making peace with food
that's a big task. you can think of it in terms of being able to happily eat, without worrying about how you carry all your weight in your stomach or just having that guilty feeling at all. you can think of it in terms of eating as an event, as almost a ministry, instead of just filling your tummy and satiating your hunger - the preparation, the eating, the cleaning... it's all done as a family or with friends, and it's fun.
but there's more to that. the body is a temple. you're going to be wary of what you put in my mouth. that's very easy to do, and it's an easy feeling to have. like the way you feel poisoned after drinking soda, until you drink enough water so you pee clear again (okay, that's kind of neurotic). like knowing that you'll be a happier temple if you're eating spinach and tofu instead of a greasy hamburger. no brainer.
you are also wary of how you treat the earth which yields its fruits to you.
okay, we'll stop saying "you" now. this is all julia.
i have this growing connection with the soil. the earth. my home.
when i was 12 years old, my family and i went to england for our first trip back since moving here. we'd had a year of american culture and media. at my friend's house, i opened up a magazine to a random page, and saw a PETA ad, or whatever the british equivalent is. it was some gruesome picture of the treatmeant of pigs in meat farms. there were several vivid ads like this throughout the magazine, which was directed at young people or gossipy women. can you imagine what would happen if People magazine had some graphic picture of about-to-get-slaughtered pigs?
anyway, it was enough for me. i swore off eating poor little animals. for the next however many years, i was a Vegetarian and Liberal and Proud. i wore shirts that said "Against Animal Testing" without really understanding what it meant. (although senior year in high school, i whipped it out again, along with a "Cats Against Animal Experimentation" shirt to wear while my zoology class dissected fetal cats) and my vegetarianism, as passionate as it was, consisted of eating around whatever meat my disgruntled parents made for dinner, and absorbing complaints from my mother that i wasn't eating well enough. around my junior year of high school, when i was trying really hard to be a better cross-country runner but still sucking, we realized i had an icky case of anemia and all around malnutrition. the Disgruntled Parents got their way, and i let chicken and tuna back in my diet. (of course, i still sucked at running).
after college, i revisited my convictions. i realized that, rather than being passionate and trying-to-be-a-cool-hippie, there were no reasons for me to continue eating meat, or any animal products for which you have to kill.
i realized that what i consume, what i spend my dollars on, is my strongest vote. this led to an over-awareness in what was going into the food that went into my body. what sort of labor practices? do they use pesticides? are they owned by some corporate scum? thus began my organic regime. i pay a little more, of course. but eventually, i'll be settled in the new house and able to cook more for myself. this will be great - i'll be spending way less than eating out, and i'll be in control of what goes into the food.
i still drink coffee. i still eat weird complex-ingredient genisoy bars. but i'm taking steps. i'm transforming. this is the way i make peace with my food. i find it peaceful, i try to connect myself to it's creation, and i make everything i consume be a miniature, daily protest.
1.31.2003
1.30.2003
locke the software guy
i really expected you to speak in some heavily russian or eastern european accent. you didn't.
instead of russian, you say things to your monitor like "where the hell is the Vision screen?!" and yell for help from melanie-the-software-girl over the cubicle wall with a indiscriminate "Mel??!!" not waiting for or needing an answer. i wouldn't take her for a "mel"... she's definitely a melanie. nor is she the type to be hollered at over the cubicle wall. but that's me. i'm no locke.
you wear sweater vests, but not in the right, well-dressed way. just in the "i love wearing sweater vests and i don't give a rat's ass how i look" way. or maybe it's the "trying to be well-dressed but it's not working" way.
your glasses are thicker than magnifying glasses with pale tortoise-shell frames. they're quite ugly, but that's okay.
you write things like "buy theraflu" on your white board, amidst complex code and equations.
you have a strange collection of mcdonalds coffee stirrers. you keep them in a paper cup with your pens and pencils and scissors. maybe everyonce in a while, you reach for a pencil and find yourself trying to write with the white plastic M.
you are the most helpful person a tech writer has ever worked with. we can deal with the Vision screen later. i don't care.
i really expected you to speak in some heavily russian or eastern european accent. you didn't.
