Where is Zara?

Dearest Zandrea readers,

You may have noticed that I have not added anything to this blog in many months. Andrea has diligently and most capably kept up the blog and has been exceptionally kind by not overthrowing the blog and declaring it her own. (Though, she is a pirate, and pirates do like to plunder and pillage, so it is probably just a matter of time before the inevitable coup d’etat….)

I will try to explain my absence. Please prepare yourself for an existential journey into my psyche.

Bottom-line, I have not written anything because I have had nothing creative to say. In the past, my creativity has been exclusively linked to my vast reserves of anger and resentment.

However, sometime in the fall of 2004, I fell in love.

The dank and musty hollows of my heart and mind are now full of “cheerful” thoughts and feelings. You know the usual: rainbows, waterfalls, unicorns, that horse with wings, cheeses (imported AND domestic), puppies, kittens, a revisionist account of my teenage years, etc.

I am happy. There, I said it!

I have tried to write.

A piece I started to write about my feud with several Brookline dry cleaning establishments stopped dead in its tracks when I had to admit that everyone makes mistakes. [Please note: the old Zara did NOT make allowances for human error.]

Another piece that was over before it started was to be about how annoying I find people who choose to procreate on this God forsaken planet. But then I thought maybe there will be peace on Earth and heck, shouldn’t that be shared with a new glorious generation??? [You are correct if you are remembering that the old Zara had no hope for humanity and was surprised we had not blown up the planet prior to the 21st century.]

So, back to the title of this blog piece…

Where is Zara?

Well, I am here. I am just trying to find my voice in the midst of all of this confounding romance. Trying to find humor and irony in between kisses and love songs.

Please be patient,
Zara

Maintenance

The time has come to do a little work around this site. At the request of a reader, I've decided to delve into the complicated world of blog programming and get some pictures up. The Evil Twins have made nice use of pictures for such favorites as vacations and museum outings-- I really felt like I was there too! In truth, it was laziness, pure laziness, that didn't get pictures up here before. I quick perusal of FAQs on Blogger and Flickr revealed precise directions for uploading pictures...without having to download any programs to my computer.
With that intro, please look to your left at the nice profile shot of mine and Zara's wrists-- a pair of handsome matching Swatches (did we synchronize our Swatches? Oh no, Parker Lewis, Zara would in fact arrive before me...).
More illustrated updates to follow...

First Annual Teen Drama Queen Movie Festival

The First Annual Teen Drama Queen Movie Festival just showed it's final official entry last night. Alas, there are no red carpet pictures to show, which is likely just as well since the temperature was 85+ with about 200% humidity. Only Mandy Moore's hair could possibly still look good in those conditions.
The entries this year were as follows:
Thursday-- "The Prince and Me" and "Chasing Liberty". Of the two, the informal consensus gave the prize to Chasing Liberty. Not because the story line was any more plausible, or the acting really any better...but because Matthew Goode is hot. And the subplot with Jeremy Piven and Annabella Sciorra was endearing. Movie attendees T, R and roommate L (and of course, myself) managed to gorge ourselves on a full dish of 7 layer dip...and wine, margaritas followed intermittently with chocolate covered pretzels and Exquisite cookies. Mmmmm!
Unifying theme through both movies: Men with foreign accents

Monday-- "A Cinderella Story" and "New York Minute". A Cinderella Story was a late entry (thanks to T) due to lack of Hilary Duff and also due to a Netflix mishap**. NYM was indeed as bad as the reviews made it out to be. The Twins escape (apartment critics) unscathed due to a power costume change montage. Evil Twin #1 and N joined T and R for the festivities this night. There was more wine and more margaritas, plus teen-tastebud-memory-flashback frozen pizza and microwave popcorn.
Unifying theme through both movies: ummm, predictability?

Tuesday-- "Saved!" and "Raise Your Voice". Let me take a quick moment to thank the movie festival participants-- especially those who trekked to Brookline from far away (yes, Cambridge is far) over many days in the heat and humidity. Especially also to T who provided the majority of the movies, and had thoughtfully provided back up movies in case the originally planned ones didn't arrive ("Crossroads" and "But I'm A Cheerleader"). This might have been deemed Satire Night, or at least, Movies-Which-We Might-Actually-See-In-A-Real-Festival,-Not-a-Ghetto-Apartment-Festival. T warnd us that RYV might make us cry 3-5 times and yup, it delivered. Saved! Made us laugh out loud and was close to home for some of us who had to endure years of Christian School and/or Youth Group. We reheated the pizza, ate more chips, more popcorn, more cookies, more wine (white Zin...how high school!) and french fries.
Unifying theme through both movies: Jesus

I was surprised that many people who came (I won't mention names) had already seen MOST if not ALL of the movies I chose! I was not surprised that the foods we ate in high school and which tasted so good again are best eaten only in high school and maybe in college...but after 25 one does not have the same metabolism as one who is 16.
**Netflix, with normally reliable turnaround, FAILED during the height of the festival, delivering movies a day later than needed. Either that or the mailman caught wind of the movies and decided to keep them to himself to watch first, before delivery.

