March in Miami. We had to sleep with the air conditioner on last night. The temperatures have picked up and it is starting to get uncomfortable. Then again, I’m a temperature enigma: I’ll be sweating and whiny about the weather one minute and then shivering cold with goose bumps after 15 minutes in an air conditioned car. However, I’d rather be cold than be hot. Still, I know that dreaded summer is coming. The only reason I REALLY liked summer in Wisconsin was because school was out and there are fireworks on the 4th of July. I’m sure there are a few more reasons, but really, if I could design myself a universe it would be fall for half of the year, winter for two months, spring for three months, and June for 30 days. I could skip my birthday in August and be ageless as well.
In a perfect universe I would also have a ton of energy. And there would be no such thing as caffeine because I wouldn’t need it. I used to be a great sleeper. I’ve always had the dual fortune and misfortune of incredibly vivid dreams. Sometimes it is entertaining to see what my brain cooks up when I’m asleep, but lately these dreams are EXHAUSTING even if they are not nightmares. I’ve always been a tosser and a turner, but ever since I’ve lived with J, I’ve become a light sleeper to boot. The smallest noise will wake me up- this is incredibly inconvenient when you have to sleep with the windows open (another reason I like AC—white noise). I’ve taken to sleeping with ear plugs in. This results in comical just-before-sleep conversations with J, but they do help some. In my perfect universe I’d have a couple of switches in my brain: 1. Stop worrying, 2. Let it go, that dude’s just a jerk, no need to get mad, and 3. No, thanks- I don’t feel like dreaming tonight. Oh, and 4. Sleep immediately.
In my perfect universe the dishes would do themselves. Laundry would be free and do itself too. Spring cleaning would only take an afternoon. And I would tackle my to-do list: each item, every time. I’ve got a painting half-done, staring at me. I currently hate it. I’ve got dust bunnies mocking me from underneath the bed and couches. And I HAD a blog post nagging me in back of my head, but I’m conquering that “to-do” as I type. I shouldn’t be too hard on myself, though. We did get quite a bit accomplished recently. J filed taxes. We finally got decent frames for our wedding photos and they are hung. J started an herb garden that sits neatly on a window-sill. I started following a budget- not that I’m a big spender (and I’ve almost always balanced my checkbook) but it’s good to know where the money is going. Still… I really hate laundry.
My current universe is about to get a little more perfect. There is an impending arrival of several very important individuals. My mom, dad, and lil’ brother are coming to visit and I’ve been counting down the days in my planner. I keep seeing things in Miami thinking, “oh- they’ll like that” and “let’s be sure to drive this route with them.” I’m so excited to see them. It will be nice for them to see what I see and know what I mean when I talk about people, places, and things down here. J is able to go back to Wisconsin in May and I’m terribly jealous. I want to see family and friends. I want to eat cheese curds and frozen custard. I want to spend a week at my parent’s cabin reading books and sitting by a fire. Harrumph. Plus, he’ll be leaving me. All by myself. I am kind of dreading the ten days. I have “people I know” down here. J has some friends we’ve hung out with, but it is not the same as being able to call up all my friends and demand dinner dates, coffee runs, and movie extravaganzas. I enjoy my alone time probably more than most people. I can be a hermit and sometimes get sick of humans really fast, but still, I like my husband on those days and I’ll miss him when he’s in WI. (Eating delicious cheese and burgers and brats and being around friendly people and hearing the Northern accent and driving on relatively safe roads with 80% of the population being competent drivers…)
The new job is going well. I’ll withhold comment until I’ve been there long enough (one of the weeks I worked most people were gone for Spring Break). Some days are more tiring than others- hence the wish for a to-do list that does itself. The job has also allowed us to spend a bit more money and actually GO places. We’ve been to an NHL game (Florida Panthers- Go Cats!) and had a couple of dinner dates. Today we explored a cheaper botanical garden. I’m still partial to deciduous trees, but it was nice. Hot… I won’t be hanging out in a rainforesty place in the summer, but it was interesting. We’ve taken in more scenery… even if it is driving past some of the rich-people houses and gawking at their “humble lodgings.” When we are on lunch we sit by fountains or under trees- nature helps ease my anxieties. I’ve seen more turtles than I can count down here. Our campus has a pond full of them, as did the botanical garden. Anyone who knows me well knows I kind of have a thing for turtles. (Turtles and pandas and orangutans and hummingbirds and okapis and hippos and dogs and pythons [I’ll never pass up an Animal Planet special on them] and tree frogs… etc etc) We also took in the giant moon a couple of days ago. It was HUGE. Very cool. We started walking on the bridge that leads to Biscayne Bay and as we turned a corner there was a giant orange disc sitting in the sky at an angle that made it look like it was on the high point of the bridge ready to roll down at us in a moment. Paired with the Miami skyline at night it was very impressive.
