Mmm horses

I just bought tickets to go see Equus on Broadway starring Daniel Radcliffe! If I can't get my Harry Potter fix until next summer, I'll at least be reminded of its wizardry wonder when I see the star revealing his equine adoration and sexual deviations.

I think what I'm most interested in seeing is whether Daniel Radcliffe can escape the image of Harry Potter. After all, he's been Harry Potter since he was eleven. I just recently had a Harry Potter marathon with a couple of friends, and it was surprising to watch the three kids go from amateur pretenders to professional actors. I wonder if that translates to the stage or to any other character.

I still see Elijah Wood as Frodo (anyone with me on this?). It's a very difficult image to shake.

The Ergonomic Grater

You know how when you walk into a room and you notice a contraption that you've never seen before, you're automatically drawn to it and want to touch it until the owner comes running and screaming at you? That was the feeling I got when I walked into my room the other day and saw an ergonomically designed grater sitting on my desk.



I had seen the above commercial on TV quite a number of times, and each time I cringe because seeing anyone's gross feet is likely to cause that reaction. Yet my fascination with infomercials (which might or might not be the topic of a future post) holds my attention captive every single time that commercial comes on. So imagine my surprise when I find the object of my grotesque fascination sitting on my desk.

Well, of course I had to try it. How can anyone NOT when a personal infomercial product lands on her lap? It was begging to be used. So consider this my official review of the glorified cheese grater.

Because it really is essentially a cheese grater graciously grating off shavings of a foot that, on occasion, does smell like a ripe Limburger. But for someone like me who cannot stand to have a stranger touching my foot, this quick-fix solution is actually very appealing. I still don't think my pride will ever let me go out and purchase another one should this one stop grating, but having one so conveniently placed in my room at least gave me the desire to give the egg a go. And at least I can safely say that I don't have nearly as many shavings as was dumped onto the green towel (why on a towel?) in the video.

Who doesn't love the occasional pointless meme?

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
1. Turn on your iPod, mp3 player, whatever
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button


OPENING CREDITS:
No Cars Go - The Arcade Fire
What an inspirational introduction!

WAKING UP:
Almost Paradise - Mike Reno & Ann Wilson
I highly doubt this would make a good waking up song

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL:
Road Trippin' - Red Hot Chili Peppers
I wonder why I would choose to go to a school so far away

FALLING IN LOVE:
Let the Drummer Kick - Citizen Cope
Who knew falling in love was so repetitive

FIGHT SONG:
The World at Large - Modest Mouse
Apparently I fight by just walking away

BREAKING UP:
It's a Sunshine Day - Brady Bunch
Wow. How utterly.. appropriate

PROM:
Someone Approaches! - Man of La Mancha
:O (Sorry, couldn't find a link to this song)

LIFE:
The Circle of Life - The Lion King
My philosophy of life definitely governed by the Lion King

MENTAL BREAKDOWN:
Killer Queen - Queen
I definitely could be dynamite with a laser beam

DRIVING:
A Summer Wasting - Belle & Sebastian
I do tend to only drive in the summer

FLASHBACK:
Take it to the Limit - The Eagles
Why is my life full of so much inspiration?

WEDDING:
My Way (A Mi Manera) - Robin Williams
I would love to get married to a Spanish penguin

BIRTH OF CHILD:
Here Come the Geese - Barenaked Ladies
I guess this is what happens when you marry a penguin

FINAL BATTLE:
Affirmation - Savage Garden
Again, so much inspiration

DEATH SCENE:
Nightmare Part II - The Zutons
That would suck if my life were but a dream

FUNERAL SONG:
Outro - Nelly
The end.

END CREDITS:
The Queen's Story - Dario Marianelli
It's a dramatic ending. My movie's probably about my mental breakdown (No songs for this one either)

On Friendship

Friendship is a fickle matter. It's so difficult to make and maintain. The relationship between two people is sustained in a delicate equilibrium. But constant changes in the environment are always threatening to tear a friendship apart, whether it's a mutual misunderstanding or personality changes in one friend that the other person cannot accept.

I think in order to maintain a longer, healthier friendship, it's important to continuously give the other person the benefit of the doubt. It's exceedingly difficult, especially if his/her actions seem like a personal offense, but from my experience, often it's the environment that has temporarily changed the dynamics between the two people. Perhaps one side is trying to build a relationship and needs time to do so. Perhaps one side just needs time to focus on work. The level of love in that friendship hasn't changed, but if the other party is offended by the the change in amount of time the two get together and hang out, then the deterioration of the friendship becomes a self-prophesy originating from a simple nonacceptance of the others' time management skills. And that just sounds silly, no?

But perhaps this way of thinking is just a product of my own difficulty in making and maintaining friends. Because of that, I value the friends I do have to a much greater extent. And while I may not always show it, or I may be so absentminded that I don't even think about asking you the things that are important in your life, my love for you does not change. And I know that if you fail to do the same, I probably won't see it as a purposeful attack on our friendship; I'll attribute it to another, more benign and probable, reason.

Can you please spare some change?

I'm not fond of change. And before you start thinking this is a post about Obama, it's not. It's entirely, selfishly about me.

It's not that I don't like all change, because that's definitely not true. I like it when people change their outfits every day because wearing the same one can get repetitive/smelly. I like it when I find change on the ground. I don't pick up pennies so much anymore because they're all over the place in the city, but I still get excited about quarters. I like changes in my life that have been fully thought out and prepared for. Getting a job in advertising was pretty much expected because I've been working towards that since sophomore year.

Unexpected change is what's difficult to deal with. I like to think I'm pretty adaptable, but it still usually takes me by surprise. When I get thrown off a routine, I'll tolerate it, but I will still be completely aware of the change. I don't even like changing stalls in the bathroom at work (fourth one from the right).

This newest change is good for me, though. I know it's good. I just haven't been able to get into the habit of doing it yet. I try to get up at 5:40 every morning to go running. I only get half an hour to run, though, because I need to be on the bus by 7:30, but at least I'm exercising. I need something to counter the fact that I sit in a cubicle all day. But I know I still have a long way to go before I change my mentality into thinking that waking up at 5:40 is even better than sleeping in.

How I know I've had too much finance

To preface the story: my best friend is a neuroscience major.

So she and I were out to a concert tonight, and we ended up sitting with some Goldman Sachs guys. She was talking about neuroscience at one point, and then one of the guys says, "Yes, brains are awesome. They're totally the in thing right now."

That's all well and good until I decided to join in on the brain praise by saying, "It's indeed time to long brains." And yet I can't even claim that it was one of the nerdiest things I've ever said because I actually got a laugh out of the Goldman people.

What's wrong with me? I didn't even study finance.

Who am I?

I saw this on the internets and thought it'd be fun. I hate feeling vulnerable, but I'm not keeping these a secret anymore.