Las vacaciones ahora, por favor.

Wow, my Spanish is really impressive.  Good thing we're booking ahead, so our rooms won't depend on my pseudo-French accent.  I sound like maniac version of the girl chef from Ratatouille.  But we got our Cancun hotel - Avalon Barraca Cancun!  It's boutique, small(ish) with outdoor massage and so pretty it makes you want to do this:

This is an actual photo from their website.  And we might just be taken by the urge to do this ourselves.  At least I will, right before we come home.  Right before I throw myself into the ocean and swim like hell for Cuba.

Now let's hope I can make it to January 15.  In the back of my mind, I've always wondered where my limits lie.  Where, exactly, is the edge of my sanity?  Well three solid months of complete chaos, panic and that slow, sinking feeling have left me almost completely defeated.  My "Goonies never say die!" attitude went under a bus sometime before Thanksgiving, and I've been floating facedown in the pile of work on my desk for weeks now.  Hence the tequilla-flavored light at the end of this tunnel causing such rapturous blog posts when it hasn't even happened yet.

Also, Justin bought me this for Christmas.  Hot damn!  I'd better get some extra turbo kickboxing in before we leave!

Hasta pronto! (Must get keyboard with upside-down exclamation point.)

Fun While it Lasted - My 2009 Awards

I used to be so pop culture savvy.  I think this was the year I turned into my mom.  Next year I'll be watching the 24-hour "Law & Order" channel whenever there's a commercial break on QVC.

Favorite TV Show
Winner: Castle - Love the sass and the Nathan Fillion. 
Runner up: The Amazing Race - Where water slides end the world.

Favorite Movie
Winner: Inglourious Basterds - This is not a paid endorsement.
Runner up: Avatar - repeat viewings may result in recount
(Caveat: I only saw about 12 movies this year.)

Favorite Song
Winner: "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga - Played 200 times in 2 days.
Runner up: "Sober" by Pink - She never ceases to amaze.

Favorite Guilty Pleasure
Winner: "Hot Mess" by Cobra Starship - Sign it out loud at the gym.
Runner up: Pawn Stars on History Channel - Antiques Roadshow with weirder stuff and cranky fat guys.

Favorite Food
Winner: Pluot - Where have you been all my life? 
Runner up: Root beer - I don't drink soda anymore. Really.
Honorable mention: 53% Dark Chocolate from Whole Foods

Favorite Trip
Winner: Machu Picchu, Peru - Whose idea was it to walk there?
Runner up: New Orleans Halloween - Barefoot on Bourbon Street.

Favorite Concert
Winner: Jimmy Buffett "Summerzcool" - My 15th-ish, Justin's first.
Runner up: Better than Ezra - Spectacular.

Favorite Place in SF
Winner: Ferry Building Farmer's Market - see "plouts"
Runner up: It's a Grind Coffee House on Polk - Outside on a sunny day.

Best Dance of 2009
Winner: Bollywood Flash Mob - Lightbulbs!
Runner up: Big fish, little fish - cardboard box.

Best Discovery of 2009
Winner: Travel Book Club - I have found my people.

Best Commitment of 2009
Winner: Gym classes at lunch - Core Central and Kickboxing with Libby at 24 Hour Fitness!

Best Habit of 2009
Winner: Conscious food consumption - I feel better, literally and figuartively.

Best Idea of 2009
Winner: Financial planner - 1 hour that changed my life.

Best Books of 2009

I keep a list, which says I read 59 books this year.  Considering a lot of them were 700+ pages, that's not too bad!  My Amazon Wish List is well over 130 more titles, so bring on 2010.

Best Books of 2009
1) The Sword of Truth - Terry Goodkind
Oh how I do go on about these books.  I'm counting all 9 that I've read as one entry, because it's pretty much taken over my life.  It's a big commitment, but among my favorite things I've discovered this year.

2) The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson series) - Rick Riordan
Thrilling end to a whiz-bang smarty-pants series - I actually laughed and cried while reading this (on the bus, of course).

3) Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - Jane Austen (with help)
As hilarious as it sounds, and still it holds the rapture of the original story.  File under: Wish I had thought of this first.

4) The Magicians - Lev Grossman

Brilliant, meticulous and packing a few wicked surprises, I loved the idea of Harry Potter-esque idea a twisted tale for some very messed up high schoolers.

