Whatever you may believe, I hope your holiday season is merry and bright.
I, for one, am capturing the moment of my first Christmas in my new house. Cat is roaming the dining room and has no idea that she is about to receive a huge stocking full of catnip toys. I still have wrapping to do, but my shopping is mercifully finished. I'll be chanting at 11:00 with friends and then off to the parents' house for a multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-ethnic extravaganza.
This might be my best Christmas yet.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Old School
I went to see a play reading with my cousin A and my friend D last night, and I pulled out my new (hot pink metallic!) dayplanner and started transferring birthdays from my 2008 planner to my 2009 planner (there was a bit of time before the play started). And D said, "man, that's old school...I haven't seen anyone use a dayplanner in I don't know how long." And I got to thinking of how lost I would be without my dayplanner.
Since I was in high school, I've always used a paper planner. In 9th grade, we would decorate them with stickers, and the entries are pretty hilarious. I think the leather one my sister got me with my initials embossed in the side perished in the fire in my parents' garage last year, which is a shame. I'd love to look at back at the events and people that were so important in high school, and laugh at what I thought was drama then. I think it would be a good lesson.
I was thumbing through last year's dayplanner, and I was struck by how easily I could fall back into the past just by looking at it. But not in a bad way - I think we select the moments that we remember, and we sometimes put our rose-colored glasses on in order to see them "better." Which is fine. But looking at that past definitely reminds me to avoid past mistakes in 2009. So here is another short list of resolutions, relating to dayplanners.
1. Don't overbook - it's not fair to the people you're with, or to yourself.
2. Take time for yourself, and schedule that time wisely and often.
3. There's nothing wrong with an empty page - sometimes doing nothing is the best thing of all.
4. Keep jotting down song lyrics, phone numbers and titles of movies and books. You will look back at them when you need them, and there they are.
5. Send old-fashioned birthday cards, with a stamp and everything.
6. Keep your lists short.
Since I was in high school, I've always used a paper planner. In 9th grade, we would decorate them with stickers, and the entries are pretty hilarious. I think the leather one my sister got me with my initials embossed in the side perished in the fire in my parents' garage last year, which is a shame. I'd love to look at back at the events and people that were so important in high school, and laugh at what I thought was drama then. I think it would be a good lesson.
I was thumbing through last year's dayplanner, and I was struck by how easily I could fall back into the past just by looking at it. But not in a bad way - I think we select the moments that we remember, and we sometimes put our rose-colored glasses on in order to see them "better." Which is fine. But looking at that past definitely reminds me to avoid past mistakes in 2009. So here is another short list of resolutions, relating to dayplanners.
1. Don't overbook - it's not fair to the people you're with, or to yourself.
2. Take time for yourself, and schedule that time wisely and often.
3. There's nothing wrong with an empty page - sometimes doing nothing is the best thing of all.
4. Keep jotting down song lyrics, phone numbers and titles of movies and books. You will look back at them when you need them, and there they are.
5. Send old-fashioned birthday cards, with a stamp and everything.
6. Keep your lists short.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
the bitch
People are always asking me about my tattoos...not that I'm complaining, but I figured I'd just explain them once and for all and then I can just refer people to the website. So here goes...
The "star within a star" on the outer wrist of my right hand:
Dunno...I was 20 and wanted a tattoo. If I really wanted to give it meaning, I could say that it represents me...a star within a star (haha). Plus I think in our little group in high school, I was the star (Aurelia was the sun, Natalie the moon). I quite like the little tattoo - it's like jewelry that I never have to remember to put on or take off.
The "queen of spades" on the inner wrist of my left hand:
Okay, this one actually has meaning. When I was growing up, my family would play hearts around the kitchen table. Me, my dad, my sister, and usually my Aunt Honey (my mother was prohibited from playing hearts with us when the queen of spades magically fell out of her hand and on the floor behind her). Every time I got the queen of spades, I had to decide if I was going to pass it (unless it was the hold hand) or try to shoot the moon. For those of you who don't know how to play hearts, you either want to get all of the points or none of them. (A more in-depth description of the game is here.) All or nothing. The queen of spades (the "bitch") is worth 13 points, and each heart is worth 13 points. If you get all 26 points, you have "shot the moon."
Sometimes I feel like I was dealt the bitch in a hold hand. And my only option is to try to shoot the moon.
Next tattoo? (They're addictive.) A phoenix on my left arm. I'll let you figure that one out.
The "star within a star" on the outer wrist of my right hand:
Dunno...I was 20 and wanted a tattoo. If I really wanted to give it meaning, I could say that it represents me...a star within a star (haha). Plus I think in our little group in high school, I was the star (Aurelia was the sun, Natalie the moon). I quite like the little tattoo - it's like jewelry that I never have to remember to put on or take off.
