{c'est bon!}

That's one way of looking at it

Camille: So my new slogan is "Be patient."

Molly: Ha, I love your mottos-- like, "Good things happen to good people."

Camille: That's my theme! Good things do happen to good people!

Molly: Yeah... That's when I just say, "Karma's a bitch."

Camille: That is exactly why we are friends.

Chomping at the bit of life

By now I'm pretty sure everyone has seen photos or videos of Knut, the adorable baby polar bear in the Berlin Zoo.  Only Dan of [redacted], however, could have come up with this, the best thing I've read all month:

Some people, like those German “animal specialists” who said it wasn’t fair for Knut to be raised by humans, may say that I don’t have enough in common with a polar bear to raise one. But I know what it’s like to be sick. I’m sick right now, in fact. I may have had my right upper canine pulled a long time ago to make room for braces to pull my teeth together, but just like Knut I’m teething too, in a way. I am chomping at the bit of life. Gnawing for answers. And if that’s not good enough, I could at least do a better job than Leonardo DiCaprio. How could you spend over three minutes with this thing and not succumb to the urge to stuff him in your mouth? If it were me, you would have heard, “Hey, is that Elvis?!” and then the camera would pan away and when it came back on me there would be a tuft of white hair sticking out of my mouth like when a cartoon cat eats a bird.

Cockadoodledoo

My sister Danielle will be leaving the midwest soon to pursue a new adventure going to grad school in the south.  She is brilliant and talented beyond belief, and probably the coolest person on the planet.  As you can imagine, I couldn't be prouder of her (although honestly the only credit I can take for her success is being a good case study because I have poor form exercising. Also, I chased her around the house in my youth so she is quick and strong.  And has good reflexes).

She had several choices, but in the end decided on the University of South Carolina.  I think this is great because SC = beach vacation, they have good teams, and her residence there will provide a reason for her accent, which can be half attributed to Louisiana, half to Michigan.

We were recently discussing her plans to move out there this summer, when Danielle said, "yeah, I'm going to be a Gamecock."  Thinking I had: a) misunderstood her, b) had missed out on her latest slang (after her integration of the verb "to booze" I figured anything was possible), c) misunderstood her, I asked, "Wait, what are you going to be?"

As it turns out, people, the mascot of South Carolina is a Gamecock.  And by Gamecock, they mean what I thought to be a fighting male chicken.  Yes, seriously. 

You would think that the state university would have picked, oh, a muskrat, copperhead, or its state animal, the whitetail deer.  Even a manatee would have made more sense.  My sister is going to be an illegally fighting, scrappy rooster.  It got me thinking-- would the basketball players wear white tank tops and rolled up jeans like they did in the 20s at cockfights?  What would the cheer be-- "cock-a-doodle-do" or more of a Peter Pan "RRRRRrrrRRRR  RRRRRR!"?  Before entering the field, would football players scratch at the ground like chickens do?  So many questions left unanswered.

I thought about this rooster thing all week, and the fact that students there wear baseball caps with "COCK" across the front, and arrived at home a few days ago to tell my roommate, "Did you know that Danielle is going to be a Gamecock?"  Allison, who is very smart and has a lot of common sense, replied "Yeah, they're like pheasants."  I was quite certain that no, a gamecock is a rooster -- as in game = cockfight and cock = man-chicken, but Allison persisted: "No, they're like cornish hens. People hunt them-- like game hunting. They're all over the place there." 

Unfortunately that made sense.   So I did what any sensible person would do; call my father after he's gone to sleep to ask him, "Is a gamecock a male chicken or is it a pheasant?!"  Dad: "Yeah, it's poultry... You couldn't Google this?"

End result: everyone's right but me.   Roosters and gamebirds aside, I'm proud of Danielle and excited for her next adventure. She has earned it, and she is sure to be the star of the program. And now we can all look forward to South Carolina accessories that may or may not offend people on the street.  Go Gamecocks!

You Are Beautiful

In a week with lots of ups and downs (happily, mostly ups), something beautiful like this comes along at the end to wrap it all together.  I'm hoping to create something to send in.

Easter: The Musical

I couldn't quite make it home to Michigan for Easter, but instead decided to celebrate the holiday with my roommates and friends in town.  I had planned to go to church, make brunch with friends, blow up Peeps in the microwave as is tradition, and attend David Sedaris' talk at the Chicago theater. All of these things actually happened, except the Peeps, which will have to be postponed until they are on sale at Target. Especially the really big ones, which are sure to be the most exciting. (Don't worry Mom, I will keep the fire extinguisher you gave me close by; any carnage to the microwave will be SO worth it, I promise).

Two friends brought me to an 11am service at St. Clement's, a nearby Catholic church.  This was my first time at a Catholic service on a holiday and although I have always understood that while the beliefs are more or less the same (I mean, we're talking about God here) to the protestant groups I am accustomed to, the Catholics really spice things up with some major incense action (like, to the point that it felt like a Phish concert), communion that is placed into your mouth for you, the use of new words (I had to Google "paschal" with my cell phone), and, to my delight/amusement, the singing of EVERYTHING.   It seriously was a truly lovely service in an amazing church. 

I do have to say, though, that the highlight of the whole thing was the priest's sing-speaking of John 20, in which two disciples go to Jesus' tomb: 

...Soooo they were both ru-uning, but one was running faaaaaster than the o-ther, and he arriiiived at the tomb firrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrst...

Like, why not sing the whole thing?  The Latin that followed was pretty confusing, and I bungled every single line in each and every song, including the Lord's Prayer, but I have to say-- I enjoy my Bible versus put to music.  And if Sufjan wasn't available, well then, this was just as great. (Almost.)

Sufjan, you can reach me at camillec@gmail.com; I am available for a date on Friday night... Or anytime, really

Although I could totally go into a rant about how Sufjan Stevens and I are soul mates and perfect for one another (we are!), I'll spare everyone what would undoubtedly turn into somewhat disturbing (though accurate!) banter.   Instead, I will tell you that Sufjan has a cover of "Free Man in Paris" on the new Joni Mitchell tribute CD, which arrives on April 24.  You can hear the fantastic his- and hers-versions here.

While you're at it, check out the video for Sufjan's new(er) song, "Majesty Snowbird" (and the theme for his latest tour).  Seriously, it's amazing.  The man can do no wrong! (Call me!)