Monday, May 26, 2008

Summer Approaching...

Happy long weekend of barbecues and yard work! Hello again, allergies. I've an appointment next week with a bona fide allergist and I'm desperately afraid he's going to tell me I'm allergic to outside.

Liberation
I can't deny it any more: I hated the Rocking Sock Club's March sock pattern "Leafling". I'm sorry; there was nothing about that pattern I liked: Too much stockinette and where there was design, it was bulky... bleh. I think, though, the pattern would be really well suited for mitts so perhaps that will happen one day... The whole time I was making I wondered to whom it might be given without them thinking it was a monstrocity. This whole sock club thing is NOT working for me. At any rate, with one complete sock and the second beyond the heel turn, I gave up. I like the yarn so it'll be washed, relaxed and spun back into a ball to await its final destiny. Oh, I feel SO much better! I don't have to knit something I hate! Imagine!

Decisions
Some folks know that my spouse has been entertaining an offer of employment from the World Health Organization that would have taken us all to Geneva (yeah, as in Switzerland). After a couple of month's scurrying about to nail down important details regarding life as a UN employee, we've decided to stay right where we are. Nice opportunity, gratifying show of confidence but we're not going to move abroad just now. Perhaps another time we'll be more footloose but for now its the end of some really fun flirtation... sorry to spoil it for you guys who were planning to come visit.

Also, I think I'd like to go back to work a little bit. I think that could be difficult, if not impossible, to pull off since what I want is the job I left a bit more than a year ago. I think the leadership is favorably inclined to make things happen but it often takes more than support in government.... and when I contemplate other work, nothing else has any appeal at all. And since the finances are OK as they are, there's no need to consider anything more. So...we'll see. In point of fact, I have no idea how we'd manage it if I were to be out of the house any time other than school hours... feh. Maybe I should get more serious about some freelance work. More than anything, I think I'm missing my professional identity. Odd, isn't it? After over a year of not thinking twice about it? Maybe I've just been having a lull and I'll wake up tomorrow and think NO WAY!

Books and Stuff
I'm completely engrossed in the journals of Sylvia Plath...I can't put words around it just now but something about the writing is just riveting...her ideas, certainly; her facility with beautiful narrative...but more. Amazing self-awareness for a woman of her era, I think.

Esquire magazine is probably one of the best monthly mags around. Pisses me off. Know why? Its so directly marketed to men with its unabashed worship of beautiful women---I just don't feel I can attach myself to an enterprise that would really seek to exclude me as a reader (I mean, I was flattered when they wanted me on their cover and all...) ---its all about the straight man. But the writing is great, the articles are hip, gritty and au currant. In particular, this month there is their annual "Best Bars" segment that's great (as always), a great piece on bigotry in its many forms, a great interview with John Yoo (gotta read it!) and a very interesting meditation on Barack Obama's readiness for the office he's likely to win.

Get it? I read Esquire. Rob buys it. He often tears the cover off to avoid answering awkward questions from the daughters. I don't know of a single mag I enjoy as much. New Yorker and Atlantic are good but not the same. Please, Esquire---expand your target market. I don't need articles on matching lipstick and eyeshadow, not a mention of menstruation or neglected G-spots. Really. I don't need any feminine-directed content. Just some good ol' gender neutral edgy pop culture coverage, something smart, something worldly. I'm really annoyed.

Because I've spent nearly the entire weekend reading, I'll go ahead and tell you that perhaps the next best periodical in the US is the NYTimes Sunday magazine. LOVE it. This week's issue was good for a long afternoon with music and quiet in my room---when Rob and I became electronic subscribers to the WaPo (on our Kindles), we saved a good deal of money (yes, its cheaper, much better delivery, no nasty newsprint or plastic sleeves and no annoying solicitations for tips) so we splurged and subscribed to the Sunday NYTimes---I'm so glad we did. I just love it.

Music
I've been on a roll, I must admit. I think I mentioned Serena Ryder before; I like her more and more. I got all silly over Kate Nash and her cd is charming if completely inappropriate for children or husbands' ears. Check:

While this one is just fun, kinda' the whole Jill Sobule thing going on, some of her break-up songs are not quite so.... articulate? But the videos are all waaaaay fun. Anyway, big thanks to Marietta for pointing the stuff out. Lots of fun.

Call me thick, because its true. For a couple of years I've thought--"hey, I know that dude's voice.." everytime I heard Colin Hay's "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" from the Garden State soundtrack. Well...duh! The former lead singer of Men at Work, he is (from the land down under!). I grabbed a copy of Going Somewhere, a largely acoustic set of new tunes---very, very nice. Really enjoying it. His is a great voice that really was not showcased at its best in MaW.

Lyman tipped me off that The Raconteur's new cd is likely better than their first and I do agree. I finally bought Velvet Revolver's Libertad to round out what I expect will be my favorite rock selections for the summer. Too bad there's been so much bad juju in that group; I liked their style. On the other hand, I'll be interested to see if Stone Temple Pilots can be half as blistering as they were when they broke now that Scott Weiland is going back for a reunion. Of course, we'll all have to wait out his stints in rehab as he really seems completely uninterested in giving up smack. And frankly---his immediate post-rehab stuff has been rather lackluster... sorry; its true.

Speaking of rehab, has anyone heard any of the new Black Crowe's release? The review I read was largely positive but then said "best work since "Amorica"---which I totally HATED so its not much of a recommendation...

How much attention did I pay to the Indy 500?

How many of you think that Briscoe took Danica Patrick out on purpose? That's all I've got.

6 comments:

Lyman said...

I dig Kate Nash but a lot of folks diss her as a poor-man's Lily Allen.

I wanted to visit Geneva. Bummer.

I loved watching Danica march down the track ready to kick some ass. I want her to kick my ass. That would be hot.

I owe you a video game and DVD, going in the mail tomorrow.

KHM said...

you're funny.

you owe me undying love and eternal kindness but I'm happy to anticipate the DVD and video game. Love you.

Lyman said...

oh and THANK YOU for the books and music as well!

Anonymous said...

Hmmm, I can picture you on the cover of Esquire . . mmmmm mwah! o.m.

Special K said...

Ooh - thanks for writing about Kate Nash - loved that video! I had never heard of her before, but I love me some UK Grrrl Pop! I like the Raconteur's new album, but I don't think as much as the first one - that one seemed less White-Stripe-y than this one.

I also like having a professional identity (I like how you put that) - can understand why you miss working.

Wow, that entry covered a lot! Two more things: I love Sylvia P too (I have to take her diaries in small doses, though) and now very interested in reading Esquire (for the articles!)!

KHM said...

K: I talk too much. You might have noticed. Many of my favorite bloggers (you and Lym to begin...) mostly write sharp, pointed and focussed entries.

I totally read too much James Joyce at an impressionable age. I'm damaged...

I'll share some Miss Nash love with you soon, swear.