more springing

I think the word I was trying to remember was "potential energy" or something like that.

It's like that first picture of Hobbes, right before he pounces. I guess with that analogy the rest of the strip would be summer. Seems about right.

leave already

It's here. Today's the day that Natae is leaving us for Nashvegas. It's been in the works for quite some time now- what, three or four months. We've had an entire month of thirsty thursdays to get together before she takes off, and as the month has gone on it's become so much more something. Like having to go out in the sun again with a sunburn.

I hate saying good-bye.




You know I love you, missy. I'll be seeing you soon in the land down under (aka the South).

Kisses.

signs of spring

It finally happened. As you can see from the pictures from last weekend, Spring finally got here. Here are some of the ways I figured it out:

1. It's gotten warmer


2. It's raining instead of snowing
   
3. Flowers are everywhere (crocuses, daffodils, rhododendrons, tulips- the works)


4. Grey is no longer the main color in the tree line


5. People are exuberantly out of doors


6. There's a hum in the air that is completely indescribable

Maybe that's why it's called spring. It's the time right before a spring has sprung- remember that from eight grade science? Contained energy or something like that. There's a word for it that I can't remember, but that's spring.

fun with bronzers

This spring I've decided to once again roll the dice with some skin bronzing devices. These are lotions, sprays or oils that can give your skin that summer glow without ever really seeing the sun. My logic is that these things are better for me than getting an actual tan or using a tanning bed (a popular local technique that will always remind me of the crazy gold medallions and hairy chests from the 70's. I have no idea why).

My problem is that I can't seem to find a way to "apply evenly", which is what the instructions say to do. How can I apply evenly when the lotion, spray or oil is clear? This means I now have brownish orangey splotches on my legs and arms that are ever so attractive.

I think I'll put more on tonight to try to even out the splotches. I'll keep you posted on whether this helps or not. But I do think I'll avoid using this on my arms this time. Anyone ever use one of these things in a way that works?

the view from behind

Twice this week animals have made driving more fun:

1. I was driving around Cambridge today, trying to get through the excited drivers and pedestrians (cause spring finally got here). This is actually more challenging than you would imagine since everyone is driving and people are walking, running, biking and skate boarding like they have no brains cells left from winter. I must be the only person left who knows how to drive, so everyone else needs to get off the street. I whipped around a corner (I mean carefully turned a corner- sorry Mom) onto a small one-way street and saw a huge moving van slowly chugging along in front of me. I immediately became irritated because any large slow van in front of me is irritating no matter what else is going on. And then almost 1 nano-second later had to smile because I saw the picture on the back of the van:

I had to borrow this picture from someone else on the internet, so it's not very good. Imagine it not blurry, on a much larger moving van and, well, the rear end of a big pink hippo. Gotta love that cruising along the small streets of Cambridge. I smiled the whole ten blocks behind the damn thing.

2. Once again, I was driving but this time it was Friday and I was late for a meeting in Lawrence. I was pretty stressed because it takes almost an hour to get from Lynn to Lawrence and I needed to get to the office on time since I was hosting this meeting. And nothing makes me more crazy than being late to my own meeting. I hate being late, but being late to my own meeting just makes me bonkers. I was also stuck behind a slow driver. It was, if you think about it, the perfect storm for Stef's brand of road rage. Just so you know, I usually allow enough time to get to meetings so I don't show up enraged but this particular day it was pretty much out of my control.

I try not to do anything while driving that will get me pulled over or in the hospital, and tailgating is something that I just don't believe in. But I was increasingly considering an exception when I saw that there was a dog in the front seat with the driver (no doggy seat belt in sight!). At first I didn't notice the dog since I didn't want to look into the car at all- I wanted it out of my way. After a couple of minutes of stewing, tho, I noticed the dog was giving the driver a lot of affection, which is nothing but adorable. And the dog's tail was slowly waving back and forth in a kind of lazy, happy dogginess that was very obvious. And I couldn't help but smile. I've taken too many dogs on walks and drives to ignore the contentment radiating out of that damned car. And then I realized that the driver was probably driving slowly so because the dog was in the front seat (this is what dog seat belts are made for, you know). The driver could have gotten out of the fricken fast lane, but the other cars were going even slower, if you can believe it. Seeing the dog so happy made me calm down and just resign myself to my fate. I was only a couple minutes late, and the folks I was meeting with got there just when I did, so it turned out ok.

There's nothing quite so good as the animals to remind me that there are more important things than getting there on time.

btw- Go to Natae's website to see more Maine pictures. Tiffany took them and they're really good. I'd highly recommend checking them out.

