Foot count

Although all of my posts aren't shoe-related, I feel "shoe addict" is still an apt moniker for my blog. People often ask me exactly how many pairs I have, and I generally guesstimate around 100. In the midst of packing today I was clearing out my old closet which contains, among other things, lots of shoes, so I thought I would count. I was just around 30, until I went downstairs and saw an entire Adidas duffel bag bursting with footwear that hadn't made it upstairs yet.

Here's the official inventory:

• sneakers = 7; running = 3


• boots = 6 (2 knee high, 2 calf, 1 ankle, 1 snow)


• flip flops = 2


• sandals = 5; w/ heels =5


• wedges = 3 (although 1 is actually a sandal, I felt its defining feature was its wedge-ness)


• heels = 8; dress = 7 (these are ones I would actually wear to a wedding, and many only go with a specific dress)


• flats = 3

Giving us a grand total of 49 - I overestimated myself! I think 49 is completely reasonable.*

So what have we learned? I clearly need more flats.

*This, of course, doesn't include the other 26 pairs I have hanging around that I don't actually wear anymore but am just not emotionally prepared to part with.

Interior Design?

It's been a good week hanging at the 'rents house. I miss NY, but the departure hasn't really sunk in yet. Also, I'm finding things to appreciate around here, like the never ending supply of Snackwell's cookies and the ability to do 5 loads of laundry without being interrupted by anyone. Staying at my parents' often drives me mental, but I'm trying to chill out a little and just focus on what I need to get done for the move, not on the random collection of crap in the dining room (corn on the cob shaver, my sister's Sophomore Hop picture, a how-to pamphlet for self melanoma screenings - the usual).

After looking at the lawn pictures again, however, I was struck by how incongruous the inside and the outside of 151 Prospect are, so I thought it would be informative to take others behind the landscaping.

Welcome to the wallpaper tour. We start in the kitchen, where the blue motif has always been carried over into the dishes, cups, and linens: Next we move into the dining room. Whenever I inquired about the design schemes in the house my mom would explain to me that 2 gay men lived in the house before my parents bought it. Allegedly they had matching curtains to compliment the wallpaper and it bothered Nancy immensely that they had taken the window treatments with them when they left:I imagine in the late 70s this was very nice, but it makes me think of a partridge in a pear tree, and I get hives just thinking about the pale blue tablecloth and napkins we have to suffer through at holidays.

As we move out into the living room we find a more subdued and textured pattern on the walls:

This is actually the only one of the group I would even consider using intentionally... anywhere ... ever. I do like the gold hues and think it could work in a 18th century France inspired room with a vanity and a fainting sofa. There is a shelf on the wall which displays a small collection of china tea cups and saucers which I quite like and suggests to me that at some point in her life my mother had an eye for aesthetics beyond mallards and Betty Boop. However, there's also an old arm chair with an ill-fitting slip cover and the cat's scratching post, so the theme is somewhat lost.

As we move into the hallway and up the stairs we're confronted with this:

Eww. It's even worse with the water stains near the ceiling. I'm sorry, but even in the 70s I bet this looked like vomit. Alternative sexuality or not, this could never have been chic. It's depressing and makes me want to bleach something.

In the master bedroom we encounter the most "dramatic" of the wall coverings:

If you have a sudden and inexplicable desire to go on a safari, don't worry, it's a perfectly natural reaction. What can one say about this print? It makes me think of using a bamboo reed to breathe while underwater. It also makes me think of spin art and cream cheese brownies.

Finally we come to what was, for 21-years, my sister's room and is now where I am desperately trying to sort through all my personal belongings and stalling by spending way too much time staring at the walls, literally.

I think I've finally found out why my sister was so afraid of bugs when we were little. Let's take a closer look:

Seriously, would you want to wake up every morning and have a dragon fly, albeit a wallpaper print of one, that close to your face? Dragonflies are all cute when they're bedazzled and diamante, but in real life they're gross. I think this may have had a made a strong impression on little Stephanie's psyche.

Well that concludes our tour. I hope you now have a better appreciation for why this house needs the help of every makeover program TLC produces.

