because i love lists

things i have an affinity for:

1. the smell of oranges, clementines, and tangerines being peeled. i save the peels and hide them in the pockets of my clothes to find later and smell. the scent calms me down and takes me to another place. a happy place.

2. northland cranberry juice. i can literally drink gallons of it. que delicioso!

3. pincushions. i used to play with my grandma's, rearranging all the little brightly coloured pins. there is something comforting about having a pincushion around the house.

things i want want want:

1. an abacus. i've always wanted to have one. a massive one. there is something about the design of an abacus that is so deliciously pragmatic. plus, any of you who know me know that i love counting things. it's a part of my OCD.

2. a giant clam shell. i know it sounds weird but do not forget i am the daughter of an interior designer, so some decorative things seem very normal in our houses. there are a million reproductions out there (pottery barn etc.) but there is one that has been at a shop in apalachicola for at least ten years that i have wanted. perhaps because it's $900+, perhaps because i don't know how i'd get it home, but i haven't gotten it yet. yet i have always wanted to have that smack dab in the middle of a kitchen island or on the hearth of a fireplace. hell, if i had it, i'd put a cushion in it and pretend i'm venus on the half shell all the time.

3. frye boots. every so often on this here blog o' mine, i get my little wild hair about gorgeous tall emmylou harris-style frye boots. mmmmmmmmmmm, mama wants.

things i just don't understand:

1. american idol. dancing with the stars. real housewives of whatever. the bachelor. the hills. yadda yadda yadda. i don't understand "reality" shows. when did the shift happen where vapid, greedy, ignorant people become so prominant in american culture?! it's depressing and one of the many reasons i don't watch television.

2. girls who wear sweatshirts with coochie-cutter bootie shorts and ugg boots. maybe this is a tallahassee thing, i don't know but they are the personification of the reality show cliche in my opinion. why would one feel the need to showcase the fact that they have absolutely no common sense by way of dress? the same reason people don't mind getting 15 minutes of fame for being an idiot on national t.v.

3. suburbia. i can put myself into other people's shoes, don't get me wrong. i can understand the safe, no-surprises world can be very intriguing to some people. but i don't understand why there are so many crappy housing developments with identical cardboard houses and teeny uber-green lawns, and parents too annoyed to talk to their kids; meanwhile the kids just play those little obnoxious handheld video games. i've been noticing it so much lately. perhaps because i'm spending more time on a different side of town, i don't know. i get that i exist on the other end of the spectrum in regard to this. i get that i thrive on individuality, but it's just frightening in all honesty that there are so many people too terrified to live a unique life. so many who are comfortable to hide inside the wal-mart, target, home depot, olive garden, morning talk show, generic jazz-pop country music padded-walled life. what does that say about "the contemporary american"? anything at all? is it really that different than any other time since the 1950's when suburbia came into existence the way we all know and recognize it? why does it feel more prominant to me these days? ah, who knows.

ahem...soapbox complete. heh. enjoy your day friends!

adieu,

lu