Best of 2011!

I finally finished my Best of 2011 playlist. I cheated this year and have a list of runners-up because it was really tough to choose. This post is actually going to be a copy/paste from an email that went out minutes ago. If you want to be on that email list, I send weekly emails with playlists throughout the year - with the Best of 2011 mix at the end. My former radio show co-host Ida might add occasionally (she has a best of list up today, too). If you're interested, email me at sundaynightsleepover(at)gmail.com to be added to the list.

So here's the list with full on commentary:

Best of 2011 - albums that I loved as a whole have a * before the name:

*Jay-Z & Kanye West - Ni**as in Paris: Ok, this one was a tough tough choice. I had Otis in here for while, but eventually settled on this one for a few reasons. First, part of why I love Otis is because I already love Otis Redding. On the other hand Ni**as in Paris feels very 2011 to me. "That Shit Cray" seemed everywhere. Aziz Ansari and his friend texted the song to each other in emoticons, and the lyrics just make me giggle. Working out this morning, this song came on, and at the part where Kanye says "What she order?" everyone around me said in unison "Fish fillet." Plus they sang this song over and over and over and over (I think up to about 10 times at one show) as the encore or finale at their concerts. So I heard. I didn't go. So it won the "best" over Otis simply because it felt a little more relevant to the year. See how complicated this is? That's why it takes me so long to make these lists. I overthink everything. :)

*The Rapture - Children: I hadn't heard of The Rapture until this past year when a friend gave me an old album of theirs. Then very soon afterward, they announced that they were releasing a new album. I felt so-so about the old album that I was given, but I really like the new one.

*Future People - Naturally

Foster the People - Pumped Up Kicks: I got a little sick of this song over the year, honestly. So much that I wasn't going to put it on the list. But if I'm being honest, I did really love it this year. If it was playing on the radio as I was scanning stations, I always stopped.

*Portugal. The Man - You Carried Us (Share With Me The Sun): I only listened to this album because of Spotify. 2011 was definitely the year of Spotify, although now I'm getting the feeling that 2012 is going to be the year of Rdio. I hate changing trends. Why can't we pick something and stick with it? Man, that makes me sound old. In truth, I tried Rdio, and I didn't love it, but it may be because I was used to Spotify already. Who knows. Anyway, I found this album through Spotify and listened to it a ton. It was hard to pick a single track off the album, but I think this one is the best.

*The Black Keys - Lonely Boy: This album is great. I was never a big fan of The Black Keys until their last album, but they're keeping up with the good. This was the first single off the album, and I still think it's the best.

Tune-Yards - Gangsta: I can't decide what I think about this album as a whole. Sometimes I like it. I listened to Ida's Best of 2011 mix, and I like Bizness in her mix, but I don't always love it when it comes on my iTunes. So it confuses me. I do always like this song, though.

*Florence + The Machine - Shake It Out: I had a hard time picking the best song from this album. I like a bunch of them pretty equally. This song ended up making the cut because it's so versatile. I heard so many remixes of this song, and actually liked them. That never happens.

TV on the Radio - You

*M83 - Midnight City: I can't tell if it's just synth or weird vocal manipulations or what - but the sounds throughout this song intrigue me so much.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Maniac

*Lykke Li - Jerome: This album was full of great songs, but this one always stood out to me.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep: I did not share the world's obsession with Adele. I think this album is "ok" but I don't love it. This song, however, is really great.

*I Break Horses - Pulse: This is another Spotify discovery. The album grew on my each time I listened to it, and it ended up being one of my favorites from the year.

*Cults - You Know What I Mean: If you go purely on iTunes number of plays, this album wins big time. I think I listened to the whole album on repeat through the month of June. I almost put Go Outside on the list, but this one grabs me a bit more for some reason. Seems a little more impassioned.

Gotye - Somebody That I Used to Know: So this video has been making the rounds over the last few months, but I didn't pay that much attention. Then in the last few weeks, it was being referenced all over the place. And then my friend's band played a show with him that sold out. And I was like, "ok, jeesh, I'll listen! I'll listen!" Turns out, I am not that crazy about the album as a whole, but this song is really great. If you watch the video with it, I think it's even better.

*Bon Iver - Calgary: It was incredibly tough to pick a song off of this album. I think I started with about 5 on the list. I could have ended up with any of them, really.

*Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

*Washed Out - Amor Fati: I felt so-so about Washed Out before his first full-length album came out last summer, but this album sucked me in so fast. It was the album that finally got me out of my Cults rut.

*Blind Pilot - New York: Another really tough decision from this album, but seeing them perform these song live in November really changed the way I heard this song. It is beautiful and felt like a really great way to end the list and end the year. You can see a live version of it on Vimeo.

And...cause I'm a cheater...here are the contenders for best-of-2011:

James Blake & Bon Iver - Fall Creek Boys Choir: James Blake put out a pretty good, interesting album this year. But his collaboration with Bon Iver really stood out more to me. Even with the dog barks. Or maybe it's because of them...

*The Decemberists - This is Why We Fight: I really loved this album, but none of the songs stood out enough to me to make the final list.

Feist - How Come You Never Go There: I was honestly a little disappointed in the Feist album this year, but it may not be that fair since I had pretty high expectations. The problem with putting out a great album is that your next album has to measure up...

Waters - Take Me Out To The Coast: This is another case of "good, but not quite good enough to be the 'best.'"

Thao & Mirah - How Dare You: This song is the best blend of their sounds on the whole album.

*Florence + The Machine - Landscape (Demo): This song only appears as a bonus on Ceremonials, but I love it.

Beirut - Santa Fe: I wanted this to be a best, but it just didn't seem to fit quite right.

*Washed Out - Far Away: I went back and forth between this one and Amor Fati for the final list. It almost came down to a coin toss...

Lana Del Rey - Video Games: I wanted to put this song on the final list just because I felt like people wouldn't stop talking about her in 2011. Is she fake or not? Are her lips fake or not? Is her music good? When deciding what music to listen to, I don't really care what someone's lips look like. Although having seen her interviewed a couple of places, I'm not sure how crazy I am about her in general. And her lyrics in general are not so hot. But this song still sucked me in, so she gets credit for that. Fake lips or not.

The Antlers - No Widows

St. Vincent - Northern Lights

Death Cab for Cutie - Some Boys: I was done with Death Cab until this album came out this year, but decided to give them another shot. It wasn't my favorite album by any means, but it was much better than expected.

*Blind Pilot - We Are The Tide: I almost put this on the list, but since I have heard them play this at shows since 2008, it didn't quite feel as 2011 as New York did. It's still an awesome song and always makes me want to dance.

Starfucker - Bury Us Alive

*Jay-Z & Kanye West - Otis

Tom Waits - New Year's Eve: This song just felt appropriate to end with. :)

Links:

Best of 2011

Almost Best of 2011

Spotify:

Best of 2011

Almost Best of 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Wishing you best in the 2012.

