Ten Tidbits

AND! She’s back! Okay, so I like my blog and I reserve the right to change my mind, so here I am. I haven’t given up on this thing yet.

Since posting my last entry, I have been trying to figure out why exactly I feel disconnected from my blog, and I guess it is because I feel like people expect me to say something hugely profound or spectacular. As though I am traveling vicariously for everyone I know and there is this weight upon me to say something really momentous and blow (KABOOM!) the minds of my friends and family. It is all in my head, of course, and as a result, I’ve freaked myself out by placing way too much unnecessary pressure on little ol’ me.

So, I hereby give myself permission to talk basics and I bring you ten tidbits.

1. At each of the three grocery stores in closest proximity to my apartment, the eggs are not refrigerated. Therefore, I had a very difficult time finding them the first couple of times. I do not understand this, or rather, why American stores must refrigerate their eggs and the German ones do not. I have yet to Google myself out of this confusion. (Dear Shawn, will you figure this out for me and post it in the comments? Thanks. You rock. Oh, what? You don’t want homework? Don’t lie. You love the Google.)

2. Two of those stores also sell individual eggs. You need one egg? Sure, kein Problem! I like this.

3. Stolpersteine. Once someone points them out to you and you know what they are, you see them pretty often. “This is a difficult topic,” says Captain Obvious.

4. I live very close to the Stadtpark, and it is so cool! I ran the perimeter today (almost—stupid ITB making me want to cut my leg off) and discovered there are no less than 5 drink stands throughout the park where you can get all sorts of liquid refreshments, with or without the booze.

5. Oh, they have pretty huge outdoor concerts there in the summer, I guess. So, the drink stands make a bit more sense in that context.

6. The Planetarium is also there. I have yet to go there, but have thee no fear, go there I will.

7. I have yet to go to several places actually. I have been hibernating when I am not working, trying to save more money than I spend. It is a good time of the year for that sort of behavior.

8. The few Germans I’ve discussed spinach with think it is disgusting when consumed raw. I have seen spinach sold raw at exactly one store. Everywhere else it comes frozen. My standard green smoothie recipe now has a kale base.

9. When you exit the bus or train, you typically have to press a button of some sort to open the door. If no one is exiting or boarding a particular car at a station, the doors of said car do not automatically open. I like this, except if the car smells and could use the ventilation.

10. I have only been on one train car that smelled. From the look and smell of it, someone had spilled an entire beer on the floor. My (ridiculously fantastic) friend Anna says that there are signs (which I have yet to see) that ask you to please not bring smelly things on the train out of courtesy for your fellow passengers. I like this.

Okay, that is good. Perhaps I’ll do a bit of redesigning of this silly blog to liven up the place.

Peace.

Fake Blog Post in Lieu of Actual Writing

1. SELF-HARM

This morning at the office, I leaned down to pick up my cardigan which had fallen to the floor, and I rammed my throat into the edge of my desk chair. Ouch. It really hurt. Then, I yanked my head back from the chair and hit it on the wall behind me. That hurt too. A double whammy! Wham! Bam! Thank you, ma’am!

2. THE NAME GAME

I really like the name “MacLeod”. Something about the look of it makes me happy. And the sound. Very nice.

3. RELATIONSHIPS ARE HARD

Via Crazy Sexy Cancer...

“Did you ever consider that when you change, the people in your life have no choice but to change as well? Human relationships are a dance. When you change your steps, your partner cannot do the old dance. It won’t work.”

4. CUSTOMER SERVICE ODDITIES

I think it is funny that I sometimes feel the need to end conversations with government agents by cheerfully saying something along the lines of “Hopefully I’ll never have to talk to you again! Have a great day!”

5. HOOSIERS UNITE

Axl Rose is from Indiana? For reals?

Cravings and Annoyances

CRAVINGS

I must be suffering from a serious burrito deficiency or something, because I cannot get enough of Boloco’s breakfast burritos! Huevos Rancheros! On a wheat wrap! Yes! With an iced coffee? Of course! Only $3? Are you joking?

Each morning, while I get ready for work, I tell myself, “I will not get a breakfast burrito today. I will not get a breakfast burrito today.” Then I get off the train and head straight to Boloco. It’s like a giant burrito magnet calling me home.

When I lived in Albuquerque, I was introduced to the joy and wonder that is the breakfast burrito, and my breakfast cravings have never been the same. Boston’s restaurant scene pisses me off for a variety of reasons, one of them being the lack of a decent breakfast burrito.

Other things that bother me about Boston’s culinary scene:

1) NOTHING is open after 11:00. Sure, there are a couple of places that offer breakfast at midnight, but they are few and far between. That, coupled with the ridiculous fact that the T shuts down around midnight, lead to a lot of drunken folks with no greasy spoon within walking distance. This makes no sense. None at all. There is a huge market for late-night eateries just waiting to be tapped. Is it some sort of blue law or something? Why can’t we have 24-hour restaurants?

