Eat Your.....Pumpkins?

Due to a bad cold, I opted not to pass it along to my cousin's three young boys and cancelled on my family plans for Turkey Day (she actually thanked me on the phone for not coming).

This left me with a freshly baked pumpkin pie on Friday. Luckily, I had roommates to help me with it, but I did indeed eat three pieces before the day's end. In fact, it was gone by evening.

Which of course, leff my conscious pricked: did my three pieces of pie count as my daily vegetable serving? or fruit?

Is a pumpkin a fruit or vegetable? Wikipedia states that botanically, it's considered a fruit (because it comes from a flower - and, as I explained to my roommate, has seeds on the inside like a berry) but culinarily it is considered a vegetable - it can be served both sweet and savory.

Humph. Who knew? Pumpkins have dual citizenship!

And yes, in case you're wondering, it IS finals. And yes, I DO have better things to do....

M.

I am a Girl from the Prairie

I spent 18 years of my life staring at wide open fields, blank canvases of blowing snow, long stretchese of pink/blue skies and the sharp twinkle of the entire milky way. With the nearest neighbors two miles away - and nearest town five - I got used to feeling 'out there' by myself.

You get used to feeling alone, one small speck of nothing witnessing the cosmic drama of the universe and nature unfold. It can be very solitary and depressing, but it can also be very calming and self-assuring.

So, you can understand my frustration/culture shock sometimes at the mind-numbing traffic (taxi drivers are the WORST), constant pedestrians, worn down bike paths, hiking trails littered with garbage, sold out movie theaters, crushing mall crowds, people on the streetcorner, people in the grocery store, people in my house, people over for a visit, people in study group, people from Italy (making the total people population NINE in my house. NINE!) people at work, people on the metro, people people people ALL THE TIME.

Sometimes I feel that there are so many people up in my grill with their needs, wants, desires, must-haves, requests, demands and self-centered driving skills that I think I am going to scream and jump into the Potomac.

It's funny because I was known as the 'social butterfly' back home. But here, after a long day of just being with people, I just need a rest.

Whine, over and out.

M.

Ben Folds...and other Randomly Random Stuff

Here's my latest list- in no particular order - of stuff:

• Ben Folds is to me what Dave Matthews is to Abercrombie and Fitch loving UVA students. (Minus the obvious fact that I a) don't follow the tour cross country or b) refer to attending his concerts as "spending time with Dave" (puke puke puke)). I just realized again last night - for the umpteenth time - how much I totally heart his piano rockin' suburban white-boy mockery and clever cuss-filled lyrics. He is totally entertaining in concert [made all the better by the $5 tix for AU students - thanks Maricar!]

• So tomorrow is my birthday. I'm usually a big proponent of birthday celebrating - much to the chagrin of others around me (as in, yes yes we know, now can you stop talking about it??). I mean, it's your one day a year to be special. Aside from wedding and baby, I really think this is the only time a woman is allowed to demand some modicum of proper attention (appropriate to MN standards, of course). Let's just say I'm really happy that I don't need a man to do this one. This year, well, I kind of already feel a year older after all I've been through in recent months. So yeah. Birthday.

• On Monday, I got my free gift of Oil of Olay Destiny (a month after I ordered it for Megan's wedding - um, thanks, I guess). After one application, it claims that you will 'immediately see luminous effects!'. I must be an outlier, because after I applied it, I felt a little greasy - but smelled nice. And no, those annoying freckles on my cheek (who gets freckles in the middle of their face???) have no disappeared yet. Judging by the size of the tiny bottle, I have about three more days to find out...

• I realized this morning that whenI start my new job, I will no longer drive past the Lincoln Memorial, new ground for Martin Luther King, over the tidal basin and in between the Washington and Jefferson Monuments every morning on my way to work. I'll miss these extraordinary reminders of how lucky I am to live here. But I'll also no longer have to deal with DC traffic!

• The word synergy is total jargon to me. Can someone PLEASE tell me in REAL ENGLISH what the hell it means?
• I sang the national anthem this summer with a bluegrass band in Malawi. I have no idea why this popped into my head the other day, but it's appropriately random, yes?
• And finally, because if I don't say this my sister will bop me in the head: admittedly, the pro-pie agenda was my brother-in-law's idea. When she called me up to remind me of this, my response to her was, "Well, welcome to DC!" Politics is rough baby, pass the pie. :)

Sham on!

M.

Hooray!

It's official - I got a job! As of December 4th, I'll be gainfully employed as a project associate with an international development contractor. Woo hoo!

I don't have all the specifics on my work portfolio, but what I do know is that I'll be working in crisis areas (read: conflict, natural disaster, famine) probably in Asia. The job is located in DC, but there will be a significant amount of travel (re: frequent flier miles!)

More significantly, it's paid - a living wage! With benefits! And they they'll take out taxes (if you think this is a silly thing to be happy about, let me have a little chat with you..)

I. am. so. relieved.

...And satisfied. Out of all the millions of jobs out there, I actually went to school and got one in my field. At risk of sounding trite, I've reached my Personal Myth (atleast, for this portion of my life). I set a goal (or goals) two years ago, and now I've reached it.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

M is for Employment,
M.