instead of russian, you say things to your monitor like "where the hell is the Vision screen?!" and yell for help from melanie-the-software-girl over the cubicle wall with a indiscriminate "Mel??!!" not waiting for or needing an answer. i wouldn't take her for a "mel"... she's definitely a melanie. nor is she the type to be hollered at over the cubicle wall. but that's me. i'm no locke.
you wear sweater vests, but not in the right, well-dressed way. just in the "i love wearing sweater vests and i don't give a rat's ass how i look" way. or maybe it's the "trying to be well-dressed but it's not working" way.
your glasses are thicker than magnifying glasses with pale tortoise-shell frames. they're quite ugly, but that's okay.
you write things like "buy theraflu" on your white board, amidst complex code and equations.
you have a strange collection of mcdonalds coffee stirrers. you keep them in a paper cup with your pens and pencils and scissors. maybe everyonce in a while, you reach for a pencil and find yourself trying to write with the white plastic M.
you are the most helpful person a tech writer has ever worked with. we can deal with the Vision screen later. i don't care.
1.29.2003
coincidence.
there are the jokes, the humming of the twilight zone music, the jinxings, etc., etc., but i don't suppose i've ever really had something bizarre happen that wasn't meant to happen.
i think that certain things happen for a reason. if i were to get a fortune cookie that said, "take chances, things will work out for themselves," i would say something like, "what a freaking coincidence!" and get all spooky. perhaps i'd even hum the twilight zone music. but mere spooky coincidences have no value on their own. for me to take something from that experience, from the "chance" that i was in the right chinese place at the right time, and the right food prep person put the right fortune cookie in the right bag of food at the right time, and handed that bag of rightness to me, i'd have to take it to a level more serious than coincidence.
i'm not saying that god has the time or detail-minded approach to act out elaborate fortune cookie placements. but i am saying that divine intervention is involved. if i were to open that fortune cookie, at the end of my meal, while i was contemplating ordering some cream cheese wontons, i'd think that the "taking chances" referred to the wontons, and the "things will work out for themselves" referred to the empty calories and garlic breath. but if that fortune made it's way in my hands while i was contemplating the biggest career and lifestyle change of my life thus far, the cream cheese wontons wouldn't even be on the radar screen.
the same chances, the same bizarre happenings can easily mean either absolutely nothing or the "sign" or "nudge" you were looking for. if you're at a crossroads, coincidence will have an effect on you. if you're not, maybe it'll make you buy those wontons, and that's about it.
and no, i didn't get that fortune yet, but i did have some delicious and garlic-y cream cheese wontons yesterday.
this one's for the cubicle dweller.
there are the jokes, the humming of the twilight zone music, the jinxings, etc., etc., but i don't suppose i've ever really had something bizarre happen that wasn't meant to happen.
i think that certain things happen for a reason. if i were to get a fortune cookie that said, "take chances, things will work out for themselves," i would say something like, "what a freaking coincidence!" and get all spooky. perhaps i'd even hum the twilight zone music. but mere spooky coincidences have no value on their own. for me to take something from that experience, from the "chance" that i was in the right chinese place at the right time, and the right food prep person put the right fortune cookie in the right bag of food at the right time, and handed that bag of rightness to me, i'd have to take it to a level more serious than coincidence.
i'm not saying that god has the time or detail-minded approach to act out elaborate fortune cookie placements. but i am saying that divine intervention is involved. if i were to open that fortune cookie, at the end of my meal, while i was contemplating ordering some cream cheese wontons, i'd think that the "taking chances" referred to the wontons, and the "things will work out for themselves" referred to the empty calories and garlic breath. but if that fortune made it's way in my hands while i was contemplating the biggest career and lifestyle change of my life thus far, the cream cheese wontons wouldn't even be on the radar screen.
the same chances, the same bizarre happenings can easily mean either absolutely nothing or the "sign" or "nudge" you were looking for. if you're at a crossroads, coincidence will have an effect on you. if you're not, maybe it'll make you buy those wontons, and that's about it.
and no, i didn't get that fortune yet, but i did have some delicious and garlic-y cream cheese wontons yesterday.
this one's for the cubicle dweller.
