25 February 2008

golda meir mondays?

As school has suddenly gotten challenging, I've decided that Monday is going to be library day. By which I mean homework day. By which I mean, you guys, I have a lot to do for the next however many weeks there are until finals. By which I mean, you guys, get ready to hear way more than you ever wanted to know about the UWM library.

(+) Named after Golda Meir. Way more interesting than Elmer Holmes Bobst [Don't know who that is? Don't worry! I spent 5 years at NYU, and I'm still not really sure.]
(+) Maze-like in a very satisfying way. Is maze-like a word? Labyrinthine, that sounds much better [by which I mean "more pretentious"].

(-) Bathrooms in short supply, possibly non-existent on fourth floor except for strange unisex bathroom by stairs.
(-) Only open until 8pm on Saturdays. What the hell?

More to come! Maybe!

24 February 2008

validation

Sometimes I think to myself "self, you have been keeping a blog in some form for, like, six years." My inner voice says "like" a lot. Anyway, sometimes it is hard for me to justify this whole "blog" thing, but then Kira calls me and tell me she was reading it and laughing, and that is all that matters, you know? Making Kira laugh.

In other news, I sent in registration to participate in a craft fair at a Catholic church near my house. I'm really into making rosaries (...I don't know), so I figure "hey, I should make a few rosaries, if anyone is going to buy one it's someone at a Catholic church's craft fair." Man, you are hearing so much from my inner voice today. So anyway, I decided to try a new technique, and I finished the main section, and knotted it and glued it and was about to see how it looked with the rosary center and crucifix that I bought in December, and then I figured "hey, maybe I should check the decades before I actually finish this," and I did, and one of the decades had 11 beads. It's supposed to be 10 (hence "decade"). How embarrassing would that have been?

Oh wow, you don't care at all, do you? My mom thought it was a funny story, but she went to mass every day until eighth grade. Catholic school, you know.

Ugh. I'm going to the library.

22 February 2008

today will be the first in a long series of lectures

Okay, I don't know what is going on, but I had like 12 visitors yesterday because of those US Senate Sergeant at Arms posts. And obviously 12 visitors is not that many, and I'm writing things in a public forum, so I should probably not be so confused by visitors, but 12 is seriously, honestly, three times my average daily visitors.

Anyway! In order to both pander to people who've found this blog by searching "feingold" and to inform those of you who found this blog some other way, I would like to announce the inauguration of what I'm calling "Feingold Fridays." I'll give you one example of why Russ Feingold is awesome, you will listen and learn and then vote for him when he's up for reelection in 2010. And if you're not from Wisconsin, well, I am sorry for you. How long will Feingold Fridays last, you ask? Until I run out of ways that he is awesome (so never) or until I tire of it (possibly next week).

Okay, today we're going to start slow with an example from Russ's Senate website, feingold.senate.gov.

I am very proud of Senator Feingold's consistently strong support for civil rights. He was the only US Senator who voted against the USA Patriot Act, he is fighting to end racial profiling, he opposes the death penalty, and he is committed to protecting privacy. That last point is perhaps most pertinent now, as Senator Feingold leads the fight to prevent warrantless wiretapping. According to his website--

"As the Senate resumes consideration of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s FISA bill, Senator Feingold will continue to oppose any FISA legislation that does not adequately protect the privacy of innocent Americans or contains immunity for telecommunications companies that allegedly participated in the President’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program. He also plans to offer a series of amendments to help fix the deeply flawed bill."

Awesome, right? Also! You heard about how Feingold introduced a motion to censure the president over warrantless wiretapping, right? How awesome is that? Again from his website--

"It has come to light in recent months that the President authorized the National Security Agency to wiretap Americans on American soil without obtaining the necessary court orders. The President must be held accountable for authorizing a program that clearly violates the law and then misleading the country about its existence and its legality. Congress should censure the President in order to uphold the constitutional principle of the separation of powers and the rule of law."

