Hashtag Blessed, Basically

I blog less when I'm happy. A lot less. I think that's true of everyone, really. You're too busy experiencing the moment and spend a lot less time moaning about What Could Be when you're enjoying life. Also a lot of my day-to-day expression energy gets burned up on Twitter so you should be following me (@fairlyalarmed) if you're interested the more mundane updates. I kept a pen-and-paper journal in high school, college, all the way through to last year, and then stopped that and this page as well. I'm not the same KIND of happy as I was last year (that kind of unfettered glee is unsustainable and also probably a sign of mental unbalance in the long term), but I'm definitely more centered emotionally and...just...pleased about my life and myself than I've ever been. I've definitely had one of the best years of my life so far. This is different from other Best Years in that I've known it's the best as it's happening, a fact for which I'm thankful.

You'll notice my penchant for vague bullshit hasn't budged, however, hahahaha. Ummm...basically I took a year off between my MBA (from which I graduated last August after one of the most rewarding and fun semesters of my life) and law school, which I start in a couple months. I've been traveling, reading, working (a tiny bit), drinking (...more than a tiny bit), basically just trying to enjoy to the maximum the last period of my life where I can decide to go to Austin, NYC, San Francisco, or Vancouver (to name a few! I've been busy) on a whim because I have no responsibilities and am beholden to no one. Sounds charmed, right? It has certainly felt that way.

So. Law school in the fall! I'll be attending the UofH Law Center for the first year, at which point I'll consider transferring out of the city. I talked a lot about leaving Houston this year but I decided on UHLC for a lot of reasons, not just academic...my family needs me here this year due to some other events I might write about later. At first I was kind of irritated that I'm spending YET ANOTHER year here, especially since I'm already pretty sure I want to try and move back when it's time to Settle Down. In the end I've come around to the perspective that one year is a drop in the bucket (I mean, this last year went by pretty fast!), and my parents and I are already looking for apartments so that keeps me positive. After a dark period last year where I didn't know what to look forward to, having all this on the horizon, something concrete to move towards, is a kind of happiness unto itself.

Another thing that's made this year great is the fact that all this free time has given me the space to devote serious energy to my relationships and how I conduct myself within them. I've been thinking a lot about which people are important to me and why, and that's nice in that I don't feel so reactionary when stuff happens between another person and myself. Now when there's friction with someone I try to remember everything we've both invested in the relationship, and the fact that we have an ongoing bond to not fuck up by saying or doing dumb things. This is big for me because I've historically been very into Revenge and Teaching Lessons, which, in addition to being toxic for the soul, sometimes backfires in ways of which I am not a fan. I still get called "intimidating" by grown men sometimes but I'm trying to keep the outright thirst for blood in the professional/academic arenas of my life. I'm also trying to be more conscious about letting the small stuff slide which I'm aware is total cliche but get off me, I'm obviously extremely new to Zen Attitudes. I'm grateful that I got to use my time to make my friends' lives better this year, whether it's by traveling to support a friend going through a divorce, or reading about trans* issues at 4AM because it's impacting someone I know in a major way, or even something as simple and small as being free for happy hour when a friend had a particularly hard day. One old friend plans to have a baby this year and over dinner last week she told me she wants me in the delivery room! A new friend invited me to celebrate her birthday with her and a few other girls at a villa in Mexico in a couple of weeks and she's flying all of us out there IN A PRIVATE JET which I'm obviously psyched about. I'm also happy to say that I got to visit my grandparents and other family members a lot this year, and when things went bad in April I was privileged to say "I'll be there" no matter when, where, or for how long they needed me. That's something I can be proud of no matter what happens next.

I've lost weight, I dress better, and and feel healthier (mentally and physically) and more confident than ever, all without the help of hypnosis therapy! I don't really know how else to put this but I feel optimistic about the direction my life is taking! SEE THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T BLOG hahahaha positivity is so lame. Anyway, I think this post has fulfilled its purpose, which is: accomplishing something despite lazing around in bed all afternoon after attempting to take the edge off my hangover with Chik-Fil-A for breakfast (told you I'm having a good year). No promises about when I'm going to post next since I clearly can't be held to that but suffice it to say that for now I'm doing really well, I'm excited about the future, and I hope you are too. BREAK!