Housekeeping

Sharing communal washers and driers involves patience and flexibility, but also acknowledgement of the tacit rules: do not remove other's clothes prematurely form either the washer or dryer; give others a fair chance to do so themselves.
When this system suffers a breakdown, a battle will ensue.

The scenario:
Wednesday morning (8 am):
Evil Twin #1 attempts to start laundry, but waits as all 4 washers are in use.

Wednesday evening (8:30 pm):
I go to put two loads of laundry in the washers, only to find they have laundry in them (the corresponding dryers are free). I decide to return in 15 minutes.

8:45 pm: I return to find Pathetic Redhead has moved the laundry out of one of the machines, and put hers in. I notice that she is sitting with baskets of laundry around her, and armed for a stakeout, with a Harry Potter book in hand. I ask her if the laundry in the other machine is hers ("no" she answers). I go to move it into a drier, and have a sneaky suspician that this laundry belongs to Evil Twin #1. I put it in the large drier, thinking that I'll dry it for her, along with my laundry, when it finishes in a half hour.

9:10 pm: Evil Twin #1 comes home, and declares that Pathetic Redhead (still camped out in the basement) has carelessly removed all Evil Twin's laundry to put her own in the large drier. I declare this unacceptable, as I had planned to dry my own laundry, as well as Evil Twin's, in the large drier. I fear the removal of my own laundry, so hoof it to the basement pronto.

9:15 pm: My wash is finishing up, and I notice that Pathetic Redhead has 12 minutes left on the drier. I decide it's time for a standoff. If she can remove laundry so cavalierly, and is willing to spend her evening in the basement, then I'm sure she'll have no problem removing her laundry from the drier to make room for mine. I wait.

9:27 pm: (I've taken my wet clothes out of the drier and put my second load in my just used washer.) Before all Pathetic Redhead's clothes have had a chance to settle, I ask, "You don't mind if I move your clothes out for mine, do you?" She's taken aback, but responds, "No...they're dry?" "Yes." I proceed to pull her clothes out of the drier as she walks toward me. I pass them to her then put mine in.

9:35 pm: I return to the apartment, where B tells me I should add enough quarters to the drier to assure that Pathetic Redhead won't be able to use it. Evil Twin tells me she will return with me, and we bring our drinks with the idea of scandalizing her out of the laundry room with disturbing conversation (or at least boring her).

9:45-10:30 pm: With some quick thinking and careful sleight of hand, Evil Twin #1 and I dominate the laundry room and win the battle...and return home with clean laundry. Pathetic Redhead couldn't stand the heat, and left humbled and several quarters less rich than when she arrived.

Bad Habits

With G away, I've noticed myself returning to my single-girl-lacking-responsibility self. Perhaps it's not bad habits so much as indulging guilty pleasures (akin to spending a week at Grandma's growing up in the summer). I've been staying up late reading and watching movies (G is an early to bed, early to riser, so we finish movies together only about half the time). I've forgone many a healthy dinner in favor of the easier and carb satisfying cheese and crackers dinner (in bed, no less). Yesterday I enjoyed Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee and not one, but two (!) donuts on my outside deck. I've been laying in bed in my pajamas until well past 11 on the weekend days.

Finally, I've been shopping...the always enjoyable pastime which is like a drug. I pride myself on my bargain shopping (the $20 rule has fallen by the wayside in recent times, but I've managed to resurrect it with the onslaught of Summer Sale! and free time). When Saturday looked like it wouldn't be a beach day after all, I improvised and went to Downtown Crossing. I was armed with a gift card to Filene's and hope to make short shrift of the $25 balance. Alas, I failed. The shirt I picked out for $35 rung up at just $19...it looks like another trip will need to be made to polish off that $5+. I forewent the Basement and H&M in favor of the less frequented TJ Maxx. A friend's recent purchase of several swimsuits for under $10 piqued my curiosity. There were slim pickings in the swimware department, but the skirts were cute and all under $20...and the four I tried on all fit. I closed my eyes and picked the one which would be mine. I also wasted no time in scouring the shoe rejects on the floor for a pair of cute wedge heels, size 7. Thoroughly warmed up with my keen eye on the lookout, I bought lunch (hot dog and Coke) and resumed my mission: birthday gifts for sister (unmentionable pending actual birthday next week). The five hour afternoon kept me entertained, provided an outfit for going out that night, and really, hardly made a dent in my checking account. In fact, it was perhaps not so much a guilty pleasure as a necessity!