[Old Best-of lists: 2008, 2009, 2010]

Dear Neighbors

To whomever called the police last night to file a noise complaint against me:

I completely respect your right to peace and quiet in your home. I would never want to disturb that, which is why I am very careful about various aspects of my daily living habits. When my dog barks at people walking near our front door, I shush her immediately or remove her into a back room where she cannot be disturbed by hallway noise. I do not vacuum too late at night, having experienced the frustrations of living below a frequent vacuumer in the past. I do not talk loudly on my balcony, as I know that the courtyard/pool area echo noise quite readily. I also try to keep any noise away from outside walls that I share with neighbors. On the whole, I'm pretty considerate when it comes to noise.

Likewise, I deal pretty well with noise coming from my neighbors' homes. I complain to my friends or family occasionally about it, but I've never called the cops on anyone and in only one instance left a note about the noise. That note was the nicest note that could be written, as it was regarding dogs barking in the absence of the owners, an issue of which I figured they may not even be aware. I was simply letting them know that their dogs bark for the entire time they are away, non-stop, so perhaps they could look into those citronella or high frequency noise bark collars since they are not home at the time. I followed this note up with a more blunt note a few weeks later when nothing was done and the dogs were still barking at 3am on a Thursday, but that feels a bit more justified. Repeated problem and a very late/early hour of the day. (Also, please note, that months later, their dogs still bark whenever they're gone. I haven't bothered writing another note, nor have I called the cops.)

In all other situations, I might groan a little, but then put in my ear plugs and go back to sleep. My next door neighbors work at a club in Hollywood, so their hours are screwy. I get it. I'm not going to blame them for it. I live in West Hollywood in an apartment building with thin walls and a courtyard that echos. If neighbors were partying daily or even weekly, I might be annoyed (don't they have respect for their apartment neighbors), but the occasional party that goes late (or in my club neighbors cases starts late) is fine. I guess I see it as this - part of living in an apartment building means respecting your neighbors. This means that you are considerate in the amount of noise you produce, but you also have some flexibility with the noise that you tolerate from others.

So the fact that one of you called the cops on my party shortly after midnight on a Friday night is pretty frustrating to me. This is the 2nd party I have ever had in the year and a half I have lived here. On the first party, I decided not to open the door to the balcony because of the risk of noise echo in the courtyard, but on this party, I thought, "you know, I have this awesome balcony that I put Christmas lights on - I want to be able to enjoy it this one time for my holiday party." So I did. And my guests loved it. People were inside and outside all night...well, until the cop came.

I guess what is most frustrating about this is that I have this great apartment with a fabulous balcony, and from the response of you neighbors who called the cops, apparently I cannot use it. It's just for looks.

No, that's not the most frustrating thing. The frustrating thing is that I put up with so much noise because I know that's what life in an apartment is like, yet I cannot have more that 3 people over past midnight, even on a weekend. The frustrating thing is that I have spent a year and a half putting everyone else first, and the one time I decide to just enjoy my apartment with my friends, it is interrupted by cops.

And for anyone thinking I was throwing some big rager - there were 16 guests plus me in my home. That's it. No one was coming and going to create noise in the hallway. We had music on, but were in no way cranking the bass, which is not the case of some of my neighbors' parties in the past.

So thank you, neighbors. You have now made me feel uncomfortable in my own home and nervous to invite more than a few people over to my house, especially if we want to go on the balcony. Not because I'm nervous about legal repercussions from noise complaints, but because it means my neighbors don't respect me and my right to have a group of people at my house for a fun night during the holiday season.

Also, you live in West Hollywood, home to a billion bars and clubs. If you want a sleepy lifestyle without noise, you picked the wrong city.

Update from T-day

My dad read my last blog post and suggested one alteration. He says the reason I have everything I wrote about being thankful for is:

The Cosby Show

(and my mother).

And Thanksgiving...

Reading everyone's Facebook statuses about being grateful for things always makes me reflect on my own life. I think that I do a pretty good job of appreciating what I have in my life on a day-to-day basis, but I guess this time of year is about really taking stock of it all. The only difficulty for me is that it's hard to know where it ends - or rather that it feels unending - and so maybe THAT is what I'm grateful for. Are there things on my "want" list? Absolutely. Are there things in my life that I have wanted that I never got? Sure. But for some reason, things always seem to work out.

I look at some of my friends who have had real struggles in their lives. I look at strangers from the internet, magazines, news shows on TV... It all makes me feel so lucky and so grateful. Some of what I have is because of my own hard work, but a lot of it is pure chance of what I was born into, opportunities provided to me, etc. I was born into an awesome family, who, despite going through divorce when I was little, have remained so consistently there for me. They somehow knew just the right balance of helping me out and not helping me out so much that I never learned how to do it on my own. They gave me solid morals and values to live from, but taught me that questioning things was good and that it's important to have my own opinions. Even though my dad and I disagree on many many political topics, he never thinks I'm stupid or wrong for my opinions (ok, sometimes he might think I'm wrong, but not stupid...). My family put just the right amount of pressure on me, too - in my work, I see people whose parents push too hard, and they crack. And I see people whose parents didn't push enough, and they slacked off and felt unloved. But mine was just right to make me feel that they valued my potential in life and wanted me to achieve it, but that my happiness was more important than achievement in general.

And then I traveled. I moved to Nashville, to Austin, to Eugene, to Los Angeles... In each of those cities, I made great friends, which is not a simple feat. But somehow it worked out. I still wonder how I became so lucky. I'm about to go to Thanksgiving at a friend's house since I live too far away to be with family - and I realized that since 2004, I have always had somewhere to go to celebrate this holiday even without family. That I still talk to my best friend from high school on a regular basis, my best friends from college, and from grad school...even though I don't live near any of them... Again, I am so grateful.

Of course, there is my work success, which sometimes just surprises me because I just feel like an average person. My parents will, of course, roll their eyes at that, thinking that I am superior to most, but let's be serious - they're my parents. It's in their genes to say that. But I have achieved a lot, and I feel so lucky to have the opportunities that I have for my work. Again - even when things aren't going my way, something always seems to come through. I know many people who have been out of work - some for short periods of time and some for longer. I know they are smart and hard workers and that their difficulty finding work is not indicative of their worth. So the fact that I have no worries about having a job in the near future is something I feel truly grateful for.

If you're reading this, chances are good that I know you (since this isn't the most frequented blog on the internet) - and chances are also good that you are someone I am very thankful to have in my life. Heck, even if you're reading this and I don't know you, I'm still thankful for you - that for some reason, you took interest in what I have to say. I know there are bad things in the world. There are things that haven't worked out. But to be able to sit here in my beautiful apartment and reflect on my life is something I appreciate so much.

