City Wendy

Five Recommendations

Shortly after I posted my 25 resolutions for the year, I thought of a few more I wanted to add to the list. One of the new ones is to see more theater and live music. I live in Manhattan — Broadway's literally down the street from my place; there's no excuse to sit around watching "Bridezilla" marathons when I could be out getting cultured. So last night Drew and I went to see "Fela!," a show I've been wanting to catch since it opened a few months ago. The show, if you don't know, is based on the life of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musician and political activist who created afrobeat music.

I really didn't know anything about Fela other than the little bit I picked up from my friend DJ who's a big fan of afrobeat. One summer when I still lived in Chicago, I went up to Milwaukee, where DJ lives, for Summerfest and we saw Fela's son, Femi Kuti, perform. I enjoyed the music, but I was really struck by Femi's dancers, these three beautiful woman in exotic, revealing costumes who gyrated their fucking hearts out all across the stage. They were mesermizing. Like Beyonce in her "Single Ladies" video except even MORE mesmerizing than that if you can imagine. And with lots more beads.

Anyway, one of the things I loved best about "Fela!" the musical was that the dancers were even better than Femi's. They were incredible. And the music was great and the cast was and hot and, seriously, if you're in New York and have a chance to see the show, you gotta go. Next I want to see that Arthur Miller play,  "A View From the Bridge" with Scarlett Johansson, and then maybe David Mamet's "Race."

Not entirely off-topic, I've seen a few documentaries in the last few weeks I want to recommend. That first week of the year when I was super sick — have I mentioned yet how I didn't leave the apartment for 6 days? — there wasn't much to do so I watched, like, I don't know, 15 documentaries or something. I also watched a lot of "Bridezillas," but I swear I didn't even enjoy it. Okay, maybe I did. A little bit. Anyway, so I watched all these documentaries and some of them were really terrible, but some were incredibly interesting.

Like, "Food Inc.," which is about where our food comes from and how's it's created. If you watch "This American Life" on Showtime you may have seen that episode where they go to a pig "farm" factory and it's so awful that one of the camera guys becomes a vegetarian? Well, "Food Inc". is a lot like that episode, but even more eye-opening and disturbing. Don't watch it unless you're prepared to alter your food shopping and read the labels of everything you buy. Actually, do watch it ... even if you aren't prepared to make changes. It'll force you to, anyway. Everyone should watch it. We should all be more conscious of the stuff we eat.

Another documentary I liked was "Beautiful Losers" about a bunch of artists who kind of lived on the fringe and were connected through this art gallery in New York in the early 90s. All of them have gone on to achieve some level of success in their respective genres and have created work you've probably heard of or would recognize. It was really interesting to learn about their personal stories and watch how they processed and digested the world through their art. It's totally inspirational and will make you think about how you express yourself, whether you consider yourself a creative person or not. And it might make you interested in re-watching "Gummo" if you haven't seen it yet.

The third documentary I'd recommend is "Glass" A Portait of Philip in Twelve Parts." I don't really particularly like Philip Glass' music. Actually, I think it's often pretty annoying, but I have to say I found this film about him really compelling. He's a fascinating character to begin with, but I was most interested in watching his creative process and seeing how his constant quest for spiritual, creative and intellectual fulfillment has cost him any true connection to other human beings. I'm sure others who watch the movie have a totally different interpration, but that's what I took from it. Have you seen it? I'd love to hear what others think.

And since this seems to have turned into a post about new recommendations, I'd be remiss if I didn't share these five beautiful words with you: Trader Joe's White Bean Hummus. Holy crap, you guys, I only just yesterday discovered this little tub of deliciousness and already it's at least my third favorite thing in the world. Here's a little fact you really never needed to know about me: I love hummus but it gives me gas. And, really, the gas isn't even the worst of it. It's the bloating that comes before the gas — oh, the awful, terrible, painful bloating! It's the worst! So as much as I love pureed chickpeas, eating them means an 18-hour sentence in hell. But then I found this white bean hummus, and oh my god! Not only did it not give me the farts, it tasted even better than regular hummus! Like, so good I'm thinking about inventing a new sandwich that's just white bean hummus, hold the bread. You guys, it's so good, I'd even call it the Fela Dancers of food. How's that for bringing it all together?

