It Makes Me Wanna Dance:

Alright, alright, I know that I love 'Gossip Girl' more than any self-respecting adult ever should... But Monday nights are bliss for me and I eat up every Hermes bag and moment of sexual tension.

This promo has been stuck in my head for weeks now... I love it.



I hated this song when I heard it, but being paired in such amazing fashion with the character I guiltily swoon over has made me do an about face. Damn you, Gossip Girl. Ugh.

Pressing Pause:

For the sake of full disclosure, I guess I should talk a little bit about what is going on in my relationship as of late... if you're a Facebook friend, you might have noticed a slight change in my "relationship status", maybe not (don't worry, I have no delusions about your interest or, rather, lack thereof, in my every Facebook move).

Anyways, Chris and I have had a total of two problems during our entire relationship: 1. having to do with his parents (which maybe I'll disclose about at a later date) and 2. our (read: my) complete and utter fear of commitment.

I have been head-over-heels for Chris since the first day I met him... I've explained before how serendipitous it is that we even came together in the first place. My problem is: I know that going through life with him would be full of love and support and flat-out fun, but I just didn't see my life going in this direction so early on. I dreamed of a loft in the city and independence for my entire 20s, not settling down right out of college (which is different from marriage... Chris and I are on the same page on the marriage thing).

Maybe I'm being selfish, but what's so wrong about that? We started dating when I was still 20... which is way younger than I ever expected to find Mr. Right. My single life can't really die at 20 years old, can it!? I think I just need more time to live out my single days and gain some clarity about myself and figure out the future that I want to paint.

It has proved to be very difficult to separate our lives since they have been so closely intertwined for almost two years now, but we're working on rediscovering our independence.

So that is where I am at... feel free to throw any good advice my way or berate me for being so self-centered.

Who Would Wanna Be Such an Asshole:

I really want to get my hands on a copy of "Blowing My Hero" by Amber O'Neil (pseudonym). She is the real-life Tanya in Bukowski's "Women"... the 90 lb. girl from San Fransisco that sent pictures of her "c*nt", as Bukowski likes to say.

I found a forum where Amber herself starts to post in an attempt to answer people's questions and confront their criticisms. Who knows if it really was her posting, but she speaks very eloquently and even offers to meet up with anyone in San Fran who'd like to read the book!

The book goes for around $200 in various places because it is extremely rare... She was unable to officially publish it because it contains actual letters that Bukowski sent to her during their correspondence. The only copies in rotation are a hundred or so that she copied at a Kinkos... 400 more are in boxes at her house since she has received strict instructions not to infringe on the copyright laws over personal letters.

Oh well. But here is Modest Mouse's song "Bukowski". It has been stuck in my head for days...



I love the line "If God takes life, he's an indian giver...". So great.

I Had Bukowski On My Mind:

I read this all weekend:



Probably wasn't the best time to pick this one up due to the events that transpired over the course of the weekend, but I enjoyed it nonetheless and didn't put it down until I was finished. Seriously though, what a dirty old man...

*Post title courtesy of The Good Life. Mmm... Tim Kasher...

Only In The South (Part Deux):

After the shock today that yet another ex-boyfriend of mine has chosen to wed their current girlfriends, I thought I should revisit this topic again... For a recap, here is what I found only two and a half months ago.

With the same conditions in mind, I found that 36 out of my 389 friends (yes, I started deleting people recently... as I tend to do every now and again) are now engaged or married. This makes for 9.5%! Wow.

I'll check back in on this in a few months... Maybe we'll have our first divorce to document by then!

(Halfsie) Anniversary:

Today marks a year and a half since Chris and I awkwardly proclaimed our affections for one another and began our relationship. We're only 5 months away from breaking the record for "Kim's longest relationship"... Chris' got smashed a lot time ago, I do believe. Yay us.

To celebrate, we decided that we would skip the exchanging of tangible objects in lieu of an activity that we could partake in together and enjoy. My great discovery: Aziz Ansari from Human Giant is coming to Athens! Chris and I looooved that show and Aziz was always our favorite. Since neither of us has ever been to a stand-up comedy show, I thought this would be a perfect date night for us!

