Optimist Under Siege

I spent a good chunk of this holiday weekend researching more advanced website-building techniques. Learning more about Html and Cascading Style Sheets in order to design better websites is exciting and appeals to me in much the same way that learning foreign languages does (even though I haven’t done that in a while!). As with learning French or Spanish, suddenly I can read the code of other websites and understand what they are “saying” without using a translator (or, in this case, a browser). And eventually I’ll be able to not only ask where the train station is, but also discuss the nuances of various philosophies (or layouts!).

It’s just so much fun decoding a previously incomprehensible language. Suddenly I’m in; I get it; I’m a member of the club. Maybe my love of learning is inherently a desire to understand and commune with the world. Or perhaps it’s not nearly so globally-motivated as all that and I just enjoy building websites. Believe whatever you like!

Today is a perfect day in Boston: 80 degree weather, light breeze, 3-day weekend. I have been sitting in front of Fanueil Hall Marketplace, a well-known Boston landmark and popular area for street performers, enjoying the activity of tourists and locals (but mostly tourists I would guess!), clowns making balloon animals, jugglers throwing balls, singers with guitars. And then they showed up, performing uncomfortably close to me, those obnoxious guys who drum on plastic buckets and create unfortunate cacophony on metal dishes. To their credit, these particular guys definitely have rhythmic talent, but they are still loud and annoying, and have I mentioned loud?

I don’t normally mind them so much because I can just walk right by, but I don’t want to give up my perfect writing spot. I love to write in places which have just the right amount of background noise and activity. Silence and isolation are not for me! That’s why I love writing/working at Starbucks over the din of background music, customers ordering, and the sound of the much beloved espresso machine. Well, perhaps the best thing for me to do under the circumstances is to consider this a lesson in patience and understanding. Or a test of my sanity. We’ll see.

**As a follow-up, things did get better! A group of breakdancers/hiphop dancers and their music scared the would-be drummers away. Everything is again right with the world! (And I actually watched the dancers’ show, which was pretty cool.)

This time I was featured in a blog carnival for my post on the joys of being married to a video gamer! Check it out at Akusai’s Video Game Musings.

Speaking of being married to a video/computer gamer, he’s at it again. Oh yes he is! Although the secret here- don’t tell my husband!- is that I don’t actually mind that he likes to spend time playing. I even play now and again myself…and hey, it beats having a husband who watches sports all the time!

My husband has started resurrecting his World of Warcraft characters, mainly so that he can play with his friends. We stopped playing a month or two ago because we were getting bored (more so myself than him, but we were both losing interest). His revived interest stems in part from the fact that one of his friends has recently become rather obsessed with the game. My husband’s friend even went so far as to purchase an undisclosed but reportedly, “large” amount of in-game gold (fake money, mind you!) with real out-of-game money. This just seems silly to me. If any of you real video gamers out there can explain this strange phenomenon to me, I’d be grateful. Isn’t part of the point of playing the game to amass the gold yourself? Otherwise, what IS the point? If killing monsters and gathering gold isn’t what is fun about World of Warcraft, why are you all playing?! I admit that I had fun doing these things (although I especially enjoyed gathering herbs as an herbalist…strangely satisfying!).

While I’m on the same odd topic, my husband actually ran across a post on the Best of Craigslist written by a woman offering to, in real life, sleep with whomever would be willing to give her 5,000 in-game World of Warcraft gold. And she actually seemed legitimately interested in the proposition. I mean, seriously, prostitution for the sake of imaginary money?! Is it that important to you?

Anyway, the moral of the story is that I’ll still be content so long as my husband plays Warcraft, has a good time, but doesn’t become unfaithful to procure fictional currency! Yes, that means you dear!

This may sound a little sad depending on what life stage you’re at as you’re reading this, but my husband and I actually stayed out past 2:00 am last night! While common back in college and immediately post-college (well, at least for me…my husband’s always been more inclined toward going to bed earlier and getting up earlier than I have), this was the first time in quite a while for us! It was a seriously fun evening.

