:: Narg Champa ::

:: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 ::

:: Bitten By the Bug ::

Oh man.

I have been positively neglectful when it comes to the keeping up of this blogs. What ever happened to the good ol' days when I had all of this simply spewing out of me all the time. Not only that, it was (often if not always) funny and perhaps even eloquent. No, those days are clearly gone, gone, gone.

What a shame (except for the part where it's mostly a good thing that I am not longer constantly in a state of angst, of course.)

However, that being said I appear to have been bitten by the blog bug recently. I can only imagine that it has something to do with my imminently approaching journey back to the Island (aka England) and all of the accompanying ... well, angst. I did enjoy keeping the blog up and running while in Bristol, and I should be having even more adventures this time around. Thus I think the time has come to consider re-entering the realm of bloggerhood-- it sure is a lot more densely populated than before!-- and start something up to chronicle the next 3(+) years. Now all i have to figure out is whether or not I want to go for the convenience and easy-accessibility of Live Journal or my tried-and-true blogger. Who am I kidding? LiveJournal may get a few extra points for FriendsLists but let's face it, I hate almost everything else about that place-- always have, always will. That's right folks, I may be a blogging snob, but so help me I'm a blogging snob with cred.

Anyway, perhaps I shall keep this going as well as a repository for anything and everything I might not want the elder members of the Lancaster clan reading (i.e. the gay).

... On the other hand the internet is probably as good a place as any to come out to one's extended family-- certainly better than Thanksgiving which would probably be my other option, if I could ever manage being in CA for the holiday, that is.

We shall see.

Labels: angst, blog neglect, imminent travel, lj, new blogs, the gay

:: find earth and reap :: 11:42 AM :: [+] :: | ::

---

:: Good ol' Dennis ;) ::

92% Mike Gravel
92% Dennis Kucinich
77% Chris Dodd
76% John Edwards
74% Hillary Clinton
74% Barack Obama
72% Joe Biden
67% Bill Richardson
38% Rudy Giuliani
33% Ron Paul
28% John McCain
19% Mike Huckabee
19% Mitt Romney
18% Tom Tancredo
9% Fred Thompson

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

:: find earth and reap :: 5:18 PM :: [+] :: | ::

---

:: Enneagram Test (c/o Shannon) ::

Your Score: 8 - the Asserter

Thanks for taking the test !

you chose AY - your Enneagram type is EIGHT (aka "The Challenger").

"I must be strong"

Asserters are direct, self-reliant, self-confident, and protective.

How to Get Along with Me

• Stand up for yourself... and me.



• Be confident, strong, and direct.



• Don't gossip about me or betray my trust.



• Be vulnerable and share your feelings. See and acknowledge my tender,
  vulnerable side.



• Give me space to be alone.



• Acknowledge the contributions I make, but don't flatter me.



• I often speak in an assertive way. Don't automatically assume it's
  a personal attack.



• When I scream, curse, and stomp around, try to remember that's just
  the way I am.

What I Like About Being a EIGHT

• being independent and self-reliant



• being able to take charge and meet challenges head on



• being courageous, straightforward, and honest



• getting all the enjoyment I can out of life



• supporting, empowering, and protecting those close to me



• upholding just causes

What's Hard About Being a EIGHT

• overwhelming people with my bluntness; scaring them away when I don't intend to



• being restless and impatient with others' incompetence



• sticking my neck out for people and receiving no appreciation for it
  



• never forgetting injuries or injustices



• putting too much pressure on myself



• getting high blood pressure when people don't obey the rules or when
  things don't go right

EIGHTs as Children Often

• are independent; have an inner strength and a fighting spirit



• are sometimes loners



• seize control so they won't be controlled



• fugure out others' weaknesses



• attack verbally or physically when provoked



• take charge in the family because they perceive themselves as the strongest, or grow up in difficult or abusive surroundings

EIGHTs as Parents

• are often loyal, caring, involved, and devoted



• are sometimes overprotective



• can be demanding, controlling, and rigid

Renee Baron & Elizabeth Wagele

The Enneagram Made Easy

Discover the 9 Types of People

Harper
SanFrancisco, 1994, 161 pages

You liked the test?

so    S P R E A D    I T !   tell everyone!!!
(use Quick-Paste below)

you wanna know MORE?

so check out, what Google found
about your type...

or do you prefer to

---

You are not completely happy with the result?!

