i've really been trying not to dramatize over my upcoming 30th birthday although the truth is, i dread it a little. not that i'm not happy with my life so far or anything, but it was always nice to have a stigma associated with my 20's, like colleagues poking fun at me "oh, you're too young to remember this..." (hey, fine with me that i'm too young. make fun all you want! joke's on you, smug married 40something!)
but i just had a horrible, cruel moment of truth while driving on my lunch break. it went like this: all of my 5 programmed stations were on commercial, so i scanned the dial and landed on KOOL 105.1 which i happen to know is the Oldies station. i kid you not...right after a spot declaring the station plays the "best hits of the 60's and 70's" they cut to Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by JOURNEY, circa 1983. first of all, this was my favorite song in the first grade, don't get me started on Separate Ways. but C'mon - how harsh is that to call a 1983 song an Oldie???? Ughghghghghghghghghghghghghghhhhhh.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
13 degrees & missing austin
first some random notes:here's a cute mindless article about top 10 cartoon names - yay pinky!
here's the top viral videos of 2007 just in case you're afraid you missed one.
now about Austin...On Sunday I came back from my best friend from high school, Julie’s wedding in Austin, TX and though it’s embarrassing to admit, I was dreading flying again right after Christmas and was feeling depressed that Chris couldn’t come with me, I even had some “I just know my plane’s gonna crash” jitters the day I left… and it turned out to be a really, really, really fun weekend, first taking in the city at a slow pace for a couple days, and then the most beautiful & yet raucous wedding ever.
When I came back, I missed Austin terribly, since I could wear flip flops comfortably there and Denver’s having zero degree wind chill and 13 degree temperatures.
I had a great time walking around Austin and sampling their crazy array of restaurants. I still didn’t run into Matthew McConnahey but I’ll keep trying.
The first day I enjoyed the Blanton Art Museum on the UT campus which is small but a very cool & unusual collection. They have a plaster cast collection of nearly every world famous Greek and Roman statue including Venus de Milo, which is a great resource for art students at the university. The best room was of course the Modern & Contemporary art (above and way above) which thankfully didn’t include any audio/video weird stuff but was full of vibrant abstract canvases – my favorite.
I also walked around South Congress which I had only seen at night last time. South Congress embodies the “Keep Austin Weird” slogan with a drag queen costume superstore (right), plus not just one but 2 shops filled to the brim with Mexican Day of the Dead art, plenty of thrift shops, and several Urban Outfitters-like jewelry/clothing/miscellany shops.
My favorite store, Uncommon Objects, is hard to put into words but I think it could be best described as a collection of flea market treasures that one might find if they had made a career out of shopping at flea markets.
The fascinating thing about the store was the display of the objects – I almost didn’t want to touch anything, or dare buy anything, because it was arranged so well – like every corner and shelf was a work of art. The one thing I found that didn’t seem to fit in its arrangement was an old teddy bear who stood out like a sore thumb in his section, so I snatched him up and carried him home. He’s since been named Harrold and I’m currently on the lookout for a t-shirt and/or sweater to fit him. (Contributions or suggestions are appreciated!)
P.S. Uncommon Objects actually has a whole flickr site of people's photos of their store , below are a few of mine
Another highlight of the trip was spending a few hours in BookPeople, a huge downtown locally owned book store that was also chock full of interesting displays, great employee recommendations on books and magazines, and just cool, obscure, stuff. I walked out of there with 6 magazines I had never seen before, 20 or so birthday cards, and random odd gifts for people for next Christmas.
I keep trying to stop myself from buying things for Christmas a year out, but it’s pointless to even talk about stopping, I always do it. BookPeople happens to b
e across from the first and hugest Whole Foods in the world, which if you don’t believe me, has a 4 story parking garage, and is a convenient place to park downtown (there’s not even a single mean sign about being a customer or time limits).
e across from the first and hugest Whole Foods in the world, which if you don’t believe me, has a 4 story parking garage, and is a convenient place to park downtown (there’s not even a single mean sign about being a customer or time limits).
