tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17405983461211743642024-03-18T23:48:20.428-05:00WE ARE HOMEStrangers on this road we are on
<br>We are not two we are one
<br>--The KinksHome Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-3640400404950397542012-02-05T16:18:00.001-06:002012-02-05T16:19:06.728-06:00Summer: Spanikopita recipeHey ladies! Just a quick experiment here. I am trying to blog from my new phone. I gave in and got a smart phone after losing my dumb phone at some po-dunk gas station on my way back from Big Bend. Anywho. I took a pic of the recipe because I was too lazy to type it. Let me know if you can read it. I also just made it for a super bowl party that I am attending. I know I know. First an iPhone and then a Super Bowl party. I might as well be a bro. <div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2I2eFk8rYF-5y18v8R-lBPNgKEnnJIPeOu0sXV1_YV3RVPqFuCWizrIB23kxhlShnC65KhDcAg053T1yUgCBz96MfmP4fM61O9ZD55uxfDkfPvp68Be_WgLBGRnlrp4yJ6ALHJaUdj4/s640/blogger-image--1862406496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim2I2eFk8rYF-5y18v8R-lBPNgKEnnJIPeOu0sXV1_YV3RVPqFuCWizrIB23kxhlShnC65KhDcAg053T1yUgCBz96MfmP4fM61O9ZD55uxfDkfPvp68Be_WgLBGRnlrp4yJ6ALHJaUdj4/s640/blogger-image--1862406496.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator"style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CUNZYqVyGVlFfJcX0El6QoYYLDB0ZkA1iN2sbsTy2t6zdrtLPlTzZeabGX0GBdHj90GJBRvt9j1hieY-4LtwItjGH3LLdmD4TRF0eSbuBcthXqsD3vDUUQRiqhv0VEQdKpsplalyU_A/s640/blogger-image-348742439.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0CUNZYqVyGVlFfJcX0El6QoYYLDB0ZkA1iN2sbsTy2t6zdrtLPlTzZeabGX0GBdHj90GJBRvt9j1hieY-4LtwItjGH3LLdmD4TRF0eSbuBcthXqsD3vDUUQRiqhv0VEQdKpsplalyU_A/s640/blogger-image-348742439.jpg" /></a></div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-62461827724401975032012-02-01T14:55:00.000-06:002012-02-01T14:55:02.462-06:00Christa: From my crumpled napkinHello! I am so honored to be contributing to this blog with such fine, strong women! I composed a brief poem after finding the long sought after napkin from the Big Bend trip. Look forward to diving in. Love, Christa<br />
<br />
<i>Musty paper napkin</i><br />
<i>hiding in the corner of my purse</i><br />
<i>on it written words all tattered</i><br />
<i>titles of a book are scattered</i><br />
<i>notes from friends who care</i><br />
<i>love to fondly share</i><br />
<br />
<i>Thank you all for love and knowledge</i><br />
<i>your lifeblood like a babbling brook</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5npHHc1uVzGHyVssY-4fm2W07YweGbRhFWuVrO11zvCr7KGQpyTbHCgr-xZUKub83UxHOabpYOwNL_MEcg113cXPoTM-XG2hEYaNr1hnMhPGevjVBbkzc-sUjqODhmY44WcQ8HGZ14E/s1600/phone+pics+046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5npHHc1uVzGHyVssY-4fm2W07YweGbRhFWuVrO11zvCr7KGQpyTbHCgr-xZUKub83UxHOabpYOwNL_MEcg113cXPoTM-XG2hEYaNr1hnMhPGevjVBbkzc-sUjqODhmY44WcQ8HGZ14E/s200/phone+pics+046.JPG" width="150" /></a></div><br />
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Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-72410714959140216162012-01-14T11:22:00.003-06:002012-01-14T11:26:13.578-06:00Summer's Request-A tasty and simple recipeOne of my favorite gifts this past Christmas was a recipe book given to me by my very dear sister-in-law, my real sister in heart and mind. Since having my own apartment, and space, albeit only 2 feet, in which to fully develop my inner foodie, I have reveled in the honing of my cooking skills. This book, <i>300 Vegetarian Recipes for Health</i> has the most beautiful, inspirational pictures of food. It's like my porn, giving me a little foodgasm each time I flip through the pages. <br />
"Uhhhh"<br />
"ooooooo" <br />
"ooooo yeah, that's it!" <br />
HA! Forgive me, I couldn't resist. <br />
Here's a recipe I made with my meat-loving dad one night in TX and then again for my boyfriend, whom many of you now know and love! <br />
<br />
<b><br />
Beans with Mushrooms </b><br />
serves 4 <br />
prep time: 10 minutes <br />
cooking time: 15-20 minutes<br />
<br />
2 tbsp olive oil <br />
4 tbsp butter <br />
2 shallots, chopped <br />
3 garlic cloves, crushed <br />
9 cups mixed mushrooms, thickly sliced <br />
5 pieces sun-dried tomatoes, chopped <br />
6 tbsp dry white wine <br />
<br />
1, 4 oz can (Pick the one kind you like best, I LOVE pinto with this dish)<br />
pinto, red kidney, or borlotti beans, drained <br />
3 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese <br />
2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley <br />
salt and fresh ground black pepper <br />
freshly cooked papardelle pasta, to serve <br />
<br />
1. Heat oil and butter in frying pan and fry the shallots until soft <br />
2. Add the garlic and mushrooms to the pan and fry for 3-4 minutes <br />
Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes, wine, and seasoning to taste <br />
3, Stir in beans and cook for about 5-6 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the beans are warmed through <br />
4. While beans are cooking, start cooking the papardelle pasta, should take about 5-7 minutes <br />
5. Stir in the grated Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with parsley and serve immediately with papardelle. <br />
MMMMMMMMMMmmmmmmmmmm! Love, LesHome Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-62435396392968543312012-01-13T18:26:00.002-06:002012-01-13T18:26:27.757-06:00Summer: TraumaSo, here’s to reviving the blog! I’ve thought about writing an entry about every day this week…but I’ve been too lazy! So, if you’ve been feeling the same way—get off your bum and write something! I know that I would love to hear something from everyone, especially since we don’t get to talk all the time. I have special requests for recipes, anecdotes, new music, and book recommendations. And just as a warning…this is a long one! And might be a little gross.<br />
<br />
Last weekend, I had the awesome privilege of “shadowing” a 2nd year resident on a trauma rotation. Excuse my use of words like “awesome” and “exciting” when writing about some of these events. <br />
<br />
Saturday 7 January 2012 was not a good day for motorcyclists. You wouldn’t have guessed because it was a beautiful, clear day—blue skies and dry roads. One minute they’re cruising down smooth Texas highways, and the next they’re being flown in by AirLife.<br />
<br />
It’s an odd feeling to be in a room with 2 coding people. Coding for these folks on this day meant their blood pressure was in the toilet. The room gets packed with residents, techs, nurses, police officers, the paramedics that delivered the patients. Everyone’s breathing the same air—stealing each other’s air, because it’s cramped in there. It’s like this team of people trying to save a life are all tangled up in each other, and yet they still operate like a well-oiled machine—at least to the eyes of an outsider, an observer, the one at the bottom of the totem pole. Hell, not even on the totem pole. <br />
<br />
There’s the person taking notes in the corner while others yell out “Abrasion to left shoulder; deformed right shoulder; fractures to left arm, left thigh, and right arm; pupils non-reactive to light.” Pinching and poking, hoping to elicit a primitive pain reaction. The attending trauma surgeon calling for the blood bank, “8 units blood, 8 FFP, 7 units platelets.” The techs that are changing out suction tubing. The radiologists pushing films under the patient’s back to get preliminary x-rays. Nurses trying to find lines. Residents determining oxygen saturation by taking a small amount of blood. <br />
<br />
