fifty dollar words...

Words are expensive...but worth the money.

Powell's was blissfully overwhelming, as usual. I kept picking up books, determined to add them to my collection, only to be distracted by some new pricetag. That's the way I shop at Powell's: grab everything that catches the eye, pile them all on, then evaluate and purchase some. Sometimes I sort them by author, sometimes by size. One likes to get the most words possible for one's hard earned michigan-minimum-wage-dollar.

Allison and I talked about all the 'everyone-reads-this-in-highschool' books that we haven't read. There are a lot.

In the end, I left trip poorer in dollar, but much richer in word:

-A Curly Girl book for my favorite little corkscrew redhead in Michigan
-A collection of fifteen early Jeeves [mostly unread] stories will keep me company on the long flight back to Chicago on Sunday
-Through Painted Deserts: Light, God and Beayty on the Open Road to fulfill my stream-of-consciousness and roadtrip-of-life quotas
-And a gorgeous illustrated hardback copy of Poe's darkest stories for those long lonely nights and occasional flashes of 'so much for my happy ending.'

I enjoy public transportation. I learned about life, love, fashion, portland, idaho, money, and gwen stefani on the Metro Area eXpress yesterday.

And to all you boys who think that tinted windows will keep the objects of your stares from noticing, think again. That might be tolerated in the backwoods of Michigan. But this is Portland. Please act accordingly.

under a dozen, round two...

Pride and Prejudice
Take pride in your prejudice against bad acting and lousy dialogue.

thoughts of saturday morn...

[in phx]

I heart flying home.

On my flight from Detroit, the Flight Attendant said, "We're going to be dimming the cabin lights. However, if you push the button above your head with the lightbulb on it, your light will turn on. But no matter how often you push that button with the person on it, you will not turn your flight attendant on."
Sketch, but funny. And the other one told jokes.

Why are all of the electrical outlets actually located in convenient places turned off? I'm huddled up parallel to a will in the exit area of gate D7. Ackward, but it works. And hey, if I hadn't been sitting here watching Emperor's New Groove, that cute little blondie exiting his plane never would have talked to me. Isn't it amazing how the simplest decisions can change your life?

He just ran up to me and explained something long and complicated. I didn't get it all, but I think it involved visiting his grandma. If he was twenty years older, I definitely would have been in love with him.

Ha. I haven't really slept in three days. And the eating schedule has been pretty inconsistant too. But being at home will remedy all of that. I plan to sleep most of the time and eat constantly whenever I'm awake. That should counterbalance everything, right?

Now I'm crushing on a boy with blue eyes, a crew cut, and yellow windbreaker pants. We're making faces at me and keeps checking me out with sideways glances. Woah. Flirt! He just blew me a kiss. His name is Owen; I'm infatuated.

Alas, he has to board his plane.Airport flirtations are short but sweet.

And now it's time to board my plane!

happiness is...

when your fingers are coated in modpodge, but you're looking in amazement at something that is exactly right.

[i'll post pictures later]

name that tune...

[procrastination brings memories]

...calling Emily...
...calling Emily...

I can still remember the techno static coming through the old speakers in my living room.

The brown speakers lived near the fish tank back in the day when we'd use our fireplace door handles and a chair to make a clotheline. This was after the record player was gone, though. Years of "discovering" that jumping up and down made the record skip had ended the poor electronic life.

But sometimes, the weird space noises and opening lines of the music would come through those speakers and I would start to squeal.

hey emily
it's your birthday
i'm in charge of the stars
and i'm here to say
hey emily
you're the big star today!

I'm not sure how my mom found the Happy Birthday Tapes. I think they were at Toys R Us, probably. They were exactly the same except for the name. I wish I could remember more of the words. It's possibly about as corny as you can get.

i'm the man in the moon
and i sing you this tune

But Captain Spaceman was singing me a birthday song. Me. The Emily Song. I squealed and fussed and was angry that they played it to laugh at my reaction. But really, I only reacted because it made them laugh. Sometimes I wished that it would be my birthday more often. I would bring it up and pretend like I hated it. "Just please don't play the Emily tape..." I'd start to hint before my birthday. Sometimes they wouldn't, but sometimes the would, and I was the star for one and a half minutes.

