things that make me happy

i keep stumbling across things that people who are way cooler than me are doing/making. so i'm going to post about them. also, i've got my own personal challenge going on. i have got to make it through this entire post without saying "folks" since i noticed i have done so in the last three posts. not cool, val. not cool.

things that make me happy:

1) regina spektor: awesome lyrics, quirky musical arrangements, kick-ass video with a headless man...(ps kudos to tim for this one)


2) ben folds covering "bitches ain't shit": first of all, i love ben folds. love. and yes he's all married now with frally and living in crocodile country in that other hemisphere, but he's still doing righteous stuff, like covering dr. dre staples. although the lyrics clash a bit with my feminist/women's studies upbringing, i can't help but love this song. here he is playing it live...

ben (yeah, first name, i know, **swooning**) also covered postal service's "such great heights" and it basically rocks the kasbah. (kudos to brian for this one)...

AND, on his new EP he has a video of "landed" with a monkey.
monkeys. monkeys make everything better.

3) mtv's "made": now that i have cable i can waste time watching marathons. two weekends ago it was project runway marathon. and today it was "made" on mtv. the basic premise is that youthful types feel like shit with how they currently are (ahh, teen angst) and want to be "made" into something (cheerleader, prom prince, girlie girl, soccer player, breakdancer, etc. etc.) yeah ok, i mean i don't know what i like about this show. maybe it's because the people really work hard for something they really want and make some major changes, even if they are for the most part very superficial things. but according to a made coach "success is in the journey" and by gollie these people are doing something, and also making me crack up while they go about it.

4) new jersey's ruling on same sex unions (can't say the m word yet). sure it's got some caveats. but it's a step in the left direction...

article with lots of info...click here

5) crispy noodles.

6) my new vaccum. dude. i've never experienced suction like this in my life. and i mean that in the cleanest way possible. haha. cleanest. literally. rofl.

this is my new electrolux harmony. hi harmony. you rock.

7) there are some battles you just cannot win. starbucks is one of those battles. on my floor at school it is so NOT COOL to like starbucks. we all bash it but then, like the liberal hypocrites rush and bill refer to us as, we trot across the block and come back with our venti skim latte double shot hold the whip with room. no. i haven't actually ordered that. i stick with my grande coffee and french toast bagel with extra butter. i from the south. gimme a little bagel with my butter. for real.
(ps. starbucks has chocolate powder on their little counter with the half and half and stuff. i pour that in and man, it's total awesomeness).


8) soup weather. i LOVE soup weather. big cups of hot soup that feels like it sticks to your insides. best part of winter is the soup. by far.

9) imac. i love you. i love you and your big screen and remote control goodness. mmmm. i'm so glad to have you as part of my life now. you are sooo sooo hot. h-o-t-t.


10)

k, that's all for now. maybe some of these things will make you happy too.

currently listening: "my love" by justin timberlake. hahahahaha. love it.
currently reading: not enough

holy crapballs batman!

oh my goodness!
well i am now in love with six feet under. sooo so much. and then today, i'm at work and i hear nina simone's "feeling good" on radio-love-of-my-life kexp.org. wow, i loved it. so i hopped on over to youtube to see if there was a video. lo and behold, there's a six feet under video of that song!

the stars are aligning folks. and it is quite fantastic. check it:

back it up...

lesson learned folks. back up your shit.
most computers are advanced enough to have scheduled backup routines. however, as i have recently learned, most users are NOT advanced enough to use such innovative methods. instead, we wait until something breaks and then cry and cry and cry and seek refuge in charms blow pops and bailey's irish cream.

currently listening: ben folds cover of "such great heights"
currently reading: computer manual

disturbed

by the following:

1) "truck nutz" - use your imagination folks. the latest rage in central florida (also known fondly as "the south") are hard plastic -- or chrome, if you are willing pay extra -- testicles that hang on the back of yer pickup truck. every now and then though you get a subversive redneck who wants his balls to be bigger than everyone else's and uses chain and bowling balls to create his own truck nutz. i'll drink to that!



