Love your body!

Yesterday was national Love Your Body Day, but I didn't know until it was too late to post, as I was hella busy yesterday. I figured I should post my thoughts anyway, since this topic is near and dear to my heart.

I am currently in the middle of reading Lessons from the Fat-o-sphere: Quit Dieting and Declare a Truce with your Body by Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby. Upon explaining the subject matter, fat acceptance and loving your body, to a friend of mine, he responded "But you're not fat!" I know, I am not fat by any stretch of the imagination, unless you were to compare me to a ballet dancer or a runway model. However, body positivity is still important to me as it is important to everyone. Despite the fact that I am not fat, standing up and saying "I love my body just the way it is" is a radical choice. The media, society and even your friends and family put pressure on you to look a certain way and weigh a certain amount (especially if you're a woman.) I must recommend, no matter what size you are, check out Health at Every Size, if you're tired of people equating thinness with health, if you're tired of depriving yourself in the name of a diet, and if you're tired of exercising for fitness and exercising for vanity being considered the same thing. And how can that be surprising, since in our culture "fit" usually means "thin" by some measure?

Nobody benefits from a huge cultural lie that only a size 2 is healthy. That lets size 2 ladies off the hook for never exercising (cough, cough me in college) and ladies who will never be a size 2 aren't allowed to feel great in their bodies, even when their bodies (regardless of size) are in great shape.

I love my body. I like the way it looks, especially the parts that never get complimented by men. It's like those parts are truly mine. If a part of my body never gets complimented, my ribs for instance, then it is truly mine to love because I love it, not because somebody told me to love it.

I love focusing on what my body can do. I have found that the more I focus on my body's abilities rather than it's size (girth, height, weight) the happier I am with my body. Going for a run doesn't make me feel better because I'll lose weight or "tone up;" It feels great because no matter what size my thighs are, they have amazing abilities to carry me far and fast. I am so proud of myself for having completed the Carleton Triathlon in June. I managed to mentally and physically bring myself to the point of being able to work out for nearly four hours, despite my previous hate of running and sports.

Today, if you're feeling brave, pick a body part that you usually can't stand the look of. Check it out in the mirror and thank it for being there. This is your body. It is the one and only vehicle you have to go through life. Thank that body part that you previously wished you could get rid of. Thank it for what it does for you and why it exists within this whole wonderful machine that gives you so much. And give back to your body. Eat something that you know makes it feel great. Do a type of physical activity that puts your mind and body in perfect harmony. We can all get gloomy in this type of weather, and getting up and moving tends to help (Says the girl who is sitting in front of her computer at 12:20PM)

The more you love your body, the better you feel and even look. Good Luck!

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Name droppy side note: I went to see TJ & Dave last night, and Tracy Letts was there instead of TJ. I missed TJ, of course, but I gotta admit, it was pretty awesome. Most people won't get this, but it was awesome.

Halloween costume ideas! Mini Hats!

This year, tiny hats are big. No, not big, they're so huge, they're tiny! I didn't realize until I visited a Spirit Halloween Shop a couple days ago that tiny hats are far sexier than normal sized hats. It's not enough to wear a mini dress that vaguely resembles an iconic character, oh no. To take your sexy factor above and beyond, make sure to wear the littlest hat you can find!

Mini Cowgirl Hat!

Want to distract people from the fact that cowgirls never existed and your mini skirt is completely impractical for horseback riding? Grab this sexy tiny hat! All of the other historical inaccuracies won't be able to keep their hands off of you!

Mini Witch Hat!

With this tiny hat, you'll cast a spell over all of the douchebags who refused to put on any kind of decent costume! (ooh, you're a warewolf, but it's not a full moon, that's so fucking clever!) Willow would be proud.

Slightly Less Mini Top Hat!

If you're a little more alternative, check out this gothic slightly larger top hat! This hat exists in between the realm of a normal sized hat and a mini hat. It may actually be a baby hat or a dog hat and the web site either got confused or decided to market it to grown women anyway. Either way, this shit is hot! Snatch it up soon, because this mini-ish hat is flying off the shelves!

Happy Halloween, beeches!

Urban Adventuring! Tuesday Afternoon

On Tuesday, I went on an awesome Chicago adventure with my house guest Erica! Erica and Mira were close friends at Carleton before Erica transferred to RISD junior year. Although Erica and I were never close at Carleton, we found that we got along famously when she came for a visit this week. Don't you love when that happens?

