indulgence

i hope everyone had a wonderful valentine's day. i certainly did. without giving all of the scandalous details away, it involved the following: caramelized onions, a half of an oyster, a bottle of dessert wine that i bought in napa valley, a very bloody swiss-army-knife laceration, creme brulee, ella fitzgerald, and homemade bread. it felt like vacation.

my coffee deprivation is going well. maybe it's not connected, but i've been noticably less irritable. i feel like i've been sleeping better and i have been waking up at 5:00 a.m. (on purpose) without much trouble. i think it's fascinating that my little experiment is begetting unexpected results. the human body is so sensitive and reactive to stimuli - i'm realizing that i've been introducing a drug into my body every day for the past, oh, 10 years without even really thinking about it or its effects. now that i'm finally weaning myself off, i feel more normal, physically and emotionally, than i have in a long time.

and finally, i need to vindicate my boss. he did vote on tuesday.

voted

i voted this morning! we went at 6am when the polls opened. there were news cameras and a reporter there and, despite the fact that it was a quiet, dark, cold morning and everyone was still sleepy, an air of . . . buzz. it felt great to vote because this time, more than i have in the past, i felt like i had a choice of candidates and i really, really like the candidate i voted for. though i made no secret of my early allegiance to this candidate, i tried to keep an open mind even until this morning. s. did even more than that- i'm pretty sure he made his final decision at the moment when he actually voted.

my boss despises hillary, yet he announced this morning that he's not going to vote today because "there's no point." i guess he senses that obama will win virginia with or without his vote. maybe so. but that's certainly not a sure thing like it might have been in other years and other primaries. and there's a point to voting even if your vote is technically "pointless," isn't there? the process is important - researching the candidates, listening to debates, thinking about what issues are the most important to you. plus, i always say that you can't complain if you don't vote. i told my boss that and he replied: "i won't complain." yeah right. nevertheless, it's his vote to do (or not do) with what he sees fit. i can't judge. but for me, it's a good morning when i can exercise my right to vote and vote for a candidate i really like.

a baby and no coffee

hello!

things are good here. i have a brand new nephew, born on groundhog's day. i bought him a new york times, dated 02/02/08, to give him on his 30th birthday when i will be 60. he has huge feet and the biggest bottom the doctor had ever seen. i went to the hospital on sunday to meet him. it's surreal to introduce yourself to a new family member. i imagined him driving me places when i am too old to drive myself. i imagined him at my funeral. it made me happy to know that i will be survived and our generation will not be the end of us.

in addition, this morning, my coworker made us pancakes for fat tuesday, and the excess and abundance of this day got me thinking about lent. it's been a long time since i gave something up for lent, and i think that my making a commitment and taking 40 days to reflect on it would be a very positive thing for me to do at this point in my life. so i've decided to give up coffee, one of my most consistent and beloved habits. in addition, i am going to give away the money that i would have spent on my daily coffee (let's say $2.00 per day even though it's cheaper than that because i brew my own). wish me 100% dedication. and poise through what will likely be miserable caffeine withdrawal.

finally, my dance teacher seems to have finally chosen a song for our recital. we will be tap dancing, in full costume, to "mr. big stuff" by jean knight.