academic rewards

I'm having one of those moments where I feel good to be pursuing my Master's degree ... besides the feeling of getting accolades from a professor, an A on a paper/exam, but a connection that maybe the research or homework I'm doing actually means something. Researching my paper on Bangladesh and terrorism I came upon an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal, "Islamist vs. Democracy"; although I didn't pay any attention to the author until I started typing up the citation and I recognized her as someone from UVA ... someone I had even shared a meal with or two. It's like the time I realized the guy living in my condo was also with me at Camp David--receiving kudos from my old college professor and professional career advisor, Bill Quandt, and that my old client's son was someone I travelled around Paris with one summer, going to jazz shows and checking out the caberets along with other Wahoo-ligans. I suppose it's more a people connection ... who knows if this paper I'm doing will see anyone else's eyes except for my professor's ... but I have a feeling maybe if I contact Ms. Hossein she might have some interesting opinions about it.

why GWU sucks part.2

If you are owed a refund:

1) to get that money GWU makes you fill out a ton of paperwork (not including the FAFSA and whatever financial aid forms you have to fill out anyway

2) their antiquated system has not discovered Direct Depost ... a FinAid counselor said to me: "Yeah, we've had mixed up checks, stuff go missing ..." Do you want to lose a couple thousand dollars of federal money you might possibly need to pay your rent, books, and food????

3) the FinAid counselors do not know what they are doing ... they will transfer you until you eventually end up talking to the Dean of the department (okay exaggeration, I was only transferred once)

4) Beware, third party billing might mean that GWU will steal loans back . . . B A S T A R D S!!! Counselors have claimed that this is true and could happen to me.

piss-a-me-off

I gave in, I saw that GWU students get discounts off Apple products, so I went to the website and thought that I was getting a $100 off then I normally would for a 4 GB (I'm getting the 6 GB). Well of course silly me should've remembered when new products come out, older products sometimes decrease in price. I should've checked Amazon.com before ordering. I still get about $30 bucks off with the discount which I guess isn't too shabby, but now I realize I could've gotten the 4 GB for much cheaper.

This does not mean I've decided on choice A) ... although every building I call now is either sold out or is asking for pre-qual letters for buildings that won't be ready until 2007!!! What the heck??? I should hopefully not be making the same amount of money that I'm making now in 2007!

question of the next 3 months

Yeah, I'll write my paper ... but anyway, tax time is already here and most of you should've received W-2's by now. I'm one of those people who says, YIPPEEEE!!! Tax time, federal government owes me money!!!! The second I get all my forms I'm already dialing the EZ file phone line doing my taxes in about 10 minutes. This year it was a bit more complicated because I have a mortgage, more student loans, and tuition costs so I have to fill out the dreaded Schedule A and a myriad of other forms I didn't know existed, so I hired a tax pro. Well skipping to the awesome part I got a fairly decent tax return. About 7X more than I usually get, so the questions is what do I do?

A) buy an i-pod (everyone at work has one!), a home theater system (the only thing that functions on my boombox from 8th grade is the radio tuner), a digital camera (so I can upload oh so cool graphics to this website), go on vacation to either S. American or England, and use the remainder of the money to jazz up my current condo.

OR

B) use it as a deposit for a yet unbuilt fabulous one bedroom loft in downtown DC with garage parking ready for move in after I graduate from school (aim is 2007). (the downside being I'm going to be a real miser for the next two years to save money so I can actually afford the place when it comes time for closing and I BETTER get some significant raises until then!).

I think the answer is obviously B, I realize electronic gadgets will make me happy in the short term, but looking forward to a beautiful place after graduation would be better. After I bought the current place, people were like, let us know about the housewarming! Yeah right, housewarming, I can fit about 2 other people comfortably in my tiny studio, and renting the lounge downstairs for a party is above my pay-grade. Oh but the uncertainty of the future ... if you read, any opinion in the comments section is appreciated ....

finally! Someone who said it!

I'm not sure why the focus on fashion today, because I'm no fashionista, but I'm glad someone is remarking that some of the fashion debuting on Milan runways is suitable for the hobo that lives in the park 3 blocks down from me. My sister and I who enjoy Sex & The City as a guilty pleasure always wondered who would wear Sara Jessica Parker's outfits from the first or second season? Does anyone remember that crazy bright green necktie halter she wore with bright yellow shorty shorts with bright blue heels or something? The one where she goes on her first date with Bon Jovi? Ugh. Who dresses like that? I'd love to include a picture but I don't have that silly Hello thing installed in this computer.

wearing her clothes well

I could've thought of a myriad of subject headers for this one. So Condoleeza Rice, ready to hop on a Ducati, tear through European alleyways, somersault into combat mode, and whip kick every bad boy in this feminist-deconstructivist analysis, featured in Washington Post. Hey! I was a government major! Not an English major ... excuse my fragmentary sentences.

