funkefreak's Xanga

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 11:05:31 GMT

flat tire, subway fires

Yesterday was just one of those days. You know, the kind that start with a flat tire and end with the subway catching on fire. Yes.

Discovered the flat tire after I got out of the car at work. Last year I had three flats. Now the last hold-out had given up the ghost. But it remains to see if Ashmont Tire can patch things up instead of charging oodles of money for a new tire.

Although Evan and I got the spare on my car and I was able to drive home, my car was not up to hitting the freeway for a trek to choir practice at the Lutheran church. So I took the T, an hour long journey. Which wasn't bad because I thought I'd catch a ride home with my roommates. Except that choir practice for the Reformation service doesn't start till two weeks from now. So there were no roommates there to drive me home. I turned around to take another hour long journey home, only to discover the red line had caught on fire moments after I had left. By this point, I couldn't stand the thought of climbing on the shuttle buses with the hoards of other displaced travelers, so I called Evan, who had just finished a friendly chat with the Mormons and was free to come pick me up.

He arrived swiftly and we managed to get home, despite a car deciding to merge into our lane at the same instant we were trying to do so and nearly hitting us.

After that, the only sensible thing to do was to watch Twilight, which, being agonizingly faithful to the book, was a great source of mindless comic relief.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 22:41:46 GMT

Get your kicks on BWV 66

Easter Sunday, First Lutheran Church. We even inspired a few babies to start singing along...

Monday, March 30, 2009

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 21:46:22 GMT

dorky attire

It's been a while since I purchased any t-shirts for reasons other than because I was part of some group that needed to all look alike. But these two shirts seemed just too cute and nerdy to pass up.

I had to eat my pie before my books...

Avant garde intellectualism meets video game panache...

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Wed, 25 Mar 2009 21:23:20 GMT

spring = a lighter purse

It all started with a wish for spring. Thirty degree weather in March oppresses the soul. So I noticed a Target weekly ad highlighting a sale on rain boots. So I went to investigate. And I found a pair of black rubber boots with rainbow polka dots and side buckles. When it stops snowing and starts raining, I will be set.

I then contemplated partaking in the age old ritual of purchasing a new spring/summer dress in celebration of Easter. So I went to Marshall's. In the past, I've relied on this store to deliver fun at quality prices. But today all the racks were filled with drab black and brown polyester. I gagged at the offerings. One perky little high waisted tan number with funky beads on its scoop collar/1-inch straps caught my eye, but sadly the dress was a poser, lurking outside its actual size range. And no matter how many times the hanger declared "medium," the dress stubbornly stayed extra-small. So we parted ways.

This left only Old Navy in the shopping mall. (Unless I was going to get super creative and craft something out of duct tape from Home Depot.) Normally I avoid shopping at Old Navy because they use wire hangers for design models. So it was with some trepidation that I approached.

Flashy colors, at least, invited me inside. As well as promises of sale items and clearance. But sadly, the dresses had all been picked over, leaving only remnants in extra-ness, both small and large. In one corner, however, a robust sale of skirts still had several items remaining. I snagged a robin's egg blue. Some small success at last. I will still try to find a real dress, but in the meantime, I have a piece of sky to keep me cheerful till spring.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:25:06 GMT

every town has its ups and downs

Life in the city. Love it or hate it, it's intense. In the past month, I've experienced a bit of it all:

Downs:
My car was broken into, I was stalked and I witnessed a house go up in flames as I waited for my bus. The last event happened today. My coat still smells faintly of smoke.

Ups:
I saw Hilary Hahn in concert, attended a Boston Opera Underground gig, and enjoyed some Billy Joel in Movin' Out. The last event happened today. The tunes still run through my head.

Friday, March 13, 2009

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:56:47 GMT

craftiness

At a recent baby shower, I kept samples of all the wrapping paper and then used it to decoupage a wooden picture frame. The sides are lined with yarn. I was pleased with the results:

A friend also introduced me to CRAFT!, which is like the Martha Stewart 'zine for hipsters. I so want to make the beer bottle cozy...

Or the hat made out of melted Target bags...

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:59:05 GMT

so hott right now...

Only 2 more weeks and 12 hundred unanswered questions till the finale...

stompin'

Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:34:48 GMT

Thanks to my newly acquired gym membership (for $10 a month!!), I've started attending a stomp class. Well, it promises to be part stomp, part hip hop, part latin, part belly dancing, part ballet. But so far, we've just made it to hip hop and stomp.

The class is energetic and fun. But I realize that hip hop is maxing out my flexibility skills, especially when it comes to isolated shoulder rolls. And stomp is maxing out my coordination skills. A stomp routine reminds me of a good Bach fugue. One little misstep and you are toast. If, through lack of attention, one little hand move goes unclapped, then my foot refuses to stomp, my legs forget to swivel and my body ends up a floppy tangle of rebellious limbs.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 13:08:38 GMT

i dreamed last night i was on a boat to heaven

Over the weekend, I played host to a couple of AmeriCorps interns who were in town to receive their pre-service orientation and training in our Boston office. They were from Denver/Woodland Park, so we had some good times "talking Colorado." Wednesday morning they had an early flight back to the Mountain time zone, so I dutifully rolled out of bed at 5am to drop them at the T. Then I gratefully rolled back into bed and slept lightly till my alarm went off for a second time 2 hours later. Not having had enough time to run through an entire sleep cycle, I awoke to the sensation that I had experienced several strange dreams. One of which went like this...

...a dream in which I realized I was dreaming, and trying to convince my sister that we could have a good time because I was dreaming. "Look! I can fly! There's Harvard below, let's swoop down over it, through the narrow streets and stone buildings (Note: this university actually resembled Oxford more than Harvard, but we shall forgive my subconscious for its geographical inaccuracy)." Of course my practical sister reminded me "Sarah, you *do* realize this is just a dream, right?" But I persuaded her to swoop and whoosh with me for a good while over some pretty exciting landscapes. Finally, she stops and says "Sarah, how much longer do I need to be in your dream? I have things I need to do."

Well, so much for making the most of momentary weightlessness. Perhaps the moral of the story is that no one can enjoy a dream half so much as the dreamer.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 12:22:42 GMT

on editing

I should be an editor. Perhaps this conclusion is based on the great joy I derive from corralling errant commas. As long as they are other people's marks of punctuation, I spare no rod. But I also realize that when it comes time to put my own writing on the editing block, paternal instincts take over. "There, there," I smile indulgently, "Words will be words." And I pat my sentences on the head and send them on their rambunctious way.