I read this article the other day and started writing a total rant about it but stopped myself. I just have three quick points to make:
1. Courtney Love is held up as a role model. Hello? Miss Heroin is no heroine to me.
2. The Signourey Weaver character in Working Girl was not a "superwoman" as you say. She was a raging bitch who lied and cheated her way to the top.
3. You mention Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep. How about mentioning the real Erin Brokovitch and the real Karen Silkwood.
Rant over.
I knit. I cook. I rule.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
F-You Mercury
According to every horoscope I've read, Mercury is retrograde. Which has been shockingly apparent lately.
1. The home computer crashed. For some odd reason, I didn't freak out about it. I have a loaner from work and I'm not going to take the broken one in until after this retrograde shit is over.
2.. I wore two different shoes to work yesterday. One had a big flower, the other little sequins. And one was higher than the other. It took me hours to notice, even though I did catch on that I was feeling a little limpy.
3. Sent my guy off to his union meeting in Manhattan. Cancelled.
4. Had a long email conversation with my IT guy in which we were each talking about something different even though our responses all sort of made sense.
5. We did finally find the heating pad but now no longer need it.
I can't wait until August 27th.
P.S. I generally read my horoscope when I have no idea what to do. Hey, my life is in the toilet bowl and I don't know which end is up--I'm going to follow the one sentence advice of a total stranger at the NY Post. Otherwise, I don't really keep up on it.
1. The home computer crashed. For some odd reason, I didn't freak out about it. I have a loaner from work and I'm not going to take the broken one in until after this retrograde shit is over.
2.. I wore two different shoes to work yesterday. One had a big flower, the other little sequins. And one was higher than the other. It took me hours to notice, even though I did catch on that I was feeling a little limpy.
3. Sent my guy off to his union meeting in Manhattan. Cancelled.
4. Had a long email conversation with my IT guy in which we were each talking about something different even though our responses all sort of made sense.
5. We did finally find the heating pad but now no longer need it.
I can't wait until August 27th.
P.S. I generally read my horoscope when I have no idea what to do. Hey, my life is in the toilet bowl and I don't know which end is up--I'm going to follow the one sentence advice of a total stranger at the NY Post. Otherwise, I don't really keep up on it.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Some Good Things
1. Getting flowers for no reason.
And then coming home to an amazing dinner (there was shrimp cocktail).
2. Kittens
She and Max have been plotting all day. They're either going to murder us in our sleep or sing Memory.
You can thank me later for not linking to the Barry Manilow version.
3. Penne with sausage and broccoli from Palisade Pizza. Thank you Frankie.
4. A silverware drawer that opens and closes.
5. A clear spot of floor in Chez Chaos. It slowly, slowly, slowly moves forward. And I'm not complaining one bit. Slow and sure wins the race. Things are starting to look really good around here. The plastic room is still hanging around the kitchen door to keep the sawdust in but I'm just calling it a second bedroom.
And then coming home to an amazing dinner (there was shrimp cocktail).
2. Kittens
She and Max have been plotting all day. They're either going to murder us in our sleep or sing Memory.
You can thank me later for not linking to the Barry Manilow version.
3. Penne with sausage and broccoli from Palisade Pizza. Thank you Frankie.
4. A silverware drawer that opens and closes.
5. A clear spot of floor in Chez Chaos. It slowly, slowly, slowly moves forward. And I'm not complaining one bit. Slow and sure wins the race. Things are starting to look really good around here. The plastic room is still hanging around the kitchen door to keep the sawdust in but I'm just calling it a second bedroom.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Balance
When I started this post today, it was called Strangers. But as I wrote it I realized that the idea of strangers was a small part of what was really on my mind.
I've still been thinking about interdependence a lot and the concept of balance keeps emerging. Balance is not equality. Or tit for tat. It's not "the groceries are $10.15 so here's $5.08 and you have to pay the extra penny next time." Balance is not readily measurable.
Balance is catching someone when they are falling. It's picking someone up who fell too fast. And it's being caught when you are falling and picked up when it's your turn to hit the ground hard. It's flying high together. Sometimes, it's being loud while someone else is quiet. Sometimes, it's singing along to the radio together. It's one person navigating while the other drives. But it doesn't just come from personal relationships. It comes from inner contentment and thoughtfulness. It comes from knowing yourself and loving the person who you are. And, often, it comes from strangers.
