Stuff making me happy this week.

It’s been a strange week here in Chez Shoes Land, so I thought I’d put a little happy out there:

• Listening to Radio Dismuke*
• Looking forward to seeing this soon
• Nikki McClure at Giant Robot
• Planning to do this hike over the weekend
• El Naturalista shoes found on eBay for $13 (including shipping!)

Happy weekend, all.

*Roots of Rock is pretty great, too.

 

+ and -, Part Deux.

+:

• I got the mountain view room. And the mountains? Are BEAUTIFUL. I want to go back to get a proper, up close and personal look.
• The Sundance Catalog store was like a little slice of (very expensive) heaven. Practically the WHOLE STORE was on sale, and I came away with some much-needed PANTS THAT FIT. The Portland Pants are very likely the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn.
• Yes, I was stuck in Deepest Suburbia, where at one moment the most edible thing around was Panda Express. But I found that as long as I didn’t leave my hotel, the food was excellent. Especially here. Yum.
• You know what I really enjoyed? Watching Olympic gymnastics on tv each evening. As you may or may not know, I don’t have one of those newfangled telly-vision devices at home, so I guess it was kind of like bringing fire to the cavemen – I was pretty captivated. Captivated far past my bedtime, unfortunately…
• Denver International has free wi-fi. This, combined with the fact that OMG even the TSA people are friendly there, makes me want to marry it.

-:

• The day I arrived was supposed to be my get-out-and-explore day. But the sky looked super threatening and everyone kept telling me that a thunderstorm was expected, so I chickened out. Turned out the thunderstorm came in around midnight, so I *could* have had many thunder-and-rain-free hours to spend in downtown Denver. Instead, I spend them watching Olympic gymnastics and Food Network. Which was fine, because I was DOG. TIRED.
• While the colleagues I met with at my corporate office were all incredibly nice and incredibly smart, I spent two days in an estrogen-dominant environment in which there was lots of conversation about “being good” when it came to food. The whole concept of “being good” (eating dubious low-fat foods and skipping dessert) and “being bad” (eating dessert, or enjoying one’s food in general) depresses the hell out of me.
• I think I’m even more of a lightweight when it comes to alcohol at higher elevations than I am at sea level. That glass of wine I had with dinner? It gave me a freaking hangover. Well, it was a pretty big glass.
• Los Angeles International Airport, you suck. You sucked during my departure, and you sucked during my arrival. Your wifi isn’t free. Your signage is confusing, at times wrong, and at other times nonexistent. Annd your employees all act like they got their training in a concentration camp. Lucky me, I get to experience your suckitude all over again next month.

 

+ and -

+:

• I will be spending the next three days in a swanky hotel. I like hotels.
• There is a Sundance Catalog store in walking distance to where I’ll be staying.
• If I am lucky, my room will have views of lovely mountain scenery.
• If I am really lucky, I will be able to venture into the nearby city’s downtown by light rail and do some exploring.

-:

• It’s in the suburbs. Near a bunch of golf courses. I don’t care for suburbs. Nor do I like golf. Or lawns.
• Um, I’m pretty broke. And Sundance Catalog ain’t cheap.
• If I’m unlucky, my room will face the freaking golf course.
• If I’m really unlucky, my boss will keep me on too tight of a leash to go anywhere on my own and I will see nothing but this for the next three days:

Uggggggggggh. At least the clouds are pretty, but – ugggggggggh.

Thinking good thoughts of clearance racks, mountain views, and a bit of freedom from the corporate reins. Back in a few!

 

Days like this definitely call for new shoes.

Yesterday? Not the best of days:

• Started day with HMO battle. Right now: HMO 1, Chez Shoes 0.
• Arrived at work to an email telling me O HAI, you have to lead a meeting that you’re not prepared for in a couple hours.
• EARTHQUAKE!!!
• Meeting begins and technological problems ensue, culminating in the power going out all over Santa Monica just as I was wrapping up and starting to breath a sigh of relief. This means I have to do parts of it AGAIN.
• Yay, company closes early and sends us home. Boo, it takes me over 30 minutes to get out of the garage, what with everyone going home at the same time.

Today will be better. But I still think after a day like that, I deserve a new pair of shoes!

 

In threes.

This has been a very, very good day:

• The day began with some exciting shoe news that I will be posting about very soon.
• I came into an unexpected reward for a job well done. A significant one.
• My economic stimulus check arrived, albeit at my old address. But still.

 

This weekend I…

• Went to both the mountains and the beach, all in the same afternoon.
• Drove down PCH with the sunroof open. How cliche.
• Had a very tasty dinner at my new favorite restaurant.
• Walked my favorite dog.

• Did exactly one hour of actual work. Will be paying the price for this next weekend.
• Came home to find a notice taped to the front door informing me that next Sunday and Monday night, from 5pm until 6am, a film shoot will take place in my neighborhood with “simulated gunfire.” Guess who won’t be getting much sleep? Those of us who live mere blocks away from where Biggie Smalls was gunned down, because the production in question is this one. Lucky us!

 

Poppies.

