There are times I hate my kitchen. It's tiny. It barely has any counter space. The cabinets are awkwardly designed. There's no dishwasher. It's practically impossible to have more than one person cooking in it comfortably (well, there are exceptions). That said, the one thing I absolutely love about my kitchen is the fact that absolutely everything you need is within arm's reach. Literally. And it's microscopic size has never stopped me from tackling a meal!
#1 — Save up for a new computer, as mine is very quickly becoming a sluggish paperweight and I'm not sure how much longer I can stand it before hurling it at a wall. Would do it sooner if only my entire life weren't on it. How is it possible that a device purchased in January 2006 can become practically useless in four years? Longer-term goals and New Year's resolutions to come.
#2 — Regain ability to breathe through my nose. Seem to have lost it for the past three days.
Want. Now. Chanukah is almost over and I haven't had any latkes yet – I used to have a latke party for years until I got sick of having my apartment smell like a fry-o-lator for days afterwards. I will love you forever if you can get these into my greedy little hands today, especially if I don't have to make a special trip to Russ & Daughters to pick them up. (PS – My birthday is coming up, in case you need extra incentive).
I love getting holiday cards. It's truly wonderful to see my friends families and how big their kids are getting — it always brings a huge smile to my face. I even used to send my own cards, although I don't think I've done that since law school, when I had much more time. Last night, I got a card that made me laugh out loud. It was a photo card from my friend Nikki, covered with photos from trips she had taken this year. The caption was what threw me over the edge, though: "Vacations I took while you were raising your kids." That is one of many reasons why I love Nikki so much!
(Pseudo alliteration intentional). This set of Hanukah Stories from the New Yorker gave me a few laughs this morning, so I thought I'd share it as my Chanukah gift to you (I prefer the "Ch" spelling, personally).
I have a strange breed of insomnia — or maybe it's not, I haven't really discussed it that much with others so I don't know how common or uncommon it really is. I can usually fall asleep just fine, but I wake up at 4 a.m. and then am unable to fall back asleep. To make it worse, it generally only happens when I have to work the next morning. I'm thinking I need more exercise, including the possible addition of a weekly yoga class, to combat this. When I wake up, I actually use a guided meditation CD to help me try to fall back asleep. Any other suggestions?
Todd Rundgren’s Pretending to Care. Stuck in my head. For all you Amalgamates out there. Enjoy!
Happily enjoying a bit of space the other night before the crowd got to me. Having the two drinks came in handy as I couldn't get anywhere near the bar (I had gotten it for a friend who I lost in the crowd). Photo by the ever-amazing Daniel Krieger (and it looks much better on his site, so go look!).
Have I ever mentioned that I hate crowds? I think it stems from being short — I'm 5'1", which means that when I'm trapped in a crowd, I'm usually in the midst of armpits and elbows and my face is shoved in peoples' backs and chests. The worst crowd I was ever in was in the Yankees victory parade in (I think) 1998. Nathan, my boyfriend at the time, was a huge Yankees fan, so of course we were heading down to participate in the celebration. At some point, however, we got completely trapped in the crowd — we were at a corner, and the crowd was pushing so hard in both directions towards us that my feet were literally swept up off the ground. My arm had somehow gotten stuck up in the air (maybe I was trying to reach for Nathan, whose 6'2" stature couldn't even protect me at that point), as the crowd was so thick I couldn't put it back down by my side, and I was crying from the sheer panic of the situation. Ultimately a cop helped us get me out of the crowd and we headed off to watch the parade from the comfort of much less crowded restaurant.
Last night I was at a party that brought back a bit of that feeling as I could barely move for most of the time I was there, particularly at one point when I had sought refuge near a wall. Unfortunately it was right before a burlesque performance in front of me on the bar, so every photographer in the place was suddenly squeezing in front of me, and I had no room behind me to get out of the way. Once again, armpits, elbows, and no escape. Thankfully the performance (or what I could see of it between the people) distracted me for a bit. Needless to say, I didn't make it that long.