Maine day

I spent an excellent day yesterday in Maine with Natae, Kristen and Tiffany. It was an all day road trip and we sure did the coast well. There were cute stores, lighthouses, ocean views, ice cream, lobster rolls, and fabulous fabulous friends. It's also Natae's last Saturday here as a Boston resident, so I'm a little sad.

In retaliation I stole some pictures from her website so you can see a little of what the day looked like. Really, you guys have to take a day trip with me some time.

It's too fun for words. Oh, and I've discovered that lobster pizza and cookies are an excellent diet to help me look fabulous for Becky and Alex's big day.

I'll steal more pictures as Natae puts them up.

I hope your Saturdays were as fun as mine was.

youngish

I was thinking today about getting older and feeling younger. I have friends who seem older than I am, but are technically younger than me. And it's not like they don't have fun, or even that their kind of fun is older. I mean, I've had fun with them. We can have the same taste in fun. They're smart and are reasonably knowledgeable about life, as am I. But I can't help but feel like they're older than me.

So what part is really different? Is it that I'll be silly and sing to songs at restaurants/bars/in my car/just about anywhere- who am I kidding? That can't be it. It's not about being an idiot in public. Perhaps it's a feeling of maturity or appropriateness. I think I'm mature, but I don't always care about appropriate.

Well, here's a list of what I think might be possible answers:

1. Could be a matter of doing things that seem adultesque for an extended time. Getting married, having kids, buying the house or working god awful hours.
2. Maybe it's that they enjoy being adult like, feeling adultish. Maybe that's where they get their joy, instead of singing along to the kick ass song on the radio.
3. Or it could be they stop feeling like there's something new to learn, something new out there. The ritual or sameness is where the contentment is.
4. Or it might just be that they don't feel out on the edge of their lives to me anymore, or that they don't have to.

I know it sounds like feeling older is bad. And it's not. I guess I have a bias cause I don't really want to be adultish. It's not that I worry about getting older, I just worry about having different things be important to me or to choose to do other things that don't make me as happy.

Really, this is all probably a long way around the fact that I'm having a little bit of a umm response to my birthday a couple of months ago. Not a bad reaction, as in severe allergic reaction and must get a shot. But it was a little more startling than other birthdays.

And perhaps there's a small part of me that is jealous of these 'older' friends and wary about this entire process of getting older. Everyone makes decisions and compromises as time goes on. And I'm a little worried. Not about the decisions I've made so far- I honestly have no regrets and my life is so thoroughly wonderful. But the what if's have been creeping in lately and that irritates me. I hate what if's. And I hate that turning 35 has made them come around more. Bah.

This past birthday won't hit me as hard, tho, as my brother's next birthday. Holy cow, man, I should be asking you for advice. How are you dealing with getting so old? How did we get here so fast?

Cuchi Cuchi

Natae and I had dinner tonight at Cuchi Cuchi (http://www.cuchicuchi.cc/). Heather is having her birthday fiesta there tonight and we decided to go there early and get some dinner before folks showed up. And let me tell you the food was hella yum. Becky and Alex, the next time you come to visit (sometime in 2075) we will definitely go there. It's a mushroom and dairy-rich environment. And desert was a kind of banana flambe alamode french toast combo that was a bit of heaven. My stomach kinda hurts, but lordy was it worth it.

My apologies to Heather. Natae got through dinner, but her poor teeth were hurting so much that I drove her home before the party started. Dinner was so good, tho, that I'm still feeling the good food glow.

I tried to find a picture to go with this post- something about bananas and dessert- but everything looked like a body part or a body function. Go figure. I did manage to find this one, which I think epitomizes how I feel about bananas right about now.

I think someone ignored the memo

Who ever is in charge of spring this year sucks. I like rain and cold and blustery days as much as (if not more than) then next person. But can we have a little spring soon? Please?

What kind of superhero are you?

I went to Aviva's house last night to celebrate Dori's birthday (both friends from grad school) and as I was leaving we got on to a brief conversation about superheroes. You see, there was one friend from grad school there who will sometimes share stories about her job (who doesn't). And the way she'll describe her co-workers is to give them names- like Irritating Man (aka Obnoxious Man) or Glitter Girl or whatever. And these names are so descriptive that we can usually keep track of the different players at work without ever really knowing who they are.

So one day I was laughing to myself about the names Anna gives to folks, when it occurred to me that she might give me or some of our friends similar names if she ever talks about us to other people. Uh oh. Now I'm curious.

