Whoa

I’m a child of the mid-nineties. I consider myself a gen-X holdout–among the last of the teenagers without cell phones and the last of the college freshmen who didn’t have internet access from their residence hall rooms. And like many kids whose hormones exploded around ‘92 or so, I was into the grunge music thing. Especially Nirvana. I watched Unplugged In New York and recorded it on a VHS that eventually fell apart from overuse. When the album finally came out, I bought it on tape because I didn’t have a CD player yet. (Seriously. I was always a little behind.) I remember how important I felt back then. Everybody my age was whining about the “man” and the damage our parents had done to the planet. We were self-indulgent in our angst, and we believed we had all of the answers. Like all teenagers, I guess. Now I’m trying to wrap my head around the fact that I’m watching Unplugged in New York that I DVR-ed off of VH1 Classic. Classic! The concert took place in 1993–for me, exactly half a lifetime (14 years) ago. Holy crap. When did a decade and a half pass? I still like the music, but I did have to fast-forward through “Pennyroyal Tea”–it was just too much.

I’m feeling old. But certainly wiser. When I watched this thing fourteen years ago, I didn’t have any notion that I’d someday have a master’s degree, and certainly never expected to live in Ohio, of all places. And in all of my adolescent pessimism, I had no idea I’d turn out as well as I did. It’s surprising to wake up and find that there’s a new generation out there–even though I’m not even in my 30s yet. Weird. Thank goodness U2 is still around to remind me that I’m not THAT old.

That wacky Uncle Sam

So I waited until today to file my taxes. Shame on me. I suppose I have an excuse…one of my doomed romances was an accountant who said he’d do my taxes for me. After the demise of the “relationship,” I held out hope until the last possible moment, hoping he’d reappear–not because I was interested anymore (he’s the “Shallow Asshole!” from one of my scarier posts), but because I was praying he’d take a gander at my return and find some more deductions. Alas, it was not to be. I forked over the $30 to TurboTax for my state return (bitch all you want about Texas, but at least we don’t pay a state income tax!), which cancels out the $22 I was supposed to get back. I know, I’m a liberal, and we’re supposed to LOVE taxes so we can do all of that crazy “help the poor, feed the hungry” stuff we’re so into. The taxes aren’t even what piss me off. It’s the paperwork. I’m a slob! It’s a lot to ask for me to get together reciepts and W-2s and 1098-Ts and student loan interest statements…and being the bleeding heart I am, I have charitable contributions so I can’t do the easy form that takes 10 minutes over the phone. See? I need an accountant boyfriend.

Enough about taxes, there are other causes for excitement today. I found out that Iron & Wine is going to be in Cleveland Heights this weekend, and nevermind the fact that half of my friends are on duty, and the other half either doesn’t like concerts or doesn’t know who the hell Iron & Wine is. I’m going, even if it’s alone! If anybody in the northeast Ohio area is reading this and willing to come with me, let me know–otherwise I’ll be the nerdy girl in the back looking out of place amid the sea of shrieking, drunken 18-24 year-olds, many of whom will surely be my residents, thanks to the fact that a nice pretentious article about the show was in our obnoxious campus newspaper yesterday. Maybe I’ll wear a disguise.

So, in good news…my ass is getting smaller! Yep, portion control, long walks, and water consumption (paired with paying $12 a week for the humiliation of being weighed in public) are all starting to pay off. Don’t worry, the curvy peacegrrl you all know and love certainly isn’t going anywhere–I will always adore chocolate and pasta and cake…mmm…and let’s face it, I’m not wired to look like Gwenyth Paltrow, and really, who’d want to have all those sharp edges?–but I’m happy to say that there’s a bit less of me these days. I am still and always will be a proud member of the Chubby Girl Brigade.

Here comes the weekend…good weather, big plans for sleeping in and doing as little as possible. Off to finish some work so I can actually enjoy it!
-pg

A Thought For The Day

So there’s a lot to blog about…besides wanting to get to the bottom of this whole Modest Mouse controversy, there’s been a lot going on in my world this week. But since I have to run off to a meeting in a few minutes, I think I’ll just share some lovely Iron and Wine lyrics. There might not be a great love in my life right now, but I can live vicariously through the tapestry of Sam Beam’s genius…

love is a dress that you made
long to hide your knees
love to say this to your face
“i’ll love you only”
for your days and excitement
what will you keep for to wear?
someday drawing you different
may i be weaved in your hair?

love and some verses you hear
say what you can’t say
love to say this in your ear
“i’ll love you that way”
from your changing contentments
what will you keep for to share?
someday drawing you different
may i be weaved in your hair?