Ads

So I was reading an article about a cherpumple (the cherry pie, apple pie, pumpkin pie baked into a 3 layer cake) online today, and one commenter said that he thinks it's funny that this article is surrounded by diet ads. So I look at the ads, and it turns out that the ads are targeted to the browser/search history of the computer, as my ads are for things like fashion, the LA Phil, and a pop culture website. So this guy thinks the diet ads are targeting the pie-cake article, but they're actually just targeting him. Which sort of makes me feel bad for him for outing himself as a diet connoisseur (or at least someone who has searched enough diets or diet products to get ads about it).

A Follow-up

I read this letter yesterday and pretty much agree with it. I would add to the part where he talks about the formation of unions back in the day to demand better treatment and add that corporations have basically figured out a work-around. I actually think that some unions have gotten out of hand and are making more demands than their workers deserve, but the basic idea of unions is important - because laborers have been mistreated in the past. But in the end companies have just worked around the issue by taking their workforce abroad, where they don't have to pay as much and instead can go back to the days of inadequate compensation for labor - just in another country.

I went to Occupy LA on Thursday night. A friend wanted to spend his birthday down there checking it out and asked friends to join. When I showed up, my friend said I looked overdressed (I had come straight from work). I said that perhaps they needed some better dressed people around so that they weren't just viewed as lazy hippies... So we got a tour of their little community of tents. Saw their general assembly meeting with the human microphone (echoing each statement the speaker makes instead of using actual amplification), the food tent, medical tent, library tent, meditation tent, information tent, etc. There are two shower tents and apparently a media tent where they have a generator so that people can use computers and charge phones. It's pretty interesting. I'm still iffy about some of it because the idea is that they will "occupy" until their demands are met, but there are no demands yet. They say they're still working on the specific demands, but they work through consensus, and the movement is really diverse, so that seems tough. I feel like they need to think basic to make it something that we can all agree on. Like the guy in the letter says - being a liberal may mean you want even more, but you can at least agree on the basics. For being so diverse, though, the whole place felt really peaceful and full of community and support. I'm still in favor of the movement because I'm in favor of anything that makes us talk and think. I just hope that people will really respond with true contemplation instead of jumping to conclusions based on perceptions of who the protesters are and skepticism because of a lack of specific goals.

Occupy Politics

Warning about the political nature of this post. It is also very long and rambly. Very rambly. Please read with an open mind and try to avoid preconceived notions about the Occupy Wall Street movement...

I first heard about Occupy Wall Street maybe a month ago. I had no idea what it was about. It was portrayed to me by media outlets as a group of hippies and/or artists who were angry about corporate greed. The timing of the movement coincided with Obama's proposal to get rid of the Bush tax cuts, which seemed to connect the movement with the "f- you, rich people" idea. I wasn't sure what I thought. I mean, I've always been in favor of repealing the Bush tax cuts, and I am definitely in favor of getting rid of loopholes that allow people to pay a smaller percentage of their pay (Warren Buffett's op-ed piece really illustrates why I feel this way). But I couldn't really figure out what the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) thing was all about. What did they want? No one really knew. And being the skeptic that I am, I wasn't totally buying it. I mean, look at the people protesting - the people in power aren't going to take them seriously because they will just dismiss them as lazy hippies looking for handouts. And that's pretty much what's been happening in conservative circles.

But I couldn't just dismiss the idea completely because I think it stems from a good place. It seemed to be misconstrued, though, and part of that was based in the lack of specific demands. Anyone can write whatever they want on a sign and stand in protest, and some of those signs aren't so good. The counter-movement of the 99%ers (call themselves the 53%) illustrates the lack of understanding of what the OWS movement really is. They appear to view the protesters as unemployed people who don't pay taxes and are asking for everyone else to support them. (The 53% number comes from the percentage of Americans who pay income tax. Since they place themselves opposite the 99% movement, it appears that they view the others as the 47% who don't pay income tax...which is just simply not true. The people who don't pay income tax are often elderly and disabled people on social security and poverty-stricken individuals who don't make enough to pay taxes. These are not the majority of those protesting across the country.) Signs of the OWS protesters that make comments about wanting debt forgiveness are hurting the movement because it's an easy target to counter. You got yourself into debt, and now you're asking for someone else to get you out of it. That's easy to dismiss. So the 53%ers talk about how they live within their means and don't ask for handouts, so they're somehow better. This post on Forbes.com illustrates how some of the 53%ers really could benefit from a better understanding of the 99% movement, as their interests are actually more in line than they realize.

I guess I see it as this. Back in the day, there was an "American dream." If you were smart enough and worked hard enough, you would prosper. But that's just not really true anymore. Companies hire in at the top level from other top levels. People get jobs via networking and nepotism. You can have an awesome idea, but it won't get you anywhere because big corporations are too big to compete against - and they probably won't listen to you about your idea unless you have a connection that lets your idea be heard. Sure, there are exceptions to this, but it's rare. You can't just start a small business on the street corner anymore and ensure that it can grow because a big chain store will probably come in and offer what you can't (cheaper prices because of mass production/distribution and probably outsourced manufacturing). You can't be sure that your investments will be worth anything in the future either, so good luck during retirement. We're turning into a caste system - with a few exceptions, you will remain in whatever socioeconomic situation you were born into. That may seem fine for those of us born into the middle and upper classes. But that's not what our country is supposedly about. We're supposed to recognize that because you cannot control your birthright, you should be able to elevate your status with intellect and hard work.

Two of the reasons for our current situation are lack of quality education and job outsourcing. I read an article by Jeffrey Sachs in TIME the other day. He points out how these two are connected, "The Republicans fail to understand that businesses are investing abroad not because of taxes, but because higher wages in the U.S. are not sufficiently matched by higher skills, as they are in, say Germany or Sweden. We are, to put it bluntly, simply uncompetitive in many industrial sectors. The truth is that it will take more spending - not in the form of haphazard stimulus but in smart long-term public investments in education, infrastructure and human capital - to get us out of our present mess."

But corporations are not letting change occur because the status quo does not negatively impact them. CEOs are taking home even more money than before. They can afford quality education for their own children, so why invest (via taxes/government spending) on the education of others. In theory, it would benefit them to live in a more educated society, and it would benefit their companies to be able to hire educated Americans. But why bother if they can do the same thing by paying lower wages in another country?

So this brings us to another plight of the OWS movement - the fact that the richest 1% are the ones who control politics. They pay for the campaigns, which means that the votes in congress cater to their desires. The rest of us don't matter - and we end up having to vote between almost equally bad options. Our votes could make a difference if there were ever a choice who DIDN'T just listen to the richest of their constituents. But we don't get that option. Obama was the closest we've had, with his rejection of donations from lobbyists, but that's not 100% true. Some believe that the top 1% deserve what they have - they deserve low taxes - because they earned their money and do not rely as much on the government. If they are not taking advantage of government spending, then why should they contribute to it? But did they all really earn it on their own? How many were born into it and thus side-stepped into their positions? How many "earned" it, but through the benefit of a system that allowed them to prosper? A system that is broken now. Elizabeth Warren recently addressed this issue and got slammed for her comments, but I think she addressed the issue of upward mobility and how, without government programming, that possibility is gone.

