Juicy in LA

On my way to work this morning, I saw a Range Rover with a Juicy Couture air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror.

Would you believe I've been enjoying life in LA quite a bit recently?

Wow, it's been a little rainy today, and the view from my work's window is the most beautiful thing I've seen in a while. The window overlooks the 405 freeway and the McMansions that dot the hills of Bel Air, and the light is that perfect twilight through the clouds, etc.

It's a little depressing, though, that I'm so excited to see a little sun-through-the-clouds action, casting shadows on nothing-too-special.



Sorry, under-attended blog, that this is the best I can come up with. That said, the only readers of my blog appear to be googlers of umbrella tattoos, so my guilt is minimal.

It must be awesome to have a girlfriend.

math

I just found an old post-it on my desk, and it says "6+11=18."

I hope I didn't write that.

Day of the Dead

Awesome.

feeding frenzy

So, Boyfriend "Can you put some more bacon on top of my milkshake?" Bill has decided that, given his advanced age, the time has come to more greatly consider the long term effects of diet and exercise.

I am glad of this, as I didn't want to worry about a) Bill burning his tongue while lapping bacon grease out of the pan or b) Bill ruining yet another evening whinging about brain freezes and begging for milkshake runs or c) Bill stealing the fat from my steak off my plate.

But prior to Bill's "oooh, do we have any flax to put on top of my high fiber cereal?" transformation, he was my food id, and I, the superego. Our powers combined created a sensible ego known to share a small (ok, mid-sized) bowl of ice cream while making kissy-face on the couch.

Now, however, I am driven by an insane hunger. I have consumed, on average, 3 servings of Oreos a day for the past few days. I contemplated leaving work to go buy a cupcake, even though I don't actually like cake very much.

I just finished my lady-time, so no, I'm not pregnant but thanks for your concern.

No, I fear that a certain number of calories must be consumed in our apartment, and I am, unfortunately, being forced to pick up Bill's slack. Sigh. Just call me "Jack Sprat's live-in girlfriend."

ohhh, the working world.

I just received this email from a colleague:

"Could you also make each caption seven points instead of eight? You just highlight the caption including the final paragraph mark, then highlight the 8 in the little formatting box and type in a 7, then hit enter."

Thanks for that.

next year.

I don't know how I missed National Punctuation Day (or its official meatloaf), but I did. And I am sad.

two to too

Two days to too old!

Actually, I am excited. My first birthday since starting college where I haven't been 'in transition' on the big day! Fuck the academic year and how it perpetually infringes on my celebration.

And, it's my golden birthday. I only get one of those, and this is it! At this particular moment, I am positively euphoric about the impending day of aging.

Change

I'm a regular at the airport.
It's getting chilly in LA-- low 70s, rain promised for the weekend...
And, I turn 26 in 8 days. I'd really rather not.

Oh, fuck lungs.

Every now and then, a news story comes out that just rocks one's world.

Apparently, microwave popcorn can cause lung deterioration.

The last convenience food that can always be found in my cabinets must go. Really, popcorn is the only reason I even have a freaking radioactive microwave.

R.I.P. microwave popcorn. I'm going old-school.

I'm so over it.

Los Angeles, I am so over your weather. Give me variety, give me rain, give me anything but tepid blue skies and dry heat.

carrot sticks

Sometimes, I throw some carrot sticks into my lunch. But then, while I work/think about food, I get unbearably depressed about how I will eventually have to eat carrot sticks. Even though I like carrots. There's just something a little depressing about them, especially when snacked upon in a cubicle.

Me? Simulated? Hmm.

I am probably like, the 50 millionth blogger to talk about this NY Times article in which some guy with a "Dr." preceding his name states that “there’s a 20 percent chance we’re living in a computer simulation.”
It says some other stuff, too, fascinating, really, and I'm possibly misunderstanding the whole thing. Still, if we are in fact an elaborate simulation by some sort of post-human, one has to wonder why they are so obsessed with Paris Hilton. It is somewhat comforting to think that it is actually some future mind that is getting stupider, not us. I wonder if they thought it was hilarious to give the 2000 election to Bush. I wonder if they are going to get tired of playing with the US and will focus their energies on Eritrea or Kyrgyzstan, those easily ignored nations.
Also, I wonder if I started sporting a "I'd like my ass to be better defined" on the back of my t-shirt if my ass would be suddenly more rounded, or if I would instead be struck with a desire to do lunges.

oh, to the poorhouse

My 403(b) has LOST 17¢. I can't believe it. My heart is broken. I have been robbed. Fuck you, Cheney.

ties and true love...

