Buck 85 + 86 on the road again

About to leave and drive up to our new home in wmass. Lots of feelings. And the road is good for that. I'm mostly excited, but admittedly sad because going alone. I miss J already. Man, this following your dreams stuff makes me sappy. I will see J in a week and have accomplished tons. Got one of the many things to do done this am. Picked up my fixed laptop from Nick. Shout out and all but ain't nobody reading. On the way down, man with a sign at Presidents and Lombard - gave him Buck 85 + 86. All caught up and todays Buck 87 in my pocket. Wish me safe travels (um, busy and preoccupied cyberworld).

Buck 84 - In Watermelon Sugar

This is one of my favorite neighborhood stores. It's the first place I look if I need to buy a gift for a girl friend. The store itself is beautiful to look at with gorgeous and interesting windows and decor. And the merch is cool and unique. The shop-owner is a peach too. Stuck Buck 84 in the door.

Buck 83 - Cupcakes again

Hot dogs and cupcakes are everywhere I go this Summer. 7am auto maintenance means I can reward myself at the cupcake shop I spied off Howard. Gluten-free, which I don't particularly need, and very tasty. Went with the coconut. Dropped Buck 83 outside on 27th.

Buck 82 - on Caroline

Dropped Buck 82 on Caroline Street in Fell's Point.

Buck 81 - sush with Heather B

Who knows how some things get started. I am always fascinated with the way people talk. Once at work, Heather B and Steph IM'd me to see if I wanted to join them for "sush for birf". That is, sushi for birthday and guessing it was one of theirs. Met HB for sush today. She is the best thing about my last job! Tucked Buck 81 in the seat cushion at Chiu's. Thank you Chiu's, but thinking you should really be thanking me. I dropped some serious $ on sushi over 7 years.

Bucks 77 - 80 Haute Dog

Hot Dogs again! I know, crazy. Guess it is Summer and all, but this Summer hot dogs just keep making appearances. The fittingly named Haute Dog is way fancier than Doughy Dog. I got a 1/4 lb. angus beef dog, with onion jam, a home-made tomato-y ketchup-y sauce and mayonnaise. Mayonnaise! The owner said the French like it that way and he has to have mayo on hand for them. I guess it is right next door to Bonjour Bakery, so maybe Falls Rd at Lake is a destination for Frenchies in the area? Who knew? I love the French. And so when the hot dog man said if I want to feel French I should try the mayo - I fell for it. He knew how to sell me mayo on my dog. All this talk of mayo is reminding me I do have a friend, Angela, who is awesome, and she LOATHES mayonnaise. It practically makes her skin crawl and this girl will eat anything! Seriously, like maybe a rat or grilled bird in Guinea - Bissou (from Peace Corp days). But back to my dog. The roll was nicer than your typical hot dog roll, not split, but a hole in the center warmed on a protruding metal bunholemakerandwarmer. My dog rocked. But hey, this ain't no stinkin' food blog, so I won't go into details about J's 2 dogs (but I have to say one was bison meat). I will look to see where I should post feedback about Haute Dog. Gots to support small biz! J paid, so I reached in my pocket and left Bucks 77 - 80 in the tip jar.

Buck 76 - early running with husband, what the?

My husband is the only one ever reading my blog. Thank you J! You make me happy in millions of ways! Now I'm not greedy. And don't expect J to always make me happy. And me being me, I would be miserable if someone were always trying to make me happy. J, you strike the perfect balance, for the most part. And that's exactly how I want it. So my husband does not get up early in the morning to go running with me. We run together some evenings. We run together some late weekend mornings. We run separately too. Sometimes (to tease me?) my husband will say at night, "hey, try to wake me up tomorrow, I might run with you" - he might mean it, but I know he is only lying to himself. It's ok. I try to wake him; I run alone. But this past Monday, 7am in Southwick, MA my husband got up and woke up as I drove to Ashley Reservoir. side note: can not say "reservoir" anymore without singing it like Jonathan Richman. Thank you husband for early running and listening to my childhood reservoir remembrances. Left Buck 76 on the step of the little stone house.

Buck 75 - Skinner

This pic is better right? Walking in the woods of Skinner Mountain, tucked Buck 75 in the bark of tree for the next stoner to find.

Buck 74 - Blue Bonnett Diner

Ahh Saturday night dinner with more of my favorite westernmass friends + one Japanese teenager. It was relaxing and perfect and a miniature train circled above our heads. Looking forward to new routines with old friends and not ever worrying about being interesting. Dropped Buck 74 in the parking lot.

Buck 73 - Herrell's Ice Cream

New life will mean more Herrell's ice cream, but this post isn't about that. First, was wearing my roller derby T from Austin (TX derby rules!) and the adorable young scooper girl asked if I did roller derby. So sweet! and of course she doesn't know how old, uncoordinated and un-athletic I am. Thank you cute young ice cream scooper for the compliment and for eagerly and passionately informing me about westernmass derby and freshman night. I don't think my new life will have roller derby in it unless that MA health insurance kicks ass and I become someone who doesn't mind bruises, cuts and soreness.

