blog & collective

So I guess it’s Israel Day today — some sort of celebration of Israel’s independence, but I’m not Jewish or Israeli, so all I care about is the FUCKING CAMEL IN WHITE PLAZA.

IT'S A CAMEL

There was free falafel to go with the free camel rides. As always, anytime something’s free, people flock there.

But going back to the camel, I saw Helen and Jen there, who both rode the camel.

Helen riding the camel. Why they put that table there is beyond me.

And as I was leaving the festivities…

Seth Winger, this is what you're missing on campus.

For those of you who don’t know, my maternal grandmother has been many things in her life: plane crash survivor, Nationalist refugee, Taiwanese Air Force trained pilot, and of course a loving mother and grandmother. Now that she’s just getting into her 90s, she’s developing dementia and short term memory loss. And last Sunday, I found out she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

It’s a rather malignant tumor — but because of her age, the doctors would prefer not to risk surgery and are instead putting her on mild chemotherapy to ease the pain. Eventually it will run its course, and until then we’ll just enjoy the time we have with her.

I went up to the city to visit her at the care home last Friday with Jonathan and Wing. They’ve been going to see her more often since they live in the city, and they said she was in high spirits compared to earlier in the week. She gets anxious going out after the sun goes down, but in her words, “I guess it’s alright if I’m with you…” — definitely a step up from the day before: “No, I usually don’t go out with strangers…” So where to go on a Friday night in the city? Walgreens!

We found hats.

My grandma is adorable. She kept saying, “You guys must be so annoyed with me — I walk so slow!”

We're fierce!

You messin' wit Grandma Tam? Lemme tell you somethin': Grandma Tam, she too cool fo' school.

We convinced her that we needed to buy ice cream and eat it. So we did.

Scoopin' ice cream. Grandma Tam gotta stay cool.

So she seems good for now, and it’s good practice for me to speak that much Chinese for extended periods of time. I’ll hopefully be back up sometime in the next week.

“All this shit is not convenient.” (2/24/10)
Indeed. It rarely is.

“Why do I always choose to rely on the unreliable?” (2/23/10)
Two makes a coincidence, three makes a pattern, now four makes… what?

“And I can cube the fuck out of eggs.” (2/15/10)
There’s a superhero name in that somewhere.

Welp, haven’t done one of these in ages. See what you can do. For those of you who don’t know the drill: half point for artist, half point for song title; no Google but feel free to listen to songs you think might be it; you can still get points for songs other people have named, just don’t look at the comments (honor system). Now we shall see if Anastasia still knows my music library…

1. So what do I do with this? This sudden burst of sunlight, and me with my umbrella, cross-indexing every weatherman’s report.
2. When you start the day just to close the curtains you’re thinking ’bout what I’ve given up.
3. I’m moments from landing and I’m shaking like a heart attack.
4. On Vineland past the candle shrine that melts into the street design, she waits — for someone. Tonight she’ll give herself away, she’ll break apart all by herself. It’s so easy how we come undone.
5. Salt and tears in the minds in the mouths of a bad decision.
6. ‘Cause I’ve convinced myself that my best can only come in the moonlight.
7. And it’s clear this conversation ain’t doing a thing, ’cause these boys only listen to me when I sing.
8. There’s a light pausing, feel the volume of the sky. Mark your place in time with another question why.
9. When he gets that call he’s too far gone, can’t get it together to sing one song. And they won’t hear tonight the words of a lullaby.
10. Sun sets in an ocean of brown farmland haze. Power lines draped across roads you could drive on for days.
11. The sun will turn dark very soon. Your days are numbered when there’s blood on the moon.
12. Every single strike will be averted, sucking on the ice till you turn blue.
13. And she laughed and danced through the field of graves, there I knew it would be alright.
14. She drinks a champagne dream, strawberry surprise, pink linen on white paper, lavender and cream, fields of butterflies — reality escapes her.
15. Do you spend a fortune on those late night prepaid television scams, in search of the perfect blend of steak knife and non-stick frying pan?
16. She pours a daydream in a cup.
17. You’ve wandered so far from the person you are — let go, brother. Let go.
18. Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack, ’cause when I leave for the night I’m not coming back.
19. I’m talking to what’s left of you, watching what I say, counting all the freckles on your perfect face.
20. I get closer with the silent treatment — when it hurts to need it, when it’s hard to leave it, come to me.
21. You kiss me like an over-dramatic actor who’s starving for work with one last shot to make it happen.
22. You know when I’m down to just my socks what time it is…
23. This way is a waterslide away from me that takes you further every day.
24. You tell your boyfriend, if he says he’s got beef, that I’m a vegetarian and I ain’t fucking scared of him.
25. You’ve been running from the start, they told me that time has only done you wrong.

Good luck!

Would you trust me with your life? Well, in 7-10 days you may have to if I pass my crew chief qualification and roll up on scene with Stanford EMS. At that point, your best bet to avoid me is to refuse medical care.

But personally I’d be happy to treat you. Why do you think I got my EMT certification to begin with?

In other EMT-related news, I taught some soon-to-be EMTs how to assist with child birth. (Yes, it is more than yelling “MAZEL TOV!” and giving high fives all around. Although if you want to do that, no one’s stopping you.)