Heather

There has been a lot going on recently, expensive stuff, so I decided to check my bank account.  It seems like it's been a while since I bought anything new, and guess what?  I'm right.  My last purchase (of clothes for me) was May 7.  I'm off the hook!  I might just get me some new pants this payday. :)

I know this probably seems like a really lame thing to most of you, but here in NYC, we tend not to have laundry in our buildings.  Normally, we drop ours off and pick it up the next day (which is amazing).  But sometimes, I have to deal with it myself, which I have done three times already, so I guess I could have set this bar a little higher...

How could I have missed this one?  Joe and I were married on a schooner in Baltimore, and it was purchased recently and moved to New York!  I took Joe for a sail on Memorial Day weekend.  Yay for Clipper City!

Well, it certainly has been a fruitful week!  I realized that I finished I AM NOT MYSELF THESE DAYS by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, which puts me over on my non-fiction reading.  For those of you interested, Josh was a drag queen named Aquadite?  or Aquadisiac?  At any rate, she was mostly called Aqua.  She was an alcoholic, and got together with a gigolo/crack addict, and this is the actually hilarious memoir that stemmed from this weird only-in-new-york (and possibly Singapore) account.  Very David Sedaris meets James St. James.

Thanks to Tanya's wedding (hooray!) I can now cross of FIVE other things!  This past week, I camped out for three nights in Maine and New Brunswick, Canada, I ordered a lobster roll (and loved it!) in Maine, I went to Prince Edward Island for Tanny's awesome and beautiful wedding, and on the way back, we picked strawberries, which are baking into a cake as I write this.  I will make the rest into jam.  Mmm.  Jam.

So, major week, eh?  I think I'm on a roll.  I've scheduled a weekend to go visit Toddy in Ithaca, also, and I have a ticket booked for Ames.  But I will mark those off when they actually happen.

Yay!

Ah, WHY MANNERS MATTER by Lucinda Holdforth is a must-read for anyone over the age of 12.  Seriously.  She reminds us of why good behavior and polite interaction is important rather than pointing out how people should behave.  She's trying to remind people that greasing the wheel of society with a few polite words is really what it means to be a community.  I can' t recommend it highly enough.

And to toot my employer's horn, THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA, YOUNG READER'S EDITION will be coming to your favorite bookstore very soon (October, I believe).  This is the same content as the adult version, but streamlined and softened a bit to appeal to a young adult audience.  I found the original to be a little esoteric at times, and this one is not at all like that.  Find it, read it, love it.

And I babysat on Satuday, which was fun!  Except the child made me read three Curious George stories, which are far from my favorite.  :)

Well, I just finished 30 sober days.  It felt great, actually.  I have done this once before, and that time it seemed like a punishment.  This time, it felt like I was doing something really good for myself.  So hooray!

Okay, I called to order pizza for Joe from his favorite place from his college days, Shakespeare's in Columbia, MO, only couldn't follow through.  I emailed, then called, then placed a particular order (Joe's favorite is artichoke and pepper jack, so that's what I wanted to surprise him with), but shipping was going to be $60.  The minimum order was three pizzas, so the whole order was going to be $100.  Sigh.  I told him about it, and while I might not be the richest wife of all time, I'm still the best. :)  He said the upset over the money would have canceled out the excitement over the pizzas, so we're good.   I count this one as checked off, since I actually did all of it except for the paying and eating.

Ah!  I went to MoMa a couple of weeks ago to see an exhibit on prefab housing, something that has always excited me.  They had five actual houses set up in the lot next to the museum on W. 53rd St, and to use the audio tour, you called a number and extension, and it gives you the info on the interior and exterior of the house.  So there!  I did this one without even thinking about it.  Is that cheating?

Today, I made pickles.  A fairly standard recipe with some dill and garlic.  I have to wait 10 days to try them, and I'm thinking this is just a jumping off place for more and betterer pickle recipes.  I'll edit this when I've tried them.

