3 appliances I didn't think I needed, until I did

1. Electric Can Opener. My parents shipped me one of these sophomore year of college in a care package, to the endless delight of my PBS-educated roommates. "What is this thing? How does it work?" they would squeal, afraid to touch anything lest they chop off a finger. Unable to operate it, they mocked me endlessly as they used their bohemian manual can openers. Finally last year, when I moved 400 miles away in a Ford Escort and tiny U-Haul trailer, I got rid of the can opener, vowing to simplify my life and kitchen. And now, to my dismay, I find that I cannot operate a manual can opener to save my life. My current roommate and I have gone through 3 can openers, each of them utterly failing to incise a can all the way around. But I swear, it's not my fault.

2. Blender. My grandmother bought me a blender for Christmas last year, and in the succeeding 6 months I used it all of once to make a soup. It, too, became a casualty in the Great Minimalization of 2009, and now I find myself needing a blender all the time.

3. Portable Steam Press. Who even knows what one of these is for? It went unopened for months, then unsold in my apartment yard sale, then off to the donation boxes. Of course this week I bought 2 silk shirts that practically TRY to get wrinkled and, according to their tags, SHOULD NOT BE IRONED. Curses on the urchin who now wields my portable steam press! Fortunately, I found, hotboxing the shirts in the bathroom after a shower seems to work just as well.

3 1/2. Quesadilla Maker. This one doesn't really count because I have always fully realized the value of a quesadilla maker, and was devastated when it broke into a million pieces on my cheap laminate kitchen floor.

Nothing like a recession to make you appreciate seemingly useless appliances. My friend Shoshana used to joke that Protestants always bought each other ponies and woks for Christmas. If you'd like to buy me a wok this year, Shoshi, I will vow to use it every day for the rest of my life.

your horror film guide for Halloween

Yeah, I'm a little late. I've been busy, alright. Anyway, I made this guide for work and wanted to make sure at least 1-2 of my closest friends could benefit from it/criticize my picks. Finally watched the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the first time. Thought the first act was good: nice shots and lots of well-timed suspense, little things like a Polaroid camera making you real nervous. Second act predictable, but probably because slasher is such a genre now. Third act laughable. Wanted the girl to die and stop screaming. She became scarier than the cannibals.

I've been thinking/reading about horror films a lot lately.

I don't know about you guys but this is my most-hyped Halloween ever. If I get my act together I'll post pictures from the upcoming party. Here are the jack-Os:

Seema's on the left, mine on the right.

Last night two black cats crossed my path, at once. Wonder what's going to happen to me.

Geocities!

Over the weekend my boyfriend showed me his Geocities site from early high school. 

I made fun of him a lot. But really I'm just depressed at the fact that he was more employable at 13 than I am at 23. 

Why liberal arts? WHY?

American Girl Dolls: Friend or Foe?

I had a lively discussion last night with a group of strangers + friends over margaritas + queso about the virtues and vices of American Girl dolls. 

Opponents argued that the historical characters we grew up with, all white except for ex-slave Addy, failed to represent the diversity of American life. 

Proponents, namely me, argued that the dolls came from a variety of socioeconomic backgrounds, that Felicity was my introduction to civil disobedience (she showed support for the American revolutionaries *and class* by politely declining a cup of tea), and that one girl of color was better than none. 

Additionally, the dolls had realistic girl bodies (flat chested with plump limbs and childish faces) and were the single strongest competitor to Barbie dolls, which taught us little beyond high heels, hair and cruising in the convertible with Ken. (Pink is the color of girls. Get in the backseat, Skipper!) American Girl dolls came with their own storybooks; they taught American history; encouraged reading, imagination and storytelling; and advocated American values like independence, loyalty and, most importantly, rabid consumerism: When a new catalog came to my house it would distract me for hours as I scanned for anything new in the collection -- a badminton set for Felicity? a real-girl-sized colonial dress? A WHOLE NEW DOLL???? -- and my Christmas wish lists for years were monopolized by catalog numbers from the Pleasant Company.

As an only child, the American Girl dolls were my playmates, but as a bookworm, I devoured every issue of American Girl Magazine the day I got it. The issues came replete with craft ideas, advice columns, and articles from girl readers. They encouraged honesty, kindness and friendship, and even turned me into a proto-feminist by offering advice on how to stand up to a gym teacher who would only let the boys play football. This was radical stuff to a young white girl growing up in North Carolina and attending a prep school where I was consistently one of the only kids in class whose mom worked, who lived in an apartment, and whose parents were divorced. 

Granted, the Pleasant Company didn't offer any dolls who were South Asian immigrants or who had two gay dads, but this was the nineties, people!

Choose an Identity

I just noticed that when you leave a comment on a blogger post you are instructed to "choose an identity." This says far too much about the age we are living in. 

Topic: Miley Cyrus. Discuss amongst yourselves. 

stuff baby hipsters like

1. Yo Gabba Gabba
2. tiny Converse All Stars
3. Dad's Wayfarers
4. The Flaming Lips
5. cloth diapers
6. screen-printed onesies

...a lot of my friends have been having babies lately.

Photo credit Romain Blanquart via this awesome blog.

traffic barrel monster!

an n.c. state student, as reported by new raleigh and gawker blog jalopink, was arrested for the above art and stands trial for misdemeanor.