Anyway, we decided to go exploring on Tuesday while Mira was working and before I went to work. Erica wanted to see the bean, and on the way down there, I suggested we stop in the Chicago Cultural Center. I've been meaning to go to the Chicago Cultural Center just to check it out for a while but hadn't made it there yet.

All I can say is woah! That place is incredible. Maybe I am the only one out of the loop (pun not intended, but awesome,) but I can't believe I've lived in the Chicago area for so long and I have never been here before. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The Chicago Cultural Center is located in the former Chicago Public Library, and it still feels pretty library-ish in the best way. The environment feels quiet and very calming. There are art galleries on two different floors, and everything is free free free! The first thing we saw was Project Onward, a studio and gallery for artists with developmental disabilities. Some of the art was stunning, some of the art was weird, and all of the art was inspiring.

Afterwards, we walked up the stairs to another gallery which featured different words as art. That's not the best way to explain it, but I'm not a visual art person. Just believe me, it was cool.

What followed was some fun touristy bean-looking (as well as photo-taking) and some Anthropologie window shopping, which was depressing as usual.

If you find yourself with nothing to do in downtown Chicago, you've got to hit the Chicago Cultural Center. It might not be a secret, but considering I've never been, I'm sure some of you haven't either. There's free wifi and a calming atmosphere, so if you're unemployed or underemployed like me, go on over and do your job search there, I mean, why not? After all, you can't do all of your homework at the same Starbucks every week!

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Additional grown-up note of the day: rather than spending $3 on one, I decided to attempt to make my own skim latte today. It went alright, although I don't think my steamer is working, so there was some microwave time involved...

Oh, and as an update, I got the job offer, but I am going to decline. I would not have enough time to focus on my writing, and at this point, I still have the privilege to prioritize.

Two Paths

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood

and sorry I could not travel both

and be one traveler, long I stood

and looked down one as far as I could

to where it bent in the undergrowth

-Robert Frost

This poem might be one of the most quoted in the English language, but maybe that's because plenty of people have felt like this at one point or another. We all find ourselves at places where we will have to make difficult decisions that seem to be telling of the rest of our lives. This poem has been used in senior quotes, commencement speeches, pretty much everything that is used to inspire young people as they go into their lives.

However, despite the constant use of this particular work, I do not find it to be over-quoted. I think it means a lot to a lot of people because it is such an integral part of the human experience- trying to decide between two paths. And even though you can see the beginning of the path and your immediate future should you choose that path, you can't be sure where that path will lead.

I personally don't really believe in paths. Life is little more than a pathless random walk. You may think you're going one direction but not be at all. You never have just two choices and you're never stuck on a path. If you go down one road, you can get off of it. You might wander into the woods somewhere and not be sure where you are, but if you hate your current path, that is always a possibility. I think one of the worst things about college is that when people get out of it they think they're making a decision for the rest of their lives, that this decision is mutually exclusive from all other paths. Not so.

So enough abstraction. Let's talk about what's actually going on with me and why I need to think about paths and callings and the like.

Some people are lucky enough to have a calling. When I watched the HBO documentary "Gloria: In Her Own Words" about Gloria Steinem, I remember not only admiring all of the work that she did to further a cause that she believed in but also envying the fact that she had such a strong calling that she could throw her heart, soul, time and compassion into. She had the inspiration, drive and talent to accomplish more social organization and as a result change than most people can even dream of.

I, however, do not feel so lucky. As you well know, I would like to be a writer, preferably a comedy writer for television, and I am in the fetus stages of that career. I'm taking classes, trying to get funnier, trying to write as often as possible and networking a little bit. They are baby steps. The babiest of baby steps.

The scariest thing about entering a career like this is the sheer volume of people that are interested in the exact same thing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, when somebody asks me what I want to be when I grow up, it's hard for me to say "I want to be the next Tina Fey." Now that I've thought more about it, I realize that it's hard for me to say that because it's hard for me to believe that it's possible. When people have given me advice to "Believe in Yourself!" I never considered how difficult that truly is. I see all of the hundreds of people going through classes at Second City and iO, and I think about how many of us there are and how few Kristen Wiigs there are. Instead of visualizing myself as the person on top, I give myself the numbers, consider the probability. I guess I have to go the Han Solo route and never tell myself the odds.

