Saving Lives - Glamorously.

Last night I went to this charity fundraiser at Seven downtown. Seven is one of the swankiest spots in the Twin Cities. It’s a side of Minneapolis I barely knew existed. I love Minneapolis because of its unpretentiousness. At Seven however, pretentious is the soup du jour, or rather, soup toujours. People were dressed up. And that’s an understatement. Holy crap did I feel weird, and I was even dressed up. I mean my whole outfit did only cost $25 (shoes included!), but my shirt was originally $60 people! That has to count for something! Ha.

I felt particularly weird last night because we were there for this clean water fundraiser. (One lesson learned: Stay away from bottled water.) We watched a documentary and then went to a reception – that included a professional hula-hooper. Sweetness. Additionally, I sat in front of Vita.mn's "hottest female in the Twin Cities." Ha. I recognized her from a few issues back - mainly because we talked about that particular issue all day at J-School.

It’s just weird to get all dressed up and go to this fancy place to watch and learn about people suffering in the third world. I felt weird. However, I’m not sure it’s necessarily a bad thing. I mean, these kind of fundraisers raise awareness of issues among groups that would otherwise (in my prediction) remain oblivious. Plus, it generates money for causes in need. So even though I felt like a poser, I probably shouldn’t judge. All in all it was an okay time. There was free wine and free entertainment. I partook all for the sake of the children. Who knew saving lives could be so glamorous…. and, well, fun?

French Hostages, Fries & Mussels

Tired of low wages and insufficient benefits? Don't go on strike. Strikes are for wussies, at least in France. French laborers have no patience for peaceful picketing when times get tight - instead, they just take their executives hostage. Looks like American execs won't be begging for transfers across the pond anytime soon, if they know what's best.

According to the Associated Press, "A French 3M executive was being held hostage for the second day at a plant in Pithiviers, south of Paris, as workers protested layoffs. The situation was calm, however, with labor talks taking place there Wednesday.

I wouldn't think kidnapping would be the best career move to make, but hey, what do I know. Apparently, the workers are treating their hostage fairly well. Maybe they are buttering him up to grant promotions upon release.

AP continued, "Detained 3M manager Luc Rousselet told an AP reporter "Everything's fine" and workers planned to bring him mussels and French fries for dinner." Entire story here.

Oh good. I'm glad they are bringing him mussels and French fries for dinner. Thanks for including that AP. Apparently the French treat their hostages well. They eat better than I... and for free!

Looks like I have a new goal in life. Sweet. Maybe more Amerian execs will be asking for Euro transfers after all...

Inspiration (or lack thereof)

So I am totally losing my motivation and passion for school/making a difference at the moment. I know, it is sad. I am attempting to write this research proposal and I am just thinking, why does this project matter in any way, shape or form?? My research proposal is to look at the Congo Reform Association of the early 1900s and determine how it shaped collective consciousness and reform action at the time. I have to do a research project examining media in history. So I chose this topic.

I kind of feel like looking at it is meaningless though. Ugh. I need inspiration. I feel so.... uninspired lately. That is a GREAT word to describe my plight. Yes, in school, I feel terrifically UNINSPIRED. This is not good. Just now, I decided to go to changemakers.org in hopes that the stories on there would inspire me some. Boy was I disappointed. Take a look. 

Ha ha. Not a good sign!! Talk about uninspiring. My site for inspiration has been closed down! 

Oh well, looks like I'll have to look somewhere else. Right now I am going to try eating my Noodles and Company, because that's the only task on today's agenda that seems in any way exciting. Hope this post doesn't leave you, well, uninspired.... :)

Live from Atlanta: The Callahan's Dominate Trivia

Move over auto parts, the Callahan Family now has a new claim to fame: Trivia. That's right, tonight, the Callahan Family dominated bar trivia at the Blue Moon in Atlanta. We won second place - but it was a close fight to the finish. We lost to the first-place team in an overtime tie-breaker, with the question: "According to the Illinois Transportation Department, Lakeshore Drive is how many miles long?" Please! We said 52, the other team said 48. The answer? 15.2. We were both off, but alas, we were more off.

Now, when I say the Callahan Family won second place at trivia, what I really mean is my dad, the waiter and the table next to us won second place at trivia. Granted, I did contribute to like, one question, but only in part (The question was: what actor was nominated for an oscar for best actor for playing an actor previously nominated for best actor. My dad says "oh! The guy from Ironman played Charlie Chaplin!" I chimed in "Robert Downey Jr.!" Score). Yep, my dad is pretty much the trivia king. I think that I will be good at trivia once they stop aiming everuy trivia question at the 40-and-over crowd. My mom... she's not so good. Her contribution to our second place win was (illegally!) calling her friends to find answers. I guess they make a good match - the brain and the socialite, together forever.

As mentioned, another contributor to our silver medal was our waiter. The question asked what rapper was in Above the Rim and Poetic Justice. Of course, we had no idea, so my mom shouts to the waiter "Do you know the answer!?" He kind of stares for a second and is like, "Tupac." My mom asks, "Are you sure?" He gives a polite "are-you-kidding-me" look and nods, "yeah, I'm sure." Ha. He probably thought we were ridiculous - a white family from the north asking him who was in Poetic Justice. To make matters worse, my mom was like "Who's Tupac Shaaaacckeerr?" Uh.... embarassing!