You chose AY

Would you rather have chosen:

BY (FOUR)

CY (SIX)

AX (SEVEN)

AZ (THREE)

Link: The Quick & Painless ENNEAGRAM Test written by felk on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test View My Profile(felk)

:: find earth and reap :: 1:51 PM :: [+] :: | ::

---

:: Looking to the Future ::

As we are only a couple days into the month of January, the television is the site of a long parade one New Year's resolution-based self improvement ad after another. Not surprisingly, weight loss is the most common, but lets not forget better hair, beter skin, better teeth, more money, finding love, financial security, and the zillion other things people around the country have promised to accomplish/achieve in the coming year. It always makes me wonder how many people actually get anywhere near their goals and--perhaps even more appropriate in this context-- how much money can be made this time of year off of all of those who attempt to fulfil their promises. As I sit watching day 3 of VH1's America's Next Top Modelthon(4...? I don't know they all run together), where they are quite literally running all 9 cycles end to end without any sort of break for the entire week-- I can't help but notice the (perhaps not so) stealthy corroboration from the various television networks. Sure, there's the writers strike, and lord knows they're hard pressed for anything else to put on, but it seems more than a little suspicious that a show that further glorifies the teeny-tiny, clear skinned, white-toothed, beautifully-tressed, model ideal just happens to be sucking viewers to the television just as the year gets off to start. I love ANTM, in fact, I can't stop watching it, no matter watery my brain begins to feel, or how murky the past few days seem. I also can't stop feel like shit because of it. Go figure.

Of course, it would be hypocritical of me to a.) criticize New Year's resolutions, or b.)blame ANTM for all of my current self confidence issues/physical obsessions. I myself have had a resolution for the past three years-- all of which I've managed to accomplish (I think), I'm glad to say. I guess what gets me this year is that none of those resolutions were exactly what you'd call "traditional." They were all things I felt like I needed to work on to make myself a better, stronger, happier person. Freshman year I vowed to grow a spine, after spending months pining after a friend, growing increasingly more frustrated-- while also marveling at the percieved strength of many of my peers at Bryn Mawr. Sophomore year I decided to remove what I believed to be a negative element from my life (with as much civility as possible). I can't say that it remained as civil as I would have liked it to, but the person did wind up out of the picture for as long as I needed them to be-- and by the end of the year we were speaking again and I found that my outlook on this aspect of my life had become increasingly healthy, and that all of my past troubles with this person had more or less been swept away by the passing of time. Junior year, after realizing that I'd been staying in several of my relationships (and other situations) way past their due date, because I was chronically afraid of being rude/horrible/a heart breaker, I decided to just suck it up and start making decisions that actually included my own desires. Obviously, I'm not saying that i felt "obligated" to stay in past relationships per se, but the fact of the matter was that I was beginning to find that I regretted certain choices I'd made... or rather... avoided, in the interest of "being nice". Ultimately, something like that is no good for all parties involved. Interestingly, this resolution seemed to have some of the broader implications, and helped me make other kinds of decisions in the past year, and when I look back at the past three years as a whole, I see someone who has grown and taken her experiences and used them to truly better herself, even in small ways.

This year however, that is not the case. I'm sure it's not that I don't *need* to figure out some deep and psychologically based thing I should work on for the year it's just that... well... I haven't really thought of what that thing should be yet. I seem to be a bit preoccupied with the physical aspects of being at the moment. Thus my New Year's resolutions are as follows:

1.) Be a better vegetarian

As of last July, I cut meat out of my diet (keeping in some fish and seafood to ease the transition, to make eating at home (Mexico) a little more reasonable, and also because at the time I believed that the practices used in procuring fish/seafood wasn't quite so bad. Yes, I do realize this isn't quite the case.) Unfortunately, due to some fairly poor eating habits, and Haffner's truly abismal selections this past semester I found that I gained nearly 20 lbs over the past semester. Yikes! Which brings me to the biggest revelation of 2007... tofu is really fattening if you eat too much of it! So, I decided that for 2008 I would make sure that I was a veggie eating veg, not just a tofu and carb eating veg. This was also supposed to include the removal of fish/seafood from my diet.

However, after slightly overdosing on cheese during my time at home (thus far) I am thinking of slightly reworking this resolution. Instead of just being a better vegetarian, in addition, I have decided to give eating (mostly) vegan a trial run for the first month I'm back at Bryn Mawr. I say "mostly" because I will probably keep honey/bee-products in my diet (certainly in my daily routine, because I use a lot of burt's bees and other natural products that incorporate such things), and also because my reasons for veg*nism (ah yes, i'm learning online veg speak) are predominantly environmental and I feel as though I will always prefer using ethically produced/collected/farmed wool, bees-wax, etc. over synthetic (and often petroleum based) alternatives. We shall see how this goes! I'm actually sort of excited, perhaps for the challenge, perhaps also for the change in life style. Let's hope that Cynthia's delicious vegan desserts continue to be amazing : )

2.) Lose weight

Quite a bit of weight actually. This one is so cliche, I know, but it *has* to happen. I am unhappy as always with my size and I just seem to keep gaining. Slowly, and often with periods of loss... but the fact remains that I do just keep getting bigger one way or another. Because of the recent weight gain, this is no longer minor weight loss-- I'm looking at trying to lose 40-50lbs. I am hoping that resolution #1 will positively incoporate with this goal. If you look at what I'm eating now, a lot of it would be removed from my diet if I was following a (mostly) vegan diet. Basically, I want to get myself into the best shape of my life-- I want to feel (and look) healthy. Hopefully if I do it responsibly it will make this goal easier. I want this-- I want to make it happen (finally), and if it takes a cliche to do it, I'm ok with that!

