Quoted Vol. 11

This reminded me of my orange couch (and my orange lamp).

"I had to look away at first. Lyuba's comforter was the most orange thing I have seen this side of the Accidental College library, which was built in 1974, possibly by the American Citrus Growers' Association. It was... I couldn't find the right word. An entire sun had exploded in Lyuba's bedroom, leaving behind its afterglow for us to ponder." - Gary Shteyngart, "Absurdistan"

Charm City

Last weekend, my friend Amy and I took a day trip to Baltimore. I'd only been to the Inner Harbor, and I wanted to see what else there was to see - the weird, artsy stuff that I've read about recently. Alas, there were many tactical errors on this trip. It turns out that a synchronized swimming or "water ballet" performance might be more fun to participate in than to attend. What was I thinking with that one? Watching other people swim on a 100-degree day doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

Before the show, we tried to go to the bakery from "Ace of Cakes" but missed it by a block and ended up accidentally going to a bar instead. Turns out you can't go inside Charm City Cakes at all. You can't even look in the windows! The panes are all blacked out and cakes start at $1000 each, a little out of my price range. Each bite would be like $50.

Photos by Amy! Thanks!

Then we tried to get crabcake sandwiches, but neglected to read the menu carefully and accidentally ordered softshell crabs. The sandwiches arrived with legs sticking out of the bread, it was all very shocking. A perfect end to a topsy turvy day.

Although we did see this car:

That probably fulfilled the "weird and artsy" component I was looking for. What is it? Is it driveable? Can anyone shed some light on what this car is all about?

Tennis System

This year marked my triumphant return to the world of USTA tennis leagues. I played singles on a team three years ago or so, and I did well enough to get bumped up a level to 3.5. I wasn't sure I could hack it at the higher level, and I "retired" in singles after that.It turned out to be an Amanda Bynes-type of retirement, as I decided to give it a go again this season. I ended up with a winning record, 6-4, and I remembered how much fun it is to compete. What other time in the adult world does this happen - two strangers meet, shake hands, and then try for an hour and a half to annihilate one another? Nothing personal, it's just sports.And to my relief, though I played people who were technically superior than me, I was able to hang with them. I looked totally crazy doing so - some fist pumping, yelling, attempts at mind games, general neurosis. But who cares how it looks if it is works. My shots aren't great, there's nothing in my game that stands out, except the fact that I really want to win. The will to win is all I have, and sometimes that is enough.

"He simply had a fascination with buses"

This happened awhile ago, but I was just thinking about how ridiculous this story is -

A 19-year-old dressed as a D.C. bus driver, right down to the socks, stole a bus, drove it along the proper route while making all the stops, then promptly crashed the bus into a tree.

Apparently he was quite courteous, which should've been enough to alert passengers to the fact that something was amiss.

Are You Married? Why Not?

Living in a Metro-inaccessible place, I tend to take a lot of cabs home and I often chat with cab drivers to make the time pass quicker. I would say, for whatever reason, about 15% of the time they tell me I should get married.

Not to them, necessarily. Just in general. This is such a buzzkill on the way home from a night out.

Last week, a cabdriver said, "It's good to get married young. Well, you have plenty of time. How old are you -21? 22?"

Me: "26."


Cabdriver: "Ohhh..." [said with an inflection that suggests, wait never mind, cancel that previous statement, time's running out.]

Actually, the reason I talk to cab drivers is because they always think I'm 21 or 22 and it's fun to hear, haha.

Dress for Success

Here at Gosh Gee Golly, we believe that most items of clothing can become work appropriate with the addition of a cardigan. Example: that romper? Throw a cardigan on it and you are good to go.

This is about practicality after all, and getting the most for your money. It's such a shame to compartmentalize a closet - all our clothes should live in harmony.

And with this, I bring you the shoes I wore to work on Monday.

Jeffrey Campbell, Kitty 2, via Need Supply

I've already blogged about them before, but I just had a revelation about these shoes. I always thought they were cute in that so-ugly way, but now I know exactly how to describe them. These are my "Granny/Street-walker" shoes.

Don't you think? Can't you see it? Orthopedic hooker footwear.