This has been one of those days. Not one of *those* days, when everything goes wrong and you're rolling your eyes at every new crappy development, but one of the days where everything kind of magically falls into place and all the choices you make end up being the right ones.
I woke up this morning without any kind of clear plan. I definitely had things that had to get done today, like household responsibilities (laundry) and financial obligations (bill-paying), but other than that, the day was wide open. I decided to put off the drudgery and take myself out to breakfast. I took the bus to the Cup & Saucer, this little breakfasty place in my neighborhood that a friend introduced me to last week. I knew from my experiences at Burgerville that eating alone can be treacherous if you don't have something to actively do (besides the eating, of course), so I brought Jane Eyre to read while I was waiting. It was lovely. I sat and read with my cup of coffee and my breakfast and felt for a minute like I was back in college, hanging out at the Waffle House. Good times.
When I was done with breakfast, I headed outside into a strange mix of sleety, snowy, haily goodness. It was the kind of weather where everyone kind of looks up and acknowledges that something different is happening outside and there is a tiny bit of palpable excitement in the air. I got on the bus headed for home, but on a whim I decided to stay on and go find the library instead. I had been carrying around directions to the library for a few weeks now and today just felt like the right time. So I went to the library, finally got a library card, picked out a few books and headed for home. When I came out of the library, the weather had cleared up and was actually sunny. A feeling of unadulterated satisfaction had been threatening to impose itself on me all day, and as I felt the sun on my face, I finally gave myself over to it and grinned as I walked to the bus stop.
I arrived home with plenty of time left to lay on the bed, pet the dogs, read more Jane Eyre and write this entry before I have to start being responsible again. What an awesome, awesome day.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Happy Holidays!
Last night I made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing (using this recipe) to bring to work today. I had meant to make them for last friday's dessert potluck, but Thursday night I was just so exhausted that I expertly rationalized that it would be better to wait until this week where they would be the only dessert and therefore appreciated more. I have to say that I think that strategy worked. Also, they turned out really well so I am thoroughly satisfied with my effort.
Christmas with my family went well, though it wasn't as fun as Thanksgiving. I'm not positive whether that was because there wasn't as much alcohol consumed or because five minutes into dinner my dad and I got into a debate about corporate versus private child care instead of our usual light conversation about movies or TV. Not that I mind a decent debate but it just didn't feel very Christmasy. Now that I think about it, last year didn't feel very Christmasy either, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Maybe you eventually just reach a certain age when all of the Christmas magic has disappeared for good. I wonder if 30 is that age. I hope not...what a bummer.
One positive side-effect of the recent Hollywood writers' strike is that I am watching a lot less TV than I used to. I'm also starting to look more critically at what shows I'm spending my time on and realizing that I don't have to watch anything if I don't want to. It's strange how easy it is to let TV take this central role in your life without even questioning it. No wonder parents sit their toddlers down in front of it so they don't have to pay attention to them. It's mesmerizing...you start to forget that there is actually a whole world out there that doesn't have a laugh track. You start to substitute TV shows about someone trying new experiences for doing those things yourself. It starts to be okay that you will never backpack around Europe because you can see what it would be like by watching The Amazing Race. It's okay that you will never stretch outside your comfort zone and grow as a person because you can watch other people do it on Beauty and the Geek. It's okay that you don't experiment in your own kitchen because Rachel Ray is happy to cook you something every night.
I'm not saying TV is inherently bad, any more than cupcakes are inherently bad. Just like cupcakes though, you can't live on a diet of TV alone. Unless you balance your life with TV and actual experiences, you're likely to walk around feeling dissatisfied most of the time.
So I'm glad that I'm starting to be free of that mentality.
Speaking of popular media, T and I watched the new, musical version of the movie Hairspray last night. I tried to go into it with an open mind, but it turned out that the new movie was even worse than I had feared. The original Hairspray has always been one of my favorite movies. It's a landmark to me, the first movie that introduced me to the idea that a person could be both fat and happy. In the original, Tracy was fat and didn't let it stop her from doing anything she wanted to. She was an incredible role model. But the problem I have with the new movie isn't really with Tracy herself, though she could stand to be a little bolder and less simpering. The problem I have is with Tracy's mother, Edna Turnblad. In the original, this character was fat, matter-of-fact, confident and sure of herself. It was easy to see where Tracy got her inner strength and fortitude from. In the remake, Edna is still fat, but now supposedly hasn't left the apartment in several years because she's so ashamed of her body, she's afraid of losing her husband to a skinnier woman, she apparently has a massive eating disorder, and she's all shy and mousy until the very last musical number.
