No Taming This Shrew

Hollywood Loves Mobile Video

2007-05-07T12:53:00.000+03:00

With many video clips floating around the Web, like the 12 one-minute episodes of Borat, the mobile video is becoming increasingly popular among the consumers. However, advertisers seem too prudent, giving the film studios problems with monetization.Another example of the successful mobile video is Warner Brothers' six-episode series based on the popular Superman television show "Smallville." Fox

Hookers and Blow

2006-04-20T18:20:00.000+03:00

Hookers and Blow: An Online JournalYou Don't Have to Put Out to Get In(but it wouldn't hurt...)

Woman Goes Undercover to Experience Life as a Man

2006-01-20T13:05:00.000+02:00

Norah Vincent has lived as a man. She didn't undergo a sex change or radical hormone treatments. She simply went undercover. In an extraordinary feat of acting, disguise and guts, Vincent lived among men -- as a man -- for 18 months to see what life was like on the other side of the gender divide."This wasn't just a stunt. This was about learning. This is a human project. It was about finding

Spotlight on...hormones!

2005-08-02T19:48:00.000+03:00

Alley's post today about her tool of a co-worker got me thinking about how much ignorance there is between men and women. On a basic biological level. I'm also pondering the probability of understanding women because of something the Birmingham Boy said regarding my blog: he said he found reading my blog and others irresistible because it offered a weird voyeuristic window into my head. But

Butterscotch Stallion

2005-07-29T17:50:00.000+03:00

In case you don't know, this is what some of those celebrity blog sites like Defamer and Gawker call Owen Wilson. The Butterscotch Stallion. I bring it up because, well, I think it's a strangely compelling name, and also because I dreamt about him last night.Neither my roommate nor I slept last night. This never happens. I'm wondering if the power lines were humming or something strange and

Driven to Distraction

2005-07-11T17:48:00.000+03:00

I'm sitting at my desk listening to fiddle music (which is not the same as bluegrass, I've since learned), completely paralyzed by the week that begins here and now.I start teaching tomorrow night -- no biggie, I can scoot my booty through teaching almost anything, so that's do-able. For some reason that responsibility and its accompanying butterflies in the tummy has gotten mixed up with my

Infiltrating Dude HQ

2005-07-09T21:11:00.000+03:00

Diva T and I had some catching up to do last night, so we met up after work on truly one of the nicest nights DC has had in weeks. She was feeling tequila-ey, so we walked over to a Turtle U institution -- which we'll call "Southwestern Metropolis."This bar/restaurant is dude central -- I never go there for fear of running into students past and present. But it's the 'tween semester time here,

Lesson learned

2005-07-08T17:44:00.000+03:00

Thou shalt not blog when addled by low pressure fronts.Thou shalt not distract yourself from important issues, news, or projects with this damn blog.Thou shalt not share things that embarrass you to an extent that you wake up in the morning thinking, "I need to delete that...right after coffee."Thou shalt learn to spell.Thou shalt not write about the banalities of men versus women for at least a

I might be ruining major league baseball singlehandedly

2005-07-07T19:37:00.000+03:00

Another great night for baseball last night -- if rather sweaty. Stickiness aside, it was another rather excellent evening of Super Dogs, BUD, and people watching in DC. Nats/Mets series, which are especially fun since we have the same cheers. Hee. And DC is so damn polite at games that the Mets fans make everyone get all a-twitter. ("Was that vulgarity?")Sadly, JordanBaker has finally clued in

Things I learned on my summer vacation

2005-07-07T00:30:00.000+03:00

I'm back, I'm brown, and I'm better than ever...Here's a little of what I learned over my long weekend:Matchlight is always better -- SPF 15 is completely adequate if you reapply when they tell you to -- Michael Jackson's early stuff played at loud volume can create a party anywhere at anytime, particularly "You Wanna Be Startin' Something" -- treading water is hard after a while and it makes

Panic Button

2005-07-01T21:10:00.000+03:00

This morning's headline threatens my happy sunny weekend --Sandra D. O'Connor is retiring from the Supremes.Gulp.Hold on, Billy Rehnquist, hold on...

Wilde Wilde Life

2005-06-29T18:45:00.000+03:00

I'm a completely self-conscious theater whore, to use a friend's description. I love going to plays, I love the theater, I have a total desire to be an actress that I subsume in my rather lively teaching. This past season I treated myself to season tickets at the big Shakespeare theater here in DC. It's a great space with a reasonable track record. This season was one of my favorites from the

Underfarewell

2005-06-28T22:38:00.000+03:00

I'm just bidding adieu to old lingerie. This might be inappropriate content, but it's got to be an improvement on the fruit double entendres.There's something really sad about waving goodbye to a fabulous bra or a particularly effective pair of panties. Maybe boys feel the same way about their boxers. I know a few who certainly held on to theirs right up to the bitter end. I still think about a

Oh, Basil...

