Very funny

Unable to resist the urge to check our registries, Tim and I discovered yesterday that the first item has been bought! Funnily enough, it is just a scale from Target. For whatever reason, this struck us as hilarious.


My sister and brother-in-law are flying in today! I can't wait to see them. Tim and I were busy-busy yesterday running around our respective apartments and getting them ready. I don't know why, but I love cleaning my apartment for guests. I think it's the part of cleaning I inherited from Mom. It's like putting on a show! (Conceited.)


This weekend, Tim and I are going to try to get out to the Houston Museum of Natural Science, where they have the Faberge collection! It's extra credit for my Russian History class, and I think it'll be awesome. My teacher claims that Houston gets cool exhibits that normal only go to New York and London and other big places because we are an oil-rich town and other countries, especially Russia, want to be our buddies. Either way, cool for us!

I'm looking forward to the end of the semester with a passion. Only three more papers to write, and two more finals! Hooray!

Very truly yours,

Sarah

Calligraphy

All I have to say is wow.

Betsy Dunlap

Wedding Dress Shopping

Sucks.

National Novel Writing Month

Hooray! It's November and I'm writing my novel. I have over seven thousand words, and I haven't started a single one of the five papers I have to write for school this month! ALRIGHT! Right on schedule.

I moved from the idea of an informal collection of essays and fiction short stories of the time period, including the always easy to churn out fake poetry to writing a history text from the year 2080. How did this happen? I may move back to the more informal premise. But writing a text book from the future is fun! Oh well.

Wish me luck!

Very truly yours,
Sarah

Wedding Registries

Here they are! (Because I know you've been totally freaking out with anticipation.)


Anthropologie
Amazon.com
Changing the Present
Target


I am planning to mention IKEA gift cards too. Here's the couch we want:By the way, all these are secrets. Shh! Don't tell ANYONE.


Very truly yours,
Sarah

Borges is Awesome

My philosophy teacher was telling us about Jorge Luis Borges the other day, and I just looked him up.

"Borges...employed two very unusual literary forms: the literary forgery and the review of an imaginary work. Both constitute a form of modern pseudo-epigrapha."

"At times, confronted with an idea for a work that bordered on the conceptual, rather than write a piece that fulfilled the concept, he wrote a review of a nonexistent work, as if it had already been created by some other person."
source

In Dr. Martin's words, Borges would "come up with fascinating ideas for books, but was too lazy to write them. So he just reviewed them as though they had already been written." Brilliant. This guy has given me a gateway to literary laze and creativity. Yay!

Also, it is Tim's birthday and I am planning a birthday surprise! I sure love that guy.

Very truly yours,

Sarah

Regular Friday Stuff

1. My gums are still sore from dentist shots.
2. I'm getting married January 9th!
3. Tim is moving in two weeks (gasp).
4. My first paper of the semester is due in three days.
5. Greek Festival last night was WORTH IT.

You know, just typical end-of-week stuff.

Inspiration!

A friend at work and I were discussing Grace Kelly this morning.



She was saying that as an overseas operator in the late seventies, she often had to patch calls through to France, and sometimes if she started speaking in English, they would just hang up! Uh-oh! Or sometimes they would say, "Un moment" and grab someone to translate. One of those times, a voice came back on the line and said, "Hello, this is Princess Grace Kelly." I would have fainted! I thought it was cool. She's certainly a lovely and inspirational lady. And To Catch a Thief is one of my favorite movies! Cary Grant is such a dream boat.

Today I was thinking about topics I could cover for some papers I will be writing this semester. The possibilities are limitless: in Russian History, I believe we are able to write on any topic to do with Historical Russia (well, Medieval or Imperial Russia); in Ancient World History, we were told to choose ANY HISTORICAL TOPIC. What? In the History of the WORLD? He's kidding, right?

QUESTION: Do you have any suggestions for these papers? The only ideas I had were about language or fashion. As for the Russian History, I'm sure I could cover an interesting figure...

New Semester!

Celebrity of the week, as always, is Audrey Hepburn.



Who did you expect?

