“All good stories start with, ‘So!  There I was…'”
-TenFour

I am an enigma.  Put me at a formal function, slither me into a Little Black Dress, and slap some dangerously high heels on me and I’m Princess Grace of Monaco, but day to day I’m easily one of the klutziest people I know.  Usually I’m at my worst around the very people I want most to impress but that, I’m beginning to learn, is probably going to be a lifetime ailment, tragic and incurable. 

Besides being klutzy I’m also constantly turning up with bruises, scrapes, and sprains that I can’t only not explain but have absolutely no memory of ever acquiring.  Some scars are well documented (many thanks Dad for the miraculous aim that managed to flick a chicken pock off the tip of my nose leaving me with a permanent dent in it) and mundane even if they have led to perplexing questions for me.  How have I managed to survive crocodile and shark infested waters, spelunking near-death-experiences, rock climbing on razor sharp lava rocks, and weekly wrestling with three younger siblings for 18 years only to have no cool scars to show from it!  To rub salt in the wound – pun! – my right wrist has a scratch (cat, nothing self inflicted), my left forearm has a small circular scar (biopsy, nothing self inflicted), and my right foot has a scar on the bottom of it (tree stabbing, nothing self inflicted unless you count tripping).  Not a single good story to be had!

My only semi-funny story about an injury is the time I once managed to nearly slice the tip off my finger off while cutting an orange.  I didn’t even feel it until I glanced down.
“Dang it.  Dad, I’ve –  whoa…”
“You alright?” Dad asked.  Pause.  “Are you going into shock?!”
“Um, yeah…embarrassing…”
I had to lie on the floor with my hand above my head until the bleeding stopped while Dad just laughed at my outraged, and woozy, tirade about how I couldn’t be in shock.

In spite of this the only bone I ever “broke” was my pinky finger, which I got galloping down the hall after an errant little brother and accidently smacking my hand against a wall in surprise when a parental figure yelled at me.  Even then I was too hyper for the plaster casts they kept putting me in and after a couple of those, the perturbed doctor wrapped my arm to the elbow in fiberglass to keep me from doing further damage.  Still not an impressive injury.

As I sit writing this I am nursing a foot that I twisted slightly while running, puzzling over the creation of three bruises on my legs, and debating whether or not to go skating with J., which invariably ends with sprains.

“Fine!  Just sell your soul next!”
-C., nearly rabid in disappointment and close to throttling her computer

ABC is not picking up Pushing Daisies for another season.  In fact they’re just letting them finish airing the completed episodes and even that might be tugged out from under us.  This is a travesty!  Teenage soaps like 90210 are still holding on, Rock of Love Charm School is going strong, and reality T.V. dating show will not die, but they are chopping Daisies and Eli Stone, two shows with interesting, quirky premises and clever gimmicks.  There is no justice in the world…

“Thanksgiving, man.  Not a good day to be my pants.”
-Kevin Smith

America is a funny place as regards holidays because, as far as I have been able to make out, there is only one truly American holiday.  Don’t try to sell me on Independence Day, lots of countries have one and America managed to screw up theirs bigtime (July 2, 1776, anybody?).  Besides I really look at is as more of a celebration of the 18th century as a whole.  I’m talking about Thanksgiving, and it’s on the verge of extinction.

Over the past few years, we have managed to strip the significance out of most holidays to a depressing degree (no religious overtones, historical sense or accuracy, or original sense of importance allowed, please).  Easter is mostly overlooked, Valentines Day is a vomitorious cacophony of red cellophane, pink foil, and ridiculously priced flowers (I have seen the price shift a full 20 dollars upward for a single day…probably for panicked and forgetful menfolk), St. Patrick’s Day is little more than excuse for people to claim Irish heritage for snogs and get drunk, Halloween has become more than a little slutty, and then there’s Christmas.  Which has slowly been commercialized over the years from the Day of Giving to the Day of Getting.  All are borrowed from immigrants, Roman martyrs, and early Christianity/paganism.  The North American continent is in fact responsible for the singular event, Thanksgiving. 

Falling smack between Gluttony and Greed (aka, Halloween and Christmas) should come Gratitude…but it’s disappearing.  The day before Halloween snowflakes, Father Christmases, and reindeer abounded in stores while countdowns appeared: “XX Shopping Days Left!!!” 

It’s too bad, really.  Apart from the slaughter of millions of turkeys, I think having a day entirely devoted to gratitude is a profound and important thing.  And the food!  People, the food!  Don’t get me wrong, I love carols, cider, snow, and 24-hour runs of A Christmas Story, but don’t deny me my day of potatoes, pies, beans, stuffing, martinelli, cranberry and marmalade sauce, apples, homemade rolls, and said slaughtered bird.