If you want more information on Feingold's resolution to censure the president and his opposition to the illegal wiretapping program, it's all on his website. I'll end here, as this is getting long, and I am getting hungry. I'll go eat lunch; you go read more about how awesome Senator Feingold is. Next time on Feingold Fridays, I will try to find better adjectives than "awesome."

21 February 2008

You guys, I am so popular with the US Senate



And I am getting popular at the House of Representatives!

Okay, I did some research after my last post, and it seems that maybe the US Senate Sergeant at Arms ISP runs internet access for the whole senate. Maybe? Is that true, all you new readers? Are you from Senator Feingold's office? And by Senator Feingold, I mean the best senator to come out of Wisconsin [or anywhere] since Bob LaFollette. Seriously, and this information is important to my senate readers and all my other six readers--Russ Feingold is the best ever. I might actually join his steering committee for Milwaukee. My parents gave my info to someone from his campaign, and she emailed me and everything, but I am busy and also lazy and have not yet responded. And... I forget what my point was. Russ Feingold is awesome, I think.

And if anyone from Senator Feingold's office is reading, you are awesome. Also, I promise I am going to see about joining that steering committee. Also, I got my membership renewal email for the Progressive Patriots fund, and I am totally going to give you some dollars. Everyone should give money to the Progressive Patriots Fund!

20 February 2008

To all my readers at the US Senate Sergeant at Arms Office


Hey there! I see you found my blog by searching "feingold." It says your ISP is "US Senate Sergeant at Arms;" does that mean you're from the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, or is that the ISP used by all Senate offices? If you really are from the Office of the Sergeant at Arms, what are you doing searching "feingold"? There is no way he has done anything wrong. You are at fault, sir. Or madam.

exciting news



I don't know about you, but the news that official Zubaz are back really just makes my morning.

Also, I got to go to the actual polling place and vote for the first time (absentee voting is kind of anticlimactic), plus I voted in the primaries for the first time (the absentee ballot deadline is just so early), and oh yeah, my candidate won! Haha! There's a first. Except for Feingold. And Doyle (ugh). My presidential candidate won! Round one, at least! Yeah!

17 February 2008

ouch

1. My knee is killing me. In high school, I had knee problems because after spending seven years doing gymnastics three to six days a week, I switched to hockey and spent three to six days a week playing goalie. Now, I'm pretty sure my knee hurts because I spent half of yesterday walking around with a thirty pound sewing machine.

2. You know, considering that I spent seven years doing gymnastics for 3-6 days a week, I was really spectacularly bad.

3. I am having a sale in my Etsy shop. Go look at things. And buy them if you want. I guess? Marketing is weird.

4. And just to make up for that last bit, telling you to buy things, click on this and be happy. And then hit refresh and be happy again.

16 February 2008

love

1. I know Valentine's Day is a stupid corporate holiday, but I don't care, because I had a date. We had dinner at Jalisco and then we came home and watched Futurama and drank Lakefront beer, and it was awesome.

2. I went to a sewing class at Fasten today, and it was also awesome. I made a skirt, and I learned more about sewing, and I had so much fun.

3. Um, I don't actually have anything else.

11 February 2008

When I lived in New York, I used to say that it was pretty similar to Wisconsin, climate wise.

LIES.

It is so cold. And it's snowing. AGAIN.

At least the snow is pretty.

09 February 2008

so this happened

It is very cold in Milwaukee right now. I walked to the co-op earlier to get some hot chocolate (and ended up getting non-dairy ice cream instead, because why not?). As it is very cold out, I was wearing a sweater and a long coat and a hat (one of those ones with ear flaps) and mittens. And then this happened:

marina: [walks down a dark street, car drives by slowly, window rolls down]
creepy guy: hey, baby, you be fine, you seeing anyone?
marina: yes?
creepy guy: oh, okay. sorry! [drives away]

I just... I was wearing all of my winter clothes, and it was dark, what was he basing his "i be fine" hypothesis on? Also, what the hell kind of creepy guy is he? He slows down (after dark in a not-great neighborhood) and verbally accosts a random girl, and then apologizes in a fairly sincere fashion and drives away when he finds out random girl has a boyfriend? I don't think he really "gets" it, and by "it," I mean "everything."

