For someone so averse to the idea of marriage, I am way too into weddings. But really, guys. Look at this. More importantly, look at this. The last picture is just magical.

On a somewhat related note, I would love love love to be a florist. Or a collector of stories for a show similar to This American Life or Radiolab. Or the owner of a cafe/bookstore. The thing is, I also want to make the world a less crappy place, and none of these are exactly Superman or Obama-caliber activities.

THIS IS HOW WE TALK

Brady: ay!
Samantha: what up!
Brady: eatin!
Brady: pizza!
Brady: you!
Samantha: yum!
Samantha: chattin!
Samantha: wonderin!
Samantha: you!
Samantha: books!
Samantha: wex!
Brady: OH!
Brady: RIGHT
Brady: when!
Brady: much!
Samantha: 17th!
Samantha: tix!
Samantha: buy!
Samantha: but!
Samantha: me!
Samantha: cincinnati!
Brady: no!
Brady: yes!
Samantha: ha!
Samantha: what!
Brady: will!
Samantha: you!
Samantha: yes!
Brady: sharky!
Samantha: me!
Samantha: pay!
Samantha: KITTENS!
Brady: YAY!

EITHER THAT WALLPAPER GOES OR I DO

What artifacts would you include in The Museum of Broken Relationships? I have some ideas, but so much of the actual breaking happens in the intangibles that are difficult to display--spoken and unspoken words, wandering thoughts.

Universities are meant to be producers not just of knowledge but also of (often inconvenient) doubt. They are creative and unruly places, homes to a polyphony of voices. But at this moment in our history, universities might well ask if they have in fact done enough to raise the deep and unsettling questions necessary to any society.

As the world indulged in a bubble of false prosperity and excessive materialism, should universities--in their research, teaching and writing--have made greater efforts to expose the patterns of risk and denial?...Have universities become too captive to the immediate and worldly purposes they serve?

--Drew Gilpin Faust, The University's Crisis of Purpose

There's this TV show that you might have heard of called Friday Night Lights. You might have heard that it's about about a high school football team from this tiny town in Texas that is made up of people who are really into football and God. Which sounds absolutely terrible, right? Except that it's sfg. And I mean seriously, seriously, sfg. With many hours to kill at the Philadelphia airport I made the happy mistake of watching the first episode and haven't been able to stop. I am enamored with most of the characters (except you, Lyla), everything about it reminds me of Alliance, and even football can seem epic when it's played against a backdrop of Explosions in the Sky.

One of my favorite things about this show is that it captures so well how absolutely crushing life in high school can feel. A large difference between the way I handled trying situations then and the way I do now is that I am always very aware now that things get better. It seems simple enough, but I remember feeling many times during high school (what with moving, breakups, deaths, and parental issues) that improvement was nearly impossible. So I guess that's maturity?

Anyway, the first season is the bomb dot com, and although the second season isn't nearly as good it does boast Tim Riggins buying flowers while Devendra Banhart croons (swoon swoon swoon). It's funny and sweet and poignant and perfectly summery.

1666 SINGALONGS

Take one day at a time, everything else you can leave behind. Only one thing at a time, anything more really hurts your mind. I don't want for us to take pills anymore (not that it's bad); I don't want for us to take pills because we're stronger and we don't need them.

--Panda Bear, Take Pills

RECAPITULATION

Tuesday night was a reunion with Kt, Boyland, and Jeni's. Pure joy! How am I so lucky to have the friends that I do? And Boyland is such a gracious host--you can find me each morning on his sun-drenched balcony, coffee and book in hand. On Wednesday Kt and I scoured Columbus for the perfect sofa but instead gained an A+ armchair and can I ever communicate how much I value conversations with Kt? Later, on the grass with Martin and Kt there was that quintessential Martinism of "I mean, there were good parts and then there were parts where he took more bananas than I wanted him to" and the moon gained a Monroe. Over beers at the Stube with Brady and Ian among others I got a feeling for what I had been missing all summer. And Thursday! An entire day with the lovely (and incredibly wise) Diana, what more could one want? Yesterday after a far too brief encounter with Mr. Gurkfaceallstar himself, Martin and I ate and practiced the Fit's gum dance and headed over to the christening of my favorite habibti's new home. Old friends, new friends--let me tell you, Kt and I are going to be moving into the best neighborhood in Columbus. No doubt. Everyone has migrated to this area and I'm glad we inadvertently joined.

And now. Back at Kerouac with Martin, enjoying a pineapple pizza with ranch (don't knock it till you try it) while getting reacquainted with the internet. Almost all of my sadness this summer stemmed from the lack of social interaction that is a side effect of living in the suburbs of Jersey with no means of transportation. But I'm back! And even the stresses of moving and the absurdity that is OSU during football season can't put a damper on my mood.

"There is only one sure means in life," Deasey said, "of ensuring that you are not ground into paste by disappointment, futility, and disillusion. And that is always to ensure, to the utmost of your ability, that you are doing it solely for the money."

--Michael Chabon, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay



I am really loving this book. Conversely, I really wasn't a fan of 500 Days of Summer.