Bake and Shake

Magic Time: October (and Early November) Items of Note

The last two weeks of October, and the first week of November were both surreal. Sometimes I felt awful, other times elated. A rundown, if you please.

- Today at Goodwill, I found (what looks to be, I haven't tried it with film) an almost mint-condition Polaroid 440 Land/Pack camera.

- A few days ago, I had my first Big Mac in years and it tasted wonderful.

- Long, hip-length tissue tees on sale at Target for 3 bucks.

- Feeling just sad enough to get angry, and then seek revenge through feeling good.

- Enjoying a song that I would have over-identified in a different life, but now I just like because it sounds good.

- Right before Halloween, I crashed a private party in a warehouse with some friends, where the magic, invisible host had a generous tender behind an open bar, Salt N Pepa booming, and drunk 30-somethings staggering around in costumes and grinding. Security asked a few questions, and then laughed at us and let us dance and drink until it was all over.

- Good jeans on sale.

- Fake modern dance with my sister in our mom's kitchen.

- Being asked a question and then saying "Actually, I'm a part of it."

- This Flickr stream, which I think I discovered through T's favorites. This (Underwear alert) makes me think of a short story I've never read.

- For the past few months, I've been mourning the perfect crisp, cotton oxford shirt that got away - classic, but with sleeves that were a little past 3/4 length, with a notch in them and really long, with tails. I bought it back in high school, wore it two or three times and then figured that I had given it to Goodwill. No. I didn't. I cannot wait to make it work for its money.

- My Halloween costume was genius, the night itself was strange and uncomfortable, but not as awesome as my sister's. She fell asleep behind a McDonalds in Northwest.

- The other night, a new acquaintance asked me if I was twenty years old. I am far enough away from that age to be blown away-style flattered.

- I might have Fish and Chips tonight.

Whatever is in the air, breathe it in.

Items of Note, September

Welcome to a new 'feature' for my site, Items of Note, where I talk about things I've been too ashamed to talk about all month long. Look for this to pop up during the last few days of every month, from here on out. Ignore it if you like. I'm down for pretending it never happened. Onward.

1. Like every other girl out there, I love Rita Konig's apartment and have stared longingly at the photographs, wondering how in the world this stuff is pulled together. But the link above, which I found on Jordan's blog, shows Rita's process, which made me feel GREAT. It really, really makes me feel great, as does the display of Polaroids over the mantel -- if you're looking to do the same, as I would be if I hadn't purchased one of the very cameras that allows me to take the same sort of photographs by chance a few days earlier, look for a Polaroid Land camera that takes pack/peel-apart film. I own a Colorpack II, which is a great hard body plastic model (there are more sophisticated models, lots of debates on rollers vs. spreaders, just Google) and you can find them for a mint, and in mint condition, on eBay. Fuji makes color and black and white film for these specific Polaroids, no modification needed, and apparently there are no plans to stop making the film. Plus, the little white-rimmed rectangles are so classy. So classy.

I feel like an assistant to a fashion photographer when I peel and separate, until I realize I've smeared developer all over my thumbs and rush to a water source in order to avoid chemical burns.

2. Do you want to hear something creepy? The other day I went for a drive with my sister and we ate Burgerville kids meals and shit-talked our way over to the east side and back again, looping around and taking the long way. On our way back, I started to talk about some stuff I was regretting regarding a young man, and I almost cried but like good sisters should, she got me angry about it and so I returned home bitter and sharp, but feeling great and ready to cut Diet Coke out of my life again, and that night, that very night, I was perched on the couch flipping through a magazine and my phone began to buzz. GUESS WHO IT WAS. I know. Some real 'Are You Afraid of the Dark?" business. I felt like a teen movie, starring Raven Symone. Drop the dust on the fire.

3. I read an ARC of Curtis Sittenfeld's 'American Wife', tore through it, and loved it. I was so split after reading 'PREP', re-read it again and again and now love it for all the reasons I hated it, protective of Lee rather than supremely exasperated, enjoyed 'Man of My Dreams' very much but didn't have the same, loyal attachments to Hannah and her various men, and 'American Wife' is just killer. The characters are familiar enough, for obvious reasons, to keep it kind of salacious but distant enough to allow you to enjoy the story, the novel, for the fiction that it is. And Sittenfeld can write about the anticipatory stage of a relationship, what might, what might never become of those sparks and colors like no other author I've ever read. I am perpetually clutching the words to my bosom, basically, reveling in how precisely they capture how fizzy that stage is, where you are charged, both of you are charged, and you keep butting and butting and jumping back and either you join up, you make it happen, or you don't and all that remains are the burned-out shadows when you close your eyes. And also, how wonderful it is to feel familiar and secure with someone.

4. I am giving up red meat and pork for October -- I don't eat a lot of it, but I've eaten a lot of it this past month and haven't liked how it made me feel. We'll see how it goes. I'm also giving up butter, and ice cream -- I love how those make me feel. I'm down 2 jean sizes from where I was when I wrote this, for those who care about the state of my ass, and up a whole lot of paranoia.

5. I am regretting not having purchased that smooth, modern, knob-less bell jar I saw at Goodwill a month ago. And I have been for the past few days.

Now, babies, what is going on with you?