Beard Today, Gone Tomorrow

Here are a few pictures from our excursion to the crangberry bog. Sadly the bog was all dried up so we did not get to go wading in trash bags as we had planned. It did make picking a lot easier. As I mentioned before, it was dear hunting season so we're sporting the brightest orange from our closets, or in my case Aaron's closet. I realized I really do not have enough prison jumpsuit orange in my closet. I'll have to work on that.

OH, and since it was around fall break Aaron was humoring me by avoiding his razor. Isn't he cute?

Nike Run

I'm in love with the Nike Run Training Log. You can select a training program and then track your progress on the calendar. It gives you a distance to run and even some helpful coaching. I'm the type of person that needs to be told to do intervals (even if its only inanimate software) because I won't come up with it myself. I'm training for a 10k at the end of this year and maybe a half marathon in spring. Having the log is really helpful.

Minority Report

This week at the UVA Soccer game the ticket seller asked me if I was under 18. Sigh... I told them, No, I was over the age of 18 and had been for quite a while. And then I started to think about just how long it has been since I was eighteen. That was SIX years ago.

That made me feel old, like I was watching my oh so finite life slip away before my eyes. Then I started to think about what some of the people I respect and admire had done by the time they were my age. Zadie Smith had published White Teeth. Orson Wells was making Citizen Cane, it came out when he was 25. Beatrix Potter had built a reputation as an expert mycologist. I have ...gotten a job. Which is good, I guess.

Christmas Means Carnage

As the holiday season rolls around the tension builds. Then we have a spat, then another, then an argument and finally a full on FIGHT. My family? Or His Family? For which holiday? For how long? But what about last year? What about the coming year? It makes me agree with Ferdinand, the anorexic duck, from the movie Babe* "Christmas Means Carnage!"

*Babe is one of my all time favorite movie. Ferdinand's whole speech goes:"Christmas? Christmas means dinner, dinner means death! Death means carnage; Christmas means carnage!"

In the Company of Stars

Randal, Theresa, Aaron and I were lucky enough to attend the Star's show at the 9:30 club this past Saturday night. It was AWESOME. So awesome that the 20 & 30-something DC crowd, which are usually the "too cool for school" type, got into it. They Danced. They Sang. They Cheered. They briefly escaped their pretentious devotion to yuppy hipster-dom. So Stars is a band of MIRACLES. MIRACLES, I tell you.

It was really one of the best concerts I've gone to. Stars played wonderfully and they're so delightfully over the top in their presentation that the show was just good melodramatic fun. They had these crazy fake flowers covering the stage and they periodically threw them into the crowd. Theresa, being the scrappy farm girl she is, fought off like five other kids for a plastic carnation. I was very, very jealous and impressed.

I know Stars isn't the most known band and I would spend more time describing the music but I don't have to, because NPR decided to do it for me. They recorded the whole show and you can listen and see pictures Here. In the photo galllery if you look at picture 8 of 21 you can see me! Well, my small pixelated blob of a head at least. I'm on the far right edge of the photo in the middle.

The Woman of Aaron's Dreams

The woman of Aaron's dreams is me of course. But sometimes, as I learned yesterday, it's also the woman pictured above, Helen Mirren. Watching TV, I came upon HBO's Elizabeth I. I really enjoyed it. When Aaron came home I told him about it explaining that the actress who plays Elizabeth is Phenomenal and really makes the show. I couldn't remember her name so I said, you know who it is right? She was in The Queen. (Which is another Excellent movie) Aaron said, "Oh yes, the woman of my dreams." Who knew? I guess it's a good thing. Now I don't have to worry about Aaron leaving me for some spring filly.

Sauce 1 Me 0

The house has been in shambles the last couple of days. We don’t normally let it get so bad, but we were sick, then we were busy catching up from being sick. Our feeble efforts to fend off domestic chaos were useless. We ran out of clean dishes. We ran out of fresh food. Our laundry piled up. Pathways began to form as we navigated through piles of junk on the floor.

Finally, last night Aaron and I decided we would bite the bullet and spend at least 2, maybe even 3 solid hours cleaning. We made up a task list, divided the chores and began. Aaron took grocery shopping and headed out the door. I decided to hunt down the strange funk lurking in the fridge. As I pulled out empty pickle bottles and mysterious leftovers I noticed that a nearly full jar of spaghetti sauce had been overturned in the very back. Its contents had slopped down the back wall, pooled onto every shelf, leaked into the bottom drawers, and dried into a sticky blood colored ooze. It covered everything in the back half of the fridge. It was disgusting. I pulled out all the shelves and ran them in hot water in the bath. Then I used a spatula to scrap off the tacky tomato sauce scabs. When the shelves were clean I returned to scrub the actual fridge. When that was done, I washed off the splattered food.

After two hours I had a sparkling clean fridge in a miserably messy apartment. And I was DONE with cleaning for the day. Aaron returned and we buried the newly organized fridge in groceries. So it goes.

I have to add here that Aaron is INCREDIBLE about house work. I rarely feel like it is MY job to keep everything clean. It’s something we do together. Aaron regularly washes dishes, does the laundry, cleans the bathroom, picks up and cooks delicious dinners. And he makes the bed every day!!! He’s a dream come true.

Anna Karenina

I just finished reading Anna Karenina. I can't think of an adequate way of describing it but by saying it's a masterpiece. Tolstoy so naturally and meaningfully describes the daily struggle and the relations of so many: an over-worn mother, a neglected spouse, a cold business man, a frustrated child, a wandering husband, the determined young man. There are the heartbroken, and the proud. The story is full of so many fascinating characters and so involved I desperately want to re-read it.

