birthdays, bats, and bites

(as always, click on the pictures to make them bigger)

Friday the 13th: My bday celebrations begun by going to see Craig Ferguson perform live. Surprisingly, we and the people next to us were the youngest people in the whole crowd. I didn't realize the host of a show that starts at 12:30am had so many gray-haired fans. But it was mucho fun - it felt just like we were at home watching on tv except that he was cussing and wearing more casual clothing than a suit. Also, he did a lot of mocking at some loudmouth lady in the front row. See, here's a picture of him doing that:


It's not the best picture, because my camera doesn't like to zoom in on things in the dark. Also because Jay was interrupted by theater staff threatening to take my camera away (and telling us to keep our feet and drinks off the banister). So blame them.

But it was a good show, and if you get the chance I highly recommend seeing Mr. Craig Ferg in person. Tip: Buy the tickets from the venue so you don't have to pay a huge service charge like we did.

Next morning was Saturday, Flag Day, June 14, the best day ever. I woke up and finally got to get at that pile of presents that's been accumulating and taunting me, thanks to my loving and wonderful boyfriend. Lookie lookie:


Yeah that's right - I can now turn on the magic of colored lights. And even though my job is completely un-Office Space-like, I now have a red stapler that may someday lead to the burning down of a building. And if you look closely, you might think that this collection is for someone less than half my age. However, they are all for me, because even though I am now in my late twenties (yeah, shutup people older than me, I know), Jay knows that I still love things that are fun. I also got this:


Jay tried to find one that said "The Internets are gonna hear about this!" but that would require having it custom made. So now fairly warned be thee, says I.

*And* I also got this from my dear friend Emma:


Both these shirts are consistent with my (newly instituted) mantra to only wear t-shirts that state the truth.

I should mention here that my bday is also Mecrutio's bday. So as I tore open my gifts, I tossed the wrapping paper down to the cat. He played with it for a bit, and then went for a day-long nap. That's a pretty good bday, I'd say. (And yes, he did get a new toy mouse the other day. Its purple.)

So after present fun-ness, it was time for breakfast at our normal haunt, the Big Boy. Because I've been wearing my birthday pins every year since I was 16, the waitress could easily see what kind of special day it was. And since she knew that I didn't want the brownie-ice cream-concoction that people normally get for free on their bdays (it totally didn't go with the strawberry topped pancakes), she took my chocolate shake off the bill. So even though I would have ordered it anyway (who doesn't like a chocolate ice cream shake with breakfast?) we Jay didn't have to pay for it. Yay for free stuff on bdays!

Then, time to go have fun and be edumacated. Off to the Cranbrook Science Center where I got to see bats. Bats! I love bats! Look how cute!


This poor little guy had a broken bat thumb, and a little cast. I learned that bats pee while hanging by their thumbs because for some reason, peeing while hanging upside down doesn't work out. But this little guy couldn't do that - so please don't make fun of the potty on his chest.

I saw lots of bats and owls and flying squirrels and sugar gliders and then other things that weren't alive. It was fun and educational, my favorite type of thing.

When we came home, the dog needed a walk. So we went on a little family jaunt, and since it was such a nice day, I found a stick to throw for Midnight. He got, shall we say, a little overzealous with his stick biting. When he bit the stick, it was the part that my hand was still holding. So I got a nice big dog chomp. And I cried. And my hand was purple and puffy, with proto-puncture wounds. (Luckily for me, a 15-year old dog's teeth are kind of worn down.) But it wouldn't be Flag Day if I didn't get hurt (remember last year when I cracked a rib?), so I accepted my hurt and lots of drugs*.

Then, even though I was injured, we ventured out to the open air mall. I've been needing to replace The Bestest Skirt Ever, so that was the mission. I needed another long flowy skirt that I could wear every day, and repair the seams on multiple times until holes got worn into it that were beyond repair. And I found one! I also found some cute shoes that were $3, and a new wallet to replace my old blue one which had seen better days. In summary, I spent almost a whole paycheck on clothes, books, and other things that I've needed but couldn't buy until I had a job (and had coupons from the stores as bday presents).

