Dance the night away!

thank goodness for Dorans

SOOOOOOOOOOOO....

wow, early morning on the Doran's couch. Thanks Joe, for 1) not allowing me to drive home; though I got a ticket, I'm preparing to contest it at the WS Village Hall on Wed July 6 {the officer's name was Budd! I swear!}, finally the debate situation I've been craving even though I realize it will be completely one-sided (aren't all my debates?) but I can't wait for next week. I am dressing up like a district attorney; 2) setting an alarm and taking my shoes off! I know your mom would FA-reak if she knew someone slept on the couch with their shoes on, but my mom is the same way, so I totally get it. AND my brother called about two minutes before the alarm went off so I was already ready to turn it off when 9am rolled around. (I have woken Will up before and let me just say, NEVER again).

I hope you guys have fun at your fam weekend...be nice to your parents. They're pretty cool, even though they're your parents (everyone thinks their parents suck--mine do occasionally, like last week for example). And Joe, why don't you start writing on your blog again? I would read it, and I'm sure other people would. I want more examples of inter-office memos, etc. and other stories of the life of a PR intern. If you can only write one thing, make it a Tootie story, please. I have to hear more about the elusive woman they call Tootie. Tell your friend Whodi I'm sorry I keep saying "Who-dee"--I realize it's wrong, but it took me a while to get the diff between COleen and COLLeen too.

Other thoughts: why the FUCK did I wear wedge sandals to work? I consciously changed and sprayed some smell good spray on me so that people here wouldn't smell my wine breath, so why didn't I just wear some flats or some flip flops or something? Dumb. Also, I had the most fun drive to work today. I am in love with Rog's Honda. This was his first splurge car ever and god, is it cool. Six-disc changer and I kept putting in more cds and I had the sunroof...oh it was great. Also, I can't remember what that song Joe played for me was. I want to say it was Fall Out Boy--no totally just remembered: Motion City Soundtrack. Gay name, they should get rid of the word "sountrack." It makes them sound worse than they really are. But I did like that song about wanting to get fucked up and die, and thanks Joe, for clearing up that it was SOCIAl suicide, not ACTUAL suicide. Because I might not like it if it was the latter over the former.

Okay, I have to "work" now. Ben is taking care of biz-nass while I'm typing so I must go and be a real employee for a little while.

posted by SES @ 12:55 PM 0 comments

Like Wacko Jacko, Tommy's free!

Well, not "free" as in he gets to go back to Neverland Ranch and have barbeques and be rich (but bankrupt?) and ride on ferris wheels, but "free" in that he wasn't banned for life from Argonne (realized I was spelling it wrong the whole time!--usually I'm pretty good about mentally noting signs, but not when I'm covered in a purple sleeping bag)....thank the physics gods (or just Albert Einstein? Who do you guys pray to?) that it's over. Next mission: Phase Two of Takeover. Just kidding! Big Brother is probably checking my blog to see if I have recipes for pipe bombs or crackpot theories about the Chicago Seven Trial.

I don't have to work til noon and I had to wake up to move the car since supposedly we're getting our driveway re-paved. These guys aren't here yet, so I'm not sure if I should call Rog yet and let him know that he may have been scammed. Maybe they'll show up drunk at 1pm and I'll arrive home to a newly black-topped driveway. I think I'll go lay in the backyard and read the Friday Tribune. The building behind us is totally knocked down and my blue-collar boyfriend definitely was working the crain thing with the claw (I love my technical names for machinery) when I rode by on my bike yesterday and he yelled, "Hey baby, what's up!" I'm not scared to lay in my backyard, but our fence is about to fall over now that that building's not there anymore and I don't want them to think I'm laying out in my bikini for them. Oh well, maybe it will make their lunchbreak/cigarette convo more interesting. Still, Chad rules. I feel like I'm on the OC, but Chad's my construction worker, not my gardener. Or whomever Marissa started getting with; I don't remember those episodes very well.

