Things I want but probably don't really need.

It's sunny today! Really honest-to-goodness sunny. This is nice, seeing as it's been miserable, rainy, and in the 40's the last few days. Actually, the fact that it was in the 40's was good, because it made me want soup, which resulted in a spicy coconut curry veggie soup that rescued 3 beets, the remainder of the chicken soup from my seder, 7/8ths of a completely wrinkly, dehydrated, small head of cabbage, and quite possibly my body from a veggie-less hell of my own making. I am midway through a gargantuan Passover recipe compilation on the other blog. Lord help me finish it. The soup will follow.

Anyway, with the sunshine came my annual hopefulness that THIS is the year I will find The Summer Dress. What is The Summer Dress (henceforth to be known as TSD)? TSD is that elusive item of clothing that I can vamp up with heels, dress down in flats, put a cardigan over, wear under a trenchcoat, and is in a nice print. This should be easy given the fact that stores are pretty much giving clothes away. It isn't.

I keep thinking, "Oh, hey, maybe I'll find a light white cottony thing" (because it is my secret wish to wear one with a huge straw hat and crazy shoes to a garden party) and every time I try on something it looks like absolute hell on my body. You'd think this wouldn't happen, seeing as I'm used to myself in white; fencing uniforms are white jackets, protective white knickers, and white knee socks. Truth be told, I'm not even sure most of the time what body parts are throwing off the fit! It's the most frustrating thing ever.

I put the dress on, squint at myself, take off my socks, squint again, start at the bottom, decide it's too short, wonder how my butt can look so spectacularly hydraulic in a pencil skirt and look so sad, huge, and awful in this dress, how my boobs somehow look nonexistant because the straps place the bust too low on my chest, why did they cut the waist in the wrong place, and Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ on rollerskates, how can this all look so bad simultaneously??!?!?! Then I get back into my underwear, and while the view isn't perfect, it's what I remembered my body looking like from before I tried the offending garment on.

Then I contemplate nudity as a lifestyle.

I tried to go to Macy's the other day in a bid for Estee Lauder mascara (my mom got some in a gift, gave it to me, and now, damn it all, I can't tolerate drugstore mascara - but that's mainly because they don't stock Max Factor in stupid fucking MARYLAND), and to cruise the spring dresses, but the mall was closed for Easter Sunday. This is what I get for moving from NY where there are enough Jews to have things open on Christian holidays and enough Christians to run the show when the Jews are out. Damn the south. Damn the dresses. And damn not having mascara.

I ended up at DSW, and found 2 pairs of sandals (both in size 11!!) for ~$20 each on clearance. Maybe this weekend will look up in my bid for mascara and springtime versatility.

Guilty pleasure.

I never was a Goth chick.  

I did manage to spend a good deal of high school stomping around with all my hair chopped off in army surplus pants and wife beaters.  On other days, I never bothered to get dressed or take care of my hair, or occasionally, I deigned to put on a pair of jeans and a sweater.  But occasionally.  Very occasionally.  

It was a rebellion against all the perfect girls who wore Juicy Couture and very expensive jeans and shoes and had the perfect hair.  My hair was never perfect.  I couldn't be perfect.  I wasn't allowed to have preferences in clothes either, because we couldn't afford to.  ...Or my parents were worried I'd turn into a total priss.  This fear of theirs lasted until I chopped off my hair and stopped wearing women's clothes.  My mom told me I was dressing like a lesbian, at which point I informed her so was she.  To her credit, she didn't get angry.  Instead she discovered Kohl's, which works for her because she's 5'8" and older.  It didn't work for me because at the time I was 5'10" and no bargain priced clothes ever fit you in you're a girl and really tall.  

But in the interim between high school cluelessness and my college education, I figured some things out for myself.  The surprise was that I never got into Goth or new Victorian.  Not only because I wasn't one of the cool kids, but it surprised me in retrospect because I loved The Secret Garden when I was little.  And when Jane Eyre was forced upon us sophomore year in high school, I fell madly in love with that story too.  The idea of large, old, buildings, with meandering passageways and ridiculous intricate details at every turn was fascinating.  The idea of secrets - family mysteries, hidden passages, and false walls/doors/drawers/etc. - was captivating.  What could lie behind the distracting bulwark of curliques, woodworking, brooches, and overgrown rose bushes?  

And this has continued into my neophyte adulthood, when I became embarrassingly obsessed with Harry Potter.  I think it's got to do with discovery and discernment (so maybe it's good I chose scientific research, no?).  All the magic, the juxtaposition of real and fanciful, modern and archaic, and logic and willpower.  Something like that.  

So when I read about this new steam punk thing, I was like, "DUUUUDE."  And I love it, especially the computers some crazy person modified to look like wood and inlay and tubes and piping.  I've seen the countless brooches, earrings, necklaces, cuffs, and other baubles people have made from watch parts, gears, and pins.  They're all quite beautiful, but so few of them work, and that's what really fascinates me, the ones that look like some odd gadget but really do something, like tell time, allow me to check my email, or let me teleport through space at the turn of a gear.  I'd never do myself up like some of the more hardcore steam punk types.  I feel like I'm a little too old for all that characterized dressing.  

But I am a little sad that I missed my 14 yr old window to be a crazy person... I'll just have to wait until I'm 60 to wear spats, I guess.  

You stay classy, America!