2005-06-28T07:44:00.000+03:00

I love basil.I have affection for it as a man's name (see A Room with a View's Daniel Day Lewis, or Fawlty Tower's John Cleese), but I love to blend it to tiny bits with garlic and drown it in olive oil, stir in salt, pepper, parm cheese, and ground pine nuts. Then I eat it with pasta, on crostini, with a spoon...I swear it's adding years to my life.When summer arrives, I reach my basil frenzy.

Ho-Hum

2005-06-27T19:37:00.000+03:00

I just realized that a boy who was supposed to call me didn't call all weekend, and I am retroactively bummed. Please regale me with funny stories from your weekends, for I am pouty.

Sunday Sunday (la la la la la la)

2005-06-26T20:28:00.000+03:00

Yes, I know it's "Monday Monday." Don't Momma my Poppa!Now that I "have to" read the whole paper for research purposes -- I need new debates to teach a rhetoric/comp class in two weeks -- I can lounge away my Sundays. I love lounging away my Sundays. Typically I'll whiz through the comics and the magazine (Jordan -- the Post Mag has an article about a Nats game - I think it's the Brewers game we

Flushing the weekend

2005-06-25T20:39:00.000+03:00

Thank god for Friday nights. Without them, Saturdays and Sundays like the ones I'm looking at are nothing but bleak. Went to a gathering last night, saw a bunch of chums, chatted with the usual good lookin' men, had a few too many beers (eat dinner next time, Megarita! Limes and olives are not enough!), had an awesome time, and ended up safe and sound in my own bed.This morning, with my poor

Marshmallow Shame

2005-06-24T17:58:00.000+03:00

Well, the universe punished me for my hubris after my grammar rant by washing away all traces of my camping 'cred. (Not that I had much to spare, mind you. I know full well that car camping is the training wheels of camping. Just bear with me.)One nice bonus of the camping trip was all the marshmallows I took home. Two people just cannot eat a bag of marshmallows at a sitting. My housemate, aka

Returned Rant Mitigated by Email Address

2005-06-23T17:53:00.000+03:00

I'm still thinking about my crankyness from yesterday, although without the anger, so I'm going to write it out. Cleaning the pipes, people. Maybe I'll post about Mr & Mrs Smith later to ease the blow.(But wait! Good news! By popular request, an EMAIL address for me! Find me at shrewit@gmail.com. No naked pictures.)OK, so I hate "LOL." I loathe it. It ruins things for me when I read it in an

Nazi No-Nos

2005-06-22T17:57:00.000+03:00

The Post this morning has stolen an excellent Jon Stewart story about the excessive use of Nazism as an analogy for poor government behavior. Senators and Representatives have been comparing the situation at Gitmo (I feel like such a poseur when I write that, but Guantanamo is harder to type.) to something out of Nazi Germany. (The Senate Minority Whip also compared Gitmo to a Soviet Gulag and to

(Dude) Voices Carry

2005-06-22T02:51:00.000+03:00

Through some twisted miracle of sonic bouncing, I'm hearing a conversation from two houses down through my open window. Two houses down is a frat house. They're playing ball in their yard and discussing their respective skills on several kinds of playing fields. Apart from the obvious, they're debating what part class plays in a woman's easy-ness. That is, will a girl put out more if she comes

Stopping by Woods on a Sunny Sunday

2005-06-21T17:44:00.000+03:00

After the bear party, it was a lovely restful night in preparation for our foray into the wild. Sunday did not dawn with any promise, however. I awoke to the sounds of a peaceful trickling fountain, and thought, "How interesting! I didn't know T's house had such facilities!?"[Tense change]She doesn't. The peaceful trickling is WonderDog peeing on my sandals from the night before. He is looking

It's not the bears in the woods you need to worry about...

2005-06-21T07:30:00.000+03:00

Settle in, kids. I've got lots of stuff in my head I need to flush out. This will require multiple postings. Let us begin at the Big Gay BBQ, which took place in another mid-Atlantic town's PRIDE weekend.Got to town mid-afternoon, and pondered my wardrobe options. I swear to god I actually thought to myself, "What would Rob Lowe wear to a big party during PRIDE weekend?" I ended up in very short

Exit pursued by bear...

2005-06-18T00:38:00.000+03:00

I give up. I can't get any work done. I've been trying to write all day, but all I can think about is my impending camping trip. I've never been camping before, and I am rather concerned.The reaction of most people who hear that I'm going camping is uncontrollable laughter. My aunt couldn't speak for almost a full minute when I spoke to her this morning. This is upsetting. What does everyone

Noooooooooo!!

