Ginger Bread Men

Cooking is a tried a proven from of expressing love. I have been obsessing about Gingerbread men for a while now...- because I absolutely LOVE ginger, (men are OK)- ... and Alan finally agreed that since he loved me he would make them for me.
YAY!
So, last night, around midnight we set off to Safeway and Albertsons to get all of the necessary ingredients. We were disappointed at the lack of molasses and cookie cutters, but we persevered. The dough is now chilling in the refrigerator... but the anticipation of biting little men's heads off is making me giddy already.

Why is it that Gingerbread men are associated with Christmas anyway??

Things That I Have Enjoyed This Past Week

Chocolate in its various forms
Knitting a special someone a Xmas present
Finding a nice ophthalmologist
Sleeping until noon
Getting a free lunch
Driving in the rain
Reading trashy magazines as I wait in line at the grocery store

Time for Bad Poetry

I wish I were a fish
Swimming in the sea
In a pea
And not doing homework for my lame class

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Christmas Is Almost Here!!! Although I hate the fact that I feel obligated to buy people gifts in order to demonstrate that I care about them, that I despise how stores take advantage of my vulnerability to the word "Discount", and that I enjoy Christmas foods TOO much to be healthy (like EggNog; I could drink a liter a day) I still manage to enjoy Christmas and I always get a little extra giddy inside when this time of year approaches.

Also, I must brag about my boyfriend, who is taking me on a super secret and romantic getaway for the New Year. I don't know where he is taking me, except for the following facts:

- It is not located in the Continental US, or Canada.
- There will be a fabulous New Year's Party, for which I am going to get to wear a pretty dress.

I am actually pretty impressed that he has been able to keep the location secret from me for more than a month now, despite my constant prying. Can YOU guess where we will be?

MUST POST SOMETHING

Everything that has come after my first bought of artistic inspiration has been aweful compaired to my first masterpiece (below displayed). I am in an artistic rut and in need of inspiration.
If fact, since I have self-declaired myself as an Ar-tist, I have had more frequent and erratic moodswings. I wonder if there is a connection??!?

Also, I have a cold. A very bad cold. So don't come near me!

Painting

Dear World, I have made a painting. I am so proud. Behold: (this is actually a pretty bad picture of it taken with a camera phone)

You Cannot See

But at this moment I am break-dancing in a very white and nerdy way over the outcome of the elections. I hope you voted. Groove on.

The Best Party Ever

Yesterday, Saturday, I went to THE BEST HALLOWEEN PARTY EVER!!!!
At this party I saw some of the coolest costumes (like the first dog who went to outer space), and there was plenty of alcohol, and music and sooo much fun. As soon as I get some pictures I will post them. I went as Queen Guinevere, and Alan was Lancelot. I had a horrific ball-of-a-time!

Today is Sunday, Alan and I have plans to go to a pumpkin-carving party, so we need to buy pumpkins. I am so excited. I really wanted to make Alan a pumpkin pie, but there has been no time for that. Did I mention that this is the weekend of Alan's birthday?? Well, it is. :) I like to tease him by saying that I am dating "an older man". - He is only turning 25. -

I have done a mini-survey: apparently people who turn 25 start freaking out about getting old. This is totally ridiculous, especially because most of my friends today will probably live to be over 100. 25 seems like nothing compared to 90 and 100. Technology and medicine are making it so people can live forever! In any case, worring is stressfull and stress makes you age faster. Worrying about getting old just makes you wrinkle and get older sooner, which would be a kind of self fulfilling prophecy.

Anyway, I need to get ready to carve pumpkins. I haven't carved one in years. I wonder if I need a special knife or something.

I Could Not Resist

Jacqueline did it and I could not resist. Apparently I look like a lot of not-famous people, people I have never heard of, and then there is crack-head Kate Moss. ?!?!
Actually, Jean Harlow is pretty cool. In fact, she is awesome.

Fuits and Vegitables

Nothing much happening here… I’m in Monterey this week, again. I have discovered that tomatoes are not the most horrible fruit in the world, and I have eaten lots of them today. I especially like them covered in EVOO and paired with mozzarella cheese with Basil.

Before this discovery, the only tolerable form of tomatoes for me was salsa. I would eat any kind of salsa, but pick tomatoes out of my salad. I do not know when this aversion for tomatoes began, or why I was so particular about it. Everybody has their culinary quirks. I am working on my tomatoes… but I still HATE avocadoes for no good reason. I will not eat avocadoes under any circumstance, and I am sticking to my guns about this.

Note: For those of you who do not watch Rachel Ray, EVOO = Extra Virgin Olive Oil = it makes everything taste ten times better.

Note to self: buy more EVOO.

Life

First of all: I did not know Lady Bugs could bite. When I yelped in the middle of the street, and slapped a Lady Bug off of my arm, Alan thought I was going crazy. But it is true, and the bite left a mark.

My postings have not been as frequent as before because I have no internet access at home, and at work most of the fun sites I go to are blocked off.

Life is good. The HOLIDAYS are coming, like Holloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even though they seem far away, time has been passing so quickly for me that I fear by the next time I blink I’ll be 42. Unfortunately I have NO vacation time, so a January trip to Italy will in all likelihood not be repeated.

