not ok

I am having a hard time.

this wilderness needs to get right out of my clothes and get into my bedroom.

I was walking home from where the bus lets me off (I was returning home from the Freeminds Book Club "Friendraiser" at Marvin*) when as I approach my stoop I see a cute dog walking around. No leash, no owner, just walking around. It came up to me and I pet it and it was really sweet. It looked like a puppy but kind of a big puppy. Really nice dog. I walked up the stairs to my door and the dog followed me! I sat down and pet it and talked to it and it didn't have a collar but it was obvious that this dog had been socialized with people. So cute!

It ran to another stoop where a woman was on the phone, she yelled to me "is that your dog?" and I said "no" and she said she was calling animal control. That made me so sad- I sat and pet the dog for some more and tried to take a picture to show it to my boyfriend. I came inside so that I wouldn't be so tempted to keep it. I was SO CLOSE TO BRINGING THAT DOG INSIDE. I want a dog so bad! And I'm pretty sure animal control puts animals to sleep if no on adopts them really fast... so I'm feeling really sick about it now... but I'm pretty sure that since it is still a puppy and it's so friendly and cute that someone will adopt it quickly. aw. I came inside and spewed that whole story to my roommate and almost cried.

I'm at a time in my life where I really want a dog for the companionship and consistency (since both of those things are kind of up in the air right now) but I live in a small apartment, I don't come straight home from work all the time, I can't come home for lunch to let it out, I travel spontaneously... the list goes on. Bad idea to bring a pet that needs a lot of love into the mix. I am still considering getting a hamster, though. They don't mind being alone and you can leave them for a pretty long amount of time and they are ok. Really I want a dog, though.

*Marvin is a really cool bar near U street in DC. It is a Marvin Gaye tribute bar. I can't even believe that exists and the fact that it does exist and that it is VERY CLASSY AND NICE just floors me. They served chicken and waffles and ribs at the fundraiser..... my first chicken and waffles! Marvin is is specifically devoted to a period in Marvin Gaye's life when he moved to Belgium to kind of "regroup" so they serve Belgian beer (my favorite!)

lyrics I can relate to

I'm feeling rough, I'm feeling raw, I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.

This is our decision, to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah, it's overwhelming, but what else can we do.
Get jobs in offices, and wake up for the morning commute.

Forget about our mothers and our friends
We're fated to pretend
To pretend
We're fated to pretend
To pretend

I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.

There's really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce
We'll find some more models, everything must run it's course.

-MGMT

Exotic Travels

I went to New York City and had fun times with two of my best girls. I love my work schedule when I get my 3 day weekend! It makes my life come back to me. Like this:


I went to Atlanta for my cousin's wedding. I saw a lot of my crazy family. The wedding was fun and I tried a Long Island Iced Tea for the first time. Let it be known: it is not tea. This was a very classy Jewish wedding- like... something you'd see on a wedding show type classy. It made me think a lot about how I want my wedding to be. It won't really be classy at all I think, some parts will be classy, but mostly I think it will be a ho-down. I love classy, don't get me wrong, I just don't think I want to drop the kind of money that classy costs. I'd rather have a bluegrass band and like 5 kegs and a barn and some mountains and maybe a potluck. Yeaaaaah. But this wedding was really fun, everyone was very happy!


I went to the new Georgia Aquarium while I was there. It was great! They have 3 Beluga Whales and 4 Whale Sharks. They have river otters AND sea otters. There were about 8000 little kids but I managed to see what I wanted to see (the whale sharks). They are kind of hard to miss.




(There is not a whale shark in either of these pictures. You have to find out for yourself what they look like! I'm not spoiling it!!!!)

So I've been listening to some new (to me) stuff that makes for a great early-spring playlist.

