Today I am reporting from a different village - Cancun, Mexico. After a brutal flight where I got well acquainted with an airplane lavatory we are now settling in nicely to a little vacation. It is close to 100 farenheit and brilliantly sunny. Jet lag (my friend and foe wrapped into one) has taken complete control of my life. Yesterday I fell asleep at 4pm only to awake at 4am today... It was the best sleep of my life. Let me tell you, getting up EARLY affords you a lot of productivity in your day! My dearest and very unfortunately departed grandparents used to rise at 3am and made homeade chili - I kid you not. As a kid I never really saw the appeal, but NOW... sign me up! It has been a banner day for sure.
I just returned from the "Luxury Palace" shopping mall down the street. Someone's deoderant ran out on day 2 and restocking in this heat was priority number one! From the prices I saw, New York's Fifth Avenue is underpricing their merchandise - Cancun prices almost double. I was tempted to opt for the generic deodorant with the straightforward name "ManManMan" but I wasn't sure my husband would find it as "FunnyFunnyFunny" as I did. So we now possess some $12 speedstick.
Yes, things are definitely different in this village, and I am loving it.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
remedy for rage
I have developed nasty new little emotional tic... rage. Nothing to be proud of for sure - but I have this new boiling point (or broiling - which one is hotter?) that rises to the surface more and more often these days. My husband aptly named it tonight: Dutch Madness. Let's classify it as a verb and define it loosely for now.... say when lots of little annoyances of the village combine into one combustible moment and you start to see red. Not to be confused with March Madness or anything remotely Shakespearean. No, Dutch Madness whops you on the head quickly and with alarming force. Here is how it presented itself today...
Running to the store in between torrential rain showers (first annoyance) Lola and I were almost run over by an aggressive woman on a bicycle ringing her bike bell (#2) like it was time for Sunday mass. Apparently when you ring the bike bell all bets are off for traffic safety, because she nearly mowed us over in a crosswalk. Not having the vocabulary to yell something offensive (and appropriate) angered me even more (#3) and since I am closer to 40 than 20 - the universal sign of the middle finger just seemed so wrong. At the grocer an old lady cut in front of me in the bread line (#4) and that got my heart racing yet again (and I usually have a soft spot for little old ladies - not today!) A quick stop by the butcher had me relieved to see that the rain had kept everyone away - but then when I was tying Lola up to the dog post out front another woman cruised up on her bike and ran over one of her back paws (#5) which had her yelping and me again looking for some strong Dutch profanity. All of this in the span of 15 minutes! Back home while unloading the groceries the neighborhood children decided to play the "ring the doorbell and run" game (BIG #6) - which put Lola into a barking frenzy (#7) and me into full on Dutch Madness.
But there is a happy ending to this story. I took my raging butt out to the park to walk the dog (and sweat out the rage,) gave my Mom a call - and 30 minutes later I was good as new!
Running to the store in between torrential rain showers (first annoyance) Lola and I were almost run over by an aggressive woman on a bicycle ringing her bike bell (#2) like it was time for Sunday mass. Apparently when you ring the bike bell all bets are off for traffic safety, because she nearly mowed us over in a crosswalk. Not having the vocabulary to yell something offensive (and appropriate) angered me even more (#3) and since I am closer to 40 than 20 - the universal sign of the middle finger just seemed so wrong. At the grocer an old lady cut in front of me in the bread line (#4) and that got my heart racing yet again (and I usually have a soft spot for little old ladies - not today!) A quick stop by the butcher had me relieved to see that the rain had kept everyone away - but then when I was tying Lola up to the dog post out front another woman cruised up on her bike and ran over one of her back paws (#5) which had her yelping and me again looking for some strong Dutch profanity. All of this in the span of 15 minutes! Back home while unloading the groceries the neighborhood children decided to play the "ring the doorbell and run" game (BIG #6) - which put Lola into a barking frenzy (#7) and me into full on Dutch Madness.
But there is a happy ending to this story. I took my raging butt out to the park to walk the dog (and sweat out the rage,) gave my Mom a call - and 30 minutes later I was good as new!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
renting... has its advantages!
Another rainy day here in the village. Today I am stuck at home coordinating an assault of plumbers on my water pump - it decided to stop working yesterday! A very dear friend pointed out that this is one of those times when renting is an advantage. Today I can hand this massive project off to a list of other people. Which is especially good since I have absolutely no idea what any of the correct Dutch words are when it comes to such specific machinery. * I don't have a strong vocabulary just yet.
My phone call to the maintenance man was humorous to say the least... I could only report that some buttons were red and one was flashing yellow. In a gentle way, he told me that this information was absolutely useless. Ahhh... the Dutch and their directness! It never fails. At the moment they are slowly taking apart the wall in my laundry room to access the pipes that connect to the defunct pump. This gives me great anxiety. Suddenly I feel like doing a dozen loads of laundry, just for the hell of it.
