Monthly Archives: January 2008

Interesting few days

Written by serene. Posted on January 21, 2008. Filed under Culture Club, Nerdy. 3 Comments.

Due to my ‘broke student status’ most of my days have been boring and uneventful. But this weekend – this was a doozy.

It started Thursday by being invited to a craft night of local cartoonist Tatiana Gill. I took some photos and so did she. Check out this shot she took of me so you can see a sense of scale on her sculpies.

Next up was an exciting Friday seeing British electronic duo Plaid, local 8-bit IDM geniuses Truckasaurus, and Decibel founder Nordic Soul at Nectar.

Saturday was spent watching a lackluster USA v. Sweden international friendly (scrimmage) and learning Gunner songs by The Away Boyz. Some highlights include “Phone Up Your Arse” about Chelsea player (formerly of Arsenal fame) Ashley Cole, “Blue Judas Scum” and “Sweet Adebayor.” Needless to say, I’m so happy my friend picked up this CD when he was abroad last week.

So there you have it: definitely the most excitement I’ve seen in a while, and it should satiate me for a while. What did you all do this weekend?

28 going on 20

Written by serene. Posted on January 14, 2008. Filed under Nerdy, Whining. 5 Comments.

To commemorate my first week of school without offing myself in a dramatic, but maybe hilarious, manner, I bring you the summarization of impressions while attending UW as the Oldest Junior Ever:

The Good:

  • Women Studies is very fascinating and awesome and I’m sad I’ve never taken a class in the field before
  • The removal of self from corporate office work is really liberating
  • My longer commute (~ 30 minutes) gives me time to people watch
  • I will probably lose weight from walking the gazillion miles around campus
  • It looks like I will be employed in the computing department helping folks with networking issues

The Bad:

  • My writing is rusty and it’s taking me longer to prepare my papers than I ever remember
  • The quarter system is a faster pace which I’m not used to (this will probably turn into a good at some point)
  • I am forced to acknowledge my age when I hear girls squealing about the new Fall Out Boy album, or the like. I just don’t get it.
  • I am a sorority girl magnet. They all want to sit next to me and talk about which tanning bed they prefer. You think I’m exaggerating, but I am not.

The Ugly:

  • I have to get all A’s. As someone never motivated by letter grades, this seems daunting
  • If my communication class is any indicator (450 people in a TRANSFERS ONLY class – yeesh!), it will be an uphill battle to get accepted into the department
  • My English teacher hates me
  • My back is angry at the extra heavy load I’m forcing it to carry

So that about sums it up at this point. It’s awesome and exhilarating and scary all in one, and it’s all that I wanted.

In a perfect world…

Written by serene. Posted on January 5, 2008. Filed under Culture Club, Nerdy. 4 Comments.

I would work here. And it would be awesome.


Lip Dub – Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

Happy Caucus Day!

Written by serene. Posted on January 3, 2008. Filed under Nerdy. 4 Comments.

As a totally uneducated, but opinionated former Political Science student, I figured I’d jump on this hallowed date as the opportunity to force my political opinions down your throat.

So let us roundtable discuss the cast of candidates that show up on my radar, in order of who I like the most:

Bill Richardson- I want him to win the primary. Why? Maybe it’s because he’s a New Mexican. Maybe it’s because he is Hispanic. Maybe it’s because he served in Clinton’s cabinet. Maybe it’s because he’s smart and has some original ideas on how to tackle national issues. All that being said, I’m not delusional: He won’t win the primary. He’s lacking in charisma and notoriety.

Barak Obama- I like him, I really do. He seems to have a pair, not only because he is running with only a couple of terms of state senatorship and one national term under his belt, but because he has somehow overcome incredible odds to be a front-runner in the party. My only hesitation is that I like a strong, lengthy voting record to prove their ideologies match their action. That said, I’d still rather have a ballsy candidate that can instigate some serious repair than some middle of the road candidate.

John Edwards- Talk about an approachable “every man” candidate. I like him. He seems like affable fellow that I could sit next to at a diner and talk about sports. My problem is purely emotional, in that I’m not sure how gutsy he is. It is my personal belief that radical change is due, and I’m not sure this gentle guy from North Carolina can deal the blows I am looking for on the Democratic ticket. I look for him to be VP on the Presidential ticket though.

Hillary Clinton – I was so, so excited to hear her announce candidacy for President. Until I realized my excitement was purely gender based. Her politics confuse me – she talks a lot but doesn’t have a voting record I like. Her past affiliations with Republicans and corporate America makes me speculate her pure intentions. I’ve come to terms that I see Hillary in the same light I saw Joe Lieberman; people I don’t trust as far as I could throw them. I disliked Lieberman so much, I voted for Nader in 2000 (to be fair, I was living in Oregon at the time and knew the state would swing Democratic, so quiet down).

The rest of the Democratic candidates leave me limp and uninterested. The are relegated to “not on radar” status. Yes, this includes Kucinich and his hot young wife. 

While this applies more after the Republican ticket is solidified, I’ve been trying to evaluate the right side of the playing field. It is only fair to look beyond your own ideology to see if someone matches your desires, so I’ve tried to take some time to learn about the Republicans. Truth be told, they all scare me for different reasons. They are all seemingly obvious reasons – from scary religious fanatics hellbent on taking away my right to control my body to failed actors that have not a original thought in their wee brains. Please don’t take offense my conservative friends, but your people scare me.

So with baited breath, let the Caucus begin.