I know I haven't posted in a while. Things should be getting less crazy soon.

I just sort of reconnected with a friend the other day. I found this poem that she sent me when she was in this uber-cool feminist's class, Jane Gallop. I hope she doesn't mind me posting this.

Enjoy!

"To Michael's Hunger"

My day is chaos:
I had to skip lunch,
all I have to eat is cheese,
and that won't suffice until dinner.
Do I have take-out menus?
Maybe I should just drink.

It's 2:00, is it okay to drink
away my thoughts of chaos?
Or should I just eat this menu?
Why would anyone schedule lunch
so early and make dinner
so late? So here's to cheese!

No fromage and crackers, just cheese
and wine--the acceptable drink
for any time before or after dinner,
and is this really chaos
or the absence of lunch?
I don't like anything on this menu.

Is there sanity on one of these menus?
Hot guys, prozac, and cheese--
that would have been a great lunch
followed by a pretty stout drink.
I could have forgotten about the chaos
and even had the same thing for dinner.

What should I do for dinner?
I'll order from this menu--
food to fight the chaos--
French fries and burgers with cheese
and an espresso to drink.
That should make me forget lunch.

Tomorrow I should remember lunch,
and have a light healthy dinner,
then I can go out for a drink,
somewhere with a good cocktail menu.
I should throw away this cheese
and ignore my thoughts of chaos.

I should not drink my lunch
or have chaos for dinner
and not eat menus or old cheese.

goes out to the one i love

Playing Cards

I have been playing an immense amount of cards lately, which for me has been like a seventh heaven. It has brought up so many memories, both good and bad, of playing cards with family, friends, and roommates. I have been playing so much that I have been neglecting a ton of reading that I could be doing this summer. At this point, I'm okay not reading and sacrificing some time to be with friends. But I might need to play extreme super-speed catch up when school starts in August. But, as of now, I'm not worried about that.

We've somehow managed to play five or six different card games in the past couple weeks. We've mastered about all of them, and each of us have one that we like and tend to win in. I'm proud to say that I've reclaimed my title of fighting solitaire champ after losing it to some of my Behan roommates a couple years ago.





(This is a blurry picture of Marli, Chris, and Patrick playing some card game.)










(This is my roommate Steven. I don’t remember what we were playing at the time. But for a while we were on several canasta and fighting solitaire runs.)


















Cards are so much fun. But sad note, they remind me a lot of my grandmother, the one that currently has Alzheimer's now. I'm happy that my friends have allowed me to share her games with them so that a part of her still lives on through me. So this goes out to the friends—past, present, and future:

This is exactly what I wanted to say...

Oh, my, thank you, feministing! Jaclyn Friedman is awesome.

This post is also here as a shout out to my friend, ToSomeoneLikeMinded. You wanted some activism, and while I didn't think I wanted it to, I'm starting to realize I need it. I want it. It is my desire to end oppression. To create equality. To make a difference.

Some friends are mine are super cool because they said they would watch some random episodes of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer that I pick out – well, not completely random but my favorite ones. Buffy got me through a lot of rough times. I know that some of my friends joke that I could reference Buffy in every single Text and Traditions class at Scholars’, but I guess they are the lucky ones (not me) since I choose not to actually do that. I am pretty sure I would have been groaned out of seminar if I would have tried.

Well, I have assembled five clips from five different episodes that I just think are so great. So, in no particular order:

1) “Selfless” (Season Seven, Episode Seven??) – Creepy number coincidence, or just numerological karma. This is a great episode about Anya and has quite the hidden gem, a flashback to the musical episode. “I’ll Be Mrs.”—Anya’s solo song—has been missing from my iTunes library for several years until I discovered it on some obscure web page. It wasn’t released with the original soundtrack, most likely because it wasn’t filmed or written yet (don’t know?) but is quite the cute song. I also think this episode is great because of its exploration of Anya that draws on comedy and tragedy, as well as some demon flashbacks.



2) “Once More, With Feeling” (Season Six, Episode Six) – Numerical coincidence again? Surely not, well, since I referenced this episode above, I knew it would be on the favorites list. Loving musicals, loving Whedon, and loving a love song ridden with gay subtext. Definitely three things this episode brings out in me. I also love it because of the moving moment at the end where (spoiler alert) Buffy reveals that she had been in heaven and not hell. It’s also just great because who wouldn’t love this quirky cast getting together and singing some great shit.



3) “The Body” (Season Five, Episode ??) – Great! Genius! I don’t really like this video I was able to find, but it will have to do.



4) “Potential” (Season Seven, Episode ??) – This episode might not be on a fan favorite list because of Dawn (which so many people seem to hate but I kinda like). I think the storyline for this episode is just great. Like my interest in “Selfless,” “Potential” takes up a somewhat-minor character, at least one who wasn’t on the show from the very beginning and highlights them as an important thread of the Buffy narrative. (See also: “Storyteller” from Season Seven about Andrew and “Superstar” from Season Four about Jonathan.)



5) “Restless” (Season Four, Episode Twenty-??) – Sheer postmodern narrative. And also a most awesome text to study semiology. I think season four might be the most underrated season of Buffy, which is just unfortunate. This final episode of the season is so amazing because of how it breaks so many traditional TV narratives. It’s a final episode, it’s a coded beginning, it’s a dream, or a magical reality?