10/11 Okay, I tried them!  I used apple cider vinegar, and that made them a little too sweet.  Also, I used a LOT of garlic.  They are pretty good, but I know I can do better.  Oh, also, I used hot liquid on them, which made them a little bendy.  Next time, I'll use cold.

Today, also, I made pickled jalapenos.  I eat those allll the time, so thought I should make my own to save waste (the jars and the money).  I tried one right away, and it was super spicy, even for me.   But the flavor was marvelous!  I can't wait to try them in one of my regular snacks (english muffin with light laughing cow cheese and a couple of peppers on top).

I finished reading ECCENTRIC GLAMOUR:  CREATING AN INSANELY MORE FABULOUS YOU last night, and not only is it most inspiring, but it's also hilarious and has given me inspiration for even more non-fiction to read.   Simon Doonan really has a handle on what it means to be stylish in a personal way, but this is just over the top.  It inspired my birthday outfit of flowered headband (across the head, not on top) with a gold sequined tank over a striped t, and my caftan that I got in Turkey.  Oh, and it also reminded me not to give a damn about those people staring.  I felt fab, and they were probably entertained.  More marvelous, less okay.

ooOOooooh.  I re-read DOWN A DARK HALL by Lois Duncan.  It was my favorite book in 6th grade, about girls who go to boarding school and are posessed by dead artists who use them to continue their work.  So scary and marvelous and just the sort of thing I'd love to publish today.

This one was easy, once I got my password info sorted out.  I didn't MAX my donations, but I raised my contributions to max my employer matching program.  Hooray!  That feels like a responsible grown-up move.

I re-read RAMONA THE PEST, which I adored as a kid, and I adored as an adult also.  I really love that the entire thing is from Ramona's perspective.  Her ideas  are realistic, she gets frustrated and shy about things a 5 year old would, and her reasoning seems right on.  Plus, Ramona is *hilarious*.  That's why I always loved her.

I have ordered many of my childhood favorite books, and started with TALES OF A FOURTH GRADE NOTHING by Judy Blume.  I'm much more out of touch with my 8 year old self than I ever thought I was.  This book made me laugh so hard I cried and rolled around on the floor when my dad read it out loud to us.  This time, reading with one foot in children's publishing, I didn't get it like I should have.  If I'd gotten that as a submission, I'm afraid I'd reject it.  This project will prove to be fruitful, if I can remember what I loved about all these books when I am reading other submissions.

Today Joe went to visit his dad, and so I got up and went to the deli.  I got the newspaper, all 4 pounds of it, two cups of coffee and some of that fabulous yucca bread from the bakery (the coffee only comes in small) and came home.  I put on music and dug right in to the paper.  Suprisingly, it only took about an hour and a half to get through.  I'm the first to admit that my attention span has wavered in the last few years, but the Sunday New York TImes allows a gal to jump around from interesting topic to interesting topic without guilt.  Obviously I didn't read the whole thing, what's the point of that?  I think I may have to make this a once a month treat.  Every weekend is unreasonable, but for sometimes, it's marvelous!

Now I'm going to use the unread sections (sports, business) to make some papier-mache masks.

Oh, yay!  I did my first thing!  It's only half of the thing, and it's really no big whoop, but I totally rocked my geek-unchic gold glasses out to a trendy restaurant with friends.  No one said anything, but I know they were all like "wow, she's bold and/or stupid, and definitely uncool."   Here's to nerds everywhere.  If I had a pic, I'd show you.  Maybe for part two.

A friend led me down this path, and it took more brainpower than I thought to come up with a list.  Here's the deal:

The Mission:
Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

The Criteria:
Tasks must be specific (ie. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (ie. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days?
Many people have created lists in the past - frequently simple goals such as New Year's resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organising and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities.

Some common goal setting tips:
1. Be decisive. Know exactly what you want, why you want it, and how you plan to achieve it.

2. Stay Focussed. Any goal requires sustained focus from beginning to end. Constantly evaluate your progress.

3. Welcome Failure. Frequently, very little is learned from a venture that did not experience failure in some form. Failure presents the opportunity to learn and makes the success more worthy.