I love my boyfriend, Bill, very much. It is with great sadness I must report to you that he does not really know how to tie a tie. I accept this as further evidence to his great manliness. He will, no doubt, accuse me of trying to emasculate him on my blog. This is false. If I wanted to do that, I would talk about his lengthy, sissy-girl showers. No, instead, I tell you about how his uber-manliness unfortunately does not allow his fingers to tie fine knots.
Alas, last night Bill needed to wear his (1) tie with his (1) suit. And, because he does not own a bolo tie (much to his sadness), he had to tie the tie. Thank god for the internet.
For your amusement, I offer you... Bill!

Hey Korea, Hey!

On some Korean search engine, a post I wrote about Desperate Housewives in 2005 shows up as #3 if one searches "desperate housewives."
Fascinating.

days like these, etc.

this morning, i finally decided it was worth ironing this lovely silk skirt i bought at a sample sale in london several years ago.
after a lengthy hunt for the iron, i finally found it (why, boyfriend, would you have put it in the cabinet ABOVE the fridge?), and ironed the skirt.

I promptly spilled my breakfast on it. I rinsed the spot & decided it would be fine.

I start driving to work. I run my hands through my hair. It's still wet? Oh, no, I just have a big blob of conditioner left on top of my head.

I get to work, step out into the sun. The spot is totally still visible. After scrubbing the spot every few hours, it is virtually gone by the time I go to lunch, when I spill salsa on myself this time.

Just now, at 4:30, I notice, while in the bathroom, that my bra is plainly visible beneath my sweater. Let's hope everyone thinks that's intentional...

Oh, dorkiness

After reading this article in the New York Times about the new Harry Potter book, I don't think I will be able to resist getting the book this weekend. I had hoped to make it until the first round of people finish reading, so that I could borrow their's, but I just don't think so. Bummer.

best analogy ever

Once you give it up, you will lose your stickiness! Forever!

You may even end up with a small metal bolt. Yikes.

Abstinence-only education, hooray.

I have managed to update my blog twice in the hour I have been at work. Today promises to be productive. You, readers, are lucky.

valid.

yesterday, my boss said "well, if you haven't heard of it, then it's not important."
just as i suspected, i am the supreme arbiter of cultural importance.

A recipe from Ruth

Last weekend, I deserted Bill to celebrate my grandfather's 90th birthday in Nebraska, and to kick it with my Kansas City crew (uh, that would be my parents, brothers, Jessica & Ryan--holla!)...
Anyway, Bill apparently spent the weekend watching Battlestar Galactica, and drinking beer.
So far, I have spent my boyfriend-less time eating cottage cheese and tuna salad, probably Bill's least favorite foods.

Also, Whole Foods sells this tasty cranberry tuna salad, which costs like, $10/lb.
Anyway, I think I have finally successfully replicated the recipe!!!

It follows:

2 cans tuna (regular size, regular tuna)
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup red onion, chopped fine
1/4 cup mayo
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 T German Mustard (probably any whole grain would do)
1 T fresh parsley (optional-- by this I mean I didn't use it yesterday, but then remembered the abundance of fresh parsley on my balcony and added it today).

Soak cranberries & diced onion in water for about 5 minutes. Drain. Mix everything together. Eat it.

As a note, I made this yesterday, ate half for dinner last night, half for lunch today. I think the flavor was better today!

ruth from redleather, hm.

So, last month, I watched others read from their youthful diaries at the inaugural LA Angst. I went with fellow graduate student girlfriend Michelle and had a lovely evening. Met people, etc.

This month, I agreed to read. And while back in Kansas City this past weekend, picked up some of my old diaries. It turns out that I was awfully lame. I was in love with a lot of people I can't really put a face to now. Still, the old heartbreak hasn't quite faded (why did Andrew not like me? Who was Jeff R. and why did he choose Courtney R. over me?! Was it really because I should lose 10 lbs?), and I am pretty apprehensive about selling out teenage me for cheap laughs! Sure, my alternating concern with boys and the nature of the universe ("Peter M. is so nice. And hot! Ha! We don't even have to talk about gay things like school and friends, we can talk about real things, like feelings" followed by "I think if I accept all of Christianity's conditions I'd be cheating my self [sic]. Much of Christianity seems hypocritical to me. I truley [sic] believe in God, and that he could very well fill my void, but I don't want to become a Christian just to fill the void").