There's a lot of "you're awesome, in spite of the fact that you're fat" regarding both Tracy and her mother in the new version. I'd much rather they take the original's stance of "you're awesome" and just leave it at that.
Another issue I have with the new version is what they did to Link's character. In the original, he is this confident, dreamy guy who is 100% in favor of integration and he loves Tracy and he never wavers. In the new version, Link is this whiny, self-involved pretty boy who is more concerned about his 'career' than civil rights or anything that's going on with Tracy. Highly uncool. It made me wonder why Tracy would even care about him at all.
On the whole, I was just disappointed that the writers took this movie with a theme of 'be happy with yourself and enjoy your life unapologetically no matter what your size' and made it into this lame piece of garbage that destroyed all of the fat-positivity of the original. What a waste.
In other news, I'm saving for a bike. If everything goes well, I should have enough in April to walk into a bike shop and get exactly what I need. I really want to get it soon so I can get used to riding in time to do some Pedalpalooza events this summer. I'm totally excited!
Christmas with my family went well, though it wasn't as fun as Thanksgiving. I'm not positive whether that was because there wasn't as much alcohol consumed or because five minutes into dinner my dad and I got into a debate about corporate versus private child care instead of our usual light conversation about movies or TV. Not that I mind a decent debate but it just didn't feel very Christmasy. Now that I think about it, last year didn't feel very Christmasy either, but I couldn't put my finger on why. Maybe you eventually just reach a certain age when all of the Christmas magic has disappeared for good. I wonder if 30 is that age. I hope not...what a bummer.
One positive side-effect of the recent Hollywood writers' strike is that I am watching a lot less TV than I used to. I'm also starting to look more critically at what shows I'm spending my time on and realizing that I don't have to watch anything if I don't want to. It's strange how easy it is to let TV take this central role in your life without even questioning it. No wonder parents sit their toddlers down in front of it so they don't have to pay attention to them. It's mesmerizing...you start to forget that there is actually a whole world out there that doesn't have a laugh track. You start to substitute TV shows about someone trying new experiences for doing those things yourself. It starts to be okay that you will never backpack around Europe because you can see what it would be like by watching The Amazing Race. It's okay that you will never stretch outside your comfort zone and grow as a person because you can watch other people do it on Beauty and the Geek. It's okay that you don't experiment in your own kitchen because Rachel Ray is happy to cook you something every night.
I'm not saying TV is inherently bad, any more than cupcakes are inherently bad. Just like cupcakes though, you can't live on a diet of TV alone. Unless you balance your life with TV and actual experiences, you're likely to walk around feeling dissatisfied most of the time.
So I'm glad that I'm starting to be free of that mentality.
Speaking of popular media, T and I watched the new, musical version of the movie Hairspray last night. I tried to go into it with an open mind, but it turned out that the new movie was even worse than I had feared. The original Hairspray has always been one of my favorite movies. It's a landmark to me, the first movie that introduced me to the idea that a person could be both fat and happy. In the original, Tracy was fat and didn't let it stop her from doing anything she wanted to. She was an incredible role model. But the problem I have with the new movie isn't really with Tracy herself, though she could stand to be a little bolder and less simpering. The problem I have is with Tracy's mother, Edna Turnblad. In the original, this character was fat, matter-of-fact, confident and sure of herself. It was easy to see where Tracy got her inner strength and fortitude from. In the remake, Edna is still fat, but now supposedly hasn't left the apartment in several years because she's so ashamed of her body, she's afraid of losing her husband to a skinnier woman, she apparently has a massive eating disorder, and she's all shy and mousy until the very last musical number.
There's a lot of "you're awesome, in spite of the fact that you're fat" regarding both Tracy and her mother in the new version. I'd much rather they take the original's stance of "you're awesome" and just leave it at that.
Another issue I have with the new version is what they did to Link's character. In the original, he is this confident, dreamy guy who is 100% in favor of integration and he loves Tracy and he never wavers. In the new version, Link is this whiny, self-involved pretty boy who is more concerned about his 'career' than civil rights or anything that's going on with Tracy. Highly uncool. It made me wonder why Tracy would even care about him at all.
On the whole, I was just disappointed that the writers took this movie with a theme of 'be happy with yourself and enjoy your life unapologetically no matter what your size' and made it into this lame piece of garbage that destroyed all of the fat-positivity of the original. What a waste.
In other news, I'm saving for a bike. If everything goes well, I should have enough in April to walk into a bike shop and get exactly what I need. I really want to get it soon so I can get used to riding in time to do some Pedalpalooza events this summer. I'm totally excited!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
So how was your weekend?
