December 5, 2010
thirty
Fifth Radvent prompt: write down the soundtrack of your year so far. Play it for someone who loves you.
I am doing this, but with a caveat: I have genuinely terrible taste in music. Or maybe it is not terrible! (It probably is.) But at the very least, it is low-brow and narrow and self-indulgent. Having said that, these are the songs I loved the most this year.
1. Even The Losers, Tom Petty (live at the Fillmore, 1999).
2. This Is How It Goes, Aimee Mann (live, and not great quality).
3. Gone, Ben Folds.
5. Forget You, Glee (YES THAT IS GWYNETH PALTROW SINGING and I am sorry but I love that song so much. Even more than the original. I SAID I WAS SORRY.)
7. Under African Skies, Paul Simon (the whole Graceland album is amazing, of course. I can hardly believe it’s been in my life for 25 years.)
8. Les Miserables (I have listened to the soundtrack of this show maybe 500 times this year? Mostly while I was at work. And I love it every time.)
January 7, 2010
twenty
1. Last night I put this stuff on my face and it is amazing. It makes my skin feel like the dewy, unblemished skin of a Canadian Teen Pop Star and the first step of the two-step process smells exactly like Mr. Clean Orange Cleaner which is one my absolute favorite smells in the entire world.
2. It is also a total steal at $65 for two 2 oz bottles. Even though saying that kind of makes me want to punch myself in the mouth it is absolutely true. Unless you are already a dewy Canadian Teen Pop Star. Then all bets are off.
3. There is supposed to be a third thing here and I think the third thing is basically me paddling around in a vat of Mr. Clean Orange Cleaner smearing expensive crap on my face.
4. And my apologies.
December 31, 2009
fifteen
1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Got divorced.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I did. And I will. At the end of last year my primary goal was to officially end my marriage, find a new apartment and move out. And I did those things. I mean, in a way the resolution is a little lame because I had a whole year to move out and find an apartment but you know what? It was really hard, and I did it.
My resolution for this year is to be warmer; several months ago a friend told me that I was not a warm person and I was absolutely astonished. I had always thought that I interacted with the world in a warm and sincere way. I haven’t really been able to stop thinking about what she said–and this was months ago–so I’m resolving to be warmer. To people I know and people I don’t know. Maybe to myself. Who knows.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My sister is in labor right now.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.
5. What countries did you visit?
Just the US (I went to California and NY each a handful of times).
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A promotion. A good local (local!) friend.
7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Moving out. It took the movers twelve minutes to load all of my stuff into the van. Then I drove downtown. It was exhilarating and terrifying but mostly awesome.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
A lot of hard and painful things happened and I just kept trucking. Seriously. I would cry myself to sleep, cry and throw up on the way to work and then once I parked my car and walked into the building it was ON, MOTHERFUCKER. I excelled at my job and I did good work and even now I am a little impressed at how well I did.
9. What was your biggest failure?
When I was deeply, profoundly frustrated with a particular person, I allowed that to show. I should have kept it under wraps.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Well. I have been throwing up really frequently for about a year and I’m not sure why. So, yeah.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hands down, every cent of money I ever paid to my cleaning woman.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Mine, sometimes.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My sister.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Setting up a new household. Trying to find foods that would not make me throw up. Dog walker, dog walker, dog walker.
15. What did you get really excited about?
A few weeks ago I started to get really excited about taking a big trip. About halfway through the year I also got really excited about what I was wearing.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
Not a song, but a quote: don’t be afraid of failing; be afraid of succeeding at the wrong thing.
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Happier, by far.
– thinner or fatter? Fatter or the same.
– richer or poorer? Probably a bit poorer, since I moved from being half of a DINK couple to being single.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
More long walks with my dog, more going to bed early with a good book.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I had slept with my ex less.
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Heh. Oh, Christmas. Part of my job involves working about 18 hours a day the week before Christmas and then a good 6 or so hours on Christmas Day. So that’s what I did. I also took a long nap.
21. Did you fall in love in 2009?
With myself, pretty much. With Toronto.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Glee, How I Met Your Mother and Project Runway. All very high-brow, of course.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No, actually, there’s a whole lot less hate in my heart.
24. What was the best book you read?
I read a real live print book that was published by an actual publishing house that I edited. That was pretty much tops right there.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Uh. Tom Petty. Tom Petty Live.
26. What did you want and get?
A wonderful apartment, a really good pair of black boots (and a really good pair of red heels), a pair of gigantic sunglasses. That kind of thing.
27. What did you want and not get?
Of course I wanted to make headway on my Real Written Work; I think everyone on the internet does.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
I am woefully, hopelessly behind on watching movies that people watch. I don’t think I have an answer for this.