Can I just say, I was very impressed with Obama's speech, comportment, and the whole thing.  He could have taken the snarky route (I would have expected that from John Kerry), but he didn't.  He gave the political version of coach-speak.

What do I mean by that?  I mean the usual, "We're going to give it 150%.  We're going to stick to the fundamentals, play our own game, and we're going to move the ball/puck down the court/field/arena.  The more goals/baskets we get, the better.  We'll play a tight defense, try not to let anything past us, and stick to what we know best, etc."  Kind of like that, just with politics.

Anyway, it was good.  Including everyone - Christians, Jews, Muslims, Hindus, and nonbelievers - was totally excellent.  Obviously, the whole thing is based in the Christian religion (perhaps another reason why we'll never live to see a Jewish president), but acknowledging that everyone of all faiths is responsible for the country was a very good touch.  Kind of a "this may not be what I personally believe, but that's no reason for me to disregard your contributions."  Spot on!  

Oh, and I particularly liked the bit about science.  It's definitely something to look forward to, this having a president who believes in science.  There are things of which I'm skeptical.  I do wonder how he'll handle things like Iraq, where an immediate sudden withdrawal of troops will absolutely not work, but having this uneducated view of the Iraqi people and refusing to learn about their cultural psychology, customs, or traditions has gotten absolutely ridiculous.  And the tax reform.  I wonder how he's going to do it, now that those upper tier tax brackets Obama wanted to tax the pants off of have been decimated by the financial crisis.  

Oh, and the benediction?  I chuckled at the rhymed ending, didn't really get it, but then I read this excellent and explanatory posting about the origins of the verse.  And I thought, ok, different generation, different perspective, and it made sense why Rev. Lowery said what he said.  Racist?  No, not really.  Grinding into the dirt a nasty rhyme from a different time?  Yeah, much more likely.  

And just so everyone knows, the Chief Justice messed up the oath of office - or as Senator Diane Feinstein said, the "oaf" of office - in his placement of the word "faithfully."  Not Obama's fault.  You can check me on that.  Props to Obama for waiting for the CJ to get it right and smiling.

You know, speaking of verbal gaffs, everyone hates Bush now.  I think he'll be remembered in history as having a bit more going for him.  People have seemed to forget he is responsible for the lack of any follow-up attacks by any terrorist organizations, likely helped in part by this ruling stating that wiretapping by gov't is indeed legal in cases where people are suspected spies.  Anyway, read the article.  Of course there are openings for abuse by those in power, but I have a feeling it's done more good than harm, given the absence of new 9/11's.  

Ok, that's the end of the political stuff for now.  

On to fashion!  First of all, can I just say that I LOVED Aretha-Queen-of-Soul Franklin's hat?  So old school, so badass, and so glamorously classy.  And has anyone else besides me notice that no matter what the new first lady is wearing, HER SHOES NEVER MAKE HER TALLER THAN OBAMA??!?!  Hahahahahah!!!  I'm about the same height as Mrs. Obama (techinically a fraction of an inch taller), and check out her footwear!  Never more than 2-inch heals so she's never taller than her man!  I know that game... But she looks sharp.  I like her style.  Very Washington, DC acceptable, but excellent choice in colors and designers.  Seriously, unless you have some tint to your skin, that dress color will make you look like hell.  Mrs. Obama, if you ever manage to work ONE Roberto Cavalli piece into some public ensemble, I will be so impressed.  

In the meantime, if anyone spots her in higher heels, please alert me.  I will eat it up.

The cold harsh reality...

The cold harsh reality of the Population Council phone call wasn't as cold and harsh as I anticipated.  It wasn't as rosy and wonderful as I hoped, either.  Instead, it was Reality, which tends to exist somewhere in the middle.  I was informed that my idea is indeed interesting, and if contraceptive biology is a field I'm really interested in, I should keep in touch and call them when I'm ready to graduate!  

Which is certainly positive!  The guy I spoke to was very impressed with my blind emailing at the very least.  Being a persistent-borderline-annoying individual pays off, people!  

Then I went to Macy's and got a really long nice sweater for $20.00.  Speaking of Macy's, I tried on some DKNY.... who is able to wear DKNY?  Does anyone who reads this wear that?  Because I want to know what kind of body you have.  Donna Karan always looks great on the hanger and then when I try it on, I'm left thinking "w....t.....f....."  I'm sure it looks fabulous on someone, and I want to know who, exactly.  

After that, I went to fencing, and I thoroughly enjoyed my lesson.  A good unproductively productive day.  :)  

Anthropo.... scientist?

I've never completely understood Anthropologie.  I say understood because I always feel like I'm missing something when I walk in there, because nothing appeals to me.  While I'm gawping like an idiot, brainy-looking, dark-rimmed-eye-glass wearing ladies with immaculately straight perfectly tousled pixie and short ironic librarian haircuts go hunting in the racks,  and I'm standing there thinking, "derrrrr...." in a monotone.

But there are some things that no matter how much explanation I got, I would never ever understand.  Like this amusing number.  It looks pretty cool at the get-go, but then you get to the hem.  It is buttoned wrong.  I don't care how smart Anthropologie shoppers look; your cardigan is off by a button.  

Why the hell would you want to look like a scientist??!?!  With your perfect specs and hair  and girlishly quirky tastes, WHY would you aspire to that level of peculiarity? 

...Maybe that's why it's on sale...?