Reasons I'm a Grad Student

Me: You going for a walk tomorrow?
Dad: Yeah.
Me: You want company?
Dad: Sure.
Me: What time?
Dad: 6:30, 6:45?
Me [incredulously]: Are you serious?!?
Dad: Yeah, what time were you thinking?
Me: I don't know, something more civilized, like 8. Do you get up at that time everyday?
Dad: Yeah.
Me: On purpose?

House Pride

After mowing the lawn Sunday, which, incidentally, my dad claims is the best Father's Day gift he's ever got - not quite sure how to interpret that, Paul was making fun of me because I was whining a little - I had to take a break half-way through, needed a nap afterwards, and my hands hurt the next day.

Lest anyone think that cutting the grass chez mes parents is no big deal, I present to you the lawn at 151 Prospect St.






Mow that.

Well put

I've never met Sara, but I've been reading her blog recently because she made this amazing travel wallet for Beth and has agreed to make me one. She's also getting her PhD (although in physics - fancy pants), and a comment on one of her posts caught my eye:

Grad school is a disease and the only cure is the PhD. Can't wait to finally get out myself ...

Couldn't have said it better myself!

Rockin' the Suburbs

It's amazing how quickly one can adapt to a change of environment. Friday morning I was eating a real NY bagel in Washington Square Park. Last night I chilled at the U's house for Lisa's graduation party and knocked back a few Sam Summers with the gang. This morning I had brunch with Mia and Andy (who were up in Boston for a wedding on a Duck tour - read it again, it'll say the same thing) at cute cafe in downtown Wakefield, where my breakfast wrap (aloha - egg, swiss cheese, ham and pineapple - delicious) barely outpriced my small iced mocha ($3.75 to $3.03). And this afternoon I mowed the lawn. The only thing that could have topped off my day to make it a little more suburbalicious would have been a nice cold wine cooler to enjoy on the back porch while I read the Globe's sports page and checked out what's on sale at Kohl's this week.

P.S. I also got carded (or as we say around here, "cAHdid") at the movies when I went to see Knocked Up. The woman at the ticket counter said, "Can I see your ID?" To which I replied, "Yes, yes you can." I never want to BE 16 again, but if I look 10 yrs younger than I am - no prob.

She's here!!!

My beautiful niece, Kayley Sophia Spindler, arrived at 7:58 pm Friday, June 22.

She weighs 7 lbs, 15 oz, is 21" long, and has a full head of hair.

Both Mom and Baby are doing well and should be going home tomorrow afternoon.

Kayley was just waiting for Auntie Amy to get home, and I'm so excited you're finally here!!!

The City So Nice, They Named it Twice

It's my last day in NYC. I know I'm moving to San Diego, but I haven't really come to grips with the corollary - that I might never live in NYC again! I remember exactly when this place went from being a urine-soaked sess pool to feeling like home. Kiley stayed over at my apt in midtown, and we got up really early (7 am is obscene to me) and went to Starbucks. The street was still fairly quiet, with porters hosing down the sidewalks in front of their buildings and breakfast carts setting up on street corners. We were dressed like lazy students - not the standard attire for my investment banker neighborhood - and Kiley looked up at the sky and said, "I love this city." That's when it happened for me - like the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, my heart grew inside. My defenses were always so rigid, I hadn't been fully enjoying my life here. When ever I rent a car and drive back into the city there's a point coming out of Queens before you go over the Triboro bridge (which is retarded for only having 2 cash lanes, but that's another post) where you get this amazing view of the city's skyline, and I always say to myself, "Ah, there she is."

So it's a bittersweet parting, New York, I will always love you, and have so many wonderful memories. Who knows if I'll ever live here again, but there will always be a part of me that's a New Yorker (let's keep our fingers crossed that part of me doesn't get me arrested in the significantly more laid back environs of SoCal.)

I thought it a fitting farewell to reflect on some of my favorite things about living in this city:

• My friends - we're all in NY for a reason, and this city will always be part of what binds us
• the diversity - not everyone is tan, blond, fit with perky breasts and Ugg boots for every season, and that's a good thing
• individuality - you can be anyone in this city, and you can change who you want to be day to day, or just find a way to accommodate all the different parts of you every day of the month. I used to look at clothes and think, "I love that, but where would I wear that?" This became a non-issue here.
• Access - I'm literally gobsmacked when I go home to my parents' house, and I can't get tacos delivered at 2 am on a Sunday.
• Public transport - cities are much greener than we think. And even though I've had some bad experiences on the subway, it's an equal opportunity transport system.