I still like my job and my bosses; they treat me very well. My responsibilities have been increasing almost daily at the workplace… and I am not complaining. I love what I do and I am learning a ton. I especially enjoy overtime (the pay is much better).
But not all is work: A couple of weeks ago, on a Wednesday, we closed all the offices in the area and all of us workers went to the Golden Gate Race Track. In this splendid location we had a wonderful buffet at the Turf Club, and gambled away company money. There was an open bar… I even won a race! It was a lot of fun.

I’m in Monterey at the moment, at Alan’s house. Saturday we attended a friend’s very informal wedding. I believe I fussed more about what I was going to wear than the actual bride did! There were only about 12 people (including the bride and groom). It was very sweet. With small intimate weddings you can almost see the love in the air. An old couple, that has been marring couples for years, wed my friends on Garrapata beach. The ceremony master wore a gigantic robe, which had once belonged to the Jesus of the Jesus Christ Super Star play. On this singular robe there were patches and embroidered trinkets that every couple he had ever wed had stitched on as a symbol of their relationship. Our couple stitched on Blinky, from the Simpsons. Alan was a witness and the ring bearer. Except, there were no rings, just engraved Superman-dog tags that they lovingly tied around each other’s necks.
…The only thing that did not go according to plan was that the bride was sick. Very sick, with a horrible cold. In fact, half the people at the wedding were sick (because they are all coworkers) and now I am paranoid that I might be getting sick. I made Chicken soup last night.

Over and Out.

NEW CAR

Yes, I purchased a car. Yes, I am debt for the rest of my 20’s. The following is a contrastive list of the benefits and the not so beneficial aspects of my recent consumer downfall:

Benefits

- I HAVE A BRAND NEW CAR. Toyota Corolla 2007. This means that for the rest of this year, I have the car of the "future"… and for all of next year I will have the car of the year. Yay!
- The car will last a long, long time. It is Silver and Pretty.
-I bought the car in my town, which means all the taxes from my purchase will go to the schools of my area.
- Alan was able to negotiate a really good price for me.

Not so beneficial

- I have car payments. Ohh Lord. Car payments. And I am poor, so poor for the next couple of months. Not to mention that my insurance has more than tripled.
- I am paranoid that some stupid-freak accident will happen and total my car again. (Like with the Nissan).
- It was really sad how I got treated at the car dealership (Not sad for me, but for the misogynists jerks who work there). Nobody even spoke with me; they all spoke with Alan. I did not exist. Alan kept pointing out that I was the person buying the car… I had never felt discriminated against, due to my gender, until I bought this car.

All in all, I am happy with my purchase. I will post a picture of it shortly.

Quick Update:

-May car got totaled this Monday. It was hit in a parking lot, when it was parked, and I was in the Office working. Needless to say, this event has provided me with many, many headaches. However, my little Nissan has been a blessing from the start until the very end: The insurance is going to pay me more money that what I paid for the car. (I bought the car over a year ago!)

-I need to buy a new car. AHHHH!!!! I don’t have the money for this Cr**. And, I don’t have the time to sit down and find the perfect used car in good conditions. Therefore, because of the circumstances, I will probably be forced to buy a new Honda Civic.

-I am going to San Antonio, Texas, for Labor Day Weekend. This could not come at a better time. I need a vacation. Alan and I plan to eat plentiful amounts of southern charm.
- My little bro is leaving town this Sunday, for Venezuela. I hardly got to spend any time with him at all. I’ve been working so much, and he has been out and about the country visiting family. So, I’m a little sad that I didn’t get to enjoy summer with him.

August 15, 2006

Dear World,

I think you are a wonderful place to be. If I didn’t have to work so much I might have been able to go with my family on a family-vacation this week, to explore you. Alas, I am growing up : Due to my condition as a workingwoman I am forced to, well, work. I work in an office, behind a big desk and a big computer. This means that I have very little time for going on hikes, bike riding, traveling in general, and enjoying you (… before Hummers and other ugly polluting parasites destroy what is left of you). My condition as a workingwoman sometimes makes me sad; being behind a desk all day is truly, very un-worldly. However, not all is lost: I plan to retire soon, and when I do I will go on many camping trips and soak in your star-filled sky.

Love,
MM.

The Grass is Always Greener…

A little background: I have been a full time student for as long as I can remember, and I can’t remember ever having a summer vacation that lasted more than two weeks in the past four years. I worked 14-hour days at a minimum almost every day as a full time student.

This is the first summer of my life that I have actually felt as if I were not a student, but a human being that works and toils for shelter and grub (mostly grub). I also feel a lot more stupid. My work can be challenging at times (and I DO love my job), but it is more of a “time management” challenge than an “intellectual” challenge. My brain is painfully letting evaporate all the swollen cells of knowledge that I wept proudly over during graduation.

Ironically, even though I now have a fixed 40-hour a week schedule and a steady income, I find myself lacking the energy after work to do anything. I get a lot less done in terms of “MM-things” (like crocheting and swimming). I also feel a lot poorer than I did when I had only a part time job. How is this possible? Am I comparing myself to a new set of impossible work-standards instead of student-standards? Am I being nostalgic about my student days? Or am I simply going crazy because of the summer heat wave?

In Monterey

This that have happened since my last post:
- I fell in love with a pair of Aldo shoes that I cannot buy. It is against my principals to pay so much for a pair of shoes.
- I made a commitment to train for my walkathon. I begin Monday.
- I have learned a lot at work. I like my job a lot.
- I've been pondering about starting a yoga class.
- I enrolled in a business class for next semester (I can't help myself. I must study)
- I saw Superman (the movie) with Alan.
- I got a pedicure and manicure for the first time in my life. It was so indulging!! I would love to do it again.
- Fourth of July came and went. There was a big party at my place. It was fun. I ate at least three times my weight in food during the course of said party. And of course, I went to the Alameda Parade. This parade is a mix of Mayberry meets Tehegraph avenue= the best!

