Blogging update fail

I am not doing a great job keeping this blog up-to-date. I am into it for about two weeks and then I forget it exists. FOR SHAME. I want to be a good blogger like Julix. How does she find so much stuff to blog about?

Well, to recap from the last post, I did go as Rosie the Riveter for Halloween, and it was an AWESOME costume. I looked super cute/ badass, but still had on an entire outfit (like, didn't have to dress slutty). I achieved this with hair and makeup as a key priority. I did a pompadour hair thing and a classy 40s pin-up makeup thing, complete with false eyelashes. I think it was a solid move to pay attention to these elements. Otherwise I would have just been a lady in blue with a red hanky in her hair.

In other news, I just discovered a webcomic called Girls With Slingshots, and I read all of it (well, from the first one in the archives anyway) in like two days. Seeing as it started in 2004 and had over 1000 strips, and I read it in such a short time period, I'd say that's a pretty good comic. So yaaaay new internet thing I like.

Halloween Costume- Still debating

Okay, so I still don't know what I'm going to be for Halloween, and I need to figure this out! Otherwise Halloween is going to get here and I will not have anything to be.

However, I did think of a third costume that would require seriously minimal effort AND would be pretty sweet, although I am sure lots of people have done it. Rosie the Riviter? Seems like it would be cute, not too hard to pull off at all, and would be a good last-minute thing if it turns out I can't find stuff for either of the other costumes. All you really need is a blue shirt and a red hanky thing, and BAM. Rosie.

Also, at this point it is really hard for me to justify putting in a whole lot of effort when at this point, I don't even know where I'm going to be on Halloween. I mean, I don't want to put a whole ton of thought and work into the costume in if I'm not actually going to be doing anything good.

Twilight Tattoos

I have been thinking of getting a new tattoo, and I've basically been thinking about it since I left New Zealand two and a half years ago, and it has a literary theme. As such, when I saw a book at work called The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide I took a look to see what other people had done with some of their favorite words/ literary themes.

One thing someone did was get a half-sleeve (GIANT) Twilight themed tattoo on their arm. Basically it is a collage of all the book covers, and yesterday it became my new favorite thing to show people. It provided hours of entertainment for me. I mean.... what? Twilight tattoo? Really?



Coincidentally, it is (or it is really similar to) number 21 pictured at this slideshow I then found when I searched for "Twilight tattoos" on Google. I love that there are at least 30 other people who have Twilight tattoos, AND that I can look at all of them in one spot. It is almost too much giddiness to bear.

Been a minute: updates

Here are some updates, in no particular order:

1. Halloween costume ideas- Last year I did not start thinking about Halloween costumes until the last minute, and I was Ramona Quimby. This year, I started thinking about them early, and two possibilities have become frontrunners: Ramona Flowers, of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, or an old-school style Coney Island strongman. I got this idea from seeing a romper at American Apparel and because my mom randomly gave me some wax moustaches that would be perfect. Also because people are selling Jersey-shore style muscle man shirts. It might look weird under the romper though, and then what the hell would I do with a muscle-man shirt and a romper? At least all the Ramona clothes are semi- normalish or easy to fake/ procure and all I'd really need maybe is a wig.

2. Bike- Disclaimer- Reading this a few days later, I realized this needs a geek-out alert of some kind due to the amount I am talking about parts and the relative probability that no one gives a shit about my bike except me. Consider yourself warned. I bought a new bike in May, it is a one-speed 2010 Specialized Langster Steel. It has a flip-flop hub, and I started riding it fixed in May. I am such a hipster. I am able to do a skip-stop kind of, and that is it in terms of tricks. I want to learn to do a track stand. This is my big goal. I keep getting things for the bike, it is like an addiction. Like new tires, I got some gatorskins last month. I want to get new handlebars because mine are too wide and a weird shape, but they were the only ones they could give me for free when I didn't want the drop bars. I am thinking 1-inch risers. I also want to get new toe clips that will accomodate double straps, cause I keep feeling like I am going to break the clips I have when I am skip-stopping.

