Assorted Shenanigans 2.0

Blogging update fail

2011-01-19T23:43:00.003-05:00

I am not doing a great job keeping this blog up-to-date. I am into it for about two weeks and then I forget it exists. FOR SHAME. I want to be a good blogger like Julix. How does she find so much stuff to blog about?

Well, to recap from the last post, I did go as Rosie the Riveter for Halloween, and it was an AWESOME costume. I looked super cute/ badass, but still had on an entire outfit (like, didn't have to dress slutty). I achieved this with hair and makeup as a key priority. I did a pompadour hair thing and a classy 40s pin-up makeup thing, complete with false eyelashes. I think it was a solid move to pay attention to these elements. Otherwise I would have just been a lady in blue with a red hanky in her hair.

In other news, I just discovered a webcomic called Girls With Slingshots, and I read all of it (well, from the first one in the archives anyway) in like two days. Seeing as it started in 2004 and had over 1000 strips, and I read it in such a short time period, I'd say that's a pretty good comic. So yaaaay new internet thing I like.

Halloween Costume- Still debating

2010-10-21T17:13:00.002-04:00

Okay, so I still don't know what I'm going to be for Halloween, and I need to figure this out! Otherwise Halloween is going to get here and I will not have anything to be.

However, I did think of a third costume that would require seriously minimal effort AND would be pretty sweet, although I am sure lots of people have done it. Rosie the Riviter? Seems like it would be cute, not too hard to pull off at all, and would be a good last-minute thing if it turns out I can't find stuff for either of the other costumes. All you really need is a blue shirt and a red hanky thing, and BAM. Rosie.

Also, at this point it is really hard for me to justify putting in a whole lot of effort when at this point, I don't even know where I'm going to be on Halloween. I mean, I don't want to put a whole ton of thought and work into the costume in if I'm not actually going to be doing anything good.

Twilight Tattoos

2010-10-18T02:06:00.003-04:00

I have been thinking of getting a new tattoo, and I've basically been thinking about it since I left New Zealand two and a half years ago, and it has a literary theme. As such, when I saw a book at work called The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide I took a look to see what other people had done with some of their favorite words/ literary themes.

One thing someone did was get a half-sleeve (GIANT) Twilight themed tattoo on their arm. Basically it is a collage of all the book covers, and yesterday it became my new favorite thing to show people. It provided hours of entertainment for me. I mean.... what? Twilight tattoo? Really?

Coincidentally, it is (or it is really similar to) number 21 pictured at this slideshow I then found when I searched for "Twilight tattoos" on Google. I love that there are at least 30 other people who have Twilight tattoos, AND that I can look at all of them in one spot. It is almost too much giddiness to bear.

Been a minute: updates

2010-10-12T09:08:00.004-04:00

Here are some updates, in no particular order:

1. Halloween costume ideas- Last year I did not start thinking about Halloween costumes until the last minute, and I was Ramona Quimby. This year, I started thinking about them early, and two possibilities have become frontrunners: Ramona Flowers, of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, or an old-school style Coney Island strongman. I got this idea from seeing a romper at American Apparel and because my mom randomly gave me some wax moustaches that would be perfect. Also because people are selling Jersey-shore style muscle man shirts. It might look weird under the romper though, and then what the hell would I do with a muscle-man shirt and a romper? At least all the Ramona clothes are semi- normalish or easy to fake/ procure and all I'd really need maybe is a wig.

2. Bike- Disclaimer- Reading this a few days later, I realized this needs a geek-out alert of some kind due to the amount I am talking about parts and the relative probability that no one gives a shit about my bike except me. Consider yourself warned. I bought a new bike in May, it is a one-speed 2010 Specialized Langster Steel. It has a flip-flop hub, and I started riding it fixed in May. I am such a hipster. I am able to do a skip-stop kind of, and that is it in terms of tricks. I want to learn to do a track stand. This is my big goal. I keep getting things for the bike, it is like an addiction. Like new tires, I got some gatorskins last month. I want to get new handlebars because mine are too wide and a weird shape, but they were the only ones they could give me for free when I didn't want the drop bars. I am thinking 1-inch risers. I also want to get new toe clips that will accomodate double straps, cause I keep feeling like I am going to break the clips I have when I am skip-stopping.

3. Work- I had a work-a-thon summer 2010 when I had 31 days of work in a row without a day off because I had 3 jobs (nannying, summercamp, store). Now I am basically back to 1 job (store... UGH) and I don't know what to do with myself.

4. Cello- I am really excited because this family from Westchester went to visit their daughter in Ohio this week and they brought back my cello. Now all I have to do is go get it from Westchester and then I'll be able to play it, in theory. I am excited, and kind of scared at the same time. I haven't played in such a long time, what if I don't remember anything?

5. Youtube- I have been watching a stupid amount of youtube videos. I might be dumber in general because of it.

Morgan Spurlock!

2010-06-01T23:13:00.004-04:00

And it all comes full circle...

Today while working in the cafe that is sometimes the bane of my existence, right during the morning rush, who should walk into the cafe and get in my line?

Morgan Spurlock, of Super Size Me fame.

I recognized him immediately, as I only watched the movie a couple of months ago, and proceeded to totally geek out. I am such a spaz. I couldn't do anything but steal glances and grin in-between taking money from customers, but he caught me staring at him more than once, and I knew that he knew that I knew who he was.

