This past week I've been fighting off viruses on my computer, which has made me not want to have my computer on at all. I thought I had finally triumphed over the malware, greyware and spyware when other pop-ups and warnings started up again. Not as bad as before, but still. So here I am, posting, feeling contaminated and, well, virulent. But I really want to tell you about a "duh" moment I had earlier this week. So here I am.
On Monday I took my car into the shop to get an oil change and check-up. This means looking over the tubes and belts, changing the various fluids, filters, and plugs. When I got in the car on Tuesday morning to go to work I turned on the radio and couldn't find any of my stations. They'd all been reset, and I couldn't understand what had happened. Did my mechanics just go through and set them on random stations for kicks? Were they mad that I didn't let them change my spark plugs yet? What the hell? This has to be what mechanics do as a practical joke.
I drove the 30 minutes into work trying to find all my stations and put them in somewhat similar order on my radio, and thinking about what I would tell my mechanics when I called them to complain. I had a little speech prepared and was all set to make the call when I remembered that as part of the check up they had changed my car battery. Which had reset my radio stations.
And then I felt a little dumb, followed immediately by grateful that I had waited to call my mechanic. The last thing I needed was to feel like this stupid hysterical woman who doesn't know mechanics well enough to know what happens when a car battery gets changed. I hate that. I need at least a facade of competence when I deal with my mechanics. Just on principle.
Saturday, June 23
Sunday, June 17
barriers to health
I've been putting together a list of things that keep me from being healthy lately (mental or physical). Here's a short sample.
1. There's a yoga class at my gym that I've been wanting to take but it's at 8:30 on Sunday mornings. I've thought I could set my alarm and get there in time, but who wants to set their alarm on Sunday morning? Do I look like the kind of person that would normally be up at the crack of dawn on the weekend? Bastards. The other yoga classes are during the week at lunch time or on evenings I can't make it. Hmph.
2. I miss the pieces of paper that go on the toilette seats. They don't exist here in New England and I'm always conflicted about the best way to handle going to the bathroom. How can a person relax on a public toilette if there's no paper? I know there are other options: hovering, putting a string of toilette paper down, wiping the seat, etc. But it kind of boggles my mind. Is it really so hard to have that paper in a bathroom stall? Is it a by-product of a more libertarian mindset over here, or does California have more militant public health officials? I just want the paper.
3. There are people who drive 55 in the car pool lane. No, this is not specific to living here, but in the last week I've been stuck behind slow people at least three times. In one week. Where did they come from, and why can't they get out of my way when I'm trying to get somewhere? Jeesh. All these cars were going so slowly that I was tailgating before I even knew it. Since tailgating is against my religion, I got irritated, and then I started yelling at the car in front of me, waiving my arms about and generally venting my road rage in verbal form where it will do the least amount of damage (probably). And two out of three people (I think) saw the arm waiving and either sped up or changed lanes as soon as they could. Which means to me that it was an effective communication technique between drivers.
4. More ice cream places would be nice.
5. I like wearing sandals in the summer, but I now have three mosquito bites on my feet, which is very irritating. Two of my toes- my toes!- are itchy. And, no, before you say it, it's not athlete's foot or anything like that. They're bites. And they're making me cranky.
6. This must be skunk season because I've been seeing them and smelling them all over the place. Last week I was woken out of a deep sleep by the ripe smell of skunk outside my window. How nice for me. And last night I saw one on the way home, jogging across the street, trying to get hit by a car. They're everywhere, which really sucks.
I know I had more, but I can't remember what they are right now. Do you guys have any barriers?
1. There's a yoga class at my gym that I've been wanting to take but it's at 8:30 on Sunday mornings. I've thought I could set my alarm and get there in time, but who wants to set their alarm on Sunday morning? Do I look like the kind of person that would normally be up at the crack of dawn on the weekend? Bastards. The other yoga classes are during the week at lunch time or on evenings I can't make it. Hmph.
2. I miss the pieces of paper that go on the toilette seats. They don't exist here in New England and I'm always conflicted about the best way to handle going to the bathroom. How can a person relax on a public toilette if there's no paper? I know there are other options: hovering, putting a string of toilette paper down, wiping the seat, etc. But it kind of boggles my mind. Is it really so hard to have that paper in a bathroom stall? Is it a by-product of a more libertarian mindset over here, or does California have more militant public health officials? I just want the paper.