5) The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
Brutal and brilliant, with stunning prose, this book was transported me to a dangerous, fascinating place in recent foreign history.

Bonus: A Song of Fire and Ice - George RR Martin
To avoid scary the non-fantasy fans, I'm tacking this on as a freebie.  Less magic, more intrigue - this series reads like historical fiction from a world you've just discovered.  And there are dragons (only a little!).

Worst Books of 2009 
Caveat: I did not finish these books.  Life is too short.

Maps and Legends - Michael Chabon
I can't believe I just typed that!  This book of short-story memoirs read like a self-indulgent inside joke that I had no interest in getting.  Like watching someone else's vacation slide show - boastful and boring. 

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again - David Foster Wallace
See above.  No more uber-literary short story memoirs for me.

Hunter Mtn Opening Weekend!

Dust off your Gaper Gap and tell Jersey to put on their best stonewashed jeans.  Hunter Mountain is open for business!

Shane's first video of the season - sign me up, I'm desperate for a tuck run down the Belt Parkway.

say cheese

Black Friday.  2000 people in Target.  Why are people letting their kids drive shopping carts?  And play with toothpaste in the middle of the aisle floor?  Maybe they're off buying presents, and it's, "Here kids, play with this thing we haven't paid for while we go find something else."

I got a sweet deal on a camera - thanks Mom & Dad for birthday and Christmas!  I will put her to good use for this blog.  It lacks the feature to take a photo of itself, so here she is.  Isn't she shiny?  Maybe she knows that

Otherwise, Michelle, Ruairi and I were the only fools braving the crowds to buy toilet paper and mouthwash.  I so relish a trip to Target!  It's a luxury I failed to truly appreciate when I had my own car.

Now I'm catching up on The Amazing Race so I can watch tonight's episode.  It's almost winning time!

turkey-lurkey-dee

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you eat a lot of brussels sprouts and don't get to Old Navy at 3 AM.  We'll be eating potluck at Keith's, where we are Pictionary legends for drawing a "fish ladder" last year.  I can't imagine what could top that!

give a little bit

Holidays are almost here, and I hope your season of giving will involve giving to some charities!  It makes me feel warm and fuzzy.  If you're looking to give, back here are some of my favorites:

Kiva.org
Kiva is a microlending site where you contribute money to a loan made directly to a person in need.  Their stories, locations and occupations are posted, as well as how they plan to use the money.  Over time, they pay the loan back.  I've made 19 loans, and they've all been paid back (some are still active, with money coming in).  That is AMAZING to me - 19 people have improved their lives through hard work and returned my money in good faith.  When they payments come in, I just lend them back out.  Someday I could cash in the money, but I hope I never need it as badly as these people.

Oxfam America Unwrapped
Oxfam is a wonderful, long-standing charity where you can "buy" really unique gifts for people.  Last Christmas, I bought my mom a goat, which Oxfam donated to a rural Asian family.  Look at him - he wants to be your friend and eat your tin cans!

OneXOne.org

Like Oxfam, only with Matt Damon!  No seriously, this charity does wonderful outreach to children.  You can choose from categories like Hunger, Heathcare and Education and "buy" a gift of specific supplies for various numbers of children.  Pens & pencils, soccer balls, mosquito nets.  I worked on some publicity for the launch of this charity and I think their mission is wonderful.

IWantaGoat.com

I have been going ON about goats this week, since we did a Bollywood Scavenger Hunt to raise money to provide goats to families in poorest rural India.  The woman who ran the event volunteered in India with this charity for 7 months and showed us first-hand where the goats go and how they improve lives.  It's only $20!

Goodwill.com

Don't forget to clean out your closets - and give your clothes to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  Not just for vintage shoppers, the extra donations and proceeds from these stores go to educating and employing needy people in your own cities.  Sending money overseas is very trendy, but there are people right here at home who need your help just as much.

Don't forget friends who are fundrasing!  My friend Chris running & raising money with AIDS Marathon LA (his 3rd one).  California's state budget is cutting HIV/AIDS organizations' funding by 50% this year, so now is the time to get involved.

My friend Meaghan is doing a cross-country bike ride, raising money for treesftf.org, surfrider.org and playingforchange.com (which Jimmy Buffett also supports!).  You don't have to ride from Seattle and Mystic, CT to do your part for a good cause.  Just do your homework - some charities have high overheads and much of your donation goes to admin costs.  Please be sure your money is going where it's really needed.