1.28.2003
after all this, i now realize it's worse when you actually DO figure stuff out
meaning, what your calling is. "calling" as in what god is calling you to do in the world. anyway, so recently, i'm pretty sure i've figured that out. (all joking/dreaming aside about being leigh nash or a yoga instructor or a televisionwithoutpity.com writer...)
in the last few years, i've taken on the most important role yet in my life with the church. i've been directing young adult and campus ministry for the episcopal diocese. this is all volunteer, mind you. over the past few years, i've developed two new major programs for young adults throughout the country, and am working on installing the third starting in lent. (3 programs are enough, mind you, which will be some important theme in some important book that i'll someday, importantly, write.) we had zero programming (outside of renewal movements) for years and years before. so basically, i've done a lot. i put a lot of myself into this role, because it's where i feel i've been granted a gift.
i understand this stuff. not just on the level of *being* the constituent demographic... someone in a church youth group is obviously going to know that youth group is only going to be fun if there's cool music, snacks, and capture the flag. there are certain levels of understanding. i think i just have this grasp on how to minister to young adults, regardless of my age. i think it'll be the same when i'm old and wrinkly. of course, we'll see.
anyway, so this means a lot to me. we're about to embark upon a huge fundraiser now to get a chaplain for all young adult and campus ministry AND a lay person (someone who isn't ordained but takes on a leadership role in the church). when this was all brewing, i thought "DUDE. that's IT. that's my job. that is what i'm called to do." now i'm doubting my convictions for stupid, stupid reasons.
my reasons? first: i don't feel like i'm educated enough. this is the stupidest of all reasons, really. of course i'm educated enough. they're not looking to hire some amazingly experienced and educated person. but i have this instinct that i need to go back to school... to get a MA Theology. i want knowledge. i love school. i crave it sometimes.
second: money. i guess this isn't THAT stupid of a reason, but it's very significant. there's the whole wedding thing. right now, i make a comfortable salary at my job... at which i'm quite unsatisfied. we created a budget for this wedding and bought a house with this salary in mind. Major Life Mistake #1. okay, i suppose more like #38, but we'll start fresh. so me taking a 50% pay cut might not be the best solution for the next 8 months.
i suppose those are my only reasons. so what's the big deal?, you ask. just wait until after the wedding... save up for a while... take the job. do what you love. lower your standard of living. those things, i tell you, are easy. i can do that. i really can. i'm prepared to devote my life to the church, and take all the fixins that come with working for a non-profit, including a crummy salary. (mmm, i said "fixins" and "crummy" in the same sentence. it makes "salary" look like salad. mmm, salad, with crumbs and fixins.)
here's the rub: they want someone right now to fill this position. as soon as possible.
now this sort of offends me on another level. they want the diocesan young adult and campus ministry program to be running strong when they bring the chaplain in in the summer. so to do that, they'll hire the underpaid lay person. part of me wonders why they don't think the program is running strong right now... anyway, that's just a bitter side note of mine.
this woke me up at 4:30 this morning, and the nagging still hasn't left me.
i have no idea what to do.
meaning, what your calling is. "calling" as in what god is calling you to do in the world. anyway, so recently, i'm pretty sure i've figured that out. (all joking/dreaming aside about being leigh nash or a yoga instructor or a televisionwithoutpity.com writer...)
in the last few years, i've taken on the most important role yet in my life with the church. i've been directing young adult and campus ministry for the episcopal diocese. this is all volunteer, mind you. over the past few years, i've developed two new major programs for young adults throughout the country, and am working on installing the third starting in lent. (3 programs are enough, mind you, which will be some important theme in some important book that i'll someday, importantly, write.) we had zero programming (outside of renewal movements) for years and years before. so basically, i've done a lot. i put a lot of myself into this role, because it's where i feel i've been granted a gift.
i understand this stuff. not just on the level of *being* the constituent demographic... someone in a church youth group is obviously going to know that youth group is only going to be fun if there's cool music, snacks, and capture the flag. there are certain levels of understanding. i think i just have this grasp on how to minister to young adults, regardless of my age. i think it'll be the same when i'm old and wrinkly. of course, we'll see.