All in all, a very good bday. We'll just pretend that my right hand doesn't have a constant ache from being chomped on. And muchas gracias to everyone who sent along bday wishes and warm fuzzies.









* I couldn't be mad at the dog, because it was clearly an accident. And, according to Jay (who would know, because he's known Midnight since the day he - the dog - was born), nobody has ever been hurt by Midnight. So yay for me being the first?

Anti- Sex & the City Meme

In response to all the coverage regarding the Sex & The City movie, Good Friend Suzanne made this meme "for feisty, spirited women who share our lives and support one another, yet are also slovenly and/or miserly (or is it practical?):"


What's the cheapest pair of shoes you own? A better question is what is the most expensive pair because I buy nearly all my shoes either used (thrift store or ebay) or on clearance. I think my sparkly shoes were $8. My fave rainbow flip flops were like $4, several years ago. My pink velcro sneakers were $20 at a thrift store. My super cute doll shoes were like $15 on ebay. My comfy polka dot heels were new, but still less than $20. Admittedly I have a lot of shoes. They all need to be cheap, because I am poor.

What's your favorite piece of jewelry, if you own any? Um, yeah, remember how I make jewelry? Yeah, I like those. And I really like my mystic topaz ring that Jay gave me.

What's your favorite t-shirt? This one. I also like all my AIDS Walk shirts, because I earned those. But I don't really wear those in public.

If you could wear jeans every day, would you? I can already wear jeans every day but I choose not to. When it's warm enough I wear skirts all the time. And not jean skirts either. And in the winter, I will wear one of my 2 pair of jeans, but I will also wear clothes that are warmer. I like having the options of wearing jeans, but I don't love jeans like some people do.

Do you comb your hair every day? Maybe not comb per se, (one of the benefits of short hair) but I generally do something with it, like put a barrette or headband in. Or thrown on a head scarf.

Ok, so that was fun. Feel free to do it yourself now.

des hates her toe

About 3 or 4 years ago, I broke my big toe. I was in karate class with xbf before class actually started. We were messing around and I threw a fake kick with my left foot. He caught it, and somehow I pivoted (badly) on my right foot. Then I fell down in pain. When the teacher came in, I told him what happened. He did take it a little easier on me that night, but we all thought I would be fine.

The next day I was off from work, thank goodness. When I woke up, I was still in pain and now my toe was very purple and misshaped. (Somewhere around here I have a picture of it, but I don't want to go through the hassle of digging it out and setting it up. You don't need to see it, you can imagine.) So I called my doctor. My regular doctor, Dr. K (the best doctor ever) was not in that day, but someone else from his practice was so I went in to see him. I quickly learned to hate him. When I said "I think I broke my toe" he didn't believe me. He manhandled my toe so much that I recoiled in terror and pain. Begrudgingly, he sent me for an x-ray. I think he was still skeptical of me even when he saw that my toe had broken in 2 places.

Since it is a toe, there's not much can be done when it breaks, even the big toe (and my big toe isn't really that big). So I got a stupid "shoe" thing that supported the bottom of my foot, and maybe a tiny bit on the side, but had velcro on top so I could remove it*. He didn't give me any pain medication. I couldn't miss work, so I spent my 8+ hour days on my feet. Luckily at this time my coworkers were a little sympathetic so I didn't have to do as much counter work and sometimes I could have a stool to sit on. But it was still a lot of time to spend on my broken toe, even with the stupid shoe. So I called my regular doctor and explained what happened and they called in some drugs for me.

