Good friends, good life, poor photo quality

Finally got to have the back-porch night I've been wanting. The weather was great and you don't find cooler people than my co-workers/bffs. I'm actually kinda obsessed with my back porch.. and my room..and the Hollywood House in general.

 Hare Krishna, back in full force. Festival of Colors is cool, but I'm too claustrophobic. And it made my car ridiculously chalky-go figure. 

Spent some good time in SLC roof sitting, enjoying a Sunday gelato, looking at road bikes (this weekend I'm committing to one!)




















Umm I wore some shoes.. made for a good picture. As did the temple. But mainly my shoes.

 Aaand my job is a pain sometimes, but every once in a while we are rewarded nicely. Nordstrom gift cards all around for helping out with the boys.  These boys:

Lastly, I don't think I could be sadder that Ms. Alex is going to be leaving me. She's been a great roommate, a really great listener and a reaaaally quiet sleeper. :) She keeps me in check and always supports me-aaaand I love her.

Asking for it

I'm not going to pretend like I've never thought, "are you kidding me-that girl is asking for it" when I see some woman running by herself at night, and I've never argued on the side of feminism.
Having said that, I do get extremely frustrated by the limitations I feel just by being a woman.
The first time I became particularly aware of how restricting it can be was in L.A about 4 years ago. Santa Monica-9:00 P.M, my sister and bro-in-law are putting the kids to sleep and aaall I wanted to do was go for a walk. There was a huge lightning storm coming in from the west and there has never been anything more tempting for me than watching lightning on the water. But could I go? Are you kidding, no way. It's dark, and even the secluded wealth of Santa Monica can't be separated from the streets of L.A, especially the closer you get to the boardwalk.  Instead I had to wait for my sister, and honestly it probably still wasn't a good idea. I let myself enjoy it regardless, but it took some effort to swallow my feelings of legitimate uneasiness.

This is a truth I experience no joy in pointing out. I would love it if we lived in a world where I could do nice things for anyone: where I could pick up hitch-hikers, and take in the homeless, and just implicitly trust everyone I passed.
And I realize this isn't that world, but I'm not going to look at the girl running by herself at night and judge her for it anymore. And I don't think anyone else should either. There is nothing more liberating (to me) than having time to think and just be, by yourself. Running at night-right up there on the top of my list of things I find extremely rewarding. Last night, I was running by a park and I got to watch the sun set with some great music in my ear and not a soul around me. I have a right to that, and so does the girl I've always berated for her ignorance.

I think we just accept the way things are too often. Then we blame those who break these norms, when really we should be fighting for them, and for their right to break them. Someday soon I'm going to buy a dog, and I'm going to live somewhere it's always warm. And I'm going to be safe, smart and practical. But especially for now, I'm also going to work on being a little less judgmental, and a little more supportive.

Liberation

I chopped my hair off about a week ago, well my hair-and my adopted Taiwanese hair. It's been weird, especially when I'm blow drying it, and turn around to look in the mirror and realize Professor Snape somehow got into my bathroom, but I really love it. It's weird how we can let physical things define who we are. Also I just feel like short-ish (long-bobbin) hair is more reflective of me at the moment.
The reactions have been interesting, obviously no one is going to tell me they hate it, so everyone has been complimentary. Especially a girl at my work who informed me that I looked much more mature, then finished with "you looked like you were in high school before."
Oh, that's cool.
Aand you're welcome for spending 5 minutes talking about my hair. I'm racking my brains for something exciting to share but I've spent the last 14 hours sitting at this table doing my homework so all I'm thinking about is Ralph Waldo Emerson and calculating age-adjusted mortality rates. Goodnight!