-love and some verses

Oh, hell yes…

So, who’s coming to Bonnaroo with me? Jack Johnson, Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine, O.A.R., and, oh yeah, that guy DAVE MATTHEWS will all be waiting for us in Manchester, Tennessee, from June 10-12. It just so happens that my summer classes don’t start until the 13th. I will take this as a sign from God that I must be there. I’d prefer not to go alone, though, so if anybody wants to camp, jam to the best music around, and spend some quality time with the peacegrrl, let me know, ’cause I’m down with that!

-pg

My Act, Together

I’m so used to everything in my life–work, relationships, the state of my apartment–being a mess that when I actually feel a sense of order, it kind of freaks me out. Today is one of those days. My job is going well, I’m feeling good about my place in the world, and I even vacuumed and did laundry this weekend. I haven’t really thought about The Boy in weeks, I’m not worried about Blind Date guy, I’ve completely let go of obsessing over the Crush–it’s almost like I’m sort of embracing singlehood at the moment. (Well, not really, let’s face it, this is a temporary state and I’ll start up again with the “biological clock” and “plight of the single woman” crap soon enough). Seriously, though, I had a good time with my friends last night and reflected about the decisions I’ve made, and I can honestly say that I don’t have any regrets about moving up here. Yes, I hate the cold. Work could be better. There are days when I want to be where everything is comfortable and my mom is only three hours away. But this was the right thing to do–I know it in my heart. And it’s so rare that I know anything in my heart that I’m feeling pretty blessed at the moment.

But let’s get into character and do a little ranting. Here are a few very minor, shallow, unimportant things that are getting on my nerves these days. First of all, what the hell is up with people who don’t pull their hats down, so they’re just sort of sitting there on top of their heads, serving absolutely no purpose? What is that? Isn’t the point of the hat to keep your head warm? If you don’t want to mess up the hair, don’t wear the damn hat! I’m just saying. Also, why do people reverse into parking spaces? Now I hesitate to bring it up, because I have a lot of friends and family members who do the backing-in thing, but honestly, why? To make it easy for a quick getaway? Maybe I’m jealous because I can’t reverse worth a damn–I’m convinced that people who do this do it just to show everyone they can. And finally, I’m irritated by the fact that I’m so intimidated by the idea of going into the Rec Center. See, I’ve been working out every day for over two weeks now (whoo-hoo for me!), but I do it at home with free weights. I need to start upping the weight and adding cardio, which, since it’s like 5 degrees outside lately, means either an indoor track or a treadmill. But I don’t want to go to the Rec! I don’t know where anything is, the last time I circuit-trained was like five years ago, and I REALLY don’t want one of my discipline cases to see me sweating and bouncing around. Yes, it’s silly and shallow of me. But it’s the truth.

So the Oscar nominations are out… yup, I’m one of those nerds who watches them faithfully every year. I used to invite my all-female staff over for Oscar parties. In college, my two best friends and I would place bets on who would win. I get into it. And this year there are definitely some good contenders…I think Sideways is probably going to take it all, but I really liked The Aviator. The acting was fantastic (Leo has finally come out of the shithouse with me for his performances in The Titanic and The Beach, and can you believe Cate Blanchett? She rocks!), the cinemetography was flawless, the costumes were cool. I haven’t seen Million Dollar Baby yet, though, and I hear it’s Clint’s masterpiece. We’ll see. I really loved Finding Neverland, but I think it’s one of those movies that just won’t get its due. I’m a little pissy that Mick Jagger’s song for Alfie got passed over, but maybe they figure it was such a silly movie that it didn’t warrant a nomination even in the “Best Song” category, but really! That awful Counting Crows song from Shrek is up, what the hell? I’m still a little peeved at Adam Duritz.

So on the subject of movies, gotta give a little shout to my buddy LD, who, I discovered, now has a blog of her own, and had a similar reaction to In Good Company–we both zeroed in on the great Iron and Wine songs. Honestly, if you haven’t listened to this band yet, what the hell are you waiting for? Even my mom likes them. And while we’re talking about music, gotta give one more plug to Mason Jennings. It’s January, so listen to “Dr. King” and reflect on what you can do to love your fellow man.

I finally seem to have run out of things to say, so that’s all for today.

-pg