So it's the first weekend of the new semester. It's been really great so far; I like all my classes and teachers. Most of all, I find that I'm quickly adapting to and enjoying the change of pace. Of my four classes, one is a freshman course, one a junior course, and two senior, both of those containing several grad students. Each class has about 10-15 students. With the exception of my freshman class (Ancient World History), the grades consist of a two exams and a paper. (My Tolkien class has only a final and a paper).

So what do I do in the meantime? Go to class, take notes, and READ.

I've never been one to open books assigned to classes, which had lead me many times at HCC to question why I even purchased them in the first place. However, the classes I have now involve much more interesting reading, with much of the material overlapping. This weekend, I've assigned myself three chapters of Greek Society (just finished!), 'Poetic Diction' in the Barfield Reader, and the first two chapters of my Russian History text, reaching through Kievan society. I have a sub for the first two weeks in Ancient Philosophy, so no reading has been assigned yet, but I'm covering a lot of the material in my Greek Society book. It's awesome so far! I'm so glad I finally found classes that seem like they're meant for me. Hooray for picking the correct major! Yay!

And at the prompting of Google, who always reminds of stuff, happy birthday, Michael Jackson! Here's the songs on a mix tape I would make for MJ on his birthday:

Side A:

1. "3030" - Deltron 3030
2. "Sunglasses After Dark" - The Cramps
3. "$20 for Boban" - Balkan Beat Box
4. "Birdhouse In Your Soul" - They Might Be Giants
5. "Barbara Ann" - The Who
6. "Not Allowed" - The Suburban Lawns
7. "Miss Misery" - Elliot Smith

Side B:

1. "Brand New Cadillac" - The Clash
2. "Party" - Daniel Johnston*
3. "Falling from Grace" - The Gentle Waves
4. "Rock'n'Roll Suicide" - Seu Jorge
5. "Learn to Live with your Heartbreaks" - Saturday Looks Good to Me
6. "Boys" - The Beatles
7. "Thriller" - Michael Jackson (Favorite song!)

Not really. I would never make this mix for anybody, it's so, so horrible. Ha, ha.

Very truly yours,
Sarah

* The only song I would actually put on a mix tape for Michael Jackson, the King of Pop.

Pssst - Sneak Peek!

Cleaning?

I just ran across this website, FlyLady.net. Lots of tips and stuff for cleaning, which I need right now. My place is in utter chaos. But they have a really funny definition of chaos:

Are YOU living in CHAOS?
(Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome)

Ha. Worth a look. I imagine all of it being read aloud in this hilarious voice.

Very truly yours,
Sarah

How 2 Steal Your Man Back - wikiHow

Probably just about the best article I've ever read on WikiHow.

How 2 Steal Your Man Back - wikiHow

You're welcome,
Sarah

Good Things for Now

It feels great to be caught up at work and at school. Summer session and my time at Houston Community College will come to an end in a couple weeks and I will have a week vacation before starting at St. Thomas. In the meantime, I've been doing a lot of thrifting, and still have more to do. I plan to try a strategy where I try to thrift a whole outfit - it will be easier to search for plain, quality items this way, I think, rather than just grab things that look fancy and loud.

I'd like to throw this website out there that I found through Springwise, my favorite 'idea' blog. It is called the Jolkona Foundation, and it helps you locate and contribute monetarily to projects in impoverished areas around the world. I hope to be able to help, as it allows a very tangible experience. For example, one project for Indian mothers has a price tag of $235 and gives you updates for three and a half years about the mother and child. But not all are so expensive - there are plenty under $50, and lots of them are just $5 to plant a tree in various places. My personal favorite that I am going to make room for in my budget next month is this one: Providing Education to the Females of Afghanistan. It is only $40, and for six months to a year you get photos and report cards from the young lady's education as proof! There is only a 14% literacy rate for Afghani women, which is unacceptable. I can't wait to donate!



On a sad note, yesterday I resigned from the Crossroads volunteer program. I hated to do it, but I cannot seem to get my schedule straight and it isn't fair to the kids. I hope to resume volunteering with the kids when I graduate.

A question to you three readers out there: does anyone plan to participate in National Novel Writing Month this year? I hope to be the Houston Inner-loop Liaison again and am wondering if I can drum up some support, whether local or online! I'm really stoked about plans for my novel this fall, as it'll be a companion piece to my post-global-pandemic novel from last year. Hooray for writing!