NYC - the final countdown

I'm leaving the city in 2 days and miraculously I haven't had a full blown panic attack yet. (I started feeling dizzy last night but nothing a strong cocktail couldn't calm). I have done as much grading as I can, finished my paid textbook-bitch (er, I mean...editing) work, and am going to pack my office. Two more hrs til we get to leave and go to Sweet & Viscious for my going away drinks. I tend to get really anxious when I'm "hosting" something, especially when I'm coming different groups of friends. I'm trying to chill out and just think of it as "receiving hours" (MMR said it's like a wake: 2-4 and 7-9). I'll just sit there and let people bring me drinks. Jane's in charge of bringing me water every hour b/c I have 1 more class to teach tomorrow morning at 9am. (I use the word "teach" very loosely here; I'm bringing them juice and donuts and tonight have to think of something fun but relevant to discuss. I'm sure I'll come up with something brilliant around drink #5).
Still no baby Spindler yet - she's holding out for Auntie.

They're banning fat trannies?

No, but NYC has banned trans fats. There's been a lot of hullabaloo around the decision, and I think it will continue to be a much debated topic in the news for some time to come. My friend David, who is writing his dissertation on trans fats and the social implications of designating substances as "risky", has an online article you should check out if you want more info about the topic. He is one smart, zero trans fat, cookie. [Ironically, he also has an article on trannies.]

Play that funky music

Because my friends are super-awesome, we had a surprise karaoke party for 3 of us who are leaving Puck (RKG and CEB because they actually got tenure track jobs, me just because I'm trying desperately to have an adult relationship). We pulled some good songs out of the woodwork that night, so I did a small iTunes binge. Here are some recent additions to my playlists (many of these were not performed at karaoke night, but resulted from the search and download process):

• Never Gonna Give You Up - Rick Astley
• Ditty - Team Classick
• Girls & Boys - Blur
• Hey Sexy Lady - Shaggy
• Trout - Neneh Cherry
• What About Love - Heart
• Alone - Heart
• Maneater - Daryl Hall & John Oats
• I Tough Myself - Divinyls

Heart, in fact, is a new life-changing force in my, err...life. If you haven't seen the video for "Alone", it's a must. Exploding pianos, backless dresses, half-veils, reclined-kneeling guitar solos - it's a audio-visual masterpiece. They were clearly feminist pioneers in 80's hair rock. (And Paula Abdul choreographed the video, which explains the horse's cameo).

Plugged in, I completed a solid hour of really good work today. If that doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment, you don't understand the inner workings of life as a career student.

Detox?

Paul has been slowly going soft during his time in San Diego, but I new things were getting a little out of hand when he started talking about having a wheat grass garden (if that happens, I'm buying a deep fryer in protest). Somewhere between his 30th and 31st birthdays he started talking about juicing, so I figured I would buy him one as a belated birthday gift (no worries - he doesn't read this). I figure one of the upsides of cohabiting will be that I can directly benefit from the things I buy him! I think I've settled on the Hamilton Beach Big Mouth Pro; I'm just waiting to see what type of ridiculous bargain Aunt Mary can find for me.

Since I'm going to have to embrace the pro-health SoCal lifestyle to some extent and am looking to lose some of my grad school poundage (a common scene from my office: hmm, work on article, or snack time...snack time!) I thought I'd look into some of the benefits of juicing.

Apparently juice fasting has a quasi-religious appeal for some people. To really get into it you have to restrict your diet in a way I'm not willing to - for starters it's a supreme amount of effort with buying mass quantities of organic fruit and veg, cutting out meat and animal products, taking supplements, etc. And if the process of juice fasting wasn't enough of a hassle, here are some of the possible - nay, common - side effects:

• headaches
• dizziness
• nausea
• bad breath
• glazed eyes
• a heavily coated tongue
• intense hunger
• pain in your lungs.
• large volumes of yellow-colored mucus expelled by the lymphatic system through the nose or throat

- and then an enema is highly recommended for whatever is going on in your colon. Maybe part of the weight lost comes from vomiting at your own disgustingness.

