My Eco-Dilemma

I live on a bus line to campus--it's less than a two block walk for me to catch a bus that gets me to campus in 15 minutes. And the university, as of this past spring, provides free bus passes for all employees. That's right, my commute is free.

So why don't I take the bus every day? Over the last fourteen years I haven't used it much at all, though this year I'm doing it much more often (read: free bus pass. Also, high gas prices and a third driver in the house.) Still, every week there are days when I don't take the bus. Tuesday and Thursday Mariah and I take an early morning exercise class, so we drive because we've got a lot to carry and really can't be late. She drops me in my office after our class and I take the bus home.

It's the other days that worry me. I teach on MWF, and I can get a bus that will, pretty reliably, get me in to campus more than an hour before my first class. It should be a no-brainer. But this morning, for example, I really had to think hard about whether to take it. And the reason, though I'm not proud to admit it, is my hair.

I know, I know, it's ridiculous. But hear me out. I have shoulder-length thick curly hair. It does best when mostly left alone--but that leaving alone has to come after it's wet. It takes about three hours to dry. Blow-drying leaves it bushy and frizzy (not to mention taking more time, energy, and skill than I have--and don't talk to me about diffusers). So I usually walk out the door with wet hair, and by the time I have to be presentable, it usually is. (As presentable as it's going to be, anyway.) In warm weather, waiting for a bus with wet hair is no problem. But as the temperature drops, I find myself reaching for the car keys. I rationalize: it's only six miles; if I get sick I'll use even more energy going to the doctor; at least I take the bus some days; etc.

It's a small thing. But it occupied way more of my mental energy this morning than it should have. Still, I took the bus. With damp hair and an outdoor temp of about 45. I guess I'll be checking back after the first frost.

Hmm, really?

I saw this on Spynotes, and it's way more interesting than anything I could dream up today. I'm skeptical, but then again, that's what the quiz results say, too. So maybe it's right?

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Be direct and clear


• * Listen to me carefully


• * Don't judge me for my anxiety


• * Work things through with me


• * Reassure me that everything is OK between us


• * Laugh and make jokes with me


• * Gently push me toward new experiences


• * Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

• * being committed and faithful to family and friends


• * being responsible and hardworking


• * being compassionate toward others


• * having intellect and wit


• * being a nonconformist


• * confronting danger bravely


• * being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

• * the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind


• * procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself


• * fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of


• * exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger


• * wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right


• * being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations

Marilyns as Children Often

• * are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn


• * are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger


• * form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent


• * look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel


• * are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

• * are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty


• * are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence


• * worry more than most that their children will get hurt


• * sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

Really?

Apparently I was an arrogant monk in a past life. Check it out.

In a Past Life...

You Were: An Arrogant Monk. Where You Lived: France. How You Died: Typhoid fever.

Who Were You In a Past Life?

(I saw this over at Magpie Musing. She was hung for treason in her past life, so I feel as if I got off easy.)

I'm a dash--

Susan's a comma, which I think is a very good thing to be. I'm not so sure about the dash, but I'm not surprised--I use them a lot, after all! (Good with money, though? That one's weird...)

You Are a Dash

Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point

What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Random things meme

I got this from Susan--thanks!

1. Spell my name as it sounds: um, Libby

2. Am I a worrier? Yes. I worry much more than I regret. I like to think of it as insurance--if I worry, it won't happen. (This does not always work, btw.)

3. What’s my favorite CD? Right now I'm listening a lot to James Taylor's "One Man Band," but I always come back to Hem's "Rabbit Songs."

4. Favorite colour(s)? Anything in the red-purple-pink family.

5. Does my home have an attic? Yes. It's Mariah's room.

6. Have I ever been to Canada? Yes, several times. I spent part of my honeymoon there (waves to Susan!).

7. Have I ever gone fishing? As a kid at fish farms.

8. Have I ever seen a celebrity? Yes.

9. Have I ever been on a motorcycle? Yes, but when I tried to drive it myself I dumped it in the first thirty seconds and gave up.

10. How much money do I have on me right now? I'm in my pajamas right now, so nothing. But there's $70 and change in my wallet. (Soon to be depleted by Saturday allowances...)