For the past few days, I've been re-visiting old cds and found out I'm still in love with all of them, particularly All-American Rejects! When I was getting my bangs cut by Ashly last night after-hours (Jill was there too, it's like the Queen Latifah movie "Beauty Shop": we read mags and rapped and dished--just kidding, we didn't rap, I just wished we would) and I read an ElleGirl magazine that had a mini-article about AAR. I guess they have a new album coming out soon, which is exciting because I could still listen to this one forever. They look like young punks who like to drink a lot and be retards on their national tour, but then again, that's pretty much every young band out there. Who cares!! I'm way excited for this cd, I even visited their stupid website (which reminded me of visiting the Velvet Revolver website when Tommy and I couldn't remember who was in the band aside from the obvious members--I felt like such a nerd, reading their "band philosophy" and all this other stuff--the funniest part was that they all had tour diaries and Slash's was totally blank! He's just Slash, man, he doesn't do diaries; god I love him). Oh, and I entered a contest to meet AAR when they're on Jimmy Kimmel. So weird, I never do shit like that. Plus, I had to become an online member of--get this--Hot Topic in order to enter the contest. Tell me if I start wearing too many trendy outfits, it's the obvious affiliation with Hot Topic that has gotten to me.

New cd I got was The Stone Roses, but I can't get past the first song bc I love it so much: "I wanna be adored." The rest of the cd is also good, but at times I feel like I'm listening to Third Eye Blind or something, and I'm sure TSR would be horrified at this comparison but they way preceeded Third Eye Blind (I'm not even totally sure I mean Third Eye Blind, that was just the first thing that popped in my head) so the comparison is a result of my fucked-up ear. I have to wait until Bank of America gets my check for the last credit card statement before I start buying more music online, or clothes online. Or bras! Fuck, I just remembered, I meant to do that too. I should really learn how to use a burner, I'm spending so much buying cds, but I don't care that much. I do the same with books; technically I could go to the library, but I like having books as much as I like having cds so that weighs out the financial strain, easy.

Italics are fun. Seacrest out!

posted by SES @ 12:24 PM 1 comments

one of my fav things about summer:

Thunderstorms! I was crafting last night until maybe 1 or 130, then I went to bed and then next thing I knew, I heard a giant rumble of thunder at 5am. The initial crracck crrrack when you know a large noise will follow was what woke me up, and then the climax was so loud and close I almost peed my pants! In an exciting way, I guess. I love thunderstorms. I looked around for Mulligan, since she gets very neurotic before and during thunderstorms, but she was no where to be found! Thinking she was burrowed beneath the computer desk in Le Chris' old room, I got up to look for her...and found her in my parents' room, both K and R awake, Mulligan on my dad's side and she was practically on top of the bed in fear. He was petting her and it was kind of sad in a way, since when I was little, I used to go in my parents' bedroom during storms (my mom tells me this story every time there's a rainstorm, it's like on her repertoire of "best of Sarah" stories from my childhood) and say, "Boomers, Mommy, Boomers." Oh my god, I never made the connection (until I typed it in this context, where people know Mike Boomsma) between my name for thunder and Boomsma. Maybe I'll call him "Thor" now, or "Thunderstruck." Not sure if he even likes AC/DC though. But it was a great storm...I missed serious storms in Europe. Not very often did we see intense lightening and clapping thunder and ominous skies...maybe that's just an American thing.

So now it's just me here; K, R, and Fatty are on the way to the lake. I was initially excited since I can play music at whatever decibel I want at whatever time I want, and can have people over if I want to, but major downside is Mulligan is gone. Katie calls her "The Other Sister," from that movie with Juliette Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi as mentally retarded people who fall in love. And in a way, Mulligan is my younger, dumber sister; my Rosie O'Donnell if you will. I like having her around in the house, even if she sleeps most of the time or snores and makes other strange noises or is begging for food...she's pretty entertaining to say the least, but I love her in a way that's pure and uncomplicated, less dramatic than the rest of the love in my house. I can really only get mad at Mulligan if she runs away on me, or attacks a dog when we're taking a walk, but she's about as loyal and predictable as you could ask for. People are less predictable, take K and R for example. I can get mad at them for stupid reasons and then it turns into a giant fight with overarching themes and referencing events from four or five years ago and god...it gets tiring. Mulligan is my preferred roommate at this point. She's smelly and large, but great in every other way.