With the government pampering big corporations and the rich, the idea is that their money will trickle down in the form of job creation, but that just isn't happening because of outsourcing. And we can't solve the problem of outsourcing unless we have a more educated and skilled work force to justify higher wages. And to do that, we need government to step in and do something because the corporations won't.

Now, having all these rambling thoughts in my head (did they read as disorganized and haphazard? cause they were...) made me realize why the OWS movement comes across as so unfocused. There are so many things wrong, how can it be organized? And for a while, I kept wondering how a protest was really going to make a difference. But here's how - it simply raises awareness. It starts the conversations. I still believe that the wrenches thrown about debt forgiveness actually hurt the cause, but it still gets us talking. In fact, it wasn't until someone on Facebook started bashing the movement (because of the debt comments) that I realized how much I DID agree with it (which I realized because of my defensive reaction to the criticism). I wish it were more focused, but perhaps it is simply the motivator to start the conversation.

I know one positive outcome is the push to move money out of big banks and into smaller local banks and credit unions. The movement coincided nicely with Bank of America's announcement to charge for debit card use, and it coincided nicely with a letter from my own bank stating that they will give me a "choice" (you know, positive spin to make it seem like I have options) between keeping a balance of $6,000 in my accounts or pay $15/month in fees. I realize that if I do not have a higher balance, they cannot lend the money out and earn interest, but charging me for being poor doesn't really seem like a very good practice. And so I will be moving my money. Sure, they would do better if they had more of my money, but the result of their practice is that they will have even less. This can be capitalism at work - with the general public "voting" with our business. At least in banking, I have another option. With other types of goods and services, we don't have good options. And that's when capitalism fails. When 100% of the options are only looking out for themselves, shipping jobs overseas, and not investing in our society's future, how can we use our business to regulate the practice? We can't. This is why we need government regulation. But even the government's not ours... So we do what we can. And for the rest, we protest. Cause our voice feels like all the power we have.

Fox

I don't watch a lot of TV, but every so often I find myself with random blocks of time to fill. In those times, I watch things on Hulu. So a couple of weeks ago, Fox allowed Hulu to play the pilot of the new Zooey Deschanel show, New Girl, before it even aired on TV. I watched it. I felt "eh" about it, but I sort of like her, so I thought I'd give it one more shot. So tonight I thought, "oh, I'll check out the next episode of that show that I saw 2 weeks ago."

Well, turns out that Fox, despite letting the internet see the pilot episode before it even aired, is now doing this thing where you can't watch something online for 8 DAYS after it airs. Unless you sign in with a Dish account. I get that they're trying to make money, but 8 days? The next episode is going to air before I can watch this one. So...let's say I wasn't doing anything on Tuesday night, when the show regularly airs. I MIGHT watch it when it's on TV, but since I missed this week and they won't let me catch up online, I doubt I'm going to bother... Why not wait 6 days, that way it's still an annoying delay encouraging people to spend money, but allows people to catch up in time to watch the next show when it actually airs. Hell, you could throw in an ad for the real show, saying "hey, if you watch this tomorrow night on TV, you won't have to wait a week!"

Anyway, I'm now complaining about TV, which is a little absurd given the fact that I watch so little of it I don't even have cable. I use an antenna...

(Side note regarding TV: When Mad Men returns in 2012, I will be going to the gym to run/walk on the treadmill with the TV tuned to AMC in order to watch it. I contemplated returning to cable, but paying for one show seemed a little excessive. And this way I have motivation to work-out. Win-win!)

Also

To the Oregon Psychological Association: You clearly know that I no longer live in Oregon. My current state of residence is printed on the address label in your mailing to me. WHY DO YOU KEEP MAILING ME STUFF?!

Milestones

I sort of live my life as a set of milestones. I know, I know. I should "revel in the moment" and in the "journey" instead of always waiting for the next achievement, but well, I sort of LIKE working toward milestones. I DO enjoy the in-between times, but I view it as the enjoyment of the process toward the next step. Maybe that's why I entered a career where my life will continually be another paper or grant application to submit. I enjoy working toward something tangible.

Because then I get days like today. Days when I:

• Send off a big packet of papers to Germany. The culmination of a couple months of emailing, writing, collaborating, editing, and finally printing an application for a fellowship in Berlin.
• Email a job application to 2 different universities for faculty positions.
• Email a grant application to the UCLA grants office (this one is a little less climatic since the grants office is notorious for being a pain in the ass with regard to getting everything off to the potential funding agency) - but still the culmination of many many months of writing and editing.
• Email edits of 4 essays for a friend's internship applications. This one didn't take too long, but it was fun and nice to send back to her so that SHE can get to her next milestone of submitting those apps!

I just feel really good about checking things off the "to-do" list, you know?

It also doesn't hurt that I'm going to Oregon this weekend for a wedding and short backpacking trip and to see some good friends. And that the following weekend I get a visit from another good and long-lost friend and celebrate my birthday. Life is pretty good right now...

Office Space

My office has no windows, so much of the time I work with my door open to the hallway to prevent going insane from lack of natural light. (There's a window in the hallway across from my door.) Most of the time this is fine, but I occasionally close it when the psychiatry patients from down the hall get a little crazy (literally). I also close it when I've gotten a few too many "lost" people who seem to think that I am the information desk. My office is on the 2nd floor, so it's not like I'm right by the main entrance or anything. But I do work in an incredibly confusing building, where the 1st floor is the only one that really connects all the way around. So many people come up to the 2nd floor only to realize that they have to go back down to the 1st floor, down the hall, then up again to the 2nd floor on the other side of the building. It's confusing. I admit it.

But the truth is - I'm not the information desk. Additionally, other than being able to interpret the locations of room numbers, I do not know enough of the enormous building to give any info about the whereabouts of anything that I do not have personal interaction with. So this brings to me today's visitors...

Man #1: Excuse me, do you know where the laboratory is?

Me: Um, what laboratory?

Man #1: Um...the laboratory?

Me: Um, a psychiatry lab? A research lab? The lab to have blood drawn?

Man #1: Um, pathology?

Me: Yeah, um, you're on a psychiatry floor...I have no idea where pathology is.

Seriously, dude? You're gonna come into a random floor of a building called "Center for Health Sciences" and ask for the "laboratory" and expect to get where you need to be? There are a billion laboratories in this building!

Later...

2 young adults: Excuse me, could you help us? We're lost. We're looking for the nurses station.

Me: Which nurses station?

Them: Um, the nurses station? On the 2nd floor?

Me: Yeah, the 2nd floor is pretty big... Is it a psychiatry nurses station? There are 2 of them down this hall. But if it's not psychiatry, it could be in the other part of the building...

Them: We were just told to go to the 2nd floor and to the nurses station...

They proceed to hand me a card with directions to said nurses station. A card of directions that they have clearly ignored.

