Ordinary Canary

I’m not much of a clothes shopper, which is evidenced by the fact that my wardrobe has gotten into a pretty sad state. I’ve been slowly trying to remedy this, which is hard to do when you hate shopping as much as I do.

Also, in this go around of trying to replenish my wardrobe, I find that I’m having a hard time developing an appetite to buy from most of the stores around me, because I’ve been thinking a lot about what goes on behind the scenes to make the clothes. The fashion industry has not made the world a better place.

I would like to start purchasing my clothes from companies that pay fair wages and has decent labor practices. Ideally, the clothes and materials should be made from replenishable materials that have a minimum of environmental impact and aren’t shipped all over the world. I want clothes with a conscience, but I’m having a difficult time finding much information about where to shop.

In the past, I’ve shopped some from thrift stores, but this usually doesn’t work out for me, since I like my clothes to have a good fit, which is tough enough when there’s a range of sizes for a particular item. Once items are unique, finding clothes that fit well becomes an exercise in frustration. Most of the things I’ve purchased in thrift shops get donated again pretty quickly due to a poor fit.

Anyone have any advice? I’m all ears.

I joined a CSA this year, which has been an exciting adventure into vegetables that have never before graced my kitchen.

So far, I have discovered turnips, kolrabi, bok choi, Swiss chard, kale, garlic scapes and rhubarb. We have managed to eat most of it, although the quality of our recipes are improving with time.

I think our favorite so far has been a snap peas recipe. You take fresh snap peas, boil them until they’re bright green, than blanche in cold water. Heat up oil in a stir fry pan, then add snap peas, chopped scallions, soy sauce and some sesame sauce.

Nearly instant yum.

My CSA has excellent recipe resources for vegetables that are perhaps new to you too. I thought I ought to share the link. It’s an adventure in food that we’re really enjoying a lot.

If only for the fresh strawberries. So, so, unbelievably fresh and yum. I feel like I never knew what food tasted like before.

Dear Squirrel Who Keeps Eating My Home-grown Strawberries,

On the day of the Reckoning, you’re going to be first in line.

The store is down the street. Get your own.

Love,
Me

New York has something called The Season, which I’d never experienced before moving here. It starts on Memorial Day, lasts until Labor Day, and means that you go to the beach as much as possible. You sip teas and take things slower. You go to your timeshare on Fire Island or in the Hamptons or Montauk. You wear white and walk the streets of Manhattan slowly, languorously, browsing sales and famers’ markets.

You smile a lot more.

But still, I think the thing I love best about The Season in the town where I live are little things like going out to fancy restaurants and finding that everyone is still in sandals and flip flops, because you just can’t bother to put on socks for any occasion.

I just adore this time of year.

It has been a very busy month. I just came back from a visit to Wisconsin, where I saw quite a large percentage of my mom’s side of the family. It was the first time I’ve been there without her, so it was a little sad from that perspective, but it was nice to be around people who remember her. People who knew her can laugh with me over all the crazy things she would do. It’s nice.

Family visits are always a little odd to me because I was raised geographically distant from both sides of my family. I have cousins, but we didn’t grow up together, which has always made me kind of sad. I have a brother, but he wasn’t born until I was fourteen and we’ve never lived in the same country. My aunts and uncles and grandparents all live in other states. I don’t even recognize most of my extended relations without someone whispering “great-grandfather” or “cousin” or “your father’s cousin”. For most of my daily life, family consisted almost entirely of my mother.

I think this is why I like visiting family so much - I do always wonder what it would be like to grow up with more regular interaction, but it’s really nice to be creating memories. And perhaps the wildest part for me is discovering all the things I have in common with people that I’ve had pretty limited exposure to. I’m pretty out there - and comfortable in my strangeness - so finding people that I share a lot of things in common with is rare. To find such a large group of people who think like I do, act like I do, look like I do and laugh like I do is really empowering. Some things must just be in the genes - which I find really comforting.

The most amazing thing I saw all weekend.

Yes, we went in person. And yes, I desperately need to go to the gym now.

Such grace!

Well, happy belated birthday to me!

I had the loveliest of birthdays last Saturday. The weather was lovely and I started the day with a yoga class, lounged about a bit, made ice cream with the new Kitchen Aid, then went to dinner with a couple of people that I like very much. Drinks were had, then bed in a fancy hotel. It was all pretty swank and relaxing.

However, my body seems to have gotten the message that I’m no longer as young as I was last week. I went to the dentist and heard the phrase “bone and gum loss” for the first time in my life. I also appear to have two cavities.

All of this would be less exciting if I had dental insurance, but alas, I don’t. I’ve been going to the NYU School of Dentistry, which has some very bright student dentists-to-be. Unfortunately, it just takes an awfully long time to get things done, since the students have to get approval from the dentists they work with, so I’ll have another visit in a few weeks and then be all sorted.

But the body is not behaving the way I feel like it should. This bird is getting old.

Yesterday I was at a burger joint down by Wall Street. Being a vegetarian, it’s not a place that I go into often, but I was with a bunch of coworkers.

We got to the board with the specials and they had a Presidential Burger.

“Oh boy,” thinks I. Then I started reading the ingredients. The Presidential Burger (and I wish I had a picture of this) is a Barack Burger…because it has “a smattering of cocoa” on it.

Yes, really.

As a woman in tech, I’m familiar with this phenomenon - I can do the most amazing things, come up with the smartest solutions (or not) - but what I will always be remembered for is being a woman. You know, the one thing that has everything to do with my birth and nothing to do with my accomplishments. There was an Oprah burger, which was a cajun style burger (presumably for her work/home in New Orleans). If you could go that far, couldn’t you make your Barack burger Chicago style or something?

But again, applying rationality.

This is the place if anyone reading this feels inspired to action.

President Obama apparently reads this blog.

Well, hey, it’s a start, though I do wonder when we’re going to stop our crusade to make every country a democracy.

I am a fan of democracy, but I’m also a fan of not killing people.

It’s been a misty sort of day here, which translates into thick fog when I’m near home, since I’m so close to the ocean. We’ve been covered in fog for most of the last week, a very soft fog, the sort that covers you over like a soft blanket. You can see, but perhaps not much further than a block. Standing on the boardwalk, you can only hear the ocean.

It is the most comforting solitude I could imagine. You are alone, sequestered in fog, but not alone, since someone can be around every corner.

Tonight my walk home was absolutely lovely, as the fog caught the chirps of the birds that have returned and pushed the sound down and around my head. I wandered through my neighborhood, absently reading a book as I walk, as usual, but comforted by the presence of spring all around me.