goodbye, oh nine

my willful ignorance of the fact that tonight is new year's eve is only a defense mechanism.  if i have lowered expectations, tonight has to exceed them, right?

the year in review:

- i finally experienced the rodeo
- i interviewed for grad school
- morgan came to houston for a sisterly reunion (and corruption)

- the aussies taught me to play cricket
- i signed up for netflix again, and have since become a twin peaks fan and gotten through a lot of my criterion collection list
- someone stole our coffeemaker, flavored coffee creamer was outlawed in the lab, and nescafe proved to be undrinkable; i switched to tea
- i got to see my family not once but twice, showed michelle and sean around the bay state, and had lovely trips to new york and iowa
- i watched a sox game practically on the field at fenway

- even if it was only for an afternoon, i was reunited with miss andrea and mister michael

- the How Unfortunate!™ moment of the year: i took a HUGE digger on the cobblestones in harvard square, so spectacularly that i shredded my knee and the homeless guy on the corner asked if i was alright

- michelle and i got pretty good at buck hunter

- i started spending a lot of time out in the country outside the loop

- i made more international friends than american ones

- i channeled my inner martha stewart and hosted a successful christmas at my house, complete with homemade sangria and the christmas lasagna

and of course...

best new albums:
mr. hudson & the library - a tale of two cities
metric - fantasies
here we go magic - self-titled



best songs:
edward sharpe & the magnetic zeros - home
beyonce - halo  (guilty pleasure)
sleigh bells - infinity guitars
le loup - beach town
kasabian - fire

for your listening pleasure, a mix:


resolutions:
- learn to sew (i have a few projects in mind..)
- read more; i just need to pay my library fines
- take a class in something

happy twenty ten!

i love my tec-9

finally - going shooting today!  herrow, future sniper career!

take the 6

fate (or my subconscious) is conspiring to trigger my nostalgia reflex.  or my 'grass is greener' reflex.  perhaps because it's a friday night and i'm at a coffee shop in the heights drinking my namesake lager, and pretending to work on resumes when i'm really just daydreaming about more desirable locales.  it's a combination of my own poor choice in movies and current circumstances, but i'm going to blame the beer.

in a nutshell, this is the more desirable locale: the auction house, upper east side.

long live jeopardy

a socio-anthropological analysis of small-town iowa

• the flight in was fine, aside from a crazy stewardess and the people in front of us being escorted off by police.  as for the flight back.. i don't want to talk about it.
• half of the population is extremely nice.  the other half seems to be well-versed in the 'we don't take kindly ta yer kind' slow turn and stare.
• dude.  the drinks are so cheap.  a round of four gin & tonics came to $8.  after frequenting places like anvil here in houston my brain can't comprehend that kind of math.  also, we played ping pong in a bar that was previously a meat locker.
  
• fun fact: i don't ever match my socks.  (i can't be bothered.)  this became painfully apparent and a frequent topic of conversation for the ENTIRE family when we arrived and were instructed to take our shoes off in the house because of the new carpet.  GOOD ONE.
  
• there is a blarney stone in the town square.  here's hoping for good luck.
  

 

i will guarantee you that within 24 hours, the entire town knew that there was some crazy tourist chick out taking pictures on main street.

• most of the businesses are two-in-one.  for example, there's the motel/laundromat and a coffee shop that also does furniture restoration and sells wood carving tools.  perhaps not the best idea to be whittling while you have the caffeine shakes?
• my first ever black friday shopping experience took place at true value hardware.
• the accent is very slight.  disappointment!
• sean's dad built an exact replica of the little house on the prairie in their backyard.   it's impressive. 

oven-mitt hot

i can't decide if this is hilarious or unsettling.  i'm going to go with: both.  give it a ponder.

a mixtape