2010 Resolutions

Today is the fourth day of 2010 and I have yet to leave my apartment this year! I got hit with a wicked cold the morning of the 1st, right after I spent a couple hours cleaning confetti from every nook and cranny of our apartment, and it's only gotten worse since. I hardly even recognize myself when I look in the mirror — my nose is so swollen and chapped, the circles beneath my eyes are darker than ever, my skin is sallow and pale. I went through three regular-sized boxes of kleenex yesterday and spent the night sneezing, blowing my nose, and definitely not sleeping. So far 2010 really sucks. (Also, my dad's been in the hospital since Thursday and I'm worried about him, but that's a different post altogether).

Anyhow, sooner or later I'll get well and be healthy enough to tackle my resolutions for the new year. My goals for 2010 aren't too different than last year's. I tweaked a few I had trouble reaching last year, got rid of the ones that no longer apply (like paying off debt, getting health insurance), and added a few new ones. My first one is to try to take a photo every day. I didn't think of making this a resolution until yesterday, so I don't have a photo from the 1st of the 2nd, but the photo above is the one I took yesterday. The tulips are leftover from the bunch I bought for the party; the mug is full of green tea, which I've been drinking by the shitload. I'm not sure if I'll post all the photos I take. Maybe, but that's not really the point. I just want to give myself a creative challenge — to pay more attention to the way art reveals itself in my daily life, to appreciate colors, textures and lighting more often, and to just practice playing with my camera.

Here are my other 2010 resolutions:

1. Go to yoga three times a week.

2. Jog/cardio two times a week.

3. Strength-training four times a week.

4. Ab exercises four times a week.

5. Eat fruit and veggies every day.

6. Cook at least five meals a week at home.

7. Try two new recipes a month.

8. Limit alcohol to no more than three times a week. 

9. Acupuncture once a month.

10. Continue growing out hair/ get hair trimmed no more than every three months.

11. Donate at least 6 times to Kiva.

12. Save at least $800 a month.

13. Find a weekly — or at least monthly — volunteer gig.

14. Sponsor a family for the holidays.

15. Call at least one long-distance friend each week.

16. Write at least one letter to my Grandparents every month.

17. Write at least one letter to (my great-aunt) Velda every month.

18. Wash my face before bed every night.

19. Read at least two books a month.

20. Limit internet time during nights and weekends.

21. Get a literary agent.

22. Finish my book.

23. Host a brunch/dinner party/happy hour/game night at least once a month.

24. Make serious headway on my secret project with Drew (NOT a baby...although that could be a possibility for this year...).

So, there you go. 25 resolutions — including the picture-a-day one — for the new year. Because of this cold, I'm already behind on all the fitness goals, but, hey! I haven't had a drop of alcohol since last year, so there's that. And I'm almost done with my first book of the year (reading one, that is).. And my hair keeps growing! Still, if these first few days are indicative of the year ahead, I'm in trouble. Here's hoping I'm just getting the shitty times out of the way early. Oh, and apropos of nothing, I watched seven documentaries this weekend. I should have made that a new year's resolution!

Maybe Next Year I'll Limit My Resolutions to Just Ten

As 2009 quickly winds down to a close, I thought this was the perfect time to see how I've done on my resolutions for the year before things start getting Christmas-crazy up in this place. Self-indulgent, yes, but this is a personal blog, after all. Anyway, I'm not sure if I ever shared my resolutions with you, but here are most of them:

1. Get decent health insurance by February.

Ha!! I didn't sign up for decent health insurance until this week! Neither Drew nor I get health coverage through our jobs, despite being fulltime, permanent employees, but Drew's employer at least kicks in a little bit for it (maybe 25% or something), so a few days ago when he had open enrollment, I signed up for spousal coverage (something that, of course, wouldn't have been an option back in February). Now I can finally get all my funny moles checked out without spending  a butt-load ... although, come to think of it, I'm spending a butt-load on my monthly premiums. But anyway, I'm sure there's some benefit to being covered ... right?

2. Take a spring break trip.

Check! I don't think I'd ever taken a real spring break trip, so it was a real treat to go to Costa Rica with Drew in early March. Definitely a good resolution.

3. Visit Charleston, SC.

Didn't do this, and frankly, I'm not sure why it was even a resolution. Sure, I want to go sometime, but there are plenty of other places I'm equally eager to check out. Anyhow, I got in a trip to Central America, a honeymoon to Spain and Portugal, and I'm going to Germany next week, so I definitely got in some good travel in 2009. Next year I think I might like to focus on smaller, less extavagent trips, so maybe I'll get in that trip to Chasleston after all.

