From The Police Blotter. July 2, 2009

 So last week, I was at home in Iowa, soaking up a little summer sunshine and warmth, eating lots of my mom’s cookies and other Iowa goodness (sandwiches, cheese bread, ranch dressing).  I’m from a little town of just under 10,000 people, and at some point within the past year, the local paper started publishing the police blotter/log of activities.

My dad takes GREAT pleasure from this.  The paper is only about six or eight pages thick, and generally focuses its coverage on local high school and college sporting events, obituaries (of which there are many, since my town boasts not just one but three retirement communities), birth, wedding, and engagement announcements, and any other breaking local news (new staff member at the local bank, changes at the Chamber of Commerce, etc.).  So the police blotter was a significant addition to the paper, and the contents tell you a lot about the town in which I grew up.  Often, the police seem to be dealing primarily with stray dogs or tips about “suspicious” characters (any of which the police generally are ”unable to locate”), speeding tickets, escorts to clean belongings out of homes, and other day to day small town minutiae. 

In my opinion, however, one of the best police blotter incidents was published while I was home.  This is my town.

“10:07- caller reports she’s following a gray Fort Taurus through town that’s driving real slow and ran a red light; while on the line, the subject in the Taurus called 911 stating someone has been following him since he got to town; officer arrived on the scene at that time, everything okay.”

This is the town where I grew up.  SHE WAS FOLLOWING HIM AROUND TOWN BECAUSE HE LOOKED SUSPICIOUS.

Then, over the weekend, somebody got Tasered by a cop with whom I went to high school.  THAT turned out to be front page news.

Flighty. July 2, 2009

No ankle surgery.  Yay.

Broken foot, requiring boot.  Boo.

I feel like I’ve been broken in one way or another for so long that even I’m getting tired of hearing about it.

In other news, I’ve been thinking lately that I maybe tend to be a little flighty.  I get all gung-ho fired up about something and it’s all I want to think about, read about, etc.

Over the past ten years, things I have gotten this way about include the following:

1.  Orchids.  My first year of grad school, I amassed a gigantic collection.  I was passionate about reading about them, I was constantly buying new ones, I went to an orchid-lovers meeting, I coaxed blossoms out of a few in the orchid jungle I established in our living room.  Then we moved to a new apartment with less light and I accidentally killed them all.

2.  Photography.  For a while, I was accruing books on photography, lusting after expensive cameras, hauling around my camera anywhere and everywhere I went, trying to see the world in a new way.  I joined a couple of microstock photography sites, sold a couple hundred dollars worth of photos, obsessed over Photoshop.

3.  Running.  For a while, I was online all the time scoping out training plans, reading about running-related fuels/nutrition, reading running books (of which I still own eight or nine), graphing all of my runs in a slightly obsessive manner with my Nike +.  Looking up marathons and half-marathons online, plotting out a course of events for the year. 

4.  Collages.  I went a little nuts last year trying to do something creative in my spare time, and settled on collage-making with scrap paper and old magazines.  I made about 20 different collages (mainly Vikings!).  And then I got bored and quit.

5.  Food.  Maybe two years ago, I read The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and it started me on this whole reading-about-food, obsessing-about-food kick.  I had about a billion food blogs bookmarked on my computer, I subscribed to a handful of food-related/cooking magazines (Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Cooking Light, Cook’s Illustrated).  I went totally nuts trying new recipes, eating new ingredients, scoping out new restaurants.

All of these are things that I guess have lingered with me in one way or another.  I like good food, enjoy cooking, find pleasure in reading food-related books.  Finding a creative outlet still is important to me.  I still take pictures sometimes.  Obviously, I still run…  or did/will again once I’m back on two, un-booted feet.  I like plants, even if I don’t have any orchids anymore.

You know, now that I think of it, I’ve probably been this way ever since I was a kid.  I was REALLY into cats for a while, maybe even a couple of years.  My dad grew up on a farm and believes animals belong outside, and my parents adopted a dog when they were first married that they tell horror stories about even today…  so no pets.  But man, did I ever try my best to overturn that policy.  I relentlessly lobbied for a cat, I subscribed to Cat Fancy magazine, plastered my bedroom walls with cat centerfolds, collected cat trinkets and knick-knacks. (Had I known that cats cost lots of $$, and do things like eat your cheese and puke on your feet inside your sheets in the middle of the night, I maybe would have felt differently…  hindsight is 20/20.)

As probably has become clear over the past few weeks, my sort-of obsession of the moment is on fashion:  reading Lucky and Elle and Bazaar and Vogue, enjoying other people’s fashion-related blogs, drooling over what comes off the runways. I figure this one probably will pass, too…  so I’m trying to hang on, wait it out, not spend too totally much money revamping my closet in the meantime.

