Mighty Beluga!

Danielle is 20

2011-11-14T00:49:00.000-05:00

Which is significant because it means WE MADE IT.
Danielle, we made it. We spent our all our teenage years together. Every awkward moment, every embarrassing transition and rite of passage. Boys and prom and middle school and high school. And it was awful. And life is so wonderful now, you're so much cooler and stylish and free now. But life was wonderful back then too. Maybe we didn't do much, maybe we weren't impressive. But we certainly made it special.
Doing nothing with you by my side made adolescence bearable. So thank you.
Go do mad things now.
And with technology and memories and nostalgia, I'll be by your side.

THIS IS THE INTERNET SO HERE ARE SOME CATS:

hopping (TUMBLING????) on the bandwagon

2010-09-23T01:15:00.000-04:00

yeah, so I've been feeling guilty about not posting anything here for the past few months...but I am a lazy human being and tumblr unfortunately is much better suited for laziness. That being said...I dunno! I always like having the beluga on a backburner. That is all.

(see how accustomed I've come to putting zero effort into this? no good)

-Danielle

too cool for school...in these boots only

2010-08-21T00:09:00.001-04:00

Oh hai.

Let's consider this a FASHION post! Danielle and I love clothing so I don't know why we never really talk about it. Okay. SHOES!

Shoes are serious business. When I see a pair that I like-I mean really zone in to from like across the street or if I see in a catalog- I will remember the name and have the image burned into my brain. I will google it and read consumer reports and do some serious research because I'm a little bit anal about good shoes. That's not to say that I won't indulge in the occasional $20.00 pair I see in Target. However, if I'm into a pair of shoes, or really any article of clothing, I am very loyal to the brand. My boat shoes WILL be Sperry Top-Siders. If one day I do get wayfarers they WILL be Ray Bans. Same for bags and what not.

Well recently I've been very into Doc Martens 1460s specifically the white pair.

I saw them on this super cool chick in school and I was practically drooling.

If you are raising your eyebrow it is because you know me and you know that I can't pull these shoes off. I have a style and it's just not that edgy. I'm not cool enough for these shoes. So I let my Doc Marten dream go. However I still had this itch for a pair of lace up, military style boots but in a much more conservative black. SOOOO I introduce my new pair of shoes to you:

OOOOOHHHH YEAAAAH. I'm like in love with them a little bit. They're so cool. I tried them on in the store and my mom just wasn't completely sold because they're still not really my style BUT I insisted I could pull them off. And you know what? I can. My argument is that I'm 18 and should still be able to wear uber kick ass shoes while I'm young. I feel like a different person when I wear them like tough and BAD ASS and really just great. Austin saw me in these shoes today and he said, "You look different. You're always cute but with those shoes you look hot"

So in the end this post is really just about how hot I look. But I guess I can also spin it and add that people may shit all over these materialistic people who love getting new clothes and having all the hottest items but while it's cool to be ascetic and live simply some clothes can just make you feel better. Hooray!

OH OH OH! And part two of this shoe story betrays the first part because the original pair of these shoes (and the photograph above) are by the one and only Jeffrey Campbell which means they should be like $200. However...and this is where it gets weird...the brand (Crown Vintage) I got was from DSW and totally sketchy and weird and after doing some serious research I found this:

"I do market intelligence research for a living, so my first instinct was to check who owns the trademark for Crown Vintage. The trademark is owned by DSW itself, so I'm guessing it's a cleverly-concealed store brand that just so happens to be ripping off Jeffrey Campbell. Still, they're incredibly cute- my 2 are some of my favorite pairs. Wish they sold them online!!"-anonymous chick on some forum

So yeah nuts!! I'm wearing cleverly-concealed Jeffrey Campbell rip offs! Like they literally look the EXACT same and I feel really horrible about it because I'm not for fakes but........they're still cute. And in my defense I wasn't looking for copyright infringement shoes. Maybe the fact that they could (and should) get sued just makes these boots even more B.A.

The shitty movie to shitty critic ratio is 1:10

2010-07-19T20:40:00.001-04:00

I watched Youth in Revolt this weekend with my boyfriend. The weekend was fabulous. The movie? Dry, pretentious and fucking annoying. And so, whenever I watch a bad movie I like to hit up RottenTomatoes to read nasty reviews which are easily my favorite kind of reviews. Why? Because I thrive on hatred? No. Because I like it when people agree with me.

Anyways I couldn't help but notice the numerous times a critic has name dropped Holden Caulfield in reference to any other rebellious youth in the history of rebellious youths. Quote: your average Holden Caulfield fanatic will find his tale fun

So in the name of any proper Catcher in the Rye defender, I have to say what the fuck. Seriously? It's offensive but most of all it's just lazy. I'm not going to get into details about why Micheal Cera's turd-faced character is nothing like The Catcher in the Rye's but if movie critics are going to claim to be writers than they should start acting like them. That means referring to literary characters with a level of intelligence beyond Spark Notes. You wouldn't write about how fans of Lolita will find the pedophile in Little Children familiar so don't fuck up with Holden Caulfield.

What I'm saying is if Nick Twisp is Holden Caulfield than that little black dog really is Albert Camus.

gay

2010-07-07T22:10:00.001-04:00

This blog post was going to be about summer updates but you know what I feel like writing about? EFFING DYKES

Can somebody please explain to me why I love this website so much? Why do I have such a blast reading about this promiscuous lesbian?

I was thinking it had something to do with that weird study they did a while ago where scientists (probably gay, btw) found out homophobes were secretly turned on by man on man action.

But I'm not a homophobe.

I root for gay people in the way that I root for any minority group struggling for human rights.
I mean...

I don't LOVE THE GAYS because I'm SOOOOO OPEN MINDED AND OMG I HAVE A BEST GAY FRIEND WHO DOES MY HAIR AND GIVES ME SHOPPING TIPS AND IS SASSY AND AMAZING AND HE'S MINE AND I OWN HIM OH AND LESBIANS ARE COOL TOO EVEN THE ONES I DRUNKENLY KISS AT PARTIES BECAUSE GUYS FIND IT HOT.

where was I...

Oh yeah. Anyways this isn't about her being gay...actually it is. Mostly, she's hilarious and a great writer and is a pro at finding cool pictures on the internet to enhance posts. But I know a secret part of me is fascinated by this lifestyle that I will never be a part of. She loves women so much...it's flattering! Krista talks about fucking and fantasizing about women. But she's a girl, so it's not disgusting or piglike. This is not a double standard because effing dykes talks about women in a way that straight girls WISH straight men would talk about women. Is that confusing?

What I'm saying is...it's nice to be worshiped and awe-inspiring and desired and loved. So... much love to those who love.

sticks in the throat

2010-06-19T23:20:00.001-04:00

Me: I had this really great gelato at WholeFoods the other day, it was AWESOME.

Bear: Wait, what? Like, the women's shoe?

Me:....Not stiletto. Gelato.

yuck

2010-06-13T20:22:00.000-04:00

I don't know how I feel about this. There is nothing religious or too tree hugging about this aspect of my personality. I just feel really uncomfortable when I think about it.

I'm talking about killing bugs.

Don't get me wrong. I hate bugs. I think they're gross and creepy and if they weren't a significant part of our ecosystem and the earth's biodiversity I would be fine if they didn't exist. However, there is something unsettling about squishing a bug. I'm KILLING IT! I am ENDING IT'S LIFE. And sometimes I can't seem to shake that.

I mean, we can't be THAT arrogant to possibly think that it's okay to end a life just because they're gross. Right?

I don't know.
They are gross

in due time

2010-06-13T00:49:00.003-04:00

Everyone is saying how boring summer is, but I feel like there's not enough time at all. I'm going to the motherland (GUATE) for a month, and that only leaves me with, well, a month more of "real" at-home summer. And this is a summer of stressful tense macroeconomic classes, so it feels like even less time. It's not like I'm entertained every second, but every time I have the opportunity to be bored, it feels kind of nice. I wonder if this is what all the rest of the summers of my life will be. I'm not complaining (ok maybe just a little bit) but it seems strange to think about. Basically, no longer will I be lounging around all summer, looking ahead into three months of complete nothingness. This is both good and bad. Mostly good, I guess.

To drive home this point, "There Is Never Enough Time," by The Postal Service:

In due time/We'll finally see/There's barely time/For us to breathe

leather-bound books and rich mahogany!

2010-06-07T01:35:00.004-04:00

This makes me so sad.
For real, my bookcase (besides my clothes, of course) is the only thing in my bedroom that I even really consider mine, or representative of me. I don't think of my room as my room, really, it's just a place I stay in for now until I go back to school. Not that my dorm room is any homier...I just feel like it's too much effort (and too small a space) to try and make my room my own. Sure, I have posters on my walls, but I put them up knowing I'm going to take them down in a few months when I have to move again. But my bookcase is the one thing that has stayed constant ever since I moved to my current house nine years ago, and its my bookcase that I add to and rearrange with some weird sense of contentment and pride every break and whenever I'm bored. It's nothing impressive, but it's mine.
Dreaming about my future house/apartment (I only do this SOMETIMES) I always include a small library.
The pipe and scotch are optional.
MAD BOOKS are not.
Cell phones do not figure into this room one bit.