Anyway, the waiter's insight, my mom's cheating, my dad's knowledge and my pop-culture awareness won us a $25 gift certificate to the Blue Moon pizzaria tonight. Too bad my dad is the only one with any use for that. Well, I suppose possibly my mom too - since his company flies her down here all the time (spoiled!). I am going to abruptly end this blog post now, because my sister is tempting me with what sounds like a hilarious youtube video. Ma Saalama!

Love & Relationships Part I

Yesterday, I stumbled out of bed into a living room full of curling irons, mimosas, make-up and excitement. It was wedding day on Girard Avenue, and the bride and bridal party were up bright and early organizing and beautifying in preparation for the afternoon/evening festivities.

Everything went amazingly. It was SO FUN. I wish I were still at the reception now. It was a night I never wanted to end.

Alas, like all good things, the night did end. Consequently, I am no longer at the reception, but in a living room devoid of curling irons and cinnamon roles, and Anna no longer lives upstairs but in Fargo. This blunt reality has inspired me to stop rambling about wedding bliss and instead express my relational frustrations. Hey, it's my blog and I can say what I want to.

So here I go.

I don't understand how people actually find each other. How does it happen? There are like, a million, hurdles that have to be overcome for two people to fall in love and get married. Here is a short list:

- First, you have to find someone they actually like/love

- Then, that person has to like you back

- Then, someone has to 'make a move' so to speak

- From here, and actual relationship can ensue, if you actually have

- the same values, and

- it's the right time, and

- the desire for the same things out of life

- are in the same place

- good communication skills

- YADA YADA

- Finally, you can get married. Whew.

See. There are a lot of difficult steps in this dating/marriage process. I gave up dating about.... uh, two years ago now because I can't handle any more relationships ending at step one, two or three. Ok I didn't really give up dating, I just haven't dated. Same difference. It is frustrating, and disappointing.

I guess my frustration and disappointment isn't all that bad though, for it's made me realize that love - real love that actually works - really is a miracle. I am not trying to be cheesy, but it's true. Love has to be a miracle, because there is just so much standing in its way. It doesn't really flow with the whole 'survival of the fittest' theory. Love should have died out with Lucy (oldest human-type found in Africa) if that were the case. But it didn't, because some people still get married, and have good marriages.

I'm definitely happy right now and far from desperate, but who knows, maybe someday, I'll actually be in one of those relationships that are good for you and work out. Ha. Well, anything is possible - I've been to too many weddings lately to not believe in miracles.

Pop Culture Pluses

Today is a great day in my dimension of pop culture for two reasons:

1) Kelly Clarkson's new album was released. Yeah!! Although I appreciated the effort behind her 2007 attempt to enter into the world of rock with My December, the actual results weren't that great. I missed the pop Kelly of 2005's Breakaway. Alas, in 2009, she is back. Score.

2) Vitamin Water 10. Wandering through the little market at school today, I noticed a new product next to the Vitamin Water. At first, I thought perhaps some generic brand was trying to oust the original from its glory. Boy was I wrong. Curious, I slid up to the cooler to discover what exactly, this new product was. "Vitamin Water 10. Ten Calories, no artificial sweeteners. Yes, really."

What!!! This is great news. I checked the labels, and indeed, it is all natural. I would explain the ingredients, but I am way too tired to function at the moment so it will have to wait. ciao.

The Economics of English

English is a really random language. I mean, as native speaker, I rarely think of its nonsensical nuances. Throughout these past few months however, friends who aren’t native speakers and my brutal battles with Arabic have brought English’s laundry list of haphazard discrepancies to my attention.

For example, think of the sound “ough,” which is embedded within a variety of words. The “ough” completes words such as “rough,” “cough,” “dough,” and “through.” Yes, the endings of each of these words look exactly the same. So why, on earth, is the “ough” in each word symbolize completely different pronunciations?? The words don’t sound the same!! It’s weird, and took me 24 years to notice!

I believe I’ve found the answer, thanks to a brilliant book called “Imagined Communities,” by Benedict Anderson. So apparently back in medieval Europe there wasn’t the standard German and French and English that we know today. Rather, Europe’s communities all spoke different dialects of each of these languages – dialects so different inter-village communication was severely limited. It was not until the invention of the printing press that these dialects began to standardize. Though the printing press played a huge role in this standardization, its actually captilalism we have to thank for establishing the English, German and French we know today.

You see when the printing press gained steam in Europe, the capitalists minds began to brew. They quickly realized that to maximize profits through the press, they had to maximize its reach. Consequently, printers began piecing together all the different dialects of English (or French, etc…) and compiling them into one standard language that everyone in the region could somewhat understand. And wahla! Standard English was born. Obviously, the printing press and capitalism combined went on to stimulate revolutions in Europe, leading to the rise of democracy in the West.

It’s interesting the impact capitalism had on change. Moveable type was actually first invented in China – as much as 500 years prior to its invention in Europe. Most people, however don’t realize this, as the invention had little impact on Chinese society. Why is this? Take a wild guess. Yep, the absence of capitalism, apparently, it proved rather vital to stimulating social change.

Anyway, I’m not trying to promote any agenda here – I just thought this information was quite interesting. Personally, I am just glad that Arabic is not made up of a bunch of random sounds. It’s hard enough to learn even with its phonetic logic. So to anyone learning English as a second language – props to you – the language doesn’t really make a lot of sense.

Everything's Amazing, and Nobody's Happy

This is a great video. Hilarious - and relatively true. Well, if you consider "today's generation" as all of modern day America, and not just Gen Y. No more dissing Gen Y. We rock. Many of us want to change things for the better. As opposed to wanting things to change for the better. There's a difference. Anyway, watch the video. Thanks CB for the pointer.