The other thing is that I've always thought people have at least one thing (if not more) that they can do better than just about anyone else. For some it's organizing their lives through excel spreadsheets, or making the best bread pudding on the planet (yum! more please).

I always thought Tori's talents are to be whatever kind of friend you need her to be (Superfriend), and to be able to have fun anywhere (The Coordinator of Coolness). She's awesome. Driving around town in her party mobile.

And Natae, I still have to think about yours. I've almost got it, but I can't quite put it into words yet. Something about being real and loving and accepting and uninhibited (but not in a bad way) and being able to enjoy things in such an absolute way. You're kind of my personal hero sometimes, not just a super hero.

Becky and Alex, hmmm. Well, Alex, among your many talents you could easily be Precision Man. And Supremely Stylish Fashion Sense Man. And Very Good Friend to Me Man. Wearing your Precious Ring, which gives you super powers. And Beckaloo, I think for me you're just going to have to be BFF. One of the best superheroes there is. I'm thinking I might want to save the rest for the wedding.

But do you guys ever think about your talents, the things you do that are special or unusual? I'd be curious to hear...

On a scale of 1 to 10, how big is the dork factor?

So I've had a little bit of unanswered time here this Sunday afternoon. I went for a quick walk with Mz Natae a little earlier, who was a real trooper for strolling around in the rain, getting her sneakers and comfy pants all wet. But she was willing to be convinced that it would be fun. And it was, at least for me. All ways are good when hanging with the Natae-ster.

I then went home, decided to grab some food and spend some time listening to NPR. I actually don't listen to NPR as much as I used to, since I still haven't gotten used to schedule they have here in the greater Boston area. But I did manage to get a little quality time with my favorite show, This American Life, and was thinking about spending tomorrow's rainy day doing some marathon listening to their website for a day's worth of story telling. Ahh, sweet decadence.

So, and here's what I really wanted to say, I was listening to NPR, switching between Boston's show and the show streaming out from San Francisco, finally settling on Prairie Home Companion (I haven't listened to these guys for quite a long time and kind of missed them). Meanwhile I was reading different things on the internet- just generally kicking around cyberspace, relaxing. And I was looking over the online version of the New Yorker, which I've recently decided to give a try. Good friends of mine have it and I always seem to like the stories, so this year I asked for a subscription for my birthday and have been trying to see if I'm at all enriched by it. And, yes, I was reading it online, even though I have the last four magazines sitting on my table 8 feet away from me. Fine, I was lazy, whatever.

And what did I find? An article about This American Life! It was very exciting. I thought it was a sign, that maybe I will like the New Yorker. And I clicked on the article, curious about what someone else might say about this fabulous show. Next thing I know I'm reading about a person writing about how much they wished they liked TAL (us uber-fans use this abbreviation for This American Life) but just couldn't bring herself to get over the innate smugness of the content and the irritating nature of Ira Glass's voice. Hmph.

Good god, Nancy Franklin. Get over yourself. I mean, are you trying to hate the show? Can you not see the benefit to listening to stories from all over the country, almost tangibly feeling the different ways we are, really, all the same? Blood, bones, thoughts, feelings- we're all people with things in common even if you're pro whatever I'm con. Do you not see the wealth of benefit this show brings to us? Have you even really given it a try? Even listened to a couple of shows? What kind of magazine is this, anyway? Why now, when I'm just starting to get to know it? I don't want to read the New Yorker again. I mean, it dissed my man, Ira. I'll call and cancel my subscription, by god. Sorry, Mom. I know I asked for it, but I have to give the money back. I am so outraged.

And then it hit me. I was listening to NPR, reading about a show on NPR from an article in the New Yorker. I think this makes me maybe a little umm pretentious. Or, at least, a dork. At the very least, I'm a dork. But does this push me over the line into geek? Not that I care all that much. It's not the first time I've never meant to walk this dork/geek line.

But I still laugh every time I notice it.

And so it begins

Well, it looks like I have to start one of these because my friend, Natae (my blogsource, my documentor for all things social; http://beaner33.blogspot.com) is leaving town. There have been a few times (not that many, but it has been known to happen) where I've looked at her blog from the night before and THEN remembered all the happenings. I could tell friends from California to look at her blog if they wanted to know what I did over the weekend. She would post pictures when she got home at 2 am and there we all would be, in our various stages of drunkenness.

And now it's changing. And of course I'm happy for her. How many people find the man of their dreams and decide to move across the country to be with him? But back to me. Now I have to rely on my own memory. Ugh. And it looks like I have to buy a digital camera.