unveiling.......

well here it is, folks, my new and improved sidebar!!! I've added a bunch of bloggers that I love to visit... hope you enjoy visiting them too!

x-mas in July

here's a picture I never posted from my trip to cali last december:

















Santa was at the beach collecting signatures for the establishment
of a Department of Peace in the Federal government....... I never
knew Santa was a liberal!

it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

hi friends! wow, it really is a gorgeous day today. I'm psyched I can enjoy it, after being a little sick for the last few days. I didn't get slowed down too much, though.... let me catch you up to speed:

on saturday, I went to the local columbian association's annual picnic. I was invited by Xi-nando (Ximena & Fernando), who are columbian and who decided to bring with them a little united nations party. we had 3 columbians, 2 indians, a cuban and 2 gringas. we stood for the columbian national anthem, listened to columbian music, talked and.... ate. and ate. but I didn't mind! we had tamales, stuffed potatoes, grilled chicken, yummy fruit drinks.... it was heavenly! then we all went to the lake in the park, rented some boats, and paddled around. it was probably the most beautiful day ever..... thanks, Xi-nando!!!

I also did a bunch of cooking over the weekend and went to the movies ("my super ex-gf" - very cute and fun). then last night, Olga and I did another push towards getting the apartment set up. we hung a lot of art and a cool clock from Olga's childhood that actually says "made in the USSR" (but in russian, of course) and then we worked on the cabinet! it is now completely assembled except for the support pieces. then it'll just be the finishing/painting. I can't wait to get home and work on it some more!

only 6 hours and 6 minutes to go!

UPDATE: 4 hours and 1 minute

UPDATE: 3 hours and 9 minutes

Olga drills!

so Olga drilled for the first time last night! (gee Olga, that sounds kinda dirty... shame on you!) actually, we decided to hang all our gorgeous handbags together in an artful arrangement by the front door. Olga drilled and drilled and drilled (erm.).... then we ran out of hooks because we have so many many beautiful handbags. I'll post a pic of our oeuvre when it's all done.

that project was precipitated by the cabinet project, which is well under way. our backyard neighbors Mike & Micki took a break from their one-year anniversary celebrations (which seemed to consist of yardwork... weird, but whatever turns you on, I guess......) to saw some planks for us. we've begun to put together the frame so far, but then we had to stop because it was time to watch "the Office." Ricky Gervais is a frickin genius.........

Olga also took a pic of me with my new haircut:

so what do you think? yeah, more mascara and tilt my head down on photos, right?


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gratuitous drill shot:

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super-post!

THA LORIDER GOES TO THE CINEMA: SUPERMAN RETURNS














recap:
so Superman's been away for 5 years and does he have some surprises waiting for him!!!

sorry it has taken me a couple weeks to post about this movie, but it was such a life-altering event (*SARCASM ALERT*) that it took me a while to gather my thoughts. upon reflection, I decided that people probably go to this movie through different motivations (yeah, I'm deep like that), so I'm splitting up my review for the different camps. *SPOILER ALERT* just highlight if you want to read the spoilers......

Superman "freaks":
definitely go see this movie - I thought it rocked!!! sorry, it didn't alter my life, but I'm sure it will for you. you plan to play the Superman theme at your wedding????!! actually, me too. and also the Death Star theme.

"analytical" & "deep" people:
in this movie, Superman once again proves that he is an alien from another planet by failing to undergo any yucky, human-ish character development, despite the fact that the director was apparently trying for it, and planning for it based on his constantly dangling the hope of said character development before us like tasty, tasty meat dangled before wolves (I feel cheated & somewhat cheap-no comments pls, anon) however, the formulaic-ness and going nowhere-after-all-ness of the plot was rather soothing to my media-blitzed american brain, so I wouldn't discount this movie just on account of that.

nerds:
the CGI was absolutely great (unlike other movies I could mention *cough-LOTR-cough*). the f-X (as we say in tha "biz") and camerawork made the action parts of the movie truly fantastic - I was literally on the edge of my seat a few times, and certainly didn't notice the movie was 17 hrs long till I left the theater.

poncy-actory concerns:
kevin spacey and parker posey were super! (haha - get it?)

people-who-just-watch-movies-for-the-plot:
SUPERMAN HAS A KID!!!!!!! but Lois is still going to stay with her husband (not Clark/Superman - long story. omg did I just give away that CLARK KENT IS ACTUALLY SUPERMAN?????? my bad.)

people-who-just-think-Superman-is-hot:
the new superman guy is pretty hot (also, he vaguely reminded me of jebus, I don't know if that was a coincidence or a "subtle" theme that was repeately pounded into my head, through imagery, visuals, dialogue, etc, over & over &overokay Bryan I get it jeez I'm not retarded!!!!!):

so go see it!