Yet Another Reason to Love Living Here

Ok, so, not only was yesterday the best day EVER, but on top of that, it's supposed to be 70 F today.....and 75 tomorrow.

Who says it's November??

Woot-woot!
M.

If I Were Running for Office

Ok, in addition to the post below (see: Finally, the Saga Is Over), I am also excruciatingly happy that Rick Santorum will no longer be representing the great state of Pennsylvania (as well as the fact that Amy Klobuchar won Minnesota. Hooray!) Regardless of who ultimately wins control of the Senate, I feel good.

Sigh. In fact, it's just a good day.

I was telling my friend from PA this morning at the gym about my disgust for Mr. Santorum/adoration for Ms. Klobuchar:

(Me, sweating): "Yeah, so I like her because, unlike Mr. Discharge, she's pro-choice AND pro-gay. See, pro-choice and pro-gay, that's like, a (pant) double whammy to the Republicans."

(Me, pretending to punch neocons): "Wham! Bam! See, if I was running for office I would (pant) be pro-gay choice, and kill two birds with one stone. You know, the constituents like precision on these issues..."

(Her, sweating to the Oldies): "Um, have you gotten enough sleep lately?"

(Me, doing deep knee bends): "Yes. And on top of everything else, I would make all college students take a year abroad in a non-English speaking country; mandatory sterilization of all child molestors; automatic jail-time if you obviously stare someone's breasts at work (double time if they're young enough to be your daughter); legalize gay marriage, encourage mothers to tell their daughters that they are beautiful on a daily basis; replace lunch hour with 'walk around the block' hour, yearly mandatory 1/2 off sales of all major merchandisers (ala the French method); and make everyone get a hug before they go to sleep at night from someone they love. Not like, love."

(Her, huffing up a never ending staircase): "Are you sure you're ok?"

(Me, thoughtfully): "I would also have a pro-pie agenda. Everyone likes pie. And free dairy queen for everyone on their birthdays."

Finally, the Saga is Over.

For some reason this makes me sooo happy today:

http://www.tmz.com/2006/11/07/britney-spears-files-for-divorce/

Now I guess she'll just have to start collecting globo-babies.

M is for About Friggin Time;
M.

For Posterity

Strong Bad?

The whole painting...

The jewelled basket

On display (on the left, with collage hanging underneath it)

The diamond pitcher

So my professor has had us do these paintings from collages we made . On tuesday, after spending three weeks on them, he announced that we would be painting OVER them, for a lesson in abstraction (and learning to let go of perfection).

Before we do that however, I brought in my digital camera tonight to capture it for posterity. Alot of the other students commented on how the red-face (an aboriginal mask taken from National Geographic) looks alot like Strong Bad. Just like choose your own adventure...you decide!

M is for Matisse, Monet and Magritte,

M.

Pretty Pretty Pictures

My friend Emira just sent these fab pictures of Minnesota that her brother took. They're b-e-autiful! Enjoy!

Revision

Ok, so I happend to watch Meredith Viera's interview with Madonna last night on Dateline and I have some additional things to say:

1. The baby's name is DAVID not Daniel.
2. Apparently, she said she offered to help the father and his family, financially and he turned her down. This could have something to do with the poppy syndrome, I'm not sure. I can imagine that he'll just be happy to have those cameras out of his face. Poor, poor man.
3. She also stated that she offered to bring the baby back more often, but he said no, which I understand. First of all, this baby is a liability for him, in terms of his family asking him for money (of which you can bet there are alot now!) Secondly, there really isn't anything for him in Malawi - it's not like the baby will remember his father or like coming back to a mud hut after living in a British mansion. However, I still maintain that this baby will have some serious identity issues.
4. As for bad press, Madonna actually had the audacity to say that she felt it was because she adopted a black baby. Wha? No, it's because it appeared that you swooped in, Land Rover blazing, snatched up the first cute baby you saw (that didn't have AIDs), paid off the weak judicial system and whisked him out of the country. THAT'S why you got the bad press, lady. This ain't no racial thang. But nice try.
5. To her credit - and she did say alot of things that make sense, I just like picking on the retarded things - she said she'd like baby David to know where he came from and to have a connection of some sort. That's nice, that made me feel good. But then she went on to say that perhaps she could find information about his mom - a picture or something - that would help him when he grew up. Which made me laugh, because, really? A picture? You think there's a polariod floating around Mchinji somewhere of this nameless, faceless woman? More than likely, this woman probably just worked herself to the bone, had to many babies and never saw a camera - much less a color crayon - in her life. Good luck with that one, lady.
6. Lastly, I thought Madonna looked scary, almost pointed. Although my roommate pointed out that for being almost fifty, she looks fab, I thought her eyes looked red and everything about her was angular and sharp. She didn't look....comforting. She looked angry, defensive, devilish and I'm sure, more than a little tired. I'd say poor Madonna, but hey, that's life.

Fin.

M.