stone ages you say?

Today, I'm having a hard time today figuring out what century we are actually living in. Several pretty much INSANE things are going on right now and I'm beginning to truly wonder.

NYTimes Reads: The British teacher in Sudan who let her 7-year-old pupils name a class teddy bear Muhammad was found guilty on Thursday of insulting Islam and sentenced to 15 days in jail and deportation.

You. have. got. to. be. kidding. me! It's like punishing someone, in a predominantly hispanic country (ie many countries and regions of the world) for naming their child Jesus. See.....YEAH. There really isn't much to be said.

AND

NYTimes Reads: A man claiming to have a bomb strapped to his chest walked in to Hillary Rodham Clinton’s campaign offices in Rochester, N.H., today and took hostages, police and witnesses said.

Ok, let's see, wake up - check, eat breakfast - check, duck tape the bomb under my reebok jacket - check, walk into the campaign office of the only woman brave enough to run for president - check. I cannot WAIT to hear his explanation for this to do list. That's if they don't shoot him by the end of today.

Too bad there arent any writers to provide us the necessary knee slapping commentary on the Daily Show or Colbert Report of these hapenings. Damn you Writers Strike.

This posting remains nameless due to lack of creativity

There really isnt a better youtube video out there right now than the one I just happened upon. Especially considering the baffoon circus that was the latest republican debate sponsored by CNN and youtube (although major kudos to whoever married those two). And in my search for clips to confirm their overt ridiculousness (of which I won't rant on about seeing as I thoroughly exhausted my expletives throughout Safeway with Ali), I came upon this video. There are so many thought-worthy issues discussed in just under 5 minutes of its length, that I will let it poke at your mind and your college experience as it will. Enjoy.

And can we please have a moment of silence to commemorate the massive invasion of local grocery store produce sections by giant boxes of satsumas. They are everywhere, my version of a safe and bipartisan supported surge really, and I couldn't be happier. Christmas is finally here!

Things to remember about Thanksgiving Weekend ’07

Being without internet for a full 5 days has been hard enough, but harder has been the task of compiling the weekend of ups and down into one coherent blog. This task reminded me that I am a strong believer in thoughtful lists. It can be exactly as complicated and unconnected as the subject matter, and it helps me to compile all my moments into one picture. So here goes. In no particular order.

Getting free, yes FREE manicures with Kathleen. Thanks to a pile of unused gift certificates from Christmas’ past. And singing the Shane Company commercial BY HEART in the car, with no provocation. Totally spontaneous while reminiscing about junior high and radio stations. J And I’m going to take a moment to commemorate how awesome kathleen’s hugs are.

Seeing Maria completely live my 13 year old existence. such as…..
Me: what are you girls up to?
Maria and Sarah: we’re going to curl our hair and put on fun outfits and walk to 15th and rent movies. wooohooo.

Going to a blues traveler concert with BOTH of my parents. (who are divorced just fyi) and being completely comforted to see them both dancing in their silly hippie way with the one thing they still have in common. me. and jam bands.

Me and maria’s complete inability to keep our big mouths shut. Which results in no Christmas present mystery whatsoever. but we like it better that way. Deal with it.

Being able to simultaneously enjoy and make fun of the newly dubbed ‘tradition’ of thanksgiving at the country club. Tradition my ass. But really, let’s not get into my ass and the inches it gained this weekend!

How comfortable I feel on Seattle buses. How I have missed your sleep inducing, high backed seats of bliss. Your Portland competition is hard and cold and does not even come close to your glory.

Driving along Lake Washington Boulevard on a surprisingly clear and bright day, and being left completely breathless by the beauty of Seattle. Lakes and mountains and floating bridges.

Cuddling with Maria. All 6 feet of her. And realizing once again, that the way her hair smells will never change. Neither will the feeling that she is still 3 and drooling.

The laughter and screeching of the Jesse women, as our father catches major AIR going down the rollercoaster streets of Seattle. Done knowing that we would have that exact response. Sometimes it’s like we were never apart. But one of the constant disparaging remarks from my mother, when he is out of ear range, reminds me that that was a long time ago.

The smell of St. Joseph’s church on Sunday mornings. And Jesuit mass. There aren’t really any words that can explain the unique experience of Jesuit culture. But it is for certain the only thing that can truly remind me that I’m catholic at heart.

How easily my grandmother can make me cry. And realizing that this Africa experience I am embarking on in fall 08 will most likely not be accepted by them for many years to come. And how sad I am that we cannot come together over something so clearly good and exciting.

My mother, despite ridiculous abounding, is amazingly funny and beautiful.

Making eyes with the pizza man at the corner bistro café, having it awesomely end with a look and smile from the most beautiful eyes ever, and the cutest wave I have ever seen. If only I lived in Seattle. It was PURE MAGIC I tell you! as lauren as I figure.... an honest exchange of sexual pheromones. wooot.

