all that's changed

Nikki Giovanni, poet and VA Tech prof, quoted below in the NYTimes. To her credit, she did boot the shooter from one of her classes for making others uncomfortable. But that doesn't rescue her from being pretentious and desperate for recognition. To wit:

"Still, she said, her job was easier than others. She would not need to write much new material, because her department asked her to deliver her poem, “We are Virginia Tech,” again."

"She presented that poem during a convocation in the days after the shooting, and it became an emotional turning point during that ceremony, bringing a somber crowd to its feet in clapping and chanting."


Here's the clinker:


"Saturday’s commencement address will be the last time she reads the poem publicly, she said, because she does not want it to become the defining voice of the tragedy."

What an awesomely transparent bid to ensure that her cleverly-titled poem *is* the defining voice of the tragedy! It's just like Oasis refusing to ever play "Wonderwall" or Pearl Jam "Black" for really deep emotional reasons. Bravo, Nik!

Posted by em at 2:22 PM | Permalink | Comments

This weekend marked my first return to the SF Zoo since ending my volunteer stint, and it was awesome. The highlight: this very little baby siamang.

We watched for a good 20 minutes while a very cute indie rock bespectacled male zookeeper stood passively by with a teeny baby bottle while this adorable creature crawled all over him with her 4 prehensile feets. That keeper should put his phone number up on the glass; I (and the rest of the women) was melting.

Posted by em at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments

The Libertines reunited in London for 1 (1? Dare we hope?) show last night.

And I'm super pissed about Kate Moss stealing my life. Any time you're done, Katie.

Posted by em at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments

My genius engaged friends have managed to plan all this summer's weddings (except for Mauri & Justin, natch) to all hit in the space of one week. That's right. 3 weddings in 7 days. From here to San Diego.

How in the hell am I supposed to face *that* down, except as drunk, disorderly, and accompanied by a wildly inappropriate date?

You asked for it.

Posted by em at 4:29 PM | Permalink | Comments

I've been struggling with how to blog about my life, because much of it involves work. Work is juicy material. Work is being an editor at an online dating site. But not just dating. We own like 50 sites for every *kind* of dating there is, if you know what I mean and I think you do.

But I've finally decided to try, because it's too rich not to, and besides, I'm upsetting people at dinner parties with my inappropriate comments. Best to restrict myself to the web.

The funniest things are the consistent gaffes people make in their dating profiles. Favorites just from this last week:

* guy who mentions recent breakup -- in the headline, no less!

* guy who posts only photo of himself from the Eastern Pennsylvania kite festival

* girl who chooses "homemaker1219" as her handle


It's super fun to work with a bunch of writers on sex content. The typical office banter is totally off the hook, more like cocktail party banter. I plan to meet a coworker from another building for coffee, he says "wear something hot." I attend a meeting on our new VIP membership plan, and I learn about someone's Q-Tip fetish. I get a article to edit, lo and behold, it's my coworker writing about his experience with The Fleshlight sex toy. The fun never stops!

Posted by em at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

There's very little that a night of sausage tacos with your best friends can't fix.

Not that anything was wrong to start with. Except. I did not go to Muse tonight, although I really, really wanted to. I didn't want to run into an ex. And although in past years I would've thought Fuck It, it's a public place, I can go to any concert I like and I REALLY want to see this show, I'm goin, dammit, I don't feel that way now. I feel like I could just steer clear of it and be a little regretful and eat some tacos and drink some wine and that would better and more memorable and worthy, in some way, than a show. Which is maturity, yes but also it's practicality/laziness. Who wants the hassle? Plus, it's fair. He gets this. I get other things. For example.

Not everybody gets to see their best friends on a Monday night for no good reason whatsoever. But I do. Because I have a beautiful romantic life.

Posted by em at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments

I'm well past 2 months in updating. I don't know why I feel compelled to update tonight, being in a somewhat sad, sober and overworked mood. But here are the salient points.

* I got accepted to P.A. school in Oakland, I start this fall.

* I'm writing sex & dating content in the meantime. Again.

* I'm lonely and assuaging it in the usual self-destructive ways.

So -- academic achievement, a comically absurd job, sex, and booze. You see my point. Why update? The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Posted by em at 7:47 PM | Permalink | Comments

You will NEVER EVER guess the name of the last Archbishop of Manila.

Go ahead, Google it. I'll wait.

Too lazy? Well, I'll tell you then.

It's Jaime Sin. That's right -- he was known as

Wait for it...


Cardinal Sin.

Posted by em at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments