:)

i have a second interview set up with the shc for tuesday, and i'm really hoping i dont blow it.

also, a few nights ago i tried a new clam chowder recipe. i wasnt very impressed with the taste...kind of bland. i doubt that this was any fault of my own, so i've cut my losses and deemed it a bad recipe.

this old house

i know that many of you have been waiting for pictures of my new dwelling...and i've been slow moving because, well, there's not much to see. the inside still doesnt look quite to my satisfaction, so today you're just getting outside pictures.

most of the yards on my street are well taken care of. they have flowers, plants, arent overgrown or weedy. and then there's my house:

while i cant be sure that an official vote has been taken, this yard surely grabs the 'ugliest on the block' award. there's barely a house to be seen past the overgrowth of vines, weeds, and mystery plants. you can hardly see it, but to the right of the house, there's another tree. it's covered in vines, so it blends in with everything else. dont give yourself a headache trying to find it; believe me, its there. the sad thing is that the front yard was worse than this before we moved in. the landlord was kind enough to do some minimal bushwacking (the dead branches are still on the lawn). so the question i've been faced with since moving in is "what, if anything, should i do?". should i bother doing yard work for a rental property? surely i cant make the landlord do it....i can imagine that conversation.... "i'm sorry, my yard isnt pretty enough. please do something or i'll contact the housing authority."

i think what really gets to me is that this yard has so much potential, and could look very nice with a little work. even if the existing plants were scaled back a bit, it would look far superior. i vaguely recall my landlord saying that if we wanted to do yard work, they could supply tools...so i might take them up on that while i still have time and good weather. if anyone has any suggestions for what could be done, i'm open to ideas...

wow...

i'm putting together a classical mix cd for a friend of mine, so i was looking for recordings of rostropovich playing the dvorak cello concerto in b minor. members of my family may remember joe's fascination with a particular recording rostropovich did, and how he'd play that record for just about anyone who'd listen. in my search i found a video on youtube of one of his performances, and it was simply amazing to watch. he made it seem so...effortless. whenever i listend to the piece, i imagined the cellist in a flailing struggling to produce every sound. but rostropovich looks so calm, and his movements are so subtle. if you have some time, watch the video. unfortunately its in two parts, so you have to click on part 2 when the first part ends.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxYbF-Yzdf0

what to do

in my unpacking, i've uncovered a few gems in my possession. one example is a present i got from m&m while they were living in beirut; a bright yellow t-shirt with the hezbollah logo.

i've never been bold enough to wear it in public. one reason is because it shrank in the wash, in all the wrong places. the torso shrank up and the neck is so small i can barely fit my head through. but did the sleeves shrink? well of course not...

but more important than its ill fit is the fact that there are people who could take real offense to some white american wearing a politically charged article of clothing as fashion. i'd like to think that i'm a culturally sensitive person, at least more so than the average celebrity.

so what do i do with a t-shirt that cant be used for its intended purpose? luckily i found a solution. i was checking out a sale at urbanoutfitters.com and noticed that they sell t-shirt frames. what a novel idea... now i can enjoy my t-shirt in the privacy of my home without offending anyone.

huzzah!

i have an interview on monday.

everybody's gonna be happy...

i just applied for 3 jobs through the university...at the student health center, counselling services, and univeristy concerts. i'm the most interested in the student health center job, since it pays the most and is pretty similar to what i was doing at the clinic. i'll be sure to keep everyone updated on interviews and such. keep your fingers crossed.

no man is an island

as i am still unemployed, i have a lot of time on my hands. i dont have cable anymore (parley and i decided that was a time-waster), but i've found that i've filled that void with dvd's and downloading tv shows. i've watched a ton of lost lately. i tore through season 2 (which i own on dvd), watched all the available season 3 episodes at abc.com (whoever thought of that idea was a genius), and started watching my freshly downloaded remaining season 3 epi's today. season 1 is still downloading, which i await in much anticipation. i've heard that there's a really big clue as to what's going on in the pilot episode itself, and i'm eager to watch it a few times to see if anything pops out at me.

*side note for concerned parties: i'm not just sitting on my butt watching stuff all day. most of the time i'm doing something else, like folding laundary or job searching, in addition. it's nice to have something on in the background.

i spent a fair amount of time the other day exploring some of the many lost-devoted message boards, reading theories about what it all means and how thing will end up. i have to say that it seems as thought there are people who have even more time on their hands than i do. some of them are fairly complex, delving into physics, time travel, mirror worlds.... you can read my favorite theory here. i doubt that it's correct answer (after all, i dont think the average lost viewer is that intelligent) but it sure was an interesting read.

"but existing is basically all i do!"

i've been told that my lack of blogging has led people to believe that there's some cause for worry. this update is to dispell any of that. i'm doing just fine.

more updates to follow.