Dead White Men

Is it possible that I have outgrown chick lit.? This would be a heinous tragedy as it has been one of my mainstays for years. Hopefully, I am just temporarily not in the mood.

I was reading Melissa Bank's "The Wonder Spot" which I find better than "A Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing," however I haven't been able to bring myself to finish it yet. I found some great books in my neighbor's garbage as well. I've been reading "The Boy Next Door," which is a novel written entirely in the email form. As soon as the book seems to start developing a happy ever after ending, I seem forced to put it down. This is puzzling to me since, I decided in 1999 that I would only read books with happy endings because it made my real life bearable. I do make the occaisional exception, such as for "The Virgin's Knot," which rocked my world. I also decided to limit my ingestion of books by Dead White Men. I especially hated Dickens. But the BBC dramatizations of Dickens are really winning me over. Characters like Mr. Guppy and Mr. Smallweed. Good stuff. Well, I suppose life is fluid and maybe I am now able to branch out into new genres. I've always wondered if I could read Hemingway now and like it. I liked him in high school, but I'm quite afraid if I go back to H. now, my feminism would crush my illusions and fond memories.

I've been off caffeine for a few weeks now and it is quite difficult to go to work when one is caffeine free. It's also challenging to clean one's desk/home and to complete tasks that are not inspiring to your soul. Hmph. I may have to remind my soul that it is unnatural to live in filth and that bills must be paid. Or maybe I'll just up my caffeine level. I saw an interesting pop up today on the internet advertising a patch that will shoot caffeine into your skin and your bloodstream. Is it cheaper than a double iced latte? I don't know.

One Green Apple

Wow. I have neglected my blog for about a month. More importantly, I have neglected you: my readers. Let me reward you by letting you know that today I have eaten: 6 baby carrots, 2 stalks celery, 2 slivers of full-size carrots, appetizers of slivers of tuna with wasabi mayo on tortilla chips, similar appetizers of miniature rare beef on white bread, grilled zucchini & eggplant, quinoa, brown rice, wild rice, goat cheese, one smallish portion of chicken breast, one portion chicken quesadilla, prosciutto, salami, pineapple, one banana, zero apples, ginger tea, one glass of tangy white wine.

I went to see the dedication of my aunt's portrait at the NYC Bar Association tonight. It has left me hungry yet proud. She is the second woman to be a President of the Bar Association and she has trillions of other impressive accomplishments too. Following the ceremony and reception there was a second reception across the street at the Harvard Club. This was my second time this week at the Harvard Club. The HC makes me think that I forgot my twin sweater set at home or that I am an idiosyncratic extra in a Gilmore Girls episode.

One of the evening's highlights was when I found out that my dad had called my cousin and left a tender, sweet Mother's Day message on my cousin's voice mail. No, my cousin is not his mother. His mother is staying at my other cousin's apartment, hence the wacky mix-up. Speaking of my grandmother, she has actually turned off the voice mail function at the apartment she stays at. She says that people can just keep calling her until they reach her. With no flashing light on an "answering machine," she was not remembering to check the voice mail in a timely manner. If you work with the public, you may have the same begrudging attitude toward no-answering-machine people that I have. However, I sweetly told her that she was a VIP, so it was fine with me to go the extra mile.

You may wonder what happened to the apple. Why is it a zero apple? I am a firm believer in the Apple a Day policy. As the Harvard Club feminist after-party was winding down, the waiter begin to wheel away the ornate mounds of fruit, cheese and meats. The succulent green apples I had been eyeing were about to escape. I had been trying to overcome the inappropriateness of me chomping into a big green apple in a room full of business women versus the inappropriateness of me taking the green apple and putting it in my purse. My aunt saved the day. As they were wheeling the cart away, she said "Wait, wait, hold on!" and chose a morsel of bread and brie to avail herself of. Under the cover of this distraction, I plucked my green apple from the cart and placed it in my purse.

9:55pm - taking the F train home. One homeless man specifically asked for money and apples, fruit, a sandwich. I gave him my green apple. I am usually not into generosity, but well the Zen meditation must be working and that dude is one apple richer.