And then. Then, things get a little crazier. Monitors beep. And it’s not even in an alarming way—it’s more like a chime. But the blood pressure is dropping. Time for chest tubes—to potentially decompress the lungs. To make sure that there isn’t blood in the thoracic cavity. A bottle of betadine gets squirted on the patients chest; residents dawn sterile gloves over the gowns they’ve already thrown on. If they had more time, this procedure would be done with more care. But there is not time. A blade is taken to a space between the ribs. Cut through the skin, fascia, fat, and intercostal muscles. The resident places his finger into the hole, wiggles, and then inserts a tube. Luckily, no blood comes gushing out. The patient is not bleeding from the chest.<br />
<br />
But now they need to make sure there is no abdominal bleeding. They must do a FAST—Focused Assessment with Sonography in Trauma. A bedside evaluation with ultrasound. That all sounds much nicer then, “cutting open the belly to check for bleeding.” After finding nothing, they staple his skin closed. And move on. It’s fix one thing and move on, fix and move on, until the patient is stable enough to get a CT scan—to get a better look and determine if there is bleeding they missed. Eventually things slow down when the patient is stable and everyone takes a deep breath…until the next call comes in. And there’s a rush to mop blood from the floor, get rid of all the trash from equipment used. Wash hands, and get the next bed ready. Like I said—they are a freakin’ machine.<br />
<br />
And then, there are the patients. Real people. Ones that can’t breath for themselves. Completely exposed for all the world to see. The most physically vulnerable they will ever be. And they’re not even awake for it. Thank God. It’s weird to watch them (and others) fight for their lives. It’s surreal. So. Yeah. It’s an odd feeling when you realize that you don’t have much of a feeling at all. Really—I just feel…aware. I am an extra set of hands holding sutures, holding fat back, breathing for a man—and that pleases me. I am a little scared that I don’t seem to have more compassion. I would look at this man, his face bloodied and swollen, tubes down his throat. Tubes in both sides of his chest. Lines in his groin, in his wrists, in his forearms. Staples on his abdomen. Restrained so that an unconscious reflex doesn’t “contaminate” the sterile field. I look at him and try to see him as a person. A man with a family—wife, kids, parents. A home, a job, friends. But the only reality I seem to find is the one where the blood is on the floor, where I am excited to pump the bag that blows airs into his lungs. Watching and waiting, I feel like a child—horrified at what is going on, but fascinated too. Whole-heartedly believing that every patient is going to be alright, because I could not fathom a reality in which one of them is not. Even the woman who has shot herself in the head. It will be awful for her when she wakes up—because she took herself out believing that she would never wake again. Somehow, she was okay leaving behind her two young daughters and her husband. But I feel that she will wake up. That there is no way that she won’t make it. She’s made it this far, to the hospital, to this bed, to these people sweating and cursing, re-wrapping her head in gauze so that she doesn’t bleed out. <br />
<br />
Trauma is a rush. I do not feel panic. I do not feel emotional. I only feel charged, hyper-aware. Granted, I can’t really do anything. I just stand around and hold things, stay out of the way and retrieve tools if I can. But I love it. I stayed 2 extra hours because it was so busy. I never found out what happened to any of those 4 patients that day. I still believe they made it.Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-6441956091623168862011-06-05T23:16:00.002-05:002011-06-05T23:16:50.793-05:00Summer: Next Service Station 60 MilesThese past few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time driving around Texas, and I’m glad because I had forgotten how rustically, beautiful Texas can be. South Texas and the valley seem to have an endless supply of mesquite trees, cacti, shrubbery, and palm trees (depending on where you are). And despite the draught that we find ourselves in, it’s still very green—completely different from west Texas, which has a beauty all its own.<br />
<br />
I drive with the windows down, 100+ degree heat beating on my arms. A two-lane highway where you have to speed up to 90mph in order to pass the large 18-wheelers that travel in front of you. But then? Then it’s miles before you see another car, and you are driving down a tunnel of greenery with the big Texas sky laid out before you. Clouds graze the sky like cows in open fields.<br />
<br />
I hope everyone finds the peace and comfort that I do when driving through Texas. And despite my complaints about Texas having a horrible public transportation system, I am actually glad to have a car at times so that I can speed down the lanes with nothing but blue skies in front, and a long traveled road behind.Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-6913109587312892322011-05-11T00:37:00.002-05:002011-05-11T00:37:54.724-05:00Summer: Whoa BRAIN!Heya Ladies! This is just quick...but as I was studying neuroscience, I ran across this cool video to teach the concept of "perceptual blindness." I won't tell you anymore about it, because it may ruin the video for you. Just follow the directions! Our brains are nuts-os! Oh, and I will try to post a little more over the summer...since I have some more time. Hopefully I'll have some time to do some reflection on the past year. Anywho, without further ado, brought to you by youtube...<br />
<br />
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ahg6qcgoay4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-13745287665617192172011-04-19T21:31:00.000-05:002011-04-19T21:31:35.128-05:00Summer: Happily Ever After =]Hello ladies! So...it's been forever, but I've got a bit of time (ie I want to PROCRASTINATE) and I have been thinking a lot about my friends as of late. It must be the spring fever! I miss mojito Fridays by the Pearl St pool or evenings spent indulging in some vino on the balcony. I miss bike rides to coffee shops and bike gang, of course! I miss playing ultimate frisbee at the capitol and swimming at the greenbelt (or night swim at Barton Springs). I miss seasonal mixed CD's and the sound of everyone's beautiful laughter! Good lord!<br />
<br />
Anyway, the weather this weekend was amazing! And it was perfect because my sister got married! The day was beautiful and the ceremony was held outside in an awesome courtyard downtown, during Fiesta. Fiesta is a big deal in San Antonio--ie Friday is a public holiday for Battle of Flowers. It was such a wonderful, colorful weekend. And I'm so happy that Alice was able to come down and dance the night away! Once my toast was given (which I had fret over for quite some time)--Alice had a glass of red wine with my name on it! We proceeded to get sloshed on the margaritas, extra tequila, please!<br />
<br />
So, I've just been so excited since the wedding and I keep thinking about how nice it was. And then it made me remember how happy I used to always be (not that I'm miserable now, but I'm not as carefree ALL the time--I miss being freakishly happy all the time). So, back to you ladies! Love you all much. Sorry this has been one of the most rambly posts ever, but I wanted to write everyone a little letter.<br />
<br />
Oh, and here is a link to some of the photos from my sister's wedding. The photographer was awesome! <a href="http://www.philipthomasblog.com/">Philip Thomas Blog</a>. Just scroll down a little bit--it's posted under Mariko + John.<br />
<br />
I love you all much!Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-15225128702411204782011-01-19T19:29:00.001-06:002012-02-05T16:20:12.230-06:00Some recipes, as requested by Alice and Summer:<br />
<br />
Pickles (Try these, even if you don't like bread and butter pickles, you might like them. I made them for the first time today and they are amazing!)<br />
<br />
10 pickling cucumbers<br />
