a pile of baby elephants

Happy things in Kenya:

jubalation

From Kampala, took an overnight bus up to (the country formerly known as) Sudan. Birth of a new nation, all that. It was awesome. And hot.

Best dressed kid I saw:


SPLA everywhere. Saw not just one, but several asleep on sidewalks with a stash of RPGs next to them. I love weapon safety practices.


You know it's hot when the Sudanese are passing out. Still, the number of times the emcee was able to get the crowd to pump their fists and wave their flags with a rousing cheer of "South Sudan Woye!" was impressive. I am led to believe that "woye" means "hooray." They woye-ed everything.


A goat market in Juba. Most of the goats were bought up for celebratory slaughter purposes. Goat slaughter (or, goats laughter) woye!

grocery shopping in Kampala

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any brains or hooves.

Nairobi by car

The internet we've been sponging off the UN for the last month stopped working last week. If it starts working again, the quality and frequency of these posts will improve. In the meantime, here's a video of Nairobi that my flatmate made for her job - it's the drive we make every day, rain or shine:

jambo

I'm in Nairobi for a few months. Doing some legal and advocacy work with refugees, and trying not to get myself killed by wildebeests or matatus on the weekends. More photos to come soon.

apologies

Law school (and efforts to distract myself from law school) took me a way for a spell. So, here's a goat, asking your forgiveness:

if looks could kill

On page 76 of Jude Deveraux's A Knight in Shining Armor, you will read this gem of a thought from the story's protagonist:

As she looked in the mirror, she thought that if all women had to confront the world with the face God gave them, there would be a great increase in female suicides.

With the growing gender demographic imbalance in China and all that it portends for a global surplus of men and a shortage of women to marry, it's good to know that Cover Girl and Revlon are doing their part to keep so many ladies away from the precipice of death. Um, better to love the face God gave you than wind up like this:

tradeoffs

Things people would never think to tell you but that you should nevertheless know about DC/VA/the eastern seaboard before you'd consider trading in your life in CA:

1. Chesapeake Bay is not the Pacific Ocean. And forget nightswimming anywhere, because all the "beaches" I can find close at dusk, or 5:30pm, whichever comes first. With all due respect for the town of North Beach, MD, you have the worst excuse for a beach I have ever ever seen. 30 yards of roped off slimy waters that never come higher than my hipbones, a rank odor, and jellyfish to boot. And I paid $8 for the privilege. Note Em's face below - though it was in specific response to the Wash Pot Style Fat Back Hard Cracklins, I think it encapsulates the way North Beach made us feel inside.

2. The sound you hear outside is cicadas. The drone is constant in the summer. No, it is not bats, like the Motel 6 front desk lady in Mississippi suspected. It is also not the powerlines like the guy at the buffet thought. It's cicadas. These are cicadas:

3. Donuts are as rare as good Mexican food, or Pinkberry. Yes, Dunkin Donuts and Krispy Kreme are available, but the donuts there are pretty bad. The reality of a mom 'n pop donut shop on every street corner in LA is but a dream here. Efforts to satisfy my withdrawals in NY this weekend were met with dismal results: the Doughtnut Plant was closed for employee-vacation-week (suck it), two other normal donut places were incorrectly addressed in Urban Spoon, and the donut I did wind up finding in some tiny deli en route to our DC-bound bus was easily the driest, crappiest donut I've ever, ever eaten. So: SMC and I found a family-owned donut place at the southern edge of Alexandria, 10 miles from my house (let me remind you that this is like traveling to Hollywood from West LA in 5:45pm traffic just for this trivial pleasure). We drove there this afternoon and ran - yes, ran - inside, only to find that all of their deliciously-labeled donut bins were empty. They make donuts but once a day, and all the donuts save three were gone. We bought those three. We'll be returning next Tuesday morning when the doors open.

[enjoying WenDy's Donuts after a night swim. sigh.]

4. The Metro here costs $6ish/day to get to and from school. And people drive idiotically. That said, at least I can read on the bus, and as I walk to school. I have been pumping through books, which keeps me happy (the book list is about the only thing I'm managing to update regularly here).

But:

the trees are beautiful, the frozen custard is good, and law school is interesting, so all is well enough. No regrets.

what a long, strange trip it's been

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August. I've arrived in Virginia. More to come.

no longer "good society"

This has been July:

I generally want to vomit, I'm so delighted with it all.

just called to say hello.

I'll be returning from my inadvertent hiatus very soon. In the meantime, random news from the last month, in the order that the pictures loaded:

Chipotle opened on the Promenade! So happy.

My little sister is getting married in two days (we are eating 4 pieces of Sweet Lady Jane's cake and 2 filled churros to celebrate in advance).

Kat and I went out of the country for my birthday, as we are wont to do.
We found many goats, and I was glad.
We had a Communist Cupcake Bake Sale - heir to the Communist Party, if you will.

and, I am moving to Washington, DC to attend law school in the fall.