There are some interesting sights in Miami. I’m glad we have funds to explore a bit of them now. I’m enjoying being married. It is just the two of us and we both believe it has been good for building the foundations of a partnership. To quote a movie I recently watched, “Me and you- just us two.” However, in a perfect universe I could teleport myself to my childhood home in seconds to have dinner with my family, see my lil’ brother’s concerts (he’s a trumpeter), nab friends for coffee, and take a break from the Miami heat.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
First Day Jitters
I’ll admit it- I’ve been bad. I haven’t updated the blog in FOREVER. But let me explain myself. See, the last post I wrote was about the job I had working in retail. And I chalk that experience up to one of the worst months in my life. So why on earth would you want to read anything from grumpy old me? Okay, I forgive myself for being complacent with posting now. You should forgive me too.
But all’s well that ends well! I left that job in retail for a much better one! I am now a secretary! I have always wanted to be a secretary as I like anything to do with organization and customer service. Plus it is at J’s school. So I cut my commute time and cost by a lot. We’ll carpool, and we’ll be able to have lunch together on campus once in awhile. The job is OFFICIALLY full-time. No 37 hours a week here! And while I’m not swimming in piles of cash, the pay is a way better reflection of my abilities and education.
Needless to say, I’ve been in a much better mood since I left that job-that-shall-no-longer-be-named-after-this-sentence 11 days ago. Those 11 days have been almost blissful. I’ve read four books. I’ve watched a movie (Stranger Than Fiction). I scrubbed my porcelain sink and tub clean. I did laundry. J and I swept and mopped the floors. I’ve been able to keep dishes out of the sink. I’ve actually MADE dinners instead of just assembled random foods to munch on. And I’ve not had to worry about driving to work or being under appreciated.
The last night of work I had was rough (okay- I mentioned it one more time) and it was made even worse by the fact that I was coming home at 11 PM (I said it was ROUGH) to grab my stuff and leave the apartment for 48 hours which actually turned into three nights and four days. Our landlords told us that the apartment was going to be fumigated for termites. J and I were in a tizzy- we had never had a home fumigated before. The chemicals they use are odorless and colorless and LETHAL if you come in before they air the place out. Your home is covered by a circus-like tent and everything that can be consumed must be either taken with you or stored in these bags that rip really easily. Pillows needed to be placed in bags and I took the extra precaution of taking almost everything off of horizontal surfaces. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with one of J’s classmates. There is no way we could have afforded a hotel for that long with two cats. (Speaking of, they hated us for days for disturbing their peace and moving them…)
The time at J’s friend’s apartment was actually pretty good. It was nice to talk to someone normal. We had dinners together, went grocery shopping at Whole Foods, she introduced us to a U-Pick Farm with the BEST strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers, and J helped her start an herb garden. I was anxious to get back home though to clean and re-organize my life. All of the plants that were around the apartment building turned black and withered away. A poor little lizard was a victim of the gassing and limply hung from the laundry door. I was grossed out, but luckily our neighbor removed his corpse so when I did my laundry I didn’t have to work around it… Ugh.
J and I got back into the swing of things now that we had a normal schedule again. We tried two recipes in addition to our usual menu. One was stuffed green peppers (stuffed with hot peppers quickly pickled in Red Wine Vinegar) topped with bacon. It was pretty good, but cutting the peppers set my hands on fire, so I was mostly angry eating them with the fork barely in my hands. The second recipe we made tonight and it was a big success: English Onion Soup. It’s like a blonde French Onion Soup. We used onions from the U-Pick Farm and chicken stock that we had made from a previous meal. We made our own croutons by broiling them in the oven, some we covered with a sharp Irish Cheddar cheese. I’m getting hungry for it again just writing about it.
The only sad news is that getting a puppy is set back by a couple more months. My car decided to take a turn for the worse. After $500 of preliminary repairs that we hoped would solve the problem, I noticed the car was misfiring after I started it on a chillier morning. Turns out three of our four fuel injectors were cracked and one was almost completely black. That was $1000. Well, at least my car runs much better now and I get even better gas mileage. But .:poof:. there went the money for a puppy. I’m glad we were able to cover the cost of the car. We’ll just have to keep saving those pennies…
I’m sorry the posts have been few and far between. Now that I’m on a regular schedule I won’t be so exhausted. Wish me luck for my new job tomorrow! It feels like the first day of school. I’m excited!
But all’s well that ends well! I left that job in retail for a much better one! I am now a secretary! I have always wanted to be a secretary as I like anything to do with organization and customer service. Plus it is at J’s school. So I cut my commute time and cost by a lot. We’ll carpool, and we’ll be able to have lunch together on campus once in awhile. The job is OFFICIALLY full-time. No 37 hours a week here! And while I’m not swimming in piles of cash, the pay is a way better reflection of my abilities and education.
Needless to say, I’ve been in a much better mood since I left that job-that-shall-no-longer-be-named-after-this-sentence 11 days ago. Those 11 days have been almost blissful. I’ve read four books. I’ve watched a movie (Stranger Than Fiction). I scrubbed my porcelain sink and tub clean. I did laundry. J and I swept and mopped the floors. I’ve been able to keep dishes out of the sink. I’ve actually MADE dinners instead of just assembled random foods to munch on. And I’ve not had to worry about driving to work or being under appreciated.
