tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-196939552012-02-01T12:27:25.576-05:00The Statute of Limitations on My Integrity Has Expired.The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.comBlogger7451100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-41802999913089040222011-03-14T07:28:00.001-04:002011-03-14T07:28:00.168-04:00

I'm starting to toy with the idea of moving to tumblr. It just seems so much easier to post over there and easier to get lots of different media up. But I'm having a hard time leaving my good ol' trusty blogger account. So add poofygoo.tumblr.com to your RSS and follow along in an epic battle to see which platform will win. Perhaps even cast a vote.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-89541358494018213562011-03-13T21:07:00.003-04:002011-03-13T21:28:27.204-04:00

I'm not quite sure how to cognitively resolve the incongruity that was this weekend. Every time I looked at the internets, I was assaulted by pictures of the wreckage in Japan and then the unthinkable tragedy of the murder and brutal assault of two women in my yoga/pilates community. But it was the first day where spring felt sprung. I've been watching a daffodil struggle through the hard earth

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-27088759571453870652011-02-25T07:59:00.002-05:002011-02-25T11:39:30.852-05:00

Inspiration for an otherwise gloomy day, weather- and headline-wise. "Back to school, back to workCan this go on forever?Angela, what's the difference?Life goes on all around you."The Walkmen || Angela Surf City [1 of 3] from Ray Concepcion on Vimeo.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-87813847381790100272011-01-30T23:36:00.003-05:002011-01-30T23:44:08.631-05:00

I've always thought the perfect pet would be the bear on the Snuggle fabric softener bottle, but was bummed about the part where he isn't actually real. Except that he is.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-55677123270791263062011-01-26T16:54:00.012-05:002011-01-26T18:03:12.965-05:00

We're experiencing my all-time favorite weather phenomenon here in our nation's capital:THUNDERSNOW! Weathermen fall to their knees for THUNDERSNOW! More powerful than a monster truck tearing through the halls of Congress, THUNDERSNOW! wreaks its wrath through the streets of DC, leaving only a trail of white flakes of death in its wake. And awesome radar images:The federal government is no match

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-725089567898803912011-01-21T08:33:00.003-05:002011-01-21T12:58:25.954-05:00

Finally, the day is here: Portlandia premieres tonight! And just in time, since it's starting to get a little too real:Observe. The biggest obstacle to bicycle-rights advocacy is militant bikers; I see carbon copies of these guys on the way to work in the morning. They raise all kinds of conundrums for the modern urban woman. For example, will the misuse of the bicycle whistle diminish the

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-54820805065247340032011-01-20T06:04:00.001-05:002011-01-20T17:13:14.344-05:00

At last night’s state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao, President Obama announced that, “Under a new agreement, our National Zoo will continue to dazzle children and visitors with the beloved giant pandas." Wait, wha--??? The first state visit from China in over a decade and all we get is to keep the pandas we already have? What the hell kind of agreement is that? One of the primary

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-14707537300994268742011-01-19T01:25:00.001-05:002011-01-19T10:02:17.089-05:00

Meet Randall, a poignant and stirring new voice in nature show narration. He tells the heartwarming tale of the honey badger: "Now look, here's a house full of bees. You think the honey badger cares? It doesn't give a shit. It goes right into the house of bees to get some larva. How disgusting is that? It eats larva??" Nature hasn't moved me so much since I watched Planet Earth with a high fever

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-20110003921061704432011-01-14T06:10:00.000-05:002011-01-14T06:10:00.773-05:00

I've always thought of Christmas trees as kind of a sad waste of trees. I'd actually tear up a bit, thinking of all of the sadly hacked off trees that would fill people's lives with joy for a mere three weeks only to be tossed to the curb as a public nuisance. Those sad little trees seemed to represent the affluenzic version of The Giving Tree. All that changed when I met a girl named Christa who

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-9406532636217297272011-01-12T08:47:00.001-05:002011-01-12T14:55:28.584-05:00

Apparently Sign Language Club is way cooler than when I was in high school, when all we sang was stupid old Let There Be Peace on Earth. Interestingly enough, I had the same shirt.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-10793515960679294542011-01-10T06:28:00.001-05:002011-01-10T12:09:40.542-05:00

As a general rule, I think people who put their pets in little sweaters deserve to eat said pet's kibble. If we're going to blur the human/pet line, why not go all out? And if you're spending money on getting your cat a sweater, couldn't you be spending that money to put a sweater on some little orphan in Haiti? Obviously, that rule doesn't stand when we're talking shark fins. And at $34, you can

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-45834418579662348962011-01-07T16:44:00.004-05:002011-01-07T16:48:35.295-05:00

