Below are the most recent 20 friends' journal entries.

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008
alabasterbeach	10:03a	Another Party... Okay, so the girls only party is wed the 21st. on Wed the 28th we are having a Johnny Dipp fondue party!!! woot! 7pm at my place! come play!!! (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 13th, 2008
jessamyn19	6:27p	my presentation went really well today. it was great and worth the work. my dissertaion deadline was also moved to friday morning, which has given me more time (and more time to stress). my feet hurt. too much standing. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, May 12th, 2008
alabasterbeach	1:13p	And I would walk 500 miles... and I would walk 500 more... Or I would walk 8. Made a weekend resolution to put as little time in the car as possible between Friday night and Monday morning and stuck to it. Slept in late on Sat and decided that instead of driving the 4 miles into town and then coming home to run, I would walk to do my errands. Other than having to make extremely important strategic decisions at the store - you realize that you really only need to lug toilet paper and gatorade home - and wondering if buying RJ an herb garden in a bucket was such a great idea after all, it's a fun, if inefficient way to get things done. i spent some time on the phone and spent a lot of time just enjoying the day. There was no reason or way for me to really rush, so I turned down the side street to visit Smith's Fort Plantation - http://www.apva.org/smithsfort/ - found a store that looks like my apartment on steroids where a woman handpaints furniture and sells all other kinds of frou - http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1996/vp960221/02200059.htm - and met a couple of hippies who opened a youth center and coffee shop in the storefront rooms of their apartment building to foster a sense of community in the area - http://thecentersurry.com/ - and bought herbs at the garden store to make the aforementioned portable italian herb garden for RJ's cooking. For the record, the fort is just a 10-foot long, 2 foot high hump in the woods by the river. the sign declaring it the oldest British fort in VA, ca. 1609 is much taller, but it's a nice walk through the woods to the river. I went strawberry picking after my 4 hour jaunt and took the 2nd successful phone call from Australia for the week while I picked strawberries. the first week they were ripe and sweet, but the heavy rain and weird weather led to lots of swollen vaguely slimy ones, so the picking took a while and most of the berries were sliced and stirred into cake and frosting - not sweet enough to snack on. other weekend highlights included an inadvertent, but successful, crashing of boy's night during which there was dancing - dancing may by my Most. favorite. activity. - and a Sunday date where we took the ferry to town, ate an amazing albeit ridiculously expensive dinner at the Corner Pocket and thoroughly enjoyed Iron Man. Tonight Janine's first Community Hafla at Art6 is going down and I promised I'd help her by brining the cd player. There will be live drummers, but she encouraged people to bring their own music too! I'll be heading over after jogging and a supply stop at home if anyone wants to join! The resolution was a good one - the commute this morning was so much easier. Hooray for a low-car diet! (Comment on this)
Sunday, May 11th, 2008
linksward	7:17p	30/30 Today was structured by biking 30 kms and beating my best speed ever by pedalling up to 30km/hr. We biked out to Nudgee Beach and had chips shop food in the park looking at the mangroves growing in the ocean. It was not that tormenting so I think we could make it through Boodall Wetlands sometime. But def Nudgee is within range. We called like three halts each way, which makes it abotu 11/2 hours each way. Whoot. on Sat I went to the Union Council which turned out well. They wound up letting me proxy which means I got to vote on stuff and I met some people. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, May 10th, 2008
jessamyn19	4:49p	life: free cookwear, a day trip, and general stress with planing So this morning, on my way out the door, the mailman gave me a package, it was a lovely baking tray. sweet :) Today mark and I went to Stroud by train to drop off art work at the stroud house gallery where I will be showing 5 pinhole photographs in their up-coming show titled 'Stitched Two.' we then had a lovely day wandering around Stroud's award wining farmer's market, the town center, and their shopping mall. I got to try lot of free samples of meats, cheeses, beer, and other such things, and so pretty much grazed the whole day. After that we went to see Speed Racer in the local cinema, which I thought was very good and mark liked ok. It was a very fun relaxing day. Then we had a drink in the pub to pass the 20 minutes till our train back to london and made in home in time to make dinner and watch an episode of Firefly. It felt like all the good of a vacation in like one afternoon. Now back to reality, which is high pressured, full of deadlines, and lots of stress to be had. Monday: My first day in the bookable space this week. I need to take advantage of the opportunity to use the space and try to figure out how I'm going to be displaying the works I've been making. I fear the bulk of the day will be spent painting the structure I have been building last week. There are like 35 things that all need two coats of paint. Also on Monday there is a school meeting at some point, probably in the morning. Tuesday: My hour long studio practice presentation to the MA department and my fellow students is to be delivered at 11am. It's the most important