July 11th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Housekeeping
Hey bitches! You may have noticed that I cleaned up my layout quite a bit. It’ll change over the next few days once I figure out what I want the header image to be, but I’m already happy with the way things are turning out right now. I also learned some things about WordPress that make my life a lot easier, like that you can have themes based on other themes so that one serves as a template.
My parents bought our cats a new “cat tree” recently, so Igby’s been all over it. I saw an unsuccessful attempt by him to jump from the bottom to the top yesterday. He almost seemed embarrassed when he fell down because he immediately walked in the other direction, but I know that assigning him with a human emotion is relatively foolish. I take too many pictures of him.
Working at UCLA has been good, especially since I only need to go in once or twice a week. It still requires a lot of work at home though. I finished laying out a lesson plan, but I have another one to complete soon as well as two cover designs. I’m just happy that I have another thing to put on my resume. In addition, I’ve been learning far more things about using InDesign than I did when I worked on EyeCandy. (Primarily because I only dealt with a two-page spread in EyeCandy as opposed to a fifty-page booklet.) I impressed my boss the other day with my ability to quickly convert the National Center for History in the Schools logo into a vector object. Nerdery pays off, sometimes.
I’m seeing my friend Elizabeth tomorrow afternoon and then Troy (exboyfriend) in the evening. It’ll be comforting to feel like less of a recluse. There have been things happening in my life lately that haven’t been very conducive to making me feel like a rational human being, at least in terms of intransigence. I don’t know. I never know.
Anyway, I’ve been listening to M.I.A.’s latest album sporadically over the last two days, but not because I think it sounds good. I’m actually really creeped out by it. I talked to my friend James about it and we agreed that “overstimulation” was a good term to assign to 2010. There’s definitely a lot self-parody in MAYA (yeah I’m not even going to bother with the punctuation) that extends beyond the kitschy album art, in that she’s singing about things a lot of musicians loftily push aside. The tracks are an electronic clusterfuck of memes with lyrics that praise the internet, Twitter, texting, and whatever other mediums we as a society have willingly plugged into. I’m still not sure what to make of “Born Free” (and its ginger genocide music video)–I still can’t listen to it without being constantly aware of Suicide’s “Ghost Rider” looped in the background–but I thought this blog post on Lady Gaga brought up a lot of interesting points about the inherent hypocrisy of preaching individuality to the masses. To me, the most striking similarity between Lady Gaga and M.I.A. is that they’re both accused of being “edgy” for the sake of creating buzz for themselves, of putting on some crazy front so that we can talk about them all the time, even if it’s just to say that they’re insane. Lady Gaga, however, has a career that very obviously mimics Madonna’s. Inverted crosses and melodramatic performances will probably soon lose their novelty (again). M.I.A., on the other hand, seems to embody all that weird [seemingly omnipresent] self-referencing shit that I sift through when I’m browsing the internet, and sings about detachment as a result of our twinkling gadgets. Which is precisely what leaves me so horrified.
July 11th, 2010 at 3:37 pm
Gross dream. (Read more…)
July 8th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
July 8th, 2010 at 3:08 pm
I have stress dreams. They usually occur when I’ve decided to go back to sleep after waking up at crack o’clock. This might be nature’s way of telling me that sleeping in is a bad thing, I don’t know, but what I do know is that stress dreams suck a lot.
I dreamt that I existed within the True Blood universe. Lizzy Caplan was there too (despite not being apart of the cast anymore) and she was still Jason Stackhouse’s girlfriend. I was jealous and upset about this. She eventually disappeared and so did I. Then I was in a car with Michael and we were driving through City Walk (which is physically impossible IRL; you have to park in a lot and take the tram up). I pointed out the Jurassic Park ride (which is actually in Universal Studios) and then explained to Michael how ridiculous my dream was, that I replaced Lizzy Caplan with myself because I was in love with Jason. He seemed to understand completely. We parked somewhere and walked to a picnic bench. A bunch of obnoxious teenage boys were seated there and playing with an elaborate sex toy. Suddenly, I was in a car with Margot and her boyfriend Brendan. We stopped at some sort of venue and separated after I met the EyeCandy staff backstage with bowls of spaghetti. They told me that we were going to Disneyland because we could sneak in for free. I panicked and said that I had to get my backpack and laptop out of Brendan’s car. I kept trying to call Margot and Brendan on my cell phone, but it was really difficult and I kept accidentally calling either my boss or someone from EyeCandy. I received a call from someone “from the internet” and I told them I’d have to get back to them later. Finally, Margot’s sister picked up her phone and told me that I couldn’t get my stuff back. I walked a few steps and was facing her sister in front of the car. I went ahead and opened the trunk despite her attempts to block me so I could get my stuff. I tried calling people back about Disneyland but the names were once again scrambled in my contacts list. And then I woke up in a pool of my own saliva.