I hope you'll think big when giving this year!  It makes you feel good inside.  Have an extra cookie, you deserve it.

sittin' on a suitcase

According to a Scientific American study, to increase my creativity I should live abroad.  Well duh.  How often do you escape drunk vikings who insist you accept their wristwatch as a birthday gift in San Francisco?  Or ride a delinquent donkey up a volcano in Upstate NY?  Have you ever woken up miles from your room facedown on an outdoor pathway painted completely blue?  (Neither have I, but I know someone who has.)  Clearly, living abroad requires more creative problem solving skills.  Although I can get away from smelly, ranting public transportation people in very acrobatic ways.

So I'm thinking, as I am 75% of the time, about itchy feet and wanderlust and a big adventure.  What should be my next destination?  And what should I do there?  Of course I'll be packing a boyfriend this time around, which means I'll actually have to take someone else's feelings into account - BORING!  (Only kidding.)  But the upside is: I don't have to go alone.  This is big news!  I won't have to wear my 35lb backpack while I squat to pee over a hole in the ground in a tile-lined soaking wet train station bathroom in Italy.  Whew.

So I'm thinking about a plan.  How much money we'd need to save, where to go, do couples need to pack two toothbrushes (eeeeeewww).  The important stuff.  Where would you go?  Would you work so you could stay longer?

PS: Watching Jane Goodall on "The Daily Show" is a revelation.  She is peace personified and her legendary patience resonates in every word she says.

when to walk away, when to run

New Orleans - land of debauchery that does not subscribe to your heathen beliefs in vegetables or recycling.  How beguiling you are.

The Food
Calorie Fest 2009 consisted of po' boys (yum), fried alligator (yuck) and a breathtaking creation called a pistolette that features seafood stew, somehow both fried and liquid, smothered over french bread.  The only veggie I saw was fried okra, unless you count the lettuce under Justin's shrimp remoulade (that's shrimp in mayonnaise, naturally).  The whole thing was a delicious, debilitating edition of "This is Why You're Fat".  I didn't, nay couldn't, eat for two days after we got home.

The Drinks
In NoLa you can drink in the streets.  You can bring your drink into another bar.  You can stop at a liquor store, fill your plastic syringes with Jack Daniels and proceed to bar hop all night spiking other people's drinks.  Presumably, you are to pour your drink into a plastic cup before leaving the bar.  Because plastic cups hold more, and they don't want you drying out before you make it next door.

The Scenery
Narrow streets, wrought iron balconies, horse-drawn carriages and the Mississippi River... New Orleans is beautiful, slow and grand.  I thought about Huck Finn and making a great escape, though to me NoLa would be a gateway rather than a destination.  The French Quarter is darkly, classically atmospheric (Bourbon Street is more of an alley), making it easily reminiscent of olden days with women in gowns and pirates hiding in dark doorways.  Or vampires.

The Party 
NoLa definitely lived up to it's reputation for throngs of drunken fools parading about the ancient confines of narrow streets.  Like LA's West Hollywood parade or Bay 2 Breakers squeezed through a tube of toothpaste, it was truly a sight that blurred even if you hadn't been hitting the hurricanes at Mango Mango.  The morning after, passed out revelers in costume littered Bourbon Street, literally asleep where they'd fallen and probably impressed with their stamina.

If I ever get back to New Orleans, I'll do more touristy things - swamp tour, have my fortune told, visit a plantation.  The city has a lot to offer besides drunken stumbling, and I hope to someday go back for more.  I'll pack some apples.

new orleans... that's another story.

We are off!  Tomorrow morning, Justin & I leave for New Orleans.  We have tomorrow night on our own - maybe Cochon Restaurant for dinner and a jazz club. We're using my free night on Hotels.com, so I booked the nicest room the Sheraton New Orleans would give me. 

On Friday, the whole gang arrives.  Team 890 (Ruari, Chatham, Michelle) plus Ashley, Steph, James and Ryan.  The Texas contingent is Matt, Mark and Tim.  Matt rocked the Starwood Hotels employee rate and is keeping us at the Sheraton for $69/night.  (Not quite as good as free in Lima, Peru, but hey.  Matt rocks.)

By Friday night... I wonder if even the proverbial party town is ready for this traveling circus.