Getting out of here as fast as possible after that dorky paragraph,
Sarah

Summertime!

It's been so hot lately! But it's nice and cool in my apartment, and kind of spooky... weird stuff been going on lately.

In any case, I've started Art History I and World Geography. Today I was assigned to do a paragraph on Germany to present at the end of the week. I'm sort of excited about this, because I just had the opportunity to hear a great speech on the Berlin Wall (Before & After) a couple weeks ago. Also, I'll have to visit at least six museums for my art class.

Timothy and I are really looking forward to revisiting the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston, which currently has an exhibit by this fabulous Torsten Slama. Tim is very enchanted by his works, and I'd like to get him a print of one of them, but have yet to find much about him online. Here are some of his paintings, for your enjoyment.











Due to some dental expenses coming up, my quest to purchase a bike this summer has yet again been delayed. However, I am beginning to shop for my pop-up shop in August. Timothy had never been to the resale shops in the Heights... don't know if I can make that magic happen again. (Four shops in two days. WOW!)

Also, thanks to a visit to my neighbors' apartment, I now desire only one thing: A CARD CATALOG.



And she has all the drawers labeled with her crafting supplies! Immensely covetous was I. One day perhaps I'll come across my own! (And the time to sort it out and make it so nice and NEAT.) In the meantime, I still have my records to alphabetically sort and my stock for the pop-up shop to catalogue and price. Bah.

Very truly yours,
Sarah

The Zombies

I was driving to work today, listening to the Zombies, and I realized how awesome that band is.



I have a CD of their singles, and I was noticing a formula they seem to have for their B-sides.

1. Start out sort of mellow
2. Get a little out of control
3. Begin shrieking, usually "Whoa, whoa WHOA!"
4. Uncontrollable organ solo
5. Organ solo gets a little awkward
6. Go back to mellow, pretend solo didn't happen
7. Repeat as needed until song stops happening

Let's face it.



These guys are geniuses.

I would highly recommend you pick up an album at your earliest convenience.

Summer Times!

Back from a long weekend, and boy is it apparent. Three days is good for a weekend, and I got enough done to feel like it was worth it. Sorta. Ha.

I found this great picture of a fashion show, and was thinking 'Man... red is such a spiffy color on guys.' It's true you know. Timothy said he'd try some red, but not some sweaters. Boo!



Here is the new Chubby's Cruisers bike that I am about to order! Isn't it MAGNIFICENT? It's a little steep for my budget, but since I'm like 4 blocks or less from everything (except work) now, I think I'll save big by biking around the Montrose instead of driving (or making Tim pick me up, har har).



It was Zazie's birthday on July 4th! She is one year old. The girl she is staying with, Kaitlynn, snapped this shot of her next to a lovely birthday cake. Adorable.



The summer is flying by! Very hectic! And only a month and a half away from my Pop-up Vintage Shop at Sew Crafty, by the grace of the wonderful Sarah Gabbart. More on that later.

Good-by, darlings!
Sarah

Best Quote Ever

"The secret of being a bore is to tell everything." - Voltaire

Wrapping Things UP

One vacation down, one to go! Last week, Timothy and I flew to Colorado for a week, where we did everything you can do there in 7 days. (In short, we conquered the state.) Next week, my mom and I will fly to Nashville and see my sister and brother-in-law, the fabulous Rebecca and Robert.

Speaking of Robert, yesterday I read Robert's first novel from last year, Noisome Beasts. I highly recommend it! It's a quick read and is HILARIOUS. Makes me miss his old short stories, what for Rebecca and I read and discovered Young Master Chatham. (Is he a Mister now that he's married? I think the title "Master" is for young men.)

I am selling my cello and its professional case! If you know anyone who would like to purchase it, TELL ME NOW. It's $700, which is outrageous and reasonable at the same time. I put it on craigslist, and got a few responses but nothing realistic. I also put my school books on there, which is where I got most of them in the first place. Actually, my apartment is also on there right now, and a couple other apartments down the hall from me that I put up as a favor to my landlady. Craigslist is a cool tool, baby. I just wish people would BUY things. Come on, Houston!

