emlocke

emlocke logo with teal letter 'k'

  • Live Blonde

    My brother brought home yellow wristbands in honor of the Lance Armstrong foundation. Just a dollar and you can wear ‘Livestrong’ on your wrist and support education, advocacy, public health and research. Oh, I just got it. Livestrong, Armstrong, it all makes sense now.

    Where can I get a Liveblonde bracelet?

    Quote of the day: “These lines of lightning mean we’re never alone, never alone, no, no, Come on, come on, move a little closer. Come on, come on, I want to hear you whisper.” – Counting Crows

  • wild goose chase reunion

    this morning i woke up, sort of flopped out of bed and, as is my custom, right-clicked on down the buddy list to find out what everyone was up to at 10 am. lauren wasn’t online, toni said ‘happy father’s day, this mount holyoke girl whose real identity escapes me quoted bob dylan. and my favorite camper alex was playing soccer in ridgefield. ridgefield? hello, i live there!

    i jumped in the car and drove around all the athletic fields i could find, and then finally went up to rhs to check out tiger hollow, when i happened to see ridgefield’s blue and yellow uniforms and rolled down the window to ask a soccer mom who was playing. she said, “i don’t know who’s playing right now,” and i wondered why she was watching the game until she followed up with, “but the norwalk girls are playing ridgefield in about twenty minutes.” of course, all the norwalk girls were hanging around in the parking lot and standing in the middle, the tallest one (but no braids!), was my alex!

    i parked the car (feeling way too ‘soccer mom’ in my loaner mini-van) and walked over to their little huddle and when she saw me alex started making high pitched breathy noises and ran over to give me a hug. we got to talk for a little while before the game started and then i watched her play – sorry girl, but i have to take just a little pride in the fact that ridgefield beat you three to one! but i still love you!

    as promised, alex, here is your shout out! mwah!

    quote of the day: “real guys go for real down to mars girls.” – outkast

  • very funny poker

    through a savvy and invincible combination of aggression (how do you call? bluffing?) veiled by characteristic girlish charm, lauren graham dominated bravo’s celebrity poker showdown table tonight, beating my former love matthew perry and chris masterson, who looks like a gorgeous cross between justin timberlake and doogie howser. she inspired me to a) wear shiny green clothing and b) learn to play poker.

    luckily, i’m spending three full days next week with an equally savvy and charming (but far less girlish) ace. who is seven years old. let’s hope i don’t blow all the cash i’ll make working those extra hours by falling for brian’s bluffs! it’s my last week with the boys and i will miss them when it’s over! but i will have a new “very funny” tbs campaign to remind me of brian. that’s what he always says when he knows i’m bluffing.

    quote of the day: “even the best fall down sometimes, even the stars refuse to shine. out of the back you fall in time, i somehow find, you and i collide” – howie day

  • i was the nineties

    if you’ve watched vh1 at all recently (even just flipped through during a commercial break) you know that a new decade has been condensed, documented and exalted (perhaps, in some cases, humiliated as well) for the entertainment archives. like, for sure, i love the 90’s premieres july 12th.

    since i was born in 1984, i pay homage to saved by the bell and my little ponies, but i consider myself a child of the 90’s pop culture. my awareness of current music didn’t spark until the fourth grade when i voted for pearl jam in the class poll b/c i thought their name sounded the bandiest or something. 1994 was also the year we saw the sign and when, before everything was ‘sweet,’ it was ‘dude.’ pogs and the minibackpack followed in 1995.

    other trends that i remember fondly:
    – slap bracelets and their subsequent ban
    – neon rainbow academic paraphenalia (remember the trapper keeper?) by lisa frank
    – jellies sandals, their distinctive fragrance and the prints they left in the sand
    – pogs on the blacktop at recess
    – beanie baby collections
    – over-alls and radically mismatched clothing
    – later on, the reincarnation of bell-bottoms as flares
    – aol chatrooms and saving ‘convos‘ for posterity (or blackmail)
    – electronic pets on keychains (nostalgic? buy an autographed one on eBay.)
    – the nokia 5000 series and all those x-press on covers
    – a different shade of nail polish on every single finger

    i wonder what we’ll be remembering in ten years (and what vh1 will title that series, since no one can figure out what to call this decade.) reality tv, camera/video cell phones, the friends finale, flip shorts and the atkin’s diet. blogging, perhaps?

