Look what I found!!!!

This was soooooo timely, you have no idea. Thanks Kristi!

(look for my name!)

Australier on my mind

TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIM-TAMS! TARGET HAS TIIIIIIM-TAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMS!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Tams

Lost in socialization

I recently entered the ward of the single neo-adult, and I'm finding that I need a map or some other document to navigate its social features.

I spent my adolescence and first few years of adulthood under what I now understand may have been a delusion that I have a particular knack at being a really good friend, from creating to sustaining a meaningful friendship. In high school I saw the same people every day, and in college being in a student ward and in classes and on a defined campus meant I kept my friends (and my enemies, ha ha) close. This stable sense of community, vicinity, and frequent contact made building my social life very easy. The gathering or the new best friend was always next door, sounds of guitars and fun down the hall invited me to join them, running into classmates on campus led effortlessly to arranging activities. From there I could focus on individuals and nurture strong connections, charming with my thoughtfulness and wit :)

Over the past few days, I've realized I actually haven't been as good of a friend as I have in the past, and I am disconcerted by the realization that I don't know how in this strange new milieu. I feel lost. On Sundays, Mondays, and Wednesdays after church events people gather in the gym and over cheese and crackers or fruit snacks repeat the same chatter with each new willing subject. I've never been one for lots of small talk and I don't know how to transition from mingling to real relationship with this as my main type of interaction within the Longfellow Park community. Boundaries of complex schedules and responsibilities and distance have left me feeling confused and sometimes isolated. Email, which I once considered a great way to keep in touch with faraway friends and family, is the first method of communication. Gatherings have to be more deliberate and therefore more elaborate. I'm just not sure how to be there for the wonderful people I've met, where their boundaries are, where I fit in. I am sure that other people need strong friendships just like I do.

(This also leads to strange dating patterns, but that's another story...)

So...am I missing something? Any ideas?

I'm Jeremia and...

Remember my 3-year-old brother who can identify Rocko Momma and predicts that John Cain will win?

The other day, a suddenly bashful Jeremia walked into a room, looked at my dad, said "I approve this message," and walked out.

Oh my laugh my head off.



(This kid is such a treasure. This picture is from the summer, when he announced he was going to make dinner, got out two ziplock bags, and proceeded to distribute vegetables equally into the bags.)

to The Birthday Fairy

Dear The Birthday Fairy,

My birthday is November 10, but you knew that. Can I please have that job at Harvard Business School? We'd be so good for each other, and I'm going to do all these responsible and compassionate things with the money. Email me if you'd like the list. Thanks, I knew you'd understand.

Oh and some cute slippers/cold weather accessories and a real live love note on my car and funfetti cupcakes (not the Pillsbury kind with flat sprinkles, the other kind with the rainbow chips) couldn't hurt either, but mostly the job.

Give Fairy Godmother my regards. I wish I could have come to see her in the ballet.

Love ya!
Savanna

slogan for success

Don't date harder; date smarter: date me.

:)

A tribute to and a call for an Isaiah

So it's late. I went to a movie during the time I would have had dinner. I'm hungry. During years spent in a place I fondly remember as Provo, a call to my friend Isaiah would have had the hunger situation resolved. (Actually, it was more often an IM than a call.) Isaiah was always up for late-night Wendy's, and he would usually drive. In fact, he was always up for whatever I wanted to do, even if it included the risk of post-concert shady-diner waitresses asking us how long we've been dating. Thus developed a great friendship. Then I moved to Boston and started over from social scratch. I miss the Isaiahs in my life and, ya know, would like some more.

I'm only doing this for Kristi

I guess I've been socialized into the blog culture world. Tagged means I'm supposed to erase Kristi's answers and write my own, right?

What was I doing 10 years ago?

* Hmm, it's October. Hatching my way out of my middle school shell of ugliness aided by 4.5-inch black butterfly heels (Remember those, Kristi? So cute.) and a newly renovated friendly persona. Oh, and finishing my first and last year of high school volleyball.

What are 5 things on my to-do list today?

1. Absorb knowledge, probably lose tears, comprehend humanity at the Holocaust museum
2. Visit George Washington University and inquire about the MPP program
3. Call my great aunt Cindy
4. Rest
5. See Citizen Josh in Crystal City

Snacks I enjoy:

* Red grapes
* Tim-tams
* Rainbow paddle pops
* Potato cakes
* Chocolate stuff, but only if it's reaaaaaally good
* Falafel
* Greek salad, but only the real kind in Greece
* Golden Gaytime ice cream bars (yes I am serious)
* Frozen blended drinks

Places I've lived:

* Provo, Utah
* Hamden, Connecticut
* Waterbury, Connecticut
* Longmont, Colorado (Kristi, your fourth place was the same as my fourth place)
* Provo, Utah again
* Crema, Italy
* Victoria (Wantirna South, Cheltenham, Bairnsdale, Frankston, Berwick), Australia
* Somerville and Cambridge, Massachusetts

Five things I would do if I was a billionaire:

1. I would buy you some art--a Picasso or a Garfunkel
2. Build one of those silos and swim in my coins like Scrooge McDuck
3. Buy myself a graduate degree
4. Be a Resolver of Debt for me and my loved ones
5. Learn to fly airplanes
6. Build an actual meaningful thing, like the kingdom?

