hipsterdom

sometimes i wish i was a hipster.
because they seem pretty cool.
but i only have one pair of skinny jeans and and i graduated from byu.

and i don't cut my own hair and have pretty dorky musical preferences.

but i do like this american life.
and i usually wear that pair of skinny jeans at least one time a week, even though i think they make my feet look like clown feet, never mind my analysis of how they don't always flatteringly contour my legs.

i think i just perceive hipsters as possessing a little more reckless abandon than me.
i'm not a terribly organized or anal-retentive person, but i am a devastatingly acheivement-oriented person. i think that things have to have an outcome and i have to be mapping a course to successfulville with every action i take.

once i told my little sister's hipster friends (and Randi may actually be able to claim the title 'hipster') that i had a lyrical soul. and the asked me if i wrote songs or poetry and when i responded no they just sort of glanced quizzically at me. i don't know why i said i had a lyrical soul. i just felt that i did at the moment and needed to share. but maybe my lyrical soul is caged by my rational self and those hipsters couldn't tell that deep down i was one of them.

actually, her friends may have been more emo, was emo the precursor to the hipster? or have they always been distinct and separate? is a hipster just a slightly happier emo (with the male equivalent growing a beard instead of donning eyeliner)? these are important social questions here.

and this is effectively a late night rant that i will wonder what possessed me to push publish in the morning. but i'll publish it anyway drunk off of late-night, exhaustion-induced uninhibitedness.

what i wrote down last night

I felt a quiet satisfaction at the capture of Osama Bin Laden, but the celebrating death in the streets tore me apart. On facebook this morning I read something my friend Amy posted, a quote from J.R.R. Tolkein on the death of Hitler that bears repeating:

"We were supposed to have reached a stage of civilization in which it might still be necessary to execute a criminal, but not to gloat, or to hang his wife and child by him while the orc-crowd hooted."

It felt so reassuring that other people condemned the shouting and partying in the street. Celebrating an execution is a glorification of hate. Justice is quiet and blind and not boastful.

Anyway, last night, I felt really upset. So I wrote down a little prayer.

"I don't pray for mercy on Bin Laden's soul (final justice belongs to someone who knows his heart, dark as it may be for whatever reason, better than I), but I pray for all hearts that are full of hatred to know love and goodness, and if I can, Lord, let me help bring it to them. Let me help teach that Thy way is love and forgiveness instead of destruction. But if I can't change them at least let me build, let me be an instrument of peace, and never let the cruel act of another rob me of my humanity."

pudding is the missing link!

i recently decided i would add instant pudding mix to all my baking endeavors (which have thus far only been chocolate chip cookies). so far there have been no blunders, just awesome pudding flavor infusion. i may move on to cakes. some white cake with a hint of butterscotch, anyone?

seriously, i feel like paula deen here. it is the simplest addition, but i feel like i am crafting my own recipes. it doesn't take too much to get me to be proud of myself in the cooking arena.

a short list (but not THE short list) of things i love

*disclaimer in the form of a cheesy quote: the most important things in life aren't things.
they are obviously people. this is a list of things. i love people more*

1. water beds.
2. stickers.
3. claw machines.
4. pistachio pudding
5. old churches.
6. the movie angels in the outfield.
7. cupcakes.
8. bookstores.
9. communist ideology.
10. monopoly.
11. this american life.
12. stationery.
13. roller coasters.
14. car drives.
15. mix cds.
16. television.
17. licking the pudding off the lid of my snack pack.
18. daffodils.
19. socks that go up to your knees.
20. bop it.
21. the smell of the air conditioning in my car when i turn it on the first time after winter.
22. fire.
23. watching babies taste lemons. (this one sounds mean, am i horrible?)
24. temporary tattoos purchased from vending machines.
25. all things miniaturized.
26. deviled eggs.
27. stars.
28. laying in bed in the morning, even though i am awake.
29. old pennies.
30. bicentennial quarters.

epic purse

"i once knew a person who really liked two different purses, she was bi-satchel."

i have this unrealized dream of being the person who has everything anyone could ever need in her purse. it is largely unrealized because i rarely tote a bag, and if i do it has minimal contents. however, when i am packing my purse for a trip, i always make sure i have plenty of things other people will need, typically tampons and scissors. (i have found scissors immensely handy on trips, principally because on a sunny vacation one of your tripmates will inevitably want a new pair of sunglasses and will opt to cut that plastic wire holding the tag to the nosepiece rather than chew through it like a hamster.) however, most of the time when people ask me for something like ibuprofen or floss, i'm helpless to their request.

those days are over.

i am going to build an epic purse.

tentative list of contents:
pen*paper*pencil*ibuprofen*quarters*lotion*hand santizer*tissues*nail clippers*scissors*pocket knife*mirror*chapstick*mints*gum*feminine hygiene products*light snack*basic first aid kit*sewing kit*paper clips*ponytail holders*brush/comb*bobby pins*floss*water bottle*visine*sunglasses*basic makeup supplies*jax*deck of cards

any suggestions for additional items would be heartily welcomed and could be beneficial to you if you are in my presence and in need of a certain something.

minor annoyance

i'm not an avid blogger, would not classify myself as a bloggista, and am not by nature an overly meticulous person. however, it bugs me that the address of this blog is still ronigoestoitaly.blogspot.com. Hence, i am changing the url.

i've been trying to think of a cool url. maybe ronivagabondista. i'm not too much of a vagabond, but, as you can tell, i am a little obsessed with the suffix -ista. and i saw a book called vagabonding about taking your time with your travels, not rushing from hot spot to hot spot and exploring exotic places and the deep caverns of your soul. it made me want to be more vagabondish.

i am also feeling compelled to change the url because--drum roll--i have been accepted to be a volunteer in london this summer. i don't honestly know the details yet, simply that they'll let me go. so, the ronigoestoitaly url seems to jilt great britain. i plan on making it down to the peninsula while in europe, but the bulk of my summer will be spent with the british.

so, new address coming soon.

i have a plan a and a plan b for this summer.

plan a:
i am accepted to the winant clayton volunteer program and will be an american ambassador of goodwill to britain providing meaningful full-time service in the nation's capital, london, and strengthening the bond of friendship and wartime alliance we formed back in the 1940's. classy.

plan b:
i am not accepted as a winant clayton volunteer and i move to new york city. as of april 1st, there is a a sunny room for rent where one of the roommates is a german jazz pianist who loves ice cream and cooking. awesomeness incarnate. (although, the likelihood that i would move in time to be a candidate for that specific apartment is slim, but just the idea of discussing the delicate bouquet of flavors in a certain carton of ben & jerry's with a german expat musician is so alluring.)