I wish we weren’t in such a hurry sometimes.  Yes, I think Christmas is the best holiday there is and I wander around in a holly jolly fog from Black Friday through Three Kings Day (Jan. 6) when my family traditionally takes our tree down, but you’ve got to admit there’s a lot of good stuff between now and then. 

Fall/Winter is when you get the good food, the good dates, the good parties.  Pumpkins and costumes, hot chocolate and blankets, snow and the required snowball fights, ice skating and sledding.  And did I mention the holidays?  All of them.

“The suspense is terrible.  I hope it will last!”
-Oscar Wilde

We’re down to the wire, all that’s ahead of us are long lines, the guaranteed problems at various poling places, the interminable coverage of 24 hour news stations, and finally the announcement of our new Commander-in-Chief. 

An end to the name calling (“pig”-with or without lipstick, “socialist,” “geezer,” whatever), the campaigning, the mud-slinging, and the general all-pervasiveness of the whole shebang.  I’m ready for the talk to be over and the walk to start.  I’ve been frustrated with how both of the major candidates (the fact that the other parties haven’t received much attention is a completely different annoyance) started by talking about ending bipartisan politics and in the end it seems the election is more partisan than ever.  I’m sick of the skewing of the media in both directions.  I’m most annoyed by the fact that people seem to have forgotten that we are a republic and that most of the power of actually running the country is supposed to be vested in the House and Senate, but next to nobody has mentioned who’s running or the track record of those already in offices (whose technical job it is to deal with taxes, check the other branches of government, declare and finance wars…hm…most of which seems to have come up in this campaign…).

But despite my annoyances with the almost two year slog, I have to say a lot of good may be coming out of this election, regardless of who wins.  I’ve enjoyed seeing my age group get excited and more importantly involved in the politics of our country.  I’m glad to see the huge numbers of people who registered for the first time or are turning out to vote in record smashing numbers.  Major issues like the development of the energy industry, international relations, economic trends, and others have been vigorously debated.  Change has been the catchword and in my personal opinion change is a good thing because of what it represents.

Our country is founded on ideals, ones we haven’t always managed to live up to, but ones we are constantly striving towards throughout our history.  Even when we veer off track, I believe that at the core our ideals are noble and powerful.  To me, change represents people trying to make things better, even if the way we try to go about it is imperfect.  It usually is.  Doesn’t mean the goal is less noble. 

I hope this involvement with the government sticks around, because that’s the way it’s supposed to be.  I’ve lived and been a lot of places in the world and we Americans have a good thing going here, in spite of problems, shortcomings, and dissapointments.  Also, the world is no longer quite as big as it was, it behooves us all to know what exactly is going on out there.  The predominantly lazy attitude towards political events both at home and abroad can’t continue because like it or not they will affect us, another reason to be glad of the huge involvment of the “demos” part of our “democracy.” 

Get out and vote.  And please, even after this particular election is over, stay involved and in the know.  Because in another 4 years we’re going to do this all over again, and even if the hype isn’t as big, we’ll probably still be dealing with issues that are just as important.  That may sound depressing, but I don’t mean it to.  To me it’s a glorious thing to think that we’re in charge of our fate, let’s shoulder our responsibility with intelligence, pride, and enthusiasm!

I have become one of those women I hate!  Help!
-C.

Good gosh…I’m an adult.  I have all the symptoms:
-Civic duties like taxes, voting, retirement plans, and a job that pays SS for other people
-A plethora of personal commitments like THREE baby showers in a week and a half (side-note: I am very fond of all my friends and applaud their decisions to spawn, but three!  In less than two weeks!  Not too long ago it was friends getting married, now they’re multiplying!)
-A sudden and almost uncontrolable urge to keep my flat clean and presentable
-COOKING.  I hate cooking and somewhere between graduation now have started doing it voluntarily.  GAH!
-Grown-up friends, most of whom are married/graduated/working/some combination of the above
-In bed before midnight, usually at least 7 hours of sleep, and still bloody exhausted all the time

When did reality set in exactly?  More importantly, why wasn’t I informed?!  Already my just-barely-acquired lifestyle is starting to freak me out a bit, I’m not sure I’m cut out for this level of…mudanity! 

I rush from work, to the store, pick people up, drop them off, buy food, make food, clean, organize, do paperwork, schedule doctor’s appointments, connect with my significant other when our mutual work schedules allow, push other commitments ruthlessly aside to make time for friends (every Thursday = Girl Night, no exceptions…except…when there are exceptions…) and did I mention I’m a barely graduated, unmarried, childless 22 year old woman?!

Be aware, this is just a small panic attack brought on mostly by my inherent wanderlust and the fact that I have lived somewhere for over 4 years, registered to vote here, and generally have created a starter life.  I’m pretty sure I’ve started growing roots; they’re shallow, thank gosh, but they’re there.  Trouble is, I don’t think I want them to be here, per se.