The last night of work I had was rough (okay- I mentioned it one more time) and it was made even worse by the fact that I was coming home at 11 PM (I said it was ROUGH) to grab my stuff and leave the apartment for 48 hours which actually turned into three nights and four days. Our landlords told us that the apartment was going to be fumigated for termites. J and I were in a tizzy- we had never had a home fumigated before. The chemicals they use are odorless and colorless and LETHAL if you come in before they air the place out. Your home is covered by a circus-like tent and everything that can be consumed must be either taken with you or stored in these bags that rip really easily. Pillows needed to be placed in bags and I took the extra precaution of taking almost everything off of horizontal surfaces. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with one of J’s classmates. There is no way we could have afforded a hotel for that long with two cats. (Speaking of, they hated us for days for disturbing their peace and moving them…)
The time at J’s friend’s apartment was actually pretty good. It was nice to talk to someone normal. We had dinners together, went grocery shopping at Whole Foods, she introduced us to a U-Pick Farm with the BEST strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers, and J helped her start an herb garden. I was anxious to get back home though to clean and re-organize my life. All of the plants that were around the apartment building turned black and withered away. A poor little lizard was a victim of the gassing and limply hung from the laundry door. I was grossed out, but luckily our neighbor removed his corpse so when I did my laundry I didn’t have to work around it… Ugh.
J and I got back into the swing of things now that we had a normal schedule again. We tried two recipes in addition to our usual menu. One was stuffed green peppers (stuffed with hot peppers quickly pickled in Red Wine Vinegar) topped with bacon. It was pretty good, but cutting the peppers set my hands on fire, so I was mostly angry eating them with the fork barely in my hands. The second recipe we made tonight and it was a big success: English Onion Soup. It’s like a blonde French Onion Soup. We used onions from the U-Pick Farm and chicken stock that we had made from a previous meal. We made our own croutons by broiling them in the oven, some we covered with a sharp Irish Cheddar cheese. I’m getting hungry for it again just writing about it.
The only sad news is that getting a puppy is set back by a couple more months. My car decided to take a turn for the worse. After $500 of preliminary repairs that we hoped would solve the problem, I noticed the car was misfiring after I started it on a chillier morning. Turns out three of our four fuel injectors were cracked and one was almost completely black. That was $1000. Well, at least my car runs much better now and I get even better gas mileage. But .:poof:. there went the money for a puppy. I’m glad we were able to cover the cost of the car. We’ll just have to keep saving those pennies…
I’m sorry the posts have been few and far between. Now that I’m on a regular schedule I won’t be so exhausted. Wish me luck for my new job tomorrow! It feels like the first day of school. I’m excited!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
First of February
Even though I had been down here unemployed since late August, the time has still flown by. As a child, it crawls like a snail. As a teenager in high school, due dates start whizzing towards you, but you still find yourself bored at times. In college, there is no such thing as bored: there are papers, exams, projects, parties, etc., etc., to fill up your time. And it just keeps going faster and faster.
Often I don’t really know what to say when I want to update my blog. I was unemployed and keeping myself fairly busy with job applications (some more intense than others), running a home, and filling my other time with devouring as much literature, television, and movies as I could handle. Of course I continued cooking, but how many times do you want to read that a meal turned out “okay” or that I burned something once again. (There was the horrible incident where I attempted Fried Mars Bars a la Fair Food, but I redeemed that with a moderately successful batch of turtle candy.)
I had a HUGE let-down for one job application. The process was over a month long and it entailed prep-work, a phone interview, studying a GRE math book, and a standardized test only to not be asked for the in-person interview. I was so upset I decided to cheer myself up by going on an online shopping spree: new socks and a couple of bandanas. Oooh, big spender, I know. I was contacted by a retail company I had applied for in September. They wanted to know if I was interested in a part-time job in Fort Lauderdale. Sorry- needed full-time. They asked me to still interview. They offered me the job with “full-time” hours (32-37/week) and benefits after three months. I felt like I was obligated. They had gone through the work to get the full-time hours and benefits approved. They met my wage request. I felt like I had been unemployed so long that I HAD to take it.
Well, I am working that job now and I learned my lesson: follow your instincts. I listen to my gut 9 times out of 10. The drive is killing me. I often work from 1:00 to 9:00 which means I leave my home at 11:45 am to fight traffic to get to the highway, get on the highway, pay the toll, fight the traffic to get to the express lane, pay more money for using an express lane, and get to work around 12:50 pm. Then the store closes at 9:00, on a good day closing procedures take 30 minutes, I get on the highway by 9:45 and get home around 10:30-45 after fighting more traffic and paying more tolls. There’s never really a lull in driving. Drivers are especially aggressive and careless here so I have to be at 100% when driving to make sure to avoid accidents and missing my turns. That’s just the drive. My car is pretty fuel efficient, but it still costs $10 a day to drive 75 miles roundtrip. And then there is the work. Retail, food service, and customer service jobs are hard. Plus the aesthetic of the store isn’t minimal like other stores (it’s crowded and cluttered) so we are constantly picking up after shoppers. The shoppers themselves are okay. But the pace is constant. The store just got a new manager and me (the assistant manager) and you can tell that no one has really been properly trained- including myself. Which means customers have to wait while we make calls to the manager to double check that we are doing things right. There are other things that I will not go into, but all of this combined with the fact that the work isn’t exactly rewarding and that I have 2 majors from a Big Ten school with a good GPA means that it is simply not a good fit- personally or financially.
