Celebrating with two of my favorite old roommates. 

Jen and me, Christmas party 2004. Woo! 

Hostess Cakes
My parents held their annual holiday open house last night. It's always a good time, but it also involves a large amount of work for the children. Erik gets fire duties, coat duties, and opening the door duties. Robin is in charge of the turkey, and I am responsible for baked goods and the rolling of the spring rolls. And there were many spring rolls to be rolled. Yesterday morning, I woke up at 6 a.m. and started rolling, rolled for two hours before I had to leave, and didn't even finish it all.

I escaped during the day for a few hours to see my old boss at Easter Seals for coffee and then went to Arlington to have lunch with Lucinda from Easter Seals as well. Then I hustled back home (which was a challenge in the pouring rain and the stop-and-go traffic on the GW Parkway) where we launched into the last minute preparations. The party ended up going well, I think, and there are plenty of leftovers. We were so wiped out by the time it was over that we left all the mess as it was and went straight to bed. I plan to celebrate my freedom from responsibility today by doing nothing. Sweet.

Today's Email of the Day
An email from Charles that cracked me up today. I'm posting it in full:

hey kristin,
i'm not proud to admit it, but i forfeited an hour of my life last night watching 'big man on campus' on the wb. in case you haven't seen it, it's basically a repackaging of 'the bachelor,' with slightly younger participants. on this episode, there was a series of competitions, the winners of which would win time with the bmoc.

one of the competitions was a trivia contest. the university of central florida must be horrified, because here are some of the questions and answers:

how many states are there in the u.s.? 52

how many senators are there for each state? 1

who's buried in grant's tomb? hugh grant

in what year was the war of 1812 fought? 1816

what were the names of the seven dwarves?
i don't remember the answer given, but the girl got it wrong. i must confess that i don't think i know all seven.

the girl who won (and the only one shown correctly answering a question) happened to know that there are 180 seconds in three minutes.

at the end of the show, the guy had to cut five of the fifteen girls. he had obviously been instructed to give very brief reasons for keeping/cutting them. a few examples:

you're a very interesting person (ouch!), but i will not be giving you a pin (bmoc's version of the bachelor's rose).

your beauty speaks for itself, but i'm not sure there's anything beyond that (double ouch!).

it's terrible. and i'll probably watch next week.

charles

p.s. yfkm = you're fucking kidding me!

Erik's Masterpiece
I found a play that Erik had written when he was in second or third grade. I nearly bust a gut last night rereading it. I'm putting it down on the blog (with Erik's permission, of course). I think that the characters names came from some video game that Erik was playing at the time.

Erik's Play

Act One
Ryu: Do you think the badguys will show up today?
Guy: If it's everyday they mess with us yes. If this comes to sometimes, maybe. But I don't think today.
Charligh: Now that's crazy talk.
Sagot: I agree. Anyway lets get to the ftight.

Act Two
Sagot: I will get revenge.
Ryu: No you won't. I am your worst nightmare.
Sagot: No I am.
Ryu: Just fight and lets see who's who.
(Ryu wins)
Ryu: Well well what do you know, I win.
Sagot: The fight's not over yet.
Ryu: Of course it is, I broke your bone.
Sagot: How'd you know?
Ryu: You aren't able to get up.

Act Three
Guy: Why does it always go good for him and not for me?
Charleigh: I don't know. But I do know this, we are going to fight.
(Guy kicks and hurts Charleigh)
Guy: Guess I'm really strong after all.
Carleigh: You lied.
Guy: No I didn't. I didn't even know I had this much power. But believe me, it's great.
(Badguys go away.)
Ryu and Guy: They never learn.

Max came over to our house to visit the snakes. He must be the World's Cutest Four Year Old. 

Track Santa this Christmas Season
NORAD, the binational military organization of both the US and Canada track Santa's progress every year.

The most amazing part is how the whole tradition started:

This is the 50th season that NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa. The tradition began after a Colorado Springs store's advertisement for children to call Santa on a special "hotline" included a misprinted telephone number. Instead of Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief's operations "hotline." The Director of Operations, Colonel Harry Shoup, received the first "Santa" call on Christmas Eve 1955. Realizing what had happened, Colonel Shoup had his staff check radar data to see if there was any indication of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Indeed there were signs of Santa and children who called were given an update on Santa's position. Thus, the tradition was born.