More soon.

things that last

December 2007:

June 2010:

Life is curious.

food storage 101

1. One of my favorite things to do when I'm traveling is grocery shopping. Ask my friends about my giant bag full of Guatemalan Honey Monster cereals, or the borrowed duffel ready to burst with Haribo gummi Smurfs and Jägerschnitzel mix from Deutschland.

2. I have a tendency to collect food. I mean to eat it. Really. But I want the occasion to be perfect, shared with close friends who will fully appreciate the rare and hilarious qualities of the food I've brought at ridiculous spacial expense (hey, backpacks are small) from thousands of miles away. For whatever reason, these moments do not spring up nearly as spontaneously as necessary to keep up with the supply of weird food in my cupboard.

3. Three years ago, amid a rare cupboard reorganization campaign, roommate/photographer Amy hijacked a couple boxes of my foodstuffs. Mesmerized by the bizarre array, she took them to the studio to photograph. Nothing came of the photographic venture save some laughs, though she did send me this image of some of the raw files:

4. I realized that at least half of that food is still in my cupboard.

5. In an effort to be economical, especially since I don't intend to be in Los Angeles for many many more moons, I have decided to make myself eat my copious foreign and otherwise curious food supply. This has meant that in the past week, I have dined on the following:

- gingerbread waffles (delicious. 1 year old)

- Thai garlic noodles, sauteed (llgugll. 8 years old. 8!)

- curry udon (2 years old. I have 3 more packs)

- baba ghanoush (1.5 years old)

- carrot ginger soup (from Erin's aged cupboard, prior to her move)

Up next: the blackcurrent jelly (that's Irish for gelatin) that I bought in Ireland 5 years ago. And if you've any interest in some Guatemalan hot chocolate (made from a giant cinnamon-y chocolate tablet), just come on over.

soulless promotions

I just vomited inside. Twilight branding, used to sell Shakespeare? Emily found these in the B&N teen section and brought them to me for evaluation. They are now hidden behind English language books on the bottom shelf of the grammar section.

burger redux

Quite possibly the snobbiest thing I have ever done:

Yes, that's an 89 cent McDonald's hamburger. Yes, I brought a package of herbed Boursin cheese to spread on it. Yes, Mehgan laughed at me.

Winner of BRITISH 2009!!!!

I believe your congratulations are in order.

I found this in my inbox today:

Dear British 2009 Winner,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been Awarded the sum of
1,000,000.00 GBP in the British 2009 Program.

Contact email:telecom58@9.cn

Names:............
Address:..............
Country:.................
Age:..........
Sex:..............

A million pounds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

somewhere over the rainbow

24 July, Markleeville, CA. Stars aplenty. One general store in town to buy foodstuffs. Spinning rack of used novels near the freezer section. On the spinning rack, this:
After my initial foray into the romance genre with my Ralph's purchase of The Greek Tycoon's Blackmailed Mistress, I was intrigued. After reading the back of the book, however, I was captivated enough to make the purchase.

HIS FLIGHT OF FANCY
For seasoned pilot David Terrell, nothing seemed more foolish than flying into a rainbow to wish for a wife. But the down-to-earth widower would do anything for his little girl, Jamie, and she would settle for nothing less than a fairy-tale princess as a mother. So to humorhis six-year-old, David flew into the next rainbow he saw - and emerged in 1886 Wyoming.
HER POT OF GOLD
Analisa Ludke couldn't believe it when the man emerged - like a storybook prince - afrom the strange flying contraption. She welcomed David into her home and soon discovered that he was no mere fantasy. And as he struggled to return to his child, Analisa fought to understand the flood of emotions that engulfed her whenever he was around. Until she realized that David's lovecould take her to a place where dreams really do come true...ACROSS THE RAINBOW.

Guys. I had no idea there were so many subgenres in the romance genre. I was sort of captivated by the idea of historical romances, amused by the Harlequin "Babies Galore!" series, but the Timespell Timeswept Romance series blows my mind completely. These fantasies know no bounds, what with time travel an easy possibility and all.

Anyway, here are some select quotes from this fine work of literature, in case you won't take the time to be reading it yourself:

"Standing before him was a young woman who looked like every man's fantasy. Blond, beautiful, tall, with legs that went on forever. Her clothing was right out of a history book on the American West - kind of a Calamity Jane outfit of calico shirt, cotton twill pants, and a wide leather belt. She also held the reins of a huge, pale grey horse that resembled a knight's trusty steed."

"Or, she thought, easing into the chair he sat in each night, she could just leave with him. Forget her fears and fly off into the unknown future - perhaps. What if she couldn't leave her own time? David's presentation of his theories on time travel had made so much sense, and yet even he had to admit that no one knew how it worked for sure."

