Presents! And Timwatch 10/23

I love getting mail. And candy. Last week was quite profitable in those respects:

My candy smuggled back from Canada:



A package from Lesley in the New Brunswick: is me hanging a Canadian flag too much?




And my dollar-store swap package from Lili:


yay for stuff!

Anyway, on Tim this weekend I learned that apparently Republicans don't think perjury and obstruction of justice are very serious crimes anymore. Which is awesome, because I totally plan on lying to a grand jury at some point in my future and it is just nice to know that Sen. Hutchinson thinks that would be peachy. Martha Stewart peachy. I also learned that Sen. Allen creeps me out because he looks sort of like a Ken doll only more plastic AND he's super hard-core conservative. I expected more from the roundtable as it had Frank Rich and before the fucking NYT got all elitist about reading their columnists I used to like his column sometimes. But yeah. Here's hoping there's a big fat indictment soon and that my favorite little hobgoblin of doom, Dick Cheney, is named in it.

Life-wise: went to see (International) Noise Conspiracy, who were fantastic. They're a Swedish Marxist garage band! And they're skinny adorable little acrobatic boys in matching outfits spouting socialist ideals! I really wanted to take them home with me. The main band (the Bravery) was okay too, their vocalist was cute and wearing black and probably some eyeliner but they used way too many super-bright strobe lights without the courtesy of an epilepsy warning. The singer reminded me of this guy I know at Lehigh despite not actually looking like him. Went to a neuroscience party that I just wasn't feeling despite the presence of both cupcakes and beer. And went to Grace to catch up with Ariell. And out to dinner (Laotian - wasn't actually all that good) with ExMatt whose attractiveness is wholly dependent on the state of his hair. Without me around to make sure he keeps it all floppy he tends to get it cut a bit too short, which makes me laugh since I don't have to care anymore. When will my exes learn: they need me, if only to make sure bad things don't happen to their hair. Hear me, CFEx? "Ironic facial hair" is NOT okay.

Timwatch 10/17

Oh, boring. Iraq had an election and Condi is all about "yay, democracy in action" but really, is there anyone left in this country that actually cares? Because if I'm bored and I'm a total obsessive about politics and current events I can't imagine anyone else out there is paying attention. Oh, and she doesn't want to run for President so back off. And Louis Freeh still hates Clinton. Yawn. Though I always love when Tim plugs the Bills on the show, which he did. Plus they actually won so Tim must have some sort of power.

I carved a pumpkin for the first time since middle school. I suck but the roasted seeds were good and the mulled cider with rum made me not care about my pumpkin's craptacular-ness. I then learned that sipping straight whiskey isn't fun and that it is totally okay to go to McGlinchey's two nights in a row, it just means you're a poor alcoholic.

I am totally lacking in motivation. Not just motivation to do science, either. I find even paying bills and cleaning up to be way too hard lately. I just want to sit around and stare off into space and obsess because I don't know what I want at all. At least, I don't want the same thing for more than two days at a time. All this oscillation is really exhausting.

Bad Jew! No brisket!

Reason #348 why I am a Very Bad Jew:
On Yom Kippur Eve I had not one but two naughty dreams. And neither of them involved a nice Jewish boy. Even a not-nice Jewish boy. So much for fasting causing me to think above corporeal matters.

Reason #361: Technically I broke fast with ice cream, but my first actual meal involved both mixing milk and meat and prosciutto, which is way not kosher. But it was very yummy.

In other news...the New Pornographers show was really good. They had excellent stage banter. And then McGlinchey's after...because where else can one get $1.85 Lager in this city? And the shots were somehow less than $3. Sometimes I really love Philadelphia.

psst Canadian: how do I obtain said candy from you?

Timwatch 10/9 and Other Things

I've managed to catch Tim two weeks in a row. Take that, alcoholism! Anyway, the big topic was the Miers nomination, obviously. Apparently, the Right was hoping for someone with a long, clear record of being antichoice, antigay, antisecularism...you know, basically the un-me. Anyway, the first segment had Buchanan and Richard Land (who is head Southern Baptist...ooh, scary). Let me just say that it really gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside to see the various right-wing crackpots go after each other, as it means for once they're not trying to poke (or not poke) my uterus. A number of really interesting points have been raised by the behavior of the pro- and anti-Miers forces within the Right, clearly exposing their insane, all-consuming hypocrisy which I've been yelling about for years. They criticize the "secular educated Northeasten liberal elite" yet turn around and yell about how Miers is really not intellectually qualified to sit on the Court (something I agree with, but then I take pride in being part of the whole Northeastern liberal elite scene as we have better booze than the evangelicals). Secondly, they said it was wholly inappropriate for Dems to question Roberts about how his hardcore Catholicism would influence his judicial decisions and his interpretation of the Constitution, yet the mere fact that Miers belongs to a far-right antichoice fundamentalist Evangelical congregation is supposed to mean that she is automatically going to rule "properly" on the next incarnation of Roe. Almost makes your head spin, doesn't it? Good thing I wasn't all hung over or I would've barfed from the dizziness.