When he finally got up to the counter, and I had nothing, and was just grinning like a cheshire cat, he ordered a medium soy latte. Did I try to upsell, and get him to buy a large?

Hell no! I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face doing that in a million years.

But I was starstruck for the rest of the day.

I am such a nerd.

Wikipedia Education

2010-05-13T17:40:00.003-04:00

Things I have been reading about on wikipedia lately:

1. Orthodox Judaism- Dress code, rules, differences between the sects... This is what happens when a religion is over 2,000 years old. No wonder you have to go to yeshiva, because otherwise I have no idea how in the world you could learn all this stuff.

2. TV Shows I like- Sex and the City, Glee, and Daria. Trivia abounds.

3. Social Networking- With all the privacy flack facebook is getting right now, I'm trying to keep abreast of the situation by making sure I know what color shirt Marc Zukerman was wearing when he and that other guy invented facebook and became BILLIONAIRES.

4. Fonts- what is the difference between ' arial serif' and 'sans-serif' I wanted to know? What is kearning? I now know these things.

Wikipedia: clearly a source of superficial surface information about a topic, but what a breadth of scope! Sex-positive feminsim? Yes. Cookie varieties? Yes! Explanations of military abbreviations? YES!

There is so much stuff to learn and wikipedia helps me to figure out what of that stuff I really want to learn, and what stuff I can read about just enough to fake it.

Twitter and FB Pages and RSS Feeds, Oh My!

2010-05-07T18:52:00.003-04:00

I'm kinda sorta getting more involved with this new job with this company that does after-school and camps for kids in NYC, and they are brand new. Like, this is year #2. Which is SUPER exciting, because it means that there's a lot of room for innovation and learning and growth within the company, but it is also a little bit crazy because there isn't a lot of precedent for doing things. It's a pretty hit the ground running, trial and error type situation.

I am actually really into it.

Which is why, when they said that they might want me to do some aggregation of materials to post digitally, and do a bunch of stuff with Twitter and social media/ networking stuff this summer, I felt super excited to be a part of that. Even though I am not on Twitter personally, I know it is a huge phenomenon right now, and I think it will be a great opportunity to learn more about it, and other web applications that I kind of haven't been using because I have no personal reason to do so... nice to have a professional reason to.

Like RSS feeds. What is an RSS feed? And what does it mean to click on one? I am into learning by trial and error with technology. Apparently you need a reader to read your RSS feeds... good thing Google has one! Hopefully it will be easy to use or at least intuitive because I use so many of their other products. Seriously.

All this in general, makes me really excited. Like things are actually happening... that there's a shift in what I'll be doing/ using my brainpower to accomplish. Creative, crafty, dynamic, and with kids! What more could I ask for?

Documentaries

2010-04-17T10:16:00.003-04:00

I am on a documentary kick. I have watched four documentaries this week. Here are my findings about them so far, in the order in which I watched them:

1. Super-Size me: I already posted about that one, so obviously I was affected. I liked it but thought it was gross when he threw up and when they show the guy getting gastric bypass. As much as I like fake medical dramas (think: ER and Grey's Anatomy) I really hate seeing real medical procedures. The DVD extras were good.

2. My Kid Could Paint That- About a 4 year old abstract artist. While the guy was making the movie, there was an expose that suggested she wasn't the one painting all her paintings. That was pretty much the interesting part, although the whole question of what makes good art in the first place is also a theme. Cause she's 4. And her paintings are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Come on.

3. Murderball- AWESOME. This one is about Wheelchair Rugby, or Quad Rugby: Dudes who are either parapalegics, or have some kind of impairment in at least 3 of their limbs, who get strapped into these crazy souped-up Mad Max wheelchairs and play Quad Rugby. It mostly follows the USA Paralymics team, and apparently we are good at this, we win lots of golds and championships. I didn't even know this was a thing, and it was good to learn about a new sport.

4. Spellbound- This is the one about the kids in the national spelling bee. And it was kinda eh. For all of what I heard about this movie, I thought it wasn't that awesome. I mean, I watched it and everything, but I didn't think it was spectacular. I dunno... too much about the individual kids? Not enough about the competition? Not enough about the could-be crazy parents? But I was impressed with myself that I could spell some of the harder words. I know I'm an adult who has been to college, but I think without any studying I could get through the first few rounds of the national spelling bee.

Live N Learn

2010-04-15T09:12:00.003-04:00

I bought this new computer, which I've been really stoked about, as you well know. Finally wiped the hard drive of my old computer, and got this one all set up how I like it, and settled in to all it's high-tech splendor.

And then Apple announces the upgrade of their MacBook Pros. And their return policy is 14 days... which I surpass by 7 days.

!!!

Needless to say, I was kind of pissed, both at myself for not checking the rumor websites before I bought this computer, and at apple for not being a little more forthcoming with when new releases of are coming out. I understand this as a business model, but it still makes me angry that no one TOLD me that the new computers would be coming out real soon.

I called up customer service, and was re-directed several times. I finally was on the phone for probably half an hour with this really nice French dude, who talked to the management and got them to say I could return this computer, with the 10% restocking fee, and then I can get one of the new ones (which is again slightly more expensive than what I paid for this one). So it is possible to do, but annoying. And makes the computer way more expensive than I wanted it to be initially. Luckily for me, I'll be getting a little tax refund that should make up the difference.