Me: Yeah, so, see here where it says you have to go to the 1st floor and take the O elevators to the 2nd floor? You didn't do that...

Them: No, but we went to the 2nd floor.

Me: No...that's why they made these directions really specific - specifying the O elevators... There are lots and lots of nurses stations in this building, but if you go to the O elevators, that should help. Go down to the 1st floor, then all the way down the hall to the O elevators, then take those up to the 2nd floor, and you should be set.

Male half of the duo: Or we could just go around...right?

Me: No, this floor of the building doesn't connect throughout. It's weird. Just follow the directions on the card.

Female: Ok.

Male (walking away and talking to female): Let's go this way, we can just go around. I know how to get there...

Seriously? Um, you clearly didn't know how to get there or else you wouldn't be asking me for help. Just follow the directions on the card!!

And then I shut my door.

Upholstery

I have had a hand-me-down chair and ottoman since I graduated college that I love - but not for looks. It rocks. Literally, like a rocking chair, but not. It's a regular armchair, but on a base that lets it spin and rock. I love it. But it was in a fabric that was old and faded and honestly just ugly. Sort of a salmon-color plaid.

So last April, I found a fabric that I liked and started making the plans to have it reupholstered. Almost 3 weeks ago, they came to pick it up and said it would take a couple of weeks. This was after a couple of months (months!) of calling and leaving messages in order to schedule the pick-up. Do people not need work anymore that they can just ignore someone calling and begging for their business? I called a couple of places for this reason - and no one was calling me back.

Anyway, these guys had great reviews on Yelp - all 4s and 5s, nothing lower. So I went with it. They picked it up, and then called to let me know that they would drop it off today. So he comes, and he's rolling it toward the front door of my apartment building, and it looks yellow. Maybe that's just tinted plastic wrap it's in? Uh, no, it's in clear plastic...it's been upholstered in BRIGHT yellow fabric. Not the woven black and white that I picked out. "uh, um...that's not my fabric. I gave you black and white fabric." "uh, um, really? uh...oh, black and white woven together...right...uh..." The "oh-shit" look on his face was actually I think more related to the fact that he had used someone else's fabric on my chair than the fact that he did not have mine done correctly. He said that he had the fabric and knew what it was and there had been some mix up with fabric bolts. He would have it done first thing - asap...whatever that means.

If he had used my fabric on something else, I would be pissed. At least for now it's just a slight delay in getting my chair back. Cross your fingers that it all works out in the end!

Mixing what makes me happy

For years and years of my adult life, I was stumped about how my mom could create amazing meals out of what seemed like random things in the pantry. I mean, sure, for special occasions she'd get out some cookbook and follow a recipe, but on a day-to-day basis, it was either a standby meal that she made frequently or a new creation of odds and ends we had in the pantry. When I began making my own meals, I could never figure out how she always ended up with these great things on hand. My method was basically going to the store with exact ingredients in mind for a particular meal or meals. I'd usually throw in some of those things that never go bad, like frozen corn, to have in an emergency situation where I didn't have time to go to the store. This style was great when I lived in Oregon, with a small grocery in my backyard. What sounded good for dinner? Ok, now off to buy those food items.

So years later, I think I might have figured it out. Tonight, I made one of the best curries I have ever made. I often have coconut milk and red curry paste on hand because, well, they don't go bad, and I then I just have to go buy the veggies to go in it. I got my CSA box yesterday (my 3rd box since starting, and this one was by far the best - it's like they read my mind about what fruits and vegetables I like), and so I thought, "maybe I'll just throw some veggies into a curry." However, my curries usually have more "Asian" style veggies in them. You know, since I usually buy them with the specific intention to make a curry. Anyway, these were definitely not typical curry vegetables, but I just thought, "eh, whatever. I like these vegetables, and I like curry, so it could work."

BINGO. That's what I've been messing up this whole time. I keep trying to create meals that "make sense" in some organized way. I overthink what goes together and what matches or doesn't match instead of just thinking about what I like and throwing it all together. I'm not positive this was my mom's method, but I am thinking that it works. So I made this curry tonight. Yellow patty pan squash, green beans, red onion, orange bell pepper, coconut milk, red curry paste, fish sauce, tumeric, garlic powder, ginger, dash of cinnamon. Some of those last spices started to get random, but it was awesome. Seriously one of the best curries that I've made. I'm not 100% sold on the green beans in a curry, but it was still good.

So I started thinking about this and my overthinking problem (yeah yeah, I was thinking about thinking... There is a word for that, you know, so I'm not the only one!). And my perfectionism. I want everything to be just right, and I think that's part of my problem. I was talking about this with my mom regarding interior decorating. I was getting frustrated with the fact that my apartment looks great, yet not amazing. I feel as though it's still boring in some way. It's the same problem. Everything in my apartment is meant to "go" with a particular aesthetic. It's an aesthetic that I love, but the overall effect is a little too "matchy" and not enough personality. So my mom and I had decided that from here on out - I will just get things that I like, regardless of how it "goes" with my current decor. First step in that direction was the purchase of this Florence & The Machine concert poster, which I love. I actually am really happy with how it is going to work with the rest of my office, too. (My newly reupholstered chair and ottoman should be finished sometime next week!)

Tonight I spent the evening writing a grant proposal. A Friday night. And I loved every minute of it. I don't care what I "should" be doing with my Friday night - being social, getting a drink somewhere, at least doing something leisurely like watch a movie. But the grant writing is fun to me (please no nerd comments...), so I don't care.

One last way I'm incorporating this mentality of "if I like it, do it" into my life is applying for a fellowship in Germany for next year. Some people have been like, "whoa, are you sure?" And I am. Is it the perfect next step in some grand planned out and orchestrated career? Nope. But the grand and orchestrated career plan hasn't been making me completely happy. Parts of it have, for sure. (I edited a grant proposal at the pool today - not a lot of other jobs have that flexibility...) But I'm just sick of plans and zeitgeists that I have to follow.

So if you see me walking around with totally mismatched clothes anytime soon - just know it's cause I really liked that shirt AND I really liked those pants and somehow decided they should go together just because I said so. Ok...maybe there are some limits...

Update?

It's been brought to my attention that I have not written here in months. The last post included more countdowns, but I actually only have 1 countdown left! Nothing has been added! So to date, it's 24 days until I leave for Mt. Hood, Oregon to attend my friend Krista's wedding. And that's it! Hmm, I should come up with something to countdown toward... I'll think on it. UPDATE: I added 2 countdown widgets today. My friend Seth is visiting in 31 days, and my sister Kate is visiting in 85 days!