Oh, so breaking news from Hollywood: Bureaucrats' Independent Sources Confirms Existence of TomCruise/Rob Thomas Rumor! Independent Sources announced today that it hasuncovered a new, previously undiscovered Tom Cruise rumor: Tom Cruise and Matchbox Twenty's Rob Thomas are lovers! Everything I've ever suspected about TC (and my feelings have only grown stronger in these past two months of "whirlwind proposals" and psychotic antics) has now been confirmed. The rest of the dirt, forwarded from my brother from somebody at his work: "A friend of mine just got back from LA and heard this scoopabout Tom & Katie from someone who works at Universal. The source saidthat they (Tom & Katie) have a 5-year contract and he's paying her $8million. The engagement happened so fast because Rob Thomas' (Matchbox20) wife caught Rob and and Tom in bed together and they rushed the engagement so that it would overshadow that scandal. Obv., take it with agrain of salt."

No salt necessary, anonymous friend! This has now also confirmed the potential of an idea I had a week or so ago, and NOW I know I have to do it: I am going to create a new blog called letmedebatetomcruise.blogspot.com with the intention to raise money for a public (or private, I don't care, just so long as it happens) debate with TC, me on one podium, him on another, and maybe, if this gets enough publicity, Matt Lauer can have the gavel. Or Judge Joe Brown if he's available. Fly to my Hollywood or Sarasota, or wherever the hell TC/KH/third BFF is at and have an impromptu debate. At first I just wanted to put him in his 5 foot 9 place (or is he 5 foot 7? can't remember, not that important), but now I want to expose him for the liar he is! I think L. Ron Hubbard would consider homosexuality as a direct defiance of "having sex in an unnatural fashion"...while I don't believe this, I would bet that Hubbard, and other Scientologists, do. God, I want to debate him so bad, specifically on his stance on antidepressants, if he can even call it a stance; he really has no valid evidence. So, pretty soon, when I have time, I'm making this blog. And if it doesn't work out, Tommy, I love your idea of either the gay or straight versions of these TC movies...though, the gay love cruise one sounds like an instant blockbuster! Especially if we could get Gloria Estefan aboard, or Gloria Gaynor.

Okay, have to take off. Have to negotiate Oakbrook traffic...already know I'm going to flick off about thirteen people who cut me off.

posted by SES @ 3:37 PM 0 comments

whoa. "Land of the Dead."

Just got back from Romero's "Land of the Dead" and I've already decided I must see it two, maybe three more times. So much to each frame, and Romero is so complete & thorough in his vision, that I feel you could almost watch it on mute and get somewhat of the same effect. Of course, you won't get that delicious sound of zombies pulling lungs out of somebody's mouth or slurping the bloody flesh off a femur. I also want to re-read some papers I wrote in my Horror Film class, especially this one comparing "Dawn of the Dead" and Craven's "Last House on the Left" because both were made during the era of Vietnam and the directors' malaise with the distance between the war and the vibes of commercialism/capitalism that permeated America. I kind of want to go look for that right now. And then rent "Last House on the Left" and Cronenberg's "Shivers"; there was so many parallels between symbology in "Shivers" and the latest Romero movie that I wonder who influenced whom. But I did love how Romero made this so current and resonant, not just because of the enduring imagery of zombies as shells of people, but because Dennis Hopper (as this corrupt corporate boss of the city) actually said, "We do NOT negotiate with terrorists." You know Romero didn't write this screenplay 15 or even 10 years ago and sat on it, waiting for the right time. He's been actively working on this, and there probably will be a fifth. I hope he doesn't die before he can make a fifth...this zombie metaphor could be applied to any generation and after tonight's movie, I realized the message I left with was (after Zach said, "I liked how the zombies were the good guys" on our walk to the car): there are no good or bad guys; everyone just essentially is. Even if you're a zombie or a human, no one in Romero's films are flawless, even the hero Simon Baker and heroine Asia Argento. (She was a prostitute--at one point, she was in a cage match with two chained-up zombies!) I can't wait to see it again, and get more obsessed with it. Oh, but in a way, I bet Romero did wait until the right technological time to film this movie; no way was there technology like this when "Night of the Living Dead" or even "Day of the Dead" was made. And who knows where movies will be at when he makes a fifth one? Yikes, I might park my flying car at a movie theater in the sky, like the Jetsons.

