Month: July 2009

Go Somewhere Good

Sandisk slotRadio is sponsoring another present for you. This time I put together a travel comfort kit with some of the things I find useful on trips, which is convenient, because I’m typing this on an airplane right now. If these look familiar, it’s because lots of them are up on Mighty Goods, where I keep all my favorite stuff.

If you win, it’s like God telling you to quit your job and wait tables in Europe. Right? Right.

F1 Two-Zip Dopp

This dopp kit is my very favorite travel thing, and it looks like Flight 001 is discontinuing them. Insanity. The bag is attractive but not twee, well-made, waterproof (so exploding hair goo won’t stain your clothes), and hyper functional. The whole top opens up, so you can see everything at a glance rather than digging around in your bag. Plus, I love how the zippers are attached to the handle, so you can close the bag and throw it in your suitcase in one swoop.

Flight 001 this is madness. Bring back the two-zip dopp, I implore you.

Inside the dopp, I packed a set of nap-anywhere products:

1. Earplugs
2. Eye Shade
3. Travel Pillow

It’s the red-eye trifecta. My preferred eye-shade and neck pillow are also both from Flight 001:

F-1 Night Shade

The one I picked is red, to match your dopp kit. Much more comfy than the crappy ones you pick up at the drugstore.

Comfort Tavel Pillow

I used to travel with one of those cushy neck pillows, but it was impossible to stow conveniently, and a pain to wash. That makes for one filthy pillow, and airplane filth is the reason Purell was invented. Unfortunately, Purell just makes your pillow all sticky.

I switched to inflatable pillows, and have found that the only comfy ones are the ones with knit or fleece covers. This one is fleece, which is a bit bulkier, but more cushy — also, easy to wash.

SlotRadio

As you might expect, our sponsor threw in a Slot Radio, which is an MP3 player that comes pre-loaded with music. It’s tiny, and it’s a time-saver if you want some new music for your trip, but don’t feel like staying up until 3 a.m. downloading stuff.

Travel Candle

For the hotel room, I always like to have a travel candle with me. It dispels funk, and calms you down, but also helps you make scent memories, so the smell of that candle will always remind you of your trip. I love when that happens.

I got you a Botanicus candle in Champagne, because it smelled good. I don’t really have a brand preference when in comes to travel candles, but if you do please tell me in comments. I’m into that stuff.

A Dagoba Organic Chocolate Bar, New Moon

I have to travel with snacks or I get hangry when my blood sugar dips. Dagoba makes satisfying, organic chocolate bars. They’re rich enough that you may actually be satisfied with a few squares. Or you can have it for breakfast. I’m not judging.

Pamela Barsky Luggage Tags

These happy luggage tags have saved me from taking the wrong luggage countless times. The best one reads, “This is not your bag.” Though I keep waiting for someone with the exact same luggage to have the exact same tag.

And that’s it! All right travelers, leave a comment telling me where you would go if you could go anywhere at all, and I’ll use the random number thingie to figure out who gets the goods. I’ll announce the winner this Friday. If you win, you have to go teach English in Vietnam. That’s the deal.

Take tap lessons? Check.

My favorite thing about this video is how gobsmacked I look at the end of each section I complete. After the 50-second mark, it’s all celebratory improvisation, so please don’t blame Mr. Kloss for my lack of form.

Ready? Let’s do this thing:

Next time? Sparklers.

Ed note: Intel is making my site more interesting by sponsoring my Mighty Life List over the next few months. Things will be a little hectic over here for a while.

Mighty Life List: Take tap dance lessons.

This is my tap dance teacher, John Kloss. Doesn’t he look hopeful? If you refuse to look hopeful while tap dancing, they pry the taps off your shoes, and point sternly at the studio door. Then they kick you on your way out.

See? Earnest! He’s a professional.

Anyway, Mr. Kloss is the founder of the Bay Area Tap Festival, and he teaches beginner drop-in classes on Wednesday nights at City Dance. I took one — it was the very first time I’d ever put on tap shoes. I quickly realized that I needed an accelerated course, because my plan was to re-launch Mighty Girl with a little tap routine. I had visions of sparklers! And a humorous, sequined tappy outfit!

In retrospect, my vision was overly ambitious (surprise), but Mr. Kloss graciously agreed to meet me on Sunday to teach me a routine. I then spent eleven hours practicing between Sunday and Tuesday. I lost like three pounds, and I’m also so sore I can’t hold the TV remote without whimpering.

Mr. Kloss had a very good sense of humor about my plan, and I did manage to record something on Tuesday. I am not wearing spandex (disappointment!), but I did get all the way through the routine without crying. I’ll post the video tomorrow, so you can enjoy my very stern tap face.

If you need me, I’ll be in an ice bath.

Intel is making my site more interesting by sponsoring my life list over the next few months. So they paid for my tap shoes and studio time. Thanks, Intel!

Redesign Mighty Girl? Check.

So we’re already crossing off my first Mighty Life List item courtesy of Intel*:

Redesign Mighty Girl!

I tried to find a little trumpet sound to link here, but to no avail. So we’ll just have to use our imaginations. Ready? TA-DA-DA-TAAAAAAAAAAA!

Good work everyone.

The new design makes me seem so serene, doesn’t it? Peek behind the curtain and you’ll find me eating potato chips for dinner at 2 a.m., having left the shower without rinsing conditioner out of my hair. This morning, my pillowcase looked like I’d used it to line a platter of fried chicken.

I think the site is channeling some of Helen Jane’s even keel-ed-ness. I knew we’d have to do everything ludicrously fast, so I wanted to work with someone soothing. When I first asked her, she was a little leery.

She thought the process might be unpleasant.

But she does like designing things.

And then she realized what she could charge for a four-week turnaround.

Thanks to Intel, I could actually afford to pay her. She was worth every penny.

Thanks, lady!

Anyway, if you haven’t yet, please poke around and let me know what you think. The categories may seem hinky, because I haven’t had a chance to comb through all ten years of content yet. For now, I’m thinking of the site as a home that gives me room to grow.

As for the other life-list items I’ll be crossing off, you’ll know more in the next few days, but I want to keep some of them a surprise. Also, lots of you have been asking how I chose. The answer is, Intel offered me a timeframe and a budget, and that helped me shape a plan. It’s a mixture of grand things and small, happy things.

I want to do everything, but I also need enough time to savor it. The process has already taught me a lot, but we’ll talk about that later. For now, enjoy the new site while I nap. Thank you for all the incredible comments. You’re all right.

*What’s going on here? Intel is making my site more interesting by sponsoring my life list over the next few months. Next week, I’m going on a Space Shuttle with the Rockettes!