Some of the higher ups are thinking about going to a conference in Paris, so I've been on the hunt for hotels and hostels. I looked at hotels in terms of price and distance from conference. The cheapest one is, of course, a twenty five minute walk. The shortest-distance one was also one of the steeper-priced hotels.
It kind of bums me out that I've been put on this task. I would really like to be the one going on this trip.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Politics and Music
I was reading this interview with a member of Thievery Corporation. I'm not taking issue with anything said in the interview, just with the detail that audience members didn't like the politics in Massive Attack's part of the show. (They're on tour together.)
This really irks me, because their latest album, Heligoland, is political. And not in a bad way. "Atlas Air," for example, is about torture. "The Flat of the Blade" is about the recent stabbings in South London. Audience members apparently couldn't see what politics had to do with the music, but if you're listening to the music, you know the answer.
And, seriously, check the album out. It's amazing.
This really irks me, because their latest album, Heligoland, is political. And not in a bad way. "Atlas Air," for example, is about torture. "The Flat of the Blade" is about the recent stabbings in South London. Audience members apparently couldn't see what politics had to do with the music, but if you're listening to the music, you know the answer.
And, seriously, check the album out. It's amazing.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
The Ongoing Saga of it Being Too Cold
At work today, there was more drama over how cold it's been. I have been shivering for at least a month. And apparently I'm not the only one. At one point, one of the girls across the hall got so mad about how cold it was she just decided to leave and go sit somewhere else. I don't blame her, but I work on a desktop at work so I don't have the luxury of just getting up and leaving whenever.
Then I was talking with someone via email, and there was the implication of needing to do more research. Doing the whole taking the initiative thing, I started working on that.
As I was doing that, there was another conversation (involving the same girl) about how it was warmer but that it should get fixed. And the girl said she was going to call.
I was also thinking about my Mom and how she is clearly suffering from burnout when it comes to taking care of my Grandma. I wish she would ask her brother to take care of my Grandma. It would be difficult, but shipping my Grandma down south might be a good thing for us, especially for my Mom. My Mom has been taking care of my Grandma for over ten years, and, sadly, it could easily be another ten. It isn't fair to my Mom, and quite frankly, I don't think it's okay for her emotional and mental health. I suspect my Uncle wouldn't want to take Grandma, but I have half the mind to write him a letter, emphasizing how much he apparently loves his sister and what a Christian man he considers himself. I actually very much doubt his love for his sister and for Jesus, but there's a part of me that wants to try on my Mom's behalf. My Mom deserves a break, a big one, and she deserves better than such a terrible family (her awful mother, her awful brother, her awful sister-in-law. This whole family is rotten to the core. Everyone talks a big game about responsibility but it's nowhere to be found. I'm disgusted at being related to these people.)
I just realized today as I was sitting here how feminine Mark's voice is. I don't know how I could have missed it. This isn't a criticism, just a weird thing I noticed.
I accidentally got an update on the Mark-the-Landlord drama. Today he was on the phone with someone talking about replacing a stairs and a deck.
I even heard Mark give a giant sigh today. Oh, I understand, I wanted to say. I really have been dragging today. I think I need a nap, though I honestly do not have time for one.
So, basically, out of everyone, I spend the most time with Mark. I'm not complaining, but I guess this wasn't what I expected to end up thinking about all the time.
Then, in the ongoing saga of "It's too cold in this building" today some people came into the office and opened up the ceiling tiles and were inspecting. One of them was saying a bunch of stuff wasn't working. They were right around my cubicle, making me terribly nervous. (Would I have to leave? I was really tired today and was praying that yes, they would let me go home. I needed a nap and had things to do.) They started taking bits of the ceiling near my head out, looking inside and conferring with each other. Then they went into Bella's cubicle and did the same thing. (I don't know where Bella is today, but clearly not here.) "It's definitely zeroed out," Tommy (as he was called) said to his friend.
Just as things were getting really interesting there, Mark came in with a task. It was either an accounting task or a proofreading task. Basically, I needed to make sure that two lists of books sales were together and that their weren't any mistakes. The way he laughed about the construction fun was exactly how Daniel laughs. Exactly. Terrifyingly so. They're so different in age and potentially political beliefs. (I say potentially because I know exactly what Mark thinks about politics, Daniel will be cold in the grave before he expresses his thoughts on this and a wide variety of other subjects.) And yet their mannerisms are so similar, and I find myself being struck by them all the time.
