31 March 2008

sweetness

for someone who loves words and puts a lot of weight on verbal communication, there are certain actions that just floor me. when someone gets up to get something from the kitchen and asks me if i want anything. putting away dishes. hand on the small of my back when i walk through a door. asking me my opinion on anything.

this weekend, not one, but two friends, asked me to text them when i got home from us hanging out. i know it seems small, but that level of care means a lot to me. thanks, ladies, for ensuring that i didn't die on the way home from the metro.

30 March 2008

strange occurances

i swear, there must be a wormhole somewhere, eating my favorite lip gloss and minidresses. because, honestly, how else could i go about losing such beloved things?

and in case you were curious about my new musical obsessions, born ruffians and harrisons-



29 March 2008

worth every penny

i was in need of a playdate, so yesterday, emily and i saw 21. as we were purchasing our tickets, we lamented the high $10.50 price tag and reminisced when movies were $6, $4, even $1.50. how the times have changed!

we go into the theater, find our seats, and proceed to be mightily entertained. well, i don't know about emily, but i was certainly enjoying myself. it wasn't because the caliber of the film was that high but i just find myself easily amused by badass laurence fishburne and ridiculous narration. needless to say, there was a lot of laughing and general tittering coming from our corner of the theater.

but, by far, the best moment EVER.

some very tense moment on screen and one character (either kevin spacey or jim sturgess) says "no one leaves this town alone." and the music swells.

and someone in the theater, very audibly, goes "bah bah BUM" a two second beat and the entire audience bursts out in laughter.

the movie itself was worth $.50, but that level of audience participation easily covers the other $10.

28 March 2008

can't think

my brain is a bit mushy. it must be spring. my thoughts just want to frolic and refuse to be confined. blah plus the formatting is all messed up and i want to fix it but i also... just don't. blame it on spring and sinus headaches.

1. What time did you get up this morning? woke up at 9:30, out of bed at 10:26. i'm not a morning person.

2. Diamonds or pearls? pearls are my birth 'stone' but i don't wear either.

3. What was the last film you saw at the movies? juno. seeing 21 in a few hours.


4. What is your favorite TV show? i think at this point, everyone is aware of my tv viewing habits. but current top love is jeopardy.


5. What do you usually have for breakfast? instant oatmeal.


6. What is your middle name? leigh.


7. What food do you dislike? anything anise, licorice, or fennel flavored.

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? born ruffians 'red, yellow, and blue'. seriously obsessed.


9. What kind of car do you drive? can't legally drive.


10. Favorite sandwich? depends on my mood but i can't go wrong with avacado, swiss, sprouts, cucumbers, hummus. delish.

11. What characteristics do you despise? body odor.

12. Favorite item of clothing? the only pair of jeans that currently fit.


13. If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would
it be? i just did the exotic local for vacay and now i want to sit on a beach, anywhere, and NOT DO A THING.

14. What color is your bathroom? beige.


15. Favorite brand of clothing? the airbrush shop in easton, pa.


16. Where would you retire? ooo, perhaps cartagena. then i could be the cool grandma in a foreign country.


17. Most memorable birthday? 20th. something about splitting your pants really sticks.


18. what happened to 18!?!

19. Farthest place you are sending this? um, i'm not sending it.


20. Who do you expect to send this back to you? see above.

21. Person you expect to send it back first? sigh. see above.

22. Favorite saying? "that's what she said"

23. When is your birthday? june 5.


24. Are you a morning person or a night person? like there is any question. night.


25. What is your shoe size? depending on the style and how much i want it, 8.5-10.

26. What was the last book you read and what are you reading now? sweet 15 (young adult novel for exhibit research) reading now: um, nothing?i can't read during the school year. ironic, but true

27. What did you want to be when you were little? ballerina.


28. What are you today? grad student and *barf* barista.


29. What is your favorite candy? harribo gummi bears.


30. What is your favorite flower? lilies. orchids.

31. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? after 5pm on may 5- done with the semester and one month until my birthday!

32. What church do you attend? regularly- none. last visited- 7th day adventist in lima peru. trippy.

33. What are you listening to right now? born ruffians. seriously, a disease. catch it.


34. What was the last thing you ate? bagel with cream cheese and strawberry jam.


35. Do you wish on stars? ooo, it has been an age since i have, but yes.


36. Do you believe in Angels? how can you read madeleine l'engle and not?

37. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? burnt umber.