Almost, Almost, Almost...

American society is all fucked up. Can we agree on that? Good. And part of the reason it's all fucked up is that everyone (or at least the great majority of people) thinks that they should be a celebrity, or that they are owed celebrity status, right? Right. The etymology of that word - celebrity - is pretty obvious, I think. Celebrities are people who should be celebrated, and the culture of raising children with adequate self-esteem in this country has led us all to believe that we are all special snowflakes, worthy of everyone's consideration, and - eventually - their celebration.

I don't think everyone should be widely celebrated. Do I think everyone should be loved? Sure, sort of. But mostly I think most people should earn a living doing something they chose so they can appropriately support their families. Maybe that sounds cynical, but it's really not. We (and I speak pretty much for the middle class here) should take pleasure in the little things to which we all have access: friends, food, music, books. I think we should be happy with the lives which we carve out for ourselves with our own work and wit, and take pride in earning what is ours. Besides equal opportunity, I don't think most people are owed anything. Thus, I find most people fucking irritating.

You may have seen my Twitter update from the other day (I can't bring myself to say "tweet" anymore, it just seems so frivolous...fittingly so, I'm sure, but still) about young people who refer to themselves as "local celebrities". I'm pretty sure the concept of "local celebrity" can only apply to places that are really small. When you start to think that people all over Houston can recognize your name, I feel the danger of psychosis is imminent. Nobody recognizes your name aside from the 100 or so people in your immediate family, the circle you hung out with in high school, your college roommate, and your girlfriend (God help her). So, you're either an actual celebrity, or you're just a regular person. And this is where my plan to start rehabilitating American society comes in! Remember at the beginning when we agreed that everyone is fucked for life? There's something you - yes, YOU! - can do to help! Here's what you do. It's as easy as 1-2-3!

1. Embrace your regularness! Are you just a regular person? Yeah. But that's okay! It can be FUN to be regular.
2. Exceed expectations at being normal! What do "normals" do? Probably a lot of the same things that YOU do! Why? Because you are a normal. Can you think of a normal thing that you do?

Yes! You like Starbucks! That's a good start. Now

3. GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY FACE.

Are you gone yet? Yes? Whew.

2010!

New Year's Eve was...well, eventful and uneventful at the same time. What I mean is that it played into exactly what I had been saying about New Year's Eve in the weeks leading up to that night: people try to make it more than it is. It's like who you kiss at midnight really is a portent for the entire year to come. You guys, who you kiss at midnight on December 31st has no more effect on what you do for the next 300+ days than who you kiss at midnight on July 7th does. We know this.
And besides all the trying to expand the significance of the night, the amateurs are out to play on New Year's Eve. It's one of those nights of the year when people who usually don't party allow themselves to "go crazy" (a similar event is St. Patrick's Day - it's like people who are generally pretty sane feel obligated to get thrashed then, too). What that means is that we all get exposed to some very unprofessional behavior.

So last night's episode, then. Eight of us had a very nice dinner downtown at the Grove on Discovery Green - the food was great. But we ended up with a CRAZY bill because we kept ordering bottles of wine and champagne that we didn't need (but finished anyway). Yikes. Then we went down to the Galleria area to a little house party (attended by the host's 50 closest friends) and that was about it. I really liked how calm it was.

The party we went to was wrapping up at about 1:30 - people started filtering out and calling cabs or driving away. But a girl we knew in high school was at this party too, and she wanted to drive. Usually I only have to put up a very mild resistance towards drunk people wanting to drive and they go "mehhh FINE" because they don't want to drive anyway, and if they're presented with a halfway decent alternative they'll go with it. But this girl was really, really convinced that she was okay to drive. I mean, fine, we're all adults and you can make your own life choices or whatever but when you can't walk in a straight line and you're crying, you're going to have to do better than "just LEMME GOOOOOO!!!!!!!" So Devon and I wrestled with her for AN HOUR AND A HALF and finally got her into a cab and dropped her off at her maybe-boyfriend's house. A job well done, really, and I would have to say it was an alright way to spend the night.

