DIRT CHIC

A New Week, Some Pics, and Life Stuff, Yeah Yeah

2 cups of coffee down, and I'm still waking up - guess I shoulda gone to bed earlier? - but I also have to start in on some major projects, so maybe that's making me a little worn out in advance... not that I mind doing these projects.  It's still a bit daunting - always a bit daunting - getting started.

But I love being home.

I always have.  My mom gave me the above little side table, and seriously, what one piece of furniture can do to make a room THAT MUCH MORE inviting.  I'm getting closer to my dream of epic midcentury kitsch decoration.  ...Though mostly I just want things to look homey and full (though not necessarily over-full... I think that would be stuffed).  Since I don't really buy a lot of furniture, or wall art, or other decorative things, it's often slow-going.  And why don't I buy a lot of such things?  Too busy spending money at thrift stores on clothes and stuff.  Someday I will branch out a bit, house-wise.  Will still be thrift about it.  But a used dress is $10.  A used table is usually, like, $50.  

And I need to have time to write, and read, which means I need to spend the summer working less (job-wise), which I am DOING, and I consider it an AWESOME INVESTMENT!!!  

Last week I read seven plays, and a great playwriting book.  I made a writer page on Facebook, largely for my students, so I could let them know about things I've found, read, etc.  But it is for anyone so interested in my theatre-and-writing goings-on and thoughts.  (In addition to here, of course.  And conversation.  And elsewhere.)

It is a weird summer, weather-wise, but this doesn't bother me.  I'm wearing a sweatshirt right now.  And socks.  I don't care.  Cleveland is strange.  I like it.

I really do.

I like the Cleveland Play House's old building, now owned by Cleveland Clinic.  I do wish it was being used as a theater, still, but I get it.  At least CC hasn't torn it down.  And I hope they won't.  They keep some great old buildings.  And raze others.  And I don't know the reasons, so I'm not really opinionated on it.  Unless they raze this one.

ALAN ALDA PLAYED HERE, for crying out loud.  I just got a tear in my eye, thinking about it.  

Theatre.  Ahhhhh.  Well, I've been working on a one-act, which is a good project to kind of mess around with off-and-on.  And I have my commission.  And when the summer is over I'll start in on a few other projects that I've been dying to do.

And of course I always am trying to work on my book-length epic work of fiction.  By trying I mean I actually do work on it.  I'm very close to re-starting it.  This is why I'm blogging right now, because I'm scarily close and therefore I'm scared.  

I might take a walk to wake up.  Sirens aren't as frequent during the day.  I will walk past my current neighborhood favorite discovery.

Why yes, yes that is a cherry tree.

I walked past it and saw red dollops of fruit on the ground and was like, Is that a crabapple?  And I looked up.  And down.  And up.  And scratched my head.  And concerned the neighbors who might've been looking out the window.  But yes, it's a cherry tree.  A huge one, at that.  ...At least, I'm pretty damn sure it is.  I better go take a look and double-check.

Why is this important?  Why does it matter?  Because fruit grows on trees.  It's like on Return to Oz, when Dorothy finds the lunchpail tree.  I just think it is SO COOL.  And honestly, novel. I want one.  Someday.

Right now I have coat trees and clothes racks that DO NOT WITHSTAND THE PRESSURES of their lifestyle in my home.  In efforts to keep my listing formal-rack from listing its way to the floor I ended up causing it to collapse.  Which is standard clothes rack behavior, I know, but I don't really have another option right now.  So I hacked the life out of the problem with this life hack:

If it's even a life hack.  I don't care.  But I opened the "closet" door and propped the rack against it and all is well, and now I can see myself in my mirror again (on the other side), if that's what I want.  Sometimes I don't.  

Because I'm not really Wearing Things of a great variety as previously mentioned, like, two weeks ago or something crazy like that.

I'm writing.  At my desk.  At one of them.  I really like this desk.  And you know what else I like?  Essential oils.  I will probably devote a sole post to them but right now, I'll just say that my sister wanted me to get some and I did because she wanted me to; and while I did believe her in that they are A Very Good Thing, I really really really like that fact that I now am living with A Really Good Thing.  Mostly I just find them making me feel better.  Even when I feel ok.  You know I love candles and perfume, but for whatever reason, lavender, peppermint, citrus, geranium, etc., wafting through the air, does a whole lot more for me.  Aromatherapy rocks.  It really does.  

Alright.  I feel more awake now.  For real.  Back to work.

Getting Dressed: Mmmmmeteorites and Other Things

It is official - as much as anything can be official without, say, without a certificate - that I now do yoga.  Sans certificate, I posit that yoga officialness is established by one thing: a yoga mat.  Oh, and new yoga pants (last time I bought exercise pants: 2002).  Oh, and I hurt my knee doing a pose, the name of which I can't remember.  So, there.  I just thought the world should know.  Next task: learn how to feel comfortable saying namaste.

