No Money For You

Today, I was passed out in a comatose haze after an Olive Garden meal celebrating my parents' 25th anniversary. I was stirred out of my rest-state by my father, who informed me I had a phone call. NO ONE calls me on my house phone, so I should have known something was up.

Now, I KNOW the University of Illinois is broke. But I wasn't expecting a call from the U of I College of Media asking for hundreds of dollars worth of donations. As someone who now works in the non-profit sector and has been taught about soliciting gifts, I have learned that you're supposed to start high and then go low. But damn. I think the school should know not to ask (sort-of) recent college graduates for a crazy sum of $400. Needless to say, they're not getting any money from me.

I'm not a grouch. I'm willing to give to my alma mater. I credit much of my personal development to the U of I and a lot of my skill development to the College of Communications (now Media). But I'm sorry ... the school didn't help me find a job. So, I don't have the money for that kind of thing. After I publish my first book, I'll donate some big bucks to the U.

And Another Update

Syracuse is offering me a fellowship too!

SNL Actually Makes Me Laugh

After laughing my way through an entire SNL sketch (the one above), I was shocked into silence. Long have I stated that SNL fails to live up to its reputation as a comedic institution. And this season has been especially terrible with guests like Blake Lively and Megan Fox, who strike me as mannequins (pretty on the surface with no emotional depth).

But a little Olympic break must have been all the writers needed to write a seriously funny sketch featuring sharp observations.

Everything they point out about the "disastrous" "We Are the World 2" video is spot on. Watch it!

Grad School Part Duex

I got into to one of my schools! It's still early on, I hadn't expected to hear from anyone this month. Ahhh, I feel smart! Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd get into the Newhouse School. I feel WANTED, which is an awesome feeling after well, struggling to find a decent job these last two years.

Not sure if I'm going to go to Syracuse until I get the official letter and hear from the other schools but, this is nice.

As usual, as much as I want change, I fear it too. Hopefully, in the months to come, I get over since I'll be out of employment in September anyway.

Reader Buzz

I'm on book two of my book club reads. I was supposed to read the first half of Little Bee, a novel by Chris Cleave for this week's meeting. Well, this is one of the most engrossing books I've ever read because I am well on my way to finishing it before tomorrow.

For any fans of literature, I recommend checking this book out. I don't want to give away too much of the plot, but I will say this: I have cried three times in the past two days reading this book.

The novel shifts between the perspectives of two women. One represents the Western World and one is an African refugee. One of the subtle themes in the book is the clash between cultures and the juxtaposition between West and the Rest, but it's not a big point of contention. It's handled rather beautifully.

This book will shock you describing the worst possible of human atrocities and at the same time, reaffirm the resilience of the human spirit.

The writing style and rhythm of dialogue are brilliant. As a writer, I am horribly jealous of Cleave. I only hope that when I finally publish a work, it will be half as good.

New Year, New Look

It's been about two years since I first ventured into blogging.

Though I update less frequently than I did when I got into this realm, I have to say I still enjoy it. And I have to thank anybody who still reads this thing for sticking with me.

I felt like it was time for a face lift. As you may have noticed, I changed this blog's name. I think it's more reflective of my personality, or at least my online personality. While I maintain that I am probably still the only Divya Amladi alive at this time in this world (not out of conceit, it's just that pretty much anyone named Amladi is somehow even distantly related to me), the title didn't roll off the tongue right.

The name is a kind of play on words and if you know me, then you know I do love my words. I added a photo too because I love the header for Bitch, please and I felt I was neglecting this blog by not adding a visual element. You might observe more changes in the weeks to come. I think I've outgrown this template too, but I'm not sure how I want to change it.

Insta-aging

I'm a few months shy of my 24th birthday. Just saying that makes me want to gag. I'm well on my way to being 25. A quarter century. I'm gonna be grown.

At the same time, 24 is really not that old. I say this because today another co-worker asked me how many kids I have. Not do I have kids, but how many. I am waaay too immature and selfish to have kids. I would be a terrible mother right now.

And as we know, it would not be possible for me to be a mother anyway. HA!

I just want to know when I went from looking like a 12-year-old girl to a mom. Not that a 12-year-old girl couldn't be a mom (that totally happened at my middle school) but still ... Suddenly, I went from giving off the teeny-bopper vibe to being a MILF. Ok, maybe I'm just flattering myself with that one.

Did this happen the day I turned 23? When my face filled out? When I started worked at YouthBuild, where 90% of our students under age 24 have kids of their own, so maybe it's just a natural assumption? I don't know. It's just tripping me out that this is at least the 4th instance in the last few months.