Since I started the position on January 26th (not counting the two times I had to drive 75 miles to complete basic paperwork) I have been scheduled 8 days in a row. My days are long because of the commute and the hours are less than desirable. I had dinner with J for the first time in a week (he had massive school work) last night. I’m also going to spend between 16 and 20 hours of my life (depending on how traffic is that day) in the car. That is almost 1 full day out of the week dedicated to driving. So, needless to say, I’ve been busy. If I’m not driving to or from work, I’m working, or just getting home and going directly to bed. I managed to get some time this morning to write a blog post. (It means dishes will sit in the sink for the 4th day in a row.) So- sorry for not posting more- to the few folks who read this.
The one good thing about working in Ft. Lauderdale is that the cruise ships bring a lot of people in- people from the UK, from France, from Australia, and Canada. Canada is close enough to Wisconsin, eh? Feels like I’m talking to someone from home. (And if another person says that I say “baaaag” funny when I ask them if they want their receipt in the bag, I’m just going to put that “baaaag” over my head and walk out without a second glance back.)
Often I don’t really know what to say when I want to update my blog. I was unemployed and keeping myself fairly busy with job applications (some more intense than others), running a home, and filling my other time with devouring as much literature, television, and movies as I could handle. Of course I continued cooking, but how many times do you want to read that a meal turned out “okay” or that I burned something once again. (There was the horrible incident where I attempted Fried Mars Bars a la Fair Food, but I redeemed that with a moderately successful batch of turtle candy.)
I had a HUGE let-down for one job application. The process was over a month long and it entailed prep-work, a phone interview, studying a GRE math book, and a standardized test only to not be asked for the in-person interview. I was so upset I decided to cheer myself up by going on an online shopping spree: new socks and a couple of bandanas. Oooh, big spender, I know. I was contacted by a retail company I had applied for in September. They wanted to know if I was interested in a part-time job in Fort Lauderdale. Sorry- needed full-time. They asked me to still interview. They offered me the job with “full-time” hours (32-37/week) and benefits after three months. I felt like I was obligated. They had gone through the work to get the full-time hours and benefits approved. They met my wage request. I felt like I had been unemployed so long that I HAD to take it.
Well, I am working that job now and I learned my lesson: follow your instincts. I listen to my gut 9 times out of 10. The drive is killing me. I often work from 1:00 to 9:00 which means I leave my home at 11:45 am to fight traffic to get to the highway, get on the highway, pay the toll, fight the traffic to get to the express lane, pay more money for using an express lane, and get to work around 12:50 pm. Then the store closes at 9:00, on a good day closing procedures take 30 minutes, I get on the highway by 9:45 and get home around 10:30-45 after fighting more traffic and paying more tolls. There’s never really a lull in driving. Drivers are especially aggressive and careless here so I have to be at 100% when driving to make sure to avoid accidents and missing my turns. That’s just the drive. My car is pretty fuel efficient, but it still costs $10 a day to drive 75 miles roundtrip. And then there is the work. Retail, food service, and customer service jobs are hard. Plus the aesthetic of the store isn’t minimal like other stores (it’s crowded and cluttered) so we are constantly picking up after shoppers. The shoppers themselves are okay. But the pace is constant. The store just got a new manager and me (the assistant manager) and you can tell that no one has really been properly trained- including myself. Which means customers have to wait while we make calls to the manager to double check that we are doing things right. There are other things that I will not go into, but all of this combined with the fact that the work isn’t exactly rewarding and that I have 2 majors from a Big Ten school with a good GPA means that it is simply not a good fit- personally or financially.
Since I started the position on January 26th (not counting the two times I had to drive 75 miles to complete basic paperwork) I have been scheduled 8 days in a row. My days are long because of the commute and the hours are less than desirable. I had dinner with J for the first time in a week (he had massive school work) last night. I’m also going to spend between 16 and 20 hours of my life (depending on how traffic is that day) in the car. That is almost 1 full day out of the week dedicated to driving. So, needless to say, I’ve been busy. If I’m not driving to or from work, I’m working, or just getting home and going directly to bed. I managed to get some time this morning to write a blog post. (It means dishes will sit in the sink for the 4th day in a row.) So- sorry for not posting more- to the few folks who read this.
