Vacuum cleaners and fishing expeditions

le sigh it's friday and i have more editing to do. le sigh le sigh. i just want this project to be done so i can move onto my next project looking at latino identity in literature.

So a few things:
1) casey, i finally started watching "the secret life of teenagers." Dude as usual brenda hampton knows how to take a good concept and fuck it up with terrible dialogue and bad background music. It's the same music from "7th heaven." But the truth is, i kind of care about these characters and i feel like if it was written by the people who write "kyle xy" it would be BOMB. Oh have i said too much about my tv watching habits? I agree that i dislike how the one latina girl is the ho, but i do like that the black girlfriend is the only person with common sense in the whole show. First they stop negatively characterizing black people and the latinos will be next!

2) did i tell you guys i'm going fishing at the end of august...wait for it...IN THE CAPE!! yes, my roommate's dad is a harvard educated psychologist/professional fisherman and he's taking us deep sea fishing on his boat for tuna!! e-magine!! it's like the kind of thing where you have to wear a belt around your waist and strap the pole to it and belt yourself down so you don't fly off. i know, i might die of joy or of actual danger. so serious question: what am i going to wear?? I mean on the one hand it's the cape but on the other it's a fishing boat...suggestions please

3) my plan is to write for 3 hours and then go home and clean, then shower, than head off to an obama fundraiser/sitting around a bonfire and jamming with guitars and various other instruments party. Oh the midwest, you never cease to bring me joy with your love of bonfires. so question, i really want to steam my carpets, like with those rented ones from the super market. has anyone ever done this? if so please comment

4) and finally, my outfit for the day. Pardon the shadows. my whole room had terrible lighting. I was browsing through an old j crew catalogue and was inspired by something i saw. PS did i anyone see that creepy spread they had with children dressing up as adults? it was super unsightly.

shoes (which you can't see) - indian inspired sandals by Aerosole (i know), shorts - forever 21, brown leather belt - purchased on a trip to mexico like 15 years ago, yellow wife beater - forever 21, sweater - forever 21, faux silk headband (also known as polyester) - forever 21, red bead necklace - Bargain World thrift shop,

Independent Woman

So guys, did you know i had a bike? it's true, i have truly gone "green." ok all jokes aside it's a legit bike, a Trek to be exact. I bought a used one at this bikeshop on campus. Anyways the other day my tire exploded and i thought "fuck! what do i do know." Luckily my handy dandy man friend knew exactly what to do and he came over and fixed it the other night.

This is not the important part of the story because who really wants to hear about a bike tire. The important part was that while he was fixing he was describing it to me as though it was something i might do in the future: "so when you unscrew this you will do it like this and then you take off the tire you will have to remember to do this and this." And then finally when it was all done he said "So now you know how to fix a tire for when it happens again."

I just have to say that being a woman this rarely ever happens. When people do stuff for you they almost never do it as a way to show you how to be free and independent and do it yourself. It's almost always a service being done for you with the assumption that if and when it happens again either they or someone else will do the same service. But it really struck me when he said that he was showing me so i could do it myself later. I realized...this guy really gets me! It's exactly the kind of thing my father would have said! My dad is a bit more crazy and probably would have made me take off the tire and rechange it all over again just so he could be assured that i did in fact know how to do it. But the point is he gets that i need to be indepedent and self sufficient and he doesn't seem to be threated by that. I mean really that's all i wanted to share. But yesterday my brakes weren't working and instead of waiting for him to come over and help me or taking it to a bikeshop where they would charge me 15 dollars in labor i took out my tool box (purchased by my father because he felt it was essential. mind you i am the only person in my house of 2 men who have a toolbox) and i assessed the situation for a minute...and then i did it! i fixed my own fucking brakes! and i haven't died today which means that i must have done it right.

School Girl Charm

so this will be my first outfit post of the week and this is mainly due to the weather. It has been balls ass hot and when you are walking over a mile with a backpack full of library books the ability to dress yourself properly alludes you. So the past 3 days i have been wearing shit that is not worth noting because i can't even remember what i wore yesterday.

