Prosaic Paradise

This post is an entry in the January Living Out Loud project by my friend Genie. Her challenge was to write a public love letter, which I have been scared of until this afternoon, because to me the task was so daunting. Next time I’ll have to warn everyone so they can participate too.

Dear Mom,

We are not a family of letter writers. Heck, we are not even a family of email writers. But when Genie challenged me to write a love letter, I thought immediately of someone I know who doesn’t get to hear how much I love them.

You’ve always done everything you can to protect me from whatever might hurt me, and I know you give yourself way too hard of a time about whether you did a good job. But you also knew when to let up and let me make my own mistakes. You worked your ass off and made long-reaching sacrifices to send me to good schools but when it came time to decide on a college, you tried to guide me but you didn’t try to force my hand.

You taught me the value of a dollar – I know it seems like I still haven’t quite got it, but believe me, even though it took a long time to get through my thick skull it has penetrated. Your example of careful thrift while recognizing and seeking quality is something I would hold up as an example to anyone.

I always gave you a hard time about your “phone voice” but even then I was learning important lessons about how to productively interact with people that I would integrate into my own interpersonal relations, largely without even knowing it. Salesmanship and self-promotion did not come naturally to me, and sometimes that is what you need to get what you want in life.You taught me that too.

And the one thing that goes beyond all of this is that I never, ever had to doubt that you loved me. No matter what stupid situation I got myself into or how much you disagreed with my choices I knew you still loved me and you didn’t even have to say anything, your behavior showed me.

I definitely wonder if I could ever be as good a mom when the time comes. It would be tough. I am so lucky to have you for my mom.

Love, your daughter,

Kim

I recently attended a 90s themed party. To this party I was able to wear:

• an ear cuff with two chains that lead to earrings
• rolled faded black jeans (new)
• my high school graduating class t-shirt with sleeves rolled up (designed by Andrew Burger, as I recall)
• green Docs I bought on a high school exchange trip to England
• pride rings necklace (maybe people still wear these?)
• actual glasses I actually wore in 1992

You will not see pictures of this outfit because frankly it is embarrassing. But it helped me to realize that I so don’t need to keep glasses that date all the way back to a time before Bill Clinton was president. Fortunately, our local library has a Lions Club eyeglass recycling donation box!

Weirdly, these are the hardest thing to let go of so far. I guess I should consider that if I had a hip replacement two times, I wouldn’t want to keep the previous synthetic joint… Also they probably wouldn’t let me with the biohazard and all. OK, it’s not the same. Glasses are like my nose or eyebrows – part of my face. Well, they are not doing anyone any good sitting in my drawer, so adieu.

Tags: Purge Thursday

Monday I went and picked up my books, student ID, and stuff at Howard Community College. Going there makes me feel a little bit more like I am “going back to school” than going to the Laurel College Center did, although it all boils down to the same thing. It’s like a real campus! With a quad! And stuff! And, come to find out, a real mascot. I was disappointed after seeing the totally cool maroon-and-gold dragon all over posters and things that they didn’t have a single hoodie with a dragon on it. They totally could have stolen my money.

But while I was there getting mumblemumble dollars worth of Chemistry books, I decided to pop into the advising office to check on the status of my transcripts and stuff and just make sure all was in order. While they haven’t processed my transcripts fully, the advisor told me something that I did not know. I could apply for Nursing school – not in the fall, not once my pre-reqs are complete – but today. As in, for entrance in fall of 2009.

This is shocking at first, but knowing that I’ll definitely be wait listed as an out of county applicant puts that in perspective. All my plans involved starting Nursing school in earnest in 2010 at the earliest, and this doesn’t change that. It does set a bunch of planning wheels in motion, however. See, my options are as follows:

• Apply Traditional (24 month) Evening/Weekend now –> start Fall 2010, try to work part time.
• Apply Traditional (24 month) Day now –> start Spring or Fall 2010, quit job entirely.
• Apply Traditional (24 month) in August –> start Spring or Fall 2011, day/night or work/not, depending.
• Apply Accelerated (13 month) in August –> start Fall 2010, quit job entirely.

So the variables & dependencies are 1. when I apply, 2. traditional or accelerated, 3. when I start and 4. whether I work. I hadn’t really considered any option other than the last two. Having the first two available just means that Jack and I need to have these big financial planning discussions sooner. I still have no intention of entering Nursing school any sooner than Fall 2010, but if I want to try to work and go to school at the same time starting next year – come to find out I’d better apply now!

So I better get that application out the door, eh? Seems a little more real with that happening.

Tags: School

Jack graciously took me on a neighborhood walk tonight when I arrived home to put some use to the camera. Unfortunately it started snowing too hard for me to feel comfortable setting up the tripod and I don’t have weather gear, but before that happened I caught this.