Notice that I didn't say it was an okay way to begin the year. Because what you do on the first of January isn't a death sentence to possibility and potential. I think the year is what you make it. Then again, if it turns out that I'm wrong and all those superstitions are based in truth...last night was an okay way to start the decade.

So I'm Trying to Study for Finals, Right (UPDATED)

You guys, I'm taking a break from my hefty schedule of READING JOHN MILTON TILL MY EYES BLEED. But I can't really think of anything else. So.

Finals. Guys. Usually I don't get too bent out of shape about them - I'm VERY good at sublimating any negative emotions - but this semester for some reason I'm really psyching myself out. Last Spring, as all of you remember, I was out drinking heavily before my Accounting final (though I must have done pretty well since I ended up not failing the course - all my other grades in the class up to that point were pretty dismal). I think part of my stress is coming from the fact that I have three (3) finals on the 15th, all at stupid times. I have Finance at 8:30AM, then Modern British Novel at noon, and then American Literature at 6PM. I think a large degree of pre-exam anxiety is stemming from none of the exams starting at the same time as the classes themselves do. Like the Finance lecture usually starts at 9:35. So what goddamn business does the final have starting a full hour earlier than that?! God.

So the first thing I did today was stretch really big and pull a neck muscle, to the extent that 8 hours later I can still feel a little knot of pain there. Who the fuck does that? Old people do that. Of which I am one, of course. Then my mom had someone over doing some kind of carpentry work in the hallway (though the guy might as well have been in the selfsame room with me with all the damn noise he was making. HAMMER QUIETLY PLEASE). Talk about disruptive. What is the deal with that.

AND YET MORE DISRUPTION: I was cranky from listening to the guy hammer nails into my skull all morning so when I went downstairs to stretch my legs a little of course my mom jumps on my back about what I'm going to have for lunch. Because I'm 9 and can't be trusted to work the stove if I want to make a grilled cheese sandwich. If I want a grilled cheese sandwich I should remember to consult an adult. Like my mom. LIVING AT HOME, RIGHT GUYS?! Anyway I was getting more and more agitated because I kept denying that I was hungry (as I can readily identify hunger pangs or lack thereof) and she kept insisting that I was, in fact, hungry, and finally I just walked upstairs silently as I started having visions of killing us both with a pepper mill (Good Heavens). So that's my mindspace as of about ten minutes ago. I would categorize it as "improbably sinister".

Suffice it to say that I am absolutely gagging for Winter Break to arrive so I can sit around watching daytime television and eating bonbons, or whatever it is that people with the will to live do these days.

UPDATE!
So just as I finished typing that last sentence, I tried logging into Twitter with the username "twitter" and I was on the verge of exploding, when my mom walked in and I was like "WHAT NOW" and she was like, "I found these pink post-its, do you want them" and I was like "YES I DO, I LOVE YOU MOMMY" and it became clear to me that this whole thing is a result of a pretty nasty case of PMS. So, disregard all of the above except for whatever parts amuse you most. Yayyyy(?)

It's coming up soon!

me: oh PLUS isn't ACL like the first weekend of october?

Lauren: yes

me: yep
i have that wedding

Lauren: ohh

me: X's wedding
which I WONT MISS FOR THE WORLD
oh my god oh my god i have to remember to take my video camera

Lauren: oh man
you are too excited about this
in a bad way

me: hahahaha
leave my dementia out of this

Pool Party, Baby (It Was a Cool Party)

My Memorial Day consisted of the following:
- Star Trek-related defensiveness
- crappy homemade guacamole and delicious-looking cheeseburgers
- MGMT
- cigarettes
- chicken fights
- aviator sunglasses and fedoras
- death threats
- "dive contests"
- defending my beer from getting splashed on
- Budweiser while wearing a boy's clothes
- an old Farrelly brothers movie
- soaked t-shirt and shorts hanging from a shower-curtain rail
- "Tell me what you want!!"..."Everything."