The panel this week was blah, and I think David Broder may be getting too old. I feel a bit bad for David Souter: all of the Right keeps saying how Miers is/isn't another Souter. Now, I like Souter, especially since he survived an attack while jogging at his age. pssst: "Oh no! Not Souter!" Anyway, if I were Souter I'd be getting annoyed that was so apparently Satan to (his own) Republican party. I mean, I say mean things about Scalia all the time, like about how much I hate his hair, but I'm not exactly a well-funded and organized collection of organizations. So David Souter, if you're reading this: I don't think you suck. You can come over and we can talk about how cool it is that you bring your lunch (apples and yogurt: may I suggest the addition of walnuts?) and how just because you never get married doesn't mean you're gay and we totally won't go jogging. Seriously, come hang out. I bet you have a hot New Hampshire accent. Are you, perchance, a lapsed Presbyterian or Conregationalist? I mean, just wondering is all.

Life-wise, not too much...mod/soul/garage was way too crowded but the music was great. I just really don't like getting covered in other people's sweat, even if some of them are greasy hipsters. Maybe especially then. Plus, there just wasn't enough dance floor room. Grrr.

I've been trying to do this thing whereby I actually behave like a grownup and talk to people instead of secretly obsessing and freaking out. Know what? It really does work better. Obsessing is just really distracting and time-consuming and totally makes me feel like I'm in 8th grade again, and as that year basically sucked I'd rather not repeat those feelings. Not to say I'm not obsessing a bit, just way less than usual and not over anything serious. Whee!

Thanks For the Beer, Now Go Away

We all know that I love free booze. I've been known to organize my life around its pursuit. However, I have now realized that I need to stop accepting drinks from guys at bars because a free beer is so not worth talking to some of these people. If only one could accept the free booze and not have to actually engage the guy in conversation. Also, when there are two girls out and you buy them both a drink, it sort of comes off like you're hedging your bets (and maybe you are) but still, that's sketchy. And if a girl makes a bunch of excuses as to why she can't do whatever you're inviting her to, perhaps you should realize that she's trying to nicely refuse without saying "You're hairy and I don't want to be seen in public with you" which is what she's actually thinking. And that if you finally do wear her down enough to exasperatedly agree to dinner, you're still never going to get her number. She's going to show up, have a free dinner, and hope she never runs into you again. You know, hypothetically.

I'm going through one of those phases where I hate everyone. My peers, friends, colleagues, labmates, family, total strangers, random passers-by...everyone. It makes me even snarkier than usual. And probably very unpleasant to be around. I hope this passes soon.

Random bits:
Boys, weirdness, confusion.
I need a new crush. Life is dull without one.
I like to not learn from my mistakes.
Dancing is fun.
My grandmother has lung cancer, she had surgery and will probably be okay.
Long Island is the root of all evil.
It is way too hot for October.
Happy Jewlidays.

I Can't Figure Out if You're a Detective or a Pervert (And Timwatch)

I'd like to thank my CFEx for calling AND emailing me to say that David Lynch was speaking at Penn last week. That boy, he is still useful and I really really hope he's gotten over the ironic facial hair thing he said he had going on in August. Anyway, the lovely Mr. Lynch was speaking for free as part of a panel on the mind and creativity. Turns out, not only does David Lynch practice transcendental meditation, he's pretty evangelical about it and is on a tour with a string theory guy who pissed me off, a supposed neuroscientist who also pissed me off, and an actual neuroscientist who didn't piss me off as much. But we won't talk about how not into TM I am and how creeped out I am about evangelical anything.

Anyway, when he wasn't talking about seeking universal bliss via TM, he answered some questions about his work. It was sort of a Lynchian trivia pissing contest (no, I did not participate despite my dominance of trivia contests aback in the Twin Peaks Club days) and my vote for winner goes to the boy who brought up "World's Angriest Dog" though someone else had brought an actual old Lynch painting to be signed or something, which was more "creepy" than "Lynchian trivia master" to me. I wish he'd addressed more the issue of how someone so supposedly into seeking universal spiritual bliss was making movies with so much twisted violence (and Straight Story doesn't count!) but he sort of glossed over that. His hair was fantastic and he was wearing a black tie, white shirt, and black suit and I just could not keep from thinking "Woo! Gordon Cole!" in my head whenever he said anything but that's because I'm a freak.

And I caught Tim this weekend, a little hung over but functional. I have to say it wasn't a particularly impressive week. I will say that I actually shrieked for joy upon hearing of the DeLay indictment, but the people he had on to discuss it were pretty weak. And Gen. Abizaid on more Iraq, it still sucks apparently. We've just been distracted from the sucking by hurricanes and the Supreme Court. And Tim? Two people does not a "roundtable" make. I must say, the WSJ guy they always have on is quite telegenic, way more so than the WaPo guy. But I really miss the chick that does BBC stuff from Washington - she so obviously thinks American politics are nuts and is really fun on TV.

I'm just excited that I get to see/hear lots of Nina Totenberg with the next Court nominee. She's totally my favorite public radio personality. If only she and Tim were married...sigh.