anyway, so this means a lot to me. we're about to embark upon a huge fundraiser now to get a chaplain for all young adult and campus ministry AND a lay person (someone who isn't ordained but takes on a leadership role in the church). when this was all brewing, i thought "DUDE. that's IT. that's my job. that is what i'm called to do." now i'm doubting my convictions for stupid, stupid reasons.
my reasons? first: i don't feel like i'm educated enough. this is the stupidest of all reasons, really. of course i'm educated enough. they're not looking to hire some amazingly experienced and educated person. but i have this instinct that i need to go back to school... to get a MA Theology. i want knowledge. i love school. i crave it sometimes.
second: money. i guess this isn't THAT stupid of a reason, but it's very significant. there's the whole wedding thing. right now, i make a comfortable salary at my job... at which i'm quite unsatisfied. we created a budget for this wedding and bought a house with this salary in mind. Major Life Mistake #1. okay, i suppose more like #38, but we'll start fresh. so me taking a 50% pay cut might not be the best solution for the next 8 months.
i suppose those are my only reasons. so what's the big deal?, you ask. just wait until after the wedding... save up for a while... take the job. do what you love. lower your standard of living. those things, i tell you, are easy. i can do that. i really can. i'm prepared to devote my life to the church, and take all the fixins that come with working for a non-profit, including a crummy salary. (mmm, i said "fixins" and "crummy" in the same sentence. it makes "salary" look like salad. mmm, salad, with crumbs and fixins.)
here's the rub: they want someone right now to fill this position. as soon as possible.
now this sort of offends me on another level. they want the diocesan young adult and campus ministry program to be running strong when they bring the chaplain in in the summer. so to do that, they'll hire the underpaid lay person. part of me wonders why they don't think the program is running strong right now... anyway, that's just a bitter side note of mine.
this woke me up at 4:30 this morning, and the nagging still hasn't left me.
i have no idea what to do.
1.27.2003
top ten things right with the world
today i'm going to talk about all the positive things in the world today. i just noticed that i rant and grumble too much on this site.
in the true webwriter fashion, i'm going to break it down into an easily digestible list.
the Top Ten Things Right With The World:
10. stuff like non-dairy, non-fat mandarin orange sorbet exists
9. the smell of black licorice hasn't changed since at least 1979
8. some friends of mine drive hybrid cars
7. babies
6. the anna nicole smith show is no longer being taped
5. edamame is available pre-shelled and ready-to-eat
4. instant messaging isn't on our IT department's radar yet
3. my car looks somewhat clean even with 6 months of encrusted dirt
2. jesus died for me
and finally...
1. ranters like me can voice their opinions and commentary on the public domain.
today i'm going to talk about all the positive things in the world today. i just noticed that i rant and grumble too much on this site.
in the true webwriter fashion, i'm going to break it down into an easily digestible list.
the Top Ten Things Right With The World:
10. stuff like non-dairy, non-fat mandarin orange sorbet exists
9. the smell of black licorice hasn't changed since at least 1979
8. some friends of mine drive hybrid cars
7. babies
6. the anna nicole smith show is no longer being taped
5. edamame is available pre-shelled and ready-to-eat
4. instant messaging isn't on our IT department's radar yet
3. my car looks somewhat clean even with 6 months of encrusted dirt
2. jesus died for me
and finally...
1. ranters like me can voice their opinions and commentary on the public domain.
proof that i'm marrying my soul mate
setting- chillis restaurant. saturday, surrounded by miscellaneous superbowl-bound tourists clad in red and black and silver (not all at once, god no!). erik and i. discussing our friends' plans to see the Major Cool Superbowlesque fireworks that night
julia: "so the only reason i want to go to see the fireworks tonight is to hang out with our friends."
erik: "i don't want to deal with traffic trying to get down there."
julia: "okay, let's not go."
[brief pause]
erik: "i'm sure fireworks don't have a very good environmental impact or anything."
[brief pause]
julia: "okay, let's boycott."
erik smiles.
