mara - please please please PLEASE don't tell on me for feigning illness. i worried myself sick all day about how everyone would know that i wasn't really ill, and i just can't worry any more.

karma has been interesting lately. i was pulled over for my first time EVER this evening because i was stuck in traffic, couldn't clear the intersection before my light changed, and blocked traffic a little. the cop was very apologetic for having pulled me over, and said he had been ordered to pull over every such incident that he witnessed at that particular intersection.

six hours later i was rear-ended while driving fran and myself to the rainbo. fuck. my bumper has a hole in it, and my truck is slightly fucked. the gentleman who hit me was clearly high, tried to claim it was my fault for obeying the changing signal, and failed to follow me to the police station to file a report. he WILL be paying for 100% of my damages, even if i have to take him to small claims court. once agian, the police involved in the situation were very kind. CPD rules.

so one bad thing = i deserve one good thing? maybe? maybe a new job? dear god lets hope. i REALLY wish i would have gone to church on christmas eve now.

lizzz its so good to hear from you. i was really wondering what was up...

i called in sick to work today. i am not sick. ashley is in town. i am so bad!

we'll see how this all pans out...

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

Well, actually it's a ferry, but I'm coming back on a plane.

My bag is packed, and I'm leaving the house as soon as I'm done writing this. Sometime after the new year has come I will be stepping off a boat and onto Chinese soil.

I just wanted to tell you guys I'll try and email at some point during my two week China adventure, and don't worry I wont be going anywhere near Thailand or Sri Lanka.

Have a wonderful New Years everyone. When you are watching the ball drop just remember, I'm having a way more fun time that you because I'm in a boat bewteen time zones so I get to celebrate twice.

Cheers everyone,

Liz

christmas 2004 = best present goes to daves father for taking the doors off of my refridgerator and putting it back into the pantry where it belongs, and then rehanging the doors so our nog will stay chilled! thanks bob!

cross off of lifes to-do list: "spend one entire christmas with exclusively jewish company."

and back to work at 4:30 am tomorrow.

but next week i have my final interview with waste not paper, after which i will be hopefully employed there two weeks later. rock on!

madison, see you next friday afternoon. i hope y'all have big plans for me. meghan - one (1) ashley karlin will be joining us as well. all the way from michigan.

a christmas poem, by a jew

'Twas the Day B4 Christmas
And out in the 'burbs
The last minute shoppers
Got on Ginny's nerves.

Out in the Land of Target
The Discount ShitHole
STL's will get nothing,
But a sack full of Coal.

While Ginny restocked the hardlines
And ran here to there
She could not help but think
Is Santa confused this year?

Is he mad that I'm a SoyJoterian?
Can he not handle the news?
Or is he mad that my roomate,
And my best friend are JEWS!?!

Then Ginny realized
It is not that at all
Santa loves ALL hippsters
Dyed hair and all.

So maybe her present
Is not one that breaks
It does not fit in a box
That Quinn sells and makes.

It is a new road thats coming
A new Job or Boys?
That I can't tell you
But he will bring you joys.

So Ginny-relax
Skate it off and hold tight
So goodbye to Target,
And to all a good Night.

I did not write this, Jenny is the bestest ever.

part 3

john stirratt of wilco pinched my cheek like 25 minutes ago. it was so cute.

can you tell that life has been pretty good lately?

part 2

holy moley have i been busy lately. new awesome awesome update: i have a second interview with my dream job. DREAM JOB! possibly tomorrow morning. i want this position so incredibly bad. even more than i want to make out again with the boy from saturday night (why hasn't he called?!)

part 1

so back in the spring, one girl in my group of chicago friends (amanda) had broken up with her boyfriend of three years and was suddenly single. every last unattached male in the said group of friends fell deeply in love with her, and a subtle battle for her affections ensued. alas, no male has yet been victorious.

last weekend someone referred to me as the "new amanda."

i'm not sure how true it is, but geez am i flattered.

I stared down the communists!

So, fun news from this weekend- I went on a DMZ tour. Mara, you will be most excited about this. It was really FRICKIN cool. I'm going to tell you guys all about it- but not now because I don't have time.

In other news I've started looking at possible online course I can take to make myself a tad more marketable for jobs in the far future. Right now I'm looking at courses in grammer, editing, and accounting. That's right, accounting. The new WI DOR study on tax burden in WI has made me realize finance, when mixed with policy is interesting. Of course, to get a job in an area like that you have to have some knowledge about accounting.

WI has an awesome Independent Learning program where you can take classes online. You can enroll at any point, and have a year to complete the course. The majority of the classes are for an undergraduate degree, which is not so helpful, but they do have other classes, including a decent amount of continuing education classes.