I think I'm going to leave good enough alone for now and let the toxins hang out in my body, especially during the first few months Paul and I are living together - that'll be the real present.

Reasons not to eat in bed

At some point I stocked piled Lean Cuisine frozen entrees because they were on sale 2/$5. It's coming in handy now as I've got less than a week left in my apt and can't be bothered to grocery shop or cook (or clean or take care of myself properly for that matter). So yesterday I was sitting on the edge of my bed with my laptop on the window sill because it makes a good impromptu desk and because it's the most effective position for me to poach wifi. I miscalculated the distance from the black plastic container to my mouth with a forkful of pot roast and mashed potatoes and it landed on the sheets. On a scale of 1-10, how disgusting is it that I'm not going to wash or change the sauce-stained bed linens before I leave Friday?*

*Maybe it's because I watch too many CSI, Without a Trace, etc. style shows, but I often think about what would the police would think about my life is something happened to me:

"We've got some weird substance on the sheets - I'll get it to
the lab."

[later that day...] "Any update on the samples from her bed?"
"Well she wasn't getting any, but that might be because she
was eating Lean Cuisines in bed."

Flag Day

So many important things need to be celebrated today! Not only is it flag day, it's also Mia's birthday - Happy Birthday, Mia!! - and it's Stephanie's due date!!!

Now, I know no one wants this baby to arrive more than Stephanie, but my little niece is showing her grandmother's Larson colors (if it were LeClair genes kicking in should would have been here weeks ago - Steph & I were both 2 weeks early and my grandparents arrived at 11 am for a 1:30 Christmas dinner this year!) and doesn't seem so interested in coming out to play (or to coo and cry and poop, more accurately). I have mixed feelings, because if she holds off til next week Steph'll be induced, and I'll be home the next day. However, there are lots of people REALLY looking forward to the birth of this baby (my dad seems fated to only have girl babies in his life, but he's never been more excited about something), so sooner is probably better than later, especially for Steph so that, among the many, many reasons, her feet can start to shrink back to their normal size and she can rescue all those shoes that have been banished to the basement as of late.

Deal or No Deal?

What do we think about these shoes?

They're originally $79.95, but I saw them at DSW for $69.96 and I have a $10 coupon. I know $60 for a pair of ballet-flat style trainers is a little absurd, but they are silky soft, cushioned for extra comfy-ness, and sooooooooo cute. Thoughts? Comments? Opinions?

Extreme Makeover: Homo Edition

After spending much of yesterday wanting to crawl into the bath tub with a hair dryer, Peter brought me back from the edge by (finally!) sending me some pics from the weekend we demolished/renovated his apt:

As Peter said, "Who needs those 5 gay guys when you've got the weekend warriors?"

I'm so butch I make k.d. lang look like a Pussycat Doll. [p.s. Can you see what we were up against? Look behind me and to the right - that's red brocade fabric stapled and nailed (with no rhyme or reason) to the wall, framed with molding spray painted gold, and then with square tiles of mirror glued to the fabric. I shit you not.]

Spray paint bandit - yet another of the many hats I wear. [Note: if you're going to spray paint indoors make sure you've got the windows wide open, a strong cross breeze, and some powerful fans. You don't want to end up googling the medical histories of graffiti artists in an attempt to explain the weird rashes under your eyes.]

You'd be drinking, too

It's 6:41 pm. I'm less than 1/2 way through the midterms I have to grade, and I've just poured myself a very generous glass of wine. You'd be drinking, too, if you had to read these answers (to the question "Is NYU a gendered institution?"):

The concept of a gendered institution is conceptualized based on the influence of social and private spheres, and how gender is affected by them. It can simply be stated as being less accessible based on wither you are identified as a man or woman.

Oh, Mr. Darcy, wither the days of gender and gentry?

These schools in NYU are based on a gendered institutionalized system, all but one school, the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is happily un-gendered do [sic] to so many areas of study, and the overwhelming population.

Where to start? First of all, CAS, like most schools, is bottom-heavy with female undergrads (almost 70%), and then the percent of women drops steadily as one moves through the graduate, adjunct, assistant faculty levels, with men over-represented at the level of full-time tenured faculty. Secondly, what the fuck does "un-gender" mean? Third, who's overwhelmed by the population? The students? The residents of Greenwich village? The TAs grading the papers?

