iTunes Magic 8-Ball Meme

Found this meme on Center of Gravitas and couldn't resist.

Simple directions: Open iTunes to your entire digital library (not just a playlist), then use the shuffle function on your music player and see what you come up with in answer to the following questions.

1. How does the world see you?
Ella Fitzgerald, "Anything Goes"
Though I'm not a great romancer, I know that I'm bound to answer when you propose...
I am a free spirit! I'm unpredictable and wild!

2.Will I have a happy life?
Laura Cantrell, "Khaki and Corduroy."
Late hours in the Spanish clubs with your arms around the one you love...
I take this to mean that I will have a life of poignent yet beautiful moments, which I will look back on nostalgically. Which seems to be the case so far.

3. What do my friends really think of me?
Eels, "Trouble With Dreams"
You don't need a thing from me, but I need something big from you, cause you know I've got an awful lot of big dreams...
I'm not sure whose point of view this is supposed to be from, but I do tend to need things from my friends. Putting up with large amounts of weirdness and petty drama is a must.

4. Do people secretly lust after me?
Magnetic Fields, "Papa Was A Rodeo"
Why don't you just get into my car, and I'll take you away, I'll take that kiss now...
Haha, they totally do.

5. How can I make myself happy?
Sprites, "Bionic Hands"
Now I only want to touch you one more time, feel your fingers laced in mine, but I have no feeling left in my bionic hands...
I need to be touched more.

6. What should I do with my life?
The Galactic Heroes, "Back in Love"
I'm not lying, it's so exciting to see you back in love again...
Yeah, probably true.

7. Will I ever have children?
Modest Mouse, "Paper Thin Walls"
These walls are paper thin and everyone hears every little sound...
Better not try until I move out of Smith housing, I guess.

8. What is some good advice for me?
Wir Sind Helden, "Mussen Nur Wollen"
Muss ich immer alles müssen was ich kann...
"We can create everything exactly like the mad trained ape" - That is so not helpful at all.

9. How will I be remembered?
Tegan and Sara, "Not Tonight"
Everything in my body says not tonight, everything in my body says no...
I really don't know what to make of this.

10. What is my signature dancing song?
Madeleine Peyroux
Dance me through the panic till I'm gathered safely in, lift me like an olive branch and be my homeward dove, dance me to the end of love...
Works for me. How do you dance to this? I hope it's foxtrot-compatible.

11. What do I think my current theme song is?
The Decemberists, "Eli the Barrow-Boy"
Would I could afford to buy my love a fine robe, made of gold and silk Arabian thread, but she is dead and gone and lying in a pine grove, and I must push my barrow all the day...
And I had thought things were going so well.

12. What does everyone else think my current theme song is?
The White Stripes, "Hypnotize"
You're the kind of girl a guy like me could hypnotize...
This doesn't seem quite right, either. I'm really not a White Stripes type of girl. So angry!

13. What song will play at my funeral?
The Format, "Sore Thumb"
So please just leave, you don't mean that much to me...
That is so inappropriate!

14 What type of men do I like?
Ok Go, "Don't Ask Me"
Don't say it's been awhile, don't flash that stupid smile, don't ask me how I've been...
Angry men who hate me?

15. What is my day going to be like?
Magnetic Fields, "The Way You Say Goodnight"
The night birds start to sing their song, the moon begins to sing, you're beautiful...
That doesn't sound so bad.

Spellcheck

I am a member of the spellcheck generation. I was astonished to learn over the weekend that "border" like between countries and "boarder" like someone who lives in a boarding house are spelled differently. When my father was a kid, he dreamed of a machine that would make learning to spell obsolete. He didn't anticipate arguing with it over the spelling of his last name every day. Anteater? Attributer? Maltreated? Attracter? Attested?

I am amused by the suggestions for Carnap (Canape, Catnap) and Frege (Free, Forage, Fringe). I always wish Frege hadn't been a Nazi; I'd like it if we could be friends.

Disney Princes

In a group of girls (or are we women now?) my age, there are certain cultural phenomena that will get everyone talking. The Babysitters Club is one. Tonight we spent a good ten minutes arguing about whether Jo should have married Laurie (I say she's too good for him) and even more discussing who the hottest Disney princes are. Leaving aside my disturbing childhood crush on the parrot from Aladdin, I would suggest:

1. Shang (from Mulan): If there's anything hotter than a Chinese man, it's a Chinese man who's in love with (what he believes is) another Chinese man.

2. Aladdin (eponymous - one of my favorite words): Much more flair and personality than your average Disney hero

3. Robin Hood: Although his human hands creeped me out a little.

4. Flounder (The Little Mermaid)

(Actually I can't think of any others who do anything for me. Not John Smith, certainly.)

Okay, back to work.

Human Anatomy for Artist: huge source of hi-res pose photos

Lao Beijing 

Chaoyang 

Aijia, Shuyi, Jiani, and Lili having lunch at Lao Beijing 

My roommate (left) and me in our room in Beijing 

Me in my room in Beijing 

SAT Time

Here are some fun words. Try to use them in a sentence today.

blatteroon - A person who will not stop talking.
capernoited - Slightly intoxicated or tipsy.
cenatory Pertaining to dinner or supper.
eximious - Choice, select or excellent.
funambulist - A tightrope walker.
gargalesthia - The sensation caused by tickling.
lethologica - The inability to recall a precise word for something.
nostomania - Overwhelming homesickness.
quatrayle - One's great great great grandfather.
urticate - To beat with a whip.