In other news, I drove to Chicago and back (again) and my car is close to 252,000 miles and I wonder, when is the thing going to give out?  Will a wheel just pop off as I'm going down the interstate?  Will one of those many belts (I love the word serpentine) just break, and my car will just quietly expire?  Or, will it just keep running?  I feel like it will.  I feel like it's invincible.  It's been through multiple thefts, window-breakings, people running into it... and yet, it is still here.  Of course, it will go the way of all things.  But when.  This is important, as I kind of can't mess with getting a new (old) car right now.  But I've got a lot of living (driving) to do.  I just hope it gets me through the next few months. 

Delicious orbs of violet-scented powder wonder, straight from France, right into my heart:

Guerlain's Meteorites.  Wicked, heady indulgence.  The only powder you could possibly get me to wear.

And it inspired what I'm wearing, today.  :)

I wore this a few months back.  It's been so nice (and non-wintry) out, I had to wear it today.  Last time, though, I wore my black sequin bib, which is wondrous and majestic, but I just wasn't feeling sequins today.  I recently got this black scarf ($3), so it was a more-casual replacement.  I don't know if I would want to wear this dress if I couldn't wear all the black with it.  It's mighty cupcakey as-is.  (Though I'm not knocking cupcakes.  If you would like to see other cupcake fashion go here.) Dress: $6.

On Mental Breakdowns and Getting Rid of Stuff

I want to be doing this right now, but I have so much danged stuff I *have* to do.  By have, I mean there is so much I WANT to do, and being that it is mostly writing, I feel COMPELLED to do it, and while this is normally well and good enough, I sometimes overwhelm myself and then have a mental breakdown.  When this happens, after I go through acts of tears and violence (might involve throwing some offending object, such as a paper towel), I recognize that the only thing I can really do is to relax.  Such as with a choice summer issue of Vanity Fair.  But then I read an article that reminds me I have things I want to do, such as an article on musicals.  And then I go drink framboise.

That is yesterday.  Today should be better.  I exercised.  I read poetry.  I drank my full morning allotment of coffee (three cups, yikes).  Moving on.

As you can see, the scarf discovery really took hold of me.  It's a good antidote for my compulsion to thrift: I will still thrift, but just for scarves.  And even then, I will only thrift when absolutely necessary - when people want to go.  I love thrifting.  You know this.  But I need to get rid of stuff, not add more and more.  I HAVE NO MORE ROOM IN MY CLOSET.

As this is the case, and because I am smote at present by my abundance of worldly possessions, I am going to comb through my closet AGAIN to find things to get rid of... with a catch.  See, I have things I know I don't wear and probably won't wear.  But these are things I just don't want to get rid of - cool jewels, clothes with a nostalgic connection.  My solution?  First, I'm going to see if there is actually some way to wear the item (mostly in the case of jewels).  Then, I'm going to pack everything up.  And stick it somewhere else.  And take it out later.  And see if it's so necessary that I keep it around.  Maybe this is a dumb exercise, but I don't really know how to get rid of some things.  I admit it.  Maybe there are better strategies.  Maybe I should just suck it up, oust the guilt and OCD-ness, and just sell all the stuff.  Thoughts and suggestions welcomed....

Ocular Choices

I'm back from another residency and I'm extra-ready to write.  But first, some tasks.  High on the list: get new glasses.  My prescription is old, and I'm on my broken back-up frames.  However, I am unsure of how to progress. 

I bought another pair of vintage prescription glasses (80 cents, ouch), to add to the three pairs I already have.  What do you think?

Too nerdtastic for life?

I could just go with some basic black frames.  But then I would have to pay for them.  And they wouldn't be 80 cents.  And they would probably be smallish.  (I really like bigger lenses.)

The thing is, while I wear my glasses fairly often, I wear my sunglasses MORE.  So how important is it, really, to have unobtrusive, nondescript glasses?  Is it impractical for them to be nerd-chic or mega 80's and huge?

Eh.  I'm going to Lenscrafters to see how much it will set me back to get lenses and then I'll chew s'more on this PRESSING ISSUE.

In My Room

I was feeling kind of meh the other day, and decided I needed a change of scenery.

So I moved my Base of Operations from the living room into my "office".  (Sorta.  Most of my ongoing project stuff is still in the living room.  But it's not like it's hard to get to.)

It was either that, or re-arrange something, and I have no desire to re-arrange anything.  Everything is well arranged. 

I think perhaps, that it was just Fall coming on, and I needed some brightness.  And where else to find it?

 

It is always bright in here.  Even at night.

And of course, it is ever more so in the day.  (It looks like heaven is perhaps outside my window.  Perhaps indeed.)

