white pond lily?

I just got back from my first herbalism class. At the end of the 3 hour lecture, the teacher gave us a 1oz bottle of our choice of herbal tincture. I chose the white pond lily, mostly because he described the plant as having "really strong female energy" and that it is ruled by this magical mystical underwater spirit who is the goddess of mist and fog or something. Anyway, I was doing some background reading and apparently it is used to decrease sexual activity? whomp whomp. how it get any more nonexistent?
In other news, my mom was visiting for the long weekend (in case you haven't heard me complain at any point in the last 4 days). We went to Vermont. We peeped some leaves. yeahhhhhh. anyway.
I feel blah! I think my kidney yin is all out of wack.
ahhah, I really need to stop hanging out with all these noho weirdos.
peace OUT homies

i just took a nap

at my desk (no one saw! or at least as far as i know, no one saw!).

my parents visited this weekend. it was great!

i've been making interesting life choices!

i wish i wasn't at work and instead was pumping iron like arnold

courtesy of emily

changes in my life, call me for full disclosure.

otherwise, good weekend at the honk! music festival w/ rachel, sarah dz, and chris.
...i think rachie can do a decent recap of the nutso street wear and fun times.

always lots of love, rosie

Oatmeal

...it's what for breakfast at 2:45 on a Saturday afternoon. That is, it's accompanying me as I post.

My exuberance of last week has faded into something of a malaise. Ennui? The cause is a series of small disappointments and hindrances. Apartment hunting, after being fun for a while, has turned into a hassle, especially because we didn't get the one we loved. It also means that, rather than do fun things together, Monty and I have spent all our time running between apartments, weighing real estate pros and cons, and asking about utilities. My part-time job helping out the artist-woman is a real downer, and my other waitressing job didn't work out. The homeless lifestyle -- living out of a backpack and bumping people out of their beds or sleeping in a tent -- has started to get old. I'm ready to have my own space again. There's a strangeness associated with being back at the Zu as a graduate. I don't know how to articulate it, except to say that it feels oddly isolating.

Enough whining! Here are good things that have happened this week:
- I got my cello. Monty found one cheap and bought it for me, which means that after an eight-year hiatus, I'm going to pick it up again. I love the cello because it's an instrument you actually have to hug. And, when you play it right you, can feel its vibrations through your whole body. That said, it will be a while before I play it right again.
- After another long hiatus, I am rejoining the Quaker community in Northampton, starting tomorrow. So happy to have Quakerism become an active part of my life again.
- I found out that I get to start my full time job on a part time basis this month. I'm meeting with my boss next week and moving forward from there. A big relief.
- It's always glorious to see so many Chapman friends in Amherst. They (you) are the best of the best. Plus others, like Scott and Sara last night.
- Obama = Nobel Peace Prize winner. Happiest news of the week.
- If you are in New England, have you seen the trees? I mean, my god.

the (blog-)post-modern relationship

Dear Ladies and Lad,

As many of you know, I am now officially dating Dan Kamen. And it's wonderful. If awkward sometimes and anxiety-provoking. My impression is that we're really right for each other, really really right, he makes me feel like I can be the best me. And it's been kinda a long time coming. Yay! I think the anxiety is mostly about balancing my feelings for him and school work and also the fact that I haven't had a relationship that's lasted more than six weeks (usually just three weeks) in a while, and this one I'd really like to go on and on.... Seems like that's what he wants too. So hopefully between the two of us, we'll work it out.

Oh, damn, except I was in my Film Noir class at UMass today and the prof wouldn't stop talking about objects of desire and how they're just fantasies, and how we love living in fantasies, but the problem with fantasies is that they're not reality ! And that the deepest loves (in all Western fiction) must end in tragedy because they're based on fantasy and therefore can never be fully realized! OMG! Post-Modernity !!!!!!!! (Guess we'll have to write our book in traditions from the Global South..)

OK, Love, Rach.

Hilarious -- and for all of you, especially Rose :)

You will have to sit thru a 30 sec ad, but SO WORTH IT. It's Lonely Island/SNL, and very funny. :)

http://www.hulu.com/watch/99944/saturday-night-live-digital-short-on-the-ground

Kisses,
M

bare feet and sunshiiine

it's a good thing my blogging day is tuesday because that's when i have my sustainable agriculture class. today i spent much of the afternoon barefoot and knee deep in some of the most luscious soil i've ever seen, digging for beautiful white potatoes. what a thrilling and satisfying task! all these adorable little gold nuggets of deliciousness - hidden in the soil for you to find them - and eat them! ! after the potatoes, we attacked the carrots. also adorable, especially the ones that look like little aliens with feet and arms. we turned some of them in veritable works of art. good times. i love that class. and therefore, tuesday's are great. unfortunately i have an entire book to read for my 1 o'clock class tomorrow, but let's be serious. that is not getting done.
in other news, i'm getting used to the idea of my future without a check for $27,000, and i've actually been having a good time dreaming up some pretty great life plans. of course i won't even go there because you know they'll all change by tomorrow... hahah.
hope your weeks are going swimmingly so far. all my love!
carmella

Ever wonder what it's like to actually try to receive gov't benefits?

Today, I received my food stamp allocation - $16 dollars a month. Not even worth a trip to the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) half an hour away to get fingerprinted and actually get the card! From trying to find out about my benefits to actually getting them has been a sordid nightmare of bureaucracy and waiting.

Let me tell you about the DHHS in Texas. Right now, it has a class action lawsuit being filed against it because their food stamp program has had so many complaints and they've fallen so far behind on their casework. I got to experience this firsthand. A caseworker has a time limit of 30 days to get back to the client. My caseworker was supposed to get back to me last week and didn't. I called her today multiple times and she didn't pick up. I called 211 (health and human services hotline) and talked to someone who asked me to spell "stipend". I finally found out that I was approved for $16, but all the other Americorps had been approved for the full amount, $200. I went to the DHHS in person to sort it all out. First of all, the DHHS is ridiculously disorganized. It's unclear where you should go when you enter. It's impossible to ask anyone a question unless you wait in a half hour line. I waited in three lines totaling 2 and a half hours of waiting. I finally talked to my caseworker and she outright lied to me about food stamps and my eligibility. After being shuffled around and waiting in my third line, the person helping me said, "okay your caseworker's supervisor has sorted it out. You'll get your $200 by this afternoon." I guess we'll see!

In other news, Austin City Limits (Austin's famous three day music festival) was a great time :)! I saw Chapman favorites like Bon Iver, Girltalk, Andrew Bird, Broken Social Scene, and the B-52's performing Loveshack.

My friend Alese and myself gearing up for the day:

Pretty much what the festival looks like:

End of day 1:

Waiting for Bon Iver in the pouring rain (yes I'm wearing a poncho I fashioned out of two trash bags):

Bon Iver in the pouring rain:

Girltalk:

At Girltalk!:

places i'd rather be

....so on a pc desktop
or with you!