Next stop...TWITTER! JK

2010-06-05T18:15:00.000-04:00

COMO ESTAN, BITCHES.
So I made a tumblr. Don't cry or anything. I'm still a loyal Mighty Beluga-er. It's just that my attention span is limited these days. It's the heat. I'm going to still write here. Blogger will always be in my heart to rant or talk about my day. I'm an internet woman! So don't you forget it.

Kay peas

post script: yes, I still live in this delusional world where I think people give a fuck.
GO HERE EVERYDAY:
http://junk-drawers.tumblr.com/

this coffee gives me two marginal utilities

2010-06-02T18:40:00.001-04:00

What I've learned in my microeconomics class, and am in the process of relearning in my macroeconomics summer class:
Happiness can be measured. It's called utility. Or marginal utility? Something like that.
This is why I don't like economics. I'm also probably way off in my definition of utility but either way it sounds weird.

SIGH (auditorium)

2010-05-23T21:02:00.000-04:00

CRISIS!
The new Time magazine's cover article was about facebook and how its changing the world and 5 bajillion people use it and it's how we connect and all that stupid shit. I think Time is actually a crap magazine compared to other magazines I should be reading but...
I don't know.

I have been second guessing myself and now I don't know what to do. I deleted my facebook a few months ago because I wasted too much time there and most of the time I just realized how much I hate everything and everyone. Yes, I am angst-ridden.

Being facebookless has made me realize who my true friends are-people I talk to on a daily or weekly basis and enjoy. I have also been able to concentrate on my school work and ignore petty rumors and gossip and scandalous photos.
However it's not like I don't enjoy projecting myself on the internet. THAT'S WHY I HAVE A FUCKING BLOG (that nobody really reads but whatevs).

However, going away to college means I can't keep in touch with everyone...

and I don't want to be forgotten by my fake friends!

Plus I'm buying a digital camera soon and what's the point of taking pictures without it.
Shit Okay.

I'll probably delete it when I head back to Boston.
I feel like I'm giving in, abandoning my principles.

On the other hand you're probably thinking
"Stop being so goddamn dramatic nobody CARES."
So fuck you world, I'm gonna re-enter the social network and pretend you do care.

well said

2010-05-13T01:55:00.003-04:00

My boyfriend and I have been watching Lost on Hulu for God knows what reason. But basically we are hooked and have managed to reach season 5 already. Anyways we wondered why we wasted so much time to catch on with a fad that is past its coolness.
He said it better than I ever could have:
"I just like carving out a couple of hours of the week and spending them relaxing with you...
and being confused and aggravated."

Same old, same old

2010-05-13T00:56:00.000-04:00

I suppose I should write something instead of lurking around here and commenting on Danielle's posts.
I've been home since Friday and nothing interesting has really happened.
Work doesn't begin until the end of June so I'm looking for things to do in the meantime. Volunteer stuff and what not. Already read my first book of the summer: Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas.
It's nice to go back to Tom Robbins after two semesters of pre-medieval texts but the lunatic writes about the same mystical stuff that may or may not be true and it gets pretty unoriginal. He's a one trick pony I can't stop paying to see.

That last line even sounded like Tom Robbins.

This summer, let's be original.
When I went to visit my aunt's house and saw my extended family for the first time in months they all told me: You look exactly the same.

Same thing happened when I saw Danielle's mother.

I guess, superficially, I don't change. But why should I? We will figure this out another time. In the meantime, I'm going to make a list. The way I always do.

Nice things awaiting me this summer:
warmer weather
books I don't have to write papers on
http://bookmooch.com/
a gift basket for my mother full of tasty European spreads and chocolates
la mia bicicletta
possibly practicing my Italian through paid conversation with a native
playing catch up
a decent tan
a decent paycheck

hiding in a lion's mane

2010-05-11T18:00:00.004-04:00

DAAAAMMMMNNNN I thought my last post would be my last one from DC, EVER. I have been proven all kinds of wrong.

Hardxcore yearning to be home, but equally hardxcore yearning not to fail my first year of college.

Been listening to loads of Iron & Wine lately and wondering where they/he has been the past five years of my life...when I cared about music.

The Rooster Moans actually frightens me, when I put the words and the menacing strings together.

I keep hearing voices in the hallway and thinking it's my roommates coming home, before I remember that they've already all left to board their respective trains, planes, and cars...

Maybe there is some kind of connection with my new-found love for Samuel Beam (aka Iron & Wine), check out that facial hair, and my now-faraway, much happier-looking Bear-friend:

In other semi-related news, I've created a last.fm, just another way to NETWORK WITH LIFE-MINDED PEOPLE. Or a way to shut dear friend Matthew Danger Banks up. I don't know why I'm announcing this. Um...Mallory you should make one too.

Hopefully making my way back to Princeton tomorrow. Looking forward to the heat and the bikes and the friends.

micreconomics final

2010-05-08T15:16:00.001-04:00

Mallory's home, out biking probably, and I'm holed up in study room 508 in DC trying to find books on the Gypsies, or the Roma, and figuring out how to "create an argument that will contribute to scholarship on the topic." Everyone has been gradually trickling out, but I'm still here, wishing I could do all the things that I had planned to do in the beginning of the year, mainly kayaking down the Potomac.
Thanks to procrastination, I now know that:

Anastasia, the movie, is pretty much ALL lies...chick totally died like waaay long ago (once upon a December...)
Capoeira is far beyond my skill level, but I will spend my summer trying to do a hand stand and working my way up from there.
Wayfarer sunglasses are best for faces with strong jawlines
Tyra Banks has rabies. Wait, what the fuck?
Mallory and I wrote funnier (funny?) posts when we were younger and more carefree. As in two years ago.

That is all.

Beware of Montezuma's revenge

2010-05-02T17:57:00.000-04:00

There is currently no safe drinking water in Boston.
On one hand, I now realize how we take that luxury for granted.
On the other hand I'm way more thirsty than I once was.

Stuff I'm going to be learning about in the fall

2010-04-29T14:37:00.001-04:00

World History since the 1500s
Advanced Spanish and Grammar
Comprehensive Musicianship (how to do fancy shit on a keyboard)
Archaeology
Biological Anthropology
Piano, in general
How to Deal with 17 credits, piano lessons, my own kitchen, a job, and an internship

(only writing this because this will be the only time I will get the opportunity to brag/complain without people telling me to get over myself. JUDGE ME NOT INTERWEBS)

sede por viagens

2010-04-28T03:39:00.000-04:00

Beyond the East, the sunrise,
Beyond the West, the sea,
And East and West the wanderthirst
Will not let me be.
-Gerald Gould

fuck this fucking paper

2010-04-26T23:37:00.000-04:00

texts from last night to my boyfriend

1. Ughh i cant do this. im too tireddd i only wrote a page.

2. and im so sleepy

3. im stuck on writing this paper and i just dont wanna. im so tired i wanna shoot this paper in the face

4. akdjfaoi im going to bed

5. my right arm feels tingly. i have leprosy. bed time.

and then I died of leprosy.

kay bye

downside: dishes to wash

2010-04-25T17:59:00.003-04:00

I tend to go through phases with my food, phases that I don't really notice because at home there's so much food I can just pick and choose what I want, and the INGREDIENTS! THE SPICES! Now that I'm in college, however, and have limited funds (read: I'm broke), I totally notice these stupid phases I go through. A couple of months ago, I was making pasta for myself a good three or four times a week. That stopped quickly, though, as I realized the hassle of washing pots and the time it took to walk up and down the flight of stairs to the kitchen pretty much killed my hunger, and my time.

FINALLY, after only eating weird boring cafeteria food, I'm all about MINI PIZZAS, DINOSAUR EGG OATMEAL, AND AVOCADOS (on everything)

It's awesome because I can make these mini-pizzas in the microwave, which means I don't even have to get off of the floor at 2 AM when I am crying about the paper that was due at midnight!
Umm...hypothetically, of course...

RECIPE FOR TASTY DISASTER:
Tomatoes (I find cherry works best, I slice them in thirds and they occupy just the right amount of space)
Salt (garlic salt, if you want to be awesome)
Fancy Bread (basically Italian or French bread...I call it fancy bread because sliced lame bread is affordable. Fancy.)
Mozzarella Cheese (again, can vary with your budget...I've tried both string cheese and fresh cheese, and I don't have to tell you which kind I prefer)

HEAT IN MICROWAVE TIL CHEESE IS ALL MELTY, ENJOY WITH SATISFIED GRIN

When handy, I like to add:
Parmesan
Basil
Olive Oil
Garlic

ok that was really basic and I know everyone knows how to make mini pizzas, but it's all I've been eating for the past week so it's all I have to say

On to Paradiso...