Only problem is, the show isn't until December. Sadness. I bought the tickets anyways, and just told Chris about it last night at midnight. He is even more excited than I thought he would be, so I guess we have something to look forward to once classes are done and there is kind of a lull before the holidays. :)

Not surprisingly, he has yet to come up with an idea for his activity... and it's already the afternoon of our anniversary. Don't I have such a romantic boyfriend? Le sigh.

This was probably Chris' favorite skit from Human Giant, he laughs hysterically every time:

This Says It All:

My Biggest Musician Crush:

It's gotta be this guy:

From here.

From here.

Mmmmm... Tim Kasher. Every picture I see of this guy looks different! He waxes and wanes between a slight scruff and a full-on I've-been-in-the-woods-for-far-too-long-eating-granola-and-such beard. Until it reaches Sasquatch proportions, I'm totally down though.

Facial hair aside, the man's voice is heaven and his song-writing skills are so far beyond anything that I can even fathom, I'm left stupefied and in awe after nearly every lyric I come across. I know he was raised Catholic, so there's one thing we have in common! Woot! Bad news though: his ex-wife and the subject matter of over an entire album happens to be named Kim. Shit.

His stuff with Cursive begs the question, "He's gotta be atheist, or at least apathetic, right?" His stuff with The Good Life makes me want to tell him that I've been there too, then basically proceed to tear off all of his clothes. He's just that yummy.

What I would give to pick this man's brain... Wow. Even though, knowing me, I'd be at a complete loss for words if I were actually able to meet him and end up looking like a crazed middle-schooler with a crush. One thing's for certain: I'd be telling him that I go by 'Julie'. Ha!

Here's a video of him in a silly cowboy hat being the wondrous musician that he is:



Sorry, Chris, but I'd totally leave you for this voice. :/

Best Relationship Advice I've Ever Heard:

Yup. Extreme. I went there.

This Is Good News For Me:

Apparently the Tyra Banks Show had an episode titled: "Are you doomed for divorce?" There is an accompanying quiz to determine if you are, in fact, "doomed for divorce" that states that you have a 14% less likely chance of divorcing if you have a "religious affiliation".

I'm just going to say it: That is bullshit.

Percentage that have been divorced at some point in their lives (which is a more accurate picture than those who currently hold the status of "divorced"):
Jewish- 30%
Born-Again Christian- 27%
Other Christian- 24%
Atheist/Agnostic- 21%

If you'd like a more detailed breakdown of the Christian categories, here they are:
Non-denominational- 34%
Baptist- 29%
Mainline Protestant- 25%
Mormon- 24%
Catholic- 21%
Lutheran- 21%

I have found these figures through multiple sources.

Being raised to be Catholic and as a practicing Atheist, I think I'll do okay. I have no problems with other people and what they choose to believe, but I don't appreciate it when people make negative assumptions and act as if their spiritual path is superior to mine through little jabs such as this. I know that religion is a touchy subject, and I do not intend to dwell on this topic, so please don't feel as if I am attacking anyone in particular... unless of course you are the creator of that quiz. Then I totally can't stand you and wish you would stop breathing. Thanks!

(This topic was brought to my attention when I stumbled upon a really old post by Mrs. Bluebell on WeddingBee.)

I Guess It Ain't A Secret Anymore:

If you recall, in this episode of the much-missed Sex and the City Ms. Bradshaw talks about "Secret Single Behavior"... ya know, those little routines or indulgences that you do when you are single, or when your man is not around? Charlotte admits that she would look at her pores in a magnified mirror for hours. (Way to rub it in that you have flawless skin, you evil wench!) Carrie's SSB: eating peanut butter crackers while reading fashion magazines... in her kitchen... standing up. I loved this so much because it is eerily similar to my SSB of dipping Ritz crackers straight into the peanut butter jar for a yummy snack while watching old Sex and the City re-runs in my slippers.

(Disclaimer: I swear I am the neatest person at the cracker-dipped-into-the-peanut-butter-jar ever. There is a long running joke in my family about the manner in which I like to butter my bread, and if you've ever seen my accomplish this task, you know that it is were my OCD shines at it's brightest and describing the act as "meticulous" only begins to scratch the surface. I promise the two are very similar.)