In the meantime, I've been trying to go through things that I have in my house that I don't really need - those things that sit on shelves, in drawers, or closets. I always think that I'll do this during moves, but then it's easier to just throw it in a box and move it along. So I currently have 21 books for sale on half.com. I have no faith that they will sell, so if anyone wants any of them, let me know. I'll send them to you! And after a month or so, I'll probably take them to Goodwill or something. Here's what I'm selling: http://shops.half.ebay.com/lucyb2222_W0QQmZbooksQQ_trksidZp2919

I also have a vacuum that I'm getting rid of. It's this one: http://www.amazon.com/Dirt-Devil-83410-Swift-Stick/dp/tech-data/B000BPAIHY It will probably go to Goodwill, too. I bought a heavy-duty pet-hair sucker vacuum recently that is amazing, so this little guy no longer has a purpose...

And with that excitement, I end the latest blog update in months. Perhaps now you know why I haven't written anything yet. ;)

New countdowns

As things fall off the countdown list, new ones pile on. I love countdowns...

• 2 days til Kristen and Andrew's visit!
• 11 days til the Rittman baby is due and I get a local baby playmate!
• 18 days til I leave for Montreal for a training workshop
• 24 days til I leave Montreal for Quebec City for a conference
• 35 days til I take the California licensing exam
• 45 days til Hilton Head vacation
• 94 days til Krista's wedding in Mt. Hood
• 95 days til I turn 30!

Social Services

If you read this blog regularly (wait, that would require me posting regularly...so maybe I mean if you've read some of the other posts...), then you know a bit about my political leanings. I prep you with that before I start this one.

I rode the bus today, as I do everyday, to and from work. This morning, I noticed that the front seats were all vacant, and the back of the bus was full. I've seen this pattern before, and the reason is always the same. Smelly homeless people. Indeed, there was a man in the very front seat, behind the driver, who smelled disgusting. I sat as far away as I could, but I was still the nearest person to him. He was older, wearing visibly dirty clothes (but fairly new Vans), his fingernails needed clipping badly and were filled with dirt underneath. He carried only a single clear plastic bag that read "Patient Belongings" and still had a hospital bracelet around his wrist. The plastic bag of belongings had just 5 things in it: 3 bottles of prescription pills and 2 pieces of candy. He very politely asked me if I had a quarter. Since I use a bus pass and rarely use cash in general, I did not and told him so. He struggled at one point to open his 3 pill bottles (child proof can also be adult proof in some situations). One lid went flying across the bus, and I picked it up to return it to him. He thanked me, and other people looked at me as if I was crazy to touch something the smelly man had touched. We both got off at the same stop, in front of UCLA Medical Center.

Fast forward to the end of the day, I got on the bus, and the same man was on my return bus. He still smelled. He was still wearing the same stained clothes, and he still carried the same clear plastic bag with medications inside. I have no idea what he had done in Westwood for the day, but none of it seemed to involve anything to improve his current state. He was recently in a hospital, yet it seemed no one helped hook him up with any outside help.

Here's where my political leanings become important. I so desperately wanted to help this man. His mind was clearly not all there based on the way in which he presented himself on the bus - polite, but not fully aware of everything. What it felt like to me was a case of mental illness that left him unable to work, which led to homelessness and an inability to take care of himself on a day to day basis. I wanted to be able to say "hey, let me call someone for you -someone who can take you somewhere to get cleaned up and maybe a home to take care of you since you can't quite make it on your own." But there is no one to call. Nowhere to go.

I do not believe that this should be his destiny because of an inability to care for himself. Sure, there are some people who play more of a part in their current situation - failed to maintain a job because of delinquency, for example. But this was definitely a case of mental illness. And I was so frustrated that there was nowhere I could send him to get help. Why is there no help? Cause we're the land of pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. But that assumes you have bootstraps to begin with. If you don't, well, then, tough shit. No one will want to help you because you stink (literally), and you'll go suffering through life until you just finally die. God bless America, indeed.

(More positive side note: this man on the bus reminded me of a program in Eugene, Oregon through White Bird Clinic where the homeless can get a variety of health care treatments, including mental health care and medication. They also take donations to distribute to the homeless. I believe they allow access to facilities for people to clean up, too, which is vital for them to ever get their lives turned around. I have to hope LA has something like this, but I don't know of it. If it exists, I'm sure they're overrun and probably turning people away. We need to do more...)

Theory of Mind

I've encountered a few people today with very poor theory of mind (aka: perspective-taking), and just felt like I had to write about it.

It started this morning, as I left my apartment. My driveway is blind. I have to look up the street a ways and then time it so that I pull out without any cars in my way. This morning, despite my timing, I pulled out in front of a tiny Mercedes sports car. I hadn't seen it, probably because it was so tiny. I'm also sort of supposing that maybe it turned onto the street between my area of sight and the driveway because I hadn't seen it coming down the street earlier, as I waited. So I pull out of my driveway in front of this car. It honks at me, which I think it totally appropriate. I made a mistake. The mistake was due to the blind drive, but it was still a mistake and could have resulted in an accident. I deserve to be honked at. He sped up next to me to flip me the bird. A little, excessive, in my opinion, but ok. He's shaken up and stressed and wants to take it out on me. Totally fine. Bird accepted. I returned his hate glare with an "I'm sorry, I fucked up" look. Didn't matter. Because, I've already left something out. He didn't just honk at me. He laid on his horn for 3 whole blocks. Just blaring his horn continually. No more danger anywhere. He's just expressing his anger at me, as if I did it on purpose. He (while still blaring his horn) then speeds up more and cuts me off intentionally. Oh, that's good. I scared you into being worried about an accident, so now you're gonna do it back. That's mature. Again, still blaring his horn. He stopped blaring the horn as we turned the corner, but he kept glaring.

Why does that relate to poor perspective taking? Well, if he was good at perspective taking, he would realize it was a mistake and that I was probably just as shaken as he was and realized that laying on his horn was actually making me more distracted and unable to focus on driving. Horn and bird, appropriate. The rest of it, completely uncalled for. (In all honesty, for someone pulling in front of me from a blind drive, I would never flip someone off because that is clearly a case of "they didn't see me - that was a total mistake." The woman yesterday who held up a line of traffic while she waited for a family to load their car with groceries, get everyone strapped into seat belts, start the car, and get out of the parking spot - yes, she deserved the bird, although I didn't give it.)

So instance number two of the day. At the dog park. A woman and her dog came in. The dog was clearly a little fearful, and the woman was echoing this fear. This is never a good combo. Apparently the dog had been bitten before, so she was trying to socialize her, but her own fear was clearly going to get in the way. So my very sweet and gentle dog went up to "say hi" in her dog way. Smelled her a little on her face, which the dog was fine with. Then went to smell the back end, you know, as dog's do. The dog was not ok with this, which is fine, but the dog got excitable and snappy, which made Ava think the dog wanted to play. So she did an excited play bow with a wagging tail, which in universal dog language is non-threatening, but to a frightened dog can still be scary. Here is where a dog owner who has theory of mind for the dogs would come in and try to help alleviate her dog's fear and help her relearn that this is safe behavior. Instead, this woman who has no theory of mind or ability to read dog behavior echoed her dog's fear and got protective, trying to step in between her dog and Ava. Then Ava got really riled up (but in a totally playful way) and started her "play with me" bark. Yes, she has "play with me" bark, and it sounds different and is coupled with her play bow and wagging tail. I wouldn't expect a stranger to know it by tone, but the play bow and wagging tail make it pretty obvious. Pretty simple, really. As soon as the bark happened, the woman put her leash on her dog and pushed Ava away and said, "ENOUGH, GO AWAY." I tried to explain that Ava was playing and pointed out her wagging tail, and the woman said in an angry tone of voice "my dog has been bitten before. This is NOT ok." She stormed off so quickly I couldn't even share my own dog attack story to try to alleviate her fears and show that dogs can be ok after attacks.