3. There are people who drive 55 in the car pool lane. No, this is not specific to living here, but in the last week I've been stuck behind slow people at least three times. In one week. Where did they come from, and why can't they get out of my way when I'm trying to get somewhere? Jeesh. All these cars were going so slowly that I was tailgating before I even knew it. Since tailgating is against my religion, I got irritated, and then I started yelling at the car in front of me, waiving my arms about and generally venting my road rage in verbal form where it will do the least amount of damage (probably). And two out of three people (I think) saw the arm waiving and either sped up or changed lanes as soon as they could. Which means to me that it was an effective communication technique between drivers.
4. More ice cream places would be nice.
5. I like wearing sandals in the summer, but I now have three mosquito bites on my feet, which is very irritating. Two of my toes- my toes!- are itchy. And, no, before you say it, it's not athlete's foot or anything like that. They're bites. And they're making me cranky.
6. This must be skunk season because I've been seeing them and smelling them all over the place. Last week I was woken out of a deep sleep by the ripe smell of skunk outside my window. How nice for me. And last night I saw one on the way home, jogging across the street, trying to get hit by a car. They're everywhere, which really sucks.
I know I had more, but I can't remember what they are right now. Do you guys have any barriers?
Saturday, June 16
me and my clothes
I thought you'd be interested to know that I've already changed my clothes four times today and it's not even time to get dressed for the birthday party celebration taking place at some bar I haven't found on Google maps yet.
I got dressed this morning to go to the store first thing (wanted to try to beat the crowds at TJ's). Then I came home and cleaned house, which required a different I-don't-really-care-if-these-clothes-get-ruined ensemble. After that I wanted to lay outside and soak in some sun, and I wasn't going to wear a bathing suit but I did want to be somewhat cognizant of my already established farmer tan. Why make it worse? And now I'm about to go to the gym. Needing, of course, an almost complete change of wardrobe due to the fact that it's summer and my pores are in very good working order (aka I sweat like a... well... a lot).
Writing all this out reminds me of a story from when I was a kid. I was visiting my grandparents who lived in Utah and my brother and I had been playing outside for most of the day. I don't remember why but I had changed clothes a lot that day, too, probably because we were about to have one of our many water balloon fights with the neighbor kids and we had just come back from a walk in the fields behind the house. These two activities needed two very different outfits- one needing long pants to avoid the bugs especially the ticks I always thought were everywhere, and the other needed very little clothing to reduce the drippage. I thought I was being very considerate, I'm sure. And then there's the changing between morning coolness and afternoon heat, etc. I probably went through several different changes for all kinds of reasons.
One thing to mention, too, is that these grandparents were a tad more strict than my brother and I were used to at home. They frequently couldn't understand how we thought we could get away with all of our shenanigans, and expected us to be able to go play quietly outside or play quietly inside and generally stay out of trouble. As far as we were concerned, going from LA to the small town in Southern Utah was an extraordinary culture shock most of the time. We often had no idea how to entertain ourselves since, as far as we could see, there was almost nothing there to do.
Anyway, I was pretty young- maybe 8 or 9 - and I was just running out of the house to go play water balloons, when my grandmother yelled after me to stop changing clothes all the time since she was the one who had to wash them and I was getting all the clothes I brought dirty in one day. I was surprised that she would want to wash something I had only worn for a very little while. I didn't think I had gotten the clothes all that dirty and hadn't intended for her to have to wash them. So I replied (I'm pretty sure I was sincerely trying to be helpful) that the clothes washing thing sounded like her problem. And turned around and went outside.
Sheesh. Sometimes I wonder how I ever survived childhood.
My mom told me about this story several years ago, which brought it all back. And I honestly can't believe I would say something so disrespectful to my grandmother. I can't imagine talking back to her- I was afraid of her and my grandfather. So when my mom told me about this I had to ask her why I said that. She said that I was in a phase where I was into defining people's problems for them, and then she laughed. As if my being a snot was- at least in retrospect- a little funny. Personally, I can't believe people ever thought I was cute when I was a kid. I sound pretty irritating to me.