1 large onion<br />
2 green bell peppers (I like to use 1 green and 1 red for color)<br />
5 cloves of garlic<br />
1/2 cup salt<br />
<br />
1 cup apple cider vinegar<br />
1 cup sugar<br />
1 tsp tumeric<br />
1 tsp celery seed<br />
1 Tbs mustard seed<br />
<br />
First you need to sterilize the jars that you will be using. Do this by leaving them in boiling water for a few minutes.<br />
<br />
Then, Cut the cucumbers in thin slices and slice the onions. Chop the garlic and the bell peppers. Don't chop the peppers too small because they taste really good after pickling!<br />
Mix everything together in a large mixing bowl and add the salt. It seems like a lot of salt but it drains the cucumbers of all their water leaving them extra cruchy. Add ice cubes or crushed ice to the mixture, I think this makes the cukes cruchier as well. Let the mixture sit for three hours. <br />
<br />
After three hours, drain mixture. Then rinse with water (because the pickles will be really salty if you don't!) and drain again. <br />
<br />
In a large saucepan, mix together the vinegar, sugar, tumeric, celery seed, and mustard seed. bring to a boil. Once it boils, turn off the heat and add the cucumber/vegetable mix into the sauce pan. Mix everything together. Pack the cukes and veggies into the jars and then ladel in the liquid. Seal the jar and chill in the fridge. Place the jars upside down so that the pickles are soaking in the juice and as you eat the pickles, the juice will soak the pickles at the bottom. You can either store the pickles in the fridge for a month or months or eat them instantly!<br />
<br />
Empanada dough (I learned this recipe while working at a pizzeria/empanaderia in Chile)<br />
<br />
4 cups flour<br />
3/4 cups vegetable oil<br />
1/4 margerine/butter<br />
1 cup water<br />
1 tsp salt<br />
<br />
Mix everything together, knead it with your hands, add more flour or oil if it is to sticky or not stretchy enough. Roll out until dough is very thin, less than one cm. use a bowl to trace out circles with your knife. <br />
<br />
And if you are not a vegetarian, you should try making empanadas de pino. These are the empanadas we made at the Pizzeria and they are very good.<br />
<br />
Filling:<br />
<br />
1/2 pound ground meat<br />
chopped onions. You want to chop a lot of onions so that you have at least twice as many onions as meat. <br />
<br />
First, fry the onions until they are translucent. Then move them to a large mixing bowl. Add Sugar, cayanne pepper, black pepper, parsley flakes, cumin, salt. Add a lot of each of these spicesHome Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-35363017191704956742010-12-19T20:46:00.000-06:002010-12-19T20:46:43.375-06:00Stav: I Feel It All"to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free"<br />
<br />
This song is so good for dancing.<br />
<br />
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Take care,<br />
love,<br />
Stav.Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-71231493311850395792010-11-17T20:23:00.000-06:002010-11-17T20:23:27.458-06:00Leslie: Mumbles from the National Gallery<i>This is an excerpt, beyond the Stav poem, from my travels earlier this semester. I hadn't gone back through and read it until just now. Since no one had really written about art, I thought I'd include it, a wider glimpse into the strange mind that makes its home in my body. </i><br />
<br />
At the National Gallery of Art again in my own universe. A heaven. I am my own best friend. Wearing clothes I wore all day yesterday and through the night, yet I feel fresh. Fresh in the middle of a traveler's high. Headphones on again in an art museum, one of my favorite things to do. Like being in Prof. Mary Brantl's class at good ol' StEdwards. Yes. One word, StEdwards. With other people I find museums boring. Maybe it's because I can't get lost. I have to be WITH them, out of my little space. Here I am, alone in D.C feelin' warm again.<br />
In front of me are two paintings, one familiar the other new to me, but familiar. Thank you Mary Brantl, Modigliani and his <i>Nude on Blue Cushion</i> from 1917 with her coy and confindent gaze. The rather ugly maroon tone over the background would bore me if it weren't for that gaze of hers. Big tits with sizeable aereolas, just like mine. She seems to be telling me with that face, "go on, be proud of your curvy, healthy frame". Ok I say.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImYI0blxZKT2TSRW92j_DOBdw490vVG7N7twSexVhK_xPRk99gfkLjhIRyVvfsKDM1qhaIAi59-dPDO-8Ut-X8NSLlkJadPyxOH5QltZySZ7icAUooFmbaERis_t5tz9dzkRjN2b-jys/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImYI0blxZKT2TSRW92j_DOBdw490vVG7N7twSexVhK_xPRk99gfkLjhIRyVvfsKDM1qhaIAi59-dPDO-8Ut-X8NSLlkJadPyxOH5QltZySZ7icAUooFmbaERis_t5tz9dzkRjN2b-jys/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Aaaand here she is. Aereolas and all. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">I'm not going to say he's my favorite artist but I love what Toulouse Lautrec does. In 1897, or something like that, he uses oil on cardboard! That badass Toulousse LauTrec.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucxqhpXftf5Hy5AVoqt149LnoA7xc_H8WQv0_ZnLMF2eB6aKwxebVAGXmcPth2EnaoOToSOj04fATDrZ2QuRES7ZjvjApL13K-4298yvvDGSFHpdi_h55-Tg_CJZULIyyla4EMo9ffUI/s1600/lautrec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhucxqhpXftf5Hy5AVoqt149LnoA7xc_H8WQv0_ZnLMF2eB6aKwxebVAGXmcPth2EnaoOToSOj04fATDrZ2QuRES7ZjvjApL13K-4298yvvDGSFHpdi_h55-Tg_CJZULIyyla4EMo9ffUI/s1600/lautrec.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Who says you need to be painting on canvas to be high art? Reduce, Reuse, Recycle indeed. These cardboard works of his always leave some memory of happening with me. The man in a white sport coat stands with his back to me, painted in what seems like a split second, but gracefully done. His lady friend, almost grotesque, leers at someone, maybe me or this flash camera little girl beside me. The leering lady, a little ugly and full of life. I love it. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Little girl with windup disposable camera taking pictures of paintings. Just for the joy of doing so. These paintings inspire me to do more cardboard art. Such texture, such "fuck it-ness". </div><div style="text-align: left;">Hm. This is the Chester Dale portion of the gallert...Whoever this Chester Dale guy is, he was loaded. What did he do? How is there someone with so much money? </div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>ha ha ha ha ha. Stream of Consciousness indeed, eh? If you don't engage in this type of writing I highly encourage you to do so. It really pulls out the creativity and rawness that we all possess. Thanks for reading and I love you all! </i></div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-39483338690165851582010-11-15T22:21:00.000-06:002010-11-15T22:21:02.776-06:00Stav: Double StandardI've been spending an increasing amount of time in coffee shops working on stuff (or not) and have noticed the following trend: when you order just a cup of house coffee which usually costs between 1 and 2 dollars, and then you take out the ol' credit card to pay for it, a lot of the time, the person at the counter will just give it to you for free. I assume this is because it costs more money for the coffee shop to pay the credit card companies etc... then the buck fifty that the coffee is actually worth. This happened to me again not 20 minutes ago. I came home to enlighten my housemates (all male) about this new discovery. When I told them what had just happened they responded with "THAT NEVER HAPPENS TO GUYS!" In conclusion: girls, we have to start insisting on paying for our coffee! This double standard shall not stand! <br />
<br />
With sisterhood solidarity,<br />
take care,<br />
