I'm alive, mostly.

The things I've been trying to do lately feel way more complicated than they should be. I mean, I guess apartment hunting out-of-state is by definition a little more complicated than it should be, but still. Trying to put together a resume is also really annoying because I can't describe Dacie Moses. I just can't express why after doing that I'm pretty much ready to handle anything. I mean, it's a job that keeps something that everyone loves running, and yet, most people are afraid to do it. It took patience, people skills, cooking skills, and did I mention patience? Have you ever tried to talk down a guy with the munchies from eating bagels that you painstakingly crafted?! Didn't think so (Yes, I can make real boiled bagels that have been approved by New Yorkers. So hah.) Also, I'm a damn good writer (though not always on lj). That should count for something, right? So hire me, people, please?

In other news: Go see Wall-E, it is several shades of happy (well, actually, parts of it were kind of depressing, but importantly so.). I'd say more on the subject, but I'm tired.

Meme alert:

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they've printed. Well let's see.
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Reprint this list in your own LJ so we can try and track down these people who've read 6 and force books upon them ;-)

It's sort of an odd list, but I guess they can't help what they sell, right?

And, really, I think six is kind of a silly estimate considering the number of these assigned in school...unless we're assuming everyone just reads Cliffs Notes. I wonder where they got the number from...

( Though, I admit, there's a few I'm ashamed not to have read )

Also, Surfthechannel, please stop lagging so I can watch "Life on Mars"!

I just graduated on Saturday. You can find this in the dictionary under weird.

I can't believe how many alumns came to visit! It was so amazing to see everyone, and to have Saira staying with us for the whole week! But really, last week is sort of a blur of hugs, events, and 500 promises to write that I'll do my best not to break.

Life is eating me. This is good, yes?

The spring dance concert went fantastically! Both pieces I was in were well-received, particularly (to my pleasant surprise!) the one I choreographed! I had so much fun dancing in both pieces: my piece because it was playful, and the culmination of so much hard-work, and Wynn's because it was beautiful, innovative, and really, really challenging. There's this moment in Wynn's during my duet with Kai where I walk my legs up his side, slowly developé (reach) my leg out, and slowly flip over onto my stomach where I just feel so powerful and cool. The duet takes place in a square of light with the rest of the stage completely dark. My duet (same piece) with Vera just flows so beautifully, and then the explosion of the final part of it is such a rush (albeit exhausting!). I think it's a little more difficult to sort of "sit back" and enjoy dancing in a piece you choreographed yourself, but nevertheless I'm so proud of that piece: the duets, the movement, the story, the fact that we end up dancing around and in a circle of light at the very end...

And my dancers (other Steph and Taylor <3) got me flowers and Thai fisherman pants that are super soft and gradient down from light to dark blue and tie in a special way so that the sides have slits in them which means they swish when I walk and make awesome swirly patterns when I dance with them, but I don't think they'd really work for a windy day :: laughs::. Nevertheless, they are the best pants ever.

It was by far the most fun I've had dancing in a recital ever.

Yesterday, I went up to the cities to see a crazy pop-culture-collage of a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream that I thought was amazing, although I think a lot of people were uncomfortable with its unconventional staging. The faeries looked a little... punk rock(?), the players were oh so small-town community theater, Thesius' Athens was a little on the fascist side, Hermia and Helena had a squeally girlfriends kind of relationship. And there was a lot of music sung in modern styles (which, while not the best music I've ever heard, suited the staging. The director also made a lot of great interpretative decisions, such as making Hyppolita not all gung-ho about marrying Thesius, giving her personality. They also made great use of the faeries, making them a constant presence in the forest, causing mischief. I really enjoyed the "unconventional" staging: to me it was funny and in-tune with the tone of the play.

But then I woke up early this morning to spring cleaning day and had to clean the fridge. Ah well, Rachel and I are going to make up for it by watching another episode of "Strawberry Shortcrackcake." Yes, as in the cartoon show from the 80's. Because there's nothing better than watching terrible shows you watched when you were 4.

And I'm not even going to start on the whole graduating in less than two weeks thing.