    quote of the day: “all right, stop, collaborate and listen” – vanilla ice

  • reading in the sun

    i’ve been reading outside (wearing spf, of course) for most of the afternoon and now the sun has sidled off the deck and into the yard and i have come inside where it’s chilly and the shadows trick my eyes because my skin looks darker than it ever will be. my dad finished mowing the lawn and the scent of cut grass mixed with motor fuel and the rumbling and humming that played white noise on my ears while i finished my book is fading and i’m wondering where the summer came from. suddenly everyone is home from school and the library is closed on sundays and the bedroom doors blow open and shut all night when the breeze comes through the upstairs windows. and posts dated in february are still recent in my index because i’ve had nothing to write about!

    i just finished blessings, which had such a good flow that i read it all in three days, but i feel like i skipped through it too quickly. i don’t have a very good picture of the characters in my mind, like i sketched them together without paying attention. but i have three more books to get to, since amazon rocks and my super saver shipping order arrived six days before it was scheduled to be shipped! next i’m starting reading lolita in tehran, which happens to be the common reading for mount holyoke‘s class of 2008. i don’t know if that makes me want to read it more or less.

    last night everyone went out to dinner and to see troy in norwalk for lindsay’s birthday, which is officially on monday. i missed out on the dinner/movie sector of the evening because i was working until 7, of course, but i went to the gym and met up with lauren, emily and jess at the birthday girl’s house around 11. i stayed for an hour and a half and we compared and contrasted schools and talked about “breathign with positions” and then i came home and crashed so hard i don’t even remember putting my pajamas on.

    quote of the day: “sing me to sleep, sing me to sleep” the smiths

  • midnight snack

    again with the dreams and the reality and the ever-evolving abyss in between. i just woke up from a dream about chocolate. a dream so realistic and specifically detailed that, when i opened my eyes, my fingers thought they were crumpling up a royal blue tin foil wrapper and i swatted my empty hands toward the trash can several times before i was convinced that i had nothing to throw away.

    craving piqued, i tiptoed downstairs in search of some chocolate. i found a brand new bag of dove milk chocolate promises, the kind with inspirational statements printed in italics inside the wrapper. it wasn’t until i had that smooth, sweet perfection on my tongue that i looked at my ‘fortune.” it said, ‘live your dreams‘. coincidence? more like emily + chocolate = destiny.

    quote of the day: “what we see depends mainly on what we look for.” – sir john lubbock

  • oh, it was just a dream

    sometimes, i check my own blog for updated wit and muse. once i felt quite surprised to read the old headline. then i realized that i dreamt about writing a new entry and my subconscious had me so thoroughly convinced that i believed it had really happened (but not thoroughly enough to recall what my figmental topic was.)

    i think this happens to me more often than most people. it’s not unusual for me to start a conversation with, “we may have already discussed this, but i can’t remember if that was real or not,” or “did i already [insert verb here] or was i just dreaming?” people generally think i’m kidding, but really, it’s sincere wakeful confusion! i’ve even reminded myself to do something, fallen asleep and dreamed that i did it, and woken up with a false sense of efficiency.

    this is an external sign of my inherently vivid subliminal imagination. on frequent mornings after, i have been notably disappointed to wake up and find that my wardrobe has not been entirely revamped, that i’m not finished with a final paper, or it’s not my birthday. most disappointing was realizing that, two weeks before my senior prom, i had neither the gorgeous and charming date nor the black strapless taffeta gown i had conjured in the night!

    last night, i dreamt that i tried a new hair salon and the stylist turned my head into a trendy, floofy nightmare. waking up to find my curly strawberry blonde ponytail intact was certainly not a disappointment.

    quote of the day: “the difference between genius and stupidity is; genius has its limits.” – albert einstein

  • what do you mean approved?