Hmmm...kind of sleepy, but I have lots of stuff to read. I'm not as ranty as before, so I think it was good I left my house and saw a movie. Oh, one more reason I liked "LOTD" was because there was this ghetto Irishman who was friends with Simon Baker and carried around rifles and whiskey named...Mulligan! I swear, I didn't make that up.

posted by SES @ 2:13 AM 3 comments

local construction foreman is hottt

I guess I didn't really need to name my post this, but I almost did the day I got the dentist chair. The construction man in question is Chad, the guy who is in charge of the demolition of the Raasch pharmacy building, though he can't be more than 25. He does wear a bling chain, but it's not intense like Ol Dirty Bastard or anything, and on the plus side he has the construction worker physique (tan to the point of sun-burn and a build evident of manual labor--if I lived in Oklahoma circa 1857, I imagine my prairie husband would be hot like this, since he chops wood and hoes our fields all day). When Chad came over to drop off the dentist chair (and he did need the help of four of his Mexican co-workers--and it leaked green oil all over the back of his truck!) my mom was baking cookies and fudge brownies in the kitchen and said, with a mixing bowl in her hand, oooo-wee, he's cute! I thought that was funny. Then later she said it brought her back to the days when she was into construction workers (??? I have no idea when this was...in Greencastle, IN while in college? When married to my dad in the 70s? Confused.) But anyways, I think blue-collar men are attractive bc they know how to fiddle around with shit, and fix things, and they're relatively simple in their tastes, and they work with their hands...actually there's a lot of reasons why they're hot, but in the end, I don't think I could marry a construction worker, unless he was heavy in the same movies, music or books I was. Then I'd reconsider.

But at dinner tonight, I had a giant rage-a-thon with my parents, and I realized I need to move out asap. Like, not just asap, but ASAP. I'm considering fishing a refridgerator box out of the dumpsters at Best Buy and setting up shop on the corner just in retaliation of how stupid I feel having to appease my parents, and live like I'm a 58 or 59 year old person. And granted, that is a pretty immature concept: retaliation at ones' parents, but I do feel like their treatment of me is equally as immature. My dad's main problem is the fact that I used to lie and manipulate a lot, like when I had the Honda the weekend of New Year's and me and Katie decided to go to meet up with my brother and his friends, then the Honda got towed outside of some North Side bar. I never told my dad, but he's smart and his (new) car felt like it was running weird and then he found the receipt from the towing company in the car (my fault, I'm a retard)...but then I lied to his face, after he already knew the car had been towed. And this is only one example of how I've been a fuck-up in the eyes of my parents, but it was the most recent one (over six months ago?) and it's stuck in Rog's brain. Long story short, I'm clashing with my parents by living with them and being reminded of inconsistencies on a daily basis and I 'm getting to the point where I'm so frustrated that I just want to start breaking dishes! But I can't, for obvious reasons. So I'm secretly researching apts, and trying to get out as soon as possible. The first floor apartment below Chris and Dave will be open in late August, so that's an option, but I'm going to start Craigs-listing apartments so things don't get too Beau&Dacia for the Skerrett siblings.