08 February 2008

my tummy hurts

pincushion

I am almost (but not quite) done with a new purse, so here is a picture of my grandma's pincushion instead. Half of the pins are borrowed from my mom. Does it count as borrowed if I probably won't return them?

I've been feeling quite anxious for the past few hours for reasons I can't seem to identify. Fucking annoying, right? Sewing seemed to help. Talking to Nathan seemed to help. He's visiting next week, which is amazing as I have not seen him for nearly a month. We're going on a real, live date on Valentine's Day, which is so cute I could vomit. Except not really, because I am pretty smitten.

07 February 2008

chocolate cherry delicious


chocolate cherry delicious
Originally uploaded by marinatina

I could really go for some chocolate right now.

The photo is from when I was home. My mom makes these awesome chocolate-covered cherry chocolate cookies, made more awesome because she makes them like once every three years.

This was the shortest week ever. UWM canceled classes Wednesday, so I went to class two days this week and did very little aside from that.

06 February 2008

i'm really into yellow



I just listed this in my shop. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It's a necklace; I just realized you can't actually tell that from this photo. There are a few other photos on Etsy, if you're curious about how the whole thing looks.

I really am into yellow. I still need to make my bumblebee watch; I haven't made a final decision about the design. Don't worry, I'll post pictures when it's finished.

05 February 2008

guess what i did

Yesterday, it was two shirts that I bought at an outlet store and then never, ever wore. Today, it is a tote bag that I will probably use at least once or twice.

stripes!

Alright, time to get ready for school.

04 February 2008

time flies

...when you're wasting your life.

It was raining when I woke up this morning, which derailed my only plan for the day, i.e. do laundry as soon as I woke up. It eventually stopped raining, sort of, so I walked to the laundromat (Soapie's, awesome name, almost as good as Miss Bubble's on Amsterdam back in Harlem) and did a load of laundry. I mostly washed my t-shirts and the one pair of pants I wear all the time now (um, I should really go shopping). I did my laundry in pink tights and a black skirt and my job-interview sweater, because I dress nicer and nicer as it gets closer and closer to laundry day. Because I am a scrub.

Oh, someone is cranky! I just cannot believe that it's 8 o'clock at night and the only things I've accomplished today are doing a load of laundry and reading about 40 pages of words about history. Also, I watched some News Radio and made stir-fry. And... that is it. UGH. I need to go write a novel or clean my room or something.

02 February 2008

more food porn

blurry guacamole

This is the first batch of guacamole I've made since moving to Milwaukee. There are many things that are better in Wisconsin than in New York (cheese, beer, etc); avocados are not one of those things. I used two and ended up not using bits from both of them because they were bruised or brownish. Still, it ended up being okay. I made bean dip and salsa last night; that went much better. I did not take any pictures, though, so you'll just have to trust me.

I went to Planet Bead with Mary today and bought pretty beads and some fancy sterling silver findings. I can finally make necklaces out of the pearls I bought in November, and I bought some blue beads to use as accent (probably not the right word) beads for a rosary that I've been planning. I also bought materials to make myself a watch! It is going to be yellow and black, and I will call it my bumblebee watch.

Um, yeah. I need to finish reading this , which I am so very close to doing. That grammar is probably wrong, but I don't really care that much.

01 February 2008

oh i am getting old

I miss the days when I could drink tons of beer and then wake up early the next morning and, you know, take an exam (and ace it!) or do something else equally demanding. As it is, I was in bed until one this fine afternoon. And I only drank beer! Wtf, right?

aww

Hey, look, cats! Adorable, right? Oh, I've got nothing. I just really wanted The Internet to know that I can't handle my beer anymore.