stav.Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-89969764552169152132010-11-14T16:50:00.000-06:002010-11-14T16:50:06.902-06:00Leslie: A Poem for StavDuring my two day train expedition from Miami to D.C to Ann Arbor, Michigan I had such expansive time to think and oh how I reveled in it. Getting onto that train gave me a two day drug-free high. It was just me, the gently rocking train, and other travelers circling about me, coloring my journey. My favorite memory of being on the Amtrak is simple: me sitting in the cafe car gazing at the moving scenery, coffee in hand, typing, typing, and typing whatever was to come my mind's way. I looked through my sentimental mind and recalled all my beautiful friends throughout the 6 years I lived at Pearl. Very naturally I thought of you, Stav and how much you brought to my life, in a very subtle, gauzy sort of way. This is not to say that I haven't poems for the other patrons of this blog whom I lived with my dear Summer, Claire, Andrea, and Chett...I really cannot explain why I found myself writing a poem to Stav, I just felt all lovey and happy on that train and wanted to share it. So here is the very poem I wrote, stream-of-conciousness, unedited and raw. *a bit of an aside first, in this ditty, I refer to Stav winning something and I cannot now remember exactly what that was, but I remember the big feeling of pride for you. ha ha ha. Ah, typical me. Enjoy.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>I write to all my kindreds, but this one's for you , my Stav </i><br />
<i>I want to remember your spirit forever</i><br />
<i>Crowned Freshman of the Year...which year was that anyhow? </i><br />
<i>scrawling Bob Dylan into the wooden chair on our smoking, talking balcony </i><br />
<i>Your long, honey brown hair wavy </i><br />
<i>getting in your face </i><br />
<i>your big glasses </i><br />
<i>and only you-ness</i><br />
<i>I love you, friend, for I'll never know anyone like you </i><br />
<i>Pete Seeger, Townes, Kinks on shuffle never cease to draw happy in-motion images of you </i><br />
<i>To hold onto you riding your bike into the Pearl dining room, long hair about your face </i><br />
<i>cool vest-wearing, my friend Stav </i><br />
<i>mutually loathing Dallas, but maybe that's the town that made us cool? </i><br />
<i>Your Lesbe, giving me some of the most legendary best friendship hugs of all time </i><br />
<i>There was a contest and you won</i><br />
<i>I'm so proud of you </i><br />
<i>a beautiful sister I never had </i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZ4ETBfkQ-gEMucNksd-2x6ounqU9HGoBycjtjUl5RVWt_rRDrgOPuEwj4BL2A5it9-j1brBKhGIQdmIeY-Tzf0zZPWSNQcLPQtuPK28APvNw1vEZi6558IdUGMDWq-IYbGL-_Xvga0A/s1600/stav.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHZ4ETBfkQ-gEMucNksd-2x6ounqU9HGoBycjtjUl5RVWt_rRDrgOPuEwj4BL2A5it9-j1brBKhGIQdmIeY-Tzf0zZPWSNQcLPQtuPK28APvNw1vEZi6558IdUGMDWq-IYbGL-_Xvga0A/s320/stav.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Stav, pretending to be Chett. <3</div><i><br />
</i><br />
<div><br />
</div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-90537454842027948622010-11-07T13:17:00.001-06:002010-11-07T13:21:32.486-06:00Leslie: To Stymie or Not to StymieSorry I've been MIA on this here glorious blog....no excuses really just had cases, yes many cases, of writer's block. Someone really ought to find a cure for that.<br />
<div><br />
</div><div>My purpose today is to promote the use of this amazing word, <i>stymie</i>. I was listening to All Things Considered(ahem) on my way home from babysitting my nephews the other evening and heard it. I've heard it and read it before but never appreciated it. I think Barack Obama used it to discuss this past week's election results that will further <i>stymie</i> his political goals. Poor guy. I've been trying to use this word whenever I can, sneaking it in while dancing it up at bars with old Dallas pals. Like last night we went to this supposed hardcore Hip-Hop bar called, The Slip Inn and I declared, while looking as bored as possible, "This Top 40 dance mix is really stymie-ing my efforts to "drop it like it's hot" to hard core gangsta rap." </div><div>Yeah. </div><div>So are you with me on promoting the use of this oft-forgotten word? </div><div><br />
</div><div>Love, </div><div>Les</div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-72567200328443032532010-11-04T15:58:00.001-05:002010-11-04T16:02:28.654-05:00Claire: part of a dialogue with a student<div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">So glad to hear from Summer and Stav! This is just a quick entry that I'm copying and pasting before I crash into my bed. I'm poo poo pooped! I envision a thoughtful entry in the very near future........... </span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">----</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">its yust a soundtrack<br />
and i understand not anything<br />
but i what the lyriks are, everything!!!<br />
=)</span></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/RRJjPXqxRis?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/RRJjPXqxRis?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;">it is a joke for the movie</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">but i think the song shows us the situation of oure (the amercan) musik buissnis :</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">the woman should be very sexy and she should say horny thing an so on. ist a musikbuiniss fore stupid people. but the problem is that the most people are stupid. so you have to make this musik to become famous.... its so stupid</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">but its funny ^^</span><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
</span></div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-64145049679628383562010-11-04T12:50:00.000-05:002010-11-04T12:50:48.343-05:00Stav: Back From a Long SabaticalHello all! Thank you for still being here when I decided it was time to check le blogue after maybe a month and a half. You guys are the best...<br />
<br />
So, not much has changed since my last posting. I'm starting (eek!) my tenuous journey down the long road of graduate school applications. Currently working on my personal statement. I'm having a horrible time writing it. I know what I want to say regarding why I want to pursue graduate studies etc... but I don't know how to put it all together in a convenient narrative form. Bleh. If anyone has any advice, it would be appreciated :)<br />
<br />
At the end of September I reached the ripe old age of 22! Alright! The event was celebrated with a medium-sized party at poquito hut. The theme was beer and cake. Funny story. I haven't thrown a party since I was 16 years old. I don't know why I wanted to do it this year, maybe because I'm finally living in a house with a porch. Anyway, on the Tuesday before the Saturday I decided it was time to call all the people I know (still living in Austin that is... wish you could have been there, and thank you to those who came) because I am afraid of making facebook events for nebulous reasons probably tied to my various neuroses associated with social networking websites. As I was calling the 20 or so people I wanted to invite a common conversational trope arose that sounded a little something like this:<br />
<br />
Stav: Hi [friend], what are you doing this Saturday evening?<br />
Friend: Um, I don't know. Why? What's up?<br />
S: Well, I'm having a medium sized beer-and-cake party for my birthday and wanted to invite you.<br />
F: Oh! cool, yeah, I'll come.<br />
S: Great.<br />
F: Is it on Face Book?<br />
S: Err... No.<br />
<br />