Labels: ANTM, resolutions, veg*nism, weight

:: find earth and reap :: 1:48 AM :: [+] :: | ::

---

:: Craftiness ::

So... I've taken up crocheting, and I'm doing pretty well with it! It's exciting-- I am enjoying this much more than knitting (which I had enjoyed but never really went anywhere with it)

Here's the bag I just made :)

:: find earth and reap :: 4:56 PM :: [+] :: | ::

---

:: Another Year Over (almost) ::

Shamefully, it's been at least 8 months since I've posted anything of substance on any sort of blog. While I'm not totally responsible (thanks, blogger, for totally screwing up my old blog) I should have found the time to get this back up and running sooner. I had the best of intentions (as many of the first few posts on this blog show) but they didn't really go anywhere.

So... let's fix it!

Generally I repost that end of the year meme where you go through each month and copy the first line from the first post from each month, but clearly, since I went so long without posting regularly that wont work. Oh well, I'll do the first couple months just for fun.

here goes:

January:
Title: The Perils of a Career in Archaology...
(link) "Archaeologist tired of unearthing unspeakable evil" (c/o the Onion)

February:
Title: I Have A Cast!!!!!!!
"....AND THEY'RE GOING TO BE AWESOME!"

March:
Title: Look everyone, an update! (for serious.)
"Alright, so I am currently lurking in the back of Uncommon Grounds, waiting around to hear from Erina so that I can pick up the HART reading from her."

April:
Title: Innit though!
"So..... room draw has begun, and I hate it as usual."

There ends the last of the real posts... but I think that these four moths are pretty accurate.

---

In the months since I have...
(mostly in chronological order)
-helped a wonderful cast put on a wonderful play
-started dating a beautiful (and amazing in nearly every way) woman :-D
-finished my junior year
-spent part of my summer working at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in DC
-smoked with a chinese shaman from the Yunan province, a dude from Kent, a native american medicine womand and other at said festival
- become a vegetarian
- spent about 5 weeks in mexico for the summer... where I had multiple encounters with scorpions (!)
- started my senior year
-helped curate an exhibition on the BMC collections' Books of Hours
-rekindled an old(ish) friendship with one of my first friends at BMC
-had a lovely thanksgiving with said friend
-co-coordinated SPT
-become the president of Lavender's Blue (my a cappella group)
-started applying for grad schools
- gotten things organized for my thesis (!)
- gone "home" (not really) to mexico where I'll be stuck for a month (ho hum).


That's a lot for 8 months of time!

I know I should write more but in the mean time I'm gonna repost a fun music meme (probably x-posted to my lj as well.. but comment here if you can, so that I know that people know this is up and running!)

Step 1: Get your playlist together, put it on random, and play.
Step 2: Pick your favorite lines from the first 25 songs that play.
Step 3: Post and let everyone you know guess what song the lines come from.
Step 4: Cross out the songs when someone guesses correctly! No cheating and pasting the lyrics into a search engine!

1. "Say it, say it, say it-- tell it like it is."

2. "My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all."

3. "Take these broken wings and learn to fly."

4. "I want to change the world... instead I sleep."

5. "Kiss away the ones who say the lust you feel is wrong" OR "how bad could it be if you amuse yourself with me."

6. "I feel good in a special way... I'm in love and it's a sunny day."

7. "If this is our last goodbye, I would love to see you cry."

8. "Close your eyes and I'll kiss you, tomorrow I'll miss you."

9. "From your first cigarette to your last dying day!"

10. "There are times when I catch in the silence the sigh of a faraway song."

11. "It's so easy for a girl like you to lie... tell me why, tell me why."

12. "And you may ask yourself, where is that large automobile!?"

13. "What do you see when you turn out the light?... I can't tell you, but I know it's mine."

14. "The mind that knows itself is a mind that knows much more (carry us away from here)"

15. "Someday when I'm lonely, wishing you weren't so far away, then I will remember..."

16. " You might not ever get rich, but let me tell ya it's better than digging a ditch!"

17. "I want the world to know.. I want to let it show!"

18. " When you're on a golden sea you don't need no memory... just a place to call your own as we drift into the zone."

19. "Even on summer days she'd complain that she couldn't take the ch-ch-chill out of her bones."

20. "Can't stop (Can't stop) Can't stop the beat!"

21. "It's a luscious mix of words and tricks that let us be when we know we should fold."

22. "I'm so happy, that you love me-- life is lovely, when you're near me"

23. "For a lonely soul, you're having such a nice time."

24. "We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, drink up me hearties, yo ho!

25. "I can't wait to fall in love with you... you can't wait to fall in love wtih me"

Labels: catching up

:: find earth and reap :: 6:58 PM :: [+] :: | ::

---

:: Updates and Final Re-edits to Come ::

I am FINALLY getting my act together and setting this up properly. Expect that things will be a little out of whack here before I have the chance to get it all up and running.

:: find earth and reap :: 12:53 PM :: [+] :: | ::

---