But MAN, that shit is annoying.

As Grandmother said, "It's a wash."

Never Eating McDonald's Again... Ever.

2010-04-12T19:11:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I watched Super-Size me for the first time. I don't eat a ton of fast food, but I'm not exactly the healthiest eater in the world, especially right now, but I try to eat balanced and control my portions. If I do go to McDonald's I mostly just get french fries as a snack. But after seeing this DVD extra, I don't think I'm ever going to eat McDonald's fries again. Observe:

EWWWW!!!

Things I am Into Right Now

2010-04-05T16:14:00.005-04:00

This is a list of things I am into right now:

1. This new computer, and all the neat stuff I can do with it LIKE: watching videos on the internet, playing a bit with that awesome open source graphic design software I learned about last year like Inkscape and the Gimp, webcam chatting with folks, and downloading things without the other applications falling to the spinning wheel of death.

2. Riding my bike in the park again, instead of just transport, cause the weather is so much nicer.

3. FICTION. I kinda forgot about fiction for a hot second, cause I was reading lots of non-fiction, which I needed, but I am really digging getting into some stories.

4. Home-made lipblam recipes.

5. Being outside for things like drinking and eating and hanging out, since the weather is so nice right now.

6. Summer plans. I am full of ideas for the summer and fall. I am ready to shake things up. Like with job number 3, which is a one-day a week after-school gig but could also turn into summer work and perhaps continue into the fall...? Cross those fingers! But yeah, that, or Costa Rica, or you know... just move somewhere. Like Granny says, "It doesn't cost anything to dream."

7. Free music on Pandora and Lala. Loving it.

MacBookPro Online!

2010-04-02T10:12:00.003-04:00

I got a new computer. It is really exciting... I haven't had a new computer since I was a freshman in college. I've had it for a week, and I finally successfully migrated all my stuff from my old computer... First I tried to do it manually but things were messing up, so I decided to start over from the beginning. This involved completely erasing the new computer's hard drive and reinstalling everything, so I would have seamless user and home folder integration. It was actually almost worth it so I could see the apple 'welcome' video again... it's such a show off.

But now it's sweet! And I can start doing the wipe on the ol' 7 year old powerbook I've been using... it's a good little machine, but its time to move on to crazier shinier things.

I also feel really good I did all that stuff myself. Even though macs are so easy and user friendly, still. I did that all by myself.

Been a Hot Minute

2010-02-28T00:30:00.003-05:00

Wow, I haven't blogged in a hot second. Like, 6 months! Guess I didn't have anything to say... not like I do now, really. BUT that's how you know I must be procrastinating!

Let's see... what is different in my life?:

1. Birthday- I turned 25 last week. Hollah! Although I was sick with strep throat (no bueno!) so I had no birthday party/ celebration whatsoever. I think I am rectifying that next month. But I am 25... so I am getting philisophical about being old... or older... or at least being solidly in my MID-20s.

2. Espanol: I took a Spanish class last semester at NYU-SPCS. It was cool, although I didn't get it together in time to register for the next level of the class this semester... oh well. I might take a class at Instituto Cervantes... so I don't lose everything. But it was fun, to be in a class, you know?

3. Crafts: I made some crafts, I got really into it before Christmas, and then I gave some away and it blew the air right out of my tires. But I have a box of crafting stuff and I want to get on that.

4. Work- Same old bullsh*t. Still am having a crisis because I have been working at this crappy job for almost a year... why did I go to college? Except now I am nannying too, which is actually kind of fun and awesome. So that's nice.

5. Yoga- I'm working on it... I like that it is exercise which is 1/6 lying down.

And I got internet. Well, reliable internet. So I'm on it more. So maybe I'll blog more? Although srsly, I'm still not sure what Imma write about.

"Can Fiction Ever Be Real?"

2009-08-18T00:50:00.001-04:00

I was off the clock! I don't even need this head-trip after I am off the freaking clock!

Let me back it up a minute:
So, for all you blogspotters out there who aren't down with the times, I work at a chain bookstore. It isn't the most glamorous gig on the planet, but I get to be around books all day long, which I like, and I get a discount, which I also like. But I am clearly pretty overqualified for this job. Case in point:

I was already clocked out and on my way to the bathroom before going out to get my party on, when a customer recognized me as an employee even sans nametag. I think it is because he's a regular and he's seen me there before. He's browsing the end of fiction, and he says he just has a quick question, and since I like answering fiction-related questions because I've read a lot of fiction I can actually sometimes offer a relevant opinion. So I say, okay... what is it?

And he says, "Can fiction ever be real?"
Pause.
"What?" I ask.
"I mean, is it ever true? If it's fiction, does that always mean it isn't real... I mean, true?"

I blinked at him for a few seconds because it was simply BLOWING MY MIND. Because all of the sudden my brain is like a vortex spinning with all these flashbacks of discussion groups and papers and me sitting in the library staring at the wall thinking and my whole academic study of litearature in a humanities-driven education that continuously danced and played with and engaged and challenged and questioned the nature of truth and reality in literature and art ALL THE TIME. It was like a faucet of incoherent analytical academic gobbledegook of jargon was all of the sudden turned on in my head, and I was trying to string it together into meaningful thought. Ah, there again the problem of language as a medium, constantly being the means of expression yet also a barrier to get to the actual MEANING of the thing. But that's a different problem all together.

