Thawing out

Morning my sweets! Two days in a row of blogging from Miss ADD herself? What’s the special occasion?

None really. Just slowly emerging from winter hibernation. A very slight bit sad to say goodbye to some of the only things I enjoy about winter: straight hair, patterned tights, my space heater (which I regularly refer to as my boyfriend), and tons o' hot soup; but downright elated to say goodbye to everything else about Baltic daily life in the Mid-Atlantic. You know: bundling up for twenty minutes just to walk out the door, feeling like a crocodile to the touch, constant nail-breakage, gale force winds (Wind is my least favorite element! Good riddance arctic blasts!), my north face knee-length quilted parka that makes me look like a stuffed sausage, lack of regular running due to tundra-like conditions, and being stuck inside because even though there are no winter sports within reasonable range, I’m still bloody trapped in winter itself.

But our cold days are numbered. Time to blossom, young flowers (cue in interpretive dance from high school drama class), and throw on ballet flats, short skirts (hide your children), some SPF, and spend as little time indoors as possible!

In the spirit of curiosity, two quality discoveries of late:

1. Sylvia Plath. Feeling silly over here given I’m pushing 30 and just embracing Plath, but better late than never. Just watched “Sylvia,” a dark film documenting her life, in which she’s played by Gweneth Paltrow and her husband, Ted Hughes, is played by Daniel Craig.  Neither are hard on the eyes and it was a sad but lovely film.  Aren't sad ones usually the loveliest?  I wholly agree.  Inspired me to make two new book purchases:  Plath’s “The Bell Jar”, and Hughes’ “Birthday Letters.” There are so many juicy stories about these two, I don’t even know where to start. Sweet Sylvia was a serial suicide addict since the ripe age of 9, and it turns out she gassed herself to death in her own kitchen (which was later mimicked by Hughes’ second wife, with whom he was having an affair while married to Plath). Folks these are the types of people who make me realize how glad I am to have a BO-RING life sans love triangles.

Check out these minxes:  the real Sylvia on the left, and Gweneth playing Sylvia on the right (along real life and on screen mumsie).  How cute are these two?

2. Stuff You Should Know podcasts. A sister podcast to my normal choice of Stuff You Missed In History Class, SYSK is a refreshing twist on what had become an endless series on ancient, ancient, ancient history (With a new host whom I don’t care for.  "For whom I don't care," for the record, but sometimes following preposition rules sounds so pretentious to tell you the truth).  Turns out I’m a good American, and I like my history fresh and recent and at a maximum 700 or so years old.  My teenie, tiny little brain just can't fit more in.  So I temporarily switched camps and listened to a fabulous, random podcast this morning about synesthesia -- it's a disorder when someone's senses accidentally tie together, and your visuals spark the feeling of touch (like how we all feel that tackle when we're watching the Gators, but for real), or sounds tie to colors and you literally see a color projection (sort of like Fantasia, but for real) accompanying every note.  Our dear compatriot Vladimir Nabokov was apparently a "synesthese" -- perhaps symptoms are also being very, very naughty?
Toodles for now.  xo