I tend to avoid my desk.  It just draws attention to my laziness.  I prefer to be reclining in some form.  Hence, projects surrounding couch.  Hence, bedroll as true Base of Operations.

It is comforting.  Biff on one side, all this business on the other.  My rummage sale animals.  My ribbon quilt.  My Harper's Bazaar's.  My slightly-risque Harvey Milk concert poster.  (But hey.  It's Harvey Milk.  All is well.)

I have a potentially harrowing rewrite to accomplish this weekend, and I need all the richness I can get, wherever I can get it, because my creative mind feels pretty thin regarding this project.

And I need to get it done.  Just 'cuz.  And, because I am wanting to jump back into the novel.

I have this open for inspiration.

It is predominantly Avon stuff.  Makes sense.

I am not precisely collecting anything - but I have picked up these little sample cases.  They are most beloved Research.

Sadly, most of the little lipsticks are detached from their bases, due to being stored upside-down.  I'm hoping to right this.  (Ha ha, pun intended.)  But here is Clear Red (?how is red ever clear?), which has clearly been sampled.  (Resting comfortably on my finally-transcribed novel how-to notes.)

I don't really need to collect anything, as long as I have Media.  AKA catalogs.  This is my Way of avoiding buying my old childhood toys, too.  Just buy the Sears Wish Book, and all is well.

I'm ready to get at it.  I think.  Perhaps after I go and groom.

Thrifty Sickness.

 
 I can't really figure out any better way to overcome a cold except to do the following:
-drink non-drying beverage
-use singularly effective over-the-counter meds, not the cocktail ones
-Vitamin C
-humidifier
-saltwater gargle
-SLEEP
-SLEEP
-SLEEP

Do you have any truly effective methods for combating illness?  Do you feel alternative remedies work?  And antibacterial gel, etc?  I'm interested....

A Word from Mr. Tooth

I just have to post on this.  Partly, because someone is paying for me to go the dentist, and I am scared out of my mind and want commiseration.  Partly, because it's awesome.

So, I have a lot of fillings.  I don't really know where I stand regarding my teeth; hence, dentist visit.  I do know that for years I had one tooth that was the WORST - I couldn't eat anything sugary with it or else it would cause stabbing, horrific nerve pain.  Sometimes, even when I would just drink something cold, it would hurt.  So I just started eating sweet things on the other side of my mouth.  I also tried having it re-filled, and did this twice, to no avail.  The dentist couldn't even figure out what was wrong.

Well, I was reading my Going, Going, Gone book while eating (as I always did until I finished it - sadness), and read the "chapter" on fluoride.  It floored me.  (Ha ha!)  I had always thought of fluoride as a mere preventative, but in fact, it can re-mineralize teeth (read all about it here).  I also freaked out about my teeth, just because.  I've been a flossing maniac since I got my most recent fillings (years ago), but with that and brushing, my regimen was complete.

Not really.  After I read that chapter, I went to Macy's and got this electric toothbrush.  In some ways it was not the most frugal purchase, as I did go there just because I could put it on my Macy's card.  It was significantly on sale, though - $55 from the $90 suggested price.  And, I researched the consumer ratings, and it fared well in those.

I also bought fluoride mouthwash.  I'm a big fan of bubblegum flavor, so I got that.

(I don't actually use this kind, I use a brand I get at Target, but the name escapes me.)  At about $3 a bottle, it is not cheap - but what standard do I have?  Other liquids?  Bottled water?  Suave shampoo?  

I was rinsing with the full amount they recommended until one day, I realized I could do less.  Basically, I can use just enough to swish around.  Half of the recommended amount is fine.  Less than half is fine.

I've been doing this for about 6 months.  I'm here to report that I can eat full-on hardcore candy (taffy, chocolate bars, ice cream - you name it) on the aforementioned tooth with no pain whatsoever.

It pays to be preventative, but being preventative can sometimes have extra rewards.  Dental care is prohibitively expensive, even if you have insurance.  I would rather rinse and brush and floss than pay for a root canal, crown, or pulling.  Wouldn't you, too?

(I will report later on the dentist visit.  *sigh*)

Frugal Medicine

I rely on over-the-counter "sleep aid" sometimes.  Comes in very handy when a) sick b) in pain and can't sleep c) camping at Cornerstone.  For a short time, I was interchanging that with Benadryl as a sleep aid.

Turns out, they each have the same active ingredient.  The difference is in the inactive ones, which as far as I can read up on, don't make a difference.  

Hm.

Went to Target not long ago w/the hubby, and we compared prices w/my cell phone calculator.  I don't have the prices with me, but the value-sized Benadryl is considerably cheaper than the Sominex, and what's better, the Benadryl comes in 25mg pills, as opposed to the 50mg gelcaps of even the Target-brand sleep aid.

Goes to show you that paying attention to labels can save you some moolah!

--Arwen