For your entertainment I'm including a picture of me from when I was about 8 or 9. Sorry for the bad quality, but you can still tell that my fashion sense was already highly developed by this age. I particularly like the training wheels.
I got dressed this morning to go to the store first thing (wanted to try to beat the crowds at TJ's). Then I came home and cleaned house, which required a different I-don't-really-care-if-these-clothes-get-ruined ensemble. After that I wanted to lay outside and soak in some sun, and I wasn't going to wear a bathing suit but I did want to be somewhat cognizant of my already established farmer tan. Why make it worse? And now I'm about to go to the gym. Needing, of course, an almost complete change of wardrobe due to the fact that it's summer and my pores are in very good working order (aka I sweat like a... well... a lot).
Writing all this out reminds me of a story from when I was a kid. I was visiting my grandparents who lived in Utah and my brother and I had been playing outside for most of the day. I don't remember why but I had changed clothes a lot that day, too, probably because we were about to have one of our many water balloon fights with the neighbor kids and we had just come back from a walk in the fields behind the house. These two activities needed two very different outfits- one needing long pants to avoid the bugs especially the ticks I always thought were everywhere, and the other needed very little clothing to reduce the drippage. I thought I was being very considerate, I'm sure. And then there's the changing between morning coolness and afternoon heat, etc. I probably went through several different changes for all kinds of reasons.
One thing to mention, too, is that these grandparents were a tad more strict than my brother and I were used to at home. They frequently couldn't understand how we thought we could get away with all of our shenanigans, and expected us to be able to go play quietly outside or play quietly inside and generally stay out of trouble. As far as we were concerned, going from LA to the small town in Southern Utah was an extraordinary culture shock most of the time. We often had no idea how to entertain ourselves since, as far as we could see, there was almost nothing there to do.
Anyway, I was pretty young- maybe 8 or 9 - and I was just running out of the house to go play water balloons, when my grandmother yelled after me to stop changing clothes all the time since she was the one who had to wash them and I was getting all the clothes I brought dirty in one day. I was surprised that she would want to wash something I had only worn for a very little while. I didn't think I had gotten the clothes all that dirty and hadn't intended for her to have to wash them. So I replied (I'm pretty sure I was sincerely trying to be helpful) that the clothes washing thing sounded like her problem. And turned around and went outside.
Sheesh. Sometimes I wonder how I ever survived childhood.
My mom told me about this story several years ago, which brought it all back. And I honestly can't believe I would say something so disrespectful to my grandmother. I can't imagine talking back to her- I was afraid of her and my grandfather. So when my mom told me about this I had to ask her why I said that. She said that I was in a phase where I was into defining people's problems for them, and then she laughed. As if my being a snot was- at least in retrospect- a little funny. Personally, I can't believe people ever thought I was cute when I was a kid. I sound pretty irritating to me.
For your entertainment I'm including a picture of me from when I was about 8 or 9. Sorry for the bad quality, but you can still tell that my fashion sense was already highly developed by this age. I particularly like the training wheels.
Tuesday, June 12
meme me
My friend Dori has meme'd me. I hadn't heard of this before (being new to this entire blogging thing) so I looked it up on the urban dictionary. And here's what it said:
meme (noun)
1. an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance (as by parents to children) or horizontally by cultural acquisition (as by peers, information media, and entertainment media)
2. a pervasive thought or thought pattern that replicates itself via cultural means; a parasitic code, a virus of the mind especially contagious to children and the impressionable
4. in blogspeak, an idea that is spread from blog to blog
5. an internet information generator, especially of random or contentless information
(I skipped 3 because I just didn't think it was as interesting.)
Well, so this meme tags me to write 8 quirks or habits about myself, and then pass it on to some lovelies whose blogs I enjoy. Ok. Well. Here you go.
1. As you might have gathered, I love making lists of things. Not so that I can count something but so that I can item something out and explore it. It helps me feel organized and sane. There have been a couple of times at work when I have been taking notes and I organized them in outline form, which spawned a little bit of discussion among my social service counterparts as this seems to be somewhat unusual. Making lists of things includes a list of things to do or to buy at the store or something like that. Crossing things off is so satisfying. But I don't know how quirky that part is.