1.24.2003
television without pity dot com
just found this site the other day, and subsequently spend a good chunk of my afternoon at work yesterday trying to stifle laughter and fake coughs so that people wouldn't think i was internetting on the job... (tsk tsk, little do they know).
i may never watch tv again.
i'm re-evaluating my dream job now. hmmm... go to seminary, become some amazingly intelligent and spiritual theologan and devote my life to the church.... OR ....become a televisionwithoutpity.com writer and watch tv and be devastatingly witty.
just found this site the other day, and subsequently spend a good chunk of my afternoon at work yesterday trying to stifle laughter and fake coughs so that people wouldn't think i was internetting on the job... (tsk tsk, little do they know).
i may never watch tv again.
i'm re-evaluating my dream job now. hmmm... go to seminary, become some amazingly intelligent and spiritual theologan and devote my life to the church.... OR ....become a televisionwithoutpity.com writer and watch tv and be devastatingly witty.
1.23.2003
funniest. comment. ever.
someone has to make light of the whole Save Sarah Hatter dealy-o...
and this could easily be me, hahaha.
someone has to make light of the whole Save Sarah Hatter dealy-o...
and this could easily be me, hahaha.
"Hell, I take a break every week. My reader never gets too upset." --Grant
form N-400
as i drove to meet my mother, i glanced down at the "Application for Naturalization" on my passenger seat, with the edge of "Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of the American Empire" peeking out from beneath it. i had one of those moments of smiling irony and verklemptness. i seriously had a moment of doubt. i had already gone ahead and checked "yes" for the "i oathe that i am, as required by law, willing to bear arms on behalf of the united states." i just have to keep reminding myself of the importance of voting before complaining.
i wonder if i'll be classified as a naturalizedcitizen instead of just a citizen... i mean, i sound and look like an american. i don't eat like one, but that's a different story. but you hear about it all the time. when they arrest some guys for buying funky bomb-making chemicals, they always manage to qualify the citizenness of them with the "naturalized" part. like, "america isn't lame enough to create jerks like this, but we're lame enough to let them in anyway."
that's me. about to be let in anyway. :-D
as i drove to meet my mother, i glanced down at the "Application for Naturalization" on my passenger seat, with the edge of "Blowback: The Costs and Consequences of the American Empire" peeking out from beneath it. i had one of those moments of smiling irony and verklemptness. i seriously had a moment of doubt. i had already gone ahead and checked "yes" for the "i oathe that i am, as required by law, willing to bear arms on behalf of the united states." i just have to keep reminding myself of the importance of voting before complaining.
i wonder if i'll be classified as a naturalizedcitizen instead of just a citizen... i mean, i sound and look like an american. i don't eat like one, but that's a different story. but you hear about it all the time. when they arrest some guys for buying funky bomb-making chemicals, they always manage to qualify the citizenness of them with the "naturalized" part. like, "america isn't lame enough to create jerks like this, but we're lame enough to let them in anyway."
that's me. about to be let in anyway. :-D
1.22.2003
roe v wade
i don't exactly know how i feel about abortion. i'm torn. and i have a big fat hunch that the majority of americans are the same way. so, until we make up our minds, WHAT RIGHT DO WE HAVE to tell women who happen to have made up their minds or doctors who happen to have made up their minds that they cannot perform abortions??
i don't exactly know how i feel about abortion. i'm torn. and i have a big fat hunch that the majority of americans are the same way. so, until we make up our minds, WHAT RIGHT DO WE HAVE to tell women who happen to have made up their minds or doctors who happen to have made up their minds that they cannot perform abortions??
1.20.2003
does anyone else know what the heck a vestry is?
i do, of course. i'm episcopalian.
as of yesterday, i'm on the vestry for our church. i could come up with a laundry list of mr. burns "excellent"-worthy benefits of being on the vestry of the church in which you're holding your wedding, but i'll save that for later. what this really means is i now have a voice and a vote (!) at st. david's.
oh, and did i mention we're amidst a major and somewhat controversial capital campaign???
this is going to be an interesting three years. i've served (and currently still do, oops) on enough committees and task forces and councils in the church and the episcopal diocese to know that this political experience isn't going to damage my relationship with god or make me feel any angst towards christianity or the church in general. i'm just mostly excited.
first on my agenda: getting our church to subscribe to this.
i do, of course. i'm episcopalian.
as of yesterday, i'm on the vestry for our church. i could come up with a laundry list of mr. burns "excellent"-worthy benefits of being on the vestry of the church in which you're holding your wedding, but i'll save that for later. what this really means is i now have a voice and a vote (!) at st. david's.
oh, and did i mention we're amidst a major and somewhat controversial capital campaign???
this is going to be an interesting three years. i've served (and currently still do, oops) on enough committees and task forces and councils in the church and the episcopal diocese to know that this political experience isn't going to damage my relationship with god or make me feel any angst towards christianity or the church in general. i'm just mostly excited.
first on my agenda: getting our church to subscribe to this.