The one good thing about working in Ft. Lauderdale is that the cruise ships bring a lot of people in- people from the UK, from France, from Australia, and Canada. Canada is close enough to Wisconsin, eh? Feels like I’m talking to someone from home. (And if another person says that I say “baaaag” funny when I ask them if they want their receipt in the bag, I’m just going to put that “baaaag” over my head and walk out without a second glance back.)
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
To Wisconsin and Back Again
We went home for the holidays. It was so nice to be back in Wisconsin. I felt like I needed to make the most of each moment. I tried to see as many people as possible given the short amount of time I had and the other obligations I needed to fulfill. I spent as much time as possible with my family in the evenings. I went to Madison for less than seven hours. I drove to Lake Geneva and Johnson Creek to meet up with friends. I got my teeth cleaned (no cavities-yes!). I met with an Art Therapist to talk about the profession. I read a book. I got 5 inches cut off of my hair. I made it to the Comet Café for beer, bacon, and a good burger. I didn’t get custard… but there will always be other trips. I only got to see a fraction of the people I wanted to. When I left it felt like it was way too soon. And then I promptly got a major migraine when I landed in Florida. J chalks it up to the change in atmospheric pressure, but I think it is because my body was angry at having to come back. We came home to a ton of cat puke and hairballs. Our older cat wouldn’t stop yelling at us, and the next day we found our first (and hopefully last) cockroach. J felt it brushing his foot while doing the dishes and he thought it was a cat. And then he screamed. Ha ha.
J has thrown himself back into training for the upcoming half and full marathons and in his proposal for school work. I am exhausted… all of that running around in Wisconsin tired me out. I’ve just been cleaning and reading and cooking. I’ve also gone back to having unemployment weigh heavily on my mind. I find myself really wishing for a network in Miami right now… maybe then I would have a job and a bit of a social life. We are going to try to have J’s colleagues over for an American dinner as a thank you for the Chinese one we had with them a few weeks ago. I’m not that lonely though… just bored. I like to be alone. I spent my New Year’s Day by myself eating some of my favorite stuff at Panera while writing and reflecting on the past year (an exercise suggested by the magazine Whole Living). I window shopped at the nearby outdoor mall. I really enjoy days like that to myself, but I liked it more in Madison where you didn’t have to pay $6 in parking to eat and wander around and where I also knew my favorite spots. At least the weather is nice here. I went from a winter coat in Wisconsin to shorts here. (I still prefer having seasons and being able to actually wear my cute sweaters…)
That’s pretty much it for now. I figured I should write a little about the past couple of weeks. For now I’m going to watch a movie from Netflix…
J has thrown himself back into training for the upcoming half and full marathons and in his proposal for school work. I am exhausted… all of that running around in Wisconsin tired me out. I’ve just been cleaning and reading and cooking. I’ve also gone back to having unemployment weigh heavily on my mind. I find myself really wishing for a network in Miami right now… maybe then I would have a job and a bit of a social life. We are going to try to have J’s colleagues over for an American dinner as a thank you for the Chinese one we had with them a few weeks ago. I’m not that lonely though… just bored. I like to be alone. I spent my New Year’s Day by myself eating some of my favorite stuff at Panera while writing and reflecting on the past year (an exercise suggested by the magazine Whole Living). I window shopped at the nearby outdoor mall. I really enjoy days like that to myself, but I liked it more in Madison where you didn’t have to pay $6 in parking to eat and wander around and where I also knew my favorite spots. At least the weather is nice here. I went from a winter coat in Wisconsin to shorts here. (I still prefer having seasons and being able to actually wear my cute sweaters…)
That’s pretty much it for now. I figured I should write a little about the past couple of weeks. For now I’m going to watch a movie from Netflix…
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Lost In Translation
Today is turning out to be a good day. Number 1: It is raining! Finally! I love rain. Number 2: My friend E sent me snowflakes yesterday and I decorated the apartment with them. In the package was also a mix of spices that I have simmering on the stove and they smell better than any candle. Number 3: I finally got my package from Jo-Ann Fabrics. I ordered it on Cyber Monday! I am getting a little cleaning done and in general I am having a low-key day by myself.
I needed a good day after a string of a few that leaned towards the melancholy. I don’t have very many “BAD” days now, but there are still a few where I feel slightly lonely and a little crummy about this whole lack-of-job and therefore lack-of-money thing. I kept thinking back to the Sophia Coppola movie: Lost in Translation. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, here is the storyline that I copied from IMDB:
Bob Harris is an American film actor, far past his prime. He visits Tokyo to appear in commercials, and he meets Charlotte, the young wife of a visiting photographer. Bored and weary, Bob and Charlotte make ideal if improbable traveling companions. Charlotte is looking for "her place in life," and Bob is tolerating a mediocre stateside marriage. Both separately and together, they live the experience of the American in Tokyo. Bob and Charlotte suffer both confusion and hilarity due to the cultural and language differences between themselves and the Japanese. As the relationship between Bob and Charlotte deepens, they come to the realization that their visits to Japan, and one another, must soon end. Or must they?