Found this quote in an older issue of Entertainment Weekly in the book review section, and I want to read this book called "You Poor Monster" pretty much bc this quote is in it and it made me think: "The lives of...everyone we will ever meet are essentially unknowable. All we can ever know about them are the stories they tell us, and if those stories aren't true, what then? What then?" That's why the blogworld (or the Internet, or bars, or reality for that matter) is unsafe...not unsafe like watch out for rapists, but unsafe bc some people are better than others at detecting minor bullshit or full-on pathological lying. It gets very confusing pitting the naive against the cynical, and then everyone who falls between. I don't know...I'm getting very frustrated bc I feel like the people in my life I come into regular contact with keep telling me to stop being so "intense" and to "calm down" and be "less hostile" but I don't know how to make anyone understand that I am keeping myself in check. If I truly had no internal censor, I would be breaking dishes and screaming in peoples' faces and laughing and crying and whatevs I feel like doing at that very moment. But I'm not. I'm being direct, and too bad if my family and others are taking this as a personal "fuck you" bc I'm not acting how I always have. I know I should give them a little more credit, like maybe they need time to deal with change, etc. but I feel like the response I'm getting is making me want to seek out new people or shut myself up somewhere with a pen or my computer and not TALK. Last summer, I couldn't talk. Now I can, but feel like I shouldn't bc I might step on somebody's toes. But the latter feeling is a feeling, and I know that I have to do what's best for myself, not be cautious of how Joe Z might react to this comment, or how Sally X might not want to hear something that possibly challenges them.

Okay, that was pretty risky. Hello, blogs can be read by anyone. However, I am on the safe side, since I'm pretty sure the only person who reads this is me, and Tommy, so... hey Tommy! And what's a blog if you're making up how you're feeling? I don't have enough energy to craft another way to write on this thing; I just have to write what I feel like writing.

But Zach is picking me up, and we're going to see that movie "Land of the Dead," the last of the Romero movies. I will probably be back to type later bc I won't be able to sleep for fear of zombies...crap, I think it's going to be really scary. Or at least way more realistic than the previous movies. Okay, I've only seen the first two, and I loved the original "Dawn of the Dead." This last installment better be jam-packed with cultural references and Romero's current feelings on war, commercialism, and the state of America. Or at least, lots of gory flesh-eating and zombie-murdering by ass-kicking heroes/heroines!

Oh, p.s. I think I'm getting tickets to this soon since, like other well-known music fests (Coachella, Winter Music Conference, etc), it will sell out, or the price will continue to rise as better groups sign on to do it. I love New Orleans anyways, and I can't imagine being there during Halloween, my fav holiday! Don't know who I might go with, perhaps I can convince Anna or Will...or Tommy? My Chemical Romance will be there, and I know how they're practically your favorite band ever. I myself will go for Tiesto, Flaming Lips, and New York Dolls...okay, and probably Billy Idol too.
VOODOO MUSIC FEST Oct. 29-30New Orleans, LA Initial lineup announced for Voodoo Music Fest! This weekend, advance pre-sale tickets available through the Voodoo MySpace profile page. Rock out on Halloween weekend to NIN, The Flaming Lips, Queens of the Stone Age, Billy Idol, Social Distortion, The New York Dolls, My Chemical Romance, DJ Tiesto and more.