1.17.2003
peace and stuff
this is apparantly the hot weekend for peace rallies.
i don't know how i'll participate. i live in a military city, basically, and it's hard to gauge the mentality around here. i certainly doubt there'll be much of a peace rally, but i don't know if we'd get a negative reception from the military families. most of them are alone now, after 7 ships deployed this morning. i think a lot of them have a "chin-up" approach to dealing with deployment in a war-threat time. they're regurgitating a spiel about how their husbands / wives / fathers / mothers / brothers / sisters / sons / daughters are defending the free world. they're regurgitating pride. they're regurgitating confidence.
i just wish we would step back from the national safety aspect and look at it on the human level. this should happen by default when there's even the slightest chatter of warspeak coming from the capital.
will a painful, bloody war benefit the human beings in iraq? will it free them from the dictatorship of sadam only to leave them in unspeakable poverty and disarray? will that poverty be a brief depression before blooming into a prosperous, free, happy democracy?
what about the human beings in the supposed united states ally nations? europe? heck, look at britain and france. right now they're calling the USA names that reak of imperialism. right now they don't trust george w. bush any more than they trust sadam. if this is only a little alarming to you, it's not alarming enough.
what about the human beings in america? we don't want another 9/11. we don't want another 9/11. we don't want another 9/11. say that a few more times and it's a slogan for war and mass-destruction of our own. however, people who are rallying for peace this weekend and each and every weekend in their lives ALSO don't want another 9/11. we just don't want to send our sons and daughters off to die while killing other people and perpetuating the myth that has plagued the world for far too long: that war is the only answer to strife between countries.
there are too many reasons not to go to war. i don't know if the president is aware of this or not. it's not like pacifists get paid to be pacifists. we're all at our day jobs when the war-mongerer lobbyists are in washington.
i'll be holding a little peace rally of my own on saturday. i'll probably just meditate and pray a little and go online and send some letters and sign some petitions. and then i'll emo the night away at the casbah. (unrelated to peace rallies.) (although emo can be pretty peaceful.)
this is apparantly the hot weekend for peace rallies.
i don't know how i'll participate. i live in a military city, basically, and it's hard to gauge the mentality around here. i certainly doubt there'll be much of a peace rally, but i don't know if we'd get a negative reception from the military families. most of them are alone now, after 7 ships deployed this morning. i think a lot of them have a "chin-up" approach to dealing with deployment in a war-threat time. they're regurgitating a spiel about how their husbands / wives / fathers / mothers / brothers / sisters / sons / daughters are defending the free world. they're regurgitating pride. they're regurgitating confidence.
i just wish we would step back from the national safety aspect and look at it on the human level. this should happen by default when there's even the slightest chatter of warspeak coming from the capital.
will a painful, bloody war benefit the human beings in iraq? will it free them from the dictatorship of sadam only to leave them in unspeakable poverty and disarray? will that poverty be a brief depression before blooming into a prosperous, free, happy democracy?
what about the human beings in the supposed united states ally nations? europe? heck, look at britain and france. right now they're calling the USA names that reak of imperialism. right now they don't trust george w. bush any more than they trust sadam. if this is only a little alarming to you, it's not alarming enough.
what about the human beings in america? we don't want another 9/11. we don't want another 9/11. we don't want another 9/11. say that a few more times and it's a slogan for war and mass-destruction of our own. however, people who are rallying for peace this weekend and each and every weekend in their lives ALSO don't want another 9/11. we just don't want to send our sons and daughters off to die while killing other people and perpetuating the myth that has plagued the world for far too long: that war is the only answer to strife between countries.
there are too many reasons not to go to war. i don't know if the president is aware of this or not. it's not like pacifists get paid to be pacifists. we're all at our day jobs when the war-mongerer lobbyists are in washington.
i'll be holding a little peace rally of my own on saturday. i'll probably just meditate and pray a little and go online and send some letters and sign some petitions. and then i'll emo the night away at the casbah. (unrelated to peace rallies.) (although emo can be pretty peaceful.)