Seriously, lady. Why would you bring your dog to a dog park if you're not ok with normal dog behavior? Your dog is going to always be scared of dogs if you keep reinforcing fear of normal dog play. As the owner of a dog who has been attacked before, I completely understand some fear, and I'm always on guard in dog parks and very aware of other dog's behavior. But I also didn't want her to become a scared dog because honestly, scared dogs are dogs that end up attacking others (in defensive mode). I truly wonder what she was expecting to happen at a dog park if normal dog play is too much for her? Maybe she'll take some dog socialization classes aimed at helping dogs be around other dogs. But likely, she'll continue to be an over-protective owner who thinks everyone else's dog is out to get her.

Signs your Craigslist email may be a scam

I am selling a vacuum. On Craigslist. Today I got an email reply from someone whose name read "Marie Vigier" but whose email address was melissa657bolasco@hotmail.com. The email said, "I'm truly interested, can I get in touch with you ? Sincerely,, Charley"

Really, Charley/Marie/Melissa, I'm not sure I believe that you're "truly interested." DELETED!

Passed!

When you get the email about your licensing exam scores, the score does not appear in the email. The email simply says that your scores are available and that you must log in (with username/password that you've surely forgotten since you signed up for the exam months ago). You click the link, realize fortunately that your username is your email and you smartly chose your password-for-all-random-things, then search through a long list of options to click on. Frustrated that you actually have to READ the links instead of having some big flashy sign saying "SCORES HERE," your heart pumps even faster. What if I didn't pass? I didn't realize I was so nervous until I had to go through a few more hoops to finally get to the page that gave me my score. Why do they do that to people? Psychologists know that the longer lag time there is in anticipation of something, the more anxiety can increase...so shouldn't the people behind a psychology licensing exam be a bit more sympathetic to that?

Anyway, I passed. It didn't say "pass" or anything like that. It just listed my score. Fortunately, I had already looked up the passing scaled score for California, so I didn't have to wait even longer, but man, if I had had to then go look up what the passing score was before really knowing...that would have been even worse.

But yay! National exam behind me. State exam left to go...

Damn

Why is there all this hype about Prince William? Marry him, and sure, you could be Queen, but marry his brother, and you get to look at this everyday:

Little brother got hot...

Countdown Updates

I got to take down a horrible, terrible countdown widget today! I finished the EPPP (psychology licensing exam)! I won't know my score for "several weeks" (or a few days, depending on when they get to it), but it's over.

In the meantime, I have these countdowns still running:

• 12 days til I leave for the Academy of Eating Disorders conference
• 42 days til I go to Portland for Memorial Day weekend
• 48 days til Kristen and Andrew visit me
• 57 days til Baby Rittman is due (my first local baby to play with...)
• 91 days til Hilton Head vacation

There is another conference and training workshop in there that isn't on the countdown list yet - mostly because I am not sure about my departure dates, but that is happening in June. I love countdowns, although I'm sort of excited for those few weeks between the ED conference and Memorial Day where I can just have a normal life again. :)

Studying

Dear Industrial/Organizational Psychology,

If I cared about leadership styles and the subsequent effectiveness for an organization's success, I would have gone to school for I/O psychology instead of clinical psychology. I DO NOT CARE ABOUT YOU! Why are you on my clinical psychology test in such a substantial way?

Seriously, if clinical psychologists are supposed to know about this crap, why doesn't the American Psychological Association require courses on it as part of their accreditation process for clinical psychology graduate training? Spending a few weeks cramming this stuff into my brain to regurgitate it for some exam and subsequently forget it seems like a major waste of everyone's time.

No offense, I/O psych. But I sort of hate you.

Sincerely,

Me

PS: This hatred will probably be over as soon as this test is over. 15 more hours to go...

Dining in the Dark

Years ago, when I was planning a trip to Berlin, I came across this restaurant called Unsicht-Bar. It's a restaurant where you eat in pitch black and have to maneuver and experience dining with your other senses. I wanted to go so badly, but in the end, with all of the other things we were doing on the trip, it just didn't make sense to spend so much money on one dinner.

Fast forward to last November, when I checked my daily Groupon email to see that there was a restaurant based on the same idea in Santa Monica called Opaque, and I could get a half price dinner through this Groupon. It was still expensive (regularly $99/person, so this was $99/for two), but I thought, "I've been wanting to do this for YEARS, so I should just take advantage of the deal." I talked to Ida about going with me initially because she was going to come to LA in December, but then her plans changed, so I needed to find someone else to go with.

Last Friday, I finally used it. I hadn't thought too much about the experience before we got there, but as we were ordering (in the light before you go into the dining part of the restaurant), I suddenly realized that I was nervous. Turns out, I was not alone, as my friend Erica who came with me, felt relieved to hear me say it, and acknowledged that she had suddenly felt a little anxious, too. Neither of us quite knew why - or what we were afraid would happen, but I guess the idea of not being able to rely on our sense of sight throughout the meal was scarier than we thought it would be.

We were led into the dark to our table by our waitress (single file with arms on shoulders so that we would not trip on other tables or chairs). She took our hands to orient us to our table and chairs, pointing out potential dangers, like table corners, along the way. We each had a bottle of sparkling water, which was a daunting task, as we were expected to fill our glasses ourselves. (Actually easier than I expected.)

My nerves began to relax through the first course, as I realized that we would be oriented to the location of each plate and utensil both verbally and by touch. Erica may have ended up putting her fingers in the butter at one point, but nothing too terrible happened.

The best part of the experience to me was the surprise of each bite of food. I had no idea what part of the course would end up on my fork, as I blindly stabbed away at my plate. I was also more aware of myself and my own thoughts than I would typically be at a restaurant. I was not distracted by other tables of people (aside from one man who had an Indiglo watch - who later put it away in a pocket). I was not concerned about whether that bite of salad resulted in salad dressing on my cheek. Instead, once my nerves calmed down, I could just be mindful about the food and the company. And it ended up being really relaxing and peaceful.

Testing

I took a practice licensing exam today. I passed the mock exam, so that is good (although I passed with a 72%, so I'm gonna go ahead and keep studying...). This question made me laugh, though, so I thought I would share:

Al's workplace has added employee monitoring cameras at strategic locations around the building. No one has offered an explanation for the introduction of the cameras. Which of the following is a likely reaction to the installation?

