The bad things:
- The sweating
- The things at the back of the cupboards
- Self-deception
- Breaking up is hard to do
- Heartburn and other forms of indigestion
- Sleep shortage
- Negotiating, particularly with an attorney involved
- The proliferation of homeless people
- Schizophrenic in the showers at the gym, having loud arguments with herself
- Anorexic/ skeletal girl changing at the gym to whom I would like to feed ice cream
- Missed deliveries
- Phone books
- Sun and thunderstorms
- The Oregon Coast
- mint.com
- Cute bird who wants her head scratched
- Guided by Voices
- Morning Pages
- The sunlight in my living room
- Flex-time
- Health insurance, for free
- Chocolate Chunk cookie from Dahlia bakery
- New laptop @ work - no more carrying mine back and forth
- Powell's books
- Yoga
Seattle is HOT after 6months of 40 degree cloudy drizzle, it is a nice change. Sadly for me, heat makes me groggy and cranky and, well, pretty useless. Combine with that the fact that the relationship I was in for the last 9 months or so just ended (amicably but heartbreakingly), and I could not sleep much at all over the weekend, and I ate a hotdog that made me almost throw up from acid reflux, and the movie I was planning to see tonight isn't playing tonight, and I accidentally deleted about 1,000 words of my memoir... well, I'm pretty much not having fun. I could use a happy surprise of some kind.
These are some photos I took today around my apartment. Is a picture worth 1,000 words? We shall see...
My two most frequently worn hats. The top one (houndstooth) came from a boutique in Ballard (Seattle), and the army-esque cap came from H&M in Berlin. My man-friend hates houndstooth, so I am asking for trouble when I wear that one. It's like an allergy or something. Behind the hats and above the exercise bands is a family pic of me, my mom, aunt dawnelle, and grandpa frank taken in 2005.
This is a silver sugar bowl that actually contains sugar. It resides in the breakfast nook. I kind of prefer the tarnished look, myself. This is some kind of unwanted family heirloom that ended up in my car a few years ago.
I have lived in Seattle since June, 1990. That's 18 years. My first job in Seattle was video store clerk at Tower Video near the Seattle Center. Every day I walked from my apartment by the convention center, through the bleak Denny re-grade neighborhood, and up Dexter Ave, past the Hostess bakery to Mercer. On the corner of Dexter and Harrison is a tall red clock. In 1990 it was stuck at 2:45.
My new place of employment is across the street from the Hostess bakery (ah the smell of sugar in the morning!) in what is now referred to as the South Lake Union/ Cascade neighborhood. Warehouses are disappearing and shiny condos are springing from the rubble. Meanwhile, the clock is still on the corner of Harrison & Dexter. Someone has moved the hands to 4:20 (ha ha), but it still is not a functional timepiece. I find this more distressing than I probably should. In 18 years much has happened in my life, but that damn clock has not ticked off a single minute. Clearly whomever the caretaker of the clock may have been died 20 years ago. Will it sit there forever?
Is that how you spell moratorium? Anyway, starting July 1, and through the end of 2008, I am not going to buy any new clothes or shoes. There's NO WAY I don't have plenty of things to wear, and if there's something else I'm getting from shopping as a hobby... well, there are cheaper and more rewarding hobbies. I'll stock up on a couple of essentials from American Apparel, maybe buy a pair of used jeans that fit, and then STOP. No more shopping. I have been giving away about a metric ton of clothes I don't wear every year... there is something wrong with this picture.
I've recently discovered mint.com and I'm now an addict. It's really fascinating to look at my spending trends over the last 6 months. May was off the charts because of the Europe trip. It's extremely helpful for planning my budget. Starting July 1 I will have a regular, predictable paycheck, so I can actually do a 6 month financial plan without so much guess-work. Hopefully I will get a decent year-end bonus, but at this point I am going to leave that out of my planning and try to live frugally. Thus the clothing moratorium. And I'm going to start bringing lunch, too.
The summer solstice in seattle is synonymous with the fremont solstice parade. This parade usually has a variety of hippie/ green groups walking or singing or riding pagan-style floats. However the uncontested crowd pleaser is the naked cyclists. Everyone's solstice parade photos are almost exclusively of cyclists wearing nothing but body paint. Some of the body art is impressive, but most of it is not, and all anyone is looking at is the naughty bits anyway. I've seen the naked cyclists in person a couple of times. The most notable being when I was on a bus in downtown rush hour traffic a few years ago and happened to glance out the window. I must say that seeing a bunch of naked people on bikes brightened my day. Since then, though, the novelty has definitely worn off. I mean... so what? You're naked, you're on a bike... what exactly is accomplished apart from a lot of giggling and photos?
On the other hand - if in fact these can be considered opposing hands or even limbs on the same body - after nearly 30 years of Madonna as Madonna, I still have a great deal of respect for the woman. When I was in Jr. High, wearing lace tops and fingerless gloves was fun, but now my admiration goes beyond fashion. This is a woman who comes from humble origins and has figured out how to use the system completely to her advantage without conforming to social norms. No, she's not an incredibly great or even interesting artist. Her songs are catchy but lack substance. But she fearlessly puts herself out there and succeeds on a level that goes far beyond a mere POP star or sex symbol. Somehow, she maintains her integrity. I'm not saying I like Madonna... but I can't help admiring her business savvy and courage.
So far I have:
- Had a haircut/ color. It took three hours and cost approximately 1/3 of my rent.
- Was supposed to watch my friend's moving cube while it was unloaded to prevent theft, but by the time I was out of the salon it was already unloaded.
- Went to lunch with Binky at Vio's.
- Read the entirety of Donald Antrim's memoir.
- Finally cooked the giant scallops I had in my freezer. Yum.
- Finally watched Woody Allen's Interiors.
- Eaten some Bing cherries.
- Done laundry
- Sorted through dresser (again) to make room in drawers
- Matched my socks
- Worked on my memoir
- Taken out the recycling
Still on the list:
- prepare a couple of things I need to mail
- pack my gym bag
- empty and organize kitchen cupboards
- clean out fridge
- upload new cds
- put away laundry
- make a comp CD/ playlist of new music
- pay some bills
- vacuum and clean floors
- clean birdcage
- unclutter living room
- empty vacuum
- cook bird food
- spray for cockroaches
- hang screen for projector
- test projector location
- clean bathroom
- organize desk area
I don't "use" facebook much. And this is just about half of the most ridiculous list of nonsense I can imagine:
And posting EVERYWHERE
