Archives

yesterday

Dec15

Most of the time, I stay away from politics and commenting on current events here. But, as I’ve seen the events in Newtown, CT, unfolding since yesterday morning, I felt I had to acknowledge how sad it all makes me.

I have two nephews who are in elementary school in the UK. I don’t get to see them that often, but I have such fond and fun memories of them as they’ve been growing up. Not to mention photos of them kidding around and drawings from them decorating my house. I’ve been fortunate enough that there are other children who have been a part of my life as well. The thought of a life like that being cut short is devastating, the thought of it being taken away . . . just unbearable.

Almost ten years ago, I had the worst kind of catching-up experience when I learned that someone I used to know in college had been shot and killed in a dispute with a neighbor. I had always wondered what happened to him (this was before Facebook might have coaxed us into tracking each other down) and suddenly, details of his life became known to me in his obituary. I was knocked over by how unbelievably sad I was and how long it took me to accept what had happened. I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like for the people of Newtown.

palmetto state

Nov19

When mr. strivingcynic and I were considering where we might want to go for 4-5 days, we weighed several possibilities. We decided we wanted to go somewhere warmer, somewhere neither of us had been. Ultimately, we decided on Charleston, South Carolina. We had visions of staying in downtown Charleston, but a quick look at hotel prices made us look at the surrounding area and we ended up in Mount Pleasant.

view from Francis Marion Square in downtown Charleston

taken at the Battery, Charleston. The Arthur Ravenel Bridge is in the background.

I’m happy to say, we really enjoyed our stay.  The weather was pretty warm (in fact, we didn’t bring enough light clothes). Charleston is very walkable and there are plenty of attractions there and nearby.

a Charleston street (notice the palmetto trees)

on the College of Charleston campus (located downtown). I loved how the houses were incorporated into the campus, often as departments.

The Ravenel bridge from the first picture connects Charleston with Mount Pleasant. We realized there was a walking/bike path on the bridge and decided to go investigate. The bridge is 2.25 miles long and is a really pleasant walk (or run, there were lots of runners).

there are a few platforms on the bridge that jut out, letting people see views like this one

we got our cameras out for this barge going under the bridge during our walk. We were amused to see the people on the barge with *their* cameras out and had a nice time waving to each other.

I always like being near water, although it was a little weird to be on a beach and think about what Sandy did to the Jersey shore. Mount Pleasant was near Isle of Palms, which had a beautiful beach.

water off the Isle of Palms beach

I got to try a few culinary specialties of Charleston (and the south). Fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, fried okra (all good, can’t say I will crave them any time soon). I did not get to try benne wafers (sesame seed cookies), but went to a peanut store and took advantage of their generous sample policy.

Have you been to Charleston? What’s the furthest south you’ve been?

rock my world, or just my kitchen

Sep6

Our kitchen redecoration has moved forward in leaps and bounds in the last few weeks. The pink formica counter tops are no more (well, we still have them in our bathroom and still have it in the pass through between the kitchen and living room).

Here’s a shot of the “old” kitchen.

behold! pink formica…

also not thrilling, the hardware on our cabinets and drawers

the sink was also scheduled for exchange with the new counters

We actually got a deal where we got a sink for free…

So, what’s new?

and bring in the new…

So you can see the total picture…new granite countertops, new hardware, new sink.

We realized when we were looking around that we were gravitating towards “oil rubbed bronze” for some of the fixtures…I like the black/copper look with the countertops and think it mixes well with the silver.

shiny!

priorities…our phone charging station is set up!

The countertops had to “set” for a while…so for the first 24 hours the drawers were out and we had very little set on the countertops. Once we were able to, we were always (and still are) noticing the sounds when we set something down….although at least now we are willing to set something down…I was a little fearful of using the counters at all at first!

We’re really happy with the results. The counters work with our orange paint and the cabinets, while not great, look better too, with the new hardware. The next big step will be putting in a back splash. I imagine it will take us a little while, based on our counter top experience (we kept going to the store and looking at granite, bringing samples home, being indecisive…one day mr. strivingcynic just suggested we go to the store and pick something…and that’s what we did).

What have your big decorative decisions been? Do you feel confident about your design skills?

top ten….

Jul10

It’s Top Ten Tuesday, hosted by the folks at the Broke and the Bookish. This week’s challenge: July 10: Top Ten Tuesday Freebie (whatever topic you’d like)!

Sad to say, I struggled with this unbelievably. I had a few topics I thought would be good…but when I tried to think of a top ten (or even beyond top four) list for them…I just stopped. I thought…well maybe I can do a hybrid top ten…sorry, a mashup top ten and do a few top fours. Literally, as I went to copy and paste in the logo…my freebie topic came to me. Top ten topics I’d like to do in full next time (or next ten times) there’s a freebie.