If you've ever seen any movie about Congress ever, then you know that Congress used to use nice pitchers of water to quaff their thirst. At some point in the recent past, they switched over to bottled water. This is really just a shame. I mean yeah, they spent $190,000 on the bottles of water and yeah, it’s bad for the environment. But what really upsets is the lack of creativity that bottled

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-73707093297605751152011-01-07T08:15:00.000-05:002011-01-07T16:15:25.103-05:00

The Mountain Goats "This Year" from A Bruntel on Vimeo.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-29183843094406953042011-01-01T08:18:00.000-05:002011-01-01T09:40:03.379-05:00

I have almost exactly the same feeling I had when I crossed the finish line of my first marathon. (Except more hungover.)I did it. I won. And I would really like to eat some jelly beans. I'm crying big, fat tears of giddy relief. Hamilton Leihthauser, sing how I feel. Also, why am I awake?!?!?!

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-38917729848794570802010-12-30T07:10:00.001-05:002010-12-30T11:37:16.330-05:00

Somewhere in my year o’ crap, I came to more fully appreciate a finely crafted cocktail, something I'd been dabbling in for the past few years. Not because it’s the latest, bourgie white people thing to do – well, not only because it’s the latest, bourgie white people thing to do, but because I learned a valuable lesson: when life gives you lemons, you should make a sour. Then drink it and watch

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-38303932023950388542010-12-29T07:33:00.002-05:002010-12-29T10:47:18.619-05:00

Those of you who have been following along know this year has been the year of little earthquakes: I broke my back1, got sued, bombed2, divorced3, robbed, sexually assaulted, mugged, and watched as the last vestiges of my idealism crashed and burned. And that's the abridged version. I’ve had just about enough of 2010. So I declared the year over on December 17. That’s the anniversary of the whole

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-15143820197657359422010-12-28T14:49:00.005-05:002010-12-28T14:56:20.618-05:00

This was the single greatest moment of 2010 for me. I risked my professional career and blew my vuvuzela in the workplace. Completely worth it. The second-greatest moment was when the US tied England while I was in Barcelona, surrounded by a bunch of Brits. The third best moment was the next morning, flying through Heathrow, wearing my Team USA scarf and perusing the papers with Hand of Clod in

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-60200627617449517362010-12-25T17:19:00.004-05:002010-12-25T17:31:19.263-05:00

Completely unrelated to Tom Waits: I'd like to start referring to Christmas as "The Holiday". That way, we can avoid the awkward "merry... um, holiday" greeting. When used as a singular event in a salutation, such as "have a happy holiday", holiday always refers to Christmas. You the person wants to wish you a merry Christmas but refrains from fear that you'll get all Fred Phelps or Richard

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-67053354425304020482010-12-24T20:15:00.005-05:002010-12-25T17:19:21.320-05:00

So, guess who invited me to have dinner with him last Wednesday night?!That's right, the Former Object of My Affection. You're thinking, "but of course you didn't accept? It's too soon, right?" I accepted. Despite the advice of all of pretty much everyone, including my friends and my hairdresser, and especially the cat. He's had just about enough of this coming-from-a-broken-home bullshit.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-50747166848585389662010-12-13T23:03:00.002-05:002010-12-13T23:06:33.891-05:00

There's just not even words. How to describe the new world order: Vladimir Putin. Fats Domino. What?

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-91665598289196645342010-12-08T10:27:00.004-05:002010-12-08T10:50:11.127-05:00

By far the most popular post of all time here at the Goo was when we looked into why the hell you can't get awesome Salerno Jingles anymore. For those of you who had a deprived childhood, Jingles are the all-time greatest Christmas cookie - little anise-flavored cookies fun for the whole family to fight over. Apparently there are a lot of people with the same happy childhood memories I have, but

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-48728471395134620782010-12-08T07:02:00.000-05:002010-12-08T07:02:00.951-05:00

A friend of mine asked me if I saw any gators while I was in Orlando. Well, at the hotel where I stayed in Orlando, there are no gators (that I know of), but they have ducks. Every morning, the hoteliers roll out a miniature red carpet from the elevator to the lobby, which has a complex maze of overly fancy fountains. A man in a heavy red brocade jacket with gold epaulets emerges from the

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-48595032901814883342010-12-06T22:01:00.006-05:002010-12-13T16:47:26.863-05:00

So I went on a date Wednesday morning.But, wait, you’re asking, didn’t you have to get on a plane?That’s right, I had a date at DCA. A few weeks back I was studying at Midcity Caffe and got to talking to a guy with an extremely cute smile (highly toothy grin!) and crinkly eyes. Turns out he’s a geographer 1 who speaks French and loves to cook. We got to chatting; as it grew dark outside I