2005-06-17T17:30:00.000+03:00

After a glorious couple of weeks together, Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise have gotten engaged. He asked her in Paris. (As an interesting aside, the half dozen or so couples I know who got engaged in Paris all broke up within a year -- it's hard to follow up romance in the city of lights. Just a little relationship advice from your friendly neighborhood Megarita.)

My Beautiful Laundrette

2005-06-16T18:11:00.000+03:00

Like any good single girl living in an apartment, I used my day off to do laundry. Our laundromat is pretty kicking, actually -- pool tables, lots of video game, radio stations, TVs playing -- so it's always an experience. I tend to go as soon as it opens so that it's not a feeding frenzy of people. I'm usually happily ensconced in a chair with a book or magazine while my unmentionables are

Dan Dan and Downing Street

2005-06-15T17:07:00.000+03:00

Where to begin, where to begin...My dinner last night with my old friend "The Soon to be Famous Playwright" (SFP) was lovely as all dinners with him can be. SFP is one of these people who is positively scandinavian in his own moroseness at times, but who is also a chipper bit of sunshine about other people. He convinced me over spicy asian noodles and fabulously icy bevies that I would indeed get

No More Blue Shrew!

2005-06-15T01:29:00.000+03:00

I just re-read through a few of my posts and realized how tiresome I've become! Wah wah wah my life's so hard. Well, today's better. Spent a productive day in my office sans supervision, about to go have fruity umbrella drinks and spicy asian food outside in the sunshine with an old pal (screw the bronzer -- I'm hitting the strappy tank tan!), and I'm seeing Batman Begins with my buddy Birmingham

MJ gets off and I get shafted

2005-06-14T17:41:00.000+03:00

Where's the justice, people??? Michael Jackson is completely cleared of all charges (heck, there was reasonable doubt, I know, but really?!?!) and my summer Shakespeare class gets cancelled. This special class had to be marketed and sold to a non-campus audience, but the mothersmurfing marketing department at Ass Hats Central couldn't get the job done. I had performance, history, poetry, field

Persecuting the Academics

2005-06-13T18:10:00.000+03:00

Believe it or not, this isn't a typical rant against Bush or anything! No, just a forecast of my next five weeks.I'm helping coordinate an 5-week seminar at Turtle U for early modernists (aka My People). Poor souls from all over the country flew in yesterday for more than a month in the mid-Atlantic in the summer. They will live in dorms en suite and they will read their asses off and they will

When I'm not drinking with students, I'm ruining their lives

2005-06-12T18:12:00.000+03:00

Achtung: I'm on a tear. Woke up on the wrong side of the broomstick, apparently...Just doing some catching up with the excellent Arts and Letters Daily site (it somehow got bumped off my link list, likely for Homestar Runner, which embarrasses me a lot). Earlier, I had gotten an email from a student from the spring semester, demanding to know why she got a B in Shakespeare and explaining to me

Seeing a cute student in a bar

2005-06-11T19:02:00.000+03:00

I spent last night in the company of a group I like to call " my DC boys." These are the fellows who make movies, and who enjoy putting my spastic self into said movies. Their longer film "premiered" last night in a friend's apartment (over 30 minutes!) to great acclaim. Hilarious dialogue, excellent special effects, and some truly over the top pop culture references. I'm looking forward to the

Damsels in Distress

2005-06-10T21:46:00.000+03:00

There's a provocative post in my paper's editorial section today from Eugene Robinson called "(White) Women We Love," which is largely a response to the media coverage of the latest petite blonde who's gone missing -- this time in Aruba, for those who keep score. He's arguing that the media only covers white women in trouble.An excerpt: "A damsel must be white. This requirement is nonnegotiable.

Audience Analysis

2005-06-10T17:02:00.000+03:00

Tobacco lawsuit -- 4 commentsNaked blogging -- 13 commentsNOW I know who I'm dealing with! Hilarious.I'm hopefully watching a movie premiere this evening -- my friend C. has been working on a short film for over a year. It was inspired by the cicada invasion last summer and is only now coming to fruition. He's a fabulously creative guy, and he works with very funny and clever people, but he

Bronzing and the hazards of naked time

2005-06-09T20:35:00.000+03:00

To bronze or not to bronze? Whether 'tis nobler in the flesh to suffer the piercing aging rays of yonder golden orb or to bake oneself brown with the paints of man....I bronze. I am a pale blondey who tans exceedingly well but who is trying to not look like a saddle bag by her next birthday, thereby avoiding the fate of some of my friends. I love the sun, I miss the sun, but I bronze.The perils

