By far the most popular post on this blog is one I wrote last year about winter running gear. Problem is, a lot of the links had broken. I just went through and fixed all the links, so you can now get a visual of all the running gear I recommend.
Take a look! Winter Running Gear (or, how to overcome even the nastiest winters).
As anybody who’s ever gotten mail from me knows, I love to send fun mail. What I lack in artistic talent, I make up for in stickers and colored markers and fun stamps.
Recently inspired by some activity on Twitter (blatantly stolen from the brilliant @leahjones, let’s be honest) as well as some newly discovered blogs devoted to mail art, I’m stepping it up. (See especially Time After Tea and Stationery Addicted for inspiration). I am going to try to send one letter a week, and you, my readership of ten, are the lucky recipients. I’ll post pictures here of the mail a week after I send it, so as not to spoil the mailbox surprise for anybody.
If you want in on the action, please add your name and address to this form. I will do my very best to include strangers and international recipients. I promise neither the profound nor magnificent, but I will try to brighten your day with something addressed just to you.
To kick things off, I’m posting pictures of a little note I wrote to a friend who I’m pretty sure doesn’t check this blog regularly. I made the envelope from an ad in a magazine, which I folded using Angry Chicken’s guidance. That’s a Peanuts Valentine’s sticker on the back.
UPDATE: Yes, even if I know you personally and you are positive I have your address, please still use the form. It’ll help me keep track of everything.
Quick site maintenance note:
I read a lot of stuff online, probably more than I should. Google Reader has a nifty function where I can share Web pages with anybody who follows me, and I often share links via Twitter and/or Facebook. Starting today, you can now see my shared Google Reader pages in the right sidebar under the heading “what i’m reading online.” These are likely to run the gamut from LOLcats to lefty politics to just about anything. You can find the full feed here.
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current book: Ender’s Game, which I’ve never read and need to finish for my YA book club this Wednesday evening.
current music: Loads of BBC Radio 4. Tim got me hooked.
current socks: Boring Thorlo running socks, as I just got back from a 40 minute run in some seriously miserable weather.
When I stayed with the Lattimores, Angela, Tim’s mum, made a salad I fell head over heels for. I’ve been making it ever since I got back, and I want to share it with you because it would be a crime not to tell you about it. It’s simple and takes five minutes to throw together, but the flavors blend in lovely and unexpected ways.
Angela’s Salad
fresh spinach
fresh mint
peas (I zap some frozen peas in the microwave, which works just fine)
small cubes or chunks of feta
Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. And try to save some for the rest of the family.
I think the term “Boxing Day” is gaining notoriety in the States, though it’s certainly not a federal holiday. According to the Internets, the term “Boxing Day” doesn’t have a singular definitive origin, but according to my friends in London, it was historically the day that you boxed up your unwanted gifts to the poor. Which is a pretty good reason for a federal holiday, frankly.
This past Boxing Day, Tim and I joined his dad for a ramble through Hampstead Heath in north London. It wasn’t at all the manicured park I expected—more a sprawling, muddy lawn, with gravel paths and dozens of dogs happily racing through the mud and muck. (I should have worn my new patterned wellies but didn’t realize just how muddy it was going to be. I finally caught on near the end of my stay, after I ruined a pair of jeans by constantly dragging them through muddy paths).
After a good post-Christmas walk and a cup of tea, Tim and I headed toward Waterloo so I could take a few more pictures with my proper camera (as opposed to my point-and-shoot). We walked through the compound that houses the British Film Institute, the National Theatre, and other cultural buildings, which were decorated with small white lights hanging between the buildings. The moon was bright that night and not quite full. I loved the asymmetry of the moon and the broken string of lights.
When my friend Megan and I were at the Cliffs of Moher in Ireland, we happened onto a large group of Filipino tourists gathered in front of O’Brien’s Tower. They were staging a photo op by all jumping at the same time — this went on for quite a while, and they were so excited about it that it just cracked me up. So I set my camera to a fast shutter speed and started snapping. This is my favorite, even though the light isn’t that great (it was a gray day, of course, and my shutter speed was probably a little too fast). I especially love the guy on the far left:
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current book: Bad Science by Ben Goldacre, which I need to hurry up and finish so I can read Ender’s Game for my YA book club next week.
current music: The newly launched CHIRP Radio. Go listen! You can even stream it through iTunes.
current socks: It’s SmartWool season. I was wearing brown socks with pink mushrooms until I ran through the snow after the UPS truck wearing only pajamas and socks. Now I am wearing red-and-white SmartWools.
I’m back in Chicago and over the jet lag, though my mind is not fully Stateside yet. The Chicago accents greeting me in O’Hare were jarring, the tea here is terrible, and the museums cost a fortune. Until I figure out how to move abroad, I’m keeping myself busy. A few job-related notes:
- I was featured on a Chicago Public Radio blog last month in a series called, “Give me a job, please!” Check it out: Storyteller, art lover, wordsmith, factory tour enthusiast.
- Starting in about a week, I’m joining Chicagoist’s Arts & Entertainment bloggers covering museumy things. I’m pretty excited about it, and I’ll keep you posted.
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People keep asking what my trip highlight was. That’s impossible to answer — I was there for five full weeks and packed a lot in. I did catch a couple shows at The National Theatre — we had hoped to see more, but it just wasn’t meant to be — and I realized how much I’m missing out here in Chicago. I live in one of the best cities in the world for theater, and I think I’ve seen maybe two shows since I’ve been here. Unacceptable. I’ve done some poking around, and reduced-rate tickets are available at almost every theater, either by queuing up the morning of, or via HotTix.org (also usually the day of). Here are the current shows I want to see. Who’s in?
The Year of Magical Thinking — Court Theatre (in Hyde Park; based on Joan Didion’s book of the same name)
American Buffalo — Steppenwolf Theatre (a David Mamet play)
Private Lives — Chicago Shakespeare Theater (a Noel Coward play)
And just about anything at Looking Glass Theatre and Second City.
Email me or leave a comment if you want to join me. In general, cheap tickets are around $20 (compared to prices anywhere from $40 to $60+, so it’s actually a good deal).
