Sunday, October 26, 2008

 

"You're my constant!"

Back in August I made homemade chocolate chip cookies. They came out tasty, but really flat and thin. A couple of weeks later my mom took out the baking soda and realized that it had expired in February 2007. That explained my cookies, I think. She bought new baking soda, and this carton won't expire until 2013.

While I was unpacking the groceries, I had this movie-like vision of the baking soda sitting on the counter, and our lives swirling around it. Changing seasons, people moving back and forth, dashes of color, etc. etc. I know this is heavy anthropomorphizing, but it's neat to think about all the changes in our lives that the baking soda will witness.

I caught myself thinking the same about my shampoo. Last week I bought a 33.8-ounce bottle of my shampoo – it felt weird to buy such a huge bottle, but I've embraced this shampoo as my one of choice, so why beat around the bush? – and it's a bit of a comfort? an amusement? to think that in a year from now, I'll be using the same bottle.

Now, if I start attaching these feelings to all of my physical possessions, I'm going to get concerned. But a little fanciful thinking never hurt anyone, I think.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

 

deal or no deal?

I just took a cab from the T station to my house...it's 2 miles, tops. Before I got in the cab I told the driver that I only had $9, and wanted to make sure that was enough to get where I was going.

He was unclear about where I wanted, because he said that $9 wasn't enough (in fact, he was pretty adamant that I didn't have enough moola), and then asked if I lived near "the" dunkin donuts, which I do not.

Once we got on the same page, he said it was enough and I got in. When we pulled up to my house...oh...4 minutes later, I asked how much I owed him (the meter had NOT been running this whole time) and he said, "Well, give me what you have." And I said, "Really?" And he said, "Well, about that. More or less."

So I gave him the $9 and got out. I'm going to do some searching online tomorrow to see if I can come up with the correct fare and find out if I got gypped or not.

(Oh, and I would have walked home, except that my journey would have involved strolling under a deserted overpass, which freaks me out at 11:30 p.m.)

Sunday, October 19, 2008

 

I don't really know where I'm going with this.

I picture this situation where a wife is tired of her marriage, so she goes over to Craig's list personals for a look...

and is instantly cured of the desire to cheat. Who ARE those people on there?!

Right now I'm reading "American Wife," and the main character is based on Laura Bush. There are loads of parallels, but obviously the author has never had any sort of insight on Laura Bush's inner thoughts, so most of the book is fiction.

At any rate, the main character is named Alice, and she doesn't get married (to "Charlie Blackwell") until she's 31. About not marrying sooner, Alice says, "The generic relief of being coupled off was something I could have found by marrying Wade Trommler in 1967, or another man since. The remarkable part was that I'd be getting much more."

I love that term, "The generic relief of being coupled off." Because isn't that a lot of what it is? The thought that it's something that should be done, that part of the list can be checked off. That once that's done, the real life can begin. Many single girls around my age (myself included) are convinced that we'll never get married. Not because we don't want to, but because we don't think we'll meet anyone.

Isn't that odd? Is there a man shortage? Or are we all just not communicating properly? Maybe someone just needs to stand up and advertise their single status on the morning train and get the ball rolling.

My college boyfriend, as a justification for us staying together and trying to make something not quite right work a bit longer, I think, used to say that if we had met back in the '50s or '60s, we would have been engaged and married "by now" (aka senior year of college). I wonder if with the introduction of more ways of meeting people, the marriage rate has gone down? Maybe all of us just need a choice of five potentials. Kind of like determining your college...a few reaches, a few maybes, a safety. Are eharmony, match.com, echemistry, craigslist, randolphsingles.org, etc. too much?

Of course, it also comes down to the fact that we're looking for different things than we did in the '50s and '60s. We've gone from looking for the great breadwinner/homemaker to searching for the ideal companion (who just might happen to be a great breadwinner or homemaker). It almost seems like a transition from assembling a 4-piece puzzle to figuring out a freaking Rubik's cube.

I've never been very good at a Rubik's cube. Or, perhaps, I've never been bothered to try one.

Monday, October 13, 2008

 

all sorts of changes!

Since I should be unpacking (the necessities, at least), I naturally feel semi-compelled to blog.

First things first: The hot air balloon ride that was scheduled for this weekend did not happen. I had been worried about high winds; ironically, it was the lack of wind that did the trip in. It didn't help that there was a hot air balloon casualty on Saturday in New Mexico - that made the pilot more cautious, probably. I'm bummed that I didn't get to go, but there's going to be another opportunity at some point. And it's obviously better to be safe than sorry.

Visiting D.C. for homecoming was a lot of fun...though I think that perhaps I've begun to reconcile my "new life" here and start to see myself as being a permanent fixture in Massachusetts. As long as I was still job searching there was always a part of me that I was holding back, just in case. Just in case I couldn't find a job here I needed to be able to move on to someplace else (NYC? Back to DC? Australia? Who knew.), if the job market forced that hand. But now that I have a job, I find myself looking ahead to a future that has Boston in it. A real picture of my life here is slowly gathering shape and details as all these missing pieces start to float into the frame.

I loved loved loved seeing my friends, and I miss them so much. Talking online and on the phone is fun and all, but it doesn't touch getting a beer or a meal together. But, as someone had forced upon me at my good-bye party in May, the truth is that you really can't go home again. Things always change. Or you change. Something's different. I got that rush when I saw the Capitol dome, but somehow I didn't make it to a museum this weekend, or to the Mall. I know I was busy, but that's downright freakish. That deviation from my norm makes it clear to me that I'm not moving back. I'll visit, obviously. But as far as things go right now, I'm sticking here.

Another change hit me at the end of last week. I had stubbornly believed in the idea that someone had changed...and I was open to perpetually setting myself up for being hurt by really closing my eyes to someone's character and believing that there was more to our as-of -until-Wednesday strong connection than physical attraction.

So, if you're reading this - and you probably are - know that I thank you for not responding to my text, when I said that I couldn't meet up with you because I couldn't go through it again. It really showed to me, finally, who you are and what you wanted from me. Before, when I said that we were done and that I'd never talk to you ever again, I was sad about it. This time...there's no sadness. Just relief.

A lot happened at the bar this weekend - one really bad obnoxious thing that almost made me swear the place off forever - and then, as if the gods of the college bar detected that I was at my wit's end, I was reeled back in at the last moment with some great times. But, unfortunately, I've run out of steam and it's time for bed.

Monday, October 06, 2008

 

Wheeeewwwwwwwwww

I got a job! One that I'm very excited about!

My first day is next week...that leaves one week of fun (and homecoming festivities) to celebrate!

Sunday, October 05, 2008

 

s!lly.

I have to do some hardcore quilting, so I'll make this short.

When did Pink become "P!nk"?

I think I'm actually kinda jealous that I don't have an "i" in my name so that I could do the same thing...

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