3. Work- I had a work-a-thon summer 2010 when I had 31 days of work in a row without a day off because I had 3 jobs (nannying, summercamp, store). Now I am basically back to 1 job (store... UGH) and I don't know what to do with myself.

4. Cello- I am really excited because this family from Westchester went to visit their daughter in Ohio this week and they brought back my cello. Now all I have to do is go get it from Westchester and then I'll be able to play it, in theory. I am excited, and kind of scared at the same time. I haven't played in such a long time, what if I don't remember anything?

5. Youtube- I have been watching a stupid amount of youtube videos. I might be dumber in general because of it.

Morgan Spurlock!

And it all comes full circle...

Today while working in the cafe that is sometimes the bane of my existence, right during the morning rush, who should walk into the cafe and get in my line?

Morgan Spurlock, of Super Size Me fame.

I recognized him immediately, as I only watched the movie a couple of months ago, and proceeded to totally geek out. I am such a spaz. I couldn't do anything but steal glances and grin in-between taking money from customers, but he caught me staring at him more than once, and I knew that he knew that I knew who he was.

When he finally got up to the counter, and I had nothing, and was just grinning like a cheshire cat, he ordered a medium soy latte. Did I try to upsell, and get him to buy a large?

Hell no! I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face doing that in a million years.

But I was starstruck for the rest of the day.

I am such a nerd.

Wikipedia Education

Things I have been reading about on wikipedia lately:

1. Orthodox Judaism- Dress code, rules, differences between the sects... This is what happens when a religion is over 2,000 years old. No wonder you have to go to yeshiva, because otherwise I have no idea how in the world you could learn all this stuff.

2. TV Shows I like- Sex and the City, Glee, and Daria. Trivia abounds.

3. Social Networking- With all the privacy flack facebook is getting right now, I'm trying to keep abreast of the situation by making sure I know what color shirt Marc Zukerman was wearing when he and that other guy invented facebook and became BILLIONAIRES.

4. Fonts- what is the difference between ' arial serif' and 'sans-serif' I wanted to know? What is kearning? I now know these things.

Wikipedia: clearly a source of superficial surface information about a topic, but what a breadth of scope! Sex-positive feminsim? Yes. Cookie varieties? Yes! Explanations of military abbreviations? YES!

There is so much stuff to learn and wikipedia helps me to figure out what of that stuff I really want to learn, and what stuff I can read about just enough to fake it.

Twitter and FB Pages and RSS Feeds, Oh My!

I'm kinda sorta getting more involved with this new job with this company that does after-school and camps for kids in NYC, and they are brand new. Like, this is year #2. Which is SUPER exciting, because it means that there's a lot of room for innovation and learning and growth within the company, but it is also a little bit crazy because there isn't a lot of precedent for doing things. It's a pretty hit the ground running, trial and error type situation.

I am actually really into it.

Which is why, when they said that they might want me to do some aggregation of materials to post digitally, and do a bunch of stuff with Twitter and social media/ networking stuff this summer, I felt super excited to be a part of that. Even though I am not on Twitter personally, I know it is a huge phenomenon right now, and I think it will be a great opportunity to learn more about it, and other web applications that I kind of haven't been using because I have no personal reason to do so... nice to have a professional reason to.

Like RSS feeds. What is an RSS feed? And what does it mean to click on one? I am into learning by trial and error with technology. Apparently you need a reader to read your RSS feeds... good thing Google has one! Hopefully it will be easy to use or at least intuitive because I use so many of their other products. Seriously.

All this in general, makes me really excited. Like things are actually happening... that there's a shift in what I'll be doing/ using my brainpower to accomplish. Creative, crafty, dynamic, and with kids! What more could I ask for?

Documentaries

I am on a documentary kick. I have watched four documentaries this week. Here are my findings about them so far, in the order in which I watched them:

1. Super-Size me: I already posted about that one, so obviously I was affected. I liked it but thought it was gross when he threw up and when they show the guy getting gastric bypass. As much as I like fake medical dramas (think: ER and Grey's Anatomy) I really hate seeing real medical procedures. The DVD extras were good.