One of these days, maybe I’ll adopt hobbies/interests at a normal level of intensity.  Ha.

Things. July 1, 2009

On the plus side…

1.  American Apparel Sexuali-Tee and -Tank.  They are so soft and swingy and I love the way they drape.  I have these same ones and am wearing them in a somewhat similar way (although mine don’t look as long, since I’m tall)*:  faded, boot cut jeans, flat Manolo gladiator sandals, and several layers of dead Grandma jewelry (my mom and I cleaned out her dressing table while I was in the Midwest).  Jewelry also is making me happy.  I like stuff that reminds you of people, that belonged to people you care about.

2.  Back in the gym.  I ate my own weight in cookies, cheese bread, Iowa sandwiches, and ranch dressing while I was home.  It felt good to be back in the gym and pool again this morning.

3.  Grown-up grilled cheese sandwiches.  I had errands to run downtown last night, and I swung by Acme Bread in the Ferry Building and picked up a couple of loaves of their olive bread.  I came home and cooked up grilled cheese sandwiches:  olive bread, butter, sharp cheddar, tomatoes.  Mmmn.

On the other side…

1.  I’m still limping around, and I go back to the orthopedist this afternoon.  This is the appointment when I supposedly will find out a) whether I need ankle surgery, and b) whether my foot is indeed fractured.  Sigh.

Actually, that’s pretty much it on the downside.  It’s a good week here.

*Watch out, though, ’cause the sizing of these seems to vary pretty dramatically.  I got mine in the store– I have a small white tank and a small tee in the beige, and then a medium tee in the black.  The small beige tee and medium black tee are pretty much the same size.  And somehow, I was drowning in the medium beige tee I tried on.

Heading Home. June 23, 2009

“I moved to New York… and took with me something priceless, the insights of a short-lived first marriage: 1) You can’t change someone else, & 2) there are times when you shouldn’t change yourself.”

– Laura Jacobs, in the July issue of Vogue

This really resonated with me.

I’m currently parked on a bench at SFO, waiting for my delayed flight to Denver. As usual pre-vacation, I was up late packing and cleaning, and I’d be really annoyed about sitting here waiting after getting up at 4am, except for the fact that I had a 3ish hour layover in Denver anyway. So I’m chilling out with a container of fruit from home, a big latte from Peet’s, and a couple of magazines. Although it’s supposed to be a beautiful day in the city, the airport is freezing, and I’m bundled up in jeans and a jacket and scarf. It’s supposed to be in the 90s in Iowa, though, so I’ve got a tank top on underneath my sweatshirt and jacket. I’m sure I’ll change my mind as soon as the muggy Midwestern heat washes over me, but at the moment, I cannot wait for weather that doesn’t require pants or a jacket.

See you all on the flipside.

Yet Another Peril of Facebook. June 18, 2009

The Republican and I were trading emails up until about 2 weeks ago, when he dropped off the face of the planet again.

I updated my Facebook status on Monday to say “…is pro-pluot.”

And last night, the Republican updated his status to say “… misses pluots.”

Dude, enough with the secret Facebook messages.  If you’re not going to keep in touch, let it go.

I Heart Vacation. June 18, 2009

I’ve been taking it easy for the past few days, trying to get my life outside of work back under control, trying to make it to the gym, and doing a few work-related things I haven’t had time for during the work week.  I leave for Iowa early next week, and it will be nice to get out of town…  it sort of doesn’t feel like vacation, more like I’m just being lazy.

Things I am LOVING today:

1.  The sunshine.  For once, it’s sunny and warm(ish) in San Francisco.  I limped in to and home from the gym the long way, just to soak up a few rays.

2.  Sex in the City.  I watched this series start to finish a few years back, and I haven’t touched the DVDs since.  I started with season 1 this morning, along with a big pot of coffee, a heaping bowl of steel-cut oatmeal and CSA/farmers’ market peaches, blueberries, and cherries, and a couple of snoozin’ cats.  Perfect.

3.  Free things.  Moving Comfort sent me a free sports bra to try out and review, yay!  Here is the link to their main website:  Moving Comfort Sports Bras.  And here’s a link to their racerback section (the style I picked):  Racerback Sports Bras.  In case you’re REALLY interested, I picked the Lila C/D bra in ocean.  FedEx delivered it this morning, and I promptly wore it to spin class…  mainly because it’s been a few days since I’ve done laundry.  But I love it, so far.  The fit is great, it doesn’t ride up, and it’s comfortable:  no digging in with the straps, etc.  I was bumming around my apartment for a while before I hit the gym, and it was completely fine in terms of comfort.  Obviously, spinning isn’t an ultra high-impact workout, but the support level seems adequate for higher-impact activities.  I probably will not wear it for long runs, however, because it does have internal seams across the front.  I only needed to do ONE half-marathon in a sports bra like that to realize that internal seams are a really, really bad idea for running long.  I think I still have the bra from that half, and I think it still has the bloodstains to prove what a bad decision that was.  Anyway, I’m going to try the bra for something higher-impact (maybe the elliptical trainer) again sometime soon…  so I’ll keep you posted.