It Is About Time

That I started telling people I'm in the 20th Annual Aids Walk in San Francisco. I'm actually really excited about it. The 16th of July, if you look hard enough, you might see me in the crowds... marching along with my ideals about how the world would be a better place to live in if we could find a cure for Aids.

The reason why I have taken so long to blog about this major event that could change the world: I hate asking people for money. But I need to get over that: So give me money!!! It is for a good cause. I am registered under Margaret Bryden, with the UCB team. You can also send me checks/cash/money orders... anything that would help.

Follow This Link to visit my personal web page and help me in my efforts to support AIDS Walk San Francisco
Thank you.

Discovery of "A Sauna"

I have lived in an apartment complex with a sauna since I turned 18. I had never gone to the sauna, until last week. I went because of the terrible cold I got from all the flying. – the hot steamy air helped me breath through my nose again- I stayed because it was the most wonderful heat-experience I have ever had. I always thought the idea of sweating in a hot box was gross… but it makes you feel so good and relaxed! It helps you breathe better and shed toxins. I now understand the value of a good sauna.

Merida

Lovely, Lovely Merida. I love that city. It reminds me of Berkeley because:
1) It has a lot of hippies.
2) It’s existence is fueled mostly by the presence of the University of the Andes (Where I studied for 1.5 years).
3) I have really great friends there.
And Also:
4) The climate is not as hot as where I lived before I moved to Merida (Ciudad Ojeda), therefore making it heaven.
5) It is surrounded by gorgeous mountains.

Alan Arrived Sat afternoon. He met my mom, who as a token of friendship gave him a hamaca (hammock). The hamaca is very special because it was made by hand, and it can hold two people. I think she likes him, which makes me happy.Here is Alan the day after he arrived in Merida, with my mom.

Maracaibo

Maracaibo is the capital of Zulia State. It is also one of the biggest cities of the country. It’s location is about 1.5 hours from where my family lives: Ciudad Ojeda. I hate both Maracaibo and Ciudad Ojeda. I can’t stand being there. It is too chaotic, hot, irritating. I don’t know how to describe it, but just being there makes me annoyed. I can’t help it. I only go there because I love my family. My mommy is so sweet: She made me tons of scrumptious venezuelan food! My mom looks better than ever. My brother was super excited about the new i-pod I brought him...

I got to Ciudad Ojeda on a Wed. night. We all had family fun until Friday night, when we left for Merida.

Miami

I had not planned to stop in Miami, but when the people of American Airlines offered $800 (in flying vouchers) food, transportation, and accommodation in a five star hotel, and a seat in the next flight leaving for Maracaibo (Where my mom lives) I was very tempted to stay and have a little fun. I had never been to Miami before, and I couldn’t see myself planning a vacation around this city, so I decided to take a chance… and the 800 dollars.

When I got to the hotel, which is conveniently positioned next to a mall, I did what any normal girl without luggage would do: I made a mad dash for clothes and underwear. It was 10 min to 6pm, and the mall was closing as I walked in. It was almost a miracle that I found such a cute black and white dress (with a moderate price tag) and a cheap pair of sandals to go with it.

I was happy and hungry, which lead me to my next adventure: seeking food. The hotel recommended a little restaurant in South Beach. This restaurant would send a limo to pick me up from the hotel, and take me back to the hotel whenever I felt like it. Needless to say, I chose the limo. While I was riding in the gigantic car all by myself, thinking about how lucky I was, I figured the food would be expensive and good. I only got one adjective right: It was expensive and BAD, really bad. I couldn’t finish my main plate. Even my cappuccino was watery. I didn’t mind so much because I figured I was paying for the limousine.

After dinner I walked all around South Beach. I was mesmerized. Almost all the stores were open… most of them stayed open regularly until midnight or more. This was a Tuesday night, and I thought there wasn’t going to be much going on. I was pleasantly wrong. Everything was going on. There were people shooting themselves up by the beach, there were bars and discothèques and rows after rows of nicer restaurants than mine (none with a limo though). People were out and about. I went into almost every store I saw, just to look. I didn’t have any money.

When I got tiered of walking, and I realized that my cheap sandal had broken, I decided it was time to go home. By the time I got into the limo I was feeling kind of lonely, so I made some chitchat. The driver ended up giving me a tour of Miami! I will never forget what he said about the city: “If you do not speak English with an accent, you are an outsider”.

The next day I went to the downtown area, to see what it was like. It seemed like most of the city was under construction. It was even hotter and more humid than the night before. I took busses, to see the real face of Florida. Not surprisingly, they were all Latinamerican. I wondered how many of them were legal, and why they had come.

My plane left at 4 pm to Maracaibo.

Dear Loyal Blog Readers.

I am sorry I haven’t been able to update since I returned to the States, but I have unexpectedly come down with a terrible cold from all the flying , and Alan is hoarding the pictures we took.
Otherwise, I am doing well and tomorrow is my first day of work, so I am very excited. AAAACCHHHUUUUUUUU.

