Tide Has Turned: 2010

I went to a "snow ball" party last weekend. The theme was "Edward Gorey" and I dressed up with a fun hat. There was a guy there with a huge fake mustache, who kind of looked like Hugh Jackman in "The Prestige." There were also some cool girls there in funny flapper type hats/outfits. At midnight, we walked out on the frozen lake and lit off fireworks, which was probably my favorite moment in Madison to date. Of course, everyone picked up all the fireworks and beer cans right after because it's Madison and everyone is all about recycling.

December Stream of Consciousness

These are excerpts from a letter I wrote to a friend:

1. I love my car. I've been driving it all around town. The first week I had it, I had the first full week of good night's sleep since I moved here. I'm not kidding. I've felt so much anxiety and some of that lifted just from having a car again. I've dreamed about Snoop Dogg and weird roommates and music in my dreams. But the anxiety dreams about clients and spreadsheets are fading away, which is a good thing.

2. I've been watching old West Wing episodes lately and I love it. The people are so smart and so dedicated to their jobs and have to "hop to" when their boss wants them to. I can really relate to that and it is a comfort to me. It also makes me want to wear suits more often.

3. I went to a bacherlorette party this week, after a 11 hour work day. It was at a fondue place and it was fun. The bride got some panties but they were cotton briefs that said stuff like "bride" and "who needs mistletoe." I mean, is this what passes for sexy bridal humor in Wisconsin? Do me a favor, if I get married and I have a bachelorette party where you buy me underwear (yikes) please don't buy thongs, but please don't buy me ultra practical underwear. Thank you.

4. No love life to speak of. The weird ebay/Ron Paul supporter/college drop out to be a Christian rock roadie guy randomly called this week and left an overly jolly message. So weird. I probably won't respond. I'm not opposed to online dating, but I'm not quite ready yet. Maybe in the new year.

5. I've got to get ready for a wedding. It's at 3. I have some college friends staying here that are in the wedding, so they aren't here now. I'm just meeting them there. But it should be fun. A coworker is having a party too that I want to stop by later. I hope that works out b/c his friends seem fun. He has a kind of snowboarder roommate who's kind of hot. I wouldn't mind making out with him in the coat closet later.

6. I have to try to fix my horrendous outfit before I go out tonight. Pink dress, gray sweater tights (because jesus, who has their wedding in Wisconsin a week from Christmas and during undergrad finals and when its 20 degrees outside) and turquoise shoes and a rhinestone star necklace. Girl, they can't handle my style in Wisconsin!!!!

"Winter Flip-Flops"?

And...a surprise from the Southerners! Their reaction to cold weather has thusly confounded me. It has been dipping down into the 20s and 30s the past few weeks and I have expected an outright tirade against the cold. But no! I have not heard the depth of complaining that my cohorts in Chicago would surely entertain.

Some people do seem to wear heavier-than-usual coats around here, but even more people seem to be in total denial about the colder weather. Many people still do not wear coats and no one wears hats. It's like it is not in their vocabulary or consciousness! Some people just throw on a flannel and consider themselves good-to-go. One girl told me that she switched from her summer flip-flops to her "winter flip-flops" aka those clog-type shoes. (They qualify as flip-flops because they don't tie, I guess?) I've even noticed that many of the children don't have actual winter coats. Rather, the parents just tuck the child or children into their lapel of their flannel or whatever and run out to the car real quick.

Boom Goes My Diet-Namite

I'm still on the cooking tip and today I made a whole wheat pasta with lima and green beans and a bastardized pesto sauce. I guess it was a pesto sauce good for winter in that it did not require ole sturdy basil that can often be unavailable during this time. Bastardized pesto sauce contained:

• olive oil
• fresh garlic
• chopped parsley
• anchovies
• capers
• lemon zest
• lemon juice

And it was pretty damn good.

Miz M's brother came a'visiting this weekend. We had a great time. I took him out for some bodacious pulled pork BBQ, biscuits and gravy, and my favorite country ham. Needless to say, boom goes my diet-namite.