This week I found two things on Ravelry.
The first is this beautiful new baby. I don't know her and I don't know her parents but for whatever reason, she has come to represent birth and beginnings and all babies to me. She's beautiful and I find myself going back to visit her. She makes me cry happy tears and giggle out loud.
The second is this young woman. She died in April in an accident on the camping trip that she mentions on her blog. I don't know her either and didn't start reading her blog until after her death. And I wept openly for her. Just as the baby has come to represent a concept to me, this young woman has come to represent loss. In the pieces of herself that she shared on her blog, I see so many other woman who I have known and loved in my life.
And in that there is balance. Beginning and end. Life and loss. From strangers.
I am finally feeling balanced in my life. So much so that I am surprised at just how unbalanced my life was. That doesn't mean that there weren't wonderful things in my life or fabulous moments or kind and loving people. It means that there were bad things, and rotten moments and really crappy people and I let those things take over.
Balance is learned. You have to try to balance on a two-wheeler, it doesn't just happen. But once you learn it, it's wonderful and you can stop worrying about the balance and enjoy the wind in your hair and feel of the road under your wheels. And when your balance starts to waver, you feel it right away and can fix it before you fall.
I've still been thinking about interdependence a lot and the concept of balance keeps emerging. Balance is not equality. Or tit for tat. It's not "the groceries are $10.15 so here's $5.08 and you have to pay the extra penny next time." Balance is not readily measurable.
Balance is catching someone when they are falling. It's picking someone up who fell too fast. And it's being caught when you are falling and picked up when it's your turn to hit the ground hard. It's flying high together. Sometimes, it's being loud while someone else is quiet. Sometimes, it's singing along to the radio together. It's one person navigating while the other drives. But it doesn't just come from personal relationships. It comes from inner contentment and thoughtfulness. It comes from knowing yourself and loving the person who you are. And, often, it comes from strangers.
This week I found two things on Ravelry.
The first is this beautiful new baby. I don't know her and I don't know her parents but for whatever reason, she has come to represent birth and beginnings and all babies to me. She's beautiful and I find myself going back to visit her. She makes me cry happy tears and giggle out loud.
The second is this young woman. She died in April in an accident on the camping trip that she mentions on her blog. I don't know her either and didn't start reading her blog until after her death. And I wept openly for her. Just as the baby has come to represent a concept to me, this young woman has come to represent loss. In the pieces of herself that she shared on her blog, I see so many other woman who I have known and loved in my life.
And in that there is balance. Beginning and end. Life and loss. From strangers.
I am finally feeling balanced in my life. So much so that I am surprised at just how unbalanced my life was. That doesn't mean that there weren't wonderful things in my life or fabulous moments or kind and loving people. It means that there were bad things, and rotten moments and really crappy people and I let those things take over.
Balance is learned. You have to try to balance on a two-wheeler, it doesn't just happen. But once you learn it, it's wonderful and you can stop worrying about the balance and enjoy the wind in your hair and feel of the road under your wheels. And when your balance starts to waver, you feel it right away and can fix it before you fall.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
I Am the World's Worst Passenger
We abandoned Chez Chaos this weekend and took a daycation out to Pennsylvania. It turned out to be more than a day which was just fine with me.
I'm usually the driver but this time I suggested that perhaps it would be a good idea for me to get a few hours of knitting time in while my Handy Man drove. I just forgot to tell him that I really suck at being the passenger. And I mean REALLY SUCK! I have a friend who has threatened to put a burlap sack over my head whenever she has to drive me anywhere. I give directions. I check the mirrors. I look over my shoulder. But the worst part is, I flinch.
I flinch a lot.
Which is bad.
Luckily, my Handy Man is also a very patient man who understands me (for the most part) so I didn't drive him crazy. After we made it up the loop-de-loop from the Major Deegan and got over the GWB, I calmed down a little and settled in with my Citron. The ride up the loop-de-loop was definitely going to be a make or break moment for us. I hate that thing on a good day and I avoid it at all costs but we had stopped in the Bronx to get bread and I couldn't really say, "Hey, let's go all the way across the Bronx, waste a half hour and pay a toll" just to avoid the loop-de-loop.