But today the weather took a turn for the better and somehow in that mess of humidity developed a beautiful day of 75 degrees and 48% humidity!!!!! this is like your standard day in Los Angeles, but this is like one of the 10 great days that we have in michigan so we need to savor it. In honor of this and the fact that i have been spending my days in the library i decided to have a "school" inspired outfit. I reached for my red cardigan and there it was...my girls polo dress that i haven't worn in years. Even on a hot day you just have to bring a cardigan when you sit inside the overly airconditioned buildings of the university and this outfit was inspired and designed around my little red cardigan that i purchased on clearance while in Munich.

I'm also having one of those very rare natural good hair days. yes nothing was done to this shit except that i trimmed my bangs this morning. you like?
flats - mossimo by target, gray leggings - i think urban outfitter, navy blue polo dress - american apparel (could it be any other way?), red sweater - united colors of benetton Euro, glasses - prada purchased during my trip to florence and never actually worn.

full body shot. wouldn't you love to raid this closet of fun?! I should clean more before taking these pictures. Also note that taking pictures of yourself leads to lots of narcissism like me saying to myself "damn i look good" and shit like that. ridiculous. Note the sombrero pinata in my closet
pictures like this make me wonder "will i ever have matching towels instead of towels purchased here and there and/or matriculated from my parents house over the years?" But more importantly am i even the kind of person who believes in matching towels???

so guys i think i might implement the plan that i have tried for years, which is to start wearing my glasses that are not really for anything other than fashion. yes, i acknowledge this is ridiculous. But what if i say they are special glasses for reading in front of computers or some shit like that? i need a valid excuse. any suggestions for how to lie and pretend that i suddenly need glasses? Can't someone just wear glasses cuz they are cute without being judged!!??? is this not America? I'm going to try writing with them today until they bother me.

ok back to writing my thesis. I have realized that i am a most useless person when the internet is connected so in order to facilitate my own productively i have to turn off the wireless on my computer. Isn't this sad? i find this mildly upsetting and disturbing that i can't just not use the internet if it's on. That i have to actually take action and force it out of my life. anyways BLAZE!

what I'm wearing this week

Oh my god it's so hot. it's SOOOOO HOT!! it's 90 degrees with 80% humidity. That is like insane. so anyways because of this my outfits have been summer themed. I guess the overarching concept would be more like summer throughout the world. This week the Cape meets the islands.

inpiration: Classy Cape Nautical
Pinstripe shorts = forever 21 on clearance for5 bucks, belt = target, shirt (fake james perse shirt!!!) = converse for target, sunglasses forever 21, headscarf...my grandma's closet.

Can i talk for a second about this shirt? So you know how sometimes when you wear button downs the button by your boob will kind of separate and pop open? have you ever wondered "i wish there was more stretch here or something to make this not happen." so the James Perse (and fake shirt) have this stretchy side panel of t shirt fabric on the side so when you put it on it stretches!!! Anyways go to target and buy one or if you have the money get a real one.

PS like my sweat stain? hi, i have hyperhydrosis and it's hot.

my grandma's purple headscarf that i knotted down the center and tied around my head. you like? that forehead needs some blotting paper, stat.

so all this week is the Art Fair. This is a time of year when for like 4 days the entire downtown area shuts down and all these people set up artist booths. It's a madhouse of pedestrians and townies and crappy overpriced art. I can only equate it to when i lived in Florence and had to cross the sea of people on the Ponte Vecchio everyday. walking to class is like a battlefield...for your heart. So anyways i walked through the art fair in the middle of the day in this outfit and it was waaaaay too much clothes on my body. i wanted to die from overheating so today i took this to heart and decided on an oufit that was a bit more breathable.