Disclaimer: While I know most of the people reading this who would have come to this in the past have now graduated, I still feel compelled to advertise. Silliness.

Can't get reservations for Rocky Horror? Still searching for the perfect way to have fun ninth weekend? Want a way to de-stress from the end-of-term craziness? Look no more! Come to:

The Spring Dance Concert

This Friday and Saturday at 8PM in Arena Theater. No reservations necessary.

I'll be performing in two pieces: "Tangle", choreographed by Wynn Frickie (who is awesome!), which features a trio twisting, bursting, flying, running, and otherwise moving through boxes of light. That's not the best description, but just know that it's a really cool piece. The other piece is called "Only Connect", and which choreographed by, well, me.

It also features Taylor lifting all the girls in Semaphore.

It'll be awesome!

Now I just have to live through tech week.

Proof that our economy is dying?

At the beginning of this school year Dacie Moses used to get our flour for $6 a bag. The same bags of flour are now almost $12.

I picked a great year to graduate :: sighs::.

( And now for a rant on food marketing because I've been in a ranty mood )

Sometimes I wish I could turn the analysis button off in my brain.

Today in Anthro of Gender we were watching a film from the 80's about the formation of FTZs (free trade zones: basically areas in foreign countries where the US can set up factories and import components to those factors without having to pay duty taxes) and the (mostly) female factory workers. On the one hand, it makes me never want to buy anything again, but at the same time there was something nagging me the entire time. When it showed the American corporate executives they all were (with the exception of one Japanese man) corpulent balding white males. The Japanese man was rather skinny with huge glasses--not the most personable-seeming person (and, again, a walking stereotype). Now, on the one hand, I'm not so sure the film makers had to do much type-casting when they made their documentary (aka- I know it's not like there's this huge diverse population of CEOs to choose from now, even more so in the 80's). But at the same time these men were so stereotypical that the class actually laughed when they came on screen. Me included. They were funny.

And I know the film makers were trying to tell an important story. Sweatshop labor is not okay. I'm not saying that I love big fat CEOs. But the oh-so-obviously edited nature of the documentary just made me want to wonder about what lay on the editing room floor instead really trusting in the narrative. I hate it when I agree with what's being said but don't trust who's saying it.

As Rachel said, "What!? Film makers distorting things!?" /sarcasm... but it still bothers me.


( Also, I hate this month's Wired... )

But I digress. The point is that I hate shock journalism whether I agree with the point or not. I understand why it exists, but that doesn't mean I have to accept it as a good thing.

So I woke up yesterday morning way before my alarm with one thought running through my head: Everything's going to go wrong!

Which is really not the right attitude to wake up with on the morning of your comps talk.

Fortunately, I got my brain into gear. I didn't forget anything I needed, and Julia lent me her grounding stone for luck. The talk had a huge turn out, and if I do say so myself, both Alexis and I did great jobs. Really, I was quite pleased by how everything came out. I was able to answer all the questions posed (and TIM asked me the first one. That was nerve-wracking), and everyone seemed to really enjoy it.

Except now I'm completely worn out for the week. Oh well.

Today I found out that there must be a secret Carleton gender studies mafia that makes note of all seniors compsing on women/gender-related things and... dun dun dun... invites them to champagne and strawberry receptions. (Rob's reaction- ... There was a woman in my comps!) And... it just happens to be right before the senior English major banquet and cocktail party. Next Wednesday is going to be a good day. Some days I love being a senior.

But now I should go work on my anthro presentation. We're talking about the "Women's War" in Nigera, in which a group of women rebelled against the British-delegated court systems by enacting a large scale version of their tradition of "Making war on" or "Sitting on" a man. Traditionally, if a man was known to be mistreating women in one way or the other (aka- he beat his wife), the women would come to his hut, singing and insulting his manhood, waving sticks around, and occasionally tearing the roof down. I don't know why women in western society have not adopted this tradition. I mean, seriously, instead of having to listen to courts hear irrelevant testimonies about how many other people the victim in rape cases may have slept with, we should just go "sit on" the arse. Who's with me? ;)

... the sad thing is that there's really no one on my friends list I can actually invite to this, BUT:

My comps talk will be next Tuesday, May 13th at 12 PM in Laird 211.

