A N N A J O H N ' S D I A R Y

November 30

I had an interview at 2pm and it went well.  So well that I have a second interview scheduled for 1pm tomorrow.  Two interviews in under 24 hours is always a good thing for impatient me.  :)  I attribute this drastic turnaround of my job-search fortune to all of you and your unwavering positivity.

You went out of your way to affirm that I shouldn't regret receiving a degree which required taking on sooo much in student loans, I could have paid for a Mercedes G-class.  You validated my choice to pursue additional knowledge, even though it might frighten off the apparently-easily-spooked-according-to-my-Aunt Malayalee boys...that is, when it's not destroying my chances of getting hired by marking me as "overqualified".

I heart you, dear commenters. :)  You really know how to cheer a girl up. 

And no Brian, I'm not taking my Aunt seriously.  Well, sometimes, in my lowest moments, I can hear my Auntie shrieking in my head and I wonder if I did screw up my chances for finding a Mallu mate NOT because I'm, um, "overqualified" but b/c I ostensibly wasted the most valuable two years a Kerala girl has for husband-hunting by gettin' my edumacation on instead of perusing pictures and meeting "potentials". The "sweet spot" for white dresses and kanjeevaram at the reception is age 24-26.  Those just happen to be the exact years I spent at GW, where there were no Malayalee boys who were older than me. :) 

This devastated my parent more than it did me. My Mom had this long-cherished dream that I would be studying at the library...and then I'd look up...and there he would be, looking at me while clutching a tome of something-or-other before dropping it and reaching in to his pocket for the emergency-blood-diamond he would obviously keep on-hand at all times for his intended. Then he'd get down on one knee and 30 seconds later, I would call her on my mobile to tell her that she could relax, I was not a problem child and that I would be pregnant by the time I got back from my honeymoon and that no, I was not going to be like Thomas Uncle's mandi mol and waste $100,000 on a wedding when I could instead have a tiny ceremony that was humble and use such a princely sum on a down payment for a nest where I could hatch my eggs.

Moms has quite an imagination.  :D

Anyway, back to life, back to REALITY...I actually have TWO interviews tomorrow and I have to say, I'm grateful but exhausted.  No time for that, now OR anytime soon.  I'm gone all day Sunday helping a friend and I have an interview Monday, as well.  Even if we disregard THAT for the moment and just consider the last few days plus tomorrow, then I am incredulous to report that I had more interviews this week than I did in the entire month of October.  Yowza.  And the price of such progress?  After going to the gym 4x/wk for the last few weeks (I even went ON Thanksgiving day!!!), I haven't gone ONCE this week.  I've slept a lot less.  And I've been a bit more high-strung as I constantly pray that there is no clusterfuckage when it comes to public transportation.  But, I'm so thankful for all that ick, b/c I reeeeeally need a job and for the first time since the end of September, I actually feel like I might just get one.  :)  You know I'll keep you posted. :) :) :)

November 28

So...not only is having a Master's degree the reason why I am unmarried (according to my Aunt, who says that the Malayalee boy should have more education than the Malayalee girl, lest he feel jealous and then make everyone miserable), it is also the reason why I'm less desirable professionally. I promise I'm not overqualified.  I can aim low.  I promise.

Yeah, the interview?  Not so good.  :(  Sigh.

November 27

You know, my Monday was AWESOME, from start to finish. :)

I've realized that most of my favorite friends are bloggers or mutinous commenters and I am totally FINE with that. :)  Why wouldn't I be?  You are all top-quality peeps.  Now, when someone expresses concern or weirdness about  making friends with someone bloggy (for example), I just laugh (but I resist pointing out that the people you dig online are almost always more compatible than the people you met offline...I like letting people discover that isht for themselves.)

I saw Maisnon last night at BN, before we meandered over to La Tasca, in Clarendon.  It was my first time at the latter and I must say their sangria (both red AND white) is so good.  As if all that wasn't fantabulous enough, I had LUNCH with her today at Amma.  Let me tell you, the only thing better than madras coffee is roaming about Gtown (Body Shop, MAC...BN...we're bookish, yo) post-prandially on a lovely, sunny day.

A few hours after I reluctantly left her, I met one of YOU for the first time!  KN went out of his way to hang out with me and seriously, the pleasure was all mine.  I was so excited to meet him at Dupont starbucks, I inappropriately, effusively gave him a hug "Hello" which I regretted for a nanosecond ("Omg...he doesn't know me...he's going to think I'm a freak!  Wait...I *am* from CA...") until I saw the burnished Gold bag he was holding-- he had bought me a ginormous box of Godiva Truffles.  For no reason. Isn't he teh sw33t?  :D  Suddenly, the hug was an apposite gesture. ;)

Unexpected sugar is glee-inducing, but what I really enjoyed was how he was so fun to talk to...and how he understood Malayalam perfectly, despite not being Mallu. We actually had sooo much to talk about, since we've been interacting for months now, on SM, via 55Fridays, on flickr etc.  It's nice to finally merge real life with the virtual. :)  We closed out Starbucks and went to Cosi...if the metro hadn't been about to stop running, I'm sure all the giggly, exclamation-laden goodness would've continued.  How pavaam is this: he kept saying, "I didn't know if you'd meet me-" and I kept cutting him off by telling him, "You came all the way from Florida...why WOULDN'T I meet you?  It's not like you're random." 