2010-04-20T20:56:00.001-04:00

I have been plagued with assignments. Papers and projects and trying to finish the entire Divine Comedy in less than a month. Three more weeks and I'm done with my freshman year. You would think that writing here would be a nice escape but I sort of forced myself to write a blog post. I don't have anything interesting to say about my life. Last week a form of senior-itis hit me HARD. I was so unmotivated in a very hectic week. Luckily I just snapped out of it yesterday. This is good because not only is this the final push before finals but I'm not in free public high school anymore. I'm at one of the most goddam expensive institutions in the country and it's time to start working like I'm paying for it.

Hooray education.

On a side note: I just reached for my Halls Defense Vitamin C supplement drops and pulled out the final four. They're all yellow. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since I've been avoiding the yellow ones.

It's sort of spring outside. It looks sunny and warm but there is a perpetual icy wind to remind me of where I am.

Oh and it's earth week here. I'm not a green freak or anything but I figured it doesn't hurt to be responsible. I actually recycled my newspaper today (oh, did I mention I read the Wall Street Journal? oh those University students...) and sometimes think about the consequences of eating meat right before I gorge myself with dining hall chicken. My biodiversity professor has a blog about being green and I'm secretly obsessed with his super nerdy antics. Sheesh he's dry in class but strangely quirky on the internet (I guess I am too...)

oh and this might not be news to anybody but me but my new favorite blog: http://yearofgiving.wordpress.com/
is super awesome and good feeling. So enjoy.

Peace. Thanks for reading all this.

well-deserved

2010-04-16T14:56:00.001-04:00

To follow up on Mallory's post about proper pronunciation of famous author's names, I decided, like a pretentious brat, to trick my rather literate boyfriend by asking, "who wrote Walden?" When he answered, "the-ROW," I made a big fuss over the correct pronunciation, THOrow, hoping to astound and impress him with my new knowledge.
I got an eyeroll for my efforts.

you're the apple of my eye

2010-04-15T14:09:00.003-04:00

Although this post is a little late, spring in DC has never been more welcome:

(Above photograph taken by roommate Emily Russel)

I've formally adopted this little plant here and I live in perpetual fear of drowning it. It's nice to have something living in the room besides me. It's a shitty out-of-focus image, and I don't have the patience to fix it.

The farmers market has opened up a block down from my class, so it's become my new routine to stop by and sample one of the dozens of dips (spinach pesto, black bean, pineapple, red pepper hummus), some of the gelato, maybe a slice of rosemary garlic bread, and the apples, the apples! For real, all my life I've only had red delicious, and after trying some of these weirdly named farm apples those old red delicious just taste like plastic to me. Not even kidding, this scene goes through my mind with every single bite:

Last of all, some quotes:

April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks Go.

Christopher Morley, John Mistletoe

Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colors, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.

Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters of Rainer Maria Rilke

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!

Mark Twain

Every spring is the only spring - a perpetual astonishment.

Ellis Peters

There. My tribute is done. Now to play outside stare longingly out my window as I write another paper.

How to be even more pretentious than you actually are...

2010-04-08T10:24:00.002-04:00

Pretentious literary douche-bag's argument: BUT IT'S CORRECT!
got this from here: http://distorte.tumblr.com/post/503465559/meghan-just-bookmarked-this-away-on-our-secret

sshit, I've been doing this all wrong...

I just like exclamation points

2010-03-30T02:15:00.001-04:00

From Zofloya:

"Oh! self-love!--dangerous and resistless flatterer!--thou immolatest at thy shrine more victims than all the artifices of man!"

Probably more to come as I go through the book. It's true, narcissism is pretty! exciting! stuff!

GO MATH!

2010-03-25T22:17:00.001-04:00

So besides writing blah(g) posts about my life I like to read about people way times ( a real mathematical equation) cooler than me.
Introducing: Mathsputin aka Grigori Perelman!

So this dude solved the world's most complicated math problem the Poincaré Conjecture by himself. The problem is so hard that it actually took mathematicians several years to figure out that Mathsputin solved it correctly. Annnd he was been awarded 1 million dollars for winning but has refused it! He just wants to chill in Russia and pick mushrooms. Insane! Brilliant!
He's awesome
read more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/24/grigori-perelman-reclusiv_n_511938.html

old dirt road, rambling rose

2010-03-18T17:20:00.002-04:00

I'm finally back in Princeton. I wont come back again until summer vacation, but I'm looking forward to springtime in DC. Some notes I jotted down on the various trains and metros and T's I took to find my way home:

Girl in pixie haircut reapplied hand sanitizer for the 17th time so far. It makes me feel nervous, especially thinking about the state of her poor dry skin...

Old women sitting behind me with the weathered face has a frightening cough and an equally frightening sense of humor.

Religion: what does the shaping, men or gods? Investigate.

I wonder what Lily's hair will look like oh la Lilyyyy

It may be years until the day/My dreams will match up with my pay/Old dirt road/Knee deep snow/Watching the fire as we grow old

JABBERJABBERJABBERWOCKY

To read: ~~The God of Small Things, Peace Like A River, A Farewell To Arms~~ shit you will do no such thing before writing your paper!!!

Cold rain sucks. Being hungry sucks.

And of course, variations of my S-duck, my beloved S-duck. I will upload a photo later of my renowned S-duck.

Yes, I have the vocabulary of a five year old, and no, my musings do not provide powerful insight into my mind. Sorry.

postcard

2010-03-14T16:55:00.000-04:00

Greetings!
I have returned from Horse Cave, Kentucky. I was there for spring break volunteering with the American Cave Conservation Association. Basically I learned a shit ton of stuff about the karst environment they've got going on down there and cleaned up a bunch of garbage from sinkholes. It was a million times more fun than it sounds and I'm glad I had the opportunity to go down there and meet amazing people. I'm feeling too lazy to go into detail about my trip...I have yet to recover from a 24 hour drive. So here are shitty camera phone pictures

Kentucky sunset, while driving to Nashville for the nightWe stopped in Philly on the way down to get the cheese steak

Cave entrance! Real cavers call is "caving" not "spelunking" My llama (and boyfriend) waiting for my returnA sign on THE BOOKSTORE (actual name) where we spent an hour browsing. I bought Rabbit Redux by John Updike and it is awesome btw.A sinkhole, in case you were wondering.A small portion of the shit we uncovered from a really small sinkhole. There were car parts, and in insane amount of barbed wire

big ass sinkhole. It was so deep we had to winch up the massive items.

PS: I hope you noticed my new vocabulary words! Go Kentucky!

poor transitions

2010-03-08T17:38:00.006-05:00

Mallory's off caving in Kentucky? Oklahoma? (One of those places...I'm a bad friend) but for real! CAVING! so cool...and I'm left recovering from being smacked up the head by my first economics midterm.

Last night my little brother skyped me, telling me about his new netbook. When I told him that he was spoiled, and that I didn't have a computer at his age, he shot back with "well that's because computers weren't INVENTED at your age." Really now? This is coming much sooner than I thought...

Outside my window:
“It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."
--Charles Dickens

I'm not a Dicken's fan, but I do wish that is how the weatherman would report the weather for me. I would know exactly how to dress.

luscious locks

2010-03-06T17:33:00.000-05:00

Today, I think I shaved my boyfriends head. I say I think because I'm still surprised that it actually happened. Halfway through doing it, I was extremely tempted to take the electric razor thing to my own hair. I didn't tell him though.

still studying

2010-03-02T21:30:00.001-05:00

Cool places I wish I were in instead of this hot, poorly lit common room:

Mexico Pavilion in Epcot, Disney World

Tuscany

The world's largest cave

UNDERWATER SCULPTURE PARK! (only if I have underwater lungs!)

belated

2010-03-02T15:30:00.011-05:00

One of my absolute favorite bands, Belle and Sebastian, has a wonderful Q&A section of their website. There are hundreds of questions written by fans and answered by the band members; I think I wrote one in sometime last year and received a nice response. Forgot what it was exactly. In any case, I was whiling away the cold and gray afternoon reading these, when I came upon a fitting tribute, in my mind, to Salinger...less wordy than Mallory's, but unlike Mallory's, not my own words...

From: Isaac
Q.What are we going to do now Salinger is dead?
A. Unlike him, keep breathing.
Stevie - 04/02/1

I know it's been a bit of time since his death but I still like how fitting this is.

PS: found my old comment! I must have been feeling angsty, fawning, and poetic May of 2008. It happens.

From: Danielle
Q.What do you believe in? I believe in you.
A. Thanks Danielle. I believe in the power of a kind word.
Stevie - 15/05/08

PPS: I want this shirt: http://www.belleandsebastianshop.com/product/ladies_fox_in_the_snow_t-shirt/

Awesomom

2010-03-01T15:12:00.003-05:00

My mom has been shipping up a ton of packages with goodies. Probably because I won't be home for spring break and she misses me. Anyways I tried to imitate the look of joy on the dough-boy/bunny's face. I just look challenged.
Either way these cookies are DA BOMB.