Childhood vanity? Absolutely. Spotlight seeking? Still. Have I gotten better about hiding it? Not really.

But today, I thought of that tape and it made me realize how far I've come...and how far I have to go. Maybe I'll try to dig around and find it this week.

see you next yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeear!

snowgazing...

Yesterday I hit two out of three. Still need to write that paper, though.

The snow is still coming down, but even heavier now. I love it. We really only had a week of ugly leaf-less Hillsdale. I'm so excited about the white snow on the raggety pines and trees full of red berries. Cardinal spotting has been greatly advanced.

The view out my window is foggy with my breath. I could sit here and stare for hours. Falling snow is mesmerizing. The Arb is being transformed into a Winter Wonderland. I'm exhausting the one and a half Christmas cds that I have. I'll grab the rest on Saturday... ON SATURDAY!!

I GO HOME IN TWO DAYS! In less than fifty hours, I'll be snuggled up with my sisters.

Thanksgiving Break:
-family time
-church
-friends
-hold my nephew
-spend monday at UP
-see the new Pride and Prejudice
-read by the fire
-reread through the Crito and everything Biblical for Greek
-see Harry Potter IV
-Milicent time
-drink coffee at Costello's
-meet Pammy and talk about dead poets
-dance in the rain
-learn to knit
-Powell's
-eat chinese food
-voodoo donuts
-a massage
-beat up my not-so-little brother
-make a pie
-goodwill shopping spree with the sisters
-see how far I can get in A Series of Unfortunante Events
-wear hip Portland clothes in Portland
-secure a Christmas break job
-reread This Present Darkness
-find a Gryffindor Seeker hoodie like Jess
-buy Blue Like Jazz
-write
-buy a UP hoodie
-get my hands on a cool new scarf
-spend cool uninterrupted time with Jesus

Off to enjoy more snowgazing...

I'll see you on the other side!

it's beginning...

to look a lot like Christmas.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

a new distraction...

You know you've always wanted to run your own country...

Now you can.

my city, my town...

Allison just posted about Portlandia.

I thought I would let you all know the news from Hillsdale: an 18 year old high school senior just got elected Mayor. I've heard of this happening in a tiny town of a hundred people, but the Dale is home to a proud nine thousand. And this kid was a write-in, because he wasn't 18 when before the ballot deadline. Of course, not a lot of people voted.

He won by two votes in the final count. And they said your vote doesn't matter...

My townie roomie knows him from high school and claims that he's always been super political. It's not like the position of Hillsdale Mayor is much more than a figurehead, but still...

He was on CNN and Letterman already. And Goodmorning America is tomorrow.

I think I'll just stick to the Student Fed elections, thanks.

[maybe i should get his help on the campaign, though]

you've got quote...

Frank: What about you? Is there someone else?

Kathleen: No. No, but there is the dream of someone else.

costumes...

Continually going out of control with the pictures.

We closed the dorm and had a girls costume party on Monday night. Goodtimes. Mac is the best dorm ever!

i'll give you two guesses...

tiffanys and hawaii kate

hannah, emily, emily

the eastside ra girls: zorro [mary], homeschooler [hannah], morticia [erina], hawaii [kate], audrey hepburn [em]

west side animals: moose [grace] and lion [leah]

emily at tiffany's and chelsea lu who

don't mess with mary and melissa. they have swords!

sam, melinda, jackie, emily

viewing...

Introducing a likely-to-become-more-frequent feature:

Under-a-Dozen Movie Reviews

Where else can you get such a bargin, I ask? An entire movie reviewed in less than twelve words? Priceless! [and for today only, it's free]

Kung Fu Hustle
A lot of hustle, but not nearly enough Kung Fu.

washington: things...

this cute little guy was just waiting for the metro

for steph, with love

flags on the fbi building

modern [art?]

the blue muppet eagle?

flag draped from the pentagon after sept 11

washington monument

washington: places...

How cool is it that our country has miles of land dedicated to the memory and celebration of our nation! I was so amazed once again by the extent of God's blessing on this land. We are free enough, rich enough, and safe enough to just roam around history.

chinatown

president lincoln died in this house across the street from ford's theatre

capitol, capital

again

national treasure

iwo jima memorial

washington monument

ww ii memorial

each star represents one hundred men

now this is my kind of mall...

korean war memorial