4. Exercise 3-4 times a week.

Ugh. No. I failed miserably at this. Actually, I guess it depends on how you define "exercise." There were periods during the year  — two or three months at a time — that I was pretty committed to regular jogs, yoga classes, and biking, but then there were months that I rarely "suited up" at all. Still, even when I wasn't necessarily making a point to "work out," I managed to get in long walks (2-5 miles) at least a couple times a week all year long. I'm back on the exericse wagon (um, as of yesterday), and plan to do better next year. I've got post-wedding weight to lose!!

5. Grow out hair.

Yes! Three-plus years after my fateful mullet, subsequent chop-off and many months of sporting short styles, my hair is officially grown out:

 

This time next year, I hope my hair is down to the middle of my back. It's been about 15 years since I had truly long hair and I'm ready to rock it again. It may seem like this was an easy, cop-out resolution, but achieving it meant skipping my regular 6-8 week trims even when my hair was totally, completely, absolutely driving me bonkers. And when you have as much hair as I go, that's saying something.

6. Donate at least 6 times to Kiva.

A few weeks ago I blogged about Kiva, the agency that disperses microloans to entrepreneurs in developing nations, and said that my resolution had been to donate every month. Now that I'm re-visiting my list, I see that the goal was actually to donate at least six times, which I did, so, good for me, I guess.

7. Pay off credit card debt by June.

When the year began, I still had major credit card debt (around 10K!), mostly from months of underemployment when I was forced to live off plastic. I tightened my purse strings — even when I had a wedding to pay for (hence the strict budget) — took some extra work, and yes, managed to pay it all off by June. I will never, ever be in credit card debt again. Ever!

8. Pay off $10,000 of student loan debt.

By November, I estimate I'd put about 5K towards my student loans, and then, my dear, sweet, generous husband offered to pay off the rest from his own savings. He made a good point that as a married couple, my debt was his debt and that it didn't make sense to continue paying exorbitant interest rates for years to come when he could pay the whole thing off now. Yeah, I'm lucky ... and I'm not quite sure what I did to deserve him, but I'm incredibly grateful to start a new year completely debt-free.

9. Call at least one friend per week.

I hate the phone and rely too much on emails to keep in touch with friends both near and far. But there's nothing like hearing someone's voice and having a real-time conversation, so this year my goal was to not only answer calls instead of just letting them go to voice mail, but to make more calls myself. I never really counted how often I called friends, but I'm sure it was more than once a week. I still don't love talking on the phone, but the discomfort is worth feeling more connected to my peeps.

10. Write at least one letter to my grandparents every month.

I'm a terrible granddaughter. I think I probably sent five, maybe six, letters to my grandparents — and two of those were just thank you notes and two were postcards. Oh, why, why, why can't they have email?! It would make things easier. I don't call as often as I should, either, but that's because my grandmother will keep you on the phone for, like, three hours (I'm serious. Sometimes my mother will talk to her for FOUR hours), and I rarely have a chunk of free time like that. So I decided in an effort to compensate for not calling as much, I'd write letters. But I failed and I feel awful about it. Ah, next year!

11. Wear more dresses.

Well, considering that until 2009 I hardly wore any, I'd say that even the few I wore this year would qualify as "more." I can't remember what the point of this resolution was, though. Maybe to look more "put-together" or something? Actually, I think it was because Drew said he liked me in dresses and I wanted to look good for him. He married me, so I guess he approves.

12. Change cabinet pulls in kitchen.

Really, Wendy? This was a resolution? This didn't get done and I don't feel the least bit bad about it. I'd put it on my list for next year, but surely there are bigger things to worry about (like finding a new place to live!).

13. Cook two new recipes a month.

Does it count if I found the recipes, did the grocery shopping, set everything out, and then had Drew do the cooking? It does? Well, guess what? I still fail! I think we managed maybe one new recipe a month. But my parents just gave us a Crockpot as an early Christmas present and I suddenly foresee many new recipes in our future.

14. Cook five lunch/dinners a week.

There was probably one week this year I actually cooked five meals. Maybe. Hey, what can I say? I'm a sucker for my Thai take-out.

15. Try the 30 day bikram yoga challenge.

Oh, fuck you.