"She didn't belong with him, she knew, as the wind dried her cheeks almost as quickly as her tears fell, and she didn't belong in his century. They were from two different worlds, two times that should never have met except for a young girl and her belief in rainbows and happily ever after endings. This story would not have that kind of ending. Because as much as she didn't belong in David's world, she didn't belong to him." (you can guess what that's a setup for)

"Riding toward her was someone with dark hair and tanned skin, a plaid shirt that had once belonged to Jurgen, and tight denim pants. Oh, how she knew those denim pants."

"Perhaps she was tense from worrying. Her emotions had taken a beating since making love to David, getting ill, deciding to go with him, then worrying about her ability to leave her world behind. She'd gone through so much recently that she didn't trust her judgment any longer."

"'David, there's no rainbow!'
'We can't see the rainbow from up here. We aren't at the right angle. If everything happens like it did before, though, we should feel a tingling sensation and see rainbow colors just briefly as we pass from your time into mine.'"

On the last page:
"He folded his arms around her. 'I love you to*, my princess from the rainbow kingdom, more than you'll know in a thousand lifetimes.'"

*yes, "to." not "too." Please, someone, let me edit these. There were a few mistaken "it's" strewn about too. I mean, to.

6 weeks

1. rock climbing.

2. maxine memorial dim sum adventures.

3. a Hitchcock-themed film festival complete with a plane busting through the movie screen and killing a judge. Check out Jessica's entry in which my shoe goes flying at the end:


4. a last-minute superfast road trip to Orem UT, with stopovers in Mesquite for Keno and prime rib, and the Mad Greek Cafe in Baker for hummos and attempts to get pet phrases from The Greek Tycoon's Blackmailed Mistress translated.

5. judging a spelling bee (two ways to spell cockswain/coxswain).

6. roadtrip with Dave up to Tahoe for the Wanderlust festival. Read his account, and watch Gillian Welch and Jenny Lewis:


7. meteor showers with goats.

8. the end of infodesk duties for a young single adult conference which 10k californians attended.

9. actually losing my right flip flop on Batman at Six Flags on Thursday...after the ride was over. Retiring the left flip flop in the late night turbulent waters of Roaring Rapids.

life on the edge of the continent.

TJ, Mush and I began regular trips to Venice maybe 13 or 14 years ago, and we reunited there today. While we didn't see everyone's favorite boardwalk standard, the turbaned rollerskating electric guitar playing hanger-on, much remains unchanged since the days of our first visits. Flavorburst ice cream cones, two girls shooting up heroin, plenty of medicinal weed offerings, overpriced henna, cheap plastic stegosauri that growled, and these delights:

I need one of these for MazdaTron.

Did the missionaries do this? Nice tailoring of the message to the audience.

Need my palm read so desperately. By Zoltar or the lady whose cat has been telling fortunes since the 1970s. Come to think of it, I didn't see her out either.

A fellow was irritated with me for taking this picture because it infringed upon the rights to his work. I'm sure he licensed that photo of Kobe used in his LA skyline poster above.

Technicolor shemaghs...where were these in Yemen last year?

I am the 1984 Grammys.

28 February 1984, my mom's 23rd birthday.

The night Michael Jackson won a record 8 Grammys (RIP, MJ. you are not alone.)


John Denver was the host. (note: John Denver was like mother's milk to me. I grew up with "Calypso" on repeat, he provided my first introduction to Placido Domingo, and I wound up working for his publishing company years later. I wore black the week he died.)

Irene Cara won for "Flashdance...What a Feeling!". I wore the LP of this soundtrack thin, running around my living room on my toes like Jennifer Beals had done. Flashdance is why I danced. And a couple decades later, I might have cried tears of joy when I aerobicized with Richard Simmons to this same tune, hearing him praise my moves with glitter and enthuasiasm.


Note: this also led to a ridiculous love for FlashBeagle a year later.


Cyndi Lauper performed "Time After Time." This was one of many staples at 2009's Night of Soft Rock. Sadly, her guitarist did not join us as he did with her at 0:57. Note the exasperated show casting-away at 2:35 as well...a familiar dance, I'm sure.


Pat Benatar also won for "Love is a Battlefield." So, I love Pat Benatar. I do not know the number of times I have gone on manic, adrenaline-purging late night runs to "Heartbreaker" that morph into thrashing and epic dancing in my alley. But nothing really compares to the Very Special Place In The Middle of My Heart that "We Belong" occupies. I also adore whales.


The Cats soundtrack was awarded. For maybe 2 decades, I desperately wanted to play the role of Victoria, the white cat who begins the official Jellicle's Ball. Instead, I find myself Grizzabell.


But Bonnie Tyler's performance of "Total Eclipse of the Heart"? I don't even know what to say. I am this. Or at least have played this on the piano and danced to it quite. a. lot.


25 years later, I am still all this.