Saturday, March 28, 2009

evolving theories, parks



im not embarrassed by the fact that i adore this song. i remember the first time i heard it, driving to pick up david from work, kids in the backseat demanding "rawk n roll!" on the radio, windows down sort of evening. i dont listen to the radio, and not in a "im too indie for that" (partially true i guess) but really listening to the radio reminds me that im an out of touch lass in my mid to late twenties who, if it were not for limewire, daytrotter, and pandora i'd never know about great new music, period. so i remember flipping on the radio and circulating the dial (hi my car is from the early 1980s, it has a DIAL) until i found something that would mildly pacify the kids with their love of all things rock. rock to them is led zepplin, the who, and so on so i wasn't sure if the local hipster rock station would do the trick. wrong! they really tuned into this song, which is rare because usually i can't win. my dad spoils them by having xfm in his truck with a classic rock station/led zepplin specific station that they have become accustomed to when traveling with him. anyways, every time i hear this song i still love it as much as i did the first time i heard it and have recently added it to my crème de la crème list on itunes under "songs that never get old". it's a pretty short, elite list. and you've got to admit that is a WEIRD video. let's see how many utterly random things we can cram into one video. YEAH!!! that's probably what videos would look like if i made them. random compilations of utter nonsense but with great music.

so my neighbors have me baffled with their strict, overuse of their black out curtains. every one of the windows in the apartment has a thick, pitch black curtain that, from what i can tell is somehow adhered together every so often down the middle (velcro?). no matter what the hour, they never open their curtains and rarely leave the apartment period, especially the woman/mother/wife. evolving theories:

- they are anti-social
- they have some photosensitivity
- they are nudists
- they have built a meth lab
- they work nights

you know what i hate? twice recently i've given into the temptation to try to be cool and it's gone horribly wrong. im a pretty confident lass, go with the flow. im not too concerned about what others are or aren't saying about me except those i really care about.

scenario a: im in the supermarket "driving" one of those carts with the car on the front. the kids are acting perfectly fine but im just having a hard day. all of a sudden i see a very hip, childless couple coming down the aisle headed towards me. she was draped in some very sleek tunic and hat and boots, who cares. the guy, equal sort of edgy-but-not-trying-too-hard aesthetic. i instantly have a moment of jealousy imagining someone staring at me saying "after" and at them "before". have you ever tried to push a full cart with two children in it? oh and imagine you don't work out and your children combined weigh about 70 lbs? the couple and i had no interaction whatsoever but all of a sudden i adopted a stride much too brisk and upbeat for what was easily a 100+ lbs cart. and immediately i took out an entire end aisle arrangement of i think boxes of hamburger helper. and of course then the couple saw me and i felt even stupider!

scenario b: today at the park. same sort of situation. i spy a person that i perceive as well put together, childless, carefree! me - hair a wreck, stressed, two kids in tow, feeling very uncool and frumpy. as soon as i spot the couple i trip over a small stump sticking out of the ground. FRICK ON A STICK! so i slinked to the park bench and sat there mortified. i mean even if i hadn't noted the hip couple dragging on their smokes looking ready to step onto the pages of a magazine i would have felt stupid. a few minutes later a woman comes up and asks where i got my "extremely awesome haircut" and i had to laugh. ill also note that i recently got a haircut and in my opinion it's a bit shorter on the top than i like and ive been self conscious about it. i could have kissed this lady for pulling me out of a tiny funk! a good example of you dont know you need a compliment until you get one.

9 comments:

Kristin said...

I love your new citrusy bike at the top!

Sorry about your embarassing moments... I think we all do those sorts of things. I love the redemptive hair compliment though! That makes it all at least a little bit better, right? :)

snoozy said...

That is a cool song I have now listened to it four times straight. I just thought I would mention a digital radio station you can listen to on the net @ www.thearrow.co.uk classic rock and the odd news broadcast what more do you need ;)
Ps/ your blog rocks!

Katherine said...

Ok, so as embarassing as your first story is, I loved the humanness AND your willingness to share :-) Have you seen that car ad that has a convertable sports car and a minivan? The caption over the car says "Oh baby!" and the caption over the minivan says "Oh babies!" That describes my life as well. Oy.

Oh, also--I was trying to describe to my hairdresser a few weeks ago what kind of hair cut I wanted (to rid myself of my year-old permed, postpartum mop) and when I got home and visited your blog, I realized that your haircut was the exact style I was trying to describe! So the verdict is in--you have cool hair. :-)

Olive said...

you guys are all being very kind :)

katherine, no i have not seen that ad but it sounds pretty spot on. i think a lot of mamas go through this sort of thing. im glad we can all talk about it.

Judy said...

Eek. Your neighbors kind of scare me. I would vote for #4 on the list. The velcro screams that something isnt quite right.

Lizzzz said...

um can i just say how much i empathize with scenario #1? just hours ago i was pushing a cart, WITH A CAR ON IT, with two kids in it, through the isles of the ultra hip venice beach whole foods... feeling beyond frumpy and un cool.

sigh.

thankfully i dont think whole foods sells hamburger helper or i am sure i would have run into it also.

Carly said...

It's entries like this that convince me that you are the coolest person ever.

Olive said...

carly you are laying the flattery on thick! (i appreciate it!) but haha oh man im not that cool i swear

K said...

As far as you saying you felt like "BEFORE AFTER" .. I read your blog often. This is coming from a 18 year old punk/ska chick.

I want to be just like you when i have children. Seriously, from what I read and see you are the coolest mom ever. Dont ever feel like you arent edgy or hip cauuusseee based on the pictures i see of you? You look awesome for having two toddlers. :)

:)