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-76284735944970395292010-11-30T22:14:00.002-05:002010-11-30T22:26:26.622-05:00

Dammit, dammit, dammit. I got back from India yesterday and am rocking some epic jetlag. I woke up at 3 this morning, bright-eyed and bushy tailed. The worst part is that because I'm 10.5 hours ahead, there's a period in the midafternoon to evening where I would be sleeping and I drag. But once I'm over that hump, I'm wide awake again. I'm pretty sure I just rolled over that hump again and am

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-2473332748010055312010-11-30T02:57:00.001-05:002010-11-30T02:59:20.951-05:00

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-45570532502480244042010-11-15T23:06:00.000-05:002010-11-15T23:07:41.647-05:00

...is this ever fucked up.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-40266328451075259902010-11-11T21:11:00.002-05:002010-11-11T21:34:12.806-05:00

I've always been fairly certain that Dick van Dyke is constantly surrounded by bands of cartoon-like animals that surreptitiously guard him from danger. Now I know I'm right: porpoises rescued Dick van Dyke from drowning after he fell asleep on his surfboard. "Mary Poppins star feared death after apparently falling asleep on his surfboard but friendly sea creatures pushed him to shore."Just

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-45541008645863502572010-10-31T13:37:00.000-04:002010-10-31T13:37:57.727-04:00

It gives me great comfort to know that tomorrow's leaders are fighting today's zombies.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-10440307473962103772010-10-10T09:49:00.003-04:002010-10-10T09:55:16.939-04:00

I like this better than either original. And yes, that is Patty Hearst's daughter, Linda Hearst. Miles Fisher - This Must Be The Place (Cover) from Miles Fisher on Vimeo.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-64332269538206031612010-10-01T07:50:00.001-04:002010-10-01T13:52:43.409-04:00

Have you ever wanted to unleash 100 cats into an Ikea just to see what happens? Me too. The best part is that they get really competitive and, well, catty about the Ikea furniture. "Mrow, dammit, paws off my Glorp chair!" Be sure to listen carefully for the grown man yelling GO CATS, GO!

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-32421637972444493112010-09-28T06:37:00.004-04:002010-09-28T12:37:07.527-04:00

I wasn’t one of the fourteen kids in America who thought high school was a magical time of my life. It. Blew. Chunks.It was a time of desperately trying not to be shunted off to the margins. The most minor of infractions got you seated on the sidelines, which is where the hazing took place. If you managed to get out of the margins, you would do your damndest to keep anyone else from getting back

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-34520020058441933032010-09-24T06:14:00.002-04:002010-09-24T10:39:10.867-04:00

So, for all those people out there trying to save the turtles, I would just like to suggest that perhaps they aren't so innocent after all.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-70039529679333226832010-09-23T06:33:00.002-04:002010-09-23T10:41:56.225-04:00

I don't think I will ever sleep again after seeing this. This is way worse than my recurring nightmare where a giant lizard chases me up into the attic in my childhood home and it turns out to be a lake full of piranhas and the girls who went to my junior high.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-84535521198519436632010-09-22T16:32:00.006-04:002010-09-22T16:56:22.914-04:00

I'm trying to avoid any prognostications and planning on laying low tonight. You see, shit is going DOWN in the universe, and given the summer, I'm not one to fuck around with all that cosmic detritus unleashing. Today is the autumnal equinox. On top of that, Uranus (ha, on top of Uranus) will line up with Jupiter and the harvest moon, causing the Google sky map on my phone to freak out.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-7249811272571287892010-09-15T08:04:00.000-04:002010-09-15T08:04:00.062-04:00

How much do I love it that the world's largest piece of naan comes from Wales?

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-8551484522799970422010-09-13T15:03:00.003-04:002010-09-15T10:19:27.041-04:00

I’ve been feeling all warm and fuzzy on what, by all rights, should have been a shit weekend. I moved out of the apartment that the Object and I shared for some 3-4 years, and the first place I ever really felt was my home, a place I was homesick for. I even wrote about that not long after I moved in.Two weeks ago, the Object was packing up his things and preparing to move out, so I’d stayed with

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-45525884061459852272010-09-09T11:11:00.001-04:002010-09-09T11:11:00.638-04:00

Unhappy Hipsters is funnier when they're more ironic and less true to one's own life. The biggest fights the Object and I had in the end were over who got to keep the midcentury modern furniture carefully selected through years of hunting at secondhand stores. The worst part is that I lost.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-37274311389001211842010-09-08T20:54:00.000-04:002010-09-08T20:55:38.200-04:00

