tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33123895329734749392011-10-10T11:59:46.893-04:00trust nothing but yourself. you're really all you have.magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.comBlogger3151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-63944630414179526192011-05-15T14:22:00.000-04:002011-05-15T14:22:23.134-04:00

so the last indignity blogger's unleashed on me is that when it brought back the posts it ate, it conveniently squelched the post in which i announced that i'm over this place. so i took my writings to wordpress: http://magnoliathoughts.com this is - for realsies this time - the last post here. join me at the new digs, won't ya?

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-80887655934091261012011-05-13T13:59:00.000-04:002011-05-13T13:59:08.907-04:00

after the blogger outages, i have decided that i am done with this platform. i'm leaving this one up, mind you, but i'm heading over to wordpress. behold, my new home: http://magnoliathoughts.com/ the new place has all the content of this one, except it will also feature the two posts blogger decided to eat between tuesday and now, and new stuff going forward. join me at the new home, won't

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-6673183196694510152011-05-12T13:44:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:52:42.570-04:00

today at 11:01AM eastern daylight time, i walked out of my last exam, put in my headphones, and cranked one of my very favorite crazy-aggro middle-school jams. i walked down the hall, out the door of the school, and as i crossed the street to head to the train, i may very well have said out loud, peace, bitches. and by may very well i mean that's exactly what i did. it. is. over. today marks

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-45103961821744103382011-05-11T15:49:00.000-04:002011-05-13T16:52:43.091-04:00

[let's go back to the very, very beginning. there's been some significant alteration in circumstance since this one was written. first, the old; then, the new.] february 11, 2010: the wall maybe it's the weather. maybe it's the season. but i'm starting to notice a certain... ambivalence, maybe, in my dealings with the other boy. we're both physically and emotionally close to each other, just as

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-27575752686838272572011-05-10T15:32:00.000-04:002011-05-10T15:32:51.190-04:00

[soundtrack. i am deeply sorry in advance for the visual here. it was the best the internets could do for me. go get the original free to be... you and me for the good stuff.] i've been thinking a lot about compatibility. it's a very fungible concept, as you can be compatible with someone emotionally, but not practically (see also my ex - great guy, but being funny and sweet isn't enough to

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-9578340607005293102011-05-09T18:17:00.000-04:002011-05-09T18:17:44.884-04:00

i had a brief text conversation with a good buddy of mine the other night, one of my very favorite people. we were chatting back and forth, and he said, [the place he lives, where i used to live too] is more challenging without you. boy, oh boy, do i know that feeling. see, when you're moderately itinerant, as i've been in my post-teenage life, you pick up friends wherever you go. college

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-42662649988554414012011-05-08T15:28:00.000-04:002011-05-08T15:28:44.860-04:00

so what do you do when the whole world is celebrating, and all you can do is look through the window from the outside? i didn't do a mothers day post last year, largely because i spent that day packing and giddily contemplating my escape from the old life. but now, this year? i definitely woke up feeling out of sorts for (at least at that moment) no reason. i was just a bit prickly, but i

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-40849492332668031332011-05-07T18:48:00.000-04:002011-05-07T18:48:26.033-04:00

the women in my family could teach a master class on the black art of manipulation. some of us (me included, i hope) understand that skill, along with the dark power it gives us, and act accordingly. we respect the dangerous nature we have. others, on the other hand, have honed that blade to a deadly razor sharpness, swinging it wildly to ward off danger and mold the world around them into the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-91834520785980551602011-05-06T15:54:00.000-04:002011-05-06T15:54:28.618-04:00

kim pointed out to me that is, in fact, international no-diet day. i happen to adore this idea. basically, the goal of the day is to stop freaking the hell out about how your body doesn't resemble [insert impossibly skinny/buxom/etc. starlet here]'s body, relax and have a freaking cookie if you want to. and i fully support that. i am someone who once allowed my weight to get radically out of

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-83362522553896040802011-05-05T17:11:00.000-04:002011-05-05T17:11:40.814-04:00

gaah. sorry. i swore i wouldn't make the lebron joke, but i did. yes, kids, as i mentioned yesterday, your humble blog proprietor is on a business trip to south beach. i'm tax-credit-geek-ing it up at the fanciest hotel i've ever set foot inside of in my life, and at the end of day two, with tomorrow morning left to go, i have a few little observations about the town, the hotel, and life in

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-5394541915617751812011-05-04T18:39:00.000-04:002011-05-04T18:39:18.355-04:00

well. that happened. being still kinda new to this whole divorced-woman thing, i have no idea how to handle certain situations. for example: how do you react when your ex, in the middle of a business conversation, suddenly asks you who your boyfriend is? uh, whoops. see, turns out, genius mags responded to something related to the tornado on a friend's facebook page with a reference to the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-74478578800203400292011-05-03T18:59:00.000-04:002011-05-03T18:59:09.729-04:00

this isn't a history lesson post because it's not the history of me, per se. it's really a bit of history on the man. (good thing he doesn't read this. he'd get all embarrassed at me telling stories on him like this.) now, my man is quite handsome, brilliant, scathingly hilarious, and in his way a classically-trained southern gentleman under all the profanity. but he's also the master of