Sometimes I feel like Charlotte here in Miami. (Not the whole part of the movie where her husband pays little attention to her… J is a wonderful husband.) She spends her days in the hotel room listening to CDs, staring out the window, or sometimes walking around Tokyo and Kyoto. At least she has beautiful, free, things to go see like the temples. Here everything costs an arm and a leg. J and I looked up the price to the local botanical garden: $25 EACH! In Madison, it is FREE and they have a beautiful Thai pagoda. In Milwaukee, they cost no more than $7 each for residents. Plus, I don’t feel very safe here, so I’d rather not venture out on my own. I can relate to Charlotte and Bob’s feelings of confusion regarding cultural norms. There is definitely the Latina culture down here, but also the Miami culture where money speaks and those without it are silenced and are shoved into the demeaning service industry.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from Lost in Translation (I feel like Bob in the first one, and Charlotte in the second):
~~~
Bob: Can you keep a secret? I'm trying to organize a prison break. I'm looking for, like, an accomplice. We have to first get out of this bar, then the hotel, then the city, and then the country. Are you in or you out?
Charlotte: I'm in. I'll go pack my stuff.
Bob: I hope that you've had enough to drink. It's going to take courage.
~~~
Charlotte: I just don't know what I'm supposed to be.
Bob: You'll figure that out. The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.
~~~
Yesterday was a great example of being “lost in translation.” I had to go take care of some business and it brought J and me to Little Havana. It was like being in a different country. People spoke to us first in Spanish and then slightly broken English, which led to a conversation that was hard to understand on both ends. (I’m becoming increasingly aware of my Noooorthern accent.) After leaving Little Havana, we went for lunch. We headed towards our apartment and decided to stop at the Miracle Mile (think an expensive Brady Street or State Street with valets and more than ten high-end bridal boutiques). Finding parking was a headache and impossible on a Friday afternoon (did you know that no one in Miami works on a Friday afternoon?) and we decided to settle for Pollo Tropical instead. I regret that.
We walked in and once again we were the only white folks. I don’t have an issue with that. I’m getting very used to it, it is just that I know that communication is going to be tricky and that is the part I dread. I try to come off nice and sweet to the people working behind the counter, but they look at me like I’m some jerk because I must be mocking them. No one in Miami is nice like people in Wisconsin can be genuinely nice to one another. When there are white people behind the counter at these places, chances are they are transplants from New York, New Jersey, or the Carolinas and they are more likely to smile back at you. So, after ordering our food with some difficulty, and navigating my way to a table in this jam-packed dirty, little, joint, I had time to people-watch.
People-watching is one of the only consolations to living in this crazy city. There were tiny little old ladies, business men, police men, middle-aged women, and teenagers eating. The most interesting people were these two guys who were wearing wife-beater tank tops, rosaries, and had tattoos of semi-automatic rifles on their arms. One was bald on his head, but he had a very hairy back and arms. I did my best not to gawk while they daintily ate the HUGE spread of chicken, rice, and beans in front of them. When they walked out, the Miami version of the Jersey Shore guys walked in. These four men were more groomed than I was, with bulging, too-tan muscles, fancy t-shirts, and even fancier pants. Yes, fancy pants. I distrust men who wear rhinestones on their strategically distressed jeans. After J finished his chicken, I made him leave because I was ready to go home and relax. But Fridays are always grocery shopping days and that’s not the most relaxing thing either.
So, today is my day to relax. I’m listening to my Pandora (The Sound of Settling, by Death Cab for Cutie), I chatted with my mom and one of my old college friends on the phone, I got two of my small wedding pictures framed and decorative twigs in my vase (since the Jo-Ann’s package finally came), I dusted some blinds and will have to do more, and soon I’ll be considering what to make my handsome husband when he comes home from a long day at the office doing research. You have to be able to enjoy the little things that make you happy… (even if it is silently laughing at grown men wearing sparkly, fancy-pants.)
I needed a good day after a string of a few that leaned towards the melancholy. I don’t have very many “BAD” days now, but there are still a few where I feel slightly lonely and a little crummy about this whole lack-of-job and therefore lack-of-money thing. I kept thinking back to the Sophia Coppola movie: Lost in Translation. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, here is the storyline that I copied from IMDB:
Bob Harris is an American film actor, far past his prime. He visits Tokyo to appear in commercials, and he meets Charlotte, the young wife of a visiting photographer. Bored and weary, Bob and Charlotte make ideal if improbable traveling companions. Charlotte is looking for "her place in life," and Bob is tolerating a mediocre stateside marriage. Both separately and together, they live the experience of the American in Tokyo. Bob and Charlotte suffer both confusion and hilarity due to the cultural and language differences between themselves and the Japanese. As the relationship between Bob and Charlotte deepens, they come to the realization that their visits to Japan, and one another, must soon end. Or must they?
