I would literally do anything this guy told me to do:
It would be especially helpful if he dictated life decisions to me like this:
It would be especially helpful if he dictated life decisions to me like this:
Monday, 28 April 2008
Greet people by stating the obvious (ex: If you are delivering the newspapers one rainy Monday, Michael will inevitably say, "Delivering newspapers this morning?" To which you nod and smile and say, "Yes, it looks like I'm delivering the newspapers this morning!" Punctuate everything with an exclamation point--no matter how forced or trite. Or, as you're coming into the foyer dripping like a wet cat, Antoine will grin and say, "It's raining pretty hard?" To which you say, "No. Duh. Antoine.").
Thursday, 24 April 2008
Friday, 18 April 2008
Ticket stubs, shredded metro cards, pens with mismatched lids, torn sheets of mini notebook paper with illegible writing scrawled across it, extra hair ties, my license and bus fare, my course registration instructions printed on spring green paper with Kandula's story hastily penned on a corner, my phone, endless quantities of lip balm, and this poem which has moved me to tears on too many occasions and for that reason alone I love it dearly and fiercely:
I Would Like to Describe
Zbigniew Herbert
I would like to describe the simplest emotion
joy or sadness
but not as others do
reaching for shafts of rain or sun
I would like to describe a light
which is being born in me
but I know it does not resemble
any star
for it is not so bright
not so pure
and is uncertain
I would like to describe courage
without dragging behind me a dusty lion
and also anxiety
without shaking a glass full of water
to put it another way
I would give all the metaphors
in return for one word
drawn out of my breast like a rib
for one word
contained within the boundaries
of my skin
but apparently this is not possible
and just to say—I love
I run around like mad
picking up handfuls of birds
and my tenderness
which after all is not made of water
asks the water for a face
and anger
different from fire
borrows from it
a loquacious tongue
so is blurred
so is blurred
in me
what white-haired gentlemen
separated once and for all
and said
this is the subject
and this is the object
we fall asleep
with one hand under our head
and with the other in a mound of planets
our feet abandon us
and taste the earth
with their tiny roots
which next morning
we tear out painfully
I Would Like to Describe
Zbigniew Herbert
I would like to describe the simplest emotion
joy or sadness
but not as others do
reaching for shafts of rain or sun
I would like to describe a light
which is being born in me
but I know it does not resemble
any star
for it is not so bright
not so pure
and is uncertain
I would like to describe courage
without dragging behind me a dusty lion
and also anxiety
without shaking a glass full of water
to put it another way
I would give all the metaphors
in return for one word
drawn out of my breast like a rib
for one word
contained within the boundaries
of my skin
but apparently this is not possible
and just to say—I love
I run around like mad
picking up handfuls of birds
and my tenderness
which after all is not made of water
asks the water for a face
and anger
different from fire
borrows from it
a loquacious tongue
so is blurred
so is blurred
in me
what white-haired gentlemen
separated once and for all
and said
this is the subject
and this is the object
we fall asleep
with one hand under our head
and with the other in a mound of planets
our feet abandon us
and taste the earth
with their tiny roots
which next morning
we tear out painfully
Thursday, 17 April 2008
I see how it sounds, and it does sound wonderful: a make your own Lisa Frank link (like Yahoo's make your own avatar link). I did not mean to lead you poor souls down the road to false excitement but here's the bad news: no such link exists. I meant, using your own head juices (sick, I know) and your words (not fighting words) to describe this new character you devised. You can even use the form that Markie the Unicorn has (i.e. Likes, Dislikes, hobbies). So sorry!
For brainstorming purposes, please refer here (where I found Markie and Diva's excellent bios).
PS: Dear Any Person Affiliated with Lisa Frank Company--this link thing is a cash cow waiting to happen. Get on it.
For brainstorming purposes, please refer here (where I found Markie and Diva's excellent bios).
PS: Dear Any Person Affiliated with Lisa Frank Company--this link thing is a cash cow waiting to happen. Get on it.
If you, like me, grew up in suburbia during the early 90s then any mention of “Lisa Frank” will probably send you on a shame spiral. But I’m here to say that there should be no shame, only pure joy bursting with rainbows and neon colored baby animals. Let’s try it again: LISA FRANK. Much better.The first thing that turned up in my nearing one hour research session on Lisa Frank was a list of character names and attributes. Here are a few of the most popular (beware, she tends to get really creative with the names so, for instance, you’ll see “Angel Kitty” and it will blow your mind when you discover that it is “a cat with rainbow wings and stripes”):
• Rainbow Chaser – A brown horse with purple hooves
• Bananigans – A monkey with a Rainbow Banana
• Hollywood Bear – A bear in a tuxedo and a top hat
• Panda Painter – A panda in overalls with a large paintbrush
• Ballerina Bunnies – Three rabbits who dance ballet
• Max Splash – An orca whale
• Markie – A unicorn with rainbow mane and tail
• Roary – A polar bear
• Hunter – A young (psychedelically colored) leopard
• Spotty and Dotty Paws – Two Dalmatians with ranbow-colored spots
• Peekaboo – A turtle with hippie-style flowers on its shells
• Skye- A Pegasus-like flying horse
• Ruckus, Raider, and Risky - Three St. Bernard puppies
• Casey – A golden retriever puppy
• Lisa, Cassie, Mara, Candy – Four girls who are best friends
• Angel – An angel with rainbow wings
• Angel Kity – A cat with rainbow wings and stripes
• Echo – A dolphin
Now for the interactive portion/challenge/baby animal throw down: DESIGN YOUR OWN LISA FRANK CHARACTER. I know it’s hard since a lot of the good animals have already been taken but for the love of office sanity, humor me on this one (and don’t you think about using the coveted dragonfly. It’s been done):
Sunday, 13 April 2008
Whenever people tell me how cute and quaint Georgetown is I smile and nod because I, too, have been known to describe it as such. Take, for instance, this little scene on the C & O Canal. I eat my lunch right at this very place:
Unanimous "How cute! How charming!"'s all around.
But if they push the matter I am forced to remember just how much I hate Georgetown on either a) Saturdays b) evenings or c) tourist season. That's when Georgetown becomes this:
The worst is just beginning. It began three weeks ago when the dreaded cherry blossom season started. Suddenly my worst nightmare enacted itself routinely and dismally in front of my very store window. If I thought Saturdays, evenings and tourist season were bad, imagine my horror when I realized that A Saturday Evening During Tourist Season is not only an actual, human ritual, but that it is an actual, real life reality from now until mid September. Thank heavens that after this Saturday I can say goodbye to the madness (well, except for M-F when I go to work in my new Georgetown office :)
Unanimous "How cute! How charming!"'s all around.
But if they push the matter I am forced to remember just how much I hate Georgetown on either a) Saturdays b) evenings or c) tourist season. That's when Georgetown becomes this:
The worst is just beginning. It began three weeks ago when the dreaded cherry blossom season started. Suddenly my worst nightmare enacted itself routinely and dismally in front of my very store window. If I thought Saturdays, evenings and tourist season were bad, imagine my horror when I realized that A Saturday Evening During Tourist Season is not only an actual, human ritual, but that it is an actual, real life reality from now until mid September. Thank heavens that after this Saturday I can say goodbye to the madness (well, except for M-F when I go to work in my new Georgetown office :)
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