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-17112412372493083042011-05-02T15:47:00.001-04:002011-05-02T15:59:56.400-04:00

ok, so remember how i said the other day that i wouldn't tell my 9/11 story? well, i feel the need to do it in light of last night's news, because it has a lot to do with my opinion of last night. i waited tables in newport news, virginia then, as well as going to school. i got home monday night, showered and laid down in time for letterman. but i fell asleep with the TV on, and weirdly, i

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-64321568312283215282011-05-01T18:17:00.000-04:002011-05-01T18:17:02.628-04:00

[soundtrack. warning: unabashed mushy to follow.] if there ever was a so-called honeymoon period between me and the man, we've flown past it, gone careening through the middle stage and crash-landed hard into stereotypical old-married-couple-style territory. that can be demonstrated in a lot of ways - our propensity for being total homebodies comes to mind, for example. but perhaps the clearest

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-29282728040150988472011-04-30T13:03:00.000-04:002011-04-30T13:03:40.935-04:00

i'm in one of those emotional places that tends to cause issues. not dangerous ones, just annoying or problematic ones. i have four exams: tuesday, saturday, monday and next thursday. i have a TON of work to do to get ready for them. and do i care? NOPE. not a damn sight. in the words of one of my fellow LL.M. burnouts, like honey badger, i just don't give a fuck. it was possibly an error in

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-17596828160972595132011-04-29T15:36:00.000-04:002011-04-29T15:36:47.495-04:00

the week was hard, so very hard. i mean, it's not like everyone doesn't have their own where were you when the towers fell? story. i won't get into mine here. but the week of september 11 was one of those times when every single moment is burned into my memory in a hazy, oversaturated palette. i was in the tiny mountain town of my boyfriend's alma mater the day they fell, back across the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-33690455519552027412011-04-28T16:13:00.001-04:002011-04-28T18:17:52.700-04:00

this soundtrack, and this entry, are special to me. see, i talk a lot about my louisiana connections around here, as well as how much the gulf coast matters to me. i talk also about my city-kid homeland, our nation's capital. i may have even mentioned that, heavens preserve us, i was born in new jersey. but the place that made me, formed me, educated me and gave me so much of the good in my life

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-69993727045023454352011-04-27T14:31:00.000-04:002011-04-27T14:31:10.608-04:00

yeah, it makes me wanna holler throw up both my hands... panic is spreading god knows where we're heading the high priest of socially conscious soul, marvin gaye, wrote those words. he hasn't been with us on earth for 27 years now, but i think if he were, he'd invoke these lines again today. good, sweet lord, the damn birthers won. the president of the united states of america gave in to the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-49180262069266745312011-04-26T16:32:00.000-04:002011-04-26T16:32:23.269-04:00

the man and i, being engaged intellectual types, tend to get into fights about the issues of the day. this can be a lot of fun. hell, i am a lawyer; i love to spar, and especially with him. he's a formidable opponent, too. the one time i competed against him in mock-trial in high school, he took me to the woodshed. it was a bloodbath. but i'm better now than i was then, and we lock horns every

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-35327453661608623022011-04-25T16:13:00.000-04:002011-04-25T16:13:56.879-04:00

[disclaimer: in the immortal words of ice-T, people have to learn how to tell stories without implicating those who may not want their stories told. to the best of my ability, i do this here.] this whole divorced-woman thing is really an onion. every day, there's a new layer to the process. i'm starting to feel like a cliche here with all this SELF-DISCOVERY. not that i'm not grateful to be a

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-59729105256434098372011-04-24T20:15:00.000-04:002011-04-24T20:15:50.517-04:00

it's easter. you may find yourself saying, but mags, you're a militant atheist. why do you care? fair question. i mean, it's not like easter is christmas, which has some dimensions that anyone can enjoy in 2011. outside of the birth of jesus christ, there's the whole civic-secular winter party of family and friends, layered in tinsel and circled in twinkling lights, to enjoy. but easter? yeah,

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-34787272801707497202011-04-23T16:35:00.000-04:002011-04-23T16:35:30.288-04:00

in a strange sort of way, being younger than everyone else in my grade shielded me from taunts and bullying. i'm not sure if it was pity, protectionism, or the fact that i didn't pick up on a lot of it, but my K-12 education was blissfully devoid of angst. i was happy. thrilled beyond belief. when i got to college, i was barely seventeen and totally unprepared for the idea that anyone would ever

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-48765791837087326852011-04-22T14:04:00.000-04:002011-04-22T14:04:35.935-04:00

[another letter i'll never send...] dear ophelia: it's not like i didn't try. i did, more than you could ever have known. i mean, i felt like i owed it to you not to give up. loyalty was something you prized above all else, and i understand that better than most. but at some point, it's just not worth it. there came a point when you were just not there anymore. and it's not like i begrudge you

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-91390578575931515252011-04-21T17:18:00.000-04:002011-04-21T17:18:06.312-04:00

i am serious. i mean, i have a silly streak a mile wide. this isn't a deeply-guarded secret, especially to those who know me in the flesh. but i am, fundamentally, a rather serious person. i hear this a lot from certain people in my life, one in particular. you're very serious. you are a serious woman. you take things very seriously. ad infinitum, ad astram, forever and ever amen. he, on the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-47620088981428016032011-04-20T14:05:00.000-04:002011-04-20T14:05:41.408-04:00

[buckle up. we're going fictional today.] the way home never changes: on the train, thirty minutes. off the train, through the park, across the street and through the parking lot. seven minutes' walk, eight if you have to wait through the light. but on nights like this, when you're suddenly confronted with the destruction of the dreams of your past, it takes on a sinister cast. odd what triggers

