February 2011
The Road goes ever on and on Down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the Road has gone, And I must follow, if I can, Pursuing it with eager feet, Until it joins some other way Where many paths and errands meet. And whither then? I cannot say.
It is to my eternal consternation that I cannot...
Writing, I have learned, never happens at the whim of the writer — or at least good writing. Good writing comes in two forms, one from the endless placement of letter after letter when the writer is convinced it’s drivel he’s writing (it’s often not), and the other the restless, impossible outpouring of words that only strikes when he nears the completion of something...
EMILY's List: An open letter to the GOP →
Dear Speaker Boehner, Leader Cantor, and the Republican House Caucus:
What are your priorities? I ask because, while you have talked about an economic mandate from the voters, I see instead a dangerous anti-woman agenda at work. Just look at H.R. 3. This bill includes an attempt to redefine rape, causing unspeakable harm to the one in six among us who are victims of sexual assault.
Last...
January 2011
“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”
– The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (via fuckyeahliteraryquotes)
As Gatsby always said, “I wish green lights didn’t give me seizures.”
liltinysoprano asked: DICKS. Also, there are no apostrophes in your ask page title, which I'm sure will bother you now that you know.
White People Problems, the Movie
I saw It’s Kind of a Funny Story on campus this evening. It’s actually the first on campus movie I’ve gone to seen this school year. The university is renovating the main hall where movies are screened, and anyway, since I live off-campus, I have to pony up the $2 to go. I pay for parking every day; singles to me are more precious than rubies. (This aside was pointless, I hope...
On the Strageness (Or Lack Thereof) of Meeting...
I met Anna this weekend. She was auditioning at the University of Michigan’s graduate program for vocal performance, and since I lived up here within spitting distance (ish) of Ann Arbor, I offered to house her and drive her over there. She’s not my longest Internet-exclusive friendship, but very nearly. We’ve known each other since January 2004, so ours was a longstanding...
WatchI could play with this thing for hours.
tfln, Internet Edition
“Binge drinking with jared. Maybe you’re jealoslus?” “Jealolsus, how Internet of you.” “Boo you whore. Dude wat?!” (Courtesy of Fran)
“Can’t stop, won’t stop” (repeated five times by Jared, once by Fran)
“Fuck the party out of the night!” “HOLY FUCLK WE ARE DUNK IN KAZOO YOU SHOULD BE HERE”
...
This weekend has been very Internet.
That’s right, it’s a verb!
ETA: Soberly, in the morning, I realize that “Internet” is in fact an adjective, not a verb. I am shamed and will commit hara-kiri when I find a weapon that’s sufficiently sharp.
Hello, my name is Ryan, and I'm a lesgislative*...
*state
1 tag
*sigh*
Reading a news article today, Teach for America had 46,000 applicants in 2010, for 4,400 open slots.
Staggering odds of getting into that program. Staggering odds of getting my book published.
Staggering odds of figuring out what I want to do in life.
Excelsior!
Dylan: Oh, what what, bitch!
Me: ....?
Dylan: Oh, sorry. I'm talking to my homework.
aravenlikeawritingdesk:
every time I read Harry Potter they’re all like,
‘ugh, exams. ugh, assignments. ugh, homework.’
bitch if I went to Hogwarts I’d be like
LA DI DA SEVEN FEET OF PARCHMENT ON GOBLIN ACNE EVERYTHING IS BEAUTIFUL AND NOTHING HURTS I AM SO HAPPY WRITING THAT ESSAY, OH WE HAVE AN EXAM AWESOME LETS GO DO MAGIC.
Someone finally needed to tell those swotty Brits...
Reblog if you have met someone online that you...
liltinysoprano:
Guess what…this doesn’t have to be me! Because I’m going to Michigan tomorrow! :D
Tumblr, Facebook, and the Internet in general are going to explode tomorrow.
WatchWell, that was lovely, and a poignant reminder why I love the north.
A Sigh of Relief
The cancer was melanoma.
Melanoma in dogs isn’t like melanoma in people. It’s very treatable, it has a harder time spreading, and it’s very rarely fatal.
I feel like a thousand pound weight has been lifted off my neck.
A Terrifying Swooping Sensation
When your mother says to you on the phone, “Your dad needs to tell you something about the dog,” you know it’s not going to be good.
You sit there, gripping the edge of your desk, willing yourself to be brave for whatever petrifying news on the other end of the line will be. This is your dog, after all, your constant and unfaltering companion. Yes, he can be annoying some days,...
1 tag
Had my interview today.
It was my first time ever physically being in a governmental office building. I mean, I’ve been to the Michigan Capitol before, but on a tour in fourth grade. The only thing that sticks out in my mind from that visit was laying on the floor beneath the rotunda to see the frescoes on the ceiling.
This time I went into the actual House Office Building, a block away from the Capitol. I felt...
3 tags
Anytime I hear someone say "seafaring" I want to...
“It’s pronounced seafear.”
“In many ways, then, writing is a task for the neurotic and moronic; the writer...”
– Why Writers are Miserable, and Often Cowardly
If you didn’t have enough going on in your life today, read this!
Thank God I write children’s books and don’t take myself seriously.
Things I Learned Today:
I do not know how to put on a scarf
I have an interview with a state Democratic Representative
I still can’t figure out how to put on a scarf
Dear Tumblr
oatmeal:
If you’re going to go down, you might as well blame it on an imaginary animal like Twitter did with their infamous Fail Whale. I’ve taken the liberty of creating this animal for you:
Please use it.
Please oh please.
-The Oatmeal
“It is indeed sometimes the case that with the keenest self-examination we find...”
– One goddamn sentence, 126 words long filled with enough different clauses to make this Constitutional nerd’s head spin.
In short, fuck you, Kant.
Arguments Against Going to Class
It is very cold outside.
There is a lot of snow.
I do not care for the class (“Beyond Liberal Democracy? New Directions in Political Theory”)
I do not care for the professor
I did not do the reading (a 60-page slog through a poorly-translated Immanuel Kant)
I will be on Tumblr in class anyway
I have a book I want to read
Did I mention how cold...
Tryna' Write
Since August of 2008 I have been working on goofy pirate stories.
I’m trying to write something else write now. Not necessarily any less goofy, just something unrelated to pirates. I am hopeful that my recent revisions on my goofy pirate story will prove fruitful. I am hopeful that by the end of this year I will, at the very least, have a literary agent.
Which also means that the next five...
Got a letter in the mail notifying me that I'm...
I have been geeking out ever since, even though this is in no way an important thing.
But I’m a card carrying member of a political party now. You guys, I’ve finally become part of the Establishment!
2 tags
Awkward Things About Japan
Japan, as a nation, is remarkably stupid about some things. One of the most jarring things for me to encounter in any Japanese media is how they approach race relations. On the one hand, this is completely understandable; Japan is an isolated island nation that’s rather homogeneous. They’re just not a “melting pot” like America tries to be. (Come on, this is a nation that...
“…So raise a glass to turnings of the season
And watch it as it arcs towards the...”
– The Decemberists Don’t Carry it All (via mspeggster)
Crash and burn.
Have you ever seen a meteorite? It’s got nothing on me, baby.