And I heard different replies formulating in my head. What does it mean for something to be true or real? Do you mean "true" in the way that books are often somewhat based in life? Even if they aren't based in life, if our response to it is true, does that make it true? How much does context matter? Insofar as the book exists as an idea in someone's head, does that make it "real"?... and on and on and on. They came so fast they were like a giant thought pile-up in my head.

But I knew that wasn't what he was actually asking. What he wanted to know was whether or not the crime thriller/ lawyer mass-market mystery in his hand was based in this dimension, human, "real-life" Fact with a capital F. So I said:

"No. It's fiction... None of it is true. It's all fake."

But that isn't what I wanted to say. And I feel like because the words are out there, in an invisible word bubble floating through the air, somewhere the gods of art literature are throwing up their hands and lamenting the loss of a seeker of truth and meaning in fiction... so I just wanted to alleviate their dissappointment. I am still a seeker.

I just wanted to get to the party.

Uh, Didn't You See This on Facebook?

2009-08-11T00:08:00.006-04:00

I donated my hair! No one who doesn't know this already really reads this, but I wanted to post about it because I really want to tell the world about my haircut. And maybe my blog will show up on Google somehow. Bonus! Here are some search terms that might be relevant:
hair donation
pantene beautiful lengths
free haircut
New York City salon
cute short cut for hair donation

So here's the story, of a gal named Casey, who really wanted to donate her hair and get a sweet haircut but didn't want to pay a fortune. Cause it is a recession, ya heard?

Before:

After:

I decided awhile ago I wanted to donate my hair, and decided on Pantene Beautiful Lengths as the place I wanted to donate, mainly because their length requirement is a minimum of 8 inches. I got a lotta hair cause it is thick, but it isn't super long. So this is something I could swing. I actually did some searching then, to see if I could find a place that would do free or reduced priced haircuts when you are donating. I didn't have to look too far... I found out about the Mark Garrison Salon on the Pantene blog. Hahaha! I made an appointment for a wednesday (because that is the only day it is free, every other day you pay half. Weird. Why Wednesday? Is it because it is in the middle of the week?) and went in and got a seriously awesome $200 haircut for nothing. But I tipped the stylist and the shampoo lady, so really it was less than 1/4 of the price it could have been. And now I have a sweet new 'do for the month of August. Hooray!

This is When I Get a Little Meta...

2009-08-03T18:41:00.001-04:00

I've been going to a few different library-related networking/ job-hunting type things in the past couple of weeks, and they all really like to talk about Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, and blogging as things that are important to be proficient at, as well as how to utilize those websites when you're looking for a job. (An example of the infamous Web 2.0 people are always talking about. Turns out they really just mean the participatory internet.) However, there hasn't been a whole lot of suggestion about the kind of content to include in these online versions of yourself, other than it's just important to have one. Or several, as the case may be.

I get that with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, you can limit your profile's privacy settings so potential employers can't see pictures of you taking tequila shots on your birthday, but your friends can. And I like the idea of LinkedIn, because that is supposed to be specifically for professional networking and recruiting, so theoretically one doesn't run into those sorts of issues. But what about Flickr, or Blogger? What kind of blog does a potential employer want to see that you have? It seems like perhaps it wouldn't necessarily be about the written content, but more about the layout, or the hyperlinking, or that it simply exists. But am I missing something? Do I need to be blogging about libraries to get a library job?

I started writing this blog because I moved to a new place (Brooklyn) and it felt like a good idea. Also to have a place to write where I feel like maybe someone is reading it... so I get some practice writing for someone other than me. But in terms of content, I thought it could just be about stuff that I'm interested in in a really immediate in-the-moment kind of way, because that's what blogging is.

I am interested in libraries, but I'm also thinking about work I could do in lots of other fields, like doing some environmental thing, or journalism, or something in the non-profit sector. Or being a scuba- dive instructor. Plus, in a more personal way, I think about fashion, media consumption, living in New York City, navigating post-grad life/ my "quarter life crisis," and a whole myriad of other crap. In the future, I can think of other things I might want to blog about, like dating, or child-rearing, or gardening, or whatever. I can wait until I work for a library, or at least am in graduate school to blog about librarianship. Also, I want to have a life and interests outside my work. But for some people nowadays, the blog can become their work (see Julie and Julia). It's the beauty of independent publication in an instant, easily consumable form. Anyone can be the next hot thing online.

But is it okay to have a blog that's kind of about everything? Or do I have to have a focus? It's the difference between the online me and the real-life me... and how much I want the professional me to be a part of the online me. Maybe it would be better to have a topic...

I don't like it when I get this meta.

Okay Fine, Elle, You Don't Suck As Much.

2009-07-02T13:17:00.004-04:00

Elle Update from last post:

On the online comments about Elle's 'Women in Music,' playlist they deleted all the comments (including mine) being like, "Hello, where is the free music?' and had one comment that said essentially, if you are having issues with the downloads, email this dude. So I emailed the dude, and he got back to me really promptly (or his intern did) and said where you could find the info about the free music in the magazine (between pages 110 and 111 on a tear-out cardboard thingie).

