Wednesday, December 15, 2010

LES MISERABLES

I know what it feels like to be electrocuted.

Ok that's a slight [extreme] exaggeration, but my hyperbole is not completely baseless. My loves, I am recovering from one of the worst colds i've had in recent memory. In fact i'd go so far as to say it was nothing as mild as a cold, it was more like a flu. It had all the attributes of the classical cold: runny nose, sore throat, fever... but it certainly had earmarks of a stronger malady. Extreme body aches, chest rattling cough, sallow countenance, listlessness, loss of appetite...

I could go on, but you follow the general idea. It was not a good time, at all. Fortunately, I am on the mend, and not a moment too soon. I never thought it was possible, given my hermit/homebody ways - but I actually was sick of being in the house, sick of bed, sick of feeling... sick. Life was going on all around me, yet my world was reduced to the confines of my bedroom, the bathroom and the kitchen. The suffocating claustrophobia compounded the sickness, adding to it feelings of what i guess could be termed "desperation" and/or "anxiety." It was five days of myopic agony, drunk off of expectorant, and the very moment i awakened feeling slightly less like death, i wanted to jump for joy. Actually i did jump for joy, which was a bad idea, given that my body wasn't quite ready for that level of activity. My legs were as wobbly as a newborn colt.

The surprising thing to me was that this cold (flu) hit so hard despite me being on my game regarding exercise, healthy eating, etc etc. I hadn't had a cold in a while - a few sniffles here and there - otherwise nothing remarkable, so i suppose I subconsciously lulled myself into a false sense of security, thinking i would never get sick because i ate a few bean sprouts with dinner. Joke was on me.

Of course I debated relaying such a mundane episode from my life's tapestry (mixed metaphor much??) but as im attempting glasnost im trying not to discriminate between the banal and substantive. Besides, after spending a number of days indoors being an invalid, i really have nothing else to talk about. So basically this means i'm gonna minutiae yall til it hurts.

But it'll hurt so good. ;)

Of course, no entry would be complete without a list so here are four things that I discovered about myself during my recent illness:

4. I want to be babied when I'm sick.
Looky here, i'm human after all. Check on me, attend to me, ask me how im feeling, cluck about me. Like Luther, It's never too much. I'm simultaneously embarrassed and defiant in making this admission. Embarrassed because it reveals a self centeredness -no matter how mild - that ordinarily i find distasteful and gauche. Yet, im defiant because, well, im normally quite self effacing in my day to day activities that i feel I should be allowed a bit of leeway when im not feeling well. I'm not a malingerer either, i never play for sick when im not. However while i am legitimately battling an ailment I do want to be fussed over. Make much over me, stroke me, caress, me. Unless I want to be left alone. But even then, you know I don't really mean that, so don't go too far. ;)

3. I'm prone to becoming excessively, nauseatingly emo.
I'm fortunate to have never dealt with PMS. Painful deblilitating cramps? Yes. Emotional instability? Nah. It's a good and a bad thing. While my emotions were never held hostage by my body's reproductive cycles, I also didn't have the convenience of blaming a bad mood or attitude on them either. If i'm sullen, sulky or irritable it's because of my generally cantankerous nature, not because my body is doing... girlie things. I say that to say, im not used to having my emotions all over the place because of physical sickness. With this cold/flu I was sad, easily aggravated and just a miserable mess. For instance: my netflix streaming video kept buffering, and it had me so frustrated that i started crying. Yeah, I know. Not gulping sobs, but tears ran nonetheless. The crying led to me becoming even MORE congested, which made me even more sad and woebegone... which led to, you guessed it: more tears. Not my finest moment(s). It had reached the point where boo had to snap me out of it: "Baby... stop trippin!" :(

2. Aside from homemade I prefer the taste of campbell's chicken noodle soup to any of those fancy brands.
I like to think im a foodie (though i love/hate this categorization) and enjoy well thought out foods but in this instance, no. Keep your progresso with the specialty noodles and all the veggies. The simple goodness of the signature campbell's noodle and the just-add-water broth are a delight to my palate.

1. I look good naked.
Ok this is a bit..nihil ad rem, but still. So in the moments of lucidity(that is to say, when i wasn't in a nyquil induced haze), the internet was my constant companion. While surfing I discovered that some new celebrities nudes had "leaked." Sidenote: You have to wonder about celebrities and their dedication to privacy. If you know that as a public figure you are prone to having your electronics hacked wouldn't you make more of an effort to keep all that safe? At the very least, keep the compromising pics off YOUR PHONE.

I digress.

Anyway, the latest victim of "leaked" nudes is Christina Aguilera. Of course I had to take a gander. I'll leave my opinions to myself but i will say that thanks to hackers she is the third celeb ive seen undressed, and the third celeb that had me going "heyyy i am not doing bad AT ALL." Like im not just not doing bad... im doing quite well. And this is without the million dollar beauty payroll. Of course i thoroughly advise against comparing yourself to others, but being that the famous are constantly thrown in our faces as almost a benchmark with which to measure ourselves, it's nice to see that you've not only passed, but aced the test. :)

Swing Out Sister - Breakout

Monday, November 29, 2010

GLASNOST

Yes, i've talked about it before. Namely, here. However, despite my assertions of candid revelations and anecdotal intimacies - my intention to be this open honest no-holds-barred blogger came to naught because... well... simply because I didn't make an effort.

Why didn't i make an effort?