For the most part though, we just hung out. I did my homework in the mornings while he slept in, we ate good food, watched a lot of TV, and made fun of each other. It was a blast.

I'll Make Myself Happy Just To Please You

For New Years 2008, Miz M's resolutions are not out of the ordinary. I've been feeling a pull to workout more, and also to improve my diet. I want to lose about 10 pounds in the next couple of months. My jump start? I ate at this raw food place in Chicago with my mom the day before I left town. It's a cool, unpretentious place with great healthy food. Despite that people can get a little over the top in promoting the raw food lifestyle, the energy of the food does seem to be on a higher plane. So I want to cook a few "raw" dishes this next months, or at least use the raw foods idea to inspire me to be more creative with vegetables and eat more vegetables in my diet.

Being back in Chicago made me realize how much I miss the "foodie" opportunities that abound there. Between all the great and creative restaurants, the ethnic grocery stores, and the corner yuppie-foodie stores, you can eat pretty well and pretty interestingly in Chicago within a budget. That was one of my hobbies in Chicago, and it's pretty damn dismal here in North Carolina. My theories were confirmed by two sources (Mr. D's mom and my dad's eccentric Bosnian friend Boz) that the groceries down here are unusually expensive. It's very hard to eat those fresh fruits and veggies on a graduate student budget. One thing that might make me happy is to learn more about Southern cooking while I'm down here. The question is, how do I cook Southern and also try to lose weight? I know and fully support the importance of bacon in these Southern dishes, but that goes against my other goals. Just one more thing to be resolved in 2008... you gotta have something to work on!

I am also going to try to incorporate meditation into my life this year. My goal is to try to meditate for at least 5 minutes each day, maybe more. It sounds simple, but I think it will be hard to stay committed to it. I meditated for 5 minutes yesterday and already remembered a dream last night. In the dream, I was driving a construction crane in order to help my parents solve a legal case. Huh? In the dream I kept saying, "Well, I'm driving a crane but at least I'm outside." You can't pay for entertainment like that.

I Earned My F*cking Snow Stripes

I went out earlier today for a little "retail therapy". This therapy consisted of going to Target to buy cleaning supplies and Trader Joes to buy groceries. I know, I know - I really know how to live it up. (Side note: I just got through a rather lean pay period, so when I got my recent paycheck I had to rush out to splurge on extra laundry detergent and pasta sauce, olive tapenade, wine, and about 20 cans of beans in preparation for some future lean time that may occur. Yikes.)

When I went to the store, I had to face the rather intimidating process of shovelling my car out of my alley parking spot. Normally fantastic, parking in the alley becomes a nightmare when it snows as much as it has in Chicago recently. Also, due to the blowing and drifting of snow, the snow was an extra 3 feet taller next to my car. I spent about an hour and half shovelling out the front of my car, and two little pathways along each side of the car so I could get in the car without stepping up to my knees in a snowbank. I also had to shovel part of the alley, so that I would have somewhere to walk with my snow-filled shovel to the place where I dumped my snow. But, how much of the alley does one really want to shovel? Shouldn't that be the job of some dude at Streets and Sanitation?

I regretted these words when I returned from the store. Oh, the sunshine had made me overconfident, and the major streets were as clear as could be. But, pulling back into the alley and trying to back into my parking spot - nightmare! At one point, I got totally stuck and my ultra-practical Dodge sedan did not have the "umph" I needed to get over the car-rut snowbank hump. In a panic, I got out to kick flailingly at the snow behind my tires, and twisted my knee in the process. Ow. I finally got dislodged from the snowbank, but it's a good thing I stocked up on those beans because I don't plan on going anywhere in my car anytime soon. Taxi!

I'm Obsessed With Layers, and With Talking About Them

In Chicago winters, talking about coping strategies for the weather becomes almost as prevalent and obsessive as anorexic girls talking about what they ate one day.

