This happened a couple of weeks ago. It was the middle of the afternoon, a rare day of absolutely beautiful spring weather (this May has been particularly bleh).
I was returning to work from a doctor's appointment, and I was proud of myself for that, since I hate doctors, haven't been to one in years, and the needle I weathered wasn't nearly as bad as I'd anticipated, leading me to believe I might be getting over my childhood fear.
So nice weather, feelings of medical accomplishment, but the trains aren't running local, meaning I have to walk up to Union Square. This would ordinary bother me, as I have an axe to grind with the MTA, but because of the weather, I didn't mind the walk.
And I reach Union Square, and there's a farmer's market going on, and I think I can spare an extra five minutes walking through before entering the subway.
The first stand that catches my eye is one that's selling honey, and they're giving away samples of whipped honey, and naturally I take one because I like free things, and it's really quite delicious.
And this stand also has a glass case with a honeycomb inside, so you can see all the bees squirming around, and there are kids looking excitedly and the sun's shining nicely and I have a bandage on my arm and I still have a spoonful of whipped honey in my mouth, and I remember to think, "If this isn't nice, what is?"
I'm a huge sucker for parades, especially when people are in costumes. Throw in some free snacks and a wedding between an anthropomorphic carrot and pea pod, and I'm in Heaven.
Sadly, the wedding was a drizzly, low-key ceremony (I must have been expecting dancing and a procession and... to be honest, I don't know what I was expecting), and I only got solo camera shots of the bride and groom.
The snacks were hit or miss... a Vegan Slim Jim (how can such a thing exist?) called Primal Stick, which was strange and enjoyable, and this raw (or "living," as they call it, I guess) energy bar that was supposed to taste like chocolate chip cookie dough but tasted like an energy bar. I took one bite and gave the rest of it to Sarah, she said she could taste the cookie dough, but I don't know what she's talking about.
For me, the most interesting thing to come out of the Year of Yes is that I'm thinking more about healthy eating, and the possible benefits of vegetarianism. Or part-time vegeterianism, if such a thing exists.
But thinking isn't doing. I'm like those cops on last week's episode of Top Chef: Chicago. I'm probably not gonna eat healthy unless it's put under my nose and it's just as delicious as Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops, and that's the problem.
I wish someone would do something about this, but the only one who will is me. What a dilemma!
At the very least, though, I'm making small changes. After the parade, I met up with Lynn for lunch at a vegetarian Thai restaurant, and that was pretty delicious. And last week, I cooked Sarah a vegan dinner of Ginger Peanut Soba Noodles (here's a suggestion: use a lot less soy sauce, as this was salty as crap). And I don't think I'll ever go back to regular milk.
Also, after an interesting food conversation last night, I'm gonna cut soda from my diet for a while (I currently drink one root beer a day at lunch, but I can substitute it for juice, which is nature's root beer).
But on the other hand, I ate two donuts before the parade. Maybe two and a half, I forget.
I wish nutrition was as simple as the Kitchen Kabaret. Those guys made it seem so easy.
It's hard to remember that Year of Yes doesn't necessary mean saying yes to everything. Like the blog subtitle says, it's mostly about avoiding the regret of missing out on a funzo experience.
Mostly.
There's also times like last night.
I'll skip the backstory (which involves eating three bowls of Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops and performing a Harold), but it ends with me a bit hungover and tired this morning, thinking, "Should I have gone to the bar last night, or should I have just gone home?"
What do you say yes to?
I had some reasons for going out: I never go out after a show, never, so why not? And I wanted to talk business with my friend Molly (hopefully, this will be elaborated on in a future post).
And I had some reasons for going home: Home has sleep and shower and Chocolate Peanut Butter Pops.
But I went to the bar, figuring I'd just walk there with Molly, then catch a cab or subway home.
Once inside, rather than get one drink (as we both previously decided), we split a pitcher, instead. As my team's coach Jackie once sarcastically said, "Why eat one bowl of sugar cereal when you can eat the whole box and then die?"
So... Year of Yes?
In the long run, it doesn't matter much. Either choice would be fine. It's either a bit of a hangover plus a decent time or going home, staying up too late playing computer, and not getting my mind blown by finding out about the upcoming Dragonball live-action movie starring Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Piccolo.
It's really hard to get psyched about this evening's yoga session.
I missed last week due to being sick, and with this crappy weather and the fact that I went to bed super-late last night, I kinda just want to go home.
In short, I've got a bucketful of reasons to say No, so it'll take some real will power to say Yes.
We'll see how I hold up by 5:30 p.m.
I feel that by posting this, it'll force me to go to class, lest I fail in the eyes of the blogfolk.
Astute readers will recognize several Simpsons references. I don't know why I do it, maybe because I'm seven years old, but I do find it pleasurable to say these things.
2. I have difficulty sleeping without a fan (or other white noise). When I was a kid, the air conditioning in my bedroom didn't work (it still doesn't, as far as I know). The Florida heat made this unlivable, so my parents bought me a fan. And over the years, I've become very reliant on that white noise.
If it isn't a fan, it's the humming of an air conditioner, but I find it very, very, very hard to fall asleep in a silent room. I don't see how people can do it.
