Category Archives: family

in fact we’re slip slidin’ away.

This evening after a day of attempted productivity, I went over to my friend Tamar’s house so that we could both whine about our first-world problems while weeping into a J.Crew catalog. Obviously there were emo songs involved. It was just one of those days…chalk it up to a quarter-life crisis. She taught me that Paul Simon’s “Slip Sliding Away” is an excellent wallow-in-self-pity kind of song:

We were emo for a while tonight then headed off to girl’s night, which is where we drink wine and eat lots of food and watch embarrassing television with a couple of other gals. Pretty standard. Except tonight my friend Jill’s dad was in town, and he was actually a wonderful addition to girl’s night. I love meeting people’s parents. It’s so telling. All of a sudden you’re like “Ahhh so THAT’S why you are the way you are.” In this case, I realized how Jill became such a wonderful, kind, and interesting person. Who likes Thai food and wine.

[Posted by Mallory]

Leave a comment

Filed under drinks, family, food, music, post-college depression, YouTube

but how is the chicken cooked?

Read this.

David Sedaris, I love you.

[Posted by Mallory]

1 Comment

Filed under crushes, family, humor, politics

hump day isn’t just for crying.

On this lovely little October Wednesday, I’d like to share some random thoughts with you. (Don’t worry…cry face is coming.) I haven’t posted in a while either, and it’s partly because my mom was here in DC to visit, and partly because my computer broke. (And I have to go to Arlington to fix it…THE HORROR!)

I had a lovely little weekend with the mother, and we got to do some touristy things and eat a lot and she took me to do this foreign activity — shopping — that we poor grad students (read: irresponsible grad students who’d rather spend their $75 weekly budget on overpriced gin and tonics than clothes) can’t do very often. (Random side note: a kid I don’t know very well who tends to be sort of loud and intense just looked over my shoulder and was like “OOH someone has a WordPress blog!” Which made me self conscious.) (Yes there are too many parentheses in this post.)

Um where was I? Ah yes, random thoughts. I’ve been in a weird mood for the past few days. Alternately introspective in a delightful, happy way and in a depressed, go-home-and-listen-to-Dashboard way.  First of all, I’ve been having lots of political debates with my family. In fact, I’ve argued with every member of my immediate family this week. My mother is still on the fence about the election, due to the fact that she has been brainwashed by my father. My sister is currently being brainwashed by her conservative Kansas friends to be “terrified of Obama.” My father has been palling around with McCain for years, but we recently got in an email debate about abortion, in which I threw out the cliche trump card…”Dad, what if I was raped and got pregnant?”

Things have been getting kind of heated, which has been giving me agida. Unfortunately, I often get so angry that I can’t articulate coherent thoughts. All I want to scream is “HOW ARE YOU PEOPLE RELATED TO ME?! JUMP IN THE TANK WITH ME AND BARACK!” and then make them carve Barack pumpkins while looking at pictures of Sasha and Malia.

Sigh. Let’s just say I had to wear my flannel nightgown last night.

I’ve also had lots of emo thoughts about some of the relationships in my life. I won’t get into the nitty gritty details, but I’ve come to a realization about what I value in a person. Above all, I value the following two qualities: authenticity and wackiness. I can’t stand people who are inauthentic, in all the forms that takes. And it’s not to say that I’m perfectly honest and perfectly myself 100% of the time, but I’d like to think that my core personality is fixed, and that I don’t radically change who I am based on who I’m around. Too many people do that. I hate that.

And then there’s wackiness. If you’re authentic and not wacky, I’ll probably respect you, but I won’t want to hang out with you. It’s like when people say “Well, so-and-so’s just really nice.” To which I respond, “Nice doesn’t cut it. Nice is fine. But nice is boring. I don’t want to hang out with nice.” If you’re not just a leeeetle wacky, it’s not worth it. Having friends with a little wacky in them is what makes it possible for me to still have friends even though I sometimes wear flannel nightgowns and say weird things and dance really awkwardly and am kind of a nerd.

If you’re wacky, authentic, and in the tank for Barack, I totally love you right now. Bring your flannel nightgown over. We’ll drink red wine and watch the Food Network and maybe have a dance party to old Aaliyah songs. It will be great.

If you’re not into any of the above maybe just look at the picture of Pam and Dwight and Jim until you’re so happy you almost cry. Even unauthentic boring people who love McCain deserve to feel happy once in a while.

[Posted by Mallory]

7 Comments

Filed under cry face, dance, family, music, politics, post-college depression, thoughts, TV

buy me a ticket to europe.