2. My Kid Could Paint That- About a 4 year old abstract artist. While the guy was making the movie, there was an expose that suggested she wasn't the one painting all her paintings. That was pretty much the interesting part, although the whole question of what makes good art in the first place is also a theme. Cause she's 4. And her paintings are selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Come on.

3. Murderball- AWESOME. This one is about Wheelchair Rugby, or Quad Rugby: Dudes who are either parapalegics, or have some kind of impairment in at least 3 of their limbs, who get strapped into these crazy souped-up Mad Max wheelchairs and play Quad Rugby. It mostly follows the USA Paralymics team, and apparently we are good at this, we win lots of golds and championships. I didn't even know this was a thing, and it was good to learn about a new sport.

4. Spellbound- This is the one about the kids in the national spelling bee. And it was kinda eh. For all of what I heard about this movie, I thought it wasn't that awesome. I mean, I watched it and everything, but I didn't think it was spectacular. I dunno... too much about the individual kids? Not enough about the competition? Not enough about the could-be crazy parents? But I was impressed with myself that I could spell some of the harder words. I know I'm an adult who has been to college, but I think without any studying I could get through the first few rounds of the national spelling bee.

Live N Learn

I bought this new computer, which I've been really stoked about, as you well know. Finally wiped the hard drive of my old computer, and got this one all set up how I like it, and settled in to all it's high-tech splendor.

And then Apple announces the upgrade of their MacBook Pros. And their return policy is 14 days... which I surpass by 7 days.


!!!


Needless to say, I was kind of pissed, both at myself for not checking the rumor websites before I bought this computer, and at apple for not being a little more forthcoming with when new releases of are coming out. I understand this as a business model, but it still makes me angry that no one TOLD me that the new computers would be coming out real soon.

I called up customer service, and was re-directed several times. I finally was on the phone for probably half an hour with this really nice French dude, who talked to the management and got them to say I could return this computer, with the 10% restocking fee, and then I can get one of the new ones (which is again slightly more expensive than what I paid for this one). So it is possible to do, but annoying. And makes the computer way more expensive than I wanted it to be initially. Luckily for me, I'll be getting a little tax refund that should make up the difference.

But MAN, that shit is annoying.

As Grandmother said, "It's a wash."

Never Eating McDonald's Again... Ever.

Yesterday I watched Super-Size me for the first time. I don't eat a ton of fast food, but I'm not exactly the healthiest eater in the world, especially right now, but I try to eat balanced and control my portions. If I do go to McDonald's I mostly just get french fries as a snack. But after seeing this DVD extra, I don't think I'm ever going to eat McDonald's fries again. Observe:




EWWWW!!!

Things I am Into Right Now

This is a list of things I am into right now:

1. This new computer, and all the neat stuff I can do with it LIKE: watching videos on the internet, playing a bit with that awesome open source graphic design software I learned about last year like Inkscape and the Gimp, webcam chatting with folks, and downloading things without the other applications falling to the spinning wheel of death.

2. Riding my bike in the park again, instead of just transport, cause the weather is so much nicer.

3. FICTION. I kinda forgot about fiction for a hot second, cause I was reading lots of non-fiction, which I needed, but I am really digging getting into some stories.

4. Home-made lipblam recipes.

5. Being outside for things like drinking and eating and hanging out, since the weather is so nice right now.

6. Summer plans. I am full of ideas for the summer and fall. I am ready to shake things up. Like with job number 3, which is a one-day a week after-school gig but could also turn into summer work and perhaps continue into the fall...? Cross those fingers! But yeah, that, or Costa Rica, or you know... just move somewhere. Like Granny says, "It doesn't cost anything to dream."

7. Free music on Pandora and Lala. Loving it.

MacBookPro Online!

I got a new computer. It is really exciting... I haven't had a new computer since I was a freshman in college. I've had it for a week, and I finally successfully migrated all my stuff from my old computer... First I tried to do it manually but things were messing up, so I decided to start over from the beginning. This involved completely erasing the new computer's hard drive and reinstalling everything, so I would have seamless user and home folder integration. It was actually almost worth it so I could see the apple 'welcome' video again... it's such a show off.

But now it's sweet! And I can start doing the wipe on the ol' 7 year old powerbook I've been using... it's a good little machine, but its time to move on to crazier shinier things.

