We watched 夢十夜 (Ten Nights of Dreams) last night and this the greatest vignette I have ever seen in my life. The fun begins at like 3:00 if it starts out too slow for you. Expect a Japanese Karl Lagerfeld breakin' it down.




COMMENTARY ON MODERN/POP ART, OR ACTUAL MODERN ART? IDEK BUT IT IS AWESOME AND LOL


In unrelated news, we discussed homosexuality in my Catholicism class today and my professor said gays have health problems because anal sex causes them and then I asked him if lesbians get off scot-free then, if that's his logic and he looked at me appalled. And then he was like "having sex with other men does not mean one is gay" which I agree with but then he said, "like there are black men who meet up in clubs for homosexual relationship but adamantly deny being gay" and then I was like, "oh, right, the down-low?" and he looked even more appalled that I knew what it was termed. Also birth control causes women to be whores, apparently.

In even more unrelated news, they patched a crack in our side stairs and the cement is still wet, so my roommate/bff and I wrote IT'S NOT LUPUS on the vertical face because we couldn't think of anything else that would confuse people as much. If you think of anything better let me know soon before it dries.

Guys a homeless guy just gave me a dollar because I was bitching about Busey Bank not reactivating my credit card and then he asked me to kiss him and I said no, I'm Catholic, sorry.



My life has reached a new low y/n?

Guys I was almost as hardcore as Rahm Emmanuel except he lost a finger and I just got seven stitches. Plus I got to say, "Is there a doctor in the house?" at the cafe but everyone thought I was joking and I had to be like "no really guys I'm kind of grievously injured".


Side Note: This song is amazing. Thank you for leaking it, Kanye West. Shit is indeed dope.

"Gov. Blagojevich has taken us to a new low," [Patrick Fitzgerald] said. "This conduct would make [Abraham] Lincoln roll over in his grave."


LOLOLOLOL Are we being serious here? Did we forget our last governor sold (1) appointments to gov'nt office, (2) bids for state contracts, AND (3) semi-truck licenses? It's not like the bar was set very high. The results of Ryan's corruption actually killed people.


This is why you never trust a man who keeps a comb up his sleeve at all times. And who, you know, has had glaring ties with the Chicago Outfit since day one.
(Though I guess my mom's friend Chrissy should be glad he screwed her over after her dad died and didn't give her a gov'nt appointment.)


FUN FACT: Rod Blagojevich was Rahm Emanuel's 5th District predecessor.

FUN FACT 2:

influencethis just linked me to this and even though I need to go to bed I keep replaying it and being torn between laughing and being a little sad.





Neil Patrick Harris popping up keeps sending me into fits of laughter.

I saw Merwin and Pinsky speak tonight about their Dante translations and I know I'm a total nerd but can Merwin be my new grandpa? My class actually randomly ran into him at the library yesterday and he sat down and talked with us for a while. Awesome.
I'm sure there's a much more eloquent way to say this but I have too much other stuff to worry about right now.


Again apologies for my long absences but life has been crazy. I'm not even going to make any of the November 1st deadlines for law school applications. Not that I'm going to get in to any first-tier schools; I am woefully underqualified. Thanks, economy, for making this my only viable option right now.


PS. What is everyone being for Halloween? On the actual day I'm being Nancy Sinatra and for my friends' "All Sluts Day" party the next day I think I'm going to be the Whore of Babylon (you have to be something slutty).

finally watching the debate online and

JESUS CHRIST PALIN NO ONE CARES ABOUT ALASKA.
WELL MAYBE THE POLAR BEARS BUT YOU'RE JUST GOING TO KILL THOSE ALL ANYWAYS.



Senator (O)Biden ftw
He just keeps laughing in her face, I love it.

(This will be of special distraction interest to cutthroatpixie post-House finale.)

Since that quake I last posted about, we've had a few aftershocks. In regards to my own shakeups, I've completed my penultimate spring semester exams, got an accidental C- (really an A-), and started working at a chocolate cafe and a coffeehouse. I'm staying in my apartment in my university town this summer- I have a year lease anyways, and it's much less stressful than staying at home. So I'm going it alone for about 3 months; my roommate is busy over in Indianapolis shooting down satellites with missiles, or whatever it is Level 3 security clearance at an international defense contractor lets you do. It's been peaceful, although a little unsettling at night.

Perhaps to reflect these changes, I've resolved to dye my hair. I'm probably going to keep the cut just about the same because I actually like the way my hair's been falling naturally lately, but I want to have fun with the color. And in the wake of my latest television love, I've been leaning towards getting it dyed the shade that Anne Dudek has her hair.

( photo exhibits )

So, do you think I can pull this off? I don't have polls any more, but even a short comment will be helpful. I just want some other opinions on this before I go bleaching my hair, I guess.
I'm going to make an appointment at Ippatsu (their motto is If we can't make you look good... you're ugly - how can I go wrong with that?) as soon as there's a feasible gap in my work schedule.

