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currently reading:
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

currently listening to:
Under Cold Blue Stars by Josh Rouse



OED Word of the Day

yesterday's news:

the regulars:
druzblog
that you
new topography
fuzzy sweater
lot vogue
que sera sera
meaningless
my next trick
mighty girl
sarah hepola
distraction
amusiac
catwoman
slatch
text obscured
affordable justice
every little thing
electric honey
a girl named bob
this fish
complete square
helenjane
shampoo solo
randomness
wheelbarrow
le petit hiboux
inspiration
geese aplenty
the safeword
urban ephemera
pink and fluffy
markand(erson)
pineapple?
the 3rd rail
roxy
the whit
with crayons
pretty teeth
meet george
dictionary
captions

further reading:
open letters
the morning news
mcsweeney's
pitchfork
tomato nation
me head
fametracker
tv without pity
pindeldyboz
bust
onion

useful info:
words
grammar
movies
music
city
search
spanish

soundtrack:
le tigre
sleater-kinney
belle and sebastian
lucinda williams
white stripes
bjork
gillian welch
elvis costello
elliott smith

radio radio:
morning eclectic
this american life
national public radio
wnyc

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This year's girl

Instead of making a list of resolutions, I thought I would revisit the list of goals I made last year at this time and see how I did:
get more sleep I tried, I really did. And sometimes I was even successful.
return emails/phone calls on something resembling a regular basis Phew, it's a good thing I included that "something resembling" part.
balance my goddamned checkbook occasionally Thanks to the modern technological miracle that is Fleet online, I now know exactly how little money is in my checking account at all times!
stop over-scheduling my life (see also: stay home every once in a while) I actually think I accomplished this goal a little too well. Please see the previous post for proof.
watch movies I haven’t already seen multiple times During this past year, I think I watched more movies I hadn't seen before than I have in any other year. This was thanks in large part to Lee's lending library and his efforts to teach me about the great movies of the past, and then also to Sean and Whitney, who continue to be my Friday night new-release moviegoing partners in crime.
write, write, write...and then write some more I did the first one, but not the other three. Hopefully, the new laptop will help.
read more non-work-related books Mission accomplished, if only because I actually took all of my vacation time this year.
spend less time at work Yes, well, we can't have everything.
stop making the same mistakes over and over again I told you we couldn't have everything.
bring my lunch I did okay with this one, although I like it even better when Sarah N. brings lunch for me.
drink tea instead of coffee Woo-hoo! Almost total success, except for the occasional gingerbread latte, which, thankfully, can only be purchased for a couple of months each year.
breathe You know, I'm trying, but I'm a little congested right now.
re-arrange the furniture This is happening as soon as I get back to the city, I swear.
go dancing This seems an odd thing for me to have listed, so I think it's okay that I didn't follow through.
resume yoga classes Yeah, this didn't happen. I did join a gym, though! Now if I could just get better about actually going...
be smarter This one is all in how you look at it. Do I know more than I did one year ago? Definitely. Do I always use that knowledge as well as I could? I'm working on it.

See now, I thought this would be more interesting than making a new list. I even started off with the Elvis Costello reference for good measure. Alas, I fear I was horribly mistaken. I promise less boring, more pop culture-laden lists to come in the next few days.
my clock says it's 1:17:00 PM

Conscientious objection

I have never been a big fan of new year's eve. There's too much pressure. It tends to result in the kind of legislated fun that seems to keep me from actually having a good time. I do not mean this to sound snobby or bitter. I have taken part in some fantastic celebrations on this date. It is simply that I do not like being expected to have grand plans. So I have decided to boycott the insanity this year. I am going to stay parked at my parents' house, drink a glass of wine, and play a game of Scrabble with my mom. If this makes me lame, I am okay with that. I just can't get excited about getting up early tomorrow morning to take the bus back to the city, where I would be dropped in the middle of the madness that is Times Square on December 31, and expected to fight the crowds for a cab, which would then have to fight traffic in order to bring me home to Brooklyn. Upon arriving in Brooklyn, I would have to drop off my stuff, change my clothes, primp a little, and then head back out into the crowds and traffic to return to Manhattan for a party. Just thinking about this exhausts me. If that makes me lazy, I am okay with that, too.

My biggest regret about not returning to New York tomorrow (today, if you want to get technical) is that I will not be celebrating Sarah N.'s birthday with her on the actual day of her birth. Fear not, there will be plenty of celebrating at a later date. In the meantime, you should all hurry over to the sweater and wish her a happy twenty-fifth.

There will probably be year-end lists and things bearing some resemblance to resolutions up here soon, but don't hold me to that.