11. How many cars have I owned? Seven. (Only one on my own--all the rest co-owned.)

12. How many jobs have I had? Six since graduating from college. Lots more before.

13. How tall am I? 5'7" and a bit.

14. Last person to call me: sigh. The Democratic Party of Virginia. Last one I talked to? Mariah.

15. Last thing I yelled out loud: "Supper's Ready!"

16. Last person I was in a car with: Nick and Mariah.

17. Last time I ate at McDonald’s: I can't remember.

18. Last thing I bought: Snacks for the kids at Starbucks.

19. Last person I saw: Nick.

20. Last time I cried: Last weekend, in frustration.

21. Last time I laughed: This morning at something Nick showed me.

22. What is the temperature outside? 34F.

23. What time of the day did I get married? Morning--around 10:30. (I don't like to wait.)

24. What did I do two nights ago? Choir rehearsal.

25. Who’s birthday is coming up next? Mine!

26. What time did I go to bed last night? Around 10pm--nice and early.

27. What was the first thing I thought this morning? I hope I haven't gotten Nick's cold.

28. What are my plans for this weekend? Read for the ChLA book award. Send out the PTSA newsletter. Finish the taxes and the financial aid forms. Laundry. Watch sports and knit.

29. Lemonade or iced tea? Lemonade.

30. What do I dislike at this moment? The mess on my dining room table which represents the unfinished financial aid forms.

31. What did I dream about last night? I don't remember.

32. What’s the last TV show I watched? Do sports count? The end of a boring game between the Orlando Magic and the Detroit Pistons.

33. What is my favorite piece of jewelry? Wedding ring.

34. Am I a dancer? Um, no.

35. Have I ever cut my own hair? Just my bangs.

36. What is my favorite treat? Time. And very dark chocolate. Red wine is ok, too.

37. How many piercings/tattoos do I have? My ears are pierced, with two holes on one side and one on the other. That's it.

38. Where’s my favorite place to be? It depends on my mood. The beach is always good, though.

39. Is there someone I haven’t seen in a while and miss? Yes, several! Mostly friends from college and grad school.

40. Who was the last text I sent to? Mariah.

41. Do I care what strangers think about me? More than I should, probably.

42. Last person I talked to on Instant Messenger: Sorry, I'm a dinosaur.

43. Last person to make me cry: That would be me.

44. Who can I tell anything to? Myself. That's what writing's for.

45. What am I doing tomorrow? Same as today--see #28.

46. Do I have alcohol in my home? A few bottles of wine, some bourbon, random liqueurs, sherry and brandy.

47. Do I like ketchup? On burgers and fries.

48. Do I think I will be on a vacation this summer? Yes! For at least a week--in France.

49. What colour is my master bathroom? Blue-green.

50. Do I wear a bikini at the beach? No, no, no.

51. Have I ever been to the Grand Canyon? I'm saying no here because I can't remember, and surely I would remember?

52. What is my favorite fruit? Fresh peaches in season--I'll eat one every day until they're out of season again. Really good pears when I can get them, which is not often enough.

53. What did I really want to do today? Sleep in. Breakfast in bed. Read something I don't have to.

54. Am I always cold? In the winter in my house, yes. I'm usually the wrong temperature, too hot in summer, too cold in winter.

55. Does it annoy me when someone says they’ll call or text, but don’t? Yes. A lot.

If you have a blog, feel free to do this one--or answer in the comments if you don't!

In lieu of content

I've been too busy reading lately to do much new writing, and the blog is suffering. So, in lieu of new words, I give you pictures! When I can't read any more, I find I can still knit--so I have been doing plenty of knitting the past few months. Here are a few new(ish) finished objects.

First, the Christmas knitting. Much less than last year, but still a reasonable amount. Over there somewhere (I am fighting this layout and it is winning), a cabled neckwarmer for Mariah. Below (or somewhere else), slippers for my sister (blue and cream) and brother (red and gray).

