costuming

Mindlessly scrolling through instagram yesterday, and I came upon this:

Ain't it the truth!? 

Sometimes I'd get bored sitting in a class and get up to sharpen my pencil when unwarranted just for a change. We all did it, didn't we? And yes, it helped if the outfit was fire.

The pencil sharpener was one thing - maybe more a middle school tactic. In high school, my English teacher was quite fastidious and kept several bottles of Liquid Paper® on his desk - front and center of the classroom - handy for when we really thought we had something to share or for when checking out "feeds" from others.  Walk the "runway" to the front of the class and back under the guise of needing some Liquid Paper®. Does that even still exist?

Note: I shared the pencil sharpener meme with Magnum, he didn't get it at first. Then he assumed it was more of a girl thing.

Oh no no no. Boys definitely played that game. So Magnum said he didn't realize. He was trying not to be seen in high school. Okay, now that makes sense. 😂

These days, I stare at my closet... 

I get by with throwing together and mixing and matching the same old things, but I'm due for a shopping trip combined with a bit of closet purge.

I'm not a big fan of clothes shopping. It's so time consuming, not to mention the frustration of women's sizing.

I did, however, obtain some new shoes for running yesterday. I'd gone to the local running store a little over a week ago with the shoes I wanted already in mind.  The store was out of my size, so offered to order them in for me. 

I went in yesterday to pick them up, easy peasy. 

"Enjoy your new shoes!", the saleswoman said as the transaction completed.

"Thanks, you too", I said on my way out the door. 

Sheesh, I am bad at shopping.

all stuck inside

We've made it to the final days of February, and I can't say I'm sad to see it go. Several years ago, when we lived in upstate New York where winters were long and grey, a friend told me, "We just have to make it to the end of February..." - a time of light at the end of the tunnel.

We're not in upstate NY anymore, but I still look forward to February's end. By now, I'm over having snow and ice that gets old and crusty as it refuses to leave, just to get buried by another layer. 

It's currently very pleasant outside after a cold, snowy, blustery week. The college shut down and moved to "remote operations" on Wednesday, which is a general pain. Instructors scramble to provide something meaningful online so as to not fall behind. We have online course options, so students who enroll in in-person classes do so because they don't like online.

There's a certain math instructor, we'll call her "Sarah",  who is always smiley-happy-cheerful. Really, she reminds me more of fun elementary school teacher than a college math instructor. For instance, she told me of some cheesy math messages she shared with her classes on Valentine's day:

If you don't get them, no worries, they are truly cheesy. If you do get them, don't say I didn't warn you!

Anyway, Sarah had a test scheduled for Thursday. Only ONE student attended her Zoom review on Wednesday, and only a fourth of the class showed up for the test on Thursday, siting  "it's too cold".

With that, apparently those present witnessed "another side of Sarah".

It's too cold??

Speaking of chilling and remote, Magnum and I watched an interesting movie this weekend. Possessor is about an assassin who carries out her jobs - as part of some mysterious organization - by remotely taking over another person and having them do the deed. The movie didn't really get into the technology of how she implants herself - it's sort of glossed over like a chip is inserted, blah blah - because that's not really the focus of the film. It's more of a psychological, cerebral, artsy sci-fi.

I liked it - a good storyline and acting that really held my attention. That said, however, it is quite gory and graphic, and I wouldn't recommend it to those who aren't comfortable with blood and lots of it. We saw the uncut version on Hulu, and there is apparently a milder cut version. But the movie deals with the assassin losing control of one of her hosts/victims when the host becomes somewhat aware of what's happening and tries to fight it.

While I felt that the gore was often gratuitously overdone, I still liked the movie overall for its thought provoking darkness. And the ending... well! No spoilers.

something next to nothing but different than the day before

1. Write about a time you participated in a competition.

This one time? At band camp?

No, actually... I did marching band and sports - basketball and track - all through high school. Competitions were a part of daily life. At one track meet during my freshman year, Coach added me to the long jump roster. 

Now, I was a sprinter, and track rules were that each athlete could compete in (I think it was) 5 events or less. No more. Between my individual events and relays, I was maxed out already. But Coach noticed that there were not many girls competing in the long jump at that particular meet, so she added a couple of teammates and I to the event figuring that chances were high we might get some points out of it. 

I jumped as an imposter, code name: Cordova. 

I wasn't really into it, but what the heck. Problem was, a couple of times "my" name Cordova was called to jump, it failed to occur to me that the track official was summoning me. I vividly recall my teammate Debby smacking me on the arm, "you're up CORDOVA *big bug eyes* wink wink nudge nudge*

"OH, yup! That's me! Cordova!", I bellied up to the deck as the official looked at us suspiciously. Then I performed my mediocre-just-became-a-longjumper-an-hour-ago jump.

