Vanity

I’ve always considered myself a pretty “low-maintenance” person, but I know that over the last few years that’s changed a bit. Sometimes I have lazy days, and sometimes I get super-particular (usually for a conference or interview).

A few years ago I got on the pill and that totally took care of my acne. Most amazing drug ever. But I switched BC earlier this summer and as a result have discovered acne again. Uncool.

Adding to my self-consciousness, I had to wear my glasses for the last month. It sounds whiny, but glasses and I don’t get along. First of all, my current pair was purchased specifically because I wouldn’t wear them a lot: the color doesn’t go with my skin or hair colors, the shape doesn’t flatter my ridiculous eyebrows, and I specifically turned down the anti-glare coating because I don’t wear them that much. And there’s no good way to wear sunglasses, which I’ve come to depend on.

Fortunately, I finally got some contacts (long story). And I sucked it up and went to Clinique. I have zero experience with non-drugstore-caliber skin products, so I’m swimming blind here.

Please let me know which skin care products you like! I am not afraid to try new things (and spend a little money figuring out what is best). I should probably cave and get a Makeup Alley account. And when I hit 30, I am buying whatever wrinkle-protection stuff there is. Although hopefully my vigorous anti-sun regimen will pay off in that regard, too!

Dream Job

I know I’ve said it plenty of times before, but my actual one-and-only dream job was posted last week.

(In the interest of the internet, I won’t provide too many specifics here.)

It’s in a specialty area of what I studied in grad school, and involves working for a city I could not adore more. The person who currently holds the position has done so much for the community, and it would truly be amazing to take over from him.

Sadly, even with a gentle padding of my resume, I’m still a year short of feeling confident in applying. I just started working on similar projects up here on the Prairie, but do not have a real track record that I could apply on. Plus, the starting salary is preeeeetty high, and while that’s not always a reliable indicator, it is quite the kicker.

In the meantime, I did update my resume and send it out to another place. Funny enough, it involves similar subject matter (albeit a different implementation technique) and for a public agency. I really wasn’t planning on putting out any apps until October, but I guess that was an arbitrary deadline.

I really wish I had something more interesting to report! I have several busy weekends ahead of me, which is lovely.

Movie Monday

72. The Shawshank Redemption.

This is a great movie. Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins act in their best roles. The movie portrays, Robbins who plays Andy Dufresne, an innocent men sentenced to serve two life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover. While in  prison he befriends “Red” (Freeman). Their friendship is a timeless theme and shows great compassion.  The character development throughout the movie is the best out there.

Before prison Robbins was a smart banker and the Prison Warden and other prison guards take advantage of his financial intelligence for their own good and some hard times come on Robbins character because of it. I’m not going to spoil the ending, because I’m sure some readers have yet to see the movie. I would highly recommend the movie. The story line is filled with twist and turns, and for a prison movie set in the 1940s-1960s the movie has some great historical references.

I would put this movie as one of the best from the 90’s. It is certainly one of the best on the AFI list from the past 20 years.

Art “collecting”

I am a huge advocate of Adam Turman‘s work. In fact, his is the only original art I own. And of course Kelly’s gift from Ork — I will be buying the St. Paul version soon!

Nick is much more into modern art than I am. I have a hard time understanding it, but when him and his graphic designer friend spend several hours at the Walker and don’t even see the whole collection, I can respect that.

Last spring (wait! two springs ago! wow) I worked on a project for the City that incorporated the artist Romare Bearden, specifically his work “The Block.” It’s gorgeous, gigantic, detailed, and beautiful. I saw it in person at the Met. And Nick got me a book of his printmaking for Christmas. But he’s mostly known for his collages.

He also did a cover for Fortune magazine for their January 1968 issue on “business and the urban crisis.” I had known about this back when I was talking with the Mpls neighborhood activist whose idea it was to incororate Bearden in the first place. For whatever reason, it got in my head this week to see if I could get my hands on one.

Hello, eBay.

$12 + $4 shipping later, I have it!

The magazine is bigger than I thought it would be, so I’ll have to hunt for a larger, acid-free, UV-blocking frame to accommodate it. But I’m so excited to have this “art” on my wall! It’s beautiful, and I can’t wait to further add to my “collection.”

Children of the 80s

Last week at the bar, I was introduced to a friend’s boyfriend. There was a group of us at our end of the table, so we were introduced en masse like so: “Luke, these are my friends Katie, Carrie, and Kelly.”

What was it about the 80s that make the hard “K” sound so appealing? Going down my gChat list is the same, since people are listed by first name. Karyn, Kat, Katherine, Katie, Katie, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, Kim. Plus a coupla Carrie’s. And that doesn’t include Facebook.

byebye, carry-on!

Have I mentioned how excited I am that Nick is now in Wisconsin?

Pictured above is reason #328: no more packing a carry-on to visit him. With 15 months of MN-NJ, we had developed a system. Bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and contact solution were left at his place. I would pack a carry-on and the accompanying Ziploc Bag of Death. (Capital letters are necessary here.)