**I've mentioned how awesome Dr. K was many times before, but this is another example. He knew I would never fake something just to get narcotics, and the whole "reacting badly with vicodin" thing certainly helped validate me. This time, they looked at the xrays and were incredulous that Stupid Doctor didn't give me anything for pain. It also didn't hurt that I worked in a pharmacy, so I could get my pills right then.**

So anyway, you can see why I think my toe never healed correctly. Every now and again, my poor aching bones remind me of this. Like today. Yesterday I wore some cute little white strappy heels for a coupla hours. Yes, they are cheap shoes that threaten to give me proto-blisters whenever I wear them, but they are also not padded at all on the bottom. So I spend the rest of that day and (so far) the next day, massaging my poor toe, remembering how I broke it in karate all those years ago.




*I remember that it was December, because I actually had to wear a plastic bag over my foot during rain and other bad weather. I did get to wear exciting warm and fuzzy socks for the world to see, however.

bowling

As a Midwesterner, I've done a lot of bowling lately. Bowling is one of those things that people do here. In NYC I didn't bowl once. In CA, if I went, I would tell people about it and the standard response was "I haven't been bowling in years!" But here, it's a weekly thing, if not more. There are actually times when we can't bowl because the wait for a lane is too long. And there are bowling alleys every few blocks, unlike in my college town where there was one and you even had to be a student to use it.

So, since Jay and I are now bowlers (though he never really *stopped* being one) we decided we needed them there fancy shoes. Technically I already have some, but I wear them out on the street, so I can't wear them on the lanes. So, we pay our deposit to rent some shoes, and well, we keep them. I feel ok about doing this because we go to this same bowling alley just about every weekend, bringing lots of people that pay money, and we are using the shoes for their intended purpose. Because the shoes were, shall we say, ugly, and obvious rentals, we purchased some spray paint to do some decorating. Mine are now all white with silver & gold highlights and Jay's are black with the same.

So Saturday (apparently while this was happening in our apartment complex), we decide to use our "new" shoes. We start out the day at our normal alley without incident. Then later we are in a different part of town with a different friend, and we go to a different alley. Yes, that's bowling twice in one day. Cranky Old Lady #1 eyes us suspiciously when only one of the 3 of us needs shoe rentals. She demands to see Jay & my shoes, inspects them practically with a magnifying glass, and calls over Cranky Old Lady #2. COL#2 goes over the shoes with a fine-toothed comb and declares "these are house shoes, but they're not ours." We're all a bit confused, and Jay says "no, they're bowling shoes." COL#2 glares at him and continues talking to COL#1 about us. It's decided that we can use our own shoes this time, but next time we'll still have to pay the rental fee. Then a statement of the rules is pretty much shoved in our faces. It says that any shoes brought in are subject to inspection at any time, and customers still have to pay the rental fee.

Why would customers still have to pay the rental fee if they're bringing in their own shoes? Isn't that the point of having your own shoes? And you would think anyone that has their own shoes would be a repeat customer. However if you are a Cranky Old Lady and you are rude to your customers, they won't be. As I said, there are lots of other bowling alleys around. And this is beside the point, but what does it matter where we got our shoes?

But we were there to bowl, and even though there were lots of empty lanes, we were put right next to some other folks so he had to share a ball rack and a table with them. You know, no personal space. While we were drinking a pitcher of beer out of cute little juice glasses, we decided that because of the COLs and their rudeness to us, we were never coming back to that alley. Not to mention that I totally whacked my thigh with a bowling ball, which hurt like a monkeyfunker and I completely blamed it on the alley.

And that's how we got new juice glasses at our house.

the old wet / dry

Luckily, today I was dressed for a thunderstorm. I had my rain boots (my moon boots, if you will), rain jacket, and my penguin umbrella tucked into my new waterproof backpack. This is good because when I got off my train to go meet Suzanne to see Persepolis, there was a thunderstorm. So I got semi-drenched on the 3-block walk. (Incidentally, this is when I found out that my backpack was waterproof.) But the important thing was that my person and personal belongings were dry.