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-11821752736456581202011-04-19T13:05:00.000-04:002011-04-19T13:05:32.752-04:00

it's 3 AM, i'm awake and my heart's still dreamin'... when you're an inveterate insomniac like i am, you're given to rumination while the rest of the world slumbers peacefully away. i think the fact that i spend so much time awake and contemplating my navel explains how i came to be a writer, and also how i developed my style. i write to y'all as if we're sitting at the coffee shop together,

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-84170597731423892912011-04-18T13:58:00.000-04:002011-04-18T13:58:24.606-04:00

[i'm starting a new series, to go along with my letter series and the occasional throwback. i'm going to look back at trigger events, watersheds, and examine them for what they were to me. call them history lessons: the events that built me.] 'cause sometimes, i said sometimes, i hear my voice  and it's been here silent all these years the further away i get from the wilderness years, the more

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-24648602808072101112011-04-17T16:36:00.001-04:002011-04-17T16:58:03.206-04:00

[jessica, this one's for you.] so apparently there's a soccer team in portland, oregon. i guess that makes sense. portland's a fun, chill, liberal town with athletic types in it, from what i've seen of it. now, i really could not give a damn about soccer. as much as i love sports of all kinds, i just can't get down with it. it bores the hell out of me. run, run, run, run, kick, run, fall down

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-88555554957323346052011-04-16T16:17:00.000-04:002011-04-16T16:17:31.649-04:00

[today's soundtrack - one of my all-time favorite songs.] i can't really describe my reaction when i read this article. i started off chuckling, built up to laughter, and by the end of the article i was rolling around on the bed in hysterics. not because it's all that funny, really; it was the laughter of oh, my god, you just wrote my entire life in the space of a two-page online article. to say

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-16784126998332889292011-04-15T15:33:00.000-04:002011-04-15T15:33:40.599-04:00

[soundtrack] ok, kobe. we get it. you really, really, REALLY don't want anyone to think you're a bad guy. but would it have killed you to just say, you know? i screwed up. i should never have said that, no matter how angry i was, and i'm sorry. now, there are two issues in "other-F-word-gate," as i've chosen to call it. the first is the word choice, which is the stuff of about nine million

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-26540715323081022202011-04-14T15:10:00.000-04:002011-04-14T15:10:39.344-04:00

because i am southern, every so often i will engage in chitchat with strangers when the situation arises. people from other places just don't do this. some of my fellow southerners take this too far - i have a friend who is SHOCKED, just SHOCKED, that no one wants to have a conversation with him as he commutes into the city at 8:00 in the morning. i had to explain to him that, since you're not

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-92021414892499189332011-04-13T15:32:00.000-04:002011-04-13T15:32:29.262-04:00

your love is better than ice cream better than anything else that i've tried... yesterday was ben and jerry's free cone day. i was insanely hungry when i left class, so i waited in the surprisingly fast and efficient line (given that it ran half the length of union station, i didn't have the highest of hopes), got my chocolate therapy scoop in a sugar cone (y'all, chocolate ice cream, chocolate

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-1115897386621099702011-04-12T13:52:00.002-04:002011-04-13T14:56:03.952-04:00

[correction, 4/13: i said "montana" below when talking about states with lower populations than DC; i meant "wyoming." fixed now. thanks, jackass anonymous guy, for rudely pointing out my mistake.] the mayor of DC went to jail last night. it seems like this last insult to the 600,000-plus people who live inside the borders of the district was the last straw. see, everyone's happy that the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-58366767348648423552011-04-11T14:01:00.000-04:002011-04-11T14:01:30.669-04:00

[in which i get a little bit PSA-ish. you can mentally tack on the "the more you know" thing on the end of today's post.] i alluded to the spectacular drunk-fest that was my friday night. i don't care that i'm almost 30 years old; i like to throw down from time to time. in the words of the man, i'm not the type of person who's gonna have a beer every night, but once in awhile, i just want to get

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-2785430599431762622011-04-09T16:25:00.000-04:002011-04-09T16:25:21.906-04:00

[if you're not a reader of the hilariously vulgar football blog kissing suzy kolber, well, you should be, because it's insanely funny and VERY inappropriate. that's a combo that i love. they have a character named tommy from quinzee, and the title of this post is his catch phrase. boston sports fans who read me? sorry. it's just too funny. don't feel bad; there are some mooky weirdo yankee fans

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-50958030256021139972011-04-08T16:22:00.000-04:002011-04-08T16:22:36.205-04:00

so i'll be 30 in two months, three weeks and and three days. i am a mature and reasonable adult who pays her bills and all that business. so that's precisely why the man and i are going to prom tonight. no, we're not chaperoning a high-school dance. (yikes, torture. could you imagine?) part of the beauty of law school is the fact that there's a big shiny formal dance every year, even for us

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-90944918495449933842011-04-07T16:49:00.001-04:002011-04-07T19:03:57.922-04:00

in case it hasn't become thoroughly obvious, i am an unmitigated mushball deep in my core. oh, i'm plenty tough around the edges, but scratch me hard enough and you will find my soft candy center. it's made up of marshmallow fluff and that weird dyed-pink coconut that encases sno-balls. (you've never had a sno-ball? oh, you poor deprived soul, possessed of way more culinary responsibility than