M. Ward - Jailbird
M. Ward - Hi Fi
M. Ward - Never had Nobody Like You
M. Ward - Chinese Translation
Brigitte Bardot - Moi Je Joui
Animal Collective - Lion in a Coma
Fiction Family - When She's Near
The Shins - Sleeping Lessons
Feist - Sealion (Chromeo Remix)

I know I'm behind the times- when I get sad I quit listening to music, too. I'm back.

Be good to your daughters

Today I got some really great news that implies that I will be going to New York City this weekend. That means adventure and bagels. I am about to jump out of myself over the good news- which I won't share here but if you know me in real life I'll gladly tell you.

So, in case anyone was wondering, Chinatown bus travel is easy, cheap, and sometimes comfortable. I go back and forth to New York this way, usually using Megabus or Boltbus- but sometimes the other "lesser" Chinatown companies that are cheaper or more convenient. Megabus and Boltbus both have very clean buses and free wifi on the bus. Boltbus is always on time. Megabus isn't. Tickets are usually around $20 one way but if you book them early enough (like.... a month in advance) Megabus sells some tickets for $1-$8. Some people claim to have had very bad and terrifying experiences on Chinatown buses but I have yet to have had one. It seems like everyone knows a Chinatown bus terror story .. but when it comes down to it the guy who was stabbed to death and then decapitated on a bus was on a greyhound bus in Canada.. not a Chinatown bus.

In other news I ate Amsterdam Falafel again tonight and it was AWESOME.

Memories Made in the Coldest Winter

I realize I have semi-abandoned this blog. I tend to do that when I get too busy (true) or when I get really sad (also true). I think I will just pick up this blog from current life- if I tried to brief the interwebs about the past two months it would be too much. Instead, I will leave you with a sort of photoblog of my absence and I will just start writing from the here and now. yaaaaay.






This past weekend my buddy A came up from Raleigh to visit! It was perfect timing because I've been super down and sad about the weather, job issues, homesickness for my boyfriend / western NC, etc. Winter is way harder than I ever expected- I've always enjoyed winter a lot. When Spring didn't suddenly appear at the end of February I was really thrown off. I'm spoiled.


So A and I went to the Library of Congress with her boyfriend F (both of them are getting their degrees in Library Science). That was pretty cool- but not as cool as the BABY GORILLA we saw at the National Zoo (!!!!!!!!!!) We also saw sleeping otters. And a cute otter statue. And PANDAS. and RED PANDAS. PANDAS!!!


We spent a lot of time in Adam's Morgan- so of course we went to Amsterdam Falafel- the most awesome food EVER. You get a pita with falafels in it that they FRY TO ORDER and then you get to put all the toppings you want on it. Oh man, I could eat that every day. It's also cheap and they have really good fries.

We walked a lot over the weekend- it makes my feet tired but it makes my legs feel good. It was so warm over the weekend and for most of today- my mood has improved a lot. Feeling a breeze on my legs is enough to change my outlook on life, if only for a little while. The entire city smells different when it warms up, maybe it's the daffodils or maybe it's the fact that I can actually smell things and my nose isn't running constantly. I cry and whine about winter in DC, I know it's nothing that bad- but we did have 8 inches of snow a week ago and I didn't have any delays in work or anything. I think that validates my crying and whining at least a little bit.

Work has been strange lately. I'm not going to say much on this most public of all venues- but I feel it must be known on my blog that the real world is not "glamorous" at all. The only glamorous part is not having homework and getting a paycheck. Realizing this and accepting it can be very difficult, and can raise many more questions and decisions to be made. I am constantly searching for happiness and ways to fake my own happiness.

Here is my current list of fake happiness (temporary happiness that fools you into short term happiness):
exercising
reeses (easter egg reeses are especially good)
hair mousse
alcohol
sunshine
surfing petfinder.com
calculating airfares
google image searching sealions or groundhogs

I can go on. I am trying to get happy- re-starting this blog is a sign of that. Spring is sure to help out: new opportunities, lots of friends to see- there is always something to be done or someone to visit. I predict some great changes coming. I am joining a kickball league. Hibernation is over!