Sorry you've had to look at those hats for so long.

I've been busy getting ready to go to Edinburgh and London. To me, "busy getting ready to go" means making lists of things I need to do, things mainly accomplished through buying something on the internet and then waiting around for UPS to come and give me the stuff. Actually, last week I was at the beach to use the air conditioning, boardwalk, and porch, and Steve received a number of UPS deliveries for me with gusto. I assume with gusto.

But the time to prepare is running out. Yesterday I had a small crisis moment when, after dying my hair, I noticed that it looked great except for my roots, which were still white and blonde and which had been, of course, the point. At the time of this discovery, Andy and I were supposed to be leaving to see A Scanner Darkly at Cobble Hill Cinemas because it's only $6 on Tuesdays and because he really wanted to see it and because it was our last chance to see a movie in America for a while because he has rehearsals every night starting today. At the same time -- just after seven in the evening -- UPS had still not yet delivered my awesome new wallet by randL, aka Andy's cool friend Chika from high school. (I went for the white and green one.) So, naturally, I had a mini breakdown, tears included. Andy said it was okay if I tried to redye my roots and that we could see the movie later at BAM. So I redyed successfully, and then my wallet came, and then we had a nice dinner at Cafe Lafayette in Fort Greene, and then we saw the movie, which was, unfortunately, disappointing, and then we stopped back at Andy's place, where Adam, our future roommate, is currently staying. But let's see if I can name-drop some more Brooklyn locations in this paragraph. McCarren Park! That gold-capped tower where all the dentists used to be!

I have only the vaguest of ideas of what Scotland will be like. In London I'll probably, though not surely, be staying at a hostel (don't worry, Chris, I've made reservations), and I know what hostels are like, even if they're all a bit different. And I guess I have an image of London in my mind from movies and books. People say it's like New York except for the cars and architecture, and I believe them. I can feel London. But I think I'm imagining a sort of French version of Edinburgh, a gauzed-over, old-fashionedly romantic European place. I suspect this is inaccurate, and that it's harder, heartier, beer-ier, than my imagined city. I don't know what our apartment there will be like, or the restaurants, or the streets, or the wireless internet connections. So I haven't actually given the trip that much thought, beyond wanting to buy a whole new wardrobe specifically for it. I have not done so, figuring it'll be more fun/exotic to do this while I'm there. But I'll probably feel too guilty spending money on anything other than food and beer and will just buy a sweatshirt that says EDINBURGH. Or maybe one that says WILLIAMSBURG! Or BROOKLYN BRIDGE! Sorry.

Anyway, I will post some photos and tell you what Edinburgh is REALLY like once I'm there. Keep it cool in the states, yo.

File under DAILY. Posted at 06:53 PM | Comments (5)

Oh wow, everybody.

My mom went looking for our original Epcot Mexican Hat photo, found it, scanned it, and e-mailed it to me. Mom, thank you. I believe this is 1990 we're looking at. I am going to describe the photo in detail to help you take it in fully.

I am wearing the most awesome shorts the world has known (the bottom blue area says SURF! and then some words I can't make out), with a matching (in spirit) Ocean Pacific t-shirt and neon pink fanny pack that reads ZONE. On my left wrist: a Swatch watch. In my earlobes: dangly pink circles. I also have a perm.

Mom is sporting pleated white shorts that balloon out at the bottom, a black fanny pack, and a truly wild tucked-in hot-salmon t-shirt with a neon purple-to-blue-to-purple gradient stripe across the middle, a neon green bug thing in the center of the stripe, and what's probably the word "OCEAN" (as in, Ocean Pacific) cut out of the gradient in a mirrored pattern. That was hard to describe and I didn't do it well. Also, please note that she is wearing shoulder pads with this t-shirt. She is also wearing sunglasses that look a little like the sunglasses a cartoon character might wear.

I seem not to have been aware that this picture was being taken -- looks like I was just putting something back into the ol' fanny pack. What could I have had in there? Gum? Band-aids? I remember my feet getting very blistered on that trip.

In case you couldn't be bothered to look at my full, incredibly exciting set of Disney World photos, here's this year's version of the picture. It amuses me that in neither photo did I think to hide the tag on the hat. I'm a little disturbed that the hats have become grotesquely large, but I guess that's what the people want nowadays.

Anyway, Mom's and my fashion choices have toned down considerably. I can't see us looking at this in fifteen years and wondering what we were thinking. Mom's cateye sunglasses: very cute. Her dark blue tank: simple and attractive. And I'm sure those white shorts she's got on aren't pleated. She's also got a smart little purse with a shoulder strap.

My own tank may be wanting for coverage, but it was hot out there. And I'm wearing my "own make" jean shorts. My bag is too big, but I needed it to carry my camera, which is also too big.

The only thing I'm going to criticize about this photo later, I think, is that my belly is puffed out. I had just finished a really amazing Mexican lunch, but I could have at least sucked that sucker in.

Added bonus: Chris!

File under FASHION. Posted at 02:58 PM | Comments (2976)

I just spent four days in Orlando, Florida. I didn't really want to go, partially because I knew it was likely to taint my very fond childhood memories of Disney World. And overall, it wasn't a very good trip -- the weather was bad, the crowds were bad, and I had trouble sleeping in the same room as my parents (Dad snores). But I did have a great time at Epcot.

Anyway, here are some photos I took there. Mostly I wanted to try out the web version of Picasa. It's got a few kinks, but it's not at all bad. I don't use Flickr for my photos (yet), but I think I may like it more, at this point. Either way, I'm pretty head over heels for Google these days.

File under TRAVEL. Posted at 05:14 PM | Comments (9276)