Here is what I have been doing for the past few hours: eating my weight in goat cheese, bread, and pizza; watching trashy TV shows like America’s Next Top Model and Project Runway (totally digging Kenley again, by the way); drinking red wine with my girlfriends; and realizing as I do every day that DC is a pretty baller place to live. Randomly, I just ran into my friend Camille and her new gentleman friend on my street corner, which was wonderful and serendipitous, and in a mere three hours my favorite Asian in the world will be arriving on my doorstep like a gift from God. Basically, I’m pretty damn happy right now. 

Here is what I have been doing for the past three weeks: ignoring the Hump Day Cry Face. See, I started to think that people didn’t really care anymore. And maybe most of you are saying, “Um what is the Hump Day Cry Face and why should we care?” And that’s fine. But two of you — Kathleen and my dear friend Jed — truly care about the good ol’ CF, and I cannot just let it go. (It’s like this voicemail message my family has had for over a decade: it’s me singing a little ditty I made up all by myself when I was like twelve, and most of our friends are so over the message and want us to change it, but every so often someone will call and tell us that the voicemail made their day. So we kept it, because making someone’s day every few months is totally worth it. Cry Face is worth it too.) 

Ahem. Without further ado (or babbling), and in honor of Camille, Walsh, and Western Europe…

And yes, in that third photo, we ARE on top of the Eiffel Tower, thank you for asking.

[Posted by Mallory]

3 Comments

Filed under adventures, cry face, drinks, family, fashion, food, humor, post-college depression

i’d kill for bigger boobs, mom.

Here’s a good story for you.  Eighteen year old Nikita Lee Weis wanted to kill his mother.  Why?  So he could sell her stuff, and get the money to buy his girlfriend bigger boobs, duh.  Awwww!  How selfless of him!  His mother, Hyun Weis, was attacked with a baseball bat in her house on Thursday.  She spent one night in the hospital, but she’s okay.  But the police have arrested Nikita, the two kids he hired and his flat-chested girlfriend Sophia Nicole Alsept on suspicion of conspiracy to commit first degree murder.

So Nikita is a boobs man?

Really though, let’s take a second to acknowledge the absurdity of this.  This kid wants his girlfriend’s rack to be bigger badly enough that he would kill his mother?  Back in the day, when I used to say that I’d kill for bigger boobs, I didn’t mean it.  It was HYPERBOLE.  And hello, Sophia?  If that man buys your tatas he’s going to think that he owns them. Girrrrrrrrl that’s not good.  Especially if he kills his mama over them.  Just saying…

Children these days.  Geeeeeez.

[Posted by Kathleen]

10 Comments

Filed under blogging, definitely not politics, family, news, pop culture, random

delightfully hypocritical video for your weekend.

Courtesy of our AC, our New England correspondent, please check out this wonderful clip from The Daily Show. Jon Stewart 2016!

[Posted by Mallory]

1 Comment

Filed under family, humor, politics, TV

youtube clip of today: palin kids.

Piper, girrrrrrrrrrrl I know how you feel.  I play with hair when I’m listening to boring speeches too.  But I typically do not use spit.  Whatev.

Watching this video, you kind of have to say “awwww”.  It’s really not those poor Palin children’s fault that their mother is an embarrassment to politics.

[Posted by Kathleen]

4 Comments

Filed under babies, family, news, politics, random, Uncategorized, YouTube

liveblogging john “walnuts” mccain’s acceptance speech.

Since Kathleen is off doing actually important things, you’re stuck with me for liveblogging. You can expect me to have an extremely unsophisticated analysis. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

10:00 — Football is still on. NBC doesn’t care about the Republicans.

10:01 — Ah, there we go. Shot of Palin and Cindy. They’re both wearing shiny suits. Today I had several anxiety attacks thinking about what would happen if John McCain was elected president and then died.

10:05 — Here we go with the video. Ha ha he’s a momma’s boy.

10:06 — Everyone is John McCain’s family was in a war. Had you heard that McCain fought in Vietnam? And he almost died? But he was DESTINED TO BE PRESIDENT. Oh also, he was tortured.

10:07 — Okay, sure, John McCain was once sort of attractive. He spent years in HELL…nice dramatic rhetoric, there.

10:09 — Cindy really does look like an alien. Ha, he’s not in this to support any political party…then why didn’t he act like a real maverick and pick Lieberman?

10:10 — Pictures of babies and old women. He has seven children? I did not know that. Oh wait, I do remember that blonde girl who writes the terrible blog.

10:11 — “The stars are aligned…”? Really? He’s stealing Barry’s “change” word.