Hours that classes are being held should be also considered, some males have different sleeping habits, and class structure is important. [on how NYU could be more gender neutral, which apparently this student equates with have a 50/50 split for males and females in the undergrad population]

Okay, now this is just down-right insulting to men. Are they really so incompetent that they can't get themselves out of bed for class in the morning? Although, I think that was the reason Gus dropped his education major...

And finally, the dazzling conclusion:

New York University in all its glory is a great institution; it is nationally accredited and has been rank by Princeton Review (2006) to be the most desirable University in the Nation. Hopefully, within the next couple of years, or within the next decade NYU will get the students body, and willingness that it deserves. If the current courses of action are taken by NYU's board this could be a great school that is clearly gender neutral.

Why the Random capital Letters? Which student's body? Whose willingness? I'm left wanting so, so much more!

And I would have broken into the hard alcohol already if it weren't for the articulate and coherent thoughts of some other students:

Furthermore, gender stratification allows for differences in the distribution of certain resources between men and women, and consequently results in the unequal attainment of income and power between the two sexes on the institutional level.

Indeed!

There will always be gender present in organization, but what needs adjustment is the value we assign to it.

Is there hope?

It is important to remember that since gender has been constructed by society, the meanings behind gender can be modified and changed by society.

Amen to that. Now pass the 'grigio

Sympathy Anxiety Dreams

In the wee hours of Saturday morning I had a terrible nightmare that my sister was killed in a car accident. I was in hysterics at the funeral (and, incidentally, my parents didn't seem to be working too hard in their consoling efforts), and then woke up in a panic thinking, "but where's the baby?!?" because in the dream Steph wasn't pregnant, and in real like she's due in 4 days. I called Steph a little later and her cell phone was off, which gave me a brief moment of panic that she had gone into labor and no one had told me, but she called me back and reassured me that she was a) very much alive, b) sorry her phone had been off, and c) more ready than anyone for this baby to exit her body.

Last night I had a dream with a bizarre Pirates of the Caribbean theme (odd, especially since I saw that last week and Ocean's 13 last night), and might have included Katie Hiegl as well. Anywhoodle, I was at this bar where only people of Irish decent were allowed - obviously - and my sister left a booth and went outside, and when I saw her through the window I noticed she wasn't pregnant. I ran to her and we both started screaming until we realized the baby must have slipped out at home, and everything was going to be okay. [We can only pray for Steph that her delivery is that easy, but it seems highly unlikely - sorry dude.]

This baby needs to hurry on up because I can't keep sleeping like this! These dreams are worse than the pre-wedding one I had where I was at a bridal show at a Jessica McClintock vendor having a tent-like dress altered to fit when I realized the wedding was about to happen, I couldn't reach any of the other girls on their cell phones, and I ran across some weird courtyard into a castle-like structure when I was informed that I was too late to line up to be in the wedding. It was moderately traumatizing.

Good thing there are no major events happening in my life, I clearly wouldn't be able to handle them...

Discount Code

Further proof that you should always google "discount code" and the name of the website every time you're about to buy something online.

For the chic and organized, check out http://www.seejanework.com/, and if you see anything that strikes your fancy enter "Jane15" at checkout for a 15% discount (courtesy of Good Housekeeping, believe it or not.)

Celebrity Sighting

Who: Julianne Moore
What: jeans, casual sweater, hair in a pony tail, wearing her daughter's backpack
When: last night, around 8:00 pm
Where: outside radio bar in the West Village
Why: she was with some other adults, and it looked like they were coming back from a birthday party or play date
How: Dave needed to step outside the bar for a cigarette - I joined

Totally makes up for the dearth of sightings I've have living in NY for 4 years. [The others were Kiefer Sutherland, Kurt Vonnegut (not a "celebrity" for most people, but he was my neighbor), Philip Seymour Hoffman (pre-Capote), Kristen Johnston - twice, and Kerri Russell. I felt a little short changed considering my friends have seen Matt Damon, SJP and Matthew Broderick, Heath Ledger, Luke Wilson, and Snoop Dog.]