Dinette Set

I just ordered this new dinette set for the new apartment in Charlottesville.


Tonight Mom and I are going to La-Z-Boy to look at sofas.

"For Whom the Bell Tolls", Word of the Day

I'm in the process of reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Hemingway, which is about the experience of an American journalist fighting with the Republic during the Spanish Civil War. I just read a passage about the POUM, which I found quite interesting since the POUM situation really inspired my thesis.

I wish you could do an LJ-cut type thing on here, but unfortunately you can't. I think only two people read this anyways right now, so whatever.

The following excerpt is from a conversation between the Russian general Karkov and Robert Jordan, the main character.

"...And Barcelona. You should see Barcelona." (Karkov)

"How is it?"

"It is all still comic opera. First it was the paradise of the crackpots and the romantic revolutionists. Now it is the paradise of the fake soldier. The soldiers who like to wear uniforms, who like to strut and swagger and wear red-and-black scarves. Who like everything about war except to fight. Valencia makes you sick and Barcelona makes you laugh."

"What about the P.O.U.M. putsch?"

"The P.O.U.M. was never serious. It was a heresy of crackpots and wild men and it was really just an infantilism. There were some honest misguided people. There was one fairly good brain and there was a little fascist money. Not much. The poor P.O.U.M. They were very silly people."

"But were many killed in the P.O.U.M. putsch?"

"Not so many as were shot afterwards or will be shot. The P.O.U.M. It is like the name. Not serious. They should have called it the M.U.M.P.S. or the M.E.A.S.L.E.S. But no. The Measles is much more dangerous. It can affect both sight and hearing. But they made one plot you know to kill me, to kill Walter, to kill Modesto, and to kill Prieto. You see how badly mixed up they were? We are not at all alike. Poor P.O.U.M. They never did kill anybody. Not at the front nor anywhere else. A few in Barcelona, yes."

"Were you there?"

"Yes. I have sent a cable describing the wickedness of that infamous organization of Trotskyite murderers and their fascist machinations all beneath contempt but, between us, it is not very serious, the P.O.U.M. Nin was their only man. We had him but he escaped from our hands."

"Where is he now?"

"In Paris. We say he is in Paris. He was a very pleasant fellow but with bad political aberrations."

"But they were in communication with the fascists, weren't they?"

"Who is not?"

Just for background information, the POUM was a truly revolutionary communist sect. When the official line came from Moscow that the Communist Party should not foment a revolution but rather should defend the Spanish Republic at all costs, the Communists did all they could to discredit the POUM. They labeled them as an underground fascist organization, outlawed them, and imprisoned or killed many POUM members. (George Orwell describes this situation vividly in Homage to Catalonia).

The Communists captured Andres Nin and assassinated him. They also left "evidence" that seemed to show that he was rescued by fascist troops. Of course, a handwritten and signed note from Stalin shows that the evidence was staged and he was indeed killed by the Communists.

To-do List

By getting rid of night/weekend minutes starting at 7PM and by dropping from 700 minutes per month to 550 minutes per month, my cell phone bill dropped $40. That's nearly $500 extra saved per year. Imagine what could be done with that money...

This is just a list for myself of things I need to do. Feel free to ignore.

1) Send in OPERS roll-over form.
2) Call ACS (1.800.835.4611) to make sure they have everything for my loans.
3) Sign and send in MPNs to Bank of America.

"The pizza-love connection"

I saw this on MSN.com and just couldn't stop laughing...

The pizza-love connection
By Riki Markowitz

Think a candlelit dinner is the best venue to suss out a date’s potential? Well, a new study claims that ordering a good ol’ pizza pie can be much more telling. “Pizza-eaters’ favorite toppings show a correlation to their behavior,” says Alan Hirsch, M.D., lead researcher and director of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. Commissioned by Domino’s Pizza, the study polled 1,000 people between the ages of 18 to 59 about their pizza-eating preferences and behavioral characteristics. Read the findings below to find out what certain toppings say about you, your date, and your future together.

If your date orders one meat topping…
People who order just pepperoni or sausage on their pie are generally irritable, prone to procrastination, and they often “forget” obligations (like that weekend getaway he or she promised to take with you in the spring).
Compatible with: others who prefer one meat topping

If your date orders multiple meat toppings…
Real meat lovers who pile on the pepperoni, sausage, and ham tend to be dramatic, seductive, sweep-you-off-your-feet extroverts who thrive as the center of attention.
Compatible with: people who prefer one meat topping

If your date orders one veggie topping…
Those who prefer one vegetable topping are empathetic, easygoing romantics.
Compatible with: everybody!

If your date orders multiple veggies…
These dates are trustworthy, loyal, humble, and avoid the spotlight. In fact, they’re so quiet and conflict-averse they tend to be taken for granted in relationships.
Compatible with: people who prefer non-traditional toppings

If your date orders non-traditional toppings…
People who prefer offbeat options like pineapple or extra onions tend to be aggressive, ambitious, and competitive. In other words: Don’t expect a mellow relationship.
Compatible with: others who prefer non-traditional toppings
From: MSN.com

But what if you're like me, and just order cheese?

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Today I can type in the title box.

Lindsey and I did, indeed, go to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at Springfield Mall's midnight showing last night. We both thought it was the best movie so far. Its main problem, though, is its editing. It is quite choppy and scenes don't transition well. You are sort of just thrown into the middle of everything, but perhaps that is intentional. I'm not sure. Otherwise, we really liked it. It was hilarious when Umbridge told Harry to tell the centaurs that she didn't mean what she said and he responded, "Sorry Professor, I must not tell lies." The people at the theater couldn't put the reels on correctly, though. During the Ministry of Magic scene, when Lucius Malfoy is talking to Harry about the prophecy, the screen split and then the audio went crazy. They shut off the movie, turned on the lights, and there was nearly a riot. After a few minutes, they managed to get it straight again, just barely managing to avoid a disaster.

