Archive for January, 2004

Thursday January 29, 2004 at 05:00 pm

so i’m back from the wasteland of applications (for a little while) but am still unable to process any original thoughts for the most part. so here is something i read this morning that inspired me (especially cos i saw a sweet-faced little boy in a stroller this morning on my way to work):

Big Mistake
Barbara Kingsolver

If I got to make just one law, it would be that the men who make the decisions to drop bombs would first, every time, have to spend one whole day taking care of a baby. We were not made to do this killing thing, I swear. Back up. It’s a big mistake.

Her outstretched arms and terrified eyes still symbolize the violent turmoil of an entire era. Find out what she’s doing today.

Tuesday January 27, 2004 at 05:00 pm

a message from yr friend, sarah

just to let you know, i’m still alive and everything. i’m just absolutely swamped with work (which sucks. hard-core). yesterday i read 50, yes fifty, FIVE OH, applications. and then came to work today and found out i’ll most likely have to work this weekend…

needless to say, much work makes sarah a bad friend, correspondent and xanga contributor. so this post serves as a massive apology/warning to everyone who i don’t call back/write back/talk to as much or as soon as i would like to.� believe me, i wish things were different. i would much rather be talking or writing to one of you than reading piles of transcripts or reading essays about “why i was born to be a doctor and do the rice baylor program”.

it won’t be like this forever… sarah, yr friend, will return from the depths of paper and anal parents… til then, just know that i’m missing you.

Thursday January 15, 2004 at 05:00 pm

since i’m sure all of you have been on the edge of yr seats since my last post…

the soup was fine. it was good. in fact, it was freaking fantastic.

i ended up buying 2 boxes of potatoes au gratin (just add water and a few other things) and baking it myself, which�defeated the purpose of�quick preparation (but i think that�goal was�pummeled into the ground�a lot earlier)�but ended up being a perfectly good substitute.

the real reason, however, that the soup turned out so fabulously is because of my friends in small group. just being around such loving, awesome people and seeing the smiles and faces that have been gone for the holidays made all of my frustration melt away… and left me feeling incredibly silly for getting so bent out of shape about some stupid potatoes with cheese.

PLUS i got a watercolor postcard painted by seth w. in the mail�right as i was cooking the potatoes in the oven… talk about perfect timing.

so, as trite as it sounds, i’m thankful for my “quick and easy” cheddar potato soup, cos it reminded me of what makes life good, really and truly worth living and loving and embracing.

and i get to have another “reminder” for lunch today… yay leftovers! :)

Wednesday January 14, 2004 at 05:00 pm

the #1 most wasted hour of my entire life:

calling every grocery store chain in houston to find frozen potatoes au gratin. i need them for this fucking soup recipe�from my sandra lee cookbook�i planned on making for small group, and APPARENTLY NO STORE IN THIS CITY CARRIES THEM.

although stouffer’s, most helpfully, has the product listed on their website. then where the hell is it?!!!

i’ve heard so much muzak that i feel the need to speed over to ktru and blast some hardcore metal or something. countless applications have gone unread while i’ve dwindled on hold and then painstakingly explained to dozens of grocery workers what “au gratin” means.

i think my inner soccer mom demon has been unleashed. sandra lee, feel my WRATH! au gratin my ass.

Monday January 12, 2004 at 05:00 pm

so a few weeks back, i found my copy of “girlfriend in a coma” (douglas coupland) that i thought i had lost while traveling. hallelujah!!

before i lent it to my friend erik, i typed out two of my favorite quotes from the book, both of which are funny and yet very scary (typical coupland).

i wish i was reading for fun. instead of reading apps. oh well. enjoy!

“Imagine you’re a forty-year-old, Richard,” Hamilton said to me aound this time, wile working as a salesman at a Radio Shack in Lynn Valley, “and suddenly somebody comes up to you saying, ‘Hi, I’d like you to meet Kevin. Kevin is eighteen and will be making all of your career decisions for you.’ *I’d* be flipped out. Wouldn’t you? But that’s what life is all about– some eighteen year old kid making your big decisions for you that stick for a lifetime.”

******

What she doesn’t tell Richard, though, is that in a strange way her old friends aren’t really adults– they *look* like adults but iinside they’re not really. They’re stunted; lacking something. And they all seem to be working too hard. The whole *world* seems to be working too hard. Karen seems to remember leisure and free time as being important aspects of life, but thse qualities seem utterly absent from the world she now sees in both real life and on TV. Work work work work work work.

Look at this! Look at this! People are always showing Karen new electronic doodads. They talk about their machines as though they possess a charmed religious quality– as if these machines are supposed to compensate for their owners’ inner failings. Granted, these new things are wonders– email, faxes, and cordless phones– but then still… big deal.

“Hamilton, but what about *you*– are you new and improved and faster and better, too? I mean, as a result of your fax machine?”

“It’s swim or drown, Kare. You’ll get used to them.”

“Oh, *will* I?”

“It’s not up for debate. We lost. Machines won.”

compassionate americans with champagne bathtubs

the comments on my last post are really cute and funny, btw.

i feel the need to post, cos it’s been so terribly long, but i don’t have the time to write much nor the mindset to be thoughtful or profound. so here is the quote on my daily “presidential (mis)speak calendar” that ellen gave me:

“the goals for this country are peace in the world. and the goals for this country are a compassionate american for every single citizen.”

1) WTF?

2) in addition to the major language problems our president has, he’s also a big freaking liar. peace? really? wow. news to me.

3) usually, in bushisms, you can at least get at what he was *supposed* to say, but with this one, i have no idea. thoughts?

i had a nice christmas with the fam and a fabulous time in austin with seth w., seth e. and ryan for new year’s, involving a millionaire’s house and a�bathtub full of�champagne bottles. and i also�christened myself with a new�superhero nickname: POWDER BLUE!�but my�powers are yet to be revealed.

now�i’ve entered the hell of reading season, so i’m not sure how it will all play out on xanga… for now, lovies to all.