presentation we give all year. I have yet to start writing it yet or making the power point, so it's full of stress. The real problem is that I don't really know what I'm doing so talking for an hour about what I'm doing will be really hard. I have to get up there and say something other than 'sorry guys, I'm totally lost, have not idea what I'm doing, am just making stuff for the sake of it, and no idea if it's going any where.' Their real critizizim last time a gave a persentation was that my work was not really consepualy enough and wasn't saying a clear message of any kind. that critisizim can totally be acuretly applied to my work now, and I fear the feed back part of my presentaion will just be reinforcing how lost I am and how my work mostly regressing. Wednesday: On Wednesday I have to turn in the lasted draft of my dissertation. I have not even started the rewrite yet really. She said there was a ton of work it needed, a lot more research (which I don't have time to do) and a lot more writing. Not really sure how I can fit in all the extra writing since I am already at my word limit. Massive editing is really needed. Oh well, have to get what I can done. Thursday and Friday: Working in the bookable space still (I am supposed to be there all week). Trying to get some artwork planing done. Also, hassling the tech guy about my printer which he stole, getting feedback from my adviser about my draft, and general preparing for leaving school for two weeks. Saturday: Traveling to Stroud for my private view at the gallery. Trying to be a professional, interesting, articulate, and no-shy artist, meeting people I have never met before. But I am super excited to see how the work looks on the walls and with other work. I really don't know any thing about the gallery or what the opening will be like. Sunday: pack, hang out with Mark, and get ready. monday:FLY HOME!! The Boogie, family, friends, cat, Mexican food and all kinds of magical wonders await me. I am really only in town for about five seconds, but I can't wait! Ten days later, it's back to London refreshed and ready to finish my glorious dissertation, show Allison a good time in Europe, find a wonderful place to live ands move house, move studios, make worthy artworks, and finish my academic career with flying colors by receiving my Master's Degree and producing a highly acclaimed show. (or at lest that is the plan, wish me luck) Current Mood: excited (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, May 9th, 2008
alabasterbeach	2:03p	rainy weekend... or Va Beach could be slated for 50 degree days and clouds for the weekend. I think i'll take my chances in w'burg instead. just gotta avoid the mother's day/graduation crowds and i'll be fine. at least i know i can jog the parkway and hang at the riverbeach! (Comment on this)
alabasterbeach	11:47a	modestly and braggadocio... was looking up mpg of certain cars and came across this. someone made big money tailoring this description... Pontiac Grand Prix is the extrovert in GM's mid-size family, a sinewy body in a sleeveless T-shirt, flaunting a style inspired by NASCAR. The Grand Prix name may refer to European road racing, but the Pontiac Grand Prix is as American as a hot dog at the speedway on Saturday night. Fortunately, the Grand Prix can back its styling braggadocio with plenty of driving excitement, thanks to a thoroughly modern platform, powerful engines, great brakes and excellent handling. The GTP version, in particular, puts enough horsepower through the front wheels to keep drivers interested and alert. Yet its price is impressively modest, compared to an imported sport sedan. http://www.carsdirect.com/2002/pontiac/grand_prix bc what says sleek and sexy like NASCAR?!? (Comment on this)
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
alabasterbeach	10:37a	bone dense!!! yay! bone density scans are so immediately satisfying. went for scan. scan completed. healthy bones! results discussed. hip = normal, spine = high/normal. back at work. continuing w/ supplements and weight bearing exercise, although today i get to swim b/c it's rainy and i've skipped swimming for too long. maybe i'll make it my lunch activity. i'm trying not to skip lunch in the hopes of leaving early any more b/c it just never works out. i just end up working the extra hour and feeling too tired to cope. yay BONES!!! yay skeleton! yay skeleton dance! http://www.livevideo.com/video/5BFD92E695AA4F9CB7E8E966C6F35782/The+Skeleton+Dance.aspx (1 Comment |Comment on this)
alabasterbeach	9:13a	on the road again.... after driving more than 800 miles to get to the 1-95 turn-off on saturday, i have put more than 700 miles on my car. i hit the odometer to reset when i had to count miles for the most tormented "1 1/2 unpaved lanes of where the hell is google maps taking me when i coulda just stayed on the highway?" route to rj's that made his tiny dot on the map feel like broadway, and it passed 700 this morning. i seriously need to get outta my car... to celebrate this aspiration, i will not be going much of anywhere this weekend. the current plan is to pyo strawberries on friday afternoon and camp out w/ rj for the night. i wanna make strawberry cakes and pies. rj will be entertaining himself with his new xbox or wowing w/ his bro. rj bought an xbox yesterday and only had time to die twice in the new gta before he slipped in to bed and i didn't get back from dc until close to 1am. things to remember - may is the month of highway repair in va. you will sit, on the highway, for hours. i figured out that looping around richmond and driving farther to rj's actually got me off of 95 and outta my car faster. he works sat, so i am thinking the beach - esp b/c va beach will be hosting the caribbean music festival. http://www.beachstreetusa.com/beachstreetusa_web_site_029.htm rj is only 2 hours from the beach, so i can be camped out on a spot there early. haven't been yet but i already bought some spf 80. going to print out the dirctions that avoid the tunnel and 64...right now. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