I hope you all have lovely nights. May no one puke on your furniture, may you not pass out on your subway ride or car ride home, and may you have a new year's kiss you won't regret in the morning. I wish you all the happiest of new years.
my clock says it's 2:22:00 AM

Enough

If I read one more "big fat Greek" joke, I'm going to scream. People, please, this joke is about as original and interesting as making fun of J. Lo and Ben. Surely, you can keep it off your year-end lists.
my clock says it's 5:24:00 PM

Update from the wintry north

I am at my parents' house upstate and have been here since a five-and-a-half hour bus ride landed me at the station downtown late Sunday night. Today, it snowed. A lot. The trees are all icy-white and pretty, and, after a morning visit to my grandmother, I put my pajamas back on and lounged about most of the afternoon and evening reading How To Be Alone, which I am enjoying far more than I ever would have expected.

Merry aftermath, happy post-holiday sale, and good leftovers to you all, if indeed this was your holiday.

Side note: It always seems strange to think of Christmas as my holiday, as I am not, in fact, Christian, but it is the holiday I celebrate, if only in terms of secular family traditions and glorious consumerism. I will now return to talking about my gifts.

Just to give you an idea what kind of person I am, I asked for and received the 14th edition of The Chicago Manual of Style for Christmas. Just to give you an idea what kind of people my friends are, Sarah N. asked for and received the same this Christmas, and Lee asked for and received said book for a previous birthday.

Just to give you an idea what kind of person my younger brother is, he bought me a laptop for Christmas! His explanation for this extravagant gift: "You, of all people, should not be without a computer. You should be writing." I am super-excited. I also fear I may now never leave my house other than to go to work. Seriously.

Just to give you an idea of what kind of person my uncle's crazy wife is, she sent my parents minestrone soup in a bag.

I've had a pretty fantastic past few days. I spent all day Monday Christmas shopping with my father and there was not one awkward silence or pointless argument. I spent a good chunk of Tuesday afternoon helping my mother ice cookies while singing along with bad pop music on one of the many abysmal local radio stations. I burned the year-end cd (which never contains much music that came out the previous year, but instead contains music I have been listening to that year) at my brother's new apartment. I have eaten so much that I fear I may have to buy new pants to wear home. I am not complaining. I am happy to be stuffed full of my mom's scalloped potatoes, stuffing, and cut-out cookies, pants be damned.

I hope you all are having a lovely night/morning. I am off to drink tea and crawl contentedly in to bed.

my clock says it's 1:11:00 AM

Don't say I didn't warn you

At Sarah B.'s request, I am posting the link to Text Twist. Don't click on it unless you have an afternoon to waste. Last week, my compulsion to play got so bad that I started seeking out six-letter words on subway advertisements to rearrange in my head while I rode home.
my clock says it's 10:42:00 AM

One of a kind

Last night I returned home to find a package from Ms. B. awaiting me. Inside this package was a bright red (my favorite!) tee shirt with ironed-on white letters, which spelled out "ironic vintage tee." Also enclosed was a cute little card with a lip print, which I have been assured is the designer's own. I told Sarah that I might sell it on ebay when she writes her book and gets famous. I would never actually do such a thing. (Unless I was really poor and working on my own far-from-finished book.)

Thank you, SB. Tee shirt photos TK.
my clock says it's 6:24:00 PM

Exposed

I would give anything to be important enough to have an office with a door I could close whenever I wanted. If people don't stop having loud debates in front of my desk while I try to read and edit, I fear I may press my hands over my ears and shriek like a small child.

And how is your day?
my clock says it's 3:22:00 PM

These are my concerns

Liz and I are going to see Les Savy Fav at North Six on December 19. Aren't you jealous? Yeah, go ahead, rush right over to Ticketweb right now and buy your own tickets, so that you can go and stand around waiting, just hoping to catch a glimpse of us in our rockstar glory. Did I say rockstar glory? I meant giddy, infatuated fandom. No, wait, I take that back. I'm sticking with rockstar glory.

I'm sorry I don't have anything more profound to say. It's this pesky job, I swear.
my clock says it's 5:32:00 PM

Wide-eyed

This morning, I awoke to find everything brightened. No matter how old I get, the first snow of the season will always make me feel little-kid excited. I only wish I had been awake when the snow began falling. There are few things that I like better than going for a walk by myself before the white blanket on the sidewalks has been marred by anyone else's footprints. There was a night last year during a time when my life was messy and I was sad, and then the snow started and I walked around my neighborhood for hours and hours. It was quiet and there were lights on in all the brownstones and the air was crisper and cleaner than it usually is here, and I have never been more in love with Brooklyn than I was at that moment. That's what I was thinking about as I gazed out my window this morning. Not a bad way to start the day.
my clock says it's 10:53:00 AM