Note that this tear-out was nowhere NEAR an article about music, but was smack dab in the middle of the beauty section, wedged between two pages with an article about inflammation, some crazy new derm technique. But okay, I found it! Elle wasn't lying! Yay, free music downloadS! Just pop in that ol' redeemer code and you are on your way to some slammin new tuneS.

Notice that is plural. As it was on the cover. And on the tear-out. Yet the redeem code they gave was good for one song. WTF, Elle? WTF?

Is this still false advertising? I don't know. But although I am not as supremely pissed as I was before, I still think it is kind of sneaky and lame. I hate it when people are sneaky and lame!

So to recap:
Elle: 1,000,000 extra magazines sold. CaseyA: 1 free song.

Elle, you suck!

2009-06-20T03:10:00.005-04:00

Man! I am so pissed! Maybe part of this is that I stayed up too late watching my new My So-Called Life dvd box set special features disc (you know you are jealous, and it's okay... you should be), so I am grumpy. Perhaps this outrage will fade by the morning... but I don't think so. This is straight up false advertising! Or I am a moron... but again, I don't think so.

This July issue of Nylon and Elle have a few things in common. They are both "music" issues. I don't really get what this means, there's always stuff about music in both of these magazines, but I guess it just means music is the focus. AND they also both advertise, in big bold letters, "free" music/ songs right on the front cover.

"Sweet!" I think, "Free music to jam to over the summer! Yes!" (You know how much I love free music, just ask indiefeed!)

While Nylon's free music was totally easy to find and download, Elle's alleged free music is nowhere to be found! Nowhere in the magazine can I find any mention of the free music touted on the front cover. Nowhere on their website, using multiple search terms, can I find this free music. I find PLENTY of music that I have to pay for, but none that is free.

I don't know who's idea it was first, but Nylon definitely did it better, because it was actually true! Maybe an intern snuck in the word 'FREE' on the front cover as a practical joke at the last minute. They should get fired. And I should get their job (no shame, I tell you, NO SHAME). I could be a Stylista... maybe? Call me!

'Recent' Grad?

2009-05-22T11:18:00.003-04:00

I'm going to Chicago in two weeks to see my cousin graduate from high school, which is reminding me of the last time I graduated from anything and its making me all nostalgic. This weekend, I graduated from college two years ago. Does this still make me a 'recent grad' in terms of applying for unpaid internships? I think it should, especially since one year of that two was spent out of the country so it's like it doesn't count as a year. It's like I graduated last year. And that is definitely 'recent,' as far as I'm concerned.

This ruminating has sprung from seeing an ad on Craigslist for interns at Nerve.com. There's a fair amount of material to submit in order to apply (like, more than a resume and a cover letter) and because I'd never been to the website, I went over to check it out, to see if it would be worth the extra work to apply considering I still think I'd really rather work in a library. And then I saw that one of the current interns is definitely someone I scoped out (but can't remember if I messaged) on OKCupid... awks!

Maybe this is just me, but I think I could just as easily apply for an unpaid internship somewhere that I don't know whether I've already been trolling for a dude that works there. As opposed to someplace where I know that I have.

Twitter Tweeting

2009-05-10T12:48:00.002-04:00

I read this article in the NYTimes today, and it's about all the neat things you can do on Twitter after you get situated, which apparently takes about a day. Oprah is now on Twitter, and did it on her show, which means housewives across america are tweeting away, letting everyone know what kinds of muffins they are making or the awesome new cleaner they just discovered that clears away tough grease (because in my world, housewives are still just like they were in the 50s). My brother has been on Twitter for ages now, and his computer makes these chriping noises when he gets tweets or whatever they're called, and he has told me more than once how awesome it is.

After reading this article, then reading about Twitter on Wikipedia (which is now my knee-jerk response to learning about things I don't know about— not sure if that's the best tactic actually, but there you are) and then reading what Twitter has to say about itself... I gotta say I still don't get it.

I know that it says the reason it exists is to tell people what you're doing. Twitter itself also insists that it isn't an overload of information, because you can pay as much or as little attention to people's twitterings as you like. But I still am not convinced that I need ANOTHER way of keeping track of people. Maybe I am being a little bit of a techno-phobe. Or I just feel that instant communication via cellphones, texting, emailing, blogging, facebook-ing, flikring, etc. is pretty much enough for me.

I think I'll wait until they make a computer chip implanted into my brain where I can communicate telepathically with all my friends and family instantly. Sound like anyone you know?

RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!

I Love Indiefeed and I'm Not Afraid to Say It!

2009-05-04T14:39:00.005-04:00

Okay, I'm not sure when Indiefeed.com re-did it's website, but they did and it looks snazzy! Good job, guys. I've been listening to this podcast for a few years now so I don't go on the website too too often cause the episodes are all just on my iPod. I knew that I'd stumbled onto something cool from the beginning, but it wasn't until I was in New Zealand (i.e. without a computer and access to new music) working out on the vineyards (i.e. constantly listening to my iPod) that I was able to actually listen to and process the insane amount of LEGAL and FREE and AWESOME music that indiefeed has given me and therefore realize how amazing they really are.

So, even though indiefeed has been one of my favorite internet things for awhile, I thought I would post the love-note I wrote to them in the heat of the moment a few months ago, to commemorate their website update and tell the world how I feel...