Now go ahead and tell me that wasn't the quintessential summer day.

Thanks, ultra-impressive men and women who died for our freedoms!

Quickie

I'm only here to touch base with you guys about the fact that The Cookie Lounge was everything I hoped it would be, and more. I went there with Lauren, John, Robert, and Michael. Yo Gabba Gabba was playing on a TV, and I saw Mark Mothersbaugh draw a fish! And they had free wi-fi! We played a game full of trick questions - I got a bunch right! The cookie itself was fantastic - it was made with chocolate dough, dried cherries, and 55% dark chocolate chips. Think about that. It came out deliciously hot and perfectly melty. God, it was good. It was...(wait for it)...the Platonic Ideal of cookies.

I land in Houston tomorrow at 2:30, so...hold on to your butts, I guess. I'm going to tear the town a new asshole so it won't miss me when I'm in class next week, learning about the Holy Scriptures (according to the Catholics) and/or Astronomy. Ugh. I guess the good thing is that when I eventually, inevitably puke out of sheer desperation, I'll get to see my cookie again.

That's disgusting. I'm sorry.

The End of the Beginning of the End

I'm right in the middle of finals week, but I feel like I've already started summer vacation - minus the actual celebrations that would entail - because I had my accounting final today. It went...well. I mean, not as poorly as I thought it might. After all my threatening to commit suicide (Harakiri or the noose? One mass suicide note or many personalized ones?), I ended up just sitting there and doing my math problems quietly for two hours and leaving without creating any kind of bloody scene or anything. I was rather proud of myself and somewhat disappointed. You all know how I love the theatrics and melodrama.

Yesterday I had my Victorian Literature and Chaucer finals. Those went well, too. Vic Lit was a strong point this semester so I rocked it. I'm almost kind of sad that I won't get it back after she grades it because I just know it has "Priya, One of the best in the class! Have a great summer and Don't Change!" written on the top. Chaucer was a slightly larger struggle, mostly because my prof was kind of a bitch and I have no faith that she'll grade me - or anyone, really - with any degree of fairness. We all kind of went into that exam feeling like the die was already cast in terms of our places on the curve. And then she made the following announcement during the exam: "you'll all be happy to know that I just did the calculations in my grade book and you are all passing!" I'LL BE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT I HAVE AT LEAST A C-? FUCK YOU, WOMAN!!! I'LL BE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT I HAVE AN A! Ooh, touchy subject. So anyway, I was in finals from like 3-7pm straight yesterday. I thought it would suck a bunch but it didn't, really.

Tomorrow I have Shakespeare, and then Thursday I have Ethics. I wish they were both tomorrow so I could just knock 'em out one after the other and be done with it all as soon as possible. They both seem like they'll be softball exams. At least, they will be for me, because I'm a genius (don't look at me like that. It's true). Hahaha. So now I'm thinking about what I want to do on Thursday to celebrate my newfound freedom. I want to see the new Star Trek, which I heard was unexpectedly sexy, and then I want a margarita or three, and then I want to drown in the pool. I don't know. The best nights always happen when you aren't planning for them, so hopefully I can just get everyone in the same room at once and hope for the best. It'll be like herding cats! Fun!

I just realized that this marks the end of my junior year. Which means...one more year. And then...and then a lifelong panic attack about "what next??" Sounds amazing. I can't wait. Hopefully I'll just go to law school and hang out there for as long as possible, and then maybe I can just...just...AUGHH okay, let's not get ahead of ourselves...just relax...JUST ONE MORE YEAR AND THEN AND THEN it's going to be okay! Let's *deep breaths* change the subject.