Damnable Dissertation Distraction

2005-06-09T06:23:00.000+03:00

I'm looking at some crappy prose in my chapter about witches, so I'm avoiding serious thought by waxing on about my friend The Birmingham Boy's problems. Because they amuse me.The Boy has decided to go on sabbatical from "the ladies" for a solid year. His last girlfriend was some sort of crazy Latina, and he was married before that, so he's thinking that a break might do him good.I hear the

Justice Department Bends Over

2005-06-08T18:06:00.000+03:00

I know, it's a little crass for 8 am, but here's why (from the old dependable Post):"After eight months of courtroom argument, Justice Department lawyers abruptly upset a landmark civil racketeering case against the tobacco industry yesterday by asking for less than 8 percent of the expected penalty. As he concluded closing arguments in the six-year-old lawsuit, Justice Department lawyer Stephen

Guest Blogging

2005-06-07T18:23:00.000+03:00

I'll be doing a little guest blogging at Something Requisitely Witty and Urbane over the next few days. (Link on my little linkography below -- having linky problems, sorry) Swing by, have a cocktail...it'll be grand!

Coming Unstuck

2005-06-07T18:06:00.000+03:00

Ahhh the glories of the extra long weekend!I'll save the gory details of my journey to the land of the dead for the woman who gets paid to hear those sorts of things, but I will say this much -- I begged for help and guidance, and I got an answer. Creepy, yet very soothing.Claven asked what it meant to be stuck in megarita's world. I would say that for me a sense of stuckedness comes from seeing

Meow Meow I'm an Otter

2005-06-07T16:49:00.000+03:00

I like kids, I swear to god. And I like my cousin's kids especially, because they have to be the most even-tempered children on the planet. But I CAN NOT PLAY ANOTHER GAME OF PEEKABOO! I read the older girl Eloise -- using all my excellent voices for Nana and the hotel manager and Skipperdee -- and then played her strange game of "marine mammals" or something featuring killer whales, otters, and

Eloise gets evicted

2005-06-05T20:01:00.000+03:00

After a stunningly beautiful day spent sprawled on the Lawn in Central Park (1010 Wins called it a "bonus day" since it was supposed to rain), my friend J(NY) and I hit the Plaza to buy some of their stuff.Did anyone else know that they (whoever "they" may be) are gutting the Plaza and selling all the stuff? It's a total free for all. Everything from bathrobes to towels to dirty wine glasses to

New Link

2005-06-03T22:31:00.000+03:00

I've added a new link to my list on the lower right -- The Just World News, which is one (female) reporter's attempt to use information as a means to building a more just world. It's very thoughtful and well-considered -- she's a very accomplished international correspondent. Hope you enjoy.

Pathetic Fallacy

2005-06-03T18:14:00.000+03:00

I remember when I first heard this term in English class, I thought it was rather rude of someone to assert that making an analogy between one's feelings and nature was "pathetic." Who did these Victorians think they were? Weren't these the same fruitcakes who hid their piano legs under a drape for modesty's sake?Since then I've read Ruskin and I understand pathos and I understand the term. It's

Science blows my mind

2005-06-02T17:30:00.000+03:00

This was a headline in today's paper: "Hormone Spray is Found to Bolster Truth in Others."Our capacity for trust can be reduced to a hormone! (I exaggerate for effect, ahem.) The results: "Those who inhaled the hormone, which occurs naturally in the brain, were more likely to entrust others with large sums of money than were volunteers who inhaled no hormone."Nice "experiment," to start with: "

I (heart) Frank Hardy

2005-06-02T16:05:00.000+03:00

The other night Dr. E and I were discussing mystery authors we love and old books we read to pieces when we came around to the Hardy Boys. Good old Frank and Joe. Laughingly, someone asked "Frank or Joe for you?" and I immediately replied, "Frank, no question." (Poor B. was looking on in horror and gesturing around for a waiter, hoping against hope that this line of converation was brought on by

2005-06-01T17:55:00.000+03:00

He looks as though he forgot to take off the goggles when he changed out of his super hero costume. Maybe X-Ray vision is how he learned about the Committee to Re-Elect. Or has the Red Baron just stepped out of his bi-plane to greet the crowds? And whose poor hand is that? Look at the guy in the trench looking askance at their handclasp!