January 29, 2008

Dear Indiefeed,

I've been wanting to say this for awhile, so I'm just going to finally come out and tell you... I love you. Our relationship began so long ago, I don't know when these feelings really started, but I've known for awhile that I can't live without you. You came to me out of the blue in a few years ago in college... late night procrastination trying to find free things on iTunes. You gave me the 'in' I so desperately needed, because with you around, I could finally be the one to know about the cool new band before everyone else.

It started small, with the Alt/ Modern Rock channel, then quickly progressed to the Pop channel. It wasn't too long before your gentle Blues channel was crooning in my ears, and every once in awhile, I'll even dabble in Hip-Hop and Electronica. Sadly, I have limited hard drive space so I cannot download and keep every single episode on every single channel... though I wish I could. I love how you tell me informative tidbits about the band, and let me know where I can find their music and learn more about them. Your judgment rarely fails, not often do you give me a track that I think... OMG what the f**k is this crap? The point, Indiefeed, is that since you've been in my life, my ears haven't been bored, and I have faith that they will never be again, as long as you're around. Please don't ever leave me.

You are awesome.

Love,
CaseyA
lover/ fan for LIFE!

(Equally amazing is that they wrote me back... like the next day. I appreciate prompt communication in lovers. Yay! I win!)

Boot Sandals?

2009-05-02T16:31:00.003-04:00

I keep seeing all these people wearing boots that are actually sandals... like they are confused about what they are. First it was just one or two people, and I mentioned it to one of my most fashion- conscious friends, and she told me that boot sandals were really 'in' this summer.

I don't know how I feel about shoes that want to be sandals. Or sandals that want to be shoes. I mean, pick a side and stay there. Like Keens. I'm not really into those either, they are like sporty shoes that want to be sandals. Either way, Boot or Keen, I think they look kinda funny. And these fancy boot ones would definitely look funny on me. Leave me to my birkenstocks. And Chacos.

Spring Has Sprung

2009-04-30T18:42:00.002-04:00

Ho snap! It has been a really long time since I last blogged. Shameful. I think it is mostly because I have been outside enjoying the lovely spring weather. I am still minus a bike, but hopefully that will be remedied in the month of May. I have been to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens twice and have already gotten a sunburn. Shit! That sucks. The sun can be so mean and harmful.

I have been listening to a lot of Gervais, Merchant, and Pilkington, which has been good. And then Craig came to visit (yay!) and he sounds very similar to Karl, as he is the only person that I know who can do such a nice impression of Karl being from Manchester(ish). Craig and I did lots of fun touristy things together since he'd never been to New York. We went to Central Park and to the top of the Empire State building. We walked a lot, and now I am pretty tired. And sad cause he left today.

That's pretty much it in terms of events... I hear there's some kind of pig flu thing going around in NYC but I've only seen one person with a surgical mask. Good on me for keeping up with current events!

High-Techiness and Sickiness

2009-04-14T22:56:00.004-04:00

That there was my first mobile blog. I am really hoping to explore this feature more. Stay tuned for on-the-spot photo text blogging!

I am getting sick. I HATE getting sick. It sucks and makes me not want to do anything. Not fun. Grandmother gave me some sudafed. Maybe that will do the trick. Maybe I am just sick with loneliness now that MaryLiz and Julix have left NYC for other places. Even though Julia only left today and I email MaryLiz constantly. It is possible.

2009-04-14T22:52:00.002-04:00

Omg i am so high tech it is like i am on twitter but not and i didn't have to sign up for anything new.

Ways to Save Money

2009-04-10T19:50:00.003-04:00

Here is a short list of a few ways I've thought of to save money during the recession:

1. Instead of paying even 25 dollars for a haircut, DIY. Really if all I want is trimmed ends, I can totally do that shit myself. Especially if your hair is such a long crazy mess anyways (ME).

2. Drink coffee instead of eating, especially if you work at a cafe (ME) where you get a discount on coffee. This also bonuses as a diet plan.

3. Only take out small amounts of money from the ATM at one time. Then, if you're spending too much, you'll feel guilty about going to the ATM all the time. Plus it is annoying to find an ATM.

4. Take the blow to your pride and feelings of independence and live with a loving grandparent (ME) or your parents (a lot of other people) and save money on rent.

5. Wear all your clothes until they have holes in them. Fuck Stacy and Clinton, not everyone has $5,000 given to them to spend on clothes and times are tough.

I'll let you know if I think of anything else.

Things Take Longer in Real Life

2009-04-06T17:09:00.005-04:00

...as opposed to college life.

1. Things change less quickly:
So in college, you are in classes for one semester. So every semester you feel like your life changes a little bit, because your routine changes and the things you think about are changing. Maybe it's just me, but in real life, because you are doing something and you don't really see an END (like the end of the semester 3 months from now) you look at your manager who is 45 and balding and they never MEANT to stay in retail to be a store manager for a whopping $30,000 a year and yet here they are, and just look at that in 20 years that could be me. Even the balding part.