And, in 8th grade, I addressed my diary as "compilation of my ruminations." That I will encourage you to laugh at. However, I am pretty sure that should I sit down to write about my relationship with spirituality today it would be as trite as the above.

Anyway, you might note that the LA Angst page says that "Ruth from Redleather" will be reading. I guess that means I should be giving my blog some more lovin'.

kitie, married, bridesmaid, portland, etc!

Soo, this weekend, Kitie got married! In Portland! Veronica & I represented as bridesmaids, and did, if I do say so myself, a damn fine job, considering our novice status, especially.

Here I present a trio of photographs, but many many more can be found on my flickr.

Congratulations, Kitie & Curtis!

from my work, on earthquakes

"Make sure that you have a supply of your prescriptions with you should you be unable to leave work for a day or two following an event and don't forget a spare pair of glasses and contact lens solution!"

Life in Los Angeles is different.

I say:

"Is there a movie called 'Meet Cute'?"

"There should be; I would probably like it."

Les horreurs!

But pockets of tradition endure. At La Camembertière, a nearby restaurant, the owner and chef, Géry Boddaert, offers an entire menu with raw milk Camembert, including a Camembert tart, skate in Camembert sauce, entrecôte in Camembert sauce, free-range chicken in Camembert sauce, a green salad topped with melted Camembert and Camembert ice cream in apple syrup.

“There’s a completely different sensation with raw milk Camembert,” Mr. Boddaert said. “A different odor, a different taste, a different color. Industrial Camembert is a horror, a horror!”

meta

Last night, I slept like shit.
I either dreamed I saw a cockroach in the bathroom, saw a cockroach in the bathroom, or hallucinated one.
I'm afraid I don't really know which it was. Actually, I am pretty sure I didn't dream it, because when I woke up, the bathroom door was shut. Usually, it's not, and I remembered shutting the door.
But, I wasn't wearing my contacts or glasses, so all I can be sure of is that I might have seen a black dot and I might have seen it move. I didn't get close to it, because I didn't want to be obligated to do something about it, naked and barefoot was I.
It occurred to me, as I finished up the night fitfully tossing and turning (oh, fitfully is totally redundant there, isn't it? Really, I could just say I finished the night fitfully, couldn't I? Or, obviously, tossing and turning)... The point is, though, that I kept drowsily thinking that I should have put a glass over the the alleged roach, and made Bill deal with it in the morning (note: should anyone accuse me of being a mean and/or demanding girlfriend, I could have woken him to deal with the offending creature)...
But, that brings me to my speculation that it might have been a dream-- after all, I am a mean and demanding girlfriend-- so if I saw a roach, why didn't I wake up my noble protector? Maybe I didn't see it after all...

OMG Nas-T!

I know I'm not like, the most hygiene-oriented on the block (but hey, to be fair, I do live in one of LA's most densely populated zip codes), but I just observed some shocking bathroom behavior, especially considering she wasn't in there alone and you know, this is an office environment.

Woman stops at printer, takes printed stuff into the bathroom, goes into stall with print-outs, pees, flushes, leaves.

Umm, I know that it would have been awkward to put the papers down while washing her hands and she probably would have gotten them wet. But I think the obvious solution there is to pick the stuff up at the printer after using the bathroom. Maybe I'm crazy.

But, it's not like I think what she did is so filthy-nasty. No, I just think this refusal to conform to hygienic convention is odd-- if not exactly notable. I mean, I entered the restroom right behind her, took the stall right next to hers, etc.

I probably am crazy, because seriously, who blogs about the bathroom habits of total strangers? I've never seen this lady before-- she stopped at the web development printer, so she's not in my crew. I admired her black suede platform shoes though, I admit it.

Girl's a woman now!

Look at me look at me I have a 403B!
Yup, that's right, I'm doing right by my retirement and it feels good.
Holla.