Well, not long after my endeavor commenced, i was attacked. By whom or what, you ask?
I hesitate to state for fear of judgment and redress, but I will anyway. I was attacked by one of the strongest forces known to man: laziness. The ultimate demotivator. The warning signs were there, but i was as ineffectual against it as Neville Chamberlain was in preventing World War II (munich agreement fail.). The attack resulted in an all out war, with me losing battle after battle. Yes, i'd submit laziness as the fifth fundamental force (along w/strong nuclear, weak nuclear, gravity and electromagnetism) due to it's ability to neutralize the powers of the most strongwilled (wo)men and make a mockery of even the most noble motivations.

Being that i'm the antithesis of anything related to strength, coupled with the fact that my motivations are not exceptionally noble, you can imagine what it did to me. My effort was stifled by my own lassitude. It's a mental torpor just as much as it is a physical one. Not only have i NOT felt like typing out my thoughts, I haven't even felt like thinking the thoughts that would precede typing. It's pathetic really. Yes, laziness has been quite a formidable foe.

The desire is there, but the flesh is weak.

Inertia notwithstanding, this blog was started as a way to document my general confusion, naivete, fears, insecurity and latent psychoses in a blithe and humorous way - with hopes of experiencing catharsis a side effect. Of course i'd like to document my moments of sanguine intrepidation™ as well, but that's not much of a hurdle. It's easy to appear confident and courageous to the general public. Revealing weakness(es) is the tough part. But chronicling it all -good days, bad days, halfway days - is beneficial.The therapy of prose. I'd like to get back to that.

But here's the catch, to experience catharsis, you have to actually, um, blog.

So with that fact in mind, i am now declaring a renewed dedication to be - if not a prodigious blogger - at the very least, a consistent one. It will be a challenge, for even as i battle torpor, i am searching for my literary voice. In that aspect im a bit schizophrenic. My writing mood/voice/style changes with the weather. One minute i'm sardonic and wry, the next im emo and vulnerable, in other situations im contemplative and detached. Sometimes im a mishmash of all of these, with no particular quality exacting hegemony. I suppose that speaks to my eccentricities as a person, or my normality as human. Whatever the case, it takes much effort to corral these varying tones so that my writing doesnt become a syntactical nightmare. While i don't mind my writing giving the impression that im a... whimsical person, i don't want it to convey "crazy." Ok... maybe a little crazy. ;-)


So here's to being, open, vulnerable, over-analytical, cheeky, shy, gregarious, silly, and, on occasion, profound. :-P Most of all, here's to the resurrection* of this blog. :-)




*alleged

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

TEN THINGS I AM GRATEFUL FOR RIGHT NOW

Because if i made an all inclusive list, it might be filled with such treacle and sentiment that i might actually make myself vomit. :-)

10. Shea Butter and Coconut oil. With the weather change i've been battling thirsty dermis (AKA ashy skin lol) and this duo never fails me, ever. After a week of exfoliating, dry brushing and applying these oils, my skin is once more hydrated and fit to be seen by the public.

9.My occasional pack rat tendencies. I often buy things and forget I have them, and today that nasty habit served me well. My secret deodorant finally gave up the ghost, and just when i was about to go buy another, or pray i didn't perspire - i discovered another stick one in my toiletry drawer - unused and unopened. SCORE!

8. My netflix account. Im finally using it and wowie zowie. I've gotten access to my favorite films and been put on to new ones. Oh, and instant play? It gives me LIFE.

7. Raspberry Preserves.

6 This image which was sent to me today that kept me from me being a whiny beast. lol




5. The fact that my mom, sister and I have made a date to go to ikea over the weekend. They're doing free breakfast - and that was enough to have us sold (it's ikea though, so it doesnt take much.) The three of us love it there, as we can meander and be aimless at our leisure. The big draw this time is the free breakfast. Of course it won't be some exotic cuisine, but who cares. It's free! It's breakfast! It's Ikea! Do not judge us! lol. Any shopping done post meal will be purely incidental.

4. This cup of tea i'm drinking. It happens to be the bomb dot com. It's just regular oolong, nothing super fancy, but the sugar to cream to steeped tea leaf strength ratio is on point. Im sipping it reaaaaaaaally slow because i want it to last.

3. The moon. It's the second full moon in the month - thus making it a Blue Moon (as in: once in a blue moon) its an ocular rarity and the clear sky tonight just made it majestic. I live on a hill and as the moon rose on the horizon it looked HUGE. It was breathtaking.

2. The comfortably temperate weather. It's the end of november and i'm not freezing! Who knows how long the balminess will last, but right now it feels great.

1. Love. :-D

Monday, November 15, 2010

I'VE GOT RHYTHM. I'VE GOT MUSIC, I'VE GOT MY MAN...

But i don't got a Tablet PC.

So i could ask for more. Just a teensy little bit. Not much. Sorry Ella. Sorry Ira. Sorry George :(

As i sit watching the Eagles vs Redskins massacre game and do my hair (im still a woman after all) i realize that i want -no- need a tablet PC. My inner techie demands it! Right now it's a battle between the iPad, the Samsung Galaxy, and the HP Slate. They all have their pros and cons. I'm not an apple fanboy(girl) so i don't HAVE to have the iPad although it is clearly the leader in the tablet PC market. I really want the best bang for my buck (a trait i inherited from my daddy) so while brand weighs in, it's not a major factor. Of course, looks and functionality are a consideration as well.

Any of you own one? Care to make a recommendation? I'd be much obliged.

And yes this is a beyond lame entry, but hey. lol :-)

And Now one of my favorite covers of a song i've been obsessed with for the past few weeks: Coltrane's Naima (interpreted by the wonderful 4hero)

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