I somehow managed to sort of make a name for myself in my real events by the end of that season, so most of the other coaches at meets we attended eventually knew my real name. That was the end of my track fraud career.

2. Tell us about a recent favorite purchase.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Magnum and I left the gym we'd been members of and bought city rec passes instead. The rec pass is cheaper than the gym and gives us access to more facilities including several pools, three different weight/ cardio rooms, indoor gymnasiums, etc. So far, I'm happy with the change. I've mainly only been to the the weight /cardio room housed inside the local Senior Center because it's closest to where we live, and it's populated with a good mix of ages. 

Seems there's a water aerobics class going on during the times I've gone to the gym. So several older ladies are in the locker room readying to get their water aerobics on. They're sweet and I can tell this is a social as well as physical event for them. 

I walk through a sitting/coffee area to get to the workout room, and in that area are several retired men sitting around solving the world's problems. 

I'm glad there's such a place for these swimmers and world problem solvers. I'm not quite ready to count myself among them.

3. Share a project you are working on.

I'm tutoring a handful of nice students this semester. They're all struggling, which is the reason they sign up for tutoring in the first place. One of these students is clearly intelligent and articulate, but she processes concepts slower than average. 

I've known her from my job in the testing center since she is one of the students who tests with accommodations. I honestly don't know what her "disability" is - something neurological, I think. There is nothing obvious when speaking with her, and again, she is witty and articulate, already has a bachelor's degree in another area. But math concepts take a toll. We're nearly at the end of unit 2, and she's still struggling with unit 1 skills. She's a project I'm trying to figure out.

4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: trip

Magnum and I are embarking on a getaway to somewhere sunny and warm. We'll be wearing shorts and short sleeves and enjoying clean, fresh air.  Playing and relaxing.

... then I woke up. It was dark and temperatures outside were in the single digits. I feel due for a real trip rather than just the dream kind.

5. Write about something you are looking forward to.

 I will let the cat speak for me when I say I'm ready for spring.

Not even necessarily full-on itchy, sneezy, allergeny spring. But I am looking forward to the prelude to spring:  sunny days consistently getting into the 50's, overnights staying above 30, snow that melts the day after it falls.

It's coming, Kitty!

Linking up this week with Mama Kat. Doing ALL the prompts.

let that one go

We're enjoying spring-like weather around here this weekend. Whoop it up because it won't last, so I'll try to live in the moment.  

On that note, Winter Bike-to-Work Day was Friday morning. It was sunny, no real wind to speak of, icy in patches. 

It was 15 degrees. We noped out. That was too cold to be spending that long outdoors and bicycling around town. The coffee and sweet rolls are only so warm.

For the record, I did bike to work later in the day when the temps made it into the 30s. So, I biked to work,  I just didn't bike-to-work. 

Other weekly reflect-upons:

It's changing of the guard time in PEO. My new chapter asked me to be Vice Prez. This means they've unspokenly asked me to be Prez this time next year. I said, "yeah okay, why not..." We'll see what the year brings.

My coworker, Party Girl, confided to me that she's cut off her bff. Bff is a friend that Party Girl grew up with and has been texting with regularly since they reconnected a couple of years ago.  We'll call him "Mo". Party Girl would give us little anecdotes about what Mo's been up to as he's a bit of a character.

So I went into work on Thursday and Party Girl quietly told me she'd cut him off and told him to not contact her anymore, she was clearly upset. She realized there were some red flags with his personality. Then, in their last conversation, Mo mentioned to PG that he'd witnessed a "sexual assault" (I don't know the details) on a girl from a boy in a high school classroom in which he was working as a substitute teacher. Instead of reporting the incident, he just made the kid do a few pushups in the hall. No other reprimand, no reporting it to school officials.

Party girl was livid, disgusted - she wouldn't detail the assault when she told me - and decided to immediately cut Mo off. She said she'd been up late the night before ruminating on her and Mo's relationship by writing writing writing.

Now, I know this is something PG does. Last spring? When we had that issue with Nurse Ratchet and ended up reporting her to HR? Party Girl went to a back room and ranted with pen and much paper while working things out in her mind. It's an effective coping strategy for her.

Anyway, I told her I was proud of her for realizing the relationship was toxic and cutting Mo off, regardless of their long friendship history. 

I give Party Girl a hard time sometimes (in my head) because of her drinking problem that she seems to take a sort of college girl pride in. But on the other hand, she is strangely observant, thoughtful, and  responsible. 

Who knows what she'd be like without the booze?

in what universe?

It was summer of 1973 - nearly 50 years ago, sheesh.

Back then, I was a wee babe. Okay, maybe not a wee babe, but wee enough. I was a young school kid. Summer days were typically spent with my friends at the pool, and/or hanging out at grandma's, etc. In the evenings, the family sat around and watched whatever was on TV.