Bourne in the USA

On my birthday, I wished for "more Matt Damon kicking ass in 1990s sunglasses."  Presto!  Trailer's up for GREEN ZONE, the Matt Damon-in-Iraq actioner from Universal (thanks again, y'all!).

If it looks like Bourne and sounds like Bourne... it's probably directed by Paul Greengrass (Bourne Supremacy, Bourne Ultimatum).  I wish every movie was Bourne.  Bourne baking his way through the Julia Child cookbook, Bourne throwing the Pemchencko Twist, Bourne swordfighting Will Turner in a blacksmith shop, Bourne getting a Tercel (yeah, that's a Toyota).  Think of the fun!



Mostly I like to see Matt Damon in fatuigues when it doesn't involve 60 pound weight loss and shooting heroin between his toes.  Or Meg Ryan.  He cuts a very heroic figure, doesn't he?  Matt Damon for justice?  I'd join that army.

no shoes, no shirt, no problems

I'm more than a little jazzed about Hotel Barrio Latino in Playa Del Carmen.  Not only do we have a private hammock deck on our garden view room, but look how cute and blue it is!  One block from the main street, two blocks from the beach.  Zero blocks from the bar.

Best part?  The price of this vacation keeps going down!  I got the Lonely Planet Cancun, Cozumel and the Yucatan guidebook, which recommended this and few other lovely midrange hotels. I checked the hotel's website price vs. Travelocity - it was the same. So I used Travelocity to earn 1,300 points, and cashed in some old points for another $100 off the price.  We're down to $56/night - that's cheaper than staying at the Snowed Inn!

Now, to find a hotel deal in Cancun and choose our diving trips...

fortunes, forecasts, lucky charms.

Now that I'm over my cold, I can officially say I'm wearing this for Halloween in New Orleans.  If I go to a fortune teller, will she think I'm one of her people?

families cheating at board games

I have an awesome family that is in no way normal but in every way perfect.  My mom, dad and Shane each play a very specific role in my life.  It's more obvious because I don't see them often, and they always fit right where they're supposed to go.

My mom knows the truth about things.
My mom is extremely smart.  She retains all kinds of information, and uses it to form fiercely held opinions.  We often disagree, but I admire that her convictions are well researched and considered.  She's also not afraid to change her mind.  Her sources are delightfully old fashioned (Newspapers! Books! Even TV seems dated.)  She still VHS tapes her reality courtroom shows every day.  I can tell Judge Mathis from Judge Joe Brown just by hearing it blare over the sound of dinner cooking.  My mom is an information person - she wants nothing but the truth.

My dad knows the secret of life.
My dad always wanted us to be happy, no matter what.  He's laid back.  He is the supporter of dreams, of crazy ideas and even of occasional laziness masquerading as extra months in Thailand.  Opportunity, that was always my dad's goal for us.  The chance to do things he never did - and for him to come along.  When I was too Type A-Hermione Granger to see that straight As and team captains were not the only ways to succeed in life, my dad was the voice of reason, the voice of staying home from school once in a while or buying popcorn AND candy at the movies.  My dad sees the big picture, and wants to help everyone get there.

My brother knows himself. 
Anyone lucky enough to know Shane... well, you know what I mean.  The absolutely hysterical, completely fearless life of the party.  But Shane is also very serious.  He's extremely politically savvy (Shane vs. Mom is always fun) and really knows his stuff.  He's also passionate.  Anything he's ever done well, he's taught himself.  Big tasks, like computer programming and film editing.  He has surprising discipline and capability, but he only applies it where he wants it to go.  Directionality and focus - who would have thought?  Shane is completely happy with himself, even when he has to defend himself against the doubt of others.

How do you see your family?  I wonder how my family sees me.

thirty: every day's a revolution

Today, I was wide awake at 8 AM.  So I cleaned the kitchen.  Guess I'm old now!

Thirty sounds old, but let's be honest.  It's set up to rock.  This is the prime of your life!  There is some (but never enough) money, freedom, vacation time, achievement.  I even have a boyfriend - that took almost the whole 30 years! - an apartment and some fool made me the boss of something.  HA!  It looks like I've done all the hard work already.  The pressure is off and I plan to accomplish nothing in the next decade.

I've done a lot in the last 2 years - moved to SF, became the boss, fell in love, moved in with the boyfriend, hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, figured out my finances, seen half my best friends married, and I even wear my hair curly now!  I would like to think that I've taken 29.99 years and soundly kicked their butts. 

