Princess Sparklefists

From today's New York Times:

Orders for "Aretha's Hat" Flood Detroit Milliner

How cool is it that there are still milliners? Few people wear cool hats anymore; I certainly don't have any. There were a couple of old lady's at my church who had Easter hats last year.

Sadly, there was another article about the death of newspapers. If there are no newspapers, how will I learn about the latest crazes in millinery?

Also, can we bring back haberdashery, just so I can say the word? Fun fact: before he was president, Harry Truman (yes, there were presidents before Barack Obama) was a Kansas City haberdasher. I learned that at the Truman Library, which is actually really cool. If you're every in Independence, Missouri, you should go. :)

ETA: Another one. It's pretty odd that crazy book news from Ohio ends up in a UK national paper, but I'll take it. For the record, I have both been to Kelley's Island and read To Kill a Mockingbird. It's an amazing book, but I wouldn't want to eat it.

Getting ready to leave a place is an odd experience. I don't feel like the reality of the situation ever sets in until I'm actually on the road, and I realize I'm actually going away and not coming back (for good or at least not for awhile). I've now got only week left in Kansas, and as usual, my imminent departure has somehow snuck up on me.

I'm meant to be reworking my resume and writing a cover let right now, but I lost interest after I typed about two sentences. I'm really, really bad at praising myself. Why should they hire me? Because I'm a poor grad student who needs a job and actually does have quite a bit of library experience and is really much more amusing in person than in this stiff and formal sounding letter. I think I dislike formal correspondence because it feels so fake.

I flaked out on a potential day trip to Omaha today so I could get things done, like buying bananas and doing my laundry and writing that pesky letter. Not going made me feel guiltily anti-social, but I've actually had a very nice day. I went to St. Michael's this morning, and in a nice bit of symmetry, the same girl who welcomed me on my first Sunday there, was sitting in the pew right behind me, so we got to talk a little bit after Mass. There was also a 20s and 30s group brunch this afternoon, which I was (quite easily) persuaded to attend. See, I can be social. I even met some new people. If I were staying here longer, I would definitely try to know some of them better, because they're just a really nice group. By some strange coincidence, one of them is also moving to Washington, D.C. in August so he can start seminary, so we exchanged phone numbers. So that's one D.C. acquaintance, and I haven't even moved yet!

The last of my laundry is in the dryer and I've finished the book I was reading and two radio programs. I think it's time for me to put together some dinner then finally finish this job application. Where does all my time go?

Last night we had a)a tornado watch and b)more thunderstorms. So, you know, pretty much the same as every night. The tornado sirens were going off a lot, so naturally I decided to go outside and see what all the fuss was about. You know what I discovered? We have neighbors! Two of the other women from our building also came out to watch the storm, so we stood around chatting for a little bit, until it started raining on us. We didn't see any funnel clouds, but there was some awesome lightning. And we have neighbors who are also 20-ish and seem like nice people.

The power only went out briefly once, and luckily I was not in the shower that time. Yay!

I'm ready to be done with the rain now. Thunderstorms do not make good pool weather.

Yesterday I got lost on the way home from work. Slightly embarassing, I know, but what can I saw? I'm not from around here!

The Kansas interstate highways are pothole breeding grounds, and normally I approve of the state's efforts to patch them up. (My taxes put to practical use! Hooray!) I'll even allow that midday, when there's less traffic, is an ideal time for repairs... just not, you know, on the interchange I need, yeah?

Thwarted by pothole patchers, I exited the highway the next opportunity I had, and inconveniently landed myself on one of the few streets in this city that isn't on the grid. (Curse you, Santa Fe Trail Drive!) Usually I have a decent sense of direction, but the diagonal street threw me off, and I ended up spending some quality time driving in circles around Lenexa.

What was I thinking the whole time? I wasn't worried about finding my way home. I may not know the city very well, but I do know that numbered streets run East-West. If all else fails, I can always count my way home. No, the whole time I kept thinking "I am wasting so much gas!" Over the weekend, regular gas hit $3.50 a gallon here, which is enough to make me not want to drive anywhere. Getting lost is expensive.