Lesson of the Day: Stop rationalizing self out of things. It will lead to, "Wait, what? That really was an earthquake?" 5 hours after it happened.

This morning I woke up and rationalized that I was probably just hallucinating, albeit a weird hallucination, or that my neighbors were having very odd sex and banging the bed against the adjoining wall.
I thought vaguely that perhaps it was the St. Louis faultline acting up, but I sleepily dismissed that because then it would involve getting out of my bed and taking shelter in the doorway, or whatever it is you're supposed to do. I don't think we ever actually had earthquake drills, just fire and air raid ones.

There was an aftershock at like 10:30, and then I just thought I was having vertigo.


I texted my cousin who grew up in California and he's like HOW THE HELL DID YOU IGNORE A 5.2 EARTHQUAKE LOL YOU DUMBASS.
My family is so caring.

I was planning on posting something like this anyways, so this seems like a good enough time as any.


( five and a half things that have made me happy in the last two weeks )


Hopefully everyone else has things that can cheer them up in this lingeringly dreary winter; or, for those of you in the southern hemisphere, the end-of-summer heat.

I have a really hard Latin exam tomorrow, so logically I am instead searching Google to see why for the past three days I have suddenly been craving every sort of dairy product available to me. Just from 3pm on today I've had two kinds of cheese, a yogurt, and now I kind of want milk. Usually the extent of my dairy intake is an absurd amount of shredded sharp cheddar, so this is a little ridiculous.


Following my very unscientific research, I have emerged with three options:
1. I am pregnant.
2. I am on LSD.
3. I "feel depressed or unloved; [I] desire nurturing and comfort."


Taking bets now!

Yes, I am pale. Yes, I know I am pale. No, I don't tan. No, I don't care.
I'm pretty OK with this, which is why I'm wondering why three people in the past two days seem to have taken issue with it. It's not a recent, isolated set of incidents, either. I always get comments about how pale I am. Since I can remember I've had to field questions about why, even when I'm out in the sun six hours a day at the peak of summer, I hardly get any color. People I hardly know apparently think it's OK to make fun of how white I am.
I laugh at it because it's not worth my time, but after 20 years it's started to bother me. It my experience it's not really socially acceptable to ask someone, "why are you so dark?" Yes, there's the avoidance of historical stigmas at play there, of course, but honestly. At what point does it become acceptable to call someone out on something that is genetically defined?

Lately I've been itching to say back, "I don't know, why are you such a douchebag?" but I think that might be an overreaction.

I assume everyone's heard about Northern by now. This is just so unbelievable. I'm not close with any of the people I know who go there, but it's still... so near to home, I don't know.

All my Chicago area folks... the_tim_world, semirose, influencethis, pyralisha, sundry_pieces, solarpowerspork and anyone else I missed... even if I've already talked to you about this, I hope everyone you know up there is OK.


Fuckin' DeKalb. What the hell ever happens in DeKalb?

( I have like 5400 songs so this should be interesting )

Have fun, guys. LOST TOMORROW, oh man.

Cloverfiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeld




also someone please find me video of like the last minute 'cause I totally missed YOU KNOW WHAT




EDIT. UGH GUYS MY AIM JUST GOT PHISHED VIA LJ SO SRY IF I'M SENDING YOU LIKE A BILLION MESSAGES
DO NOT OPEN ANY LINKS I SEND YOU

Apologies for the lack of posts for... oh, what, several months? Everything just felt too insignificant to mention or too personal to share, I guess.


But since I'm a shallow whore, ( here's my new hair )


So how ready are the college folks on my flist to get back to school? I've lost like 5+lbs over break - I think from pure boredom. However, the slight weight loss has kind of inspired me. I always start each semester thinking I'm going to both do all my reading and go to the gym regularly, neither of which happen by the end of term. But for the past two days I've been fiddling around over at FitSugar and it's kind of got me set to actually do this thing.
If anyone has any tips I'd be much obliged. Also good workout music is welcome.

I have Sondre Lerche tickets!


It only took me like FIVE YEARS to be able to go.
This knowledge will hopefully get me through the emotional trial that is Dads' Weekend. Wish me luck.

Yesterday evening I forgot to turn my phone back onto ring from vibrate after getting out of class. When I checked my phone at around 11 I had several missed calls and 2 messages. The first was from H, letting me know that she's having a costume party on Friday night.
The next was my mother. "Lauren? Call me back as soon as you get this. The van is on fire... it just... started on fire. The fireman are out in front right now. So call me back. Bye."

( no, really, it started on fire )

Also I caught the oven on fire the other day, but that kind of pales in comparison to the engine in a piece of heavy machinery spontaneously combusting.


Is this the sort of thing that's supposed to come in threes? I'm not lighting any candles for a while, just to be sure.