Seriously, I am really itching to do some laundry right now...
* My Dutch language strengths are identifying all the meats at the butcher and saying hello and goodbye to everyone I cross paths with, as I aim to be polite in the village 24/7. Secretly, I think they expect this of me as an American - and I am surely not going to disappoint - my ultimate aspiration is harmonious cultural relations... and tap water at restaurants.
My phone call to the maintenance man was humorous to say the least... I could only report that some buttons were red and one was flashing yellow. In a gentle way, he told me that this information was absolutely useless. Ahhh... the Dutch and their directness! It never fails. At the moment they are slowly taking apart the wall in my laundry room to access the pipes that connect to the defunct pump. This gives me great anxiety. Suddenly I feel like doing a dozen loads of laundry, just for the hell of it.
Seriously, I am really itching to do some laundry right now...
* My Dutch language strengths are identifying all the meats at the butcher and saying hello and goodbye to everyone I cross paths with, as I aim to be polite in the village 24/7. Secretly, I think they expect this of me as an American - and I am surely not going to disappoint - my ultimate aspiration is harmonious cultural relations... and tap water at restaurants.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
terrible movie has profound effect on my closet
How many of you have seen the movie Chloe? I realize that I am a bit behind the times with popular culture... but I am in different country than most of you - and I rely mostly on what Apple TV throws me as far as entertainment goes. So... Chloe - I think it was released last year? Starring the lovely Julianne Moore and some other people that didn't really catch my attention. Instead of focusing on the supposed erotic thriller aspect of this movie (oh Julianne, what were you thinking?) I found myself absolutely fixated on the protagonist's clothes (no, not the hooker, the other protagonist).
I would recommend watching it just to see how good a gynecologist can look in the office. All of the pencil skirts, sumptuous blouses and stacked heels... No doctor of mine dresses remotely close to this, but a big thumbs up to the wardrobe designer. Inspiring! I want to dress up to get my groceries after watching this dud of a movie!
But the most memorable thing, the tipping point that forced me to haul out the iron and remove the entire contents of my closet to press "the good stuff" resulted from one cinematic pan of Ms. Moore's closet in the film. Such perfection! I have been thinking about it for 2 days now. I am sure the director had other ideas, but for me personally, this was the big climax of the movie. This woman's closet took my breath away.
So, since it is pouring rain here today, I am doing my best to meagerly replicate a little Tinseltown magic.
I would recommend watching it just to see how good a gynecologist can look in the office. All of the pencil skirts, sumptuous blouses and stacked heels... No doctor of mine dresses remotely close to this, but a big thumbs up to the wardrobe designer. Inspiring! I want to dress up to get my groceries after watching this dud of a movie!
But the most memorable thing, the tipping point that forced me to haul out the iron and remove the entire contents of my closet to press "the good stuff" resulted from one cinematic pan of Ms. Moore's closet in the film. Such perfection! I have been thinking about it for 2 days now. I am sure the director had other ideas, but for me personally, this was the big climax of the movie. This woman's closet took my breath away.
So, since it is pouring rain here today, I am doing my best to meagerly replicate a little Tinseltown magic.
Friday, September 3, 2010
the hunt
Today I spent the better part of an hour biking through the city in search of the September issue of Vogue (aka the fashion bible). I never paid much attention to the magazine (or this coveted fall issue) until I lived in Amsterdam back in 2005. A very dear friend schlepped the brick over with her when visiting me and I so relished having something from back home that I spent 3 months devouring every single page. Seriously, I even studied the advertisements!
Now I have a strange attachment to the magazine (September issue) and even more so - the convoluted process that inevitably goes along with procuring a copy here in Amsterdam. I liken it to an easter egg hunt... in May. In Amsterdam, you can get any version of the UK periodicals at just about any newsstand - and let me tell you that they are super entertaining! But... not so good for fashion (sorry UK friends). For that, I trust my dear U.S.A.
That being said, I wear some form of a "white t-shirt" uniform on a daily basis. Seeing that I work from home, this is purely self inflicted. But I love the white t-shirt in all forms, and own several dozen for different occasions. I am the person that even has "dressy" white t-shirts. However, only Vogue can inspire me to wear said t-shirts with supreme panache!
Now I have a strange attachment to the magazine (September issue) and even more so - the convoluted process that inevitably goes along with procuring a copy here in Amsterdam. I liken it to an easter egg hunt... in May. In Amsterdam, you can get any version of the UK periodicals at just about any newsstand - and let me tell you that they are super entertaining! But... not so good for fashion (sorry UK friends). For that, I trust my dear U.S.A.
That being said, I wear some form of a "white t-shirt" uniform on a daily basis. Seeing that I work from home, this is purely self inflicted. But I love the white t-shirt in all forms, and own several dozen for different occasions. I am the person that even has "dressy" white t-shirts. However, only Vogue can inspire me to wear said t-shirts with supreme panache!
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