Inspiration: Tropicalismo Daycation
Cut offs = my old citizen jeans that i discussed earlier this week, shirt = Banana Republic, Sunglasses = Forever 21, Hat = urban Outfitter

the results: An email i wrote to nick this morning while in class.

oh my god, want to hear something super embarrassing? Ok, so while i was walking to school this morning it was so hot like FOR REALS so hot, and my backpack was heavy because i had to bring my computer, and when i got to school in the bathroom i realized that i had sweat through the back of my shirt. It's a green shirt and it has this giant sweat spot across MY WHOLE back. i could die. It's just like high school all over again. On top of that i even woke up early this morning and did my bangs and stuff. And now i sweat so much that i sweat the bangs out and now they are poofy again. goddamn this humidity!!!

will the wounds of adolescence ever heal?

luckily this fabric is very thin and dries in a few minutes so i didn't have to suffer for that long

i'm including this picture even though it's hazy, but i wanted to show how my mirror tells LIES. It's a skinny mirror and it makes me look 10 lbs lighter than i actually am and i LOVE IT like on the reals. I always make sure to look at myself before i leave the house because i figure as long as i feel skinny i will exude skinny. Does this make sense?

just to put my 2 cents into the debate

guys this new Yorker shit is getting crazy. First off, I feel like I have definitely seen a cover like this with george bush on it wearing a turbin. i could be 100% making this up but it pops into my head as an image. No one cared. Second, it’s a political caricature! and perhaps most importantly IT WAS FUNNY! One of the reasons i can't wait for racism to be over (aside from my own personal attachment to the debate) is that crap like this will officially not be a big deal. But alas, we still live in racism/hater america.

to quote Bill Maher: "

“If you can’t do irony on the cover of The New Yorker, where can you do it?”

truth!

How I became obsessed with a 15 year old girl

Guys, i am obsessed with this blog. It all happened during an hour long conversation i had with emily about whether or not i should turn by old Citizen jeans into denim cut offs. yes, serious stuff. Well the first question was "How does one make cut offs the proper way?" As it turns out, there is no proper way, you just blaze. The second question was "how short or long should i make these cut offs?" Well in googling "cut offs" this girls blog came up and this was the convo that happened.

12:20 PM

me: wow i just found a pic of a girl wearing denim cut offs with hot pink tights it's kind of amazing for a fall look
Emily: oh boy, where?
me: http://fashiones-de-mi.blogspot.com/2007/12/school-week-of-outfits.html
i am adding this girl to my reader. i like her style
Emily: yeah i like that white top w/ the cutoffs a little ways down too
me: oh i love that
Emily: this is only further proof that i need moccasin boots
me: i agree this girl is like way too cool
Emily: i also like her hair i wish i could pull off bang
me: i mean she is legit cool
Emily: this is like my dream haircut, its like zooey deschanels. i so cant do that hair

a mere 3 hours later....

3:41 PM
me: ok this teenage girl's blog is like my new favorite blog
Emily: she cracks me up i have gone pretty deep into the archives she's got all these dumb pictures and will be like"yeah i look like a douchebag.” i appreciate
me: she is too cool for school…LIKE FOR REALS. she make me want doc martins, emily
Emily: i was totally going to say the exact same thing!

she also has a post about why summer camp sucks and her reasons are part of the reason why i love her.

3) being forced to wear either sneakers or crocs. CROCS!
4) dressing practically=no fashion
6) mad awkwardness (don't ask)
9) getting sunburned despite sunscreen and NOT tanning

I never actually got to go to summer camp, which i consider to be one of the greatest tragedies of my life but that is for another post, but these are teh reasons why i don't really like nature and the midwest and stuff.

So anyways this got me thinking that i have TONS of clothes. In fact there were quite a few things i saw on this girls blog that i said, hey i have that! so in honor of emulation (not stealing) i decided to start a feature called "what i wore this week." The point of this is multi fold. On the one hand i will get to show you guys the various outfits that i put together and you can judge me. Secondly it will force me to post. and finally and perhaps most importantly it will get me to try to look good when i leave teh house. i always want to look good but when it comes down to it i usually end up throwing on some jeans and a t shirt and flip flops. I mean this is a look too but i'd liek to explore the depths of my closet. also i'm broke so maybe i can "discover" some new things that i never knew i owned.

Pitchfork music festival is this weekend (thus the convo about the cut offs). Crazy outfit updates to come on monday!!

