Things I am doing over the holidays:

Learning some PHP
Finishing Chrismakwanzah (or whatever) presents
GRE Cramming
Visiting my recently married grandmother for a few days
Explaining to my parents why two of my friends are vegan and will be eating food here.
Re-Reading Seth's Its a Good Life if You Don't Weaken
Being a witness at a wedding
Missing folks

I edited my blog, fool.

I saw Shannon at the mall today, which reminded me of my lack of friendship mending with folks lately. I try not to get sucked into my own little world, but it happens and I'm working on it.

It is so cold here at Bruce Ave. that my hands have numbed and I can't feel my fingertips when typing. The phone is ringing, and I don't feel quite domestic enough to answer. I'm trying to cut down on the domesticities of the relationship I'm in so that I'll be more prepared when it comes time for graduate school. In general, I am trying to keep social interactions to a minimum so that I won't go insane staring at my computer all day getting that master's.

I am afraid that I will forget what my life has been like for four years here, which have been possibly a few of the most important for me developmentally (aside from when my father left my family at an early age, and my mother living in a homeless shelter). As much time as I spend living life, I spend less documenting it.

I have failed to save photographs of friends, document my feelings about other people, or reflect candidly and honestly about myself and others. This is perhaps a direct result of my blogging style and my awareness that everything on the Internet is archivable and searchable and easily accessed. I hide things from people who show up on my statistics counter, etc.

I'm sure my concerns about documentation originate somewhere from how fast paced a technological life can be, as it seems everyone from Pasados (see new faux old buildings, typical of Mexican restaurants) to my parents (who decorate their home in "Old Timey" things) is deeply concerned in creating history, or the sense of a history. Even Jeffersonian architecture was developed with the idea of looking older, like Grecian temples - which brings me to believe this is a typically American idea...

huh...

SH: "I think I'd be much happier just not talking to anyone for the rest of my life."
JH: "Then you're cut out to be an academic."

SHREVEPORTERS:

I ask that you please please read and take note of the ridiculous experience I had at Yeero Yeero with Chris, Alysia, Allison, Ashley and Leo the other evening. The following letter will be sent to their place of business and the Better Business Bureau tomorrow. If you really want Greek food, try Athenian Delights instead.

This letter will be sent tomorrow, and I will cease eating there permanently. There's nothing wrong with Athenian Delights, and there's better atomsphere there anyway.

To the Owners and Management of Yeero! Yeero!:

I have long enjoyed the food at Yeero! Yeero! since moving to Shreveport three years ago. I have often had friends complain about the service provided at your establishment; however, I never experienced it first hand. Unfortunately, due to a series of events on November 11, 2005, I will no longer be dining at your facilities due to one of the most unpleasant dining experiences I have ever had.

Upon arrival with my party, we were left to sit for approximately seven minutes before anyone greeted us. After our drink orders were taken, we were not given menus, and had to borrow menus from other patrons until menus were brought to us. Even then, there were still not enough for everyone at the table. After our food arrived, we received no attention from waitstaff, and were often ignored or merely not heard when requests for more pita bread or drink refills were made. When my glass of water was filled, the waiter spilled a large amount of water on my arm, and did not acknowledge his mistake. At the end of our meal, we asked for the check to be split among our party, an action performed many times by the waitstaff at your restaurant in my many previous visits to your establishment. The waiter, however, refused to do so for our table. Our confusion and frustration only escalated when we realized we had been given the wrong bill. When a member of our party got up and brought it to our waiter's attention, he snapped it out of his hand without a word or even an apology for this inconvience. Additionally, when he returned with the correct bill, we did not receive an apology or even any word from our waiter other than slamming the bill on the table. Due to this and the poor treatment we received during our dinner, we decided to not leave a tip for the waiter.

Let me note that a tip is defined as gratuity for a service performed voluntarily or outside of obligation. At no time during our meal did we feel that the service given to us as paying customers was deserving of a tip. Rather, we were treated quite rudely and as is a tradition in our society we did not tip as a result of these actions.

Rather than taking notice of our lack of tip and adjusting his treatment of customers, our waiter ran out to our car to berate us about our lack of tip. When approached about an explanation we were waved off to leave, despite our willingness to explain the lack of tip and discuss the appropriate treatment of customers. This sort of harrassment will be made known to our friends who are regular patrons to your business.

Thank you for making time to read this letter, and I would appreciate if your business were to take customer satisfaction to be its highest priority in the future. If you have any questions about this letter or would like more information about our dining experience at Yeero! Yeero!, please feel free to contact me. I would be more than happy to speak to you in further detail.


Sincerely,
Sara Hebert

Please give your business to another place in Shreveport that appreciates its customers. Viet-Coast, India's, China Hot, Southfield Grill, Tacomania, Ichiban, and other places in town have top notch service, and great food to boot.

It's amazing what you can get done in an hour.

I think I'm a horrible writer, but my newest revision of my senior thesis is ballering. Check it.

