nihaoevey

Sharon Olds Stuck it to Laura Bush Using Poetry, My Hero.

In 2005, First Lady Laura Bush invited Olds to the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Olds responded, declining the invitation in an open letter published in the October 10th, 2005 issue of The Nation. The letter closes,

So many Americans who had felt pride in our country now feel anguish and shame, for the current regime of blood, wounds and fire. I thought of the clean linens at your table, the shining knives and the flames of the candles, and I could not stomach it.

—Cut and pasted from Wikipedia. I read this from time to time and get a linguistic hard-on. Just thought I’d share.

Ode to The Sims

I could (and have) listened to this music for hours on end. Not only is it nostalgic, it really is beautiful. The original Sims forever, baby!

Build Mode Music 1

Build Mode Music 4—gorgeous!

Buy Mode Music 2

This buy mode music really takes me back. When I was 14, I used to spend all afternoon scouring the stock wallpapers for something good to put in my house. I never wanted to use the funeral wallpaper even though it was the only dark blue one and I needed it. Making the hard decisions—that’s what The Sims was all about.

The original didn’t have all the bells and whistles expansion packs of the later releases*, but making a good room or house was actually more satisfying when you had to get crafty. I still love my old winter themed house, my ultra-modern red and black Asian house, and my contemporary khaki colored living room with wood floors and sectional couch. If only I could see them again. I’m such a dork, but I just had to write this down. LoL.

I think a big part of the success of this game is the unyielding fascination people have with nice furniture and getting its placement juuust right. I mean, who doesn’t like going to Ikea and looking at cool furniture set-ups? If you don’t, you’re lying.

*The original game did release the following expansion packs: The Sims: Livin’ Large, The Sims: House Party, The Sims: Hot Date, The Sims: Vacation, The Sims: Unleashed, The Sims Superstar, and The Sims: Makin’ Magic.
However, this is a far cry from the 18 expansion and stuff packs (combined) released for The Sims 2, so while there were “bells and whistles” for The Sims, compared to The Sims 2, there were not (so much). Plus, did my parents ever buy me any of the expansions? Hell no.

Too Busy

Hi everyone who still maybe reads this! This week has been busy. Busier than last week. As usual I have a ton of things to catch up on this weekend. Aside from doing 3 weeks worth of laundry and cleaning the entire apartment, I desperately need to buy a new cell phone. Anyway, you don’t really care about any of that, do you? I know what you came here for: my reaction to M.J.’s untimely passing. I think the following video sums up how iconic he was to so many people.

Yo, Ding Dong man. Ding Dong, Ding Dong, yo.

R.I.P. Michael Jackson 1958-2009

The Sky (Bathroom Ceiling) is Falling (is Falling)

This is just perfect. The ceiling in my bathroom is caving in and I have no time to take care of it. If only I could hire someone to call a handyman, schedule a time for them to arrive, wait in the apartment until they arrive, stay until they finish, and clean up a little after they leave, I would. I would pay someone to do all of that for me, because I’m tethered to my chair at work and I have zero time to do all of those things. While it is a pretty big problem, it’s probably not something a typical person would stress over. For me, however, it just adds to the growing list of things I worry about periodically.

Saturday Morning

Hello Weekend!

Note: I just realized the dates on all my posts are still according to EST. I’ve since changed my time setting to Taipei time. Small shout out goes to Tumblr for making the changes retroactive. Thanks!

Spice Girls Thoughts 2009

The first cassette tape I ever bought was a copy of Spice by Spice Girls from a Wal-mart in Orlando. I listened to it about a million times in my dad’s walkman which became my walkman. Despite the decade+ that’s passed and my various degrees of embarassment, dislike, and apathy towards the Spice Girls over the years, listening to this album now I can’t help but feel a place in my heart for these songs. I literally haven’t heard this since I stopped being crazy about them in 5th grade, yet I still know all the words and how the next parts of the song will sound. It’s clear to me now that Spice is engrained in my memory, probably forever. When I’m sixty I’ll still be able to sing along to “If U Can’t Dance” and “Last Time Lover”. Every once in a while an adult should shed their jaded, cynical shell and enjoy something for what it is.

Girl Power.