Love My New Toy" and "I Am Invited to a Party" and they're both awesome. Willems might be my third favorite children's book author (after Maurice Sendak and Shel Silverstein).

I'm about to watch "An American Crime" with Ellen Page (whom I've worshipped ever since seeing "Hard Candy") and Catherine Keener. I'll write up a full-blown review later, since last time I checked it only had 7 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.

Ménage à trois

I don't think I've written much about Will's mother, Linda... I believe I mentioned how supportive she was when Nick died. Background story: she's nuts. Will was not in contact with her for 10 years. He and his sister hated her. Linda got back together with their father last year and she was pushed back into their lives. Since then they've figured out a way to deal with her.

But seriously... she's nuts. She acts like she's enlightened and she's always talking about "eastern medicine" and yet she's incredibly shallow and she's had a boob job. She's a complete paradox.

At any rate, Will and I have a friend, Kara*, who, although she has a boyfriend, has a definite interest in the same sex. Apparently she expressed an interest in me while drinking with Will when I was at home. Will relayed this to his mother and she said, "when you have a ménage à trois, remember who you love."

As if he was even considering that!!! I don't know what's wrong with her. Why would a mother say that to her son? I feel like I've lived such a charmed life because I've never had to deal with the crazy family stuff Will has... Thank god I have normal parents.

Check This Out

Will and I both could not stop laughing when we read this.

Be True To Your School...

I do not go to a good university. My school covered up a murder last year. During my second year classes were delayed for about a week because of a faculty strike. Before I even got here the university president was canned for going millions of dollars over the budget for the new president's house. And those are just a few examples of how the administration is messed up.

Oh, and by the way, after the murder cover-up my school spent a ton of money on an advertising campaign to try to improve its reputation. Is it just me or does a university's reputation speak for itself? If there was an ad campaign when I first checked out my school I probably would have thought a lot less of it.

It should have been a red flag to me when there was no essay question and the application only took about 10 minutes to fill out... How stupid of me.

Point is, coming here was a mistake, and I've learned to live with that fact because I only have one year left.

Today in copy editing my prof started talking about how here the standards students are held to are too low. That's true. He said that smart students have trouble motivating themselves when everything is so easy. Also true. Then he said it's still possible to get a good education here. Okay....maybe true? I'm hesitant to agree on this one - I learned more in 1 year of high school than I have in the past 3 years at this university.

Here's the good part - he launched into a speech about what an excellent professor he is and how we can learn a lot from him. I don't mind so much when people are arrogant about qualities they really do possess but this guy doesn't even teach. I've taken his classes before and all he does is rant about his own personal politics. Last class he bashed Michael Moore for a while (which I have no real problem with aside from the fact it has nothing to do with our class) and then to appear balanced said he doesn't always agree with Rush Limbaugh but he's okay; "at least he isn't full of hate." Right... Because there's nothing wrong with a sexist, racist prick who picks on people who have no power.

He isn't the worst prof I've had, however, but I'll save that for another day. Anyone have a bad professor story?