What A World, What A World.

You're The Only Ten I See.

Trip Essentials:

Surviving the road with licorice, sunsets, a lone meteor, musicals (Evita) and Coke breaks.

Bruce Springsteen set lists.

William Faulkner trademarks: Yoknapatawpha County, Caddy, Dilsey, Addie, Thomas Sutpen, alcoholism, the Southern Gothic, texture, stream of consciousness...

The Patterson House: Nashville. Coolest bar I will ever go to in my life. Period. (Nondescript website proves it - so cool they don't even have to try).

Pancake Pantry: Nashville. Sweet potato pancakes, yummm.

Reading Invisible Man at the Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives.

Rolandos: Fort Smith, Arkansas. On the way home.

Wonderful and hospitable friends/family to stay with in Oxford, Nashville and Memphis.

Graceland Too. The most off-beat, creepy destination.

Come my tan-faced children,

(loveable commercials).

especially when they include Walt Whitman poems.

Took Too Long To Think, I Was Wrong To Believe In Me Only.

Beautiful images getting me pumped for an upcoming roadtrip.

All by David Eustace, more found here.

Well, I took the GRE. Not good.

I'm now the owner of a brand new Camry.

The process of buying a car was akin to a prolonged dentist appointment and called for an immediate shower afterwards. I'm now saddled with debt for three years, like any true American.

However, I negotiated this deal myself and am paying for it myself in order to establish a good credit history, and with the new car smell and the safety and 15 years of not having to deal with this again (all fingers crossed) the pros far outweighed the cons.

There are rules to managing money wisely of course, the current economy is proof of that. But it's also important to factor in what you value as an individual. So here's to growing up and negotiating that careful balance (Well, okay, I'm still hibernating at home. So maybe not quite so grown up yet).

Since it's November, a few things I'm thankful for this week:

Contact lenses.

Good health.

Grandparents.

Google Reader. (Thanks for the user-friendly instructions Jen!)

Marigolds.

A kick ass trivia partner.

Sue Sylvester in a zoot suit.

Grapefruit juice.

Those special few I can watch Twilight on DVD with.

John Stewart as media watchdog:

Even though I am completely pro-choice, I can understand someone who has moral objections to abortion not wanting to subsidize it within the current health care reform. So I guess my thought on the issue was that it should be a non-issue: not any harder (especially for poor people) to receive the procedure, but not easier either. However, I found this article interesting:

"You know what I don't want to hear right now about the Stupak-Pitts amendment banning abortion coverage from federally subsidized health insurance policies? That it's the price of reform, and prochoice women should shut up and take one for the team."

Solange Knowles covering Stillness Is The Move by Dirty Projectors.

Grant Lee Phillips, Mona Lisa.

Wilco, Solitaire.

Sweet Sixteen.

Goodbye October.

Morning run and three days after Halloween, still millions of multicolored candy wrappers entangled in brown fallen leaves on the sidewalk.

Can I Buy You A Drink?

As of 11/01, Meg-a-mart is 21.

Brief and Wondrous.

So I was robbed yesterday. Not like gunpoint robbed or a home break-in, but car windows shattered and immediate wham bam Walmart charges robbed. It's more unsettling than I thought. And I shouldn't have left my purse in the car.

I really miss my stuff. But then again, it's just stuff.

It's caused a million inconveniences. But then again, just put your head down and get through it.

I really hate the person(s) who did this. But then again, life's not fair. And life's not fair for anyone. There's no excusing it, but still. Who am I to judge what brings people to the mini van robbing level.

I spent the rest of my Sunday reading, because I'm convinced it's better GRE preparation than any vocab flashcards. I finished The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz. Strong, vivid, Dominican writing.

They got into the habit of talking on the phone a couple times a week, about nothing really, spinning words out of their everyday; the first time she called him, offering a ride to SAT class; a week later he called her, just to try it. His heart beating so hard he thought he would die but all she did when she picked him up was say, Oscar, listen to the bullshit my sister pulled, and off they'd gone, building another one of their word-skyscrapers.

Comparison.

Hopefully, tomorrow Maine will become the first state in this country to approve same sex marriage by voting NO on question 1 in a statewide, popular vote.

Now for a disturbing advertising showcase on the issue: compare the first commercial with the last two. Scary. Also a scary lack of minorities in all three, just say'n.