At least I'm not a F**king Tagger

To think blogging seemed like a bad idea. I read a little blurb on the New Yorker last night making light on a new trend among, get this, post-modern kids today -- aka late 20 somethings that I guess Jason would call emo/indie with out the tattoos. The new trend being: having an RFID inserted in your body. Body modification a la 21st century. The purpose of this micro chip you ask? Amazingly, ubiquitous in everyday life, such as being the password to your computer, or the key to your house, or (as some trend setters in Spain may have it) as a pass into the VIP room of a club. Just wave your hand in the designated area and "You're In". Some VIPs those people must be.

Here comes another train wreck and nobody is saying anything.
Thanks to Walmart and all these jackasses that think they're being so avant-garde, RFIDs will be so common place you won't even hear a peep of objection. What happened to all those people who made such a big stink about United Colors of Benetton having RFIDs in their clothing to the point of scraping the whole project (or did they?)?
Forget the serial number or the barcode, RFIDs are so much cooler.

I know it's old news...

But I posted some of the pictures from Alia's B-day weekend. The cake is a Humming Bird Cake made with pineapple, banana, coconut, pecans, and a cream cheese/butter icing. I figured Alia was getting too skinny.
We went to NYC and didn't get lost thanks to the NFT guide. Unfortunately, my camera's battery died midway so there aren't that many pictures.

Remember when...

Secret was strong enough for a man, pH balanced for a woman?
Now, it's strong enough for a woman.
And, strong enough to give us cancer.
I love that the unhealthy marriage between marketing and psychology recorded such crap into my brain.
Thanks John B. Watson for selling out.

I kinda hate the world today

The "civilized" world that is.
Last night I watched The Constant Gardner and followed it with an hour of Project Runway.
Ridiculous.
Our Existence.
Absurd.

V-Day was great!

Better than I could have anticipated anyway. It kinda amazed me how even though I had heard most of the monologues they still had a noticeable impression on me. I laughed near tears in "My Angry Vagina" and the grand finally of "the Woman who loved to make Vaginas Happy". Moaning. Humans are such funny creatures. This year's Spotlight was Asia's Comfort Women -- women who were forced by the Japanese government into sexual slavery during WWII.
On a lighter note, greeting us into the auditorium was a giant vagina. It was a felt costume worn by some poor undergrad, his head was appropriately popping out where the clit would be, peddling chocolate vagina pops. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera (my description doesn't do it justice) or any money to bring back some chocolate vaginas for Jason, but Kevin and Andrea seemed to enjoy them very much.

Today is Kayla's 3rd B-day. She's growing up so fast. I hope she had a great one.

On a more positive note

I'm so happy! Today marks a week that we've had all vegetarian meals at home. We weren't even trying, but I managed to get all meals past Jason without protest. I'm not sure he's even noticed. Shh, don't tell him. Thanks falafel, chick peas, pigeon peas, and lentils.

I found the vegan lunch box on the Bloger homepage and it's the cutest thing I've seen in a long time.

If you actually bother to go to the links from yesterday's post the person is no longer anonymous. I noticed after I published the post. Oh well, no love lost.

Wednesday marked the beginning of Feminist Week at UPenn and today I'm going to see the Vagina Monologues at Irving Auditorium. Tickets are $5, which go in their entirety to Women Organized Against Rape. I saw this play years ago in Miami, maybe I'll get something different out of it this time.

It's 60 degrees outside. Snow one day, sunshine the next.

Now I'm floored

While waiting for Jason to pick me up from work I figuered I had some time to look through an aquaintance's, who'll remain unnamed, wedding registry. Maybe I would be able to get them something to help them start off on their newly wedded life. When I saw this I was just plain and simple pissed off. The nerve of some people! How the hell do you justify having a china coffe pot worth +$200? Or a single wine glass costing $45, much less eight of them? How do you live in a house where everything is so on the verge of costing me my next paycheck? To make matters worse She has another registry at another retailer with more stuff. In total she, I should say they but I know it's she, registered for 4 different place settings, each for 8 sets. How many fucking plates do two people need...and don't give me that it's for ever heirloom bullshit -- they're plates! I thought writting this would be cathartic but I'm just getting more and more frustrated that someone would... ah fuck it.

I Got Bored

Here's my new and improved blog. Hope you like it :)

not so fun in the snow

These are the wonders of winter land. There's even an icicle on the back bumper. I didn't have the heart to knock it off. Besides digging out the car and all the yellow snow it was really beautiful and quiet.

Emo Indeed

Michelle looks so sad yet so pretty in this picture -- that's what happens when you go off to a far away land. I stole this picture from Michelle's "flat mate" -- that's also what happens when you go off to a far away land, you get flat mates instead of room mates. All in all, I do love this picture. Jason enjoyed it very much as well, for obvious emo-reasons.
Michelle, you're too cool for us. We miss you.

I'm a little embarrassed to say...

I actually want to look like michelle williams (or I should say cecil mills). The hair cut I mean. We watched The Baxter the other night and I couldn't stop staring at her. I don't know what it is. Maybe the bangs. These pictures don't do it justice but it's the best I could find. I love that they make fun of it on this postcard. I'm not sure I could pull it off though.
The movie in general (by the same makers of Wet Hot American Summer) was ok. It had it's moments but wasn't as great as the previous mentioned. Worth renting for it's quotes. On their website you can take the baxter quiz.