Anyway, the DMZ stories will come later on, I'm going to wrap some presents and clean now. yeah.

Mara- don't tell me things like that! I'm still behind you in the West Wing. It takes at least a week for me to get an episode. Damn Korean and thier refusal to play west wing.

megbot - i don't get it. i scrolled down like 18 times. wha?

seriously COME TO CHICAGO FOR NEW YEARS. ALL OF YOU. i don't wanna drive up to wisco. i hate driving.

soooo i was totally prepared to quit my job last night and be unemployed for a month. i am so miserable there. but my momma talked me out of it. and i have an interview next week for a new awesome customer service job for an artsy paper manufacturer. oh god i hope it goes well. i gotta get out of target.

i just had a dentist appointment however, 100% PAID FOR BY INSURANCE. insurance rules! man that hygenist went to TOWN on my gums though. my teeth are the cleanest they have ever ever been.

so the rest of my MN weekend was off the chain. i love st. paul now. when my brother opens up his own restaurant i am going to move there and help him run it. probably not for at least 2 years, but it will happen.

uh, time to write some christmas cards. yeah!

your pants are on backwards

yeah! There was a lot to read for me! I enjoyed it all so much.

Mara- is Annie almost finished with school? I'm glad you are still a lightweight, I'm still an psuedo alcoholic- it's like nothing has changed!

Meg- Thanks for posting your essay's! I was just getting all sentimental about missing school... not any more.

Gin- Quick find a job, and then come visit. ready.... go.

Well, school is coming to a close here in Shingal Middle School. The students have already had thier tests, so we are doing a lot of fun things- including fruit basket upset. An awesome game.

This weekend I'm going to the DMZ to yell across the boarder at the North Koreans. I'll make sure to throw over a few words about you guys too.

I would love to come to your place for New Years, Gin, but unfortunately I will be on a boat headed for China. With any luck it will be a nice boat, but if it's not I'll bring the fun. I'm going to china for two weeks. Bejing, Shanghai, some places in between, and (depending on stuff) perhaps hong kong. I'm going with two awesome people, so I think we are going to have an enjoyable time.

A funny story about Korea- Every Korean food is "wellbeing" aka. health food. Seriously, practically every lunch they tell me that what I'm eating is very healthy. The thing it- it's not always. The meat they have at samgyapsal places is VERY fatty. But, they think that if you eat onions with the meat it will cancel the bad stuff out. Same with kimchi- It's okay to eat fried Chicken because the Kimchi makes it healthy.

Plus, they eat A LOT here. As you know I don't eat like a bird, but I very frequently eat the smallest lunch.

So the question is- how the hell are they all size zeros?!

Besides genetics, I think it's because they actually follow the "a little of everything" diet. All the school lunches include soup, rice, kimchi, at least one other vegetable and some type of main dish. They have kimchi and rice and soup at home for dinner too.

Anyway, the other food thing that rules is side dishes automatically come with every meal in korea- and you can get free refils of everything.

That's all I've got for now- come visit me.

Woah Nelly. Woah.

Wow Virg, that one just sort of slipped right past you. Scroll down to December 02 and read your own entry. Addtionally, the madsion team just gained one more New Years girl--Karen! So don't think we won't be lobbying for you all month. We want YOU to get drunk in the USA. So today was like the longest day ever, but I just have one more class tomorrow and then the semester is pretty much over. I had a huge test today. Want to know the questions?

Answer only 2 out of 3 of the following questions using full sentences. One point = one mark. Be clear and concise. Five marks per question:
1) Do you agree or disagree with the ideas of Adolf Loos in "Ornament and Crime"?
2) How did Chicago in the late 19th century provide the creativity to become the acknowledged inventor of the skyscraper?
3) "The numerous sources often cited for Art Nouveau are diffuse and wide-ranging," claims P.B.Meggs, but there was no more widely influential stimulus than Japanese design. Explain exactly what the West found that inspired them in Japanese art and design during this period and why?

Answer only 1 out of the following 2 questions with an "essay" style answer. Please form a thesis supported through logical argumentation specific examples from the material that we have studied in class: (20 marks)
1) Looking at design history from the industrial revolution to WWI every movement whether explicit or not, can be seen as a reaction (positive/negative) to the machine. Using specific examples analyze the affect this has had on the relationship between design and production.
2) How and why are symbol and ornament integral to all 19th century design? Discuss using at least one specific example each from a minimum of three various movements.