I always avoided Anna Karenina because I thought it was just a straight forward adultery story. I hate those stories. But Anna Karenina is so rich, the adultery is just one in a broad variety of relationships. There is Anna's and Vronsky's but also Dolly and Oblonsky's and Levin and Kitty's. Levin reminded me a lot of Aaron. This is a terrible post. I just have too much I want to say about this book. I can't stop thinking about it.

Anyway, if you haven't read it, I highly recommend it.

Personal or Communal Style

I enjoy looking respectable. Not fancy, not impressive, I just want to look decent at work. But I HATE shopping. I hate trying to find my size. I hate trying clothes on. I hate wandering through malls. I hate malls. I just want cool long lasting clothes to magically appear at my door ready for me to love. Or I want friends with incredible taste so I can piggy back on their style. So cool friends, help me out. Anyone know any good (yet still affordable) places to obtain clothing? My wardrobe needs some serious help.

To be fair, here's some of the places I enjoy:

H&M -WHY WHY WHY do they not have a website???

Lands End - Long lasting wrinkle resistant button up shirts help make it possible for me to get through the week (and they have good sales)

www.threadless.com - I've said this before. Fun t-shirts. We just bought Aaron the "November was a Good Month" T (above)

Blue Ridge Mountain Sports (which has insanely good sales) and REI

Thrift store

Here's where I would love to shop if I had a million dollars:

www.anthropologie.com

ann taylor loft

www.urbanoutfitters.com

So now it's obvious. I do Not know where or how to buy clothes. Help.

Space to Think

I managed to pick up a rather nasty sinus infection. Actually, Aaron picked it up first and then decided to share it with me. I've got enough snot jammed into my head that I've begun to fantasize about trepanation. It's been really difficult to try to do things like breath, finish sentences, think straight etc. etc. But don't worry Mom, I'm drinking lots of liquids and trying to sleep it off.
Through the fog of mucusy delerium, I decided this infection is ruining my mind. Paranoia? Probably, but then I found this awesome medical poster. Just as I suspected, this infection is trying to take over my BRAIN!

A Hunting We Will Go

Tomorrow Aaron and I are going cranberry hunting. Norma and Brian will be guiding us to a wild bog to harvest them. Tomorrow hundreds of our fellow Virginians will also tramp into the wilds, but not for cranberries. They will be wandering the same woods with loaded guns because it is deer season. So Aaron and I will be wearing the brightest orange we can find in our wardrobe and doing our best to be as un-deer like as possible as we blunder through the underbrush.

Why I'm happy Aaron is in my life

I guess I've been on a video kick lately. To finish it off, I thought I'd post one of my favorite ads. Everytime I see this I can't help laughing. It's a preview of my life, had I not married Aaron.

A Movie for your Queue: Offside

Aaron and I watched this movied a few days ago and we both really enjoyed it. It's an Iranian film called Offside and is funny and touching and has soccer!

I love this kid

So I know some of you are wondering why Aaron and I don't yet have children. If you watch the video below you will see what I picture our children will be like. (The red head)

Home Sweet Home

Everyday the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art spotlights a piece of art from their collection. It makes for a great home page. There are centuries old costumes, hand carved instruments, classical paintings, sketches, old photos, etc. etc. presented with a small explanation. It's a great way to be passively educated. You can check it out at www.metmuseum.org

Does anyone else have other once-a-day pages they enjoy?

October 1st Happy World Vegetarian Day

October 1st is World Vegetarian Day! And did you know that the whole month of October is National Vegetarian Month? Pretty exciting!

Now I usually try to keep pretty quiet about my vegetarianism but since today is the day to celebrate such things I thought I would answer a few questions publicly that I tend to get asked a lot.

You're a vegetarian?
Yes.

Are you a vegan?
No.

What type of vegetarian?
I don't eat meat. So yes to eggs and milk products. No to anything that is flesh. I think it's called an ovolacto-vegetarian. I'm not totally sure.

But what about Aaron?
He's still alive, happily eating meat and adamant that he will never stop.

How do you eat together?
It's pretty easy. If we make a casserole half gets meat, half doesn't. If we have pasta Aaron will add chicken to his. If we have tacos or burritos, I'll eat beans while Aaron eats meat. If Aaron wants pork chops sometimes I'll eat a meat substitute like a bean burger or I'll eat something left over in the fridge.

Are your kids going to be vegetarian?
I don't really care but they're probably not going to get too much meat from me.

Where do you get your protein?
milk, eggs, beans, lentils, gluten, cheese, and soy

Why are you a vegetarian?
This is the hard one. I don't like to get too preachy.
I started getting into the whole vegetarian thing as a kid. I really liked animals and the idea of eating them was repulsive. As much as my mom hoped it was just a stage, I never managed to grow out of it. Now I just find meat sort of gross. That's all I usually tell people when they ask.

So here's the addendum:
I also think the factory farming, where most meat comes from in America, is disgusting and cruel and does not respect the sanctity of life. It's also dangerous to have so many animals penned in so close together. They become vulnerable to disease making it necessary to use large amounts of antibiotics, which in turn helps breed immunity in the bacteria creating a potential health risk to humans. I'm not saying this alone, the World Health Organization agreed in its recently released annual report. If you want to read more go here. Eating less or no meat is also an environmental choice as not eating meat cuts down on the use of resources. And I feel healthy and happy not eating meat.

That being said, I think everyone can choose how they eat. I know some people have absolutely no interest in going cold turkey (he he) but just cutting down on meat or buying it responsibly can make a big difference.

So think about celebrating Vegetarian Day Today. There's some delicious vegetarian food out there. If you live in C-ville, Ming Dynasty has some tastey fake meat concoctions that are really fun to try.
I get some amazing recipes from here. And if you are curious or interested in trying out the vegetarian thing you can go here. Warning: That last link can be pretty sad. It shows some factory farming stuff.