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-51542287495377156762011-04-06T17:39:00.000-04:002011-04-06T17:39:49.777-04:00

i have been pent up inside for hours now, trying to be a good little scholar and finish that 10-page paper i alluded to last night. (some of you know what i've really been up to - damn you, facebook/twitter/etc.!) but it's all about to be okay. see, i am going to a hockey game tonight. god, i love hockey. and to get to my local hockey arena, i will head out of this library and take a nice,

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-67386100113135054692011-04-05T18:15:00.000-04:002011-04-05T18:15:09.382-04:00

as the song says, i've got a list of demands, written on the palm of my hands. well, written on the face of my blog. but still, it stands. here ya go: 1) i want someone else to write my seminar paper for this semester. oh, i'll give total credit; i don't steal other people's work. i'll cop 100% to the fact that someone else wrote it. but i do NOT want to write a 25-page paper this month. i also

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-19202796290837090602011-04-04T17:03:00.000-04:002011-04-04T17:03:35.827-04:00

it's no secret that there have been some scary incidents in my life, points where the edge was suddenly under my toes and threatening to pass under me, dropping me fast and far to god only knows what. it's not a fun place to be. but i have been beyond fortunate in my life. i've been surrounded by people who love me, in both happy times and scary ones. i love them back, and i appreciate the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-44662226468990658192011-04-03T22:33:00.000-04:002011-04-03T22:33:20.354-04:00

y'all remember a separate peace? i read it in tenth grade, and it was one of the few compulsory novels in high school that i truly loved. i assume that it's so ubiquitous at this point that i'm not even gonna say spoiler alert, but one of the main characters dies of an embolism during surgery to set a broken leg. a piece of marrow dislodges and stops his heart. that's a really apt analogy for the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-54521727959124723432011-03-31T19:34:00.001-04:002011-03-31T19:41:32.384-04:00

it's ostensibly spring, and with spring comes the beginning of baseball season. i LOVE baseball. i can't quite articulate how amazing i think baseball is. so when the man, his roommate and i lit out for our local major-league park, the air was filled with promise and hope. well, except for the fact that it was a) freezing cold, b) drizzling rain and c) the local major-league team, which is very,

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-31027846201578919312011-03-30T18:10:00.000-04:002011-03-30T18:10:08.516-04:00

[i'm starting a series of letters to people with whom i have unfinished business. think of this one as the first letter of magnolia to the jerkfaces, if you're inclined to use biblical analogies. and why not lead the series off with a good old-fashioned dose of all-american vitriolic rage?] dear narcissus: well, well, well. i have been waiting for nearly half my life to unload on you. you've

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-66369560956594173162011-03-29T14:55:00.000-04:002011-03-29T14:55:03.766-04:00

the weekend of a thousand used kleenexes has come to an end. i am up and moving, though still somewhat fuzzy of head and runny of nose. and the best (?) part of all of the illness was that it hit me while i was at the man's house, so i proceeded to ensconce myself there to wait it out. the man, in his own inimitable way, is the sweetest guy on the planet. he really let that show this weekend, as

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-65672911704375614082011-03-28T15:56:00.000-04:002011-03-28T15:56:06.520-04:00

[the amazing jobo is running an occasional series over at her place where she revisits old posts to see how far things have come in her life since the original words were written. with her blessing, i am totally stealing her idea. so, for your amusement, one year ago this weekend. first, the post; then, below, the commentary...] march 22, 2010: one shining moment on my way to the airport

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-11228941385321443112011-03-26T12:30:00.000-04:002011-03-26T12:30:01.989-04:00

oh, man, what a week. crises, emotional freakouts, the whole nine yards. i have an exam in two hours. i should be studying, but i have approximately no attention span, because i am also ragingly ill with the worst cold i've had in years. when it rains, it freaking pours. i've been just a joy to be around, too. i've gotten into a series of really stupid arguments with the man, over tiny little

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-6908005214011191562011-03-23T10:37:00.000-04:002011-03-23T10:37:14.356-04:00

just a quick update: she's been found. about an hour after i posted last night, emily was found, and unharmed at that. talk about a huge relief. thank you, thank you, thank you to my DC-area blog-friends in particular. y'all came through for her so, so much, and it's a beautiful and inspiring thing. i can't say enough about it.

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-27423659666658497442011-03-23T01:11:00.000-04:002011-03-23T01:11:09.227-04:00

i got so rankled during all the uprisings in the middle east over the last few months when people said, oh, all this happened because of social media! see! it IS important! i found it to be, really, the height of first-world arrogance, pretending that the things we as privileged and connected westerners were doing on the internet had anything at all to do with the complex, generations-old

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-81322100250300042762011-03-20T19:55:00.000-04:002011-03-20T19:55:26.595-04:00

my parents met in tenth grade, in 1968. my mother was a do-gooder smart kid with a rebel streak; my daddy was an underachieving smart-aleck more interested in his music than being part of the mainstream. (he only participated in his high-school graduation because his grandfather asked him to.) though they had ups and downs, breakups and reunions, throughout their relationship, they were loyal to

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-68181086884760275892011-03-18T21:40:00.000-04:002011-03-18T21:40:44.900-04:00

i've been afraid of changing 'cause i built my life around you but time makes you bolder children get older i'm getting older, too.  - "landslide," fleetwood mac (or about six million other people) i always thought i owed it to the past, to what's happened in my life, to try to maintain a positive relationship with my ex-husband. we grew up together. kind of, anyway. at any rate, we lived

