Below are the most recent 10 friends' journal entries.

Thursday, January 7th, 2010
lorifran57	12:12a	some good deeds do go unpunished Tonight I spent time with an inlaw relative/extended to the family. They have been out of sorts as of late not well. A moment of time was upon us when the relative was trying to remember the words to 'Amazing Grace'. We sang together because as it turned out I know many of the words of the entirety of it. After a while I pulled out my new ipod touch my parents gave me for hannukah.  I found the song in itunes and downloaded it. I put the ipod next to the ear and they held it listening to the words, the song and smiled and we sang together and laughed and sang some more. Then for some reason they wanted to sing Danny Boy. Again...I searched and downloaded and the ipod was held to the ear and once again a smile as we sang and also much laughter about it. I had gone to visit the inlaws for dinner. I left making an extended inlaw-family member smile. My 'self' realizes the world is a better place for one smile upon a good deed not intended but done because it happens to be the kindness of love that it is in the moment of things. It was a rare 'true' moment and I was glad to be a part of it. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. T'was Grace that taught my heart to fear. And Grace, my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear The hour I first believed. Through many dangers, toils and snares I have already come; 'Tis Grace that brought me safe thus far and Grace will lead me home. The Lord has promised good to me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.   Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within the veil, A life of joy and peace. When we've been here ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun. We've no less days to sing God's praise Than when we've first begun. Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now I see. Current Mood: full Current Music: Amazing Grace & Danny Boy (Comment on this)
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
notpiecebypiece	1:30p	to steal a term from thrace_. Presenting: YAHOOS. Black dress with the tights underneath, I got the breath of the last cigarette on my teeth, And shes an actress (actress), But she ain't got no need. Shes got money from her parents in a trust fund back east. T-t-t-tongues always pressed to your cheeks, While my tongue is on the inside of some other girls teeth, T-tell your boyfriend if he says hes got beef, That I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fucking scared of him. She wants to touch me (Woah), She wants to love me (Woah), She'll never leave me (Woah, woah, oh, oh), Don't trust a ho, Never trust a ho, Won't trust a ho, Won't trust me. X's on the back of your hands, Wash them in the bathroom to drink like the bands. And your setlist (setlist), You stole off the stage, Had red and purple lipstick all over the page. B-b-b-bruises cover your arms, Shaking in the fingers with the bottle in your palm. And the best is (best is), No one knows who you are, Just another girl alone at the bar. She wants to touch me (Woah), She wants to love me (Woah), She'll never leave me (Woah, woah, oh, oh), Don't trust a ho, Never trust a ho, Won't trust a ho, Won't trust me. Shush girl shut your lips, Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips. I said, Shush girl shut your lips, Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips. I said, Shush girl shut your lips, Do the Hellen Keller and talk with your hips. Woah, woah, woah... She wants to touch me (Woah), She wants to love me (Woah), She'll never leave me (Woah, woah, oh, oh), Don't trust a ho, Never trust a ho, Won't trust a ho, Won't trust me Post-feminism describes a range of viewpoints reacting to feminism. While not being "anti-feminist," post-feminists believe that women have achieved second wave goals while being critical of third wave feminist goals. The term was first used in the 1980s to describe a backlash against second-wave feminism. It is now a label for a wide range of theories that take critical approaches to previous feminist discourses and includes challenges to the second wave's ideas. Other post-feminists say that feminism is no longer relevant to today's society. (26 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 4th, 2010
notpiecebypiece	11:06p	when it knocks you down Megan just said, "I feel like Malevolent Monday takes a lot of work." IT DOES! Okay, this is a very special Malevolent Monday. I love "Jersey Shore" -- this is not a secret. But I feel like the popular opinion is that watching "Jersey Shore" is like watching a train-wreck because the people are so awful. Some people like watching train-wrecks/awful people, and some people don't. I DISAGREE WITH THIS ASSESSMENT! I think a few of the Jersey Shore cast occasionally show some sparks of humanity. And I am coming out of the closet to admit that I am... attracted to one of the cast. Presenting... WHY YOU, TOO, SHOULD THINK JWOWW IS AWESOME ( read more! ) (10 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 3rd, 2010