Deep Throat in a 24 Hour News Cycle

2005-06-01T17:15:00.000+03:00

I was disappointed to find out Deep Throat's identity from CNN last night rather than from the Post this morning. He's such a figure from the print media; he's Woodward and Bernstein's boy, not Wolf Blitzer's.I must admit with some guilt that his arrival in the media -- this happy 91-year old with cute family -- was similarly less exciting than I expected. Then I read the Post this morning -- I

The Quest to be a Funny Liberal

2005-05-30T19:35:00.002+03:00

I typically don't recommend whole issues of magazines, but I've got to say that this month's Vanity Fair had me from the table of contexts. (I know, I'm a little behind on my summer reading.) First, a very grave commentary about why the feminists are all hot and bothered by Summers and the editor at the LA Times and so forth ("Caution: Women Seething," by James Wolcott), then (brilliant editorial

Vigilante

2005-05-29T20:06:00.000+03:00

My beloved Hermano was almost shot outside his surprise birthday party Friday night in San Francisco. He wasn't hurt, although it scared the living hell out of him. He and some friends were getting out of a car and walking into a house, and as they were walking back to the car a few minutes later (to get the cake for the li'l brother) four dudes were jacking it and peeling out. Hermano & Co. all

Memorial to my social life

2005-05-29T17:23:00.000+03:00

Just a brief bitch that it's a holiday weekend and I've been revising a chapter about body parts on the Renaissance stage. Not particularly summery. Meh.

Shopping can kill

2005-05-28T20:05:00.000+03:00

There's been a strange rash of shopping-related violence in the area lately. Stabbings at a nice mall, shootings in the lesser mall, and even shootings "across the river." Cops were often related, sometimes it's a woman who just got out of jail who starts stabbing people near Loehmanns.Why at malls? I know I get hugely frustrated trying on clothes that are inevitably too short, too big, too tight

Lightsaber mishap

2005-05-27T00:09:00.000+03:00

Just in case you missed this -- J(NY) spotted it and knew I'd enjoy: (It's from Yahoo News)The Force--let alone common sense--was definitely not with them. Two British Star Wars fans sustained critical injuries after constructing their own lightsabers from fluorescent light tubes filled with liquid fuel.According to British media reports, a 20-year-old man and his 17-year-old female friend were

You were the chosen one!!

2005-05-26T18:13:00.000+03:00

I saw Revenge of the Sith, and I found it to be a very upsetting movie. I thought it was quite good and very adequate to the task of linking the two triologies, but I was also really, well, upset by it! (I was also floored at how attractive Hayden Christensen has become. When did that happen? Are all evil guys so hot?)I'll try not to "spoil," but I'm pretty sure I'm the last one on the planet to

She can be taught!

2005-05-26T18:03:00.000+03:00

I went out for Mexican with some folks last night, educators all, and finally got the school system figured out. I've been so flummoxed by how No Child Left Behind works when the money seems to be coming from somewhere else. So I had a public school teacher and a private school teacher in my clutches and I made them teach me a thing or two.Maybe you all already knew this -- if so, apologies.

It's this or Katie Holmes

2005-05-24T17:55:00.000+03:00

...and I swear if I see that shot of Tom Cruise grabbing her head like he's going to break her neck I'm going to snap my own. What is WITH people and this couple? ARGH!Meanwhile, in the world of books and learning...we learn today that students no longer enjoy reading because teachers ask them to read too much in school.I mocked this internally when I read it because it sounded like whining. In a

Flushing Newsweek

2005-05-23T17:51:00.000+03:00

I've watched with interest the uproar over Newsweek's truly abysmal reporting and resulting debacle over whether or not interrogators put Qu'rans in the toilet in Guantanamo. The Media Critic column today discussed how the right has taken this issue and made it a "new club with which to beat journalists."I think it is interesting to consider the relationship between the military and the media.

Running for the shelter...

2005-05-23T06:31:00.000+03:00

My chiquita TC brought this to my attention: Post reported yesterday that "'The number one medication in college is antidepressants,' said Richard Kadison of Harvard University, whose book about the growing mental health crisis at colleges was published last year. 'It's surpassed birth control pills.'"WHAT!!!?? I knew this was the statistic nationwide (there are more people on antidepressants

Saddam's skivvies

2005-05-22T18:15:00.000+03:00

Lordy lordy I have never felt sorry for a dictator before, even when he didn't have the mythical Weapons of Mass Destruction (oopsie). But those pictures of that aged man in his underoos were really horrible. Typical Brit tabloid behavior, but...shudder. The Pentagon should really enjoy this round of "which American soldier is acting out this time." I am very proud of and worried for the vast

Hail and farewell

2005-05-21T10:26:00.000+03:00

Two of the most interesting people I have had the pleasure of knowing in the area are leaving. Last night a group of us feted them and wished them luck while actively mourning their departures. One always feels a bit that friends are "awfully selfish" to leave, right? How dare these interesting people leave and reduce my number of fascinating friends? This will spoil my rankings for certain.My