My mom enclosed a note that says:
I hope you like them. I know, I know you like them better than mine so THERE! Ugly monster. Eat them.
Love, mom

true doppelgangers

2010-02-28T23:56:00.005-05:00

I visited an exhibit yesterday at the Smithsonian American Art Museum for my Doppelgangers class. The exhibit featured 19th century photographs of the West. Everything was sepia-toned, obviously, but on top of that the lighting was dim and the photographs were tiny. I wasn't wearing my glasses, and it felt bothersome and surreal, like I was trying to view tiny canyons and gnarled trunks through a glass of foggy urine. I went looking at neon high-tops afterwards to make my vision feel better.

Studying for midterms

2010-02-28T16:16:00.000-05:00

No. My life is not beautiful or glamorous or dramatic. I do what I have to do. I enjoy your company. I make up for it in dreams.

I asked for it.

2010-02-27T16:10:00.000-05:00

When I think about snow I imagine a winter wonderland. I imagine waking up, checking the window and going back to bed. Well it doesn't snow like that it Boston. It gets unbearably cold and grey. Then the rain falls and makes everything wet and gross. Then the snow falls and turns into mush. Boots are essential.

Distraction

2010-02-22T14:48:00.001-05:00

You would think that writing a paper would keep me occupied but I'm still looking for more things to distract myself. I hate waiting and feeling useless.
Anyways did you know James Joyce wrote really dirty love letters to his girlfriend/wife, Nora Barnacle. If you don't believe me, ask the dishes:
My love for you allows me to pray to the
spirit of eternal beauty and tenderness
mirrored in your eyes or to fling you down
under me on that soft belly of yours and fuck
you up behind, like a hog riding a sow,
glorying in the very stink and sweat that rises
from your arse, glorying in the open shame
of your upturned dress and white girlish
drawers and in the confusion of your
flushed cheeks and tangled hair.

Trust me, I didn't write that erotic shit myself. Now I've never been into Joyce (you know, because I'm illiterate) but damn that man was dirty.

stupid

2010-02-19T12:22:00.000-05:00

So maybe this doesn't count as updating the blog but it's pretty funny.
so yeah go here and make your URL shady
http://www.shadyurl.com/create.php?myUrl=http://mightybeluga.blogspot.com/

http://mightybeluga.blogspot.com/

is now

http://5z8.info/worm.exe_u6m7e_foodporn

nattoppet

2010-02-05T16:23:00.002-05:00

The glockenspiel was totally created for falling snow. True* fact.

*not true

don't adeus me

2010-02-01T16:12:00.008-05:00

I signed up to take these student-taught Portuguese classes at school, and I start next Sunday. Being the arrogant motherfucker that I am (mac is trying to tell me that motherfucker is not a word), I want to go in the class with some basic knowledge so I can be all PSHH I'm totally above this.
I downloaded some neat podcasts the other day and learned basic greetings and farewells. There was this one part that I took totally out of context, and I was feeling kind of contemplative, and there was snow falling outside, and I should stop making excuses...
ANYWHO the part was this: the typical way to say bye in Portuguese is tchau (like Purina Dog Chow). But then the soothing voice continued on to say, "you can also use the word adeus, but only if you are never going to see that person again."
Seemed like kind of a heavy statement.

SHIT!

2010-01-30T02:10:00.002-05:00

When this page comes up on my "Top Sites" page, as it does every time I open a new tab, this essentially runs through my mind (click to enlarge):

Sorry Beluga, I keep forgetting to feed you.

PS I LOVE DINOSAUR COMICS.

I swear to God he's a madman.

2010-01-29T17:37:00.001-05:00

I think most literate beings now know that J.D. Salinger died this week. This is not an obituary or anything. The Catcher in the Rye is my 100% favorite book and I think the majority of the country is with me on this one. What can I say, we're all angst-ridden teens deep at heart.

I don't have anything original to say about the book or the man (nor have I ever, considering my 10th grade final paper on the novel) and when Danielle told me he died yesterday I didn't feel too much remorse. After all he was a grumpy old recluse who bitterly hoarded his final writings.

A few months ago my boyfriend and I were arguing about whether a movie adaptation was possible. Me being the bookworm and him being the future Hollywood director I think you can guess which side we argued. Anyways I've been devouring every article about our deceased author recently and specifically this one: http://www.slate.com/id/2242990/ talks about a Catcher movie adaptation.

Salinger rejected several movie offers because the only person who was ever capable of portraying Holden was Salinger himself. As soon as I realized that I was hit with sadness. Holden Caulfield did grow up and move into his beloved cabin in the woods. He secluded himself from the phonies he resented, and then passed away on January 27. And you can all say Caulfield/Salinger will live forever within the pages of the Catcher in the Rye and all those things you're supposed to say about dead people but the best thing I can think of saying is goodbye.

because I can

2009-12-28T16:32:00.001-05:00

I think I'll like making lists of five things, SO here is a list of five instruments that my 8-year-old self thought my 18-year-old self should have complete mastery of by now:

The Piano (check! Kinda, not really. I gave up)
The Glockenspiel (I am totally impressed that my 8-year-old self knew what that was)
The Saxophone (I don't think I have enough jazz in my soul to pull this one off without coming across as a total tool/nerd)
The Guitar (I can strum like three chords, but not without whining about the strings cutting into my fingers. I'm a baby)
The Kazoo (I still have hope!)

My 8-year-old self is shaking its head in disappointment at my current self. Sorry little dude(ette).

Home is wherever I'm with you

2009-12-22T02:58:00.003-05:00

It's awfully late but I guess that doesn't matter when you're waiting for a boy
especially one who smells good and makes you laugh and holds your hand in his pocket since it's terribly cold outside.

It's cold inside too. I'm back in Princeton for a good while and the house is never a comfortable temperature. Thank god for flannel. Anyways to get to my point: I'm back.
Surprisingly a semester of college doesn't mean my mom can't boss me around anymore. She'll still drive me to Danielle's house tomorrow and tell me to do the dishes.
I'll end with a cliche: Some things never change

survival of the fittest...or the laziest

2009-12-11T02:07:00.002-05:00

There are so many projects to be started and abandoned, so I'm proposing a new one for myself: weird shit I eat. Now that I'm in college and I can't rely on those trusty ingredients in the kitchen cabinet, I have to make do with the weird things I can scrounge up at 2 am when my stomach starts making the grumblies that only hands can satisfy.

I know Mallory eats real food at the cafeteria all the time, but if there happens to be a freak incident where there's a weird combination of food in her meal then the world deserves to know about it. This is mainly for myself, just so I can look back one day and wonder how I didn't pass out from the massive quantities of MSG I shoved in my body.

So tonights 2 am menu includes:
week-old blueberry mini-muffins, ramen noodles, and Orangina. Fascinating.

womenwomenwomenwomen

2009-12-08T01:25:00.001-05:00

Today I had one of the strangest days of my life. I'm eating a banana covered in nutella in consolation.

white winter hymnal

2009-12-05T14:56:00.001-05:00

I like it when snow settles into people's hair and into the fur around their hoods.

tiny bone hands

2009-11-30T13:37:00.007-05:00

Unlike Mallory, I am fairly unorganized, quite passive about my music, and make mediocre mix CD's. This month was cold, rainy, and full of train rides. Here's the result:

Train Songs

Igloo by Karen O & The Kids
Talking Bird (demo) by Death Cab
When The Road Runs Out by Blonde Redhead and Devastation's*
Whatever (Some Folk Song in C) by Elliott Smith
Little Fury Bugs by Death Cab
Another Saturday by Stuart Murdoch*
Train Song by Ben Gibbard and Feist*
Brackett, W9 by Bon Iver *
Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by Fleet Foxes
Light Leaves by Why?
You've Got The Love by Florence and The Machine
Service Bell by Grizzly Bear and Feist*
Look At Me by John Lennon
Igloo by Karen O & The Kids
Look at That Old Grizzly Bear by Mark Mothersbaugh
Banshee Beat by Animal Collective
Moon Over Goldsboro by The Mountain Goats
These Days by Nico
Raincheck by Polytechnic
Those To Come by The Shins
Deep Blue Sea by Grizzly Bear*
Punky's Dilemma by Simon and Garfunkel
Steadier Footing by Death Cab
To Be Alone With You by Sufjan Stevens
Writing To Reach You by Travis
Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure by The Weakerthans

*These songs can be found on the Dark Was The Night compilation. This CD benefits the Red Hot Organization, "an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV and AIDS through popular culture."

upgrading

2009-11-22T22:34:00.012-05:00

Since I make a point of attempting to surround myself with "artsy" folks it's not a huge surprise that I get nicer, more creative gifts than the average "queen bee" mug (remember that mug, Mallory?), and while I wouldn't go as far as to say that that's the PRIME reason I'm friends with them, well, I do enjoy these benefits...