A) Al resents the cameras, and is thinking about job hunting.

B) Al's performance on unfamiliar, difficult tasks has gotten better.

C) Al's personal grooming has improved.

D) Someone steals Al's stapler.

I really hope questions like this appear on the real exam.

Reminders

What happened to doctors offices making reminder calls the day before your appointment? I was in the shower today and thought "Oh shit, I missed a dental appointment yesterday." Then as I'm rinsing shampoo out of my hair, I realize, that I have not YET missed it. But I was about to. It was not yesterday, it was this morning. At 8:45am. I was in the shower at about 8:20am. It takes 20 minutes at least to get to campus, and that's in no traffic. And I had wet hair, dirty teeth, and unfed dog, etc. Shit.

So I bust a move out of the shower, throw on clothes, brush my teeth and dry my hair at the same time (serious feat, let me tell you), fed the dog, took her to the bathroom, then ran out the door. I decided I would drive instead of take the bus since I didn't have time to risk waiting at the bus stop if it didn't arrive immediately. I would suck it up and pay the $10 day-fee to park on campus. I called on the way to tell them I'd be late. They were extremely accommodating, and simply rebooked me for a little later. Awesome.

I get to my appointment. Everything's fine. Then I realize that I CANNOT FORGET that I drove my car to work today. I would not be that surprised if I ended up on the bus to go home only to remember that my car is still parked on campus...

Countdowns

I have a Mac. Macs have this thing called the Dashboard, where you can put various widgets that you want quick access to. I have things like stickies, a calculator, the weather, etc. here. I also have countdown widgets. I LOVE countdowns. They get me motivated and excited for the future. I haven't been using them in the past 6 months for some reason, but started it up again a few weeks ago. Today I did some countdown widget organization and thought I would share.

• 40 days til I get to meet my newest nephew (who isn't born yet, but will be by then)
• 48 days til I take the licensing exam
• 61 days til Academy of Eating Disorders conference in Miami
• 97 days til my amazing friends Kristen and Andrew come to visit
• 106 days til MiniRitt is due (MiniRitt is the nickname of my friends' yet-to-be-named baby because their last name is Rittman).

Those are the only countdowns I have going on right now, although I'm sure things will be added along the way. My brother graduates from high school on June 17th. I could add that one, but I guess 111 days seems too far off. I mean, I have to have limits, right?!

Facebook Ad

An ad on the side of my Facebook today said this: "Were you born at St. Mary Medical Center Long Beach? Was one of your family members born here? Meet and discuss your memories with us."

Now, sure, if your family member was born there, you may have memories of going to visit them in the hospital, but really? "Were you born here" and "discuss your memories." Pretty sure I have no memories of being born. Also pretty sure that no one does...

Skinny Pepsi

So Diet Pepsi is releasing a new can that is taller and skinnier than the old one. I saw it on the End Fat Talk page, which was cranky about it promoting a thin-ideal. So I read the afore-linked-to release about the can, and well, I have to agree with the Fat Talk people... Pepsi talks about supporting "beautiful, confident women" with the new can, but then also announces it at Fashion Week and teams up with fashion and beauty product companies (who also promote a thin ideal in order to sell products). If you felt good about the way you looked and were truly confident, you wouldn't need to buy so many beauty products. The thin-ideal works for them.

I know a lot of people who drink diet soda because (a) they like them and/or (b) they struggle with weight. That's fine, and I'm not bashing the idea of diet soda generally. I wouldn't be complaining if they had updated the shape of their can purely for a change in design and to make it look interesting and novel - to draw attention to it. But to say that it's in support of beautiful, confident women and then promote the new can alongside the beauty industry...they may as well just say "We want you to think you're fat so that you'll drink our diet soda. And we don't really care if it means you'll be unhappy and think poorly about yourself and may actually mean that you WON'T feel beautiful or confident. At least then you'll buy our soda...cause you'll think it will help."

The release also says that the new can design is the "perfect complement to today's most stylish looks." How does a can complement an outfit? Really?

This sort of feels like this pretzel ad I saw a few months ago stating "You can never be too thin." Um, Pretzel Crisps, let me invite you to any eating disorder inpatient unit. Turns out you CAN be too thin...

I work in the eating disorder field. I ALSO work in the obesity field. We need to strike a balance here, folks, or the world is gonna be one messed up place.

5 days in New York

This mother and son were on my flights to and from JFK. This means that we all spent the exact same amount of time in the city. They sat first class and had priority luggage check (meaning that their 5 suitcases (3 Louis Vuittons and 2 TUMIs) came out first). Five days. Two people. Five suitcases. Plus their carry-ons. Checked bags are $25 each on United, plus more for priority. I will never understand the way some people spend money...

I had 1 suitcase and a carry-on that essentially had a laptop and a pair of shoes in it... My suitcase is a sensible one whose brand I do not even recall because it is not emblazoned all over the thing. This is all fine by me.

Side note - I will say that TUMI suitcases seem like a better use of of money than the Louis Vuittons simply because my cheaper suitcases often fall apart sooner than I would like after being tossed around by airlines. Altough the Louis Vuittons seem as though they would also suffer damage, the hardcase TUMIs seem pretty indestructible. At least based on looks.

Auto-Correct

This website about the perils of auto-correct on text messages has made me laugh out loud on many occasions. This kind of thing happens to me when I text a lot, but it's usually something boring. I just remembered a good one from Christmas, though, and I thought I would share:

Saturday 25 December 2010:

(After an earlier conversation via text that is not worth repeating on the internet)

Adam: Haha. Merry Christmas.

Me: To you too. Wait, you're Jewish!

Adam: Yep. I can still ethically hope that yours is merry!

Me: True. Thanks!

Me: Shabot slalom

Me: Text correct fail

Me: Shalom...

Adam: I'm imagining skiing between huge white candles while trying to chant prayers...

Me: Haha. Awesome

Tears of Mixed Emotion

When I was little, my family thought I was heartless. I didn't cry at anything. The movie My Girl, where Macaulay Culkin's character dies from bee stings (sorry if that spoiled it for anyone, but come on, it's 20 years old...), didn't make me cry, although my sisters and mom were soppy messes.

What they didn't realize is that it must have been an age thing - cause now I cry at anything. Today it was Obama's speech at the Tucson memorial for the victims of the shooting. I cried when he mentioned Giffords opening her eyes for the first time. I cried when he thanked the people who took down the shooter before he could reload and shoot more. And I cried when he talked about wanting to make America be the place that children like Christina Taylor-Green wanted it to be. "If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let's make sure it's worthy of those we have lost." You can see the whole memorial (and jump around to just see Obama's speech if you want), here. It wasn't life-changing by any means, but I think it was really beautiful and definitely the type of speech that makes me want to be a better person.

Also, I wonder if Michelle's attraction to her husband increases exponentially every time he gives an inspiring speech like this one. I kind of think it would...