I won't tell you what made all of this extra swoon-worthy, since it involves some rock star rescheduling and juggling of logistics on his part, but suffice to say, I felt so very precious (I'm worth ALL that trouble?), lucky (CHOCOLATE!!!)  and giddy that I know people who are so wonderful (both offline and on-).   :)    See?  Most of my life is massively gratitude-worthy.

3-2-1 Context

I'll admit it, I allow certain seemingly random items, songs or events to assume great significance.  Today was full of such things; these are the most notable, since I'm still thinking about them.

1) I left my apartment briefly this evening and as I waited at a crosswalk near Connecticut Avenue, I was convinced that I was hearing things, as if someone was calling me or telling me to do something.  Startled, I kept turning around and looking everywhere but all I saw were 3 brown guys on the other side of the street. Then it occurred to me that what I was hearing was a man speaking Malayalam as he instructed his friends on when to cross. 

I've mentioned in the past that one of my favorite things about DC is how international it feels and to me, proof of this is available on every block I walk, as I hear no less than three different languages per street.  Now that I live near several embassies, I have even more fun with this.  In the nearly eight years I've lived in DC (on and off, with brief stops in CA and NYC), I have NEVER heard Malayalam spoken randomly by passersby. I think I was so shocked I did the Indian "stare" thing to these three vaguely confused and now-irritated Malayalee guys, who were surely wondering what the hell my problem was.

2) I love Nick Drake and I heard him twice today.  He was part of the soundtrack to two different movies I caught tiny snippets of, as I drank my high-protein breakfast at noon.  Nick Drake?  TWICE??

3) When I headed back to my apartment after hearing Malayalam, I thought I saw my car parked in front of my building.  What I had seen was a license plate frame which declared "UC Davis AGGIES" around the exact same California license plate "design" I have.  That stopped me in my tracks.  While there are tons of UC Alums in D.C., (including a Cal grad and a UCLA alumni who are among the handful of neighbors I have met in my building), I never meet Davis grads or see Davis paraphernalia.  We're just not that ubiquitous out here.

I shook my head and went inside, resisting the urge to touch the car.  In the elevator, I kept asking myself, "What does it all mean?", it felt too much like synchronicity to be written off. I was happy for all of it, enveloped in a sense of "home". I started to feel like my luck was about to change, but I stifled such sweetness, lest I jinx that shit.

I do not want what I haven't got.

Despite everything which has occurred in the past three months, I realize every day that I have far more to be thankful for than to despair over, no doubt. 

I don't know why the universe decided to strap me in a gyroscope and then dangle a helpless me five stories up...wait, that's David Blaine.  Well, that's exactly what life has felt like recently.  And it's so hard to not agonize "why??", or second guess choices, or prevent bitterness from seeping in, but if there's one conscious thing I've done to maintain my sanity and faith, it's giving thanks. 

There's nothing like focusing on what you have and appreciating the hell out of it to keep the dark away.  I write about puppies who bound up to and then on me, about babies who wave at me from their strollers and falafel-wallas who hook me up when I'm completely broke and need it most, but what I don't write enough about is you. 

I'm thankful for each and every one of you, for the comments you've left, the emails you've sent, the prayers you have offered.  I know that I am extraordinarily fortunate to have this virtual safety net and today, I give joyful thanks for you.

November 22

The good-half of my day:

I re-taped part of my interview with PRI/BBC "The World" and had a marvelous time laughing with my interviewer, who has a great voice and an even greater niceness which just radiates right through the phone.  I can't wait to hear how the piece turns out.  :)  Immediately after phoning it in, I got to see one of my favorite people, who just happened to be in my neighborhood (and who was looking exceptionally hot, I might add).  I have amazing friends.  :)

The less-fun half of my day:

The only thing worse than desperately seeking a job is doing so in 29 ("feels like" 24) degree weather, in relentless rain, when the destination is hardly metro-accessible (read: lots o' walking, inclement weather or not).  Even if I could've justified splurging on a cab, there wasn't an empty one in sight, which is to be expected when it's so nasty out.   