But sometimes these gifts are way above my level. I've been given two beautifully crafted leather journals (by different people). Both journals are sitting on my bookshelf, too pretty to write in but too pretty to just leave be. Leather is quite fancy and I must admit, I'm unsure of myself. I'm used to my trusty, marble cover Mead 25 cent notebooks from CVS.

I feel like nothing I could possibly write would be nice enough to belong in those journals.

Maybe if my quality of writing materials increases the quality of my writing will increase as well?

...probably not.

(Yes, those are my stupid little fingers)

posing

2009-11-18T21:33:00.001-05:00

Flava Flav is apparently stopping traffic downtown, and I'm on my bed spooning up applesauce like it's *Ben and Jerry's. I obviously win.

My weekend home was fantastic; I forgot how well I fit in with my family and my home. I bought two hats for winter and I few other articles of clothing, but I'm mostly excited about the hats. I walked on the canal path and found a little pathway through the leaves that led to some surprised geese. I wish I had had my camera but I made do with my mind...Cam Jansen got nothing on me.

Now I'm back at my other home with a freezer full of tamales and a desk full of papers and flowers. It feels good to be back but I miss New Jersey.

Oh yeah, and I'm finally 18, but still indifferent. Gotta keep up my cool facade.

*thanks chupacabra...always knew you had to serve some weird purpose besides frightening a small population of Mexicans.

the annual homoerotic love letter

2009-11-14T14:40:00.000-05:00

I was reading the plug today. It's silly and amusing and I never expect to find anything more than playfulness but I picked up this quotation and I thought it was worth sharing:

"You know how there are some people that you're really close to. And then you get to a certain point in your life, and you don't really think about that person anymore? And there's some people you were never really close to, but you always really enjoyed?"

Anyways I know it's probably not relevant and I wonder if I've run out of charming things to say about my friendship with Danielle but she turned 18 today which means It's that time of the year to confess my love.

So Danielle, darling, I may be states away but I'm about as close to you as I can possibly be to anyone. I think that counts for something. Thanks for sharing years of awkward teenage development with me. Thanks for making me laugh. Thanks for reading my mind about 90% of the time. Remember the first time we hung out? I must have felt terribly relieved that day thinking for the first time in my life: thank god, she's just like me.

You're the one I'm really close to and always really enjoyed. Have a happy birthday, legal adult.

updates overdue

2009-11-12T20:03:00.005-05:00

updates:

It feels weird coming back here to write. I'm probably going to feel the same way when I go back home for the first time in three months. It feels familiar but It's like I just stepped into the doorway of my bedroom and realized I didn't make the bed before I left. Nomsayin? Me neither.

Anyways Danielle seems to have started this up again and I find no reason not to follow suit. That's not true. There are always reasons not to do something-time being one of them. Anyways if we're always connected by underground wires then why not reciprocate from both ends?

So far what I'm getting from college is a truckload of new information being shot out by a series of facial haired men who stand at the front of a large classroom. On occasion we regurgitate our new knowledge on papers or tests and sometimes that information nestles itself into my head and I let it get comfortable. Am I getting my money's worth? I can't say. Am I really learning anything? I can say.

I'll return, Beluga

homeward bound

2009-11-12T14:10:00.007-05:00

When I find out I'll be going someplace, I'm anxious to pack immediately, but as my departure approaches the most packing I can muster is to drag my suitcase out and leave it in the middle of the floor. Sometimes I shoot it an angry glare or two.

Itinerary: crepes tonight, Yinka Shonibare afterwards, maybe throwing a shirt or something in the trunk, tea, sleeping, class, foods, HOME.

Oh but YINKA! COOLEST MOTHERFUCKER EVER:

I'd like to be packing those ridonkulous clothes away...

so0oo00o angsty

2009-11-09T21:17:00.011-05:00

I have to stop writing past my bedtime; when I get under five hours of sleep I start to think of myself as very melancholy and pensive when really all I am is sleepy.

"Hi Sleepy, nice to meet you, I'm ----(cuddly woodland creature, usually)-----"

Refusing to post again until I snap out of this nonsense. Then again, when has resolving to do anything ever worked for me? This is why I don't bother with new years resolutions.

Yawning. Pensively, of course.

probably nothing will change

2009-11-09T21:14:00.004-05:00

I'm finally learning that simplicity really is everything. Mallory, sorry it took me forever, and sorry you had to sit through my shitty dramatic writing. Adjectives and I have this tough little romance going on.

too fucking pensive, sorry

2009-11-08T01:55:00.008-05:00

College is just fine. I've found some friends, a few tasty places to eat, and some spots to wander around when I want to look at something beautiful and quiet. I can see a pretty sunset through my window and sometimes there's a cuddly woodland creature in my room and a friendly ear in Boston. If I'm feeling embarrassingly melodramatic, there's my typewriter clack clack clack ping. I have scarves, sweaters, and a good supply of tea and honey. When I walk to my building, I usually can find a decent pile of leaves to walk though crisp crisp crisp crunch. This is all I need right now.

nostalgia

2009-11-06T16:08:00.007-05:00

I suppose now that the "belugas" are off in college this is over (hi, Mallory!), but I don't think either of us can bring ourselves to officially end it. A good clean break isn't necessary; maybe I'll just come back to it when I'm feeling nostalgic and just want to cuddle.

now that's progressive!

2009-08-20T15:43:00.004-04:00

My cousin Abby, who is my little brothers age, came over today. I was in bed vaguely listening to the two of them screaming about wars and dinosaurs, when I heard her say "Let's play doctor!" Although I hadn't ever played that when I was little, I TOTALLY knew the implications of that game. I tried to overhear them, in case I needed to interfere, but I soon learned that the game had involved into something much less scandalous but equally frightening:

Dr. Abby: What seems to be the problem, Mr. Alex?

Alex: My nose fell off!!!

Dr. Abby: Oh no...there seems to be a problem. Your insurance only covers you from the mouth down! I'm afraid I can't help you. Goodbye Mr. Alex.

Alex: Goodbye Dr. Abby.

peachy?

2009-08-20T00:50:00.006-04:00

This summer I worked a second job for this exceptionally rich, exceptionally sweet old lady doing various outdoorsy, gardening-type chores. I thought I would hate it because I had to wake up early each day and by the end of it I would be drenched in sweat, but it turned out to be more lovely than I imagined. She had a little farm, with figs, peaches, cherries, and various vegetables and flowers. I would wander around and practice my daydreaming, which I've now been able to slip into with a bit too much ease. I would often do my daydreaming by the fruit trees...there's just something a bit magical about growing fruits, to me at least. Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the hunger, maybe it was the pesticides, maybe it was the thrill of stealing or my newly recovered imagination, but I have never tasted a more delicious peach.

Hold it in

2009-08-19T14:14:00.003-04:00

When the dog starts barking for no apparent reason it's safe to assume that he has to poop. Either that or there's a ghost in the kitchen. Since I'm obedient and loyal I take him out to do his business. I'm supposed to go to the back yard and make sure he dumps it by the edge of the woods but depending on my mood I might just take him to the front yard and hope my mother doesn't notice the shit in her garden. I took him to the back today and remembered what an awful, weedy mess that place is. In the summertime the mosquitoes go nuts back there and while I watched Peter squat in the bushes I was swarmed by little vampires. A bite on my neck, a bite on my arm and a bite on my leg. I was out there for three minutes!

I can only come to the conclusion that my blood is exceptionally tasty. And now I wait for Edward Cullen to whisk me away.

Whatever, I do what I want!

2009-07-26T14:58:00.005-04:00

My weekend was dedicated to domestic bliss and I say that in a totally un-ironic/un-sarcastic way. Sometimes I hibernate at home. And by hibernate I mean help mom in garden, do the dishes, go grocery shopping, walk the dog and pick out a good looking recipe for dinner (Salad Nicoise). I even managed to paint my nails properly. They are now Pink Breeze.

I don't know exactly what point I'm trying to prove here. Maybe that it's kinda lame to stay at home all weekend but putting coolness aside I find great pleasure in doing housewife-like tasks every once in a while.

I feel weird saying it too because, well, I'm only a seventeen year old girl who, for the most part, fantasizes about the glamorous and sophisticated city-life waiting for me in the future and in terms of 1950s housewife ideals I become insanely defensive in a no-shave feminist sort of way...not to mention I dislike the idea of cookie cutter suburban communities (my Weeds addiction doesn't help) AND I just watched Revolutionary Road last night-the ultimate HORROR movie in terms of domesticity...

The point is, I sometimes like "playing house" if only for a little while.

Diet plan

2009-07-06T19:23:00.002-04:00

I think I have food poisoning. I haven't been hungry for a long time. I feel like I could go my entire life without ever eating again. No it's not an eating disorder, and yes I am eating despite my lack of appetite. I just thought I would share this odd feeling. I suppose this is what it's like to be a machine. Although I do need sleep. Sleeping beauty slept forever without eating. Maybe she ate the lox I had for breakfast yesterday morning?