mlleglass	3:20p	Om Nom Nom Books: 2009 I read these books in 2009. Changing commute times meant more time for sleep, less time for reading. I was proud of myself for reading more in 2008, looks like I slacked a bit, though I did a lot less re-reading. Better next year!! What was your favorite read of the year? JANUARY Offbeat Bride – Ariel Meadow Stallings Intimate Weddings – C. Friedrichson Jo Garten’s Weddings – J. Garten The Graphic Design Reader – S. Heller Sword and Citadel (Book of the New Sun 3 and 4) – G. Wolfe Opening Up – T. Taormino The Player of Games – Iain Banks Beautiful Botanicals – B. King FEBRUARY After Dark – Haruki Murakami Watchmen – Alan Moore The Boleyn Inheritance – P. Gregory Portrait of a Lady – Henry James Your Vintage Wedding – Nancy Eaton Things Fall Apart – C. Achebe MARCH Atonement – Ian McEwan The Conscious Bride – Sheryl Paul A Widow For One Year – John Irving APRIL The Winds of War – H. Wouk The Eight – Katherine Neville The Omnivore’s Dilemma – M. Pollan MAY The Robber Bridegroom – Eudora Welty Delta Wedding – Eudora Welty The Ponder Heart – Eudora Welty Ethan Frome – Edith Wharton Summer – Edith Wharton The Lime Works – Thomas Bernhard JUNE Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World – H. Murakami The Logogryph – Thomas Wharton House of Leaves – Mark Danielewski The Necklace and Other Tales – Guy de Maupassant JULY Spook Country – W. Gibson Portnoy’s Complaint – Philip Roth The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time – Mark Haddin Veronica – N. Christopher Vile Bodies – E. Waugh AUGUST Kakfa on the Shore – H. Murakami SEPTEMBER Love & Money – Opdyke Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson – Helperin The Constant Princess – P. Gregory OCTOBER The Man in the Iron Mask – A. Dumas War and Remembrance – H. Wouk NOVEMBER A Room With A View – E. M. Forster I’m So Happy For You – Lucinda Rosenfeld The Michael Jackson Tapes – Rabbi Shmuley Boteach Remainder – Tom McCarthy DECEMBER One Michael Jackson – Margo Jefferson Originally published at IRENE KAORU. Please leave any comments there.
Friday, January 1st, 2010
notpiecebypiece	10:29p	lay off me, I'm starving for the next 6 weeks I will be ending every sentence with "lay off me, I'm starving." I'm not actually starving, just vaguely hungry most of the time. I'm on this "detox" diet thing where I eat a bunch of natural foods. mostly it's because I have been unhappy with the way I eat, but have had trouble discerning where to draw lines and also thinking "omg what if I'm this hungry FOREVER?" so that this is for a short time period, with strict rules, will be good for me. I HOPE. we'll see. first 3 weeks: Green Veggies, no peas Ezekiel Bread, Sandwhich Buns, English Muffins, Tortillas, Cereal (not with raisins, though) Almonds -- almond milk (homemade), almond butter Olive Oil, Unsalted Butter, Avocados Tomatoes, Onions, Garlic, Spices -- use Sea Salt instead of regular Grapefruits, Lemons, Limes Eggs, Fish, Organic Meats tea, coffee next 3 weeks: add berries, green fruit, oatmeal, raw milk, raw cheese, quinoa that's right, no diet coke. :/ and no cheese for 3 weeks. :/ :/ alright, this is super boring and I won't blaaaarrrghhh a lot about it, except to say if/when I start feeling good or significantly different, and/or if/when I give up. (21 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
little_strangr	7:31p	um.... hi... i haven't been here in  really long time. i feel like a bad catholic...  ... father, it's been years since my  last confession.... i live in bushwick, the bushwick castle. I live with John, Christopher & Christian. We have cat named named eli. I have a new & shiny job that's making me very optimistic about the year to come. and the screen is doing weird flickers so I'm not feeling writing anymore. love to everyone, hope you find your bliss tonight xoxo Current Mood: accomplished (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
notpiecebypiece	11:20a	nothing like a girl you've seen before I saw Precious with Greer last night. Uncomfortable good times were had by all. I'm inclined to not mention Mo'Nique's performance because everyone else doing it, but she was pretty intensely brutal. Though I know very little about acting, whenever I see someone playing a character who is genuinely ugly in some "real" way, I feel like they are being really brave and doing something that resonates with me more than anything. Some other thoughts about the movie ~in relation to myself~, and includes ( minor spoilers, but nothing you probably didn't already know if you've read any reviews ) But the most important item of information I need to share with you about Precious is that Mariah Carey HAD A MUSTACHE!!!! She was also a billion times sexier in that movie than I've ever seen her, and not just because she yelled at Precious' mom to stop being mean. I'd also like to start a petition for more movie/TV close-ups of actors' acne. That needs to happen more. Seriously, people are beautiful on their own, and movies are beautiful on their own. The acne can stay. Actually the most important item of information that I need to share is that I found this interview on YouTube with Gabourey Sidibe and Paula Patton, and did some screencapping, of... you know. Like I do. LOOK AT THE VARIETY OF WAYS SHE FINDS TO TOUCH HER (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
