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November 29 Snowed in.Due to this whole snow thing, I've pretty much been holed up in the house for 2 and a half days. My god, I think I'm already starting to get cabin fever. Despite being a shut-in, I've tried to keep busy. Here's what I've been up to:
1. Napped. Of course. That goes without saying.
2. Was introduced to a new game that is an addictive blend of easy enough for me to feel like I'm getting somewhere but hard enough to frustrate the shit out of me.
3. Knitting and unknitting the same thing like (no exaggeration) five times now to try and get it right. Today, I hurled it across the room after another failed attempt and decided that the project and I need some breathing room. Perhaps we will talk next week.
4. Drinking tea and eating the See's Chocolates that Fumi brought with her on her visit. Thank god I just finished them up. It's too cliche for me to spend another day at home eating bon-bons.
5. Looking out the window to see if it's snowing again yet. (Nope).
6. Started and finished this book.
7. Thought about watching my netflix movies that have been around for weeks, but not actually doing it.
Today, I had to get out of the house, so I walked to the library (which is only about 4 blocks away). I felt surprisingly liberated and happy to be out of the house, but the sidewalks were complete black ice. I ended up marching to avoid slipping. Left, right, left, right, left.
Hopefully, camp won't be cancelled due to weather. But hopefully I won't have to drive minors in my car on black ice either.
November 27 (Chicago) Boy Meets (California) GirlHaving grown up in Southern California, snow is a rare and enchanting thing. Last night, Gina and I were marvelling at the snow and oohing and ahhing. Both Mark and Roger were like "whatevs" since they grew up in snow areas. They were not impressed!
The disparity in childhood experience only became more apparent as the snow kept coming.
Snow Tale 1:
Last night, in bed, I jumped out of bed to go to the window.
Me: I want to see if it's a Winter Wonderland yet!!! (alas it wasn't)
Mark: Are you kidding me?! You don't get out of bed for anything. Once you're in bed, you make me pass you things that are like 2 feeet away! (too true)
Me: I get up for Winter Wonderland!
Cut to Mark shaking his head sadly.
Snow Tale 2:
Mark called me to come pick him up from downtown since the buses stopped running. I got to Yesler and 23rd, about 2 blocks from my house and called him freaking out.
Me: I'm slipping and sliding around! And I have rear wheel drive! I don't know what to do!
Mark: Turn around and go home. I'll walk.
Me: No, I'm coming. I'll come get you! It's too far to walk!
Mark: There are hills on Yesler.
Me: Ok, see you at home.
I then promptly went up the tiny side street by my house, Main St, and got totally stuck on the world's tiniest hill. I had to reverse a full block to get out of there.
This is the second time it's snowed in Seattle in the 4 years I've lived here and the second time I've left Mark ride-less. The first time it snowed, he flew into the airport and I was supposed to pick him up. I couldn't drive up the hill by my house, let alone to the airport. There were hour long lines for cabs at the airport and he hauled all his Christmas luggage on a bus downtown and then stood in the snow for half an hour waiting for another bus.
Mark is blase about snow and drving in it. I find it magical and enchanting - but not from a car! I keep my vehicular distance from snow and will continue to do so unless it is a bona fide emergency.
November 22 Now Departing From The Comfort ZoneNext weekend, I am going to camp. It sounds pretty funny to say that. Camp! I haven't been to camp since I was in jr. high and then it was church camp. And I didn't get to be part of the cool kids group even though my friend from home totally did and I felt out of place because I was not all into god. And the boy I liked at camp did not like me back. I still had fun, though, but camp was totally fraught with a lot of anxiety.
