August 27th, 2012
giving all the love that you’ve got
“I want to hurry home to you / put on a slow dumb show for you / crack you up / So you can put a blue ribbon on my brain / God I’m very, very frightening / I’ll overdo it”
—The National, Slow Show
“But compassion isn’t about solutions. It’s about giving all the love that you’ve got.”
First, here is your reading list for today:
–DEAR SUGAR, THE RUMPUS ADVICE COLUMN #67: THE BLACK ARC OF IT, oh-so-lovely if very sad; and
–Fear of a Black President, from the Atlantic (NOTE: originally I clicked on this solely because the title reminded me of that crazy movie of old, but this is actually a pretty amazing read and made me a bit teary, too [yes I know].)
RE: the second piece. I did not realize this, but basically the Trayvon Martin thing did not become polarizing until Obama deigned to mention it. THEN, all of a sudden, it was right-wingers against left, and everything exploded. The article does a much better job of articulating all of this than I ever could, so just go read it. In the end…Trayvon Martin is still dead.
DESPITE all this touchy-feely-and-sad-ness, I’m actually feeling quite remarkable. There are certainly reasons for this:
1) Jenny came to visit this past weekend. JENNY!! Always wonderful! We went shopping (MOA/Desigual, oh yeah!), went to Birchwood (turkey-cilantro salad and veggie handpie, fantastic – thanks JJ for craving ‘wheatberries’ randomly), had ice cream with 30-year-old smartphone-having Liz, went to Ka-Mei yoga with Jeff which was pretty killer (“it’s just yoooooga….aaaaaahhhhhhhhh / you all look like you want to murrrrrrder someonnnnne” oh Ka-Mei!), to the farmers’ market where Jenny insisted we buy a whole big bag of SweeTangos AND amazing strawberries (thanks Jenny!), then to Caribou for Black Forest coolers…EXCELENTE. We then went home and made an egg-salad feast lunch/chatted/made a card, then to the fish store (we live by a fish store). FISH! TURTLES! Jeff is way into turtles…sorry hon. We were on the hunt for piranhas but I think they moved…instead we played hide-and-seek with a saltwater grouper fish. FISH! That was a weird but very fun way to spend a rainy afternoon.
THEN we went to Liz’s, watched some FRIENDS(! “have you guys seen this show, ‘Friends’?!”), hung out with her REALLY COOL friends Suki and Becca, talked about what crime we would commit and what year we hate, then were off to Bar La Grassa for Liz’s bday celebration! Suki and Liz had the MAGIC TOUCH that day and we scored a table outside immediately (shortly thereafter, there was a terrible wait). Suki was almost too cool for words, I was kind of afraid she would think I was a loser. Becca was also fantastic, very dark and sarcastic and ALSO another JMM -> UMNer, aw yeah. And of course I love Liz and JENNY! At Suki’s very smart rec, we shared a bunch of different pastas and bruschetta. The best pasta was the orange-cauliflower gnocchi and I am still in love with it today. Service was good too. We stalked a bachelorette party and then decided…off to Lurcat for dessert! Our server looked like Clark Kent. He was pretty great. He gave us free donuts for Liz and a candle too. We also stalked a 40th bday party there (“OK THIS IS WHAT WE FOUND OUT!” -Liz/Jenny aka Dit/Dot / “we already know…it’s a 40th birthday party” -Suki LOL!) and Jenny was sad about “THE ZARLINGS oh no!” and Liz was shocked that there was a commissioner in Fantasy Football. “And GET THIS – they call him THE COMMISSIONER!” -Liz / “um that’s what he is…” -me/Becca. HAHAHA.
HOME and read magazines and bed. Then Jenny had to go to the airport in the morning after smoothies/toast. AWWWW! But what a lovely visit. It made me so happy!
2) TO THE FAIR with Jeff Sunday. As I told him, I think I like the Fair w/ him because then we just HANG OUT alllllllllll day long. Which we did. It was hot but wonderful. We met up with Sue/Greg briefly, but mostly just wandered the fair admiring little kid artwork, eco building, UMN building (tap dancers!!! so cool!), etc. AND eating (duh). We were whomped from the walking but in a good way. We also made up a new fair game. I was sorely in need of some quality Jeff Time and that is exactly what I got so YAY.
3) Along those lines, I’ve been getting some quality physical activity in over the past few days. I think I require more physical activity than previously thought.…just to burn off energy (mental or whatever). SO! Yoga w/ Ka-Mei that left me sore, followed by walking for miles at the Fair, followed by biking to work and home today = YES. I KNOW I have worked hard (ha) at learning to be lazy/not always go all-out, but I think my brain prefers MORE activity. Anyway. THAT is most definitely contributing to my excellent mood.
4) A friend, who can either read my mind (possible) or still reads this blog, suggested that I may need to eat more/sleep more to deal with this Great Unease. Which…duh…BUT the point is, I have been eating a lot AND sleeping well (compared to the previous two weeks), and that has made an ENORMOUS difference. OH YEAH.
5) Another friend wrote me a misty-eyed Monday-morning email that made me realize it’s OK too to succumb to the Great Unease. SO that was lovely and quite nice to read. COMPASSION. Etc.
6) Fantasy Football draft this weekend! GET ON IT! Actually…I have no idea what I’m doing…but it will be fun.
7) FOUR DAY WEEK! Followed by FOUR DAY WEEKEND that kicks off…dun dun dun…SEPTEMBER! So that is also great.
8) I have a great boss and a pretty fantastic gig.
9) I live in an era where people expect HOLOGRAM phones! That just blows my mind…seriously. What a weird/amazing world.
Also, I got a great new YA gymnastics book (no shame) AND Dominique Moceanu retweeted me. With that, friends, I am off. Just know, sleep + food + physical activity + JJs = MUCH HAPPIER. Yay.