a smaller life

the fourteenth list of Very Good Things

 

The fourteenth List Of Very Good Things. Broken out on Flickr, as always.

resolutions, 2010

Well, hello, 2010. A shiny new decade! Time to revise.

 

Resolutions, 2010

1.    Don't die.

2.    Postpone dying.

• Quit smoking again. The answer to stress is not to light a cigarette, damnit, and it will never, EVER be "just this one". This lesson is one I should have learned a long, long time ago. the majority of studies I'm reading show that nicotine + MS = bad mix, so let's get my shit together, here.
• Also: listen to my body, listen to my doctors, stay educated on MS but don't let it become my life. I am my life.
• My body is not my life, but it's definitely my vehicle, so stay on top of things. Regular massage. Yoga. Keep active, eat well, pay attention.
• Read labels.
• Stop buying crap food that has labels.
• RUN MORE: run as much as my body can stand. The better shape I'm in, the harder it will be for this disease to chip away at me.
• Enter more races. I'm competitive by nature, so it keeps me on track. Talk about racing, too, because accountability is good for me.

3.    Consume less.

• Create more. Learn to make even more stuff. BREAK OUT THAT SEWING MACHINE!
• Drive less, bike and walk more.
• Grow and cook our food. Let's make 2010 the year that I finally get rid of that black thumb! I want to grow the kickass- est garden of all gardens ever. Okay, let's just aim for a decent heirloom garden this year. I don't need to win any awards, just successfully grow something other than tomatoes and herbs.
• Simplify, reuse, repurpose. Compost stuff! Recycle everything!

4.     Do better.

• Try harder, remain grateful, keep perspective.
• Be kind.
• Sam Beckett always had it so damned right. "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better."

5.    Challenge myself.

• Allow myself some vulnerability. Everything is not a Feat Of Strength. Leave the country for the 4th of July this year; I don't need to push through that bullshit. I can just pack a bag and spend a few days in Canada, and that's not weak; that's  smart. Also, probably relaxing as hell and hey, might as well put that passport to work a little, right?
• Be brave. Without being stupid.
• Read things I’m not naturally drawn to, broaden my horizons a little. I’m beginning to feel I’m  too specialized.
• Write more. I’ve been getting lazy. Get back on track and start talking about simplifying and start talking about chronic illness. Less of these brief photo- posts and more substance. Refine what I have to say and really say it.
• Take more photos, too.
• Try new things. Like singing when I feel like singing, for starters. That's a good goal. 11 years and my husband has never heard me do one of the things I used to do best. How dumb is that?

6.     Remember that we only get so many days. Make them count.

 

in which there is another meme

Content, shmontent. Have a meme instead and let's just not talk about my absolute lack of knitting progress lately. Ooooh, looky!

The handwriting meme, lifted from/ loosley tagged by kelp! knits. This is about what my handwriting looks like, I think; I didn't try to be tidy.

The rules:

Using a pen or pencil write down the following items:

1. Your name and your Flickr name
2. Are you right handed or left handed?
3. Favorite letters to write
4. Least favorite letters to write
5. Write out the sentence, "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
6. The names of the folks you'll be tagging.

(Larger version on Flickr.)

in which there in an omnivorous meme

The food out here, it's miserable. I'm suddenly obsessed with what everyone else is eating. Many thanks to Cheap Like Me, who I lifted this from.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Mark any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos Rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (Once. Also -as a child- alligator.)
6. Black pudding (never, ever again)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (Ew.)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (Sheer heaven! I make this at home.)
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (Delicious, but never again now that I know how it's made.)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn or head cheese (No. Never.)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (What, are you crazy?)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (Never ever again, giant boogers.)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (No, and I would never eat it after watching Sam choke it down. That stuff is INSANE.)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads 
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs (Never again, just that once.)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis  (Nope.)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (NO.)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (No, but I want to.)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (No, never.)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (Escargot, lovely sauce but hate the texture.)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef (I'd love to. Stupid allergy.)
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

in which I am a day late but still amused

Halloween 1976.jpg, originally uploaded by Mondale.

Thisisfurious' deviation on the Flickr birth year meme made my night. If I search my birth year in Flickr, followed by the word Halloween, this is one of the images that comes up; it's not as awesome as the Batman Family that thisisfurious came up with, but it's pretty rad nonetheless.

