if I didn't have a computer

So I called this investment company today to create an IRA (finally) and roll over some $$ I had sitting in an account.

It was easy to do - becuase I had a computer. The fella on the phone said, "okay. Let's log in to your account and I'll walk you thru it."

I laughed and said, "I fine it interesting that you assume I am sitting at a computer and that I have multiple lines in my home that allow me to talk to you and use the internet,"

He laughed.

But there was no hesitation on his part - didn't ask if I was near a computer. So basically I did the whole thing myself.

But what if I didn't have a computer? Or if I was doing an experiment, like my friend, who is living without Internet for a year?

A stranger

Today was my daughters ballet class. Earlier this year we started a routine of getting a "treat" prior to class. There are 90 minutes between her pre-school pick up times and the start of ballet. It's not enough time to go home, so we go out - usually for frozen yogurt. But today I wanted to see if this certain store had bookcases. I knew there was a starbucks nearby - so starbucks it was.

The kid got some over-priced fruit and an over-priced over-sugared cupcake. They were playing some fun music and my girl started showing off her moves - including some ballet. This incredibly attractive woman sitting near us overheard me telling Sophia to practice her arabesques and asks me if she was taking ballet. I said yes. We got to talking.

ThIs woman is 65. She was a trained ballerina in Canada. She joined a company in Washington D.C. Got married and stayed. She taught Disco in San Francisco. She now has two grandchildren and enjoys them. She seemed incredibly content with her life. She's now retired.

She was in the coffee shop to read her book (the one about Tolstoy).

She really left an impression. Her zen-like ease and pleasing countenance had a calming influence on me. It made me remember to breathe and enjoy the moments. Perhaps at 65, I too can just chill with a good book and not feel guilty I am not doing something more productive.

Forgive any typos - I am blogging ony iPhone while the kid falls asleep

e-mail strangeness

I want to begin by stating that I do send "informal" e-mails to friends and family. Let me explain my definition of "informal" -- perhaps an example is best:

Hey - wanna grab coffee today. Lemme know

or

did the package arrive?

I do start group e-mails to my friends with a 'Hi all" - just so they know it is to MANY people (god forbid people reply all and say something horrible by accident).

I try very hard to follow this example (except with the husband):

Dear (or some kind of greeting) Name,

Content content Content

All the best,
my name


BUT - I always thought a formal e-mail should be written like a letter. A formal e-mail is one to someone you have never met, a boss, a potential business contact or a professional acquaintance. It is the e-mail you send to a business.. etc

I have been inundated by e-mail from students who want to Crash my class. many of them cannot be bothered to address the e-mail to me.
Just a 'Hey I want to take your class but it's full. Can you give me a permission code."
No salutation or greeting and in some cases not even a closing or signature.
Just an order.

They were able to track down my e-mail, they couldn't address the letter to me?

And these are people who WANT something from me. And most of these are college SENIORS who will be graduating in just a few short months. Can you imagine if they send an e-mail like that to a potential employer?

When did we loose civility? Are we not teaching etiquette anymore?

But since this is world where some people think it is appropriate to mention their vaginal cyst in their Facebook status (really this happened) - I guess I shouldn't be surprised.

Beautiful stranger

My daughter has very eccletic taste when it comes to music. My husand made her a "mash up" CD that we both keep in our cars. Madonna's Beautiful Stranger is on the CD. She knows all the words and sings it loudly. She also has songs from the curious George and Hairspray soundtracks. She also knows which other CDs we each have in our respective car. Bowie and Cheryl Crowe in mine and Bare Naked Ladies in her dads. She sometimes asks for songs by name. It's pretty damn cute.

I find that when I listen to songs of my youth (70s/80s) I am so flabbergasted by what they mean. I was a big Duran Duran fan (seriously what girl wasn't?) back in the day and I was oblivious to all the sexual innuendo in the songs. Blondie'a lyrics and The Police too surpirse me... I realized that I had no clue what the songs I sang by heart were really about.

And that is okay.

I laughed out loud when the kid wanted to hear "mother" on the Synchronisity album the other day.

stranger in my own city

I am freaking out about kindergarten. The kid goes this fall and I just don't know what to do. Where should she go?

I realized that I have allowed myself to remain a stranger in this city/county I live in.

I have never really bothered to memorize street names. Of course, I know fun spots and how to get places. I know where to find things I need.

But at times I feel I don't know anything about this place I call home.

In chatting with my dear friend today about the kindergarten dilemma, I said, "I guess I never thought we would still be living here at this point." That just came out. My city girl prejudices are sitting right there at the forefront of my mind causing me to think that this small town school that my kid will go to isn't good enough for her.

Have I ever been to the school? Nope. I need to get over myself. It's got a great ranking and people I respect seem to love it.

I have been holding on (or carrying) this notion of - I don't know what.

I feel a bit displaced. Maybe it was the trip to SD that got me a little discombobulated... hmmm

Stranger in a familiar land

A great many things have happened in the last two months.

I have a never ending fascination with nature vs. nurture and how environment shapes the individual. For five weeks I was in SD. I had lived in SD for over a decade (with a mini-stint in LA that we hardly ever discuss). We moved away from there 5 1/2 years ago (it took a good year to finally leave). But now I was back to do some work.

I have lots of friends and business associates there. People I adore. And its not like this was my first time back. I have done five other gigs there of similar lengths of time.

But this time was different. I made an interesting discovery about myself. I have been heavily influenced by my current environment. Since moving to my little mountain/beach community I have:
1. grown much more environmentally aware
2. really looked at the role of media as it impacts my life and that of my child.
3. become increasingly concerned about the food we eat


Now is it the environment or the people that I am hanging our with? The group of women here that I call my friends are not in the same business as I am. Our original commonality was the fact that we all had kids the same age - but in many cases our friendships have grown beyond that and the fact that our kids can play together is now a bonus and not the reason to hang out.

But what happened in SD?
The new folks I was working with were all under 30 and childless -- and their feeling about the environment and the world are very different.
My friends (most of whom have kids) lead a very different lifestyle - from showing PG rated movies to 2 year olds and eating food that list chemicals as the first ingredient.
No one could tell me where I could find a farmers market.

I am not judging- I've let my kid see non-age appropriate stuff (the simpsons) and fed her enriched hot dog buns . But I wondered if I would be doing the same thing if I had stayed there?

I laugh that I vowed to never get "crunchy" - and yet here I am - composting, taking my own cup into coffee houses as to not use a paper one.

My trip was at times incredibly familiar and at other times completely disorientating.

I missed SD a lot, which did surprised me. I missed the landscape, the accessibility of "things" and mostly, my friends.