I also remember hearing someone explain to me that Amanda Bynes was an asshole for not making any friends in Hollywood since being a Nickelodeon star, but I’m still not 100% sure that was a dream.
July 7th, 2010 at 10:46 pm
Question Bag
If you had to give up one favorite food, what would the most difficult?
I think giving up tacos or Mexican food in general would definitely be difficult since I grew up in Los Angeles. Fried pork + cilantro + onions + salsa = ¡que sabrosa!
If you had to give up one favorite food, what would be the most sexy?
Considering the fact that there are people out there afraid of public eating, I suppose giving up any sort of food would contribute to my increasing attractiveness. Also, something about fucked up American beauty standards and stuff.
What’s the best place near you to get some ice cream?
There used to be this really awesome Iranian place called Mashti Malone’s in Glendale where I often got rosewater flavored ice cream, but they went out of business :( Fortunately, I think their original location still exists and you can also buy their ice cream at Whole Foods (according to their website). Uhhh nevertheless, I’m lazy and buy ice cream from Trader Joe’s or when I’m on campus in Santa Cruz.
What do you think is your most attractive feature?
In terms of my physical appearance, I’ve gotten the most compliments on my eyes / lips and for the ‘deeper’ stuff, I’m routinely reminded of my honesty. I think that last part may be a polite way of telling me that I can’t keep my mouth shut though.
If your house was on fire and you could only grab three things, what would they be?
My pets if they haven’t already gotten the hell out of there, or my box of letters / photographs. I can’t decide if saving my computer would be completely ridiculous.
July 6th, 2010 at 7:53 pm
:)
June 29th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
Curious Tuesday
I’ve never subscribed to Gala Darling because I feel like a blog with the subheading “The Playgirl’s Guide to Radical Self Love” should include more progressive content than excessive ♥s and sexist copypasta, but it’s Tuesday and the author’s “curious Tuesday” surveys are fun.
1. Where do you find inspiration?
In addition to being inspired by all the typical shit (music, conversation, nature, art, love, depression, long car rides, etc.), I think I’ve had my “deepest” thoughts when I’m put in a ho-hum situation, such as sitting in a waiting room or zoning out during a particularly boring lecture.
2. Have you got any hobbies or interests you’ve let lapse & wish you would take up again?
(Oh Jesus, this question is phrased terribly.) I can’t think of anything I actually regret not doing anymore. I wish I still had the motivation to keep a detailed journal, but it’s probably drawing doodles and decorating pages that I miss?
3. One tea party. Ten invitations. Who do you invite?
Alexander Skarsgård, Lady Gaga, Winona Ryder, Christian Bale, David Lynch, Christina Ricci, and four of my closest friends… I guess. Ten is too large of a number for a hermit like me!
4. Who was your favourite teacher at school & why?
I liked my art teacher because I could talk to her about stuff without constantly pulling God into everything and she yelled at some asshole for bullying me once.
5. Have you ever been in a long-distance relationship?
Unfortunately. I learned a lot and it definitely worked for me until it didn’t, but I don’t think I could ever do it again for that long (~2 years).
