Southern Wedding

I was thrilled when OnceWed ran this awesome Southern Wedding, inspired by Johnny Cash and June Carter! Who doesn't love Johnny, really? And perhaps it's due to my rural upbringing (in what I often joke is a bizarre Southern enclave in North Central Illinois) or my romanticized vision of the Southern/ South Eastern part of the country, but I do love all the down home touches!

Warning: This Is Not A Vision

This video, which ran on Countdown with Keith Olbermann last night, cracks me up! It's from Kids in the Hall, a '90s sketch comedy show from Canada, of which I was a huge fan when I was younger. This particular sketch was clearly a warning to the world of the horrors to come when Glenn Beck got his own TV show.

Also, if you are on facebook and haven't signed the petition to have the precatory prayer group, which is praying for President Obama's death, taken down, do it! Right wing hate speech has gone too far with this one!

A Single Unfortunate Event

Last night, I had a bit of an adventure. Sitting in my apartment, enjoying Tough Love Couples on VH1, my lazy evening was interrupted by a fire alarm in the hallway. Let me tell you, my apartment building is a little janky, so at first I was just going to ignore it. But since it persisted, I decided to poke my head out in the hall to see if anyone else was a) showing interest or b) running for their lives. There was one other woman out there, and we speculated that someone was burning A LOT of incense (that's what it smelled like down by us.) But as we got closer to the alarm, it started to smell like real smoke, and a couple from the 4th floor came down to see what was going on. Apparently, they had smelled smoke 20 minutes before, but the building manager had no interest in coming to check it out. We speculated for a while about what to do, and called the building manager again, who still refused to come. As we stood there, the smoke got thicker and thicker, and we decided it would be best to gather our various pets and evacuate the building. The fire dept came very, very quickly, and sure enough -- there was bonafide fire in the apartment down the hall! His stove had caught on fire while he wasn't home, an idea that causes me great, great anxiety.

While it might make me a terrible person, I immediately thought of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the saga of the Baudelaire children, which starts after their home burns down. What can I say -- it's the only thing my brain can relate the experience to. My experience with fire is highly limited.

PS: Unrelated, but I save the entire Lemony Snicket series, in hardback and 1st edition, and can't wait to read them to my children! As Ben says, our kids are going to be totally strange.

One more thing . . .

This makes me smile.

Shoutout

I'm not one to spend a lot of time gushing about how great my fiance is. I'm more apt to poke fun at or tell wicked awesome stories about him, but I like to think I don't bore people to death by gushing over him. Well, maybe it's the fact that I only have 83 days left before I get to live with him, or maybe it's a full moon, or maybe the planets are just aligned, because I'm in a gushing mood.

Let me say, I never imagined myself ending up with someone like Ben. But, as I've often said, he ended up being everything I never knew I was looking for. Not only is he super smart and offensively good looking, but he's sweet and he's funny. He gets my racist and sexist and generally offensive jokes, and even leaves me in fits of giggles with the stuff he comes up with. He can deliver a line so deadpan, it melts my heart!

He loves my dog, and humors me by listening to and laughing at stories about my cat. He even plays with her when in fat cat's presence, despite being allergic. He sits on the phone with me for hours, even when I'm being difficult and fissy pissy (which happens.) He watches my weird movies, and didn't even make me go see Green Zone last time I was in Ridgecrest. He fits in with my family, which is not an easy trick to pull off. He let's me ramble about class or what I saw on Keith Olbermann or what I read on so and so's facebook. He makes me feel great about myself, and helped me get back on track. If it weren't for him, I am not so sure I would be 5 weeks away from graduation.

Sure, we've had our ups and downs over the past 2 years (!!). But all in all, it's been amazing! He's fun, awesome, and dorky (which I mean with love!) and even after 23 months of being together, he still makes me feel the way I did when he was coming over for the first time, to watch Lolita.

Too Funny!

Why, hello, ancient high school Xanga!

http://bwidgy.xanga.com/weblogpreview

One Last Look Back

Last night, I spent about 3 hours watching old videos and going through notes from high school/early college. I haven't really gone through them since I moved to Chicago, at which point I wasn't able to throw any away. See, I'm kind of like Jonathan, from Everything is Illuminated, in that I have a horrible fear of forgetting things, people, feelings. So I save random scraps of paper and notes to try and hold onto those moments. And after going through that shoebox (which was little crammed full) well, I saved a bunch.

High school was a lot of fun, but I had (just as I feared) forgotten a lot of the minor crises over the years. That was pretty interesting, going back and remembering all the ups and downs. You never think you and your friends are dramatic until you look back. Granted, we had a level of drama that most high school students only dream of achieving. They seriously could have made a TV show about us. And since a lot of us don't talk anymore, it would have made for an awesome reunion special!