And now I'm making a Summer Mix. Because that's how you know it's officially summer. So far I have some ELO, Bob Marley, and a song that I just discovered: Hot Pants in the Summertime, by The Dramatics. I like that band name! Any requests/suggestions? What songs feel like Summertime to you? Aaaaand cue the deafening internet silence of no comments. At least I tried.

The Afterglow

Marion and I went to see Morrissey last night. It was...


How Soon is Now? from Priya on Vimeo.

The Moz, as usual, said it best:

Time is like a dream
And now, for a time, you are mine
Let's hold fast to the dream...

Ratatat

You guys, I went to see Ratatat on Wednesday night - it was pretty awesome. Here are some shoddy videos I took:


Ratatat 1 from Priya on Vimeo.
I loved the birds. I wish they had more projected stuff like this in their show...though I think they may have stopped with that because the projector at the Meridian kept turning off between songs (another reason to hate that stupid-ass venue and all the stupid-ass employees).


Ratatat 2 from Priya on Vimeo.
That one was crappier than usual because I forgot to stop dancing while I was recording...


Ratatat 3 from Priya on Vimeo.
It's kind of sad how unprepared my camera was for the bass line.

The show itself was pretty good, but it was unfortunately filled with teenage boys constantly doing what all teenage boys do: jumping around when there was no room for that, making snide comments about girls in the audience, doing hip-hop dances, wearing backwards caps with Lacoste polos/ bandannas and american apparel hoodies, and above all, smoking really offensively bad weed. Other than those assholes, it was an excellent night, and I bought 2 Ratatat stickers for a dollar.

Flickr

You guys, I finally made the leap over to Flickr tonight - I've only uploaded pictures through Summer of 2004, so feel free to take a peek and feel the blast from the past! I'll be uploading throughout the week, so keep checking back. I made a link for it under Favourite Links, on the left! Here's a taste of what you'll see there:


Jordan, Luke and Marion at (now defunct) Astroworld!


Robert at Sonic!


Me, looking gleeful!

Swinging

I've decided that the best way to get back into writing here is to force myself to do it. Much like everything else in my life lately (learning accounting, getting out of bed in the morning, meeting new people) - stop bitching and just DO IT!

This weekend was kind of nice. On Friday I ran some errands (dropped some pants off at the dry cleaner's, picked up a dress I had left for alteration, and visited the bank...like you care), and ate lunch at Chipotle with my brother. And then I came home and read Northanger Abbey. I actually did it. I just sat down and turned off my computer for a few hours and did it. I'm as shocked as you are.

Then on Saturday I read Sense and Sensibility. Well, most of it. I'm finishing it up right now. Later today I have to write the rest of my paper on the book (yeah, I wrote 5 pages without having cracked the book open) and another paper on Macbeth or King Lear - I haven't decided which, yet.

AND NOW FOR SOME WTF

Oh my god, I had plenty of sleep last night and I'm still on the brink of falling asleep again. WTF, body?! My laptop sometimes stops playing audio if it's been on too long and I have to reboot it. And yesterday the battery stopped charging. I have to keep it plugged in at all times now. WTF, computer!? I think I just have to buy a new battery or something, since the power cord and the charger port work. Dunno what to do about my sleep problem, though. Maybe I have a sleep disorder and I don't get enough rest when I'm asleep! Maybe I'm just horribly lazy. Yeah, that's probably it.

Okay, I have to get back to reading Sense & Sensibility (maybe I'm so sleepy because I'm fucking bored, actually. WE ALL KNOW WHO SHE'S GOING TO MARRY AT THE END! THE ONE SHE LOVES (that conveniently comes into a good sum of money due to the unforseen death of a distant-relative)! GOD DAMMIT!). I want to read this book, instead:



Wouldn't you?

Dude. Fuck. Seriously.

So...I have been away for a week! I wasn't taking a hiatus on purpose, it was just one of those things where I went out of town and didn't sit in front of a computer, and fell out of the habit of thinking of things to talk about here. And then my parents and I had a fight so I've been too depressed to write. BUT I figure I'll try to get back into the swing of things by summarizing my weekend.