June 28th, 2010 at 8:38 pm
Fulfill all your wishes with my taco-flavored kisses
Whoa, sorry for the hiatus. My weekend in San Diego was good! (And the ride there was fun: I enjoy taking the train by myself because I can read my book or stare at the coastline without feeling guilty about avoiding conversation. [Also, the Amtrak station in Glendale is the same location they used for the Alamo in Pee-wee's Big Adventure! :O]) I stayed with Margot in Scripps Ranch where I ate all of her mom’s cooking and played with her cat, Tora. We also went to Balboa Park, a military base (her dad is a Gulf War vet), some hip vintage store, and a bro party that my [un-bro] friend Brian took us to so that I could judge him based on his iPod contents and bro friends. I ate a California burrito the night before I left for home and it was TOTALLY GROSS but overall, a merrymaking experience in the whale’s vagina. (Seriously though? I don’t know why you brag about your California burritos, San Diegans. I will stick to Gina’s Taco for my burrito needs.)
I got back in time for Father’s day, which my family celebrated with a trip to Hennessey + Ingalls Bookstore and dinner at the Tam O’Shanter. The rest of the week was pleasant, albeit slow. I saw my friend Elizabeth on Wednesday and we had a ~delightful~ little tea party.
On Thursday night, however, Michael came down to visit! We saw ‘real life’ in Watts, ate Greek/Armenian food (as well as Mexican food, but that goes without saying), watched too many episodes of Party Down, organized a Team Bacon meeting, and did other adventure-related activities.
He left yesterday because he’s taking summer classes and being productive and shit but there’s a strong possibility I’ll be in Santa Cruz for this 4th of July weekend!
In other news, my mom bought me new sheets and a memory foam mattress topper for my bed. My Hello Kitty sheets have been replaced by adultly burgandy ones (with a thread count over 250 this time, LAH-DI-DAH!) and my tail bone doesn’t hurt when I prop myself up against the wall to use my laptop! …getting out of bed is hard okbye.
June 17th, 2010 at 6:51 pm
Your job is making you boring and mean
I don’t ordinarily have faith in Netflix’s recommendations after I suffered through 45 minutes of Visioneers before deciding to turn it off. (Spontaneous combustion was never so contrived.) Trust, however, directed by Hal Hartley? Well done, Netflix. Well. Done.
It’s not very difficult to understand why I’d like such a movie judging from this single screen cap. I am pretty disappointed that none of those outfits hanging on the display actually make their way into the protagonist Maria’s wardrobe, but the collared dress she sports throughout the latter part of the film is an important contributor to the narrative… I guess. (Read more…)
June 17th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
In this world, birds eat horses
I felt like I wasn’t doing much of anything with my break until I realized that I did not have many opportunities to update this, let alone use the internet for very long this week!
Michael (boyfran) visited on Monday so he could experience the hell that is our weather right now. We also went to a local Thai food restaurant, used bookshop, overpriced Goodwill (srsly, where do they get off charging $6 for tshirts?), and the Griffith Observatory–except like, not really, since it was 10PM and the observatory was closed off, and hence, all good views of THE LOS ANGELES SKYLINE were obscured. Just the same, it was super fun times aaand I’m looking forward to heading up to Santa Cruz eventually so I can be like “durp a durp I love trees and smogless skies.”
I also saw my dear friend Winnifrette, whom I’ve known since I was a wee lass, so we could watch Taxi Driver (you may have heard of it since it’s classic and shit) and drink banana milkshakes. Now let me tell you about banana milkshakes: they’re delicious. I make mine with bananas, milk, and ice cubes because once bananas are overripe, sugar or ice cream is entirely unnecessary for your journey to sweet, sweet flavor town. I’m sure yogurt would also be a fine substitute for milk, but I don’t like to mess with art. Other ‘summer treats’ I like: frozen grapes, watermelon slices, lime popsicles, beer, leaving the freezer door open when my parents refuse to turn the air conditioner on, and beer.
My sister ‘hooked me up’ with a job at UCLA as a designer for study guides put out by the National Center for History in the Schools. Unfortunately, I’m only getting a stipend as opposed to an hourly wage, but that also means I get to work at home. I basically get to play around with InDesign and pretend I’m an educator as I skim all the history worksheets I’m plugging in, woooo!
I’m leaving for San Diego tomorrow via Amtrak to see my friend Margot this weekend. Excited, but also irresolute about what we’ll be doing. I haven’t been to San Diego for reasons outside of visiting the zoo, so it’ll be interesting to see where she decides to take me.