The video I watched was in the camcorder when I started it up. I haven't touched the thing in a few years, so I didn't even know if it would work. But, it did, and the tape that had been in there since we shot it was from a week when one of our friends' parents were out of town. We all stayed over there, and it was a really fun week. It was weird going back through that tape and remembering all the little daily adventures we had, be it the epic fail of their DVD player or a friend throwing a piece of pizza on the roof of the garage. It was one of the last times our core group of high school friends were all together, and it's weird to think about how much has happened since then.

Anyway, I threw away a bunch of notes this morning. And I'm going to start taping over some of the old random footage from high school this summer. It isn't easy, but it's the last thing I'm hanging onto from those bygone days, and I'd rather just remember it on my own instead of with the aid of tapes and notes. I prefer the weird mythology I've managed to build up in my mind about those "glory days," and want that instead of the flawed and drama-filled reality.

Couple Crush

Confession time: I have a total couple crush on Perry and Etty Farrell! I follow both of them on Twitter, and can honestly say that their posts are awesome! They are totally rock and roll (how can you not be when you're part of Jane's Addiction and run Lollapalooza?) and totally sweet -- their posts about their kids and their relationship make my day! I had a teenage crush on Perry (due in part to an unfortunate psuedo-punk phase in high school) and am thrilled to find out that he and his wife are so awesome!

Extreme Excitement!

Words cannot express my excitement after the wonderful TV news this week! I've been stuck in between-season pergatory since the end of Big Love, but thankfully, updates were released on my two favorite summertime series!

First, True Blood is going to be running mini-episodes, starting May 2nd, to help hold us addicts over until the new season premieres in July! Very thrilling -- I can't wait until next week!

And then, as if that wasn't enough, Mad Men released their start date for the new season! It happens to be July 25th, which will be my first weekend in Ridgecrest! Yay!

Ya know you're growing up when . . .

. . . the idea of a family becomes decidedly more exciting than terrifying. Personally, I can't help but feel a bit of a thrill when I see adorable babies or sweet kids, although at this point I'm hoping for my friends to procreate, not Ben and I. Here are some sweet child related posts that I just love!

There are few things that make me more excited for kids than Where The Wild Things Are, and this party is just too cute! And so is this adorable picture from weheartit.

Being the domestic dork that I am, I love the idea of making your own baby food!

How great is this website, featuring pictures of parents when they were awesome!

This picture (including the farm setting) melts my heart!

Oh, and BTW

Happy Earth Day! Even Bill Compton supports sound environmental decisions!

Hum-Drum

This week has been immensely stressful. It seems like things keep popping up that just add another layer of icky. I'm glad today is my last day of classes for the week, so at least I have a few days to myself to get focused again. Maybe going some yoga this weekend would help! It's been a while, which is no good.

Anyway, I'm going to spend this weekend focusing on some things I love. For example, going through some more old issues of Bon Appetit, reading wonderful blogs, and watching movies that make me smile!

And speaking of things I love, I found this tattoo on weheartit today! How awesome to get The Doubtful Guest (of Edward Gorey fame) as a tattoo!

The Times They Are A-Changin'

So, it's been a while since I've posted a straight up life update on here. Things are about as crazy as I thought they would be at this point in my final quarter of college, although things are slightly exacerbated by the fact that I'm moving across the country in a few months and getting married in a little over a year. Yeah, a lot going on.

I'm getting close to the midterm point of my final quarter of college, which is totally insane. It's hard for me to fathom being done with school, since I've had such a packed schedule since last March. Really? No more classes after these? It just doesn't seem real yet. But I am really excited, although I get waves of sadness from time to time, particularly when I remember that being done with school means no more classes with my favorite professors (sad panda).

After graduation, I have almost exactly one month before I move to California! It's actually exactly 90 days away today (that's right, I have a countdown.) That's pretty nuts, but I'm so excited! It'll be wonderful not being long distance anymore, but that's another one that's hard for me to wrap my mind around. When Ben comes into town for Angie and John's wedding, I don't have to say goodbye! That's just crazy to me. But I have a lot to do between now and then, so ya know. I have been going through magazines and clothes and organizing books like crazy.

By the way, I have A LOT of books! I have them organized by topic/author right now, and it's almost embarrassing how many Kerouac books, books on Iran, books about the Kennedys, and general US history books I own. If you need any recommendations on pretty much any book, I'm your gal! Well on my way to a personal library! Recipes, too. I have A LOT of those as well. I recently started reading Martha Stewart's magazines (STOP JUDGING ME), so I've been loading up on little tips and DIY projects. I will make a wonderful 1960's wife.