About a month ago, I went to an orientation for an organization that mentors high school freshmen, called Community for Youth. I found the idea of becoming a mentor intriguing, but the usual organizations seem to kind of just throw you in with someone and say "see ya." What I liked about CFY in the beginning is that not only is there the 1:1 mentoring aspect, but there's also an aspect of community building. So sometimes you and all of the other mentors/mentees do stuff together and sometimes you do stuff 1:1. Other times, it's just the mentors meeting for additional training. I also liked that they took some time and effort to pair up the kids and adults. Hence, camp. We go to camp on Vashon Island for three and a half days and do a bunch of trust building activities (I imagine, anyway) and at the end, mentors and mentees alike get to right down a few names they're interested in, and they do a behind the scenes matching process and voila! But in the meantime, camp!
The thing about this program is the two training sessions I've attended to date have made it clear that you have to give up worrying about being embarassed. I feel like I am asked to do things that feel cheesy or weird and I feel kind of uncomfortable about it, but I do it, and I see the point. It's good to be shoved out of your comfort zone, but, you know, uncomfortable. So, I am excited about camp, but I also think it will be totally bizarre and full of things like trust falls and talking about personal stuff and admitting to mistakes and stuff. The primary tenet of the program is to "be your word." i.e. no excuses, no matter how small the transgression, you are responsible for your life and actions. If you're late, it's not because of traffic or weather, it's because you did not commit to leave work early enough to get there. It's about committing to do the things you say you're going to do, in the program and in your life. We all have things we want to do (go to the gym, write a novel, whatever) that we say we're going to do and that we don't do. Since we are asking these kids to committ to goals, we, as mentors, are also being asked to make committments that we will be held to. That's scary to me. It's so easy to say you want to do something and then just not do it. But to have a whole community of people, including 14 year olds, calling you on your stuff seems frightening. But also amazing.
Not to mention the challenge of mentoring a teenager - there are so many hurdles there. What if they are withdrawn or aggressive? What if they are flaky or if they say mean things to me? How will I handle x or y situation?
Despite all of these concerns, though, I'm really excited about this whole thing in a way I haven't been excited about anything in a long time. It feels like one of those things I've thought about doing for awhile, so I'm glad I'm finally doing it. But more than that, I feel like it's going to be incredibly interesting and a growing experience for me. I feel all nervous-excited about camp. Ohmigod - I am going to spend a long weekend with 30 adults I don't know and 30 teenagers. Eeek! November 16 EnjoyingLast night, I picked up a book at the library called "An Abundance of Katherines." And then I went home and read the whole thing. I guess technically I should say that this is a young adult novel, BUT. It's everything a young adult novel should be, i.e. a great novel whose main characters just happen to be 18.
In the book, the main character has finished high school and is concerned about whether or not he will "matter" in the world, become famous, etc. Basically, be extraordinary. I'm no child prodigy like the protagonist of this book, but I do remember the point in life where I sort of realized that I wasn't going to be famous or extraordinary and how hard it was to accept that. Among many other things, that is one of the themes of this book. The characters, the dialogue, the plot, the little inside jokes the characters had - it was all good. In real life, friends have tons of inside jokes, but books so rarely pull off that aspect of friendship very well. I don't know why. It usually either comes across as hokey or it's too explain-y and not just organic. Something like that.
I happened to have read the author's other book as well. That one won an award, and I can see why. It kind of deals with more typically YA award friendly topics, but I actually think this Katherines book was just as good, if not slightly better. "Looking for Alaska" made me cry while "An Abundance of Katherines" made me laugh out loud. An author who can manage both of those feats is a treat, no matter if they are a YA author. November 14 LessonsI was just thinking about this and wondering what other people's experience was on the topic. Basically, when I was a kid, my parents taught me to wash my hands only in public restrooms. They didn't teach or enforce that you're supposed to do it every time. So I knew to do it in public places, but not at home. I'm wondering if my parents were just too busy to remember to teach this and that all the other kids already knew it, or if it's one of those things that varies from family to family.
Other things my parents never taught me that I had to learn about on my own:
1. The proper way to set the table. I'm still a bit sketchy on this one, to be honest. I did get chastised about doing it incorrectly a few years back at a friend's parent's house. At that time, I was taught the proper way to do it, but I was so busy drowning in humiliation that it failed to stick. Is it fork on the left and spoon and knife on the right? Eek, just thinking about it is making me sweaty. Now, I avoid table setting at all costs around people who will care about accuracy.
