My Winter of Discontent
-7 degrees Fahrenheit. NEGATIVE Seven degrees Fahrenheit. That was the low a little over a week ago. Then it started warming up. The clouds separated. The sun reared it's neglectful face, but today...Oh today. Storm warnings? Public school cancellations? Over two inches of snow with a maximum estimate of seven? I thought those things only happen in films and movies. You know, fiction, bad fiction. The worst is convincing myself that climbing out of my toasty bed will ultimately be worth it in the long run. Then there's the difficult choice between unmanageably wrinkled fingertips or leaving the steamy bliss of a hot shower. I'm also wearing leg thermals on top of underwear, which makes peeing significantly more involved. Grocery shopping is even more of a chore. I've decided to be brave and walk the 10 minutes distance to Trader Joe's. My last grocery excursion ended in a climactic and classic slipping on the ice on the sidewalk in front of my building. Most fortunately, I had decided not to purchase any eggs. I thought my Huckleberry friend, currently residing in Prague, would be able to commiserate. I was wrong. The last thing I ever thought I would be envious of is the 30F weather in Prague.
On the bright side('bright side' being very much metaphorical, as I've only seen the sun in pictures these days.) this season has brought its' own lessons, specifically in causality. Due to it's 'served hot' nature, soup has suddenly become more appetizing. Clam chowder preferably, of course, followed by egg drop soup. Most desirable would be arroz caldo, but the availability of Filipino restaurants here is, well, there is no availability. In normal circumstances I would refuse to eat it unless it was prepared by my mother or in my hometown, but I would be willing to make an exception here. I've had this particular pair of jeans(I'll never understand the semantics behind using the word 'pair' here to reference what is obviously a single article of clothing.) for some time now, years. My legs are abnormally short, so since they've come into my possession they have been cuffed at the same exact spot and a crease has developed over time. The crease only recently started tearing, maybe around last semester. It was a mystery to me why it would tear now, after I move that is. Well, I am proud to announce that the mystery is solved. A combination of my change in diet, namely a decrease in consumption, and the wet weather are jointly responsible for my damaged denim. You see, since I'm spending most my time staring at the monitor, or buried in some sort of course literature, I've been eating much less, causing my waste size to drop. Additionally, my belt has been adjusted to the same hole(setting?) for the same smaller, likely malnourished, waist. As a result my cuffs hang a little lower and are exposed to the deteriorative nature of the wet, winter sidewalk. Thus the jeans have a very particular rip located exactly at the crease.
As for classes, they're generally going well. However, this has been sitting under drafts for over a week and it's time I release it into the wild.
On the bright side('bright side' being very much metaphorical, as I've only seen the sun in pictures these days.) this season has brought its' own lessons, specifically in causality. Due to it's 'served hot' nature, soup has suddenly become more appetizing. Clam chowder preferably, of course, followed by egg drop soup. Most desirable would be arroz caldo, but the availability of Filipino restaurants here is, well, there is no availability. In normal circumstances I would refuse to eat it unless it was prepared by my mother or in my hometown, but I would be willing to make an exception here. I've had this particular pair of jeans(I'll never understand the semantics behind using the word 'pair' here to reference what is obviously a single article of clothing.) for some time now, years. My legs are abnormally short, so since they've come into my possession they have been cuffed at the same exact spot and a crease has developed over time. The crease only recently started tearing, maybe around last semester. It was a mystery to me why it would tear now, after I move that is. Well, I am proud to announce that the mystery is solved. A combination of my change in diet, namely a decrease in consumption, and the wet weather are jointly responsible for my damaged denim. You see, since I'm spending most my time staring at the monitor, or buried in some sort of course literature, I've been eating much less, causing my waste size to drop. Additionally, my belt has been adjusted to the same hole(setting?) for the same smaller, likely malnourished, waist. As a result my cuffs hang a little lower and are exposed to the deteriorative nature of the wet, winter sidewalk. Thus the jeans have a very particular rip located exactly at the crease.
As for classes, they're generally going well. However, this has been sitting under drafts for over a week and it's time I release it into the wild.
posted by ali-khan at 8:45 AM
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