redefining altruism
you know what they say about good intentions: they're chocolatey.
i volunteered last weekend for the philadelphia distance run, a popular annual half-marathon here in the city. one of our programs had 75 neighborhood youths participating and i thought it'd be real magical to go hand out little cups of gatorade at the finish line.
but, like any wishful volunteer, i was struggling to keep my same sense of spiritual pursuit alive when i was stuck behind the merchandise booth selling official memorabilia tshirts for $25 a pop in the gigantic convention center expo.
the good news was that all of the 18,000 participants were given goodie bags of shwag, and everyone got a free box of chocolate soy milk which i'm pretty crazy about except when it's too expensive and when hippies feed it to their newborns.
so after almost 7 hours of backbreaking mel brooks-style salemanship (moichandising! moichandising!), i told the expo coordinators that i'd carry home as much as they were willing to give me and ended up with two free cases of chocolate soy milk that i've effectively bragged about to my entire neighborhood and office.
victory tastes like free.
i volunteered last weekend for the philadelphia distance run, a popular annual half-marathon here in the city. one of our programs had 75 neighborhood youths participating and i thought it'd be real magical to go hand out little cups of gatorade at the finish line.
but, like any wishful volunteer, i was struggling to keep my same sense of spiritual pursuit alive when i was stuck behind the merchandise booth selling official memorabilia tshirts for $25 a pop in the gigantic convention center expo.
the good news was that all of the 18,000 participants were given goodie bags of shwag, and everyone got a free box of chocolate soy milk which i'm pretty crazy about except when it's too expensive and when hippies feed it to their newborns.
so after almost 7 hours of backbreaking mel brooks-style salemanship (moichandising! moichandising!), i told the expo coordinators that i'd carry home as much as they were willing to give me and ended up with two free cases of chocolate soy milk that i've effectively bragged about to my entire neighborhood and office.
victory tastes like free.
posted by gijyun |
9.19.2007
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7:59 AM
a few questions for mark wild, executive producer of animal planet's "meerkat manor."
1. i sat like a meerkat in a meeting last week to display submission and subordinace and was "spoken to." what gives?
2. have you ever eaten a scorpion? it is not recommended.
3. meerkats live in africa. if we imported them here and integrated them into native (or transplanted) ecosystems here in the united states, do we have to refer to them as african american meerkats?
4. is this really necessary?
5. if there's someone in my office who thinks she runs the show, is it a good idea to practice chin swiping and anal marking to display my dominance and mark my territory?
6. lola's sister knocked her out of the authoritative positon, slept with her boyfriend, and then with her boyfriend's brother. have you considered producing a meerkat montel williams in the future?
posted by gijyun |
9.18.2007
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7:22 AM
i suck at a lot of things
but blogging is surely close to the top of that long, bullet-pointed list (complete with table of contents and appendices).
i'm never far ahead enough to entertain you with breaking news links, and baby jesus knows i'm too much of a simpleton to give you any sort of developed opinion that means anything lately, so instead of bore you (which, hey! i've pretty much already done today - i mean, i'm already well into my second paragraph and i'm still yapping about myself, right? it's just so easy to do. it's like a trap - you start talking about one thing and you just get all sidetracked and un-lucid about your original point...hey, is un-lucid a word? what is the act of not being lucid? being cotarded? i have no idea - i keep forgetting to bring my big thesaurus to work with me, because it's packed deep in the storage closet, and it's a pain to lug that thing on the subway. but remind me sometime to tell you about how much i like the show psych on usa. totally one of those shows that was probably meant as programming filler but some clever doll in the writing department is pumping that show so full of literary references it's like going to high school english lit x all over again in 60 minutes [minus commercial time if you thought ahead and dvr'd it so you could fast-forward through all of the commercials]. good show. give it a whirl. kay, i'm gonna get out of this parenthetical now). whew! i almost got lost in there. i need a map out of my own thought process sometimes.
also, steve shoppman is well underway in his around-the-world-by-truck adventures, and i thought you'd all enjoy this. tell him hi. he likes it.
how was your weekend?
i'm never far ahead enough to entertain you with breaking news links, and baby jesus knows i'm too much of a simpleton to give you any sort of developed opinion that means anything lately, so instead of bore you (which, hey! i've pretty much already done today - i mean, i'm already well into my second paragraph and i'm still yapping about myself, right? it's just so easy to do. it's like a trap - you start talking about one thing and you just get all sidetracked and un-lucid about your original point...hey, is un-lucid a word? what is the act of not being lucid? being cotarded? i have no idea - i keep forgetting to bring my big thesaurus to work with me, because it's packed deep in the storage closet, and it's a pain to lug that thing on the subway. but remind me sometime to tell you about how much i like the show psych on usa. totally one of those shows that was probably meant as programming filler but some clever doll in the writing department is pumping that show so full of literary references it's like going to high school english lit x all over again in 60 minutes [minus commercial time if you thought ahead and dvr'd it so you could fast-forward through all of the commercials]. good show. give it a whirl. kay, i'm gonna get out of this parenthetical now). whew! i almost got lost in there. i need a map out of my own thought process sometimes.
also, steve shoppman is well underway in his around-the-world-by-truck adventures, and i thought you'd all enjoy this. tell him hi. he likes it.
how was your weekend?
posted by gijyun |
9.17.2007
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7:41 AM
here and there
here:
full house: live!
...as good as it sounds. a few photos here.
there:
variety.com list of 50 unmissable film festivals skips denver's international film festival but lists telluride: "only major festival to keep its lineup and guests secret until opening night."
full house: live!
...as good as it sounds. a few photos here.
there:
variety.com list of 50 unmissable film festivals skips denver's international film festival but lists telluride: "only major festival to keep its lineup and guests secret until opening night."
posted by gijyun |
9.11.2007
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2:36 PM
you know you're an ass when...
i have to admit that between myspace and facebook, i still kind of like myspace better because it gives you so many more opportunities to be obnoxious and catty.
for instance, i ashamedly admit that a lot of times that i look at (mostly girls') profiles and i see someone who ONLY has photos of ONLY themselves, and think "wow, this girl(guy/band/full grown woman) is seriously impressed with themselves."
and i just looked at my own myspace pictures and realized what an ass i am. but it was kinda awesome when i was black.
happy friday, ass.
for instance, i ashamedly admit that a lot of times that i look at (mostly girls') profiles and i see someone who ONLY has photos of ONLY themselves, and think "wow, this girl(guy/band/full grown woman) is seriously impressed with themselves."
and i just looked at my own myspace pictures and realized what an ass i am. but it was kinda awesome when i was black.
happy friday, ass.
posted by gijyun |
9.07.2007
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1:04 PM
we know you had a good time last night, frank. the whole town knows you had a good time.
so long, summer.
you were a good one.
p.s. check out how long my legs look.
you were a good one.
p.s. check out how long my legs look.
posted by gijyun |
9.04.2007
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11:54 AM