My OCD loves to make lists, so I was thinking of Things to Do When I'm Thirty.  Some are grandfathered in from my "before thirty" list, but many are new.  They include

- Be unanimously elected Queen of Canada (that's a given)
- Consume less, consume consciously
- Get a dog!  Or lots of dogs!
- Maybe get a baby while out getting dogs
- Climb the Harbor Bridge in Sydney, Australia
- Visit India
- Cage dive with Great White sharks in South Africa
- Kiss the Stanley Cup (done in'94, but we need a recharge)
- Learn Spanish
- Watch more sunrises

My overall plan, as it has successfully been since 1979, is to never ever ever grow up.

 

"I'm just hanging on while this old world keeps spinning,

And it's good to know it's out of my control.

If there's one thing that I've learned from all this living,

Is that it wouldn't change a thing if I let go."

- Jimmy Buffett & Martina McBride

"Trip Around the Sun"

autumn in new york

I miss living in the country!  SF has many parks and plenty of trees, but it's not the same as actually being in the woods.  Shane and I hiked to the Shale Seats at Eagle's Landing yesterday to get some shots for his Catskills documentary.  I'd never even heard of this place, and it's so close to my house.  The view looks southeast over the back mountain road and down over Woodstock.

It's the height of fall foliage season now, and my favorite time to visit home.  People don't realize that all this is just 2+ hours north of NYC.  I love tromping through the mud, climbing over fallen logs, jumping across creeks and getting all outdoor-sy.  Plus, I can be home by lunch, warm and dry!  On these trips, I always take some time to recharge my nature batteries, soak up the beauty of Upstate NY and think about leaving the city someday.

Shane's Catskills footage is amazing so far, you can check it out on his Facebook page.  He knows all the most beautiful spots, and he's the only person crazy enough to climb down Kaaterskill Falls and put his camera underwater at the bottom.  Thanks TVille for another great visit!

there’s no place like home.

I was home in May for my dad’s heart surgery.  It was tense, but we all did a good job of still enjoying each other’s company.  While my dad was in surgery, my brother and I got lost on our way to the hospital.  We arrived to find my mom in the waiting room, holding the kind of buzzer that indicates when your table is ready at Outback Steakhouse.  Except when this buzzed, vibrated and lit up, it was time for news from the doctor.  We approached the desk, and were told, “The doctor will call you.” as the woman pointed at a white rotary phone on the wall.  In that moment, there was there a breath of abject panic.  A moment where we all wondered simultaneously if this was it, the end, the last moment of our lives as we knew them.  Shane held my hand.  A heartbeat later the doctor was telling my mom that everything was fine, and we should go have lunch.  Probably at Outback.

In retrospect, I should have been relieved when the nurse sent us to the phone.  There were a few private rooms where doctors met with families in person – much more ominous.  But at the time, it all seemed so clinical and anonymous, where you could get the worst news of your life in front of a hundred other people waiting for their turn at the same fate.

Being home now is wonderful.  It’s all fun.  My dad is going to golf in Myrtle Beach for a week.  Shane has two new cats of indeterminate gender who think they’re tigers in a circus.  As always, the house towers with books and bedclothes and holds a treasure trove of artifacts from my childhood.  My old bedroom is a time capsule, complete with *N Sync posters and high school letters on the wall.  My mom takes me to lunch at the deli and I see the parents of my friends who now live far and wide.  They make broccoli soup because it’s always been my favorite. My luggage got lost on the way here, but no one cares if I rock sweatpants around town.  People ring the doorbell for rooms, but we’re full (because I took that last room upstairs).  My mom makes pancakes for breakfast and buys Friehoffer cookies that don’t last a day.

One of the cats (Osiris? Icarus? I don’t know.) is asleep in my lap, having worn itself out trying to step on every letter that I type.  My mom bought me a library of Suze Orman books at a yard sale.  My dad read the “Twilight” books and is on to “The Sword of Truth” because I keep sending them here.  It’s my life-long collection of things, things that I would never keep myself because I can count on home to always have them around.