Adventure Travels

Since I graduated I have been a bridesmaid in my uncle’s wedding, and shortly after I skipped the country. The wedding was fabulous, even if it did rain. On the way of getting out of the US I made an improvised short pit stop in Miami, Florida. (I was not impressed by this city.) Now I’m in Venezuela!!! Aside from having very little time to sleep, everything is good. Mom keeps feeding me wonderful Venezuelan food that you can’t get in the US. Maxwell took me to see his university, and soon I will be in Mérida visiting friends.
Mom, Max and I are leaving for Mérida tonight, by bus. The bus ride takes aprox. 6hours.

My pictures have a mind of their own, and refuse to upload at this time. I will beat them into submission later.

I Graduated!!

... but I still have three finals to finish this week. These are pictures from my Linguistics graduation. During my 2min. speech, I cried like a baby: So embarrasing. I took a lot of silly pictures with my friends. All in all, it was wonderful. I loved having all my family and friends there. I'm so happy Grandpa + Judith, dad, Alan, Uncle Robert and Karen could come.

My Play Was Awesome

Le Leg (the inheritance) is the name of the play. It was pretty nerve racking at first, especially because I was in the first scene. But everything worked out really well, and once I was on stage I wasn’t nervous anymore. The play was entirely in French, and this was my bio.
Mxxxxxxx xxx: Hortense
MM is a double Linguistics and French major. This play marks her exciting debut as an
actress, and culminates her last semester at Berkeley. MM describes herself as a fun-
loving, CHONG-obsessed, half-Venezuelan chocolate-lover. She is also an officer of SLUgS
(Society of Linguistics Undergrad Students). She wishes you to kick back and enjoy the show.

What May Means

Psycho paper. Finals. French play. New JOB? GraduationS. Family visiting. Stomach hurts. Second mid-term Monday. I was supposed to have lunch two hours ago. I'm going to Venezuela! I'm a bridsmaid. I'm 22, does that mean anything? Am I a student? I don't want to be here. I need to buy a suit. Have you seen my Ruby Slippers? Obviously, it is time to spontaniously cumbust.

The Categories of: JOB

I seriously want a job.
Today I went to the Career Cal Job Fair, and it was awful. Just terrible. How is it possible that I spent the last five years of my life working my ass off so I could get a double major from one of the best universities in the world, and I can't find a job doing what I love? At the fair, there were basically ZERO jobs for linguists or for French majors. Once I realized this God-awful-fact, I went into a state of almost-panic and flirted with the idea of becoming a high-school teacher. (Which, by the way, was the only job I was qualified to apply for according to the Job Fair).
I quickly discarded this idea, as it was a really bad one: I do NOT want to teach high schoolers. I never have wanted to. I hated high school, why would I want to go back?

Every job that I have seen basically falls under these three categories:
a- Teach
b- Need some sort of Business degree
c- Only need high school diploma. Doesn't pay a living stipend

I don’t know what to do anymore. I have applied to what seems like a million jobs since this semester started and nothing, nada, rien. Merdeeeeeeee.

Just Another Day at Berkeley

The Triad: My Female-Power group of three. We RULE the Ling and French majors!!! When our forces are combined, there is nothing we can't do (no matter what the language). It is sad that this semester we were not able to take a class together.
Reasons why we are The Triad:
-Laurel is blond. Jacqueline is a red head, and I am the brunette. We are like the Charlie's Angels of the Ling. Department.
-We all wear glasses.
-We study a lot!! (notice the picture)
-We all have really cute and loving boyfriends.
-We are very different from eachother, but we love to hang out (when our schedule permits).

There, I Said It: I Am Afraid

I don’t like doing introspections because I’m always afraid about what I might find. I’m always afraid that what I have been taught, what I have believed, will go against the core of what I really am, the actions that I take, and the outcomes of the actions that I take. I am perpetually scared of myself. So, I compartmentalize and concentrate on getting my next homework done, on making dinner, on being s good student, on doing a million things every day and exhausting myself, so that I don’t have to deal with myself.
I don’t know where this fear comes from, as I have never really been ashamed about anything that I have discovered so far. And, the things that I have learned, I like a lot. However, the possibility of cognitive dissonance remains.

I am afraid about how things influence me. Everything influences me, whether I like it or not. Nobody can help it. Your everyday input, the news, your family and friends, the stranger who looked at you on the street, the magazine cover that you barely glanced at. They all influence you in one way or another; some in very subtle ways, others bluntly. I feel it. I wish I could control it, but I can’t.

I am afraid about graduating, because for the first time in my life I will not be an official student. I’ll be set loose in the world with a diploma and fading memories of linguistic concepts and SLUgS’ parties. I have always identified myself with being a student, so much that it has become part of my personality. Sometimes I feel that I can’t imagine myself as anything other than a student, and that thought also scares me. The thought of not being able to divorce myself from the idea of being a student lead me to the decision that I cannot go to grad school right after college. I must get out into the real world! I must be something more than a student. I must. I must not be afraid.

Oski must be the worlds BEST university mascot

Oski and I are best friends. Look at our picture:

(picture taken by Prathna M, my "super"-friend)

I took the picture because I am graduating soon, and I wanted to have a nice way to remember all the football games I had to miss while I was a student at CAL because I was studying or working.