Clever, right? I don’t have to name any books and this can be my cheat sheet for the next ten freebies when I can’t think of anything!

1. top ten transformations. The ugly duckling becomes the swan. The clueless clumsy girl gets poise and grace. The plucky heroine who needs a good eyebrow plucking gets transformed by her good girlfriends/gay best friend. Chick lit is full of these…I’m sure I could manage. (Not to mention, Dr.  Jekyll becomes Mr. Hyde).

2. top ten “year” books. I know I’ve read at least 3 or 4 books where the author undertook an experiment on themselves that was to last a full year (like A. J. Jacobs, The Year of Living Biblically). I know they’re out there and it would be fun to have a list of them.

3. top ten best character names. Dickens is chock full of them…as are other Victorians (Thomas Hardy’s “Eustacia Vye” [if I'm remembering that correctly] comes to mind).

4. top ten authors who started off really promising but then didn’t really seem to go anywhere. I would like to have the problem of having a smashing literary debut and then having to top it…but it might be interesting to look at authors who didn’t.

5. top ten wunderkind authors. The last one led to this one. We’ve all read about the precocious author with the book deal at 19 (they almost are all ivy leaguers). Some of them have gone on to stellar heights…others may have peaked early.

6. top ten late bloomers. Even better than the last one. The person who surprised everyone with the book they had in them. I’m not entirely sure where the wunderkind/late bloomer line is and if there’s a “just right” category….but, since it’s too late for me to be a wunderkind…the late bloomers might be worth a look.

7. top ten book pets. Who are my favorite pets mentioned in books (Rex the hamster from Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series comes to mind)?

8. top ten tales of transgression and redemption. Stories about horrible people who become nice, or make good (this could leak into the transformations in category one).

9. top ten books where everyone stays clothed. Ie…books with no references to anyone having sex…since I read a lot of Victorian novels, I’ve got a ton.

10. top ten books where people get nekkid. Books with good love scenes or good books with love scenes. Either one.

What kind of top ten categories would you tackle if you were setting the categories?

that face . . .

Feb27

Can you resist this face? Go ahead, try.

sweetie face!

This is not the best picture of strivingcynic cat, but I love the look in his eyes and the shape of his head in it.

I mentioned last week how he likes to try to get my attention when I’m on the computer. When he’s in the right frame of mind, I can actually pick him up, flip him on his back, and cradle his head on my arm WHILE I type (yes, his head moves slightly, but he doesn’t seem to mind). If mr. strivingcynic is nearby, sc cat will often shoot him a look of  “haha…mom’s paying attention to MEEEEEEEEEEEEE” (don’t get me wrong, sc cat loves mr. sc and vice versa…but sometimes kitty thinks there’s a competition). Anyway, last week I had my camera by my computer and managed to take this shot of him cradling away with his head on my arm.

For those of you who don’t know cats…this kind of behavior is a rarity. I’ve loved all my cats, but lap cats are a rarity. Some cats love their humans very much, but don’t want to hang out on their laps. I would say sc cat is occasionally lappy…not an every day thing, or even a once a week thing, but he will pass out on my lap several times a month (usually when I’ve just made the decision to get up and get a drink or some food, which I’ll delay for him). Not all cats like to be cradled (they don’t like being on their backs…I don’t think I’ve ever cradled one of the shelter cats; they like to be held in other positions). So the fact that he’ll cradle away is pretty special. And it’s nice to have a kitty to pet while I type.

What special things does your pet do? Feel free to admire sc kitty!

wiggle room

Jan23

So, January isn’t even over and it’s come to this! I want to modify one of my resolutions.

This one (from the January 2, 2012 post):

“In 2012, I’d like to write 200 posts (which would average out to almost 4 a week–giving myself a little break with travel or things that happen that might pull me away). I seem to have found a groove with 4 a week this last month (although sometimes it’s challenging). I had 132 posts in 2011, so we’ll see if I can pull this one off.”

For the last month or so, I’ve adhered to a posting on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday schedule. And I have been very happy with it. But, sometimes the Thursday or Saturday posts are (as I alluded to) a challenge as I’m trying to write them during the work week! Sometimes I end up approaching one as a chore. And we all know how the line goes…”This is a hobby for me. So, it should be fun to work on, not work.”

I really enjoy writing posts for this blog and don’t want to end up burning myself out or resenting it, so after a mental tussle (“Oh sure, say you’re going to do something and then don’t do it! How weak is that?!” “I still want to do it, I just need a little space.” Oh dear, you get the picture), I decided to modify this goal to the following.

