September 7, 2008 | Filed under: I Run Therefore I Am, Is She Still Talking?

August, as I told a friend, turned into Mental Health for Katherine Month.  (Yes, I realize I missed 2008’s official Mental Health Month.  It’s been one of those days weeks years.)  She started to remind me about the flurry of activity that September was sure to bring, but I stopped her, imploring, “Please don’t ruin Mental Health for Katherine. Things were going so well!”

I spent less time at work.  I spent less time at the computer.  I spent less time being stressed out. 

Even better, I used those extra hours that I wasn’t working to do things that are important to me or needed to be accomplished. 

I think it may have worked — in the last two weeks, I’ve exercised more than in the previous two months combined. I finished all of the painting around my house.  I’ve hosted out-of-town guests and gone out of town and seen a bunch of friends around town.  I’ve read books — plural!  I’ve consumed copious amounts of alcohol in the spirit of being social, not as a coping mechanism.  I am, I think, a more pleasant person to be around.

In a moment when I suspect my mental health was in a frightening place, where thoughts like “Life is grand! I can do anything I put my mind to!” abound, I signed up for a half marathon only six weeks hence.  Because getting to the gym more than once a week somehow qualifies me to run 13.1 miles.  Mm-hmm.  Brilliant.

But, tra-la-la! I’m determined to make Mental Health Month for Katherine last through October, even if my legs don’t.

August 6, 2008 | Filed under: Is She Still Talking?

I’m traveling. Again. Two weeks ago I was in Portland, which lived up to its reputation for being walkable and public transit-able and chilly in July, which was unfortunate because I took summer clothes with me, nary a long-sleeve in sight and certainly not a sweatshirt or fleece jacket. Sadly I didn’t learn my lesson then, because again this week I find myself wishing for jeans — not the capris I packed — and something other than my suit jacket to wear for warmth outside. And really, I should have known — Berkeley has a similar climate to San Francisco, which I conveniently forgot. My logic went something like this: I know SF will be cold, but I’m not going to SF, so therefore it will be warm. WRONG. Berkeley is ON THE BAY. In fact, I can SEE THE BAY from my hotel room window.

What is the deal with the homeless population out west? Holy cripes, I was not prepared for that in Portland — people sleeping in nearly every doorway and parking garage within six blocks of my downtown hotel. And while I anticipated the homeless population here in Berkeley, I was still a bit horrified to see a guy walking half a block in front of me pause at the corner of a church property to relieve himself in the waist-high bushes planted there. In broad daylight. As I walked past.

Anyway, my real point here is that I’ve finally, finally been broken of my 6 PM = dinnertime habit, which had been pretty well entrenched since, oh, the day I was born. When I got back to the hotel last evening, I just expected that next on the agenda was dinner, but one look at the clock quashed that. “I can’t eat dinner now! It’s just barely six o’clock.” I went for a run instead, showered and then ate dinner at the much more civilized hour of 8 PM. OK, EAST COAST SOCIAL MORES, YOU WIN.

I also discovered that I’m old. Being on a college campus — wearing a suit and heels, no less — will do that to you. Even more telling, though, is that in my quest for dinner I breezily dismissed the falafel stands and Chipotles and the dozens of places with the word “cafe” in their name. On my run I passed a restaurant that actual real grown-ups (read: people my parents’ age) were exiting and put it at the top of my list of options. Good call.

In an odd juxtaposition, I also managed to feel nineteen again. That was the summer that I pierced my bellybutton. Yes, really. It continues to be a source of curiosity, especially among the Junior League crowd. (I love the ice-breaker game “Two truths and a lie” because the declaration the I have a belly ring is almost always mis-identified as the lie.) Yesterday I discovered I needed a new bead for the center of the ring, which makes sense as I don’t think I’ve done anything with it in eight years. In a stroke of brilliance, I realized that this errand was probably easier accomplished in an alternative college town such as this, rather than downtown DC. Which is how I came to be standing in front of the counter at a bustling tattoo/piercing establishment in the middle of the Berkeley shopping district, feeling every bit as uncertain as I did when I first got the piercing. I just don’t fit the mold of the average customer at these places, and it shows.

I’m headed back to DC tomorrow, where I can once again blend into the 8 PM dinner crowd, belly ring safely concealed beneath my suit.

July 20, 2008 | Filed under: Is She Still Talking?