We attended the first annual Boston Prom! Prom, you might ask? Aren’t you a bit old for going to the prom? Well, yes and no. This was actually designed for the 21+ crowd as a nostalgic throw-back to that quintessential rite of adolescence. And this time we were old enough to have a martini or two.

The event incorporated some of the classic prom elements. We got to dress up in formal dress and suit/tux and looked absolutely stunning (if I do say so myself, which I do!). While we arrived in a cab instead of a limo (which I never actually took to any high school proms anyway), we were greeted by a room filled with tastefully appointed balloons in the imaginary high school’s colors of black, white, and pink. This was far superior to my actual high school’s orange and black. There was a jazz band playing and we were seated at a flower-strewn table for our prom dinner.

Following the three-course meal we were whisked off for those obligatory prom photos taken by a (supposedly) professional photographer. The only thing missing was the silly flower arch or fake sunset backdrop. Afterward the dancing ensued! Unfortunately the music did not replicate the fabulous 80’s/90’s music I had been hoping for, but it was fun none the less. The other omission was the traditional prom ballads where you got to rhythmically sway with your date to the wonderful strains of greats like Madonna (”Crazy for You”), Richard Marx (”Right Here Waiting”), or Led Zeppelin (”Stairway to Heaven”), but not too intimately of course (tsk tsk). All in all it was a great event and a memorable evening (with pictures to prove it). If there is ever a Second annual Boston Prom I am so there!

And, contrary to the original prom experience, THIS time I got to go with my husband which provides several advantages. He is precisely the one I would want to be my date, but asking him wasn’t nearly as nerve-wracking! I also knew right from the start that we’d probably be going home together ;-). And, as I said, this particular prom involved a couple of girly martinis. Or, um, in my husband’s case some very manly martinis. Right. The food, provided by an established restaurant instead of a cheap catering service, was also far superior to the rubber chicken most of us remember from back in the day!

So I guess my message to any highschoolers out there is: Have a fabulous time at your prom. It’ll be tons of fun, but the best is yet to come!

Oh, and dear husband, next year I expect a corsage!

Good news: I was featured in another blog carnival, on gardening woes, for the post on my husband’s plant obsession (see Little Shop of Horrors)! Check it out at the Joyful Gardener.

Incidentally, while I’m on the subject, I will say that my husband has gotten a lot better at keeping his various green living creatures partioned off to different areas of the living room. There is once again room to use the bar and even to put things down on the coffee table! I’m thrilled! Unfortunately there is a new plant woe in the form of lovely white spider-type webbing which is growing and regrowing on our bamboo despite Eric’s best efforts to remove its nefarious effects. Although, on a side note, his best efforts did NOT include asking the local florist what they would suggest and/or buying the appropriate anti-pest chemical to do the job! Instead my husband figured the best way to kill the pest was to try killing the plant! So he stopped watering them. At all. And he wiped off the webbing with a paper towel.

Hey, I have a total brown thumb and have no experience with or desire to interact with plants (except that the idea of having fresh herbs is actually appealing…and the bamboo’s pretty cool I must admit). Maybe Eric was really on to something. Sadly, the only result was some yellow, somewhat sickly looking leaves and a return of the white web pests en masse. Looks like we’ve got a new addition to the family (or a whole colony?!). The Gardener strikes again!

As an update, I’m officially taking the path less traveled. I actually set a date for my last day of work (this is sounding strangely like a wedding with the “setting a date!”), and I let my boss know. This is, of course, despite the fact that my company tried to win back my loyalty with some extra salary (which I will be enjoying for the next 7 weeks, plus the 2 weeks of vacation that I am owed…neat!). I will be gainfully unemployed as of the end of June. Woo hoo!

Now, contrary to popular belief, I will not be living it up and eating bon-bons all day while everyday learning all the intricate secrets surrounding Cathy, whose boyfriend cheated on her with her long-lost twin sister before being killed in a suspicious car crash after having his sperm frozen so that his ex-wife could have siamese twins, who may be coming back from the dead any day now.