There's always traffic on it and there's a big merge in the middle of it and you're up really really high which I don't like at all, ever, anywhere and then for a random 20 feet you're on solid ground again and then you're up even higher and there are 18 wheelers and holy crap on a cracker I'm never going to survive this. And if that's what it's like when I'm driving, you can only imagine what it was like when I was the passenger. I had to cover my eyes until we got under the apartments (you have to be from NY to understand what that means but just trust me, it's a real place.)
From there on out, it was smooth sailing. We had a peaceful, restful weekend notwithstanding a tumble out of bed and a bloody shin. (It wasn't so much the fall as the sudden stop.) The plan was to head home Sunday afternoon but there were fresh tomatoes and fresh corn and a swimming pool and a little nap in the sun and I'm just not strong enough to resist that sort of a Sunday.
We made it home before midnight, stopped and had a quick nightcap and slept the sleep of the innocent. By the way, I drove home.
I'm usually the driver but this time I suggested that perhaps it would be a good idea for me to get a few hours of knitting time in while my Handy Man drove. I just forgot to tell him that I really suck at being the passenger. And I mean REALLY SUCK! I have a friend who has threatened to put a burlap sack over my head whenever she has to drive me anywhere. I give directions. I check the mirrors. I look over my shoulder. But the worst part is, I flinch.
I flinch a lot.
Which is bad.
Luckily, my Handy Man is also a very patient man who understands me (for the most part) so I didn't drive him crazy. After we made it up the loop-de-loop from the Major Deegan and got over the GWB, I calmed down a little and settled in with my Citron. The ride up the loop-de-loop was definitely going to be a make or break moment for us. I hate that thing on a good day and I avoid it at all costs but we had stopped in the Bronx to get bread and I couldn't really say, "Hey, let's go all the way across the Bronx, waste a half hour and pay a toll" just to avoid the loop-de-loop.
There's always traffic on it and there's a big merge in the middle of it and you're up really really high which I don't like at all, ever, anywhere and then for a random 20 feet you're on solid ground again and then you're up even higher and there are 18 wheelers and holy crap on a cracker I'm never going to survive this. And if that's what it's like when I'm driving, you can only imagine what it was like when I was the passenger. I had to cover my eyes until we got under the apartments (you have to be from NY to understand what that means but just trust me, it's a real place.)
From there on out, it was smooth sailing. We had a peaceful, restful weekend notwithstanding a tumble out of bed and a bloody shin. (It wasn't so much the fall as the sudden stop.) The plan was to head home Sunday afternoon but there were fresh tomatoes and fresh corn and a swimming pool and a little nap in the sun and I'm just not strong enough to resist that sort of a Sunday.
We made it home before midnight, stopped and had a quick nightcap and slept the sleep of the innocent. By the way, I drove home.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
I'm Hoping Today is the Day
I still haven't found the camera but I'm hopeful. I have been able to get to the general area where I thought it was but still haven't been able to put my hot little hand on it. I have so many things to show you that I was considering getting some paper and crayons and drawing pictures instead but I can't find those either.
So today will just be some random notes.
1. Chez Chaos gets better every day. The piles are diminishing slowly but surely and we can almost walk around.
2. All of my kitchen cabinets now close and latch. This (much like the bathroom doorknob) has never happened in the history of my apartment. No more getting bonked in the head while I wash dishes. Glory Hallelujah it's like a brand new place.
3. We're finally able to cook. Too bad I can't find the camera or your mouth would be watering right now. The first of the tomatoes are ripening up in Pat's garden and they are absolutely perfect.
4. The heating pad is still missing. Damn.
5. I had to get a new alternator (thank you Pop). It was quite dramatic when it happened. It actually crossed my mind that my car might have been being taken by aliens (and me with no knitting with me!) but it turned out to be pretty mundane. However, you would be surprised at how much power your car can lose without you noticing. It seems the death of alternator is a gradual process. Now it's like driving an airplane. Very exciting.
6. I think my boss may have gone on vacation without telling me.
7. I'm going to try to use the word "hubris" in a sentence today (and this sentence doesn't count). I'm feeling the need for some righteous indignation.
So today will just be some random notes.