Until later in the night when me and Zoe were eating dinner at Dojo. We were gushing about our respective boyfriends when the guy next to me spilled his water... all over my jacket, shoes, and bag. I looked down, looked at him with one raised eyebrow*, and went back to my conversation, a la Superbitch.

When he left, Zoe told me that she watched him playing with his water glass. He had his hand inside the glass, and was tipping it from side to side. So when he spilled his water all over me, it wasn't really on purpose per se, but it was a stupid thing to do. I obviously didn't see this, which is why the guy was allowed to leave the restaurant in one piece. Luckily, today I was dressed for a thunderstorm.




* Ok, I probably didn't have one eyebrow raised, since I can't do that. But believe you me, there was a look of utter disdain and disgust.

now click your heels 3 times

My downstairs neighbors might be wondering why I gallop / dance / skip through my apartment after 11pm at night. Um, maybe it's because I bought the Best Shoes Ever and they are magical and fun and I'm oh so happy to wear them.



They are dark silver. They only look purple because of my stylish blue socks.

And? They were on sale. $13.
70% off, suckas!

the impossible necklace

I bought a new outfit on Saturday. Naturally I wanted to wear it on Monday. I had a black shirt, white skirt with black trim, white shoes with black trim, a black headband with white stripes, but no jewelry that matched so completely. Sure, I could throw in a splash of color, but I was going for the whole bi-chrome effect. So I did what any self respecting jewelry artist would do: I made myself a new necklace.

Once I had all my supplies together, the designing process didn't take long at all (duh - black, gray, white, repeat). SO I whipped myself up a pretty strand of faux-pearls. As I'm about to snap a picture for posterity, I notice that in one place, the pattern doesn't go b-g-w, it goes b-g-w-w-g-b which is only a minor misstep, but I'm a perfectionist dammit.

So I remake the necklace. Then as I'm crimping the final bead that holds the whole thing together, the wire breaks for no reason and black agates go a-flying. I yell a few choice words and begin the reconstruction process. Craig tells me to stop it, give up, do it tomorrow. But I need to wear the necklace tomorrow!

So I make the necklace for the third time. All goes as planned, I take the photos, and decide I can finally go to bed. This is why when my alarm went off at 6:45 am Monday morning, I wondered aloud what day it was, and had to really rack my brain as to why I would be getting up so early.

Of course, cold coffee saved the day. And I looked absolutely stunning in my little ensemb.

weekends abound

So.
Yesterday I went clothes shopping. For me. That's my favorite kind of clothes shopping!
I had recently come to the realization that very few articles in my closet were as shiny and crisp as they once were. That's what I get for doing the majority of my shopping in thrift stores. Plus, I've also been made aware of the fact that NYC employers like to interview people in suits.

Off to midtown! I did find a very nice skirt-suit and another skirt and a plain black button-up shirt. I thought I might have to go shoe shopping again (darn!) but it turns out that my brown Italian suede shoes will go just fine.* Not too shabby. I still need to get more button-up shirts though.

Then this morning I was finalizing my return trip from CA. We hadn't made hotel reservations yet. Luckily there was a block of rooms reserved for us out of town wedding guests. (Besides the fact I'm only spending 2 nights in the hotel - the several days before, I get to stay at the bride's house. Duh.) Then I was deciding on my return voyage. Original plan was to go visit the fam. Unfortunately, it was over $400 for an hour-long flight. OK, Amtrak. $54 for a 6 hour trip. Yuck, but I can do it. Then to come home. What's this? $700 to fly one way from Eureka to NYC? Nope. Can't swing that. Sorry mom and dad.

So I'll be returning on the same flight as Craig, and even though he booked his flight many moons ago, the seat next to him was still available. This is actually a better plan since I might need to do that "finding a job" thing. PLUS this way I get to go the Jersey Shore with Suzanne and her gang. (I know it's Jersey, but it'll still be fun.) And I can come back easily to wear my new suit if someone decides I should work there. Which someone needs to do.