So that's one path. Comedy! Writing! And I know the path will be very long before I find how fruitful my results will be.

Along with my fetus of a comedy career, I have recently begun searching for a "real job." I'm looking for a full time day job that would be challenging and interesting but also give me enough time to still work on my writing and pursue that. So I submitted my resume to Monster and pretty much immediately was contacted by about half a dozen companies who were recruiting and wanted to consider me for their positions. And people said this job search thing was hard? pah! Anyway, with this whole career question in the air and my first proactive step on the web, this week has been a very busy week.

On Monday, I had a meeting with a career counselor/therapist that my mother set me up with. I thought I would chat with him about what kind of a day job might fit my criteria, but we mostly talked about comedy and how to go about doing what I truly want to do. That was ok, because it really did inspire me to put myself out there when it comes to my dream career. He gave me an assignment to contact all of the writers I can and ask them about their jobs and about how they got to where they are. This has made me very nervous, but I think it will get easier and easier as it goes on.

Yesterday, I had an interview at a small financial firm. I've had an idea for a while that I might be interested in finance, so it was kind of cool that they called me and asked me into their office, although I was really nervous, since I don't have any experience in finance or in business at all. The interview was super long. First, I and six other candidates attended at 1.5 hour presentation about what the company does, what our role would be and what the recruiting process is like. I found out that the first 90 days is a lot of classes and tests, trying to get 4 certifications and that I would be working about 50 hours a week. After the presentation, we all sat in a room at completed an assessment that took about an hour and a half more. The assessment included an 18 minute math section that I thought I bombed. I finished first, but I was disheartened. I couldn't believe that I would do so badly on math, the one thing I am good at.

I sat in the lobby and waiting for the results of my assessment. I was called into the conference room with the recruiter. I was sure that the results would be terrible, that I would have scored very low. She told me "the assessment is on a scale of 1 to 10, and we look for people with a 5 or above." And all this time I'm thinking there's no way. "So you got a 9," she said. What? A 9? In an assessment of my compatibility with the industry, I received a 9 out of 10. I think it speaks to my intuition because I obviously have no training or experience in this field. Maybe I'm just well-suited to it. We made an appointment for a second interview the next day.

Today I went in for my second interview. It was relatively short. I met with another gentleman who works at the company and he explained to me what a typical workweek would look like. I was surprised to find out that this job would expect 60 hours per week from me. 60. Plus an hour commute both ways 6 days a week. For those of you doing the math at home, that is 72 hours a week. Needless to say, signing on to this job might be the nail in the coffin of my comedy pursuits. However, if I wanted to commit myself fully to finance, this job would be awesome. It is challenging and fast paced with a ton of invaluable training. And oh yeah, it pays pretty well too. I would get to learn new things all the time and work with many different types of people, and I think I would truly enjoy it as a profession.

So now here I am. I have the talent and the skill for one business, and I know that I could be successful at it within a couple of years. And then I have the inspiration to pursue something else, but it is unclear whether I will ever be successful at it. Should I pick the path that says "you can definitely do this today." Or follow the path that says "you will know if you've got what it takes in about 5-10 years." And if I don't take a day job in finance, will I be able to find a day job that will challenge me and interest me as much as this one has?

At this point, I am trying to keep my mind open to both options while exploring other leads I have for possible career paths that will not be as time consuming. I've got to shop around a little to see what I can get.

Modern Family, Yay!

I am so glad that Modern Family is back! The season 3 premier was fantastic, even though they replaced Lily (who had next to no expressions.) One of the best things about Modern Family is that it totally deserves that name, Modern. I love that Sofia Vergara is so sexy and at the same time so funny. To see a gorgeous woman who is more than a prop for phallocentric jokes is in itself progressive. I also love all of the conversation that arises as Cameron and Mitchell try to navigate creating their own type of family in a heteronormative world.

It's no surprise that Eric Stonestreet won an Emmy for his portrayal of Cam on Modern Family. He is easily one of the funniest parts of the show. As the nurturing stay at home dad who is as enthusiastic about glitter as he is about football, he brings a lot of flavor to the Pritchett family that he married into.

