damnit. i was starting to believe.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Who owns who, here?
I'm reading Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk. It's a quick, entertaining read and I'm excited to watch Choke with Mary Beth sometime soon...now that I'm on this brief trip of loving Portland authors.
My favorite quote from the book thus far:
"You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug.
Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you."
I love it.
It reminds me of my resistance to permanence.
I would like to think that I can walk away from all my possessions tomorrow if need be. I won't be "that lady" on the lifeboat, clutching armfuls of photographs, clothes, jewelry, etc. Nope.
I'm not sure I'm proud of this, but it simply exists in my brain and it might be a good thing to investigate.
So I did. I noticed a theme. All my life I've been preparing for some inevitable apocalypse:
- I won't get glasses. What if my plane crashes in the Rockies, I lose my eyewear, and can't lead the survivors to safety?
- I won't fix my front teeth, which I broke learning how to ride a bike in First Grade. They would have to file them down to pegs and then cap them. What if the caps fall off? OMG.
- I won't buy new housewares. Something akin to imprisonment comes out of it. Suddenly I'm working my big fancy job just to pay for the shiny new crap I bought at Ikea. Hence my love of Palahniuk's quote.
- I want to build a self-sustaining house completely of re-used and biodegradable materials. Satisfying thought to leave it to the earthworms, beetles, and varmints when I'm gone.
Hmm...What apocalypse is coming...?
My favorite quote from the book thus far:
"You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you're satisfied that no matter what goes wrong, at least you've got your sofa issue handled. Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The rug.
Then you're trapped in your lovely nest, and the things you used to own, now they own you."
I love it.
It reminds me of my resistance to permanence.
I would like to think that I can walk away from all my possessions tomorrow if need be. I won't be "that lady" on the lifeboat, clutching armfuls of photographs, clothes, jewelry, etc. Nope.
I'm not sure I'm proud of this, but it simply exists in my brain and it might be a good thing to investigate.
So I did. I noticed a theme. All my life I've been preparing for some inevitable apocalypse:
- I won't get glasses. What if my plane crashes in the Rockies, I lose my eyewear, and can't lead the survivors to safety?
- I won't fix my front teeth, which I broke learning how to ride a bike in First Grade. They would have to file them down to pegs and then cap them. What if the caps fall off? OMG.
- I won't buy new housewares. Something akin to imprisonment comes out of it. Suddenly I'm working my big fancy job just to pay for the shiny new crap I bought at Ikea. Hence my love of Palahniuk's quote.
- I want to build a self-sustaining house completely of re-used and biodegradable materials. Satisfying thought to leave it to the earthworms, beetles, and varmints when I'm gone.
Hmm...What apocalypse is coming...?
And why do I want this chandelier for my stairwell so badly?
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Hey there!
It's me, Mandy. Remember? We used to hang out.
I would pollute the ether with musings on B-School, cycling, ranch life, my pragmatic-hippie thoughts, and obsession with shoes. You tolerated me and indulged me via the Darden Admissions page.
Now I spend my days on Planet Frito, changing the world one chip at a time.
It's a really, really amazing experience and I am truly grateful that Scott Davies found me at Darden and brought me here. I am in over my head some days, but in true pro athlete style, I turn that into a challenge and wrestle the situation to the ground. Occasionally it hits me first and I get a black eye. But most of the time that summbitch is hogtied and I move on, a little wiser.
If you stalk my blog occasionally for updates, here are some. Long overdue:
- Logged first anniversary as a full-time Frito Lay employee. July 13. Yay!
- Celebrated first anniversary of living on Reiger Avenue
- Got a new kitteh. Renamed her "Zip Zip Zoom" (thanks, K.T. Rose!). Zipper, for short.
- Brutus got even more fat as a result of aforementioned kitteh. Tubby boy demands wet food mixed in with his kibble because his princess sister gets it. Who owns who here?
- Traveled to Jackson, Mississippi. Eye-opening and a really really good time since I got to go with my good friend Mary Beth. Frito has some fantastic people in the Jackson Zone and they were very generous with their time. The depressing part was that MS is in the bottom few states in terms of education quality, income per capita, and BMI (in this case, bottom of the list means big bottoms). Makes for interesting market dynamics and human interactions. Hm...
- Stay up way too late but seem to lack the gene that requires sleep. WTF?
- Discovered Dexter courtesy of Boy Wonder summer roommate Dave. OMG OMG OMG OMG. It's nearly as good as Arrested Development!
- Got re-addicted to Icanhascheezburger and failblog!!!!
- Saw my beloved Gina two times in 4 weeks! Yay! Texas!!!!
That's it for now. Will try to write more. In the meantime...here is a pic of me on my 33rd birthday.
