February 2012
118 posts
“I cannot tell if the day
is ending, or the world, or if
the secret of secrets...”
– Anna Akhmatova, from “A land not mine, still” (translated by Jane Kenyon)
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“That’s interesting. It doesn’t make any sense, but it’s...”
– My father, on something I said, which probably did not, in fact, make any sense.
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“I think you might be the Dowager Countess.”
– Paula, flattering me in a discussion of which Downton Abbey characters we would be.
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“He will be very successful because, in his own mind, he already is.”
– My mother, who understands, fairly or otherwise, how the world works.
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The Grudge (Not Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar)
Me: I'm not one to hold a grudge.
My father: You are, actually.
Finnish President's Husband Caught Staring at... →
And it’s not even Vappu!
Why It Doesn’t Matter That the Second Season of... →
I know this goes against much of what I wrote in my rant last night, but it is also perfect, and explains why Downton Abbey is so popular in the perfect: namely, more Americans should be watching East Enders.
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Dodge Heavy Balls
Christine: "Heavyweights" is such a great movie. Ben Stiller's in it. Have you seen it?
Me: Is that the one where they play dodgeball?
Christine: No, that's "Dodgeball."
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Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Downton Abbey, we need...
Hello there. Thanks for coming. Please, sit down. Would you like tea? Scones? Monarchy?
Anyway, I know this is sort of awkward—for me, mostly, since you’re a television program and I’m the one writing a letter of sorts to a show—but this conversation is very important to me. You see, I loved your first season. I thought it was very smart and very charming, and you know how I love a...
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Forgotten Dancing
Me: Have you ever seen "Dirty Dancing?"
Paula: We watched it together, like, twenty times sophomore year.
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Bold Realizations!: The Apathy and the Ecstasy
Earlier this year (as many a post on this very blog will verify), I was so, so worried about the future, about what will happen to me after I graduate, about what I will do, what I should do, what I want to do, etc. I would fall asleep and wake up to worry.
And I noticed that I don’t anymore. Not because I’ve figured any of the above out—I haven’t. But it was tiring and...
Language Vote Refuels Latvia Tension - WSJ.com →
Some days I think of giving it all up and studying Batlic nationality issues till the end of my days.
Why, no, that was not a joke. Thanks for checking, though.
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Rethink the Ink
Me: Don't get that tattooed, because you might change your mind.
Paula: Emily, if you got a tattoo, that's what it would say.
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Nathan Englander’s New Collection - NYTimes.com →
I cannot wait to finally start reading this (on the subway commute next week). Why?
“A short story is by definition an odder, more eccentric creature than a novel: a trailer, a fling, a warm-up act, a bouillon cube, a championship game in one inning. Irresolution and ambiguity become it; it’s a first date rather than a marriage. When is it mightier than the novel? When its elisions speak as...
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“She’s an A+, and he didn’t hand in the assignment.”
– I just want Christine to break down every relationship, ever.
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Dead Souls
Irina, friend of my thesis subject: I was a legal dissident, too.
Me: Really?
Irina: Yes. We were all legal dissidents.
Me: Well, I would love to speak to all of you.
Irina: You cannot speak to all of us, because some of us are already dead.
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An Open Message To Matthew At This Moment:
downtonabbeyonce:
‘Cause you had to turn/And now you’re gonna learn/What it really feels like to miss me!
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Mazel?
Me: Am I an old Jewish woman at heart?
My mother: Possibly.
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...Is It, Though?
Me: Wow, you're really into Valentine's Day.
Direct superior at my internship: That's what happens when you're single.
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Signed, Sealed, Delivered: To everybody this...
I have long had a hate-hate relationship with Valentine’s Day. This is because I am cynical and snarky, and also because, when I was five, I deeply resented being made to give cards to children whom I did not feel were worthy of my affection.
I’ve tried not paying attention to Valentine’s Day. Once, I went home from college so that I didn’t need to be around it. I was...
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“I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at...”
– CoCo Chanel. This quote so tickled my fancy when I came across it on this Internet that I have decided to blog it, even if I turn my blog into that of a pink-loving teenage girl whose contributions to the blogosphere include quotes by Chanel and Marilyn Monroe by doing so.
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The Birch: Weekly Slavic Events 2/13 →
birchjournal:
EVENTS FOR THE WEEK OF 2/13 - 2/19
First and foremost:
The Birch is hosting its first public event of the semester! Join us in at 6:00pm on Thursday, February 16 in the auditorium of Earl Hall for “Robber Baron of Political Martyr? Khodorkovsky’s Relevance to Russia Today.” We will be…
If you a) are at Columbia and b) interested in Russia, justice, documentaries, or...