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-81116790572131381062011-03-17T23:20:00.000-04:002011-03-17T23:20:31.217-04:00

i need this off my chest: 1) i want my life to settle the hell down. this up and down is going to kill me. 2) i humbly ask the universe to continue this unexpected rain of job-related kindness and intrigue. it is much, much appreciated. 3) i really, really, REALLY miss having my own car. rolling metal = freedom. 4) i love my profession. i really do. 5) if that's the way you want it, he who

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-3506145824081417282011-03-16T18:33:00.000-04:002011-03-16T18:33:56.342-04:00

i love this cheesy, god-awful pop song. i just love it (though i'd love the studio version on youtube a lot more than this one, bryan. jeez). it's a fabulous shower-singing song, when you're sure you're 100% alone and no one can hear you belting out lyrics like you're on stage at carnegie hall. it's been on my mind pretty much nonstop today, too, which would seem kinda random... except that last

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-25884204572214188142011-03-15T16:56:00.000-04:002011-03-15T16:56:30.202-04:00

you say the word, you know i will find you or if you need some time, i don't mind i won't hold on to the tail of your kite i'm not like the girls that you've known but i believe i'm worth coming home to... so go on and fly, boy  - sleeps with butterflies, tori amos one of the central themes of my life, and if you'd known me at age fourteen you'd never have seen this coming, is non-stop male

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-89262188763651503642011-03-14T15:55:00.002-04:002011-03-14T15:55:40.991-04:00

i am an excessively educated woman. i started school at age three, in pre-kindergarten, in the fall of 1984. i was in school without interruption until the spring of 2002 (for those keeping score at home, that's eighteen years). i took five years off to find myself, then went back in the fall of 2007. i am still here. four more years of education gives me a grand total of twenty-two years in

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-40964231442424840072011-03-11T15:11:00.000-05:002011-03-11T15:11:34.485-05:00

lo and behold, once again, it's international crush day. today, we're supposed to sing to the heavens of a subject of a crush and appreciate that subject publicly. oh, i am so, so down with that. i mean, it's not like my crush is any great secret around these parts. and it's not like i have any shortage of things to appreciate about him. i could go all cutesy-details on you and share

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-29085367472907364902011-03-10T20:08:00.000-05:002011-03-10T20:08:16.064-05:00

[first, some introductory reading. this post won't make much sense until you read this.] i am a writer. obviously; you're reading words i've committed to the internet age's version of the pagefor public consumption. as a writer, i pride myself on being able to paint pictures with words, using every color of my linguistic rainbow to tell my stories. i tell them in a variety of venues and formats,

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-16523999654817315492011-03-09T16:31:00.000-05:002011-03-09T16:31:36.058-05:00

[so if you don't currently own collapse into now, the brand-new R.E.M. album, go get it. now. i'll wait. got it? good. now we can go on.] southern alt-rock girls such as myself have a special relationship with R.E.M. mine began the first time i ever heard "fall on me," one of the most beautiful songs ever written. i think i was seven, and it was LOVE. i mean, pure-out, howl-at-the-moon LOVE. i

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-72445853353269330962011-03-08T12:37:00.000-05:002011-03-08T12:37:52.972-05:00

i was half-tempted just to repost some of my love letters to south louisiana today. mardi gras always makes me miss my gulf-coast homelands. it's the biggest example of why the gulf south, in all its glory and splendor, is so special and important to the character of this nation. it's also radically and vitally different from the non-gulf south, a difference that should be kept in mind at all

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-20465002350688309732011-03-04T18:32:00.000-05:002011-03-04T18:32:55.125-05:00

we're... we're supposed to be the good guys here. and being the good guys means we have to be civilized about this. - stuart redman, the stand this is my favorite quote from my favorite book of all time. it's my philosophy of life, it's my guiding principle, professionally and personally. i ran an ethics committee for a year in law school. i took every professional ethics class i could get my

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-66513988703143231892011-03-02T18:56:00.000-05:002011-03-02T18:56:30.789-05:00

the law is hard, but it's the law. this is an old legal maxim, hence the latin. (we lawyer types just love us this dead language. there's even a special term just for this sort of thing. we lawyer types also really, really love ourselves and our little world.) this one is a favorite of my favorite (HEH) supreme court justice, one antonin scalia. he uses it to justify all manner of awful things,

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-67994319738770002932011-02-28T16:36:00.000-05:002011-02-28T16:36:18.189-05:00

a few weeks ago, i got suckered - er, invited to watch friday night lights with the man. i know that tons upon tons of people just love them some of this show. i'm totally OK with that, too... for them. to me, it's just a complete and total boy soap opera. (and boy, does the man get ornery when i call it that.) it's a melodrama with football inserted to divert from the fact that it's a melodrama.

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-43127574486942698092011-02-27T19:33:00.000-05:002011-02-27T19:33:34.782-05:00

the trip is over. he's back with me. thank. god. that's all i have to say about this.