Which is why I eventually gave in and put it online. It wasn't hard. It was easy. It was helpful. IT'S OK TO PUT YOUR SHIT ONLINE (as I post details about my personal life on a public blog... ugh... see what I mean... but I digress). Anyway, when it was finally time for the party I got really nervous that people wouldn't show up. Then some people did show up between those purgatory party hours of 9:30 to 10:30. I put on some Fats Waller because I think 1940s jazz means partying as much as the next girl and set up a table on which to put the three different types of cake available. Then...everyone sat on couches, listened to music and talked quietly. It was turning into a sit on couches and talk quietly party!!! Nooo!!! Also since most of my close friends are women, at this point the people at my party were 8 of my girlfriends and one of their boyfriends. Awkward. Next to my stereo, there was a table laden with cake (with candles!), candy, and milk (provided by a thoughtful friend as a substitute to alcohol). Since all the beer was in the fridge, the party looked like a 12 year old's party. I started pacing the house, took out the recycling, and drank 3 beers in 20 minutes. I was so anxious I started breaking out in hives. This is funny in retrospect. Please imagine me frantically running around the house, kindof tipsy and very nervous. Really, very funny. In that Woody Allen kind of way that I love. The evening ended up being a success, but success isn't as entertaining as fumbling around.<br />
<br />
Jeez. That was along anecdote.<br />
<br />
Take care,<br />
Stav.Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-7808486110342953042010-10-31T21:34:00.000-05:002010-10-31T21:34:06.338-05:00Summer: KALIMA Shuck-ti-day...?<div class="MsoNormal">HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">It’s been a while ladies!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Early this week (last Sunday) my sister called me with an urgent request—my address! Alright, whatever. So, she calls me in the middle of the week demanding that I go to my mailbox. At 11:30pm I remember that I need to go pick up that package or else risk the wrath of my sister, even though she is a few hundred miles away. I grew up in fear, clearly.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This is what happened.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJZFq9mCyt97TL9gfrbZAka0Ed3o52ujX4TL132WFZ0WdgEcaid5XR0HctD2MkGJ3C63URYETzQnQjec6gVVPIJisHwCBGZi_eRIdZQ3KuCBkMww9TjpwzZxQ8pUJySaNmiXDmhWIrM8/s1600/67429_569084468444_44300496_32980718_3249914_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZJZFq9mCyt97TL9gfrbZAka0Ed3o52ujX4TL132WFZ0WdgEcaid5XR0HctD2MkGJ3C63URYETzQnQjec6gVVPIJisHwCBGZi_eRIdZQ3KuCBkMww9TjpwzZxQ8pUJySaNmiXDmhWIrM8/s320/67429_569084468444_44300496_32980718_3249914_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal">I’m sorry I don’t have a better picture—ie me in full regalia. But, since I suck at taking pictures, this is what I found on someone’s facebook. Yes, I am a RAINBOW FISH! That mysterious package from my sister contained that wacked out hat, the glittery purple glasses (which provided UV protection, thank you very much) and the even more random pink, feathery boa. Needless to say, I hung out at Goodwill and found a fantastic hand-crocheted teacher vest—in fiesta colors! My skirt was made from wrapping paper (some people thought I was some sort of present). </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Anyway, I had a pretty good time at some med school-ish party. There was nearly not enough dancing, but I danced with my friend Lilian anyway. By the way—she is the Ninja Turtle. My mom sewed that costume some 12 years ago. Lilian was able to fit in the whole thing—including the one-sie jump suit!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">So, this Halloween (and my secretly horrible addiction to Glee) brought me upon Rocky Horror. So, I want everyone to get up, sing, and do the TIME WARP!!!!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<object height="385" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/S47MTZKsbCk?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/S47MTZKsbCk?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">This brings me back to Pearl St. Drag Parties! LEROY!! I mostly remember Tim on the floor to the meat-fridge in a floral print dress that, I think, belonged to Jenn's (Fey) mom. This was pre-Tim&Jenn. And, somehow four of us (unnamed individuals) tried a four way kiss. Thank god that didn't pan out! Those were the days!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">In other news. This is what we did in anatomy lab this past Thursday.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie"
value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KBIdcUxdgo0?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param
name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param
name="allowscriptaccess"
value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KBIdcUxdgo0?fs=1&hl=en_US"
type="application/x-shockwave-flash"
allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"
width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Yes, we took out the heart. YES, it was absolutely AMAZING! No, it is not as big as your fist…it is BIGGER! Well, ours was.<br />
<br />
Anywho, I am well and I hope everyone else is TOO!<br />
<br />
We need more posts. Thank god for Claire--she is the SOUL of our blog.<br />
<br />
Oh, and I would love to go camping over winter break sometime if anyone is interested!<br />
<br />
Love you all,<br />
<br />
Summer</div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-32962473113688990722010-10-26T16:31:00.001-05:002010-10-26T16:31:56.717-05:00(Claire) Bad music: the good kind<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/GhvGpOk4COU?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/GhvGpOk4COU?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aGDZc9bdUZM?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aGDZc9bdUZM?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/HBjDZMJUduo?fs=1&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/HBjDZMJUduo?fs=1&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-42957045475397175942010-10-25T07:18:00.003-05:002010-10-26T16:23:21.560-05:00Claire: Codo reaches a whole new level<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/16166727" width="400" height="265" frameborder="0"></iframe><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/16166727">Codo - Ich düse im Sauseschritt</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/argzerfarz">Michael Klarfeld</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p><br />
Film project at school last weekend + cheap beer + a wonderful song as inspiration = this video!<br />
<br />
This was put together by my teacher mentor, Michael. I do hope this is but the first of many funny videos we make this year.<br />
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I suppose it's obvious that I'm having a jolly good time in Dresden. :-) I'll write more about it sometime soon.<br />
<br />
<br />
Ach but before I go it's my moral obligation to tell you guys about this great resource where you can turn youtube video audio into mp3s: video2mp3.net. what a goldmine! it's brainless to use and takes about one minute for each song.<br />
<br />
xoxo,<br />
claireHome Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-91338517368753406382010-10-17T05:47:00.005-05:002010-10-17T06:02:11.854-05:00PUMBA KATHallööööö liebe Kunden!<br />
<br />
<br />
How the heck are you guys? I've been so out of the loop.<br />
<br />
Hohkay, I wanted to write more but here's the deal: IT'S A SUNNY DAY. And I'd be a fool to stay indoors on a day like this. My sunny days are, like, numbered as November nears......<br />
I also wanted to post some lovely pictures of fall foliage, but I can't find the darn link for uploading pictures! They'll come L8R<br />
<br />
I'm having a great time. I'm wrapping up my fall break and on Tuesday I'm going to start teaching 4realz. I've had the past 2 weeks free and I took trips to Berlin, Kiel & Flensburg. These 2 northernly cities are 30 minutes apart, but Germans consider the difference to be profound. Actually they're right. <br />