Work went by really fast actually, for all my complaining. I kept doing that thing were I would look up and discover that about another hour had passed.
Then I was talking with someone via email, and there was the implication of needing to do more research. Doing the whole taking the initiative thing, I started working on that.
As I was doing that, there was another conversation (involving the same girl) about how it was warmer but that it should get fixed. And the girl said she was going to call.
I was also thinking about my Mom and how she is clearly suffering from burnout when it comes to taking care of my Grandma. I wish she would ask her brother to take care of my Grandma. It would be difficult, but shipping my Grandma down south might be a good thing for us, especially for my Mom. My Mom has been taking care of my Grandma for over ten years, and, sadly, it could easily be another ten. It isn't fair to my Mom, and quite frankly, I don't think it's okay for her emotional and mental health. I suspect my Uncle wouldn't want to take Grandma, but I have half the mind to write him a letter, emphasizing how much he apparently loves his sister and what a Christian man he considers himself. I actually very much doubt his love for his sister and for Jesus, but there's a part of me that wants to try on my Mom's behalf. My Mom deserves a break, a big one, and she deserves better than such a terrible family (her awful mother, her awful brother, her awful sister-in-law. This whole family is rotten to the core. Everyone talks a big game about responsibility but it's nowhere to be found. I'm disgusted at being related to these people.)
I just realized today as I was sitting here how feminine Mark's voice is. I don't know how I could have missed it. This isn't a criticism, just a weird thing I noticed.
I accidentally got an update on the Mark-the-Landlord drama. Today he was on the phone with someone talking about replacing a stairs and a deck.
I even heard Mark give a giant sigh today. Oh, I understand, I wanted to say. I really have been dragging today. I think I need a nap, though I honestly do not have time for one.
So, basically, out of everyone, I spend the most time with Mark. I'm not complaining, but I guess this wasn't what I expected to end up thinking about all the time.
Then, in the ongoing saga of "It's too cold in this building" today some people came into the office and opened up the ceiling tiles and were inspecting. One of them was saying a bunch of stuff wasn't working. They were right around my cubicle, making me terribly nervous. (Would I have to leave? I was really tired today and was praying that yes, they would let me go home. I needed a nap and had things to do.) They started taking bits of the ceiling near my head out, looking inside and conferring with each other. Then they went into Bella's cubicle and did the same thing. (I don't know where Bella is today, but clearly not here.) "It's definitely zeroed out," Tommy (as he was called) said to his friend.
Just as things were getting really interesting there, Mark came in with a task. It was either an accounting task or a proofreading task. Basically, I needed to make sure that two lists of books sales were together and that their weren't any mistakes. The way he laughed about the construction fun was exactly how Daniel laughs. Exactly. Terrifyingly so. They're so different in age and potentially political beliefs. (I say potentially because I know exactly what Mark thinks about politics, Daniel will be cold in the grave before he expresses his thoughts on this and a wide variety of other subjects.) And yet their mannerisms are so similar, and I find myself being struck by them all the time.
Work went by really fast actually, for all my complaining. I kept doing that thing were I would look up and discover that about another hour had passed.
Monday, December 13, 2010
The Final Christmas Gift
Okay, I did indeed make it out tonight to get the final Christmas gift and yes, I was successful. But it is bitterly, terrible cold out there. Oh my gosh. When that wind gets ripping. My face was really wishing for one of those face masks things people wear. The cold always has a tendency to make me cranky.
Everyone better bundle up.
Everyone better bundle up.
Christmas Gawking
I went out today to do some Christmas shopping and looking at Christmas decorations. I know lots of other people do the latter, driving around neighborhoods, hitting the local downtown to see how everything is decorated, but I've never heard a very good verb for it. As of right now, I'm calling it Christmas gawking, for lack of a better word.
Today's Christmas gawking was very good. I found a bunch of tacky Christmas musicians statues. I went past an ice skating rink, and even though it was morning, the place was in full force. I saw some light/snowflake things and Angels with big horns decorating an area full of bushes.
I went into a toy store. I wasn't really planning on buying anything, but I thought maybe it would get me into the spirit. There were lots of kids running around and yelling and begging for things. They had fancy Lego displays out. I really love legos, still. I loved elaborate mansions for my lego people to live in when I was little. (I was not very interested in using the bits and pieces the way you were "meant" to; I liked making my own things, though they were probably not as appealing.) The only bad thing was that the displays were set at a child's level, so I had to bend down to catch a peak at most of them. Luckily, one of the square right outside the door was totally visible no matter what your height, and I loved that Darth Vader with a whip and a Stormtropper were battling it out on top of a skyscraper while some owls watched near some pirates getting drunk. Pretty amusing.