3. I'm susceptible to static shocks. I wish this wasn't true, but I'm ALWAYS getting shocked by something stupid. In the past, it's been my car. Here at work, sometimes it's my keyboard or mouse, usually the door to the elevators.
I often have to smack my hand on the door handle, because I feel I'm less likely to get a shock if I smack it suddenly, rather than reach out with my fingers. Sometimes I'll use the back of my hand, because I think that it's not as sensitive to electricity.
People have said this borderlines on compulsive behavior, and maybe it is, but it's necessary. I wish I could stop doing it... but then I'd get shocked.
4. I'm obsessed with the Haunted Mansion. Not the movie (ugh, don't get me started on the movie), but the ride. It's one of the most frequently recurring locations in my dreams - I dreamed about it last night, in fact, so it's weighing heavily on my mind at the moment.
As a little kid, I was scared of the ride... or maybe I was only scared of it because my parents thought I would be afraid of the ride. I had read the old Haunted Mansion book & record (shown below), and the idea of a suit of armor that attacked you and a Hatbox Ghost terrified me. Of course, neither of these things exist on the actual ride - the suit of armor barely moves, and the Hatbox Ghost never made the final cut.
When I finally rode it, I was nervous... and that nervousness still remains with me to this day. Ridiculous, right? I keep expecting something bad to happen. But that's part of the fun, I guess. And I like the way the ride builds... at first it's empty, then isolated sightings, then a buttload of ghosts (buttload is a word I use, but I think it's pretty common, so it didn't make the list from Quirk #1).
I shouldn't start writing about the ride because I'll never stop.
But I dream about the Haunted Mansion all the time.
5. I have a hard time peeling bananas. I just never really learned as a kid, I guess. I can do it if I have a knife or scissors to help me out, but just getting it going with the little stem at the end... it's hard!
Hand-in-hand with this quirk, whenever I peel a banana, I feel very proud of myself.
6. Bonus! I'll be honest, I thought I only had to do five quirks. So I didn't come up with a sixth. Instead, here's a video of the newest Cakey! The Cake From Outer Space episode...
PS: I tag YOU, the reader, to list six quirks of your own and link back to it via comments. I'd be more specific as to who I'd tag, but I don't know 1) who reads this blog and 2) who would actually do it, other than maybe Heather.
Don't say no, say Year of Yes. Do it up!
Also, if you're lazy like me, you can list only five quirks and then embed the Cakey video for your sixth. That is acceptable.
I don't know if this officially belongs in Year of Yes, but I think it's good to enact Kurt Vonnegut's advice about sitting back and saying, "If this isn't nice, what is?" when one realizes and appreciates that things are pretty good. So I'm gonna try to do that.
Today, on the train from Astoria to New York City, still above ground. Despite Yahoo Weather's claims, it's sunny and warm. Very nice view, very beautiful blue sky. It's real spring weather.
I'm pretty psyched about having a full day of rehearsal ahead of me. Even though it'll be tiring, I feel good.
The train's mostly empty, so I can has a seat, which is good, because I have my accordion with me and that thing weighs a million pounds.
A song comes up on the ol' iPod ("Samantha" by The Unlovables), one I'd taken out of rotation because I listened to it WAY too much last Xmas while preparing a mix CD of my all-time favorite songs, but it's the first time I'd heard it in a while and I find myself mouthing along and bopping my head. It's good to know and remember and realize that yeah, I still really enjoy this song.
With my roommate out of town, I decided to take the day off and live it up, Ferris Bueller style.
First point of order: not going back to sleep. This is really hard for me to do, believe it or not, as sleep is one of my five favorite things. But when I tied back the curtain, that was a sign that yes, this is gonna be different than any other day off (where I sleep until 1 p.m.).
I have plans, big plans, for today, and they don't just include eating Fruity Pebbles and watching the newest episode of 30 Rock... even if that is the second point of order for the day.
I will do this while simultaneously downloading podcasts of The Game Master Show, specifically episodes 36-41, because they're about Dread (I am writing a Dread game, more about that later). And I will listen to them while heading toward my third point of order, which is...
The Guggenheim (pronounced "Gug-in-heim" or "Gug-guh-guh" because I am 10 years old) to see Cai Guo-Qiang: I Want to Believe. I've been wanting to see this for a while, and it'll be good to go during the day when there are no crowds, because I hate crowds.
Applebee's Julie (that's her new nickname) went there earlier in the week (she works in the art shipping industry, and might have even shipped this exhibition) and gave me the heads-up on how to see this exhibit most effectively - namely, go to the top and work one's way down.
Having accomplished something high-brow, I intend to do something high tech with my fourth point of order, namely, I'm gonna see Iron Man. Even though I'm a former comic book nerd (I even worked in a comic book store back in the '90s, just like everyone else), I don't get so much into comic book movies. But I'm strangely psyched for this one. I don't know why, I don't even like Iron Man. But seriously, that preview is pretty kick-ass and I've only heard great things about it from my friends at Marvel Comics.
I really don't have any points of order after that. I guess it depends on the weather (if it's raining, I will hide somewhere or go back home) and if I'm tired (which would require a nap), but I am pretty psyched for today.
And if I run into a parade, I'll totally crash it.