“In 2012, I’d like to write between 175 and 200 posts (which would average out toalmostt 3-4 a week–giving myself a little break with travel or things that happen that might pull me away). I seem to have found a groove with 4 a week this last month (although sometimes it’s challenging). I had 132 posts in 2011, so we’ll see if I can pull this one off. (and a month in, I feel it’s best to pull it back)“

So, clearly, this doesn’t mean that I won’t post 4 times a week, just that it might not happen every week. I could end up with 200 posts, but I just wanted the wiggle room so that I wouldn’t declare it a failure if I hit, say, 183.

Lately, a number of blogs I follow have scaled back (Cathy at 1970KikiProject Blog and Stephanie at Love Life Project) and the “hobby/not a money maker” aspect plays a role in this for them. I decided when I started this blog that I wouldn’t talk about my work (just easier….) but suffice it to say, I work at least 35-40 hours a week and have other obligations (nothing unusual there), so once I realized that my attitude was changing a bit, I thought some reevaluation was in order. I think I’ve changed this in a way that works for me, and that still maintains the “integrity” (HA!) of the countdown structure I use.

And, now a cute picture of strivingcynic cat!

his adorableness will not be denied!

Have you ever reevaluated/modified a goal? Were you happy with making that decision?

contrary treadmills and simple math made complex

Nov14

Although it’s finally gone away, I thought I’d share one of the sights I saw this week when I left my house.

a small patch of (dirty) snow with autumn leaves

It just hit me one day how odd it was to have these isolated patches of snow with leaves. Probably odder because temps were in the 50s and 60s this week.

can't get enough of dirty snow pics, right?

Anyway, it’s finally gone, and presumably, next time there’s snow there won’t be so many leaves on top. But, you never know.

Earlier this week I had whined about mentioned how I had done something to a back muscle meaning I was taking a break from exercise. These things happen, but I was a little annoyed because one of my goals for the month is to work my distance up to 6.5 miles (from 6.2–I like my increments small). Well, of course taking a break gave me time to heal and I was back in the gym by the end of the week. And, I can now say, one goal down! I hit 6.5 miles on Saturday. I hope to repeat that through the course of the month (Saturday is when I have time to go for distance), but knowing I’ve already been there takes the “pressure” off.

One eensy weensy factor that takes the joy out of my mileage total….contrary treadmills. As I mentioned, I’m going for distance, but not distance in a certain amount of time. So, once I started to hit around 6 miles, these treadmill forays took me more than an hour (I think the 6.5 miles took me 68 minutes [and I do pause the treadmill for breaks periodically, which don't factor into the time]). And I discovered a snag. The first time I hit the 60:00 on the treadmill, the treadmill automatically put itself into cool down mode. I had to restart and calculate how much distance I had left.

The next time, I was prepared for it, but instead of shutting down, the treadmill took the 60:00 in stride and kept going. So, I knew it was capable of going beyond 60:00. The next time, I used the “Personal Trainer” workout option to tell the treadmill that I wanted to go a certain distance or time. And it worked! But this last time, I set the PT for 6.5 miles, and at 60:00 (5.79 miles) it automatically went into cool down. Again, I had to recalculate and start from 0, stopping when I got to .75 miles.

Now, I think I know why it worked the one time I tried it but not the other. I suspect that I gave the treadmill a time goal rather than a distance goal. So, if I tell it 65:00 minutes, it won’t shut off at 60:00. I think next time I’ll tell it I want to run for say, 75:00 and then just put it into cool down when I’ve met my goal. I *think* that will work, but of course the fact that it has worked before just makes it all the more maddening.

I can’t decide what annoys me more about this situation. On the one had is the fact that just as I’m closing in on the end of my run (and it’s not a pretty process; I’m huffing, puffing, and sweaty) I not only lose my groove, BUT I also have to do math to figure out how long I have before I’m done (I can handle running and I can handle math, but the combination does my head in)! On the other hand, as I move toward my goal distance, I do want the treadmill to say “Hey, you ran 6.5 miles!!!! Go you!” Not, “Hey, you ran 5.79 miles and .75 miles.” I want to see the “whole” number, because I’m amazed I got there.

Both factors annoy the hell out of me, but I’m gonna outsmart the treadmill yet (and in the meantime, celebrate meeting my goal).

Have you encountered a contrary machine, appliance, or device? Who won?

put a pin in it

Sep17

pin collection

I’ve managed to get through another book I’d wanted to read for a while, Madeleine Albright’s Read My Pins.

I have to admit, I don’t know much about Albright. I know she was U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. and the first woman Secretary of State during the Bill Clinton years. And I know that she rather awesomely played Rory’s mother in a dream sequence in an episode of Gilmore Girls (which cemented any thoughts I had as to her awesomeness). One thing I didn’t know about her? Well, apparently she is well  known for her pins, in fact, her attitude towards a diplomatic meeting or occasion could be read in part by the pin she was wearing. One world leader called her a snake, so she wore a snake pin to her meeting with him. Good for her.

