extensible markup

And the second we got up from the table he was walking away with one hand and text messaging her with the other.

Waaaait a second, Hilary reflected: there is no text messaging in this story, which had been retold so many times that Hilary's mind had started automatically updating the software.

homesick.

Location: "God loves the blues" billboard at St. James (nine and woodward).

Theme of fashion: Fly girl from early nineties music video

{fair aisle legwarmers;
short pleated skirt;
candy necklace
and blue hoodie (tres fuzzy!)}.

Current Affirmations:
An inside-out hoodie does not "pull everything together".

poem

oh my god, why am I dressed in this manner?

um, no.

So what I am going to do is: said Hilary quickly, is print off these transparencies, then installaphpserveronthemacsinthe9thfloorlab and then sit down and have my coffee. Is that cool with you?

That's fine, said pseudonymous technical support. Except the part about the php server.

office hours

preppie (warning: nauseatingly self-congratulatory)

This week I used my Friday office hours to prep for next Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings like the fictional reformed worker in books about productivity.

For some time, now:

"The part of me that cares has been worn out", I thought, kneeing a laundry basket up into the car.

current affirmations

I have reached a point of life where it is time to be less omniscient about Michigan geography.

and what was it

about the blank white wall that made Hilary stop, her scarf intelligently streaming down the alley? The maze is hard to solve. Tears and snot froze on her cuff.

...

The door slammed on her boucle scarf and Hilary was shut into the wide open afternoon.

my outfit

Theme of fashion: sugar plum fairy

Point of fashion: fairy skirt

Accented with: Oversize hoodie with paint splotches (for contrast)

Shoes: lace-up ankle boots

giant props to Boston Legal

for the "autistic lawyer" episode that aired last night (Tuesday, January 17).

Onscreen, my people have finally evolved out of their pyjamas.

narrow streets

My parents' neighborhood is so monocultural I feel like I'm living in fucking japan.

current stats

Mode of living: urban exile
Coordinates: Lochaven and Greer
Traffic violation: pro left
Cost of ticket: 35 dollars

Cultural differences

Detroit
Policeman: "By the way, your license is suspended for a unpaid ticket. You might want to take care of that or whatever. Because some cop with too much time on their hands might decide to arrest you and impound your car".

West Bloomfield
Policeman: "Were you aware that your license is suspended?"
Hilary: "Oh. Ok. Thanks for letting me know".
Policeman: "Because--"
Hilary: "I know. Some cop with too much time on their hands might decide to arrest me and impound my car".
Policeman: "Are you mouthing off to me"?

Two days later....
Eventual cost of ticket+license reinstatement+impound: 644.40

and suddenly I have nothing

to write about. Maybe I'll post a .wav file of the coffee percolating in isolation.

nothing gorgeous happens

here

....

Hilary isn't adjusting to suburban life quite as we had hoped.

3. Reinstated my borrowing priveledges at Kresge-Purdy. Yay!

current affirmations

I will not cite the four noble truths as evidence during an argument with my parents.

task list

What I've accomplished so far today:

1. Started new parking colony in Rakham
2. Broadcasted coffee stain on overhead projector:
"Furthermore, essays do not occur in nature. They were invented at a point in time by a specific guy named Montaigne".

...

To me, dharma means not getting assassinated.

my french fries at the cafe tasted like cold iron bars.

walking to dinner

My office burst into the wide open alley. When we walked by the ACLU building Austin hollaed and clapped, and the shadows cast by green desk lamps bent to peer down.

National Delurking Week:

You know what to do. Let the healing begin.

office meditation

Zen practices that you can do at work:

1. Washing transparencies
2. Arranging a paperclip into various postures: the TA", the "overhead projector" and the "student sleeping on desk"
3. Office hours : so empty that you can hear a coffee stain seep through the freshly printed handouts.

the weather

reminds me of a day that made me so angry, I stormed outside and assaulted the inside of my car with a vaccuum.

Natural selection

Notice that the suburbs are arranged to necessitate, even promote, drunk driving.

Idea for Logo Hoodie:

"Comp. people are cool for three reasons".

me=loser

I looked at the sign that said "Daily workouts: ten dollars" and thought "you've got to be kidding me". Then I ate a bear claw.