Simon Knows His Justin

A few days ago, while out at dinner, two Justin Timberlake songs came on. Both times, my face lit up, and for Simon's benefit I yelled, "Justin!" The second time, Simon looked over at me and said, "girl, you don't have to sell me on Justin. I already know and love him." And last night, when I told him I was going to play some of The Timberlakes, he goes, "play Senorita. I've always liked Justified better than FutureSex." Can you get a cooler boss than one who not only knows who Justin Timberlake is, but requests the song you were going to play anyway?

I got a piece of cheesecake at the Bean and Bean today to eat after our falafels and lattes, and let me just say, cheap cheesecake in New York is better than any cheesecake I've ever tasted before. Oh my heavens it was great. So were the falafels, actually. I turned in my application finally. Here's a moral dilemma I find myself in: if I turn in an application with the words "University of South Carolina" and "ongoing" on it, the first thing a future employer asks is, "how long are you planning on staying?" I'm offered an instant brush-off if I tell them that it's mid-August, but I just can't bring myself to lie. I've been told to say something close to, "well, that's to be determined . . . and if I'm offered the right job, it might be long term." Because hey, if I'm offered a high-paying job by MTV, I'll quit school in a heartbeat. Just don't tell them that this job isn't that job, and it shouldn't be too big of a deal. But I don't like lying to future employers, even if it does mean the difference between getting a job and not getting a job.

I've legitimately gotten bored enough that I've started constructing playlists. When I put time and effort into them, they're surprisingly good - but most of the time, I'm just throwing albums into a shuffled-up bin and enjoying what comes out. I enjoy looking at the transitions, the way songs mesh together, the way keys and shifts and voices do or don't sound good together. They're not seamless, but it's a lot of fun anyway.

I got two e-mails from my mom today, both of which I thought were great. The first was a picture of Chloe with her new toy, which she apparently carries with her everywhere. I always love seeing pictures of my baby, but this one was just gorgeous. She's a little bit blurred out in this beautiful artistic fashion - but more importantly, my mom captured the most perfect moment of her personality, with her ears up and her eyes pointed off to the left really expressively. And when I opened that photo, I realized how much I missed that dog. I miss all her funny little mannerisms, the way she's so moody and the way her little (giant) ears are like semaphores. My mom also sent me a few pictures of a disembodied squirrel tail, which means that I owe the little munchkin a new toy, or collar, or something like that. Have to make good on that.