I also feel really good I did all that stuff myself. Even though macs are so easy and user friendly, still. I did that all by myself.

Been a Hot Minute

Wow, I haven't blogged in a hot second. Like, 6 months! Guess I didn't have anything to say... not like I do now, really. BUT that's how you know I must be procrastinating!

Let's see... what is different in my life?:

1. Birthday- I turned 25 last week. Hollah! Although I was sick with strep throat (no bueno!) so I had no birthday party/ celebration whatsoever. I think I am rectifying that next month. But I am 25... so I am getting philisophical about being old... or older... or at least being solidly in my MID-20s.

2. Espanol: I took a Spanish class last semester at NYU-SPCS. It was cool, although I didn't get it together in time to register for the next level of the class this semester... oh well. I might take a class at Instituto Cervantes... so I don't lose everything. But it was fun, to be in a class, you know?

3. Crafts: I made some crafts, I got really into it before Christmas, and then I gave some away and it blew the air right out of my tires. But I have a box of crafting stuff and I want to get on that.

4. Work- Same old bullsh*t. Still am having a crisis because I have been working at this crappy job for almost a year... why did I go to college? Except now I am nannying too, which is actually kind of fun and awesome. So that's nice.

5. Yoga- I'm working on it... I like that it is exercise which is 1/6 lying down.

And I got internet. Well, reliable internet. So I'm on it more. So maybe I'll blog more? Although srsly, I'm still not sure what Imma write about.

"Can Fiction Ever Be Real?"

I was off the clock! I don't even need this head-trip after I am off the freaking clock!

Let me back it up a minute:
So, for all you blogspotters out there who aren't down with the times, I work at a chain bookstore. It isn't the most glamorous gig on the planet, but I get to be around books all day long, which I like, and I get a discount, which I also like. But I am clearly pretty overqualified for this job. Case in point:

I was already clocked out and on my way to the bathroom before going out to get my party on, when a customer recognized me as an employee even sans nametag. I think it is because he's a regular and he's seen me there before. He's browsing the end of fiction, and he says he just has a quick question, and since I like answering fiction-related questions because I've read a lot of fiction I can actually sometimes offer a relevant opinion. So I say, okay... what is it?

And he says, "Can fiction ever be real?"
Pause.
"What?" I ask.
"I mean, is it ever true? If it's fiction, does that always mean it isn't real... I mean, true?"

I blinked at him for a few seconds because it was simply BLOWING MY MIND. Because all of the sudden my brain is like a vortex spinning with all these flashbacks of discussion groups and papers and me sitting in the library staring at the wall thinking and my whole academic study of litearature in a humanities-driven education that continuously danced and played with and engaged and challenged and questioned the nature of truth and reality in literature and art ALL THE TIME. It was like a faucet of incoherent analytical academic gobbledegook of jargon was all of the sudden turned on in my head, and I was trying to string it together into meaningful thought. Ah, there again the problem of language as a medium, constantly being the means of expression yet also a barrier to get to the actual MEANING of the thing. But that's a different problem all together.

And I heard different replies formulating in my head. What does it mean for something to be true or real? Do you mean "true" in the way that books are often somewhat based in life? Even if they aren't based in life, if our response to it is true, does that make it true? How much does context matter? Insofar as the book exists as an idea in someone's head, does that make it "real"?... and on and on and on. They came so fast they were like a giant thought pile-up in my head.

But I knew that wasn't what he was actually asking. What he wanted to know was whether or not the crime thriller/ lawyer mass-market mystery in his hand was based in this dimension, human, "real-life" Fact with a capital F. So I said:

"No. It's fiction... None of it is true. It's all fake."

But that isn't what I wanted to say. And I feel like because the words are out there, in an invisible word bubble floating through the air, somewhere the gods of art literature are throwing up their hands and lamenting the loss of a seeker of truth and meaning in fiction... so I just wanted to alleviate their dissappointment. I am still a seeker.

I just wanted to get to the party.

Uh, Didn't You See This on Facebook?