On our last visit, in Chicago, I did not have the luxury of full bottles awaiting me at my destination, so my bag was very full. It included: shampoo, conditioner, contact solution, contact case, sunblock, toothbrush, toothpaste, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, powder, floss, vitamins, tweezers, emery board, lotion, Qtips, kleenex, and the absolutely non-negotiable earplugs. For the plane. Not Nick.

I would fit everything in the rolly bag (Nick hates rollys and demands a bag you actually have to carry, the horror), bring a purse or my orange go-to bag, and that’s how I would live for the weekend.

While I haven’t completely eliminated flights from our relationship (everyone agrees that I94 between Fargo and Madison in January is a bit too much!), I can now throw whatever I want into my gigantic Honda and see him. This includes hockey skates, a kite, camping gear, etc. With 20 oz bottles of shampoo if I want!

Movie Monday

Lets talk about Katharine Hepburn.

It should be no surprise she is my favorite actress. Since a very early age I’ve loved her movies.

My favorite: Bringing Up Baby. Katharine plays a Susan Vance, a flighty woman who comes in the possession of a leopard, Baby. She uses Baby to win the heart of David Huxley (Cary Grant). The movie is the cutest thing ever.

Next, the African Queen. Katharine plays an up tight missionary who with the aid of Humphrey Bogart she gets out of Dodge on Bogart’s dirty  steamboat. This movie is filled with adventure and its one of Katharine’s greatest.

In The Philadelphia Story, Hepburn plays love interests to both Cary Grant and Jimmy Stewart (Can you say luckiest girl ever?).

As lucky as Katharine Hepburn was to be among the best leading men in the business, she fell head over heels for Spencer Tracy. Katharine Hepburn played in her real life love triangle where she played mistress to Tracy for many years. They played in nine films together and each was better than the previous one.

None of their movies, however, made the AFI Top 100, which seems like a true mistake. Their best movie together, in my opinion, is Guess Who’s coming to Dinner (In an earlier list of AFI Top 100, it was 99, and since has been removed). This movie is truly beautiful and just as equally moving. In the movie Hepburn and Tracy play the parents of a girl who has fallen in love with an African American man and they are hoping to gain the approval of both their parents. The film was release in 1967. When the movie was being film Spencer Tracy wasn’t in the greatest health, and shortly passed away after the filming. Tracy’s failing health was of great concern to Katharine and they both knew it would be there last film together. At the end of the movie, Spencer Tracy has an emotional monologue, and Katharine is by his side–her true feelings can not be hid. Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is a beautiful testament to their relationship and to Katharine’s career. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Housekeeping

I’m back on a cooking jag. A few new recipes and a few classics. I feel good about cooking again, and having good lunches instead of PB&Js. I’m still not technically proficient, but that’s okay. An incentive to cook is to buy meals that require perishables: you can’t let the hamburger meat sit in the fridge for a few days without cooking it first! I try not to freeze the meat because I’ll end up forgetting about it and it’ll get some degree of freezer burn.

Unfortunately I have seriously lapsed my yoga practice. I won’t be able to go this weekend in the Cities.  I still have some flexibility but my range is significantly reduced. I will start up again with the DVDs, but after this ridiculous heat wave is over…

Heat Wave

Apparently most folks in the Cities ended up with condensation on every window in their house. We avoided that fate up here, partly because it’s about 5 degrees cooler, and also because my apartment is nowhere near cool enough to create such a contrast. I have been keeping the wall a/c unit on the lowest setting, mostly to suck out the moisture, and turning it up occasionally to cool the place down.

Outside it’s so miserable, I am driving to work this week. Driving takes 3 minutes, 4 max. It’s worth it to save my sanity though.

An old friend from high school visited this weekend, and even though he didn’t stick around (his car’s a/c died… not a pleasant 3.5 hour drive!!) it was great to have a visitor.

For those who keep track of this sort of thing, Nick had a quick trip back from NJ and moved into his new apartment on Monday. He starts work on Wednesday. He may be coming to the Cities this weekend, but it is all still very much up in the air and won’t be decided until the last weekend. Unfortunately this seems to be my life’s “new normal;” constant craziness.

Same problem, different solution

Much like Kelly, I’m also on the hunt for dresses for weddings.

After I found out I was going to a wedding on short notice, I quickly picked up this dress (with assist from Kelly). Unfortunately the only real pictures of me with it are my current Facebook picture and ones taken by the photographers at the wedding, which won’t be processed for a while. Boring pic below.

Then a couple weeks ago, I saw this post on Corporette. I could justify a black dress for only $28 (over $100 reduction!). And it’s actually textured, not a pattern, which I thought would give it a good “fall” look for a wedding in October. So despite never having tried on anything from that brand before, I caved and bought it. (NB: Kat from Corporette says that if you have your credit card number memorized, you probably should ask for a new card. One of the reasons for this is to prevent you from making impulse online purchases. So… yeah.)

At any rate, the dress certainly isn’t bad. But it’s not going to be worn at any wedding.

Exhibit A: My chest.

Yiiiiiiiiikes. That’s not normally how I go out in public. So while I might still be on the hunt for a new “wedding dress,” I know I am set for bachelorette parties for the next 3 or 4 weddings I have coming up!!