the saddest sticker ever, plus bruising

Ryan has done a great job of documenting the phenomenon of the Floating Sad Jesus Head decal, which can be seen on the vast majority of car/truck windows in Costa Rica. I really wanted to find one when I was visiting, but had no luck. However, because Ryan's a great friend, he sent me one! My very own Floating Sad Jesus sticker! Here is a picture of me doing my best to empathize/imitate.

While receiving my very own, muy autentico Floating Sad Jesus decal was thrilling, I have to say that the recovery from my fall at the gym last month has been demonstrably not exciting. Here are a few pictures from the end of September when my sprained ankle was nice and sore. My broken elbow did not yield exciting photos, but was ever so inconvenient, among other things. For the record, I'm considerably better now and the bruises have healed.

identity crisis redux

Today I was mistaken for the following:

1) Someone's mother. A crying child grabbed my leg randomly while I was waiting for the bus downtown

2) A J.Crew employee. A very sweet lady talked at me about long sleeved cashmere for about three minutes before I was able to gently tell her I was not, in fact, an employee.

3) Someone called Janice. Some guy yelled "Hey Janice!" out the window of his white Tercel at me as I was waiting for the bus in Ballard.

explicable lameness

It's been a little while. Where to begin?

Glad you asked - I've broken it down into categories. Here are some highlights from the past six weeks ...

Highlight #1: Colorado (Castle Rock)

I took a couple of days off from work at the end of August and spent a long, relaxing weekend in Castle Rock with my family. Life around the Lee household is pretty much business as usual, but with only my two brothers at home the dynamic is definitely different. I guess my mom must feel pretty outnumbered these days: she has three daughters but somehow none of us live nearby, so it's just her and three guys (my dad + Nate and David). From what I hear she's at least able to drag Nate to the occasional "chick flick" at the local cineplex. But don't tell him I told you that he actually saw "17 Again" willingly ...

I also got to have lunch with Naomi, whom I miss dearly! It was great to see her - I can't believe it's been five years! Thankfully she's in CO now, so I'll at least be able to see her more often.

Here are a few pictures from my trip, including some of the freakish zucchini that grew in my mom's garden. David (who is 15) was nice enough to humor his big sister (me) and gave up movie night [at a cute girl's house] to make ratatouille with me. I really do love my brothers - they're the greatest. (For the record, my two sisters are also the greatest).

Dave assembling the ratatouille

David and me using the large zucchini as pretend phones

me and the ever fabulous Naomi

the aforementioned zucchini

Highlight #2: Colorado (Boulder, Breckenridge, Allenspark)

A mere two weeks after my Castle Rock adventure, Matthew and I were off to Boulder for Travis and Alison's wedding. The festivities began with a joint bachelor/ette party in Breckenridge, and continued for several days before culminating in the actual ceremony on Sunday the 6th.

It was such, such fun to see our friends again! I got to see Jim, Meghan, and Jared while I was around, and of course we spent a good amount of time with Matthew's group of friends, whom I love. Even though we both caught colds, lost our voices, and felt pretty wiped out by the time we got back it was a really worthwhile trip.

Seeing Meghan was a total highlight: I miss grad school and seeing her every day! I hope to visit during paper writing season and pull an all-nighter with her for old time's sake. I was so excited to meet her boyfriend, Eddie, who is fabulous and also a champ for taking the "manliest" of the drinks Chris (a friend and former student of mine who works at Happy Noodle House in Boulder) brought us.

hanging out at Fairview High with Mr. Lewis

hanging out with Meghan and Eddie

anxiously awaiting dinner in Breckenridge

extreme close up of a very handsome Matthew at Travis+Alison's wedding in Allenspark

a large buffalo we befriended at the reception

Highlight #3: Existential Crisis

This should actually precede our trip to Boulder, but I can't be bothered to copy and paste (I'm kind of rocking out to Cyndi Lauper's "When You Were Mine" right now and am consequently in some kind of zone).

The Monday before we went to Boulder I had some kind of crisis. Existential, I suppose. Basically I was just sitting at my desk like a good employee, doing my work, and suddenly just began to feel really agitated. Like that blossoming puer tea (or whatever it's called) my agitation unfolded over the course of, like, fifteen minutes and pretty soon I wanted to rip all my hair out and throw it across the room like a red clump of defiance. Am I going insane? Is it only a matter of time? I felt an unprecedented urge to jump on my desk and demand that someone tell me why we are all hunched over in front of our computers, suspended within a mold of that incalculable torpor which is the modern office environment?

I left work and decided I should spend an hour walking home home as I was not yet sure I could be trusted not to growl or scream at other people on the bus. I figured that walking would help me understand why I felt so incredibly crazy.