2) Oh, well, I guess that is it.

3) Oh! There are not enough burrito/taco places. If I had my way, there would be a burrito place in every major square and near every single T station. Mmm…burritos.

ANNOYANCES

I dislike when women get their toenails painted in a French manicure style. The tips of their toenails are white, which only makes their toenails look freakishly long. I really, deeply dislike this look.

That is enough bitching for today, I guess. I’ll save my other annoyances for another day. I’m actually in a great mood, believe it or not. I get to see Radiohead tonight!!!! I am so excited. Have a good day!

10 Years

Last night I returned from Chicago. From my 10-year high school reunion (by the way, will someone please remind me how to use hypens properly? And quotation marks. Thanks. Seriously, what is the deal with that crap? Why can't I remember that?).

Hi, Nicole. If you are trying to improve your English by this crappy blog, you are in for a major disappointment. You should talk to my friend Allison. Or my sister, GJM (write a blog so I can link to you!). They are both English nerds, and I love them.

Anyway, I went to my reunion and it rocked. Mainly because I decided that I was going to have a good time, regardless of how weird the whole thing was. And so, a good time I had.

Chicago in the summer is beautiful. It's been about 4 or 5 years since I was there when it wasn't the dead of winter. I'd forgotten how many outdoor cafes there are and how nice people in the Midwest are when the sun shines daily. Strangers in the Midwest are always like, 4-5 degrees nicer than strangers on the East Coast. Here, people are afraid that if you look them in the eye, they'll never be rid of you. In the Midwest, people pretend to be your best friend. And quite frankly, contrary to Ani DiFranco, when she says, "can't wait to get back to New York City, where at least when I walk down the street, nobody ever hesitates to tell me exactly what they think of me," I prefer that. I'd rather we at least pretend to be civil.

More when I've had a bit more sleep.

Peace.

Meme-a-rific

Howdy. I'm not feeling very chatty right now. Life is fine. Just kind of distracted at the moment.

Abigail tagged me, but I don't have the patience to figure out how to link to older posts, so I am going to modify this game...

The meme's rules:
1. Go through your archives and link to five of your favourite posts that you have written.
· Link one must be a post about family.
· Link two must be a post about friends.
· Link three must be a post about yourself.
· Link four must be a post about something you love.
· Link five can be a post about anything you choose.

2. Tag five other people to do this meme. Two of them must be people you already know so that you can get to know each other better.
---

So, instead, I am going to say something about my:
1) My friends. They are scattered around the country and I am dying to make a giant road trip to touch base with each of them. I feel sort of incomplete having everyone so spread out. I love my friends.

2) My family. They are good people and I'm pretty blessed that I was born into the Jones clan, if I do say so myself. Love them more than anything.

3) Me. I think I'm pretty cool, but rumor has it, I'm kind of a nerd.

4) Something I love. I love ketchup. Best. Condiment. Ever. However, right now, I cannot get enough Cholula. I am drenching my meals in the stuff.

5) Anything I choose. I had a frisbee game last night and it went well. My hip started to get kind of sore afterwards, but it wasn't really a big deal. Then, I woke up today with what felt like a sprained ankle. It was very strange. I didn't hurt myself, and yet, I could barely walk this morning. It's much better now, but my ankle is still pretty sore and wobbly.

That's all I got.

I'm Totally Hibernating

Boston's public transportation is really quite good, but there are certain things about it that aggravate me to no end. My main issue with it is that everything stops running around 1:00. I think the T should at least run until all the bars close, but hey, I don't make the stupid rules.

When I hang out at my favorite Irish pub, like I did Friday night, in order to get home, I have a ten minute walk, 3 trains and a bus ride ahead of me. On a very good night, I can do it in about an hour. Friday night, I boarded the T around...12:50 and finally got home around 2:15. I guess that's not too too bad really. It was interesting though.

See, what happened was, I decided to do the 3 trains and then catch a cab, since I figured that would be quicker than waiting for the bus (the bus runs really infrequently that time of night). My cab driver, however, was driving at approximately 5 miles per hour. So, I asked as nicely as possible, "Um, excuse me, sir, but could you please drive a little bit quicker?" He sort of laughed me off and slowly explained to me that driving faster was not going to get us through this red light any quicker. We kept hitting lights and it kept not making any sense to go faster. I felt like a jerk, so I apologized and explained that it's just that money is tight right now and I'm impatient by nature.

We started talking and the conversation progressed to politics and then to family and life and people and all things deep and inspiring at 2:10 in the morning. His name was Eddie, he was from Haiti and he was sweet. He told me I am "a young woman of solid substance" and that if his daughter had half the sensibility I have, his life would be so much different.