But for some reason making these plans made for a very stressful morning. I finished some new jewelry (for my new friend / replacement at work) and soon will jaunt off to the book club to discuss this month's book, which I read this week and finished last night.

blah.




* Another thrift store purchase. $4 - and no additional cows had to die so I could have covered feet.

invisible cockroach syndrome

I knew I shouldn't have gone into the lunch room, but I needed the microwave and without it a substantial part of my lunch would go uneaten. And I was already starving. I took a seat next to the window, figuring that the cleaning fumes would not bother me there. I did not count on what I saw on the boxes. Even though it is a very large room, I could see them moving, crawling. Then, as if I needed confirmation, my coworkers started stomping on the ground in a very pointed way.

During the 3 minutes that my mac & cheese cooked, they finished their cleaning and spraying (and stomping) and left. I had allowed myself the occasional peek up. I knew that there was no worry, but I couldn't help but think that maybe some had escaped the massacre of their brethren and made it the seemingly long distance across the open floor and were now crawling on my open-toed shoes and up my bare legs. I calmly glanced down, saw nothing, and put my feet on the chair across from me. I continued reading my book, with only the briefest of brushes of my leg. Once I swear I felt something fall when I brushed my leg with my hand, and then I was sure there was something on my chair near my almost-exposed butt (thanks to my skirt and my feet up).

But my brain knew there was nothing there. I reminded myself that I had seen nothing, heard no telltale clicks of 6 feet scurrying, and not felt any weight on my leg. The tickle was imaginary. But I resumed the brushing of my legs with my hands. I took my full half-hour lunch, debating between the boredom pushing for a longer lunch or the fears pulling for a shorter one.

Fear wins over boredom every time.

RIP, converse

Today I'm going to write about my converse. I searched forever to find pink converse in my size, to no avail. Then suddenly, the converse company was revamped and I had all sorts of cool colors in my size. I bought some sparkly silver ones and finally, my pink ones. They have checkered laces. They are truly awesome.


Except for one thing. When they "remade" converse for the new generation, they screwed them up. No longer are they comfy basketball shoes. Now they are evil things that tear holes in your socks and give you blisters.

I noticed it first with my silver ones. I don't think I've worn them since I moved to NYC. But I still have them. I was holding out hope that it wouldn't happen with the pink ones... the ones I searched so long for. But no.


So now I've resolved myself to get rid of my beloved painful converse. They hurt my feet so badly that I can't even wear them to work, where I am sitting on my butt all day.

Le sigh.



ps - that hole in my sock was not there at all when I got dressed this morning.

leg haiku

I should probably be posting this on The People Under the Stairmasters, but I don't even know if people are still looking at that.

poor des, has sore calves
friday gym, weekend outside
shoes with tiny heels

Spring has not yet sprung

I'm ready.

While I was in CA I found the best shoes ever - canvas mary-janes that are black with white polka dots.* I got very used to wearing those shoes, and of course I relished all the attention they got me. (Oh des, those are GREAT shoes!) But as soon as I came back from 80-degree CA it was 40-degree rainy NY. I have not gotten to wear my new shoes since I've been back. I look at them longingly, sitting in my closet while I wear my white rain boots. Le sigh.

This morning I used my fancy pants TJs tangerine-sugar scrub. It makes my skin all soft and sugary and then I kinda smell like tangerines. It's an all over happy feeling, normally reserved for spring and summer because nobody sees my skin in the winter anyway. But I felt like using it today after many moons of hiatus. So I give myself a tiny little secret thrill by using bath products.

Point is, I'm ready for spring, dammit. Plus, my bday is exactly 2 months from tomorrow. It's a Thursday. Blah. Happy Friday the 13th!



* They also had white with black polka dots, and I'm really regretting not buying those too because they were only $15 and I can't find them anywhere - I think the company stopped making them.