For a couple weeks there, I was using Facebook. But then, upon telling a classmate that I'd had a piano recital that morning, he replied, "I know; I saw it on Facebook." Too much weird. I've gone off Facebook since then. I may write what I'm doing on here, but at least I know no one reads it but like two people. Ha. One. Hi, Rebecca.

I'm getting excited about putting up a website. I'd really like it to be a sort of community page, and hope to ask some of my favorite people to write articles and things for it. We'll see. Kind of a like a friends- and admired-people-only collaboration/contribution site. Who knows. I'm going to plan it out on paper, then try to stuff HTML and CSS back into my head (it fell out years ago; I used to be able to whip up a web page in 15 minutes on any idea I had that day). RADIANT BRAINS!

I guess that's all I can ask you to read for now. Except this: I saw Star Trek last night and I LIKED IT! (That's my cue to run away squealing.)

Very truly yours,
Sarah

Boiled Eggs are Delicious!

Hello everyone!

I just finished my English lit final, and am home eating a lunch of boiled eggs and pickles. Isn't that disgusting? It's delicious. I'm also listening to Cat Stevens... my record player hasn't been getting a lot of use lately, as I've been flitting around from school to work to Timothy's to Spring to wherever!

Finally found a place on Graustark, about five blocks away from St. Thomas. I'll be living by myself, unless I find someone to live in my living room. Ha. But really. It's not too bad for the price, and it's only a six-month lease, so I'll reassess at the end of the semester. But that means I'll be moving in a month, and in that time I'll also be out of town for a week in Colorado and three days in Nashville! When am I going to pack? If anyone in town wants to help organize, pack, move, or just has boxes, I ACCEPT. And I love you. I will pay you in hugs and possibly Pink's Pizza.

I also found out that I may have the opportunity to take on a second minor in English literature. I'm really stoked about this, and plan to ditch the Catholic Teachings class this fall for a class on Tolkien instead. (I can have a Summer of Religion next year and take both required theology classes back to back. Maybe.) Goody daisies!

For the rest of the day, I have a piano jury and then a history final, and two more finals on Wednesday. Whew... I thought this semester would never end. That's OK... and it seems like this summer is going to be educationally easy enough. As always, we'll see.

Hope you guys are having a great Monday!

Very truly yours,
Sarah

Congratulations to me!

My work just gave me a surprise mini-party with a chocolate cake and ice cream in congratulations to my being accepted to St. Thomas. They're all so nice. It's hard to find a really nice group of ladies to work with, as I'm sure some of you know.

In other news, my schedule is set up for this summer and this fall! I'm taking the following classes at HCC this summer:

Session I:
Public Speaking
Government II
Piano

Session II:
Art History I
Local and World Geography
Piano

And these are the classes I'm taking this fall at St. Thomas:

Teachings of the Catholic Church
Ancient World History
Ancient Philosophy
Medieval and Imperial Russia

Hooray! I'm majoring in History, and minoring in Russian Studies. I need a whole lot more electives than I thought, so I will most likely be there five semesters, plus maybe a summer. This is OK, as long as I'm allowed to learn about History I will be happy.

As far as apartments go, I'm moving away from the idea of a roommate... I have been looking at one bedrooms again, and have another scheduled to look at tomorrow. I'd really like to be able to walk to school! Is this so much to ask for? To help finance this extravagance, I'm considering giving myself a loan. What do I mean by this? I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED.

I started considering taking out an additional private loan to help with living expenses this fall, and then I slapped myself in the face and was like, "Hey, remember how you have thousands of dollars in savings? What is wrong with you?" (OK, I didn't really slap myself in the face, and I only have a few thousand.) So I am taking into consideration the concept of giving myself a grant from my savings and only using that set amount over the course of the school year. It sounds logical; can anyone think of any drawbacks besides touching savings money that doesn't want me to touch it like that? Ha ha ha. Hm.

I have a sushi dinner planned tonight with my knitting buddy, Jill. We're celebrating her finished-in-thirty-days, one-hundred page script for Script Frenzy! It's a pretty big accomplishment. I will then possibly see this play for free, entitled "Gold", at Miller Outdoor Theatre. I think it's going to be hilarious. Take care of yourselves!


Yours very truly,
Sarah