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-52036504799935270082010-09-03T08:47:00.001-04:002010-09-03T08:47:00.216-04:00

The first day of classes this week has been awkward. It starts out innocuously enough with the question, “How was your summer?” My reply is usually a cautious, “Um, it was ok.” “What did you do?” Aaaaand that’s where it gets awkward. “Well, I went to Barcelona, which was nice. When I got home, I found out that my landlords were suing me in a misguided attempt to kick me out of my

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-43573077588584576152010-09-02T21:37:00.003-04:002010-09-02T21:37:00.549-04:00

I've gotten a lot of advice lately, but two peices really stick out:How to use an escalator in DCDon't honk at old people:

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-78344293978953153162010-09-02T07:42:00.000-04:002010-09-02T07:42:00.147-04:00

This came out the day the Object and I formally ended things.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-57397053749858739552010-09-01T13:37:00.005-04:002010-09-02T09:34:33.195-04:00

I've been walking around town like I sprang a leak. Someone will say something to me that triggers a memory of when the Object and I had The Perfect Relationship, our whole lives ahead of us. Come on, how many people do you know whose relationship was thinly veiled in a graphic novella? Then I'll remember that's over. The tears trickle helplessly out of the corners of my eyes. I'm ashamed to be

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-31561582429085494202010-08-31T15:27:00.007-04:002010-09-02T13:23:34.523-04:00

Soooo. After five years together, the Object and I are splitting up. The details are pretty mundane. Stock language: we still care about each other, lives in different directions, smickety smackety blah blah blah. I called the end a few weeks ago. The Object came home once again a few hours after he said he’d be home and more than a few drinks in. I asked where he’d been. “I guess I lost

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-64120016467997545802010-04-24T23:33:00.005-04:002010-04-24T23:56:43.493-04:00

This is the scene from my house this lovely evening as I sit here, trying to write my term paper. There are at least 30 cop vehicles (vans, cars, motorcycles, segways, bikes) as well as a cops on foot with riot gear. Most of the neighborhood thought the President had been shot (nope), but it turns out that the stupid IMF protesters decided to come to Adams Morgan and get drunk. Their rallying

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-37763515885704701052010-02-05T22:41:00.002-05:002010-02-06T12:46:15.718-05:00

SnowpocalypseSnowmaggedenFlurricaneKaiser SnowzeThe Big SnowbowskiSnowtorious B.I.G.Yoshimi Battles the Pink SnowbotsSnowhammad AliShovel-Ready Stimulus ProjectSnowtopiaSnowly Crap!Snowlocaust

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-15235045246825333992010-02-03T07:55:00.000-05:002010-02-03T14:36:10.342-05:00

"A major British medical journal on Tuesday retracted a flawed study linking the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine to autism and bowel disease...For the study, Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son's birthday party, paying them 5 pounds each ($8) for their contributions and later joking about the incident."I realize the urge to use your kids birthday parties to advance your

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-63955352211265710652010-02-02T17:52:00.000-05:002010-02-02T17:52:00.241-05:00

A friend of my friend, we'll call her "Elaine", invited me to be friends on Facebook some time ago. I don't think we had any contact after that time. About a month ago, she defriended me. However, our mutual friend's Facebook page shows that "Elaine" just had twins, one of whom has my name.Is that weird? I do not exactly have the most common name. It's more the kind of name people's

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-86874028069990538012010-01-31T17:25:00.003-05:002010-01-31T17:37:49.514-05:00

Now that all of the francophones got either driven or kicked out of my building (another story for another day), I only know a handful of my neighbors. In a neighborhood with such a high resident turnover, it's hard to forge lasting relationships. As friend after friend has left the neighborhood, I've started to get cynical and have mostly given up trying -- it takes a new kitten or puppy to

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-43336393074234731742009-12-29T22:59:00.001-05:002009-12-29T23:01:14.925-05:00

I still think this is the hottest video of the decade. Lady Gaga, eat your [talented] heart out.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-70275345223982269232009-11-24T19:19:00.004-05:002009-11-24T19:29:55.931-05:00

Today, for some reason I can't even fathom, my assistant told me that I'm like having Batman for a boss. Of course, that made me wonder if this was the particular Batman she was referring to:

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-23686141021658132282009-10-05T08:36:00.003-04:002009-10-05T17:02:13.393-04:00

If only my parents had gotten me this book in junior high, I would have known how to pray my way to AWESOME with devotionals for teens.I was not an awesome teenager. I didn't even make it to cool. I was pretty damn awkward, which was probably the reason I gave up believing in God. (Come to think of it, the same probably goes for the Tooth Fairy, which is why I'm not only not awesome, but have