Ugh. I spend so much time working these days, and I get home (sometimes as early as 8 PM!) and I just want to do … nothing. And in particular, nothing that requires a computer. No checking e-mail, no composing of blog posts, no paying bills online, no nothin’. (This may explain why my home phone plays a message about my service being temporarily suspended, but I can still dial 911 if it’s an emergency.)  Sometimes I’ll read or flip through Pottery Barn catalogs fancy interior design magazines, but some days even that takes too much effort. So I turn on baseball. Yes, I am one of the 359 people who watch Nats games. Really, I had no idea I was so special.

But I figure you deserve some amusement, so please enjoy these somewhat recent realizations that there is, in fact, something wrong with me.

• I showed up for our beach weekend with a library book. A non-fiction book. About science. Before anyone could accuse me of being a giant dork, I discovered that my dad brought the same exact book for the trip.
• I wear dress clothes and jewelry every day. I can wear them comfortably for as long as the day requires, but the second I walk in the door it’s off like a prom dress with them. If I pause to read the mail rather immediately changing into yoga pants, my clothes begin to bind, my necklace starts choking me and I’ll stop in the middle of a paragraph to go change because OK, ENOUGH ALREADY!
• I lost three pounds this week without even trying. Ordinarily that would be cause for celebration, but it’s actually quite troubling, as it seems that my body now disdains food. I’m rarely hungry, nothing sounds appealing, and many many items cause my insides to do flips. Especially crazy foods like a banana, which I ordinarily eat as a snack on a daily basis.
• I’ve sort of adopted the homeless guy who sits on a bench over the bridge near my house. He doesn’t panhandle or harrass people or scream rants full of crazy. And he thinks I’m pretty. In other words, he’s my kind of homeless guy. I don’t know his name or where he goes when he’s not on the bench (I’ve been trying to figure out if he sleeps there overnight — I’m leaning toward not) and I know it’s a little odd, but there’s something reassuring to me about our routine interactions. It’s a solid reminder that I live in a big city.

June 10, 2008 | Filed under: Is She Still Talking?

Clearly I was using the Mexican version of “tomorrow” there.  En Meh-he-co, everything happens “manaña,” which we silly Americans think actually means “tomorrow,” in a literal sense, but in fact it really means “eh, when I get around to it, possibly never.”  Not unlike when a guy says he’ll talk to you tomorrow.

At any rate, having consumed my body weight in crushed and fermented grapes, I returned to DC where I managed to avoid being at an airport for a whole four days.  By that time, I was getting a bit twitchy so I jetted off to my cousin’s wedding on Kiawah Island.  (Actually, “jetted” probably isn’t an accurate term for the fourteen-row, 2-seats-on-each-side plane I took.  Puddle-jumped?  I don’t know, I’ve been on true puddle-jumpers and this wasn’t it.)

While there, I made friends with Al…

…hung out with the fam…

…and spent some quality time at the beach.

Now, I know what you’re thinking, and YES, in order to catch the sunrise on the beach, you do have to set your alarm and get up BEFORE the crack of dawn. That’s how I could justify sleeping on the plane on the way home. Also, all those people up there? Not even the whole slew of cousins on that side of the family. But can’t you just see the resemblance?

Since returning home, I’ve done some really fascinating things like “get caught up at work” and “watch my previously sunburned legs peel” and “do laundry/scrub the bathtub/buy groceries because my parents arrive in a few days and I need to make it look like I’m a real grown-up.” I’m just glad I don’t have to pick them up from the airport. I’m taking a break from that place…at least until July.

June 3, 2008 | Filed under: Is She Still Talking?

A reasonable question, truly. Perhaps you recall that I went to California, where Tracy and I had some big wine-drinking plans?

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.

Yes, the wine is pink and yes, I am trying desperately not to laugh. At this rate, I’ll never be America’s Next Top Model!

Ahh, there’s nothing like sparkling wine to start the day off right. I impressed Tracy with my painstaking tasting notes: “Meh,” I wrote next to one selection.

And here we are at, um, I don’t remember where. It’s, uh, in Napa. And they sell wine there. Pretty sure it’s on the east side of Highway 29.

Provenance, one of my favorites. I have a credit card receipt and a photo from there, but the experience itself is a wee bit hazy. Good thing I already know what their wines taste like.

Out of time for today, but more pictures fascinating explanations tomorrow!