Okay, I WILL be living it up, and I MAY occasionally eat bon-bons (oh come on… you would too!), but I will not be watching any soap operas. Quite the contrary, I will be working hard for myself and flexing those creative entrepreneur muscles. Watch out world, hear me roar! Word on the street is that I may also get to attend a swingin’ 90th birthday party soon like the cool dude hep cat that I am! Radical and tubular man!

But seriously, I am so genuinely happy about this new career/life path, which is supported by and strongly encouraged by my wicked awesome husband (I’m from New England and allowed to say, “wicked awesome.” Deal with it!). I am totally excited and bursting with enthusiasm. Carpe diem, baby!

I went out to breakfast this morning at a local restaurant and ordered a breakfast sandwich which was supposed to come with homefries. When it arrived, I kid you not, there were four pieces of potato. Four! And this was not a fancy restaurant where you might expect to receive tiny, but artful, portions. And they gave me four potato chunks! Wow!

This is probably related in part to the strange fact that there is no good place to go out for breakfast in Beacon Hill (a nice section of Boston). The couple of main streets near my apartment are packed with restaurants, but we still can’t seem to find a decent breakfast place! All I’m asking for is a diner, eggs and pancakes, nothing fancy. Is that so difficult? There is one okay place, the Paramount, but it is SO crowded on weekend mornings that my husband refuses to go there. I guess we’re left with only four homefries! Oh well!

The funny thing is that when we lived in Watertown (a suburb of Boston) we had three or four excellent breakfast places to choose from (and they all cost less!). Ah, the joys of city life!

Although I must say, breakfast or no breakfast, I LOVE living in downtown Boston! I wouldn’t trade it for all the best pancakes in the world (well…maybe if they were chocolate chip!).

Good evening to all. First of all, I wanted to thank Anja Merret for showcasing one of my blog entries on her Blog Carnival on Observations on Life. Check it out at http://anjamerret.com/?p=148. For this evening’s entry…

So what do you do when the opportunity to realize your ideal career lifestyle presents itself, at the same time that your regular job offers its own new opportunities? How do you decide which path to go down? I was browsing through career books at the book store today and the overall sentiment or message of advice is to follow your heart and pursue your dreams. But how can you be sure quite how to do that or what those are?

I am speaking as someone who did not grow up dreaming of becoming a doctor or a journalist or an astronaut (although there was that period when I was 13 and wanted to be a dance choreographer lawyer fantasy/horror writer…that would have been an interesting career!). How can you really be sure what your dreams are, or what they should be? I still haven’t the foggiest idea what color my parachute is!

So here are the series of events which have led me to this career, or perhaps more accurately life, crossroads. Perhaps writing this will make the way clearer to me (or maybe to you at least). Yesterday I quit my job. Well, that’s mostly true. For a few months now my husband and I have been discussing the possibility of me starting my own business as a freelance online marketer. It may not be the subject I’ve always dreamt of pursuing, but it is the type of lifestyle I’ve always wanted.

I’d be able to set my own hours, to work at Starbucks (which, I admit, I love doing), or to work in my pajamas. I would get to do some creative writing, develop a series of new and interesting skills and expertise, and possibly (let’s be optimistic and say probably!) make a decent salary. And maybe even have things take off and be one of the few super success stories (I will soon be writing this blog from my private yacht on the French Riviera, darling!…well maybe). This is an exciting, and more importantly real, opportunity. And this past weekend, with the continuing advice of my husband, I decided to seize the opportunity and reach for the stars (sorry for the cliche here).

Then, of course, things became a bit more complicated. My current place of employment seems to have recognized my high value to them (now that I’m quitting). They are frantically throwing out alternatives to me quitting, or at least trying to convince me to stay longer than I had planned. I am being offered various part time options, increase in salary, and being hinted at that they might recognize my excellence by further advancement opportunities in the future. They even suggested that I could do special projects outside the normal scope of work on a part time basis after they find someone to replace me in my current role.

