Humanitarian Worker Chic

I"m off to South Sudan on Tuesday evening - off to see the 'big cattle drive' as the Dinkas drive their cattle home. I spent the day shopping. I wanted to buy Juicy Couture jeans and cute tops from Zara but instead I bought some funky orange teva/sandals and more baggy linen pants. My clothes budget goes to clothes that are going to be beat against rocks, sweated in, rolled in dust and dirt while I sit in refugee camps, and generally abused. Don't you thnk I should be able to charge these to Refugees International? So here's what the fashionable aid worker wears - funky tevas, linen pants, tank tops, ball caps, sunglasses, and a big orange bag to tote all my stuff. Oh yeah, my id around my neck. and a camera. and a sat phone in my pocket. Glamourous, eh?

Why so rude, Video Americain guy?

So, I've been trying to put into practice my "Keep your heart open" campaign. I'm combining a mantra of being open to a loving new relationship a la Michelle Wright and Year of Saying Yes. One of the new rules means that I have to be open and friendly to all. Make eye contact, strike up conversations, and in general stop being a hermit who only listens to her iPod and looks at her feet when she walks around Adams Morgan, arguably the area where one would most likely find a boyfriend in DC.

So I go into Video Americain to return my "Six Feet Under" DVDs. And I immediately have to break the rule. Video Americain guy is there and as usual, he is surly, rude, uncommunicative, and a general jackass. As I left the store, I said hello since his head was right next to my shoulder. And he ignored me. Fine. I don't want him to talk to me but WHY SO RUDE?

He once yelled at me for standing next to the counter by the door while waiting for them to correct a mistake. I went in with my netflix envelope last week. Should i have been embarrassed? He glared at me. Once I asked him if he had heard anything good about "A Very Long Engagement" - he looked at me as if I had vomited on the counter.

the other clerks are all nice. Even if they don't approve of what I'm renting, they don't act as blatantly rude to me! It's his loss. I have good taste in movies. It's YOUR LOSS, VIDEO AMERICAINE GUY! Be an uncommunicative ass. See if I care.

Snow Day!!

When it began to snow yesterday, I was thrilled! Thrilled because I grew up in South Carolina where it rarely if ever snowed and I knew that this meant I was being given an opportunity to do something I rarely do anymore - play hooky!!! I was supposed to go back up to NYC today to present at a Tsunami and the Elderly conference. Then I was organizing some meetings around the event but in actuality- once I got home and Simon snuggled up on my lap and the heat was warm and my feather duvet was calling my name - the big city lost its allure. So, I've done nothing all day except eat the homemade Chicken Soup I made yesterday, watch movies, and take naps. It's so wonderfully relaxing.

I can't understand my friends who say they are stressed out but who manage to schedule every minute of their lives. Maybe I would get more accomplished in my life but I remember the days when I was working three jobs at a time and couldn't bear to be alone. I scheduled myself so much that I knew something was wrong with me. I remember that I started to learn how to bake so I would have to be in one place for at least two hours. I remember scheduling days off and slowly slowly I learned to enjoy my down time. I like goofing off. Sometimes I wonder if i'm a slacker but then I think about all the shit I do compared to my sister and dad and friends back home and realize I'm not... that's just the crazy talking.

Washington DC is a type A city. We're all Type A people. We over-schedule. We cram a hundred things into our lives. We read our email, talk on the phone, while glancing at the tv all at the same time. Hell, I even read closed-captioning on the television because I can't wait for the characters to read their lines fast enough. So today I'm kicking back and taking a snow day. I've watched three shitty movies (AirForce 1, 10 Things I hate about you, and now Walking Tall). I read two magazines. and I've done my laundry and a load of dishes. Even on a snow day I can't avoid my Type A tendencies.

2006 Sarah

So I had a revelation the other night. I decided to go out with my friend Bernice to Cashion's Eat Place for a nice glass of wine and some hors d'ouevres after dieting non-stop for two weeks to fit into designer jeans for the Glamour photo shoot. After we finished dinner, I really was more in the mood to just go home. Instead we went to Bossa where I really enjoyed watching the live Salsa band and lo and behold, a man hit on me when I was waiting for the bathroom.

Then, I screwed up meeting up with Adrienne the other night and had to rush over to a Congolese Happy Hour party that I really didn't think I wanted to go to. I had a great time! I danced and drank beer and enjoyed myself!

Adrienne made a comment about how 2005 Adrienne did what she wanted to do and didn't worry about all her friends. She arrived at parties late and didn't help set up or volunteer to bring things.

Since I'm sick to fucking death of being single now (all the mistakes of 2005 being behind me now), it's time for 2006 Sarah! I have a theory that even numbered years are where you make the changes and odd numbered years are when success comes to you.

So, I'm going to pursue the things that I used to love - going out for live music. Not always being sensible. Not just going to happy hours with colleagues from work and then going home and going to bed. Maybe I'll stay home during the week and actually go out and do enjoyable stuff!

I have a plan. I'll be in New York City on Valentine's Day and noone I know will be available to hang out. So I thought 2006 Sarah might just go to some show in New York City on her own. And maybe, just maybe, I'll recapture that feeling of when I used to travel alone and meet people all the time. I'll be bold and daring.

In the immortal words of Sir Paul McCartney- "No More Lonely Nights"