When looking at the image of Rice in Wiesbaden, the mind searches for ways to put it all into context. It turns to fiction, to caricature. To shadowy daydreams. Dominatrix!

hell week

Last night I checked my academic planner and started hyperventilating. Apparently I didn't realize that not only did I have a paper due this Saturday but a paper, research proposal, and presentation due on Wednesday. I am officially panicked. The week after I have a mid-term. Spring break can't come fast enough. Not that very many people read my blog, but don't expect any entries of substance for the next two weeks ... if I do write, and you read, please call and scold me to get back to work. Caffeine will be my best friend this weekend since I've been surviving on three hours of sleep each day this week.

romantic comedies=irrational uptight b*tch as heroine

On President's day I took the opportunity to have lunch at Cafe Tirolo, a hidden gem of an Austrian/Hungarian restaurant that upstages it's front facade neighbor Tara Thai, with its cuisine and quality of food. I grudgingly admit, when it comes to ethnic cuisine, Northern VA has got DC beat in all aspects except possibly Ethiopian, which I have yet to try. But anyway, afterwards I saw

Hitch, translated, why-great-soul-ful-men-Somehow-get destroyed-by-irrational-uptight-bitch-heroine-and-still manages-to-love-her-and-thus-make-her-look-worse. Big studio romantic comedies are normally light brained fluff good for a little escapism but I've noticed a disturbing trend. Why is the woman-object-of-desire always the one who destroys the hero's life and still gets taken back? Why can't she be an angel? Instead the heroine is always irrational, crazy, and bitchy. And the guy is just too tongue-tied and beside himself.

dc institutions

Sunday night I got a treat at Ben's Chilli bowl, which features Billy Cosby's favorite, chilli on a half-smoke. The place was very reminiscent of the White Spot, a Charlottesville institution who's specialty was the gus burger, basically a hamburger topped with a fried egg. I got a hotdog topped with unusually fake looking orange nacho cheese and chilli ... the chilli was quite good, better than Hard Times anyway.

Monday night I broke down and went to 2 Amy's AGAIN! Mmm, margherita plus.

Tourists on Tidal Basin looking at Crystal City.

sat. night slum

Last night I dragged myself, fighting the urge to plead gastrointestinal disorders, to a local Herndon hangout, almost 45 mins outside this fair city. My friend didn't make things better when she said, "It's not just rednecks but Herndon High people too!!" That made me feel so much better. Well luckily despite my well documented hatred of bars and anything that smacks of hometown boring as hell Herndon, I went to Jimmy's Tavern. Eva Zilbert gives a fairly generous review. I typically go to Herndon to sleep at my mom's because it's where I get the best sleep. But what can you do when there's all of three bars in the entire town of Herndon ... which is home to so many tech firms and the new Booz Allen campus? My entire impression of Jimmy's was formulated during my grade school years based on walking by after Taekwondo class which was across the street and ignoring requests for martial arts demonstrations by drunken hicks. Altogether I could withstand the place with friends from high school I actually liked and seeing faces I hadn't seen in years ... until the DJ started giving a shout out to NASCAR and started playing country music. It was then I was reminded that Herndon was too close to Manassas and not close enough to DC.

feline hilarity

Last night at Barnes & Noble, I picked up a little picture book called Bad Cat. As my own little puss sits in lap languidly purring I perused the album on mycathatesyou.com which is quite funny. Almost two years ago I got a photo of a cat with his hair shaved off except for his head, paws, and the end of his tail. It was like, 'aw! poor cat!' and then 'hahahah!!! freakin' funny!' I suppose if you can laugh at your favorite domineering pet that's a good thing. I imagine dog lovers will appreciate it too..

Choice quote from a reader:

My wife is one of those deluded "cat persons." If anything ever happens to me, she'll be the senile old widow who lives in a filthy bungalow with 237 cats, dies, and gets eaten by them. I'm a dog person, the kind of fellow who likes jokes about using the cat to mop out the toilet.

Yet, WE BOTH LOVE THIS BOOK. That says it all. ove cats or hate 'em, you will adore this volume. It's fun. creative, and well-assembled. GO GET IT--NOW!!!!! It will make a nice gift for anybody!

spring for films

This was the post that blogger ate earlier in the week, so I'm re-writing it. The great thing about Spring is the myriad of film festivals to attend in the DC metropolitan area. One of the first (and I know I've missed several others) is the Banff Film festival, showcasing documentaries on extreme outdoor adventures. I'm sure I'll miss this one because it occurs during the week of my mid-terms. Well if you miss this one, there's hope that you can catch some of the films in April at the DC Film Fest which showcases international films. Last year I went to about 6 films or so, all well worth it. Of course I'm sure finals will keep me from going this year. If you miss those two filmfests there's still the AFI SILVERDOCS festival in Silver Spring, which showcases only documentaries. Somehow I think the summer class I plan to take will interfere with that too. I'll find ways to blow off some academic responsibility and go anyway.

crackhouse for kids

Recently blogger has been on the blitz with me. On addictive substances, here's some inspiring journalism on kids replacing malls with starbucks as their choice hangout. Now I'm going to post this really fast before blogger loses it and crashes on me.

and then I had

2 Amy's pizza, in front of my envious classmates :) there was one really cool picture that could've only been taken by a low resolution camera but now my t-mobile album is down ... so I'll put that one up later, after I do cardio for an hour while watching sex & the city downstairs in my gym.

Night falls, Washington monument over tidal basin

Mr. Thomas Jefferson, presented in bronze

Foggy Bottom across the Tidal Basin

Blurry picture of Jefferson Memorial

today i fell out of love

With DC ... something about the train halting to stops prematurely because of other trains in front of it ... motion sickness ... and then the feeling of being tired ... tired of seeing the worn out men on 11th St. sipping from bottles in paper bags, the sidewalk spotted with blackened gum, sidestepping shit ...

so I had to get out, by the time I made it past downtown in my car on 14th St. I realized by the time I got to Great Falls NP, it would be dark ... and closed. So instead I stopped at West Potomac Park ... aka Thomas Jefferson memorial and fell back in love with DC. Check out my low resolution images I took on my camera-phone.