linksward	6:03p	I got home today to discover two packages in the mail--one for Jeremy and one for me. The one for me was from Norah! Someone should thank her excessively for me. I'm wearing the plaid skirt right now. And the dress looks cool too. Jeremy was all about his books with the love and stuff. I'm cruising through WOrld War Z speaking of books. I made the first nascent steps towards changing my career to a tafe teacher. You know they have basic literacy and numeracy programs for immigrants? That would be a cool career. But I didn't do anything really just called about how one would theorhetically do it. Had coffee and Lemon merangue pie and read world war Z this afternoon. And one of my students called me the most "explanatory" teacher she'd had since year 8. It was in this little love fest my 11B's randomly threw for me where one said I explained everythin gthey needed to do unlike their other teachers and another said that there were two kinds of teachers, the "explanatory" ones like me and ones who yelled at you for getting things wrong. I was pretty stoked and this is btw my good thing for today. I felt very warm like I like to be liked but had given up on that, but being liked actually for being a good teacher? That's the prize. So in general life is good and I'm really enjoying people's loving and helpful outpouring about my internal crisis, thank you all really. (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
alabasterbeach	10:34a	for lack of a better phrase... quote of the day - "For lack of a better phrase, you can't swing a dead cat into VDPES without hitting CWA." Surely, that can't be the BEST PHRASE YOU HAVE. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 5th, 2008
jessamyn19	5:18p	Website, better than ever... Ok, I spent many long hours, working into the night on my little website that could. It's not perfect, but I'm very proud of how far it has come. if you all get some free time and want to check it out, please get back to me with any broken links, typos, spelling errors, or general advice. I know the front page needs some more content and images, but it's up! for right now, the email is not work :( jessamynbailey.com p.s. thank you mark, for keeping me from crying when i could figure it out. (16 Comments |Comment on this)
alabasterbeach	12:47p	the hague... so, i wonder if they sorted out the initial 'no' resumes before they sent this out or if everyone got one... I am the Legal Assistant to The Honorable Gabrielle Kirk McDonald at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. Thank you for applying for the Legal Assistant position. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the position will not be filled according to the schedule originally anticipated. Consequently, Judge McDonald will not hire a new Legal Assistant at this time. We will retain the application materials sent by all applicants and review them when Judge McDonald selects a new Legal Assistant. ps - what's with the supertrampy clothes being offered in the margins of lj? plugging away at this demurrer. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
alabasterbeach	10:43a	Message in a Bottle... Okay google, just when I have decided that you reading my email is just creepier than I want to deal with, you send me this link: http://www.timelessmessage.com Give the gift named "most romantic gift" on oprah! I don't watch oprah and if I wanted to send someone a message in a bottle i would write and mail my own, maybe packing a wine bottle in a box. i remember sending Cake a message in a plastic bottle once w/ M. we aged paper, crisping up the edges, added sand and shells, and wrote w/ red ink claiming to be marrooned on a desert island. Anyway, I clicked b/c otherwise i might get this demurrer done on time and not stress myself out but it's easier to waste time. would it really would it be monday if i stayed on track? You should too, and you should click directly to the "messages" "love and relationships" and "break-ups" which you have to trust me is much more entertaining than either "brother" or "christmas." there's also "bitter disappointment" but there aren't many options for that one. There are 23 break-up bottle messages. they all go along the lines of "you suck," "i will survive," and "it was nice - sometimes," and the all-pervasive "it's not you, it's me" in sappy drivvle. Here's my thought on the break-up bottle. i understand the bottle as consolation prize. "sorry i dumped you, i still think you're great and i'm sorry you're hurt" is a nice sentiment, but if you want to be spiteful and get the last word in - why pay 50 bucks? that person just dumped your ass or you dumped them b/c it wasn't working. you are no longer under any obligation to spend money on them and odds are that they will be hurt and angry that you are lecturing them IF THEY CARE AT ALL. the message may capture your feelings, but it won't speak to theirs. unless you just CAN't RESIST saying this: If you can just turn And walk away And feel there's nothing more You need to say And you do not feel a tearing In your Heart If you can so easily Forget about me And all the things I tried to be Then I guess there was really no reason For you to stay (neener neener) get an old beer bottle and crack it over your ex-sweetie's skull or something. mail a bottle full of something rancid. let it go and keep the money for a massage or a pair of break up shoes. okay, back to work Al and stop reading my mail, google! (Comment on this)