And then, weirdly, the site also has a "Celebrity Message" section, with the likes of Jo Jo, Eric Roberts, Goose Gossage (who?), and Ringo Starr.

Claro and me: Sounds like a movie title.  

Clarence and Jonathan, my lunch dates. 

To the right of the arch is the brand new building they built in Chinatown. Totally different feel to the place! 

Birthdays and Workplaces
Thanks to Clarence and Jonathan who took me out for a pre-birthday lunch at Matchbox in Chinatown. I love their wee mini-burgers (seriously, I love them). I was also amazed by how quickly the buildings have gone up in that area since I've left. I was stunned to see that enormous building right by the arch now that contains the Urban Outfitters and Ann Taylor Loft and everything. The feel for that area is really changing. It used to be...more gamey (and some might say, more interesting), but it's definitely more family-friendly now. Anyway, I do love going to Matchbox and I love going with Clarence and Jonathan even more.

Later I walked the familiar three blocks back to Easter Seals and stopped in to say hello. I meant to duck into my old boss's office just to chat and catch up, but I ended up being greeted by everyone who used to work on my floor and holding court in the conference room for awhile. It was good to be back, and to see everyone. I'll get a chance to do some more in-depth catch-up in a couple of days, which I'm looking forward to.

Erik eat cookie.
(this is a joke, I am inclined to report)

More moth damage. 

Moth damage! Scary stuff. 

Flood! Moths! What's Next: Locusts?
Our basement flooded at some point yesterday, so I helped my dad move some boxes downstairs. It wasn't as bad as it could have been, but it's still no fun anyway.

The exercise of cleaning led my dad to examine some of his Afghan rugs which were wrapped up down there. I helped him drag them outside today and open them up to see if there was any damage. No damage from any flooding, but moths have gone to town on a few of them. Many of them were okay--I think that they just need to be cleaned--but a few were irretreivable. It's a real bummer, actually. I took a couple of shots of the moth damage because I've never seen anything like that before. Bastard moths!

We found wrapped up with the rugs what looked like to be kernels of Jasmine rice. Is this something that maybe my mom put in to protect against moths? My dad thought it might be moth eggs, and if so...gross. Neither of us were particularly interested in tasting them. Anyone know what moth eggs look like?

Friday night: Anne, myself, Suzi, and Grace. Thanks to ADD for the photo! 

Now, I like the dude, but how hilarious is this picture with the letterman's jacket and the little white fluffy dog. How many pre-teens were overcome by the adorability of it all? Hahahahahaha. 

I heart Takeshi.  

How much do I love Takeshi Kaneshiro?
We were talking about him the other night and about how he is in "The House of Flying Daggers." I had to go scouring the web for some sweet pictures of him to post, and rest assured that there exist many of a fan web page for the man.

I also stumbled across some page where fans could leave comments about him, and those are seriously the best. Here are some of my favorites:

like i love you
keigo from malaysia on September 8, 2004
i really in love with takeshi.i like the way he smile,laugh and most of all anything about him.i really really like him .

just another comment.. =)
michelle lim from Jakarta, Indonesia on April 4, 2004
well i used to be a big fan of TAKESHI KANESHIRO!! I think that he's the hottest man on earth and he's so handsome and no matter what Takeshi is super cool.. in the other hand i think you really look like my dad (i mean your face.. only he's a bit older and frail but i swear when i saw his picture during his 20s he really look like you! i'll send you his pic if you want!)he claimed that he is more handsome than you! GO AWAY DAD.. I LOVE TAKESHI SO MUCH!!

ok
ricky from bandung,indonesia on June 9, 2003
halo,brother takeshi,i love u somuch iknow u since im child! u with bo boho im 19 now can u sent me pic? pls with signature ok?:) god bless u

How to Pretend You're Canadian
This is hilarious: a company in New Mexico apparently came up with a kit of sorts for Americans who are traveling abroad. You get a Canada t-shirt, a patch, a pin, and a guide to quickie questions on Canada.

When it comes to sports, the guide suggests: "This is easy to remember. There is only one real sport in Canada and it is called hockey. Regardless of any trivia question, the answer is 'Wayne Gretzky."'

