My Li'l Bro

It was a rite of passage. The atmosphere was tense as, surrounded by his closest friends and many relatives, Li'l Bro slit open the envelope. He was nearly shaking with the anticipation of it all. Guesses had been made, all that remained to reveal his fate was to read the second line of that important letter.Dear Steven,

Blah blah blah blah, blahbitty blah blah blabo. Bloh blah blub, blaihb blah blah, blah blah Bloub blah blat blad blaith blah blah blahblahblah. Blah Blah Philadelphia, Pennsylvania mission. blah blah bolahb June 3rd, 2009.
HUZZAH!!! And who even cares what the rest of the letter says?

Congratulations, Steven!I'll miss you like crazy, especially since you're one of my closest friends. I never thought we'd be this close - when we were kids we were always the ones fighting like cats and dogs. But we've both grown up, and you've turned into a smart, dashing, insightful, thoughtful, stylin', brown-loving, spiritual, funny, curious (oh wait, you've always been like that - we even have a book about it), interesting, handsome and downright cool little brother. I'm glad I know you and I know you'll be an amazing missionary.P.S. Does anyone remember the Strongbad email about Little Brudder? Calling Steven Li'l Bro has always reminded me of that. Not that he doesn't have all his legs or anything.

Even watched on our laptop screen...

...these movies have made me happy lately.

Everything is IlluminatedThis movie is gorgeous and thoughtful and extremely funny at times. And what's not to love about fields of sunflowers?

Penelope
I nearly died when I discovered that you could watch Penelope on Netflix instantly. Seriously, Adam was scared, I was so excited. Anyway, it's a fun watch, and the style (both set and clothes) is lovely (Note to any guys: Adam says that the only thing that made this worth it was being curled up with a girl (me). Just so you're warned).

Once

Be careful with Once - it's a British film and they don't think twice about using certain words. I watched it on a Clearplay and it was wonderful. It's real - not polished or anything - just honest and real. I love it. Oh, and the music is fantastic.

And, just for fun, North Avenue Irregulars.

Adam's family puts together movie parties every so often, involving costumes, themed foods, and applicable games, and this was the subject for the most recent one. It was made in the 70's and cracked me up. Good times.

*images from here, here, here, and here.

How to explain the economic crisis to a 5 year-old

Actually, the title just came from an article I read on the Freakonomics blog. The real point of this post is to share a documentary (ish) that I watched in one of my econ classes. Less than an hour long, it's called Inside the Meltdown and does a great job of explaining what happened as far as the economic crisis goes, and even goes so far as to blame one person's one decision. YES! We have a scapegoat! If I could embed this video, I would - I am unsure whether this inability is due to my own incompetence or just technological restrictions. Just click the link.

We're so hardcore

My good friends Kate, Scott and I need a name for our band. Any suggestions?

25 randomness

25 things

1. I have to sleep with my feet uncovered.
2. I once ended up at a Prince concert accidentally. It was bizarre and kind of scary.
3. My favorite color is a dark, chocolatey brown. Mmmm good.
4. If I could eat anything, I’d probably stock up on goldfish crackers, bagels and cream cheese, sour cream and onion potato chips, and ice cream. Oh, don’t forget chips and salsa (with cream cheese). Of course, there's always Thai food, specifically Thai Peanut Sauce.
5. I strongly dislike milk and always have. It’s just SO nasty! My parents used to try to make me drink it using various means like threats and deals, but nothing has ever stuck.
6. I don’t remember the Christmas of my Junior year. I got a concussion the next day and forgot it all.
7. I love and adore my engagement/wedding ring. Have you seen it? It’s phenomenal.
8. I have a myriad of guilty pleasures.
9. I knocked out one of my two front teeth when I was 3 (ish) and it didn’t grow back in for YEARS. I have funny lopsided smiles in all my childhood pictures.
10. I won the spelling bees at my elementary school in both 5th and 6th grades.
11. I might tag more than 25 people in this note (don’t tell).
12. I have sensitive ears – I hate it when people use vulgar or crude language, and often think things are inappropriate that are completely accepted in normal society.
13. I am terrible at giving gifts. Let’s not even go there.
14. I would love to get good at photography. My mom took phenomenal pictures of me and my 6 siblings growing up and I want my kids to have the same kinds of memories and photos. Anyone know of good classes to take?
15. I spent a summer in London and loved it. Living in London is basically my dream and I would never, ever get bored. I think I just love the isolationist feel of the city, how you can ride the subway jam-packed full of people and still feel completely alone.
16. While living in London, I found the house one of my ancestors had lived in back in 1850, fell in love with the Tate Modern (truly gorgeous art. Rodin’s The Kiss was probably my favorite) and saw a dramatization of the book Heart of Darkness involving naked people and fire. It was on the banks of the Thames in the middle of the night. Completely scandalous, but really, really thought-provoking.
17. Listening to Indie bands makes me happy, even though I don’t spend as much time trying to find new ones and going to concerts and I used to. I still love that whole genre. The melancholy and the angst just kills me.
18. I enjoy opera, and would like to consider myself a bit on the cultured end of the spectrum, but I’m a sucker for musicals. Mary Poppins in London basically changed my life and I think I could listen to Wicked for a very long time without getting bored. Don’t judge me.
19. I got married to the most amazing man in the world on Friday the 13th. Fitting, considering that we started dating on Halloween. We already have a surprisingly long list of names for our future children, some possibly inspired by classical music. And yes, we are nerds.
20. I wanted to be a lawyer for a long time after competing in Mock Trials in 8th grade.
21. I was born in Boston and still feel strong ties to the city. If I could get away with it, I’d probably claim I was from Boston.
22. I have played (at one point in my life), the violin, piano, flute, bassoon, clarinet, and baritone (the last of which is really, really heavy. Too heavy to carry through the Fourth of July parade).
23. I stalk upwards of 80 blogs on a regular basis. If you would like your blog graced by my presence, just drop me a line!
24. I have never been in an accident, gotten a ticket (that wasn’t for expired registration), or broken a bone. I have had stitches a whole bunch of times, though.
25. Secretly, I want to be famous. I’m not sure if it’s because I’d like to be able to help people with that fame or if I’m just vain and want to be remembered, but I’d like to do something that earns recognition. Like discover a physics principle (unlikely at this point).
26 (as a bonus for the blog). I am a complete and total klutz. Adam just laughs.

Funny and True (Double-whammy!)

Everyone should check out a new, up-and-coming blog that has me laughing. There's not a person on this planet (with any kind of social skills to speak of) who hasn't had those bad dating experiences. Sometimes they're miserable, sometimes they're awkward, and sometimes things are just too funny. At that point, you pass the ice cream around and laugh about it with your friends.

So, without further ado, passtheicecream.blogspot.com
Send in your own stories! If the keeper of the blog gets enough material, she'll continue posting daily! Huzzah!

*image from glamour.com

One year closer to the grave

I don't know what it is about today, but all sorts of people have birthdays.

So, Happy Birthday, Salutations, Many Happy Returns, etcs, to:

• My wonderful, thoughtful, cool, quirky, and good-looking brother, Clark. He'll always be Superman to me.
• Hilary, the first of our group of friends to brave the marriage world (she gave the rest of us courage), who is now the cutest pregnant person I know.
• Teresa, my oldest coworker (unless you count the full-timers, and who does? And by oldest, I mean "has been my coworker for the longest") who has made the last 4 years fun, random, and full of craziness.

I love you all!

I'd rather be a motley gaggle

What on earth does motley even mean? The word is inseparable from crew, and I have no idea what it means on its own. Such a great word.