10:11 — Wait, did they MENTION that McCain was tortured? In Vietnam? He lived in a BOX, PEOPLE. Ha ha, box.  He will keep other people from enduring that box. Sexist!

10:13 — Here he comes. They set aside seven minutes for applause. Hmm. He is wearing a gold tie, which means he hates America.

10:14 — It’s sort of sad that Barry filled Invesco and what ever small St. Paul place this speech is in isn’t even full. 

10:14 — Weird, someone in the crowd has a disposable camera.

10:15 — Ha, three minutes and he’s already talking. GREEN SCREEN ALERT. Or wait, is that a lawn?

10:16 — “USA! USA! USA!”

10:16 — Surprise surprise, he accepts the nomination.

10:16 — Reference to Bush, but he quickly ties it to 9/11. Good save, Johnny. 

10:17 — His signs so aren’t as cool as Barry’s.

10:18 — “I’m indebted to my robot wife Cindy, whom I selected once my other wife got crippled.”

10:18 — Cindy ALMOST looks like she might cry. She has really thin lips.

10:19 — McCain’s mom is sort of adorable. I like her big blue earrings. 

10:21 — Says some nice things about Barry. Can they PLEASE stop chanting USA?

10:22 — McCain holds his shoulders awkwardly as he promises to win the election.

10:23 — AH A CRAZY WOMAN JUST RUSHED THE STAGE! No one knows what to do! This is amazing! Wait is that a Code Pinker? McCain calms them down with his creepy laugh. I think there are two crazy women. One in a suit, one in a weird pink satin shirt with writing on it. Hmm.

10:24 — He seems to be annoyed that they keep chanting “USA.” He could use some Crest White Strips. They’re only like $17 now.

10:25 — Everyone loves Sarah Palin. Did he just pronounce her name wrong?

10:25 — “I want to thank everyone in American for ignoring Sarah’s lack of experience and instead focusing on the fact that she’s sort of hot.”

10:26 — Shot of the Palin kids. Ah, there’s Bristol. Where’s hot hot baby daddy Levi?

10:27 — He can’t wait to introduce Palin to Washington because SHE’S BASICALLY NEVER BEEN THERE BEFORE.

10:27 — “Change is coming.” Seriously dude, that’s basically plagarism.

10:29 — “Heh heh. Did I mention I’ve been called a maverick?” Ha, someone’s McCain-Palin sign is upside-down.

10:31 — I still get email updates about concerts coming to Denver, and I get really angry when there are good people coming when I’m not there. Anyone want to fly me out to Denver on October 16 to see Conor Oberst?

10:32 — THE Georgetown bar is “hoppin,” according to my roommate. I wish I was liveblogging this from a bar.

10:33 — Okay, so he talked about Iraq for a while, but so far this speech seems kind of fluffy.

10:33 — Ooh here come the personal sob stories. Aw, a dad is crying.

10:34 — McCain wears a bracelet of a young man who died in Iraq. The kid’s parents look so sad.

10:36 — He promises to get back to basics. Shot of a kid with a phallic elephant hat on his head.

10:36 — American Dream rhetoric. “We’re all God’s children, and we’re all Americans.”

10:37 — Rattles off the romantic reasons that people like my dad are Republicans. Too bad that’s quite far from reality.

10:38 — He’ll give us a government that doesn’t make our choices for us, but rather lets us make more choices for ourselves. They’re booing Obama. WATCH IT PEOPLE WE LOVE BARRY.

10:39 — I wonder who all those people in the straw hats are.

10:41 — Do I want to go watch this speech at my roommate’s boyfriend’s house and eat ice cream? Hmmm.

10:42 — “Something related to education is the civil rights movement of this century.” Interesting analogy. I might have said that the GLBT movement is the most important civil rights issue right now. Not that education’s not important, but you know…

10:44 — People are yawning. I am too.

10:45 — Did Palin get new glasses?

10:45 —  “We will drill off-shore and we will drill NOW!” Someone is holding up an “Environmentalists for McCain” sign. Really? Did they notice that Palin doesn’t believe humans are responsible for global warming?

10:46 — Stop making fun of Barry; we all know off-shore drilling isn’t a long-term option. 

10:47 — “We must see the threats to peace and liberty in our time clearly.” True, let’s do that.

10:48 — “Iran is evil. So is Russia.” But I don’t understand…I have a REALLY adorable teacher from Iran. He wears bow ties.

10:49 — “I’m not afraid; I’m prepared. I know how the military works…yada yada.”

10:50 — My roommate just left. She took the ice cream. Now I’m bored and lonely again with no one but McCain to keep me company.

