Narg Champa

Bitten By the Bug

2008-09-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Good ol' Dennis ;)

2008-01-05T17:18:00.000-08:00

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

Enneagram Test (c/o Shannon)

2008-01-04T13:51:00.001-08:00

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)

Looking to the Future

2008-01-04T01:48:00.000-08:00

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!

Craftiness

2008-01-01T16:56:00.000-08:00

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 :)

Another Year Over (almost)

2007-12-28T18:58:00.000-08:00

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"

Updates and Final Re-edits to Come

2007-08-23T12:53:00.000-07:00

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.

iTunes quizzy thing. (stolen from Mari)

2007-08-23T01:12:00.000-07:00

How many songs: 6560 (it just keeps growing)

Sort by song title
First Song: A-Tisket A-Tasket (Ella Fitzgerald/The Very Best of Ella)
Last Song: *** (Regina Spektor/Soviet Kitsch), or since that's not really a song, 1993 (Sigur Ros/ S)

Sort by time
Shortest Song: Flip Strings (Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack) -->4 seconds (dunno why this is diferent from Mari's, or why she had it mispelled)
Longest Song: Mitch Hedberg's Comedy Special-->1h3m, or if you want acutal music, Appalachian Spring (Aaron Copland)

Top Ten Most Played Songs:
1. Nothing In My Way (Keane/ Under the Iron Sea) -->@ 364 it has gotten me through multiple papers and presentations
2. The Engine Driver (The Decemberists/ Picaresque)--> 351
3. Timeless (Kate Havnevik) --> 178
4. The Predatory Wasp of the Pallisades is Out to Get Us (Sufjan Stevens/ Illinoise) --> 176
5. Chicago (Sufjan Stevens/ Illinoise)--> 161
6. Come On! Feel the Illinoise! (Sujan Stevens/ Illinoise)--> 159
7. Après Moi (Regina Spektor/ Begin to Hope) --> 151
8. Julia (The Beatles/ White Album)--> 148
9. We Are What You Say (Sufjan Stevens/ A Sun Came) -->147
10. Walk Or Ride (The Ditty Bops/ The Ditty Bops) -->146

Top Ten Recently Played Songs
1-10 My Brightest Diamond/ Bring Me the Work Hourse

"sex", how many songs come up? 42
"death", how many songs come up? 25
"love", how many songs come up? 294
"you", how many songs come up? 637 (jesus!)

Prezzie!

2007-06-19T22:46:00.000-07:00

Click me!

Another Wee Update

2007-06-04T23:25:00.000-07:00

As you can see, still no progress on the blog revamp. However, I have my computer back *and* they didn't have to wipe the hard drive, which means I might actually have some time to sit and mess around with it this week before I head down to Washington D.C.

Mari came to visit this weekend, which was lovely of course : ) We managed to do quite a lot in just a couple of lazy days. I don't think I've really grasped the reality of the fact that it will be weeks before I see her again and that I've still basically got the rest of the entire summer ahead of me. Oh, it'll come I'm sure, and I'm not looking forward to it.

In the meantime, I've got quite a lot to do to get ready for my internship. It's official, Bryn Mawr shafted me out of my scholarship (which I was awarded in fall 2005 for pete's sake!) which means my much-needed work experience will be coming very much out of my own pocket (read: increasingly huge debt). Unfortunately this does not mean that I have any less to do to prepare for the move down to D.C. Still, preparing myself to move down is really the only obligation I have this week, so I suppose it won't be too bad. I'm nervous, and rather terrified I'll go down and prove to be totally incompetent, but I think for the most part I can be sure that won't be the case. This job should be interesting-- totally not what I had in mind for the summer but still very much with a smithsonian instituion and hopefully chockfull of networking possibilities. At any rate, the woman with whom I've been in contact (and who will presumably be my boss) seems incredibly friendly and happy to have me on the team.

If only interns weren't actually a legal form of free labor.
(Not that I'm complaining. If the Smithsonian Institute wants me to work for them, I'll totally do it for free.)

Clearly.

2007-05-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Clearly I have not updated and adjusted everything I had been meaning to in order to get this blog in order. This is predominantly the result of a.) my computer going hay-wire, b.) going to new york for the weekend, and c.) unfair and annoying medical problems.

Instead of a new layout or updated anything, I bring you the following survey:

If I were a doll, the accessories packaged with me would be:
--An ipod and/or computer, a little piano, and a detachable fauxhawk. Outfits would definitely include men's tank tops and at least one leather jacket.

I have an irrational fear of:
--Bees. Aaaaaah! I'm covered in bees... I'm covered in bees!

What type of food do you eat at your grandparents house?
--Since I have no grandparents at present, this question is quite irrelevant.

What weight were you when you were born?
-- 4 lbs 6oz. If I'd been any smaller they would have had to put me in an incubator!

What would you do if you were stranded on an island with the person you hate most?
-- Hate most? How and why do I hate them? Oddly I feel like if I hated them for a good reason I'd have a better time of it than if I hated them simply because they annoyed/frustrated me

I am most opposed to:
-- Ignorance/intolerance

What would you do if you found out you had been cheated on?
-- I'm not sure. This has yet to happen (in the truest sense) and I hope I don't ever have to find out what I'd do...

Do you stalk anyone on myspace?
-- Haha. ME... MYSPACE STALK? Never! (isn't that right, Nora)

I am too old to:
-- Deal with some of the things people try to pull.

I find the thought of childbirth:
-- two words for you: cherry... WATERMELON. (also: lactation, ew.)

Next door to my house is:
-- Another house. Haha.

My feet are:
-- dirty as per usual and my barefoot ways.

My preferred style of jeans is:
--the kind that fit : )

I know how to cook:
--many things

I am annoyed at:
-- my somewhat bad luck lately :(

Men should always:
-- keep it in their pants.

Women should never:
-- allow a man to them feel inferior

What do you think is the worst way to dump someone?
-- on the other person's birthday. Ooh, or right after a death in the family or something. That'd just be cold.

What child-related smell do you not like?
-- well there are many more obvious answers but I really hate that sort of vaguely cheesey smell that small children seem to have sometimes.

What sea creature scares you?
-- the kind that want to eat me. And box jelly fish, definitely box jelly fish. AND THE KRAKEN!

What color hair do most of the people you are around have?
-- brown or blond?

What objects have you broken lately?
-- my logic board apparently. Silly apple computer, don't you think it'd be a good idea to make sure that your laptops, being portable computers, can withstand repeated ly being lifted and carried?

Name one of the Spice Girls?
--Scary

What was the last thing to make you cry?
-- Life... last night.

I would like to be in an advertisement for:
-- Anything, really. As long as it wasn't embarassing or sketchy.

What are the stems of wine glasses for?
-- to hold up the cup part?

My favorite shoes are:
-- sandals... or no shoes.

My mothers' greatest fear is:
-- No clue. Probably something happening to my father or me. Or Dalai (her dog. In fact... perhaps more so with dalai than with us...

Can you use chopsticks?
-- Indeed I can.

If you had to live in one which one would it be, a beach or forest?
-- A Beach.. as long as I could live on/at it instead of IN it.

The Dawning of a New Era?

2007-05-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

As it appears blogger has decided to upgrade my original blog and subsequently make the whole thing a little more complicated and a little less functional than I generally like to deal with, I have decided that it just might be the right time to start a new one. After all six years is an inordinately long time to keep a single blog. We'll see how this one fares...