The awesome Alexis and I will be presenting our comps on the one, the only Virginia Woolf, and it's going to be the con-Virginia-ing of the century! Plus we'll be serving British tea snacks. Because we're just nifty like that.

So yeah, be jealous all of you people who live far away and can't come!

Also, is there anyone I promised to send my comps to whom I forgot to send it to? I feel like there is :/.

PS- Longer entry later. Maybe.

Life is so overwhelmingly full of everything right now. Some small points:

- I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love cooking with Rachel. We make such a great team and seem to complement each other well. Much love for my roommate!

-Toast with raspberry jam and cottage cheese is a wonderful thing.

- Grace the cat has figured out when Rachel and I wake up in the morning and demands we do her daily penance.

- I love studying gender.

-I love Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie (see Exhibit A and Exhibit B)

- My new favorite insults include accusing people of being from Camazotz, and the lovely expletive from my French reading that involves comparing one to dawn's buttocks. (ex- You're like dawn's ass!")

- For the first time in ever, I feel like my dance will be finished and finished well!

-My subconsciousness has gone psycho again. Notable dreams have involved: my mother having cancer and all of my close friends dying (That was the worst dream ever. I cried close to 10 times during it. And I don't think I've ever been so glad to wake up); me agreeing to meet with my ex behind my father's and numerous friend's backs; and Taylor and I having a Little Mermaid-shaped kind of piggy bank that took our complaints and told the future.

First, foremost, and rather excitingly... HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAIRA (changeandchance)! I love you! If you're reading this, what's the latest I could call you?

Well, you see, many bakers describe having a "maternal" feeling towards their bread. Well this just takes it to a whole new level:

I had been planning to have a low-key afternoon. Rachel needed me to punch down her bread dough and put it into pans after its second rising, but that was hardly a big task. Then when I got home from class, Julia asked me to stick her bread in the oven after its second rising. Again, not too big a deal. But then, she took a bunch of other dough from a bowl and asked me if I could use it to make two strombolli then freeze until brunch on Sunday.

Making strombolli, even with the dough already made involves:
-rolling out the dough (which is hard work when you're dealing with yeasted dough because yeasted dough is fairly elastic)
-chopping and sautéing onion
-scrambling and seasoning eggs
-rolling the eggs and onion up in the dough with some cheese
-sealing it up so it doesn't explode

And because proper rising time is so important to bread, my afternoon involved me running around the kitchen, trying to rise bread on half the stove while scrambling eggs on the other, and constantly checking the clock until 4/6 loaves were in the oven. Then I looked around the kitchen and realized that I had made a mess. So I did dishes.

And now I collapse. :: dies::

Now with photos!

Oh my god. Greek tofu Benedict = sooo much work but so much goodness. Rachel and I made home fries (can there be anything better than potatoes and onions?), broiled tofu, made tahini dill sauce, and roasted red peppers. Layer it on a plate and top it off with some kalamata olives and oregano and I dare you not to slobber all over your keyboard. We took a picture too (which we've yet to upload), so you'll get to be jealous.

( Deliciousness Within )

Also, we made mini pineapple upside-down cakes yesterday night, and we still have some left. We don't have pictures of them though.

I might explode with good food.

We've also been reading A Wrinkle in Time to each other each night as a bedtime story. I haven't read it in years and I'd forgotten how awesome it is!

The term is off to a really bizarre start, and I'm already feeling a little overwhelmed by all the things I need to get done, but I'm doing my best to hang tight.

Also, sorry I've been so bad about commenting/emailing/phoning as of late. It's not that I don't love you; I've just been mentally somewhere else.

( Also also, Grace loves Romana!Scarf )

The title is apt because I don't really know what I'm in pursuit of. It bothers me that I've been content all break just to watch movies, read books, work on knitting two scarves at the same time, and not really think about the future, which I need to be thinking about. I think part of me is in denial. Bad Steph. Bad.