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-50327685216116523612011-02-26T09:21:00.000-05:002011-02-26T09:21:56.791-05:00

i've always been told that being patient is something i should think about doing from time to time. and yet, somehow, it's never been my strong suit. i am the most impatient person who has ever lived on this earth. i hate waiting. i want what i want, when i want it. veruca salt, eat your heart out, baby girl; it is i who wants the world, who wants the whole world. i want bows in my hair, and i

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-66906207942952914202011-02-23T18:35:00.000-05:002011-02-23T18:35:11.108-05:00

pop music and i are usually not friends. i favor alt-rock, alt-country, songwriters with pithy and/or ironic worldviews. (oh yeah - and rap that was released in the late 1980s through the early 2000s. i'm a sucker for a good beat.) but i've been gobsmacked by this hooky little minx of a song. i swear, it's been on an endless loop in my head for over a week now. and for the longest time, i could

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-36993818128646393412011-02-20T23:11:00.000-05:002011-02-20T23:11:10.261-05:00

my head hurts. my plan to address the issues in my life through excessive alcohol consumption was a smashing success (please pardon the pun). i got a buzz on and smoothed out the rough edges... mostly. but the problem with my choice of venue for my mini-bender was, well, it's a place i love. worse, it's a place WE love. the lyric goes, every inch of this city reminds me of you. everywhere we

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-53883435939941253942011-02-19T14:54:00.000-05:002011-02-19T14:54:34.815-05:00

[i write this with not a small dose of restraint today. if i'm not careful, i'll spray excess words all over the internet, things written in the heat of passion that aren't what i mean to say. so with that caveat in mind, let's proceed.] he's in country now, i assume. funny how having him so far away, behind the wall of developing-world technology that may as well erase him from existence while

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-91517652917707922332011-02-17T18:45:00.000-05:002011-02-17T18:45:51.923-05:00

by now, the whole OMG, the computer beat the smart humans at jeopardy! thing has been beaten into the ground. everyone's got a theory or an opinion. i think the computer's amazing, don't get me wrong. but i noticed a very distinct set of responses to this that triggered a hmm moment with me. the tech boys (and probably girls - i just didn't see any) out there were all REALLY, REALLY eager to see

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-52622960131961186982011-02-16T19:46:00.000-05:002011-02-16T19:46:25.081-05:00

my mother's nickname for the man, coined when we were kids, was "the toy mogul." she came up with this after one night at my house. his mom drove him over to eat spaghetti and hang out, things that were a lot less fun to do once everyone got cars and driver's licenses. he had some kind of tech toy with him, i can't remember what at this point. 'course, this was the mid-1990s, long before it was

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-71111616523659552702011-02-15T14:03:00.000-05:002011-02-15T14:03:26.235-05:00

generally, if culture tells me anything, when you're in a new relationship, you're supposed to go ALL OUT for romantic occasions like, say, yesterday. the man's roommate sure did for his girlfriend: there was a whole weekend, complete with gifts and all that. tons of people i know had dates, with everything that entailed. what did i do? i went to ballet class. after class, the man drove up to

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-13486306141648670902011-02-14T15:12:00.000-05:002011-02-14T15:12:40.126-05:00

it's the number one topic on everyone's mind today, and everyone's got something very specific to say about it: love. l-o-v-e, l-u-v, etc., etc., etc. hearts and flowers, cheesy commercials, all that jazz. it's a hallmark holiday; people love it, people hate it. i'm not going to parse the ethics, the mechanics or the value of valentine's day. i hate crass commercialism, and this is certainly a

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-88317613301471227532011-02-10T19:33:00.003-05:002011-02-10T19:35:03.238-05:00

there's been far too much heaviness around my life these days - final divorces, bad anniversaries, surgeries, stresses and struggles. i, for one, am damn tired of it. so tonight, i choose to go a different route. as always, when i go here, i've employed my old friend, the HTML jump. if you don't want to read about matters salacious and vulgar (and tonight, i DO mean vulgar - details are dished),

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-27382804157372898312011-02-09T19:19:00.000-05:002011-02-09T19:19:05.560-05:00

god, grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change, the courage to change the things i can, and the wisdom to know the difference. this, my friends, is the serenity prayer. i know, right - me, quoting prayers? it's like in to kill a mockingbird, when the foot-washing baptists run away from miss maudie, thinking that the devil was surely quoting scripture for his own purposes. but i

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-30199355746587952502011-02-08T11:37:00.000-05:002011-02-08T11:37:22.927-05:00

i am twenty-nine. that means that i am in that sweet spot chronologically where everyone i freaking know, it seems, is having a kid, has just had a kid or is trying to have a kid. babies are absolutely everywhere. i'd say it's something in the water, but it's nationwide. now, babies are about the cutest things on the planet. they're also intimidating as hell. i swore up, down and sideways that

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-86081769986409577992011-02-04T19:05:00.000-05:002011-02-04T19:05:33.333-05:00

it's such a strange thing. as i go through the administrative changes related to my new-old name, my new-old identity. every time i sign a paper, visit an office or chat with a clerk, the conversation ends with one word that increasingly strikes me as a strange reaction to the nature of the business at hand: "congratulations!" now, don't get me wrong. having this done is certainly something

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-64027905553267231982011-02-03T23:45:00.000-05:002011-02-03T23:45:13.083-05:00

i never called my mother "ma." my dad will occasionally call my grandmother that when he's annoyed with her, but it was never my style. i called her "mom." short, sweet, to the point. there are a lot of things i want these days, first and foremost a job. but today, three years to the day after getting that call, all i really want? well, it's her. i've been told that she wanted to be a lawyer