Time flies when you have amazing hair!
xo
I would pollute the ether with musings on B-School, cycling, ranch life, my pragmatic-hippie thoughts, and obsession with shoes. You tolerated me and indulged me via the Darden Admissions page.
Now I spend my days on Planet Frito, changing the world one chip at a time.
It's a really, really amazing experience and I am truly grateful that Scott Davies found me at Darden and brought me here. I am in over my head some days, but in true pro athlete style, I turn that into a challenge and wrestle the situation to the ground. Occasionally it hits me first and I get a black eye. But most of the time that summbitch is hogtied and I move on, a little wiser.
If you stalk my blog occasionally for updates, here are some. Long overdue:
- Logged first anniversary as a full-time Frito Lay employee. July 13. Yay!
- Celebrated first anniversary of living on Reiger Avenue
- Got a new kitteh. Renamed her "Zip Zip Zoom" (thanks, K.T. Rose!). Zipper, for short.
- Brutus got even more fat as a result of aforementioned kitteh. Tubby boy demands wet food mixed in with his kibble because his princess sister gets it. Who owns who here?
- Traveled to Jackson, Mississippi. Eye-opening and a really really good time since I got to go with my good friend Mary Beth. Frito has some fantastic people in the Jackson Zone and they were very generous with their time. The depressing part was that MS is in the bottom few states in terms of education quality, income per capita, and BMI (in this case, bottom of the list means big bottoms). Makes for interesting market dynamics and human interactions. Hm...
- Stay up way too late but seem to lack the gene that requires sleep. WTF?
- Discovered Dexter courtesy of Boy Wonder summer roommate Dave. OMG OMG OMG OMG. It's nearly as good as Arrested Development!
- Got re-addicted to Icanhascheezburger and failblog!!!!
- Saw my beloved Gina two times in 4 weeks! Yay! Texas!!!!
That's it for now. Will try to write more. In the meantime...here is a pic of me on my 33rd birthday.
Time flies when you have amazing hair!xo
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Sweet!
DENVER, Colo. - A sweeping federal court verdict invalidating California's ban on same-sex marriages "moves America closer to its ideals of respecting individual freedom and treating all citizens equally under the law," Matthew Shepard Foundation board president Judy
Shepard said Wednesday.
Shepard, the mother of 1998 Wyoming anti-gay hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, serves on the advisory board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which filed the legal challenge to the ban in May on behalf of citizens denied marriages by the 2008 law narrowly approved by voters.
"These plaintiffs are law-abiding, family-oriented, tax-paying citizens whose privacy was invaded, and whose dignity was affronted, by a misguided and unconstitutional law," Shepard continued.
"Their victory at trial shows that our courts still play a vital role in safeguarding the rights of minorities from majorities who misunderstand them. But more importantly, it proves the power of personal stories. Equal marriage rights are ultimately about people's families, and during the trial, their personal need for legal recognition of their relationships came through loud and clear," she added.
"After Matt came out to me, he once asked me if I thought gay couples would ever be allowed to get married," Shepard recalled. "I told
him I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime, but it probably would in his. It's so sad, and ironic, that it turned out the other way. But this case warms my heart, to think that his dream is still coming true."
Judy Shepard and her husband Dennis established the Matthew Shepard Foundation in 1998 after their son's murder in Laramie, Wyoming, to honor him in a manner appropriate to his reams, beliefs and aspirations. The Foundation seeks to "Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion and Acceptance" through its educational, outreach and advocacy programs and by continuing to tell Matthew's story.
Shepard said Wednesday.
Shepard, the mother of 1998 Wyoming anti-gay hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, serves on the advisory board of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which filed the legal challenge to the ban in May on behalf of citizens denied marriages by the 2008 law narrowly approved by voters.
"These plaintiffs are law-abiding, family-oriented, tax-paying citizens whose privacy was invaded, and whose dignity was affronted, by a misguided and unconstitutional law," Shepard continued.
"Their victory at trial shows that our courts still play a vital role in safeguarding the rights of minorities from majorities who misunderstand them. But more importantly, it proves the power of personal stories. Equal marriage rights are ultimately about people's families, and during the trial, their personal need for legal recognition of their relationships came through loud and clear," she added.
"After Matt came out to me, he once asked me if I thought gay couples would ever be allowed to get married," Shepard recalled. "I told
him I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime, but it probably would in his. It's so sad, and ironic, that it turned out the other way. But this case warms my heart, to think that his dream is still coming true."
Judy Shepard and her husband Dennis established the Matthew Shepard Foundation in 1998 after their son's murder in Laramie, Wyoming, to honor him in a manner appropriate to his reams, beliefs and aspirations. The Foundation seeks to "Replace Hate with Understanding, Compassion and Acceptance" through its educational, outreach and advocacy programs and by continuing to tell Matthew's story.
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