In other news, I'm addicted to Harvest Moon now. I proposed to Nami, the girl that I call sexy girlfriend or Indie Rock Girl. She said yes, and now I'm going to have a farming wife with pink hair. How awesome! I also have 3 cows, 5 chickens and a massive field. I am rolling in the gold. Also interesting is the lack of any real machinery outside of the scientist's house and all that is like boiling liquids in vats. Also interesting to point out is the fact that you can't play as a woman, you can't marry someone of the same sex, and you are limited to only 3 women to propose and marry. I couldn't swoon any of the other girls in town if I wanted to. Nor could I even stay single because the game pairs you off with a foxy lady in the winter! So I rushed into proposing to my sexy girlfriend...er...wife. The most fantastic thing is the poor translation that has so many typos you'll have a "?" over your head for (virtual) days.

It makes me want to be a farmer, with a simpler, hard-working life.

So I know I've got brains, and brawn (sometimes) but I really get saddened by girls in sororities.

I don't even want to be like them but I still get so depressed when I see that they have a bond with other girls. Whether or not it's as tight as a bond as I think it is, someone always stops to talk to them if they're in the same sorority.

I'm super jealous. They're all really freaking pretty, dress well and they're just supercute in general.

I wonder if its really media that are telling me to be like these girls, or if I pressure myself to be like them in order to be accepted by society. Surely there are a great number of forces at work here. However, I do wonder what causes me one day to be like "Those girls are stupid!" and then the next day say "God, I'm so jealous!" PMS?

And now, you think I'm stupid.

I'm just thankful for the pals I have. Without the few of them, I think I'd go nutso.

This past weekend was great!

Lots of U2ness in the air, and I thought a lot about the book I'm slowly reading, Liveness by Philip Auslander. He writes about how the live performance has changed due to our highly mediatized culture, and I originally picked it up thinking about hip hop and electronic acts. Everytime I've watched a video'd or a live performance of groups of these types there's always some sort of antic that fills in the void where live music playing would reside. Whether its bringing on your huge crew, or wearing a metal mask, there's usually some gimmick to these electronically focused musicians. Think about DJ's and the stunts and tricks they perform while they're spinning - it would be pretty boring without them, because that would essentially just be you looking at some person moving their hands over records. We're even losing that little bit of liveness with new methods of mixing.

Anyway, back to U2! The stage is a marvel of mediation, boasting huge LED curtains which project amazing animations, and not to mention the running lights around the "egg" stage. I couldn't convince myself whether or not stage lighting antics were exciting or just simply distracting. Of course, I just wanted to star at 4 of my favorite men in the world the whole time, but how could I with all the flashing lights? Basically, it was a brain fuck of media that night, between the real live people down there, the big screens and all the freaking lights all over.

Not only was it a bombardment of color and sound but also of politics and pleas for help. My partner put it best when he said "It's like going to a political rally with music." Bono does a great job of convincing folks of the need to erase debt to third world countries and that wealthier countries need to give more to economic development and disease control there. For him it may be a matter of Coexistance, but for a lot of people it's the difference between living today and tomorrow. If you want to help, you can join the ONE campaign, or get specific and help with Debt Aids Trade Africa - DATA. Even just signing your name on a petition brings us one step closer to solving a huge worldwide problem.

So yeah, the music was great. Bono brought up a great young kid to play guitar on Angel of Harlem, and he even stumbled on the lyrics to "Stuck in a Moment." It was duly noted that Larry Mullen is quite "bowed up." (And it's his birthday today if you were wondering!) Adam seemed to enjoy himself, and I even caught a smile or two. The Edge's shirt was too baggy, but it didn't keep him from doing the "Edge Leg Stomp" or rocking that fine guitar. And Bono...well, gosh, was amazing.

I met a crazy lady who has seen U2 6 times and said that one time her husband told her "You're supposed to worship Jesus, not Bono." She even has a U2 tattoo. That lady is the shit.

I also got to see a Jackson Pollock in person, and I have a new found respect for his work. Seeing his artwork in person made it 100x better. I also got to check out a great installation by a Japanese artist Tatsuo Miyajima called Counter Ground, in which LED counters counted from 1 to 9 in various speeds in a darkened room. It was like watching technology breathe and take life.

I also visited Dealey Plaza and the Sixth Floor Museum with a JFK Fanatic who felt like his life was complete after visiting. Its always an interesting place to visit, because of all the crazies there. I just can't imagine making a living off someone dying.

I have some great notes I took the other day at the Facebook Forum here on campus, but the Internet connections have been too wanky for me to post them up from my Mac. Until it gets resolved, I'll be updating from this janky PC lab.

Howdy.

I'm reinventing myself, my blogging ethic, and what I write. I'm looking to use this blog as more of a meditation on technology and culture, with the heavy dose of great music, fun events, and of course ecological issues. The content will definitely be a little different from my last blog that you might have followed, but I'd love to see you keep reading. I'm just growing up and hitting the beginning of my "professional" career and a change in what I blog about was certainly needed.

xoxo,
Sara