16. Find volunteer or teaching gig.

I volunteered to take out the garbage once — does that count? Actually, the point of this resolution was to "give back" and to feel part of a larger community. I fail. Next year?

17. Join at least two meet-up groups.

I did! i joined them ... I just never went to any of the meet-ups. Oh well. Anyhow, the point of this goal was to make new friends this year, which I did — some pretty good ones, actually — so I'm not too worried I didn't technically achieve this resolution.

18. Read a book a week.

Ha! Another failure. I think I read, like, 15 books total? Maybe 20, but that's probably pushing it. Ironically, one of the meet-up groups I joined was a book club. Maybe actually going to a meeting would have helped here ...

19. Limit internet time.

Well, now you're just mocking me.

Anyhow, there were a few other resolutions on my list, mostly writing-related. Guess what? I failed at all of them! Next year I really want to focus on finding an agent and finishing a book I've sort of started. This will take actual determination, something that, if 2009 is any indication, I really need to work on. We shall see...

How did you guys do on your resolutions this year?

My Favorite Documentaries (So Far)

First, thank you so much for all your documentary suggestions. I can't wait to watch some great films over the next few months. I wanted to share my list of favorites with you guys too. I've probably inadvertently left a couple off and I'm sure I'll no doubt add to it as I continue watching the docs you've recommended, but as of today, to the best of my recollection at the moment, these have been my favorite documentaries:

Grey Gardens
Capturing the Friedmans
Born into the Brothels (I watched this last night — so good!)
The Cruise
Man on a Wire
Crumb
Alone Across Australia
Rivers and Tides
Jesus Camp
The Up Series

Grizzly Man

A few that I've seen recently that aren't necessarily favorites, but still very much worth watching:

Crazy Love
Mad Hot Ballroom
Street Fight

Person Jesus Camp

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T-Minus 10 Weeks

In just under 10 weeks, I am marrying this man. I'll let that sink in for a minute.

Good? Good. Now, in case you're interested in keeping track, this is what we've managed to cross off our wedding to-do list thus far:

Choose Date

Choose Venue

Choose reception place

Partially lose mind

Make guest list

Purchase invitations (got these, except, of course, with our names)

Hire photographer 

Register for gifts

Drink copious amounts of alcohol

Buy a new tux jacket

Choose a honeymoon location

Hire a cantor to sing

Wonder if maybe we should just elope

Hire rabbi to officiate

Send invitations

Book honeymoon flights

Start getting kind of excited

Re-send invitations that have been returned due to insufficient postage because the envelope is square and the Post Office doesn't like square envelopes

Lose rest of mind

Rent a bus to transport wedding guests from Central Park to the reception

Choose musicians for the ceremony: almost done!

Choose a wedding dress: getting close!

Think about everything else that still needs to be done

Cry a little

Drink some more

25 Things I'd Rather Do Than Write 25 Random Things About Me

I've been tagged about 210 times on Facebook to write a list of random things about me. First, it was 16 random things everyone was writing and I didn't even want to do that. Now 16 things aren't enough, people want to share 25 things about themselves — things like what their favorite candy is, what they ate for dinner last night and that their mother used to beat them with a wooden spoon when they were young. I don't care to know this much about other people I don't see and talk to on a regular basis and I surely don't care for others to know that much about me...at least, not in such an easily digestable list like that. If people wants to know a lot about me, they should suffer through archives of this blog or take me out for a couple of drinks first.

And so, just to illustrate my distaste for the whole thing, here are 25 completely random things I'd rather do than write 25 random things about me:

1. Push my cuticles back on both my fingers and my toes
2. Drink cold hot chocolate with no marshmallows
3. Sit through a community theater production of "South Pacific"
4. Watch an episode of the Today Show's Hota Kotb and Kathie Lee
5. Get measured for a bra
6. Get my teeth cleaned
7. Fold laundry
8. Eat a bowl of steamed brussel sprouts
9. Go out in public with my shirt on backwards
10. Watch all interviews of Sarah Palin on Youtube
11. Take my shoes off at the airport
12. Misplace my keys
13. Have awkward small talk in an elevator with a coworker I don't really like
14. Go to a mall
15. Eat soggy Cheerios
16. Write a pile of thank you notes
17. Apologize for something I really didn't do wrong just to "keep the peace"
18. Shovel snow off a driveway
19. Empty the litterbox
20. Do my taxes
21. Run into an old boyfriend on a bad hair day
22. Get weighed in a sports bra and spandex shorts on national television
23. Actually, maybe not that last one
24. Not in a sports bra, anyway
25. Eat a piece of toast with no butter

