All the things you always meant to

Within 7 days (last weekend through this one), I will be able to check 6 items off of my list of "Things I've been meaning to do."

1) Camping. This will be the first of many trips for me in my adulthood. Western Pennsylvania is fakely wild and is a great place to "starter" camps, which is fine by me because I'm mostly here for the food.

2) The Renaissance Festival. My friend and I made half-baked plans to work there next year as character actors-- which will probably never happen.

3)Roller Skating. The first step towards roller derby. I went last Saturday and we are going again this weekend

4) Rock Climbing. This was so much fun! I did this tonight with a co-worker and his roommate who are fairly experienced. I'm probably going to pay for this tomorrow when I can't lift my arms. The Climbing Wall, by the East End Food Co-Op, was a really nice place with a lot of options for beginners. So fun!

5)24 Hour Comic Book Day. I have cleared my calendar to make this happen this year because it never seems to work out. I am going to start at 8am instead of 10am on Saturday just because I want to spend some time out of my house.

6)Apple Picking. We are going to an orchard to pick apples and pumpkins! It's Fall!

I feel like striking out on my own has helped me to turn over a new leaf. Though I feel silly about waiting so long to do these things, I'm glad that they are happening now.

Knitting Circle

It's Fall ! I'm excited this year and I can tell because I try on my new faux-leather jacket every morning as I check the weather. I've already worn tights...and winter boots...and fingerless gloves (in my house).


Tonight, some ladies and I got together and did the first knitting group of the season. The number of crafters in my life grows all the time-- which is exciting! It's fun to spend time with like-minded people who want to hang out and make shit.

I'm working on a number of trial projects-- mostly because I am not ready to commit to anything big and my attention span is pretty short. Pics to come!

Sick Rituals

I'm home sick today and I think I needed a break from life. I always push myself to work through my impending sickness and I always end up getting really, REALLY sick instead of just a little sick. Listening to your body is hard work especially when you disagree with what she is saying. I probably over-did it this weekend with camping and the Renaissance Festival. The change in weather happened so fast that I was not ready for this.

The wave of illness and disease has been washing over various colleagues in my workplace and we've all been talking about our favorite ways of combating getting sick.

Right now, I am wearing a shirt, two sweatshirts, fingerless gloves, a winter hat, sweatpants, legwarmers and fuzzy socks in an effort to stay warm. My friend, Josef, told us that he used to layer up, drink as much orange juice as possible, and lock himself in a room for a day. I guess I am employing his method, only instead of OJ, I am drinking my favorite panacea.

3- ginger slices (I cut mine into coin-sized medallions)
1- lemon wedge, squeezed,
2- dashes of cayenne pepper

Throw in a mug and fill with the hottest water you can find. The spicy ginger and cayenne soothes my sore throat-- plus this drink is gross to sip cold. I think this is a number of the components used in the Master Cleanse cocktail, however, I got hooked on this stuff when I was raw-foods detoxing a few years ago. It tastes kind of like weak broth.

My other favorite things to do when I am sick are:
- Watch teen movies (like Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You, Can't Hardly Wait, and more)
- Drink a Hot Tottie right before taking the hottest shower ever and then go to bed
- Hot showers to sweat out the sick
- Eat pizza (before I became allergic to cheese)
- Read comic books in bed until I fall asleep
- Nap -- which I am going to do right now

I used to be good at the internet

Three or so years ago, I used to be a proficient blogger. True story. I was not the kind of blogger who wrote about interesting topics or had a large following, however, my friends and I all seemed to have Livejournals and we wrote about everything almost every day.

I've been trying to stretch my memory back to the times before graduate school, when I was not afraid of being exposed by the world wide web and having it cost me me job or future employment. My resolve still wavers back and forth between the desire to put myself out there in the projects that I do and my fear of losing my anonymity. I worry the the internet is endless and that eventually it all cycles back in your face and into the eyes of others. How do people stand the international shame of starring in a YouTube video with twenty-gazillion hits where everyone is laughing at your misfortunes caught on tape? I never understood how people were able to qualify for serious-business-type jobs after posing for Playboy, or being one of the ladies in the Girls Gone Wild TV commercials, or being on reality TV in any capacity.

My writer friends don't blog because if they write something truly compelling and it is available on the internet, they probably can't get that piece published. My fear does not have such ambitious roots, rather it stems from a paranoia I have yet to name.

I lost part of myself in graduate school. If it is not completely gone, it has become scattered or forgotten and I am trying to get back to some piece of that place.

Two Ways to Skate

I've been playing ice hockey for the past 6+ months now and I think it is going really well. The range of options for adults to get ice time during the summer is pretty amazing. I was so used to playing in all different pick up games and hockey clinics that I feel like I am now going through some kind of withdrawal. I haven't been on the ice in almost two weeks and I'm getting the itch.

School is back in session and school and travel teams are going back into pre-season. Even if I can sign up for all of the hockey options available to me, I probably won't have more than one or two days a week of hockey instruction and skills time. This sharp decrease in my activity level is difficult to adjust to.

I've been considering roller derby again. A few years ago, I went through the process of preparing for tryouts, but I was accepted to graduate school and chose that instead. Now that I have been skating on ice for a solid year and a half, I am re-considering derby.

Tonight we went and saw the Steel City Derby Demons scrimmage and it was a lot of fun! Those ladies get better every time I see them! A few weeks ago, I talked to one of my friends who plays on their "A" team, the Steel Hurtin', and I have been window-shopping online for skates ever since. Even if I don't end up trying out in 2011, I figure that everyone can use a solid pair of recreational skates, right? I think I want the blue ones, but I saw that they also come in purple.

One of my biggest fears is that the skills from one sport will not transfer to the other and I will end up being bad at both. For now, the best I can do is skate and see, though I have already dreamed up a kick-ass derby name.

Lust List 9-8-10