<br />
Berlin is wild! There's Germany and there's Berlin. It's super international, very funky, and the scene is constantly changing. In spirit, it's like a cosmopolitan version of Austin. It's only 2 hours away and I know plenty of people living there, so I'll visit fairly often. I'm very glad that I live in Dresden though-- in Berlin it would be hard to meet German people, oddly enough. Dresden is like this Baroque dream come true. Plus, it's the size of Austin and there is so much to do. Huzzah!<br />
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In Kiel and Flensburg I was reunited with Frederike & her family & her spectactular friends. I had a damn good time. We had a MUSTACHE PARTY and I got reacquainted with Fernet Branca y Coca, which is what people drink in Argentina. Listen, I think it's stupid to talk about drinking, but I'm going to make a brief exception: Fernet is something else. It's actually quite nice on your stomach and you'll have an opposite-hangover the next day. It is, however, an "acquired taste". (OK I'm done now)<br />
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But really, the best part of the trip was at the grocery store. I was buying said drink and some old man started pushing his shopping cart against me (instead of asking me to kindly move or going around me). Then after I grumbled some insults, he took out his knife and starting sharpening it. Fuckin weirdo.<br />
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Hmm this is already becoming long and the sun is beckoning me. I'm going to a "Hochseilgarten" with my housemates. It's a place where you climb shit, but it's not rock climbing. <br />
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But in a nutshell, I wanted to say that I'm back in Dresden after some, um, life-threatening adventures. I can't say that I've developed much of a routine yet. There is still so much to see and do, but I'm definitely carving myself a cozy little niche with the groovy new people that I'm meeting and at my home. <br />
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That's all for now, folks! BYE!! And check out this sweet Chilean music <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=130564853">playlist</a> that NPR compiled.<br />
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Besos,<br />
ClaireHome Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-62131556465017124372010-10-06T23:57:00.001-05:002010-10-07T00:11:13.235-05:00Andrea - P-I-Z-Z-ASo following Claire's lead, I wanted to put a video up that I thought would make you laugh. I think you will all get a kick out of watching this video, even if you weren't a fan of Mary-Kate and Ashley's sleepovers!! It's awesome. <br />
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wusGIl3v044<br />
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Sorry, I thought I would know how to embed videos by now but you should all know that I am really bad with computers. So click on the link to watch the video- trust me it will make you laugh. <br />
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And a quick update on my life: School is good -- I'm starting to become really interested in my thesis project but it really still hasn't picked up as much as I thought it would (i.e it is much easier than undergrad and I have a lot of free time (I'm sorry, Summer!)) Today I decided that I don't want to waste evenings in front of my computer anymore so from now on I am going to try to watch the sunset from the hills whenever I can. Today I hiked up a hill, did some sun salutations on top of the hill and then read my book (For whom the Bell Tolls - by Hemingway (who also lived in Idaho!)) until the sun went down. It was the perfect evening and I can't wait to do it again tomorrow. <br />
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Speaking of routines that I am establishing for myself: Every Saturday morning I bike down to the farmers market and buy all the produce that I will need that week. I have been cooking the best food, I wish I could throw a pot-luck/dance party for all of you lovely ladies and you too, Chett.<br />
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Things with Michael are super, if you were wondering. He came up to vist me two weekends ago and he is coming again in another two weeks. Long distane kind of sucks but we are making it work and it's not as hard as I thought it would be. I'm really happy with him =). On the subject of boys... I am going to Denver at the end of October for a big geology conference and I'm probably going to see Josh. I wouldn't consider us friends really but things are fine between us and I'm actually grateful to him for breaking up with me because I am 100 % certain now that he was not right for me. <br />
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Besides that, I don't really know what else to update you on, nothing much is new- maybe that's why it took me so long to post a real entry. I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well.<br />
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hope to hear from all of you soon. <br />
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Andrea.Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-59304164251356807002010-10-06T15:56:00.007-05:002010-10-06T16:28:26.624-05:00Claire: booty from the new wave treasure chest!Dear friends, here's a quick entry before I leave for Berlin tomorrow. <br />
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It's overdue that I share this masterful German song with you guys. It's cool (read: hilarious) on so many levels, so where do I begin to dispel it's wonder? It's just as entertaining to watch the video as to listen to the song. Firstly, the video just grabs you from the very beginning: these pyschadelic, swinging mirrors lead to the entrance of a tan, balding man wearing a muscle t-shirt. Then appears a munchkin man wearing some glasses that might have belonged to Elton John. Eventually a blonde girl enters the scene and she's supposed to be an alien bringing love to planet of hate. I think she's struggling to keep a straight face throughout the whole shenanigan. Everyone acts and sings together to tell of the epic encounter of love and hate in outer space!!<br />
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By the way, most Germans roll their eyes at me when I tell them how much I love this song. I suspect that you guys will too, heh heh.<br />
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<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xwBMrYJODmM?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xwBMrYJODmM?fs=1&hl=en_US&color1=0xe1600f&color2=0xfebd01" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object><br />
<br />
<br />
Here are the lyrics. It's worth listening to the German version too because the rhyming is both silly and clever. I translated the song into a pretty rough English, but somehow that seemed appropriate.<br />
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Seit 2.000 Jahren lebt die Erde ohne Liebe. <br />
Es regiert der Herr des Hasses.<br />
<i>For 200 years the Earth has lived without love.</i><br />
<i>The Kingdom of Hatred rules.</i><br />
<br />
Häßlich, ich bin so häßlich, so gräßlich häßlich: <br />
Ich bin der Haß! <br />
Hassen, ganz häßlich hassen, ich kann's nicht lassen: <br />
Ich bin der Haß! <br />
<i>Ugly, I am so ugly, so horribly ugly:<br />
I am the hatred!<br />
Hating, such hateful hating, i can't stop it:<br />
I am the hatred!</i><br />
<br />
Attention, attention. <br />
Unknown flying object approaching the planet. - <br />
Identify unknown flying object. <br />
<br />
Codo der dritte, aus der Sternenmitte bin ich der dritte von Links. <br />
<i>Codo the Third, coming from the stars i'm the third on the left</i><br />