There is only one explanation: I am having a minor reaction to Real Life.  I prescribe myself one trip home to England for the Christmas holiday, a tonic of one part perspective ( I will not be here forever), two parts gratitude (I’m am extremely lucky to be so secure so soon), and one part deeper commitment to freelancing (the better to get me out of here, my dear). 

Also, I’ve long held this particular theory that people who lead boring lives do so primarily by choice, and that boredom and ennui are entirely a product of the mind, not circumstances.  I’m used to a certain kind of lifestyle (highly mobile, free of emotional committments, blah blah), now I have to find excitement in different sorts of things…at least until I scratch up the money to support myself in the life which I used to partake in gratuitously.  See?!  Another symptom of adulthood!  I think it may be incurable…

“She says there are more important things than what one wears.”
“What a stupid thing to say!  Of course there are, but not when one is dressing for dinner!”
– Georgette Heyer, Sophy

For some reason, probably because I had a taxing night, woke up this morning late, flew into work without makeup, and have truly mad hair, I’ve been looking at things that cheer me up.  Be forewarned, most of them are trivial.

Fall/Winter fashionis a big one, I cannot lie.  Lots of people look their best with summer bronzedskin, tight T-shirts, and shorts.  I am not one of them.  I am a petite brunette with pale, pale skin who looks more moderately adorable in sweaters instead of bikinis.  So, to kick off the first weekend of cold weather, I spent an enjoyable evening not to long ago dragging my cold-weather treasures out of storage and loving folding cardigans, lining up boots, and airing out trousers.  And of course, making a list of things I had to buy.  I rewarded myself for my first working girl’s paycheck by getting a new coat from Nordstroms and check it out!  It’s on sale and comes in 8 colors, my choice was red (of course), and it makes me look a lot thinner and taller than I actually am – lust at first sight.

Along with fashion, I have to bring up OPI’s new La Collection de France color line.  Dark polish is my dark love. 

My current color is this one, Suzi Says Da! from the Russia collection, but I’m not above switching, vive la revolution!

Another cheerful thought, and much less trivial than What to Wear is the freelance work I’ve done recently.  It’s been a bit rough with a full time job, I do my best to get interviews on my lunch break, but it’s a step in the direction that I really want to go.  If you want to read my first two articles, go to the National Wildlife Federation’s Campus Ecology site http://www.nwf.org/campusecology/ and look up Butte College’s solar array, and Rowan University’s cogen plant.  My articles came out the 30th and 16th of September, respectively.  I just finished my third and am hard at work on my fourth!  Et alors, I’m an writer!  If the muses ever see fit to inspire me I may try my hand at a novel here soon, not the Great American one perhaps, but entertaining nonetheless.

Another bright spot on the horizon is the rapidly approaching end of the two year circus of the presidential election.  I like a good debate as much as the next girl, and have followed the election the whole time.  Yes, I’m even 90% certain of who I’m voting for.  But that doesn’t mean that I’m not royally sick of it all.  If I could make election day tomorrow just to get on with it I would…

…then again if I had that sort of power, I’m sure I’d abuse it and make people vote for me instead.

Alright, I’m not so fine anymore!  I’ve been job hunting steadily and hard and have had a great deal of help from some unexpected sources, but today the panic I’ve been holding at bay is howling at the bars of its cage.  While I run around going “Lalala!  I can’t hear you!”

My problem is this: I know what I want to do, I just literally don’t have the time to do it!  I want to be a writer, a novelist if I’m in fact good enough, but I can’t sit around at my laptop all day waiting for the Muses to bless me with inspiration.  First of all, my laptop is a cantankerous piece of equipment which hates me and second, a girl has to eat and pay rent.  One of those unexpected sources of help has been a freelancing assignment (many thanks, Peregrine) and hopefully more will follow, and another has been an old job where the bosses love me and want to help me out…but it’s not the same thing as a full time job with benefits.

I guess my source of frustration is that I’m more than capable of taking care of myself if given the minimal amount of resources, I just don’t have them at all right now.  Which I’m not used to and not enjoying.  I hate dependency, but I’m truly dependent for the first time since coming to school.  I feel like I have nothing to go on, and I’m already getting exhausted from worry and slamming doors. 

Ah well, rant over, back to the grind.

“What’s wrong?”
“I’ve just been slapped with inevitability…”
-C., walking home from the graduation ceremony

Well, it’s happened, I’m graduated.  Officially completely in charge of taking care of myself, something I’ve always prided myself on being able to do…until about a week ago.  I got off the plane from London, spent all the next day and a half cleaning and organizing my flat (there’s a long and infuriating story behind that, but I won’t go into it), and then had to scurry off to my Commencement thursday afternoon, as well as be at my Convocation at 8am on Friday morning.  Since then I’ve been moving apartments, picking up a car, dealing with two Meet the Parents situations, and sending off applications and resumes at a furious rate.