2. How can I decide if I like you if I never see you?
I've been going on lots of random dates, both internet and non-internet based, and it is really fun to meet new people and drink beers, but seriously: HOW do people have the patience for dating in real life? In college, you meet someone, see them every other day in class, go on a date, see them again a day and a half later, hang out 3 more times by the end of the week, are an item within 3 weeks, and in love by spring break. Seriously. Because you are guaranteed to be seeing them ALL THE TIME, and you are also really horny and want to have sex a lot. In real life, people are serious and have shit to do that doesn't necessarily include doing you. So how does this work? You hang out with them once, then see them again two weeks later, and then again two weeks after that and you continue this pattern until 2 months after you start dating you finally go over to their house and realize they have some weird doll fetish? Or you see them without a shirt and they have huge man-boobs? Or they just say something totally lame and you realize that you in fact, do NOT like them? WTF? How am I ever going to date people I don't know if it takes so long to get to know them?

3. Things take longer to get to when you're not within a 1-mile radius of everything:
Maybe this is just Oberlin, but I think a lot of college campuses are pretty compact, if not so small as Oberlin. And maybe this is also because New York is such a big city, but other cities are also big. Given that, I think the whole, "I'll give you a call and we can meet up," thing isn't as effective in the real world. I don't want to wait around for you to call me so I can spend an hour on the train to get to wherever you are. Because no matter what, everywhere in New York seems to take me about an hour. At least if it's in Manhattan. Brooklyn, 1/2 hour. At least. I cannot wake up 15 minutes before having to be somewhere and be on time. It takes some adjusting.

My question, then, is that if things take longer in real life, but time moves FASTER in real life (like I cannot believe I've been in New York for more than a month), is time actually moving at the same pace?

Update: Job, Dates, Isabel Gillies

2009-03-30T10:26:00.003-04:00

1. Job- I got one. It is fairly menial and not what I want to be doing forever, but it is work, it is close by, and I am happy to have it. Also it involves coffee, which I am a fan of. I feel pretty good that in this economy it only took two weeks to find something. So I'll do that for a bit and then see what else I can make happen...

2. Dates- Online dating (that is free) is now my new favorite thing. I have been on a few dates and hope to go on more. It is fun to meet new people and even more fun to have some kind of screening process before you agree to hang out with them, unlike if you meet someone while drunk at a bar. And maybe I will meet someone really cool! Also it is a quite useful procrastination tool.

3. Isabel Gillies- Happens Every Day is out, and I've read it. I think it is probably safe to say that it isn't going to win any Pulitzers, but it was all that I hoped for all the same. She is having an author event in a week, and I am planning to go with other people from Oberlin. But not to have a throwdown... more for the spectacle and culmination of my infatuation with this strain of gossip. Yeeeeah.

I Am Totally From the Midwest

2009-03-16T14:21:00.002-04:00

I've been in New York for a little more than two weeks. And it isn't like I've never been here before... two winter terms, countless spring/ fall breaks, and visits to my grandparents' house when I was little. But now that I'm here with no expected departure time, that I'm trying to live here, I am feeling more and more that I do not have an effective New Yorker disguise, that in fact, everyone knows that I am not from around here.

- I smile at people, say thank you, and tell them to have a nice day when I leave the store/ counter/ apartment/ whatever. This causes people to either look at me like I am weird, or causes dudes to look at me up and down, wondering if I am coming onto them. Maybe I'm just flattering myself, but I don't think so.

- I see people doing/ wearing the weirdest things, like perhaps they are in a movie and find myself staring because New York makes me feel like perhaps I am also in a movie. I stare at the jogging lady smoking a cigarette. At the woman dressed like she should be working at Vogue who is actually surrounded by dogs and is a dog walker. At the guy walking across the street against the light who shouts at the car that honks at him, "Hey, watch it! I'm walking here!" (no joke.)

- Even though I am surrounded by delicious foodstuffs everywhere I go, and have ample public transportation to get anywhere I'd like to go, I still find myself hungry at night and secretly wistful and missing my mom's car and the Taco Bell drive-thru.

Maybe this is my way of manifesting homesickness. I guess I'll give it time. But I actually like some of my midwestern-ness and hope that a bit of it sticks.

Taco Night & Katherine Hepburn

2009-03-11T12:01:00.002-04:00

Last night I made tacos for my grandmother. As of course the most crucial part of making tacos is the seasoning of the taco meat, I left that up to the expert: old el paso. I got hard and soft shells, because Grandmother said that she liked hard shells but didn't like that they broke all over when you bit into them, so she usually ate soft shells. I filled her in on the secret of the double-decker taco: melty cheese (or beans) on the soft shell used as glue to wrap around the hard shell.

BAM! You get the crunch and the soft so the thing doesn't fall apart. Plus you get melted cheese which is always a plus. We had lots of fixins: lettuce, salsa, guac, sour cream, chopped tomatos and onion, and more cheese. The double-decker tacos were a huge hit, and overall my cooking was a big success. YES!

After dinner we watched Pat and Mike which is the first Spencer Tracy- Katherine Hepburn movie. I like Katherine Hepburn, but she talks funny. "Oh I'm so pleased to see you dahling, reaahlly I am." Why does she talk like that? Did people used to talk like that in the old days? Do people in Connecticut still talk like that? I've been to Connecticut and they largely don't seem to talk like that. Maybe they do at the yacht club... Anyway I liked the movie, and want to see more Tracy-Hepburn movies in the future.

Being Grown Up Isn't Half as Fun as Growing Up

2009-03-09T01:11:00.002-04:00

Yeah, that's from an Ataris song. I said it. What?