J and I ate ice cream with CB and his gf Jenn. CB and Jenn were visiting westernmass from Oakland. Awesome that we got to see them and share an old wmass treat. They are also considering, eventually, to move back East. I'm sure they will do whatever is right for them. These are smart, thoughtful, mature people. I have know CB since we were, what, 16/17 years old. Ca-razy! We be old. Old friends, it's interesting. Do you still think of them as the people you once knew well? I mean, I've changed in 30 years. Or maybe nostalgia makes you mainly remember the best best things about that person? And maybe remembering the best best things about people and their potential makes you want to shake some people? And at the same time you know you wouldn't want anyone shaking you? Sooooooo, reconnecting with lots of old friends. Some of my favorite people in the world and one of the biggest reasons I am so happy to move back. I'm not really saying anything. Just thinking a lot because on the threshold of something new and not really sure what's to come. It's a tiny bit anxiety inducing, but mostly feels exciting and freeing and full of opportunities.

And finally - what I was meaning to say. Since I don't have followers, I can be pretty self-indulgent and rambly here. I have alluded to this blog to a couple Baltimore friends, but never told them what it was. CB and Jenn are the first people I actually told the name of my blog. I expect CB will actually take a look at some point. Poor nico, so many brain cells lost. haha. but CB is so intelligent (way smarter than I am) and really talented (me, talentless) and very very clever (more clever than I usually like in a person) and there is scarcely a written word in his blog! what up CB? Why you being shy? Write already! It's what you're meant to do!

Oh yeah, dropped Buck 73 in the booth at Herrell's.

Buck 72 - new life means time on bike path

Bike Path again. Same bike path as Buck 37. New life home and shop are on this bike path. One way my new life will be different, there will be more bike path in it. As I try to imagine what my new life will be like I came up with the time capsule idea. J seems apathetic to the idea, or maybe he's just cooler. He'll do it though, to humor me and because who knows, maybe it will be fun. So I will come up with this fun list of questions, yes/no, multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer about how we imagine our new lives will be. We will both complete the fun questionnaire and seal the envelopes to be opened on January 1st 2011 (and maybe a second one for a year from now, still deciding). January 1st because it will be one of those soon to be rare, rare days where we are both not working. I can't wait for January 1! We will have a designated reason and tool to reflect on what we have accomplished and where we're at - seems like what January 1 is all about. So we walked along the bike path again this visit. Dropped Buck 72 on the path for the next cyclist to find.

Buck 70 - the dike

Hhmm, need to remember to be more creative if taking pics of bucks. Walked along the dike with J to acclimate to westernmass. Boringly, dropped Buck 70 on dike path. See pic! Westernmass is beautiful. Pic is not evidence of that.

Buck 71 - wrong pocket

I have old gold jewelry. That would seem strange if you knew me. In the early 80's I worked at a jewelry store. And when you spend lots of time working in a retail establishment, you spend some of that time shopping at said establishment. It was the 80's; I wore lots of gold jewelry. I sold some of it off for cash before moving to Baltimore. No regrets. So I went through the gold jewelry I haven't worn since the 80's and did a deeper cull. Still saved a few things because I think I might wear it in the future. We'll see. It's kinda depressing selling stuff, even if you don't want the stuff. So the bag o' gold got carried around in my bag for weeks. Well, after emptying bank accounts to buy house #2, putting some cash in my pockets just felt right. I drove up to Joppa Road to sell my gold. As I strategized (what do I expect to get, do I need to get 3 quotes, can I come up with an amount that will be acceptable to avoid doing this more than once) I almost missed the man at the Perring Parkway/Joppa Road intersection. I saw him with his sign and quickly reached for a buck as the light changed. He got Buck 71, out of sequence. I pondered what that meant. I decided it meant nothing. Sold my gold at the first place I went. Sang Heart of Gold as I walked back to my car.

Buck 69 - cash for condo

I was feeling a lot of things when I emptied out our bank accounts for the cashier's check to buy our condo in westernmass later this week. Lighter, that was definitely one of the feelings. Dropped Buck 69 on Hickory Street as I walked back to house #1. It felt very necessary to drop a buck. I am grateful to be in a position of my choosing.

Buck 68 - viking by Rocket to Venus

J and I went to Rocket to Venus last night to meet a former colleague of mine. He was returning my Fishing with John dvd and we used that as an excuse to have a few beers. I ordered first, a Boh and then J ordered a fancy Hefeweizen to which I replied, "whoa, we have money for fancy beer? why I gotta drink Boh?" J switched to Boh for his next beer, but I hope he still enjoyed his fancy beer with orange slice. On the way to meeting Brent, we passed a dude on his stoop. He was a dude, whatever that means. His hair was long and he had braided a section in the front on each side of his face. I couldn't believe it! It looked sorta viking-like. And my husband, who has had all variety of facial hair recently said, "I think I'm gonna bring the viking look back" and then we see a dude with viking-like hair. I'm sure J interprets that as a sign that he's on to something. How do I feel about it? That's who I married, he does stuff like that, I love who I married, I am amused. I'm not really sure what the "viking look" is, but I'm down. So, drinks and bass players talking about basses and me feeling pretty happy enjoying my Boh.

