I ran into an ex yesterday morning on the subway. This, of course, meant that I was still slightly foggy, and he had to call my name a few times before I heard him, but we had a nice little chat. Also turns out I had bumped into a good friend of his a few weeks back (thanks, Twitter!). As pleasant as our chat was (and as much as I suddenly realized he looks a bit like Chris O'Donnell, whose face seems to be plastered all over busses lately), it was still crystal clear that we are not meant to be — he was mentioning how his new apartment was right across from the bike path, which made his early morning rides so much easier, and I was reading a book about cheese. Not much has changed.
Category: Life
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Deep Dark Secret of the Day
When people put their stuff in a locker at the gym without putting a lock on it, I secretly want to either steal something from them or throw their crap all over the floor, just to teach them a lesson. I can't even express the willpower it takes to stop myself from doing this. Does this make me evil?
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The Things I Haul
In today's haul:
– gym clothes, makeup
– shakerato in travel mug
– blackberry, cell phone, camera, mini tripod
– wallet, moleskine, business cards
– egg whites w/cremini mushrooms and extra sharp cheddar and a squirt of sriracha for breakfast
– mixed green salad for lunch
– copy of Liz Thorpe's The Cheese Chronicles, for a future Serious Eats column
– This week's New Yorker
This is why I have a permanent knot in my right shoulder.
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Writing on the Wall
Or, more accurately, writing on paper. I realized this morning that in this day and age, you can date someone for a decent amount of time and never (or at least rarely) really have the opportunity to see their handwriting. When so much correspondence is done via email, the art of the handwritten note gets lost, and the personality of a person's handwriting doesn't have the chance to shine through.
I love handwritten notes, and keep those that are meaningful to me — there are certain people in my life whose handwriting I could identify in an instant. Sadly, my handwriting has deteriorated so much over the past decade or so that it is practically illegible. My apologies in advance to anyone who is fortunate or unfortunate enough to have to decipher it.
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Thoughts This Week
– Five years later and I'm still dealing with this nonsense.
– I'm developing a Fried Chicken to-do list, including Momofuku Noodle Bar, The Redhead, Savoy, Fatty Crab, and Locanda Verde. Must spread it out over several months for fear of calorie overload.
– Speaking of calorie overload, I've got a hot date with a pork butt tonight.
– I've been practicing my newfound cocktail skills by chilling down my iced espresso in a Boston Shaker every morning. Many thanks to The Cocktail Guru for reminding me of the easiest way to open the shaker (hint — it's not upside down, which is how I was doing it this week. Then again, it was pre-coffee).
– As much as I have enjoyed my food writing over the years, I am thrilled that I was never a professional reviewer dealing with picky/high maintenance dining companions.
That is all.
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Catch Me Now I’m Falling*
So last Friday, as I was slowly winding down my week at the beach, I received a few emails/calls from concerned friends to the effect of — have you heard that your building might be collapsing? Needless to say, this was somewhat disconcerting, to say the least, especially now that I am a homeowner. That said, when a friend asked if she could do anything or go to my apartment and get anything out, it really gave me pause. I had my computer with me, containing about 4 years worth of pictures. I was thinking that maybe she should grab the rest of my pictures and my old external hard drive (more pictures), perhaps my jewelry box, although I don't have much that is particularly valuable, perhaps my passport and Social Security card (both replaceable), but there really wasn't much else that came to mind.
Ultimately, despite scary news reports to the contrary, nothing fell, nothing collapsed. The bricks that were bulging are being fixed and there's now scaffolding around the building. Whew.
What would you rescue if you knew your building was about to collapse? Thanks again to those who were thinking of me!
*A nod to Ray Davies and the Kinks
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Love Child
As I said yesterday on my Facebook status update, I want to be the love child of Julia Child and Chrissie Hynde when I grow up. You can read about my love for Julia below. I got to see Chrissie and the Pretenders rocking out on Monday night at Summerstage. If I can rock that hard, sing that well, and look that good at age 57, I'll be thrilled.
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Beachy Thoughts
My skin now gleams bronze.
I have gotten my fill of sleep.
Surrounded by friends,
While enjoying the taste of home-cooked banquets,
Watching the sun set alongside the lighthouse,
And listening to the pounding surf.
[PS, I am the lamest poet ever.]
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A Magical Machine
It's kind of amazing what the human body can do with a little dedication. My friend Heidi lent me Haruki Murakami's What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
, where he describes running an ultra-marathon — a sixty-two mile race — during which he literally feels that his body is a machine, just going through the motions to get him to the finish line.
As for me, a theatre and stage band geek has become a triathlete — not a minor transformation. I'm also amazed at my body's uncanny timing. I am currently fighting a fairly nasty cold, complete with a runny nose, sore throat, and low-grade fever, but I am so very thankful that it came this week rather than last week, right before my race. Maybe this is my body's way of letting go of all the stress I've put it through over the past few months — my friend Erika tells me that it's fairly common for marathon runners to get sick right after their races. I would chalk it up to picking up something during my dip in the Hudson, except that I know a handful of others who seem to be fighting the same cold this week (feel better, gang!), and none of them did the triathlon. Whatever the reason, I thank you, magical machine, for waiting until after the tri.
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Inspiration
Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who has sent me good wishes before, during, and since the triathlon on Sunday. Many people have said to me how inspiring my completing the race has been to them (more here on my thoughts about that). I've had two incredibly inspiring moments recently that I wanted to share with you. First, as I was walking back to pick up my bike after the race, wearing my Team in Training shirt, a woman stopped me and said, "Go, Team!" I smiled and thanked her. But then she said, "No, thank you." She then turned to her daughter, who was probably about 12 or 13, standing next to her. "She's a leukemia survivor. Thank you for raising money." "Absolutely," I replied. "My pleasure." As exhausted and sore as I was, that one moment made me realize that I had done something incredibly worthwhile in addition to giving myself a physical challenge.
I also received an email from a reader, who has apparently been reading my blog for some time, but who has never commented. She wrote to tell me that my life has been inspiring to her. "[Y]ou have some amazing adventures and
it has helped me to read about you and given me the courage to take some leaps
when I would have stayed home instead. I saw on your post that you did
another triathlon and that you had so much encouragement from your readers that
I thought I'd send you a quick note and tell you that I also think you are
helping others to live a better life." It's hard to describe how that makes me feel — I was really quite shocked, but pleasantly surprised. I do push and challenge myself sometimes, but I have never once thought that it would have an impact on someone else — but I am so happy to hear that it did. Both of these experiences reminded me that your choices can have an impact on others, and in these cases, a positive one.