Change of Scenery

Sorry I've been out of pocket a bit. It's been crazy. I'm writing this in a hurry, so my writing may be rougher than usual as I don't have time to edit and obsess. Also, I'm addicted to blogs after I followed Reid's advice and starting using Google Reader. And THANK You for the Comics Curmudgeon.

Last week was my 3*cough* birthday. No worries if you didn't know, because I probably didn't tell you. I'm long past getting excited over birthdays. I will give the Dutch credit for birthdays, though. Instead of wishing people "Happy Birthday" they say "Congratulations!" It's like three cheers for making it another year! Woohoo! This I like.

Back in January, B- and I made a deal that I could go with my yoga teacher from back in DC to a retreat in Costa Rica. She takes a group each year, and it's conveniently around my birthday. B- got to go to Australia recently, so I get to go bliss out in the tropics. Congratulations, indeed! I leave tomorrow. Hence the reason I've been busy.

This will seem tangential, but I'd also like to point out that while I was shopping for last minute travel items I noticed that some aspects of shoe fashion are showing improvement. For instance, the worn out look seems to be on the way out. However, one notably scary 80s throw-back is "in." Like the banana clip, I urge you to show restraint. Remember jazz shoes? Consider this a public service announcement.

Yet, Chuck Taylor's (aka Converse All-Stars) are also back. This is the third cycle of the low-tech basketball shoe in my lifetime. I've always loved them. I bought myself a new pair for my trip.



You'll see from the photo that I'm also learning to knit socks, which is a special project I'm taking on while I'm in Costa Rica. Bring on wacky, wacky socks. I figure if I'm going to wear shoes that I wore in the 8th grade again, I might as well go balls out on footwear in general.

And the last thing I have to say is in regards to the Obama 1984 YouTube thing. Meh, I don't think Hillary seems fakey or like Big Brother in the clips that they used. Those clips aren't damning at all, and frankly I think the ad falls flat on its face. And if the pre-teen that probably made that video ever read "1984," he'd know that anyone who invites differing opinions (as does Hilary in the clips that were lifted) is incongruous with the themes of that book. I'm just sayin.' I'm not buying into that hype that dumb ads like this are going to change how campaigns play out. And c'mon really. He didn't even think it up himself - he did a "mash up" (can someone tell me what the hell a mash up is? I thought this was plagiarism, but what do I know) of an awesome Apple ad. Must everyone rip off Apple? And lastly, to the guy who hosts "Talk of the Nation" on NPR, b/c I'm sure you read my blog, the ad was a dig against IBM, not Microsoft. Microsoft wasn't even around then. Pshuh, journalists.

BTW, this by no means I necessarily support Hillary. I dunno yet. I have big reservations about all of them. I just don't think she deserves that, especially from freakin' Democrats. The woman gets enough crap from Rush and Newt. Can Republicans ever have normal names?

Anyway, you see that I need to go bliss out in Costa Rica. See ya'll in a week!