But really, yesterday Jordi and I had tea and then swung by Hidden Villa Farm to visit the newborn lambs and get licked by an adorable little calf named Luna (Cows have really rough tongues. Like cats). The farm made me miss the farms I WWOOFed at-- going out in the garden to get lettuce, peas, and herbs for a salad. I miss the farm smells... I mean, there's the bad side of farm smells, but then there's the freshness of the garden. I've been obsessed with my nose lately, by smells I mean. Especially because it smells like spring in California. The air smells like flowers!

The day before I sat on a bench near the library next to a bunch of flowering cherry trees, a trellis with trumpet-shaped flowers, and a fountain, soaking up sun, listening to the water, being showered by cherry petals, and reading Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon, which, while not as emotionally gripping as The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, has the huge virtue of being a really fun story, which is refreshing after reading the bizarrely tangled plots in Tokyo Canceled. I loved the strangeness of the later, but there's just something incredibly charming about a pair of Jewish rogues in the 10th century one of whom used to be a healer (and whose weapon is a surgical blood-letting needle), has an obsession with hats, and loves his horse, Hillel, and the other being an ax-wielding Abyssinian giant with a secret soft spot. And, of course, really crisp prose. But the point is, I've never been so content doing nothing, and while I'm doing the good side of nothing, I wish I didn't want to keep doing nothing. I need fire and energy.

They come after you in the night! But only if you want them to.

Apparently you can be denied entry to the US for "moral turpitude". That's a new one. It's funny, you know: they seem to let Hugh Hefner back in every time. I must say though, I would pay money to see passport control's reaction to a man in a long velvet coat and top hat.

I also must say that I have a sudden desire to plan an international Oscar Wilde impersonators convention. In Texas.

1. Reply to this post, and I will pick 3-6 (depending on account size) of your icons.
2. Make a post (including the meme info) and talk about the icons I chose.
3. Other people can then comment to you and make their own posts.
4. This will create a never-ending cycle of icon squee. Whoo!

firegoblin wanted to know about:

River - Small but Deadly It's sort of like my "don't underestimate me" icon. I made it sophomore year right when I was getting into Firefly and when I dressed up as River for the costume ball.

Amélie- The image is just so happy and cuddly! It's from the end of the movie in which Amélie finally gets what she wants, and so the Vienna Teng lyrics just seemed to fit perfectly.

Dr. Who - Geek! I love David Tennant. I love David Tennant in glasses. I love David Tennant being geeky in glasses in front of a bunch of books.

[You] - Far and Away Tom took this photo of me clearing bracken (bracken is kind of like the buckthorn of the British Isles) in Wales. This area is a SSSI (site of special scientific interest) for its rare grasses and wildflowers, and I really love the natural variations colors of the grass!

Geekery - Symbolic Typewriter This one is kind of a long story. I saw an opera version of Macbeth with very bizarre staging. The highlight of this staging was this bright green typewriter that got placed ceremoniously in the very center of downstage by Banquo's son in the middle of the first act, and then again at the very end. It was hilariously pretentious, and I decided it needed its own icon. I use it roughly to make fun of things that either take themselves too seriously or don't mean what they think they mean.

Oh, my dear library, my beloved free source of The Avengers, Coupling, and Fry and Laurie. You darling enabler of my Anglophilia. Too long have I forsaken you! You make my heart patter with utter glee by supplying me with lots of lovely watchable crack for spring break!

:: checks catalog::

... not to mention both Classic and New Doctor Who. Including the entire Key to Time series. And it's IN!

... and you have Bones, which while not being British still makes my heart patter with utter glee.

I used to hate TV. Then again, these are DVDs, so they don't count!

PS- I just realized that I have a Michael Chabon book unread on my bookshelf. I love spring break! I do I do! <-- *Steph just realized that not compsing means that she can read for pleasure. She also just realized that she is speaking in the third person. I should probably stop this nonsense::

It's spring in California. You have no idea how happy this makes me. Actually, most of you probably do. There are flowers everywhere, and everything's green. I'd been starved for sunshine and color--last winter just felt so long. My walk to down is full of cherry and apricot blossoms, and my dad bought a pot of daffodils for our kitchen.

