home on the range

I am staying at my mom's house in SC this week.  Here is a list she made on a piece of paper that I have been glancing at for the past 30 minutes until I realized there is no unifying theme (that I can tell, I'm sure there is).  In the theme of Found Magazine, I give you this list (I "estimated" on some words)  Also, "CHS" in her language refers to Charleston, SC:

90 degrees in the shade Look Away!
Naturalist
William Bartram Palmetto State
Chatooga trails
ID plants & animals
locating dude in villages
Low Country - Sandhills
Highlander
Ceril Waisetes
1 ce tea Elvis
Shagging (state dance) @ Myrtle Beach
Porgy & Bess
Historic, Deliverance's Chatooga
Beautiful & Romantic CHS
Hiking History Rivers
Gardens - plantations, wars, CHS fills 2 shelveo@

Triumphant Return of Internet Whore

This morning I woke up with the song “Home” by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros in my head:

Home, Let me come home
Home is whenever I’m with you
Home, yes I am home
Home is wherever I’m with you

Returning from Paris after visiting my best friend there has really made me feel like home is just about who you’re with.  I thought I would be devastated to return to Asheville after the fantasy Paris vacation, and it is kind of hard to see how expensive goat cheese is here, but my friends and the sunny mountains are providing a wonderful homecoming.  The buffer of seeing a lot of lovies in DC due to a welcomed layover also helped- and reminded me that I am anything but alone.

I turned this blog off (you didn’t miss any posts, I just put it on lockdown) because I couldn’t keep my overwhelming winter sadness off of the internet.  I am healed now and motivated to make this space more interesting and less personal (the way it started out in the beginning).  This will continue to be a personal blog, though.

negative limerick

my heart is heavy
I am filled with DREAD
if I see that fat man Santa
I will shoot him in the head

would rather celebrate alone
than surrounded by the past
just want to feel better
I hope Christmas goes by fast

visitors, thanksgiving, ringtones

I've finally really started to calm down after the move, the new job, etc. I know this because I've started making themed playlists again. In college I made playlists of songs about mountains, songs with clapping in them, stuff like that. Now I'm working on a playlist related to public transportation (or travel in general) and a playlist with songs that include something about Washington in them. When they fill themselves out I'll be sure to report my findings.

So since my last post I've had several visitors. I hope that my life in Washington always has this many visitors, every weekend someone new comes up for one reason or another! RW came up a while ago for a little and we combed Georgetown for things that were remotely affordable (ha!)

My boyfriend was up to visit for the past week- I had to work for a lot of it though which was disappointing and also disturbing. I've never had to ditch someone for entire days like that. I've always been able to move my schedule around. It was nice anyway, we ate lots of good food and explored some great stuff. Unbeknownst to us, there was a Georgia O'Keeffe and Ansel Adams exhibit at the Smithsonian American Art Museum that we happened to stumble upon. That worked out really nicely since my boyfriend is a big fan of Ansel Adams (consequently I am becoming more appreciative, too). There is also a nice folk art section in the American Art Museum, I'm just waiting for the day when our beloved South Carolina Chicken Man (Ernest Lee) gets some of his chickens in there. When I bought a couple chickens from him in October he (Ernest) talked to me for a long time about when he lived in DC and how bad the crime is. Apparently he used to work not far from my apartment!

I was introduced to Tryst (near Dupont Circle/Adams Morgan) by some college friends and I am a fan. Although the place was PACKED when we went, once you do find a seat you understand why no one wants to leave. It's a coffee shop / bar that is super mellow with cozy couches and free internet.

I also decided that I officially have a new favorite food. Panang Curry. You can get it in most Thai restaurants. It is AWESOME if you like the sweet/hot combination, kind of nutty, creamy, mmm so good.

So I flew home for Thanksgiving and I've been hanging out with my mom. It's nice spending time with her. Sometimes when I come home though, I get really really stressed out about nothing at all. Stress just pulses through me and I don't want to hang out with anyone and I don't want to listen to my mom talk and I am mean. It feels like I just need to get out or I want to get out of Columbia, even though I don't because I just got here. I have problems. A lot of my Thanksgiving felt like that. Some breaks aren't like that at all.

So I've been busy making my own ringtones- I usually just sample songs (usually the beginning of songs) on Wavepad and then transfer them to the phone. so far the best songs for ringtones are:

Crayons - Caribou (this has been G's ringtone for a long time, it is seriously the best)
Cemetery - Architecture in Helsinki
Spring 2008 - Architecture in Helsinki
Ready to Die - Andrew WK (only the very beginning of this one)

If you have any ideas for a good ringtone please comment!!!!!

my new city, my new friend

DC is still magical, I'm still excited all the time. I figured out where some of the city pigeons sleep: in Union Station! Those lazy bastards are still sleeping when I go to work. I also keep tabs on the gray squirrels that live/work/play near my office.

Yesterday I found a cheap last minute flight to go home for the long weekend. I was never a believer in the whole "last minute" deals but they are REAL. I'm really excited to see my mom and bring things back to the apartment. Also, the South Carolina State Fair is going on now and I GET TO GO! It's like I get fall break just like I did in college!

I have lots of things I want to write about concerning the Pentagon, since that is where I get off of the metro and get on a bus to get to/from work. My internet paranoia has truly reached new heights so I am not going to tell Pentagon stories other than the Monday morning protesters that quietly hold signs right where you get off of the escalator from the metro. I see them at 7:30AM, who knows what time they get there. One week they protested the war in Iraq, this week it was Afrocon. It's really interesting because probably 80-85% of the people who get off at the Pentagon metro on Monday morning at 7:30 work in the Pentagon, and they orchestrate wars and things, so it's a really significant place to protest something. And everyone is always brooding in the morning.

Riding to and from the Pentagon stop so much has made me realize how exciting and scary and hot it is to see all the men and women in their various uniforms going to and from work. I've seen Navy, Army, Airforce, all kinds of uniforms. It's so attractive! I don't know why!

So I guess I have to go pick out my "party shirt" for the last day of customer service week tomorrow. Good grief. At least I don't have to pack a lunch!