Molasses cookies

OK, so, I just made molasses cookies & I am like, some kind of genius. Prior to this cookie-baking, I'd only eaten the Archway molasses cookies about once a year with my dad.
Recently, it occurred to me that one could actually make their own molasses cookies! So, I found a recipe. But then I was all distressed because it called for vegetable shortening, and I couldn't find molasses, and I couldn't believe how expensive ground cloves were. But eventually I found molasses, and I decided to splurge on organic fancy-ass vegetable shortening from Whole Foods. And it turned out that ground cloves were like, half as much as ground cloves at the regular grocer! So, lucky that.
And finally, today I made the cookies, and they are literally the best thing in the world. I am obsessed with their awesomeness. I'm not one to toot my own horn (ha!), but these are the best damn cookies in the world. Make them now!!

mail

In the past few months, I have received both an offer of membership to the AARP, and a letter addressed to the parents of myself, announcing my "who's who amongs american high school students." I have also received several offers for discount old-people scooters. Incidentally, do you ever see old people on scooters, outside of the grocery store/shopping mall?

the central coast

Bill and I just spent a lovely weekend on the central coast of california, where we celebrated our 7th anniversary with ...

wine & vineyards...

pretty views of the pacific...

strange sea creatures...

and of course, love. aw.

for more photos of our adventures, check out my flickr.

this is how i roll, or ruth goes to the culver city car show

so, down my street today was the culver city car show! i explored. it was a pretty sweet cross section of LA, complete with every and all social movement associated with vehicles. we had souped-up hoopties, complete with mexican & black homeboys, rockabilly roadsters, old white men with aged cadillacs, and of course, what i'd consider the car show standard, men with handlebar mustaches. anyway, i got the camera out for the pretty paint jobs...

A trip down memory lane?

So, friend Julie posted with her job history. I thought that was kinda fascinating, and decided to do the same. This is not an exhaustive list of positions I have held-- I did not include stipended positions held during college, nor did I include the positions held while a temp. I left off babysitting gigs, jobs held at camp as a pre-teen, etc.

I temped from 2004-2005 in London (4 different jobs there) and Dublin (about a dozen different jobs), where I held various administrative positions for organizations as varied as a diamond miner/whiskey distillery, plumber's union, pharmaceutical company, a law firm, a mortgage broker, two national NGOs, a builder of outlet malls, a university, and some sort of transportation center?

I also temped briefly upon my arrival to Los Angeles, where I sat at a desk at a Swiss money-managers. I was never clear on what I did there...

In any case, in chronological order... the working history of your truly:

1. Cashier at Big K-Mart
2. Receptionist at Bud Brown Chrysler Plymouth
3. Salesperson at Nordstrom (promoted from Cashier)
4. Marketing Intern at Sprint
5. Sales Associate at The Jones Store
6. Custodial Assistant, Knox (lasted about 2 weeks…)
7. Marketing Assistant, Knox College Office of Admission
8. Field Manager, US PIRG (promoted from Canvasser)
****TEMP****
9. Information Specialist, REACH for Kids
****TEMP****
10. Marketing Supervisor, Whole Foods Market (promoted from Marketing Assistant)
11. Senior Staff Assistant, Getty Publications

Park

Los Angeles doesn't have enough parks.
Even in Kansas City, I always lived within walking distance of a bonafide park. Not here. Boo.

My newest hobby!

OK, I am addicted to reviewing shit on yelp. Do you do it too? If you do, will you be my friend? Will you rate me as funny? People keep finding me useful or cool, but never funny. This is somewhat ironic as I spent much of my teens bemoaning the frequency of which I was described as funny or weird, not cool. Anyway, yelp with me, and read my reviews. Not that most of my readership lives in LA, but whatever.

No longer neutral about carbon neutrality...

Now that I am no longer required to sell 'carbon neutrality' to throngs of L.Aliens, I am inclined to discuss the ethical quagmire that is 'reducing one's carbon footprint.' In my time at WFM, I was expected to play up our 'carbon neutrality' and encourage our customers to buy wind power credits.
Today's NY Times article on the subject is pretty awesome, I think. There are a number of truly stupid things about buying your way to carbon neutrality--not the least of which, as the article notes, is that they are essentially plenary indulgences. The biggest environmental sinners can buy their way to eco-heaven. Not to mention the fact that where your money goes is somewhat mysterious. The money from a WFM wind power purchase goes to Renewable Choice, a privately-held energy brokerage. It's not a wind power farm-- indeed, you can't even find out which wind power farms benefit from your purchase. You are just giving money to a company that has little obligation to inform you, the consumer, of their business practices. Granted, they are certified by Green-e, an off-shoot of a non-profit.
Soo, the whole process is somewhat dubious. I mean, I'm sure it's somewhat beneficial to buy these energy credits or whatever. It's probably better than just blindly flying around the country. Any tool that suggests buying energy credits before, for instance, using less energy at home or recycling is not, in my opinion, a particularly useful one.

major new job perk: access to the OED online!

