He IS a MP-WASP. What a Dick.

Someone *ahem* pointed out the fact that Mike Collins (NPR, Charlotte Talks) is hard to listen to because he's clearly a Myers Park uppity WASP dick. Today, I listened... and I heard it. Nearly eight years of listening to Charlotte Talks (high school, college) albeit intermittently (I couldn't listen as much when I wasn't in the country)... I'd never noticed before. Maybe it didn't strike me as odd because he sounds like my Myers Park neighbors. Who knows, Mike could very well be the guy sitting next to me at my grand MP church. (Which I do recognize as antithetical to me, although I continue to attend)

Anyways, I'm not ready to give up on Charlotte Talks yet. I still think he asks good questions, and I often like his guests (Dr. El-Nawawy this morning!). But... I hear it.

Write by Numbers

So, I love This American Life. All you non-listeners really should get with it. If you don't even know what I'm talking about... oh, I might cry. NPR, Ira Glass. Alex and I listen to it at night while falling asleep. I know, I know, don't we have anything better to do before falling asleep than listening to a gay Jewish man tell stories on National Public Radio? Don't worry, there's lots of hours in the day, there's time for Ira... and everything else. 

But, I've diverged. I meant to tell you about this one particular episode that I loved... and that I wish I could mimic when writing my own essay. See, these artists observed how everything in the world seems determined by polling and statistics. So they thought, why not art? Paintings, music? They commissioned a study to find out what the greatest numbers of people wanted in a painting, and then in a song. They painted two paintings: what people want, and what people don't want. The one that people want has blues and greens, a mountain, a lake, a family... and George Washington. 

They did the same for music. The most hated song is hilarious. They included everything that people do not want in music: accordion, banjo, bagpipes. It is 21 minutes long and features an opera singer. Who raps. About cowboys. There are intervals of children's voices - people apparently hate children's voices - and bits about random holidays. In my dream last night, I heard one of the children's bits, and woke up singing it. It goes something like "It's Labor day! Labor day, labor day. Schools are closed and pools are opened... Labor day, la-labor day..." (hear episode here or visit artists' website here... really, you should go listen)

I was thinking. I'd kind of like to write the rest of my essay by poll. Just survey all of you to find out what you want to read, now that you already have a general idea of the essay's direction. Find out what parts you like, what you want to know more about, what you want me to delete. I'd like to write by numbers. The customer's always right. So, I could just find out what you want and give it to you. It worked for painting and music...

We're Supposed to Blog About the Editing Process

I must say, I was really surprised that no one criticized/complained about/put large Xs through the preachy/rant-y sections of my essay. Those were the sections that bothered (and continue to bother) me the most... maybe you didn't want to insult me? I'm actually a little confused... but, those will certainly be the first sections to go. Or maybe I won't delete them entirely... but they'll certainly get tweaked. 

For Andrew, I will see if some of the dashes can go... which is tough because I think in dashes. If you could see my thoughts (er... maybe that wouldn't be  a good idea) typed out, it would be all sorts of dashes and dots. But my writing doesn't have to look exactly like my thinking. Hopefully, at least, my writing will be more linear... less never-ending forever-branching rabbit holes. 

Thankfully I don't have to add much in terms of length... maybe just erase some superfluous stuff and elaborate on the more meaningful stuff (and I'm identifying what was meaningful by looking at the parts in which there was consensus about it being impact-ful)

Oh boy, this is gonna be fun.

A spectre is haunting Europe

Historical fact of the day: 

161 years ago today, in 1848, the Communist Manifesto was first published, becoming one of the world's most influential political tracts. 

Some things you may not know: 

• The Manifesto was originally written by Engels, but when he gave it to Marx for revision, Marx tore it apart and rewrote it. Engels later wrote in an introduction to the Manifesto that the thought was entirely Marx's. 
• Marx's wife, Jenny, was from a wealthy family; to support herself and her husband, Jenny slowly pawned inherited silver throughout the years (Marx wasn't widely known or read during his life).
• Before the publication of the Manifesto, Marx was jailed in Brussels for revolutionary activity. He defended himself in court, and the jury later wrote to thank him for the interesting lesson he gave on the activity for which he was originally arrested. 
• Marx spoke German, English, French, Latin, and read Russian. His early manuscripts were written in Latin. 
• The Manifesto contains the essence of Marx's theory.
• The Manifesto was commissioned by the Communist League of London

Workers of the world, unite!

Diane Rehm is my "wake up early" motivator

I hate waking up late.
Ok, that's only sort of true. I love waking up at a reasonable hour, rolling over, and going back to sleep. That feeling is something along the lines of "pure joy".But I hate starting my day late, of feeling like I lost hours and wasted time.

More than anything, I despise waking late on weekdays for one specific reason: Diane Rehm.
NPR, and especially WFAE, is something of an addiction. One of the greatest feelings of elation while living abroad was the realization that I could get the live stream of WFAE... in my room in Lima.