As we left Rocket to Venus I was planning to drop my buck there, but in the dark next block it looked like our viking was still on his stoop. I let Buck 68 slip from my right hand as we passed the viking. While we were drinking he added more braids to his hair. So he was less viking-like, but still deserved a buck.

Buck 67 - exploring

I don't know what happened, but had the worst run of my life last night. My knees hurt the second I started, got a stitch in my side that I couldn't get rid of and it was really hot and humid. I was very tempted to just go home, but Jim was running circles around me and I was happy to be out with him, so I accepted fast walking and encouraged Jim to keep going. Because I wasn't running, I could actually go further, so we explored beyond the switchbacks and followed the path into Druid Hill Park. Exploring is usually fun. I like the not knowing where you will end up or what you will find. We followed the path and came out at the Maryland Zoo. 3rd time in a week that I have been at or passed a Zoo. That is unusual, so dropped Buck 67 in the parking lot.

Buck 66 - Sesow

J and I went to DC for Matt Sesow's open studio. We have liked his paintings since the first time we saw them at the American Visionary Arts Museum Holy H2O show (one of my favorite AVAM shows). After that we bought a painting online and it hangs over J's desk. We love it. We were excited to meet him and see his new work. We also hoped to talk to him about doing a show at our gallery in the future (Matt Sesow is at the top of our list of artists we would like to host). It seems that is very likely to happen and we're thrilled. Matt was friendly and interesting to talk to and while talking about the "31 days in July project" he mentioned and showed us the headline that inspired his "false flag" painting. Washington Post front page featuring Chelsea Clinton's wedding and at the bottom, below the fold, in small print, 66 US soldiers killed in the Afghanistan War in July. Thank you for your awesome paintings and thank you for doing your part to keep the wars in people's thoughts. 66 US soldiers killed. Of all the things we could talk about, that came up. I had Buck 66 in my pocket to drop. I let it float out the window on Connecticut Ave.

Bucks 61 - 65 Connecticut Ave Exit DC

2nd trip to DC this week. An older woman with a sign needed money to feed her family. Gave her all the bucks I had in my pocket, Bucks 61 - 65.

Buck 60 - Harbor East

Harbor East is a whole new neighborhood. It didn't exist when we first moved down to Baltimore. I worked in Harbor East until I stopped working. I was sort of fascinated by it. Who are these harboreasters? Living in a new harbor view condo, buying groceries at Whole Foods, catching a film at the Landmark, dining at Charleston, shopping at Urban Chic. I'm thinking they exist. But I haven't spotted one yet. Maybe they are rare or nocturnal. Or I can't recognize them. But I would try to imagine being a harboreaster. If I left work for lunch and walked a certain route and went to a new lunch spot in a new harbor east building, for a minute, I could feel like I was in a completely other city. I would pretend I have a sophisticated urban career and I lunch with my sophisticated urban colleagues. It's not like you could maintain that feeling for very long! Maybe a few seconds at best and maybe you had to blur out the background. I had to find ways to amuse myself like that. Especially because nothing about me or my job was sophisticated.

I was excited to visit Harbor East on Friday. I was meeting some of my favorite sophisticated colleagues at TF for HH. If you don't know what TF is, you are not a harboreaster. If you don't know what HH is, aw man, I'm hoping ya call it something else and actually partake but just have a cooler short hand for happy hour. I don't really like TF, but it is so much better when you are going to meet old work friends and drink cheap beer than when you feebly decide to eat lunch there because you suck and are lazy and mad at yourself for spending money on food you don't want. Anyway - had fun drinking and catching up with Steph, Robyn and Denise. Dropped Buck 60 on the street in Harbor East.

Buck 59 - National Zoo

Went to the National Zoo with some of my favorite people in the world. Family Warren stayed with us for a couple days - so much fun! And so excited that we will be able to see them more regularly once we move back to wmass. Spent the day at the National Zoo in DC. Dropped Buck 59 by the lions.

Buck 57 + 58 Beer and Bunny

We were at the Wine Source and decided to treat ourselves to a bottle of Lambic peach beer. I have been refraining from treats as I stress over $ and moving, selling our house and starting our biz. I'm not sure it if will work, but I've decided self-denial will help with anxiety and prepare me for transition to no incoming salary. Hid Buck 57 under the next bottle of Lambic peach.

I went running early the next morning and saw a bunny, always a treat, and I like to interpret bunny sitings as positive harbingers. Dropped Buck 58 on West University where bunny blocked my path and made me stop to admire her.

Buck 56 - Woodland Octopus

Our house is on the market. This is the first house we are selling. It ain't fun. And if you've sold a house, you know about staging. We have cleaned and purged and repaired and dumped and stashed in storage. The house is looking airy and open and uncluttered, which is un-us. And then there was the octopus. Js handmade halloween costume, and yes, it did involve my sewing machine, which is pretty impressive. Do we pack and move octopus to wmass? We decided no, but could not bring ourselves to throw it in the trash. J found a spot by our light rail stop and we hide the octopus in the woods for commuters to enjoy. Dropped buck 56 at the Woodberry light rail stop.