I made it to and from work this evening with almost no event, but I worked a short day which means… long hours later this week. I have some news about school but it will have to keep – I’m starving and there’s chili in the fridge!

Tags: pics

The Philadelphia pen show was all that I could have hoped for! In addition to the pens as far as the eye could see, I found that pen show folks are very friendly and colorful and most importantly welcoming to newbies.

After lunch at local watering hole Tir Na Nog (very tasty), my friends and I were fortified for a pleasant afternoon of pen browsing. Of course, my friends were done browsing after 20 minutes, while I had a long way to go. I am somewhat up to date on contemporary pens, but I am far from educated about vintage pens, and I was confronted with table after table of them! It was a little overwhelming and at first I didn’t know what to ask.

Amusingly, right when I walked in the door I saw a familiar face. Not someone I’ve ever met, but Kyle Cassidy whose blog I had recently begun following. I had forgotten his actual name, but that didn’t stop me from walking right up and saying “Hi! Are you that famous photographer with a livejournal?” I guess any claims I have at introversion are shot, eh? He was very gracious about it. You should check out his photography on his site or his book.

Anyhoo, pen show. Eventually I came around to a table where I noticed they had people seated and working with demonstrator pens. The pens on display were separated by nib type and I saw what I was looking for: flex nib pens I could try immediately. One of the folks manning the booth saw me looking and invited me to sit down and handed me a pen immediately. I expressed my interest in Copperplate writing (an interest I gleaned from reading Leigh Reyes’ blog) and it took no time for Deborah to show me samples and get me started trying various pens. (You can see what she wrote at right, underneath her lovely script are my attempts.) In the end I bought the very first pen she handed me, so it felt a little like pen palm reading. It is an Eversharp Skyline with a retooled flex nib that is so very forgiving on me as a beginner. The booth was Susan Wirth’s, and at her page, in case this post got you excited, you can see a schedule of pen shows for 2009 all over the country.

My tattoos were a bigger hit than I expected, and I got several comments. The best comment was the one guy who told me a joke about how he always liked to tell girls he had a ladybug tattooed on his penis. He said, “Almost all of ’em asked to see it!” I did not ask to see it. He then told me (I can’t type this without giggling) that he wanted to really get this tattoo because “most of ’em had a bug up their ass before [he] even showed up” so, to paraphrase, it might as well be literal. You’d think I’d be creeped out that he said this but with a table full of pens between us, it was hilarious.

I also bought a mint green Esterbrook “purse pen” because hey, it was mint green, and also because I liked the nib. The gent who sold it to me works out of Baltimore. Heck, it seemed like everyone there I spoke to was from Maryland, so I have plenty of options if I want to pursue more pens. But I think – and everyone there was sure this was funny for some reason – I am done.  Now I just need more ink colors!

Once we’d closed out the pen show, we rolled to south philly for my friend Angela’s Chili Cook Off!! Which was fantastic. Her friends are always so welcoming and fun to talk to. Plus, you know, brilliant chili. Thank you hostess and all chili cooks!

Tags: Pens, Stationery

Last night we ventured into Baltimore to meet some friends and soak up local dining experiences. We failed to get into two restaurants before we finally settled on Sauté (note to them: um, get a website). I was overjoyed because they had scallops galore, and one thing that drives me nuts about Top Chef is that someone always cooks scallops and I am always sad and bereft because how often do you get to eat scallops? So I had their scallop entrée which included some kind of peppery risotto with cherries cooked in it (NOM) and asparagus with some kind of goat cheese (NOM NOM!) and of course, scallops. But not like one scallop in the middle of the plate, oh no. There were four giant scallops!!

Everything was really good. The risotto was a little too peppery, but the cherries made up for it. I never eat asparagus, and I ate almost every morsel of the stuff. The scallop was perfectly done and the perfect texture. And then if all that was not enough, I asked the waitress to suggest a wine. She suggested Banfi Le Rime Pinot Grigio/Chardonnay blend. I often like a wine, but I seldom looove a wine. I loooove this wine.

In other awesome news: my tripod arrived. Expect long exposure shots soon.

Current pen: Lamy Safari lime 2008 special edition. I’m trying desperately to empty it of blue ink so I can clean it out and use a more lively ink color.

Oh! And Hero is totally fine. The rest of his teeth look healthy and pink gums and he’s merrily eating hard food already. That tooth was clearly just waiting to drop out. He is still getting pilled but I haven’t heard him sneezing for a bit. All in all, phew.

Tags: food, restaurants

We’ve all received them. Many of us have probably given them. The cute thematic items that remind us of our friends, even though they don’t have an ostensible use or their ostensible use is… questionable. (My shame: pet breed themed items. I like to give them.)

