I'm sure by now you all are aware how much I love chunky bearded guys, but just in case this is the first of my blogs you are reading, I love chunky bearded guys. If I have a type, that's it. Not saying I can't be attracted to other types of men (because if you can make me laugh so hard I pee, you could be Ryan Gosling in that crazy stupid movie, Crazy, Stupid Love for all I care), but if you lined up Brad Pitt, George Clooney, James McAvoy, and Seth Rogen and asked me to pick which one I wanted to sleep with it would be Seth Rogen every time. I mean times a million. Now, if you lined up Seth Rogen, Zac Galifinakis, FAT Jonah Hill and Kevin Smith, THEN I would have a conundrum on my hands. Or an orgy.
I've been a bit under the weather the past couple days (as a side note I feel this phrase is no more potent than it is in New England, where more often than not, the weather feels like it is crushing me) but I still have experienced many things to love!!!
The first was a super rusty bike chained to a street sign. And on this super rusty bike was a beautiful, new Brooks saddle. At first, I thought, "WHY would someone put such a fancy saddle on such a crappy frame?" But then I thought about the story that rusty bike might have. Maybe that bike is special to the owner. Maybe it was his grandfather's, or the first adult-sized bike she ever got (for Christmas when she was 14). And though, in my mind, one would take care of such a bike in a way that would prevent it from rusting, maybe this rust was something out of their control. Maybe she left it outside of a house while she met the lady of her dreams. Maybe he forgot to bring it inside because he was so excited his Mom was visiting. And maybe he or she loved this rusty old bike enough to put a beautiful new seat on it. And maybe a thing being worn, or old, or damaged, doesn't make it unworthy of newness and beauty.
Another thing I love is the book Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. It is an epistolary novel written from a 70-something-year-old father to his 7-year-old son. The father/narrator has a heart condition and knows his time on the earth is rapidly ending.
I have a habit of dog-earing the pages of books when they contain quotes I love. As of right now (page 50ish) almost every single page is dog-eared. There are quotes to love on EVERY. PAGE. Here is my favorite so far. I called my dear Nickers yesterday and cried while reading it to her.
"There's shimmer on a child's hair, in the sunlight. There are rainbow colors in it, tiny soft beams of just the same colors you can see in the dew sometimes. They're in the petals of flowers, and they're on a child's skin. Your hair is straight and dark, and your skin is very fair. I suppose you're not prettier than most children. You're just a nice-looking boy, a bit slight, well scrubbed and well mannered. All that is fine, but it's your existence I love you for, mainly. Existence seems to me now the most remarkable thing that could ever be imagined. I'm about to put on imperishability. In an instant, in the twinkling of an eye.
The twinkling of an eye. That is the most wonderful expression. I've thought from time to time it was the best thing in life, that little incandescence you see in people when the charm of a thing strikes them, or the humor of it.
While you read this, I am imperishable, somehow more alive than I have ever been, in the strength of my youth with dear ones beside me. You read the dreams of an anxious, fuddled old man, and I live in a light better than any dream of mine--not waiting for you, though, because I want your dear perishable self to live long and to love this poor perishable world, which I somehow cannot imagine not missing bitterly... I have wondered about that for many years. Well, this old seed is about to drop into the ground. Then I'll know."
I've read it about 10 times in the past two days and it makes me cry. Every time.
And then there's Paul Simon. I joined Spotify.com and have pretty much been using it to listen to this and this alone:
I listen to this song first, always:
Followed by this one (which makes me tear up a bit too):
I've always liked Paul Simon's voice. There is something so gentle about it, almost delicate. Even as a young man his sad songs sounded like an old man singing them. I really like this new album. It's no Graceland (is anything, really?) but it is wonderful all the same.
Lastly, this morning I saw a chunky bearded man riding his bicycle near Harvard Yard. He was wearing a lovely sea-foam-green button down shirt and a pair of worn khaki pants. I had to stop myself from pulling a Melanie.
So yesterday Soul Twin and I were in the car for a grand total of about 6 hours. This means we talked about feelings for 6 hours, so one would think I would have no more feelings to share. One would think wrong. To be honest when Sara dropped me off at my house I still felt like there was more to say. Good thing my Soul Twin and I have the g-chat.
Soul twin recently shared with me this blog in which the author goes on a self-induced "spending fast." This means she spent no money on non-essentials (even things that I personally consider essential, such as going to the movies and expensive hair cuts) for an entire year! I am in awe of her.
I recently went on a bit of a spending spree. My recent weight gain, paired with my new attitude about my RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME body resulted in the purchasing of almost an entirely new wardrobe. And even though many of the pieces were free (another shout out to Jan!) it was a lot of money spent.