notpiecebypiece	2:05p	when the roof caved in I saw Sherlock Holmes with my family over break. It was fun, and gay. I thought I was all smart/observant for saying how Sherlock and Watson were so much like House and Wilson, but, haha, mitchco informed me that House/Wilson are actually based on Sherlock/Watson (the books). Friends smarter than me, I knew I kept you around for a reason. It should also be noted that the last two movies I have recently seen (The Road and Sherlock Holmes) both failed the Bechdel test, which is: do two female characters talk in the movie about something other than men? Neither movie even had two female characters talking to each other about ANYTHING. Disgusting. Also disgusting: before Sherlock Holmes started, I must have seen about 10 previews, and in every single one, EVERY SINGLE ONE, the main character was a man (or group of men). What. the. fuck. Movies, you blow. I want to vomit down your metaphorical backs. TV > Movies. Lastly, in the movie theater, I was sitting next to my sister, and my mom. During the preview for Spartacus: Blood and Sand, I made this comment to Krystal, but I was pretty loud, and reasonably sure my mother heard me, but I wasn't concerned because I had no idea this was going to happen. Please note the below timestamps. Around 1:04: me: KRYSTAL! IT'S XENA! HOORAY! 1:10: [happens] (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
notpiecebypiece	2:27p	where they need no star to guide I went to Bloomington this morning to visit my old church, where I went when I was at IU. I haven't been in...four years? When I saw Annette, the pastor there, she hugged me and I said, You got so skinny. Besides that, and the children getting older, almost everything was the same. Even the sweet little doxology, that they somehow found, compared to the heavy low doxology of every other church I've been to. Even the faces she made sitting behind the podium, like when a baby started coughing and she heard it and she looked so concerned like a reflex. She has a southern accent and a couple of times she said "pen" and I thought she said "pin." When her husband was reading a passage from the Bible, he accidentally said "twerrified" instead of "terrified" and they both started laughing. It was like this tiny pocket of safety and happiness and everything good. Her sermon was about the shepherds, how to everyone else they were dirty and disgusting. But when Jesus was born they saw him, and he was born to the world, not to the church. She said at her daughter's school a while ago, the kids had a hobby show and a bunch of the girls had written on their displays, "Boys are not allowed to look!" There was a boy who had a kind of pathetic-looking display but he had written, "Anyone can look." After the service Annette asked me what my plans were for the rest of the day, and because I am a crazy person I freaked out that she'd think I was weird or whatever for only coming to Bloomington to see her, so I lied and said I was getting lunch with friends. And I was so nervous, and I just hurried off. But I don't know if I even really wanted to talk that much, I just wanted to remember she exists. I think that being a pastor, she probably has all these people hanging on her, wanting her help and her attention, and I was always so afraid of doing that. So I over-correct and think I should leave her alone. Besides, what do I want anyway? Today I looked at her during church and felt like my heart was going to explode. Why am I still doing this? What is wrong with me? I am 27 and all year this is the strongest I have felt. I cried a little bit during my drive back to Indianapolis. I've built up this dichotomy in my brain where everything good is back in Boston. But I haven't felt like that since... I can't remember when. I felt this undercurrent of warmth, but of course that doesn't last. I got mad at myself for all the times I skipped church or declined opportunities for more involvement with that church while I was still at IU, probably immersed in whatever stupid relationship I was in. But I think I must have known even then that when you are hungry like that nothing is going to be enough. When my first relationship ended and I couldn't talk to my mom about it, I asked Annette to meet me for lunch to talk to me about it and she did. She was the person who told me, "Sometimes break-ups are harder than death, because at least in death you can think of this person you love, in the same way." I remember when I sat next to her during an IU basketball game and our arms touched and it didn't seem to bother her. How does this feeling get so diluted? On the road -- there must be a name for this phenomenon, or better description -- the wind was blowing around either the salt or the thin layer of snow, and there were these white clouds swiveling around. Like flat ghosts, almost touching the ground but not quite, lost or slinking away. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 25th, 2009
lorifran57	1:56p	THE YULE LOG May I present to you: THE YULE LOG Yes, I tok a picture of the TV in my room here in virginia. It is playing on a virginia station. Ironically it is playing on channel 11 here which is same as it used to play on 11 in NY when I was a child. I didn't even know anybody played it anymore. It is actually very nice change of pace from all the news crap for a day. Current Music: I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas (Comment on this)