I will never be bored again.

I see France...

Wow, look at France's presidential candidates! A goofy-named son-of-an-immigrant and a controversial lady! We haven't had a president who grew up speaking anything other than English since 1841 (Van Buren, Dutch). And you know, considering the whole New York/Netherlands connection, nothing too special there.
Soo, France, after all your lame bitching and moaning about the US, it looks like you might finally actually show us up! Fascinating.
Let's hope US voters recognize the gauntlet has been thrown, and one-ups France in 2008.

On Hillary...

I have to say that I have been less willing to jump on the anti-Hillary bandwagon than my personal politics might suggest.

As the daughter of a strident feminist who always out-earned my father, who was part of that first generation of women in corporate America, and whose glass-ceiling battles were often keenly felt over the dinner table, I find myself casting a forgiving and hopeful eye on Ms. Rodham Clinton.

Anyway, I found this article in the New York Times on Hillary's Wellesley class absolutely fascinating.

I agree with one of her classmates, who says that she has "always felt that the way [Hillary] is singled out and attacked is very indicative of how society reacts to smart women.”

While I do think the liberal left has valid criticisms of Hillary that fall outside that construct, I think her classmates' justification (the inevitabilities of her life in the public eye) of some of her behavior makes sense, and I hope their predictions about the future of her campaign are accurate (that she will become more relaxed and more bold, etc).

Because truth be told, I really want to like Hillary Clinton.

With Obama, as I did with Howard Dean, I find myself very suspicious of this "golden boy" status thing he has going on. I suspect that if we scrutinized Obama as Hillary has been, we would find the same shrewdness and yes, politic that Hillary is criticized for. Certainly, I think Dean's position at the helm of the DNC has demonstrated that not only does he lack the political fortitute required for the presidency, he's hardly liberal America's bellwether.

I guess I take some comfort in her classmates' assertions (even the one purporting to be a Republican) that she was brilliant, charismatic, and "way off the charts in being engaged in her community and in the world, taking personally what was happening and wanting to do something about it.”

Compared with the LA Times' somewhat troubling article about Obama's time at Occidental College, which he attended because he 'met a girl' and then transferred to Columbia. I found it so trouble that I remembered the article from almost 2 months ago and successfully located it for you just now. Why I found it so troubling I don't really know, except that I felt like like it perhaps indicated that Obama has somewhat of an obsession with bettering his status in a relatively unsavory way.

If how one's classmates remember you is any indication of your value, then certainly, Hillary's the one. I admit that the Obama article is far more cursory than the Hillary one. Still, I think I'd rather know college Hillary than college Obama.

Not that I'm opposed to Obama by any means, but I doubt he's our salvation, or that he's even more genuine or ethical than Hillary.

Point being, I remain open to the possibility of voting for Hillary, and that NYT article is interesting.

walking breakthrough

OK, so, Bill's like, a really fast walker. I am constantly having to beg him to slow down. This is one of the on-going dramas of our relationship. Fortunately, this is less of a problem in pedestrian-unfriendly LA than it was in London, but still, I've always dreamed of a day in which I could keep up with my swift fella.
So, last week I was reading some health-oriented magazine and it said that the trick is shorter steps, not longer strides. Yesterday, on my walk to Blockbuster, I decided to try it out. Amazing!!! I felt like a speed demon.
Anyway, today I had the opportunity to walk a ways with Bill, and man, I was effortlessly keeping up!
I continued my speedy walking throughout work today, feeling like a real champ, until I inevitably ran into someone. Still, I am pretty thrilled with my newfound ability to truck it.

changes

so, i feel the need to get a fairly long life-update out there for my sparse readership. it is primarily career related.

a couple of months ago, i began the long and tedious process of interviewing for a promotion (which would mean a transfer) at my current place of employment. after being given the run-around, i did some soul-searching and realized that i really needed to start being proactive about finding a new position. so i started applying for jobs at museums and universities.

as luck would have it, i finally did get promoted, and i started at the new store a week ago.

also last week, i had an interview at the getty center (senior staff assistant, publications). the job was offered, my background check cleared, and today, i accepted the position.

the new job will be basically corresponding with archives around the world to get pictures for various getty projects--books, catalogues, posters etc. I will also get every other Friday off, and fully paid benefits from day one!