Krispy Kreme Birthday

2005-05-20T22:53:00.000+03:00

My favorite Birmingham Boy went home this weekend for one reason -- a birthday party with a Kripsy Kreme cake. This is the only reason to fly, as well as being a litmus test for what part of the country a person's from. I've been pondering a Krispy Kreme wedding cake for myself, should I ever take the plunge...Even Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is getting into the wedding cake act. A trickle of a trend

Best word of the day

2005-05-20T22:40:00.000+03:00

"Wookie Hookie."Apparently this is what NPR called people who ditched work to catch Star Wars. Love it! I'm convinced this is the same reason why Stereophonics didn't sell out.I'm hoping to hook a wookie soon...mmmm, wookie.

Need to revist my top 5 live shows

2005-05-20T17:30:00.000+03:00

Because man oh man was Stereophonics amazing last night! I had an actual "Beatles Head Grab & Shriek" at one point because I was so overwhelmed. This band basically rewired their sound for their latest album (which I really enjoy), so the concert was hard hard rocking. This from the band who sang "Step on my old size nines"!?! Amazing transformation. The lead singer had a little bit of a

Champagne hangover

2005-05-19T19:00:00.000+03:00

So my friend ES is now DOCTOR ES, PhD. She defended in 90 minutes, setting a department record for "love fest." I was doing my duty as the "booze wagon," in a friend's words, and waiting outside with champagne and glasses. Some people cock an eyebrow at bubbly at 2 pm. I have three words for them: mi-mo-sa.So we were swinging back bubbly and toasting the Good Doctor and weighing her ENORMOUS

2005-05-19T18:39:00.000+03:00

Hee hee hee. Front page of the Post online. I laugh, but I'm shaking with excitement for this film. I foolishly think it will give me closure, even while I know the disappointment will be incredible. Damn that Lucas for kidnapping my childhood.

Return of the Bride

2005-05-19T17:48:00.000+03:00

Well, I was disappointed to hear that our Fleet Footed Sister actually planned the whole bail-out in advance, but I'm still not angry enough. This certainly says much more about me than about the situation. I've had many a moment when I felt like pulling onto the highway and aiming the car "west" rather than to the grocery store or to dinner. Heck, it's a big country, right?A friend of mine saw

"Are you on the rag?"

2005-05-18T20:29:00.000+03:00

After reading through my little musical post below I had a hilarious memory of an old boyfriend. We were living together at the time. Every now and again I'd listen to some ladies on the stereo like Ani or Tori or Liz and inevitably at some point during the evening the fella would ask if I had my period, thereby explaining the women singing. God help him the times he was right...served up a vente

High Fidelity Challenge

2005-05-18T19:54:00.000+03:00

So Momentary wanted me to do this test, which will be a sad proclamation of my banal music tastes compared to hers, but here goes! (sorry formatting is so weird)Top 5 lyrics that move me today (I can't rank, just list):1. "If I could be who you wanted all the time..." Radiohead "fake plastic trees"2. "she tried to be a good girl and a good wife Raise a good family Lead a good life It's not

Music therapy

2005-05-17T18:35:00.001+03:00

God bless my CD changer -- this is what has gotten me down from the clock tower this week. Here are a few tunes I recommend for sanity-inducement and embarassing car singing and dancing:She's Come Undone -- the Guess WhoCheck it Out -- Beastie BoysCalifornia Stars (I think?) -- Billy Bragg and WilcoMichael -- Franz FerdinandThe Jump Off -- L'il Kim (because I am the one who put the range in the

Grading Finals

2005-05-16T17:06:00.000+03:00

I snapped in a committee meeting this morning. I had been up since dawn, given a Shakespeare final, started grading said final (ahhhh blue books. how I hate them), and had 78 left to go. The meeting included a "catered" lunch of inadequately portioned sandwiches (too small for lasses who'd been chugging java since 6), diet pepsi (Grrrrrrrrrrr), and a lot of humanities types who relish the sound

On a lighter note

2005-05-15T22:00:00.000+03:00

Since I've emptied my spleen on you already, I'll share this: went to the library yesterday and ended up lying down on the big stone steps/porches to soak up some sun. (When at Turtle U, do as the Turtles Do) When I got up, I realized that I'd crushed about 100 redbugs under me. My entire pastel ensemble was dotted with redbug corpses. My shorts had measels on the back side (but only on the left

Academic crankypanting

2005-05-15T18:25:00.000+03:00

This morning's Post had two interesting editorials on academic freedom. The first discusses anti-Zionism* in British universities, and the second centers on my personal hobbyhorse, academic freedom of expression.I was interested in the first one because of how chic it is to be anti-US in the UK right now, for a variety of reasons, but mostly because of Iraq. The editorial is rather more sobering,

Dudesylvania

2005-05-14T23:02:00.000+03:00

These are not actually "my" dudes, but the frat farm that sprang up around me and Jordanbaker at the baseball game last night. We had these fabulous seats, were doing the scorecard thing, and happily sloshing back Blue Moons and hot dogs. Great evening all around. (JB can comment on the "goddamn woman next to her" herself!)But as the evening progressed (and the temperature dropped -- holy toledo

That's one cute meth addict!