I headed out again. I wandered around a bit because I had forgotten the directions I had written for myself this morning. I was a little annoyed with myself, because I had reminded myself about five times to write them down, and then they ended staying at home anyway.
It took me one false try, but I found where I wanted to be and headed into a shop. This year, some of my friends and I are exchanging gifts, and I wanted to get them all done in one swoop. Also, I wanted to get something nice for my sister. (I had already managed a box of chocolates for my Mom.) So, shhh! don't tell anyone what I got for them. :)
I was expecting to have an easy time for Lisa and Tori's gift, but actually the first thing I found was for Madison. I was going to get her a purse, and I found one, a little bigger than I wanted, but with the design I wanted. (It's pink. Madison likes pink.) So I got that down. I found some postcards too.
(As I've mentioned before, I collect postcards. I'm very picky with what postcards I take, and most of the kind out there I reject, but luckily I found a few I like.)
Did some more wandering around, looking in shop windows. I went into another store and found the calendar I wanted for Tori. (It's all pictures of hot guys. Or what will probably be hot guys to her. Honestly, I only found some of them attractive; what I want is a calendar of hott guys from my real life, which is to say, as a tentative list: Mark, Philip, Juicebox, Paul, Josh, Matt, Jack, Ryan, Dan...The problem with most of this list is that I suspect most of them would not agree to it, and I know Juicebox would not, because I ran the idea of him doing sexy Valentines past him last year and that did not go over well. And, moreover, a lot of these boys are super awkward around me with clothes, and I can imagine in those pictures they'd just look super awkward without clothes, so maybe it is for the best? Sorry. I digress.)
I decided not to be too picky about Lisa's gift, because she would probably love it no matter what. I got her a stuffed teddy bear that was especially cute. I almost got her a violently colored long-limbed monkey, but I feel like she'll like the classic better. Lisa has a whole collection of stuffed animals (Michal complains about them.) She even has stuffed animals buckled into the back of her car.
I was looking at more postcards, and I found another vintage one (my favorite) and when I went to buy it (a quarter, which made it even sweeter) he told me just to take it as a gift. I was totally flabbergasted because, yes, it was nothing, but I'm not used to getting anything for free. I was so flabbergasted it wasn't until later I realized I didn't thank him. Oh man. Where have my East Lansing manners gone off too? Maybe that's what I need to put on my Christmas list for Santa.
The last one was my sister. There are purses that I've been considering for her, but I didn't have any luck finding the kind I want for her. I talked to my Mum on the phone last night for ideas, and she gave me some, but no luck yet.
I'm going to go out again tonight and hopefully find something. I actually have a lot to do and don't really have time for this, but I feel like I should try. I could just get her a nice scarf (though I've never seen her wear scarves) or maybe some fancy lotion from a boutique.
I should have started doing this earlier.
Today's Christmas gawking was very good. I found a bunch of tacky Christmas musicians statues. I went past an ice skating rink, and even though it was morning, the place was in full force. I saw some light/snowflake things and Angels with big horns decorating an area full of bushes.
I went into a toy store. I wasn't really planning on buying anything, but I thought maybe it would get me into the spirit. There were lots of kids running around and yelling and begging for things. They had fancy Lego displays out. I really love legos, still. I loved elaborate mansions for my lego people to live in when I was little. (I was not very interested in using the bits and pieces the way you were "meant" to; I liked making my own things, though they were probably not as appealing.) The only bad thing was that the displays were set at a child's level, so I had to bend down to catch a peak at most of them. Luckily, one of the square right outside the door was totally visible no matter what your height, and I loved that Darth Vader with a whip and a Stormtropper were battling it out on top of a skyscraper while some owls watched near some pirates getting drunk. Pretty amusing.
I headed out again. I wandered around a bit because I had forgotten the directions I had written for myself this morning. I was a little annoyed with myself, because I had reminded myself about five times to write them down, and then they ended staying at home anyway.
It took me one false try, but I found where I wanted to be and headed into a shop. This year, some of my friends and I are exchanging gifts, and I wanted to get them all done in one swoop. Also, I wanted to get something nice for my sister. (I had already managed a box of chocolates for my Mom.) So, shhh! don't tell anyone what I got for them. :)
I was expecting to have an easy time for Lisa and Tori's gift, but actually the first thing I found was for Madison. I was going to get her a purse, and I found one, a little bigger than I wanted, but with the design I wanted. (It's pink. Madison likes pink.) So I got that down. I found some postcards too.