Nothing like showing up to an interview half-soaked with frizzy hair and chattering teeth, smelling like eau de german shepherd, since a "refined pea coat" (that was J.Crew's description, not mine...it's very nice though, cashmere blend and longer, to the knees) isn't so refined when it's drenched and offering up the reek of wet wool.  Despite all the misery to-and-fro, I think I made a good impression.  We'll see, though I think it's totally telling when even the strip club down the street ain't hiring (don't ask me how I know that...okay fine, ask me, but I'll have to tell you at some later time).

Also?  Eatzi's abruptly going out of business RIGHT before Thanksgiving?  Brutal.  That was my favorite bakery and take-out place in D.C.; who else is going to make Cranberry Orange Bread (with Ginger)?  :(  I predict further weight loss, shortly.

November 20

IMG_0082, originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

I had the most amazing time at Nina and Toby's wedding on Saturday, which was in Philadelphia. :)  My cousin Lisa (in pink, above, between me and the glorious bride) picked me up at Glenmont and then off we went, on one very fun road-trip.  She's such an awesome Auntie-in-training...she made a thermos of CHAI, complete with cardamom and had little cups and everything ready to go.  i was just in love with the flask thing it was in...it was so neat (lit. and fig.) and the chai was STILL warm over eight hours later.  The drive was surprisingly easy; we lucked out traffic-wise, both ways, actually.

We stayed at the Wyndham with two other fotologgers, which guaranteed a slumber-party like atmosphere-- that's always fun, especially for me, since I wasn't allowed to attend or host such events when I was small enough to really want to.  All of us got ready rather efficiently, piled in Lisa's trusty car, survived the devil's attempt to kill us when Lisa apparently got cut off and slammed on the brakes harder than I've ever experienced (as Taby and I went flying and flailing about the back seat) and then finally got to the MT church.  I was somewhat excited, because I've never been to a Malayalee church which was "built from scratch", so to speak.  The Jacobite churches I've attended (and the one MT church I went to once, a few years ago, in DC) were all "pre-owned", i.e. they were built for and used by other congregations before a bunch of parents pooled a ton of money together to buy them.

November 17

In 3 hours, I'm supposed to wake up, pack and then take the metro to a waiting Cousin Lisa.  Then, we're going to Philly for Toby and Nina's wedding. :) I'll finally get to meet a few of the other fotologging females from New York who haven't made it to our alcohol-soaked meetups yet; tomorrow night, it'll be a slumber party at the hotel.

Now I just hope I don't oversleep...Cousin Lisa is a stickler for adhering to her military-like schedule.  I'm almost scared to fall asleep...

Assuming everything unfolds as it should, I'll be back on Sunday, with a few hundred pictures. :)

In Vino Veritas

Despite its apparent status as "just another blog" (or if you're kind, "just another outpost of the empire"), I commenced AJD in January of '04 because I really did want to keep a diary of the quotidian events in my life, as well as the desultory details which are only significant to me, though they may interest and amuse you. 

I actually have used this space to keep track of various things (gym attendance) and to reacquaint myself with certain moments of my life (what I felt like when I lived in CA, which is useful when I'm unreasonably homesick), so it's definitely been a worthwhile project.  Today I'm going to start doing something I've wanted to do for a long time, something I know will be helpful and diary appropriate-- I want to keep track of the wines I'm trying.  I'm a dilettante oenophile and I either like or hate everything I drink...but now that I'm being more adventurous, it would be handy to record what I think about bottle X.

I hate to commence this new category of posts with something negative, but it's what inspired me to finally do this, so vatewer.  I tried something very "foreign" to me-- an Argentinian wine I picked up for a pittance at Trader Joe's.

2005 Amaicha Bonarda = SUCKED.

The label said "juicy berry flavors" and I was sold, unfortunately this Jesus Juice tasted berry bad.  I had one glass before the bottle was left to fester and after a week of not touching it, I poured it down the drain.  I almost never do that.  I don't think I've ever had just one glass of a particular wine, I usually drink half a bottle (over two nights, people), even if I'm not thrilled with something.  I really didn't like this red table wine.  The people at the link below disagree with me:

Link: The Budget Wino: Weekend wine recommendation- Amaicha Bonarda.

...but they use TypePad to blog, so I still find them brilliant and perfect. ;)

November 16

Mini Cooper, Maxi Love, originally uploaded by suitablegirl.

Today's storms were fierce, scary and depressing, but when they went away, the sky looked glorious.  I know.  The first moment I could, I ran out after suffering from cabin fever all day and I couldn't stop looking up at that which had gilded everything I saw with such dazzling, golden light.  The world glittered, even though it had been drenched.

:+:

Dedication (n):  mournfully realizing that going to Target means that the gym will close by the time you get back to the city and immediately extending your zipcar reservation accordingly, so you can hit the 24-hour WSC and lift (legs) before you turn the car in for the night.

That's four times in six days, bitches.  I love it.  Everyone will be fatter in exactly one week, except for ME.  :D