4.  Food.  I mentioned that oatmeal, which I have been eating like it’s my job.  I also have Brussels sprouts from the market, which I’m intending to roast up with garlic, shallots, pine nuts, and maybe some red spring onion, we’ll see.  

5.  Clean laundry.  The smell, the way that I have all my favorite things clean when I go to pick out something to wear…  pretty much everything except for the trip to the laundromat.  Yay.

Procrastination. June 15, 2009

My vacation starts at 5:30pm.  Until a 5pm appointment, I am sort of killing time, as the wise among you may have guessed by the two posts I already put up this afternoon.  This is post #3, to tell you that I ate something delicious this weekend, and it was so super-easy that even someone who specializes in take-out could whip it up and knock somebody special’s socks off.  I give you:  Miso-Glazed Salmon.

Five minutes for the glaze.  Ten minutes under the broiler.  And presto, change-o, you have a delicious main course.  I’ve been eating leftovers over a big salad with extra chives and a vinaigrette I made with one part olive oil, two parts orange muscat vinegar.

Also, I’m A Sucker For a Good Shoe. June 15, 2009

I loooooove the Frye boots.  They’re a little worn in, although less so than they look in the pics.  And also, I paid $10 for them, plus $12 s/h.  The braided trim on the sides kills me.  In a good way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then I am awaiting these sandals:

 

 

 

 

 

And these boots, which I can’t wear at the moment anyway, but decided that I need them, if solely as encouragement that at some point in the undetermined future, I will no longer be broken and I will be able to wear high heels again.  In the meantime, I will stare longingly at them while they sit in my closet.

 

 

 

I love shoes.  The end.

“Everybody’s Looking For Something.” June 15, 2009

So I guess I’m back in that place where I’m having really vivid dreams again.  Yesterday morning was one of those mornings where I was totally convinced that the dream was real, where it took me a few minutes to realize that things were same-old, same-old.

More specifically, I dreamed about Matt.  I haven’t talked to him in a while; we played phone tag maybe threeish weeks ago.  The last time we actually spoke was maybe six weeks ago.  And I hadn’t thought about him either, save for some minor annoyance a few weeks ago that he hadn’t returned my last call in our phone tag, mainly because I assumed that he’d vanished into something with the new, inexperienced woman in his life.

Well, after a couple of weeks in which he didn’t cross my mind, he was in my dream on Saturday night.  It all started with Hot Neighbor, with whom (in my dream), somehow I wound up making out.  I think there was a middle-of-the-night fire alarm, and then, you know, pajamas, so OF COURSE there was making out.

Anyway, in the dream, post-making out, Hot Neighbor asked me out on a real date.  And he came to pick me up (although it turned out he wore lifts in his shoes, and consequently in real life was much shorter than the 6′3″ish he seems to be), and we went to this bar, and he went to get us drinks, and poof! there was Matt, on another surprise visit from Vermont.

Hot Neighbor came back, and I asked him to give us a minute.  He agreed.

I turned to Matt.  ”YOU CANNOT KEEP DOING THIS,” I said to him.  ”YOU CANNOT KEEP COMING BACK IN AND OUT OF MY LIFE WHENEVER YOU FEEL LIKE IT.”

He looked abashed.  ”I know,” he said.  ”This is the last time.  But I realized that I love you, and I want to spend my life with you.  And I had to come and tell you that.”

And of course, then there was making out, and yada yada yada and happily-ever-after.

And then I woke up.  After the dream faded and reality set back in, I flicked on my phone.

‘Matthew L… is in a relationship,’ my Facebook feed announced.

And it wasn’t as bad as the last time.

In other news, I’m going on vacation.  For two weeks.  Posting probably will be light…  so bear with me.

What To Pair? June 12, 2009

A few weeks ago, I bought this super-cute Beth Bowley dress from Loehmann’s.  Here it is:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For some reason, WordPress is insisting on posting this sideways.  Whatever, you get the idea.  The problem here is this:  what kind of shoes do I wear with this dress?  And given that I live in San Francisco, where it is generally cold and foggy in the summer, what can I layer over it (and look cute, not frumpy)?

Anyone have any ideas?