bird by bird

I interviewed for a new job on Wednesday morning, was offered the job on Wednesday afternoon, and started on Thursday morning... and I haven't had a minute to breath since. It's been up, and it's been down. It's also been sideways. But I'm alive and officially employed, so I really shouldn't complain. I'll fill you in on it later.. off to teach now! Wish me luck!

I can handle the sirens and the shouting, the squeaky breaks, the garbage trucks, and the revving engines. I can even handle the occasional shooting sounds that I have convinced myself are fireworks. These are the sounds that come from the street into my bedroom at all hours of the day and night, and I can handle them. But that damn ice cream truck.. that, I cannot handle. And it's only March. God help me.

Yeah, I'm tall. Thanks for reminding me.

"Date A Girl Who Reads" by Rosemarie Urquico (In Response to Charles Warnke’s You Should Date An Illiterate Girl ) Date a girl who reads. Date a girl who spends her money on books instead of clothes. She has problems with closet space because she has too many books. Date a girl who has a list of books she wants to read, who has had a library card since she was twelve. Find a girl who reads. You’ll know that she does because she will always have an unread book in her bag.She’s the one lovingly looking over the shelves in the bookstore, the one who quietly cries out when she finds the book she wants. You see the weird chick sniffing the pages of an old book in a second hand book shop? That’s the reader. They can never resist smelling the pages, especially when they are yellow. She’s the girl reading while waiting in that coffee shop down the street. If you take a peek at her mug, the non-dairy creamer is floating on top because she’s kind of engrossed already. Lost in a...

Tonight I babysat the Poconos barfing boys (sounds like a rock band) because their mom was having a birthday dinner party for one of her girlfriends. As her cook prepared the food and the other nanny and I took care of the boys, she took care of herself and played this song. Amidst three screaming children and their barking dog, hearing this song unexpectedly made me miss my dad almost more than I could bare. I hate when that happens, but I really love James Taylor and I really love this song. I really love you, Dad

They offered me the job!!

On Tuesday, I had a one-day assignment at a PR firm in Greenwich village and it was kind of terrible. I should have googled the place first because it was a firm for fashion and women's products and had I known, I would have wore a cuter outfit. Instead I wore my highwater, old lady pants and a purple sweater. And let me tell you.. I stood out. Not only was I the tallest and fattest girl in the whole office, but my outfit was clearly not up-to-par with everyone else. The office consisted entirely of women, and one transgender (who, by the way, was still cuter than me) and they looked like they all stepped out of a catalog. I'm talking skinny jeans, high heels, cool hair, beautiful jewlery.. The whole office was like a scene from The Devil Wears Prada or the MTV show The City and I was the token ugly girl. Ugly Betty .. that's another one. No one would talk to me. Anyway, I got stuck in the storeroom with all of the samples and I had to put together 120 giftbags of differe...

Recently someone asked me exactly what kind of man I am looking for. I realized that I have no idea. I realized that I don't really care about age or profession, but I do care about strength (and not the lifting-heavy-boxes kind). Then I literally stumbled upon this poem today, and I thought, "Ah ha! That's it!" From some woman named Oriah's pen to my blog... "The Invitation" by Oriah It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love for your dream for the adventure of being alive. It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon... I want to know if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow if you have been opened by life’s betrayals or have become shrivelled and closed from fear of further pain. I want to know if yo...

A long, long time ago when my life was so different and I was so different, I spent a summer in Vermillion with my best friends and it.. was.. magic. At night we drank together, danced in the rain together, and ran from the cops together. During the day we put on red shirts and welcomed incoming freshman and their parents to the campus that we loved. We were upper classmen and lower classmen, conservative and liberal, artsy and science-y. We came from different chapters and different disciplines, but for one summer, we were like the kids in The Breakfast Club , and for some reason, it just worked. Now, a lot of years later, so much has changed, but some of the friendships and relationships have lasted. Three couples from that summer (SS & EQ, KW & JL, and now MV & LK) are engaged! TY is married to his high school gf. CS and AO are married to their college bf's, and AO is expecting her second child! Even my fellow crazy summer girl TB is engaged! Not all of us are bu...

"This is perhaps James Bond's greatest disguise yet. Daniel Craig, who plays the British secret agent, dresses in drag in this video in honor of International Women's Day. Narrated by Judi Dench -- who plays Craig's boss, M, in the Bond films -- the two minute video discusses the disparity in pay and opportunity between women and men. It's part of the EQUALS project, a charity led by Annie Lennox."

Ok I've been feeling a little bit torn between my blog and my column for The Post. Like when something funny or interesting happens, I have this big internal debate: blog or column? blog or column? The blog has stuck by me for so long. It has  let me blabber on it way before I knew anything about format or editing. It has been there though so many nights of (academic) writer's blog and housed some of my biggest secrets, fears, and dreams. This good 'ol blog is like those trusty pair of jeans that Taylor Swift is always talking about in her songs. It's comfortable and welcoming and like home. But now I have this column! And to say that I write a column just sounds so Carrie Bradshaw to me that sometimes I can't even handle it! I don't get paid to write it, but still, just the title itself makes me feel like a sort-of real writer! Plus my column has other friends, other writers and columns so it's sort of like a community. And more people can read it, peop...

By: The Avett Brothers (thanks GG!) Ten thousand words swarm around my head Ten million more in books written beneath my bed I wrote or read them all when searchin’ in the swarms Still can’t find out how to hold my hands And I know you need me in the next room over But I am stuck in here all paralyzed For months I got myself in ruts Too much time spent in mirrors framed in yellow walls Ain’t it like most people? I’m no different We love to talk on things we don’t know about Ain’t it like most people? I’m no different We love to talk on things we don’t know about And everyone around me shakes their head in disbelief And says I’m too caught up They say young is good and old is fine And truth is cool but all that matters Is that you have your good times But their good times come with prices And I can’t believe it when I hear the jokes they make At anyone’s expense except their own Would they laugh if they knew who paid? Ain’t it like most people? I’m no differen...

Watch this! Never mind those pesky actors.. keep your eye on the background because THAT'S WHERE I WORK! (this week, at least).

On Saturday I went with EH to her school's performance of The Vagina Monologues. It was... an experience. For the first 20 minutes, I was awkwardly embarrassed for the women on stage who were clearly themselves embarrassed about having to recite the 37 words and phrases for the vagina. It was awfully uncomfortable for everyone, and I'm pretty sure that the intent of the TVM is to do the exact opposite of making women feel uncomfortable. Instead I think one of the goals of the show is to make women feel comfortable about talking about our lady parts, proud even. But the first few monolgues did not make me feel proud. They made me feel like I wanted to Alex Mack my way outta there! But I didn't. I stayed. And I'm glad that I did. The show got better and some of the monologues really were thought-provoking. They spoke of all different kinds of voices that women have from all different backgrounds, ages, and sexual orie...

The model on the cover of 605 was my roommate for a semester when I went back to USD for grad school. We didn't know each other at all when I moved it, but she was really sweet and it worked out great. There was always a lot of space in the fridge. And apparently Nancy Naeve is in love with her.

Thanks to GG and MT for finding this song and letting me know about it!! I now listen to it on my ipod as I eye cute fellas on the subway.. and on the street.. and in Starbucks.. and everywhere in between. Even though they never really talk to me, they're so great to look at. Yes, I am objectifying men. Whatevs, they do it to us all the time. 

They let me do it again! Check it out!