Then I knitted these (those, you know, over there) mittens for Mark (like the slippers, they are felted to make them extra-sturdy and warm). Then Christmas was over, and I did a little knitting for myself: the blue ladder shawl (which I just finished last night, and wore today), and the lovely party lace scarf, my first venture into beaded knitting. (That one took me almost a year, but I didn't work on it from about last February until the end of December.) I've just started another shawl (again with the shawls!) tonight.

Thank goodness for knitting.

conscious consumer

I'm feeling very much the conscious consumer these days, especially after our car-buying episode last week. When we left off, I was about to go buy a car, in the hopes that it would be like buying an appliance. Well, it sort of was and it sort of wasn't. Here's the short version: we went to CarMax, drove three cars, and bought the last. It was a fine little car, a bit over our budget but still affordable. And then we returned it.

Here's the conscious consumer part: we chose a used car on the theory that building a new car eats up a lot of resources, so if we could find an efficient (enough) used car we'd be doing the environment a favor. Makes sense, right? Besides, the whole point of selling the last car was to reduce expenses. But because we'd spent more money than we meant to, we began to experience almost immediate buyer's remorse. And... we have a neighbor with three cars. For years Mark has been asking if he wanted to sell us one--he is a meticulous maintenance guy, so we know it would be a good car. So when the buyer's remorse hit (and it hit pretty hard, though the car did look cute parked right out in front of the house) Mark went over to ask--again--if maybe he had a car to sell. And for once, he did. Not right now, but in about a month. And for much, much less than CarMax wanted for their (to be fair) much newer car.

It felt like a sign. Or at least a big relief.

So, after two days, we took advantage of the CarMax 5-day no questions asked return policy, and returned the car. And it took about 15 minutes (plus the drive, alas!).

All in all, an interesting experiment in conscious consumerism.

Now here are the rules for the meme (you've already seen this here and here and here...I'm late to the party!):
Pick a recent shopping trip -- for clothes, shoes, groceries, doesn't matter. The only guideline is that it will be easier to play if you purchased at least a few things.

Now tell us, about your purchases:

1. What are you proud of?
2. What are you embarrassed by?
3. What do think you couldn't live without?
4. What did you most enjoy purchasing?
5. What were you most tempted by? (This last one may or may not be an actual purchase!)


This is a grocery store trip from last week. Unlike Caroline, I go to the grocery store pretty often. Sometimes almost daily. I often go early in the morning, at about 7:30, right after I drop Mariah at her bus--it's less crowded, and the day-old bakery items are worth a look. I had a grocery list with me, but as usual I bought a lot of stuff I hadn't put on the list. Here's what I brought home:

• one box Annie's mac-n-cheese (we were gong out to dinner that night and it's a good bet for Nick when we're not home)
• one can Bustelo decaf espresso
• two cans full circle (local organic brand) organic black beans
• one box full circle golden flax cereal
• one large facial sponge
• one reusable shopping bag
• one box frozen crispy mini tacos
• one package boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 3 large lemons
• 2 packages chocolate chip bagels (thrift items)
• 2 packages pita bread (thrift items)

So: I'm proud of the cereal. Mariah discovered recently that she likes it, and since she's experimenting with being vegan, I'm all about making sure she gets the nutrients she needs. Flax seeds provide omega-3 oils, more commonly found in fish. Yay.

I'm a little embarrassed by the reusable shopping bag, since I already have two (and two reusable bins, supplied by this very store) that I had forgotten to bring. But for a buck, I figured we could use a third one. And I am now trying to remember to store them in the car.

I couldn't live without the decaf. I love the taste of coffee but not the effects of caffeine, and this brand is relatively inexpensive and delightfully strong. Yum.

I'm not sure I enjoyed purchasing any one thing on this list more than any other. Mostly, I like going to the store in the morning. Most of the cashiers know me--by sight if not by name--and we chat a little over the thrift purchases and such and it feels a bit like home. That particular morning there was a not-too-muzaky remake of REM's "Rockville" playing, and it made me feel nostalgic.

I was tempted (this is so boring!) by various fancy face washes, and I had run out, but I didn't buy any because I wanted to check out what Mariah had. She used to inherit my castoffs (clothes, makeup, random cosmetic items) and now I inherit some of hers. Payback time!

So that's it for my conscious consumption. I'll tag anyone else who wants to play--and stay tuned, since Caroline just tagged me with a new meme!