Just a block from BookPeople was conveniently the original branch of what used to be my favorite restaurant in Denver (ours closed) called Z Tejas with amazing enchiladas, and a fantastic drink menu. More photos of Austin and that crazy Uncommon Objects store are here.
After all that, here I am, back to wo
rk and trying to carry my canvas grocery bags into Safeway whenever I go, trying to go to yoga & pilates once a week, trying to make my espresso at home in the mornings, trying to take the light rail to work at least once a month, trying to not say “that’s so gay” (really hard during American Idol), trying to quit checking email three or more times in a day (really really hard) and most of all stop inventing things to do to avoid the important.
On that note – logging off now. and watching american idol. no, project runway. then american idol. then celebrity apprentice.
rk and trying to carry my canvas grocery bags into Safeway whenever I go, trying to go to yoga & pilates once a week, trying to make my espresso at home in the mornings, trying to take the light rail to work at least once a month, trying to not say “that’s so gay” (really hard during American Idol), trying to quit checking email three or more times in a day (really really hard) and most of all stop inventing things to do to avoid the important.Saturday, January 05, 2008
Season of Uggs
Tis that season for wearing Uggs on my feet every day and for saying "Ugg" every time I go outside (come on, it's punny!)
Colorado was supposed to have a mild Winter this year, according to Farmer's Almanac, but so much for that.
I was thinking this morning about my last year's resolutions and how I did. I am a big fan of making them but not very stringent about following through on them. The point is trying, right? Maybe?
The resolution about going to the gym 3 times a week just never happens - maybe that's why my resolutions are always written in pencil.
The resolution about arguing less with Chris gets an A for effort and a C for execution. Try again next year.
I did really good on my resolution to stop talking on the cell phone in the car. I'd say I've given up answering the cell in the car at least 95% of the time and I rarely make calls. I wish more people would make this resolution.
Another resolution was to cut back on Road Rage. I've tremendously improved on being angry at other drivers. It's really hard to break the habit, especially when other people are in the car with you and they're angry, but I would say I've learned to stop even having angry thoughts about drivers who do stupid things at least 80% of the time.
This year's resolutions are repeats of those I didn't do so well on last year, and I'm adding a few more.
1. To bring my LL Bean canvas bags into the grocery store with me, bag my own damn groceries, and eliminate those pointless super-thin plastic bags once and for all.
2. To make eye contact with people, especially strangers (a major weakness).
3. To make coffee at home most mornings, since I got an espresso pot for Christmas and I am so particular about the way it's made anyway.
4. Inspired by Tim Ferriss' theories in lifestyle design, to "stop inventing things to do to avoid the important". That one is probably the hardest goal of all, and it may take me 5 years to even get to a B+ but I'm going to try and make it a mantra.
***
Other updates... over the holidays I read Shirley MacLaine's book Sage-ing while Age-ing because admittedly I wanted to know what all the fuss was about with her reputation of being nuts, and I surprisingly agree with a lot of her theories on the universe, as "out there" as they may seem at first. I'd highly recommend the read, if you can keep an open mind.
Music I am into these days continues to be modern folk / acoustic soul stuff; the mellower of which is Sara Bareilles, The Pierces, Amos Lee, Into the Wild soundtrack, anything produced by T-Bone Burnett, and the edgier of which includes Neko Case, Brandi Carlisle, Nada Surf, Mike Doughty, and a lot of Scottish stuff for some reason. It's going to be a little harder to stay in touch with new music this year because my office has virtually banned streaming radio stations including Pandora, Finetune, and AOL New Albums Preview (noooooo!) but I am trying to be cool about it. Trying.