4. Write down your goals. It clarifies your thinking and reinforces your commitment.

5. Keep your goals in sight. Review them frequently, and ensure that they are always at the forefront of your thinking.

And, so here is my list:

Cultural

1. go to MoMa and use the audio tour
2. see an opera (that I don’t know anyone in)
3. see a ballet
4. Visit the Noguchi Gardens in Queens
5. visit the Frick
6. visit the Cooper-Hewitt
7. attend the symphony
8. attend a rock concert
9. see a friend’s show (of any type)
   

Fitness/Health

10. do wheel pose again
11. do crow pose
12. Walk to Nyack
13. Kayak in the ocean
14. be vegetarian for onw week twice.
15. run a 5k
16. achieve my goal weight
17. eat something green (naturally!) for 10 days in a row
18. exercise 25 times in a month
19. wash my face at night, every night, for at least two weeks running
20. get acupuncture on my thigh
21. Go roller skating
    

Food and Cooking

22. eat only raw food for three days
23. make yogurt
24. go to three new restaurants
25. make beef Wellington
26. learn a family recipe from Joe's dad
27. eat fresh food only for one week (no cans, boxes, or cartons)
28. make doughnuts from scratch
29. make pasta from scratch
30. go something picking and make something from what I picked
31. cook Indian food from scratch
32. make pickles
33. make pizza from scratch
34. make sorbet
35. make marshmallows
36. make one loaf of fresh bread
37. make pistachio ice cream
38. grind meat and make my own sausage

Creative

39. make our wedding photo album
40. design my own stationery, and print it
41. do a paint by numbers
42. sew an article of clothing and wear it
43. make and send Christmas cards
    

Intellectual/Career

44. write a letter to the editor (any publication)
45. re-read 10 childhood favorites (3/10)
46. Read A TALE OF TWO CITIES
47. Read A SONG OF MYSELF
48. attend two conferences
49. take an editing course
50. take a copyediting or other related course
51. max my 401K donations
52. talk to one editor at work about how they got where they are
53. read five non-fiction books (5/5)
54. attend a lecture (at a museum?)
    

Travel

55. travel to PIE
56. travel to Maine
57. camp out for more than one night in a row
58. Visit Toddy in Ithaca
59. Go to Ames
60. Visit Yellowstone
    

Philanthropic

61. have a bingo night fundraiser for Parkinson’s research
62. contact Shake Shack about being a corporate sponsor for Parkinson’s Team Bettina
    

Personal

63. say nothing mean about anyone for a week
64. say nothing mean about a family member for a month
65. host a holiday
66. watch a meteor shower at the beach
67. attend a rally or march for something I really believe in
68. go golfing
69. sing a karaoke song all by myself
70. Babysit my friends’ kids three times (one time per friend/kid?) 1/3
71. get up ridiculously early to bake scones, then take them out to watch the sun rise
72. have a totally sober month
73. try on some ridiculously expensive clothes
74. see what the Broad Channel in Queens is all about
75. read a Vogue and compile my own outfit, wear it
76. take Joe on a sailboat cruise
77. Have lunch with Carlo without talking about how I want him to do my makeup
78. get back in touch with Nattie
79. Order pizza for Joe from Missouri
80. write letters to 10 people
81. Pay off one credit card
82. don’t buy clothes for two months
83. do my own laundry three times
84. Keep the living room clutter free for two weeks
85. make the bed 10 days in a row
86. dust every Saturday (or once a week) for a month
87. Clean the bathroom once a week for a month (that’s only four times!)
88. Get up before 7am two weeks in a row (that means by 6:59 at the latest!)--except on the weekends
89. Take my parents out for dinner
90. re-begin my dream journal
91. play Slow Ride successfully on Guitar Hero
92. order shellfish in a restaurant
93. wear heels to work every day for three work weeks in a row
94. rock my gold glasses at least twice in public (1/2)
95. do the first 6 online banjo lessons
96. learn to play GO
97. wear a hat every day for two weeks
98. go fishing
99. spend a Sunday with the NY Times and coffee
100. listen to new music every day for two weeks
101. make a surprise party for someone

My deadline is Monday, May 16, 2011.  If I can figure out how to edit posts (item #102?) I'll just cross them off here, otherwise, I'll often repost with things crossed off.

