Day 51: Learning to be daring

When I first saw "The Dangerous Book for Boys" when it was published in England early last year, I thought it was a brilliant idea. A book that would teach boys about adventure and history...that didn't occur in a video or X game. When it came to the States later, with some slight modifications, I almost bought it, despite not being a boy, because it seemed so cool. And who says girls can't learn about pirates and tying knots and building a campfire? Well, there is no need, as two women got together and created "The Daring Book for Girls," which Mom bought for me last weekend.

It is based on the same premise as the one for boys, just with different history and adventures for the girls. How to be a spy and jump rope, information on great women inventors and leaders, and even stuff on finances. Which I for one find the most daring of all.

(Though I still may buy the boys one. They get history of the Alamo and Gettysburg, and NASA. Girls like that stuff too!)

Anyway...I've been going through it, marking stuff I want to try, stuff to read more about. Tonite I got my new thing from there, though it's small and probably done by everyone else but me. I made toothpaste out of baking soda and water. I am very picky when it comes to taste and texture, so this is actually quite daring...for me. All in all, not a terrible experience, but not one I really need to repeat unless I'm in a toothpaste pinch. I'll stick with my Crest Vanilla Mint for now.

Day 50: Come back, Whitney

My iPod, Gemma, and I have had many great adventures together. Though not yet a year old, she has been my companion in many an airport and airplane. She's helped me drown out the unfortunate music in malls in Starbucks. She's kept me from many awkward conversations with strangers on the metro who just can't let silence be silence. And today, we had a new adventure, a first, when I put it on shuffle and let it play without skipping anything that comes up.

Luckily, today was a good shuffle day. I had everything from showtunes (Newsies) to country (Keith Urban) to some emoish/rock stuff I've been listening to lately (Trespassers William). Between my morning and evening commutes I made it through 34 songs...of2846. But as two of these were Whitney Houston songs from "The Bodyguard," I was pretty pumped for my day. And almost willing to do a little interpretative karaoke for the people of Alexandria. Oh well, something for tomorrow.

Day 49: Just call me Jethro

I ate my dinner tonite out of a big bowl. Tonite I took my new Ikea salad bowl, and ate directly out of it. It didn't occur to me when I had Mom buy it that I rarely cook for more than one, so I'd never get a chance to use it. .

Day 48: Just a trim

As part of another new thing I am working on for the future, I am growing out my hair. I hate going to the hairdresser for just a trim because it still costs $20 and they convince me they must wash it first, which is absurd because my hair just does not get that dirty that quick. But anyway, my split ends had split ends and that certainly doesn't make it grow any faster, so I had Mom trim the ends of my hair, getting all my split ends and evening it up. She used to trim my bangs all the time, and she probably did the ends occasionally too, but certainly not since I've been an adult, and definitely so long ago I can't remember if it actually happened or not. Now my splits ends are gone and my hair should be free to grow and grow and grow.

Day 47: Making it on your own

Thanks to Mom, I have seen pretty much every episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." Which I love. I always thought Mary was so cool and independent, with her couch that was also her bed. I loved bitter old Mr. Grant and pompous anchorman Ted. And Murray, who I still think harbored a little crush on MTM. And of course there was Mary's style, with her kicky beret at the end and her giant "M" beside her apartment door. I have been looking for a Mary-esque "B" for myself, and finally found one today I really liked, that is different from Mary's but definitely my own style.

Now to find a public square where I can toss my hat into the air and freeze frame while the credits roll.

Day 46: Hello, jeans

At my new job, we can wear jeans every day, only really have to dress up if we have a meeting with clients. I like it, because dress pants require ironing and I'll do just about anything to get out of ironing. But it's also hard because I like pretty work clothes, and I don't have as many jeans as I thought I did. Which is how today's new thing came about, when I wore my London skinny jeans for the first time in Virginia/D.C. Yeah, it's kind of a lame new thing, especially now that more people wear them over here than they did when I first got back. If that's not enough of a new thing, I also went to Pentagon City Mall, a huge mall crazy close to me, that I had never been to before. And, even better, I met Mom there, who came up to spend the weekend with me. :-)
*Not me or my skinny jeans.

Day 45: So not a holiday

I'm just going to skip the multi-paragraph anti-Valentine's day rant. I did get free breakfast and chocolates at work, and nice anti V-day messages from the friends, so I'll try to keep it cool this year. Instead I'll just say today I finally finished starting my own February 14 tradition, of watching "Breakfast at Tiffany's" in bed. I've tried this the last two years and never finished it, but tonite I finally did. So while I truly do despise this fake holiday, and all its consumerism and corporate-created fake sentiment, at least I'll always have Tiffany's.

Day 44: Exercise kills

Short post as my abs are currently on fire. I hung off my bed and completed 10 sit-ups. And it hurt. And I think I pulled a muscle in my neck. And five truly would have been enough. I wonder how many people die each year from tragic sit-up mishaps. Probably more than I think.

Day 43: Enough is Enough

After today, I declare that the next city I move to will be a place where "cold" is no lower than 70 degrees. Icy, freezing rain that sticks to my umbrella. Falling on the brick sidewalk in Alexandria, bruising my knee and twisting my ankle a bit. Waiting twice as long for a metro and the bus. And then a first, for any place I've ever been, getting on a city bus, and having the passengers direct the driver on where to go. I truly never thought I would get home. But now I am, un-freezing in front of my heater, and thinking about New Orleans or Buenos Aires, any place where the words "ice" and "snow" don't factor into the local vocabulary.

Day 42: He's gotta be strong and he's gotta be fast and he's gotta be fresh from the fight

In the list of greatest inventions ever it pretty much goes:

1. penicillin
2. NASA
3. lint rollers
4. Anderson Cooper
   
5. YouTube

Ok, we'll call this the first draft. Either way, YouTube is awesome, no matter where it falls on any list. I have spent more hours than I care to remember watching clips from my favorite childhood TV shows (MMC, Legends of the Hidden Temple, DuckTales), General Hospital highlights (Robin and Stone forever), and Daily Show reports (before Viacom was a bitch and forced their removal). And now, I know there are a plethora of videos related to the name "Bonnie," as that is what I searched.

It had never occurred to me to search for myself before. Obviously not my full name, because I would die if there was something on there of me. Particularly since I am crazy paranoid about discovering a hidden camera in a dressing room. Really, I look behind mirrors and everything.

Anyway...the result was a bunch of amazing songs by the likes of Bonnie Raitt, Bonnie Tyler, and someone named Bonnie Pink. And some info on only the coolest bank robber ever, Ms. Bonnie Parker. All in all, I'm proud of the showing "we" have made on the 'tube.