You know how sometimes...

...the best thing you can say about a day is that you were upright throughout most of it? And that you're not taking your foul mood out on anyone else? And that you're holding it together even though you really don't want to?

Yes, all of that - and then your 3-year-old nephew goes and gets himself a tattoo. Or, at least, your sister sends you a picture of your nephew with a fake tattoo and you laugh and the rest of it seems like...well, not much at all.


You know how it is, right?

Listalicious lunchtime...

I've been eating an awful lot of frozen meals - mostly Amy's Organic brand - and I think I finally reached breaking point with Mexican Tamale Pie number 15 (over a 2-week period). Someone in the office said it smelled like bug spray. I ate it. Gross.

Last night I put the TV on when I got home and left the room before I realized it was on VH1. When I came back, my plants were dead. Reason? Scott Baio is boring enough to kill vegetation. Apparently Viacom (the company that owns MTV and VH1) thinks even extraordinarily boring people make good reality TV. MTV just announced that "Tila Tequila" (just writing her name makes me want to shower) is coming back for another season. Gross.

I just don't understand the whole "I don't like Hillary" thing when it comes from women. Men I understand. They might be a little slower to accept the idea of a female candidate; they're threatened by strong women; they have issues with women in leadership positions. But my female friends? You're so smart (otherwise we wouldn't be friends) and I don't get how you can support a candidate with less experience just because you don't "like" Hillary. Looks like 2008 has created a whole new category of misogynists: Women-hating women. Gross.

In honor of Valentine's Day...

And because I haven't done one of these in a while, my latest "love list."

J'adore: The way Valentines that come in the boxes that you used to give out to classmates smell, lingerie we buy for ourselves, my new favorite perfume, friends who inspire me, friends who are living on the edge, far-away friends I miss until my heart hurts, friends who let me sleep over when I'm in town, my sweet little sister and her little peep, the audio book I bought after my signing at Joseph Beth to listen to on my late night drive back from Charlotte, keeping the faith, an upcoming party/oyster roast on Goldbug Island, not having to age gracefully, a shot of color (vineyard!) in my otherwise somber wardrobe, open windows in early evenings, dark chocolate-covered strawberries that came as a surprise, women who put the "femme" in feminism, I have wings in my dreams, trying this on for a while before getting it for real, I'm not the the only one obsessed with my cat, and you. Always you.

My schedule lately...

...feels like I'm participating in a triathalon - without the cardio benefits.

It's not just the day job (though that's getting busier by the day); it's the book stuff for my book that's out now, interviews, book signings, etc. (and Universe? I'm not complaining here - I love every minute of it!); book number two that I'm supposed to be working on; and managing the other aspects of my life from washing clothes to picking things up from the dry cleaner to remembering to buy skim milk for my coffee that gets me started at 6:30 every morning. I know when I've reached the point where I can't remember the last time I did a load of laundry, when I'm plucking clothes from the back of my closet because I can't find anything clean in the piles that are in my guest room (and now my own bedroom too!), when I'm too tired at 7pm to even talk on the phone, when I want to go to bed desperately at 8pm even though Lost is coming on in an hour and I really (really!) want to stay up and watch. I'm on autopilot a lot now. I've had black coffee. I've gone commando. I've driven on an empty tank. I have an envelope stuffed full of unanswered mail in my bag, an inbox full of unanswered email, a to-do list that is getting embarrassing, and a head full of static. Worse, I haven't seen the inside of a gym since I bought myself a new pair of workout pants for Christmas.

I'd hire a personal assistant or a cleaning person, but I'm almost too embarrassed to show someone just how long it's been since my kitchen floor had a good mopping or tell them how long my contact lenses have been ready and sitting in a bin at Pearle.

Again, not complaining because I do know what the alternative is; I was there just a few years ago. However I do fear suffocation-by-clothing-piles, having to use a bedsheet to dry myself off after a shower because I have no clean towels, and having bad credit because I haven't had time to go through my overdue bills.

I can has noodles...

My friend Ida and I have regular meal dates at restaurants that serve noodles. We like noodles. We tried a new place last week called New Asia Restaurant (on Orleans Road in Summerall Square West Ashley near the Citadel Mall).
My favorite out of all we ordered was Ida's shrimp pancake appetizer (left).





I had the "Sizzling Tofu Highly Recommended" (below). Of course, I have to order anything that says "highly recommended" right there on the menu. It was yu-um-my.

It took me three days to realize that neither of us ordered noodles.

All it takes to shake off a stressful week...

Is a bag of stale bread, a three-year-old, a sunny day, and a duck pond.



My mom, Connor and I spent the afternoon feeding the ducks at Hampton Park. (a) I've always been a little afraid of large birds (mostly geese after being chased by a pack of them a Page's Thieves Market some years ago), (b) the ducks at Hampton Park are quite aggressive, (c) the seagulls are worse, and (d) Connor freaked out when a big white duck snatched some bread from his hand. I laughed, I couldn't help it, but when one of the bigger ducks started chasing me and I ran away screaming, I think it made Connor feel better.



We went to Jestine's for lunch afterwards and our very smart waitress brought us some paper and crayons along with the homemade pickles. The food, as always, was yummy. Connor ate a whole hot dog (and their hot dogs are huge).

Good times.

How to fall out of love...

In case you were wondering, my essay for Skirt's February issue has step-by-step instructions.