2. In the same vein of itemizing/catergorizing is that I love to look at colors, especially the different kinds of white that exist. Yes, white, as in the color. Because if you look at it, white is never really white. It's just a light version of some color, and it's a little bit of a challenge to see what brand of white is there. My favorite kind of white is a peachy orangey kind of white. I don't know why. But there it is. Maybe because my two favorite colors (I mean non-white colors) are blood red and a burnt yellow, and you put them together and you get a peachy orange color.
3. I sometimes think in terms of analogies and metaphors. Most of you who have heard me describe something already know this, since I might use some completely random thing to describe a situation or flavor or person. Maybe most people do this to a certain degree, but I still think its quirky/amusing. At least, it amuses me.
4. There are times I can be quite literal. I used to have a housemate who called me Amelia Badelia, who was a character in a children's book who, well, took things very literally.
5. I hate hearing about the details of any kind of medical operation, particularly dental procedures. I don't want to hear more than the basic fact that someone got a cleaning. No detail beyond what the doctor said. One day last week a person at work was talking to someone at the next desk over about this horrible root canal she had gotten and all the subsequent problems she had with her teeth and the corresponding appointments. Ugh. How can a person work with all those visuals going on?
6. I have a hard time throwing something away if it's been given to me. There was one year not all that long ago when every gift I received that year seemed to be a stuffed animal. I loved stuffed animals when I was little but I got rid of most of them when I went to college. Who would give a stuffed animal to an adult? But even if I barely knew the person, I had the damned stuffed animal s/he gave me for years afterwards. And old stained shirt that had long out worn its welcome. I'll keep it, regardless of how well I knew the person or if it's something I would choose for myself. If it's given to me I'll keep it and (usually) like it. If I'm not friends with the person anymore (usually this is post breakup) I'll put all the things I ever received from that person in a box that goes into a corner for a long time- usually until I'm cleaning things out when I'm moving across the country or something.
7. I wear a toe ring that I bought at Venice beach thirteen years ago.
8. I really like listening to the words of songs. Not just the melody but the words, memorizing the pattern and the poetry, how they all combine together to make a complete description of something. Love it.
Whew. I didn't think I could come up with 8 things. This post has gone on long enough. But before I go, I would love to hear from Natae and Elyse. I say it's your turns to give us 8 quirky bits about you. I can't wait.
meme (noun)
1. an idea, belief or belief system, or pattern of behavior that spreads throughout a culture either vertically by cultural inheritance (as by parents to children) or horizontally by cultural acquisition (as by peers, information media, and entertainment media)
2. a pervasive thought or thought pattern that replicates itself via cultural means; a parasitic code, a virus of the mind especially contagious to children and the impressionable
4. in blogspeak, an idea that is spread from blog to blog
5. an internet information generator, especially of random or contentless information
(I skipped 3 because I just didn't think it was as interesting.)
Well, so this meme tags me to write 8 quirks or habits about myself, and then pass it on to some lovelies whose blogs I enjoy. Ok. Well. Here you go.
1. As you might have gathered, I love making lists of things. Not so that I can count something but so that I can item something out and explore it. It helps me feel organized and sane. There have been a couple of times at work when I have been taking notes and I organized them in outline form, which spawned a little bit of discussion among my social service counterparts as this seems to be somewhat unusual. Making lists of things includes a list of things to do or to buy at the store or something like that. Crossing things off is so satisfying. But I don't know how quirky that part is.
2. In the same vein of itemizing/catergorizing is that I love to look at colors, especially the different kinds of white that exist. Yes, white, as in the color. Because if you look at it, white is never really white. It's just a light version of some color, and it's a little bit of a challenge to see what brand of white is there. My favorite kind of white is a peachy orangey kind of white. I don't know why. But there it is. Maybe because my two favorite colors (I mean non-white colors) are blood red and a burnt yellow, and you put them together and you get a peachy orange color.
3. I sometimes think in terms of analogies and metaphors. Most of you who have heard me describe something already know this, since I might use some completely random thing to describe a situation or flavor or person. Maybe most people do this to a certain degree, but I still think its quirky/amusing. At least, it amuses me.
4. There are times I can be quite literal. I used to have a housemate who called me Amelia Badelia, who was a character in a children's book who, well, took things very literally.