2. The Birds & Bees. There was never a conversation that even touched on this topic. My mom signed the permission slips for the school sex-ed and left it at that. Between school and the old Harlequin romances my Aunt left in our garage and friends, it worked fine for me. Though I'm sure any parenting book would have a lot to say about such a lapse in child-parental communications. This just reminded me that I got a lot of useful information from my friend's dad's book collection. When her Dad immigrated from Korea, he would buy really cheap books at garage and library sales and use them to learn English. Not knowing the content of the books, and it being the 70's, he ended up with quite a few racy novels whose margins he filled with translations that stopped about halfway through (right when they started to get good). I can only imagine what her dad's view of America was like with those books to usher him into our culture. They weren't hidden or anything, so we discovered them on a shelf in the living room and dug in to all these hippie commune racy books. Ha! I'm cracking up thinking about this right now.
3. Country Crock is not actually butter. My mom only used butter sticks for baking, and I just assumed that it was the same as country crock but in a non-spreadable format. I didn't know until I got to college and moved in with roommates that butter is a whole different thing than margarine. Lovely, lovely butter. I still keep spreadable olive oil margarine around for toast and things of that nature, but now I know all about the greatness that is butter.
4. How to cook. My mom did all of the cooking and never taught us anything. When I moved out of the dorms into my own place, I was suddenly at a complete loss. I realized that I knew how to make scrambled eggs and that was about it. At first, I ate sandwiches, microwaved quesadillas, cereal and frozen meals. I slowly stepped it up with hardboiled eggs and tuna helper. And from there, my friends and roommates have taught me how to follow a recipe. However, when single, I still revert to totally random meals. If I'm just feeding me, that's good enough.
It makes me wonder what areas of oversight I will have as a parent. A family really is its own bubble with little things that you don't think of as weird or different until you enter the world at large. Like I seriously just can't believe that I never really knew that Country Crock was not butter. But I did learn how to mow a lawn to military precision, how to take care of babies and be at ease with children, and how to keep a clean house. So I guess it all comes out in the wash. November 13 It's getting hot in herrrreThe first time I experienced a steam room was not that long ago. I'd been in saunas before, though I don't remember why or when, but never a steam room. Is it just that dry saunas are more popular than steam rooms? In any case, the first time I went to the steam room was a homecoming of sorts. There are things that you encounter and instantly like and feel like you should have always known about. That's how it was with me and the steam room.
I'm a pretty fidgety person and my mind is usually racing all over the place, unless I'm asleep. However, I think the steam room is the only place where I can stop thinking and sit still and fully, 100% relax. It's just too damn hot in there to do anything else. I don't know why I don't feel this way about the dry sauna, but something about the steam room is more detoxifying. I feel like I'm sweating away everything yucky and becoming a new person.
My favorite part of the steam room is when the steam kicks on and the room fills with fresh hot steam and the temperature rises exponentially with each passing second. And everything melts away - stress, what I'm going to do later, etc. It's just me and the steam - it purifies and fortifies me to return to this fastpaced modern life. November 12 Weekend RejectamentaBefore Mark went off to his fraught with frat boys concert, we went out for dinner at Santa Fe Cafe. Mark's road trip across America met with a lot of jokes about "finding himself" - one thing I know he found out there on the open road was a love of New Mexico Cuisine. Upon his return, he promptly researched a restaurant in town that serves it. So, Friday night, we shot up 99 and went to a little slice of New Mexico right in Phinney Ridge. Mark had the taco and enchilada plate that featured the unique New Mexico style sauce (which I felt tasted oddly like fish) wrapped in blue corn tortillas. I had the chile relleno tart - a blue corn pasty crust, gruyere cheese, and chiles all baked into a quiche like perfection. I know Mark was disappointed that I didn't get something more traditional, but I was not. It was truly one of the tastiest things I've put in my mouth in a long, long time. Yuuuum. We also had one margarita each. Our waiter informed us that the "strong" drink bartender was pouring, and he did not lie. I was so sleepy off of that one margarita that when we got home at 7, I went to bed and did not get up until the morning. I know, shameful amount of sleep.