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-3863616309055129962009-10-02T13:20:00.001-04:002009-10-02T13:45:33.735-04:00

Although my civic fealty always belongs to Chicago, I was sad for no more than ninety seconds that my hometown lost the Olympics bid. When it comes to corruption, pointedly overlooking crime, awesomely friendly peoples, and a dirty good time, Rio is Chicago's sister city, except with fewer clothes. Although, between the pierogies and pizza, perhaps that's a quality Chicago doesn't need to

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-32820085563348396692009-09-24T08:18:00.000-04:002009-09-24T09:40:04.437-04:00

I wonder which will cause me to break down first? Buying these boots with a long unspent gift certificate:Or breaking down and admitting to myself that I want to read the new Dan Brown book in spite of all of my literary snootiness?

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-16473833670152584012009-09-14T07:40:00.002-04:002009-09-14T13:59:47.363-04:00

The Object of My Affection bought himself a sparkly new guitar. No, really, it's sparkly:(Note the acoustic guitar, relegated to a position of shame in the corner.)About an hour after the Object got the guitar, we decided to institute some new regulations in our house. These stipulate that I get to veto him playing along with the song on stereo in a different key. After much negotiation, we

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-36741064682681146942009-09-09T08:44:00.001-04:002009-09-09T16:59:58.524-04:00

Dear Mr. Baucus,I am a brand-new student of public health. In my very first chapter of the textbook, I read the following:"Demand for costly services is largely determined by the health care provider rather than by the consumers. Competitive market forces have not worked well for those in greatest need."I just wanted to let you know that on the most basic, public health 101 level, if you don't

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-32890216459072451532009-09-04T08:11:00.002-04:002009-09-04T09:50:00.123-04:00

My Future is BrightObserve:The Down SideI am going to get my ass handed to me on a silver platter. I was already a little addle-brained over the bio. Then, in Global Health Frameworks, our professor asked, "How many people have had organic chemistry? Remember when you got your first grade of50 on a paper? This class is kind of like that."The Up SideHappily, the public health and international

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-63837462658223153212009-08-28T08:10:00.000-04:002009-08-28T08:10:00.101-04:00

My mom and I used to shop together at Laura Ashley. We'd get matching dresses with calico prints and puffy sleeves to wear to church. I've always heard that Mexico is a very Catholic country, but somehow, the mother-daughter shopping seems a little different.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-75786960563145695502009-08-27T20:01:00.003-04:002009-08-27T20:08:03.949-04:00

Give to Prayer Hour.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-57020589445058465752009-08-24T16:18:00.002-04:002009-08-24T16:22:00.572-04:00

Do you know how long I've been trying to find a place where I could get juice, a smoothie, chocolate Eskimo milk, fresh natural fruit water, and a free medical consultation? At long last, the wait is over.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-13978020618721141742009-08-20T14:31:00.003-04:002009-08-20T14:43:04.519-04:00

I'm in Morelia, Mexico this week, attending the most absurd convention I've ever been to. It's an exercise in complete and utter culture shock. Our booth, which we're sharing with the wonderfully hospitable Mexican association, is simultaneously playing opera and Christmas music videos at night club volume. The booth across from us is playing the music video for Thriller. Pharmaceutical ladies

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-32058815270336491152009-08-07T17:24:00.002-04:002009-08-07T17:26:03.346-04:00

This little neighborly exchange makes me so unbelievably happy, I don't even know what to do with myself. The icing on the cake:I would like to file a formal complaint about several yards in the neighborhood... The woman at 138 has a saddle and stirrups decorating her mailbox. What is that all about? I, for one, am not a cowboy, do not like cowboys and find it horrifying how the cowboys treated

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-14850446483361322412009-07-22T08:05:00.000-04:002009-07-22T11:10:26.650-04:00

Check out the 15 Creepiest Vintage Ads of All Time. Which do you think is worse: the woman as a rug that a man conquered, or the fact that women thought Lysol was a better douching alternative than soup?Waaaaait a minute. Soup? As in, Campbell's Big 'n' Beefy? Clam chowder jokes aside, the whole concept gives a delightfully new and nuanced meaning to the phrase, that makes me want to blow chunks.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-23195862946288763552009-06-25T17:14:00.002-04:002009-06-25T23:32:01.804-04:00

Cancel the Super Bowl halftime show, take off the sequin glove;Prevent the weird little monkey from bubbling out his loveSilence the discos and with muted MTVBring on the Dateline Tributes and bloviating MSNBC.Millennium generation, the last vestiges of our youth officially died today. In memoriam, let Filipino prisoners express the words that fail us.You know it's where Jacko would have wanted

