emotional support animals

a very odd conversation about donkey shoes at linda's last night somehow brought adam here this morning: pony reeboks which in itself is amazing. reebok pumps and "casual shoes" for miniature horses? case closed. i think if we focus on that though, we miss the true gem here: service ponies. service ponies! i want to see this in action! i want to see a horse open a door! i want to see a horse alert its owner that the phone is ringing! yes! i'm pretty determined right now to have the world's first emotional support polar bear. watch out.

oopsie daisy

i just realized i had this thing set so only people with google accounts could leave comments. that's fixed now! though my google account is like my third arm. mostly just to spite adam. okay not really. it's just the best.

they did what?

"City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention" "Activists are showing a well-organized network made up of anti-Bush sentiment; the mixing of music and political rhetoric indicates sophisticated organizing skills with a specific agenda." "This bicycle, having been built for the sole purpose of protesting during the R.N.C., is capable of spraying anti-R.N.C.-type messages on surrounding streets and sidewalks" somebody pinch me, cause it sure feels like i just woke up in shah-era iran, and the savak is running wild. 2003 was a frightening time, for sure. there was probably a legitimate fear of assembling a huge group of people who were pro-war in the middle of new york city. yes. we get that. but this crossed the line. last time i checked, this was still in effect: "Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech...or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." and being a hippie or a loudmouth artist didn't warrant a police record. if you want to read a serious ramble about this, visit the Daily Kos

il pleut.

today is one of those early spring (not quite spring-like) days in seattle when i just have to throw my hands up and concede. the sun is nearly here. nearly. we get glimpses here and there; just enough to jog our memories and make us forget for a short time how goddamned miserable wet feet and frizzy hair are after 6 months. but. it's still raining. and today, i had to let it go, or perish. my windows are open. there is a warm and hopeful breeze. the rain does sound nice. olive is howling at the ceiling fan. earlier today she discovered crows and has not left her window perch since. one has just landed on the chimney across from my window. they are having a heated conversation. crow does not seem to be impressed by her ability to lick the back of her own neck. (a trick that will certainly never be lost on me) i moped my way over to elliott bay books this morning. as did every other seattlite escaping the weather. we do like our books and coffee over here. that is not a lie. picked up dave eggers' new book "what is the what," and am now taking my very first graphic novel for a spin: "persopolis" by marjane satrapi. will eventually get around to posting about the book i'm currently reading: "we wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families." it's infuriating. and has spurred an africa obsession in me. more on that later. the world is frightening right now, isn't it? i say this and realize that for 90% of the world's population, the world has been frightening for a long time. can't wait to be off the brink of everything. i just want sunshine and peace already. in the meantime, olive will nap and i will bake adam some scones.

conversation overheard on the bus today: girl: "i drove to work yesterday. i saw you walking to the bus stop on my way home." guy: "yeah, it was nasty outside last night" girl: "i thought about asking you if you wanted a ride. but my car is really dirty." guy: "yeah" girl: "...and i don't have automatic locks. so i would have had to like reach across and open the door to let you in." *silence for the rest of the bus ride* okay, so even if that happened to be the case, and this girl was feeling a little lazy, why on earth would you say that outloud? make up any other reason: brake failure, need to pee, dying grandmother, etc. not "eh, didn't really feel like stretching my arm out at that moment, so i left you to stand in the freezing rain." what would i do without public transportation?

damn it feels good to be an iranian president

"Iran to hit back at US 'kidnaps'" + "US Grants Visa to Iranian president" = say what?

you know, i spend time on the phone all day with people who spend years trying to navigate through ins. usually, if they are 1) a man, 2) from the middle east, their applications are "in review" forever. i am going to start suggesting to people that they start their own "death to america" campaigns and nuclear enrichment programs and throw out a few kidnapping threats. apparently that gets you a visa in days.

though i must admit, i've kind of had a thing for Ahmadinejad ever since that 60 minutes interview. he's kind of fuzzy and smiley and wears the same jackets as my grandfather. i bet he smells really nice. and he writes long, rambling letters to george bush. he writes letters! it's like kruschev all over again! and then he shrugs off everything and decides, "eh, i think i'll go visit the UN tomorrow." now that's the kind of delusion i like to see in my leaders.

and do i need to point out that he's bringing 71 people?

news war

it is no big secret that i am in love with pbs generally, frontline specifically. frontline's newest series "News War" is fantastic. best of all? you can watch all of the episodes online! and the online supplemental info is equally fantastic: interviews, reading lists, great articles, etc. etc. anyways, it's a four-part series, covering everything from the relationship between government & media & the public to confidentiality of sources; from the plame case to google news and non-traditional media outlets. it's been the impetus for my interest in journalism of late, and a valuable watch.

capitalism at its finest

"Chiquita Charged In Terror Investigation" for bananas? are we really that desperate for bananas?

writing

last night adam reminded me how much i used to write. at one point i was writing two, three times a day. we're not talking hemingway here: just writing. over the past year i've really fallen out of that habit. which has turned out to be a bad move. blogs have the tendency to be a bunch of self-indulgent twaddle. but there's something to be said about putting down your thoughts and inviting others to read. it's a small sort of risk, but a risk still. and risk is what i'm craving right now. it's been a rough couple of months. so much so my body has completely rejected me this week. i'm drained. my kitten olive goes in to be spayed tomorrow. she is lying on my chest right now pawing at my face. totally unaware. i am overcome with guilt. like i'm about to turn her over to the mob. i can't look her in the eye. if she comes home tomorrow with one of those cones on her head, my heart might just fall out of my chest. it is a good thing i don't have children at this point, because they would all be wearing lojacks.

whim

my parents are infamous for their whims: a trait i have (begrudgingly) inherited. several years ago, my dad assured us that his new pumpkin-orange ford ranger was his "going to jesus truck." four years, eight cars, three recreational vehicles and one house later, my dad is interviewing for his fourth "retirement job" and I am perusing seventeen different types of graduate programs with unabashed abandon. i'm telling you this in part because i believe (hope) verbalizing that i am conscious of my own flightiness will somehow diminish its recklessness. you know, 'a crazy person never thinks she's crazy' logic. at the same time, you will find me more likely to say "fuck it. i'm 23." now, than ever before. and i consider that one of my new favorite personality traits. this evening marked the beginning of a large west-coast retreat i have been preparing for over the past few months. our speaker tonight graduated from yale law school and spent six years writing about his classmates. luckily for him, his classmates were a group of law students who successfully sued presidents ghw bush and clinton, freeing several hundred HIV-positive haitian political refugees from detention at guantanamo in the early 90s. (they were also on npr this morning fyi: http://kuow.org/programs/weekday.asp). the story itself is fascinating, but i was struck most by one of the attorney's comments that the cornerstone of their success as students was the ability to ignore everyone else's conception of "what is possible." wow. i think our conceptions of "what is possible" oftentimes keep us from "what is ACTUALLY possible," and i'm certainly not immune. which explains why many of my whims remain whims. i am now thinking of seriously pursuing a degree in journalism. and will not rest until i've convinced myself that columbia is possible.