Infinite Jest update:
I'm on page 185. So 796 pages left (not including footnotes)! I keep picking up "toughen-up" mottoes that seem to make perfect sense. A lot of the quotations are for the insane tennis players in the book and although I'm not exactly athletic, I could easily have an athletic mind-set.
(Not necessarily) good life lessons for the day:
"What is unfair can be a stern and invaluable teacher."-IJ

"If you are an adolescent, here is the trick to being neither quite a nerd nor quite a jock: be no one. It is easier than you think."

"Please learn the pragmatics of expressing fear: sometimes words that seem to express really invoke."

Oh say can you see

2009-07-04T13:02:00.003-04:00

happy birthday America. I'm getting along fine with the book, thank you very much. I took it to the ocean yesterday and it survived the sand, the water and my smelly messy dog stepping all over. So far the book is really funny but at times difficult. The best way to approach the book is with ETA's former motto:
TE OCCIDERE POSSUNT SED TE EDERE NON POSSUNT NEFAS EST*

*since I failed latin my Junior year, the only reason I know the translation is because it is footnote 32: They can kill you but the legalities of eating you are quite a bit dicier.

the old switcharoo

2009-06-29T17:04:00.005-04:00

Updates (from Danielle's side of the 100 acre woods)

1) I've been in and out of various pools and graduation parties and hosted a lovely little breakfast for the neighbors. On the menu were a variety of bagels, three different kinds of cream cheeses, scrambled eggs, salmon, bready quiche made by Mallory's mom, fruit salad, and apple strudels. I would've liked to have it be like the wild brunch on the upper east side complete with lobster, caviar, champagne, frills, and a heady dose of drama: but unfortunately I have neither the funds nor the queen blair-ness to command something like that.

2) I'm practicing daydreaming again. I used to be quite the pro, but as I entered high school and got some real friends and a real life I stopped and now I find I can't daydream without simply getting distracted from my daydream and zoning out and thinking about nothing. Not being able to focus on daydreaming is a sad thing indeed. I prefer daydreaming because I feel like it is a bit of a less waste of time then zoning out. Picking my evil, I am.

3) I leave for orientation at George Washington University (is every school I attend doomed to be a mouthful?) tomorrow morning at 5. Maybe I'll meet fantastic witty people. Then again maybe those people might meet me ;)

4) I'm more and more pumped for the new Harry Potter movie every day. Fight back, you coward!

comments on the weather

2009-06-26T20:57:00.005-04:00

Updates

1. The weather has gotten really hot, really quickly. I know this because I am under the sun from 9-5 yelling at children and wishing my bangs wouldn't stick to my forehead.

2. Dinner every night is especially delicious and healthy. My theory is that mother wants me to miss her cooking hardxcore when I leave for school.

3. Infinite Jest is going along fine. I started a bit late because I had to finish rereading Harry Potter ( CANT WAIT FOR THE MOVIE) but I'm on schedule. Working on deadlines actually produces results and I'm enjoying the experience.

4. I have to get organized.

infinite is a scary word.

2009-06-08T17:40:00.003-04:00

Okay I'm starting on a positive note because I WILL DO THIS. Trust me, I will do it.

This was the original introduction to this post: I have the bad tendency to start things and not finish them. You see, if it isn't an assignment for school, or a chore appointed by my screaming mother I simply don't have the will power to do it. Of course once I set my mind to something I'll be damned if I don't accomplish the task.

If you don't know, although I'm certain you do, there has been certain hype over a website called
infinitesummer.org

You should check out the link and if you're a bibliophile like I am, get involved. For those who don't trust where my links lead, I will tell you that it is like a support group for one of most critically acclaimed novels ever, Infinite Jest. The book is ridiculously long with about a million footnotes. I bought it it last year on a sidewalk sale and tried to read it. I got to page 30 and gave up. Then this year I picked it up again and got to page 115 (my bookmark is still in between the pages). AND THEN God came down to earth and showed me an opportunity to start again.

I'm in. I'm doing it. And I will be mentioning my progress here. Don't groan, I'm not a literary expert so I won't be writing insightful essays or anything. Maybe I'll just complain. But whatever, it's good for me. That way I can go to BU next year and say I read the book and immediately seem like a pretentious shut-in with way too much time on my hands.

I've always been good with directions so I will be starting June 21st and reading about 75 pages a week.

I'm excited. I'm a nerd.

Harry Potter and the girls who love the books hardXcore

2009-06-07T20:29:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since Danielle and I wrote a post....TOGETHER!

actually it's been a while since we've actually wrote anything.

SO here is a list of life advice we learned from HARRY POTTER:

1. make sure your best friend is ten times smarter than you. It comes in handy

2. trust your instincts

3. don't make enemies who can actually harm you

4. there is not such thing as fate. You HAVE A CHOICE. Go Gryffindor

5. sometimes it's okay to break the rules

6. know some good insults.

7. treat everybody like your equal-house elves included

8. first impressions are sometimes wrong

9. LOVE conquers all

10. "it does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that." -Dumbledore

11. follow Dumbledore's advice, always

12. when in doubt, go to the library

13. "fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself "

14 . Don't be so stubborn all the time.

15. chocolate makes you feel better

Yeah, I (Mallory) have been rereading all the harry potter books and forgot how AWESOME they were. And Danielle never forgot. okay so peace out. hope you like our advice and if not please read HP because it's so much better than Twilight.

oh and stay away from fan fiction.

This page is not blank

2009-05-20T19:23:00.002-04:00

The future of travel

2009-05-05T19:48:00.002-04:00

When I'm wearing socks I like to slide around the house. This is the number one reason that I want hardwood floors in my future home. Run and slide. Sure beats walking.

What is art? Baby, don't hurt me

2009-04-30T19:15:00.006-04:00

Introduction to the introduction: OKAY. So I LOVE to start projects/experiments on this website and NEVER finish them so here is my new project.

Introduction: Modern art can be frustrating to understand. If I crumple up a piece of paper and spit on it what give me the right to call it art? Discussing the legitimacy of artwork is fascinating and tiring but that's not what I'm trying to do here. I LOVE art. Mydili is skeptical. That doesn't make me pretentious or her "uncultured" it just makes us different. What Mydili is going to do is continuously question: WHAT MAKES IT ART? She will mock and criticize and possibly even answer her own questions (God knows I've tried). And I am going to document. Enjoy :)

Part One: The Critique***
**these videos were taken on the bus back home from the MoMA. The video quality is horrible. You can hear people talking, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid playing in the background, and the city I love zooming in the background. You will have to focus but I think all the distractions in the background enhance the experience. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. Oh and I added links to the artwork so you can see what she's talking about.

Heroin

Stains

Tutto

INCONSISTANCY is the name of the game

2009-04-30T19:09:00.002-04:00

Updates:

I know it's been a while but this has been a very hectic month. Danielle and I have been getting our lives together. I will be attending Boston University and she will be attending George Washington University. The future of the Beluga is at stake!

Picture of the day has turned into picture of the whenever I feel like it. But I have indeed updates some from today, April 30th: http://www.flickr.com/photos/haveyourfits/

Senior-itis be hitting me hardxcore.

There was a dead worm on my driveway covered in ants. This could lead to a fascinating discussion on mortality and Dali's ant symbolism but all I can think about is how gross it all is.

the hope of spring

2009-04-15T18:00:00.002-04:00

Yesterday I looked out the window and saw snow on the tree tops. I sighed but I was not too surprised since it has been cold and rainy for days. When I looked closer I realized it wasn't snow but blossoms.

not my favorite kind of pie

2009-04-11T14:28:00.002-04:00

Ten things I can't do:
whistle
paint my nails without making them look like a third grader's
skateboard
do a kart wheel
harmonize
be confrontational
speak a foreign language fluently
keep my money in my pocket
pay attention in math class
act

there.

you wanted to know

2009-03-15T19:33:00.002-04:00

Updates

As Danielle said, "all your annoying studiousness has finally paid off" and the pay off is acceptance into a Boston school and a lovely sum of scholarship money. Looks like I won't have to work in the coal mines for the rest of my life.

I have been reading too much Russian literature and in search of some sunny books I am turning to the weird self help books scattered around the house. I love you too, Dalai Lama.

I bathed Peter today and he had the strongest aversion to a hair brush that I have ever seen. I found it odd and will try to video tape it the next time I clean him.

I have this new found obsession with William Eggleston's photography. I have that photo of the two girls on the couch. You know what I'm talking about? It's a little gay but hey...maybe I'm a little gay.

I'm totally kidding about that.

Bubbles are much cleaner in your head than in person.

PPS:

2009-03-10T19:18:00.002-04:00

To check out her two blog posts click HERE!

PRINCESSES!