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-87063622225709973942009-06-17T08:12:00.000-04:002009-06-17T09:35:18.946-04:00

I spent two weeks in Berlin recently, a town known for being full of coke-addled artists. I'd read that the cocaine was so prevalent, it's even in their Red Bull, which seems redundant. But in speaking to Berliners, the lack of cocaine was one of the first things they'd mention about their city. "Here in Berlin, we like to make the party all night," one man told me, adding almost wistfully, "

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-14723120114350759082009-06-15T13:52:00.004-04:002009-06-15T14:10:41.773-04:00

I missed you all, too. In the last few months, I got into grad school, narrowly avoided becoming a swine flu vector, gave birth to a metaphoric career baby, and divided my time between three different hemispheres. Traveling so much makes me appreciate home that much more when I get back; I get a little teary (or possibly just blearly, after 9-12 hours on a plane, it's impossible to tell the

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-28990831328928867872009-04-02T12:56:00.004-04:002009-04-02T13:03:23.785-04:00

Evidently, the meeting of the G-20 also involved a trip to the Sears Portrait Gallery.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-70766695949307168892009-03-27T08:45:00.002-04:002009-03-27T10:27:16.876-04:00

I'll bet Weng Weng is excited.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-45079687149553720692009-03-25T07:40:00.001-04:002009-03-25T15:58:40.073-04:00

Welcome to the world, new cloudy leopard cubs!!!At long last, something to fill the void left by the panda cam having become uninteresting. Stupid baby panda cub that grew up. You're not the size of a stick of butter anymore, and you're not nearly as cute anymore, are you Butterstick*?I also appreciate that this new zoo cub species seems to be even more incapable of perpetuating its species than

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-64078427919414897612009-03-11T07:36:00.002-04:002009-03-11T10:26:07.991-04:00

For some years now, the Object has been trying to get me to move to Portland. He talks about how green it is, how great the music scene is,and how much generally cooler the peoples there are, as determined by the disaffected nature of its youth, and the griminess of its hipsters scum, a layer of filth that we in DC can only aspire to.And then I read that Portland is the Unhappiest City in America

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-63131582133616684072009-03-04T07:09:00.003-05:002009-03-04T07:09:00.311-05:00

Twitter. Bah. What's it good for? Sure, everyone wants to the opportunity to blow the cover on your hush-hush fact-finding mission to Iraq, but can it save your life? Evidently not, as one unlucky billionaire found out this week.Much respect for the earnest tweeter who called for "(no tweets for the next hour)" in memoriam of his fallen friend. A poigniantly modern requiem. Nay, truly, a "tragedy

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-65311985365862898832009-03-03T08:40:00.000-05:002009-03-03T11:08:40.965-05:00

Here's an update for those people who were all in a tizzy yesterday about Barack Obama's call for flinty Chicago toughness jacking DC out of a snow day. As was pointed out to me by Carijudy, if we were in Chicago, we would have had the day off yesterday.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-57928203827021395502009-03-02T12:50:00.003-05:002009-03-02T17:12:21.744-05:00

I have seen the four snowmen of the snowpacalypse. We had two inches of snow here in the District. As you may recall, President Obama said we're not tough enough, so we only got two extra hours to get to work. Normally, this sort of weather would get us two or three days off.The peoples are not happy. Judging by their comments, this is pure, unadulterated evidence of not only What's Wrong with

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-72111613859601776822009-02-26T08:15:00.000-05:002009-02-26T10:27:30.193-05:00

Do you ever feel like the drama in your life warrants a soundtrack by Metallica? I do. But mostly Metallica of the kazoo band ilk.Tip o' the Goo to Rababob.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-12727275134572308982009-02-25T12:57:00.004-05:002009-02-25T15:07:38.719-05:00

Last night's We-Can't-Officially-Call-It-the-State-of-the-Union State Of the Union address demonstrated that Barack Obama has mastered the art of speechification. I appreciated how race and socioeconomics played into the evening, subtly and not-so-subtly. First, BaHO slyly called out to engage America's minorities, who make up the overwhelming majority of America's high school drop outs:Dropping

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-47591355898596552392009-02-18T06:47:00.000-05:002009-02-18T16:37:50.344-05:00

Throughout college and several years afterward, I had the perfect pair of bunny slippers. Over the years, they become so decrepit and hole-ridden that they ceased to be functional. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of them, but the Object refused to let them come into the apartment when I moved in. I compromised by asking the Object to quietly dispose of them for me when I wasn't around, and

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-80705030974593525742009-02-04T06:22:00.000-05:002009-02-04T06:22:00.261-05:00