I called my dad as I was walking up Queen Anne hill and confessed that I had no idea what I ought to do with my life. He listened, offered thoughtful advice, and laughed gently at my craziness in a way that only a parent can.

I went home, peeled off my wool sweater, changed into something more suitable, poured myself a glass of pinot noir, turned on ABBA Gold (thanks, Ryan!), and decided to vacuum the apartment. When Matthew walked in the door, unsuspecting and holding groceries, I blurted out something about how remember when Nietzsche was crazy and hugged that horse in Turin and so maybe I'm crazy and maybe I should go back to school or maybe it was just like I had a bad day and on and on ...

Anyway. I'm still not sure what to do with my life. I know that my life aspirations don't really include mastering pivot tables or whatever it is I do right now, but if it's what I've got to do to make things work then it's what I'll do. I've got it pretty good, and if I've got to have a crazy afternoon every once in awhile, well, then, alright.

Highlight #4: Matthew's birthday

My dear and loving husband turned 30 on September 9th and we celebrated as best we could following the busy Travis+Alison wedding weekend. I made German food, gave presents, and planned a special Cozy Weekend during which we indulged in naps, lots of dessert, and plenty of television.

a present from his dad and stepmom

Highlight #5: Down for the count

Last Sunday I went to step aerobics, just like every Sunday, and about ten minutes in I managed to fall backward and land directly on my elbow. I sprained my ankle in the process and fractured my elbow.

Consequently I'm useless these days. Two limbs down I'm reduced to asking Matthew to style my hair and clip my nails. I know that I'll heal, but it's beyond annoying.

Highlight #6: Book reading/music listening summary

I'm about one book behind on my book a week goal and lately I've been reading some interesting things. I really, really enjoyed J.M. Coetzee's "Disgrace", Kiran Desai's "The Inheritance of Loss", as well as Stefan Zweig's "The Post Office Girl".

In terms of music, I'm currently pretty hooked on White Lies, whom I've been listening to almost nonstop, although I have to say that Jay-Z's new one is growing on me.

At any rate, this brings us up to speed. If you'll excuse me I've got to ice my ankle and catch up on "Mad Men".

dulce et decorum est

I feel happy from head to toe. Last week marked the hottest week ever in Seattle (at one point it was 95 degrees in our apartment, even with the window unit A/C Matthew bought earlier this summer) and, frankly, it got to me. I felt overheated and unwilling to do much, kind of like the old Honda Civic I drove in Las Cruces, which had trouble starting on really hot days. I must say that I also felt a little betrayed by the paradisiacal land of grey and clouds. Whither the general drear and accompanying verdure that I love?

As soon as I learned that today was going to bring clouds and temperatures in the upper sixties I had a feeling things might go my way. But the brisk morning air left no doubt in my mind: this was going to be a great day. Once at work, milky black tea, a bowl of dark cherries, and a delicious Friday cupcake kept me in good spirits as I got through a couple of key projects, and when it was time to leave I headed for the tea shop on my block, where I drank more tea and began reading The Red and the Black, feeling, admittedly, as if I'd possibly been given a bit of Felix Felicis.

And so it is. How sweet and proper it is to have a glimpse of sweater weather again.

in which we are fancy

Today my friend Willa and I wore the exact same dress to work by accident. The same thing happened once last summer, too. The dress in question comes from Express and we each bought it six years ago. I got it in New Mexico for my college graduation; Willa bought it in Bellingham for her mother's wedding. And so here we are being twins.

In chapter 17 of Oliver Twist Dickens writes that

"It is the custom on the stage, in all good murderous melodramas, to present the tragic and the comic scenes in as regular alternation as the layers of red and white in a side of streaky bacon. The hero sinks upon his straw bed, weighed down by fetters and misfortunes; in the next scene, his faithful, but unconscious squire regales the audience with a comic song. ... Such changes appear absurd; but they are not so unnatural as they would seem at first sight. The transitions in real life from well-spread boards to death-beds, and from mourning-weeds to holiday garments, are not a whit less startling; only there we are busy actors instead of passive lookers-on, which makes a vast difference." (118, italics mine)

maybe some other time?

On Sunday evening I was riding the bus through Belltown and this completely disheveled, probably homeless kid kept trying to get my attention. He was about seventeen and had with him a filthy, malnourished kitten which was wearing someone's studded wristband as a collar around its tiny neck. Unable to accept the fact that I was ignoring him, the guy stood up, poked me in the head (!), and asked - loudly enough for me to hear him this time - if I wanted to go do meth with him.

Go figure.