West Coast Monica/East Coast Monica

I've been in Seattle for a total of five days now and I haven't quite gotten my head around the concept that this new city that I barely know will be my home for the next year and maybe the longer future. I imagine that perhaps I am just the West Coast version of myself, and there is still and East Coast Monica back in Pennsylvania, doing all of the things East Coast Monica likes to do. East Coast Monica is taking advantage of the East Coast heat wave and getting a suntan in the backyard, while West Coast Monica flits from coffee house to coffee house, turning paler and paler as she searches for sunshine in a cup of java.

East Coast Monica is still looking for film jobs in Philly, while West Coast Monica has finally discovered that she has a left brain and is in geek heaven browsing the massive Computer Science section in Seattle's public library.

East Coast Monica plays coy, hanging with the friends whom she's known for a hundred years and ignoring strangers who beg for her number (in her imagination). West Coast Monica wanders the streets hoping that she will find another human being to be her friend. Or a stray cat. Or a bug. Even a plant would be nice. I think West Coast Monica is planning on going to the nursery to buy an aloe plant this afternoon.

Someday soon, the two Monicas will have to meet and merge and accept that they are now both West Coast Monica.

I Love Pinterest. So?

I got on facebook in 2006 (back when you had to have a .edu email to sign up) and even though I declared that I hated it at first, I secretly loved it. Same story with Twitter. I signed up shortly after they started, but didn't post a single tweet for two years because I thought it was dorky (I'm kind of glad about this - god knows what I would have tweeted about as a college freshman). But now I am unabashedly sharing my love of Pinterest. Do you like looking at pictures online? Do you like taking/drawing/making pictures? Do you like looking at magazines but not subscribing to them? I do. Pinterest is a limitless way to share political views, market, buy/sell (yes, you can add price tags to your pins), and of course, share recipes, images of domestic bliss, and fashion plates.

I mentioned to a coworker how much I loved Pinterest.

"Have you noticed how the demographic is 80% female?" he asked. I could tell by the tone of his voice that he meant to say, "have you noticed how the demographic is 80% stupid people?"

"Er," I said, thinking of ways to excuse my gender. It's true though - of the 91 people that I'm following, only 12 are guys. But so what? Even if it is a "girl's club" I still like looking at neatly sorted collections of pictures online. So far, most of my friends seem to be split between posting images of domestic bliss ("Hairstyles I want to try," "Perfect Desserts," "Easy Home D.Y.I") and feminist comics that make fun of images of domestic bliss. Some of girls post both, perhaps evidence of the confusing cultural pull on young women to be both "feminine" and feminist. Can you be both? Of course you can be! And can straight guys use Pinterest? Why the hell not?

A Note About Posterous

I'm still on Posterous, and you can still find my writings and translations (and my bicycle trip) at http://monicahouston.posterous.com. I've decided to make my own blog - mostly because I am a control freak and partly because it's just safer to have my content on my own site if Twitter ever decides to get rid of Posterous (not to be alarmist - I don't really see that happening soon).

How to Be an Adult Contest

So, after writing about how to be an adult I want to hear from my readers. What do you think it means to be an adult? Submit your essays, short fiction, poetry, or lists that are 500 words or less on the topic "How to Be an Adult" by June 21st.

I would love to hear from readers of all ages. The winners will be announced on June 30th. First, second, and third place will have their writing published on my blog.

Submit your original pieces to monica [at] houstonfamily [dot] info.

First place winner will get an original artwork, Second place winner will get an original signed comic, and Third place winner will get a worthless doodle or something. Because third place really isn't a winner. But good luck! I hope to hear from you soon!

How to be an Adult Part 1

I think that there are a lot of things that nobody tells you about being an adult that you don't learn in college. I tried googling "how to be an adult" and there really wasn't much information. It's a topic that's been on my mind for a while now, so I sat down with some friends and came up with a list of how to be an adult. This is the list of things you do when you're an adult:

  • Tip well and even when it’s not expected (and no less than $2)
  • Be able to choose a wine at dinner (actually, if this is true most people aren’t adults)
  • Be resourceful enough to navigate a city by yourself and not freak out
  • Always pay for yourself. Have enough in your bank account every time.
  • Pay on time.
  • Have something edible or drinkable in your abode in case guests come over
  • Know how to take care of your vehicle (boat, car, bike?)
    • change your tires.
    • change your oil.
    • register your vehicle.
  • Know your rights and be civically active (vote!)
  • Give back to the community somehow
  • Go to the doctor's for a checkup at least once a year.
Then I realized that being an adult is more about the little things than the big things.  So I wrote up a list of little things that adults have to do that kids and college students usually don't think about.
  • Little things like:
    • change your sheets once every two weeks
    • change your razor heads
    • brush your teeth
    • change your underpants
    • wear underpants
    • separate the lights and the darks when you do laundry

This list is far from comprehensive, so I'd appreciate your input. In fact, why not have an essay contest? I'll include the details in an upcoming post so stay tuned!

And for some more information on how to be an adult, here are some great links:

 

Lucky Flight

This is the story of how I ended up flying first class to Seattle. Last week when I found out that I hadn't gotten a driveaway I sadly bought the cheapest ticket I could find to Seattle. It had layovers in Detroit, Kansas City, and St. Paul. I had packed my bags to take as much weight I could possibly carry. I love flying but this seemed like it was was going to be the flight from hell.

I got to the airport at 5am this morning after sleeping maybe one hour. I was checking two suitcases. When I weighed my first suitcase it weighed 58 pounds. Delta's weight limit is 50 pounds. Luckily the other suitcase weighed 42 pounds, so I just transferred the heavy stuff from one to the other.

On the plane I got to sit next to my friend Barb. Everything went smoothly and we got to Detroit early but my next flight was delayed because of technical problems. I waited for an hour and worked on Eloquent JavaScript because there was no free WiFi (coincidentally, I finished four lessons in one sitting. Maybe not having internet is a good thing). Around 10am they informed us that the plane repair was not getting anywhere and gave us all meal vouchers for our patience. I told them that I'd just missed my connecting flights, so they gave me a first class ticket on the next direct flight to Seattle at 3:30pm. I hypnotized myself by walking back and forth in the magical Detroit airport tunnel until I was tired enough to take a nap.

The next flight was so full they asked us to check our carry-ons, but I still got to sit first class (I think I supplanted some people who were waiting for first class seats hehe). I've never ridden first class before so I wasn't really sure what to do. If this ever happens to you, just so you know, the tray is hidden in the armrest and you can ask for as many snacks and drinks as you want. Also, the meal is free. Don't worry about eating too much because there is lots of extra butt room in case you gain weight. I told the guy sitting next to me about my job and he gave me some good financial advice.

"It's as easy to love a rich guy as it is to love a poor guy. If you ever meet a guy you want to marry, save some money and send it back to your parents to save for you. Don't tell the guy. If you make it to your 25th anniversary you can break it out then and have an awesome second honeymoon."

 

"Save, save, save, and invest, invest, invest. Make sure you save some money every month, and start saving now. I'm sure you'll do great!"

I'm sure I'll do great too! I got to Seattle early and found out that my bags had gotten lost somewhere on the four flight changes they had done without me and weren't due for another hour. For the "inconvenience" they gave me some more meal vouchers. Cool.

 

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