Sound like fun. It sure was!
Anyway, I have to go draw some trees for tomorrow. Later gators.
Meghan

so...what is everyone doing for new years eve? because i have like three days off and like three thousand empty couches in my apartment.

meghan - culinary school - you dirty bird. how much longer do you forsee staying in BC?

i have been having the GREATEST weekend!!! i got to spend a lot of time with my brother and his friends, when he had to work on friday his roommates chauffered me on a shopping trip all around st. paul. it was fantastic. then we had fancy wine and appetizers at my bros restaurant. tres chic.

tomorrow = maybe back to MSP for the holidazzle parade?

the job search is going really well too so far, i have finally started getting calls about my resume, and have had a few interviews that went pretty well. i have yet to hear back anything concrete yet though.

mara - i need to get my haircut sometime soon, so unless my haircutterdude agrees to make a housecall, i'll probably be headed up there. yo, what is the deal with emma? i leave messages with her familiy every time i'm home and she never returns my calls.

until, VA

Hello fellow Americans

I would like to take this opportunity to tell you that I go to school on an island that isn't really an island, but more like a mushroom shaped penninsula. Yep, Granville Island. At the entrance to this wonderful place is the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. Yep, right there...two streets away from The Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design. Just thought I should let you know. You know, in case anyone was interested.

All I want for christmas is you!

So, we have started some holiday lessons in som of my classes. In general this is adding to the confusion about the holiday season for me. It seems like christmas time in my apartment because I have my super cool tree. And at big shopping places they have some christmas stuff, but it's been warmish and raining sometimes, there's no snow and christmas music isn't blasting while you shop. Besides that my christmas shopping is done. It just needs to be sent (as has been the case for a while now, so if your christmas stuf is late, blame me and the fact the post office isn't open saturday or sunday. And the fact I don't know where it is, or how to speak korean)

Anyway, I'm all excited for holidays while I'm teaching about it and then whn I get home, but when I'm everywhere else I feel like it's september and I'm being stupid.

diferent subject- all is not happy in the land of south korea. Winter Break is coming up and because our contracts were very fuzzy (ie have no mention at all) on this matter there is choas trying to get everyone in line. The problem started when everyone was getting told different and the people who had really bad deal were angry. Well, we asked for clarification on amount of working time and extra pay for class teaching and got an answer back that pretty much gave everyone the senario the people who had it worst were complaining about.

Me? My co-teachers have flouted the directives from above, pending approval from the Principle and vice-P. The korean education office wanted us to come in for 8 hours a day 5 days a week and sit... despite the fact no one else would really be there and we wouldn't have any class.

As long as everything goes as is set now, I will have free from Dec 28- Feb 14 (happy b-day Mara!)

I'm going to China for a few weeks until Jan 15 or 16, so if you really want to visit during that month would be a good time! parts of my fam might be viditing me at some point in there too.

time for lunch. Mara- write more!

i'm sorry mara! but you should write stories of madison too yo, the blog keeps me awake when i have the day off...

uh, it was a pretty good week. i'm leaving in a half hour to catch a flight to minnesota. i'm flying into MSP and spending tonight with my brother, tomorrow we'll shop and play and i'll go to work with him, then tomorrow night my parents are coming to the cities to pick me up. good weekend. i'm going back to chicago monday.

i hate my job. thats nothing new. i had two interviews this week that seem promising though!

tuesday night we went ice skating at millennium park = it was the most fun i've had for free possibly ever! it was sooo great, a warm night, christmas music, learning to do jumps and spins. we're going to go every week until it gets really super cold in january.

met another dude from wilco, talked to him about gas grills for a really long time. it was amusing.

i'll write more from MN.

and happy friday at work mara!

oh boy, nothing perks up an afternoon off like literally stumbling across a designer sample sale, right in your neighborhood! chalk me up for one new shirt, very cute. sample sales = the straight bomb fool!

had a conversation with one of my team leads last night in which, as i was trying to tell him that he should keep going with his education (he wants to be an architecht) even though it seems like an impossibly long journey, he asked the age old question "well, do you think you're really using your education by working here?" busted.

someone find me a new job. should i just suck it up and start looking for stuff that pays $5,000 less per year than i currently make? i suppose my sanity is worth that much at least. but what about culinary school? dear god. for now i will continue to apply for two jobs every day and see where that takes me in a month. so far though, no replies. not EVEN rejection letters. boy, thats a bummer, when you get rejected so hard they don't even bother to send a letter.

today = shower, get the reader and job hunt, go to jennys hood and talk to the people at cooking fools, go to STA travel? make squash curry. oh yeah. i love days off, i really do. especially sunny ones. and i'm really gonna love that squash curry.