<br />
Unknown flying object identify says: Codo" <br />
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Und ich düse, düse, düse, düse im Sauseschritt <br />
und bring' die Liebe mit von meinem Himmelsritt. <br />
Denn die Liebe, Liebe, Liebe, Liebe, die macht viel Spaß, <br />
viel mehr Spaß als irgendwas. <br />
<i>And I speed along, speed along, speed along in a fast pace<br />
and I bring the love in my spaceship<br />
because the love, love, love, love, it's really fun<br />
much more fun than something </i><br />
<br />
We do not need any love on this planet: <br />
<br />
Tötet Codo! Vernichtet die Liebe! <br />
<i>Kill Codo! Destroy the love!</i><br />
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Codo aus der Ferne der leuchtenden Sterne: <br />
Ich düse so gerne durchs All. <br />
<i>Codo from far away, from the bright stars<br />
Ich love to speed along in outspace</i><br />
<br />
Und ich düse, düse, düse, düse im Sauseschritt <br />
und bring' die Liebe mit von meinem Himmelsritt. <br />
Denn die Liebe, Liebe, Liebe, Liebe, die macht viel Spaß, <br />
viel mehr Spaß als irgendwas. <br />
<i>And I speed along, speed along, speed along in a fast pace<br />
and I bring the love in my spaceship<br />
because the love, love, love, love, it's really fun<br />
much more fun than somethin</i>g <br />
<br />
Objekt überwindet den Hassschirm. <br />
<i>Object has penetrated the Hate bubble.</i><br />
<br />
Ätzend, ich bin so ätzend, alles zersetzend: <br />
Ich bin der Haß.<br />
<i>Acidic, i am so acidic, entirely corrosive<br />
<i>I am the hatred.</i><br />
<br />
Mächtig, unendlich mächtig, und niederträchtig. <br />
So ist mein Haß. <br />
<i>Powerful, infinitely powerful, and wicked.<br />
Such is my hatred.</i><br />
<br />
Und ich düse, düse, düse, düse im Sauseschritt <br />
und bring' die Liebe mit von meinem Himmelsritt. <br />
Denn die Liebe, Liebe, Liebe, Liebe, die macht viel Spaß, <br />
viel mehr Spaß als irgendwas. <br />
<i>And I speed along, speed along, speed along in a fast pace<br />
and I bring the love in my spaceship<br />
because the love, love, love, love, it's really fun<br />
much more fun than something</i><br />
<br />
Here are a couple other German New Wave gems. Don't take them seriously, just sit back and laugh! Or dance?<br />
<object style="background-image:url(http://i4.ytimg.com/vi/W6NXyxEtCR8/hqdefault.jpg)" width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/W6NXyxEtCR8?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/W6NXyxEtCR8?fs=1&hl=en_US" width="425" height="344" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br />
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<object style="background-image:url(http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/tbIpU5sR8hA/hqdefault.jpg)" width="480" height="295"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tbIpU5sR8hA?fs=1&hl=en_US"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tbIpU5sR8hA?fs=1&hl=en_US" width="480" height="295" allowScriptAccess="never" allowFullScreen="true" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed></object><br />
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<br />
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Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-62734414007891790962010-09-29T16:28:00.000-05:002010-09-29T16:28:06.585-05:00Leslie: A little soul for your SOUL!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">As if we don't get enough suggestions for new music we should all listen to...I'm going to suggest a MUST...if you like old skool soul/blues, that is. This podcast out of Jersey City's WFMU, <i>Downtown Soulville with Mr. Fine Wine</i>, will absolutely blow your mind....every week! I'm not exaggerating. What I want to know is, how is all this amazing music unknown to most of the world? Good soul music is like a perfectly made, crunchy, velvety-melted grilled cheese on a cold day. Mmmmm. Tastes great to my ears. I implore you to look into subscribing to it via iTunes. It's free afterall! </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br />
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</span></span></div></div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-89186232182839258462010-09-22T23:47:00.000-05:002010-09-22T23:47:30.050-05:00Andrea- All the World is Green<div><br />
</div><div>Hey guys,</div><div><br />
</div><div>I was just looking up a song called "San Fransisco Bay Blues" by Tom Rush (who if you haven't heard of him, check him out!) and I came across this video: It rocks!</div><div><br />
</div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXWLceA5TSA&p=094EB5C0653239F7&playnext=1&index=77">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXWLceA5TSA&p=094EB5C0653239F7&playnext=1&index=77</a><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXWLceA5TSA&p=094EB5C0653239F7&playnext=1&index=77"></a>Who's in the mood for some Tom Waits?</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GIAawSTisE">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GIAawSTisE</a><br />
<div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaIsY2AD7no"></a>And of course I had to put some Bob Dylan in here... This song goes out to Alice who is "a thousand miles from her home".</div><div><br />
</div><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSqypwGXw6g">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSqypwGXw6g</a></div><div><br />
</div><div>I'll write an actual post soon when I have more time!</div><div><br />
</div><div>ps- how have you guys been putting the videos (not just the links) up here?</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
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</div><div><br />
</div></div></div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-44428746786585172112010-09-21T11:37:00.002-05:002010-09-21T12:05:50.035-05:00Leslie: The Bringer of Jollity<b>Currently listening to</b>... Gustav Holst's The Planet's movement, <i>Jupiter the Bringer of Jollity </i><br />
<b>Feeling</b>...perhaps due to caffeine intake, but me thinks not completely, swelling with a feeling of jollity<br />
<b>Weather</b>...impending rain, slightly humid as per usual<br />
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The title of my post and subsequent mood are related to this most wondrous suite of the classical composer,Gustav Holst. This is probably the most famous movement within the suite and it is so commandingly beautiful that it gives me goosebumps everytime. I swear it's worth listening to/watching this YouTube video of an orchestra in Osaka, Japan performing . Wait'll you get a glimpse of the conductor! You have to respect him because he obviously put his whole soul into this performance! I love people that are passionate, don't you?<br />
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B49N46I39Y (I cannot figure out how to embed youtube videos...)<br />
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Having read about the composer Gustav Holst a bit, I've dug up some interesting factoids for your reading pleasure...oh wondering minds....<br />