If a Canadian says he had to "deke out of a meeting," it means he avoided the meeting. If someone is headed to "Hogtown," that's Canadian for Toronto. A trip to "Cowtown" means the person is going to Calgary.

When I traveled with Suzi and Carrie, I remember that at one point in some restaurant in Penang, Carrie and I tried to pretend that we were Canadian when some guy started questioning where we were from (I don't know where Suzi was right then, because I think that she managed to stay free of those shenanigans for some reason). The dude was savvier than we thought, though, because he started grilling us about Canadian geography and then we were so busted. I should have had that guide!

Whoa
Cambodian soldiers have emerged from the jungle after 25 years, not quite sure if the war is still going on.

LOUT, Cambodia (Reuters) - When Vietnamese troops overran his village in 1979, Romam Chhung Loeung, a Khmer Rouge guerrilla, had no option but to flee with friends and family into the dense jungle of northeast Cambodia.

Twenty-five years later, the group emerged from the forest in clothes made of bark and leaves, unaware that the war was over, the Vietnamese had gone and Pol Pot was dead.

A preview to Tim Burton's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Listen to the "You Are So Beautiful to Me" edition of This American Life that they replayed today. An exceptionally good show with an amazing short story reading by Russell Banks.

A Moment in Time
Erik: (pointing to the Clay Aiken CD in the weekly circular) Look, it's mom's favorite.
K: Mom, you love Clay Aiken.
Mom: I do love Clay Aiken! I'm not ashamed.

Back in the fold
I've finally been able to catch up with everyone these past couple of days, and it's been great. I feel like I need to gorge on the company of my DC friends, like a camel storing up sustenance in its hump. I was happy to be able to catch up with Suzi as well right before she takes off to Colorado for her own vacation. I also got to see Grace's new sleek, sweet apartment which was excellent. Now I need to visit Matt's new condo and to see the resident baby angel, Spike.

Now to chill a little before throwing down for some Game Night shenanigans. wooo!

Graffiti seen in Baghdad, courtesy of Harper's.

Hey everyone, Saddam ate beans and emitted stinky air.

Characteristics of the American conqueror:
—Liar like the Baathists, if not more
—Stubborn like a mule, if not more
—Hates clever people and the educated and capable ones, as if he were the very one who taught this to Saddam
—Loves the game of switching the electric power off and on again and practicing this sly childish harmful game on the Iraqis
—In his heart, he hates every Iraqi, Muslim, Christian, Baptist, Arab, Kurd, or even Turkman or Assyrian because the history of these peoples and their civilization is seven thousand years old, not two hundred.

(via tmn)

TGIF
Today I'm enjoying the day of nothing. I slept till 11 and now am puttering for the day, and it kind of rocks. It's been a rough week!

So to balance out my "I hate Pakistan!" fifth grade diary entry, I should report that this morning I have a new salwar kameez (the super airy, comfortable dress in Pakistan--a long tunic and baggy pants and a scarf, basically). It's purple and pretty and I like it very much. Mary Linda, a woman who we met in China this past summer, currently lives in Lahore with her husband, and she had it made and sent it to me. She is awesome.

I think that I'm going to wear it to my parents' open house since there will be enough people there who will appreciate it.

Celebrating the Suck
After going through some old boxes last night in my parents' basement, I stumbled up Diary 1987, otherwise known as the scintillating account of my 5th grade year. I remember being drawn to this particular journal while we were on a family trip in Thailand, since it is festooned with white button-eyed kitties jauntily sporting hats (gee, not much has changed, I guess), and I had...to...have...it. And I did.

I love the part in the front that lists holidays. One page is in Thai, and the other page is in English, listing what I think may be American Holidays only. Besides New Year's and Christmas, and other similar days, they also list: Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Columbus Day, and Election Day (?).

There's a part soon after that with lines that look like those on which you would scribble some music notes. The section is titled: "My favorite song." Let's examine the songs that I chose to list (along with whatever lyrics I could recall), shall we?

Kristin's Favorite Songs 1987
1. I Ain't Missin' You At All ("A Little Bit Of It")
2. Tears Are Not Enough
3. On the Big Rock Candy Mountain
4. *Flash Dance* ("A Little Bit Of It")
5. Christmas On the Beach at Waikiki
6. Cherish the Love We Have
7. Momma Don't 'Llow
8. Time After Time
9. That's What Friends are For
10. We Built this City on Rock & Roll (the piece de resistance!)