The term ended up smoothly, although I feel a kind of postpartum... emptiness with my comps. No matter. Rachel and I went to see Julia do story telling (apparently she's been on NPR!), and it was dazzling. There's just something in the way she sings and tells stories. Her voice feels genuine and full. I wonder how one becomes a storyteller--orally, I mean.

Also, her friend Sharon has promised to bring me back jellybabies when she visits her family in England as long as I promise to bite the heads off first.

( Book review of 'Tokyo Cancelled' )

Other than that, I've been watching "The Avengers" and wishing that I could somehow turn into Emma Peel because she's awesome x 50. The show pretty much pushes all my buttons for a show that's just supposed to be fun and camp: not taking itself too seriously, crazy (and usually over-the-top) villains, humor, wit, intelligent and strong female lead... now if only Steed were hot, it would be perfect. But I love him for his ridiculous dapper Britishness. Actually, I love the show for its ridiculous Britishness. I saw an episode with evil nannies! And they shoot the tops off of champaign bottles! /geek.

Now to knit my socks. And Marla comes home today!

"There it was--her picture. Yes, with all its greens and blues, its lines running up and across, its attempt at something. It would be hung in the attics, she thought; it would be destroyed. But what did that matter? she asked herself, taking up her brush again. She looked up at the steps; they were empty; she looked at her canvas; it was blurred. With a sudden intensity, as if she saw it clear for a second, she drew a line there, in the centre. It was done; it was finished. Yes, she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, I have had my vision." (from To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf)

56 pages double spaced plus bibliography and acknowledgments. Blessed by Julia with burning sage (seriously! It was pretty damn awesome!). The thought process of nearly a year.

My comps will be turned in tomorrow after French class.

Her evilness has reaaaally good timing with these memes

Rules: The rules are easy, just post 10 things that recently made you happy! Then tag 10 people and force them to post this meme on their LJs. Because it is good. Everyone needs a little happiness once in awhile.

(in no particular order)

1. Gratuitous moments of being lifted and spun around in both winter dance and contact improv. (instant mood-booster, I assure you!)
2. Toasting and grinding my own spices to make chocolate-chili mole
3. My roomie + T-bag + Rob (not things, any of them)
4. Susan Jaret McKinstry (who is also not a thing)
5. Getting to spend some more social time with my fellow senior English majors
6. Gratuitous dancing around the kitchen
7. Watching gratuitous episodes of Dr. Who with Romana because I want to be Romana when I grow up.
8. Excitement over getting to perform with my belly dance class in the NAG Earth Day show!
9. Turkish delight tea
10. Talking to the 7-year-old boy who hangs around the house. So much enthusiasm!

TAG: Anyone reading this :P (only if you want to)

I need to start doing more research on Portland to make sure that I have a life once I get there. I mean, there's so much I'll be able to do when I'm not working/applying to grad school. Like... reading groups, and belly dance (Egyptian Cabaret or Neo-Tribal? hmm), and salsa lessons, and concerts. And then there's the whole apartment searching and job searching thing. This whole "real world" thing doesn't feel quite right yet. I can't envision myself in it.

Also, why do I have a sudden desire to re-choreograph my entire dance to "Wolves (Song of the Shepherd's Dog" by Iron & Wine? (Don't worry--I will resist temptation.)

As I've been frantically trying to clarify my theory section and play with Weston, I've realized that if I take Anthropology of Gender next term I could theoretically do a project either about masculinity in Torchwood or Gender Relations on Dr. Who (Romana anyone?). Do you know how awesome that would be? Do you? Do you?

Embracing my inner desire to completely destroy the way you look at your favorite tv shows, movies and literature has just made me so giddy. (Rachel says, "It doesn't destroy it! It just helps you be able to articulate it better! It will not destroy your love!")

I. am. such. a. geek.

Okay now. Comps.

PS- Uber happy birthday to Debbie and Allison! <3 :: HUGS::