Part of me is thinking, too little too late. They are choosing to value me now only because they are on the verge of losing me. And who is to say these opportunities will still exist one year down the road when my departure is no longer imminent. And furthermore, things can change outside of my current job as well. I may not always have the opportunity to take a stab at having my own online business and the life that comes with it. On the other hand, will I be upset later to have missed the potential opportunities that may or may not be available in the future at my current job?

Herein lies my predicament and the anguish surrounding the choice of which path I should walk down.

Okay, maybe I’m just being too much of a girl when saying this, but I can’t help but find this ridiculous. My husband bought a strategy board game for a friend of ours called, “Attack!” It’s somewhat along the lines of Risk or Access & Allies (both of which I have unfortunately had the “pleasure” of playing).

Now, don’t get me wrong, I never expected to particularly like this game. But here’s the thing. As in many board games each player chooses a color. In Risk I think you can be red or yellow or blue. That makes sense. In Attack!, however, your choices are army green, light tan, dark tan, or brown. Are you kidding me? Not only are they almost all the same color, they’re TERRIBLE colors! Can’t the game-makers at least make the game appear to be interesting?! Give me neon pink anyday. And yes, I’m perfectly comfortable in my girliness.

My husband and I went out to dinner last night with my mother and my Aunt Jill. It was a lot of fun. We had some wine, some good food and some good conversation. The funny thing is that coincidentally, earlier in the day yesterday, I had had a conversation with a coworker involving my Aunt Jill and it gave me an excuse to reminisce about one particular occasion we shared.

The conversation at work sprung up because one of my coworkers was complaining about her boyfriend who will pretty much only eat chicken. She likes to go out and explore different and new kinds of food and it’s a bummer that she can’t get her boyfriend to experience those things with her. I, of course, was prompted to say that I’m willing to try most things food-wise and that there probably wasn’t any one restaurant out there where I couldn’t find at least something to order which I would enjoy. Then, I realized that I wasn’t telling the whole truth. There was in fact one restaurant I could think of which really had NOTHING I wanted to put in my mouth, a restaurant which I believe may have scarred me for life!

This is where my Aunt Jill comes in. On several occasions in college I had the opportunity to travel with my Aunt Jill. She visited me while I was studying abroad in Paris (and also in Madagascar, which is a cool experience I’ll have to share sometime), and we found ourselves in Europe together after I graduated from college. We’re pretty good travel partners because we’re both flexible; we enjoy going to ruins, museums, historical places; and we both appreciate good food!

While traveling together in Nice, France, Jill found a seafood restaurant which was highly recommended in her Fodor’s guide. Fodor’s had steered us well in the past and we decided to try it. I’m not personally a big seafood fan, but I figured I could have some shrimp or whatever and I certainly wouldn’t want to deprive my Aunt Jill of this excellent French seafood opportunity.

So we went to this restaurant. There wasn’t much on the menu which appealed to me, but I ordered something and that was fine. Aunt Jill, of course, selected some kind of variety plate which was a house specialty. After a nice glass of wine my food arrived first. It looked a bit more seafoody than I would have liked, but I was determined to give it a try. I ate a little, but was not particularly happy with it and figured I could just grab a snack later. I continued to nibble at it a bit.

Then things changed. My Aunt’s meal arrived and I’m not sure I can do any justice to what it looked like! There were mullosks in big shells, medium shells, little shells. I could see many eyes looking at me, many mouths whispering “eat me.” There were forms of seafood in every color, every shape. This could have been straight out of an undersea video or someone’s very elaborate aquarium. It was fascinating and scary all at the same time, and yet nothing I would want to ingest!

Not being a seafood person the arrival of my Aunt’s entree quickly precipitated a complete stop in my eating. I was done. I was happy to stick with my glass of wine and perhaps find some ice cream later. No culinary Seaworld for me! Yikes! On the upside, my Aunt claims that it was quite delicious and I certainly couldn’t have asked for a more…um…unique experience!

My Aunt laughed last night when I reminded her of this strangely marine dinner. Of course, there have been other funny culinary episodes with my Aunt. There was the infamous cheese plate incident, but perhaps that’s a tale best told another day!