Lily Press — A Girl & Her Charm City Zoo

Sweet, sweet humidity.

May 16, 2012

The humidity has begun. Or rather, has become obvious. It feels like a sauna in the reception area of my building at work and every year I’m surprised by it, like this is the first time it has ever been humid south of the Mason Dixon line.

I’ve been writing (somewhat) regularly in my handwritten journal, and have noted that when I go back to read it, I’m not making much sense. People are always going on about how stream-of-conscious writing is therapeutic, but I don’t think I’m just writing what comes to me – I think I’m trying to concentrate and just not making much sense lately. I blame any number of things – stress probably being the main brain scrambler.

Which reminds me – I could really go for an omelette.

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birdy

April 5, 2012

in baltimore,life savin'

I wish I were more of a musician. This on top of wishing I were more artsy, less lawerly, more spontaneous, etc. This cover of Phoenix’s 1901 by Birdy makes my chest a delicious sort of heavy and melancholy, and if I could sit at a piano and do this, I’d be pretty happy with myself.

I never really had the “There Aren’t Enough Hours in the Day” problem, mostly because up until recently, I’ve had grand plans I haven’t had much energy to carry out, so I wasted hours in front of the tv or sleeping instead. And there are plenty of hours in the day for that when you don’t have children and don’t have the motivation to do anything else. So, I’ve had no one to blame except myself.

It isn’t like I’ve come upon this epiphany for the first time, but this is really the first time in a long while I’m actually getting off my ass and doing something about it. A few weeks ago I got the ball rolling on one of the things I’ve been wanting to do since I was a kid: be an EMT. I had to go through an interview process, take a drug test (peeing into a cup on a Saturday morning is a fine way to start the weekend), and pass a background check, but I’ve passed all those and got word yesterday that I will become an official member of the volunteer fire company on Monday when I’m voted in during a general meeting. The great state of Maryland actually pays for all the training of volunteers, which is icing on the cake. It will be about a year-long process (getting all the training, etc.), but I’m so looking forward to it.

I’m also trying to sucker my parents into moving the world’s heaviest piano from their basement to our place here in Baltimore, so that we can start plunking around on it. My mother had concerns about our neighbors, but given that I have been woken up at least three times at 6 in the morning by our neighbor lady getting into screaming arguments with her hapless husband, I figure some piano around 6 in the evening would be acceptable.

And the weekend is almost here!

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chomp chomp

April 4, 2012

in healthy,lunacy

I’ve had a pain in my jaw on the right side of my face that manifests pretty intensely when I’m eating food, so I took to the internet to self-diagnose. Because God forbid I go to a medical center with learned doctors. The internet and its teeming minions of amateur physicians will suffice, thank you very much. As such, I have decided I have TMJ, which is essentially a fancy term for a broad range of jaw pain brought on by:

Stress
Orthodontic braces
Tooth grinding
Bad Posture
Arthritis
Dislocated jaw
Jaw Fracture
Structural defect since birth
An external blow of extreme force

I’m pretty sure I would have noticed the braces, dislocated jaw, jaw fracture, structural defect since birth, and external blows of extreme force prior to yesterday (but you know, work has been kind of busy, so maybe not). I think it’s most likely due to stress and teeth grinding, as Justin says he has to yell at me on a nightly basis to “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP MAKING THAT GOD AWFUL NOISE WITH YOUR TEETH”.

In other news, it should surprise no one that there aren’t a lot of healthy options available at your neighborhood 7-11. My coach will be pleased to know I bypassed the Slurpee even though I would have enjoyed the hell out of some artificial cherry flavored ice.

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It’s already April 2012, people.

April 3, 2012

in baltimore,healthy,stuff i love doing

How is this possible? It was 2007 three days ago.

In other news, O’s opening day at Camden Yards is this Friday, April 6 (Camden Yards celebrates its 20th birthday this year. I had always assumed that this baseball stadium was around for as long as I could remember. Apparently my memory stops at 20 years). I had grand plans on playing hooky and going out to that game at the Yard, but my planning this year was only slightly better than last and there were no tickets left. So, I’ll just be at work crashing the server by streaming it over the internet.

I also have NOT seen the Hunger Games like everyone on the planet. Yet. I can attest to the fact that I love the soundtrack (Arcade Fire’s Abraham’s Daughter – delish), and I’ve read the books (of course I have). There isn’t a reason I haven’t seen it other than general laziness.

I did, however, manage to watch the Season Two start to Game of Thrones and nearly keeled over with joy. It. Is. Amazing. And I LOVE the opening song – the cello gives me the goosebumps. The whole thing does, really, and it makes me want to live in Winterfell even though 1) it doesn’t exist in reality (shame) and 2) if it did, I’d be freezing my ass off constantly. If that music doesn’t make you totally cised for watching this show, you’re a dead person. A zombie, if you will.

So, the moral of the story is: if you haven’t read or watched either of those, I recommend you do so posthaste or risk becoming a social pariah. You should also read them, and at least in the case of GoT, watch them, because they’re great. Although (minor spoiler alert) if you become emotionally attached to your characters, maybe it isn’t the best idea for you – you’ll end up loving both authors and hating them simultaneously.

Also, my healthy kick has been going well, although it’s strikingly obvious that I’m totally out of shape. At this point, even three-pound weights make me weep. No pain, no gain, or something. I preferred the No Pain, I’m Fine With No Gain and All the Chocolate I Can Eat, but this will be worth it. Or so I tell myself on the tenth rep of overhead tricep extensions that I’m convinced will rip my muscles to shreds.

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spring is sprung

March 20, 2012

It was raining (just a teeny bit) as I walked into work this morning. The air was warm, and I just wanted to stand there, feeling the rain on my head and my arms, all day. It smelled terrific. I can imagine that as the weather gets nicer and nicer, it will be harder and [...]

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the weekend is sooooo close

March 8, 2012

So, New Year’s resolution #6 or so was to write every day (on the blog, in my journal, in a notebook, on paper bags, the dogs, whatever I could get my hands on). I lost steam around week 2 of the year – a lot of the problem is essentially nothing has been happening that [...]