But when I wake up late, I miss Morning Edition. I miss Charlotte Talks. No Steve Inskeep. No Renée Montagne. Instead, my ears are assailed by Diane Rehm. Which, for the record, is a rather undesireable way to wake up. As my boyfriend says, its something like awaking in a hospital... or a nursing home.

Okay, okay. She's a good interviewer, fine, I'm not disagreeing. But that's akin to telling me that olives or pickles are good for me, therefore I should like them (don't you dare approach me with a pickle). Or that Johnny Depp is an excellent actor. I don't care how good he is, he scares me.

Diane Rehm is good. Great, even. Yet the mornings I sleep through the soothing voices of intelligent morning news, that's it. I try -I try hard- to listen to her. And then, after 5 minutes, I inevitably change the station.

Which means that, not only does waking up to Ms. Rehm devestate my morning, it leaves me in an uncomfortable, news-less state for the rest of the day.

That's all the motivation I need to wake up early.

Most Random Wedding Reception Ever

So, I was thinking about weddings recently - a lot of people I know are getting married. Parents, friends...one of my best friends is going to 11 weddings this year!

And as more time passes, I decide that I don't have much interest in a super-typical reception. Not that there's anything wrong with typical and traditional. I tend to be pretty traditional myself. What I want isn't completely off in left field, either. But I think, when I get married, I just want the reception to be a huge party with all of the random stuff I love but can't have in my normal life.

I want one of those ridiculous mall photo booths that print the strips of 5 photos.

I want a soft-serve ice cream machine with a friend calling out "Que Rico! Que Delicioso! Helado de Maquina! How Rich! How Delicious! Ice Cream from a Machine!" (long story), accompanied by a table of sundae fixins.

I want my most favorite street food vendor from right outside my university in Lima to come and fix his to-die-for Sandwich Royal (shredded chicken, potato sticks, cheese, a fried egg, shredded lettuce, ají, and good bread). AND, his name is Tio Bigote (Uncle Mustache) which is unbeatable. His Royal is the sandwich by which all other Sandwich Royales are judged.

Tio Bigote, the love of my (culinary) life.

Instead of a little man and woman atop the cake, I want two turtles stacked on top of one another.

Our first dance might be a gag... but only if we can both do it with a straight face (this ridiculous dance we call "the love dance" that was invented to make me feel better but instead makes me cringe) and only for a few seconds and then we'll dance for real. I can't even watch it with a straight face, so... we'll see.

I won't be getting married for awhile, but I can't wait. I can't wait for the romantic part, sure. But I'm really looking forward for the once-in-a-lifetime chance to have the random things that make me (us...since it won't just be my party) happy. And, no one can say a thing... its whatever we want it to be...its our day, damn it.

Book Binge

As sometimes happen when I get bored with real life (or even when I don't), the past week or so I've been on a Book Binge. I'm always -always- reading something, but every couple of months that will go into overdrive and I'll just devour everything I can get my hands on.

So, here's the overview of what I've slammed down recently:

My Ishmael, Daniel Quinn. What can I say, other than... read it. Actually, read the other first: Ishmael. But be sure to read both of them. Some people think that they're "nice stories" and then write them off... but for those who are affected by them, they can be paradigm-shifting. As for me, Quinn manages to articulate what has bothered me so much in all I've seen, so both books hit home. Maybe you'll be affected and find yourself like one friend, drunk on your birthday and on camera, disturbed and yelling "they locked up the food, man, they locked up the food!"

Change of Heart, Jodi Picoult. Picoult is my (not-so) secret indulgence in "beach reads" and other bestsellers that I usually regard as fluff. She's my way of completely disappearing from the world; this book I read in one sitting on a Sunday. It is well written, the plot moves quickly, and this one made me think. She has this style of writing from a different person's perspective each chapter, which is interesting and she does very well. The story was still sinking in several days after I finished it.

Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut. Another one I read within a day and a half. Vonnegut is freakin nuts, and its great. I read Sirens of Titan a couple of months ago, and loved that as well. He writes absolutely insane things in the most matter-of-fact way, which, especially in Sirens of Titan, is hilarious. I really like Slaughterhouse Five's perspective on death. I just wish we could actually visit those moments in the past where our loved ones still exist. So it goes...

Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole. I'm in the middle of this one right now. It took me a little while to get really hooked, but its another preposterous, hilarious novel. The characters are so absurd that it is captivating.

We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, Philip Gourevitch. I'm reading it for a class, but it is one that has been on my "to read" list for years. The writing is excellent - for once, journalistic style done well in a longer book. And thank God, because the topic is done justice (its about the Rwanda genocide, which happens to fascinate me).

I feel like I am missing a book or two, because I know this isn't all I've read... maybe its because I'm not including the school reading? There are a few more that I started last month that I am just now finishing up, but I don't consider them part of my binge... they're just normal reading. If any happen to be must-reads, I'll be sure to pass them on. Oh, and I musn't forget that book by that cynical bastard Klosterman...