People always want to know why I don't want to hang out after I go to the dentist. While I love my dentist, I really, really, really hate going to the dentist. I love my dentist because she gives me enough drugs so that I don't have a panic attack, pops a mouth-opening device between my lips, then tells me to lay back, listen to Sigur Ros, and she'll wake me up when I'm done.I then spend the rest

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-4230843390720019692009-01-30T08:12:00.002-05:002009-01-30T10:21:32.542-05:00

So Blagojevich is out. Siiiiiigh. There goes all our fun.Somehow, this won't be the last we hear from him. Call it a feeling, but I'm pretty sure there's a huge market out there for the nonsensical ramblings of mopheaded egomaniac...

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-24134941287633497682009-01-28T10:40:00.007-05:002009-01-28T13:44:57.365-05:00

DC had its first "snow" of the year, an event involving less than an inch of snow on the ground. Naturally, the city shut down. The midwesterners of our fair city were finally vindicated when the new POTUS interrupted a briefing this morning to comment:"As my children pointed out, in Chicago, school is never canceled," Obama said to laughter. "In fact, my 7-year-old pointed out that you'd go

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-20968450422334325892009-01-27T06:10:00.000-05:002009-01-27T06:10:00.260-05:00

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-59266452470878091372009-01-21T20:26:00.005-05:002009-01-22T06:03:16.851-05:00

Local artist Emily Troutman asked DC denizens to choose words describing how they felt about the dawn of the new era."No one picked the word Angry or Scared, despite my best efforts. Even Rubin Israel, the man holding the sign 'Homo Sex is Sin' would only go so far as 'Skeptical...Though "Obama" doesn't necessarily seem like a feeling, Al Hillman, of Al's Barbershop on H Street NE, put it best

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-73597785322370085882009-01-21T06:54:00.000-05:002009-01-21T12:51:08.482-05:00

Today's front pages.Thanks be to Oprah."If this Hummer owner knew what Obama promised in his energy plan, he wouldn’t be so supportive." Stealing the show: Reverend Joseph Lowery. Amen!"One outgoing [Bush] Treasury employee had already landed a job as a manager at Abercrombie & Fitch.""What happen[ed] yesterday? I watched ‘House Marathon’ all day."

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-67922236988119012172009-01-19T17:20:00.002-05:002009-01-19T18:33:12.185-05:00

Here in our nation's capital, we're enjoying four days of unbridled patriotic fervor, optimism, vindication, volunteerism, and drinking. They even wrangled a delightful burlesque and Coney Island sideshow into the festivities. At the end of it, we get Barack Obama as our president.Best. Holiday. Ever. It may mark the first time in our nation's history when Washingtonians dampened their open

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-51596730646941988672009-01-14T15:52:00.002-05:002009-01-14T16:34:43.569-05:00

Do you know where to find an acre of bamboo?

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-3716053089562446152009-01-08T06:45:00.003-05:002009-01-08T15:07:19.596-05:00

Not long before Christmas, the Object and his bike had a tussle with a car. The Object is fine; he came away with a broken and sprained wrist (talented, no?), a separated shoulder, and a smooshed noggin. Lesson to all the kids out there: wear your helmet, because no one at the DC ER cares about your head on a Saturday night, and your capable and adorable girlfriend can't do a damn thing stuck

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-19131666834275418812009-01-07T06:25:00.002-05:002009-01-07T10:35:41.789-05:00

The GooProspective Student for Graduate Program in International Smickety SmackEssay choice number 1: "In 600 words or less, please describe an issue of national or international importance and its concern to you."Cheese is of national importance. Furthermore, cheese is also of international importance. Moreover, cheese is of global importance, but not in the international sense. Most

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-49084341476523569852008-12-31T11:06:00.002-05:002008-12-31T11:34:20.945-05:00

The 20 Creepiest Album Covers. I think they did a good job here.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-67002904610630102852008-12-29T06:56:00.001-05:002008-12-29T12:54:26.540-05:00

"No one on their death bed ever said, 'I wish I had spent more time using Internet Explorer to watch puppies on a webcam.' " -- Bill SheinSuch an epitaph remains unuttered because I'm not dead. Yet. (Also, I use Firefox.) My untimely demise is a fairly common misperception these days. You might have thought so by my quiet on the internets over the past few months. You're not the only one. Chief

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-66827458113785579082008-12-22T10:59:00.002-05:002008-12-22T12:26:22.959-05:00