2005-05-14T19:35:00.000+03:00

Had an odd experience the other day. I was watching Oprah and letting my brain fizz for a while, and when I finally tuned into what she was talking about, I realized it was a program about Meth addicts. (In typical Oprah style - e.g., "there are child molesters in this country and they are coming after your kids." (actual quote) -- she said that meth is the fastest growing drug in America and it

An unfortunate consequence of NPR

2005-05-13T20:23:00.000+03:00

I've been oversleeping every morning since I made NPR my clock alarm, and I've only just discovered why. It's all the bad news. When I hear sad or upsetting reports, I tend to get up, walk to the alarm, slam the snooze, and crawl back into bed. This has gone on for up to an hour this past week."Today in Iraq insurgents killed 60 Iraqis..."[Me: Growl? Sigh shuffle shuffle shuffle slam! shuffle

Last day of class brings sharing

2005-05-13T18:00:00.000+03:00

Not really, but this amused me:A student of mine in discussion section (yes, I am a lowly TA this semester) found me after the last day of class this week. (He's been to maybe half a dozen classes all semester. I barely know this kid's name.) He greeted me seriously and said, "This is the first discussion section I've been to more than twice in four years of college. Thank you."Uh, you're welcome

School for the Gifted

2005-05-12T17:23:00.000+03:00

Two dim bulbs from Pennsylvania gave Washingtonians dirty underpants yesterday. Idiot savants flew OVER DC in their wee plane because they had "outdated maps." You have not lived until you've seen Hill Rats running for their lives. It's a full-fledged polyester migration. (I jest -- I would have been knocking over the elderly to get away from the Hill with a plane coming in.) These guys flew

Remembrance of things past

2005-05-11T17:44:00.000+03:00

After getting a chapter draft back from my director yesterday (an experience which can be likened only to being punched squarely in the nose and then being asked to congratulate your attacker on such a well-aimed blow), I teetered home to open a nice wine and make some comfort food.I turned to a food stained collection of typewritten pages called "M's Meals," which is the compilation of my mom's

Smells straight to me!

2005-05-10T18:21:00.000+03:00

New evidence that being gay is nature not nurture: From PlanetOut via Huffington.Unfortunately, the article starts with this howler: "WASHINGTON -- Gay men's brains respond differently from those of heterosexual males when exposed to a sexual stimulus, researchers have found." [Um, exactly?]But then it goes on to talk about how gay men respond to the smell of testosterone the same way straight

2005-05-10T18:04:00.000+03:00

He just looks like trouble -- this is the bear-sized one.

The days of boys and pooches

2005-05-10T17:46:00.000+03:00

It's spring FINALLY here in the mid-Atlantic, so I've been frolicking with my neighbors in and around the area. Spent last night on the waterfront in Baltimore, which is really The City On the Make right now -- more construction that you can shake a Hon at.One thing I noticed as my pal T. and I were lounging at some yuppy bar with our Sierra Nevadas and crab dip: there are a lot of boys and dogs

Best date story of the weekend

2005-05-09T20:41:00.000+03:00

My dear friend called this weekend and we chatted a bit. She, like me, is a swinging single gal and we often commiserate over unfortunate dating experiences. She's got me beat this weekend.She went out on an online date with an artist. Got to dinner, the man has only one arm. They've been in touch for a while, and he's never mentioned it. Entire date, he never mentions it. He's an interesting guy

60 Minutes on a Sunday

2005-05-09T18:03:00.000+03:00

Before being sucked into flipping between The Matrix and Return of the Jedi last night (it's my little way of keeping grading from being too tedious -- watch old movies in between papers), I caught 60 Minutes, which I haven't watched in a loooong time.Amazing story on it about a young fella from the 'Point who's a two-tour veteran of Iraq. He's 28. Safer interviewed him, and it was as though a 65

My name's Megarita and I want a shortcut

2005-05-08T21:49:00.000+03:00

"Hi Megarita!"Alley had a typically hilarious post about a computer program to grade student essays. I knee-jerked a response about how "outrageous" such a thing was and how people wanted to hire people "who could write."That being said, I'm completely on autopilot with the last of my student papers. I'm literally skimming looking for words more complicated or original than "despair," "hope," or

INCREDIBLE!

