Award Winning?

When and if you actually watch this, you may either think me completely obsessed with my job, Meredith Mower, or The Postal Service (the band, not the actual state service that passes out letters and loses my ebay purchases).

What it is: a subtle melting pot of all of the above.

So, if you've ever at all been interested in what I do all day, please watch the following video . . .

i may be having a mid-life crisis

This is what I want to be when I grow up.

Just terribly good looking and wrinkle free.

I think that I'm either shallow or just spoiled . Special thanks to Killer and Tiger for making me this way.

I spent a lot a lot a lot of time today trying to make the logistics of my senior piece work out, whilest the rest of the world went hungry, fought wars, fell in love, fed the children with the cost of a cup of coffee a day, made good political choices, etc . . . I feel . . . lazy.

My family newsletter just got a little bit more bitter.

(Preface: I have been elected to write my intermediate family's news for the big big newsletter that everyone in my large extended family network receives. I find this a great possibility to spread my own ideas and propaganda. Here is the latest example of my rebellion against being given this assignment.)

Hello Dearest of Families,
Our daddy just got home from China and we are truly happy to have him here. We are also getting really excited for OUR trip to Asia at the end of April. I'm completely guessing at that guest list, but I think it includes all the children from Sam on up. According to Dad, the Chinese people admire tall, blue eyed, blonds. Which means that Bonnie and Kate will soon be discovered as Chinese super-models, while I (Claire Valene) will probably be left there due to my dark hair and minimal height. I hope you all miss me enough to form a search party. I'll really love rice, but not that much. Since all the younger members of this brood are very jealous of this up-coming trip, I suggest you you help rub in the fact that they are being left at home to fend for themselves (or that Whitney will be watching them . . . whichever is easiest, really). This is probably most effective by dropping facts about the culture, rubbing your stomach and commenting on how divine the cuisine is, and (if applicable) learn how to effectively swear in Chinese. The subtle nuance of each snub will either go right over their little heads or really burn them up . . . I am evilly rubbing my hands together now. But we love the little ones, and hope they all don't kill each other before we get home with their souvenirs.

The ayes have it.

Don't worry folks.

I finally opened my right eye.

This isn't a story worthy of writing down, but I just had to note that now I am blinking fine.

I hate visine.

I'm retiring my old notebook. These are the remnants . . .

"Some people have to become completely different in order to cut off from where they've been." -Kim Strunk


Don't worry.


I have the most remarkable sense of deja-vu. Is it because I'm seeing ghosts from 2003? Maybe it's my habit of idly looking for your face in a large crowd, fully knowing that you'll never be there. I'm lucky that leagues separate all the parties, rallys, concerts, and social gatherings that we are simultaneously attending. Living in the now becomes difficult in days like today (7-22-07).


"Faith is not what you demonstrate to get what you want.
It's what you demonstrate no matter what you get.
No matter how long.
No matter how hard."


Claire to Denise through note writing at church:
Denise, would you rather jump on my trampoline or climb on the jungle-gym that Bonnie built yesterday? (answer: Jungle-Gym, and a neatly drawn picture of the event drawn through the medium of stick figures)


October 28, 2007 Things that I love:

• The modern dancing done in Across The Universe (that is, indeed, modern dance)
• How no one figured out who I was for Halloween.
• Knowing that He made me, and He doesn't make mistakes.
  
• That boy who looks like Ferris Bueller.
• Cutting out the good comics from the newspaper.
• Excited and eloquent people with lisps.
• Attention. That's right. I like attention.

"I thought that the most pronounced difference between hipsters and rest of us was their confusing deployment of irony." -Holly Shumas


"To ease another's heartache is to lose one's own."


Mere: 4 hand shake, 2, 2 ,1 , "Brush", 1 freak out, slouch, 1 hand shake, look,

The Cure For the Common Cold (as dictated to Claire by Jake Rogers):

1. Get 10+ hours of sleep.
2. Drink a lot of fluids (h20, fresh citrus boost 2-3 times a day).
3. Eat a lot of food of better quality and quantity.
   
4. Herbal and vitamin cocktail: "Immune Boost" or "Immune Power (something something)"- gel tablets or hard caplets, 9 pills with each meal (needs echinacha and golden seal).
5. One clove of garlic a day.
6. Hot/Cold therapy: alternate the temperature in the shower to the extremes (it'll make you want to throw up).

"What's the point in dreaming if you're already in the place you want to be the most?"
"Can you get beyond perfection? I'd PUT DOWN MY CAMERA because it would be sacred. Such a perfect memory would be able to be justified in a picture." -T.B. (6-30-07)

Burning your bra is the new black

There is nothing more satisfying then a gentleman with appropriate facial hair. Scruff is always beautiful. “What’s with this appreciation for the slovenly and the unkempt”, you may ask. All I can tell you is that deep down, every women just wants their own Neanderthal.

17. You had a mouth like a saint and the vocabulary of a sailor . . . and to think that we basically got paid for that.


I never really liked jigsaw puzzles. They are probably the most boring pastime ever, next to string/hand games, “my grandmother’s cat”, and that pioneer game with the stick. Puzzles always end the same, no matter how you jam those suckers together. Plus, it’s much too easy to cheat and look at the finished product proudly displayed on the box lid. This time, ohhhhh this time, I have a feeling this one is going to be much more interesting. This puzzle is harder than the regular violent montage. I’m still working through these blurry details. Just hand me a couple more tissues and sew up my hands. I’m still in.


I’m starting to think that you knew me before I knew me. Maybe we should go around the room and make some introductions.


More 17. Anytime, anyplace. I’ll bring more stuff to nonchalantly leave in your room.
Hipster OlympicsThe above mentioned video will make you have a seizure. I'm pretty sure.


It’s no wonder that Brand New included his name amongst their titles. Jude Law and Mexican candy are two very good reasons to rebel against social norms of a weekend.


“Dexter Lennox had the sort of face you wanted to tape back together. He had the sort of face hat looked as if it had been built with parts from different busts. A thrift-store face, with an enormous nose, differently shaped eyes, a mouth too small for his jaw.
I found him irresistibly unhandsome.”-Katherine Taylor


3. Do you remember that time we wanted to kiss in the rain, so we pushed each other into the sprinklers for the less grandiose effect?


I’m still hungry, and wandering from room to room isn’t exactly filling up any daily calorie allowance. Neither is biting on my own mouth. I never was as good at that as you were.



I hope you got my postcard.