Sleepyheads

This picture makes me so happy.

Closet Therapy

I'm not good with money. I've always known that I would never make a lot of it, and I figured out pretty quickly that I was going to spend what little I had. My brother is the ant and I am the grasshopper; he's never had any debt to speak of and can make a nickel beg for mercy, which is good, as he has four kids to put through college. 

Fortunately, when I was married, my husband wasn't good with money either, so we never fought about it. We got our paycheck, went out to dinner and shopping, and then two weeks later ate potato soup while hoping we didn't bounce any checks. Thank God we only had one child to put through college.

Right now, I am doing a little better. A year and a half ago I sold my house and downsized in some major ways (like, selling my car). I still have big debts, though, and I oscillate between feeling proud of how much I've paid off ($17,000 in 2011!), and panicking at the thought of how much I still owe and how old I am and what happens if Ben gets sick or I lose my job I DON'T EVEN HAVE A CAR TO LIVE IN!?! Breathe, Roberta. 

One small goal in my financial/emotional life for 2012 is that when I feel panicky and anxious about money, I no longer will go out and buy something. I KNOW that I was/am crazy to fight feeling poor with spending money, but hey, that's why we have old friends - new ones wouldn't put up with our loony ways. Now, I go to my closet and shop there.

Because I don't need anything more to wear, truly I don't, and my hope is that a month or six from now I'll be able to read this blog post and say, "Yup, I still don't need anything, and that means hundreds of dollars I can eventually spend on a couch because I didn't spend it on clothes AND I still paid off $1400 in debt every month.

So pretty. 

Got MLK?

I know, that's a cringe-worthy headline, but I kept seeing the Sears MLK Sale ads on TV this weekend as Sears MILK Sale. Something about the font they used. Perhaps it is because I tend to see and hear food everywhere. My hearing loss once led me to hear "ordering donuts" when the speaker actually said "organ donors." Of course, last week I heard "nude man" instead of Newt Minow," so perhaps my mind isn't always on eating.

One of my favorite blogs, The Salt, has a great, brief column today on the importance of food in the civil rights movement.


Enjoy.

Weeding

Most of what is useful to me in my personal life, I learned on the job. For instance, don't just sprinkle commas into your paragraphs willy nilly (thanks, Eugenia Bryant!), and your collection will feel fresher and circulate more if you systematically weed out some items.

1. Condition. That Sandra Brown paperback is wildly popular - and it looks it. Throw out anything that is frayed, limp, stained or nonfunctional (broken zipper, missing snaps). There's a brand new edition of Texas! Chase available to purchase for your patrons.

2. Dated Style. Diva, Lola, Luna etc. (the crime novels by Delacorta), were fantastically popular in their day, but that day has passed. If you loved them, it makes it even harder to face that fact and take them off the shelf. That ladylike pink tweed jacket that you embraced when you were a new manager is starting to look a little 90's prim. In fact, don't you have a LOT of lady jackets? How many of them have shoulder pads, hmmm?

3. Fads and Duplicates. Maybe your library has the definitive macrame collection, or perhaps has four shelves of feng shui books, but that doesn't mean they're still needed or appropriate. If you have 19 of anything and you notice nobody else seems to be wearing that style, pick one or two that you just love and put the rest aside. If you have harem pants, shame on you.

I'll post a pic of the pink tweed jacket tomorrow. Carol liked it and voted to keep it. Heather liked it as well, and had some ideas about styling it. The snap below is just for fun. Denim Boden shirt, Athleta cord skirt, fabulous Miz Mooz boots. Riley was completely mystified as to why I kept leaping on and off the island and smiling at that clicky object.

What a big furry fellow!

Olive and Navy

I often wonder how I got dressed in the morning without the help of a color wheel. Google suggests about 406,000 variations on the classic wheel, but this is the one I have taped to my closet, courtesy of AcademicChic (now dormant). The wheel seems to say "Science! You can trust me!", and I pull the appropriate colors from my closet and go forth filled with confidence.


Yesterday morning I rediscovered a favorite olivey-brown (breen!) waterfall sweater in my closet, conveniently hung up with a corresponding tee underneath it. Hmmm, what would be interesting with olive? I tend to pick something in the complementary triad (in this case orange or purple) or one of the neighboring hues (yellow or navy). That sweater's waterfall style requires something fitted on the bottom, and I lack any navy cold-weather skirts of any kind. That's a blog post for another day.

I chose navy boot-cut velveteen pants and gold jewelry. The tee has some embellishment which added some interest. Perched on the island again:

Oddly enough, I think this pose makes my legs look longer. I'm all for that.

Rust-Colored Boots and an Awkward Pose

I was musing idly yesterday about what I would wear today, and realized that I would be photographing the result. Ack. Suddenly what seemed comfortable and potentially cute was fraught with danger. Why is what the camera sees so different from what I see? After all, my eyes (with glasses) are waaayyy better than my phone.
This is the result. Athleta dress, Talbots jacket, Naturalizer boots. I ended up perched on the kitchen counter in an effort to show the boots (I kept cutting off my feet and getting way too much ceiling). Seeing the photo, I realize I need a big-ass flower pin, as the red necklace (and hair) is not enough to connect with the lovely rust suede and leather boots. Most of my pins and brooches are small, and they seem fine when I look down at them from eight inches away, but the camera points out the truth - they are invisible to anyone who is NOT making out with me.

Trust me, this was the best of the dozen pics I took.

Blog Reboot

OK. It's a new year - again - and my avowed intention is to get this blog back on its feet. What knocked it off the rails before were the annoying mechanics of the photos. Camera, memory card, USB, phone, positioning, available light, blurry, practice, ugh, my hair.

Goals:

• to evaluate my wardrobe in the cold eye of the camera, because, truly, my closet is about to EXPLODE.
• keep track of the exciting events of the year - like the CST play Elizabeth Rex I saw on Saturday (1/7/2012) with Ben.
• count my blessings over and over and over (see above, re: Ben).
• muse about work and my profession.
• whatever else I feel like, dammit.

So, this week I'll be working on the mechanics. Today I took six variously grainy, blurry, footless phone pix of me in my office. I'll try at home too, and with the camera at work, which might be better. Heather offered, but I find the process too embarrassing and self-indulgent to involve anyone else. I want the phone to work out because of the afore-mentioned memory card, cable, blerg. I've seen Gorillapods that promise to work with the camera, at least. In the end I asked Heather to help, of course.

Today's outfit is . . . fine. I think I look so stubby. All torso, no legs. Is this the outfit, or lack of heels, or my posture? Green tweed jacket, green cords, cognac ankle boots, a little matchy and no significant jewelry. All eBay purchases except the pants which were 50% off at Talbots.