(As I've mentioned before, I collect postcards. I'm very picky with what postcards I take, and most of the kind out there I reject, but luckily I found a few I like.)
Did some more wandering around, looking in shop windows. I went into another store and found the calendar I wanted for Tori. (It's all pictures of hot guys. Or what will probably be hot guys to her. Honestly, I only found some of them attractive; what I want is a calendar of hott guys from my real life, which is to say, as a tentative list: Mark, Philip, Juicebox, Paul, Josh, Matt, Jack, Ryan, Dan...The problem with most of this list is that I suspect most of them would not agree to it, and I know Juicebox would not, because I ran the idea of him doing sexy Valentines past him last year and that did not go over well. And, moreover, a lot of these boys are super awkward around me with clothes, and I can imagine in those pictures they'd just look super awkward without clothes, so maybe it is for the best? Sorry. I digress.)
I decided not to be too picky about Lisa's gift, because she would probably love it no matter what. I got her a stuffed teddy bear that was especially cute. I almost got her a violently colored long-limbed monkey, but I feel like she'll like the classic better. Lisa has a whole collection of stuffed animals (Michal complains about them.) She even has stuffed animals buckled into the back of her car.
I was looking at more postcards, and I found another vintage one (my favorite) and when I went to buy it (a quarter, which made it even sweeter) he told me just to take it as a gift. I was totally flabbergasted because, yes, it was nothing, but I'm not used to getting anything for free. I was so flabbergasted it wasn't until later I realized I didn't thank him. Oh man. Where have my East Lansing manners gone off too? Maybe that's what I need to put on my Christmas list for Santa.
The last one was my sister. There are purses that I've been considering for her, but I didn't have any luck finding the kind I want for her. I talked to my Mum on the phone last night for ideas, and she gave me some, but no luck yet.
I'm going to go out again tonight and hopefully find something. I actually have a lot to do and don't really have time for this, but I feel like I should try. I could just get her a nice scarf (though I've never seen her wear scarves) or maybe some fancy lotion from a boutique.
I should have started doing this earlier.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Saturday Night Prograstination
I realize most people my age go out to party on a Saturday night, but I'm mostly stuck inside, writing.
I have some papers due and I have been working on them on and off, but I've been also typing up some poems I wrote Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. (Again, I wrote poems at work. I am going to probably get caught, so I try desperately not to.) The first poem I typed up this night is rather silly and possibly terrible, but since I share my writing with people so infrequently anyway, it doesn't seem like a big deal.
Then I tried to get back to editing a shorter essay. And then I got an idea for something I wanted to write, so I stopped to write down the draft of a poem. (I know! Another one.)
After I had gotten that out of my system, I sat down again to edit another one of the essays. I realized I had made a note to myself to look up something in Wide Sargasso Sea, which I was referencing in the essay. Of course I've left the book at home. I went last night to the library, couldn't find it. So I tried online, just because I just need one tiny reference. No luck, there's no online edition either. I could probably leave it, since it's too big of a deal, but I wanted to check that I was remembering a set of allusions correctly.
Then I started preparing a little to go home. I still have a little less than a week to pack but I'm so busy that I'm afraid I'm not going to have enough time.
And, it must be said, I always struggle when it comes to what I should pack and what I shouldn't. I decided to take home my comics and some books and leave them there. I have more books than I know what to do with here, and they're just so heavy. In addition to writing here, I do keep a diary. I finished one of my diaries up while here, so I'm taking that home and leaving it. I'm probably going to take the current one I'm writing in home to so I can write in it. I have a third diary that someone left on our community donation table. It looks like the front set of pages was torn out and there's a small red stain on the side of the pages, but it's otherwise useable and the leather is very soft. I am going to leave that here so I can write in it when I come back. I have some postcards and letters I was meant to send that I'll just take home with me and post when I get back there.
I did make the decision to leave some of my study materials here. On the off chance I do get enough time to do some studying, I made myself a very long list of things I want to read up on, all of them English-centric, a good deal of them obscure ancient Greek mythology that I probably once knew but no longer remember.
At the very end of the night I chatted with Madison (who was working on a paper) about what the plans were for Christmas. So far it's unclear if we're exchanging gifts or if someone is having a party, etc.