So You Think You Can Dance Moments

So there is very specific glue that holds all of my friendships together. For Emily and me it's talking shit about other women and television. For Ivan it's finding appropriate romantic comedies to suit everyday life experiences. And for cathy it's bonding over reality competition shows that "touch" us. She usually sends me links to dance routines that she likes on shows like "so you think you can dance" and "dancing with the stars" and sometimes if we're lucky we'll both be online at the same time and we'll watch these clips together from our respective living rooms and discuss them over gchat. It's really one of my favorite things to do, to share real life "moments" with cathy because i know that she understanding when i say that something makes me eeeeeeemotional. We also do this with george michael's songs and various versions of "wild horses" (PS Cathy, peep the version by charlotte martin. i'm just saying).

anyways today since ivan doesn't have a television (hello, i would die!!) i decided to compile links of the best and most eeeeemotional dances from this season of "so you think you can dance." I have become a master of my own time suckage but just bare with me. I decided to share my very very favorites with you guys. Not that i know what i'm talking about but for me dancing has everythign to do wiht the dancers ability to express something to you, some view of the world. There are some girls and guys on the show who are awesome dancers and are hot and stuff but just have no emotion. And then there are some who you wouldn't think are awesome but have turned out to be my favorites. But what i love is that it combines all of these things: dancers, amazing choreographers, and finally totally bomb music to create this beautiful medley of art.

so anyways i'll stop writing and just let them speak for themselves. here are my favorites of this season:
This one is, i believe, about a housewife and her overworking husband who is never around. and HELLO who doesnt' love this fucking song!??!! And initially when cathy sent me the routine i wasn't feeling it until about minute 1:28 and she busts out her eeemotions. it was then that i was sold. Also i mean who doesn't love a song that you can translate to "breeding rove."


This next one is my most favorite couple of all. He's like a street dancer i believe and she's a contemporary dancer. Intially i thought she was super lame when i saw her on the try outs and i was bummed she got picked but man was i wrong. she is the bomb!! This one is about a couple where the guy is gettign shipped off to war and it's all sad and shit. I really like how she has this very soft way of dancing. Like it's not intense popping and locking but it works in combination with him. man i just feel it!!


And last is my all time favorite routine of this season and maybe of the past 2 seasons i've watched too. It's a mia michael's routine and the story is about 2 people who are on separate paths and want to stay that way but their lives keep intertwining. I know it's silly but in a lot of ways i relate to this peice. bare with me. Alot of times i feel like i want to maintain my indepdence, and do what i have to do for myself and my career. and in many ways i have this fear that all of this desire for personal glory will prevent me from ever really being in a real vulnerable relationship with anyone. So when i hear this song and i see this girl dancing, fighting to assert herself but sort of failing at it because it's kind of impossible. and maybe i'm reading too much into it but it just touched me, ok! and the song is just amazingly moving


and on a final note, step up 2: the streets, is coming out on dvd!!! holler!

the way REAL white people celebrate Independence

guys, having been an american for the last 26 years of my life i will tell you now, i had my first truly American 4th of july this weekend. There are so many little nuances about how to be a white american that i never knew about

So on Thrusday night we went to my lover's bff's annual 3rd of july bbq. It was very good times. things i learned
1. there is some game called "corn hole" where you have a block of wood with a hole in it and you throw these bean bags into the hole. I didn't actually get to play but they all seemed to love it.
2. working class white people only ever have jack daniels/whiskey or cheap beer at their parties. this is a given. i just don't understand why they can't have like vodka or liek proper mixers in their fridge. why????!!!
3. They had a bonfire. Note, white midwesterners LOVE BONFIRES. And tehy all know how to build them AND they chop their own fucking wood and they spent like half an hour talking about the best way to lay out their wood so as to get the best fire. where the fuck are we???!!! people just like went to their backyards and chopped down wood. I KNOW!! and then at one point when people were sufficiently drunk they walked miles to someone's house, dragged their christmas tree which they still had, and then decided to set that in the bonfire. That shit burned like what! it went up into a giant 12 foot flame. I couldnt' write this shit better
4. i ate baked beans, some kind of potato casserole that had layer of baked potato chips on top, and a cheese bratwurst.