Sometimes I feel like Charlotte here in Miami. (Not the whole part of the movie where her husband pays little attention to her… J is a wonderful husband.) She spends her days in the hotel room listening to CDs, staring out the window, or sometimes walking around Tokyo and Kyoto. At least she has beautiful, free, things to go see like the temples. Here everything costs an arm and a leg. J and I looked up the price to the local botanical garden: $25 EACH! In Madison, it is FREE and they have a beautiful Thai pagoda. In Milwaukee, they cost no more than $7 each for residents. Plus, I don’t feel very safe here, so I’d rather not venture out on my own. I can relate to Charlotte and Bob’s feelings of confusion regarding cultural norms. There is definitely the Latina culture down here, but also the Miami culture where money speaks and those without it are silenced and are shoved into the demeaning service industry.
Here are some of my favorite quotes from Lost in Translation (I feel like Bob in the first one, and Charlotte in the second):
~~~
Bob: Can you keep a secret? I'm trying to organize a prison break. I'm looking for, like, an accomplice. We have to first get out of this bar, then the hotel, then the city, and then the country. Are you in or you out?
Charlotte: I'm in. I'll go pack my stuff.
Bob: I hope that you've had enough to drink. It's going to take courage.
~~~
Charlotte: I just don't know what I'm supposed to be.
Bob: You'll figure that out. The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.
~~~
Yesterday was a great example of being “lost in translation.” I had to go take care of some business and it brought J and me to Little Havana. It was like being in a different country. People spoke to us first in Spanish and then slightly broken English, which led to a conversation that was hard to understand on both ends. (I’m becoming increasingly aware of my Noooorthern accent.) After leaving Little Havana, we went for lunch. We headed towards our apartment and decided to stop at the Miracle Mile (think an expensive Brady Street or State Street with valets and more than ten high-end bridal boutiques). Finding parking was a headache and impossible on a Friday afternoon (did you know that no one in Miami works on a Friday afternoon?) and we decided to settle for Pollo Tropical instead. I regret that.
We walked in and once again we were the only white folks. I don’t have an issue with that. I’m getting very used to it, it is just that I know that communication is going to be tricky and that is the part I dread. I try to come off nice and sweet to the people working behind the counter, but they look at me like I’m some jerk because I must be mocking them. No one in Miami is nice like people in Wisconsin can be genuinely nice to one another. When there are white people behind the counter at these places, chances are they are transplants from New York, New Jersey, or the Carolinas and they are more likely to smile back at you. So, after ordering our food with some difficulty, and navigating my way to a table in this jam-packed dirty, little, joint, I had time to people-watch.
People-watching is one of the only consolations to living in this crazy city. There were tiny little old ladies, business men, police men, middle-aged women, and teenagers eating. The most interesting people were these two guys who were wearing wife-beater tank tops, rosaries, and had tattoos of semi-automatic rifles on their arms. One was bald on his head, but he had a very hairy back and arms. I did my best not to gawk while they daintily ate the HUGE spread of chicken, rice, and beans in front of them. When they walked out, the Miami version of the Jersey Shore guys walked in. These four men were more groomed than I was, with bulging, too-tan muscles, fancy t-shirts, and even fancier pants. Yes, fancy pants. I distrust men who wear rhinestones on their strategically distressed jeans. After J finished his chicken, I made him leave because I was ready to go home and relax. But Fridays are always grocery shopping days and that’s not the most relaxing thing either.
So, today is my day to relax. I’m listening to my Pandora (The Sound of Settling, by Death Cab for Cutie), I chatted with my mom and one of my old college friends on the phone, I got two of my small wedding pictures framed and decorative twigs in my vase (since the Jo-Ann’s package finally came), I dusted some blinds and will have to do more, and soon I’ll be considering what to make my handsome husband when he comes home from a long day at the office doing research. You have to be able to enjoy the little things that make you happy… (even if it is silently laughing at grown men wearing sparkly, fancy-pants.)
Saturday, December 11, 2010
The Cheese Grater Incident
J and I have been going about our usual business. He has been busier recently with finals and research. Every week goes the same: Friday night we go grocery shopping, Saturday J watches sports and I try to ignore them, Sunday we end up doing a crazy amount of housework and he does homework, Monday I begin the job search again and J goes back to campus all day-every day. I like Friday nights and Saturdays the best because we spend the most time together.
Except this Friday. This Friday stunk. I started to grate cheese for a home-made pizza. I got a cup or so done before I did a nice little number on the knuckle on my thumb. The shock set in immediately and I shouted to J, “Band-Aid! Band-Aid!” But he didn’t take me seriously at first because I was doing a little jig at the time… it was a nervous jig and I was holding my thumb and when I let go I left a nice little trail of blood. It is not that the sight of blood bothers me. It is just when my blood leaves my body in large quantities does it bother me. I usually faint when I have blood tests done. So I knew the feeling that was coming- my face was losing color, the back of my neck was sweaty, and my knees were giving in. Luckily I didn’t faint. I just cried. And J just watched because he wasn’t sure where the Band-Aids were and he wasn’t sure what to do. He eventually handed me some cotton swabs which I promptly bled through. Long story short, my thumb still hurts pretty bad. Typing is tolerable but holding a pen is quite painful. Inconvenient. This morning I called my parents because J wasn’t being very sympathetic. :) Hey mister- that pizza was dinner for you! Upon their suggestion I got myself to a pharmacy for proper first-aid items. $11 later I cannot tell if it is working.