Yesterday I read that both Hillary Clinton and John McCain favor a summer gasoline tax holiday. They would like to temporarily suspend the 18.4 cent tax between Memorial Day and Labor Day. I don't know much about economics, but my immediate reaction was that it sounded like a bad idea. Don't get me wrong, I don't like paying lots of money for gas. Since I started driving, the price per gallon has gone up about 250%, and I gripe about it every time. But part of me also believes that the expensive gas is good. Like I said, it makes me want to drive less. And driving less is a very good thing. (I'd walk to work if it wouldn't take 2.5 hours and involve leaving at 5 am. I miss public transit.)

This morning I read Thomas L. Friedman's column, which confirmed that I'm not the only one thinking this way. He writes:

If you are going to use tax policy to shape energy strategy then you want to raise taxes on the things you want to discourage — gasoline consumption and gas-guzzling cars — and you want to lower taxes on the things you want to encourage — new, renewable energy technologies. We are doing just the opposite.

The rising gas prices are inconvenient, but this hardly seems like the time to give a temporary break and encourage people to drive more. Americans drive way too much as it is.

Plus, we need the tax money to fix the potholes.

Thursday afternoon it hailed (just what my poor car needs, more hail spots) and now it's 30-something and snowing! Apparently it was just wishful thinking on my part when I packed up most of my sweaters last weekend. It's mid-April, can't we just have spring weather yet? I mean, if I'd wanted a lots of winter weather, I would've stayed in Montreal. (Actually, I kind of did want to stay in Montreal, though not necessarily cause of the weather, and, anyway, that's besides the point.)

I guess if nothing else, at least it's a good day to hang out at home and read, which is what I've been doing. Silver linings and all that.

It's 70 degrees in Kansas City today! The sun seems to have vanished temporarily, but it was very bright this morning. To celebrate the spring-like weather I broke out a short sleeved shirt and drove with the windows down (which led to a piece of paper on the back seat getting whipped out the window by the strong winds :D ). It's too bad Murray's not here with me, because this is the perfect weather to take him out for a walk. Unfortunately, tomorrow it's supposed to drop down back down to 30 degrees, and it's supposed to snow. The lovely weekend will be officially over; winter, however, will not.

Yesterday, d4ni and I went to the first week's installment in the Kansas City Chinese Film Festival. The film this week was Malu Tianshi (Street Angel), which was made in 1937. I don't know a lot about old films or Chinese films, so it was pretty different than a lot of movies that I've seen before. One synopsis we read on Friday night compared the film to Italian neorealism, and there were some definite similarities. The film is set in the Shanghai slums in 1935 and focuses on the hardships of life there. Though generally bleak, the film also has many comic moments, which makes for an interesting mix. It was something new, and it was free! After the movie, we continued with the Asian them and had Japanese for lunch. I had teriyaki chicken, which was delicious, and even tried a piece of sushi. Usually I don't like the vinegar on the rice, but it wasn't as strong at this restaurant, so maybe when we go again I'll try some more of their sushi.

This morning I went to a nearby Episcopal Church, St. Michael and All Angels, and I was really please with the experience. The service was very traditional (much more so than either of the Catholic churches I went to the past two Sundays). There was great organ music, which I love, and a nice choir, and the sermon was relevant and interesting. The woman I sat next to, who's only several years older than me, was incredibly welcoming. She recognized that I was new to the church and introduced herself, and afterwards she gave me a tour of the church and introduced me to some parishioners and priests. We even went up in the choir loft, where I got to see the organ pipes up close and got a great view of the whole church. It was a pleasant surprise for me to have someone go out of her way to make me feel comfortable and welcome on my first visit there.

Unfortunately, my absentee ballot still hasn't come yet. The Franklin County Board of Elections is too slow, so now I won't get to vote. Ballots have to be received by 7:30 pm on Tuesday, so I needed it by Saturday in order to fill it out and send it in on time. I'm kinda ticked that I don't get to vote, especially since Ohio is, as I mentioned before, kind of a big deal. :(