Steffen texted me today asking if we liked it. I told him that we thought it was the best movie so far, and he asked if we would go again to see it with him when we go up to PA this weekend. It was funny that he asked, because Lindsey and I had said on the train that we would go again if Steffen wanted to see it.

Despite the fact that I didn't get to bed until nearly 3 AM, I'm surprisingly awake at the moment. Of course, now that I've said that, I'm sure I'll crash in about 15 minutes.

Salvy came over for dinner last night. He had meetings in Bethesda Monday, yesterday, and today, so mom brought him down for dinner. Dad made some kind of really good dinner... he said it was chicken fricasee.

I'm super hungry. I can't wait until my lunch break.

For some reason, I can't type inside the Title box. It won't let me.

My sad (yes, I admit it's sad, but I can't help it) obsession with Harry Potter continues. Tonight, Lindsey and I will be attending the midnight screening of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at Springfield Mall. I figured that if I was going to continue feeding my obsession, I might as well do so in a manner that would knock another item off my 101 list (see a midnight movie).

And yes, I'm super excited about it. I will obviously be dead at work tomorrow, because I probably won't get home until 3 AM, but I think it's a small price to pay in order to become certifiably the biggest loser on the block. At least I can admit it, even if I can't stop it.

I also ordered my new laptop for Law School today. It's only about five more weeks until I move down to Charlottesville.

Work is the same old, same old. Nothing exciting... just answering the phone and working on these annoying binders for Julie. But money is money and I rather like the size of my bank account at the moment.

We had new carpet installed in the upstairs of the house over the weekend. It is EXACTLY (no, that is not an exaggeration) the same color as the dirty carpet we used to have. No difference.

Steffen came home over the weekend and fixed the door-lock motor on my car, so now it no longer makes a loud quacking (or farting noise, depending on who hears it) when the doors lock or unlock. Thank you, Steffen.

Okay, okay, I ADMIT IT!

I have come to the realization that I love Harry Potter. Yes, as embarrassed as I am, and as much as I swore I would never read the books, I have just finished the fourth book less than a week after I started the first one. For children's books, though, they're suprisingly terrifying. If I was ten or eleven and was reading those books, I think I would be having nightmares. But fortunately for me, Lindsey loves Harry Potter, too. So like true losers, we went to Blockbuster and rented the first, second, and third movies over the weekend. We only got through the first two, though, and we'll have to wait until she gets back from Fairfax this weekend to watch the third. Then we'll have to rent the fourth and watch that one before the fifth one comes out next week.

On Saturday, Lindsey and I came downtown to go to the Folk Life Festival and visit a museum. The festival was pretty cool; I'd never been to one of them before and the representative cultures were Northern Ireland, the Mekong Delta, and Virginia. Lindsey said she had enough of Virginia from her week in Fairfax protesting Tom Davis, so we skipped that part.

After the festival, we went to the Hirshhorn Gallery. It's a contemporary art museum, and it was one I'd never been to, so I got to mark it down on my list. It's also the worst museum I think I've ever been to. Seriously, I don't understand how that stuff is art. I took a couple pictures in there that I will have to post later which I hope will unite others with me in my cause that random crap does not equal art.

For example, one "art piece" was a bunch of chairs arranged in a circle, and the piece was titled Levits. Yes, obviously that is the title I would have come up with, too. Then another one was a cement wall with a red light inside it. There was one room dedicated to some lady whose brilliant art pieces included a gigantic piece of blank drawing paper and another piece that was a gigantic sheet of blank graph paper. There was one piece of art that was nothing more than a canvas stretched into the shape of an octagon and dyed to a tan color. And you know what the title was? "Tan Octagon." But the thing that really sent me over the edge was what appeared to be a stale French baguette that had been painted steel blue. A FREAKING BAGUETTE and it's worth millions. I was so angry at that stupid museum that I wanted to punch someone in the face.

A funny thing happened there, though. I was telling Lindsey how much I thought Joan Miro's paintings were a bunch of crap, and trying to explain to her his style. I pointed out a painting that looked quite characteristic of his style and said, "If that was a Miro painting, it would be called 'Fat Penguin in Autumn' or something." And sure enough, IT WAS A MIRO PAINTING. The title, while not 'Fat Penguin in Autumn', was 'Painting (Circus Horse)'.

Yes, obviously a circus horse. You'd have to be stupid not to notice that right away. In case you couldn't tell, I think very highly of a great deal of modern art.

Sunday was the 10th anniversary of the founding of Adventure Links. So many people from '02 were there: Dave, Shelby, Dan, Scott, Mario, Spooner, Hilary, Elena, Kocher... then from '03 there was Jason Wooley, Chad... it was so great to see them all again. I felt a bit awkward around them, though, because I had been so much younger than all of them when I worked with them. Spooner came up to me and said, "So how are you enjoying the college life?" I replied, "It's over. I just graduated." She said, "Excuse me, I think I'm going to be sick." After she recovered, she said, "So what are you doing now, then?" I told her I was going to be starting law school and she said she was going to be sick again. The rest of the night she was going around to everyone and saying, "Can you believe she's going to law school? Do you remember when she was still in HIGH SCHOOL?" Audrey is going to be 8 in November, and Autumn is 5. I can't believe that it's been four and five years since I worked there. Unbelievable. But like the big idiot that I am, I forgot to bring a camera with me. I have a feeling I'll see at least some of those people again someday, though...

Tomorrow's 4th of July... day off!