    my petition to the academic administrative board was due on friday and it not easy to get it in.  sometimes i feel like mount holyoke is working against me and unless certain steps take place in a very specific, yet arbitrary sequence, nothing will ever fall into place!
     
    since i’ve been away from mhc for two semesters and i still want to spend a semester abroad, i needed to have the credits for one semester of my freshman year count toward the four semester residence requirement, or i wouldn’t be able to graduate on time.  so if the petition wasn’t approved, i would either have to miss study abroad next spring or spend an extra semester at mhc in the fall of 2006 after everyone else graduates. 
     
    i woke up to the following e-mail this morning:

    —–original message—–
    from: nl
    sent: monday, may 10, 2004 6:25 am
    to: emily l. white
    subject: emily white ’06 – aab petition decision

    dear emily,
    when the academic administrative board met on friday, may 7th, your petition to have the second semester of your first year at mount holyoke count toward the college’s residency requirement was reviewed. you will be pleased to know that the board voted to approve your request. i know this will be welcome news, emily, and end the spring semester on a happy note. good luck with your exams, and best wishes for a satisfying and productive summer.

    sincerely,
    nl
    assistant to the dean of the college

    that means i can apply to schools in london and study abroad spring semester, and i’ll still graduate and walk with my class in may 2006!  never mind that, after all the phone calls and e-mail correspondence, no one except holly has figured out that i’m not actually at school this semester.  i’ll let that slide simply beccause i absolutely could not have ever imagined a group of college administrators sitting around a big glossy table and collectively approving a petition in my favor, and it happened!  i’m publishing the full text of this e-mail for posterity – and so they can’t take it back!
     
    quote of the day: “what you seize is what you get”

  • if summer were a fruit

    it would be a strawberry. i love those fragrant, fleshy fruits. this morning i made the most delicious strawberry smoothie (the french consider the strawberry an aphrodisiac, you know) for breakfast and i swear i could smell and taste summer even after i’d washed the blender. it got me thinking about vacationing in belgium (the world capital of strawberries) or mansikkala, finland (which means ‘the place of the strawberry’ in finnish) or in strawberry, ca. for those with watering mouths, the recipe:

    summer in your mouth – a delightful strawberry smoothie (4 servings)

    16 fresh strawberries, hulled
    1 cup skim milk
    1 cup vanilla yogurt
    1/4 cup white sugar
    1 tablespoon vanilla extract
    12 cubes ice, crushed

    in a blender, combine strawberries, milk, yogurt, sugar and vanilla. toss in the ice. blend until smooooth and creamy. pour into glasses and serve. (em locke’s summer fun tip: sip it through a twisty straw)

    quote of the day: “pick out your favorite traveling music, ’cause we are headed for the sun…take me away, take me away” – flying lessons

  • Dandelions

    Some days, I really love my job.

    When I picked up Larry and Brian at Religious Ed this afternoon, they dropped their bookbags at my feet and made tracks to the playground (there’s a crucifix at the top of the playhouse) It was gorgeous out today, so I ignored the fact that they had ignored me and wandered over to sit in the sun. But before he let himself through the playground gate, Brian stopped and bent down, then turned around and came walking back to me with his hands behind his back. “Miss Emily,” he said, “this is for you!” and he held out a bright yellow dandelion. I didn’t even know what to say, so I just tickled him under his chin with the petals. He squished up his face in defense and then backtracked toward the swings. I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy to get a flower from a boy.

    When we got home and everyone was done with homework, Brian’s friend called to ask if he could come over for a little while. It took some convincing on his part, but I agreed that he could ride his bike over, as long as he called home to let me know that he got there safely and wore his new watch and was responsible for getting himself back home by 6:15. I watched out the window as he rode down the street and waited by the phone until he called. “Hey,” he said. “Hey!” I said, “Thanks for calling!” “Well, you told me to!” At 6:14, his little Gap sneakers with the velcro came pounding up the steps and through the kitchen. He was all out of breath, but all smiles, too. He told me, “I left a little early, just to be sure. And I just made it!” I don’t know how I would have mustered any scolding even if he had been late!

    Quote of the day: “You always knew where you were going to, so sweetly you said please come with you” – Third Eye Blind