Real Syntax: the reality TV show

In a world where reality TV shows are based on fakeness, you need something to ground you, something REAL that you can watch on TV and feel good about. REAL SYNTAX is the answer to quest for the next big hit!
The object of this new super-series is to record natural conversation and dialogues on TV, from a group of people, and provide the data to linguists around the world!! Occasionally the people on the show would be submitted to stressful situations, with the object of eliciting speech … to see what grammatical constructions they would pronounce.
The show will analyze dialects, show the vast array of pronunciations of a single word, and tackle such issues as non-standard English, Spanglish, and much, much more. The contestants would also talk about the meaning associated with the way they communicate, and the subtle nuances of their particular idiolects. You'd be surprized about how fierce people can be about the way they speak!

The data about phonology, morphology, semantics, phonetics, and of course, syntax, would be fed to linguists around the world!!!

I would like to do a survey concerning the viability of such a TV show. Please leave a comment with your opinions.

I have so much stuff to do

Tomorrow is a big day. I have papers to write and places to be. I cannot have insomnia. Yet, here I am, 1:28 am, awake. Maybe my body tricked itself to believing it was in France out of pure will power.
According to Wikipedia, this is the definition of insomnia: "Insomnia is characterized by an inability to sleep and/or to remain asleep for a reasonable period. Insomniacs typically complain of being unable to close their eyes or "rest their mind" for more than a few minutes at a time. Insomnia is a symptom, though a common misconception is that it is itself a sleep disorder. Insomnia is most often caused by sleep disorders, but other causes include fear, stress, anxiety, medications, herbs and caffeine. An overactive mind or physical pain may also be a cause. Finding the underlying cause of insomnia is usually necessary to cure it."

Maybe this is producing the anxiety/over-working brain that will not let me sleep:

I saw this flier at La Pena Cultural Center last Sat. when I went to a Venezuelan concert. It has been haunting me ever since. What on earth does it mean? I don't want to find out.

Zombies Are Back

... And boy are they better than ever. Did you know that the notion of "Zombie" is said to have its origins in the Hiroshima Bombing attack? The Japanese survivors looked like zombies after the bomb exploded... They way American society coped with the destruction it had caused was to transforme it into entertainment, a fantasy; make the zombie the enemy: and a new genre of Hollywood movies began.
Please check this link for more information about the current situation of Zombies in Hollywood.

Decisions, Decisions...

My boyfriend came up with the lovely idea of having this on the SLUgS t-shirts for this semester:

Choose a Major. Choose Linguistics. Choose your phonation, fricatives, and cognates. Discover the etymology of pain, write a paper about it, and get a C. Choose to talk in Breathy voice for a day. Choose to talk about glottal stops to random people.
Choose the IPA, choose syntactic ambiguity and wonder who are at 3am
Yell fricative and see if people get upset.
Choose your future.
Choose SLUgS.

Alan told me that he got the idea from the movie TRAINSPOTTING. I thought it was a super cute little poem about linguistics and our college group. I set out to see the movie, a classic representative of the 90s, and what did I find?: Grossness taken to the next level, depravity and, to a certain extent, truth. If you have ever seen this movie then you know what I am talking about.
My problem now is that I am debating weather or not this poem, which makes reference to such a sick movie, should be on my very-wholesome group t-shirt. I still like the poem.

Life Should be a Long Spring Break!

I am in Monterey for the remainder of Spring Break. I came here because I thought I would be able to get some work done. HOWEVER, I was pleasantly wrong. Since I got here I have done neither job searching nor homework. It is super nice: I have the entire apartment to myself, and a virtually unlimited amount of play time. Today I feel inclined to make a little Mexican food for lunch, go on a long walk (if the weather permits) and read.

Spring, Spring, Wonderful Spring

Flowers are starting to spurt up in unexpected places!! I went through my closet and did a little Spring-Cleaning!!! I threw out clothes that I haven't worn in years!!! I'm so happy to be on Spring Break!!! More exclamation points!!!!!!

Il faut faire l’école buissonnière!

It has started. I will spend my mini école buissonnière (Spring Break) mostly applying for jobs, eating and -yes, it was unavoidable- doing homework. Ack!
I needed this break. Breaks from routines help you put life in a different light, perspective if you will, and help you see the “big picture”. I spend too much of my days worrying about the little things, such as Homework, wondering When will I find time for lunch? , Does this French word have an accent? and I wonder how much lunch I can afford with only three dollars and a nickel?
Now I will have a week to worry about the big things, like for example: What I will do with myself after I finish college? and How will it affect my future if I apply to this job and not that one?

I predict that by the time Spring Break is over, I will be left with the same question as always: Will the questioning ever end?? Fortunately I know the answer to this one: NEVER!

Happy St. Clover Day

First of all: I just finished re-writing for the third time a paper that is due tomorrow. You would think that after studying French for four years it would be easier to write a good paper in the language.

Second of all: I think men who wear cowboy boots on campus look funny. Maybe it has something to do with the heel. I gues they are entitled to, I mean, Berkeley is the Wild, Wild West, right?

No, they still look funny.

Third of all: I. Cannot. Get. Enough. Green. Tea. I love it. It is a shame that I recently lost my water bottle and can no longer take tea with me to school. I MUST buy a new water bottle... Or, or, I will dehydrate and disintegrate and turn into powered soap (the kind that doesn't lather).