38. What is your pet peeve? dc tourists who don't know walking etiquette.


39. Last person you spoke to on the phone? juliet.

40. Do you like the person who sent this to you? see like 20 questions back. oh wait, karel gave it to me. so yes.


41. Favorite soft drink? diet coke with splenda and diet coke plus. hard to find either. sob.


42. Favorite restaurant? um god i don't know. it has been so long since i've eaten out at a non chain.

44. Siblings: two familes: cecilia, andy, joseph. erin, maddie, caroline. all younger. i rock.

45. Favorite day of the year? my birthday.


46. What was your favorite toy as a child? my leopard costume
. cabbage patch dolls, especially the astronaut one.

47. Summer or Winter: Summer

49. Chocolate or vanilla? vanilla.

50. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? UGH. fine, no emails. but comments are always lovely.

51. What is under your bed? three suitcases. bins of toiletries. files. my printer on a little planter thing so i can wheel it out.

52. Who is the friend you've had longest? now that we are living together, lauren. since 1996. jebus.

53. What did you do last night? sat down to just watch jeopardy and went to bed at 12:45 after five hours of tv viewing. seriously, it is a bit crazy.

54. Favorite smell? laundry. old bay. male neck skin after shaving.

55. What are you afraid of? flying. falling down and busting my teeth out.


56. How many keys on your key ring? 3.


57. How many years at your current job? 3 years at starbucks. just starting at this new store. ugh, so depressing.

58. Favorite day of the week? saturday

59. How many towns have you lived in? 12, covering three countries and multiple states.


60. Do you make friends easily? i bond like a barnacle.

27 March 2008

when you smile at me, you know exactly what you do



michael buble, you lovely canadian italian crooner, i would be your everything. emily blunt is a lucky woman.

maybe i should go on that starve myself and then when i think i'm going to pass out, eat a cube of cheese diet. i do love cheese. and it got her a guy to sing about her.

tomorrow, i'm going to buy myself a block of havarti.

26 March 2008

we're at about the same level of attractiveness

thank you, karel!

true and bleak. but funny. and awesome.

25 March 2008

best unsolicited comment EVER

in my museum administration class during a marketing lecture.

during a talk of all the outside things that influence consumers' decisions, a classmate of mine shares this comment.

not in response to a question, mind you. just a... thought.

"rambling rambling something about how this doesn't really apply to cars or museums blah blah. the situation can make it uncomfertable. yadda yadda. like how you have to buy generic products at the end of the month because you haven't been paid yet. and how that makes me anxious and nervous."

um, seriously?! i LOVE buying generic. i'm all for store brands. there are very few things that i MUST buy brand name- ketchup, feminine hygiene products, electronics- but most everything else, if i can get the same quality for the same price, why not?

but the best part of all of this? this was shared... just because. it was like she had a burning desire to let us all know the uneasiness that surrounds all purchases of generic products. because while it had just the slightest bit to do with the topic of the lecture, it was certainly at an odd moment.

maybe grad school isn't terribly boring after all.

24 March 2008

twinkle, twinkle

you are arduously researching non-profit budgets or watching back episodes of "carpoolers" online. you are certainly not preoccupied with any open gchat messages or IM convos you have going on. because, really, they are just there to pass the time while you are doing more important things. totally.

but then, out of the corner of your eye, you think you see something move. a message atop your gmail page to alert you that the witty comment you sent ten minutes ago has finally garnered a response! hooray! i mean, a watched chat never boils, so you know not to stare at it, which is why you are busy with other things. and why your peripheral vision has a hair trigger.

because actually, there is no response to your wit and humor. the movement was all a trick on your mind.

and that, my friends, is wishful blinking.