Thoughts on LA

I was in LA last week for work and fun.  I had a great time, but LA always gives me mixed emotions.  There is no better place in the world to feel totally inadequate.  The people are beautiful, but that's true in SF as well.  It's more that everyone is trendy and expensive and well put together.  It's exhausting and I cannot keep up.  When I get home, I know that I don't want to keep up and that's one reason I left.  But even a visit is enough to make me burn my wardrobe and max out my credit cards somewhere swanky.  I never would, hence the reason I cannot live there.  No one wants to feel dumpy and frumpy all the time.

That said, I adore my LA friends and we had a great time.  San Francisco is sadly lacking in private room karaoke joints that nicely look aside while you drag in a case of 40 ozs from the mini-mart. ;)  I can do a few days of 90+ degree weather as well, it was almost like lying by the pool all day long.

I also got to fly my favorite airline - Virgin America.  If you're not lucky enough to live in one of their cities, promptly drive to the closest one, fly somewhere and then fly right back.  They rock.  The planes are new, clean, sassy and everything works.  Lovely flight attendants and even funny in-flight safety videos.  The best part is they are cheap!  Through Sept 30 they have one-way fares as low as $29 at virginamerica.com.  A quick round trip is definitely in order.  (BONUS: In San Francisco, Virgin America flies out of the fancy-pants international terminal.)

High Season in Mexico, for under $500

Justin and I have booked an 8-night trip to Mexico from January 15-23.  I've never been, and we're both taking Spanish classes, so we are pretty excited!  I have to dust of my scuba gear before then, but I have a few months.

The best part is the trip is costing us less than $500 each for airfare and hotel.  Here's how you can do it too:

1) Book now.
Is the recession really over?  You'll find out on Black Friday (11/27).  If it is, by then  all the good rates will be long gone and you'll be pouring over all-inclusive resorts for hundreds of dollars a night.  If it's not over, a tropical vacation in the middle of winter has never been less than we're paying now.

2) Shop around.
On Saturday, I found $283 round-trip airfares (SFO-CUN) on Kayak.com, which kicked me over to Expedia.com.  No one else had these fares.  Before I could check with Justin, the fares were gone from Expedia, but I found them Sunday on Travelocity.com.  Travelocity still has a few seats left at this price!  Know the options for airfare deals and check them all twice before clicking to buy. 

3) Package deals.
Sites like Travelocity and Hotels.com can have great hotel deals, in everything from 2 to 5 star spots.  Especially check for vacation packages that include flights. 

4) Get Budget.
Consider other hotel options too, and don't be afraid to look outside the big search engines.  I used Hostelworld.com to book 5 nights in a budget hotel/guesthouse in Playa del Carmen for $40/night.  It's not the Ritz, but it's on the beach, has a bar and over 50 reviewers have rated it 85%+.  That's good enough for me!

5) Pay now.
When January rolls around, this vacation will be long since paid.  More money for snorkeling and umbrella drinks.

A final word of advice:
Do your homework.  We're staying 1 night on Cozumel, which can be positively overrun by up to 3 cruise ships docking per day.  If I wanted to spend my vacation with 9,000 Americans, I'd take a nap in Union Square.  So I researched the Cozumel docking schedules and picked Sunday (no ships) and Monday (1 ship).  A little bit goes a long way.  LonelyPlanet.com, LetsGo.com and even good old Google.com are great resources.

Hasta luego!

one particular harbor

Welcome to my home! (I say in the voice of the homless man sleeping in the London laundrymat who let Cynthia in to retrieve a dryer full of forgotten clothes.)

I have really been slacking on the writing lately, which I blame on Facebook and Twitter. My thoughts are limited to status updates, or worse to 140 character, comically abbreviated blips. I have TinyURL’d my brain. Alas, all those lost words have piled up to make me a bit mental. I’m talking to myself way more than normal (which is a LOT) and even had a telephatic conversation with a wide-eyed and definitely English-speaking miniature greyhound in a backpack. Time to write again.

I’m starting fresh, leaving behind the LiveJournal that felt super-dated and cost $20/year. This is recession blogging, baby.  It's not easy to think of a blogspot address that's not taken, though.  I went through about 50, finally getting lucky with one of my favorite Jimmy Buffett song titles.  Thanks again, sir.

What am I going to do with this blog? I’d love to have a theme – travel, money, eating… but they’ve all been done. I’m not qualified to be a mommyblogger and my brain wilts long before I can hack it with the smartyasses at Jezebel. So this is my tiny corner, my phone booth from the train station in Adventures in Babysitting. Welcome to my home.