Infinitely Mad

Polygamy is not a joke. It is not funny. It is an illegal practice in the United States. It is NOT something you make an HBO show about. Full story here.
This new show that HBO is starting makes me infinitely mad. Many women, here in the US, are born into sects where they are raised or brainwashed or forced into polygamous relationships. Since polygamy is illegal in the US, these marriages are kept secret = cloistered, uneducated women about their rights and the world outside of their sect. Women are beaten, psychologically tortured and emotionally devastated by this practice. Incidentally, incest is often an exploited resource because it is hard to recruit women who are not already part of the sect.
Women have very few options when it comes to getting out of polygamous sects and relationships, because normally this means abandoning everything about their life, including friends and family, that they know. They are also penniless, jobless, and for the most part uneducated.
TV has extraordinary power over the masses. I think that a show about a happy family with three wives makes polygamy look attractive, hip and fashionable. A TV show about a successful illegal practice has the effect of glamorizing that practice. When in truth, it is illegal and potentially very harming!

I know that not everybody who watches the show will instantly become polygamous. I understand that there are rights about free speech… But it is disgusting how people will use those rights to make a quick buck on a controversial subject instead of doing something beneficial for society.

Because I know you are dying to find out

An MM-Approved recipe for Spinach Ravioli:

3.5 cups of unbleached flour
A dash of salt
A dash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
5 eggs (or 7 egg whites)
About ten ounces of finely chopped spinach. Lightly heat it so it reduces a little.

Mix. Mash. Go wild with the rolling pin. Take pounding to the next level. The dough should be elastic and green. Then, cut the dough in four parts and let it rest for about 30 min in a loosely covered container or wrapping.

Flatten and cut into little squares. Put a tiny amount of shredded cheese (or whatever you would like to fill it with) in the middle of square. –Mexican blends do very nicely- Moisten the edges of the square and fold together. Use a fork to make ripples around the edges and make sure it is shut.

Boil for about 5 min. and serve. (Remember: Always boil your pasta in tons of water.) I like to drizzle a little bit of EVOO and Parmesan cheese on top.

So You Want To Eat Ravioli?

Ahh, the Delights of Sunday: Alan and I went to Carmel. It was wonderful!!! We walked along the beach and looked at really expensive houses. We ate Sees Candy and watched people walk their dogs. We also pondered in amazement about how the Carmel-by-the-sea citizens could make tourists pay $8.75 dollars to drive 17 miles. !!??!

Then, for lunch -which turned out being lunch and dinner, and possibly breakfast because we ate so much- we prepared homemade spinach ravioli. Some were stuffed with cheese and others with a delicate mix of baby portabella, onions and spices. It was so much fun. I had never made ravioli before, but I have always wanted to. Therefore, this weekend was extra-special.

When making ravioli by hand, without the aid of a pasta maker, be careful to start at least two hours in advance of the time of consumption. Ravioli-making is a time consuming activity, but very fun to do, and very rewarding. Actually, enough descriptions; the pictures say it all:

Random Wednesday thoughts

Nothing. There is nothing. I have no inspiration. Is this what happens before death??

Also: I can't spell the day that comes after Tuesday.

Mary Promised Joe to Do a Somersault.

If you know how to make a syntax tree for this sentence, then you are my new hero. I am specifically interested in what the tense (or inflection) of "to do a somersault" is. Thank you.

My life is a Series of Tragedies

Minor ones, silly ones, maybe not so tragic as funny depending on how you look at it. But today I feel it is appropriate to be a hiped-up on Rockstar Drama Queen. So here it is: My latest tragedy is my graduation date: May 16th, at 1pm. This day is a Tuesday! Who on earth planned this??? My family members and friends , who live far away and have jobs, may not be able to come in the middle of the week to watch me wear a square hat and gleefully cry in front of all my French-major collegues. Even if they did, it would be a major inconvinience.

(Just for clarification, I also have the Linguistics graduation on Sat. May 13th. But only four people can come to this one.)

Vagina Monologue Report

Last Monday I assisted to the last function of the UCB Vagina Monologue performace. I did not know what to expect. I have never been to one before, but I was plesantly surprized. The colors were Red and Black. Most of the performers were not trained actors which, I think, added to the freashness of the show. The three hours of monologues exploring female anecdotes was full of spirit and energy. I was happy to see that the audience, although predominantly female, had a plentiful amout of men willing to learn more about the beauties of women. And, I laughed my head off with my girlfriends.
A couple of the things that I found interesting:I had never even noticed that women, in general, never talk about or are asked about their vaginas, until it was pointed out to me. Selling vibraters is illegal in Texas, and a few other states where selling guns is perfectly legal (how many people do you know have been killed with a vibrater?) Aprox. 1 out of 7 babies are born hermaphrodits; doctors decide if the baby should be a boy or a girl, based on physical measurements at the time of birth (not on cromosome structure).
One of the things that most shocked me was a woman. She wore a red corset, a mohawk and knee-high boots. She, in her mid thirties, decided to leave the lawyer profession to become a sex-worker. She proceded to imitate different sounds that women make. And... Well, I won't go into details ... but, I will say that this last monologue was most unexpected.

Am I a Cookie Snob??

I wonder, does my prejudice against store bought cookies make me a cookie snob?? Is being a cookie snob a bad thing? The reason why I ask this is I was called one (jokingly). And, I'm not quite sure how I feel about it.

Series of Very Important Questions:

Why can't I eat Chocolate instead of doing Homework?
Why can't I eat Chocolate covered ginger instead of doing job applications?
Why are Cherry Blossoms not from Cherry trees?
Why do I have to pretend to be a grown up?
Why must I write cover letters?? -They are a stupid formality and nobody reads them anyway.
Why are weekends only two days long?

Why do computers hate me??

