Rachel-isms

"slash" (often used multiple times in the same sentence)

"maybe" (said next to definite statements, e.g., "I miss you, maybe")

"may or may not be true"

"-ish" (used to qualify anything)

"p.s." (said after, or as a statement)

"by the way" (said after, or as a statement)

"fun and funny"

"thank you in advance"

"not that awesome" (said of things I dislike)

a specific head nod with a specific facial expression

Small and simple things for which I am really grateful.

• Kindnesses upon kindnesses, from professors, from classmates, from family, from friends.
• A line from a book, "Everything is possible again."
• Another line from the same book, "If nothing matters, there's nothing to save."
• That God speaks to us in ways that we understand.
• Skype, and a 3 year old girl on the other end who knows my name and calls me aunt.
• Facebook and gmail and blogs.
• That it is not yet a terrible prospect to go outside/that it is not yet unbearably cold out.
• Scarves and hats and sweaters.
• My bicycle.
• Pizza.
• Having school classes I don't hate.
• Living in a city I am learning to love more all of the time.
• The (actual) color purple.
• The book The Little Prince.
• Priesthood blessings.
• Music shows.
• Trader Joe's.
• Maps.

Bad Poetry.

A few weekends ago Q and C had a party to warm their home. A game was played, that could conceivably have been lame, but wasn't. Each person had pen and paper in hand and jotted down the name of a (made-up) poem. These papers were folded and placed in a basket, then redistributed to the waiting masses. Each person then unfolded their new piece of paper and wrote a poem corresponding to the given title. Again papers were folded and returned to the basket. One by one a paper was drawn and a poem was performed, often with great spectacle. Below is a sampling of our poetry (graciously transcribed by Elizabeth):

"Death and Rumpelstiltskin"
Spin that scythe into gold baby!
The little man is coming for you.

"True Messengers"
True messengers
stab you in the
front
post haste
make waste
reduce
re-use
recycle
true messengers
could never have been
more so.

ps God bless you Al Gore
thank you for your global
warming beard & the interwebs.

"An Ode to Underage Love"
Movies and classes and
a few friends with cars
take a pre-sexed mind,
leaving its masses
and other masses wanting
another's masses of
the corporeal kind.
It's a beginning of a
goddamn odyssey

"Three"
one, two where do I go from here
do I fall off a cliff
do I start a new riff
to fly up a stream
dream a new dream
wishing to be free
or just count to three

"Mama'll Make it Better"
whenever i'm in dire need
mama makes it better
if it's cold and I start to freeze
mama brings me a sweater
but last winter mama died
all last winter i stayed inside
i sat at home all day and cried
mama can't make this better. :( [emoticon in original]

"Molecule Mania Hit West Philadelphia"
molecule mania hit west philadelphia
jack kerouac hit west philadelphia.
all his friends were there.
friend 1. friend 2. friend 3.
they drank coffee in donut shops
and ate donuts in coffee shops.
and wrote whatever words fell from their pen.

"Bareheaded Conquerer"
the bareheaded conquerer conquered
everything. conquered nothing.
who said a conquerer needs a
headdress? or a turban? or a tiara?
not this conquerer.
to the victor goes the spoils.

"I Still Believe in What has Fallen Apart"
I still believe in what has fallen apart,
but that shit don't believe in me.
–Get up! Put your ass back together!
–What are You talkin' about!
I don't know. I'm just talking.
But I'm hoping things work out.

In one month's time.

This semester will be behind me and home will be ahead.

Catalog la Seawright.

I love this card catalog.
















And this fortune.


From this bag. From the night Max and I visited Betty at the open house.

Right now.

I may or may not be writing a paper on awards given to romance fiction, particularly young adult romance fiction. I also may or may not be thinking about how much I hate group projects.

The Blind Side.

Tonight Quinn, Courtney, and I watched this movie, before our weekly dinner at Spikes. It was so, so good. That is the truest thing I can say. And also that Sandra Bullock was impressive, and it was sweet, and funny, and sometimes sad, and almost always tear inducing, but generally in really inspiring ways. I think we all left the theater wanting to be kinder. I left wanting to be kinder.

It has also been an amazing thing to have these friends in Boston. I knew them before, for years even. Still, there is something to be said for the closeness and knowledge that comes in riding trains together, standing in lines, and sitting in movie theaters before a film begins.

Last week.

1. The Saturday before last I dressed as a librarian for a pre Halloween party, which is admittedly two parts nerdy, one part awesome.
2. Later my library school friend asked incredulously, "You went as yourself?" I could only answer, "Yes. Yes I did."
3. Last Monday I had a boring class, but a good hallway/lobby conversation after that boring class.
4. Last Tuesday there was nothing to write home about.
5. Last Wednesday I watched a premier of Gentleman Broncos with Courtney and Quinn. It was funny enough.
6. Following, Jared Hess did a question and answer session, which was more than funny enough, particularly in its revelations of ridiculous real life experiences inspiring certain scenes, and his descriptions of Utah and Idaho to people in my current city.

7. I was also introduced to Spikes where I ate a decent (veggie) hot dog, made even better by good tunes and good company.
8. Last Thursday, Max and I went to Cambridge Public Library's open house. There were so many smiling people of varying ages. I liked it.
9. On the way out Betty gave us red tote bags bearing the library's logo.

10. They held a chocolate dipped fortune cookie with the fortune, "All of your questions will be answered in the new library."
11. Last Friday I heard E. Ballard speak in a beautiful Boston church.
12. Last Saturday I traveled to NY.
13. That Halloween nighttime I was a mime.
14. It rained on our parade, making my friends and I cold and wet. But it was still (kind of) fun.
15. In the midst of this, Chris, Tyler, and I wandered NY City streets through NY City crowds for over an hour searching for a restroom.

16. McDonalds was ultimately our salvation.
17. Last Sunday was Mormon church, a game of MASH, stairwells, scraped knees and hands, shared laughter, and picture taking.
18. This day I came back to Boston, which bus ride helped me finish my third book in three days.