1.16.2003
bridal crap
so i've come to the realization that i don't need everything to be perfect. in fact, i know that it won't be. something will go wrong.
i haven't been planning my wedding since i was in elementary school. i don't want to look like a princess.
i just DON'T WANT OUR WEDDING TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE'S!
so instead of bending over backwards to get everything just-so and princessy, i'm bending over backwards to be different. i want people to go to our wedding and say "wow, this is really creative and beautiful and touching."
i want our invitations to be cool and hip. that's part of reflecting the style of the church and the reception site (boutique hotel and modern art gallery), but it's also because it's the first thing people see about the wedding. if it's the same old ho-hum fancy scripted font on embossed paper with a pearlized border, they'll expect the same old ho-hum fancy scripted font wedding.
anyway, that's my Bridal Obsession of the hour. the invitations. and figuring out how to word the usual crap to fit a cool oversized ampersand in there...
so that's that. the heart of it is i want to be unique. but i don't want to be unique like everyone else is being unique. i feel like an awkward adolescant. please tell me i'm creative and beautiful and touching.
so i've come to the realization that i don't need everything to be perfect. in fact, i know that it won't be. something will go wrong.
i haven't been planning my wedding since i was in elementary school. i don't want to look like a princess.
i just DON'T WANT OUR WEDDING TO BE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE'S!
so instead of bending over backwards to get everything just-so and princessy, i'm bending over backwards to be different. i want people to go to our wedding and say "wow, this is really creative and beautiful and touching."
i want our invitations to be cool and hip. that's part of reflecting the style of the church and the reception site (boutique hotel and modern art gallery), but it's also because it's the first thing people see about the wedding. if it's the same old ho-hum fancy scripted font on embossed paper with a pearlized border, they'll expect the same old ho-hum fancy scripted font wedding.
anyway, that's my Bridal Obsession of the hour. the invitations. and figuring out how to word the usual crap to fit a cool oversized ampersand in there...
so that's that. the heart of it is i want to be unique. but i don't want to be unique like everyone else is being unique. i feel like an awkward adolescant. please tell me i'm creative and beautiful and touching.
1.14.2003
corporate underwriting at it's worst
monday morning, i was listening to NPR's Morning Edition as usual. lovely show. however, in a break, they announced Starbucks as a corporate underwriter. STARBUCKS! come on! low blow!
i'm still feeling a little betrayed, and it's been over 24 hours. i know that NPR has been criticized for it's corporate sponsors who aren't all that socially responsible, but i was okay turning the other cheek as long as they presented a not-all-the-way-liberal-but-close-enough source of news that was unbiased and unplagued by the whole fear and sensationalism schtick we see on televised news or other music radio morning shows (good lord, don't get me started).
but now i have to listen to the Starbucks blurb? "get YOUR Morning Edition at Starbucks!" aaaaaargh. "what's, like, coffee? is that, like, the same thing as, like, starbucks? i want a cup of starbucks now!"
i really feel like there has to be some other way to send news to the people. does it have to ooze with sponsorships and corporations and advertisements? TV news punctuates whatever real news or traffic reports they may have that day with whoever recently got kicked off of their network's reality show du jour. music radio morning shows are generally just a bunch of schmucks.
i just wish my NPR was perfect and uncorrupted!!!!!!
monday morning, i was listening to NPR's Morning Edition as usual. lovely show. however, in a break, they announced Starbucks as a corporate underwriter. STARBUCKS! come on! low blow!
i'm still feeling a little betrayed, and it's been over 24 hours. i know that NPR has been criticized for it's corporate sponsors who aren't all that socially responsible, but i was okay turning the other cheek as long as they presented a not-all-the-way-liberal-but-close-enough source of news that was unbiased and unplagued by the whole fear and sensationalism schtick we see on televised news or other music radio morning shows (good lord, don't get me started).
but now i have to listen to the Starbucks blurb? "get YOUR Morning Edition at Starbucks!" aaaaaargh. "what's, like, coffee? is that, like, the same thing as, like, starbucks? i want a cup of starbucks now!"
i really feel like there has to be some other way to send news to the people. does it have to ooze with sponsorships and corporations and advertisements? TV news punctuates whatever real news or traffic reports they may have that day with whoever recently got kicked off of their network's reality show du jour. music radio morning shows are generally just a bunch of schmucks.
i just wish my NPR was perfect and uncorrupted!!!!!!
