Narly Times

I’ve been asked to update, and as I hate to disappoint my paltry public (faithful and appreciated though you are), what the heck, I’ll do it. Especially all those stay-at-home mothers who can’t seem to get enough.

I wish I could say that the reason I haven’t posted in a while is that I’ve been out frolicking, being young and giddy. So much for that. Work went into overdrive this past week *I use the phrase “this week” loosely, being that today is Saturday and I just returned home from the office, staggering through campus like a pregnant refugee* as each of the assistants were asked to cover for 4 editors.

As far as Friday went, it made Thursday look like a goddamn dress rehearsal.

So my solution to all of this last night was to

a) watch hours of Laguna Beach. Very intellectual, I know.

b) get trashed at the trashiest bar in town: “The Ivy.” Sure, I love a bar where everyone knows the lyrics to “Sweet Child O’ Mine” but after my third gin & tonic (gone off the gimlets, back to basics these days), as I was peer-pressuring one of my 38-year-old colleagues to do a tequila shot, I suddenly felt that it wasn’t the most mature reaction to an awful work week. Maybe a quiet glass of wine, a glance through the New Yorker, eating a slab of cheddar...but forcing an unassuming colleague to do shots runs counter to my regular philosophy. I also started to talk a bunch of crap around 11, giving off the impression (all false) of being: too hot to handle, a real booze-hound, and several other clichés. By any and every standard, I defied the parameters established by the Modern Girl. By midnight, the male gathering had parted like the red sea and unanimously acknowledged my supremacy in social/sexual (yup, I went there)/alcohol-related activities. I was so high on myself that I almost believed it too. Less so when I flounced home and caught sight of myself looking like Barbara Cartland on crack. This morning I just felt like an idiot.

Other Headlines

1. As you can tell, Maureen Dowd’s article sort of took me by storm last Sunday and punctuated my mind for a large part of the week. Yes she's a raging alarmist, but she shook the oftentimes complacent way I think about feminism and its application, particularly given my present circumstances of living with 3 very masculine and self-claimed progressive men.

2. I took a walk with Mike earlier this week, which was fun, just to admire the leaves changing. Princeton is kind of amazing for its foliage; maybe I just never bothered to notice or appreciate it during my CT high school experience. Everywhere I turn there are crisp yellow leaves spinning in the air. Have you ever seen Hero? There’s this great scene (all yellow) in which they fight in the woods as the leaves are falling. Princeton, though by far less romantic than wherever the hell that movie was shot, comes a close second. It’s just unbelievable. You know how I love words and articulacy, and for once, I don’t know just how to describe what it’s like to watch the sunlight filtering through the leaves.

3. I licked a tree during the walk...a swift, lusty lick. For some reason, though not a big deal at the time, in retrospect I find this rather bizarre. I am happy to elaborate, but only in person.

4. I’m worried about work. And I keep hearing about other job offers and wonder if I’m being inopportunistic and naïve by not responding.

5. Lina came to visit me this week! Which was so much fun! Though she seemed to have mixed feelings on the curried chickpeas I presented at dinner, and I’m already harboring resentment. :)