Holiday Musings

I'm not a big fan of holidays for various reasons (massive consumerism, useless unexamined traditions, etc.) but mainly because they're rarely single people-friendly and almost always encourage unrealistic expectations. I also find it strange that holidays evoke behavior in people that doesn't exist any other time of the year, not to mention for a day whose origins and meanings people don't even get. Take a day like today, Thanksgiving, for example. How many of us really know the true origins of this day other than what we were taught in elementary school? Like most other holidays, it's been revised and reconceptualized to suit individual needs. Ask most people about Thanksgiving and they'll probably say it's a day to give thanks. Well, here are some questions:

• Why not give thanks everyday?
• Why must a whole turkey be cooked and eaten but rarely any other time of the year?
• Do we have to visit family members (who may just royally annoy us) during a rare 4-day weekend and fight traffic and crowds? There are 365 other days of the year to do this.
• Why is it that everyone becomes generous on this day, even those who are the most selfish any other time?
• Why are we feeding the homeless on one day of the year? Does anyone care what they're eating the day after Thanksgiving?
• And why have I gotten over 10 text messages wishing me a "Happy Thanksgiving" from numbers I don't even recognize and/or from people I haven't even heard from in a year?

Time to Hibernate

Have I mentioned how much I dislike cold weather? Even though I grew up in the Midwest, my body never adjusted to harsh winter weather. This is a major reason why I will be hibernating all weekend long. But besides that, I just need a break. For one, my job has fully exhausted me and I just might take the entirety of next week off. I also just got into a fight with my married older sister with three kids yet again, over her bossiness and lack of understanding about what it's like being single - for one's entire life! I'm beginning to believe that I really don't like ANY married people and have never been fond of older siblings. How is it that I'm in my thirties and she's still trying to boss me around? My consulting side gig almost brought in a new client which would have been great holiday money. As luck would have it, it fell through - couldn't afford the services after all. Guess they were running low on disposable income just like me. What else? Oh yes, the other day I was completely dissed by my neighborhood bar/restaurant. While I've never considered Old Domionion Brewhouse to be the best when it comes to service or food, I can always count on a good, affordable beer, familiar faces, and neighborhood gossip. When the place is like two blocks away, you can't beat that. And what the hell else is on 9th street near the Convention Center? Unfortunately, I made the mistake of ordering food. When the food was cooked incorrectly, I told the bartender who then talked to the manager. The reply from the bartender: "the manager said you could order something else." Huh? I just wanted what I ordered cooked the right way. Is that so hard? What's really messed up is that the manager never spoke directly to me. As much money as I've spent in that place, I felt violated. Needless to say, I paid my bill without a tip and left. And I won't be going back, ever.
On the positive side, my apartment is stocked with: good wine, Netflix movies, Le Petit Ecolier dark chocolate cookies, and lavender bubble bath. I also learned that mega fashion site, net-a-porter.com, has just launched a new set of virtual boutiques to make it easier to find the items you want. For me, it's like window shopping online. I love dropping things into my "shopping bag" that I will never buy and it gives me ideas for when I go to stores for us normal people. Let the hibernation begin!

Pretty Good Weekend

Even as City Girl, I can't say that I have these awesome weekends. When I'm actually working even a somewhat typical Monday thru Friday 9-5 job, I often spend large amounts of time at home bumming around in bed, on the phone, watching mindless TV, eating peanut butter out of the jar, etc. When evening arrives, I consider going out. I look at all the options in terms of what's going on, offers I've gotten and based on what sounds good, will decide on a destination. Only then will I shower, get dressed and head out. This of course, is usually followed by getting in well after 2am and then recovering the next day. I do sometimes try to throw in the occasional errand during the day but that's only if I'm feeling ambitious or a persistent friend gets me out of bed.
This past weekend was actually pretty jam packed with activity. While hanging out at my neighborhood wine bar, I met a really fun and interesting Seattleite here on business. Being the Ambassador of Fun that I am, we hung out afterwards in Adams Morgan and then did the DC tour the next day until late in the night. After my really bad date the weekend before, this was a pleasant surprise even though this was strictly platonic hanging out which is perfect for me right now. The next night was was dancing with old friends to house music on U Street at Almaz Bar at Saturday Soul Sessions. Late night food at the newly re-opened New Bing Wong in Chinatown was definitely in order. The next night was Redskins football watching at Nellie's with Mitch. Even though Mitch is gay, I introduced him to the place and he thinks a gay sports bar is an oxymoron. Go figure.

When Hope Turns Weird

Perhaps I was inspired by the outcome of the presidential election, but I unwisely went on a date the other night. The guy seemed normal enough but... Ok, I won't even go into the details. It isn't worth it. All I know is that the older I get and the longer I live in DC, the less I can tolerate. What's worth telling is what happened afterwards. I ended the date early and since I was in Dupont Circle and didn't feel ready to go home, I took myself to Kramerbooks. I was determined to forget about the awful date by picking up a good read and satisfying my chocolate craving. Of course, a strong martini was in order as well. I parked myself at the cafe bar and flipped through the City Paper while I waited for my Death by Chocolate. Almost done with my martini, the bartender informs me that the couple behind me has purchased another drink for me. Couple? I turn around and see a cute, seemingly 20-something guy/girl couple smiling at me. Ok, this had never happened to me so I was rather confused. It's rare these days to get a guy to buy me a drink, let alone a couple. I figured that maybe they felt sorry for the poor single girl sitting alone on a Saturday night. I waved a thank you and turned back to my chocolate. It didn't take long for the girl to come over and sit next to me. She introduced herself and explained that they saw me sitting alone and just wanted to do something nice. I pretended this was not weird and we preceded to have a normal gal pal conversation. I told her all about my bad date and we talked about the problems with dating in DC. Soon after, the guy came over and he ordered us all shots. So of course the conversation starts to flow! They tell me that their solution to the dating dilemma has been to have an open relationship. These two were actually not even in a relationship. They were friends and in relationships with other people. They go out occasionally, have sex, and their partners are ok with it. Not only that, they often invite others to have sex with them! Alrighty then, is all I could say. Could DC single life get any weirder? I now understand this ad (above) for Kramer's much better.

Change. It's About Time!

I'm starting to feel better already.