Edited to add: I couldn't resist posting it, even though it's 1979, not 1976. This kid has the best parents ever, for real: The Batman Family.

Halloween, 1979 originally posted to Flickr by Fogland.

in which i am uninspired, and take the easy way out

1) Favorite object in your room? The spinning wheel, although it also indicates to me that I may be a bit obsessed. I can't prove it, but I suspect I have the only spinning wheel on post.
2) Have you ever smoked heroin? WTF? No. That was a pretty major jump. Aren't we supposed to warm up to that sort of material?
3) Do you own guns? Not yet.
4) What is your favorite kind of non-alcoholic drink? Chai, the real stuff, not the crap at Starbucks- or cide, ditto.
5) Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? What else can they do to me?
6) What do you think of hot dogs? Agh. I miss them. Real kosher footlongs? With chili and onions and cheese and maybe hots.
7) Favorite song? Impossible. Favorite song today- The Avett Brothers' All My Mistakes. (I know.)
8) What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Orange juice and coffee. Not together.
9) Can you lick your elbow? No. But I feel like an ass for just having tried.
10) Can you do a human pretzel? No, and I didn't even bother trying that one.
11) What's your favorite piece of jewelry? Engagement ring, and a necklace from Kiddo.
12) Do you like blue cheese? OH. Oh yes. Yes I do.
13) Ever been in a car wreck? Yeah; hit by a drunk while I was in a parked car. Madness, right?
15) What's one trait that you wish you could change? I wish I were quieter, calmer. I also wish I had any mystery to me whatsoever. I love people who can manage all three without seeming stuck- up. I could wish I could answer anything in the singular, but who cares?
16) What is your middle name? No.
17) Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment:
- I should be in bed.
- I should be knitting.
- I hope it's cold when I go home.
18) Name 3 things you bought recently?
- Coffee.
- A totally awesome Curtis Mayfield CD for $3.95!
- writeable DVDs. 
19) Name 3 drinks you drink regularly? Water, coffee, and tea.
21) Current hates right now? 86- degree weather, uncertainty, waiting, not having a kitchen, Sarah Palin, financial uncertainty, the American electoral college, the two- party process, and dust. In other words, excluding the 86- degree weather bit, a bunch of stuff I'd better get used to putting up with. 
23) How did you bring in the New Year? Terribly, which isn't so bad; I could pretty much rely on the rest of the year being better than 1 January 2008.
24) Where would you like to be right now? Maryland.
26) Do you own slippers? Yes.
27) What shirt are you wearing? I cannot tell a lie: my stupid corporate polo. Shoot me. It's laundry day, damnit.
28) Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? No!
29) Can you whistle? Ish. 
31) Would you be a pirate? What's with the "would"?
32) What songs do you sing in the shower? Never.
33) Favorite girl's name? You're kidding, right?
34) Favorite boy's name? Apparently not.
35) What's in your pocket? Lint, phone, pogs, money I meant to give Billy.
36) Last person that made you laugh? Jason; he even manages it via email, it's his secret weapon.
37) Best bed sheets as a child? People remember this? My sister Megan had a terrifying New Kids On The Block set, I remember those, but that's because sleeping on faces is wrong.
38) Worst injury you've ever had? I've done all right (touch wood). Some broken bones, not much. Probably breaking my ribs, the second time?
39) Do you love where you live? Yes, deeply.
40) How many TVs do you have in your house? One, and I still think that's too many.
41) Who is your loudest friend? I'm the loudest of my friends, I think. Ade's voice carries, but I love that about her. Kate has a beautifully loud laugh; somewhere between those two? Jason talks a lot, but he's not loud, exactly- more like constant.
42) How many dogs do you have? One! The dippy but relatively tuff- looking Lilu.

(Yeah. I posted a picture of my dog. Shuttup and be grateful I didn't post the macro Judy made of her.)

43) Does someone have a crush on you? I hope so. He'd better at least pretend he does.
46) What is your favorite candy? Dark chocolate, and maple sugar.
47) Fave sports team? Not really that kind of girl, but I like the Red Sox.
48) Where is the next place you want to travel to? There's a list. Karachi, Mumbai, Cambridge, Prince Edward Island, anywhere in New England. Most of all, and most immediately: Baltimore.
49) What were you doing 12 AM last night? Reading about anthropology and economics online. 
50) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? "Already?"