Inch by Inch and Row by Row

Today's Question:  If you could have a tree in your yard that would sprout anything, what type of tree would you have?


  Well clearly I've never kept any goals in my life.  Well that isn't really true.  I make and meet several of my professional goals.  Well, most of the time.  But I refuse to give up.  Even if I skip a couple days.  Today was my first day back from vacation.  And though I tried to maintain my relaxation mode by about 10AM I had put up a line of blue tape visually marking the space bubble I needed.  So yeah.  I needed some serious deep breathes.  




I'm not going with the obvious answer on today's question.  If there was a tree in my yard I would want it to sprout colored feathers to decorate my house.  But that would probably get really messy.  It would also just love a tree that sprouted grapefruits.  Then I could squeeze them and make grapefruit juice.  Then if I had a champagne factory I could make delicious greyhounds for myself and my friends every once and a while.  It would be awesome to have a money tree.  But no matter which way I envision it, that story ends badly!  It would be awesome to have a tree that sprouted plane tickets!  Or sprouted some mode of transportation back to the East coast that was efficient.  That's the tree I'm really wanting for most of the time.  


It's Monday night which means it's sausage time.  My friend dj's at a Sausage bar not to far from my house and sometimes the best pick-you-up is a truffle sausage and/or a beer.  What if I go there tonight and Peter Dinklage is there?  I totally have the hots for him.  And seeing him as a studly-whoring Prince in Game of Thrones really wet me whistle!

    
                                                                 YUMZ!


Ok, there are playoffs to watch and work to avoid doing!  A la prochaine!

NBA playoffs and the seasons change

Today's question:  Who's the oldest living person in your family? How much do you know about him or her?


  Well, I know that I promised a double entry yesterday but after one brewery and three wineries napping was all I could handle.  I took a nice day trip up to Sonoma yesterday.  Lots of laughs and lush vistas.  It's pretty fancy up there but lucky my rag tag crew wasn't turned away.  We did cause a little scene at the brewery but we weren't anything like these people.  Who I think were gypsies waiting to steal our identities. 


I have no idea who the oldest living person in my family is.  A guess would be my great aunt Elanor.  My grandfather's sister.  He passed away about 8 years ago but she is still alive and doing the do in Seattle, Washington.  Interesting because I have a cousin who lives there and recently emailed me about coming to visit.  Could this be another sign?  There have been a lot of signs this week during the staycation.  I can't believe it's almost over. 


All things spring are in effect.  The end of March mayhem and Madness.  The beginning of NBA playoffs and finally day upon day of sunshine in the West.  It's still not that warm but at least the gray clouds have moved on.  And while the West may have very few good basketball teams I stay true to my homestead and say Go Celtics!  


Well blogosphere it's a beautiful day and I'm a guilty white person.  Gotta go spend time outside.


A la prochaine.   

Day Three--I'm out

Today's Question:  What is something you always have with you?

Dang blogosphere!  I only made it two days?  Really... everyone's allowed a do over right?  Also, I'm on vacation so time and space are combining as one and I wish today was Thursday.  That's probably the only week you'll here me say that.

Today's challenege question is an easy one.  One thing I always have with me is my glasses.  I've considered getting contacts for the better part of five years but I haven't done it yet.  I can't function outside my house without my glasses.  I can't function very well in my house without them either.  Sometimes I get in the shower and in my brain I'm like: Wow, I can see so well today.  Then I realize I'm still wearing my glasses.

When I put glasses over my own glasses I call it "glasses-glasses. Don't judge".                                                               

Today I'm continuing to press as much fun as I can out of my staycation.  Maybe I'll make up for yesterday and post another entry later today.  Obviously I need to have a stricter regime.  

Large Marge and other images that may shock and frighten you!

Today's Question:  What is the scariest thing you've ever done?