Wow. I really needed that. I have been feeling kind of down lately, so I welcomed his flattery with open arms. It was really nice speaking with him, even if I was in that cab for 45 minutes instead of the 10 I was anticipating.

I slept until I couldn't sleep another moment on Saturday. Finally got out of bed around 1:30. I have a cold and am Captain Snot right now, so after running a couple of quick errands, I holed up in my apartment and watched 8 or 9 hours of television.

Today, I started the day with some laundry, then finished it with some wine and painting. I have never really tried my hand at painting, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much I enjoyed spending the evening doing it. That, coupled with the big bowl of dumplings I just had, really made today a good day.

I love being alone and having weekends like this. Where every decision I make is all mine and I can do whatever I want. Sometimes, the idea of having to incorporate someone else's ideas/agendas with mine kind of freaks me out. I almost feel like I've been single for so long that I no longer know how to be in a relationship at all. I'm terrified of having to compromise my freedom.

Is that weird? Am I just making excuses or something?

I don't know. Whatevs.

By Golly, I Think it is Time

Time for a show. Time for...the theatre! I am suddenly intensely feeling the urge to do something, anything creative. It's funny because on the other hand, more than anything, I want to eat until I feel I might pop and sleep until I can't possibly sleep another second. I am torn between hibernating and creating.

I can sleep. One of the things I am best at is sleeping. That may sound silly, but consider this. One weekend during my senior year, I fell asleep at 7:00 Friday night and woke up at 5:00 on Saturday afternoon. I slept for almost an entire drive from chicago to southern florida that same year.

I can do this now without much fanfare, but now I'm doing a lot more of the boozing, so it's not quite as impressive.

Anyway, I want things right now. I want to be busy. I want to create things, sleep a lot and eat everything that's not nailed down.

I could also go for a hug.

Peace out, yo.

P.S. Today I have officially NOT spent $1,500 on cigarettes! Woot!

City Living: The Aggravations

1. Poop. Poop on the sidewalks. Poop on the benches. Poop on the train. Human poop. Bird poop. Dog poop. Poop.

2. Spatial idiots. Not paying attention to the rest of the world. Anticipate, people.

3. Unidentified liquids. Puddles. Pee? Toxic waste? As Shawn likes to refer to these puddles: "breeding grounds."

4. Creepy old men on public transportation. Stop staring at the little girl's neck.

5. Guy who thinks he can run--RUN--onto a crowded train carrying a posterboard five feet in length. Thanks for the jab!

6. Poop. Wait. I said this already.

7. Too. Many. People. Okay. That's all. For now.

Things I Learned This Weekend

1. Walk Like an Egyptian is a crowd-pleasing karaoke selection.

2. Giving away a pair of tickets to a Black Crowes concert is not easy.

3. Sometimes one breakfast sandwich just isn't enough.

4. I've been doing push-ups incorrectly my entire life.

5. I can actually do push-ups.

6. Losing your wallet is one of the worst feelings in the world.

7. Finding your wallet is one of the best feelings in the world!

8. $105 buys a hell of a lot of PBR.

9. Haphazardly hanging from the top handrail in a moving subway car can result in much damage to the lower back region.

10. Fiber is my new best friend.

It Is As If Something Has Shifted

(10/26/05)

I was talking with the magnificent SP this evening and he asked me if I was excited that the White Sox are kicking ass. I told him that I just found out they were playing about two hours ago. I am totally out of the baseball loop. So, he talked about the Red Sox winning after all that time, and the White Sox winning after all that time---

I mentioned hurricanes, volcanoes, tsunamis, earthquakes. And now that I am thinking about it--epidemics, new flus, vaccine shortages. All of these "unlikely" events happening right around the same time.

It is as if something has shifted.

We are exploding as a species. We have reached capacity. The world, our little planet earth, etc., is equalizing. Our effects are now being documented, recorded, analyzed by our natural world. Things are changing. Natural and "unnatural". Equalizing stabilizing making right what once went wrong.

It is depressing? It is terrible, yes. Is it natural? Yes. But we created it so it is artificial. But did this world not create us? Our things are descendants of our intellect. Products of products of products. Natural disasters are products of products of products. But the momentum has shifted. Instead of creating forward...moving forward...won't the equalization be a step backward? Won't it be retrogression?

Will it? I ask you.

I answer my own questions.

I don't think so. I think that it is simply and purely a step. A seemingly chaotic completely natural way for things to occur. Is it sad? Sure. It is what it is and you can either accept it and deal or stress and worry about it.

Disclaimer: The writer does not believe her argument is an excuse for laziness, nonchalance, or non-action.