I had a pretty relaxing weekend. No obligations of any sort, not even plans with friends or family, so the entire weekend was like a vast, unmarred landscape of free time. It was awesome. I got a lot done, actually. I spent most of Saturday constructing a light tent so I could take some good pictures of my jewelry. Even with the light tent and two 100 watt bulbs, I'm still not getting the bright feel I would like in the photos. I think my next step might have to be getting a new camera, but since I don't have hundreds of dollars laying around, I may just have to be satisfied with the output I'm getting now.
Sunday I spent some time experimenting with the polymer clay. I made a few cute things but I haven't baked any of them yet, so I guess I'm not ready to commit. Polymer clay is so versatile that I really can make just about anything, and I'm trying to just go with my inspiration and create whatever comes to me, instead of what I think would look good on a barrette. I seem to have a fascination with tiny food products lately because I have made a cupcake, a gingerbread man, two pink-frosted donuts, two chocolate chip cookies, and two fried eggs out of polymer clay. I have some other thoughts kicking around in my brain but I'm not positive how I'm going to make them happen yet.
My boss finally announced who would be taking the help desk manager position last week. It turns out that the person who got it is actually a friend of mine from within our team, so that's pretty good news. Part of me is a little anxious about how this will change things since last time I was on a team where a member was promoted to team leader (at Turner), it made my life seriously miserable. Of course the guy who was promoted at Turner had never been a manager before and did kind of a shitty job, so I have slightly higher hopes for the situation here. For now, I remain cautiously optimistic.
Sunday I spent some time experimenting with the polymer clay. I made a few cute things but I haven't baked any of them yet, so I guess I'm not ready to commit. Polymer clay is so versatile that I really can make just about anything, and I'm trying to just go with my inspiration and create whatever comes to me, instead of what I think would look good on a barrette. I seem to have a fascination with tiny food products lately because I have made a cupcake, a gingerbread man, two pink-frosted donuts, two chocolate chip cookies, and two fried eggs out of polymer clay. I have some other thoughts kicking around in my brain but I'm not positive how I'm going to make them happen yet.
My boss finally announced who would be taking the help desk manager position last week. It turns out that the person who got it is actually a friend of mine from within our team, so that's pretty good news. Part of me is a little anxious about how this will change things since last time I was on a team where a member was promoted to team leader (at Turner), it made my life seriously miserable. Of course the guy who was promoted at Turner had never been a manager before and did kind of a shitty job, so I have slightly higher hopes for the situation here. For now, I remain cautiously optimistic.
Friday, December 14, 2007
"This is why we can't have nice things"
A few mornings ago, I came out of the bedroom to find this:
I still have no idea where the head is.
I still have no idea where the head is.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Yes, we have no new blog entries
I would like to start this entry by thanking Brian for shaming me into writing on a regular basis. Without his relentless efforts, you people would have nothing to read.
The Christmas tree is surviving, though every day when I enter the living room I find one or more slobbery/chewed ornaments on the floor. Yesterday I just found a lone ribbon and a pile of little cinnamon-scented bits. It looks like the cinnamon/applesauce ornaments weren't the taste sensation Tater expected them to be. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out a solution to this issue, but yesterday I finally realized that I could keep the dogs closed in my bedroom at night so Tater doesn't eat the tree. This morning there were still a few ornaments on the floor (damn cats), but nothing was damaged. Hopefully this strategy can make the whole holiday thing a little less stressful. I really enjoy having the tree, but I just know one day I'm going to come home and she will have eaten the entire thing, ornaments and all, and that totally stresses me out. Not only would it be sad to lose all of the beautiful ornaments from when I was a kid, but I'm pretty sure there would be some fairly expensive surgery involved to remove an entire tree from Tater's gullet, even with T's discount.
For the past few nights, I have been trying to rephotograph my jewelry for Etsy. The problem is, all the daylight is gone before I get home, so I have to use artificial light sources and they just don't look right. I'm thinking about buying a light tent and some tabletop lights so I can get some better pictures. The picture is everything on Etsy...if your pictures are too dark, nobody is ever going to look at your stuff.
Speaking of Etsy, I just bought the cutest pair of cupcake hairclips. I had actually bought some cupcake ornaments from the same seller and I asked her if she had ever thought about making a smaller version and sticking it on a barrette. She hadn't, but she gave it a shot and I think they turned out fabulous. I don't know why I have been fixated on cupcakes lately. I don't want to eat them, so much, I just think the cupcake motif is kind of cute without being too cutesy. Anyway, I've been thinking about doing some hair jewelry myself so I got a sampler of polymer clay to see what I come up with.