1.13.2003
the official "get off your ass" post
this is me, julia, getting off her ass to blog in the new year.
really, there's been a lot going on. i think i'll can the deep introspective post-age and just write a freaking diary today.
so erik and i got the keys to our house. it's lovely and quite large. and it's in a place called Wateridge. i can't remember how many times we swore we'd never live in a freaky master-planned community with a name like "forest glen" or "wateridge." wait, forest glen is wine, right? mmm, wine. regardless, wateridge. perhaps there WAS "water" there, before they developed. and now it's only a "ridge" because they bulldozed it a little and sliced the top off the hill. and what happened to that second "r"??? shouldn't it be waterridge?
no really, it's a lovely area, and it's MIXED-USE. that's the little thread that's still hanging, allowing us to feel a little socio-conscious still.
so ALL of the first week of the year, before my trip to the bay area, was spent tracking down paint colors. we decided to use Safecoat (and if i was on the ball, i'd drop a link here.) Anyway, Safecoat is apparantly, flukily, a san diego company. but how many stores sell it in san diego? 1! yes, one. that's open until 5 on weekdays and closes at noon on saturdays.
and this weekend, we painted. and painted some more. it turns out that a gallon and a half of paint already on the walls is really not quite the right color. warning: Silver Birch looks neither silvery nor birchy. it's really more of a pastel pale green. it's quite nice, actually, for a bathroom or a baby room. but not for our dining room and breakfast nook. oh my goodness, we have a breakfast nook.
we're also putting bamboo wood flooring in soon (again, we're trying to cling to the last threads of ecological worth). oh, and some real tree wood, too. but it's maple. the canadians have plenty of trees.
i also spent a whole weekend (the aforementioned bay area trip) discussing god and progressive christianity and relationships. it was very affirming for me to be around a bunch of liberal hippies who love jesus. more on this later.
this is me, julia, getting off her ass to blog in the new year.
really, there's been a lot going on. i think i'll can the deep introspective post-age and just write a freaking diary today.
so erik and i got the keys to our house. it's lovely and quite large. and it's in a place called Wateridge. i can't remember how many times we swore we'd never live in a freaky master-planned community with a name like "forest glen" or "wateridge." wait, forest glen is wine, right? mmm, wine. regardless, wateridge. perhaps there WAS "water" there, before they developed. and now it's only a "ridge" because they bulldozed it a little and sliced the top off the hill. and what happened to that second "r"??? shouldn't it be waterridge?
no really, it's a lovely area, and it's MIXED-USE. that's the little thread that's still hanging, allowing us to feel a little socio-conscious still.
so ALL of the first week of the year, before my trip to the bay area, was spent tracking down paint colors. we decided to use Safecoat (and if i was on the ball, i'd drop a link here.) Anyway, Safecoat is apparantly, flukily, a san diego company. but how many stores sell it in san diego? 1! yes, one. that's open until 5 on weekdays and closes at noon on saturdays.
and this weekend, we painted. and painted some more. it turns out that a gallon and a half of paint already on the walls is really not quite the right color. warning: Silver Birch looks neither silvery nor birchy. it's really more of a pastel pale green. it's quite nice, actually, for a bathroom or a baby room. but not for our dining room and breakfast nook. oh my goodness, we have a breakfast nook.
we're also putting bamboo wood flooring in soon (again, we're trying to cling to the last threads of ecological worth). oh, and some real tree wood, too. but it's maple. the canadians have plenty of trees.
i also spent a whole weekend (the aforementioned bay area trip) discussing god and progressive christianity and relationships. it was very affirming for me to be around a bunch of liberal hippies who love jesus. more on this later.
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