U.S. Rule Limits Emergency Care for Immigrants, New York Times, September 22, 2007
Whatever happened to "First, do no harm"?
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Disgusting
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
On Really Romantic Evenings of Self, I Go Salsa Dancing with My Confusion
I've lucid dreamed ever since I was a kid, but I was never aware that it was called that until my freshman year at Penn, when I saw Waking Life for a class I took. It instantly put me into an existential crisis (Am I dreaming or am I just dead?) that I quickly got over when someone told me that, while you could probably control actions in your lucid dreams, you couldn't control physical sensation, and then proceeded to pinch me. Hard.
Anyway, five years later (which makes it six years since the movie came out), it seems that people are finally becoming aware of lucid dreaming.
This is where I insert a variation on what I find I'll often say about bands: "Dude! I was having lucid dreams ages ago, way before it got popular!"
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
A Package, Finally
Dear Town Shop:
In the grand scheme of things, $200 isn't a lot of money. However, $200 is a lot to spend on two bras. Because the Good Lord "blessed" me with the inability to buy 'em at Victoria's Secret, I have to make the occasional pilgrimage to the Upper West Side of Manhattan and buy for eighty or ninety bucks what someone smaller than me can easily buy for twenty.
On July 11, I spent nearly two hours trying on bras at your establishment, with the assistance of three very aggressive women who spent a good deal of time poking my breasts and asking them (not me) why they were lopsided, then yelling down the hall that they needed a different size because yet another bra didn't fit me. Needless to say, this was a fun experience.
Finally, finally, I found three bras that worked. Well, I found one bra that worked. And two bras that would work after the back and/or straps were taken up by the able seamstresses employed at the store. Someone asked me if I could come pick them up the next weekend. "No," I replied, "I live in Philadelphia."
"No problem, we'll mail them to you, free of charge."
I walked to the register and paid: $250 for three bras and a pair of panties that matched the only one I was able to take home that day. I filled out an address card and the gentleman behind the counter said that they'd be mailing me the bras the following week. I left $200 worth of merchandise behind me and headed out to meet my boyfriend, who'd been patiently(-ish) waiting for me at the bookstore across the street.
Ten days later and still braless, I called you and was informed that my bras had been shipped on July 17, so I'd have them any day.
I waited. And I waited some more. And finally, yesterday, thirty days after the initial purchase, my bras arrived. You'd sent them in a lightly-padded envelope via regular first-class mail: no insurance, no tracking number, no delivery confirmation. Two hundred bucks and two hours of my life that you really didn't seem to care about getting to me.
I think I need to find a bra store in Philadelphia...
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Three Dreams
I'm dreaming a lot, lately. Usually when I'm at the boy's, because I suspect I'm a lighter sleeper over there. But last night, alone and in my own bed, I had a series of quite bizarre dreams...
One
My parents are recently divorced, but the whole family is still together a lot. My dad and sister, Lindsay, have been acting strangely, and my mother notices that Lindsay has started wearing a ring that goes across both her ring and middle fingers on her left hand. After some investigation, we discover that my father divorced my mother to marry my sister. Lovely, right? (I blame this one on seeing a version of Antigone last night. The Greek incest must have been very much on my mind. Shudder.)
Two
I'm working for someone who may be, but is at least very much like, Jeff Lewis. We're about to have a big open house when the boss decides that it's full of bad energy and must be cleansed. So as people start to arrive at the open house, it becomes my job to keep them clear of the living room, where there are eight naked "monks" of some denomination or other spooning on the couch while they chant the spirits away. (I think I watch too much Bravo.)
Three
Sex and the City and I must be Samantha because she's the only one I don't see, but I know I'm participating in the events of the dream. We run into Charlotte's bedroom and rouse her from her sleep because we need her to help us "at work." She complains that she's supposed to be out of town, and if everyone thinks she's still on vacation, why does she have to get out of bed. We tell her that if she was going to get home early from her honeymoon, the least she could do is help us out. Then it turns out that work is nothing more than standing around in a hotel lobby looking fabulous and talking about our shoes.
Awesome, right? Sometimes, I wonder what's going on with my head...
Monday, July 30, 2007
That Is So L.A.
Hollywood Pigeons to Be Put on the Pill, Wired, July 30, 2007
It's not a quick fix, but it's a novel idea.
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
I Love Drunk People
This may well be a regular feature!
First drunken frat boy: "Nah, man, I'm asexual."
Second drunken frat boy: "You have sex with yourself?"
Friday, July 20, 2007
In Defense of Comedy
This is a really wonderful, albeit really long, essay about why "great" novels simply aren't funny anymore. I recommend it to any and all writers.
'Divine Comedy' by Julian Gough, Prospect Magazine, May 2007
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Yeah, I'm Back... Ish
I've decided I really need to not neglect Jilletante, especially after telling folks at BlogPhiladelphia that it existed. So I'm going to try my damndest for more regular updates. Look! There's one below! (And hopefully, one more later today about the weird-ass dream I had.)
"They Gave the Stickiness Away"
Sometimes, my state kind of embarrasses me.
Abstinence Education Faces an Uncertain Future, New York Times, July 18, 2007
Do I think teens should be encouraged to be abstinent? Yes. However, I also think they should be educated and able to make informed decisions. Telling a teen that sex is evil or unholy outside of the marriage isn't the way to promote abstinence. It's just the way to make sure that when they do eventually have sex, they're exposing themselves to pain, social diseases, pregnancy, and a lot of emotional baggage. These are the same people who grow up thinking that you can't get AIDS if you're straight and white. Yeah. Fucking. Right.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
Ah, Technology!
This column cracked me up.
'omg my mom joined facebook!!' New York Times, June 7, 2007
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