Move Preparation: Installment 2

G and I found a charming apartment, moved most of his worldly belongings to the storage unit (the most precious electronics and comic books staying with me) and sent him on his month long trip to Israel. Save for the physical act of moving our stuff to the new apartment in mid-August, the big parts are taken care of. Packing, shmacking...any further proactive measures on my part would severely cut into what is shaping up to be : The July of Andrea.***

My friend J invited me to join her in a drop in hip hop dance class Saturday morning. We both enjoyed dancing (although often infused with alcohol) and thought, how hard could it be? We arrived at 9:30 am and to our surprise (read: chagrin) the Boston Herald was doing a piece on dance in the Boston area, and none of us would mind being photographed during the class, would we?
The warm up started fine-- we got moving and were able to stave off the headaches resultant from lack of morning caffeine. The instructor introduced some steps and we slowly went through, following her and feeling good...until she dropped to the floor,break dance style,then upped the tempo double time. No one else in the class seemed surprised by this. In fact, they barely regarded it as a challege. For the next 45 minutes, J and I attempted the moves and were duly humbled. My two plus years of yoga practice did not give me the upper arm strength needed to fall and jump up, over and over. My body ached in places I didn't even know existed the next day. Of course, we're planning on returning as soon as possible.

The July of Andrea includes activities that G would not enjoy. Activities that might make G throw up. Starting next week, I will screen not one, and not two, but three nights of teen movies (the bad ones-- lots of Mandy Moore, some Britney and many hijinks). Many of my girlfriends have expressed more than a passing interest in this, so it could actually become an annual, if not monthly, event.

Further Andrea events include Salsa dancing, sewing a skirt, learning some Hebrew and practicing my Spanish, conscientiously grocery shopping with reusable bags...and perhaps getting a Massachusetts Drivers License. I've already entertained three friends from out of town, and hope to entertain at least one more. I'll travel to DC to see my sister and I'll take the African Dance class at my gym before I move.

This is Molly's and Nancy's Fourth of July Parade Story

Another guest post, since the editors here are busy keeping busy. This tale is told alternately from my mom's (Nancy) and her dog's (Molly) perspective.

We wanted to have a great Fourth of July weekend. Molly was surrounded
by new people-she had gotten use to Grandma, but then here came Ginny
and Bob from Chicago and she was excluded from all fun outings and
didn't even get her customary walk on Friday or Saturday-because of the
cleaning frenzy that was taking place. When Ginny and Bob came to the
house, they just ate lunch then everyone left--and left her in her
"room." They did return home, but immediately stated fixing and eating
dinner-hardly any playtime.
Sunday was not much better from Molly's perspective--first left while
everyone goes sightseeing-but at least got left on the deck/den on a
beautiful day. Then, Marvin, Grandma and Nancy return home, but say
they need a rest (at least Nancy does, so no walk for me). Then more
dinner preparation for Julie and Susan coming over. Julie and Susan
played a little Frisbee (Molly got two new ones, both pink), but mostly
just talk and eating.
Monday, finally a dog day. First thing, up and out to the dog part-at
last some wonderful one on one with Nancy and lots of new friends and a
couple of trips to the river! It was heaven! Sometime after getting
home, though, Nancy thought she'd just take me to walk in the Bothell
Fourth of July parade with her to support the County Council candidate.
Well, we situated Grandma in a very low chair on the parade route and
then we walked up a hill (Molly getting pets along the way) to wait for
the little kids part to finish. We did get to go a short way down main
street, and I was doing ok, until those dressed up reenactors starting
shooting their muskets right behind us; I was really scared and just
wanted to leave. Nancy handed her sign back to Jeff because I was just
going way too fast; I was frantic; I wanted to get out of that parade
and away from those loud noises and I was hot!
I thought we'd never get back to the car! After we got Grandma into the
car, we were finally able to turn on the air-conditioning and go home.
Luckily, Nancy knew enough to let the hose run on me in the front yard.

And last night--even more firecrackers---way too much Fourth of July for
me!