Girl Anachronicles

* Last night we visited a new friend’s home. We were kindly invited there to watch the Season Finale of Heroes. Our friend’s family was the kindest ever: we got well fed, and they tended to us as if we were kings. Talk about warmth and welcome in a family! It’s not so much that they had droves of platters filled with finger food, chocolate-covered strawberries and fritters. That was very nice, indeed (as was the excellent piña colada! Thanks, Rebecca!) It has much more to do with the attention, the immediate welcome, not as a guest, but as family. The warmth that enveloped me as soon as I went through the door could only be topped by the warmth I feel around my family and very close friends. It was glaringly obvious right then and there that this family is filled with love to give: as they shower each other with love and acceptance, the warmth around them grows, and we, the moths of affection, adore hovering around such a family’s glowing hearth.

** A few things that have been happening in my personal life have made me reconsider my “cyberspace presence”. Not so much that I want to run away and hide, but there are parts of me and my personal life that I want to keep out of people’s radars. I realized today (by way of a small, insignificant detail) that there are people out there that will react passionately or violently to things I say or things I do, by which I mean no harm. In this particular situation, it was someone I don’t even know, but there will be times in which it will be people I DO know … and sometimes it will be people that don’t like me, or people I don’t like. Do I want to expose one of my hobbies (internet surfing) to the possibility of scrutiny and pollution by people who would otherwise never care?

I’m a decidedly private person (after a few years in which I kept myself and all nasty details of my life in the open). I don’t want to be in the radar of just anyone who wants to be. (This blog is not part of what I’m reconsidering, though. I’m pretty sure of the things I write here and how they might look to the anonymous public who comes in to read it.) So you might see some changes soon in the things that compose my cybernetic presence…

*** Musical Erotica … Because these last few days, these two songs have been looping through my mind, perhaps little more than they should. Maybe my sensual side is calling for a renascent era … or maybe I’m turning into a full fledged wiccan hippie and I don’t know it yet …

Oh well! Here they are… (both songs are from the 1973 version – the superior version!!! – of The Wicker Man)

Willow’s Song
by Paul Giovanni

Heigh ho! Who is there?
No one but me, my dear.
Please come say, How do?
The things I’ll give to you.
By stroke as gentle as a feather
I’ll catch a rainbow from the sky
And tie the ends together.
Heigh ho! I am here
Am I not young and fair?
Please come say, How do?
The things I’ll show to you.
Would you have a wond’rous sight
The midday sun at midnight?
Fair maid, white and red,
Comb you smooth and stroke your head
How a maid can milk a bull!
And every stroke a bucketful.

Maypole Song
by Paul Giovanni

In the woods there grew a tree
And a fine fine tree was he

And on that tree there was a limb
And on that limb there was a branch
And on that branch there was a nest
And in that nest there was an egg
And in that egg there was a bird
And from that bird a feather came
And of that feather was
A bed

And on that bed there was a girl
And on that girl there was a man
And from that man there was a seed
And from that seed there was a boy
And from that boy there was a man
And for that man there was a grave
From that grave there grew
A tree

I think I finally turned into a total nature-loving, tree-hugger hippie :-\

Yesterday I went shopping by myself after work. My sister told me there were Rocket Dog shoes on sale at Montehiedra’s Marshalls store, so I had to go and check that out (I’m a hardset fan of Rocket Dogs, they’re so comfy! ^_^).

But no luck was to be had on that mission. There were Rocket Dogs alright: ugly, ill-fitting affairs (are they really Rocket Dogs?), or not in my size. So I started browsing around and headed for the purse area. A few weeks ago my messenger bag purse suffered its “demise” along with a shirt I held as a favorite (they were both drenched in earthy water that sprayed out of the A/C console of the office’s trolley van. I looked like a ladybug for the rest of the day).

The bags I liked right off the bat surprised me with very steep price tags ($100+, damned be leather and it’s powerful, attractive smell and feel!!!). I took my very sweet time shopping around, comparing, sweating it out. My brother called me in the middle of it all, and I realized I was shopping like my mother shops, with the only difference that I wasn’t inflicting anybody else with the pain of it. I’m definitely a slow shopper. I finally decided myself on a red, crocheted bag from The Sak (It even has a metal tag that assures me that it is “The Original” … how comforting! 8-D )

After that, I decided, halfway to the register counter, that I might as well change my wallet too. It had been years since I had last bought a new wallet. ‘Kitty wallet’ (a small, black wallet with Emily Strange’s black cat patched on top) was running small on me, I don’t know why. It’s not like I applied for a thousand new credit cards all of a sudden, but it wasn’t buttoning up as well as it should have. So I got an indigo-colored, leather Tignanello wallet (damned be leather!).

The whole purchase amounted up to a bit over $50. I’m still a bit weirded out at myself. My brother kept telling me it was weird seeing me with a purse. And so it is! I’ve been holding onto my college buying-and-wearing habits, I think out of fear of turning into a corporate, suit-wearing zombie lady. Yeah, the one that buys The Sak handbags and Tignanello wallets, I think. But I feel strangely fine about all this, because what I thought it represented is not gonna happen anyway.