The "queen of spades" on the inner wrist of my left hand:
Okay, this one actually has meaning. When I was growing up, my family would play hearts around the kitchen table. Me, my dad, my sister, and usually my Aunt Honey (my mother was prohibited from playing hearts with us when the queen of spades magically fell out of her hand and on the floor behind her). Every time I got the queen of spades, I had to decide if I was going to pass it (unless it was the hold hand) or try to shoot the moon. For those of you who don't know how to play hearts, you either want to get all of the points or none of them. (A more in-depth description of the game is here.) All or nothing. The queen of spades (the "bitch") is worth 13 points, and each heart is worth 13 points. If you get all 26 points, you have "shot the moon."
Sometimes I feel like I was dealt the bitch in a hold hand. And my only option is to try to shoot the moon.
Next tattoo? (They're addictive.) A phoenix on my left arm. I'll let you figure that one out.
Friday, December 12, 2008
the little things
beauty can come from the most random places. and a wonderful night doesn't have to be much more than a few great minutes of conversation. that is all.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Friday, December 5, 2008
Balance, Dear Grasshopper
Soooo...a while back I posted about trying new things. Improv classes, poker night, etc. I think I focused so much on filling my life up with stuff that I forgot about the all-important balance aspect of life. And now I'm feeling a little overextended. However, the play I'm stage managing is almost closed (9 more performances), improv class is over - I have a feeling that I'm going to go from over-extended to under-extended. And then I'm going to fill my life up with stuff once again. The glass is never half full/half empty - it's either filled to the brim or has only a drop in it. I think maybe one of my resolutions for next year, and one thing that I will start to chant for, is balance.
But what will I bitch about if I'm not completely overextended, overwhelmed and under-rested?
I'm sure I'll find something.
But what will I bitch about if I'm not completely overextended, overwhelmed and under-rested?
I'm sure I'll find something.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
This Modern Love
I have a mild obsession with Danish Modern furniture. To the point where I just go to the Craigslist furniture section and search for anything that is Danish Modern. It's kind of fun, as I get older, to notice these things about myself. To envision what my perfect house would look like; to embrace the fact that if it's Tiffany blue and belongs in a kitchen, I will buy it (I found turquoise cutting boards, very excited); to catalogue my likes and dislikes and use them to paint a picture of what my future might look like. I've definitely gone down a few wrong roads in the past couple of years, and every step in the wrong direction is a lesson in what doesn't work for me, just as every step in the right direction is an affirmation that I am slowly but surely growing into, dare I say it, an adult. I don't know why I associate "adulthood" with home decor inclinations, but I do. Just as my mother wants everything in her house to be "white, clean, like a hotel," I've realized that I lean towards vintage items, warm tones, and yes, Danish Modern furniture. The only thing I wonder is - as I grow older and more opinionated and keep developing these preferences, will I stop "trying things on for size"?
Monday, December 1, 2008
Doing Good
Driving back from the theater last night, I started on a bit of a self-reflection jaunt. Twenty-seven years old, while certainly not "old," is closer to thirty than I would wish. There's a line in Song of Extinction, "I do not know if I do any good here...55 years old is a time for asking questions about this." But maybe 27 years old is also a time for asking questions about this - so I don't get to 55 and want to go back and do it all over again.
Time is a tricky thing - the minutes and hours tick along slowly enough, but all of a sudden you wake up and it's December. And you don't even remember what your resolutions were last year, so you have no idea if you've "succeeded." But lately, upon reflecting on the past 11 months, the only thing I wish for in the past year is that I began to do some good here.
So here is some "good" I'd like to do in 2009:
--find a volunteer niche that I enjoy - either something with animals or in a hospital or school
--put my creative energy out in the world - hopefully through playwriting and improv
--spend more time with my grandparents
--spend more quality time with myself
The last one is tricky - I spend time with myself all the time, but it isn't quality time. I figure it fits into the whole "doing good" theme because how can I help others if I'm not present within myself?
Hmmm...to think this started out as a post about Danish Modern furniture.
Time is a tricky thing - the minutes and hours tick along slowly enough, but all of a sudden you wake up and it's December. And you don't even remember what your resolutions were last year, so you have no idea if you've "succeeded." But lately, upon reflecting on the past 11 months, the only thing I wish for in the past year is that I began to do some good here.
So here is some "good" I'd like to do in 2009:
--find a volunteer niche that I enjoy - either something with animals or in a hospital or school
--put my creative energy out in the world - hopefully through playwriting and improv
--spend more time with my grandparents
--spend more quality time with myself
The last one is tricky - I spend time with myself all the time, but it isn't quality time. I figure it fits into the whole "doing good" theme because how can I help others if I'm not present within myself?
Hmmm...to think this started out as a post about Danish Modern furniture.
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