in knots

As summer looms I have been strangely turned on by knots.
Yes, knots.



I have never touched ocean waters. Yes, yes, I know. But this week all I can think about is how much I want to go SAILING. I have never been sailing. I have no close friends who sail. I would quit my job today if some one would offer to take me on a sailboat for the summer and teach me to tie really incredible knots.

Then I would be both a sailor and a genius at macrame.

Requisite picture of my favorite boatsman, Desmond:

girl crush

I have been nurturing a big girl-crush on Florence Welch for the past few months. I would like her hair, please. And her overflowing vocals. And her articulate but off-the-cuff British accent.

This may be the first in my "hot ginger ladies who I want to be like" series.

my 2009 workout obsession

saturdays at noon, oklahoma and canada go bollywood.

To Resolve

Turns out I am now old enough, and boring enough, to feel motivated to make New Year's Resolutions.

1. I will be more socially active. The Canadian and I have discussed making a weekly happy hour commitment. This goes hand in hand with my vow to attend more social events/get out more/ make an effort to engage new people. Which is why I went out and was awkward at a party tonight instead of remaining on the couch, watching When Harry Met Sally.

2. I will read more. No one would ever know I was an English major in college. Or that I have literary inclinations. Or that I have a brain. That's because at some point I stopped reading very much. But I think I have figured out the cause of my delinquency, and so I directed myself into a non-fiction kick, which I expect to continue. Not because I declare it so, but because I want it so.

3. I will blog more. Ooooh, how meta.

Russians love Palin

These guys are kind of genius.

I tend to pretend I know things

I was waiting at a fairly empty metrobus station last night for a bus I had never taken, to go to a place I had never been. What the marquis on the bus that pulled up in front of stop 23A and opened its doors should have read was, "23A." Instead it read, "NOT IN SERVICE."

Clearly this was untrue.

However, I was nervous this was not my bus. I thought "Perhaps down here in Virginia, a young lady cannot trust her bussing instincts. What if this bus takes me to Anacostia? And what if I am then assaulted or someone pees on my pashmina? Or worse, what if I miss my audition? Then I'm screwed."

An affluent young Asian guy in a delightful sand-colored v-neck sweater asked me as we waited in the small queue to board the bus, "Is this 23A?"

I gave him a bored look through my glasses, glanced up at the sign, sighed the sigh of an experienced 23A rider and said, "Yeah." Duh.

I want to be a kid again

I'm currently at theatre camp. Writing this from my bunk, while the girls toss and turn, and technically I have only 5 minutes left of "flashlight time," if I'm being totally honest. But I'll go far beyond that.

My favorite FAVORITE thing about camp is how much the campers adore each other. A handful of them have known each other for upwards of 5 years, camp is where their souls live, where they are totally safe. They are both encouraged and independently moved to support one another and build each other up, and they do it very well.

Tonight the plays were cast. That's a tough night. People are ecstatic, crushed and on the edge of something new. But these kids love each other. The people they've known for 1-6 years. The people they've known for 3 days. Tonight I watched a camper whose 5th summer this is, who may or may not be excited about his part, I couldn't tell, I watched him put his arm around a first time camper, congratulate him on his part, tousle his hair, and say, "I'm so proud of you, man," before bear hugging the new kid.

I love it here. Where else in the world do you find people so devoted to each other and what they're doing that they can find in their hearts that kind of love in a matter of days? Young people have a natural gift for it. These kids have naturally open and honest hearts.

Several times a day I think, "I wish I was a camper."