This year's holiday season for me was enlightened by food and family, although I'm getting better about choices (food, not family - check out this restaurant resource) Still, Mom's snickerdoodles and gingermen, Chris' dad's homemade chicken nuggets, and my mom's carry-on gift of 2 loaves of Beckman's 9 Grain Sourdough bread all just made my year. I really need to just live in Santa Cruz.
I must be getting a little more domesticated these days, because I actually bought myself 2 cookbooks and a food processor in
the after-Christmas sales. My favorite gifts from others were the afore-mentioned espresso maker, and some VERY cool unexpected Billabong fingertip-less gloves (is there a name for those?) that my sister picked out and are SO me, I can't even believe it. I couldn't find a picture but this is the yarn design (left)
Hope you got what you wanted in 2007 and continue to go for what you want in the new year. Cheers and keep in touch soon! larasue
Colorado was supposed to have a mild Winter this year, according to Farmer's Almanac, but so much for that.
I was thinking this morning about my last year's resolutions and how I did. I am a big fan of making them but not very stringent about following through on them. The point is trying, right? Maybe?
The resolution about going to the gym 3 times a week just never happens - maybe that's why my resolutions are always written in pencil.
The resolution about arguing less with Chris gets an A for effort and a C for execution. Try again next year.
I did really good on my resolution to stop talking on the cell phone in the car. I'd say I've given up answering the cell in the car at least 95% of the time and I rarely make calls. I wish more people would make this resolution.
Another resolution was to cut back on Road Rage. I've tremendously improved on being angry at other drivers. It's really hard to break the habit, especially when other people are in the car with you and they're angry, but I would say I've learned to stop even having angry thoughts about drivers who do stupid things at least 80% of the time.
This year's resolutions are repeats of those I didn't do so well on last year, and I'm adding a few more.
1. To bring my LL Bean canvas bags into the grocery store with me, bag my own damn groceries, and eliminate those pointless super-thin plastic bags once and for all.
2. To make eye contact with people, especially strangers (a major weakness).
3. To make coffee at home most mornings, since I got an espresso pot for Christmas and I am so particular about the way it's made anyway.
4. Inspired by Tim Ferriss' theories in lifestyle design, to "stop inventing things to do to avoid the important". That one is probably the hardest goal of all, and it may take me 5 years to even get to a B+ but I'm going to try and make it a mantra.
***
Other updates... over the holidays I read Shirley MacLaine's book Sage-ing while Age-ing because admittedly I wanted to know what all the fuss was about with her reputation of being nuts, and I surprisingly agree with a lot of her theories on the universe, as "out there" as they may seem at first. I'd highly recommend the read, if you can keep an open mind.
Music I am into these days continues to be modern folk / acoustic soul stuff; the mellower of which is Sara Bareilles, The Pierces, Amos Lee, Into the Wild soundtrack, anything produced by T-Bone Burnett, and the edgier of which includes Neko Case, Brandi Carlisle, Nada Surf, Mike Doughty, and a lot of Scottish stuff for some reason. It's going to be a little harder to stay in touch with new music this year because my office has virtually banned streaming radio stations including Pandora, Finetune, and AOL New Albums Preview (noooooo!) but I am trying to be cool about it. Trying.
This year's holiday season for me was enlightened by food and family, although I'm getting better about choices (food, not family - check out this restaurant resource) Still, Mom's snickerdoodles and gingermen, Chris' dad's homemade chicken nuggets, and my mom's carry-on gift of 2 loaves of Beckman's 9 Grain Sourdough bread all just made my year. I really need to just live in Santa Cruz.
I must be getting a little more domesticated these days, because I actually bought myself 2 cookbooks and a food processor in
the after-Christmas sales. My favorite gifts from others were the afore-mentioned espresso maker, and some VERY cool unexpected Billabong fingertip-less gloves (is there a name for those?) that my sister picked out and are SO me, I can't even believe it. I couldn't find a picture but this is the yarn design (left)Hope you got what you wanted in 2007 and continue to go for what you want in the new year. Cheers and keep in touch soon! larasue
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)