It's not that I am embarrassed about this behavior (obviously, since I am plastering it all over the world wide web) but it is just one of those things that I love to do when I'm alone. But I caught myself doing it in front of Chris the other day... I didn't realize what I was doing until my tongue was already sticking to the roof of my mouth from the peanut buttery goodness. Surprisingly it felt okay. I think that this is a true testament to how comfortable I am around him now... which feels nice.

In Case You're A History Nerd Like Me:

I'm starting my senior thesis this week and although I haven't developed a clear thesis yet, I have officially found my topic and started the researching leg-work. I'm going to write 20 pages about the juxtaposition of beauty pageants and dance halls in the Caribbean and how they reflect the larger gendered race relations in the region. I'm totally pumped about this topic... it should be fun!

(On a similar note, I'll be leaving tomorrow afternoon to spend the entire weekend up in the North Georgia mountains to assist my best gal pal V in competing in a beauty pageant... Oh the irony.)

This senior thesis class marks Chris and I's fifth history class together, including the one in which we met of course. He is beginning the process of applying to graduate programs at the moment (better late that never, right?) and I get all giddy thinking about sitting in on his lectures as a history professor one day! Knowing me, I'll most likely force him into telling his students that we met in an undergrad history class, and knowing him, he'll hate doing it but will reluctantly oblige just to see me smiling like a fool in the back row. I can't wait!

Only In The South:

This is getting out of control.

For some reason I feel the need to document the steadily growing number of engaged/married friends of mine. Maybe it's because my job is to conduct sociological research, maybe it's because I'm completely baffled by this phenomena, or maybe I'm just ridiculous.

35 out of my 456 facebook friends currently have said marital status (with "I'm married to my best friend, tee hee!" omitted), which makes for 7.7%.

I'll try to update this every couple of months as a social experiment, and we'll see how quickly that percentage rises.

Serendipity:

I never believed in destiny, and I'm not sure than I even do now. But if ever there was something that might convince me, it's the strange force that tried for over two years to bring Chris and I together.

-We lived in the same residence hall. (Okay, no biggie, approximately 95% of freshmen lived in one of the three giant dorms. Odds were about 31% or so.)
-I made friends early on with a guy who happened to live on their exact hall. (Again, nothing too terribly special considering a had at least one friend on about half of the 36 various halls.)
-Before junior year I had a summer fling with a guy that played guitar for one of the local bands that I liked... who just so happened to have been roommates with Chris freshman and sophomore year. Chris had moved out of their apartment a couple of weeks before I started coming over constantly to hang out. (Whoa, getting kinda freaky.)
-Every semester I would sign up for one extra class than I needed and after attending the first day of class, I would pick which one would probably be the most difficult and drop it from my schedule. During the first day of a particular history class, I saw that I was one of three girls in the entire class, which was filled with very attractive boys. Oh yes. One of said boys proclaimed that he was from Lawrenceville, Georgia, which happened to be where my new roommates were from as well. I saw this as a perfect opportunity to make the class friend that I always try to make in order to have a study buddy. However, after being completely intimidated by the professor's sheer genius, I chose that class to be the one that I would drop. That boy from Lawrenceville was Chris. And he would have known my roommates and other L-ville acquaintances had I spoken with him, so he wouldn't have thought my opening line was completely strange and we probably would have befriended each other. (Seriously.)
-The next semester my roommate decided at the last minute to join me in taking a particular history course despite the fact that he was a political science major. It was because he added the class that he recognized Chris from high school on the first day and invited him to come and sit with us. (He was so cute... I was hooked.)
-Not to mention that I met my roommates through my aforementioned summer fling/former roommate of Chris.

After that first class, I proclaimed to my roommates something along the lines of: "Ohmygod he is so hot! He has the nicest calves I've ever seen. I have to have him."

No joke.

One very long semester full of giggles during lectures, "studying" for tests, and too many Colt 45 40's every week, we kissed. And to be honest, it was awful. But I was so smitten I didn't care. And that says a lot in and of itself.