I saw Kyle's band play at the Cat Club (after a long and arduous process of trying to get into LA in the first place) on Thursday - it was totally worth all the trouble I went through to get there. I took a bunch of videos, and I was going to post one here, but the video editing program I downloaded (which has proven to be something of a problem, given the fact that I use Vista and .AVI files) needs to be a paid-for version before it lets me post anything without a big fat watermark in the middle. Enough sob stories about that. Maybe I'll just post a quick something from the weekend...


Intro and Last Song from Priya on Vimeo.

Okay. I hope you enjoyed that.
Then on Friday I mostly read Chaucer (because I had a presentation this Monday and needed to actually do the reading for once) during the day. Later, I went to see Coraline in 3D. That was UNREAL. I had a major Los Angeles Moment when I realized that someone was smoking out in the theatre and, since I was sitting in the last row, the smoke was wafting over me for the whole show. That was pretty interesting. Towards the end though, I mostly pitied the person who actually smoked the stuff, because shit got really scary, really fast. I just knew it would have turned into a really bad trip if I had been high. I found it to be very Gothic, which I liked. The more I read 19th century literature, the more I believe that I may be, like, into Goth shit. I shudder to think such a thing, but: rapier wit, a taste for the subversive and baroque, a high school career spent spinning in Glam and Punk rock, Morrissey, rare steak, a somewhat welcoming attitude towards death, the sneaking suspicion that I'm an evil genius lurking in disguise, deep and abiding ennui, a certain seething rage and simultaneous nonchalance at the ubiquitousness of human suffering...well, as Dr. Ian Malcolm would say: there it is. Anyway...

Later that night we went to see a midnight showing of The Princess Bride. I saw it once with my parents about...five years ago, but at that point I was more interested in watching Memento. Now I can appreciate the brilliance that can be accomplished even in movies for children - especially in movies for children, since it happens right under your nose. It was an old reel, I guess, and it kept slipping off the projector and stalling the movie. It was a good time, though.

Then, just as I was hitting my stride, it was time to come back to the grind and spend my nights sweating in anticipation of an uncertain future, as per the fucking usual. Spring break is coming up, though, and with it, SXSW, which should prove to be an adventure at the very least. In the meantime, I'm here. I'm here, I'm here, I'm here. And I'm in a mood.

My Weekend

So far I've only survived two days out of this weekend (two days to go - a lot could go right in that time [hah, see what I did there?]) but they've been good ones. And I'm tired of staring at that last self-congratulatory entry, so I'm going to post a little prematurely and get it out of the way.

Yesterday marked Robert's last day in town before he moved to Austin (I'm so sincerely pleased at my friends' increasing concentration in that city), so he, Marion, and I went out to dinner and drinks at The Mink to send him off in style. And by "in style", I of course mean that we wanted him to be as hung over as possible. No word yet on how successful that was for him, but I definitely woke up with a touch of the getting-too-old-for-this-shit blues, which is more or less indicative that a good night was had by all involved. Unless he was squicked out by Marion and I talking at length about people in our high school class that were rumored to have had abortions.

Today I woke up and dragged my sorry ass to eat lunch with another old high school friend, Amanda. She and I also gossiped a good amount about people in our class who we've been stalking on Facebook. Not that I do that or anything. Yes I do. And to answer the question which I know is on your minds: a fair amount, actually. Anyway, we also told each other about people with whom we've been keeping in touch or at least keeping an eye on as our paths cross (as I tweeted earlier, News flash: people who were cunts in high school are all pretty much still cunts). It was a delicious two and a half hours, punctuated all the more sumptuously by my Spa Salad, which consisted of green leafy thingies, some kind of fruit, a liquid sauce, and some other shit. I also recall pine nuts, which rule. Then I came home and watched Serenity with my brother, which is the movie which takes place after the sci-fi series Firefly ends. Everything I have to say about the movie involves spoilers so I won't say anything here, but OMG OMG OMG. If you've seen the series and/or the movie, I'd be more than happy to engage in some lively discussion with you. Email me: sass.goodnight@gmail.com

I'm serious!