5. I hate hearing about the details of any kind of medical operation, particularly dental procedures. I don't want to hear more than the basic fact that someone got a cleaning. No detail beyond what the doctor said. One day last week a person at work was talking to someone at the next desk over about this horrible root canal she had gotten and all the subsequent problems she had with her teeth and the corresponding appointments. Ugh. How can a person work with all those visuals going on?
6. I have a hard time throwing something away if it's been given to me. There was one year not all that long ago when every gift I received that year seemed to be a stuffed animal. I loved stuffed animals when I was little but I got rid of most of them when I went to college. Who would give a stuffed animal to an adult? But even if I barely knew the person, I had the damned stuffed animal s/he gave me for years afterwards. And old stained shirt that had long out worn its welcome. I'll keep it, regardless of how well I knew the person or if it's something I would choose for myself. If it's given to me I'll keep it and (usually) like it. If I'm not friends with the person anymore (usually this is post breakup) I'll put all the things I ever received from that person in a box that goes into a corner for a long time- usually until I'm cleaning things out when I'm moving across the country or something.
7. I wear a toe ring that I bought at Venice beach thirteen years ago.
8. I really like listening to the words of songs. Not just the melody but the words, memorizing the pattern and the poetry, how they all combine together to make a complete description of something. Love it.
Whew. I didn't think I could come up with 8 things. This post has gone on long enough. But before I go, I would love to hear from Natae and Elyse. I say it's your turns to give us 8 quirky bits about you. I can't wait.
Sunday, June 10
weekend in brief
This has been a really nice weekend. I got to relax a lot (which means I didn't exactly get to the laundry) and I managed to hang out with people a lot too. The best combination. Saturday night I got to go back to Cuchi Cuchi for mz. H's going away celebration. She's going to be in Portland now, which is good for her but sad for us. But I got to see her mom and grandmom (both very sweet, supportive ladies) get just a little tipsy. And Heather got a congratulations song from the waitstaff and then blew out a candle while she was wearing the smancy garland. Doesn't she look happy?
But this restaurant is now my favorite place for celebrating (again, fabulous cocktails and food. When any of you guys come to visit we will definitely go there). Then we went to a nice little bar that had some fun r&b/soul music. A very nice way to say bon voyage. I hope she had a good time, too.
And then today I helped a good friend of mine paint her living and dinning room- and managed to get paint on more body parts than were visible. I don't know how that happens. Afterwards I got to hang out with one member of my match.com subcommittee, who is helping me with my profile. She had some really good advice. Natae, I'll send you my most recent draft of the profile tomorrow.
It's been recommended that I get a focus group of guys to review my profile, and get some feedback. Which makes sense. Alex, you game to help review it? I know it's been a while since you've been on the dating scene, and now you're married and all, so you might be a little out of touch with what the single guys are looking for. But I still think you might have a good perspective. What do you think?
I got to go to the gym for a while, which is usually pretty good for keeping me happy. And then I came home, read some magazines and listened to some Iron and Wine while I watched the sun go down. Here's a song that I think is fabulous- it's called Promising Light. Again, if you get the chance you should hear it.
What was your weekend like?
Time and all you gave
I was the jerk who preferred the sea
To tussling in the waves
Tugging your skirt, singing please, please, please
But now I see love
Tracked on the floor where you walked outside
Now I see love
Looking for you in this other girl's eyes
Time and all you took
Only my freedom to fuck the whole world
Promising not to look
Promising light on the sidewalk girls
But now I see love
There in your car where I said those things
Now I see love
Tugging your skirt, singing please, please, please
Time and all you gave
There on your cross that I never saw
Well beyond the waves
Dunking my head when I heard you call
But now I see love
There in the sea where you pinched my leg
Now I see love
There on your side of my empty bed
And then today I helped a good friend of mine paint her living and dinning room- and managed to get paint on more body parts than were visible. I don't know how that happens. Afterwards I got to hang out with one member of my match.com subcommittee, who is helping me with my profile. She had some really good advice. Natae, I'll send you my most recent draft of the profile tomorrow.
It's been recommended that I get a focus group of guys to review my profile, and get some feedback. Which makes sense. Alex, you game to help review it? I know it's been a while since you've been on the dating scene, and now you're married and all, so you might be a little out of touch with what the single guys are looking for. But I still think you might have a good perspective. What do you think?
