Straight Talk about "Tough Interrogation"

I know this is a bit heavy for a lite and kicky blog such as mine, but I saw this clip and appreciated it so much that I wanted to share it with any interested parties.

They better be worth it!

Subtitle: Seriously, I am THAT cheap.

Last night I bought these sandals:
At $59, they are by far the most expensive shoes I've ever purchased (including winter boots. including the shoes I wore to prom).

Historically, I have always just purchased whatever was on sale and made it work. But now that I've decided to only buy things that I love, shopping is much more complicated. Shoes are the hardest--I'm quite picky. In addition to thinking that most shoes in the market today are ugly, I have lots of double standards: I only like wearing sandals in the summer, but I don't like too much of my feet to show. I only like wearing high heels, but I want my shoes to be comfortable. I'm only getting one pair of sandals so I need them to match with everything, but I only like bright colors.

I'm claiming these orange sandals are neutral because they sort of match my skin. In the store, they were so comfortable it was only slightly less pleasurable than strapping little clouds to my feet. While the long-term durability of the "cloud effect" remains to be seen, I'm hoping this will be a long and happy relationship.

The Treasures of Blog Surfing

The smile on my face must have been as big as the whole outdoors the entire time I was watching this. It was a big favorite in the Bluemlein family, but I never knew there was a video.

I Was Wrong

Concerning my last post, I was mistaken regarding several key factors:

1. If I'd realized how incredible the party I was going to that night on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (yes, THE New York Stock Exchange) was going to be, it WOULD have cheered me right up. We got a private after-hours tour from a gentleman who has been working there 30 years. We got our picture taken at the place where they ring the bell. And the party was way swanky. (sorry for the bad picture quality--I don't have a scanner so this is a picture of the picture. if I get a scan, I'll replace it)

2. I got to go on my first bike ride of the year yesterday and everything was beautiful and green. So, even though it was totally lame that it rained for two weeks straight and I didn't get to enjoy the flowers in the sunshine and the excessive amounts of rain made all the trees lose their blossoms early, I guess some good did come out of it.

3. When it rains again (tomorrow) I will be ready. My roommate is de-junking and gave me these totally awesome Wellies. Even in the rain, life seems better when I don't have to wear ugly black boots. (If they look industrial or farm-like it's just because of the picture. Not that there's anything wrong with that.)

Moisture

Just about every other place I've ever lived has been surrounded by farmland. So whenever it would rain for, say, 14 days straight you could say "Well at least it's helping the farmers."

But when you live in Manhattan and there are no farms for miles and miles it all seems like a waste. A horrible, inconvenient waste.

I feel like I'm back in Alaska. Only the rain doesn't even smell nice here because there's no soil. But at least the road to my house isn't caving in under the mud twice a day like it did in Denali.

Am I being a negative Nelly? I guess two weeks without sun (especially in the middle of spring) does that to me.

Even the cool party I'm going to at the Stock Market tonight is not entirely to cheer me up entirely.

Sweet Victory

My roommate has a friend staying with us a few days.

She said to me, "You have such a beautiful apartment! The decorations are so happy!"

My first attempt at beautifying a space has been a success.

It feels good.

Blast from the Past

My saintly sister Heather has taken the project of scanning all the Bluemlein family photos. Bless her! I wanted to share with you some of the highlights:

Me and some cousins playing in the mud


These two are legendary within the family. The first for absolute adorableness, the second for some random reason I couldn't tell you.

Me as a baby

My first Halloween (or possibly just another day with the dress up clothes)

Grandma visiting shortly after my birth

There were others that I wanted to share, but for some reason, my computer is not recognizing their existence. Maybe later.

Thank you Heather for your diligent work! And also, a shout-out to my seester Ann for starting the project.

Going ons

How is it that even in nature, everything cool happens in the Village first? The daffodils are up everywhere, but I have only seen blooming trees in the West Village. They are gorgeous.

I've been going to the West Village a lot lately (3 of the last 3 weekdays) because my new favorite thing is there: Yogurt-land I love it so much.

Another thing I am loving these days is Ticket to Ride. It turns out it's not just a Carpentar's song, but also a very fun, highly addictive board game. I've played 4 of the last 8 days. Here's a picture of my first ever victory. (I'm yellow which you can't see very clearly, but trust me. I won.)

In other news, Sunday I was at a friend's house for an Easter morning breakfast/singing party and on our way out, I saw this note from her super posted in the hallway.

Today I paid my taxes. Unlike last year, I only owe $7. Yipee! And I'm actually getting a tad back from the state! I sent my $7 check in a pretty card with a bright blue envelope. I hope that gives them some cheer at the IRS office. I bet it's not a fun time to work there. Everyone hates taxes, but really it's just the price we pay for living in a civilized world.

I went to Paris

I bet you thought I forgot. But no, two months later I will now blog report about my vacation to Paris. (I'll report on London later.)

I went to Paris.

I did all the things you would expect one to do in Paris.

Saw the Eiffel Tower

And Notre Dame (this is the back view, which I think is prettier) (the inside of Notre Dame was my favorite thing in the city)

And the Paris Opera House


And the Arc d'Triomphe

And all sorts of wonderful bridges over the Seine

And I ate lots of cheese and baguettes

I even got to go see Vinceness--the very very old fort/castle/suburb that the little city in Indiana where I grew up was named after




It was also a time of very "classy" eating. While we mostly ate frozen dinners, we did enjoy a spurge eating on the famous Champ-Elysee (at a McDonalds), another day I had a Parisian hot dog. (I KNOW it's a dumb thing they made up for the tourists, but it was yummy! I LOVE hot dogs!!!)

It was a very lovely trip, made all the better by being with a good friend, who doubled as possibly the world's best tour guide. I don't think I could have asked for a better trip.

"We're neither pure nor wise nor good ...

"...We'll do the best we know. We'll build our house and chop our wood and make our garden grow."

This profound truth from high school lit, re-manifested by Bernstein's take on Voltaire's brilliant truth has been on my mind today.



Now, compare that with the profound truth of Thoreau: "Go confidentially in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imaged."

Seemingly contradictory ideas, but I think that they actually fit together in a very very rich and meaningful way. Combine those two and I think you've pretty much got it figured out.

I've included the song around which these thoughts are based for your listening enjoyment. Bernstein sure knows how to throw down a tune.