Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 26, which, to me seems quite old. I mean, not very old, because I know a lot of very amazing people who are 26 (and older!) but I sometimes I feel like I'm still 12 or 13 and 26 seems so far in the distance. 26 is an Adult. with a House. and a Career (and maybe even a Husband and Baby) but mostly it just seemed that by 26 I would know everything that I needed to know.
Naturally this is not the case. In fact, I sometimes think I was more confident about what I Knew when I was young (and if you can imagine, more bitter and jaded than I am today). When I was young I knew exactly what I was going to do with my life and how I was going to do it and now, I just try to remember to wear pants because the rest is just too overwhelming.
Tonight we went to dinner for a pre-birthday celebration and had delicious sushi with a glass of wine. Then our fortune cookies came (because apparently you get fortune cookies at all Asian restaurants now). And I opened my fortune cookie.
Nothing. No fortune (thankfully, there was no paper, had there been just a blank piece of paper I probably would have burst into tears).
I held up my fortune cookie in shock. The night before my birthday and no hint no premonition nothing to help me figure it Out.
It was pretty much the world saying, "Welp, you're 26 now. You're on your own."
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Musings on my walk home
If I ran the country:
- WIC/Link/Food stamps would only be redeemable at Organic Groceries, Farmer's Markets and CSAs. And also for the ingredients to make things (like yeast, flour, eggs etc). Naturally this would mean that you would need to get more money on your link card but that's fine because its going to farmers.
- 70% of the cost of every gallon of gas would be a tax. And the money from that tax would go towards funding public transportation, trains and bicycles.
- No one under the age of 14 gets a cellphone. Because I say so.
- For every prescription of viagra (or viagra-like pill) that they cover, the insurance company must also cover the cost of HIV medication for someone who cannot afford it and/or give money to rape crisis and counseling centers. I'm not above diplomacy and bipartisanship.
-All restaurants have two options - have a way of telling you exactly where all of the ingredients they use come from or putting warning labels on their food describing what sort of antibiotics/crazy business is in their food.
These are just a few things that I would change. You don't have to agree with them, but then again you also don't have to vote for me.
In other news - this essay made me want to buy Steven Thrasher a nice steak dinner. And then call him the next morning to see if he wants to get coffee or something.
- WIC/Link/Food stamps would only be redeemable at Organic Groceries, Farmer's Markets and CSAs. And also for the ingredients to make things (like yeast, flour, eggs etc). Naturally this would mean that you would need to get more money on your link card but that's fine because its going to farmers.
- 70% of the cost of every gallon of gas would be a tax. And the money from that tax would go towards funding public transportation, trains and bicycles.
- No one under the age of 14 gets a cellphone. Because I say so.
- For every prescription of viagra (or viagra-like pill) that they cover, the insurance company must also cover the cost of HIV medication for someone who cannot afford it and/or give money to rape crisis and counseling centers. I'm not above diplomacy and bipartisanship.
-All restaurants have two options - have a way of telling you exactly where all of the ingredients they use come from or putting warning labels on their food describing what sort of antibiotics/crazy business is in their food.
These are just a few things that I would change. You don't have to agree with them, but then again you also don't have to vote for me.
In other news - this essay made me want to buy Steven Thrasher a nice steak dinner. And then call him the next morning to see if he wants to get coffee or something.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Land of Laziness
So on Friday morning I was a proud card-carrying resident of the state of Maryland, despite the fact that I have not actually spent more than 3 consecutive weeks in Maryland in almost 8 years. But Friday afternoon, I took the deepest plunge of my life and procured myself an Illinois driver's license.
I am now a resident (and voter) in the state of Illinois. This fact fills me with a whole bucket of emotions - Depressed, and kind of excited, and a little nostalgic with a dash of underwhelmed.
I was fiercely proud of my Maryland license. For silly reasons, sure - but it tied me to the place that I think of as home. It also made me a little different and gave me a conversation starter. And it meant that somehow, someway in my little mixed up brain - I didn't live in the midwest, really. I was just kind of here on an expedition - exploring untapped resources and building a pile of experiences to write a book on how I went to the midwest and still came out okay.
(Obviously - this is not to say that there is anything not okay with the Midwest. I live here, my friends live here, my boyfriend is from here, I really do love the midwest, but...well...its an east coast thing).
But now its for keeps (sort of) - this is my proclamation of really doing this - of becoming a grown-up (sort of) and going out on my own. And it ties me to something that has nothing to do with my family, which is kind of exciting in a sad, bittersweet sort of way.
Also - now I have to vote in Chicago. Which is kind of cool - to get to vote in an actual polling place and for people who make decisions that affect me. Naturally, voting in Chicago is kind of like voting for the Prom Queen, I am not a hundred percent sure it actually counts for anything and if maybe the people in charge just pick their favorite. But especially since my ward is a mess and whoever is my alderman gets to decide if my building gets torn down to make a hospital - and also Chicago is a hot, poor mess right now - I am kind of excited to at least feel like I am part of the change.
Although, while Maryland almost always goes blue in elections, my county is extra-red so there was something to be said for having a vote that felt like it counted more. Also, my love for Barbara Mikulski knows no bounds and I'm sad I can't be involved in keeping her tush in the senate.
Anyway - this weekend brought a new Rachel to the field, one who likes identical to her license picture and has an ID that bouncers are familiar with so they no longer spend 20 minutes scrutinizing and judging. A Rachel who lives where she says she lives. For the time being.
I am now a resident (and voter) in the state of Illinois. This fact fills me with a whole bucket of emotions - Depressed, and kind of excited, and a little nostalgic with a dash of underwhelmed.
I was fiercely proud of my Maryland license. For silly reasons, sure - but it tied me to the place that I think of as home. It also made me a little different and gave me a conversation starter. And it meant that somehow, someway in my little mixed up brain - I didn't live in the midwest, really. I was just kind of here on an expedition - exploring untapped resources and building a pile of experiences to write a book on how I went to the midwest and still came out okay.
(Obviously - this is not to say that there is anything not okay with the Midwest. I live here, my friends live here, my boyfriend is from here, I really do love the midwest, but...well...its an east coast thing).
But now its for keeps (sort of) - this is my proclamation of really doing this - of becoming a grown-up (sort of) and going out on my own. And it ties me to something that has nothing to do with my family, which is kind of exciting in a sad, bittersweet sort of way.
Also - now I have to vote in Chicago. Which is kind of cool - to get to vote in an actual polling place and for people who make decisions that affect me. Naturally, voting in Chicago is kind of like voting for the Prom Queen, I am not a hundred percent sure it actually counts for anything and if maybe the people in charge just pick their favorite. But especially since my ward is a mess and whoever is my alderman gets to decide if my building gets torn down to make a hospital - and also Chicago is a hot, poor mess right now - I am kind of excited to at least feel like I am part of the change.
Although, while Maryland almost always goes blue in elections, my county is extra-red so there was something to be said for having a vote that felt like it counted more. Also, my love for Barbara Mikulski knows no bounds and I'm sad I can't be involved in keeping her tush in the senate.
Anyway - this weekend brought a new Rachel to the field, one who likes identical to her license picture and has an ID that bouncers are familiar with so they no longer spend 20 minutes scrutinizing and judging. A Rachel who lives where she says she lives. For the time being.
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