Friday: Lover's BFF's family reunion on the lake
1. his friend's family has a literal log cabin on the lake that they built with their own hands. Midwesterners all build their own houses. this is something i will never understand.
2. this family happened to love spain, spanish, were all spanish teachers so they had their annual family paella cooking context followed by a bollywood sing along. yes, it makes no sense whatsoever. I guess one of the sisters of this guy was a mormon missionary in india and she brought back her love of indian film so now they have a bollywood night during their family reunion.
3. white people have "family reunions." and for these reunions peopel come from all over teh country far and wide to sleep in small quarters with each other.
4. we went down to their dock and went swimming in the lake. it was like a scene out of fucking dawson's creek.
5. we had ANOTHER bonfire. i'm telling you, they lvoe bonfires. This time they didnt' cut down wood but rather went around their property and collected random excess lumber that they had from whatever project they had worked on over the years: a new deck, a roof, a new wing to their house, etc. so we had this bonfire, ate smores, and watched fireworks over the lake.

Saturday: my lover's uncle's summer cottage on a lagoon in lake cadillac
1. there is actually a place called cadillac
2. his uncle owns a pontoon boat and so we all road on that and everyone was drunk on beer again. i was sober since i dont' drink beer
3. i ate a hot dog.
3. they peer pressured me into riding their jet ski. what is it with whhhhite people and extreme sports!!! not all of us want to die!!

example number 2 of this love of extreme sports: my lover coerced me to go on a "light bike ride" today which ended up being some crazy mountain biking expedition through the backtrails of ann arbor. what the hell!!

despite all of these little oddities i had an enjoyable truly american 4th of july.

Summering in the Hamptons

so this past weekend we had our "summering in the hamptons" party. After much discussion and consultation from east coast friends it was decided that it must be "summering" and not "summer."

anyways it was like p-diddy's white party meets country club athletics. photos below:

check it silvia, it's a real live Trini boy! unfortunately the captains hat has gone missing since that night...i know

big O in his seersucker suit, which he owns and wears regularly, not just when he's in costume. I love this bitch.
my Mitzy Von Tittlington outfit. do you love it?
Anneette and a girl who kept asking us to play george michael "freedom" because "i swear it will GET THE ROOM GOING!!" she said this like 10 times in the night and we all doubted her and finally played it only to find that it really DID get the room going. how could i doubt you, GM?
black lights and gays
i don't remember his name but he had my props
more props. i believe alex was in the background talking to his brother who is the booking agent for the pabst theater in milwaukee. Yes, he books major acts. In this picture we found out that he has booked girltalk and so alex was screaming to his brother "can we all go see girltalk!!???"
psychologists in hatssss
party time
unfortunately the party lasted too long, like until 6:30 am. seriously it was too much.
this was me looking very annoyed as i was trying to downtempo the music so that people would go home
PS don't my bangs look good!

ADVICE??!!

guys, so i need your advice. I have 2 options for this 4th of july weekend. My roommates are out of town, ie my totally awesome bff's so that kind of plays into me deciding what to do. ok so here are my two options

1. my lover has been out of town for a week and won't be back until sunday so he asked me to come out and visit him at his family's house in grand rapids. I assume this will entail a visit to the lake or maybe some type of outdoor bbq with Grand Rapidians (yes, this is a real word).

pros: might get to visit the lake and see my man
cons: might not get to visit the lake and will have to spend the weekend with strangers

2. A few friends are throwing BBQ's including one that is a slip n slide bbq.
pros: i could potentially get HELLA drunk and eat lots of awesome bbq foods
cons: the people at this bbq are not my besties, and are mere acquaintances so there will be lots of lame small talk. my real besties like i said are not in town. And when i finally am hella drunk i will come home to be alone in my bed.

guys, what should i do????????

Bottles and Cans just clap your hands!

hey bitches!! so today is discovered the most amazing thing. Living in a very "green, we care about the environment" type of state apparently they have this bottle/can refund program. so like you take your empty bottles and cans to the super market, stick them in this machine, and bam you get like 2 dollars back, or whatever. this is especially useful after parties where you have excess beer bottles. why not make a little money and buy another case, i say?

it looks like this

something about this makes me feel like a good person. Not as good as when i ride my bike to the coop super market and fill my own brought tupperware with "by the pound" tofu and quinoa. Yes, i am the biggest douchebag that you know.