I got to go to the gym for a while, which is usually pretty good for keeping me happy. And then I came home, read some magazines and listened to some Iron and Wine while I watched the sun go down. Here's a song that I think is fabulous- it's called Promising Light. Again, if you get the chance you should hear it.
What was your weekend like?
***
Time and all you gave
I was the jerk who preferred the sea
To tussling in the waves
Tugging your skirt, singing please, please, please
But now I see love
Tracked on the floor where you walked outside
Now I see love
Looking for you in this other girl's eyes
Time and all you took
Only my freedom to fuck the whole world
Promising not to look
Promising light on the sidewalk girls
But now I see love
There in your car where I said those things
Now I see love
Tugging your skirt, singing please, please, please
Time and all you gave
There on your cross that I never saw
Well beyond the waves
Dunking my head when I heard you call
But now I see love
There in the sea where you pinched my leg
Now I see love
There on your side of my empty bed
Thursday, June 7
floating down the river
First of all, I want to thank Alex for joining us in the posting section. I was laughing for a good five minutes after I read some of your posts. But you must stop talking about you and Becky and those things you do. Just stop, please.
Second, sorry to take so long with the post (Natae, I know you've been counting on these to get you through coffee). I've been in heavy denial. I haven't yet put my profile up on match.com yet and I have barely been doing these posts. Can I just go Rainman for a little longer? I keep thinking about that AA-ism 'Denial's not just a river in Egypt'. It makes more sense if you say it out loud.
Instead of talking about trying to hop back on the dating horse I'd much rather talk about a guilty pleasure: tv watching. Especially thursday night tv. I Love watching Men in Trees (I know I've already mentioned this). I mean love it. Blatant plot lines, appealing, beautiful guys wearing few shirts, it's a beautiful dish of mind candy. At the same time, Aaron Sorkin won me over with West Wing. It was the perfect combination of humor, intelligence and a strong civic duty that I have felt for so long has been lacking in this world. Or maybe in my general political universe. And you know Aaron Sorkin is doing that show Studio 60 blah blah blah, and I was so excited. I mean, it's still intelligent and political and about humor, and I'd watch it on principle but I actually really enjoy the show. I'm mentally stimulated by a tv show, a very rare occurrence, and I'm such a fan.
Well, the point is now the two shows are duking it out on Thursday nights- same time, different channels. Head to head. I can't believe I have to choose between mind candy and mind food. Bastards. I know I'll have to figure out another way. There must be another way.
Now, back to our original programming. I promise- promise- I'll have more to say about this match.com thing. This weekend I'll finish my profile, finish my laundry and clean my room. Good god I can't wait for the weekend.
Second, sorry to take so long with the post (Natae, I know you've been counting on these to get you through coffee). I've been in heavy denial. I haven't yet put my profile up on match.com yet and I have barely been doing these posts. Can I just go Rainman for a little longer? I keep thinking about that AA-ism 'Denial's not just a river in Egypt'. It makes more sense if you say it out loud.
Instead of talking about trying to hop back on the dating horse I'd much rather talk about a guilty pleasure: tv watching. Especially thursday night tv. I Love watching Men in Trees (I know I've already mentioned this). I mean love it. Blatant plot lines, appealing, beautiful guys wearing few shirts, it's a beautiful dish of mind candy. At the same time, Aaron Sorkin won me over with West Wing. It was the perfect combination of humor, intelligence and a strong civic duty that I have felt for so long has been lacking in this world. Or maybe in my general political universe. And you know Aaron Sorkin is doing that show Studio 60 blah blah blah, and I was so excited. I mean, it's still intelligent and political and about humor, and I'd watch it on principle but I actually really enjoy the show. I'm mentally stimulated by a tv show, a very rare occurrence, and I'm such a fan.
Well, the point is now the two shows are duking it out on Thursday nights- same time, different channels. Head to head. I can't believe I have to choose between mind candy and mind food. Bastards. I know I'll have to figure out another way. There must be another way.
Now, back to our original programming. I promise- promise- I'll have more to say about this match.com thing. This weekend I'll finish my profile, finish my laundry and clean my room. Good god I can't wait for the weekend.
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