All I want to do is read a passage in Spanish... And none of the Spanish symbols will display accurately. I tried my home computer AND my laptop. None of them work. So, I need to come up with a theory about why modern technology is Super Evil / Hindrance to the world, to make me feel better.

Maybe I should start with my dentist: I go to get a routine procedure, and he tries to sell me a necklace that will "prevent my brain from frying". Apparently cell phone use can cause brain tumors, which this necklace for 19.99 can prevent. And, dentists can't afford to make a decent living off of cleaning people's mouths alone, so they are forced to sell me bunk.

This has just not been my week.

The Cosmic Chicken

My dear friend asked me about the origin of life, or something, so I proposed this theory: There was once a Cosmic Chicken. Then, it gave birth to the earth. Yes, the earth is a cosmic egg. The Cosmic Chicken clucked happily.
Friend: Really??
Yes. Black Holes confirm this theory: the reason why things desintegrate when they enter Balck Holes is because the resonances of the Chicken's clucks are super-amplified, and they destroy everything that comes into contact with the acoustic waves.
The people believed in the Cosmic Chicken, and worshipped it. They sacrificed corn. All was good.
Friend asks: What about KFC???
Ahh, I said, the people began to revolt against their God. They got restless. They thought that if they ate chicken they would become more God-like, and thus started KFC. They discovered that fried chicken was good, and fattening. This leads us to the current obesity problem in the US.

A Day in My Life: long, at times boaring, at times gross.

1am I went to sleep. (I stayed up because I had to cook a turkey)
7am I woke up, half an hour before my alarm clock was supposed to wake me up!! I am slightly disturbed about waking up so early when it was unnecessary.
8am It is a good thing I woke up early: dad decided he wanted to leave sooner than usual. I discover turkey blood all over my refrigerator where the turkey had been defrosting, but had no time to clean it.
9am I arrive to the Berkeley campus and am terribly sleepy. So, I go to the Freedom Speech Café order a latte –I forgot to order non fat.- and planed out how I would do all my homework for the rest of the week.
10am My first class : Syntax. I had HW due… I talked to a couple of people before the class started and discussed the nature of possessive markers as possible creators of new theta roles, in sentences.
11am. Class ends. I agree to go to the Vagina Monologues next Monday with some friends. I start doing some HW.
12pm I meet for lunch with fellow Sluggers. We discussed, among other things, what on earth I will do with my life after graduation. All the major variables were considered. No real conclusion was reached.
1pm French Comedy Class. We discussed a movie that we saw yesterday called Le Genou de Claire. Fun. My French teach is SOOO CUTE.
2pm Class ends. I discover that there will be a job faire next Monday, at the same time as the VM, so I call Claire to cancel my ticket but she already bought it for me. Start doing Old French translations into modern English for my next class. Talk to Jacqueline about life and how to deal with ex-boyfriends. I propose the theory of the Cosmic Chicken.
3pm More HW.
4pm Class starts in ten min… I am starving because I had snacks for lunch. I rush to eat some turkey that I brought from home, which was supposed to be my lunch, and cram it into my face.
5pm Still in Medieval French Class. The teacher seems to be calling on me a lot.
6pm One hour tutor meeting with boss. All goes well.
7pm I am officially tutoring in the areas of Spanish, French, Linguistics and English writing, for the next two hours.
9pm Finally, I get to go home.
10pm Yay! I did not get harassed at the Bart station.
10:30pm Dad has picked me up (the other option was taking the bus) and I am home.
11pm My fridge is so clean you could feed babies off of it... and they wouldn't die of turkey-blood poisoning.

11:30 I have to do HW, but instead I decide to sleep.

Yay! New Wind-Shield Wipers!

Yay! I finally have them installed. I bought them almost two weeks ago... And hadn't been able to install them until this afternoon.
The packages came with little do-hickeys and screws. So I thought they would be a little complicated. However, with the help of my Super-Handy-Man-Alan everything went smoothly.
I can tell that Baby Blue is happy; It is very rare for her to get this sort of attention.

"I saw a male belly-dancer last weekend."

As a student linguist I am constantly coming into contact with un-sensical, ungrammatical, semantically bizarre sentences... but this one I have never come across, nor had I imaged it could exist. Monterrey can turn into a "special" place a night.
This dude was so serious about what he was doing too.
Picture Analysis: He has a ring on his left hand, thus he must be married. -The gossip I heard was that he is married to another (female) belly dancer.- He has a beard. His little gut is hairy, but he did shave his armpits. His eyes are closed, because he is concentrating so much on wiggling sexily. Umm, I think I should stop with the analysis; this is getting weird.

Welcome to the REAL WORLD

Aprox. 3-4 years ago I got a traffic ticket. (I had only had my license for a couple of months when this happened. I’m a better driver now.) I paid it, drove on and forgot about it. Last week is rose from the junkyard to haunt me. I am applying to jobs… and one of the job applications asks me to list any traffic violations within the last ten years where the fine was over 300 dollars. I cannot remember what I paid. I cannot remember exactly when it happened. I do not remember what I did with the docket number of the ticket.

Being a resourceful little student, I call the DMV: They can’t help me because the violation doesn’t appear on my record. Then I call the court where I paid the fine: They cannot help me because I don’t have a docket number. IF I HAD A DOCKET NUMBER I WOULDN’T NEED TO BE CALLING THEM!

So then I pull out the big guns: I hire my dad’s private investigator to get to the bottom of this. I need to know how much I paid; if it WAS over 300 and I don’t list it, the potential employer will do a background check and not hire me.