Yesterday I ran into an old college aqcuaintance, and I realized that in spite of the 8 years past, I am still the same garbled mess of a person I was back then (albeit fatter … or more pregnant-looking, thank you ¬_¬). And I like it that way, but at the same time my instincts tell me that it’s time to grow up into the woman my mother and stepmother have been nudging me to be. I suspect I might turn out to be a garbled, messy version of that, but I’m fine with that too.

I’m beginning to feel a bit more comfortable in my own skin (sagginess and cellulitis included), and oddly enough the crocheted, red handbag that now hangs from my shoulder, with the indigo, leather wallet inside it are proof to myself that … precisely … I don’t need to prove anything to anyone other than myself. And that I can give myself permission to be as “adult” as I’ve always feared to be (lest I start growing old, god forbid!) … of course, in my own, particular … idiom. (thank you, sweet Concorde! )

Prep Time:15 min
Start to Finish:30 min
Makes:4 main-dish servings
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1 package Betty Crocker® Suddenly Salad® ranch & bacon pasta salad mix
1/4 cup cold water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups frozen broccoli flowerets, thawed and drained
1 package (3 1/4 ounces) sliced pepperoni, cut in half (1 cup)
1 medium tomato, coarsely chopped (3/4 cup)
1 jar (2 1/2 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained

1. Empty Pasta mix into large pan 2/3 full of boiling water. Gently boil uncovered 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Stir together Seasoning mix, cold water and oil in large bowl; set aside.
3. Drain pasta; rinse with cool water. Shake to drain well. Stir pasta and remaining ingredients into seasoning mixture. Serve immediately, or refrigerate.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft) Increase boil time to 20 minutes.

This is a recipe I found through Bettycrocker.com. Tried it a couple of weeks ago, sans the broccoli (I’m not a big veggie fan). I also changed a few other ingredient details:

1) Changed the Betty Crocker® Suddenly Salad® ranch & bacon pasta salad mix for some regular ranch dressing and some mayo to thin the flavor out (ranch is a nice flavor, but it can be pretty strong if it’s the only thing you’re mixing with the pasta)

2) Added the bacon separately. I used bacon pieces (which can usually be found in the refrigerated cold cuts area). However, after the first trial, I am convinced that bacon bits might be an even better option.

3) I now realize I totally forgot to add the mushrooms and the oil, however I did add diced onion, which gives it a nice, crisp feel.

** On second thought: I think that from now on, I might be suppressing the pepperoni entirely, since I find it doesn’t add all that much to the recipe’s flavor. I also intend to use the mushrooms from now on (how could i FORGET mushrooms?!).

(click to view bigger version)

Strips like this one always pull at my heartstrings. It’s a pretty well known fact that I love dogs to the point of tears, specially now that, after a lifetime of having at least one as a companion, I can’t own any (for a variety of reasons). Hopefully that will change soon …

The comic strip above is part of an ongoing series named Mutts, by Patrick McDonnell. McDonnell is part of a few organizations and funds for animals (and against animal cruelty), and it shows in his strips. The ongoing theme is the animals’ relationships with their caregivers, with themselves and with each other.

To be truly honest, sometimes the punchlines fall a little bit on the flat side, but the strip seems to be made with a heartful of love. Plus I share McDonnell’s motives and interests in relation to animals, so I’ve come to respect his work for what it really is: a call to conscience in favor of animals, specially in favor of loving the animals that already accompany us day by day.

I got a call earlier last week from a friend that had been away for a while. The call in itself was a surprise, then the other shoe dropped: she wanted me as a stand-in for a photography class assignment (again). I had worked with her before. As a matter of fact: those brief incursions into what “being a model” would feel like were interesting at their worst, pretty fun at their best. I’ve always hated to be on the other side of the camera lens, the side that exposes more of my body and less of my mind. But helping her with her projects opened up my curiosity about how is it that people see me from outside myself. I like exploring the possibilities other brains find around my physiognomy.

This photo shoot was considerably simpler than the ones I had worked with her before. She picked me up a little after 9 AM last Saturday and we went to a nice park a few blocks away from my house. The place is wonderfully green and fresh, filled with trees, with a few playground areas, a basketball court, a tennis court, and a walking path all throughout. Add to that the quiet nature of our neighborhood, and the park turns into a small emerald paradise among our homes.

My friend’s idea for the photo shoot was a modern-day Snow White theme, using the blue, red and yellow colors (typical Disney Snow White scheme). She brought two apples, and I was a happy camper. “Apple shoots” get me a free apple after we’re done. I was supposed to lay on the ground and play dead, which was fine by me (despite the prickly grass). We were done quickly, in spite of prickly grass, the pesky sun in my eyes, and territorial mosquitoes. I realized that simpler photo shoots also make for simpler dynamics: less people means less crossed thoughts. It was a fun, sweet time, and the product of it is not half bad either (although the model, a.k.a. me, looks like a beached whale). But I instantly loved the vibrance of the colors. She still hasn’t showed me all the pictures she took. She worked with a digital camera, the picture on top came from that one. But she also used Colorsplash and Holga cameras – which is film – so we still have a few results to view.

Photo by Lyraida M. Caraballo.