10:51 — Okay, he spoke sort of eloquently there about war and peace and keeping us safe. 

10:52 — I don’t think I’m very good at liveblogging. I’m exceptionally bored and don’t have anything insightful to say. I wish I had something delicious to snack on. Let’s see what Wonkette just liveblogged: “He’s like, I will not send Young People To Die for no good reason. And yet… just… and yet.” Dear Wonkette, I love you. 

10:53 — “I WAS IN A WAR, REMEMBER? THAT BLACK GUY WASN’T.”

10:54 — Girl with yellow eyeshadow cries.

10:55 — Ooh valuable life lesson time. Oh, shocker, it’s about how he was in the war. “Vietnam Vietnam…torture torture torture…I was a maverick…I was shot down…and remember, I was tortured!!!” Two other soldiers he was with took care of him and saved his life. That does make me feel sort of warm and fuzzy inside.

11:02 — “We’ve gotta fight for our right to party.” Okay he didn’t really say that. Now he’s talking like a robot through the cheers of the crowd. Ha, they, they worked in a shot of a guy wearing a yarmulke and a black woman right at the end. Republicans are so diverse!

11:05 — Phew, it’s over. What is that music at the end? Oh, it’s really bad, tacky country music, that’s what.

11:07 — The balloons just dropped, awkwardly late. What is this, THE PROM?! (Zing!)

Okay I’m finished with this. Hopefully Kathleen will be back tomorrow with some legitimate commentary.

[Posted by Mallory]

3 Comments

Filed under blogging, family, news, politics, TV

hello labor day, goodbye white pants.

Happy Labor Day, ya’ll!  I hope you’re enjoying the three day weekend!  As I was contemplating how I DO NOT have today off, I realized that I had no clue as to the real meaning and history of Labor Day (Wiki that) other than it’s the end of summer (wahhhh) and I can’t wear white until Memorial Day.  Ugh.  This is especially distressing to me because I have a killer pair of white pants that I didn’t get to show off this summer.  Well, I tried to show them off.  What happened to me was very traumatic.  No, I didn’t spill anything on them.  It’s even worse.

I realized that time was running out, so I brought said pants to Denver, for the D amazing NC.  Saving the best for last, I waited until Thursday to wear them.  So I woke up a little late on Thursday and got dressed.  White pants, classy black top.  I felt good.  Like vintage J-Lo.  My mother walks into the hotel room.  She’s wearing white pants and a classy black top.  A wave of panic hit me harder than when the Spice Girls broke up.  It’s okay to admire your mother–it is not okay to dress like your mother.  At least not when you’re 22!  Am I becoming my mother?!  I thought I had more time before the transformation took place!  Haha.  In vain she tried to tell me it would be alright, that nobody would notice.  But I could already feel the judgmental eyes on me as I walked next to her on the street.  I’d even mock me.  I quickly changed into an inferior outfit, and the white pants were thrust back into my suitcase, untouched by the summer sun.

Yup, that’s it.  I have been trying to think of some way to turn my white pants story into an allegory of sorts, but I’m afraid it’s too shallow for that.  There is, perhaps, some message here.  I might have better off if I had just listened to my mother and worn the white pants.  Or more likely, it didn’t matter at all.  🙂  Yes, I just emoticoned.  What of it?

While today is not its official end, I hope that you all had a lovely summer.  It went by so fast, didn’t it?

[Posted by Kathleen]

3 Comments

Filed under family, fashion, humor, pop culture, random

maybe mccain will be the godfather.

In the past few days there have been rumors that Sarah Palin’s youngest son, Trig, was actually her grandson, and liberal bloggers like yours truly were loving it. But now the truth is out. According to the latest news from the New York Times, it looks like Trig really is Palin’s son, but that Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, Bristol, is knocked up:

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin’s five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.

According to the McCain campaign, McCain knew about the pregnancy when he selected Palin as his VP but he had “decid[ed] that it did not disqualify the 44-year-old governor in any way.” I find it hard to believe that McCain knew about this situation and still picked Palin. Sure, it doesn’t “disqualify” her, but it sure as hell complicates things. For a hardcore Christian, morals-focused politician to have a 17-year-old pregnant daughter who clearly dallied in premarital sex — the horror! — is so not good for McCain. Which makes me think he really didn’t research this decision much, and instead just made a last-minute decision to choose Palin so that he could shake things up and look like the maverick he claims to be.

Things are looking better and better for our boy B.

[Posted by Mallory]

7 Comments

Filed under babies, blogging, family, news, politics, sex, Uncategorized, weddings