She Rah

I am sitting here, with silly flushed cheeks from my ONE beer with caitlin at dinner (I'm pathetic I realize thank you), and listening to voicemail from my many suitors (aka my friends who are wondering if I'm coming to House tuesday nights and if I can call them back and talk about their grown up turkey sitting in their fridges- all of which makes me smile immensely) and I'm beginning to realize how surrounded I am by women. Ok, not to say I've been unaware of my women filled family or the 'holynames'-ness of my every thought and habit, but its a process. And despite my 'alone forever' recent realizations, I am incredibly comforted by the sense of cliche belonging. Having someone immediately understand the immensely overwhelming stress of having mothers and sisters come into town, with one long sigh or sarcastic laugh. Just like that. Or the sweaty adventure that is traveling, complete with throwing out all our expensive hair products to go through security. Or the constant worrying. That goes without saying. And most importantly, the guilty pleasures of dressing up. It's one of those moments where the 'us' is so clear. I could get all sociological about it, and as much as I would love to, I'll try to conclude my tangent. It's like when the music is playing and a loud interruption distracts you, a phone ringing or a crunchy crouton, and you end up still singing right along with the music when you can hear it again. Despite these crunchy croutons, like thousands of miles and busy work weeks and family shit, I still come out at the end with a gaggle of women that are there, in the most immediate tangible way. And it's always best when you can raid their closet (and music collection) and find some keepers :)

And I cannot stress the importance of our LACK of smelll or scratching.

Forever and Ever Amen

Dating? What's that?

I can do this. I've dated. At least thats what I'm going to continue to tell myself. But in reality, I have NO IDEA how to do this. No idea at all. What do you talk about? What do you say? How long do you hold their eye contact, and I know I will forget to sit up straight. Throughout college I basically dated one person, and those dates were easy, and quite a bit of time ago. College romance was so not the real world. Fun and exciting, and my "hide your boyfriend after intervisitation" skills were well developed, but not exactly the real dating world. And since, there have been a couple half hearted attempts, none of which I was actually wishing to go anywhere. And those were real people, that I knew. This is not. This is completely blind. And if you know me, you know that I have great intuition and I hate not knowing what's going on, how to read things, or any sort of confusion. And as much fun as it is to analyze, I really don't want to have to. I am an anxious fool and it tends to affect my stomach like no one's business, so as much as I appreciate the 5 pounds or so that I lose during times of sweaty hands and over-talking, I would much rather not have to deal with it. But that could be me just being scared. And I will never learn how to do this if I don't get out there and do it. So here I go. Palpitations and all.

Hey, where are the enema kits I ordered?

Throw me off the boat week is in full swing. I'm not complaining, because it has been entertaining and has flown by, but seriously people, give me some consistency! The early morning start on monday was balanced with some thank you flowers in my new cube. The way to a girl's heart....let's be real. And the new cube with lots of push-pin-able ready for pictures walls isnt too shabby either. Who wants to bet on how long it takes me to remember to bring pictures in? If it wasn't self defeating and not even possible to bet against myself, I would put 5 bucks on two weeks. Then the dry-mouth inducing talking marathon training day began. But the new lady is super super sweet, organized, and laughs with me (not to mention at me). All perks. Tuesday was a whole new ballgame. And by ballgame I mean the Lab. Not only do I get to sleep in on tuesdays and come in at 11, which provides plenty of time for walks and the oh so needed stumptown coffee transfusion with Ali, I also stay untill 7 and spend the entire day in the lab with things like this. Kind of creepy, but kind of really freaking kick ass. Have you ever seen a black penis on a white woman? Yeah neither had I, untill yesterday. Who knew interchangeable plastic parts could be so entertaining past the age of 9? And I constantly fight the need to go home, call my mom, and say "I touched its butt!" like I'm still that age. But try moving one of those on your own, because its arm decides to leak IV fluids, and it turns out the best place to grab. :) The rest of the week (which started today with a rocky alarm sleep through that resulted in one hour less of pay) turns into a mish mash of Jason projects (undergraduate counselor), mini claire projects, and more lab hours on fridays. But it's nice to feel a part of a team, and I end of walking around more, which my waistline will thank me for later. Plus free staff tickets to Little Women this weekend!? Its' like crack for educated feminist-leaning women. Cheers to a grown up job!

a standard of seld-doubt

And this was just too good to pass up...... As a vehement proponent of freedom of speech and intelligent political though, it saddens me that we are so lacking and seemingly frivolous with our knowledge of current events and history, yet I applaud those who take a serious look at our shortcomings, even more so with a humorous perspective. Regardless of how stupid it makes us as Americans seem. I promise you we are not all like this. Just ask me and Ali, or our ongoing facebook political or nytimes link conversations. Enjoy THIS. Cause I know I did.

At Ease

After going through the typical post college withdrawal, I am thankfully at a point where I feel at ease with the change. I always thought, especially throughout these past few months of transition, that I would always feel this lack, untill I started another phase of my life. That I was waiting for something to start, or something to ifnite a new phase, or even possibly for someone to come into my life. That the feeling of limbo would remain, over my shoulder, watching me run after the times and feelings I was lucky enough to experience during my time at the University of Portland. But it really is a blessing to realize that despite the doubts that I had, that I still have quite the portland family. A birthday celebration last night (not to mention recent reconnections and consistent sushi and spend-overs) was and is a testament to our persistence as a group of people, and sometimes even more so of a fragmented group that, despite our flaws, really does work. My life here in portland is luckily full of dynamic people. Some that truly understand my ridiculous passion for feminism or politics, a few that understand the importance of a good happy hour find, some that just want to dance with me, and some that can laugh and even encourage my stupid affection for the character that John Cusack plays in every movie he's in. And for that, those simple and incomplete understandings, I am eternally grateful.
-me

A New Start

Here I am. An official blogger. Although I'm pretty sure I'll never be very official about it. There is more to come. Post College. Pre-Africa.