Tag: life as a grownup

Optimizing: The Ow Edition

Uh. Put a hold on that whole exercise thing. My tooth just exploded because I have been pretending I don’t need oral surgery. Turns out the only thing less pleasant than oral surgery is emergency oral surgery. Maybe that’s why they don’t have emergency-oral-surgery mixers, or emergency-oral-surgery ice cream socials. Simple logic, people.

Also, my comments no longer work. I think it’s database corruption or something, but I’m having trouble getting definitive answers, and I have no idea how to fix this kind of thing. The silence is somewhat deafening on this end.

Guys? GUYS?

Aw. I miss you.

Plinky

Have you heard about Plinky yet? It launched yesterday, and you might want to go grab your preferred user name before it’s gone.

Plinky gives you a new question to answer every day, and lets you friend people and compare answers with them, sort of like you can on Facebook or Twitter. You can favorite other people’s answers, and publish your own answers to your blog (or your Twitter feed), and so forth. If you’re already blogging, it’s a nice way to supplement and to help your readership grow. If you’re not, it’s a less work-intensive way to connect with friends. I’m an advisor to the company, and I’m excited about it, so I’ll be posting my answers to Plinky prompts here in the next few weeks. Go have a look, and let me know what you think.

Optimizing

In an effort to eliminate my mystery hives, which are apparently not allergic reactions, I am off to have a very nice acupuncturist stick needles in me. These are tiny needles. Hair thin needles, I am told. Needles so small they hardly even qualify as needles, you see. So why call them needles then? Why not call them something less panic-inducing? Stupids.

Fun Fact! Tongue goo is a part of the diagnosis process in Chinese medicine. Therefore, I was not supposed to brush my tongue this morning, which is counter-intuitive when you wake up and it tastes like something died in your mouth.

The end.

It’s Almost Here!

New Year’s Eve Maggie (circa 2005), wishes you a very happy 2009. Little does she know what the morning has in store for her. Poor little Maggie. Come here, let me pet your hair. Stop whimpering, dear.

As for you, may your evening be memorable, and your morning a small price to pay.

Strapping on a Pair

I have not been taking good care of my body.

For four years or so, I’ve had crazy, hive-inducing allergies along with a few other health problems that I’ve been alternately complaining about and ignoring, hoping they’ll go away. Today, I sat down and made a big batch of appointments, because it’s time to figure everything out. I don’t know why I’ve been afraid to do this, but I have. Nothing life-threatening is going on, but my quality of life hasn’t been near as good as it could be, and it’s silly to go on accepting that.

So. What about you? Have you been putting yourself off? Today, as a favor, I would like you to take better care of yourself. Please think of one thing you can do to make your life a little better, and take the first step. Maybe it’s as small as taking a walk, or as big as going back to school, or getting screened for the cancer that runs in your family. Do it, and let the weight lift off you.

I’ll be over here, thinking good things for you.

U.S.A.

Four years ago, Bryan and I were in Boston listening to Senator Kerry’s concession speech. We put a lot into that election, and losing was rough. It’s only gotten more difficult since Katrina and the recent economic meltdown.

I was touched by Senator McCain’s concession speech last night. For too long, our politicians have been focused on winning at any cost, even at the expense of the very ideals that inspired them to lead. McCain’s grace and humility in the face of defeat was a reminder that winning can’t confer honor, and defeat needn’t diminish us.

So much has changed for me and Bryan since 2004, and so much has changed for our nation. But the post I wrote coming home from Boston that year is still true for me.

To my fellow U.S. citizens, however you voted, I know you only want the best for your family, and for your country. And no matter what your political affiliation, you and I are still on the same team.

Go America.

Me and Louis

A few months back, I was sitting in the coffee shop where I often work, and looked up to see one of my Morning News editors standing in line for the bathroom.

This wouldn’t have been odd, except Rosecrans was living in Paris at the time, and I hadn’t heard anything about him coming to town. My brain kept insisting that it couldn’t be him.

Turns out he was there for a whirlwind work trip, filming an ad campaign for Louis Vuitton. They were trying to capture Francis Ford Coppola’s San Francisco, and I ended up in the campaign.

Because of all the JavaScripty madness, there’s no way to direct link (boo!), but a full five percent of you should be able to reach it by following these painstaking instructions:

Go to Louis Vuitton Journeys
Click “USA”
Click “San Francisco with Francis F. Coppola”
Wait for the street video to stop playing and a mosaic of photos to appear
Mouse over the center photo in the center row until you see text
Click on the center photo that reads “The Mission Now, Bohemia”
Click on the photo of the blue sweater and coffee cup (that’s my sweater)
Mouse over the larger photo of the sweater and hit the play button

That’s all there is to it!

For those of you who aren’t related to me, and therefore won’t have to pretend to have seen this at the next family reunion, it’s enough for you to know that I am shockingly eloquent. I guess you’ll just have to trust me on that.

ILLINOIS

Bryan’s grandmother passed away unexpectedly, so we’re currently in Illinois for the funeral. We took a red-eye to get here in time, a flight I like to call the Happy-Birthday!-No-One-Sleep-for-48-Hours-Cross-Country Spectacular.

Yesterday, I turned 33. I consider this an auspicious number, and expect to have a very good year. However, for one week, all of us are going to pretend that never happened. Let’s meet back here at the same time next week and discuss birthday stuff in more celebratory detail.

For now, we’re enjoying time with Bryan’s family, acquainting Hank with extended family, and celebrating Grandma Mason — who was a very good grandma indeed.

ROAD TRIP

Me: Do you ever wonder what the world would look like if humans hadn’t dammed up all the water?

Bryan: A little bit. You mean you want to see the towns that are underwater now?

Me: And to see what the canyons looked like, and how the water paths have changed. Water is a transformative force.

Bryan: So is the power of dance, Maggie.

Me: Touché.