“[When Kurt Vonnegut tells his wife he’s going out to buy an envelope] Oh, she says, well, you’re not a poor man. You know, why don’t you go online and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? And so I pretend not to hear her. And go out to get an envelope because I’m going to have a hell of a good time in the process of buying an envelope. I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babies. And a fire engine goes by. And I give them the thumbs up. And ask a woman what kind of dog that is. And, I don’t know. The moral of the story is, we’re here on Earth to fart around. And, of course, the computers will do us out of that. And, with the computer people don’t realize, or they don’t care, is we’re dancing animals. You know, we love to move around. And, we’re not supposed to dance at all anymore.”
Kurt Vonnegut

social networking has calmed down lately re political issues.  i was pretty annoyed with everyone.  thank goodness.

Yet, recently i’ve been holding myself back. i have a reckless desire to start posting passive aggressive messages/posts etc. i want to talk to someone! i want to complain about everything!  i want to link to articles that support my political position! but mostly i find that i just am tired of people arguing about everything. i mean why can’t people just agree with me? blergh.
i’m so tired and can’t help but wonder if this is how the extremes end up winning.

and i can’t help but wonder if this is just gurgling to the surface because i’ve been throwing west wing on in the background. 

i miss civil discourse. 

is half over. 

i haven’t been able to get my act together.

but today i bought an overly expensive shirt with chickens on it.

l’chaim!

I joined some friends on a vacation they planned for a week.  It was heavenly! Unfortunately, I don’t quite yet have my wits about me to deal with vacation aftermath (haven’t yet finished unpacking, haven’t unloaded any pics, and haven’t yet accepted that i’m back at work).

But I want to relive my vacation! So, lazy girl’s post:

• Days off: 7
• Airports visited: 4 (LAX, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi)
• Islands visited: 2 (Langkawi and Hong Kong side)
• Hotels stayed at: 4
• Hotels where monkeys hung out on my balcony: 1
• Spa Treatments: 2
• Times friends gave up their awesome seat so that I could sit near the rest of the group instead of by self in the back: 2 (sniff, so generous)
• Movies watched on plane: 21 Jump Street (excellent!); Jeff Who Lives at Home (not what I expected); Bug’s Life (awww, classic Pixar but clearly not the best); Rise of the Planet of the Apes (ironically, as unsympathetic I was towards the monkeys at the hotel, i was totes rooting for the apes in the movie); Working Girl (I’m sad Harrison Ford didn’t do more romantic comedies); Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (Jet Li!); Attack the Block (LOVED, LOVED, this movie); Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (Stephen Fry!)
• Movies watched in hotel: 1 (the Debt) [i caught up on a lot of movies in my queue travelling]
• Boats steered: 1
• Night swims: 1
• Days of excellence: 7
• Days of freedom from work e-mail:7 (coincidence?)
• Roti and/or naan consumed: too much to count. 

Vacation, i miss you already!

the best part of the day was a 20 minute conversation with a coworker about how awesome the original Footloose is and how we enjoy it with zero irony and total earnestness.

today there were zero conversations about footloose so yeah not as awesome.

i have been watching “amazing grace” the movie about Wilberforce and the British abolitionist effort  and i am reminded of that great margaret mead quote:

“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead.

And i wonder.

I wonder about where I would have stood when things got difficult.  Would I have been among the small group of committed citizens? 

also, major crushes on Ioan Gruffud and Benedick Cumberbatch (though that is a carryover from Sherlock).

it’s been blog quiet on the western front lately.  mostly because i’ve been quite a downer lately and i was getting a little tired of thinking my thoughts.  but the year is coming to a close and i’m finally reaching a point of equilibrium or at least getting reality checked.  (who gon’ check me, boo?!)

lately i’ve been thinking about how to live and work in hope, but not entitlement, to be realistic, without cynicism overtaking me, to be vulnerable in community, but not taking advantage of them.  when it comes to work i think i bounce between the highs and the lows of knowing with absolute certainty that life and work is about putting your nose to the grindstone and pushing through — i should just be thrilled i get to work in a place where it’s unlikely i’ll get severe physical injuries.  then on other days i bounce back with the knowledge that i can live in hope and freedom for a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

i go back and forth between hope/entitlement and cyncism/realism all the time.  weirdly, one of the most helpful things i’ve heard to help me with work is the sermon my pastor gave regarding commitment and marriage — a good listen for both singletons or marrieds.  in any case, one part of the sermon discussed how this generation of people have this crazy cynicism as well as this crazy entitlement towards marriage being about them — the so called “me marriage.” one of the points that hit home for me was how he identified how marriage is good for people and society but nowadays we suffer from spoiled idealism – we expect too much and then get upset when reality steps in.  it makes more sense  in the sermon. highly encourage you to take a listen.   (October 30, 2011 podcast). still working it through but i think i’m making progress.

completely separately, the artist.  love, love, love, love, love the movie!

so. gosh. darn. cold in la lately! it makes me not want to do anything except snuggle up under the covers with a good book.

here’s to another week, everyone.

thankful, though, for the long weekend. allowed some much needed uninterrupted hours of rest to recover from a nasty cold.

for me to invest in blackberry, this case is too much madness.  although i am thankful that i’ve had the phone handy to pick up when work needed me considering i’m notorious for losing my phone.