Archive | March, 2010

Please sir, may I have another?

14 Mar

On the way to Captiva Island...

After three months of anticipation an many hours of planning the logistics, this morning Alan and I left for a week on North Captiva, a barrier island located off the coast of Florida (near Fort Myers) on the Gulf of Mexico. I’m lucky enough to work for a company that has a beach house here (and another in Hawaii) for employees, so that’s how we chose this destination.

Both Alan and I tend to be workaholics, so the prospect of closing our laptops and disconnecting for a week has kept us buoyed for months. The place could easily sleep ten, but with so many moving parts (shuttles from airports, water taxis, fax ahead grocery lists, etc.) we decided to keep it simple and just come ourselves. I’m so glad we did.

As I type, I’m sitting on the deck watching (and listening) to the waves crashing on the beach below me. The sun is starting its descent to the horizon, and I have a margarita beside me. Other than plugging in the golf carts to charge overnight, there is nothing expected of me.

So this is what they call vacation. Please sir, may I have another?

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Book Review: More like “Her Fearful Cemetary”

11 Mar

A couple years ago, I read “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” and enjoyed it. It was a mind-bending premise, but the author managed to write so convincingly that I suspended disbelief and found myself rooting for the couple to defy time and find their slice of happiness. In “Her Fearful Symmetry,” Neffenegger again tackles the theme of star-crossed lovers playing in another dimension – this time blurring the line between life and the after-life.

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Waxing poetic. Or just waxing.

11 Mar

OK. I really wasn’t going to go here. I swear. Please forgive me.

The other night – in preparation for my tropical vacation next week – I had an appointment with Nora at Corte Salon. Nora is famous in DC for being perhaps the best waxer inside the Beltway. (And no, that wasn’t a pun, and by famous I mean she’s actually had entire articles devoted to her waxing prowess.)

My two best friends also visit her, so whenever I have an appointment, among other things we spend the thirty minutes catching up on what everyone has been up to. That definitely helps distract from what could otherwise be an awkward experience.

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The Lost Symbol: Definitely Lost Me

9 Mar

As someone who considers herself fairly well read, it’s something of an embarrassment to admit that I enjoy peeling through a Dan Brown book in the bathtub. I like them for three reasons: first, I’m usually able to predict the ending with 300 pages left; second, they make me see places I’ve traveled (Paris, Rome) or live (DC) in a more mysterious light; and third, the bite-sized chapters make it easy for me to demolish a 500 page book in 2-3 days. Dan Brown’s latest book – The Lost Symbol – didn’t disappoint on any of those three points.

Even so, it was – overall – disappointing. I should’ve loved it – especially since it’s set right in my city and most of the action takes place within a ten block radius of my home. Instead, I found it a bit heavy-handed on the God-talk and a bit long in the symbolism. Add to that overly-predicatable plot twists, a very unsympathetic villain, and it was cookie-cutter thriller material at best.

Perhaps the only good thing to have come from that investment of time? I’m now inspired to tour the Masonic Temple of the Scottish Rite that’s around the corner from my house on 16th Street, and the next time I walk past the National Cathedral, I’ll definitely crane my neck to see if it really does have Darth Vader as one of the gargoyles. Otherwise, The Lost Symbol will go down as simply lost time in my book.

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My bags are packed, I’m ready to go…

8 Mar

I can’t decide if my Type A personality is an asset or a handicap. Admittedly, it’s come in handy lately: in addition to an always-demanding job, I’ve been trying to coordinate a vacation AND prep my place to go on the market.

I know, there’s not much pity for someone coordinating a vacation – but this one is surprisingly mentally taxing, considering it’s a beach vacation. Next week we’re going to Captiva Island, which is just off the coast of Florida and accessible only by boat. That’s what makes it a bit of a logistical challenge – in addition to packing, we need to coordinate a ride from the airport to the marina, a water taxi to get us to the island, a golf cart to pick us up and shuttle us to the house – and we need to pick up groceries from Publix along the way.

(Admittedly, the groceries thing doesn’t sound difficult, but consider this: you can’t actually go in the store. You have to fax a grocery list 72 hours in advance and let someone else shop for you. As a proud bearer of OCD, it’s incredibly hard to realize that someone else will be selecting my steaks. Also factor in my tendency to operate exclusively off minute-by-minute food cravings, and you’ll start to understand my challenge with this system.)

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