He isn't German, but English and the interesting thing is that his name used to be Gustav VonHolst but due to anti-German sentiment in England he dropped the "Von"(...as if Gustav and Holst doesn't still sound German...?) in 1918. Admitedly according to wikipedia, Holst was enthusiastic about socialism, vegetarianism, Hindu mysticism, and ol' Walt Whitman poetry. What a guy! <i>The Planets </i>went on to become overwhelmingly his most famous orchestral suite and apparently he was annoyed with its popularity over his other works. ha. Well, Gustav, get over it, it rules!<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">****</div><div style="text-align: left;">Meanwhile, back in Nicaragua....</div><div style="text-align: left;">It seems I've been in this grand country of volcanoes, lakes, and beautiful people for a little over a month. Part of me feels like it's been so much longer. In the first weeks I was here I vacationed with my boyfriend, Travis, who was in the Peace Corps until.....as I half expected,he got sent home on August 30th for chronic gastrointestinal issues and needing surgery in his wrist. C'est La Vie on that one. Travis is without a doubt the love of my life and while it's been hard missing him, I see the benefits of being here on my own. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiufcnn4km69tuMeJtupBjvT_OqPONdS6SN65q1AUdMjCJJX61FCqkWT3x-wQtk35tJJjFnyNBiZPeW8p7YiEXwkFGxY8VWms5ehMTN30uNNVEp0NsfjelEw9KEN698_4EJC2NQ7ijYDqg/s1600/IMG_3369-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiufcnn4km69tuMeJtupBjvT_OqPONdS6SN65q1AUdMjCJJX61FCqkWT3x-wQtk35tJJjFnyNBiZPeW8p7YiEXwkFGxY8VWms5ehMTN30uNNVEp0NsfjelEw9KEN698_4EJC2NQ7ijYDqg/s320/IMG_3369-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Some Agave sitting pretty while I look down from the summit of the highest volcano in Nicaragua, San Cristobal</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHDJKvguHMczdLcjhZXGRbOm_3mJi6mHTlP2khpcjKw2T_rjGAt0SLJAObTm02kc5bNonkoiFL494zaMNKNof1bH11IYnHNsvPhAIGWTVZRUWUNOV_hU3ntn_V5VqcxtDybIlGYCMC4c/s1600/IMG_3364-1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="252" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZHDJKvguHMczdLcjhZXGRbOm_3mJi6mHTlP2khpcjKw2T_rjGAt0SLJAObTm02kc5bNonkoiFL494zaMNKNof1bH11IYnHNsvPhAIGWTVZRUWUNOV_hU3ntn_V5VqcxtDybIlGYCMC4c/s320/IMG_3364-1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i>Feeling cocky and about to summit this beast of a volcano...little did I know the misery that followed in the trek down...</i></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><i><br />
</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;">Pretty much since he left I decided to change my plans here. I'm in Nicaragua for about 2 more weeks then I'm flying to Miami, couchsurfing there for the night, and then it's time for my grand Cross Country Train Adventure to Ann Arbor, Michigan to reunite with my boyfriend! Yeah its slightly more expensive than flying and takes two whole days, but I love trains, it's better for the environment, and it's path is beyond Interstates. It's going to be my very own Darjeeling Limited adventure minus the whole India thing and fucking Jason Schwartzman at 65 mph. Oh I also couldn't afford a sleeper car, but have no fear, the seats are big AND I plan on purchasing some sleeping pills or something like it at the local farmacia here in Leon just in case I lose my sanity after hour 24. Ah the joys of living in a country that doesn't regulate it's pharmaceutical sales. Anybody need any<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">medicaciónes? jajaja. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;">After I visit my boyfriend for two weeks in Ann Arbor, I am Greyhounding it up to Indianapolis to meet up with my parents and favorite Aunts and Uncles for a weekend of eating at old haunts, uproarious laughter, and hugs near my parents alma mater, Purdue University. Then after that it's back home to Dallas until January when I go back to NYC to resume grad school. phew. Think I'm gonna "settle down" in Brooklyn for more than a year this time. Being a nomad is great but I'm tiring of it and miss my cat.<br />
<br />
...I digress....comments on me, unintentionally by myself, here in Nicaragua....There are obvious benefits to being here sin mi novio such as not speaking as much English. The operative word(s) being "not as much". It being Leon, the second biggest city in Nicaragua, there are many people here, gringo and non-gringo that speak English; especially at the hostel where I work/live. My Spanish has improved but...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Yo no soy bilingüe. But I have many actual friends here and I couldn't be happier with that. Right now I am sitting at this little open air cafe, La Rosita where all the baristas are my friends and Spanish teachers! I'm gonna miss this place for sure. Just this morning I wandered in the local market trying to buy ridiculous presents for my parents. Hence, Spanish practice time! Everyone here is so gracious and kind to me when I try to speak with them that my passable Spanish is often called "bastante" or enough by the locals. Sure. Thanks people...you're too kind. Here's a link to the hostel where I live/work in case you want to check it out. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://sonati.org/en/">http://sonati.org/en/</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I've got some adventures to write humorous vignettes about, but this long entry will do for now. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">As they say here, Que le Vaya Bien! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
Amor y Paz,<br />
your ol' Les<br />
<br />
</div>Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1740598346121174364.post-21576964113050219792010-09-20T21:25:00.000-05:002010-09-20T21:25:47.781-05:00Summer: Bunch of HippiesAh the wonders of procrastination! Instead of comparing protein translation between eukaryotes and prokaryotes, I am going to join you lovelies for some share time!<br />
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This weekend I had a lovely reunion in Austin with, mainly my old housemates (Stav, Chris, Niell, and Jay), but I also got to see Fatima! It was a bit of fresh air getting out of San Antonio and going back to Austin. I feel more at home there; I told Stav that the past 7 weeks or so felt like a...dream in comparison to returning to Austin. I felt like medical school was a distant thought and that Austin was my real life again.<br />
<br />
To give you an idea of things taking place in Austin, I will recount the text messaging between me and one of my San Antonio med school friends.<br />
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Lilian: We miss you! Hope you're having fun at one of ur favorite coffee shops lol<br />
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Me: Hell Yeah! My friend [Stav] is playing guitar. I had wine and tasty tofu (Jay actually made tofu...I ate potato salad wrapped in lettuce and tasty tasty chick patties! but tofu was easier to say) and I am sitting on real wood floors =] group sing a long!<br />
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Lilian: Haha! Bunch of hippies, singing; oh god!<br />
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Such was my weekend. Throw in the coffee shops and wonderful friends. It was a very refreshing weekend. And Stav burned me her September mix tape!<br />
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Stav, Jay, and I also went to a show--a Tent Revival! Featuring Wino Vino, White Ghost Shivers, and the McMercy Family Band.<br />
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I will not comment too much because I can't do it justice the way Stav could--especially since it touches upon one of her favorite musical...genres.<br />
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So, here's a link. I didn't post any youtubes because they all sucked. This is their myspace. This was a really fun band to dance to, but also because there were a lot of biblical songs...of course, there was also a lot of smack thrown around making fun of revivals. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/mcmercyfamilyband">McMercy Family Band</a><br />
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So...that was my quick deviation from work!<br />
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Love you all and definitely enjoy the videos! Claire, I hope you feel better soon!Home Staffhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15984782783881801164noreply@blogger.com2