everyone seems to be doing the quiz thing, and i wanna do it too. however, i don't like the most popular one (the one that miranda, sarah, and michelle have done), so i'm doing this one instead:

1. WHAT TIME DID YOU GO TO BED LAST NIGHT?
:::thinks::: I don't think it's fair to have a question that requires me to remember what I did. 11:30.

2. IF YOU COULD CHANGE ONE THING ABOUT YOURSELF WHAT WOULD IT BE?
I would like to stop doubting and overthinking.

3. PAPER OR PLASTIC?
Paper is biodegradable, but plastic can be used for household garbage... what a dilemma.

4. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK/MAGAZINE YOU READ?
I'm currently working on the book Kate gave me for my birthday, A Monstrous Regiment of Women by Laurie King. It's ok, considering I don't really go for mysteries. After I finish that, it's on to Dresden #5 (!!!) and then the new NatGeo.
I think the last thing I read before the King book was last month's NatGeo.

5. NAME A TV SHOW YOU CAN'T STAND TO WATCH?
Um... Jerry Springer. If I'm bored, I'll watch it for 10 minutes, then I'll think "I can feel myself getting dumber" and change the channel.

6. WHAT DID YOU EAT FOR LUNCH TODAY?
Haven't had lunch yet, but it'll probably be a can of peaches and some juice. For the record, for breakfast I had a microwaved cheese sandwich - I desperately need groceries.

7. DO YOU LIKE TO BE SURPRISED?
Everyone likes good surprises. But I think I actually don't like them that much.

8. WHAT COLOR IS YOUR TOOTHBRUSH?
Pink and white, or something.

9. WHAT BRAND OF DEODORANT DO YOU WEAR?
Anything that's a gel. The deodorant companies all say that their sticks don't leave that yucky white stuff, but they always do.

10. YOUR FAVORITE STORE TO SHOP AT?
I can't say I have one.

11. FAVORITE SEASON?
Winter. But not Downtown.

12. FAVORITE DESSERT?
I'm not very picky. After a meal, I get a massive craving for processed sugar (That's probably not good. I probably have some sort of terrible disease) so I'll take anything sweet.

13. WHICH ONE WOULD YOU PREFER - MAID OR PERSONAL CHEF?
Chef. Then he'd make me do the vegetarian thing right.

14. FAVORITE CANDY?
Reese Cups and those chocolate Wurther's things.

15. REGULAR OR DECAF?
I'm not a coffee person, the stuff tastes like poison. Unless it's 40% coffee, 60% sugar.

16. FAVORITE RESTAURANT?
I like Brownstones, for the Tiramisu. I'm really starting to hate fast food, on account of eating it too much. Oh! I like Fresh and The Vegetarian Restaurant, and Bombay Palace, and places like that where I don't have to worry about being healthy.

17. WHAT CHARACTERISTIC DO YOU ADMIRE?
I have a long list of what one requires in order to be The Ideal Human Being^TM. Let's just say that unless I've explicitly said I admire someone, then I don't.

18. FAVORITE HOLIDAY?
Winter Solstice.

19. FRUIT OR FRUIT SMOOTHIE?
Smoothies are sweeter, and cold.

20. HOW MANY RINGS ARE YOU WEARING?
Just the one (and I've been wearing it for years, unobservant jerks like Daivs!!!)

21. HOW DO YOU LIKE YOUR MEAT PREPARED?
I don't.

22. WHAT WAS THE LAST CARD YOU SENT SOMEONE?
I guess Max's birthday card, which was kool.

23. WHAT RADIO STATION IS ON WHERE YOU ARE RIGHT NOW?
None. At home it's usually set to 97.3, because my dad rules the airwaves. When I'm alone at home, it's 102.1 all da way, baby!

(24 and 25 removed)

26. ONION RINGS OR FRENCH FRIES?
Fries, but I'm getting sick of them. I want mashed potatoes!

27. DO YOU LIKE TO PLAY CARDS OR BOARD GAMES?
Bored games, because I can never remember cards.

28. NAILS POLISHED OR UNPOLISHED?
Right now they're clear polished. I'll go for months without anything, then I'll put three colours on.

29. DO YOU LIKE NUTS ON YOUR SUNDAES?
No.

30. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SODA?
Jones, especially the red and the cream soda. And the ginger ale.

31. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SPORT TO WATCH ON TV?
I don't like to watch. I fell asleep while watching a blackbelt sparring match once, and that was in real life. I need to participate.

i'd like to leave a few comments:
- i have to stop going online first thing in the morning. my eyes don't love me any more.
- love the physics, hate the grade.
- i've been sick for a few days now.
- gonna go visit max and mina tonight

tee-hee! i found a fundamentalist christian website that provides "educational" comics.
if you are muslim, go here. if buddhist, go here. if hindu, go here.
i especially love how the practitioners of other religions are depicted as violent, ignorant, greedy, and in general as being very bad people, until they find jesus.

why do people like this (the ones who run the website) think that it's ok to scare people into christianity? all this "if you don't take jesus into your heart, you'll go to hell!" stuff. how can a religion be correct if it depends on making people feel afraid and guilty?
and what does that mean, anyway, "taking jesus into your heart?" it seems like it means "accepting jesus as your lord and savior." i personally accept jesus as a historical person who achieved enlightenment. but i guess that doesn't count, because at the end of the day i believe that only i can save myself.
:::shrug:::

remember when i went to see the vagina monologues? well, the funny thing about that night is that rather than making me think about my sexuality, it made me think about my ethnicity.
being serbian is very confusing for me. i'm not sure what it means, or how good or bad a thing it is. i have all these conflicting stereotypes in my head about serbs. i have all these ideas about honour and ingenuity and wholesome farm lifestyles, but i also have encountered so many serbs who are narrow-minded and bigots. i want my ethnicity to mean something, but i'm struggling to figure out what the something should be.

then there are days like today, when my heart suddenly pines for belgrade and bela crkva and kalanjevce. days when i want to see my mom and grandparents and walk those streets and hear those sounds and eat those foods.

ergo, i present:
elf's virtual (and very short) tour of belgrade

it is wise to begin with a map. belgrade is located where the danube and sava rivers meet. it's rather nice to go to the place where you can watch the two rivers. i like to stand there and think about the waters, and how after that point the sava ceases to exist.

another useful map is this one, because it shows kalemegdan, a big park, and also bulevar revolucije, the street where i lived - the boulevard of the revolution. stare at the map for a while, see if you can find it.

on the boulevard, 10 minutes form my house, is the parliament building. i used to walk by it every day on the way to shopping or kalemegdan or the cyber cafe. the building in the background is the head post office. it's fun to live in this neibourhood, because this is where angry protestors come to be heard.

this is where i live. well, ok, i don't like in it. that's the church of st. mark. but my place is 2 minutes from here. i have lots of fun memories of this park (tas majdan) and the church. (more about tas majdan here.)
this is the other big church in belgrade, and the biggest orthodox church in the world - the church of st. sava.

lastly, i leave you with this, which is a stack of photos from belgrade. i am especially fond of the pic of knez milos on his horse.

woot last night!
the double blue ball was a terrible disappointment (i'm never again attending any SMC event), but fortunately, last night more made up for it.

but, to start at the beginning, yesterday morning was cool. i met my girls and we got mandy's bellybutton done, as planned. i got to sit in the room with her when it was being done, and i thought it was super neat. she said it didn't really hurt at all. i'm looking forward to buying her all sorts of pretty, shiny things to put there.
we went to sean's to arrange sarah's surprise birthday party. it was terribly organized, and the "party" was kind skanky (meaning "not sufficiently dressed"), but then we all went out to mcdonald's, and i rather liked that. we all talked and ate our overly caloric food, and a dirty old man told me to "keep shakin' it."
then josh and i met the others who were going with us to the phoenix at a pub, and i had ice cream and stroked people's thighs.

so, having gotten all the yucky details out of the way, let me actually get to describing the phoenix:
the second i stepped inside, i started smiling like an idiot. why? because the first thing i heard as i entered was mindless self indulgence. to add to my joy, as we were checking out coats, "stripped" by rammstein came on, and i knew i was finally home.
i have never before been glad to be standing right next to a speaker. i have never before just wanted to dance and dance and only stop for fear of dehydration. i felt very ME. i felt relaxed and happy and i felt as if i was the music.
we had to leave at one. i both wanted to stay longer, but knew i was already getting tired - after all, i'm usually in bed by 11. i really hope i'm gonna go there many, many more times. and i hope i can get used to staying up late once a week. perhaps bawls is the answer?