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I had just come back from a business trip to Santa Barbara. I worked, and then I took myself to the movies to see 500 Days of Summer. I had some genuinely terrible movie theater popcorn, perhaps the worst movie theater popcorn of my entire life. Close to midnight I took myself out for a drink and a cheeseburger. I turned 29.
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Physical fitness.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
Second half of the year it was skirts, boots, sweaters.
32. What kept you sane?
The internet. My dog. Being really good at my job. My bank account.
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Obama, pretty much.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I was really not stirred by any political issue, one of the main benefits/drawbacks to living in Canada.
35. Who did you miss?
I missed the person my sister used to be and the person my husband used to be.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
I’m a giant asshole so I don’t really have an answer for this.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
Pls. see above about being a giant asshole.
38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I am really not a song lyric person. REALLY.
November 1, 2009
fourteen
things I hate
1. Condiment bottles that are mostly empty.
2. Fictional mysteries with no solution; you wrote it NOW TELL US THE END.
3. Cold french fries.
things I love
1. The way my dog is incredibly extra-super soft after he has a bath.
2. Napping with the sun shining directly on my face.
3. Skirts with boots.
September 24, 2009
twelve
1. Oh my bod, so much has happened since I updated last.
2. For one, I started saying “oh my bod” instead of “oh my god” and for two, I moved. I moved into a new apartment and now I live alone.
3. The interesting thing about this — ending my marriage and moving to a new place — is that it has filled me with tremendous joy. For MONTHS I cried over my house, my gorgeous house, the house we bought about 50 days before I learned my husband was having an affair. And then I actually moved out, and to my great astonishment, I have not missed that house even once.
4. I think that pretty much means that I am an idiot.
5. Since I last updated, I also turned 29 and went to Santa Barbara on business. Turning 29 is a little bit weird because it’s hard to say you’re 29 without someone assuming that you mean “I am actually 36 and also kind of an age-ist asshole.”
6. I also bought a purple sweater and a pair of really great shoes.
May 3, 2009
nine
1. One of things I love most in the entire world is the before footage on the standard infomercial where regular people demonstrate how difficult it is to complete every day tasks. Making a hamburger? There is three inches of bubbling grease in the pan and every time they try to flip a burger it breaks into pieces, landing on the stove and the floor; flying across the room and leaving burger-prints on the wall. Obviously what they need is a super-easy BURGER PRESS to make FIVE TINY BURGERS in just SECONDS.
2. That, and that alone, can save you from the pageant of butchery and splattering grease that would otherwise accompany every hamburger EVER MADE.
3. This morning I woke up and immediately started to think about what cardigan I could wear over my dark grey tee and was the office ready for my lily-white legs (TRUE STORY: the other night I turned off all the lights and opened the back door to call the dogs in and a MOTH FLEW RIGHT INTO MY BLAZINGLY PALE CHEST) and then I realized it was SUNDAY. I did not have to go to work for another 24 hours.
4. In summary: no, the office is not ready for my bare legs (I am buying self-tanner this afternoon) and holy shit, I am so lucky. I love my job. My calculations show that there are pretty much six people on planet Earth that love their job because WHAT KIND OF ASSHOLE LOVES THEIR JOB? My life is full of good things. I have gay beige dog that sleeps on my pillow and snores in my ear and there is a motherfucking redbud tree about to bloom in the backyard WHAT THE HELL ELSE COULD YOU ASK FOR?
5. I mean, other than ice cream.
March 31, 2009
four
1. Over the weekend the office where I work moved into a new building. A very new building. Currently we have to wear a hard hat to use the bathroom and our only exit is via a rickety three-story fire escape. I have just come from my first day at the (very) new office and the instant I closed the front door behind me I took my pants off and poured an extra-large and extra-cold glass of water. Later I will I watch my Television Boyfriend, Detective Elliot Stabler and also: eat pizza.
2. I hope that tomorrow the work fridge will be plugged in and functioning, as I have big plans (turkey & swiss on a croissant) for that fridge. And if the work fridge is not functioning my second wish is that I might pee without donning a hard hat. Please.
3. Today I am loving: universal healthcare, my (ridiculous) bedazzled grey uggs, the afternoon sun on my face, this overpriced (but gorgeous) leather tote and these prints (I am particularly enamored with the onion).
February 15, 2009
1. I wrote online for a long time and then I stopped. I missed it, so I started again.
2. Probably how this is going to work is that I will write in this box a couple of times a week and then publish it. I don’t really expect anything more of myself or this publication.
3. I also plan to tell you about things that I like.
4. My favourite things in the world (today) are Orange Blossom perfume, having a cleaning lady, napping with my dogs and eating perfectly prepared salmon.
5. I’m an editor and I write for a living so I really relish using improper grammar sometimes. And I’d love a Robot Butler or maybe a pair of Octuplet babies to do all my chores.
kate 