Well, that's the latest. Nothing earth-shattering, but some fun stuff. Hope things are well with you!
xo,
C
The Christmas tree is surviving, though every day when I enter the living room I find one or more slobbery/chewed ornaments on the floor. Yesterday I just found a lone ribbon and a pile of little cinnamon-scented bits. It looks like the cinnamon/applesauce ornaments weren't the taste sensation Tater expected them to be. I don't know why it took me so long to figure out a solution to this issue, but yesterday I finally realized that I could keep the dogs closed in my bedroom at night so Tater doesn't eat the tree. This morning there were still a few ornaments on the floor (damn cats), but nothing was damaged. Hopefully this strategy can make the whole holiday thing a little less stressful. I really enjoy having the tree, but I just know one day I'm going to come home and she will have eaten the entire thing, ornaments and all, and that totally stresses me out. Not only would it be sad to lose all of the beautiful ornaments from when I was a kid, but I'm pretty sure there would be some fairly expensive surgery involved to remove an entire tree from Tater's gullet, even with T's discount.
For the past few nights, I have been trying to rephotograph my jewelry for Etsy. The problem is, all the daylight is gone before I get home, so I have to use artificial light sources and they just don't look right. I'm thinking about buying a light tent and some tabletop lights so I can get some better pictures. The picture is everything on Etsy...if your pictures are too dark, nobody is ever going to look at your stuff.
Speaking of Etsy, I just bought the cutest pair of cupcake hairclips. I had actually bought some cupcake ornaments from the same seller and I asked her if she had ever thought about making a smaller version and sticking it on a barrette. She hadn't, but she gave it a shot and I think they turned out fabulous. I don't know why I have been fixated on cupcakes lately. I don't want to eat them, so much, I just think the cupcake motif is kind of cute without being too cutesy. Anyway, I've been thinking about doing some hair jewelry myself so I got a sampler of polymer clay to see what I come up with.
Well, that's the latest. Nothing earth-shattering, but some fun stuff. Hope things are well with you!
xo,
C
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Tadaa!
Here's the decorated tree for those of you who were curious. Keep in mind that I took this last night, after the cats had had a whole day alone with it. Let's just say there may be a few things askew or out of place...
Also this morning I found an ominous bundle of yarn on the floor. Sadly, it looks like one of my yarn doll ornaments won't be making it to Christmas. I moved the other one up to the top of the tree to make it less tempting. Damn animals.
Also this morning I found an ominous bundle of yarn on the floor. Sadly, it looks like one of my yarn doll ornaments won't be making it to Christmas. I moved the other one up to the top of the tree to make it less tempting. Damn animals.
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
The underestimated importance of the very end of the movie
I got my Christmas tree yesterday. Did you know there are people on craigslist who will cut a tree with dimensions you specify and deliver it to your house (and sometimes set it up in the stand)? I called the guy yesterday around 4pm, told him what I wanted (a fat, 6 foot Douglas Fir...see below) and he showed up at my house around 6 with the most awesome tree I have ever seen! It only cost me $25 bucks too. Pretty sweet! So anyway, after the tree guy left it was just me, the dogs and cats, and a giant tree. I felt pretty sad for a little while because putting up the Christmas tree is one of my favorite memories from when I was a kid (yes, even the ones when Dad got pissed because the stand wasn't working right) and it just felt wrong to be doing it alone. I tried distracting myself by unwrapping some ornaments and reminiscing about where they had come from and Christmases past, then after a few minutes I just gave in to the festivities, turned on some Christmas music, and had a pretty great time! There's something great about being able to sing cheesy Christmas carols ("It's a marshmallow world in the winter...") at the top of your lungs and not having to worry about anyone hearing you. Good times.
The other day T was over and we watched this movie from a few years ago called "The Pledge". Let me tell you, this was the best movie I have seen in a long time. It had suspense, love, mystery, action, murder, a great soundtrack, beautiful visuals, great acting...it was just awesome. Halfway through, I made up my mind to tell everyone I knew about it because it was just such an incredible movie. Then, ten minutes before the end of the movie, it just started sucking hard. You would not believe that ten minutes at the end of the movie could have the potential to derail the whole thing, but I promise you, that is what happened. It was so awful that we decided just to ignore the last ten minutes of the movie and make up alternate endings in our heads. So if you find yourself watching this movie and just totally loving it (trust me, you will), do yourself a favor and stop watching about ten minutes before it's over, then make up your own alternate ending. You will be glad you did.
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