Despite not knowing too much about her, I felt the lure of Read My Pins because I loved the idea of a powerful woman feeling comfortable expressing herself using her jewelry. Actually reading the book and seeing the pictures of her pins, I admired how she had all sorts of pins, from very expensive to from the dollar bins, and how she had collections of themes. This inspired me to consider my own pins.

First thing, I don’t actually have that many pins. I don’t really wear them. I don’t like poking holes in my clothes (Albright admits to having shredded some items due to pin use). But, I was curious to see what I had and like Albright, consider why I have them, how I got them, and possibly why I kept them. So, let the pins begin.

duran duran pins

My duran duran pins. Wow…I am amazed these survived my adolescence and beyond. I suspect I used to have more. I remember wearing one to an 80s Halloween party years ago. I suspect I bought these at a mall…and I kept them out of durannie nostalgia.

charity pins

Charity pins…well pins I got for donations. The one on the left is the “pink ribbon” for breast cancer research. The one on the right is probably back from when I donated blood fairly frequently (I am no longer able to donate because they changed their requirements so that they don’t want people who spent too much time in Europe in the 80s and 90s  because of mad cow [I was there several years...] ). I know I’ve had other charity pins (AIDS research, Humane Society) so I don’t know why these made the cut and others didn’t.

pins I got as gifts

Pins I got as gifts: I believe the one on the left came from my mother. I’m not sure who gave me the cat pin. I get a lot of cat things and now black cat things as presents because people seem to think that if I like cats, I want cat stuff (yes and no). I suspect I kept them because they were gifts, and looking at them again, I think both are kind of nice.

one I bought, one was a gift

The other pins. The one on the left I bought on a trip to Europe (I think in Ireland). I liked the Celtic design and what I thought was the bird creature biting its own foot appealed to my Goth-like “life is pain” proclamations (20 years ago). I had another Celtic design pin I wore with everything and was shocked that I don’t seem to have it any more. I’m pretty sure that my late grandmother gave me the one on the right.  I think I held on to it over the years because she gave it to me, but looking at it, I love the mosaic-y look, the bright colors and the floral pattern. I’d say of everything it’s the one I’d be most likely to wear out and about.

So, Madeleine Albright’s account of pin wearing (which I’d recommend) inspired me to show off my pins. I hope this might  inspire other pin posts (and if it does, please let me know).

Do you like any of the pins you see here? Do you wear pins and if so, do you have a favorite?

back in business

Sep1

It feels so good to be back! Until I sat down and tallied it up, I just didn’t realize how much traveling I’d done the last few months. Now, I like to travel and I’m glad I’ve gotten to go to the places I’ve been to, but right now, I just like being home for the foreseeable future!

and I'm so happy to be back cuddling this guy (especially since we can't talk on the phone)

Anyway, I don’t know how it happened, but September 1st is upon us. Several months ago I announced that I was taking the summer off from my “countdown goals.” I’m glad I did this, but as a number of us have observed, September gives us the “back to school/new year” feeling and that means resolutions…or goals. (By the way, can anyone believe were 2/3 through 2011? How’d that happen?)

In Chicago (which I will write more about in another post), I had some “can’t get home, so I can think about life” thoughts, so I thought along the lines of “when I do goals again, what do I want to do?” I sort of like the combo I’ve come up with (an “exercise” goal, a “new experiences” goal, a “get your house in order” goal, a “do something you keep saying you want to do but never do” goal [somehow, this is different from “new experience”) and decided on the following.

I want to run 5.5 miles in September. I was back up to 5 miles, but I haven’t been running the last few weeks, so time to start working on that.

I want to get back to reading books, so I want to read 25 pages 4 times a week (ie, I want to read 100 pages a week/400 pages in September)

Once again, I want to have 3 new experiences (thanks for the idea again, Cathy).

I want to make 2 recipes that come from blogs. I see all these freakin’ recipes on blogs that look really good and constantly claim that I’d like to try making them, but I never do. This ends now (well, in September).

I want to clean out 1 closet (ie, time again to go through my clothes and get real about what I’ll probably never wear again).

So, even though these goals are similar to previous goals, I figure it’s a good way to get back into the world of goals (or I’m just making excuses…on the other hand, I do want to get my distance up, have obscene amounts of reading I want to do, enjoy the new experiences, and want to tackle a few things I’ve been putting off).

So there you have it!

What do you miss the most about home when you’re away? Have you been thinking “September thoughts”?