career options.

Screw you, grad school.
I'm going to be Karl Lagerfeld's 'iPod Nanny' instead.

procrastination disguised as inspiration.

So it's kind of a slow news day / weekend as far as I go. I'll summarize life since Friday:

*odd probing chat at Nepalese lunch buffet with stranger from LA about friend, who like her daughter, was admitted to Yale Law School. Creepy.

*homemade cosmos followed up by lovely bottle of buttery California chardonnay

*donut madness

*onset of sore throat; did nothing all day but sleep and watch Birth of a Nation (which is like sleeping)

*biography of Ella Baker inspired self-loathing about lack of involvement in social change, followed by brief tears and trip to Target. Typical.

Because of my complete and total descent into boringtasticness, I present you with some internet goodness to inspire you in ways that I can't. For instance:


Two world leaders dressed as twinsies! (click to enlarge) I think that's so cute! Too bad they were talking about missiles instead of something happy like puppies or Mark Penn resigning. :( Their look totally takes me back to middle school spirit week when it was hot to dress like your BFF.

If that picture doesn't warm your heart, at least the pictures and descriptions on trashyeats.com will make you throw up in your mouth or inspire you to go eat an apple or something. :)

Now if either of those don't make you feel good, take two and wait until Thursday! Yay for The Office and 30 Rock and Scrubs coming back!

how to spend that rebate check.

There's been a lot of talk amongst my fellow taxpayers about what to do with the forthcoming rebate checks. One classmate is planning a trip to Canada... and I'll probably just do the ill-advised and pay off some debt, since ultimately all we're getting is borrowed money anyways. The following suggestion came by way of my grandpa. I think I could abide by this:

How to use Your IRS Rebate check;

As you may have heard, the Bush Administration said each of us would get a rebate check to stimulate the economy.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China. If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs, if we purchase a computer it will go to India, if we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala, if we purchase a good car it will go to Japan, if we purchase useless junk it will go to Taiwan and none of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America. The only way to keep that money here at home is to spend it at yard sales, since those are the only businesses still in the US.

At six hundred bucks a person, I bet you could get a damn lot of stuff shopping at yard sales.

food, glorious food.

It occurred to me this afternoon that I am slowly but surely gaining exposure to Salt Lake City's restaurant scene. The past 24 hours have been especially fruitful-- I hit up the Himalayan Kitchen on 4th South for the lunch buffett (fabulous! The Tandoori chicken was so glorious and they had cloth napkins!) and had a late breakfast today from Mrs. Backer's Pastry Shop on South Temple (donuts were meh, but the eclair was stunning-- filled with lots of fluffy cream-- ohdon'tyawantonerightnow?) (they also have very lovely looking cookies and cakes that beg further investigation). Anyways, here are some places I've checked out around town in the past while:

Squatter's-- food yuk, service terrible, beer good, nice atmosphere.

So Cupcake-- cupcakes were only so-so, low frosting to cake ratio. Skimpy frosting amazing but cake uninspiring. Very cute store design and the owners seemed nice.

Sawadee-- yummy Thai curries that could be just a bit hotter, great interior decor filled with Thai artwork.

Little World Chinese Restaurant-- when the yearning for fried rice strikes, they deliver-- with the biggest, moistest chunks of chicken you will ever find in fried rice. Inside dirty but hey, that's why you get take away.

The Pie-- nom nom nom. Thick saucy pizza goodness close to campus. It gets no better.

distracted to distraction.

I don't know where I first heard the phrase "distracted to distraction" but it seems like it's an apt description for how I start to feel towards the end of the semester (one.more.month.). There have been instances of it all week, but today, man! From the time I got up today I couldn't focus on anything. So much to juggle and balance-- when to start what assignment or book, when to stop working on it and go to work, when to take a break, when to have that meeting-- that every decision becomes themostimportantdecisionever and I find myself instead mindlessly clicking through the interwebs until enough time has passed that I either get to work or give up and go to bed. There are so many things that need to be done that doing anything I want to do becomes joyless and guilt-ridden-- there's that email to send, that book review to start/finish/rewrite, those hours to clock in. I have a hard time relaxing. It feels like a waste of time.

But at least I'm here, now. My life could be so different.