A darling of the trenches.

Since I've been remiss in my duties as a blogger, I'm going to offer you:


things I have consumed - by justasweetyoungthing on Polyvore.com

1. Monster Trucks
I went to see large trucks roll over cars and jump hills at the so-called "Monster Jam" at the Georgia Dome. You guys, Monster Truck is poetry. It is mesmerizing and loud and perfect. I may have been a little tipsy, but everything about watching Maximum Destruction flip over and careen into Backdraft was gorgeous. I think I was dazzled by scale, I'm not ashamed to admit. Everything was just so damned big.

2. Twin Peaks
Of course, you may roll your eyes at this one. My love of a good pie, a magically real setting and plot, a square-jawed hero, and a good whodunnit are all wrapped up in a tidy, Lynchian package here. Critically, I'll tell you that the story sags after the first few episodes of the second season. Between that climax and the series finale, Twin Peaks becomes difficult to watch, a series of torturous, directionless scenes featuring beloved characters that used to have animus.

3. Låt den rätte komma in
Sometimes called the Swedish vampire movie, it's more than it sounds. It was a completely magical movie experiences simply by virtue of being itself, which is to say a truly unique perspective on adolescence, vampires and bullying. It's pale and beautiful too, all shades of snow and ice. In truth, it's my favorite movie made in the last year. If you don't trust me to be objective about vampires, you're right, but this movie is still incredible, and you should at least netflix it if you have the chance.

4. Top Flr and La Tavola
I've been working on eating my way through Atlanta, and both these restaurants are worthy. Top Flr has the kind of eclectic, sleek elegance you sometimes crave in a date restaurant, but La Tavola's long second floor porch is magnificent. In terms of food, they represent opposite ends of the modern spectrum, but I think I liked the small plates of minimalist New American fare at Top Flr more than the creative Italian Tavola offered.

5. Fenders
These are the best investment of any of these reviews, and they protect me from puddles and gravel and everything else on the ground, they also look cute and appropriate on my girly, girly bike. I got a basket too, which also succeeds in being practical and charming to look at. That is, of course, my general life goal.

6. Tights
I wear them in shades of black, gray, and brown most everyday. I am so happy they are in style, because my shins are always, always bruised, and these keep my legs looking ladylike. They also hide my pallor, always a plus. I am particularly fond of all the patterns of sweater tights available from Target. A good pair, like these, is warm and comfortable for my bike ride to work and back each day.

7. Necklaces
Let's be honest. I tend to think of jewelry as something I should expect to lose, but I've gotten two necklaces recently that I hope I can hold on to. The first was a thrift store find, and cost me all of $15 dollars, well, actually my mom picked up the tab on that one. The second comes from Hotcakes design in San Francisco, and is a handcarved resin number that cost a little more, but I think I will wear often enough to make up for it. Is it weird that these things make me feel more adult, when really they are basically an extension of my dress-up instincts?

*As in spent money on. Much as I love the idea of eating monster trucks, it is not something I am physically capable of doing.

Citizen Lady

Hi, everyone. No pictures to offer just yet, but it's a rainy sort of week in Atlanta, and most everything looks gray anyway. But it ain't half bad. I drink hot beverages, read novels, on occasion my boyfriend takes me out for Mexican food, and slate.com is my work homepage. I live the American dream.

There's no way for me to explain how excited I am about Obama's cabinet. I get the shivers about it on a regular basis. I mean, if Clinton in State weren't already the right side of too good, Steve Chu in Energy is enough to give this young citizen a qualified people in positions of power fit of the vapors. Oh, you liberal intelligentsia, you are sexing up my government, and I like it.

There was an article in the Times or maybe the Washington Post a while back that talked about the conservative backlash to liberal academic elites taking over America. It led me to go a little further in my periodic trollings of conservative media, all the way to The Weekly Standard where Joseph Epstein's usual cries about snobbery have somewhat escalated of late, and he declared that "some of the worst people in the United States have gone to the Harvard or Yale Law Schools ." He went on to call graduates of such institutions, "clever, maybe brilliant, but rarely deep."

Ok, I didn't go to Harvard or Yale or anything close. I wound up at a small women's college in the South, and I am happy with how it turned out. I grew up in the Midwest, and I think of myself as fairly wholesome looking. I could put on a gingham dress and work it. So with these qualifications, as a child of middle America*, and on behalf of myself and many of my friends, I'd like to ask the whole conservative movement to back off. Please stop "defending" your condescending perception of my way of life and my non-Ivy League education, because the fact that someone went to Harvard is not an attack on that. I would prefer to have qualified, brilliant, and even clever leaders, myself. Educated ones sound like a fun change.

That rant concluded, I want to tell you where I'm sending my money this Christmas. A local community organizer who runs Atlanta's bike co-op and her companion were attacked and robbed in her home a week or so ago, and I'm going to help as I can. If you have funds or time or both to spare, it's the worthiest kind of cause. If you're Atlanta, you can also come out to the benefit tonight which will go towards replacing stolen medical equipment and other essentials. If you were looking for a place to put your seasonal cash, I'd recommend:

Repla​ce Chris​'​ Stuff​ Fund
Chris​ Devoe​
c/o Racha​el Spiew​ak
1089 Blue Ridge​ Ave Apt 1
Atl, GA 30306​

* Albeit a lost child.