The private investigator gets back to me and says: Your records are in some berried file… It would take at least a week to get an answer. However, the infraction I think you commited is worth less than 200 bucks.

So I am saved. It just irritates the heck out of me that I can’t have access to my own records. They are MY records. Why couldn’t I have gotten them when I called? Why couldn’t the court lady have been a little more helpful? Hiring a private investigator, to investigate myself, is simply ridiculous.

Poem Part I: The Ruins of Rome

Inspiration, Inspiration; Where art thou?
I look for you in the depths of my soul,
In the night, in the day
In bad poetry and stars
In food, books, in bars
And Santa Clause.
Even Google I tried, unsuccessfully
To find where you took my desire to read.

Murano...

Sleepy Island of bliss. Only 15min. away from the main island of Venice. This place is great to escape from the crowds of tourists and relax, while looking at masterpieces of art made of glass. Every island in the area has its own specialty and identity. Murano is the cradle of glass making(mirrors, crystal, house stuff like vases, etc). You can see people blowing glass in windows.
Fun Facts: -It had a "secret service" that would kill those who they thought might leak the secret of how to make mirrors. -Crystal was invented in 1450.

Of course, hand made glass is expensive, so we didn't buy much.

I would LOVE to go back to the little-Island-that-Could:

Venice.

-Our sun-set gondola ride

-Churches, Churches, more Churches. Beautiful

Need I say more?

Must Study. Don't Want To.

(Venice, 2006)

My acute case of senioritis does not allow me to concentrate on schoolwork. I have HW due tomorrow, readings and such, but I could not care less.
What is wrong with me??

Any remedies/traditional medicines you could suggest??

Things that only happen to me

- Just two min ago: I waited until the last min to run to the bathroom. Rushing made me slam my index finger with the door. It really hurts.

- Alan and I spent over an hour buying an almost 100$ drill just so we could skew ONE screw into the wall. The actual screwing took less than five min.

- I went to the Uffizi in Florence and didn't see the "Birth Of Venus", even though it was there!!!

- I posed with cows in Down-Town Florence:

Grrrr!!!!

I have been trying to upload a drawing of my highlights for about an hour now. I self applied bleach to my hair the other night.
I vaguely remember a sense of Now-Or-Never being involved in my actions as I went to the store and bought the ingredients... as dyeing/bleaching my hair is something that I have mixed feelings about, and I have never done it before.
The results were not what I was expecting, and I wanted to show you. Blogger SUCKS sometimes.
The drawing was inspired by nataliedee.com.
Instead of giving you a picture of me being mad (which I don't have at the moment) I will give you a picture I took of Alan when he was pissed off and hungry in a foreign country :
(He is cute even when he is mad!)

I love school, despite myself

Even though I was having a great time in Italy, by the end of winter break I was getting the gitters to get back to school and put my brain to work. The hardest thing I had to do during the last month was figure our where our hotel was with respect to ancient monuments (not that hard as our hotels were perfectly located in the center of everything).
I kind of felt like this:

(Rome, 2006)

At the end of last semester. But now I am renewed and fresh and super-duper-ready to go.
I have new notebooks and many, many books that smell wonderful, like they are about to be read and fulfill their purpose in life!!!!

I can’t wait to hang out with my friends again.

Self Explanatory

Rome, 01/2006

I Found My Hotel

... In Florence. We found it by wondering aimlessly through the city. No maps, no general direction. The things you can stumble along in this process are quite amazing, especially in foreign countries.
Notice Alan in the reflection, taking my picture.

We could not stay at my place because we had other reservations to honor... and the hotel only has one star. One lonely star, that stands proudly against the golden plaque.

Toilets: A Musing

I am always fascinated by the toilets in Europe. Each one has two buttons that you can use to flush; one indicating that it spills more water than the other (clearly an attempt to preserve water from being wasted). Why have I never seen this flushing system in North America??

Although the porcelain throne may vary slightly in size and shape in the US, the variations I saw during my trip to Italy were shocking. For example, I went into a café restroom one night and was confronted with a model that was barely lifted two inches off of the floor! Alan commented that he feared for me after using it himself.

During my two week stay, every trip to the lady’s was an adventure.

I can only imagin what toilets are like in less westernized countries.

We are Back!! We are Back!!

Totally jetlagged and suffering from the aftermath of terrible airplane food.
... And I have stories to tell about toillets and gondola rides, pasta and Pisa, traveling in the winter, singing monks, ghettos, and much more.

For now, I guess I should sleep as I have been traveling for the last 24 hours. (But I'm really not sleepy because now is when I would be wakng up in Italy!)

Soon I will make a multitude of updates.

New Posting: Finally, from Florence

All is well so far on the two week trip ( if you don't count that while I am blogging Alan is overcomming issues that arrised after our latest meal in Florence.)
We arrived a couple of hours ago from Rome. I woudn't mind living in Rome and learning Italian. When I think of Italian, I see pieces of French and Spanish rearranged differently, and I think I could learn Italian's arrangement.
Quick Observations:
* The historic centers of Italian cities are like gigantic shopping centers, sprinkled with big churches and museums.
* It is not so easy to find a good Icecream.
* Even though it is not the high season for tourism in the country, there are hundreads of tourists everywhere.
* Italians wear boots! Boots, Boots, Boots. So I got some to mix in with the crowds.
* So far no snow, but it is cold.