Jack has graciously allowed me to use a novelty gift he received as a Purge Thursday item. Once upon a time Jack ran an event called a Peep-Off here in Maryland. People ate lots of peeps in a short amount of time. There were t-shirts made. This was long ago, long before I came into Jack’s life. Others have done this challenge newer, faster and better. But around here, Jack is known for his peep-off (if I misspell that “poop” one more time…) role in history. So it goes that Jack was the recipient of a tool called the Peeps Marshmallow Maker.

This item that strongly brings to mind the Unclutterer’s Unitasker Wednesday has been lurking in our kitchen drawer at the back of (well, taking up most of) the area where we’d store tupperware. I think since I told him he should get rid of it he is now downstairs making his first and last marshmallow peeps, but he agrees that this isn’t something we really want to keep. Oh wait… yup, he’s making them. Now you get bonus peep-making pictures.

So the thing about the novelty gift is that it’s really funny. But if the person isn’t going to use it regularly or at all, is it worth the laughs? My thought is that since most everyone has a camera phone now, it would be better toake a picture of the thing, post it on your blog or email it, and say, “man, this made me think of you!” That way you connect with a friend, save your money, save the recipient’s space (and chagrin if they want to get rid of it and are afraid to do so out of politeness*), and everyone wins.

Now, this year Jack got a novelty gift that is basically consumable. Environmental issues with paper calendars aside, What’s Your Poo Telling You? is highly educational! Also in our house we may or may not talk too much about poo. Hey, it’s important to be cool about biological functions. I’m gonna be a nurse one of these days.

* Obviously, making this item the subject of a PT post is not the politest way to get rid of it, and I know who the giver was, and I know they will read this, and I am so sorry! It is funny. And this batch of peeps will be eaten with reverence.

Tags: Purge Thursday

So I was pilling the cat with Jack tonight (Baytril, for his respiratory infection) and it was all stressful, like it usually is. After we got the pill down, which he spit out three times, he wandered over to the food bowl, pulled at his face, freaked out, and dropped a tooth, root and all, on the floor. My thoughts:

1. OH GOD I am a terrible kitty mom I shoved his tooth out while pilling him!
2. OH GOD I am a terrible kitty mom his tooth was in terrible shape! What if they all fall out and it’s all my fault!
3. OH GOD why is he … eating?

So like two minutes after he dropped his toof on the floor he was playing and we gave him some soft food and he gulped it all down and now he’s taking a nice little nap on the couch between us. So I guess… that the tooth was primarily a terrible burden?

I am not taking this lightly… I am still mainly freaked out and I called the emergency vet and they said to wait until the morning and of course we will take him right in in the morning and they will check him all out. But on top of all that I am sad because I’ll never look at him and see that lopsided smile again. See, he used to have 1.5 fangs – the one on the left was broken when we got him. Now he has… .5 and we can’t see any fangs. I can’t believe this. If you look closely you can see where it was…

But more than anything I hope the vet says the rest of his teeth are OK.

Tags: cat

I am trying to be inspired by all my friends’ outpourings of excitement and hope of the past day. But I think after 8 years of disappointment and being disturbed by the news all the time, my hope organ is malfunctioning. I still know half the country didn’t vote for our president, and it’s not like those people just up and went poof after the swearing in yesterday. I am sure once things get into gear and I start to hear more examples of good leadership and examples of policy and ideals that align with mine I will be less taciturn about the new boss.

But right now… well it’s as I said to my (equally geeeky) carpool partner this morning. It’s like, oh great, Aragorn is king! But the Shire has still been scoured and the elves have left the building. (Her response: Yeah, it’s like ‘oh great, Muad’dib is in charge of the Fremen. But we still live on a giant ball of sand.’) The magical idea of constant progress has been removed from my brain.

Sorry to be such a downer.

Tags: Politics

One day last year we were driving around our home stomping grounds when what should confront our delicate senses but a giant ass. A giant ass mural on the side of a building. I suppose there was some initial … relief?… that it was a giant baby ass hovering over cowboy boots in that “oh it’s like some trope, like the Hang In There cat”. But then the relief dissipated quickly when we realized that every time we drove by Carol’s Western Wear we would be in for a viewing of the giant baby ass hovering over (apparently Tony Lama) cowboy boots.

Now I’ll mention here that I’m happy to have a western wear store right down the way. I have procured shirts and my beloved hat at Carol’s and was thinking I’d almost certainly get myself some boots someday, injecting my hard-earned funds into the local economy. I might yet. But while I’m there I might have to cast my vote for maybe like, a kitten in the Tony Lama boots or something. Oh and also through this exercise I’ve learned that the kid was already on the side of the Glen Burnie store. Little did I know!

We call it Assy McGee due to some Cartoon Network show currently contributing to the downfall of society that I’d never seen. Now I’ve seen stills, and well, I think that’s enough for me. Oh, well. Maybe someday we’ll get used to it?

Tags: local, rant