Wow, that's pretty incredibly sucky.

It's a pretty boring diary overall, since I hadn't started my high-flying life of coking and toking yet, but I did stumble upon one entry that cracked me up in particular.

Tues Jan 27, 1987

Dear Diary,
I hate Pakistan! I hate I.S.I.! I hate my dad's job! I hate everything that took me away from the States! I even hate the people here--they're so snobby (some)! I wish I were back in the States. I can't wait till this summer.

From,
Kristin Mahan

ps. I hate Pakistan!

Yum. 

MMM---my favorite
Mom made the spring rolls tonight, lovingly rolled by yours truly. I had to take a picture of them tonight, since mom truly outdid herself this time.

Good luck to Zack who's doing his dissertation tomorrow.
And then he will be Doctor.
Woo!

So apparently this vacation is going to be all about my parents' new bathroom, because--Sweet Jesus--I just took a shower in their new stall and it's other-worldly.

What flavor Pocky are you?

A memorial to Dimebag Durrell. Never forget, indeed. Thanks to TMR for digging this up (or making it, whichever). 

The scene of the Most Relaxing Bath ever tonight. Sweeeeet. 

Home!
After an easy trip (fast flight, quick luggage, quick drive home), I am deposited back in Great Falls. I spent the afternoon lying on the couch reading Washington Post Magazines from the past few months and enjoyed a long dinner with my parents and Erik (who is sporting a shaggy, hipster do).

Erik told a good story:

Apparently, their high school recently had a speaker come in...an actor who had become a crack addict, has come clean, and now does the speaker circuit trying to scare sullen teenagers straight. This guy was an engage-the-audience type person, so at one point in his speech, he paused and stared into the audience. Then he stepped up and stood in front of a kid working on some math homework in the bleachers and asked: "why are you doing your homework when I am here to speak to you?" The kid was speechless, apparently. Then the guy leans over and looks at the paper, spots the name, and is like: "Well, Andrew, I can use your help up here..."

So he drags the kid up to the stage, taking him through some exercises, peppering it with the use of the name "Andrew." Little did he know, the kid's name was actually Matt. He had been involved in some math homework cheating, and after the speaker outed him, everyone in the audience knew what happened. And the kid got busted and punished directly after the assembly. But the poor speaker had no clue, and was earnestly referring to this cheating kid as "Andrew."

In other news, I just took an hour long bath in my parents new, refurbished bathroom. The place was totally redone, with a bath enclosed in a little glass cove that overlooks the greenery in the yard. Since it was dark, I lit some candles to add to the relaxation effect. AWESOME. I had to take a picture of what the place looked at, and I'll post it directly.

DC bound
Tomorrow I'll be off to the East Coast for a three week vacation. Family, friends, game night, the monuments, and mom's spring rolls. Yay! The good news is that I managed to throw all of the clothes into the suitcase and should be ready to go. Shlepping my stuff to O'Hare via the el should be an experience, though. I'm giving myself like two hours to get there: awesome!

Last night I went along with Todd and his roommates to the esteemed Wilmington, IL. We got a tour of the loop, the downtown area (quotations optional), Todd's brother's place, and then finally wound up at the local bar, Tuffy's. There was a band playing that was hilariously bad, but the joke was on us since we paid a cover (apparently, cover is a rare thing at the establishment, but we picked the right night). The band was playing 7 Mary 3's "Cumbersome" when we walked in: a merging of the worlds!

Happy Birthday to Madeline!
The good doctor has to work through her birthday, but I hope that 28 treats her well.

Goddamn, Todd loves freedom: modeling his christmas present

Laura and her shirt (and Lauren's hand showing off her gift as well) 

Back in the swing
Yay! I am free of exams. The last few days were study-packed and I don't think that I've ever spent so many hours poring over notes. Anatomy ended up being okay, but I actually dreamed last night that I had mistaken the diagram of the pharyngeal muscles for those of the palate. I very well may have actually, but screw it at this point. As long as I eke out a B in that class, that is all that matters to this girl.