now, i must give notice, which i am petrified about. i've never just plain quit a job before-- i've always been moving, going back to school, etc. and you know, i just started, and i am managing people now (highly incompetent ones, that my coordinator told me i could start the process of firing today...). so, not only must i put in notice, i also will be doing it at a time where everyone involved will no doubt think really poorly of me. ideally, they would refuse my notice and let me leave immediately, thus sparing me the ensuring frustration and shame i will feel in leaving a job unfinished.

but the fact of the matter is--i hate my job, and even if the new one fails to live up to my expectations, at least i will have every other friday off!

grouchiness

On my fantastic Whole Foods health insurance, I pay $50.94 a month to control my alleged fertility. In the 6 years I've been on _the pill_, my co-pays have ranged from a glorious $7 to the unforgivable $50.94. My last employer-provided health care plan had a $30 co-pay, which resulted in me almost bursting into tears at the pharmacy. This vile $50.94 co-pay, however, has produced in me a nearly-catatonic state.
If I end up spending thousands of dollars trying to get pregnant in 10 years or whatever, please remind me to go on a rampant killing spree.

Chinese Food

Sometimes, I miss kc-style Chinese food so badly. Los Angeles Chinese food is only found authentically in certain neighborhoods, and the less authentic stuff in my neighborhood doesn't hit the spot like the less authentic stuff from home.
I just want some hunan chicken, egg drop soup & a crab rangoon.

sunny day

tipsy after a beer and a half, i finished my book on my sunny balcony.

there are reasons for optimism.

i do!

baguette-making

I made these two baguettes all by my lonesome. I'm proud of me. They taste good.

scissors

mo'

so much crank in my pants.

i think i have read everything of interest on the internet, i haven't been particularly engrossed in a book in weeks (months?), and my apartment is colder than it should be in los angeles.
also, my job has ceased to hold any possibility of greater interest, but the idea of pretending to be enthusiastic about a different sort of job in a cover letter seems downright nauseating.
in other news, the clothes on the drying rack have been dry for several days, but the prospect of hanging them in the closet overwhelms me.
finally, i have purchased several containers for the purpose of greater organization in the home, but they remain seated where i left them upon returning home post-shopping.
bill and i have finally succeeded in watching virtually every episode of virtually every show to have received high praise in the past few years.
i have experimented with improving my french via podcast, but alas, je cherche encore un divertissement.
Et aussi, le dimanche passe, un homme s'est adresse a moi en francais, et je n'ai que compris le mot "jamais." Je pense que cette anecdote est relevateur.
O forse, ho bisogno practicare il mio italiano.
Ho imparato molte cose che non sono piu importanti.

wheee

Bill and I have been the proud owners of a wii for about a week now.

I am quite satisfied thus far with our purchase, though I must say it brings out some less attractive boyfriend-attributes (how incredibly seriously he takes his ability to roll strikes). However, the seriousness with which Bill practices his boxing surely will bring out more attractive boyfriend-attributes (guns!), so I suppose we will soon be in balance.

spit rock story

does anyone remember reading a story where someone (i think a man, i think the protagonist & narrator) picks up what he thinks is a pretty rock but turns out to be a blob of spit?


i really need to know what that story is...

exhume.

i notice a lot of tv drama focuses on the exhumation of bodies, and various people connected to the body requiring exhumation causing a big fuss about not wanting the deburial to occur.
i personally don't see what the fuss is all about.
i want to go on record that should i be murdered, die of a mysterious disease, etc, i do not mind being exhumed. it doesn't trouble me, and i should hope it won't bother any of you.

ink.

I am beginning to wonder if I am not appropriately expressing my individuality by remaining untattooed.

Adult Matters

Man, I so wish this was about porn or something.

Alas, more pedestrian adult matters. Actually, I'm not sure if dental care is more pedestrian than porn...

But, how does one choose a dentist? I've had the same dentist for as long as I remember. Unfortunately, I have to choose a dentist for my dental hmo. It appears I have to make some sort of official dental care proclamation, before having ever seen a dentist outside of my mother's zip code.

And a dentist, of all things. The most challenging of all health care providers. I mean, I have heard horror stories galore of greedy dentists ordering multiple unnecessary procedures.

I assume, however, that perhaps some of my readership has faced this challenge in the past... so, what did you do? Help me choose wisely.

hip hood

Bill & I's neighborhood made the New York Times! We are so totally cool (if too poor to eat at the restaurants featured... but we walk by them all the time!)...