I talked to Becky on the phone this week and we talked about her baby, her son is 9 months old. So if I had been pregnant when he was born I'd have a baby now. Then I had dinner with Anna for the first time since I've been in New York, and she told me she's saving up to buy a house. A freakin' house of her very own to live in. And I went over to Ben and Allie's new pad to hang out this weekend, cause they moved in together recently. Just the two of them. No roommate.

Everything is getting a little serious. It isn't like playing house after college... its been too long for that at this point. My friends are moving in with boyfriends, and have real jobs with benefits and retirement plans. I feel like my year of life being on hold was really good for me, but that I'm now somehow behind. Like they're all turning into grownups without me.

Then I stay out drinking with them til 4 in the morning and everyone's too hungover the next day to do anything even by 6:00 in the evening, and I realize its all a ruse. And that we are not yet turning into grownups. Adults, maybe. But not grownups.

The Jig is Up

2009-03-03T16:17:00.001-05:00

I have been fairly shamelessly spreading this little tidbit of Oberlin gossip ever since I saw that this book was in the March Glamour as a 'must-read' of the month. Glamour's little teaser said:

'Gillies had the perfect life with the man of her dreams — until she watched him fall in love with another woman in their small college town.'

I never took a class with the professor she was married to, but I knew who he was... how couldn't you? He's so dreamy. Anyhoo, I've been interested in reading the book, looked at a preview on google books, reading some reviews, and everyone always refers to him as 'her ex-husband,' or 'her former husband.' She changed all the names in the book, though if you went to Oberlin, you know who people are, especially if you were in the English department. Cause that shit was scandalous. And the school isn't that big.

So why is the AP being such a hater and outing the guy? Come on, AP. I thought you guys were classy. Not like me, the gossip monger.

Snowed-in but in New York

2009-03-02T12:49:00.004-05:00

I got in after an epic 13 hour train ride on Thursday. Since then, I've been reconnecting with friends, exploring the neighborhood a little bit more, just getting re-oriented. Monday was supposed to be getting down to business time, errand running, nesting, dipping my big toe in the NYC job pool. When I trucked home last night it was already rather blizzardly, so when I woke up this morning and looked out the window only to see it was still coming down just as hard as ever, I decided that errand running could wait. Instead I'm going to attempt to hook up the DVD player... that's still productive in my book.

Hate Moving

2009-02-24T16:04:00.002-05:00

I hate that whenever I move somewhere (from big, fo real moves, like Dad selling childhood home at the same time I was moving out of my house from college, so had to get all my crap to Mom's house, then also had to get crap from house house to mom's house... to small moves like a trip) I think that I got everything under control until the last two days. Then I realize that I have in fact, not done shit, and I take everything out of its place and try to figure out what box to put it in and it looks like a big mess. And it is, though I am trying to convince myself it isn't.

I have a system. And that system now, after years of not knowing where anything is after I pack or move somewhere, includes labels. Now I know where things are generally, and I like that.

Decoupage with Degas' Dancers

2009-02-23T17:54:00.002-05:00

Try saying that three times fast...

I finished my decoupage project today... finally. I started it senior year when the Union Street Houses had no mirrors again (except the one in the bathroom which is hard to use if someone is taking/ just took a big poo in there) and I bought this cheap plastic frame mirror from Watson's Hardware that was so ugly that I decided to beautify it with decoupage. I used an old calendar I had gotten from the Met with a bunch of dancer paintings from Degas. However, I only had so much time in my busy academic schedule to cut out scraps of paper and glue them onto this frame, so it was slow going. Also, then I made a documentary and that took up a lot of time. Also then I graduated and went abroad and I didn't take it with me. And then since I've been home I've had a lot of catching up to do in terms of television, so really my schedule has been jam-packed.

Plus, have you ever tried to decoupage? It is kind of messy. Not just because you are basically getting glue all over your fingers the whole time, but also when you cut out the paper to glue, the little bits that you trim off get everywhere. So I have to be pretty motivated to do it. But, since I am going to New York soon, I decided I couldn't leave the task unfinished again, because I thought if I did that twice it would never get done. And now it is done! Hooray!

I think I am drawn to decoupage because I'm not that artistic, so it isn't like I can paint or draw really well. So this way I can just take someone else's art/ photos/ whatever, and glue it onto something else and make it pretty. My mom likes to paint, so she'll paint stuff onto furniture to spice it up. I will decoupage. Or get other ideas from The Big Ass Book of Crafts, after I get it off my wishlist and in my hands.

So this is the cool new thing...

2009-02-23T02:06:00.002-05:00

I used to write on a blog, way before it was hip. No one read it, I'm pretty sure. Which I am now thankful for because I was 14 and everything I wrote when I was 14 is embarrassing. I tried to revive it and write on it a few more times when I was in college, but that is embarrassing too. It still exists in cyberspace, I don't think it'll ever really get deleted, but I'm glad that there are features that can render it inaccessible to other people. I have a blog from my senior tutorial, and that might also be potentially embarrassing but I haven't looked at it in awhile. While that particular one may still have potential, I think of that as an ongoing, specific sort of project that I'm not really interested in starting in on at this point. I want to start afresh.

So here we are. version 2.0. I see that a lot of my friends suddenly (though I guess not that suddenly) seem to have blogs, and it is the hip not-so-new thing. Maggie and I thought of making one during our trip, but never got around to it and now we're home. But I'm about to be in New York, and with that fresh new start comes this fresh new blog.