posted by SES @ 10:30 PM 0 comments

stay tuned for the meaning of life

ha ha, just kidding, but I reference this title bc I really did find a book (an advance copy; publishing date is in september I think?) called "The Real Meaning of Life." The copy I have is only a sampler (and it's neon orange and yellow too) but I do plan on buying the 240 page real edition when it comes out. From the intro by the editor, David Seaman (he's 19 now I think?): "I'm afraid you might have picked up the wrong book. You won't find a glossy cover with some well-dressed guy towering triumphantly over the embossed promise of his book. You won't find a day-by-day checklist for improving your life. You won't lose any weight. This isn't Prozac in an easily digestible paperback format. Please, don't waste your money if all you want is another typical self-help guide. This book is about the meaning of life. What could be more important? The meaning isn't always pretty, but it is almost always enlightening. Let me steop back in time for a moment. It is the fall semester at New York University. I am a freshman. I have just failed my second calculus quiz in a row. I have a ton of acquaintances, but few real friends. My Barnes & Noble discount card is dangerously close to expiring. In sum, my life is not steaming ahead at full speed. Oh, and I'm at Starbucks, where I am supposed to be writing a long paper on God only knows what. (No exaggeration: The paper was about God and the cosmic order in Dante's universe.) Instead, I am doing what any responsible student would be doing: surfing the Internet on my laptop. In a moment of despair, I type, "What is the meaning of life?" into one of my favorite online forums and hit Enter. I expect the usual level of Internet discourse: a handful of nonsensical responses written in broken, abbreviated English. To my surprise, When I refresh the forum page fifteen minutes later, there are forty responses awaiting my attention. Within an hour, the number grew to sixty--almost all of them deeply insightful commentaries on the human condition. Sure, a few people suggested 'boobies and beer,' but they were in the definite minority." To make a long story longer, Seaman "desperately wanted to receive more insight from everyday Internet folks." So he created the website: realmeaningoflife.com--which I still haven't had a second to visit but I will soon. Or maybe I'll just buy the book since he's edited and condensed all the answers he sees as meaningful--and since I like his writing, and who he seems to be, I think I'll just buy it. He wrote on that website: "At some point in your life, you're going to look for meaning. Maybe at eighteen, maybe not until you're seventy-two. Let's face it, you have no idea what's going on. Neither do I. Be original but useful to your fellow human beings." I can't wait for this. I love hearing what he calls everyday Internet folk are thinking, and I think everybody else will too--that's part of the reason reality tv won't go away. I realized I don't think I can surround myself or be interested in people who aren't interested in finding meaning.

but I'll finish talking about the different people I met this weekend.

2. Eric: my mom was punishing me for coming home at 430 that morning (me, Maura, Katie, Will, Melissa, Jill, Zach, and Suz Teegarden--back in town and dating Joey Gladston!--went to this dive in Countryside called the Natural and stayed there til 230 or 3, ran into our high school, and some other people, then went back to Zach's and were loud/drunk until 430--I'll have to talk about that another time bc I finally learned how to step, as in R.Kelly "step in the name of love" and Ciara "1,2, step"! This 43 year old black man named Nathan taught me when he requested James Brown from the deejay booth--I guess that's the sountrack to him teaching honky white girls how to step? he was great), banning me from use of any car, and I had told my brother that I would come downtown (among others, like Margi and Dave) after I finished babysitting, but then my mom apparently forgot that I'm TWENTY TWO and started acting like an immature teen mom, so I walked to the train. He sat down next to me and we were wearing the same shoes (just the boy/girl versions of each other; I had the salmon/crimson pair, he had black/black pair of Nikes weirdo strap-on fashion gym shoes ). So weird bc I I bought mine in Osaka and he bought his online from Europe and we were saying how everyone makes fun of us for these shoes. THEN I find out his girlfriend dropped him off in a red bug and Katie and Maura dropped me off in the Tracy's orange bug! Even weirder! Oh, Kate and Maura saw me crossing Ogden on their way to drop off Jessica, and we hung out at the Tracy's for a little while, then they drove me to the LG Rd stop. The train was late of course, since it's the last one into Union Station from Aurora and it's summerfest time and people are wanting to be drunk, so they ride Metra more. We sat together on the train and I found out he's 18, lives on the South Side but teaches kids at a circus camp in Skokie! (Another weird connection since my dad used to be a principal, and then an administrator there.) He hailed me a cab at Union (le Chris told me he'd pay for my cab once I got to his apt) and I told him I wanted to come up and see the circus show this Thursday night. He said some of his kids can do the types of tricks in Cirque du Soleil! I'm there. And I think I want to see if Matt Holmes wants to go, since he was involved in that whole carnie lifestyle thing, even though Eric and I talked about how carnie types are NOT circus folk. Pretty different.

