bumpkinlife’s posterous

I have completely neglected my posterous since leaving NYC.  Had almost forgotten about it until today.  There were comment notifications in my inbox, kind of took me by surprise.  But cool, someone still reads my old rantings and ravings.

News:  Yup, no longer in NYC.  I'm surprised I don't miss the city as much as I thought I would, specially considering that I moved to smalltown America.  In reverse, I find myself appreciating the expansive views of the mountains and desert, the clear blue uninterrupted sky, etc.  The only thing I really do miss is a solid public transportation infrastructure.  There are buses here, that make circular one-way trips every hour.  Which means that my return trip could be twice as long as the ride to my destination.  Fun times.  Good thing I have a car that is constantly scaring me with funny noises and leaks.

Also, I'm back in school to build up a portfolio for eventual applications to architecture schools in Europe.  This is the best decision I have made in my entire life.  It's a lot of fun, working on projects, building insane little models up, even the 5-minute presentations that make me want to throw up everything down to my uterus.  I'm excited for what the future holds for me now.

Today I woke up a couple of hours before the crack of dawn to go to the hot air balloon races.  It felt like half the town was there as well, scattered all over the grass, among the uninflated balloons.  It had a very festival-like feel to it.  It was dark, the moon was still out, but in the far eastern horizon there was just a sliver of light.  It was amazing to sit there while everything happened.  The balloons were being inflated as the sun started to rise, it was like watching giants wake in the morning.  They were massive, those balloons.

The only thing that took away from the early morning fun was that my brother was incredibly lame.  He was being weird and awkward and didn't want to get up and take pictures of me with the balloons all around us, so I had to sit there like an idiot and take pictures of myself.  They are as amazing and attractive as you imagine they are.  Let's hope for better pictures next year.

Have just come home from a lame Friday night...and am making it infinitely more awesome watching this cartoon.  I want to rock pink hair and crazy eye makeup too.

I've been on a mission to cut the amount of sugar I consume, which is really the no. 1 reason I feel as unhealthy as I do.  That, and sitting on my ass all day.  I haven't really taken an honest look at how much of it I eat, mostly because it's always in the form of chocolate which somehow doesn't seem that bad compared to if I was gorging on, say, cookies and cakes and pastries stuffed with custards and creams...And I also don't drink soda at all, which I've used as an "see, I'm beeing so good and conscious about what I put in my body!" excuse...Without thinking about it.  But looking into my trash bin at work and at home last week, I was weirdly surprised by how many chocolate wrappers had collected in there.

Earlier this month I also noticed a darkish crease on the back of my neck that I at first attributed to spending time out in the sun this summer, and having sensitive skin that is prone to hyperpigmentation.  But on googling it, I'm slightly worried that it might by Acanthosis Nigricans, a skin condition caused by insulin spillover.  Yikes is right.  Specially considering my mother was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes two years ago out of nowhere.  And yes, I have been very irresponsible eating any kind of sweet at all, knowing this.

So the goal has been to drop refined sugars and starches, and it's proving EXTREMELY difficult.  My body is literally addicted to it.  I've been jittery and jumpy all week, jamming my mouth with almonds and cheese instead, sipping on black tea instead of my improvised mocha (Girardelli hot chocolate with milk and coffee...).  I know I'll come to love these snacks one day, but right now, they're just not hitting the right spot.

A couple of other things to get me on the right track towards better health:

1. Appointment with doc and get checked out to make sure I haven't given myself diabetes...Scary thought.

2. Join a gym and find a sport/activity that resonates with me - going to learn rock climbing at City Climbers Club next week!  I'll be the brown chick stuck on the wall a foot off the ground.

So, Friday night after work, a couple of friends and I planned to watch Tropic Thunder.  I had gotten the tickets early for the 8:20 show, then wandered in Barnes & Noble where I found a couple of interesting books (Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi and Divisadero by Michael Ondaatje), strolled over to Sephora and found the new Sephora by OPI nail polish collection.  I'm not much of a nail polish girl, except doing up my toes for summer, but I found myself really liking most of the colors they had.  I fell in love with this kind of brushed platinum color called Queen of Everything, which is extremely appropriate, so I plunked down the $9 for the 15mL bottle.  Now, I know I've mentioned the $4 30-page notebooks before, and now this nail polish, which has me a little concerned about the impression I'm making on the people who come across my posterous.  Because contrary to these few transgressions, I am not a spendthrift.  I'm more miserly than anything, really.  Anyway, moving on.

We ended up missing both the 8:20 and 10pm showings, and switched our tickets for the 10:55 show instead.  The movie was ridiculously funny.  As uncomfortable as Robert Downey Jr. in blackface initially made me, I still have to give him props.  Every word out of his mouth had me rolling on the floor, and his interactions with Brandon T. Jackson are priceless.  And then there's Tom Cruise, of course.  He's suddenly become so much more palatable.  Tom, please exercise some restraint from now on, thank you.

If you haven't already, go see the movie!

http://www.slackaction.com/signroll.htm

How awesome is that?!? I don't know about any of you, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled!

Evian doesn't taste like any other bottled water I've had before.  It has a slight saline flavor to it, and I don't like it. 

Aaaah, yes.  I am a spoiled American.

Another fantastic feeling: having a conversation or just hanging out with someone from your distant past.  Specially when said distant past becomes disjointed, almost as if it was never yours.  That person brings your past and present together, and with a satisfying 'click', makes you feel slightly more whole.

http://www.charmingwall.com/

Am I the last one to know about Pandora?!?  I LOVE Pandora!  If I get to carry Pandora around in my pocket, I will totally be sheep and get an iPhone!

But then, I am sheep in so many other ways...Perfect example: today, I was consumed with this incredibly vivid dream I had last night and I HAD to write it all down, all the little details, before I forgot.  But, it couldn't be just any paper or notebook.  And, pfft, type it up?  I'm too in love with the old-school.  This dream had to be recorded in the BEST NOTEBOOK EVER.  And you know who makes the coolest school supplies in the world?  The Japanese.  They make a lot of very ordinary things very cool.  So I sprinted through the torrential rains plaguing the city these days to Kinokuniya.  And purchased two notebooks, at $3.70 each.  Not too bad, right?  Except each notebook contain a mere 30 pages of paper.  I think it was totally worth it.  They are pretty, shut up!

I want to skip back over to Reno for a minute to give him a squeeze.  And blow a big ol' raspberry on his cheek.  There is no better feeling in the world than having a tiny body cling and curve itself around your own.  Bah.