I donated my hair! No one who doesn't know this already really reads this, but I wanted to post about it because I really want to tell the world about my haircut. And maybe my blog will show up on Google somehow. Bonus! Here are some search terms that might be relevant:
hair donation
pantene beautiful lengths
free haircut
New York City salon
cute short cut for hair donation

So here's the story, of a gal named Casey, who really wanted to donate her hair and get a sweet haircut but didn't want to pay a fortune. Cause it is a recession, ya heard?

Before:



After:


I decided awhile ago I wanted to donate my hair, and decided on Pantene Beautiful Lengths as the place I wanted to donate, mainly because their length requirement is a minimum of 8 inches. I got a lotta hair cause it is thick, but it isn't super long. So this is something I could swing. I actually did some searching then, to see if I could find a place that would do free or reduced priced haircuts when you are donating. I didn't have to look too far... I found out about the Mark Garrison Salon on the Pantene blog. Hahaha! I made an appointment for a wednesday (because that is the only day it is free, every other day you pay half. Weird. Why Wednesday? Is it because it is in the middle of the week?) and went in and got a seriously awesome $200 haircut for nothing. But I tipped the stylist and the shampoo lady, so really it was less than 1/4 of the price it could have been. And now I have a sweet new 'do for the month of August. Hooray!

This is When I Get a Little Meta...

I've been going to a few different library-related networking/ job-hunting type things in the past couple of weeks, and they all really like to talk about Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, and blogging as things that are important to be proficient at, as well as how to utilize those websites when you're looking for a job. (An example of the infamous Web 2.0 people are always talking about. Turns out they really just mean the participatory internet.) However, there hasn't been a whole lot of suggestion about the kind of content to include in these online versions of yourself, other than it's just important to have one. Or several, as the case may be.

I get that with social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, you can limit your profile's privacy settings so potential employers can't see pictures of you taking tequila shots on your birthday, but your friends can. And I like the idea of LinkedIn, because that is supposed to be specifically for professional networking and recruiting, so theoretically one doesn't run into those sorts of issues. But what about Flickr, or Blogger? What kind of blog does a potential employer want to see that you have? It seems like perhaps it wouldn't necessarily be about the written content, but more about the layout, or the hyperlinking, or that it simply exists. But am I missing something? Do I need to be blogging about libraries to get a library job?

I started writing this blog because I moved to a new place (Brooklyn) and it felt like a good idea. Also to have a place to write where I feel like maybe someone is reading it... so I get some practice writing for someone other than me. But in terms of content, I thought it could just be about stuff that I'm interested in in a really immediate in-the-moment kind of way, because that's what blogging is.

I am interested in libraries, but I'm also thinking about work I could do in lots of other fields, like doing some environmental thing, or journalism, or something in the non-profit sector. Or being a scuba- dive instructor. Plus, in a more personal way, I think about fashion, media consumption, living in New York City, navigating post-grad life/ my "quarter life crisis," and a whole myriad of other crap. In the future, I can think of other things I might want to blog about, like dating, or child-rearing, or gardening, or whatever. I can wait until I work for a library, or at least am in graduate school to blog about librarianship. Also, I want to have a life and interests outside my work. But for some people nowadays, the blog can become their work (see Julie and Julia). It's the beauty of independent publication in an instant, easily consumable form. Anyone can be the next hot thing online.

But is it okay to have a blog that's kind of about everything? Or do I have to have a focus? It's the difference between the online me and the real-life me... and how much I want the professional me to be a part of the online me. Maybe it would be better to have a topic...

I don't like it when I get this meta.

Okay Fine, Elle, You Don't Suck As Much.

Elle Update from last post:

On the online comments about Elle's 'Women in Music,' playlist they deleted all the comments (including mine) being like, "Hello, where is the free music?' and had one comment that said essentially, if you are having issues with the downloads, email this dude. So I emailed the dude, and he got back to me really promptly (or his intern did) and said where you could find the info about the free music in the magazine (between pages 110 and 111 on a tear-out cardboard thingie).

Note that this tear-out was nowhere NEAR an article about music, but was smack dab in the middle of the beauty section, wedged between two pages with an article about inflammation, some crazy new derm technique. But okay, I found it! Elle wasn't lying! Yay, free music downloadS! Just pop in that ol' redeemer code and you are on your way to some slammin new tuneS.