A list of 8
8 TV shows I love to watch

1. CNN
2. What Not to Wear
3. SNL Thursday Night Weekend Update
4. (I don't know any more shows)
5. Oh yeah, I used to love the X-Files in 8th grade
6.
7.
8.

8 favorite places I love to eat

1. Bombay House
2. Mr. Bartley's
3. Italy. Yes, anywhere in Italy.
4. Greece. Yes, again, this is a country.
5. Sarajevo. This time a city.
6. Armadillo. And we're back to restaurants.
7. Mmm, I tried Ethiopian food this week.
8. I'm clearly not very good at lists.

8 things that happened yesterday

1. Didn't observe a Supreme Court hearing
2. Interviewed the protesters/silent pray-ers standing in front of the Court with red stickers that say "LIFE" on their mouths
3. Bought hot chocolate
4. Spilled hot chocolate on my green coat
5. Admired the Constitution (the document, not the ship)
6. Finally saw the WWII memorial years after watching its dedication on TV
7. Took plenty of vanity photos and looked at vanity portraits at the National Portrait Gallery
8. Exercised tremendous self-control at H&M. Yep, didn't buy anything!

8 things I look forward to

1. Dinner?
2. Getting a jeoooaaaaaaawwwwrrrrrrrrrb that I like
3. Sleeping tonight
4. Visitors in Boston (come visit!)
5. My birthday
6. Christmas in Colorado and Christmas season in Boston
7. Yet-undefined adventures
8. Voting

8 things on my wish list

1. Haircut
2. Warm clothes
3. A ThinkPad
4. Enlightenment
5. A time/space machine
6. Plastic organizational aids
7. An incredibly meaningful 9-5 job that requires international travel. Sigh.
8. Better car insurance?
9. A nutritionist

Rocko Momma

My 3-year-old brother Jeremia is SO charming (it runs in the family, of course). My dad just emailed me to tell me this story. When Jeremia sees political commercials, he says, "There is Rocko Momma. John Cain is gonna win."

I asked how he chose his candidate. Dad told me "Alise always says 'Obama is gonna win.' Maybe he was being a contrarian."

Precious!

Unfiltered debate response

Some of my immediate reactions as I listen.

McCain is so awkward. But many people like him.
Why can't presidents keep cabinet members on when we shift administrations?
You wish you were that guy in the front row, don't you?
Obama is bad at hiding his contempt. Look at his "you're an idiot!" face.
Joe Biden is the best at all of 'em at concealing his disdain.
Barack foresaw the housing market crisis. Is he a prophet? (I ask this playfully, of course)
OOooh! Good question, Fiorra! (What sacrifices will you ask Americans to make?)
Obama NAILED that sacrifices question.
We ALL remember where we were September 11.
I think that one reason Obama's record has been aligned with his party is that he's a freshman senator and that's what you do when you're the new kid in town.
Health care is a matter of human dignity. A right even more than education is. You can live much better without education than you can without health. Life, liberty, pursuit of happiness.
In my more childlike days, I believed that having preexisting health conditions was a reason to qualify for BETTER insurance, not to be excluded. Think about it and it makes sense.
Nice to meet you, Mr. Barack. I'm one of those you meet without health insurance.
McCain and his wife don't match.
How ON EARTH is a $5000 tax credit going to help someone who doesn't pay $5000 of taxes? I know little about the tax schedule, but doesn't a single person have to make like $50,000 in order to even benefit from a $5000 tax credit? And children don't work. How do you insure a kid using $5000 of tax credits the kid doesn't earn? US GDP per capita is less than $50,000. Can someone explain this to me? (No, really.)
A 50% tax credit for small businesses is big.
McCain stands while his opponent speaks; Obama sits.
Are they going to have post-debate fact checking again? I liked that.
I have Iraq-war fatigue. I'm sure those in Iraq do too.
Tom Brokaw is gooooooood. Don't trifle with him.
Can't wait for the domestic policy debate.
I wonder if Barr and ...who is it? is Nader still in? resent that they don't get invited to the debates. (Oh I meant Ron Paul.)
Obama has nice eyelids. :)
Oh how I wish America would reread the Constitution.
At first I didn't like that McCain, and Obama too, was using more than one word to answer the yes-no question, but I think his protest was elegantly phrased. "If I say yes, we're reigniting the Cold War. If I say no, that ignores the problem." Reigniting was not the right word to use.
The U.N. Security Council is not going to approve that, but that's a silly counterfactual scenario anyway.
I wanted to hear McCain say "Iran...continue on the path that rocks!"
Why does the word "holocaust" keep coming up in these debates?
Thank you for not saying nuke-you-lar.
I never think of importing oil as a threat to national security, but I guess it is.
I appreciate a good risk taker.
Correlation does not equal causation. President Bush was not the grand menace of the economy.
Good question (What don't you know? How will you learn it?)
Good answer ("My wife would know.")
I want to hear some humility here.
The young people don't have the money for college, and they don't know about the resources that are available to them.
Say something inspiring please.
Sure glad McCain said "comrades" rather than "croneys" again.
Tom Brokaw is a legend.
Only disposable cameras allowed?
That was fun.

My dreams, they're made out of real things

I had a dream last night that I was J.F. Kennedy's running mate in his campaign to be president. Our success came from "riding the coattails of Obama and Biden," a phrase I employed as I thanked the real-life candidates for contributing to our popularity.

What does it meeeeeeeeeeean? Is it revealing of my political disposition and a suppressed aspiration for power? Your vote. :)