Things I Have Found While Cleaning Out My Old Bedroom At My Parents' House

Since I've got a bit of time on my hands here at my parents' house this week, I decided to clean out my old bedroom, a task I've been putting off for the last 13 years or so. Among the many awesome relics of my childhood and adolescence I discovered in my dresser drawers, under the bed, and in my old desk were:

• pay stubs from my high school job at Baskin-Robbins
• three empty wallets
• two scrunchies, two banana clips, and four hair bows
• a photo of my 9th grade boyfriend who looked alarmingly like Bart Simpson
• my SAT scores
• a poem I wrote in 3rd grade that included the word "sun" 11 times
• a poem I wrote in 11th grade that included the word "soul" 9 times
• an empty pack of Marlboros hidden in a shoebox
• a cassette tape of the Beaches soundtrack
• a cassette tape of U2's Rattle and Hum
• a copy of the Book of Mormon, no doubt given to me by one of my dozens of old Brigham Young-bound high school classmates in hopes of converting me...or at least saving my soul from the evils of coffee and card games
• a neon pink bathing suit
• one of my old pre-breast reduction surgery bras, size 36 DDD
• a pair of Keds
• 13 VC Andrews books
• a half-finished needlepoint of a hummingbird
• a half-finished friendship bracelet
• a rejection note and returned essay from Seventeen magazine
• the journal I had to write in 12th grade English class in which I counted the days until I'd "be outta this shit-hole"
• 5 unopened packs of pantyhose

Favorite Songs of the Year

I don't really know shit about music and so I've got no business declaring what the best songs of the year are, but I do know what I like and what songs I torment my neighbors with by playing on repeat for hours on end, and these are the top ten of the year:

1. "You Can Have Whatever You Like" T.I.
2. "White Winter Hymnal" Fleet Foxes
3. "Bruises" Chairlift
4. "M79" Vampire Weekend
5. "Little Rock Star" Lucinda Williams (it's thought that Amy Winehouse is the inspiration)
6. "You Really Gotta Hold On Me" (cover) She&Him
7. "LES Artistes" Santogold
8. "So What?" Pink
9. "Change is Hard" She&Him
10. "Viva La Vida" Coldplay

A few of those are sort of guilty pleasures, but whatever, they're good fucking songs. So what are your favorites of the year?

Making My Resolutions Early

I'm getting a head start on my New Year's resolutions because 2009 is only three weeks away and it'll be here before you know it. I fly to Germany next Saturday to spend Christmas with my family and by the time I get back home and get mildly adjusted to the time change, it'll be New Year's Eve and if I don't have my resolutions by then, it'll just be too late. I'll drink too much that night, and then waste the entire first day of 2009 being hungover and will talk myself out of any good intentions I may have had for the new year, which, let's face it, weren't all that great to begin with if I couldn't even bother to get a list of resolutions together. So! In order to avoid another year in which I feel like a failure, I'm creating resolutions early so that I can live another year in which I feel like a failure AND feel guilty about it.

Resolution #1: Make a living will
I don't have anything to leave anyone except a pile of debt, but I still like the idea of assigning just which loved one will have to deal with all my worthless boxes of crap should anything happen to me.

Resolution #2: Let me hair grow out
If you've been reading this blog for a while then you know I had to cut all my hair off after an unfortunate mullet and that was over two years ago (2 years, 3 months and 4 days to be exact, but wh's counting) and my hair is STILL short. Part of this may have to do with the lack of calcium in my diet or vitamin deficiency or the fact that my hair and the universe HATES me and part of it has to do with me getting my hair trimmed every 6 weeks. As of now, it's been nearly two months since my last trim and I am resisting the urge to schedule an appointment. In fact, I'm going to see just how long I can go without letting scissors anywhere near my hair. My guess I make it to the end of February before I have a total breakdown and get, like, all of it cut off again.

Resolution #3: Quit eating so much Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream Ice Cream
This one is going to be the hardest and if I can even get my splurges down to, like, twice a week, I'll consider myself a success. A success! Do you hear that?! All I have to to is eat Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream ice cream twice a week and I will be a success in 2009!

The bar has been set, people. Wish me luck.