We like to give "kids these days" a bad rap for spending so much screen time, and it's often true. But, admittedly, my peers and I spent a crap ton of time watching mindless TV as kids in the days before game consoles and internet.

So yes, network TV was a much bigger pastime then than it is now. I recall watching lots of detective shows and 6-million-dollar-man and whatnot. Once in a while, something "special" would be on - like a beauty pageant, maybe?

That night, we were watching the Miss Universe pageant. I had very little interest in beauty pageants then, and that interest level has only dwindled to this day. Is the Miss Universe pageant still a thing?  Back in the 1970s, it was a bigger part of "current events", I'd say. 

So that's what was on that night, and I was probably sitting next to my mom, doodling in a sketchbook as was typical during these TV evenings. 

Finally, the show was coming to an end. Thankfully. The big announcement from Bob Barker. It was down to the final two contestants. Miss USA and Miss Philippines.  And the winner...

 

Miss Philippines won Miss Universe! Oh goody!

Suddenly, I was interested. I was interested in what my mom thought and looked immediately for her reaction, because Mom was from the Philippines.

I recall being excited for my mom, all, "Mom! Miss Philippines! She won!", as if my Mom wasn't sitting right there, already in the know.

Mom didn't say a word to me, she was fully rapt in watching Miss Philippines doing her walk while trying to keep that big crown from falling off her head. Mom had a bit of a faraway look in her eyes, like a little private celebration was going on in her head. As a little kid, I was thinking that Mom and the new Miss Universe were friends or something.

Mom in the late 1960s

It can be sometimes difficult to think of our parents living the lives they had before us - so young, and in my mom's case, in a whole 'nother country. 

I don't care for beauty pageants, then or now. But yeah, Miss Philippines 1973 FTW!

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

1. Write about a moment in an awards show on TV that impacted you in some way.

a mile from yours

Happy February. Did the groundhog see his shadow, or was there a big balloon covering the sun?

Whatever, I'm happy that the temps warmed up, and the sun has visited, and all this snow and ice and crap that's been around for a few weeks is slowly leaving. Yes, I like having four seasons, but snow and ice don't normally stick around very long here between storms, we're spoiled that way.

I did this month's Tortoise & Hare race with the running club this morning, a 5-miler. Not too chilly or windy, so a nice day of it. Icy in spots, but I managed to remain upright and make it across the finish. I'm still not up to my pre-covid pace, but it's fun nonetheless.

Speaking of getting older *ahem*, I visited a new gym yesterday. Magnum and I decided to leave the gym we'd been members of and get city rec passes instead. The passes give us access to various recreation facilities around town including three workout gyms. So happens, the one closest to our house is at the local Senior Center.

Okay, fine.

I will add that the Senior Center is not JUST for old folks. 18 years and up is the age limit, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I was not the youngest person using the gym. As for the basketball court - that place seems to be all-pickleball-all-the-time. Pickleball? Anyone?

And speaking of younger folks, I mentioned last week that the tutoring center at the college is low on math tutors for the number of requests, so they'd asked me if I'd take on a calculus group. I said, "sure, why not?", but I've mainly been a one-on-one tutor and wasn't sure how effective a group (turns out, there are 4 students in my group) sesh would be.

But hey, our first session was actually quite fun, I can dig this group stuff. They all came with their anxieties and questions and likely picked up a few skills they wouldn't have otherwise thought to work on.

In addition, I have two one-on-one tutees, so the semester is off to a nice start. All pleasant "kids".

I'll wrap up this weekly rundown with a pic of my new water bottle, tea mug for scale.

It's pretty. It's insulated. It was essentially free-to-me. It has a screw-on-flip lid - which seems a bit of overkill - but it's what all the kids are into these days, I guess.

Simple pleasures.

nothing to see here

I'm sitting in a Starbucks which is something I very rarely do. But I was feeling a bit stir crazy with nothing pressing to do, so I decided to come to this particular Starbucks near our house and check it out as a possible tutee meet place. 

A little reconnaissance mission, no "weather" balloons necessary.

It's gets a "maybe" as a suitable tutee place  - not too loud or distracting, decent parking. Tables a bit small. I had a Christmas gift card from Boss, so the overpriced obligatory beverage was free to me. It does seem a little busier than I expected since it's after 4pm. But I dunno what's typical, I'm not a member of the Starbucks crowd.

There is a middle-aged couple behind me discussing The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning and the woman's goal of early retirement. The man was talking about how he's worried about forgetting things, and  I became worried about eavesdropping on a personal conversation about the man's slip into dementia.

A little more involuntary eavesdropping reveals they're discussing an upcoming trip. He's worried about forgetting something for the ocean visit. PFFFFT.

A little boy of about 4 years climbed down his chair to deposit his and his (presumably) mom's trash. He maintained eye contact with me the entire trip, even while depositing the trash. 

Is there something on my face? You'd tell me, right?