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*NERD ALERT!* after the movie.....

...plain-old nerds will want to read this as a follow-up:
link

...science nerds will want to read this:
link

...psychology nerds will want to read this:
link

...nerds who think Superman is sexy will want to read this:
link

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quick update

-I got a tent over the weekend. I'm going camping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-I had Indian buffet for lunch! yum. I had all four food groups and several animals: mmmmm veggies, mmmm carbies, mmmmm animals, mmmmmm indian desserts......

-only 15 min to go at work - hurray!

haircut!!

well, I got my hair chopped last week, about 5 inches taken off. it falls to just above my shoulders now - no more long pony, although I can pull it back. I was tired already of being mistaken for a high-school student and getting carded for ordering a flippin' shandy!

I'm going to post a pic and get your opinions - I'm not sure exactly how long or what shape it should be, in the end.

this weekend it was my downstairs neighbors' moving sale , so I cleaned up on some art supplies and stuff from mama artiste. I got a bunch of mostly full tubes of acrylic paint, plus some mini-canvases. now.... to create !!!!!

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ps - forgot to wish you frenchies a happy bastille day last week ;)


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now..........

too true. too true.
(thanks, britew!!!!!)

and then.............

seeing those little kids playing in that photo brought back some memories of when I was a kid in Philly. we had a neighbor, a single guy. we knew him a bit and became friendlier when he took in an alley cat that was preggers. our parents (two women in that household, not lesbians, no we weren't related, long story) decided to let my lil brother and me get a kitten from the litter.

so we would go over this guy's house and torture the kittens, trying to decide which one was the "toughest." a little black cat with white socks bit and clawed us the hardest when mauled, so we chose him and (almost named him "Michael Jackson"- it was the days of "The Making of Thriller" movie.... he was cool then!) named him Whack-Attack (you know, he had those kitty fits... he could even run along a wall horizontally).

good old Whack-Attack. my mom moved to the country later and Whack, the morning after arriving, meowed and clawed at the door. my mom goes, "oh, he must be adjusted to being here already," and opens the door. he runs about 10 feet out the door and looks up.... at the wide-open sky above him. we had come from some very-urban neighborhoods, and I don't think he'd ever been in an open space before - certainly not one that wasn't covered with asphalt and basketball hoops. his eyes just about popped out of his head and he flattened down to the ground, looked around wildly for a couple of seconds, and then fled back inside. I don't think he went out again for about 8 weeks.

but eventually he adjusted and became quite a hunter. he used to bring my mom bits of voles, moles, mice (of course), birds, snakes and many other living beings that are supposedly critical to the ecosystem, but we seemed to do fine without them.

but that's getting away from the point of my story. that neighborhood, in addition to supplying us with a faithful kitty, also is the location of many fond memories:

*popping and breakdancing on pieces of cardboard on the sidewalk.
*making bike ramps (out of cardboard & milk crates) on the sidewalk.
*imitating the WWF by swinging on the pipes in the basement and landing on each other while rolling about on..... you guessed it, pieces of cardboard (but also an old mattress sometimes).
*learning to use the washer and dryer: Mom - "This is the washer. It has three settings. This is the dryer. It has two settings. Enjoy."
*Saturday morning chores and watching the Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy, the Cosby show and Night Court every Thursday night.
*that creepy abandoned old jail down the block that I had to walk past on my way to and from school, which was overrun with stray cats and where we let go of our gerbils after they got to be around 30 of them.

oh - and a favorite memory: this one always makes me laugh. this neighborhood was black and hispanic - except for our family, and that one neighbor, remember him? so nobody really expected to see a white kid walking around. so I was walking down the block with my next door neighbor, Rudine. this albino guy from around the way was over across the avenue and he yelled to Rudine "HEY! Hey, Rudine! Hi! Hey, is she albino?" apparently referring to me as though I couldn't talk for myself, because I was obviously either albino or white, in either case a total freak. so she shouts back "No! She's not! She's white!" he goes, "OH! Okay!" and walks away!