This is almost as bad as the time when I stuck my hand on the stove burner to prove it wasn’t on when it was. I had a nice spiral burn the next day. Or the time when I accidentally kicked the paper cutter that was on the floor with the blade open… but those are stories for another day.
Except this Friday. This Friday stunk. I started to grate cheese for a home-made pizza. I got a cup or so done before I did a nice little number on the knuckle on my thumb. The shock set in immediately and I shouted to J, “Band-Aid! Band-Aid!” But he didn’t take me seriously at first because I was doing a little jig at the time… it was a nervous jig and I was holding my thumb and when I let go I left a nice little trail of blood. It is not that the sight of blood bothers me. It is just when my blood leaves my body in large quantities does it bother me. I usually faint when I have blood tests done. So I knew the feeling that was coming- my face was losing color, the back of my neck was sweaty, and my knees were giving in. Luckily I didn’t faint. I just cried. And J just watched because he wasn’t sure where the Band-Aids were and he wasn’t sure what to do. He eventually handed me some cotton swabs which I promptly bled through. Long story short, my thumb still hurts pretty bad. Typing is tolerable but holding a pen is quite painful. Inconvenient. This morning I called my parents because J wasn’t being very sympathetic. :) Hey mister- that pizza was dinner for you! Upon their suggestion I got myself to a pharmacy for proper first-aid items. $11 later I cannot tell if it is working.
This is almost as bad as the time when I stuck my hand on the stove burner to prove it wasn’t on when it was. I had a nice spiral burn the next day. Or the time when I accidentally kicked the paper cutter that was on the floor with the blade open… but those are stories for another day.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Homework! Oh, Homework!
In middle school Language Arts we were asked to recite a poem by memory. I chose “Homework! Oh, Homework!” by Jack Prelutsky. I still remember it word for word to this day (more than the poem “Who Goes with Fergus?” by Yeats that I had to memorize for a college English course, it just wasn’t as catchy…). In case you aren’t familiar with the artistry that is children’s poetry, I’ll copy and paste it below:
Homework! Oh, Homework!
by Jack Prelutsky
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
away in the sink.
If only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're giving me fits.
I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework
my teacher assigns.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're last on my list.
I simply can't see
why you even exist.
If you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
Anyways, there is a point to this post regarding childhood disdain towards homework. It is this: WHY AM I STILL DOING HOMEWORK?!?
Okay, so I am not doing “traditional” homework, but I feel like everyday there is a task, chore, or item to attend to that sucks as much as doing homework did for the last 18 years. Trying to sort out loan business, having to organize paperwork that piles up, getting the mildew off of the shower walls, doing the dishes three times a day, remembering birthdays, trying to compile recipes, and forwarding e-mails from my soon to be extinct student account (I saved almost all of the e-mails I sent and received for the last three years of college). I should know that life is full of boring, tedious chores and I should just get over it. I guess I’ll be working until I’m dead, if I’m not striving for two college degrees while working three jobs, I’ll be plugging away at little items like grocery shopping and paying the bills.
The only researching that I am enjoying is puppy researching. I am just struggling with being impatient for said future puppy. Here’s hoping I land a job soon so we can take a step towards this happy goal!
Homework! Oh, Homework!
by Jack Prelutsky
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
I wish I could wash you
away in the sink.
If only a bomb
would explode you to bits.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're giving me fits.
I'd rather take baths
with a man-eating shark,
or wrestle a lion
alone in the dark,
eat spinach and liver,
pet ten porcupines,
than tackle the homework
my teacher assigns.
Homework! Oh, homework!
You're last on my list.
I simply can't see
why you even exist.
If you just disappeared
it would tickle me pink.
Homework! Oh, homework!
I hate you! You stink!
Anyways, there is a point to this post regarding childhood disdain towards homework. It is this: WHY AM I STILL DOING HOMEWORK?!?
Okay, so I am not doing “traditional” homework, but I feel like everyday there is a task, chore, or item to attend to that sucks as much as doing homework did for the last 18 years. Trying to sort out loan business, having to organize paperwork that piles up, getting the mildew off of the shower walls, doing the dishes three times a day, remembering birthdays, trying to compile recipes, and forwarding e-mails from my soon to be extinct student account (I saved almost all of the e-mails I sent and received for the last three years of college). I should know that life is full of boring, tedious chores and I should just get over it. I guess I’ll be working until I’m dead, if I’m not striving for two college degrees while working three jobs, I’ll be plugging away at little items like grocery shopping and paying the bills.
The only researching that I am enjoying is puppy researching. I am just struggling with being impatient for said future puppy. Here’s hoping I land a job soon so we can take a step towards this happy goal!
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