3. Joanna (and her boyfriend Vincent): I'll also have to finish this part later, since I get off in ten minutes and I have to catch the 418 train back to LG. Plus, I really should use my last ten minutes to stock books and not type! Lazy!

posted by SES @ 5:49 PM 2 comments

imalasagnahoggoeatasalami

I got a ride home from my brother's friends Paul Combs and Bill O'Brien--we all live in the burbs and slept on Dave and Chris' couch last night. Actually, not really...I thought i was going to be able to sleep on the couch, but they both passed out about 2 or 3 am and of course, the sun was coming up and birds were chirping (and Chris and Danielle started throwing beer at each other in a violent, domestically awkward manner--the rest of the hangers-on [Steve Forsythe, Danny Foster, Margi Faydash and Chris Cahill] booked out asap) when I decided I was "sleeping" on the recliner. Mostly, my brain quieted down for two hours or so, and then I woke up and me and Bill watched "Gone in 60 Seconds" on direct tv. I have to rent it or something and watch it more seriously, bc I was reading my new favorite mag, Twist, while semi-paying attention, but I was still predicting retarded plot twists. It was still a Hollywood-manufactured movie, but not as intensely plotted as "Fast as the Furious 1 or 2" but I'm a fan of Nicolas Cage. Strange, but I like that he's a weirdo and doesn't seem to care and Hollywood is completely accepting of his bizarro status. My mom always thought he could play the ultimate serial killer, but I think he plays the ultimate "normal"--some semi-average Joe who has all these weird mannerisms. But doesn't everyone you know have their one strange thing that everyone has to accept bc that's part of them? Anyways, I want to get to that title I put in: we were talking about anagrams on the way home and I tossed out ones I had read in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader before (racecar, a man a plan a canal panama, etc) and Paul claimed he invented this one about lunchmeat and italian cuisine but it doesn't work. He swore it did but when I asked for a piece of paper in the car, he mysteriously didn't have one. Just kidding; I really asked for a piece of paper so I could write it down and name my post this since I knew it was too weird and I'd forget. imalasagnahoggoangasalami would be it, right? I don't know, I didn't think his self-invented acronymn worked when we were in the car, but we were practically pulling up to my house at this point, so I let it slide.

BUT I did learn a whole lot this weekend, almost too much, so I have to condense it to a numerical format or I'll be here all night! Or at least until early morning. I guess I have to start with some quotes I've come across I want to include:

"What is the essence of our America? Finding and maintaining that perfect, delicate balance between freedom 'to' and freedom 'from'."
--Marilyn Vos Savant [she has a column in Parade that I look forward to every Sunday; I think she's in the Guiness Book as the person with the highest IQ? Or she's up there. She's on the same level as Amy Dickinson, of Ask Amy in Tempo, for me: I love them, and so appreciate their opinions. Today, somebody asked Marilyn how much political correctness figures into her Ask Marilyn? column on a scale of 1 to 10 and Marilyn replied, Probably a 2. She gives the best answers ever, and at the moment, she's my immediate idol]

"Did you ever wonder why you wander what you wonder about? I wouldn't wonder about it too much, otherwise you may get yourself caught up in a bunch of jubberish-like nonsense...but then again, it makes you wonder."
--Socrates [supposedly this is attributed to Socrates...personally, I can't see how. Did the word "jibberish-like" exist in the classical era of philosophy? I don't know, the concept seems like his, but the words seem like somebody more...modern. But I often find myself thinking how thoughts get in my head, ever since a poetry teacher I once had gave our class an assignment to write about why we thought we thought like we do. The short answer is bc I'm Sarah and I have a backstory plus environmental, socioeconomic, and physical history that doesn't even match student Joe B sitting two seats away from me--there may be similarities but there really aren't two people exactly alike...unless we start cloning more than sheep, ahhh!]