In Culver City, Calif., Art and Food Turn a Nowhere Into a Somewhere

$52 feminism

California NOW, why do you make your awesome feminist hoodie so expensive??? It's so much cuter than any other hoodie I have ever seen. I have wanted you for over a year now, but at $52 the chance of me ever buying you is slim to none.

I know that a reasonably crafty person could buy some fuzzy letters and brown hoodies and construct a near-identical sweatshirt, but I am not reasonably crafty.

$52 is the equivalent to half a day's work, roughly 1/25 of my rent. Obviously, not something I can part with lightly. But that's not even the real issue, which is, why a hoodie would cost $52 in the first place! Sweatshop-free & USA-made, OK, but come on! This is totally a for-profit hoodie. I mean, American Apparel's retail of their basic men's hoodie is $41. However, I have determined that their wholesale price is roughly 25% of their retail price, making the approximate cost $10. I appreciate that there are printing, administrative, etc costs and that NOW also likely uses the sale of their products to raise money. However, $30-40 is surely fair. My $30/annual donation should surely get me a hoodie-hookup...


Note: Friends, family, gift-givers-- don't take this as a buy-me plea. I scorn $52 hoodies.

oh, the sickness!

i have the flu.

i had to go home sick from work, which would be cool, except i don't have sick leave yet. and my lame boyfriend is going to be at school until like midnight, so no one is here to take care of me!

and i had to go to the grocery store all by myself to get popsicles and seven-up. and, now that i'm home, all i want is sourdough bread.

wah wah wah.

update: i also want cheez-its.

lost the touch

so, i just sat down to draw you the most picture-worthy of things... but i couldn't do it. i fear that i've lost my touch, after probably a year or so of not drawing any pictures for my blog. perspective totally baffled me, and i felt sad about my inability to render the world as i see it, and yet, unwilling to produce the charmingly simplistic vignette i no doubt would have come up with.

i suppose this serves as a useful metaphor for lack of event in my daily life of... get this: going to work, cooking food, watching gilmore girls season six on dvd (finally! blockbuster online had totally been holding out on me), and reading about sex. the reading about sex is a relatively new development, enabled by a christmas gift i received, sex & single girls, a collection of essays written by a number of individuals very inclusively defined as 'girl' and 'single.' fascinating stuff, to be sure.

but, back to what i wished to render for you in visual form.

on my way to work today, i had the great fortune of witnessing a man drag a body from the back seat of his car in the middle of an intersection and begin either life-saving measures or unspeakable violence. obviously, traffic slowed as this atrocity went on, so, being stuck in my car, i had the opportunity to rubberneck. as i slowly drove past (the police and an ambulance had since arrived), it became apparent that this man had pulled the mother of his child out of the car and began beating her in the middle of an 8-lane intersection! I was able to ascertain the facts of this scene as he was being handcuffed and yelling "you're a liar! you can't do this to me or my child! you're going to jail."

i know. it is so awesome that they have a child.

anyway, i know violence against women is a terrible terrible thing (unless, of course, it's consensual, and, i don't know, approved by whatever governing body bdsm has. but sometimes, it's just too absurd not to entertain. just so you know, the victim was standing and more or less ok when I saw this fascinating tableau unfold before my very eyes.

finally, this is actually the third scene i've witnessed in los angeles of a man being handcuffed by the police. i don't think i'd ever seen that before.

well, i have returned from a lovely trip to kansas city, where sadly i got no snow. this may very well be my first totally snow-free winter, which i find pretty disappointing. hopefully, bill and i will get to take a mountain vacation, but no guarantees.

i must say, i thoroughly enjoyed the lack of waiting in traffic, in line, for a table, etc, that came with my kansas city visit. there is surely something to be said for relative tranquility. i also enjoyed drinking copious amounts of booze with friends. i did not enjoy flight delays, etc.

while bill was suffering with the denver fiasco, i frequently thanked the powers that be that i would be flying through balmy dallas. the powers that be, no doubt peevish about my usual lack of attention, saw fit to bring tornadoes through dallas, cancelling my own flights. so, that was a bit of a bummer.

a bit bigger of a bummer, of course, as the 3,000 us soldiers dead in iraq. a tragic headlines day when i hoped to be reading feature-y predictions about the year to come. let's hope that 2007 brings less violence.