The lure of the watch

After a decade of not wearing a watch, I started looking at watches again with an eye to buying one.

What on Earth am I thinking?

I stopped wearing a watch on purpose.  I needed to break my insane need to know what time it was every single second of the day.

What has suddenly changed in my life that I’m willing to open myself up to this obsessive wrist checking again?

Honestly, I don’t know.  I’m not really sure I want to inflict that on myself again.  Because there is the chance that I will become that time obsessed person again.

Or maybe I’m older and wiser now and time can be a companion and not an enemy to be constantly fighting.

The watch I picked out over the weekend is no longer available.  And I’m going to take that as a sign that it’s not time.  But that’s not to say the time is not coming.

I’m sure some day soon I will buy a watch.  And wear it.  But hopefully not rely on it to the point that if I do not putting it on one day I will return home to get it.  Because I do not want to go back to being that person.

That’s not to say that I wouldn’t like to know what time it is without scrambling for my cell phone all the time.

There has to be middle ground, right?

night

The thing about short hair

I will admit that I love having short hair.  And I never thought I would say that.  Ever.

But there is something about short hair that is a bit unnerving.

Every single week my hair does new and strange things.

Last week is was in a weird, poofy stage.  This week it has started to do a very 1970’s flip thing.

My part seems to be migrating every single day with exponential jumps from time to time.

Long hair is consistent.  Short hair is not.  Short hair is fluid and flexible and in my case, possibly alien.

That’s my latest theory.  That my hair is an alien creature.  I’m hoping that it will use it’s powers for good and not evil.

But there is always the chance that it will kill me in my sleep.

I’m scared of the moment that I decide the right decision is to start loading up with product.

Adding chemicals to an alien creature?  That could lead to mutations.  That’s can be good.

Two more months before my next haircut.  I can tell that things are going to get more and more interesting.  The question is, will I survive it?

night

I would have known this if I were paying attention

The end of the year is coming.  And with it the expiration or seeming expiration of various software that I use.

Updating the computer security software is an absolute necessity.  Latest version always, always, always.  Luckily I caught mine on a good sale day.  So that’s taken care of with minimum fuss.

But the one that’s been bugging me is the money management software.  That stuff isn’t cheap.  And I don’t even use all the features so I don’t really want to upgrade but I also don’t want to lose the functions that I use now.  Given the constant pop up messages I get when I open the software it seems like I have to upgrade.

Sale?  What sale?  That stuff starts expensive and stays expensive.  And yes I know I could use a free system for the basics but in reality I LIKE mine.  It’s handy.  I like the reporting functionality.  Reports are vital to strong metrics.  Yes I am that much of a geek.

Today I decided I wanted to find out what happens if I don’t upgrade.  If I just keep last year’s software.  And you know what?  Nothing.  For 2 more years I’m safe.  Three years after release THEN the software stops being supported and loses a lot of functionality.

Hooray!  I don’t have to buy the software for 2 more years!

I love learning things like that, don’t you?

night

things to do with fleece

I find it a little funny that I’m trying to replace the plastic storage containers in my kitchen for glass (My Ace Hardware carries not just Ball but also Le Parfait and Quattro Stagioni.)

and at the same time I’m coming up with more and more things to make from polar fleece… a material that is sometimes made from plastics.

Maybe Charles Webb, Calder Willingham and Buck Henry were right… the future really is plastics.

Although I get more and more freaked out about them touching my food.  Which is kind of insane given some of the garbage I eat.  (I really should not have had that greasy fried rice tonight.)

But this afternoon I found a free polar fleece boot sock pattern.

I’ve got some odds and ends of fleece from when I was making random shrugs that just sit around.  And now I’m going to cut them up and make SOCKS!

Because it’s winter and my feet are cold.

Plastic… it’s become the fabric of everyday life!

night

My Andronicos is closing

Today I found out from Google News that Andronico’s was closing its Telegraph location.  Which sucks since it’s right around the corner from my house.  I used to go there to grab whatever I had forgotten when I was in the middle of cooking or baking something.

But when I started telling people about the closure everyone said the same thing.  “I’m not surprised.”

Well, that’s a statement if ever I heard one.

I didn’t shop there that often because of the other options just a bit father away but I like having the chance to shop there.  And now that is being taken away.

Nick thinks they should open a beer garden in the empty lot and I must say I’m intrigued by the idea.

Here’s hoping someone decides to open a beer garden.

Or something.

Because empty is not so good.

night

My friends have awesome friends!

I went to Hannah’s for Thanksgiving this year.  I knew one person there… Hannah.  But I had the best time.  Hannah has the coolest friends.  They had interesting stories.  There was never a lull in the conversation.  There were pop cultural sub-references and so much wine.