"Usher's 3 Rules for Dating: 1. Don't get hung up. 'There are a million and one other guys out there who are great candidates for friends or boyfriends.' 2. Make him earn you. 'Guys like a girl who's going to pursue them--you can't make it too easy!' 3. Be a young lady. 'If he can't respect that, then he won't respect you and he's not the person for you.'"
--U-S-H-E-R R-A-Y-M-O-N-D (baby tell me what you wanna do)
[this came from Twist mag, my new favorite, almost better than Star, which I'll still read for "adult" celebrity info, but this tween mag is pretty close on its heels. It's tag is "Your stars, your stories!" so basically they fixate on celebs, mostly tween celebs, but I'm onboard already, and then the Twist writers apply quotes, stories, pics, interviews of these stars into them helping you the reader make decisions about your life! I learned for example that: I'm a 'dangerous diva' as opposed to a 'laidback lady' in the 'are you a heartbreaker?' section; my 'perfect boyfriend' is 'football guy' (i.e. Chad Michael Murray from One Tree Hill); and that developmentally, I'm very compatible with Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, except of course, hello, he's dating Hilary Duff (Twist calls her "Hils"). Wow. I'll talk more about this soon.]

IMPORTANT THINGS THAT HAPPENED TO ME THIS WEEKEND:
1. I realize I feel way connected to a couple people I met over the weekend but I can't give you any of their last names. Does that matter to me? No. Does the connection matter? Totally!
a) Amanda: I met her when she kept running into Anderson's during HeritageFest in DG. Her mom was working a booth directly across the street, and Amanda was 9 turning 10 this summer, but I swear to god, about equally as cool as anyone I know, last name or first name notwithstanding. We started dishing about celebs, and of course I had to get her opinions on who she thought was cool and not cool. When I asked about Lindsay Lohan and she replied, "Disgusting. She's like gross now" I immediately gave her a girlfriend high-five. That's all I needed to know. What I discovered though, as we read through J-14 ('Just for teens'--get it? ha ha...ha) and Twist (way better than Twist bc of the aforementioned humanizing/normalizing style their writers adapt in presenting the celebs), I realized we had about the same level of celeb/pop culture knowledge. Did I tell you she's 9? Oh, and she guessed that I was 17. Ah ha, that was my golden bday year and a very memorable time, but when I told her I was actually (ahem) 22, she goes, "WHAAAtt?" She was awesome. I told her mom (who was also way cool, but actually had to work her booth so only came to visit a few times during my shift) that Amanda and I wanted to go see "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" movie together (again, don't tell anyone else I kind of want to see that...more bc I know I liked "Now and Then" and I've heard this is even better than that, cheese factor=high, but I did talk about liking "Gone in 60 Seconds" earlier). Then I kind of thought in my head, yikes Sarah, you did just meet them today and that's her daughter--would you want your daughter hanging out at the movies with a 22 year old who acts 9? But they didn't act weird, I just realized I should probably tone it down. Amanda will probably stop in this week; she just moved to DG from Westmont and is still trying to meet kids so she doesn't arrive in 5th grade like, the new girl.

1.5 Ben: I actually know Ben's last name, bc he's my Saturday co-worker at Anderson's but we hadn't talked since I got home from Europe and I forgot how much I love talking with him. And not just bc he tolerated my mania, but bc he understood it, and we talked about Scientology and psychology and billions of things, and I'm glad to be back at my store. I don't know if he counts thought technically since I know his last name.

2. Eric: I met him waiting to take the last train into Union station last night at LG Rd.

I think I'll continue later since Katie just got off and we're going to see "Lords of Dogtown." I can't wait to check out Carmel's future son-in-law!

posted by SES @ 10:48 PM 0 comments