Mondays aren't so terrible

Today has been fabulous because: 1-I am experiencing memory tastes in my mouth from the deliciousness that made up Superbowl Sunday. Am I obsessed with the Junior League of Chicago’s cinnamon chocolate cupcake recipe? YES!!!!!!! 2-I woke up in a good mood! 3-The sun is shining—which makes the frigid temperature bearable. 4-I am incredibly and undeservedly blessed with love, fantastic family and friends, and generally great things surrounding me. 5-[ElleFAIT] is back in business! 6-Seeing Precious tonight with KBrinks!

I miss...

collecting random broken appliances and other weird odds and ends when I was younger; riding horses; walking down the street to play with my friends; going to the mall not to buy anything, just to go and hang out with friends; the South Carolina state fair; warmer winters; naivete; working on daily art projects; the City.

On feeling embarrassment for others...

Have you: ever felt embarrassment for someone? Maybe a member of your office department farted out loud in your weekly meeting or a dear, but naive friend, entered full force into a heavy conversation regarding a topic of which she knows nothing. I certainly seem to find situations every single day where I feel completely and utterly devastated for people as they try and fail in this world.

Wisdom:My friend AJ, whom I have yet to feel embarrassment for, told me that this emotion is called farkum. That’s right, f-a-r-k-u-m. I am pretty sure that she made up the word in college or something along those lines and I highly applaud her efforts to communicate more effectively when she feels the shame that someone who is screwing up should be feeling!

My Farkum: Two summers ago, before I learned of this marvelous word, I had a moment, when another friend Teri surely felt farkum for me. Teri and I were new at work and trying to get out of our offices to be social at a particular event. I saw someone I recognized walk past us and began waving like a lunatic across the crowded outdoor venue, arm stretched out and reaching for the sky, calling her name. The person didn’t respond, didn’t even hear me, just kept walking. When I realized that I wasn’t going to get a response to my overly friendly hello, I brought my hand back toward my body, allowing it to hover near my face, fingers still outstretched. I turned to Teri with my thumb touching the the underside of my chin and said, “I didn’t know what else to do with my hand.”

The Code: After learning about the definitive word farkum and recalling that waving catastrophe, the Farkum Embarrassment Conduct Code was established and I have been using it ever since. The Code is this: if you see someone “showing their behind”, make Hand Signal #1. If you see someone showing their behind and taking a squat, then make Hand Signal #2.

Application: Last night a confused man in the Julian Bond Q&A crowd told our sensational speaker that even though he (man in the crowd) was a black man who had grown up before the Civil Rights Act, he himself had never experienced segregation. Mr. Bond proceeded to ask this man if he had to eat at separate restaurants, attend separate movie theaters, use different public facilities, etc.; to all of which the man replied ‘yes’. A little back and forth awkwardness commenced where this man did his best to maintain that he had not been segregated from the whites, “just punished, that’s all”. I looked over to see my friend, the Dean of Multicultural Affairs, staring daggers at this man and it was too much for me! Finally, Julian ended the ridiculousness by stating “Well that is segregation then. Thank you” and went on to the next question. Mr. Bond’s calm throughout the situation only made me more uncomfortable. I was practically pumping Hand Signal #2 as I put my head down to literally stifle the spastic shriek that had begun to escape my throat. FARKUM, indeedy.

Hot Date

With this boy…

I need to unwind, decompress, kick back with the ultimate blanket. It’s a one dog night indeed.

MFA application

it’s been received; the porfolio online is viewable; I’m done.

Now to wait until March to know something! April 1st at the latest…which just seems a cruel joke.