Now since "Things Deb Loves" has recently become a place where I share ridiculously personal things with all you peops (to be hoenst I'm only surprised I was able to keep my deep feelings in for so long) I will share with you that I have often struggled with my finances. I am not only an over-eater but an over-spender (oh surprise). And, if we are going to think of it in the very simplest of terms, they are for the same reason. I eat to feel good, and I spend to feel good. Well that and I spend because I'm lazy and don't want to cook, as evidenced by my love of bagged, un-organic Caesar salad. But laziness is not the point.
Now, every person is different, so my idea of what constitutes a necessity (i.e. haircuts with Leila, going to the movies with Nickers, yoga class etc.) is going to be different from anyone else's, but I feel like the exercise itself is so important. Separating what we need from what we want, I feel, can be invaluable. Well that and I have been in Credit Card debt since I became a legal adult and though Sallie Mae is forever I would like to be debt-free in some capacity at some point and the only way I'm going to be able to do that is by paying off that debt right? right.
So I began this exercise here at my desk. And all the sudden I felt overwhelmed with wanting things. So I thought I would share with you all the ridiculous and/or awesome things on which I would like to spend my money but from which I will refrain.
When I look at that lineup I literally shed a tear.
2) A tutu.
Elizabeth sent me a link to a garage sale going on today where the woman is selling a purple tutu. So now I want one. Like a lot.
3) A wicker basket for my bicycle.
Yes, I know I already have a bike rack and panniers (panniers that are so awesome that a fellow bike rider told me she thought they were cute while I beamed with so much pride you might think I had stitched them myself), but I still want a wicker basket to put on the front. Because they look so cute and earthy!
4) A dog that resembles a small bear
Sara and I met one in the parking lot of a liquor store yesterday. His owner told us he weighed 140lbs which is actually more than many of my friends weigh. You can imagine that when I saw him across the parking lot I wept with joy while sprinting to meet him and throw my arms around his hairy dog neck.
As a side note, I would accept the following in lieu of said dog.
Okay, so I'd prefer the latter. But you can't really order Galifinakis online. Cause if you could I already would have. Duh.
Clearly things have been a bit slower at my job as I have been blogging on a somewhat regular basis. This is nice. But today I have some of the worst neck pain I've ever had in my whole life. This is not so nice. Now I suppose there is the possibility that it might not be that bad (considering that I am not only terribly melodramatic but am also a pain wimp), but, no lie, guys, I think I might die. I think my neck is just going to give out and my head is going to flop to one side, lifeless, like Nearly Headless Nick (Sir Nicholas de Mimsy Porpington) a la Harry Potter. NO EXAGERRATION I am pretty sure my whole body is going to implode with pain and I will be a human puddle on the floor like when that Senator guy turned to water in X-Men. Or was it X-Men 2? One of the not-lame ones.
But you know what cheers me up? Beards.
Nick Offerman is actually encouraging men of America to grow beards. BECAUSE HE LOVES ME. Well, that and he is trying to get people to save water.
Zac Galafinakis is pretty much my boyfriend. I am convinced that if we met in real life we would fall in love instantaneously. His beard is SUPER TASTY. And he's chunky. Which is KIND OF my thing.
But enough glorious celebrity beards.
This is friend Jon. We met in High School. Is he really sleeping in this photo? Who cares. LOOK AT THAT BEARD. And the sleeping puppy which I want to consume it's so adorable. But mostly the beard. When I see Jon's beard on the facebook I have hope for humanity because beards that glorious can exist in real life. In San Diego life sadly, but still, San Diego is Real. Kind of. Except for the perpetual sunshine. And all the attractive people. And the amazing beaches. And that delicious beard which I maintain should only exist in the stuff of fairy tales.
This is not even a photo of the beard in all its glory. I mean, it's GOOD. Not only is that beard great, but the man sporting it is KIND OF awesome. And the woman he is marrying but a week from Saturday is kind of the coolest, kindest human being to walk the earth.
Did you just die of awesome? It's okay. I do pretty much every time I look at the two of them, let alone what happens when I'm in the same room as them. It's similar to the X-men (2?) water thing mentioned above only, you guessed it, more awesome.
Is he taking a crap is this picture? Who knows. My brother is a remarkably complex man. But he has a SUWEET beard. It's super curly. And also it's attached to Allie. Which makes it the coolest beard ever. Cause my brother is the coolest. If any of you out there think YOUR brother is the coolest... sorry. You are wrong. Like dead wrong. Like I'll punch you in your face wrong. My brother is to life what the T-Rex is to dinosaurs. DOMINATION, MY FRIENDS.
Okay, that's it. I am off to shop for a new pillow so my neck won't hurt so bad. Maybe, if I get a nice enough pillow I'll be happy like this
though it's doubtful. I think the only way I could really be that happy would be if I could wake up to this every day.