  I'll be honest blogosphere fans/friends/readers/  I enjoy writing to you as if there are masses of people reading this blog.  I figure if somebody happens to stumble across this randomly they might think it's the most pretentious blog written by a person who thinks very highly of themselves.  At least that's what I'm hoping.  My adoring public...you know not that I exist.  But as usual I digress.  So yesterday was my big vacation travel let down.  I know it happens all the time.  Plans changes, planes break down, your train is late, the bus gets re-routed.  But it never happened to ME!  Well, actually, that's not true.  I've just never gone to the airport and left again within a 20 minute time frame.  I'm also remembering that I haven't done anything for Spring break since I moved out here.  One year my friend Victoire came out to visit me and last year I'm pretty sure I did the big ole nothing.  I locked my keys in my car.  Thereby ensuring I had a true staycation.  This year my staycation is imposed by my no longer such good friends at Southworst.  I will continue to trash their airline until I decide I'm broke enough to splurge on their cheap airfares again.
   All of these are interesting tidbits but none of them describe the scariest thing I've ever done.  I've done a couple scary things.  The most obvious to me right now is deciding to pick up and move to California three years ago.  Not only am I far away from everything and everyone I know; I can't even blame it on somebody else.  It was my own decision.  It didn't seem scary at the time but compared to everything else "scary" I've done...goin on the caves field trip in 8th grade.  That was definitely scary...maybe more claustrophobic but it freaked me out a lot.  Ropes courses...also pretty scary to me.  I have a pretty low center of gravity (BIG WINK) and I don't really like putting on harness and trying to scale tree trunks.  Living in a foreign country.  That was scary too.  But now, it doesn't seem that scary at all.

  In fact, even living in California didn't seem scary when I decided to do it.  It seemed fun and easy and a good change of pace.  Only in retrospect do I realize how F*ing scary it was.  Especially when I try to go places for vacation and I can't get there!  Then I read today's blog prompt and I realize. WOW.  The scariest thing I've ever done is something I continue to live with every single day.  But isn't that what makes it scary? 

And on that note.  Another day, another blog entry.  I'm 2 for 2.  Thanks Natarie for the pinch hitting reminder! 

Oh yeah and when I was a kid I couldn't sleep without the light on for like almost an entire year because I watched Pee-Wee's Great Adventure and Large Marge scared the SHIT out of me.  Seriously, ask my mom.  She suffered through it just as much as I did. 

NaBloPoMo National Blog Posting Month

Today's question:  Who do you miss?

I found this on the internets when I was trying to give my blog a facelift.  I've recently come into a bunch of free time at home that I didn't expect.  After a day of travel let downs that I'll discuss in a minute I'm finally hunkered down at home.   Spending some serious time with my couch and catching friends up on what happened to me today that I checked up on my friend's blog BestBlog : Life Belongs to the Energetic.  She's been doing a 30 day blog challenge and actually sticking to it.  Since I'm so terrible about updating my blog I decided that I would take a page from her and re-re-re-dedicate my self for updating and maintaining this tiny little spot of cyber space.
  While I was looking for ways to jump start my writing process I stumbled across the NaBloPoMo website.  A total fluke but super nerdy and definitely hilarious.  And I decided to take the Blog Month challenge.  Feel free to severely verbally lash me if I can't see this one through.  There are two reasons this is going to work. 1) I am committed.  2) My wonderful exciting trip to DC for Spring Break was unexpectedly canceled thanks to the loving employees of Southwest.  From here forward known as Southworst.
  Today's experience answers the question.  I miss a lot of things.  My friends who live far away from me and my family.  I made a decision to move across the country three years ago and I do not regret it for a second.  Still, on days like today when the stupidness of air travel ruins my plans I fully realize and feel how far away I am from most of the people I know and love.  Overall, thinking about people I miss makes me understand the fragility of life.  
  At the same time I'm still on vacation and some deep deep relaxation must occur.  I want to get a seaweed wrap and have small midgets walk up and down my back.  On that note...more tomorrow.

And besides, you're not the only one and it isn't that bad.

One of my favorite quotes for the past ten years.  People usually hate it when you say it to them especially if they are complaining about something which to them appears to be a big deal.  And it really isn't.  Because honestly most things we complain about aren't.  And it's almost certain you aren't the only person going through it.

  Turns out I'm not the only one deeply touched by Willow Smith's anthem to the youth...which according to my 11-13 year old sources "has been out for at least 6 months". 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhFh-JqQuMg

It's seriously hilarious.  Best part I was watching it at work with my co-workers and this is how the conversation went:

CoWorker 1:  Now Jimmy Fallon is doing a good Neil Young but he doesn't really look like him.  The face is all wrong.  But that guy is doing an awesome Bruce.