I can’t believe I’ve lived in Southern California most of my life and, until yesterday, had never been to the Poppy Reserve. I suppose it’s like so many other things with me – generally if it’s a crowd-generating tourist-oriented activity, my tendency is to run, screaming, in the opposite direction. I have to admit that when we arrived, the crowd of cars waiting to get past the tollbooth gave me doubts. But it was clear to see the crowds were headed one way (the easy way!), and uphill, in the opposite direction, were several nearly-empty hiking trails. So off we went.

It turned out to be one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. It was like so many of my favorites all wrapped up into one: flowers, California, the desert, solitude, and the color orange.

Other things I’ve been doing lately:

• Looking forward to another visit to Yosemite in June.
• Working working working, putting my mad taxonomy skillz to use.
• Dreaming of vacations, now that I actually have a decent vacation benefit. Three at the top of my list are Portland (August, I hope), Austin, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
• Watching Heroes on Netflix. I consider it educational – it’s helping me brush up on my Japanese. Oh, and I might just have a little bit of a crush on Masi Oka. Maybe.

And things I *haven’t* been doing:

• Making anything. No knitting, no sewing, no crocheting. Bupkis.
• Reading very many blogs. At least not nearly as much as I used to. Having a real job seriously cuts into my web surfing time.
• Buying shoes. Something about living in a teeny tiny space has really made me want to go as minimal as possible. I think the not-making-anything problem also is influenced by this – I don’t want stuff to have to deal with. Although I must admit that plans are in the works for another pair of Keen Calistogas, ideally in Rum Raisin or Flamingo. I’m being *selectively* minimalist!

 

Stuff I’m enjoying this week.

• Bowling. My department at work had an enforced-fun outing here, and it was actually fun. I tried to take pictures, but it was too dark inside. There was incredibly good retro signage, fantastic people watching, and 80s music – oh, and even though I haven’t bowled since 9th grade, I did pretty well.
• The Bluelines house tour galleries. Months ago I blogged about Tosca Radigonda’s cute home; here it is.
• Chip & Pepper jeans. No, I didn’t go out and buy $200 pants; I found a pair in a thrift store. They fit incredibly well and the denim is so so soft. I will be haunting that thrift store for the rest of my life, determined to find another pair. Uh, that’ll happen.
• TV on my computer. Most specifically, 30 Rock.
• My Camilla Converse are arriving today! After almost a two-month wait!

 

+ and -

This week has definitely been full of both good and bad. I like to get the bad stuff over with first, so…

-:

• My Mac is borked. This isn’t a huge tragedy since I can use my work laptop, but it’s not the same. So in the near future I’ll be looking at a what-should-I-buy decision, and have a feeling that I may be heading over to the dark side of Windows. Ack!
• The City of Los Angeles refuses to give me a parking permit. I’ve been fighting their bureaucracy for a month now, and it’s getting a bit old. Apparently the only satisfactory proof of residency to them is a land line bill, gas bill, electricity bill, or cable television bill. I don’t have a land line, I don’t have a TV, and my landlord pays all utilities for me. I do, however, have a broadband bill – from the exact same agency that provides cable tv, no less – yet they won’t accept that. Yes, I have written to my councilman. Meantime, parking is a beeyotch – it’s easier to park in San Francisco than it is in my ‘hood.
• My commute generally is great now, but last night? One and a half hours to get home. All the while, of course, stressing about “will there be parking when I get there?” I think a future of bus riding is near.

+:

• The job is still great! With nifty little perks like Persian food for lunch the other day!
• Lunch with Ellen earlier this week! She works across the street and she rocks! And she’s going to make sure I start knitting again!
• Early closing at work today for the holiday! When we got the email, I kinda scratched my head and said “What holiday?” because I can’t say I ever give Easter much thought. Used to be a day for eating Chinese food since nothing else was ever open, but these days? Just another Sunday for me. But early closing – woot!

All in all, with all of those exclamation points, I’d say the positive is still in the lead.

 

Midweek status.

This week? Let’s just say it’s not one I’d like to experience again. The stress of it all has led me to desperate measures, such as pounding Rescue Remedy and taking those massage stations at Whole Foods seriously. A dollar a minute? Give me ten, please.

My life, in list form:

The job:

• I think I really like it. Thus far, the people are great, and I get to use my brain – woot!
• The commute from my nearly-former home totals a minimum of three hours round-trip. Prior to this week, I don’t think I spent three hours a week driving. Now it’s three hours a day.

Moving:

• I’m completely packed. My entire life is contained in some twenty-odd boxes in one room. Packing has been a good lesson in curbing my consumerism – note to self, spend less time and money at Target. Really.
• Movers are coming Saturday morning. I haven’t hired movers in years, and have heard horror stories – let’s hope these guys I picked are as honest as their Yelp reviews claim.
• Broadband installation is Sunday morning. I lucked out on that one.

Many thanks to everyone who has commented, emailed, and/or sent links. I owe all of you responses, but those will wait until after the move. Because for once in a long, long time, I don’t have a job where I spend half of the day playing on the internet!

ETA: Yes, my commute will be much shorter after I move. This hellishness is only for a week. Still, it’s a week more than I’d like.