We had a little SLP holiday party on Sunday night, where much grousing over anatomy occurred. We also had a gift exchange, and mine that I brought in was a t-shirt that I had made that read "Mid line raphe." That term had become a running joke amongst us in the class, as we were talking about how Mirhiyah should name her new baby that when he or she arrives. What a sweet name that would be. I also think that I'm going to get two cats, and name one "Anterior Belly of the Digastric" and the other "Posterior Belly of the Digastric." ABD and PBD for short. How equally sweet would that be? Anyway, Laura ended up with the mid-line raphe shirt and wore it to the exam like the good anatomy student that she is. It was awesome.

In other news, on Tuesday Todd and I hit the museums for Free Museum Day. I should report that while the Art Institute is free all day, the Contemporary Art Museum is only free from 5-8. Whoops. The student ID keeps things pretty reasonable, though. The Art Institute was awesome as usual, and this was the first time that I had visited the Museum of Contemporary Art here. It was pretty cool, and we were lucky to stumble upon the traveling exhibition "Not the China You Know": video, art, and photography from modern China. Cool exhibit. I liked the art from this one dude who took photos of street scenes in Guangzhou, and then cut out the pieces and set them up as if a little dollhouse setting. I wanted to get a shot, but no photos allowed in there, unfortunately.

I should also report that I experienced my first Chicago hot dog that day, with everything on it. Yum! The relish is like neon green, which cracks me up.

Now I'm spending my weekend getting my life organized again, going through mail, and doing some laundry. Thank goodness.

Knee deep in anatomy notes. Exam's tomorrow at 9. Life will be normal again within 24 hours.

Study and Music
It was a weekend full of anatomy notes and sweet tunes.

Saturday night: I accompanied Todd to the Beat Kitchen to see his friends' band, Long Distance Runner, play. They were the last in the bill of five, so it was a lot of bang for the buck in terms of the door fee. It was a fun show and a neat little venue. Yummy food too.

Sunday day: more anatomy notes and general laziness.

Sunday night: We went to go and see Snow Patrol, The Hives, and Franz Ferdinand play at the Aragon Ballroom. The Aragon is this old theater north of me, and I always pass it on the el on the way to school. I'm glad to have gotten to go inside since it's quite impressive: enormous, a bit cavernous, with sky-high elaborately painted ceilings and balcony space. The coolest thing was that Todd's friend who works at Interscope managed to get a couple of free passes to this show (which would have normally cost $30, pretty dear), and special passes at that. Since the whole show was sponsored by the radio station, Q101, we got laminates to head up into the "VIP" Q101 section of the balcony. Great seats looking down at the stage, free drinks and snacks. Awesome! Especially awesome since it was a sold out show and the floor downstairs was pretty packed.

The bands were great. Snow Patrol rocked (and they played "Run," Bill, and I thought of you!), and Franz Ferdinand was good as well, although embarassingly I had never heard of them before this. The Hives stole the show, though. They were such amazing showmen in their dapper black and white suits and they totally knew how to play the crowd. The lead singer affected the drawl of a charistmatic Southern preacher and constantly refered to his band in third person, which is always a good shtick. I highly recommend going to see them perform if you get an opportunity.

Celebrity sightings (maybe dubious?) in the Very Important Person section: Todd pointed out the lead singer of the band, Local H. Apparently a Chicago band with a song that got a lot of radio play which I can't recall right now. There was also the radio deejay, Mancow something-or-other. He's on Q101, so he did some introductions on the stage. I've never heard his show, but from what I heard of him, he's just as charming as his name suggests.

And now my day is dedicated to language development and more anatomy. Tonight is a party is the Hilladay party in Evanston so I've got to get pay my penance before that fun.

Annie and me in Lincoln Park. 

No Corona.
No Foolish Drinks.
Limited Dancing.

Urine. This was one someone's gate. 

One of the amazing meals Ben cooked up. He's real handy around the house: cooks, cleans, takes out the garbage. awesome! 

Ben spotted this sign getting swallowed up by a tree. Too cool.  

Check out this line around Marshall Field's the day after Thanksgiving. I think it was a line for Santa. Brutal. 