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-42217587148697844552011-02-02T23:34:00.000-05:002011-02-02T23:34:52.414-05:00

i've made a lot of decisions in the last year, and it's safe to say that i've blown up my life and rebuilt it, basically in front of the watchful eyes of the internet. but the last piece of the biggest decision came through today: my name change. i went from magnolia [married name] to magnolia [birth name]. for the first time since 2002, i don't have his last name anymore. along with the huge

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-45502402594108405372011-02-01T14:23:00.000-05:002011-02-01T14:23:20.662-05:00

"we are living with and living in the national rot wrought by the bleak, selfish sentimentality that says our troops are out there solely to insure our continued comfort." - david roth, the awl, 1/28/11  in case you haven't noticed, this little liberal is pretty passionate about the proper use of our nation's military. i think it's just of the utmost importance to respect people who choose

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-72338112874168899322011-01-29T18:29:00.000-05:002011-01-29T18:29:17.813-05:00

yesterday, i said that today was a pretty big milestone. well, it is: it's my one-year blog-iversary. i started this little internet outpost for my writings one year ago today. it was just another day in my law-school career, which meant it was full of class, activities and the dull, thudding sense that something was drastically wrong in my life. i spent a lot of law school feeling that way, as

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-57742634460559503992011-01-28T16:26:00.000-05:002011-01-28T16:26:41.884-05:00

quite out of nowhere, and no one's more surprised than i am about this, i have developed a neat streak. don't freak, those who know me in real life; it's far from a perfect, obsessive level of neatness. i've been a piler - and let's be honest, a slobby one - my whole life. i was a classic type-B kid, messy room, unorganized class notebooks and a general "it'll be done in time, no need to worry

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-42770938063482425612011-01-27T23:37:00.000-05:002011-01-27T23:37:01.214-05:00

ugh. perhaps you've seen this insipid slogan in its natural habitat - a third-rate tacky-jewelry emporium that advertises during playoff football games. the commercial is just everything i abhor about the depiction of modern relationships. it's a dialogue, superimposed over shots of teddy bears, chocolates and really ugly jewelry: woman (in a tone best described as bitchy): "what are you getting

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-13258991982999161892011-01-25T12:15:00.000-05:002011-01-25T12:15:33.078-05:00

well, how 'bout that - one of my favorite reads out there, the venerable siouxsie at siouxsie law, has passed on a stylish blogger award to me! thanks! i am honored. so in keeping with the rules, here are seven random facts about me. 1) if it were possible, and they still sold them, i would live in my old black suede airwalks from high school. GOD, i miss those shoes. 2) i'm sure i lived just

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-23721292054565019222011-01-23T23:16:00.000-05:002011-01-23T23:16:34.423-05:00

parents. everyone has two, somewhere out there - that's biological reality. we all have a mother and a father, at least at the point of conception. but in a lot of cases, way more than should ever be the case, one or both of the people who give a person life just... check out. i am not a parent. it's only been recently that the idea of being someone's mama hasn't caused me to break out in hives.

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-39114012333788374182011-01-22T21:46:00.000-05:002011-01-22T21:46:08.634-05:00

today, i rolled my ankle. i stepped out of the car, caught my heel on a thoroughly-invisible lumpy place in the pavement and went down on one knee like i'd been shot. swollen ankle, sore knee, sore hip, and weirdly, sore neck. (i strained my neck monday night - don't ask how - and reaggravated it when i fell.) i got up, reassembled myself and walked into the drugstore. good thing i was already

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-62612557196636854912011-01-20T00:03:00.000-05:002011-01-20T00:03:31.694-05:00

it's time for this little blogger to get serious about getting hired after graduation. i am alternately brimming with bravado-tinged confidence and trembling with crushing insecurity, sometimes second by second, throughout this process. i've seen my resume; i look impressive as HELL on paper. i've got good grades, relevant coursework, and two solid pages of educational and professional experience

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-69352602134575988982011-01-19T01:06:00.000-05:002011-01-19T01:06:18.118-05:00

[no lyric interpretation, but here's your soundtrack anyway. sorry for the ad. god, i love this song.] i'll tell you a secret: sometimes, i want nothing more than to be traditionally, proverbially swept off my feet, whisked away, in that really hackneyed fairy-tale way. just like peter cetera in that song from the karate kid, part II, i want him to come in like a knight in shining armor from a

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-75173244307968190712011-01-16T22:04:00.001-05:002011-01-16T22:04:33.001-05:00

the inimitable red shoes has tagged me to answer some questions, and who am i to turn down such a request? so here goes... @font-face { font-family: "ＭＳ 明朝"; }@font-face { font-family: "ＭＳ 明朝"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }span.apple-style-span { }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; font-family:

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-76139910799403447702011-01-15T18:38:00.000-05:002011-01-15T18:38:51.933-05:00

[for those of you not versed in the flora of my southern homeland, this is a camellia, and this is a camellia bud. that'll help with the metaphor.] i tend to be a little circumspect in my real life. that may be surprising to my loyal readers, given how i spill my guts all the hell over the internet, but it's true. anonymity is a really empowering thing, and without it, i just don't feel right