CoWorker 2: Yeah, I don't know who he got to play the Boss but he sounds just like him. 

  Yes folks, IT IS Bruce Springsteen.  FYI: spell check just dinged me when I accidentally left the G out of his name.  I thought last names weren't in spell check.  Mine always gets the red squiggly line.  I guess when you get to a certain level of fame the enter your name in the spell check database.  On that line of thought, is there a spell check database?  Each year new words are supposedly entered in the dictionary.  Or each time they do a reprint of Ye Ole Websters or American Heritage or dictionary.com.  I wonder.  Is spell check a computer program or is it actual people?  I bet there is a Google (which has the red squiggly line until I capitalized that G)  article about spell check somewhere.

  The idea we're tackling this week is SELF IMPORTANCE.  Yes you are great!  Yes you are important!  Some people take it way too far.  Myself included (at times).  I take issue with Katy Perry.  And not just because she spells our name with a Y.  I just watched her video "Firework" on my sisters tumblr page.  The message is in the right place but the fireworks shooting from her breasts really held my focus.  This is what teens watch.  And they are an influential group, in advertising, in media, (which are basically the same thing to me at this point) in fashion (check out that little chick who has a fashion blog, Tavi Gevinson) and one thing many teens subscribe to is SELF IMPORTANCE.  You are a firework! You must spread your light and shine forth.  Do the right thing!  But do it in your best interest and for the good of the people??  These are complicated messages.  But they go out to teens everyday.  It's a bit of a superficial dip into a much larger issue but the point of my blog is not to answer your questions.  It's to make you think about things.
  I started this blog thinking about the dating world.  And it's been a year.  Since then a lot has changed on my blog.  I found the cyber dating world to be a simultaneously scary and funny place.  Lately I've been thinking about setting up more dates just for the stories.  Now I think the blog needs to be a vehicle for people to know all the important things I think in my head!  And besides, I'm not the only one and truly it isn't that bad!!  

Whip MY hair...

When I was in college or just recently graduated the song 'Too Little, Too Late' was  all over the airwaves.  It was a song by JoJo who I think was maybe 12...possibly 13.  But seriously readers, her lyrics spoke to me and many other women much much older than 13.  Now we have a new selection by a delightful tween who sums it up pretty good.  "Don't let haters keep me off my grind.  Keep my head up I know I'll be fine.  Keep fighting until I get there.  When I'm down and I feel like giving up I think again"
  Truth: Wisdom comes at any age.  Second truth:  The way people behave in middle school (the tween age) is just a base line for how they will behave for the rest of their life.  I'm really starting to believe that second truth.  Not to say that people can't change.  They absolutely can but it's difficult and most people prefer to remain in their comfort zone.

  Speaking of comfort zones, I recently attended a concert that did EVERYTHING IN IT'S POWER to transcend people's comfort zones.  Far far away from the world of Willow Smith (which I'm just realizing is a bizarre name play on her father's name) exists Of Montreal.  A great band I definitely recommend checking out but definitely not for the conservative minded or faint hearted.  The lead man, Kevin Barnes, is an according to my brother a straight man.  I'd like to add with homosexual tendencies even though after this show I think he might just be done to experience whatever life brings.  Here are some photos: 

The beginning...

I think this when the Sunshine people came out.

Gold body suits are totally rad and I think I helped them make those sun heads in my classroom on Friday.

Janelle Monae is BOSS!!

Sometimes you just gotta ride away on your people rhino.

When it was all said and done I was entertained, heard good music, but also felt as if I had attended a higher budget GSP theater show.  (I have no idea if any of my readers know what GSP theater is, it's the low-budget theater group I was involved with in college).  Even at NYU there had to be a band of drama misfits that didn't apply to Tisch and couldn't even get accepted to the College of Arts and Sciences until Junior year...but I digress.

 The show was so bizarro out there I thought: "This must be what doing acid is like."  Because truth 3: I've never done acid.  But I imagine Kevin Barnes has and that is when he created this show.  The overall goal was to make people a little uncomfortable.   I whip my hair at people who can't transcend their comfort zone.  Does that mean that I'm comfortable making other people uncomfortable?  I guess I need to start behaving very normal in order to make myself take things to the next level.  Ok Haterzz here I go....