I have some papers due and I have been working on them on and off, but I've been also typing up some poems I wrote Wednesday night and Thursday afternoon. (Again, I wrote poems at work. I am going to probably get caught, so I try desperately not to.) The first poem I typed up this night is rather silly and possibly terrible, but since I share my writing with people so infrequently anyway, it doesn't seem like a big deal.
Then I tried to get back to editing a shorter essay. And then I got an idea for something I wanted to write, so I stopped to write down the draft of a poem. (I know! Another one.)
After I had gotten that out of my system, I sat down again to edit another one of the essays. I realized I had made a note to myself to look up something in Wide Sargasso Sea, which I was referencing in the essay. Of course I've left the book at home. I went last night to the library, couldn't find it. So I tried online, just because I just need one tiny reference. No luck, there's no online edition either. I could probably leave it, since it's too big of a deal, but I wanted to check that I was remembering a set of allusions correctly.
Then I started preparing a little to go home. I still have a little less than a week to pack but I'm so busy that I'm afraid I'm not going to have enough time.
And, it must be said, I always struggle when it comes to what I should pack and what I shouldn't. I decided to take home my comics and some books and leave them there. I have more books than I know what to do with here, and they're just so heavy. In addition to writing here, I do keep a diary. I finished one of my diaries up while here, so I'm taking that home and leaving it. I'm probably going to take the current one I'm writing in home to so I can write in it. I have a third diary that someone left on our community donation table. It looks like the front set of pages was torn out and there's a small red stain on the side of the pages, but it's otherwise useable and the leather is very soft. I am going to leave that here so I can write in it when I come back. I have some postcards and letters I was meant to send that I'll just take home with me and post when I get back there.
I did make the decision to leave some of my study materials here. On the off chance I do get enough time to do some studying, I made myself a very long list of things I want to read up on, all of them English-centric, a good deal of them obscure ancient Greek mythology that I probably once knew but no longer remember.
At the very end of the night I chatted with Madison (who was working on a paper) about what the plans were for Christmas. So far it's unclear if we're exchanging gifts or if someone is having a party, etc.
Friday, December 10, 2010
Duh
Apparently the government has just realized that pop culture is better propaganda than actual propaganda for America. To which I have one thing to say: Duh.
I have friends who had never been in America during Halloween and Thanksgiving, and they asked me if people really dressed up (yes) and if they really ate turkey (yes.) They based their questions on what they had seen in tv and movies. I have a Norwegian friend who has virtually no accent because she watches so much American tv. I'm pretty sure that most of those friends honestly see America as mostly what our pop culture shows us as.
But I’ve also seen this as a bad thing. I know girls who come to America thinking they can live like Carrie Bradshaw, shopping all the time and getting romanced by guys, and they’re totally disappointed when they see how most people’s lives are not like that. (They also usually are surprised to see how dirty most of New York’s streets are.) They also sometimes they have a blind allegiance to what they think is American, which can mean some of our least impressive attributes. (They often think we’re far more materialistic than what I hope most people are like, but sometimes they themselves are happy enough to buy into the culture.) Even sadder, they see America as more homogenized than it really is, when there are lots of smaller groups and some are antagonistic to one another. Also, right now, a lot of foreigners I know dress like hipsters because this is “in,” and although I agree with them it is, I know far more Americans who aren’t hipsters than are.
I have friends who had never been in America during Halloween and Thanksgiving, and they asked me if people really dressed up (yes) and if they really ate turkey (yes.) They based their questions on what they had seen in tv and movies. I have a Norwegian friend who has virtually no accent because she watches so much American tv. I'm pretty sure that most of those friends honestly see America as mostly what our pop culture shows us as.
But I’ve also seen this as a bad thing. I know girls who come to America thinking they can live like Carrie Bradshaw, shopping all the time and getting romanced by guys, and they’re totally disappointed when they see how most people’s lives are not like that. (They also usually are surprised to see how dirty most of New York’s streets are.) They also sometimes they have a blind allegiance to what they think is American, which can mean some of our least impressive attributes. (They often think we’re far more materialistic than what I hope most people are like, but sometimes they themselves are happy enough to buy into the culture.) Even sadder, they see America as more homogenized than it really is, when there are lots of smaller groups and some are antagonistic to one another. Also, right now, a lot of foreigners I know dress like hipsters because this is “in,” and although I agree with them it is, I know far more Americans who aren’t hipsters than are.
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