After that, my dad and I went to see The Wrestler, which made me almost throw up a couple of times. Have you ever gagged out of sadness? I hadn't. It is a weird combination of emotions. Again, everything I have to say about this involves spoilers, so I won't say anything. You guys, EMAIL ME AT SASS.GOODNIGHT@GMAIL.COM! I have so much to talk about. I think this may be a result of the fact that Kyle hasn't had a lot of time for me lately, what with all his new commitments in LA, so I have, like, conversational blue balls.

And now I'm watching back episodes of The Colbert Report and it is brightening my day like nothing else could have. "Viewers, welcome to my stimulus package. Hellloooo, Ladies!? This is the Colbert Report!"

I think I need to start developing some kind of sign off like that for this site. I'm Sassy Goodnight, and this is my sassy goodnight! Ladies?!? How was that? I will leave you with a picture that pretty much sums up my feelings every time I realize it's FRIDAY!

Obama Makes For Good President (OMFG President)

I apologize for the hackneyed acronym there, but my emotions regarding today's topic are too wild and varied to make a good title with. I shall just say that I'm super fucking excited and only stupid Rick Warren could make such an awesome occasion just a little less FUCKING SWEET. Also: I had class today and it was a little anticlimactic to watch the speech on the laptop screen of the dude sitting in front of me in Accounting, but fuck it.

In that same vein, I was just reading Defamer's summary of today's Inauguration proceedings, and it was pretty amusing. Especially the last line, which more or less sums up my feelings about everything:

"And then George W. Bush got to the chopper, and flew away, to Dallas, the worst city on Earth besides Houston, where be belongs."

Robert is in town today, so he, Marion, and I are going to celebrate today's events by going to get dinner and drinks at various parties across town. Joke's on all of you who aren't in Houston today, because if you were here, I would invite you to come with us.

A Very Brown Thanksgiving

My family has always been exceedingly casual about celebrating Thanksgiving.

For many of my childhood years, my dad was working and my mom was using the break from being the schoolwork taskmaster to catch up on other stuff, so we usually had pizza or a regular meal for our Thanksgiving "feast". As a kid, this was really irritating because everyone else was seeing their grandparents or traveling or whatever, and it was just another boring day for me.

Now that I think about it, my parents' utter disregard for Thanksgiving Tradition probably also has to do with the fact that they were both raised in Canada, where Thanksgiving is much less of a bloated event than it is here in the States. I don't care that much anymore - having been to a couple of traditional Thanksgivings since moving in with Kyle, I can say with authority that I could take it or leave it. Thanksgiving prep seems like a lot of consternation for a meal that lasts only half an hour and literally gets turned into poop half an hour after that (not that I would know anything about that part).

So I was only slightly interested when my mom told me that today we'd be going to eat at an Indian restaurant for "Thanksgiving Brunch". I really wanted to tell her that there's no such thing as "Thanksgiving Brunch", but when you think about it, it's not like we're having the traditional meal, but just at the wrong time...we're eating INDIAN FOOD. The only thing that makes it Thanksgiving Indian Food is the fact that it falls on this particular Thursday - and really, once you've broken with the way things are done in such a major way, why not just take it on to home base?

This year I'm thankful for Kyle, who has always been my most ardent supporter, in all things...even going back to school, when it meant that I would be far, far away and selfish. I'm thankful for being able to go back to school. I'm thankful for my family. And I'm thankful for Indian food.

I am a participant in NaBloPoMo 2008. Post every day in November. That's all you have to do.

Weekend Update: Stupid Edition

Okay. I am officially out of things to talk about, so I'm just going to go over what I did this weekend, day by day, and that way I'm sure to fill up at least three paragraphs of material (boring though that material may be), and therefore fulfill my NaBloPoMo requirements. Ready? Let's go!

Thursday

Went to class (nothing special). Lauren and John were in town from Austin - house-sitting while Lauren's parents were gone somewhere - so Marion and I went and ate dinner with them at Mayuri, which was awesome as usual. Then I went home and fell asleep.