Con las Manos en la Masa (I Got Caught)

This weekend I walked in on Jason surveying my Blog for the first time. Considering It's been almost two months since I defiantly spoke of him, it's not so bad. What was bad was his opinion on blogging in general. It was almost to the point of showing utter disgust by reading our entries and comments in a mocking high pitch voice. All our witt and worry out the window. He was also a bit insulted by the computer phobia comment; I guess the truth hurts.
Oh, Jason. You take life too seriously sometimes. And I love you for it....

The Day to Day Absurd

These are a few things that on their own don't merit a blog entry but are worthy of noting:

• I saw a billboard for Bambi II. My question , logically, is WHY? Why must the evil magic kingdom continue to pollute the celluloid world? Isn't one movie enough? Must all their movies have sequels? The most comical part of the billboard was the description: "A Father's love. A Son's Courage".
• Have you noticed when you go to whole foods you can guarantee counting at least three patrons clad in a pair of thick rimmed glasses? I wonder if the thickness is proportional to anything. The thicker your glasses the ...(I'll leave that one for you Josh)
• With the increasing wind the days in Philly haven't been particularly great. In attempts to lower our heating bill we decided to weather proof our apartment. Who have we become? It's a little ridiculous to shrink wrap your windows but amazingly it makes a difference.
• A coworker informed me that she plays a video game with her children where the evil villain is named Valeska. Quote: "She's such a great villain too".
  

The Boy Crisis

So the tables have turned and everyone is having a hissy fit. For the past couple of years girls are outperforming and outsmarting boys in school, especially in standardized tests. Boys are twice as likely to be diagnosed with a learning disorder, twice as likely to be in a special ed program, more likely to repeat a grade and more prone to drop out of school. Newsweek and the Today show both stated their growing concern for the poor boys getting left behind. Some of the reasons they attribute this trend to are: being fatherless, living in poverty, slower brain development, lack of good role models, and traditional learning techniques which are not compatible for the boy brain (such as sitting down and learning). Boys are active creatures that need a physical task in order to learn. How they've survived through such hardships for so long is unexplained. Brain development is beyond their control but being fatherless and living in poverty affects girls just as much. Beyond the aging Gloria Steinem, girls aren't particularly blessed with a bounty of good role models either. So maybe there is something else. Maybe it's that for the past 30 years the educational opportunities for girls have changed. Maybe it's that when girls are given equal footing they prove to be more apt for the learning environment. It's not that boys are getting dumber than girls, it's just that now girls have equal access and are being instilled to value what for boys has always been there.

To be 6 years old again...

If it means going to the ER, crying in pain, because of an ear infection than no thanks!
Miami was great. Among the great things I did was spend copious amounts of time with my grandmother, who unfortunately had a terrible flu. Thinking I was too young and healthy to even be bothered by the thought of being sick I did not heed her request of staying away for my own good. Such pride. The 18+ hr car drive back to the cold wasn't as bad as I thought it could have been but being sick sure made it miserable. Since I've been back to Philly, I haven't stepped out of my apartment or my PJs (except for the ER incident and the occasional shower -- one thing is to be sick another to be stinky). Hopefully the end is near.

Good bye Winter Wonderland

To think winter actually starts tomorrow. Ahhh!!!
What is it that we have been experiencing so far? You mean we're going to have colder and shittier days?
Well, at least I get to escape from it for a little over a week with Jason, Alia, Josh, and Emerson.
Good bye cruel cold.

Unsilent Night

Last night I convinced Jason to go to Unsilent Night with me. It was really, really cold out but it was worth it. So, this guy Phil Klein, who calls himself a composer, puts his "ethereal" music on tapes and then distributes them to all that bring their boom-boxes. Who knew those still existed. There are 4 versions of the tapes -- each playing a different part of the composed piece. When he says go, all press play and begin to march along the streets of Philadelphia. It was truly a great experience in that it makes the city streets seem somewhat absurd. Here are all these people of different ages and walks of life marching to this music (here is what it sounds like) and you'd think they came out of nowhere. There was some sort of harmonious disonance to it all. We especially enjoyed the startled and sometimes annoyed faces of those standing by.

the christmas bush

Yesterday, after a long and agonizing process my ficus tree died. In order to commemorate it's short life I decided to give it the honor of replacing my holiday tree. Besides, I wasn't really planning on getting a christmas tree this year. So, I brought out my ornament and produced what you see pictured. At first I was thrilled. I think christmas ornaments can be one of the most beautiful things you can pull out in the mist of so much dreary and cold grayness. But, much to my dismay, the final product was nothing like what I had envisioned.
So, you be the judge.
Is my tree:
A) a sorry attempt, as well as miserable failure, at being crafty in a "Design on a Dime" sort of way (most things on that show are miserable failures)

B)"the poor man's tree"

C) a tree that Nightmare Before Christmas' Jack would
have loved

If you want to give shit for Christmas this year...

Go Here.
I was at first taken aback. I thought Paper Source was a bit snooty at times (I guess more crafty than snooty). But now they have earned my total respect.

Jason's going to kill me

Overnight we got our first glimpse of snow this year. Everything is so quiet and peaceful after it snows. The only bad part is when you have to try and go about your normal day. It looks pretty but it sure doesn't feel right under your shoes. I'm always terrified of slipping.
In other news, I informed Jason of my newly acquired blogging tendencies. He was very disappointed in me. To the point of calling a narcissistic egomaniac. Alia, you're a bad influence. He forbade me from mentioning him or even alluding to him on my blog. So, of course, as the perfect wife that I am, I'm boldly disregarding his request -- that's what you do when such silly requests are made. I'm OK for now since he hasn't even expressed interest in looking at my blog, much less going out of his way to find it online. I blame his fear of technology.