warm and sunny – lots of presence

Posted on December 25, 2006 by jeannie

I am enjoying being home for Christmas – not the slightest twinge of longing for being elsewhere. The weather is gorgeous; Chad and I just got back from a 45-min run, the front door is open and Bella is dressed in her holiday green and red camisoles.

The Murdy clan will be over shortly for bagels with lox (even got capers and red onions – yum!) Bella was delighted with her Santa gift: a pink Bluetooth (1/2 price at amazon..) and her stocking stuff. We’ll open the rest when the last of the family drives in from Laguna Beach around noon.

My brother is still snoring away – the classic investment banker, perpetually deprived of sleep. Still, his wacky energy is entertaining to have around.

Yesterday we managed to get a crowd of Murdys and Lesters for a short hike in Joshua Tree National Park. Good conversation and catch-up time. As Helen Mirren says in The Queen, when we walk and talk there is a much greater possibility for good communication (or something along those lines).

Mmmmm. People all around – everybody’s feeling fine.

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Betsy's Macaroons (from The Silver Palate)

Posted on December 24, 2006 by jeannie

These might be the perfect little extra treat you’re looking for. I hope everybody is holed up with loved ones, eating, talking, and enjoying themselves.

2 1/2 c shredded coconut

1/8 tsp salt

1/3 c flour

Mix all. Then add

2/3 c sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix and drop onto a well-greased cookie sheet. Bake 20 minutes at 350 (sorry don’t know how to make the degree symbol…)

Posted in recipes | 3 Comments

no school for two weeks!

Posted on December 23, 2006 by jeannie

I am up past midnight and I will not be setting my alarm for 5:30 am, thank you very much. I have gotten so bad at waking up this school year that I have reverted to my newsboy tricks.

When I delivered the Washington Post in my neighborhood as a senior in high school, it was critical that I not oversleep … ever. Because by George, even though I was contractually bound to deliver the paper by 9 am, if so much as a single person woke up without finding his paper on the front doorstep, I would hear about it and so would the rest of my family – every morning that I was “late” our house phone would ring endlessly all morning with angry, angry before-coffee morning voices.

To avoid irate neighbors, I would scatter alarm clocks about my bedroom all set at slightly different times, so that mornings I could be found thrashing myself awake frantically trying to silence a half dozen alram clocks. I am up to three alarm clocks now, although most nights I feel comfortable setting just two of them. And I haven’t found a need to to hide them yet. Hidden alarm clocks wrench me into too deep a level of bitter awakeness.

But tomorrow and the next fifteen mornings I sleep in!

Posted in work | 3 Comments

do you know the state capitals?

Posted on December 22, 2006 by jeannie

This youtube video was sent to me by two brothers separately. I bet they don’t even know.

Anyway the double hint is a clue to its cuteness. See if you can answer before he does.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIH1I1doUI4]

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I shiver at the thought

Posted on December 21, 2006 by jeannie

My brother passed this email on to me from Allie. She wrote:

“Check out this article about a SF group of friends who took a vow not to buy anything new for a year.  It reminded me of the conversation we had over Thanksgiving — when you said that you didn’t want people giving you stuff.  I’m more into new clothes than you are (for instance, I would not wear a rainjacket until I had to patch it up with duck tape) but otherwise I agree that our society is too focused on consumption.  The amount of waste we create is unbelieveable.  It’s something that I’ve been aware of before, but I’m more sensitive to the connection between consumption, waste reduction, and environmentalism than I was before.  As a new year’s resolution, I’m going to make a concerted effort to minimize the purchase of new “stuff” for myself and others.  Feel free to pass around this article to others who might be inspired to take a vow of reduced consumption in 2007.”

Allie also recommended a book on the amount of trash that Americans generate and the environmental problems caused by it:  Garbageland.

And here’s  a quote from the Washington Post article itself:

“These people haven’t bought anything new in 352 days — and counting. These 10 friends vowed last year not to purchase a single new thing in 2006 — except food, the bare necessities for health and safety (toilet paper, brake fluid) and, thankfully, underwear, and maybe socks (they’re still debating whether new socks are okay). ”

I am wondering what such a life might be like – and whether it would be possible for me. My friend Nathen did something I considered equally extreme. He carried all his trash – all the trash he created – for a month. Unbelievably, he only had a small plastic bagful at the end of the month and he said it wasn’t even stinky since he had composted all his compostables.

If you are interested in joining The Compactors (as in the Mayflower compact), check out their discussion group here.

This original founding group just renewed their vows for another year! I am toying with the thought (although my daughter might raise strenuous objections). Anybody else interested?

Posted in books, modernday hippiness, shopping | 9 Comments

Ritz Camera rebates blow

Posted on December 21, 2006 by jeannie

All $150 of my Ritz Camera rebates are coming back to me in the form of Ritz Camera gift cards. I guess I’ll be contributing to that camera Chad’s getting for me. grump, grump, grump. If you got suckered like I did, go to this site to print out rebate forms and see the bad FAQs. Still, Bella loves her camera, although I think that has more to do with its pinkness and also the degree to which her friends’ are coveting its pinkness.

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Songbae – FYI

Posted on December 20, 2006 by jeannie

Another interesting article from the NYTimes called, “Questions Couples Should Ask (Or Wish They Had) Before Marrying.” I like questions #5 and #7. When I met Chad my nose was buried in a book called The Real Rules (yup, the one by Dr. Barbara De Angelis – did you not know that I am also a self-help junkie?), so we actually covered most of these questions early on in our dating. Whew. Some of the money questions were painful for me to discuss (i.e., bringing them up made me burst into tears).

Posted in relationships | 1 Comment

stu/art = student art

Posted on December 20, 2006 by jeannie

Saatchi’s at it again. He’s now playing around with a website that is turning into a “myspace knock-off for artists.” According to this article in the NYTimes:

“In May Mr. Saatchi, famed for spotting young unknowns and turning them into art-world superstars, created a section on his Web site for artists of all ages to post their work at no charge. It is called Your Gallery, and now boasts contributions by about 20,700 artists, including 2,000 pieces of video art.

Everything there is for sale, with neither the buyer nor the seller paying a cent to any dealer or other middleman. About 800 new artists have been signing up each week.”

If you want to check Saatchi’s new website yourself, click here. I think that Saatchi has gone beyond being just a rich guy with a knack for buying art. When I was in London a few years ago, I was impressed by his (then-current) collection and even more impressed with the way it was displayed in the splendid old courthouse along the Thames – I really enjoyed exploring the entire collection and being able to enter so many little rooms. I especially liked the Richard Wilson’s Oil Room.

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the goodness of yuk yuks

Posted on December 19, 2006 by jeannie

I have to admit that I have been guilty of occasionally poking a little fun at the denizens of my hi-des town, but not tonight.

Tonight a complete stranger called me. He called me because he found two of my checks floating around the Walmart parking lot.

He asked if he should mail them back to me. After a moment’s thought, I asked if he would rip them up. He said, No problem. Have a good evening.

Some people do make the right choice!

I am a little embarassed to admit that I actually lost two checks ths evening…also, that I was at Walmart. But I was looking for the thirteenth Series of Unfortunate Events! (Wasn’t there – bought the Pursuit of Happyness for my dad instead.)

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i feel better

Posted on December 19, 2006 by jeannie

Kimchi rice makes me feel better. Also, I figured out my fuse box. Even after switching every fuse twice, I still had missed the flipped fuse. Must have been a combination of the dark and the cold (and maybe the grumpiness).

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