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!

May 16, 2008 | Filed under: Is She Still Talking?

Whenever Lori posts one of her Friday Love Lists, I think to myself, “I should do that!” because I am a big fat copycat recognize good ideas when I see them, and a dedicated time to express happy thoughts is a damn good idea.

Um, yeah. You’ve seen how many of those lists here? Yes, I believe zero is the correct answer. But! Today that changes! (In all fairness, I was posting happy Love Thursday thoughts for a while, but that habit died a quiet death. Think of the Friday Love List as Love Thursday’s reincarnation.)

So, I now present Things That Are Making Me Exceedingly Happy Today:

• Being back in Northern California.
• Where it is 100 degrees out.
• The fact that my Big Important Meeting is over.
• And that it went well.
• Mentioning all week that I’m visiting friends this weekend.
• The realization that I’M VISITING FRIENDS THIS WEEKEND.
• And there will probably be wine. A lot of it.
• Knowing that three years of bi-coastal existence was worth it. Oh, so worth it.

May 13, 2008 | Filed under: I Write About My Feelings

There is nothing that makes me so acutely aware of my singleton status as getting on an airplane.  It’s not the ridiculous amount of extraneous space in the hotel’s king-sized bed, it’s not attending a yet another damn wedding alone, it’s not spending Friday nights with Stacy and Clinton or Kyle Chandler.  Nope, it’s sitting at the airport knowing that I don’t need to call anyone before I board my flight to remind them to take the chicken out of the freezer to defrost tell them I love them. Knowing that I don’t have anyone to check in with tonight, to tell about my day’s adventures. Knowing there will be no one counting down the minutes or waiting for me at the airport upon my return.

(Let’s be clear, here – I haven’t had any of those things even while dating someone. Which may explain, in part, why we’re no longer dating.)

This is not helped by the airlines’ insistence upon showing romantic comedies on my long-distance flights. Please, please, I’ll take a seventeenth viewing of Transformers over Music and Lyrics or 27 Dresses or Once or Away From Her. Even stupid Alvin and the Chipmunks had a solid guy-tries-to-win-girl storyline.  I cannot think of anything more distracting than looking up from my laptop, where I’m supposed to be putting together a PowerPoint presentation, and catching glimpes of a movie that remind me, P.S. Nobody Loves You.

(Incidentally, does anyone know how I can look more like Hilary Swank? That might alleviate the problem.)

This is a challenging piece to write, because there’s no pivot point in here, no moment I can point to and say, “that was then, but look how wonderful life is now,” so if you’re looking for a Hollywood ending, look elsewhere. In real life, things are much more complicated. Most of the time — the vast majority of the time — I’m happy to be single. I’ve long said I’d rather be single than wasting time with the wrong person, and I really, truly, feel that way — when a long-overdue relationship ends, when I meet someone new who just doesn’t quite fit, when I wonder if I should be spending more time on cultivating a personal life. I like being single, and there’s no reason to force anything else. But, if we’re being brutally honest, I have to admit that there are moments when it really sucks.

April 29, 2008 | Filed under: Is She Still Talking?

I go to a co-worker’s office for a quick chat at the end of the day. Music is blaring from his computer.
Co-worker: We can have this conversation while I choose work-out music, right?
Me: Yeah, sure. This is work-out music?
Him: No, way too mellow. But I like it.
Me: Definitely not up-tempo enough. Wait! I know this song!
Him: It’s Colin Hay.
Me: ?
Him: From Men at Work.
Me: Hm.
Him: It’s on the Scrubs soundtrack.
Me: That’s it! I mean, I don’t have the soundtrack, but that’s where I know the song from — my Scrubs habit!

* * * * *

Me, on the phone with my father: So, can I install cabinet knobs myself?
Dad: Sure, all you need is a screwdriver.
Me: Oh no, not changing the cabinet knobs — I’m sure I am capable of CHANGING the knobs, jeez. There are no knobs, I have to put in brand new ones, like by drilling holes and everything. I have a drill. My question was really, does it take some special skill and will it drive me nuts if all the knobs don’t line up perfectly?
Dad: Well of course it will, cuz you’re just as anal as I am!
Me: Great.
Dad: Why don’t you just wait until we visit.
Me: OK, then you and I can install cabinet knobs and Mom will go for a nice loooooong walk, somewhere far, far away.

* * * * *

Different male co-worker: Oh! Your name came up in conversation over the weekend.
Me: Um, do I really want to know?
Him: We were talking about people who look like Republicans.
Me: Yeah, I get that a lot.

* * * * *

On the phone with Lori, where we’ve just spent a good ten minutes discussing an apparently local murderer.
Me: blah blah blah
Lori: Oh dear, I just –
*strange clicking noises coming from phone*
Me: Um, hello?
*call clearly disconnected*

The conversation resumed,
Me: Were you being attacked by a knife-wielding stranger? All I heard was, “Oh dear,” then the line went dead.
Lori: I hope, if that were the case, that the first words out of my mouth would not be, “Oh dear.”
Me: Good point. But you can’t really say, “I’m being attacked by a knife-wielding stranger! Call the police!” without fearing that you’ll further provoke him. We should have some sort of signal.
Lori: We need a code word.
Me: Yes!
Lori: I know — [redacted]!

(What, you think I’m going to tell the entire internet our code word?? Think again.)