Despite spending most of Friday night asleep, the weekend turned out to be surprisingly productive otherwise. Saturday, I cleaned up around the house a bit and we went to Northgate to get Mark's car fixed at Discount Tire. While we waited, we had Indian buffet for lunch, and then hit up the mall and Target. The Nordstrom half-yearly sale yielded a nicely priced new jacket and some crucial long sleeve layerng tees for winter. Once we got home, I hit up the gym before we made an appearance at a party for a friend of a friend's 1 year store anniversary. The store was a designer clothing store and as we browsed I was shocked and awed by the prices. As always around designer clothes, I'm left wondering who can afford that stuff. I always think that even if I was wealthy, I don't know that I could spend 250 dollars for a skirt. But who knows? Maybe numbers lose all meaning when you are oozing cash.
After we left the party, we went to the NiteLite for a drink and then saw the extremely hilarious Borat. That movie was pure genius. Hilarious, uncomfortable, unprecedented. I recommend it mightily.
Sunday, I did a lot of odds and ends type stuff. Knit, scanned old family photos for a Christmas present project, wrapped up my sister's bday present so I can send it tomorrow, read some of the book club book, went the gym. And tonight, we'll finish off the weekend with a 25 for 25 dinner at Ray's Boathouse. The Market Spice Creme Brulee we had there last time was so yummy that even Mark (who doesn't like custardy things) stil raves about it. I will TOTALLY be having Creme Brulee for dessert. Looking forward to it. November 10 If you wanna love me, then darlin' don't refrainAll this rain got me thinking about this old Guns N' Roses song that I used to love. And you know what? I think I still love it. And the video is still awesome. Why?
1. Stephanie Seymour. Still hot in that video! And that slutty wedding dress? I used to think it was SO HOTT. How did Axel ever get such a hot girl? Just goes to show you the power of the rockstar.
2. Bandanna + round glasses does not make you John Lennon. But it does make me laugh.
3. Love the pseudo-artsy feel of the video. I mean, a real orchestra?? That's serious business. Axel was like, I'm not just a metalhead anymore. I can do BALLADS.
4. "Everybody needs some time - on your own" - Not the most grammatically correct statement - but so true. This song's lyrics are totally quotable. I used to listen to this song and apply it to my own love life like mad. Yes, in his eyes, I CAN see a love restrained!! How does Axel KNOW about my life??
5. Guitar solo at the end STILL ROCKS HARD. As John says, Slash cuts to the chase and goes straight for the heart with that emoting solo.
I remember in college, I stole my cousin's Use Your Illusion 1 CD and would listen to my favorite three songs (Don't Cry, You Ain't the First, and OF COURSE November Rain) from this album on headphones, on repeat, in the dark. I was totally feelin' it.
Guns n' Roses are coming to Everett! If it was 20 bucks I'd go. But 40? Nah. November 06 Orange You Glad?One of my biggest pet peeves is when my hands smell like food. This means that I try to avoid eating with my hands (when eating a sandwich or burger, I usually try to use the wrapper as a sleeve), or else I just must wash my hands immediately. It just makes me feel vaguely nauseous to smell food on my hands.
The only exception to this is Satsuma oranges (weird how the link specifically calls them out as a staple of Seattle families). I don't really eat oranges most of the time, except Satsumas. What makes them so delightful? They are seedless, tiny, easy to peel and sweet yet vaguely tart. I love the Satsuma orange and I love the way the orange juice smells on my hands. It's good.
Last night, Safeway had the box o' Satsumas. I love when the Satsuma season rolls around and I see that big ol' honkin' box of oranges calling my name. Mark doesn't eat fruit, so I rarely buy any because I can't commit to finishing a bunch of fruit on my own. But I can totally commit to some YUMMY Satsuma oranges.