I'm the UN!

Found this over at Wormwood's Doxy and I love it! (She's South Africa, which is actually really cool...)

You're the United Nations!

Most people think you're ineffective, but you are trying to
completely save the world from itself, so there's always going to be a long
way to go. You're always the one trying to get friends to talk to each
other, enemies to talk to each other, anyone who can to just talk instead of
beating each other about the head and torso. Sometimes it works and sometimes
it doesn't, and you get very schizophrenic as a result. But your heart
is in the right place, and sometimes also in New York.


Take the Country Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid

49% Yankee

My parents will be disappointed, but at least I haven't gone completely over to the other side.

Take the Yankee or Dixie quiz here

[link fixed 3/21/07--sorry about that!]

Glad that's over with

So, according to some guy I heard on the radio, today was the most depressing day of the year. (Hey, it was NPR! It must be true!) He explained that the Monday of the last full week of January is considered to be the most depressing day of the year. Christmas bills, cold weather (so I assume this is just in the Northern Hemisphere), and failed New Year's resolutions were listed as the causes.

So if this was the most depressing day of the year I'm in pretty good shape, because it could have been a lot worse. In fact, it was a perfectly fine day. The kids would have liked a little more snow--we had some freezing rain that postponed the start of school for two hours but didn't cause a cancellation. The power went out on campus after I'd taught my class, so I cancelled my office hours and came home to work in warmth and comfort. Tae kwon do class and dinner with a friend (twice-postponed already, so we were bound to make it happen) rounded out the day.

The happiest day of the year is supposed to be June 22, in case you want to make plans.

ant or grasshopper?

From yesterday's New York Times comes the word that guilt fades while regret at missed opportunities grows. In other words, I should be out Christmas shopping and having fun now instead of sitting at my desk trying to start grading? Or, hmm, would Christmas shopping not be fun enough?

update

I've just cleaned up the sidebars a bit. You can still find all the recipes just by clicking the label "recipes" over there, and you can find my reading and viewing lists over in the commonplace book (which I will try to update more regularly). Otherwise I'm hoping it all still makes sense. I still need to put labels on some old posts--surely there's more than one about knitting!--but all in good time.

November 11

is not only Veterans' Day, and/or Armistice Day, it's also Corduroy Appreciation Day. On account of the 11/11 looking like corduroy wales, naturally.

fall in Virginia

If I earlier disparaged the fall colors in Virginia, I now retract that false and erroneous statement and give you this:




Thanks to H for reminding me.

Apparently I'm registered with the wrong party

So, if you haven't taken it already, here's the Applebees Quiz. I'm a 10 on the 12-point scale, which puts me well into Red America, somehow. I think this may be because I have been known to shop at WalMart, drink a Dr. Pepper, and buy a local brand of bottled water. Though, really, often the choices were a case of flipping a coin: I don't really buy bottled water (but if I did it's the cheap stuff); I don't really drink soda, and between Pro Wrestling and Monster Trucks I'd choose, um, a mammogram instead. I mean really, either one sounds like torture. I got the quiz from Stone Court, and so far the folks taking the quiz through their site are almost all coming up red despite their claims to blue-ness. So I'm not sure how useful it is.

(By switching Saab to Audi, Dr. Pepper to Sprite/Pepsi, local water to Evian, WalMart to Whole Foods and USNews to TVGuide, I got it to put me in the "Tipping" Tribe. And when I switched bourbon/scotch to gin/vodka (which for me is a weather-related choice, not a political one), Monster Truck to Pro Wrestling, Coors to Bud, and auction site to dating site, it moved me all the way over to blue. Since most of these are really "none of the above" answers, I may just not fit the categories at all.)

stuck in the mud

You've Changed 8% in 10 Years

You've hardly changed in ten years, from your lifestyle to those very retro clothes. And unless you were really ahead of your time, you probably need to acquaint yourself with the modern world!

How Much Have You Changed in 10 Years?

Saw this on Raising WEG. OK, so I did have a child in the last ten years--not a question on the quiz--but otherwise, truly, much is the same. (But why doesn't the quiz care about my fabulous new refrigerator?)