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-17628459912211696822011-01-14T01:54:00.000-05:002011-01-14T01:54:05.055-05:00

your humble author, as you have clearly seen, can be a giant ball of anxiety at times. i am given to worry on a fairly regular basis. sometimes, most times even, i am able to seek solace with the fond embrace of my love. but what to do when the source of the anxiety is something that involves him? i tried to have a conversation with him tonight, wishing to clear up something that had been

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-80063332470746561722011-01-10T21:31:00.000-05:002011-01-10T21:31:39.738-05:00

you can't go on thinking nothing's wrong who's gonna drive you home tonight?  - "drive," the cars some days, the weight of the world gets to be too much. lord knows there was a ton of that this weekend. my beloved saints? yeah, we're not going to talk about that. it's cold. i think my body hates me, based on how many varied aches, pains and ailments it's throwing at me. and that's not even

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-27129745506412717742011-01-07T23:09:00.000-05:002011-01-07T23:09:59.815-05:00

this is your soundtrack. this is my alma mater. i miss this place more than i could ever imagine. "where stately oaks and broad magnolias shade inspiring halls, there stands our dear old alma mater who to us recalls fond memories that waken in our hearts a tender glow and make us happy for the love that we have learned to know all hail to thee our alma mater, molder of mankind may greater

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-91422565671758417612011-01-06T20:58:00.000-05:002011-01-06T20:58:04.356-05:00

boy, it must be real easy for y'all, eh, new house majority? i mean, hell. for your very first act to be to come in and try to get rid of healthcare reform. nice to know there are no other problems in this world. but really, what more should i have expected? see, these folks come from a magical fairyland where it's perpetually 1950 and life is june cleaver waiting for ward to come home from the

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-22221972469083786692011-01-04T23:54:00.000-05:002011-01-04T23:54:09.827-05:00

as i've said many times before, the learning curve in my relationship rears its ugly head in strange and unexpected ways. i mean, when you're dating someone you've known half your life, you don't necessarily expect to look up at some points and think, where the hell did THAT aspect of your personality come from? why didn't i know about this? and yet, this happens a lot more than i feel like it

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-74648663139654204012011-01-03T22:17:00.000-05:002011-01-03T22:17:13.978-05:00

the rest of the world returned to work today after the glorious overconsumptive fog that the holidays have been. but me? i'm still a student. i may be damn near 30, but as far as my schedule is concerned, i am a slothful 18-year-old kid. i have two more weeks before my classes start again. i'm sure there was a time when all this freedom was a total boon, and that i was thrilled beyond belief to

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-72978259557613434652011-01-02T21:15:00.000-05:002011-01-02T21:15:31.928-05:00

so as part of the auspicious start to 2011 i experienced, i spent the early morning hours of yesterday on "make sure the man doesn't die" duty. this is a new one on me; usually, i'm the one praying for death after a night of overindulgence. but as he worked through it, i dealt with the... aftermath, we'll say. it was right dark in that bathroom, too, and i had my contacts out already. i guess

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-86747051385428397302011-01-01T19:43:00.000-05:002011-01-01T19:43:48.221-05:00

hi, everyone - welcome to 2011. i'm avoiding exclamations in an attempt to keep my "voice" down; if the rest of y'all are as bleached-feeling as we are tonight, you'll appreciate it. oh, what a party. i find that there's no better way to send out a year like 2010 than to flash back to how i behaved as an 18-year-old undergraduate. read: wine. champagne. more wine. more champagne. dancing in a

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-421600449220543462010-12-31T17:32:00.000-05:002010-12-31T17:32:01.069-05:00

it's new year's eve, which means that it's time for the obligatory wrap-up of the beautiful dark twisted cocktail that was 2010. we took the good, we took the bad. i dare say we took them both. no facts of life here, though; just another year over. but damn, what a year. ups, downs, strikes, gutters - i have never had a year in my life that had more upheaval. i ended a marriage; i began a career

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-58427054385070788372010-12-28T22:43:00.000-05:002010-12-28T22:43:43.305-05:00

i am a writer, writer of fictions i am the heart that you call home...  - "the engine driver," the decemberists i have worked with language as long as i've known how to put my dreams on paper. i've written regularly for basically the last 25 years of my life. fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose, and even an ill-fated screenplay - your humble blog proprietor has written it all. not to brag, but i

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-84586932743875896062010-12-27T19:05:00.000-05:002010-12-27T19:05:49.959-05:00

so i kept a running twitter log of things i did and saw while i was travelling. for your amusement, a road trip in 140 characters or less. 12/17, 11:41 pm: getting a milkshake for my drive south. miss my love already, but so jazzed to see my friends! 12/18, 2:18 am: dear henderson, north carolina: blow me. no open gas stations at all? come ON. 12/18, 5:17 am: welcome center, south carolina -

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-18314204711021393462010-12-26T22:52:00.001-05:002010-12-26T22:52:31.497-05:00

i am home. recap later. but now, sleep. hope y'all had a fabulous holiday!

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3312389532973474939.post-68666361060766802932010-12-19T16:06:00.000-05:002010-12-19T16:06:11.215-05:00

dateline: tangipahoa parish, louisiana oh, my lord, have i missed my friends. we spent last night and into this morning traversing the wilds of this parish, catching up on adventures old and new. we finished our evening in a "nite club" (no, really - that's what the sign said), indulging in vices of various stripes and enjoying a little well-earned release. i love nights like that one -

magnoliahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06459330762697628839noreply@blogger.com5