Mitch and Cam are constantly exploring their roles. With both partners identifying as the same gender, their roles are not written in pen in society's rulebook. They don't even have a rulebook. As Cam is the more nurturing of the two, he often fills the more motherly role, which leads to a hilarious Mother's Day episode where everybody is treating Cameron really nicely, buying him flowers and serving him breakfast in bed, and he protests that he is not a mother. It's hilarious. Watch it. Actually, watch any episode ever and you will probably fall in love with the show.

While I am cool with them exploring their family roles, I found the last episode a little offputting. Mitchell and Cameron are talking about adopting a baby boy, and Mitch gets worried that he doesn't like enough boy stuff and wouldn't be able to teach that to his new son. I just found it a little far-fetched that he would be worried about this. It goes along with his characteristic insecurity, but you'd think he would feel more comfortable with his abilities as a father, as he is a grown man. He likes musical theater, so who is to say that his son will prefer football and blowing things up to musical theater? Additionally, he knows that Cameron is into boy stuff, like sports, so why can't Cameron be that person in their son's life.

It's especially absurd because they had Lily and the same concerns didn't arise, even though neither of them are women. I'd think it would be more likely that if they did worry about this, they would worry more about the girl. Although, it wouldn't be as funny if they were worrying about bras and makeup for girls. It's much funnier to have Mitchell worrying about whether he is manly enough.

I find it hard to believe that a gay man in his 30s would be concerned about being masculine enough for his child. You would think that he would be glad to just be himself and show his child that regardless of traditional gender, you can be whomever you want to be, especially since Mitch has a hard time relating to his own father. Then again, none of my friends, gay or straight, are really starting families now, so perhaps they do consider this while having kids. I wouldn't know.

I think the thing that truly bothered me about this plotline is the implication that boys should learn boy things and girls should learn girl things. I hope that when I start a family someday, I will teach both my daughters and my sons at least basic sewing, just as I will wish both my daughters and my sons to be handy. Regardless of gender, they may be into sports or dance or theater or science, and I will try to be as supportive of their interests as possible.

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On an unrelated note, if you missed my post "why I hate Dating" over at my buddy Janie's blog, then check it out.

Training my Cat

This is my first post about my cat Olive, whom I got on August 27. I know what you're thinking... "Thank God I found a post about a cat! I love cats and can hardly find anything about them on the internet!" All I can say is, you're welcome.

Olive is very cuddly, but she's also very curious. Here's a picture of Olive the first time she got on top of the fridge. She is adorable, but she loves to explore high and low. Any time a cabinet is open, she does her best to get in it and poke around. This is super cute when I leave my drawers open and find her in them, as long as there's nothing in them that I want to keep away from her.

She is such a mischievous little kitty that I find it very amusing when she gets stuck in a paper bag. So amusing that I grabbed my iPhone rather than attempting to help her. Here is the video evidence:

Recently, Olive has developed an interest in eating, or attempting to eat, Mira's plants. We have been keeping them in a high place that we thought she couldn't get to, but she devised a way. See the photo below. The cat jumps from the ground, to the mantle and then from the mantle to the cabinet where the plants are.

Last night, I decided that this must end. While reading my book on the couch, I had a pint of water and a close eye on the cat. When Olive would eye the mantle and prepare to jump, I would sprinkle water on her head. When Olive would successfully make it on top of the cabinet, I poured a few ounces of water directly on her head. She learned quickly that she doesn't want to go up there because it rains up there.

Today, she hasn't even looked at the mantle. And don't worry, we're still friends despite the water.

And that is how you train your cat.

Birthday Blog Bonanza

Today, my lovely roommate Mira turns 23!

Happy birthday, girl!

Edward decided to surprise her this morning by hanging in the kitchen.

Edward's Birthday Surprise

The card says "Happy Birthday, Mira!" and Edward wrote a really sweet note telling her she smells "delicious as always." I was awoken by her gasp this morning upon discovering a man standing in the kitchen at 6am.

Me and Mira at my 22nd Birthday Celebration

Mira is the Yin to my Yang, and I am so happy to have her in my life. You go girl!

Also, I love birthdays and celebrations in general, and I am super excited for the party I have planned for tomorrow night!

Not a full blog, not on a scheduled day, but I believe in celebrating the people you love, and what is a more fitting time than a birthday?