The Original (And Arguably Better) Portlandia

Okay, one last thing that needs to go on here for today.  Last night, I found myself up really late talking to Holly on the phone.  I loved catching up with her and it was so awesome to laugh with someone about the past and decide not to think of the future (because there's no point speculating on things we don't know about).  After our conversation, my favorite Seattle TV show happened to come on air, Almost Live.  I got really excited about it, and ended up staying up until the last second of the episodes had aired for the night.  It aired during the nineties as a sketch comedy show starring some hilarious comedians (including Bill Nye - when the "Science Guy" was still a joke).  Last night, they aired the sketch "The LAST Northwesterner"  Unfortunately for me, they don't let you embed their videos, but here's a link to the funniest sketch of the night ... The LAST Northwesterner.

Summer has finally begun in Seattle!

The last few days around here have been gorgeous! I have been housesitting in West Seattle, and really enjoying the view from the deck which has a great view of the Sound, and is within close proximity of everything I grew up around - the beach, the junction, and my friends! My week of vacation is almost over, and next week I return to work only to leave again in a few weeks to go to Wisconsin! I am really excited, it's going to feel so good to head back there (even if I've only been gone for two months).

Not that what I find interesting is particularly unique, or fabulous - but posting it here helps me keep track of things that I would want someone to show me, or things that I should remember for the future. So, as per usual - here's a few links that are very different in their content, but equally fascinating.

Here is a video starring and written by Emma Koenig in which she explains dating in your twenties. Or maybe that's not what she really explains, but watch anyway - it's good for a nice laugh.

"Leaving Abuse Behind" is a photo essay by Donna Ferreto featured in the New York Times Magazine this week. I think I might have put some of her photographs on this blog already, but it's always good to see something so powerful twice, so I figured that there was no harm in sharing it again. These photographs are compelling, devastating, beautiful, and really speak to the experiences of many women who survive partner abuse during their lifetimes. Somewhere in the last few days, I read that more women die annually from partner abuse than service people who die in Afghanistan or Iraq. Now, I know it's pointless to compare death and violence to different death and violence, but perhaps this figure I read casually somewhere reflects the fact that the issues of partner violence and domestic abuse are not discussed openly in American society. End the silence, stop the violence!

Last on my list of things to talk about today is a quote that I read today in the Gloria Steinem book, "Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions." A collection of beautifully written essays by Steinem herself makes you cry, laugh and realize the ways in which male patriarchy (and privilege and inequality) really affect all people. Below is an excerpt from the essay she writes about writer Alice Walker:

It doesn't matter if you love the people society says you shouldn't love, or do or don't have children with more than one of them. It doesn't matter if you have money, go to church, or obey the law. What matters is that you are not cruel or wasteful, that you don't keep the truth from those who need it, suppress someone's will or talent, take more than you need from nature, or fail to use your own talent and will.It's an organic morality of dignity, autonomy, nurturing and balance. What also matters is the acknowledgment that everybody, no matter how mean or passive they may seem on the outside, has redemptive possibilities on the inside.

I hope everyone (the three people that read this) is enjoying the summer heat where ever they may be, and that everyone is fortunate enough to enjoy my new favorite drink - a Cucumber Jalapeno margarita from the Matador in the Junction.

xoxo

berts

Jam of the Day - "Let Me Know" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

"How I Feel About Love"

For the past two years, especially when at school I have been keeping a journal in which everyone was allowed to write. People drew pictures, wrote poems (haikus, specifically), and assessments of celebration from a friend's 21st birthday to bid day. Some of my favorite things that have been written over the years have been nicknames for friends, how we feel about people we don't always jive with, and reactions to intense feelings - especially after large events, like the Packers winning the Super Bowl.

Something that often got written about was love - mostly love between sorority sisters and supremely close friends. But every now and again, the topic of the good ol' romantic love comes up. Now, being the cynical people who wrote in my journal, love wasn't always held up in the best light. Like the beginning of the Chuck Klosterman novel Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, Lloyd Dobler (if you don't know him, google it) is the greatest man for every quirky, smart girl. Unfortunately for us, Lloyd Dobler does not exist in real life. The gap in societal expectation (see, Lloyd Dobler) and humans is pretty high. The gap goes both ways, and makes it impossible for Chuck Klosterman (and many others) to believe they are in love.

I couldn't be happier to have this journal, as it holds some of my favorite memories. Today, I found myself listening to corny, romantic music. But like always, I can't take myself seriously when listening to these songs. This prompted me to remember a lovely journal entry by a really close friend of mine where she says, "I do not believe in love. It is a fake thing that people make up in their heads because they need a reason to be with someone....being romantic is dumb because no one ever does it. Its not like the movies people." Hilarious.

In honor of the greatest journal of all time (that I've ever seen) and its quirky ideas about love, check out these three beautifully corny love songs.

Sham-A-Ling-Dong by Jesse Winchester - this is perhaps the most beautiful rendition of a love song that I have ever heard. Love it. This video comes from Elvis Costello's Canadian television show (it's true, look it up!) and makes Neko Case cry! But in reality, I don't blame her because this song is for sure tear-worthy. Don't get depressed now though, because it makes you cry because it's so beautiful.

That Teenage Feeling - Neko Case - Because the last song made her cry, here's an incredible love song from her 2006 record Fox Confessor Brings the Flood.

...and the best love song of all time, You Go To My Head - Louis Armstong and Oscar Peterson - seriously, almost no song is better.

Please Forgive Me

...for all of my grammar mistakes. And also for being curious as to why no one argues that life begins at ejaculation.

Today is Father's Day, you know what that means...

...we're gonna have a special day. Oh, good ol' Dads.

Life around these parts has been pretty good the last few weeks, just working at the daycare and trying to get my life together. I have been out of college now for a month, and I am already thinking that I should do something new. We'll see, I am looking at different grad programs but I don't know if I necessarily think that grad school is for me. No real life updates here, to report of.

The other day, during a four hour lunch break (the only one I will probably ever have), I headed over to Barnes and Nobles to see if I could pick up some nice fiction to read. As any other former college student can attest to, I haven't read almost any fiction since I left high school - which goes without saying unless you were an English major. So, with the intention of buying a novel to read (and rejecting the 50 Shades of Grey craze), I was going to search. Well, I walked out of the store with the book "Shock Doctrine" by Naomi Klein - a book about Disaster Capitalism. Someone has to have an intervention with me about reading depressing books that make me hate the Bush era that much more.

In lieu of sweet life updates (which are rare anyways), here are a few things that I have read recently which struck my fancy:

"Did Republicans Deliberately Crash the US economy?" from the Guardian, by Michael Cohen. Interesting read, especially after reading the first few chapters of Naomi Klein's book which talks a lot about how Milton Friedman's followers (see Neoliberalism and the US economy) promote chaos as being the best way to bring about change. Creepy when you really think about it, take a look!

"A Message to Girls About Religious Men That Fear You" from Huff-Po by Soraya Chemaly. Really, a rather chilling piece about how women should be inspired by their own power in light of many religious men worldwide who create policies and believe in discriminating against women, Chemaly argues it is because of our power.

...and for the last one, something actually more "fun." It's for the sociology major in all of us, "The Overthinking Person's Drinking Game" from the Thought Catalog. Hilarious.

Okay, after watching a whole season of the Louis C.K. fictionalized autobiographical t.v. show where he talks about his life after being divorced, and his two children (also his crisis to get laid), I really started thinking about Seattle in the same way. He says that getting divorced is mostly shocking because everything has changed since you were married, especially the dating scene. Bear with me, I know this analogy probably doesn't make too much sense.