Finally
A huge hurrah to my last day of class yesterday! Two exams are done, and the behemoth language development paper has been turned in. Now I face two more exams, and plan to study as much as possible this weekend before the pressure sets in next week. So check this out: after our last class I went for a celebratory drink with Lauren, Laura, Hillary, and Megan, but then came home by 6pm and then get together again with Hillary to study anatomy. That's right: I studied on a Friday night, the last day of classes no less. I feel pretty good about our progress, though. I know the facial muscles and tongue muscles a lot better than I did yesterday afternoon. Go ahead and ask me about the Levator Labii Superior Alaeque Nasiii muscle. It's different than the Levator Labii Superior muscle, just so you know.

Anyway, I am finally downloading the last of the Annie/Ben visit pictures this morning, so those are going up now. Hurray!

I love Lipton Tea's herbal tea flavor called Ginger Twist. Yum.

Checking In
The blog has been on hiatus for a few days since this week has been thoroughly kicking my ass, and it's not through yet, y'all. By this time next Thursday I will be a happy camper, though, since my anatomy exam will be just ending. That's the good news. The bad news is that I have an anatomy exam next Thursday. We've got our phonetics exam today, our stats exam tomorrow, and our final language development paper due tomorrow as well (aka, my albatross). Language development exam on Wednesday, followed up by aforementioned anatomy.

Dude, I'm boring MYSELF with this talk.

Good News
Possible headway in terms of treating HIV? I love uplifting articles.
(thanks, bro)

Happy Birthday, Robin!

You're the smoovest, cleverest, coolest older brother out there. You also have the ability to push all of my buttons and drive me batty, but I kind of admire that all the same.

Monday
Last week of classes.
Two exams this week.
Two Projects due.
One quiz.
Cold starting to edge in.
Little blogging to be done for now.
Feel sorry for me?

New York Times Article on AIDS in Southern Africa
The New York Times > International > Africa > A Hollowed Generation | Plunge in Life Expectancy: Hut by Hut, AIDS Steals Life in a Southern Africa Town

Lazy Saturday
Yesterday was the grayest, laziest day. We spent the morning lazing and then finally ventured out to go see the Art Institute. I still think this is one of the most impressive museums that I've seen. The hits just keep on coming there: it's hard to really take in everything since rooms are filled to the brim with famous and amazing stuff. It was a short three hour visit, but amazing as usual. Today, though, the weather is BEAUTIFUL.

Friday's Activities
So yesterday, Annie, Ben and I caught the express bus downtown and wandered along the Magnificent Mile. It was my first time visiting, and I picked the right day, what with it being the busiest shopping day of the year and everything. Sweeeeeet. We didn't poke into too many places, mostly just avoiding the crowds, but we were drawn into the behemoth American Girl Store (or "American Girl Place"). That place was insane.

First of all, it was milling with people, girls with dolls in hands ready to throw down some of their parents' hard-earned cash. Second of all, on the first floor there were the historical dolls and books, so there was a modicum of educational value, but on the second floor was where the serious business was going on. There was MUCH to be purchased. An American Girl winter jacket ($86) , American girl buttons ($2), an American Girl keepsake book to remember your day at the American Girl Place ($12). But the piece de resistance was the Doll Hair Salon, where you could get your doll's hair done. One braid costs a cool $10. Dude, I am so in the wrong business apparently. Annie, Ben, and I could only look at eachother slack-jawed as we stumbled upon more and more of the products.

Having had about all we could take of the consumer madness, we then wandered around the loop and up into the Gold Coast in search of a little corner pub in which to lunch and duck in from the rain and the cold. We walked, and walked, and walked and then finally settled on this hybrid fast food/bar place which has got to be the weirdest establishment ever. Instead of soap in the women's bathroom, they had a little sampler of Palmolive, which sort of cracked me up. The place served its purpose, though, in that it was warm and it had food.

Last night we walked over the Guthries, the coolest and coziest neighborhood bar in Wrigleyville, scored a table, and proceeded to spend the next five hours playing board games. Todd joined us and we played a little Clue, Scrabble (at which I was so very poor), and then this dreadfully terrible game called "Movie Mania," which was so hilariously badly written, full of terrible grammar, misinformation, and references to straight-to-cable movies. The game was so hapless, it didn't even have a full board to play with: there was only half of it. I think it was my favorite game of the night.

Today, unfortunately, it's rainy and looks cold so we can go and see what we can find to do.

Annie and Ben. 

Crossing over the river.