Time Only Knows

Okay, this just in: Orlando Bloom will be playing the title role in Disney's Prince of Persia movie, based on the very same beloved video game. Why, God, why? He's way too pansy to play the badass prince and command sands of time! I mean, come on, does anyone out there think that this could plausibly be transformed into this? Others up for the role were Milo Ventimiglia and Zac Efron. Also, a man named David K. Zandi--who is actually of "Persian" heritage and apparently has royal lineage--lobbied to play the role since "people are fascinated that a real Persian with royal lineage could be hired to play this role." Right. Although given a choice between all four contestants, I'd go with Mr. Zandi. Because out of all of them, he's the only one who doesn't look like he just barely finished puberty.

Also! I'm totally for serious contemplating getting a neti pot for my sinuses. They've been driving me nuts all winter/"spring" and I've had enough. Has anyone out there ever tried one of these before? It sounds kind of gross, but Adrienne says singers use them when they can't phonate well and anything singers trust to clear the sinuses is worth a shot.

One reason I'm so glad March is over? I can donate blood again! Since I was in the Mayan jungle for five hours looking at the ruins during one of the stops on my family's cruise, the Red Cross said I wasn't allowed to donate for a year because of malaria concerns. Because I was clearly showing signs? Right. Stupid red tape and policy bullshit. Anyway, today I'm making my first donation not of whole blood (the usual), but of platelets, which replace themselves in two weeks (as opposed to eight) and so allow for more frequent donation. Basically, they suck your blood out via a tube, it runs through a machine, separates the platelets, and puts the blood back in your body. I hear the only difference in feeling from regular whole blood donation is that the blood is kind of cold when it goes back in. Yay for donating life-saving fluids!

Tonight is trivia night (hopefully) with Yuval and some of his friends. I need to cram as much useless information into my head as possible today so I can be an asset to the team. Learning machine GO!

I've decided to drop my pursuit of the graduate certificate in fundraising management. Not because I don't want it, but because I can't afford it. See, BU lets you take all the free undergrad classes you want as an employee, but grad classes are different. You are allowed a total of $5,250 in grad classes (which amounts to two) before they treat the class fee as additional income and take taxes out of your paycheck accordingly. So you still don't have to pay much out of pocket, but for one class they would pretend you were making an additional $315 a week for two months. Essentially, if I took this summer class as I had planned to do, my take-home pay for September and October would be reduced by $140 a week because of the extra taxes. And that's way too painful when I'm not bringing in that much to begin with every week. BUT! Grad school and that MBA in Public and Non-Profit Management is still in my future (if they accept my application when I send it, that is).

You'd think the break from Lost until April 24 would give me time to catch up on all the other TV shows I've fallen behind in (House, Ugly Betty, Chuck, Battlestar Galactica), but no, of course not. Because of course I have to go and check out 9934 books from the library in a fit of literary madness. Currently I'm finishing up The Painter From Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein, a based-on-real-life story of Pan Yuliang, one of the greatest 20th century Chinese artists. Her uncle sold her to a brothel when she was 14 to pay off his opium debts, she quickly rises through the "ranks" to become top girl amidst tragedy, meets a city inspector who's interested in her for her brain (weirdo), he pays her way out of the Hall, and her interest in art is allowed to finally blossom as she studies in Shanghai, Paris, Rome, and Nanjing. Keep in mind that this all takes place during the early 20th century when China was fighting off Japan's invasion (again), Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-Shek were facing off for control of the country, World War II is gearing up, and foot-binding was still commonplace. It's a fascinating read, if a little reminiscent of Memoirs of a Geisha at first.

I bought a gardenia plant for my office, and now it feels a lot more like spring.