Ritual

Monday, October 27th, 2008

I have a weird obsession with sparkling water. Not the cheap stuff, but the real stuff. Perrier, San Pellegrino, the strange Dutch Voss crap that I order at the expensive restaurants I go to with my parents. I go through it like it’s, well, water.

There was a sale at the supermarket today. 4 bottles for $4. One little dollar for a liter of the Good Life. I bought 10. I’m sure I looked like the crazy person who buys water for the end of the world. I would have judged me.

Before I throw out the bottles -I mean recycle the bottles- I take off all of the paper labels. If the bottle is a little wet, the labels will peel off smoothly, and leaves minimal residue from the adhesive. Those are the successes. They can be more gratifying than finishing a paper, getting an A on a test or cooking a meal that doesn’t suck. And it happens way more often.

If the bottle is dry and I start to remove the label, I have to rip from both sides. Sometimes it will come off in one piece, and sometimes I have to remove the offending label in sections. Sometimes a small piece won’t come off at all. If that is case, I have to get rid of the bottle before I throw it out the window.

Once the labels are removed, I fold them symmetrically. Sometimes in half, sometimes in quarters, but always neatly. After that, I shove them down the neck, and into the empty bottle. It is then that my drinking experience ends. Not when I finish the water, but when I finish the ritual.

What are your odd, bizarre, silly rituals?

Garden of Eden

Sunday, June 15th, 2008

Definitely worth watching
The Garden of Eden

How I fail at being a 20-something

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

I read Oprah magazine.

I am not over 40, a mom with a career, or trying to lose weight. Did I mention that I’m not over 40?

But I must say, dear Internet, that there is something about that magazine that pulls me in. It’s like I can’t resist. I stand in the grocery line, and there it is: the mecca of stylish working mommys everywhere, Oprah magazine. It may just be because Oprah herself is on every cover, writes the main feature article for EVERY SINGLE issue, and writes wise words of wisdom on the last page of every issue. I think that is badass. She earned it. That woman could put her picture at the corner of every page, next to the page number, and I would still respect her. Kind of. Only a little bit less.

It’s headlines like “WE’RE STARTING A BEAUTY REVOLUTION!” that really get me. She wants everyone to feel beautiful, regardless of age, weight, race, skin type or marital status. How can you not love that? I love that, and that’s why I buy it every time. However, I have yet to actually stoop to a subscription. I can’t bear to actually have it delivered to my apartment. I think the mailman is going to judge me.

A few months ago, I bought an issue of O Magazine (teehee) that featured Eckhart Tolle, an author that talks about spirituality in a very interesting and meaningful way. Tolle talks about the strangeness of the phrase, “I just can’t live with myself,” implying that there is an “I” and a “self,” and that they are different from one another. I went out and bought his book, and while I don’t agree with everything he’s saying, this is the first book about religion or spirituality that I’ve picked up, probably ever. I like that Tolle talks about sprituality, not religion, and frames it with the individual, not the collective. Religion was never a part of my upbringing. My mom was raised Catholic, my dad Lutheran. I’m baptized because my grandmother cried until my dad agreed. I don’t go to church, though I sometimes end up at Friday Shabbat services at Hillel with my sorority. I keep meaning to go to Sunday morning sermon at the Lutheran church down the block; but I think the fact that I haven’t gone yet suggests that I probably don’t care enough to actually do it. I’m actually probably too afraid. I don’t believe that religion is anything but a group of people that want to believe the same thing about the unexplainable fascets of life. It doesn’t focus on the individual, but rather a group mentality. I don’t like being a number, being told that I’m doing something wrong, or that I’m living to attain life after death. I’m living a life for the sake of having a life, and I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong. I don’t live a religious life, but I would like to try for a spiritual one. I’m working on it.