23 March 2008

i'm back!

you ever feel that you need another vacation to get over your vacation? now, i had a fantastic time in peru- simply tremendous- and i am not saying that i wish i hadn’t gone. but i feel like i could use some downtime to recover from the 6 flights in 10 days, family stress, pan pipe recordings of ABBA hits, bumpy bus rides, and the vast amounts of starch i inhaled each day.

but of course, i have four things due before wednesday and i didn’t work on any of them while away, so i have no time to rest or to adequately update you on my trip.

so, broad strokes!

day 1:
fly from bwi to miami. get to airport hours before rest of family. eat a sandwich and manage to stain one of my two pairs of pants before even getting on the plane. hot.

miami to lima is a bumpy flight. i didn’t take a xanax because i thought i could sleep. instead i cry and watch ‘dan in real life’

day 2:
get into lima at 5:30 am. picked up at airport by aunt. spend the rest of the day napping and eating.

day 3:
finally venture outside apartment. spend 2 plus hours in a 7th day adventist service, which is full of waving and harry potter bashing. walk down to watch sunset on the ocean. go to trippy water fountain park.

day 4:
go on a city tour. see someone who looks eerily like my first boyfriend, who is also in peru at the same time but i know that my ex is doing shaman stuff in the mountains and besides, this guy is named joshua and from park city, utah. secome obsessed with taking extreme close ups of signs and flora.

day 5:
early flight to cusco. the guy who picks us up from the airport name is elvis. he gives me a new nickname- ‘tatianita’. go on another city tour. tour guide’s name is Puma. macro pic obsession continues.

day 6:
up ass early to take a van to a train to a bus to machu pichu. cool guide name trend continues with serefino. totally surreal and kind of didn’t mind that it rained the whole time because I was at MACHU frickin PICHU.

day 7:
yet another tour. even for someone who loves structure, it is getting a little crazy. more gorgeous pics of ridiculousness andes beauty and ruins.

day 8:
shopping in cusco (no guide though elvis totally wants to continue staring at my boobs) before flying back to lima. the heat of the city makes me a sloth once again.

day 9:
beach outside of lima. though I try to apply sunscreen evenly, i miss odd patches on my feet and get suburned. finally have ceviche, national food of peru. watch movies with my sister on twin bed.

day 10:
nap for a few hours before leaving for the airport at 4:15. lima to miami, i take xanax and sleep for the majority of the flight- ‘matrian child’ doesn’t grab my attention. the turbulence does but lovely tranquilizers mean i don’t really care. pass eight hour layover by finally doing some school work. and texting most everyone in my phone.

i’m sure that i will elaborate later with more detailed stories and pics. feel free to comment on what you want to know more about- the food, the sights, the weather, my awesome camera that makes me want to drop out of school and just take extreme closeups of everything I see. but right now, i am going to delve into the world of museum administration, script writing, and evaluation. i may not post again until thursday- though who are we kidding, i’m totally going to fit tv viewing and blog writing into these next few crazy days.

22 March 2008

Peruivian keepsake


Look at that sexy oddly patterned sunburn. So hot. Pun intended.

Mobile post sent by rizado using Utterz Replies.

13 March 2008

llama land



adios, amigos! i don't know what my internet situation will be like once i get to lima and i def know that in machu pichu, i won't be able to post daily. so, until easter, enjoy going through the archives and continue to checkout my friends there to the left. plus, you can still comment and send me emails!
muchos abrazos y besos!

12 March 2008

you are so good to me

you would think with my love of structure and schedules, i could keep to one of my own making. but the whole weekly stumble and best of blog features fell off the face of rizado a long time ago. so i'm no longer calling it weekly stumble, but random stumble that i post whenever i feel like it, especially when i've talked about tv enough and don't have the energy to come up with something else.

though that is a bit wordy.

in any case, go amuse yourself at spamusement

yes, it hasn't been updated in a very long time. but oh the hilarity. THE HILARITY. it is poorly drawn cartoons based on real spam email subject lines. and i can't tell you how many hours i've spent literally holding my sides in laughter. there is one particular alice and karel trip to boston where we went through each post. and just about died.

some highlights

why your computer is running slow

medieval birth control: is it for you?


impress the females

and my all time favorite...

you are so good to me, eggplant mike

11 March 2008

it is called chantix

10 March 2008

116 word biography

for an exhibition script writing assignment, i had to write a 100 word biography- the intro panel to an exhibit about me. i hope my prof doesn't mind the extra dozen or so words.

I have nicks on my chest from when I used to run with sticks. There is a faint white line on my hand from when I sliced it open on the “Caution: Sharp Edge” on a roll of aluminum foil. I used to scratch my mosquito bites so much that they would bleed and scab over and then I would scratch those, so that by the end of the summer, I had a polka dot tan on my legs. I fell down the stairs in September and my bruise is still apparent. I love my scars. I figure, I’m not going live without getting hurt, so I might as well have some visuals for my story.