alabasterbeach	9:08a	Least. Favorite. Thing... I have come to the conclusion that my least favorite thing is missing phone calls from Australia. It's not my most hated event in the world, but it rankles me in a way that I cannot tolerate. I drove through the 3 minute dead spot on highway 10 and on the other side my phone cheerily told me i had a message and missed a call...from australia. glar!!! Other than just being too long to be in any single chair, the drive w/ honey was awesome. spent lots of time on the phone w/ K and honey was great in the car. she was so happy! it was hard to leave her at b's but will see her at the end of the month and i'm so excited that she's in a good place w/ her needs met and someone who will take good care. (Comment on this)
linksward	5:19p	ok so here's the central question of my life--and I'm stumped. How can I live in such a way to make the world better. I need it to be 1) Incorporated into my life or transforming my life to meet it. 2) Better than what I currently am, more radical more invasive. 3) To not require more of a sacrifice than I'm willing to give. 4) To make a positive practical difference to someone's life somewhere. 5) Sustainable over the long term. I am interested in ALL responses and suggestions, even if they don't fulfill all these criteria. I had a conversation with the Judean People's Front (not their real name Monty Python ref) today and was so heartbroken and disillusioned (as I alienated each and every member of the group while they mindlessly quoted hundred year old marxist philosophy) that I burst into tears in front of the last actually reasonably nice activist and cried all the way home while incoherently talking to Jeremy about what I want my life to look like. This was all good because it reminded me that I care. I want to live as a communist and to me that means anything which 1) makes people more equal or me treat people more equally. 2) helps those who are in most need or more need than me. 3) produces value or beauty to which everyone has equal access. 4) subverts a current system which I think harms people eg. war, credit cards, etc. 5) Limits the harm my consumption causes to others eg. not eating chocolate from slave plantations. I've moved past the point where the people I was talking to today live, which is ideology. My ideology is basically, "everyone has the right to eat. don't kill babies." that's all I've got and I have no patience with anything that isn't heading in a practical way towards that. No I don't want your magazine, and I don't want to help you grow your organization. What are we for? If we're not doing anything, we're no good to anyone. But I have no better answers right now because I'm only a middle class liberal. So I think I need another revolution in myself and I'd love help on finding it. Love, Me (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, May 4th, 2008
jessamyn19	8:43p	been trying to rewrite my web site, wish i knew what i was doing. (don't go look) so no one wants to claim responsibility for the blender ether? i made a milkshake with it today, yummy. second sunday tomorrow, :) no school. (Comment on this)
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
jessamyn19	5:30a	my landlady, her husband, and their friend are all in the kitchen (which is a feet, considering the size if the kitchen) trying to figure out how my washing machine works. clearly none of them are qualified to work on washing machines. they are arguing about whether there is a broken belt or what, the guy who came last week said it was the bearings. i think at this rate they will be here all day again. it would be really great if they could fix it today, we have no clean cloths in the house, but i don't hold out much hope. all my landlady says is that it must be our fault some how because the washing machine was practically new! (which is a lie). Ahhh.... update: they have left now. there were here a few hours in order to figure out that they think it's the belt, not that they know where the belt goes. any way, they are going to order a new belt (they don't know from where) and said it will be another five to ten days. but i think they will just put on a new belt to fine out it still doesn't work because the first man was right and there are broken bearings. i am estimating at lest another two weeks before we get a working washing machine (a total of a month with out one) mark yelled at the landlady when she started to get unreasonable, making him my hero for the day. (Comment on this)
linksward	10:22a	Sulkybear takes control. It's cookie's wedding today. We're going there in about two hours. We had the zombie party on thurs which was a lot more fun than I'd imagined. The Zombies game was ok and we watched Shaun of the dead. I feel like I've been in a bad mood for weeks. I mean not when we're at pomona etc but whenever nothing specifically good has been going on the sulkiness has been taken over. Oh well. I hiked another mountain this week and I got together my pomona pics which are now online http://picasaweb.google.com/linksward (Comment on this)
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
jessamyn19	3:00p	so my life is developing a theme of anonymous cookware. after the frying pan incident, which no one has claimed credit for yet, this morning i got another package. it was a blender! sweet :) there was no name (was it you, sue? i think the postmark was from your part of the world). caitlin says i should start wishing for a new washing machine (cause our's has been out for over two weeks) any way, it was a great this morning to awake to gifts in the mail. (3 Comments |Comment on this)