Wedding planning is still going along. Since we have so much time, we aren't really in the thick of it yet, but are trying to keep up on things and take this time to get a good idea of what we want. It's pretty nuts seeing it start to take shape in terms of music, decor, general atmosphere. The girls (Helen, Aly, Margaret, and Katie -- Kim has school) and I are going to look at dresses next month, just so we can all go together at least once before I move. It's so exciting!

Other than that, I'm just trying to keep moving forward. It's hard having so many things going on and staying on top of everything, and I'm well aware of the whole "doing too many things half-assed v. doing one thing really well" concept, but I don't have a lot of choice. I hope that as long as I keep on top of things, I will be able to keep from getting totally overwhelmed between now and July. Finals week will be hard, but I can handle a few days of torture! It'll be worth it to get done with college!

Missed Connections

I'm so excited about this upcoming movie, Missed Connections! I love reading them on Craigslist, just because there is something so romantic about the whole idea. Can't wait to see this movie!

HIMYM

As someone with her own number of totally strange (and wonderfully witty) friends, I cannot exaggerate my love for How I Met Your Mother. I spent part of today watching episodes and clips online. It just never gets old!

Volume 2

I finally picked up She & Him's Volume 2!! And surprise surprise, I love it! It's way more classic pop, almost Beach Boys-esque, than their first album, but it's just wonderful!

And how adorable is this picture off of weheartit.com:

Wedding Daydreaming

As if I'm not totally wedding crazy already, today I went to a bridal shower for an old friend. Random side note: my high school boyfriend and I set the couple up when we were 16. Maybe I'm meant to be a matchmaker? Anyway, after being surrounded by wedding-ness, I was thrust back into crazed wedding obsession. Oh well -- there are worse things to be obsessed with, I guess!

Comparative Politics Humor

My major is Political Science, but inside that I have focused on Comparative Politics, which means I have a kind of weird sense of humor. For example, today in my Russian Foreign Policy class, my teacher said, "While in power, Boris Yeltsin was many things . . . Sober wasn't one of them." Personally, I found this hilarious. So, in keeping with that theme (dorky political anecdotes at the expense of the Russians) here are two videos I found especially enjoyable. The first features highlights of Yeltsin's drunkenness in public. And the other is from a press conference he held with Bill Clinton. It is Yeltsin's response to a reporter calling him a "disaster" and Bill Clinton's reaction. Pretty priceless, if you're into that kinda thing. (Hint: I am.)

Best Part of Spring

Far and away, the best part of Spring is the influx of delicious strawberries. They have been on sale lately at the grocery store, and I've been able to stock up on them. When I move, I thoroughly intend on trying to grow them myself, despite the warnings of how difficult it can be. So wonderful!

1st Location Visit!

This morning, Katie and I went to check out a potential location for the ceremony! It's the first place I've gone to see, and it blew me away! The Reddick Mansion is gorgeous -- just unbelievable. While my photos are not that impressive (did them hurriedly) you can get an idea of how beautiful this old house is. Just amazing!

Spring Reading

Spring is always when I get back into my habit of reading a lot. For some reason, in the Winter, I can't do anything but lounge around. But Springtime and I -- we like reading. As I recently explained to Ben, after reading everything I could get my hands on as a kid, I've become very, very picky in the fiction authors I enjoy. Evelyn Waugh is one, "The Lost Generation" writers are always great, but Jack Kerouac is my favorite writer far and away. I adore him enough, in fact, that I got "mad to live", a line from his book On The Road, tattooed on my wrist.

A few months ago I picked up a copy of the fabled book And The Hippos Were Boiled in Their Tanks by Kerouac and William Burroughs, a book that has been talked about for years but was only published following the death of Lucien Carr, one of the people the book is based on. It tells the story of the murder of David Kammerer by Lucien Carr, an event both Burroughs and Kerouac were involved with indirectly through their friendship with both men. They were in New York at the time of the murder, and relay what happened in the days leading up to and the day of the murder from their own perspectives in alternating chapters.

The book is sitting at Ben's apartment now (figured I'd leave it there after Ben finished reading it, since I'm moving there soon anyway) and I'm dying to read it again! It's just a wonderful, well written story, and a real gem from the early years of the Beats, before they were thrust into the limelight. If you haven't yet, check it out!

Wristcutters: A Love Story

Lately, I've been in a Wristcutters mood. Such an original story, with wonderful dialogue and a great soundtrack! And the fact that one of the central characters was inspired by Eugene Hutz is pretty awesome, too!