09 March 2008

superman

no matter how much alice and i practiced when i went out to visit her in january, we couldn't have gotten nearly as good as those incarcerated.



08 March 2008

whew, finally

so i was going to do my first utterz talking post because blogger was being an asshat but then it decided to behave. go blogger, you are stupendous!

happy international women's day! everyone should do something fun to celebrate. i had lunch with my friend juliet (it doesn't matter that i didn't realize it was IWD at the time) and just got tickets with emily to see eddie izzard in may. TRES excited.

but a true celebration of IWD wouldn't be complete without including you in my obsession with this international female. i want bangs so badly.


06 March 2008

i crossed a line somewhere

and have ceased to realize that tv and movies are scripts and not real life. i find myself wondering why my own day to day existence isn't more like all the shows i watch and wishing that my life was more... well, more.

don't get me wrong, i've got fantastic friends and i'm super lucky for the life i lead- i get to travel, live in a great new place, go to a great school- but at the same time, i feel like my life is missing that sparkle that comes from someone turning around at just the right moment to see you come through the door. or stopping you mid sentence for a big kiss. or a case of mistaken identity at a masked ball.

i guess i'm going to have to plan a costume party, time my entrance, and tell someone ahead of time to shut me up with a smooch. and then be hypnotized before the event so i don't remember my planning.

whew, that's a lot of work.

or i could just realize that gossip girl is scripted and heavily edited.

crabcakes, football, and FASHION

that's what maryland does!
though christian, darling, annapolis is not really a 'small town'. it is the state capital. and the naval academy is there. though i'm sure you were always a little too fierce for the confines of a historic mid-atlantic city.

ps. how cute were you with your runway tears? sniff sniff. and as soon as you you got posh to say 'mah-ja', i knew you nailed it!

welcome to the list of famous marylanders- we truly are the best!

05 March 2008

mablopomo

so, people are doing the nablopomo thing year round. all i can say is, welcome! i've been doing it nonstop since december *hair toss*. to help people get through each month, there are themes and march's is lists.

so, two lists for you today.

ways in which i've felt very grown up
1. worked out even though i wanted to sleep in
2. walked all the way to the crosswalk even though i could have jaywalked
3. painted nails
4. checked the weather to figure out what to wear instead of just looking out the window

ways in which i've felt very much like a child
1. can't get the stove to work so i'm eating cheese for breakfast AND lunch
2. cut myself shaving- seriously, am i 12 again?
3. painted nails are freaking me out because i don't recognize my own hands
4. made faces in the mirror to see how elastic my skin is

04 March 2008

i was wrong before

so, i assumed that others wrote their personal imdb profiles in their heads. apparently, i was wrong. and this has changed my thoughts on how others pass the time and now i think that i may be the only person who thinks about what her life would be like if she had been born at different times and places.

the era i've been thinking about most recently is enlightenment era france. i'm hoping that i would have been a kickass woman with a bustling salon. i would wear huge white powdered wigs, fabric stars on my face, say witty things to keep the intellectuals in their place and make them titter, and make sure the wine flowed freely.

i mean, how could it not be the most amazing fun ever when i would get to wear this?
i wonder what the french equivalent of 'that's what she said' is?

03 March 2008

oh snap

this is what happens. i move and all of a sudden i'm busy with classes! work! meetings! MAKING DINNER FOR THE FIRST TIME IN SIX MONTHS! watching tv with roommates!

as soon as i complete my room, i promise pictures. i still need some things on the walls and curtains up, but i'm *pretty* proud of my room. it looks adult mainly because of my grandparents' bedroom set. amazing what matching furniture does.

until then-

02 March 2008

beverage indicator

today, at my ladies brunch, i grab some milk and sugar for my earl gray. and by some, i should say a fistful. karel, elle, and emily all raised their eyebrows and i had to explain that i liked my tea light and sweet- like i like my men.

rawr.
i then scampered off to our table.

after dinner, karel fills me in on the rest of the conversation.

(pause)

elle: well, i guess that makes sense. i like my tea dark and full.
emily: i don't like tea!
karel: well, i guess you don't like men.
emily: damn, that's my problem.

01 March 2008

i totally called it. totally.



my powers of perception are off the charts.