2009-03-10T18:19:00.003-04:00

I went to Disney and if I weren't so stupid I would have probably had a better time. I won't discuss the details but I do want to show off some comics that my friend made. She is an awesome award winning artist. Her style is super sophisticated and mature beyond belief:

PS: All art work done by DISNEY or Erina Davidson. Bet ya can't guess who did what!!

clicking away like Cam Jansen

2009-03-01T22:08:00.001-05:00

I resolved to take a photograph every day for the rest of my life. Like most commitments, let us see if I freak out and start to find flaws in the relationship.
So yeah here's my new boyfriend:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/haveyourfits/

love,
Mallory

And the Mallory goes to...

2009-02-23T16:25:00.002-05:00

With the Oscars on last night, it seems that all this pop culture has just vomited all over my brain. And so I've been thinking about celebrities I really want to know. I might be a teenage girl, but I'm not that into heartthrobs (with the exception of Ed Westwick, but don't get me started) so here are the top three famous people that I would eagerly take on a strictly platonic lunch date.

Sean Penn: I don't care what people say about this nut job, I like him immensely BECAUSE of his absurdity. And he was so beautiful in Milk that I will always forgive him.

Mos Def: I was watching this documentary on Richard Pryor, and every time Mos Def came on I felt like hugging him. I just swear he's nice.

Jon Stewart: This wouldn't be platonic. I'm hardcore crushing on this man for obvious reasons.

surprise interaction: who would be your top three celebrity platonic dream dates?

1000110101

2009-02-11T17:14:00.005-05:00

I just discovered wordle (a "word cloud" generator) and I've been brainstorming what text I should use. I've considered poems and quotes and my favorite things, but most of those things are already pleasant. The thing with wordle is that it can make ANYTHING beautiful, so why waste it on words that are already lovely? So instead, I thought of the most unfascinating thing I could think of and made it pretty: an explanation of BINARY CODE. Enjoy.

    title="Wordle: binary code">    src="http://www.wordle.net/thumb/wrdl/533107/binary_code"
    alt="Wordle: binary code"
    style="padding:4px;border:1px solid #ddd">

do you like your women late and cheap?

2009-02-09T21:56:00.001-05:00

This is going to be a new irregularly updated (aka whenever I feel like it) segment where I scan the shit I find in my pocket at the end of the day. I'm a very mysterious girl and my pocket treasure may help you find out more about me:

Today's findings include:
tardy slip
bagel with coupon usage

If you're a bird, I'm a bird!

2009-02-09T21:32:00.006-05:00

Because I am one lazy BAMF I've been shirking on my posts and copying my old poems and other such things to avoid having to think of a decent post for the interwebs. I promise this will end after this post because I have run out of poems. Yes, they made me and my friends laugh and hopefully made other readers smile, but flaunting my youthful stupidity has gone on long enough. Good-bye old dreams of literary fame!

However, this next and last poem I'm posting was my magnum opus, my chef d'oeuvre, my tour de force, the one I knew would propel me into the world of prose. It's a long one, but at age 14, my heart was full of long thoughts. The weird thing is I don't think I had a boyfriend at the time, so I don't really know what I was jabbering on about. Well, I was a wise one! I should have paid attention to my terrible metaphor several months later!

Clipped Wings (Winds of Delight)

I saw a bird

in the deep of the night

spread its white wings

and swiftly take flight.

I wept silent tears

for what never could be

for fate cruel and fierce,

and for those that fly free.

For once I was a bird,

white, perfect, and pure,

'til I was cast down

by Love's sweet allure

Drawn by things that might be,

by things that once were,

I threw caution to the wind,

and my life began to blur.

With promises half-kept,

and sweet words untrue,

I fought with myself,

tried to hide what I knew:

"True love should not

clip my wings of flight,

but should instead soar with me

as the winds of delight."

say playlist one more time and I swear...

2009-02-09T19:02:00.009-05:00

Here are three facts about me that make the statement I am about to make seem impossible: I love my music, I am fairly well organized, and I make pretty fantastic mix-cds (which I create as pleasant surprises for my friends...but that's another story)

Now the statement I want to make is this: NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY I CAN'T MAKE A PLAYLIST on iTunes.

It's not that I'm physically incapable, but for some reason whenever I try to create a compilation of songs so that I'm not stuck wondering what to listen to, I just give up or end up deleting it. About every two weeks I have a set list of songs that I listen to over and over again and then move onto the next batch, and it would make sense to just create a goddamn playlist! I want to utilize my iPod to the best of its ability and simplify my life. I can imagine having tons of lovely playlists, each with clever names. I've even considered organizing it in different categories like the best of each genre, or by appropriate season but holy crap I just end up deleting it after minutes of wasted scrutiny.

It doesn't help that GENIUS playlist and PARTY SHUFFLE (sounds like a dance move) playlist are all up in my grill telling me that a computer can create a shitty playlist and not have the obsessive need to delete it immediately.

And you know what makes this rant especially crazy? Deep down in my heart I know why I can't create a playlist. DEEP DEEP down I believe that if I create this disgusting list of elite songs I will snub the other ones. The ones I don't listen to everyday (you sons of bitches know who you are!), the ones that come out of nowhere on my shuffle and surprise me with their subtle beauty and sneaky charm. Oh my heart aches knowing I don't pay attention to you. You're all important and I love you all!

**I do have a Christmas playlist that doesn't count because a blind monkey could organize their Christmas songs.

If only Tumnus were around the corner

2009-02-03T16:40:00.008-05:00

Groundhog says six more weeks of winter so I'm not that surprised that it's snowing today. Since my backyard is a mess of trees the snow turns it into the beautiful, inspiring NARNIA:

No photos can do it justice (guess which one I didn't take) so just step into your wardrobe or something.

The Iron Burn of Civilization!

2009-01-29T22:30:00.006-05:00

My language arts teacher freshmen year assured me if this got published, it would totally change the way young people thought about the environment. I now know better.

Breathing Todays Air

...Breathe in....

Car exhaust,

Cigarette smoke,

A hint of rain,

The metallic taste,

The iron burn

Of Civilization.

...Breathe out...

"The Iron Burn of Civilization" should be an of Montreal cover band that rewrites the lyrics to make them environmentally friendly. Reuse, Recycle, Repair your WASTED TIME.

Advanced Proficient Humor

2009-01-25T17:01:00.003-05:00

I have an American Government test tomorrow and while I was reading the dense and mostly un-fascinating textbook I actually found some humor. It just seemed so out of place that I thought I would share.
It's subtle but a good enough excuse for me to get out of my studies and show the world:

"...public outrage over the abuses of the spoils system, highlighted by the assassination of President James Garfield by a man always described in the history books as a 'disappointed office seeker' (lunatic would a more accurate term)..."

hear that Charles Julius Guiteau? My textbook has a bone to pick with you!

roses are read, violets just blow

2009-01-23T22:21:00.003-05:00

Danielle has been posting old and silly poems and although I am proud to say I never wrote shitty teenage poetry before (I have three more years to actually write a TEENAGE poem, after that they will only be shitty poems.) I think my diary entries are dramatic enough without the metaphors and vague word combination (think: the sunset of my eyes carry you home). I also figured that it is in my nature to be pretty straight forward with my thoughts and writing. I hate flowery nonsense. That being said, I was shuffling through my old journals and found something close to being a poem. So for the first time in history, the second half of Might Beluga reveals the poet inside:

She sleeps with feathers in her hair and wakes to find an illegible song she scrawled in the dark the night before. If only the ideas didn't fade before the lights turned on again. "I can't keep writing in the dark and one more flash with burn out the bulb"

I actually don't think it's that bad. But that's probably because I'm an arrogant motherfucker.

still can relate

2009-01-22T22:56:00.004-05:00

Complete and utter garbage. But unlike some people I know, I can recognize garbage when I see it, and use it as entertainment. I don't delude myself, although my language arts teacher had circled the last three lines and wrote "Catchy!" on the side. I must agree, to be honest.

2 am

Late at night

(or is it early in the morning?)

I toss and turn.

Scenes wheel through my mind.

Forgotten places,

Forgotten faces.

None staying long enough in my mind.

These thoughts plague my mind,

Things I should've said,

Things I should've done.

I cannot rest!

Oh how this nightly ritual

Do I detest!

Irrational

2009-01-13T20:24:00.007-05:00

Sometimes I think what life would be like if dinosaurs still tromped around the Earth, and I start to panic. This is an irrational fear that I have, along with being suffocated by things placed over my face (like a shirt), certain types of blankets, and my hairdresser accidentally cutting my ear off. Although, the hairdresser one is pretty legitimate. The last lady that cut my hair had this look in her eyes that was just plain malicious. She wanted blood, I just knew it, so help me god. Just like this T-Rex. Turd Rex.

Just editing this photo gave me severe shivers.