*sigh* check it out here: http://www.trucknutz.com/

2) tim mcgraw has a song with nelly. as in nelly the rapper. talk about crossover effort. frankly i think it is disturbing.

tim and nelly "over and over"

3) the woman in front of me in the cab line at jfk airport. the cabbie didn't know where some county was, evidently it is right outside of nassau. i don't know. she goes "tsk, it's in AMERICA" ...thank you captain obvious.

currently listening: take me back to your house by basement jaxx
currently reading: bodies of law by alan hyde

bubble wrap

wheeeeee!

raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

these are a few of my favorite things...



i just love this song! and the video cracks me up. sure looks like a bugs life.

also, i just got cable on friday. i do not think i've watched any channel except for bravo. not only are they starting six feet under from the beginning, but they are also doing a project runway marathon...

in terms of who can capture val's heart, someone needs to let jon stewart know he's got some competition. i've found my very own mcdreamy and he goes by the name of peter krause. mmm, he plays the vulnerable and "gifted" nate on six feet under.


i have never, EVER seen a man rock the scruff like this one.

my other addiction, which makes me think things like "i want to bitch-slap jeffrey" and "i wish vincent would shut his pansy ass egotistical pie hole"

project runway, you're in.

and now back to work. graduate school is sure screwing up my blogging. my priorities are SO out of whack.

currently listening: "creep" by TLC, throwback...woot!
currently reading: "diagnosis:difference" by abby wilkerson, highly recommended if you have any interest in the intersection of healthcare and social justice

peace out

balanced schmalanced!

when your dinner comes from a vending machine you already know enough to have exceedingly low expectations for any sort of health or satisfaction that might ensue. so, after spending 11 hours at school i decided that my snickers bar was simply not enough to 'satisfy' (harhar).

so down i go to the vending machine. i get out my crispiest dollar bill. i stand in front of the vending machine, mulling over my choices. mmm cheetos. so as i go to put in my dollar bill i notice this:



[insert tim allen eergggh?]

evidently things choosy moms and choosy grandfathers choose are marked with a little leaf next to their selection number.

hmm..healthy balanced choices, from a vending machine. with the hope and trepidation of a kid in a candy store with a bad report card just waiting to be viewed i scanned back up to D04, my cheetos. oh no. no green leaf. my cheetos are not a balanced choice. you know, this is not what i need dammit! now, on top of eating dinner out of a vending machine i feel irresponsible for not picking the veggie crisps in D05!

well, to balanced choices i say: freck you! (and thanks to a particularly scintillating episode of veronica mars (double har) i know that that is a battlestar galactica euphemism for well, you know).

you know, seriously balanced choices. get with the program. i'm a victim of my culture and if you really want to sway me to push D05 instead of D04 then you have to make some changes. first of all, i need to feel like i have a friend in balanced choices. i need to feel like hey, balanced choices are "cool." i need a marketing incentive. i need...chester cheetah! not this frecking leaf.

tsk. so until i see some real marketing effort i'm going to stick with my cheetos. even if i get a tummy ache and my fingers are orange for a ridiculously long time.


chester:1 stupid leaf:0


currently listening: "your ex-lover is dead" by stars
currently reading: when sex goes to school

more secrets

so i'm still in love with this site.

http://postsecret.blogspot.com

it updates every sunday. bookmark it. read it. know you aren't alone. understand those around you.

check out...

this band.
asobi seksu.

a free song via salon.com

their website

myspace

from myspace you can download three songs, of which my favorite is "thursday"

chutzpah

apparently i'm a lame ass who cannot maintain a blog and finish a thesis at the same time.

so i thought hmm, val, take off some of that pressure. sometimes things speak for themselves. so, that's most likely what you'll be seeing here in the near future. things that speak for themselves.

exhibit a: heard on the street...
1) "all god's children got to get it on. need to feel the love!" - crazy man on the sidewalk on 15th street yelling loudly
2) "nah nah man, he called me about the colt .45" - guy that owns/loiters the bodega on avenue m. woot for crime in midwood.

exhibit b: just the facts ma'am...


spoken.

currently listening: "adventurer" by be your own pet
currently reading: socioeconomic context of new york city schools

i feel a woot comin' on.