How did you spend summers when you were a kid?

I grew up in Iowa.  When I was young, I spent summers at various daycamps, YMCA, CampFire, the office where my mom worked.  We had swimming lessons at the high school pool, where I thought I would never be old enough to go.  We had to swim two laps in order to have permission to swim in the deep end, although this was never recorded and barely monitored, so it's a wonder we still did it.  My husband refers to Iowans as Whos, as in Dr. Seuss.  I suppose actually taking the test was something the Whos did.  Older girls laid out in the sun, rubbing baby oil on their pale, peachy skin, taking extra care not to get their giant, carefully disorganized hair wet.   Our counselors were college girls, although in my memory, they seem about 40.  One summer we spent a good part inside (flood rains outside) building the biggest cardhouse we could.  The extreme humidity certainly helped in that matter.  Note:  old cards work best.  That was the summer Tony made patches for his secret club, and I was only allowed in after a dog bit my head and I had to get rabies shots.  That was also the summer Nova brought in an already scratched off losing lottery ticket and kept using the silver crayon to color it over and have people scratch it off again and again.  I'm afraid that was the cleverest thing she ever did.

As I got older, I rode my bike back and forth from daycamp.  I was usually the oldest person there, although there were, somedays, one or two others my age.  When I was 11, at the CampFire daycamp, I had a counselor who was a former employee of my father's, way back when he worked in the jewelry department at JCPenney.  She told me this horror story of working at the jewelry counter, how she had fallen off her bike and had a scab about 2 inches wide and 4 inches long.  That's not the bad part.  The bad part is when she said a boy of about 9 came in, looking for something for his mother, and he picked her scab!   He ripped it right off her arm, and she, horrified, grabbed it from him just as he was about to put it in his mouth.

I was about 12 when my parents let me stay home by myself.  That was when I discovered the Young and the Restless.  I only watched it in the summers, and when I got sick, and on spring break, and over the winter break (we still called it Christmas break then).  This was the summer of Cricket and Danny and Nina.  Danny (I don't know the actor's name) came out with a hit single in real life, Rock On.  It was awful, but he was so cute that I watched it on MTv.  That was also the summer we got MTv.  My friend Irish came over often, and we would listen to KCCQ, the local radio station.  We were playing Monopoly one day and Brian Adams' Summer of '69 came on.  I never liked that song, and I'm sure Irish never did either, but we jumped up and started singing at the top of our lungs and dancing the wild dance that only 13 year olds know.

Irish and I avoided the nearest outdoor pool, and the high school pool at that point.  Far to many popular and rich kids.  We rode our bikes all the way out to the old country club to swim.  And we went almost every single day.  I had a white speedo racing suit with different colored flags up one side because I was modest, and Irish had a neon green body glove bikini because she was not.  There was a boy there who collected our dollars as we came in and never really spoke to us.  My brother was a lifeguard and so knew all the employees of all the pools.  He told me this boy was Matt Z. and was a senior at the high school, and was most unpopular and hated, even though he was always nice to us.  One day, he gave me a marigold plucked from the landscaping as we came in, and I was so confused.  Remembering what my brother had told me, I cruelly flushed the flower down the toilet.  Later in the summer, at the popular outdoor pool, I ran into Matt who offered me a ride home.  I had my bike and so I said, "I have a ride."  He replied, "Your loss."  I still feel sorry for him, trying to date an 8th grader.

My family spent a lot of time riding our bikes around town and like all other Iowans, really probably most Americans, eating fresh corn and tomatoes and grilling pork chops.  I'm sure my memory of it is idealized, but when I think of individual moments, the cicada noise, the train whistles coming in through my open window as I sweltered all night (no air conditioning allowed until it was 90 degrees for 3 days in a row), they are the pockets of sweetness that I cling to.  It was not exactly Norman Rockwell, but we did what we could to get it as close as possible.