Danielle and the Deathly Sleepiness

2009-01-08T21:39:00.008-05:00

Over the winter break, I managed to greet the day later and later. It was less like greeting and more like grumpily mumbling hello to an uninvited guest. One day I stumbled out of bed at two in the afternoon and stumbled back into bed at 8 because I was still in my pajamas and bored. Every morning, I would just rub my eyes blearily, roll over, and go back to sleep until my mother would be reduced to standing over me with a cup of ice water in her hands, yelling herself hoarse.

I begin to wonder...if no one was around to wake me up, would I just sleep and sleep FOREVER? Would I be lost in my dorm room for days that would evolve into weeks, while my traitorous body swayed in the arms of Mistress Sleep?! How long til somebody noticed I was gone?! How fucking terrible of a metaphor was swaying in the arms of Mistress Sleep?!

I picture the scene, campus police storming up the stairs, bashing the door in with their little billy clubs, the gasp that would be drawn from the mob as they laid eyes on my lifeless body, curled up in a fetal position, and the second gasp as I laboriously raised my head, passed a hand across my slitted eyes, and moaned, "Ungh...5 more minutes."

for auld lang syne

2009-01-01T12:53:00.002-05:00

Happy new year, friends! I hope you had a good last night, drank champagne, watched the ball drop, ate grapes and made a decent resolution. Contrary to popular belief, I am flawed. So I thought I would make a good resolution that I am capable of following. There will be many changes this year and I hope I manage to keep my head in the right place despite whatever madness I meet.
For 2009 I plan on:
Graduating High School
Attending College
Making new friends
Holding on to the old ones

and I resolve to hold on to my optimism. I am easily discouraged and easily disappointed in people. If I ever hermit away It's because I worry about how things will turn out, or I start to wonder if anyone is ever any good. This year I will try to keep my faith in myself, my future and the people around me. I know that everyone is a good person although it's not always obvious to others, and I know that everything will fall into its place no matter how badly things seem to be going...
That's all. And I apologize if this post wasn't very amusing but I thought I should share my resolution so that maybe my dear readers (and Danielle) could keep track of it.

If anyone has some good resolutions please share it with me! Even if it is to drop 15 pounds :)

Batty For You

2008-12-30T16:44:00.009-05:00

I'm hanging out here on the swinging chair on my patio with Lily and Riley, the latter being the dog I'm dogsitting. I'm waiting for Jon and Sami so we can go see Twilight. I'm in the mood for some good teen trash, like Gossip Girl and Legally Blonde. As I rock back and forth I'm thinking of some witty catchphrases that would sell the movie in an instant. I don't know what the movie is about but I know that it includes love and vampires, and that's all I need.

The Box Office Hits include:

Love Bites

The Knight of the Night

Batty for You

Nom Nom Nom

Deliciously Seductive

A Date To Die For

Love at First Bite

Pretty good, eh? I mean, pretty...delicious!

Are you finding everything okay, you piece of shit?

2008-12-27T21:53:00.002-05:00

updates:

I am having a very wonderful holiday doing absolutely nothing
My computer has a virus because I have a nasty porn addiction
Just kidding about the porn addiction. It's mild.
I received: music, many scarves, socks and gossip girl.
I have been working at a toy store since October and I'm starting to realize that shoppers have very peculiar habits. This is my first time in retail and I'm wondering if every shopper has a set of rules they are required to follow.

Of the ones I am learning about here are my absolute favorites:
1. when entering a store make sure you ignore the sales lady when she greets you. No eye contact! They are your slaves, don't condescend.
2. Let your child run free and ruin everything. Don't put anything back where you found it. In fact, shove the toys behind the shelves. That way no one can find it!
3. Shopping is a team effort. Every shopper needs help at the same time. Every shopper needs to pay at the same time and every shopper wants their purchase to be gift wrapped. This is especially necessary when there is only one employee in the store.
4. Does the sales lady not know what you're talking about? get angry. She's a moron for not knowing about that organic Swedish toy that will teach your child quantum physics.
5. Yell really loudly about how expensive the products are instead of taking the family to Walmart and shutting the fuck up
6. If she's wearing a blue apron and a name tag, ask her if she works at the store
7. If the store closes at 9, come in at 8:58 with your three kids.

hope your holiday shopping was awesome!
-Mallory

Merry Christmas! I mean...Happy Holidays!

2008-12-25T22:05:00.002-05:00

Naw man, no more political correctness. Tom Robbins wrote it much better than I ever could. Anywho, hope the world is a bit nicer to at least a couple people today and tomorrow and for the rest of their lifetimes, etc.

I got my ears pierced which opens me up to a whole new realm of purchasing possibilities. It is just really difficult to remember that THERE ARE HOLES IN MY EARS which are raw and tender, like a young girls heart. Handle me with care.

Following up on my small woodland creatures post, tomorrow I go on epic adventure to Petsmart with ERINA to purchase two little "meece." They are her christmas present and she will give them the best life they ever could have. And as she's an ARTIST!, no doubt they will have plenty of artsy little toys all the other mice will be jealous of.

Maybe we will train Atticus Finch to ride on them, but more likely he will peep his appreciation from his lofty perch.

Peeping against society's wrongs

2008-12-16T16:32:00.009-05:00

Presenting...Atticus Fringillidae Finch!

I got him a few months ago when I abruptly entered an I-LOVE-BIRDS phase. I still do, still can marvel at his tiny body, still think he's adorable, just not at seven in the morning when he wont shut his adorable little beak.

In the spirit of metaphor, I plan on setting him free* on the day of my graduation. I'm sure the original Atticus Finch would approve.

*I should also mention that Atticus is a wild bird my neighbor recently caught and gave to me as a present, so he's well equipped for hanging out in the wild again!

while they be boozin' I be cruisin'

2008-12-11T22:24:00.005-05:00

As I'm going off to college next fall, I need a mode of transportation. Instead of wasting god knows how much dough on a car that will be useless in the city, I've decided to invest in a spectacular bike. I have my eye on this baby.

Blogger probably made this image turn out huge because it couldn't contain its sweetness in any smaller size. Bonus points? It's collapsable at the touch of a button. Mallory says I will be beat up if I wheel this into campus but if I do get beat up it will probably be so the bully can steal my wheels.

on a lighter note...

2008-12-07T20:55:00.004-05:00

Look at the expression of suffering on her face! So cute!

I'm trying to train her to balance things on her head. I fed her a morsel of overcooked pancake as a treat.

Inspiration by dooce.

Next? Training her to write my blog posts.

Catfish? more like fatfish!

2008-12-06T19:13:00.004-05:00

Dear Catfish I Choked Down For Dinner Last Night:

Way to be a jerk. After cutting your fat bod in half, you still managed to swell up to the size of a running shoe. I was starving to death, asshole, a good hour past my dinnertime, and you still refused to flake when stuck with a fork. Yeah, alright, and then I find out YOUR KIND isn't supposed to flake when stuck with a fork, so I just overcooked you by a good 20 minutes. STFU, man. Tilapia all the way from now on. How do you like that, stupid?

Love,

Danielle

PS- If I die my mom is so suing.

Feminists suck. No pun intended.

2008-12-04T22:17:00.002-05:00

Alright girls. I get it. I get that women are equal to men in most ways. In some ways superior, and in others inferior. That was established a good 20 years ago. Now this is going too far and we are headed in the opposite direction.

It seems to me that there seems to be a ridonkulous number of man bashings nowadays. Turn on the TV, or at least if you live in America. Check out almost every family show. Check out the commercials selling cleaning supplies. Check out those movies in which the mom leaves for a week, leaving the Dad in charge. In it, the Dad is the dumb, selfish ox who needs to be kept in line by his ever-present, always clear-thinking brilliant wife who just can't believe that she got stuck with such a lame moron that can't attempt anything delicate without breaking it. Oh, but with her never ending patience, she loves him anyways!

Cue extreme eyerolls from my direction.

Ever since the whole feminist movement began, it suddenly became cool to treat men as retarded fuck-ups who are just bringing us down. I've always had great relationships with guys and I'm realizing that this is so because I've treated them with respect. Yeah I've done my fair share of "Geez you're such a guy," but it's all in good fun and when it comes down to it I treat guys as friends, with the proper actions that go along with being friends.

I also realize that I'm only 17 years old and might not exactly know what I'm talking about, but hey, I'm trying.

home again

2008-11-26T18:25:00.003-05:00

Back from Texas. It was not as bad as I thought it would be, not filled with sunburnt overweight farmers in bad camouflage. I mean there were some, but they were very polite. I found out I have some pretty neat family there. Mallory and I aren't one of those "hey internet get to know my family, here's pictures of my grandma, check out this video of my cat meowing, today I went and picked up my kids from school, tomorrow I'll do the same, etc."

BUT TRY AND WRAP YOUR HEAD AROUND THIS.

The mom of the family that we stayed with is both my cousin and my aunt, because my mom's oldest sister is married to my dad's uncle. She's the daughter of this crazy union. Sounds pretty scandalous, but it's totally legit.

Anyways back to the daily grind. Slow-roasted for premium flavor.