You Are What You Drink
I call it therapy in a cup, my liquid mood ring. But what I put in my glass can help set the mood for the day, or change the way I'm already feeling. So, today, I raise my glass and toast my favorites:
Coffee: Ah..warm, stimulant-laden coffee! You not only help me get up in the morning, but give me inspiration. There's nothing like a warm cup of coffee to help inspire me for a big day of TCBing. While drinking my coffee, everything seems possible; I can do anything! And coffee, I have you to thank!
Hot Chocolate: In search of a hug in a mug? This is your drink! With two hands wrapped around the cup, it's almost like the drink is hugging you back! Could there be anything more comforting on a cold winter night than a nice warm hot chocolate? Even better with whip!
Hot Tea: When the world's got me down, or I feel that things are moving too fast (even for me), nothing slows them down like a nice cup of tea. You can't gulp tea...it must be slowly sipped. It forces me to slow down. Breathe. Forget the worries of the world and get lost in the leaves.
Beer - The working man's hot tea: Tea too prissy for you? Reach for a beer! Relaxing on a hot day with a beer in hand seems like the perfect summer afternoon. Sit around! Shoot the shit! Sip your beer and live right in that moment. It's beer drinking time! And there's nothing to tear you away from right now!
Wine: My wine aficionado readers may find it almost sacrilege to list wine as only one catagory. What with whites and reds...fruity and dry...how can one complicated drink really only get one shout out? Simple. I feel the same way no matter the color. Wine is for contimplating. Pondering life, art or why the person sitting across the bar would think red and green should be worn outside of the holiday season. You have to break apart wine, and the drink forces you to break apart life. Find the subtle innuendos and everything sitting just below the surface. When I'm searching for a drink to help me get to the bottom of things, it's time to pop open the pinot!
Water: The least sexy of the drinks, this one above all is probably my favorite. It keeps me sane, keeps me hydrated, and keeps me running to the bathroom. It clears away the mess of the day, leaving me with a clean slate where I can start over fresh again. Don't like the way the day is going? Wash it all away with a glass of water for a fresh clean start. No fillers, no mood inhancers..water is yours to make of it.
So drink up! The change you're looking for may be in the bottom of a glass!
Cheers!
Why I Love Math
It all started with a candle..
See, a couple weeks ago I got a gift in the mail from home. A spoonrest, a hat to use as inspiration for an upcoming knitting project and catnip. Cosmic Catnip. With two crazy cats, you can imagine the results..they went insane! Spazzing all over the house, looking for their next fix.
I left for work, thinking everything was locked away safely behind the bathroom door. I was wrong. And Nick came home to the shattered remains of my Illuminations candle.
So, sweetly, to make up for it, I got a new candle this week from Oregon. Hurray! (and thank you, David!) It's lovely and smells yummy, but I noticed it's a different shape from my old candle. The bottom of the candle says 11 ounces. My old candles from the same place (and the same price - you left on the price tag, silly!) are 14 ounces. So, that means the candle people are using 3 fewer ounces per candle, without sacrificing burning time.
I imagine the folks at Illuminations worked long and hard to find a way to make their candles equally productive while minimizing the materials. And that's some practical math in action!
Math geeks rejoice! Your skills do help the world! Or at least Illuminations bottom line..
Olympic Fever
It happens only every couple of years. It's the Olympics, baby! And I have Olympic Fever!!
For the next two weeks, I'll be chocked full of luge and curling, speed skating and skeleton. And tons of pride for the good ole US of A.
How can you not get all choked up, watching our Olympians tear up during the first few chords of the Star Spangled Banner?
It's the best of the best, watching their dreams come true. And how could you not respect that? Admire that? Be a little but jealous of that? It's truly amazing.
These people have passion, drive and dedication. They got up early to practice. They turned down invitations to the movies or that party with friends to work on their sport. And now we get to watch them do what they love.
How can you avoid feeling pride during the Olympics? Proud to be a part of a country, and even a world, that still supports people chasing a dream?
Sure, we wage wars and make jokes about our differences..but during the Olympics, we can all be the same. If only for a few weeks.
We can all be dreamers.
A Quick Friend at the Gahden
Last night's date night at the Celtics game: amazing! Dinner+surprise gift+game+ blueberry beer +good conversation = Best Valentine's ever!
So, the Blazers embarrassed themselves with a huge loss. Seriously, do we expect anything less? But we topped the night off with a little piece of home.
Nick's new cousin happens to travel with the team as a sports reporter for the Oregonian. And for a few hours last night, it was like we'd never left home.
We talked about our team, our undying love for Tillamook Cheddar, and learned how Burgerville is now putting their special sauce in a jar! (note to mom: If you come out and visit without it, Nick will be so sad!) We talked shop and discussed which neighborhoods are best to live in around P-Town.
And I almost forgot how easy it can be to make a friend.
In Oregon, it was easy to meet new people. You'd go out with some friends, meet some new people, and before you know it your circle grows.
It's not so easy in Boston.
And so, tonight, I send out a thank you to Mr. Quick. It was good to be around someone who knows what it means spend a summer sipping drinks at Paddy's. Thanks for being a fast friend.
Internet Oddity
So, a few nights ago, I posted a blog about my car turning 100,000 miles. To my loyal readers, remember it? Anyway, I don't know where it went! I posted it. I posted a new post after that. And somewhere in all that, that post got blown out! Why? Who knows..but I blame Mozilla.