Friday

Went to class (still nothing special). Went home and lounged around. Marion and I went to Lauren's house and watched Black Sheep with her and John. Black Sheep is a horror movie about zombie sheep, and it was incredible. The production values were INSANE for a movie as crappy as that. It was recommended to us by the Hot Asshole waiter at Brazil, so we're going to go back there at some point and tell him we saw it and hopefully get him to talk to us some more. After Black Sheep we ate sushi, which was delicious, and went to Shadwell Wake, which I think I wrote about last night. It turned out to be an alright time. There was a band playing that was SUPER COOL but I didn't get the name, so I'll have to find out. Imagine Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, but drunk on moonshine in Louisiana in the 1900s, and you'll have this band. One of the guys played a solo on a fucking SAW with a BOW. That is some rock n' roll from the boonies, you guys. I drank two glasses of wine there, didn't see anyone I went there to see (namely some profs and a fun guy from both of my English classes), and went home to pass out by midnight.

Saturday

Marion and I woke up at 10 and went to play Cranium at Lauren's with her and John. John and Marion won, Lauren and I came in a close second (ha ha). Then we went to lunch and had Chinese food, and then we came home and played Little Big Planet, which was really fun until someone taught Marion how to slap - after which she just followed me around and knocked me over while I was trying to complete the missions. THEN I came home and got dressed for a birthday party, which I think I was invited to by mistake, drank two vodka gimlets, and now I'm here (at home). I felt like a fucking lush because people were like, "what are you drinking?" and when I told them they asked to have a taste (this happened about 4 times), and I obliged, and then they were all, like, "so you're a drinker then." WTF? Apparently they all thought my drink was insanely strong and were very impressed with me, which is beyond hilarious, and also kind of distressing because I was happy that the bartender had made my drink so weak. As I was driving home I was overcome with the urge to stop at McDonald's and eat like forty chicken mcnuggets but I resisted. So I'm starving. But drunk. And it's 11:15, so...I'm lame.

I am a participant in NaBloPoMo 2008. Post every day in November. That's all you have to do.

A Regular Frist and Carville

Priya (referring to McCain/Palin sign): Oh no! Your hot neighbor's a Republican!

Marion: Look at their lawn! I could have told you that.

Priya: What do you mean? Because it's landscaped?

Marion: Yeah.

Priya: Democrats can have nicely manicured lawns too, you know.

Marion: No they can't.

Priya: Yes they can!

Marion: Not according to Hannity.

SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was gone all weekend because I flew out to Houston to surprise Kyle for his birthday! Because I am awesome! AND I am a really excellent girlfriend. It totally worked, too! Dinner was great, the party back at the apartment after dinner went off without a hitch.

I had a great time - basically Kyle and I just ran around LA and got ice cream and our favourite food and hung out with our friends and watched movies (I introduced him to JAWS - He hadn't seen JAWS yet, can you fucking believe that!?) in bed all weekend. I also bought Forgetting Sarah Marshall (which was AWESOME) and Almost Famous, so I can take a small chink out of my Cameron Crowe Guilt.

I would write more but I did not take a shower before I went to the airport this morning and now I feel gross. So I'm going to do that. And then I will probably watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall again. And then maybe I'll watch Almost Famous. And then I'll probably watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall again. And then I'll be like FUCK I HAVE TO READ 10 CHAPTERS FROM DAVID COPPERFIELD AND WRITE A 5 PAGE PAPER ON SOME TOPIC I HAVENT EVEN CHOSEN BY TUESDAY!!!!!!!! And then I'll read the SparkNotes and feel really guilty about it. And then I'll write the paper in 5 hours on Monday night and feel fine about it.

Okay I'm gross. I really need that shower.

Story of My Life

This is not an original thought, but I need to just smile and nod when other people talk, and do whatever I want to do anyway. It's worked out for me thus far, and I have no reason to believe that it will stop working...ever.