2005-05-07T23:21:00.000+03:00

For those of you who have had to hear my complaints about the jungle feel of my yard -- Evil Coach Landlord has been refusing upkeep, resulting in the arrival of a herd of wild fratboys roaming the bush looking for prey -- there is right now a young man mowing! Who knows where he came from or how long he'll stay, but I just saw a couple of small mammals darting out of the tall grass! Take Back

Forgive my assumptions

2005-05-07T19:53:00.000+03:00

A student who burned to death in a housefire down the street from me was honored in a ceremony on Friday here on campus. He died in his sleep, we all hope, knocked out by the smoke. He was left in the house after another housemate lept from a top-story window and unknowingly told firefighters that the house was empty. I didn't attend the service, but I know several students of mine did -- the

Dudes redux

2005-05-07T19:47:00.000+03:00

Drove home from a truly wonderful evening of being fed delicious food in a manse and then seeing a short film at a friend's birthday party to find an enormous orange extension cord stretching from my back deck outlet across the driveway (as though they boobytrapped my way in) and into a neighbor's backyard. (About 35-50 yards.) The Dudes had invaded, and they needed our plug to power the rocking

Here's to Labour!

2005-05-06T18:24:00.000+03:00

Three terms! Heck yeah, Tony Blair! I have to confess that I was rather stunned that the blokes pulled it off this time. (This story in the Post notes that it was a close thing -- smallest victory every.) The town hall meetings and street protests against Blair were so vociferous that I was convinced the party wouldn't make it into Downing Street again. (Oh foolish Megarita forgets so soon all

NPR is a bear to wake up to

2005-05-05T20:15:00.000+03:00

First, thanks to everyone for their nice responses to my emotional baggage drop off. I laughed at myself during the day, because my friend T had asked about my blog last weekend. He demanded assurance that mine was not a blog "that talked about really personal stuff." No, I assured him with a Bacall cackle, mine's simply about the banal minutiae of my existence.HA! Then I cut loose with my

Mother's Day is hell

2005-05-04T19:16:00.000+03:00

That felt good to write.I've not been a fan of May for many years. My own mom will have been dead 13 years later this month. (On my little brother's birthday, unfortunately. We have always been a family with a dramatic sense of timing.) Mother's Day has since then been a time when I send cards and notes to all the women who mothered me along the way -- both when my mother was alive but too drunk

The glorious shame of a midweek hangover

2005-05-04T18:45:00.000+03:00

It's Wednesday morning and my head is very tender. Nothing's deadlier than a girls' night out. Especially when foofoo hotel bars are serving martinis for a nickel. (Very special Bison nickels that no one has, mind you, but nickels nonetheless.) There was also wine and many margaritas. So many...But this is the end of the semester, when we're all dealing with plagiarism, presentations (godspeed to

Hold that tiger...

2005-05-03T00:51:00.000+03:00

Princeton faculty and students are protesting the Republican attempt to get rid of the filibuster by staging their own outside the Frist (yes, that Frist -- he's a huge benefactor!) Campus Center. The Post reports, "The campus talk-a-thon started Tuesday and continued into the weekend. Some protesters honored Senate history by reading from phone books, but many were more high-minded. They read

Runaway Bride

2005-05-02T21:14:00.000+03:00

I've been thinking a lot about the girl in Duluth (outside Atlanta) who hopped a bus out West the week of her enormous wedding.First, my consideration for her depends probably too much on whether this flight was premeditated or spontaneous. Second, I think we have no idea what went on in that relationship. Third, I think it's terrifying that she had 14 bridesmaids and no one to talk to.That being

How to make a movie without even trying

2005-05-02T17:41:00.000+03:00

I spent Saturday in the company of tremendously funny people. My "DC Guys," whom I've known since I was but a wee slip of a girl (like 22, for pete's sake!), get a bunch of us together a few times a year to make short films for the 48 hour film project. It is hilarious work, but I have to say it's really work.J and C, who typically write the screenplays between the time our team gets the "genre

chicks and dicks

2005-04-19T20:10:00.000+03:00

Rather than editing my (very over deadline) chapter, I've been brooding over Buffalo's post about women and men. His gist was that he felt the need (and was tired of feeling said need) to defend his male-ness.The post flashed me right back to my women's studies classes in college. I was always so ticked off that there were no guys in our classes. (Not least because I was the only straight gal in

NO

2005-03-02T19:47:00.000+02:00

no == NOTno !== NOTno != NOTno = NOTno <= NOT no < class="yschurl">NOT