I just didn't want anyone to think I took it down for a reason. Now you know.
Now, a little bit about a funny phone call I got yesterday. A few weeks ago, Nick and I decided not to do Valentine's presents, in leiu of some fun date night. We do this all the time...San Diego, Vegas Christmas, Valentine's in NH last year... So, I finagled my schedule at work and we bought tickets to see the Portland Trail Blazers for tomorrow night!
While sitting at my desk at work yesterday, my cell rings. I get tons of weird calls because of tutoring, so I picked it up. The Celtics calling. They hope I'm happy with my purchase and wanted to know if I was a big Celtics fan. Without hesitation: "I'm a Blazer fan."
Sure, this group of thugs isn't the team I fell in love with 15 years ago. But the Blazers taught me everything it means to be a fan:
* Things like raspberry and blackberry candy, pizza night, the right t-shirt, and who wins the tip have everything to do with the outcome of the game. So can memorizing box scores, decorating your life in red and black and remembering everything from birthdays to shoe sizes of your favorite guys.
* Good doesn't always win. And loving and believing with all your heart can't bring up the score.
* If you make fun of fair-weather fans, you better be ready to stand by you team through thick and thin. Through trades and three arrests in one week. (Seriously Damon, speeding down I-5 stoned out of your brains? You grew up here! Don't you know the speed traps?!)
* The East Coast bias: It's true for the Blazers, and it's true for every other west coast sports team (minus those
insanely good teams in the LA area). We will never get the respect we deserve. Get used to being shunned in the national spotlight, and learn that it's probably ok. That keeps these teams our little secret.
* Players, coaches and venues come and go. Rip City is forever and Bill Schonely will always be the 13th man.
* Being a Blazer fan is something special. I may have missed 1977, but I saw what happened to a city in the early 1990's. Oregonians became BlazerManiacs. Street corners turned into places to buy your favorite shirts and talk hoops with strangers. City streets went silent when a game was on TV. We all became believers. And believers know it can happen again.
And because of that, no matter what, I will always be a Blazer fan.
Investment Pieces
Yesterday I did something I hadn't done in a very long time. I went shopping.
I set out only to got and get the errands done..but when faced with an entire two days with no work obligations, I had to treat myself. Off to the mall!
Stop #1: Anthropologie. Could this store be any more Al? It's as if someone said, "What are Allison's favorite things? Let's put them in a shop. And give that shop a clever name...weird spelling and all!"
In Anthropologie, I fell in love with a sweater. And without hesitation, and with barely a glance at the price tag, I bought it. It's a diversion from the Allison I've been for a long time, but it's part of the new Allison I want to become.
I'm tired of filling my life with things because they're what I
should have. I want to fill my life with the things I
want to have.
No longer will I buy something because it's a good deal. If I don't love it, it doesn't come home. And if my heart beats faster at the sight of it, I will spend the money for that joy.
I will no longer waste time on something because it passes time. If I don't love it, I will skip it. I want passion over placid.
I want to fill my life with people and ideas that thrill me. Challenge me. Make me think differently.
I want everything, every moment, everyone to become my investment pieces. I want to create a me filled with little bits of everything I think is worth keeping hold of...and none of the stuff you just throw away (or recycle. It's still Al, here!).
Instead of a dozen discount sweaters, I'll take the one that makes me feel pretty. Instead of time lost in TV, I want a book that inspires. Instead of being alone, I want my friends who make me feel and think and dream.
It's what I think I need now for me...for what it's worth.
The State of What Union?
Don't you just love tradition?
Every year, I love snuggling in on the couch, picking my favorite network, and settling in for an hour of rhetoric. It's the State of the Union, baby! The political Super Bowl! Let's get ready to rumble!!!
The first half of the speech, no shocker, focusing on the war and international affairs. What that has to do with the state of our union I'm still trying to figure out...
And who doesn't love when the president tries to scold Congress for not passing his Social Security reform, and the Dems start laughing and clapping! For a few moments, I was hoping to see some real excitement.
But the most memorable moment of the night, this quote likely forgettable for most viewers:
"As we renew the promise of our institutions, let us also show the character of America in our compassion and care for one another."
And I got thinking..is this true? Do we, as Americans, really show our compassion and care for one another? Or do we only do it when the shit hits the fan?
Sure, most of us dug deep, helping the victims of Katrina, donating clothes and money to the needy and those truly suffering. But what about every day? What about the person on the road you honked at, the woman at the grocery store who ran ahead to beat you in line with her overflowing cart as you carry just three items, the neighbor on the street you ignored without a hello?
Do you know I've seen two men get in a physical fight about
how to stand in line for coffee?
I've seen people press ahead in their cars when someone in the next lane turns on their signal.
I've watched people yell at retail workers for things completely out of their control.
This doesn't look like compassion and care for one another to me.
No, we're not all evil. And we're not doomed. But I struggle to see how the president can talk about how we take care of each other when I see so much disregard for one another's feelings.
Of all the president's challenges he set for the U.S., I set my own. I challenge myself to be kind. To let people in my lane during traffic. To let people with just a few items in front of me at the grocery store. To not honk out of anger, but only as a warning. To help not only those in need, but to help make life easier for everyone I meet.
I don't often believe or agree with the president. But this time, I want to prove him right.