I went on a magic carpet ride around San Francisco. If by magic carpet, you mean walked about 15 miles per day for ten days. I can see where the confusion comes in.I started out each day with the Breakfast of Champions: burritos and a Tecate in the Mission. Then I played Follow That Mariachi, because they're not usually the sort of thing I see at 9 in the morning. Maybe they had a secret mariachi

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-35147905806908179472008-12-20T01:52:00.002-05:002008-12-20T01:54:38.037-05:00

I've been trying to juggle what the hell to do with my life while trying to live it at the same time. Happily, there are places I can find solace. Namely, the colors of the wind.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-38137819293250776652008-11-04T23:50:00.001-05:002008-11-04T23:54:00.814-05:00

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-11356588791648410302008-10-31T07:43:00.000-04:002008-10-31T10:21:11.138-04:00

The Object and I have spent less than one of the past six weeks together at home. He just returned from San Francisco yesterday, and his warm welcome home involved me telling him to get off the couch and hurry up and unpack, since I need the suitcase for my trip to New York tonight. Oddly enough, amidst our various travels, the house has not cleaned itself. It's threatening to move from

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-52759147890942018722008-10-28T06:26:00.002-04:002008-10-28T09:16:23.034-04:00

I love my job and am ridiculously grateful for the opportunities I get to make a difference in the lives of people around the world. But sometimes it's awfully nice to be back in DC, where I can focus my attention on matters of importance closer to home.Most importantly, as the election draws ever closer, we must fight for our right to burritos and give voice to the people who prepare our

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-30429915663334748582008-10-27T17:54:00.007-04:002008-10-27T18:22:31.923-04:00

Songs that I heard played on the quena and the sicu, traditional Andean wind instruments, within the course of one day in and around the town of Pisac:El Condor PasaDust in the WindEl Condor PasaAve Maria (Schubert)El Condor PasaJuantanameraEl Condor PasaLinus & LucyEl Condor PasaHey JudeEl Condor PasaAve Maria (Bach/Gounod)El Condor PasaStairway to HeavenEl Condor Pasa

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-77153251199236041042008-10-01T23:57:00.004-04:002008-10-02T00:34:30.100-04:00

I'm here in Peru for three weeks; two for site visits at hospitals around the country and one for traipsing around the Sacred Valley with the Object of My Affection. Oddly enough for having its major tourist attraction be a giant animist temple to worship the sun, Peru is a devoutly Catholic country. Nary an exposed shoulder can be seen, much less toes. I'm not sure if that's out of a modesty or

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-9298018845402875692008-09-24T08:27:00.000-04:002008-09-24T09:35:08.329-04:00

I was ridiculously excited about NBC coming back on iTunes, because there's no tv like portable tv. Then I realized they raised the price of every episode by a dollar. I swear, when it comes time to buy household appliances, I will not buy GE out of spite. I don't care if the other brand's washing machine is gyrating ominously even on the showroom floor, signalling a lifelong battle of haggling

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-76265703351558356432008-09-23T08:40:00.001-04:002008-09-23T09:50:40.771-04:00

Why music is better than math: you only have to know how to count to four:It looks like I can't rely on monsters to help me get a public health degree, though.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-69136076700334454362008-09-22T08:33:00.000-04:002008-09-22T10:51:30.926-04:00

Sometime last week after I took the GREs but before I met with the Brazilians, NIH, and about everyone else under the sun, the Object of My Affection asked piteously, "When are we going to get back to normal?" The answer (although met with a look askance) was to hold on until next week.Now that next week has arrived, I realize I have only five more days to prepare for a site assessment to

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-65397601509498106122008-09-19T06:51:00.001-04:002008-09-22T11:57:16.344-04:00

Die Ausgescürvgerte be in chARRRRRge of da efforts this year. But 'ware the pirate FAIL:Pirates try but fail in attempts to hijack two ships of Somalian coast

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-77424953224677325942008-09-05T08:19:00.001-04:002008-09-05T15:31:03.718-04:00

It looks like the Object and I aren't the only ones trying to make the move to home ownership. But it looks like Schmoopums McKitty needs to start pulling his weight in the whole process, since cats are evidently better at playing the real estate market. No more kibble for kitty until he starts squatting at least a roof deck for us.

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19693955.post-25089640609814133722008-09-04T08:08:00.000-04:002008-09-04T10:20:40.607-04:00

But judging by Sarah Palin's voice you'd think so, since her voice sounds uncannily like the mom from that show. I can't stand her, and I most certainly did not appreciate her pep-rally caliber speech, and she most certainly does not get my vote for student council.I do not like that woman.Happily, neither do the Republicans, it would seem.♫Whoops-be-doobie!♫I double-dog dare anyone to call

The Goohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06476132629964300837noreply@blogger.com0