With that in mind, I'll tell you that today I'm wearing longjohn pants, another pair of pants, and a long heavy skirt that pretty much functions as a blanket. I'm also wearing wool socks, tall boots, two sweaters, and an undershirt. This is just to sit inside. When I go outside, I add a down coat, hat, scarf on my face, and doubled-lined mittens. I was actually a little sweaty when I was walking to the train today. Hooray - I've got the layering thing down.

Two-Pants Depression

A few days of the bitter cold was do-able, but I'm over it!

I'm starting to get the two-pants depression. You know, when it's so cold that you have to be wearing two pairs of pants to even consider going outside?

Yesterday I was trying to strategize for layering my clothes, and I finally had to bust out the long johns. The long johns under normal pants is what I consider the "presentable version." This is for work, or for Superbowl parties, or whatever. The "quick trip" version is wearing any regular pair of pants, and then a baggy pair of work out pants over the first pair of pants. I do this to go to the grocery or get the mail.

Lord help us if it gets any colder. When the weather warrants three pairs of pants, well, even a turn in the sauna may not be enough.

Cold Weather Strategy for the Geography of Public Places

Huh?! Well, I am thinking about going to grad school, folks...

I've noticed a "game" I play when I get on the CTA on these really cold days. It's called: what's my cold weather strategy? Fear of drafts from the open CTA door trumps my other CTA geography strategies so that my seat selection follows this hierarchy:

1) Try to sit away from the door
2) Try to sit on a seat with a heater vent if I have to sit close to the door
3) Find a single seater
4) Find a double-seater by a window
5) Sit next to the panel next to the door, preferably the one that doesn't open at most of the stops and has a heater.

These cold weather strategies for the geography of public spaces also fall into place in a restaurant, though to a lesser extent. The main objective is to not be seated at a table by the door where you and your food will cool at a rapid, rapid pace when people come in and out of the restaurant. Also undesirable is sitting by a window where draftage can be felt. Brrr! All these little things are what make us able to cope with our winter weather.

"Vihta" - Swat the Cold Out with Some Birch Twigs

I had a friend in college who was an anthropology major. He spent some time in Alaska with some native people up there. One thing that he brought back with him to the US was the tradition of the sweat during cold months. The people that he lived with did a sweat lodge every day during the winter, and this helped them to beat the winter blues, I guess. Every night after dinner, everybody would go sweat, and then go to bed. Sounds nice to me!

My own native people - the Scandinavians - are also fans of the sauna practice. There is even a tradition of hitting yourself with "vihta", which are apparently some birch twigs, to get your circulation going while you sweat. That tradition aside, these are people of cold lands, and I think they must have been on to something.

Thinking of these traditions, I went to the gym tonight just for a sweat. However, the gym changed the rules in the steam room so you aren't supposed to put water directly on the sensors, which many people do to create more steam. Needless to say, the steam in the steam room was pretty pathetic when I first went in there. However, a clever Korean woman (another culture who also loves to sweat) brought in a bag of water and poured it on the sensor, so everyone was sweating in no time. Hooray! Every little bit helps now that winter has actually come to Chicago.

Pre-Valentines Maintenance

I had a friend who used to say that if you weren't dating anyone by November in Chicago, you were destined not to have sex with anyone new until the spring. A proscription most likely based on the double barbs of both winter weight and winter pastiness/ashiness.

Even so, those with new relationships, or the hopes of finding a new relation this time of year, still try in vain to maintain a level of physical decency during the winter months. Some daily moisturizing and weekly exfoliating can help with the pastiness. Minimal trips to the gym, or at least periodic sessions with a home yoga tape in between Doritos snacking can help with the winter weight. A few other things can help entice - a warm apartment (I'm talking radiators popping, "does it feel tropical in here so let's get naked?" hot) and clean luxurious sheets. Why not hedge your bets against the winter working against you?

All this advice is to stoke some hope in those couting down the next 20 days with dread -

And, if the physical maintenance fails, there's always this.