The food was great.  Everyone pitched in.  Everyone had fun.  Everyone had WAY too much food and just enough wine.

We learned the origin of Wassail… because Hannah is a food anthropologist.

It’s kind of seal of approval on a friendship when someone you are friends with has fantastic friends.

They don’t need to become your friends.  It just speaks well for everyone’s taste levels.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

night

Sorry but you are asking for too much information

I know, it’s crazy.  I have a Facebook account that I never use and I blog almost every day.  But I am not going to give you a bunch of identifiers over the phone for your survey.

I get why they ask.  I understand the need for those identifiers for survey results to be useful, for the statistics to really show a complete picture.  But I don’t know the company / companies involved.  I don’t know how good your computer security is or if you are in fact just collecting information so you can steal my identity.

Yes, I’m paranoid.  I’m not understanding why that’s a problem.

It’s only gotten worse with HIPAA and FERPA.  Now I can actually detail out in my head the list of things that can be used to identify someone.

And I know my information is already out there.  I totally get that.  But that doesn’t mean I need to be adding fuel to the fire.

Yeah – rant over… for now.

night

The problem with artisanal shops

I love the panchetta at The Local Butcher Shop.  It’s the best I can get my hands on and I really like using it as a topping for various things.  So I wanted to get some for the mixed salad I am taking to Thanksgiving at Hannah’s.

I went to the shop today and they were out.

That’s what happens when you are making small batch items for sale.  There is no guarantee that those items will always be available.

But that’s sort of the double edge sword in these special market items.  We are all so conditioned to want what we want when we want it that when I was told they were out of panchetta my first thought was not “what else can I use?” but “where else can I go?”

It’s different with wine and or cheese shops because if they are out of one thing I can ask for something that is like it and get on with my day.  But that’s not really an option with specialty preserved meats.

If I go elsewhere, there is the chance I won’t come back.  Or if I do come back and you don’t have what I want again… why would I continue to show up?

Should I call ahead?

Should I just let it go?

It’s the intensely slippery slope of retail.

I would also like it to be known that I am well aware that I’m massively spoiled and there are 5 other places within walking distance that I can get good panchetta.  Just not the one that I really wanted.

Oh well… I will get past it.

night

Don’t fear the silk

I sewed with silk for the first time today.  It scared me something FIERCE.

I’ve never worked with such a fine, slippery fabric before.  And I knew that it causes problems for the best of sewers and I am not the best of sewers.  Most of the time I stick to nice heavy fabrics and lovely, forgiving fleece.

But Terry is very clear about what she wants for our couture pencil skirts.  And that includes a silk lining.  Not poly but real silk.

This is going to be the greatest skirt I will ever own.  It is coming together so beautifully.

I just spent about a week freaking out about the lining because… like I said… SILK!

Patti was laughing at me in that quiet way she has when I confessed my fears to her.  She’s sewn with silk.  She keeps telling me that she can get me in touch with the places she got it in bulk.  Fine fabrics and Patti go hand in hand.

But she did tell me rather seriously that I had to change to a new, sharp needle.

So I did.

And you know what?  It went well.  It took a while to make sure everything stayed together and feed correctly but once I got started… it was good.

I’m not so scared of silk anymore.  That doesn’t mean I’m going to start sewing with nothing but silk but if it comes up… I’m ready.

night

In which Matt is cynical and I am shocked

I was walking down College Avenue, just about to cross Ashby when I saw a woman with a tote bag that said “Who is John Galt?”

And I stared.  I peeked a little closer at the bag and was surprised to see that it was a Lululemon bag.  Yoga and Ayn Rand seem to be strange bed fellows to me.  (Here’s a link to an NPR story about this… I’m so glad I’m not alone in finding this strange.)

So I went into the store and I asked.  What’s with the Ayn Rand quote?  The salesperson didn’t know much about it, just that it’s from a book that has a quote that the whole campaign is built upon… “to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness.” (In fact that’s a company slogan but the founder was heavily influenced by Ms. Rand.)  The salesperson and her manager did not know what book John Galt was a character in, nor did they know any of Ayn Rand’s philosophies.  They just knew that mediocrity is bad and John Galt was against mediocrity.

I tried to see if they could understand that there’s a bit more to the novel and Individualism than excelling.  But really, it isn’t their ad campaign.

I talked to Matt about it before getting home and doing some research.  He commented that most people who shop at Lululemon aren’t going to know what it means and aren’t going to look it up.  That it won’t lose them a lot of customers and if there is a scandal then it’s press and that can’t be bad.  I thought someone just didn’t really research the idea through but Matt thought it was planned.

Now that I’ve looked it up, I know that Matt was right.  Corporate headquarters knows exactly what they were doing.  And they believe it.

Who knew… Lululemon is the 1%.

night