Japan is always bringing it with the BEST FOOD STUFFS. How do they do it?! November 01 I've Got a Bone to Pick.I'm feeling pretty torn up about the turn Veronica Mars has taken. This show is still good, but in an attempt to appeal to a wider audience, the show has been watered down this season. And a lot of the things that I loved about the show are now gone and replaced with the usual cliche TV show moves. Last night's show was the worst offender yet in my book and really got me fired up.
What's bugging me about the new season:
1. Living Separate Lives + Freak of the Week Factor. The Freak of the Week Factor is a term coined by I don't know who in reference (originally) to the show Smallville. Smallville has very exciting episodes where the metaplot moves along and all kinds of cool stuff goes down. This encapsulates about 1/3 of the season's shows. The rest of the season are one off episodes about a new meteor freak in Smallville stirring up trouble. It gets pretty boring. While there was always a one show mystery for Veronica to solve in seasons one and two, they usually had something to do with the larger whole - what Veronica was going through at the time, building up a friendship in some way, or leading her to other clues about the meta mystery. In this season, every character is being given separate but completely throw away plot lines that last one episode. Keith, in particular, has been totally relegated to "Weird Case of the Week" storylines. And the characters' storylines used to be all meshed together - lives intertwining, each person served a role in Veronica's world, etc. Now, the characters either have throw away storylines like Keith, or else get little to no plot time at all, like Weevil and Mac. It's really disappointing. Last night's episode - the mystery Veronica had to solve was the most boring thing ever. Like we need character back story on how much Lily meant to Veronica? Um, no. Been knowing that! And Wallace's storyline was just SO trite. College cheating? What is this - an episode of 90210??
2. The Gun in the 1st Act Must Go Off in the Third. The subtlety of the show has been replaced with a very explicit THIS REFERS TO SOMETHING LATER IN THE EPISODE SO PLEASE PAY ATTENTION vibe. There was an entire scene in last night's episode were Veronica and Weevil are talking and it's just completely a conversation that serves no other purpose but to set up a scenario that plays out down the line. Shows need these kind of scenes, but somehow, VMars used to do it so well! And now, it's become cheap. As was Veronica suspecting Weevil of the crime later on. It was just completely out of character for her and made no sense. What was the point of that except to have Weevil get to be in an episode? She treated him like she didn't even know he has a Heart of Gold! And she does know that!
3. Go Toward the Light. One of the most appealing things about Veronica Mars was the darkness of the show. It's a teen show but it was almost noir in the way things would go down. People dying, betrayal, rape, etc. Now, the MetaMystery this season could be dark and compelling, but they are making it far from that. The rapes only seem to phase Veronica slightly - she really doesn't seem to care that much about them. And you'd think something like that would bring up all kinds of dealing-with-past-rape issues for Veronica. Not to mention they're making the victims FemiNazis who just YELL and PROTEST. We're not seeing ANY vulnerability from the victims about what they've been through. It's so weird how this MetaMystery just seems really tacked on and not at all integrated. And Frat Boys as the baddies? Trite! And so doesn't compare to the PCH'ers!
4. Love is Strange. Logan and Veronica's relationship used to be very well written. This season, though, it seems like the writers don't know what to do with it. In one episode, he's giving her a key to his place. In the next episode, he's blowing her off all the time. And their dialogue is stilted and weird and their chemistry is all off. It's just weird - it feels like they're trying to slap in some romantic angst because focus groups show that audiences love that stuff. But maybe it's on purpose? I hope not! I like their old dynamic.
Watching the episode last night was just making me so sad. Maybe it was just one bad episode and it'll get better. Or maybe all this stuff is really going to lead up to something that will turn everything upside down. I really hope so. What's the point of stripping away all that makes a show good just to appeal to a wider audience? Oh, right, money. Duh. Well, maybe they will suck people in and then get back on track. Fingers crossed. |
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