1. Chez Chaos gets better every day. The piles are diminishing slowly but surely and we can almost walk around.
2. All of my kitchen cabinets now close and latch. This (much like the bathroom doorknob) has never happened in the history of my apartment. No more getting bonked in the head while I wash dishes. Glory Hallelujah it's like a brand new place.
3. We're finally able to cook. Too bad I can't find the camera or your mouth would be watering right now. The first of the tomatoes are ripening up in Pat's garden and they are absolutely perfect.
4. The heating pad is still missing. Damn.
5. I had to get a new alternator (thank you Pop). It was quite dramatic when it happened. It actually crossed my mind that my car might have been being taken by aliens (and me with no knitting with me!) but it turned out to be pretty mundane. However, you would be surprised at how much power your car can lose without you noticing. It seems the death of alternator is a gradual process. Now it's like driving an airplane. Very exciting.
6. I think my boss may have gone on vacation without telling me.
7. I'm going to try to use the word "hubris" in a sentence today (and this sentence doesn't count). I'm feeling the need for some righteous indignation.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Still No Photos
I think I know the general area of the house that the camera is in right now but there's no way in hell I can get to it. The kitchen is finished being painted so we can start moving things back in and give me some room to get the rest of all my stuff organized which makes me believe that things should be back to normal pretty soon. I'm continuing with the "touch things only once plan" which is working out great for my work desk but not so well for Chez Chaos. And let's not talk about my desk at Chez Chaos.
There are little paths through the house right now and last night I ended up in a tangle with Heatherthecat in the hallway. She was walking in one direction and I was walking in the other and it was dark and somehow her front paw went right between my second and third toes and neither of us had a clue what the hell had happened. We both walked away unscathed but spent the rest of the night giving each other shifty glances whenever we moved.
Aside from the fact that there are things that I just can't reach, so far only one item has gone completely lost. The heating pad has been missing for two days and I'm sure it's going to turn up somewhere crazy. In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the manufacturers of Tiger Balm. I don't know what would have happened without you.
There have been a lot of conversations that go like this:
Him--Oh crap. Where's the skinny screwdriver?
Me--In my purse.
Me--I can't find the cat food bowls!
Him--Don't worry. They're under the table and I already fed them.
Him--Have you seen the bandaids?
Me--They're in my purse.
Me--Have you seen the kitten?
Him--She's on top of the blanket, that is on top of the bag, that is on top of the box, that is on top of couch--22. She'll be okay. She has her pink yarn with her.
Him--I'm hungry.
Me--I'm hungry.
Both--Hell if I'm gonna try cooking in that kitchen right now. Let's go out.
I probably just put a huge curse on the whole process but we're so close to the end, I'm sure it will be fine.
Up next--the new kitchen floor goes down in a few days, the bathroom gets a pretty new coat of paint, and the tomatoes from Pat's garden get sliced up and served with cheese. Sounds like a pretty good plan.
There are little paths through the house right now and last night I ended up in a tangle with Heatherthecat in the hallway. She was walking in one direction and I was walking in the other and it was dark and somehow her front paw went right between my second and third toes and neither of us had a clue what the hell had happened. We both walked away unscathed but spent the rest of the night giving each other shifty glances whenever we moved.
Aside from the fact that there are things that I just can't reach, so far only one item has gone completely lost. The heating pad has been missing for two days and I'm sure it's going to turn up somewhere crazy. In the meantime, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the manufacturers of Tiger Balm. I don't know what would have happened without you.
There have been a lot of conversations that go like this:
Him--Oh crap. Where's the skinny screwdriver?
Me--In my purse.
Me--I can't find the cat food bowls!
Him--Don't worry. They're under the table and I already fed them.
Him--Have you seen the bandaids?
Me--They're in my purse.
Me--Have you seen the kitten?
Him--She's on top of the blanket, that is on top of the bag, that is on top of the box, that is on top of couch--22. She'll be okay. She has her pink yarn with her.
Him--I'm hungry.
Me--I'm hungry.
Both--Hell if I'm gonna try cooking in that kitchen right now. Let's go out.
I probably just put a huge curse on the whole process but we're so close to the end, I'm sure it will be fine.
Up next--the new kitchen floor goes down in a few days, the bathroom gets a pretty new coat of paint, and the tomatoes from Pat's garden get sliced up and served with cheese. Sounds like a pretty good plan.
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