Notice that is plural. As it was on the cover. And on the tear-out. Yet the redeem code they gave was good for one song. WTF, Elle? WTF?

Is this still false advertising? I don't know. But although I am not as supremely pissed as I was before, I still think it is kind of sneaky and lame. I hate it when people are sneaky and lame!

So to recap:
Elle: 1,000,000 extra magazines sold. CaseyA: 1 free song.

Elle, you suck!

Man! I am so pissed! Maybe part of this is that I stayed up too late watching my new My So-Called Life dvd box set special features disc (you know you are jealous, and it's okay... you should be), so I am grumpy. Perhaps this outrage will fade by the morning... but I don't think so. This is straight up false advertising! Or I am a moron... but again, I don't think so.

This July issue of Nylon and Elle have a few things in common. They are both "music" issues. I don't really get what this means, there's always stuff about music in both of these magazines, but I guess it just means music is the focus. AND they also both advertise, in big bold letters, "free" music/ songs right on the front cover.

"Sweet!" I think, "Free music to jam to over the summer! Yes!" (You know how much I love free music, just ask indiefeed!)

While Nylon's free music was totally easy to find and download, Elle's alleged free music is nowhere to be found! Nowhere in the magazine can I find any mention of the free music touted on the front cover. Nowhere on their website, using multiple search terms, can I find this free music. I find PLENTY of music that I have to pay for, but none that is free.

I don't know who's idea it was first, but Nylon definitely did it better, because it was actually true! Maybe an intern snuck in the word 'FREE' on the front cover as a practical joke at the last minute. They should get fired. And I should get their job (no shame, I tell you, NO SHAME). I could be a Stylista... maybe? Call me!

'Recent' Grad?

I'm going to Chicago in two weeks to see my cousin graduate from high school, which is reminding me of the last time I graduated from anything and its making me all nostalgic. This weekend, I graduated from college two years ago. Does this still make me a 'recent grad' in terms of applying for unpaid internships? I think it should, especially since one year of that two was spent out of the country so it's like it doesn't count as a year. It's like I graduated last year. And that is definitely 'recent,' as far as I'm concerned.

This ruminating has sprung from seeing an ad on Craigslist for interns at Nerve.com. There's a fair amount of material to submit in order to apply (like, more than a resume and a cover letter) and because I'd never been to the website, I went over to check it out, to see if it would be worth the extra work to apply considering I still think I'd really rather work in a library. And then I saw that one of the current interns is definitely someone I scoped out (but can't remember if I messaged) on OKCupid... awks!

Maybe this is just me, but I think I could just as easily apply for an unpaid internship somewhere that I don't know whether I've already been trolling for a dude that works there. As opposed to someplace where I know that I have.

Twitter Tweeting

I read this article in the NYTimes today, and it's about all the neat things you can do on Twitter after you get situated, which apparently takes about a day. Oprah is now on Twitter, and did it on her show, which means housewives across america are tweeting away, letting everyone know what kinds of muffins they are making or the awesome new cleaner they just discovered that clears away tough grease (because in my world, housewives are still just like they were in the 50s). My brother has been on Twitter for ages now, and his computer makes these chriping noises when he gets tweets or whatever they're called, and he has told me more than once how awesome it is.

After reading this article, then reading about Twitter on Wikipedia (which is now my knee-jerk response to learning about things I don't know about— not sure if that's the best tactic actually, but there you are) and then reading what Twitter has to say about itself... I gotta say I still don't get it.

I know that it says the reason it exists is to tell people what you're doing. Twitter itself also insists that it isn't an overload of information, because you can pay as much or as little attention to people's twitterings as you like. But I still am not convinced that I need ANOTHER way of keeping track of people. Maybe I am being a little bit of a techno-phobe. Or I just feel that instant communication via cellphones, texting, emailing, blogging, facebook-ing, flikring, etc. is pretty much enough for me.

I think I'll wait until they make a computer chip implanted into my brain where I can communicate telepathically with all my friends and family instantly. Sound like anyone you know?


RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!