and that was it people! from then on everyone in my neighborhood knew I was white and I got..... treated differently! (okay, that last part is not true. I think my neighbors had already caught on that I was white.) my point: I was INVISIBLE, people!!! he wouldn't even talk to me to my face! that's racism!!!! but I think I turned out alright.

anyway, that neighborhood is really turned around now. I went by there to see the old house the last time I was in Philly, and there are stores and cafes on the main avenue, where there used to be a dank and scary general store and a bunch of empty store fronts. the crackheads seem to be gone, and there's even a dog park (a dog park, for cryin out loud, people) along the side of the old jail. they even cleaned up the jail and give tours there now. I think it was too expensive to tear down, so finally they decided it was old enough to be historic and got rid of all the cats.

but anyway, back to my original point: that guy, our neighbor, remember? his phone number was (215) BEA-MONK.

get it? be a monk!!!! hahahahahahahahahahaha!

fun with floods: Manila edition

god, remember being a little brat (anon) and just having fun
no matter what was happening?? :)

Bastone-y Tuesday, Little Tree Wednesday

God, I'm popular!!

you all have heard about Bastone, but I don't think I've ever mentioned yummy Little Tree. I went there last night, it's also in Royal Oak. They have a Japanese, Filipino & Thai menu, plus a great sushi bar. I went with my friend Susan, a fellow teacher. she's an art teacher who I used to substitute for, and the person who convinced me to go into teaching..... thanks, Susan! we sat outside and it was lovely, afterwards we walked around Royal Oak. (btw, we are def going to check out that Paris antique shop, so britew, let me know if you're in)

Tuesday at Bastone was super-fun, as always. (shoutout to brainon, indie barkeep, and forestiere pizza!) the only fly in the ointment was that the damn pregame show for the AllStar game was like 3 hours, so we actually left during the top of the first inning - lame, I know!

the attack of the forks

okay, why are there plastic forks and spoons sprouting out of
my neighbor's lawn????? any ideas?

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hey! this blogger has written some fun plays! let's get together
and act them out. anon, you can be Funkiller. I want to be
Princess Tofu!

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wah! tha lorider is sooooooo old!!!!! 15 year reunion!!!!!!!!

Message from classmates.com:

"Dear XXXXXXXXX tha lorider,

You've been invited to join your friends at the Philadelphia High School for Girls Class of 1991 Reunion. Check out the event details now. If you haven't RSVP'd for this event, do so today to let others know that you'll be attending—your name will appear on the RSVP list for other invitees to see. I hope to see you at the Philadelphia High School for Girls Class of 1991 Reunion!

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXX (I remember her name!)
Reunion Group Contact"

holy crap! I must be like....... oh yeah, I am 32. anyway, I'm not going
:( .... (too bad, a cheesesteak would go down good right about now!)

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happy conquerer's day!


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art attack

well, I don't know about you, but I was very successful yesterday at BEing HAPPY! I was so happy I was moved to Create Art. this is a digital approximation of what I made:
















this is basically not at all what the painting looks like, because it turns out that I'm a terrible artist in microsoft word (the gray area is supposed to represent where I slapped/mixed some black paint onto the edge of some white paint), but anyway I'm happy with the actual painting . I used acrylic paint, as this was kind of a sketch; I think I'll try to use oil next time so I get a more lumpy effect......


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thanks brainon, for inspiring me to do art!





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happiness.....

who is this girl? I don't know. the picture came from this blog; I don't even know if she is the writer of the blog or a friend or what.... I don't speak german. hopefully, she doesn't mind having her nice photo on my blog.

I put this picture on here because this girl looks HAPPY! where does happiness come from? who knows, from her face it seems you can just have a good day and it bubbles up from inside.

people, I am inspired! my message to everyone today is BE HAPPY! britew, I know somebody just smashed your car and you feel a bit blech, but still, I hope you can be HAPPY!

and that goes for the rest of you, too! I hope you're having a great day :)


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I must say, all the kids on this blog look happy.......
hurrah for happy german kids!!!!


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hoping you had a fun 4th of July!

just on time for Wednesday.......

as requested, here are some time-wasting sites. I have decided to categorize them according to sexism..... enjoy!

♀:
kittenwar
dresses!
gossip
famous girly blogger xiaxue


♂:
masamania
world cup results and predictions
detroit tigers
this guy's myspace


♀∩♂:
calvin n hobbes n lots of other cartoons
dr. mcninja
used wigs comedic clearinghouse
sudoku
jinx t-shirts