Hello from the road
Jan. 5th, 2004 03:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexagonYay for saying hi to LJ friends again! I tried to update from Seattle, but after the stupid Mac ate my entire entry... twice... I gave up. Ergh. Vacations are kind of offputting in some ways--no chance of a normal sleep schedule, no kitties, and of course this time I've been surrounded the whole time by people who see me as kind of an HLM attachment. Blech.
Most of what I wanted to do from Seattle is rave about The Bitch in the House a collection of feminist essays I almost bought on our honeymoon before deciding I didn't feel like thinking too much about such things at the time (a wise decision, probably). I picked it up in the Boston airport on Thursday morning and ended up reading it nonstop until somewhere in Western airspace, after both snickering and having tears come to my eyes. Seriously. It is so perceptive and honest and wise, and oh God, the things we women put ourselves through! Every woman, or at least every woman in America today, should read it. They're right.
The ending especially, in which one essayist's mother writes back to one of the essays in a letter explaining her perception of the things written about, especially brought me to my knees--so if you're a gurl and thinking of buying this before I can get back and buy it for you, don't buy the hardcover. Get the trade paperback. :)
The rest of Seattle was cool. HLM's friends BA and HT really like me, and I like them, so chillin' with the boyz was no problem. Well, so there was some media saturation (four movies and god only knows how many CDs in two days was way too much for me), but I lived... and we learned a good recipe for meat chili that I can't wait to try at home, and went up in the Space Needle, and watched a silly porno... the only trouble was feeling kind of sick, and my knee has been hurting from my last TKD practice. So, yes, as the rest of you are turning the corner & getting all buff, I am slowly turning into a shapeless blob. Wheeeee!
House envy: I have major envy issues with both this house (two bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 car garage, $250,000) and the apartment we were visiting in Seattle. That apartment especially. It wasn't that amazing or anything, but at least it was modern, and it had tons of the things we're planning to slowly add to our place at great expense: a connected kitchen, a tub with a sliding wall & no shower curtains, three closets, a dishwasher, plenty of cabinets. I do wonder occasionally if we shouldn't have kept looking, even though the answer is probably not.
Oregon: I dunno, I'm starting to spin out from too little directed mental activity. It really doesn't take much non-independence and boredom before the "what the hell am I doing with my life?" voices kick in and I start to worry about tons of things... I think it especially pleases the worry-monsters to make me worry when I'm stuck on vacation and couldn't act on any solution-type thoughts if I were to have them. Grrr, that dynamic makes me so mad. I fight it off, at the moment, by writing this. And if I'm clever, after this I'll find something else semi-productive to do.
The new year's resolution is at least holding pretty well--it's easier to change habits when you're traveling, of course, just because everything is different. I kind of expected that and won't really be giving myself props until I've proven I can be good at home, too, but still. Progress anywhere is good.
Most of what I wanted to do from Seattle is rave about The Bitch in the House a collection of feminist essays I almost bought on our honeymoon before deciding I didn't feel like thinking too much about such things at the time (a wise decision, probably). I picked it up in the Boston airport on Thursday morning and ended up reading it nonstop until somewhere in Western airspace, after both snickering and having tears come to my eyes. Seriously. It is so perceptive and honest and wise, and oh God, the things we women put ourselves through! Every woman, or at least every woman in America today, should read it. They're right.
The ending especially, in which one essayist's mother writes back to one of the essays in a letter explaining her perception of the things written about, especially brought me to my knees--so if you're a gurl and thinking of buying this before I can get back and buy it for you, don't buy the hardcover. Get the trade paperback. :)
The rest of Seattle was cool. HLM's friends BA and HT really like me, and I like them, so chillin' with the boyz was no problem. Well, so there was some media saturation (four movies and god only knows how many CDs in two days was way too much for me), but I lived... and we learned a good recipe for meat chili that I can't wait to try at home, and went up in the Space Needle, and watched a silly porno... the only trouble was feeling kind of sick, and my knee has been hurting from my last TKD practice. So, yes, as the rest of you are turning the corner & getting all buff, I am slowly turning into a shapeless blob. Wheeeee!
House envy: I have major envy issues with both this house (two bedroom, 3 bathroom, 2 car garage, $250,000) and the apartment we were visiting in Seattle. That apartment especially. It wasn't that amazing or anything, but at least it was modern, and it had tons of the things we're planning to slowly add to our place at great expense: a connected kitchen, a tub with a sliding wall & no shower curtains, three closets, a dishwasher, plenty of cabinets. I do wonder occasionally if we shouldn't have kept looking, even though the answer is probably not.
Oregon: I dunno, I'm starting to spin out from too little directed mental activity. It really doesn't take much non-independence and boredom before the "what the hell am I doing with my life?" voices kick in and I start to worry about tons of things... I think it especially pleases the worry-monsters to make me worry when I'm stuck on vacation and couldn't act on any solution-type thoughts if I were to have them. Grrr, that dynamic makes me so mad. I fight it off, at the moment, by writing this. And if I'm clever, after this I'll find something else semi-productive to do.
The new year's resolution is at least holding pretty well--it's easier to change habits when you're traveling, of course, just because everything is different. I kind of expected that and won't really be giving myself props until I've proven I can be good at home, too, but still. Progress anywhere is good.
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no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 05:05 pm (UTC)buffsoreHA! It's actually really comical how much
Vacations are kind of offputting in some ways--no chance of a normal sleep schedule, no kitties...
It seems that you have the same lack of enthusiasm about traveling as I do. For me, trips often seem like a good idea in the planning phases. Then, as the trip approaches, I start to dread leaving (I've actually backed out of 2 international trips [France & Barcelona] because of this feeling. Then when I'm on the trip, I feel as if I'm trapped away from home (why won't they just let me go home?). When I get back I'm so relieved to get back into my normal routine.
I don't view this as a positive trait in myself, and I'm hoping that this is one of the many ways that
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 08:09 pm (UTC)Best of luck with changing this trait--I've never really tried. I do find that planning really awesome stuff helps. ;)
no subject
Date: 2004-01-06 08:50 pm (UTC)Hell yeah, I don't like to travel for travel's sake, but if I'm seeing nifty things then it's really cool. Also, whenever I've taken "at home" vacations, meaning time off work without going anywhere, I spend too much of the time thinking about regular life, and doing regular life things, like chores and errands. Then I go back to work and don't really feel like I've had a true break from it all. Those breaks have their place, but so do the "I'm not going to think about work or anything I 'have' to do for a while" ones. And for that I really need to leave Boston. And preferably go somewhere I can be medicated with sun, water, and alcohol, and have adventure to keep me entertained. That's just me though.