The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

I stopped by REI Thursday night after realizing I'd be doing this trip solo. "Can I help you find anything?" asked a perky salesgirl. "Yes, I'm looking for a compass. And a knife. And, um... I don't know, I was supposed to go backpacking with my boyfriend tomorrow, but that relationship ended last night, but I still want to go, but I don't know what I need..." My eyes are filling with tears. "Oh honey..." She says. "I have a degree in psychology, AND I can help you get set up for backpacking." And what followed was a lovely conversation. This little breakdown at REI pretty much set the tone for the whole trip. There was traffic on the way down. I got to the national forest where I'd be camping around 11:00, and the street signs didn't match my map. (My map had numbers, and the signs had names. Really???) Supposedly I could camp off of any gravel road, but there were NO gravel roads. Finally I was relieved to see a

Just realized I haven't blogged about last weekend, and it's almost the next weekend. :) Friday was a terrible day at work, and then it took me three hours to get home. The last thing I felt like doing was going on a date. But I made myself go, mostly because I wanted to remind myself that I'm not waiting around for Bernie and am serious about the spring break deadline I set. Terrible idea. The date sucked. Every time the waitress came over, I'd be ready to ask for the check and he'd order another drink. He had SIX DRINKS. I had ONE. By the time I got home, all I wanted was Bernie. And we were on the phone for four hours. Saturday I got to cheer on my friend Anne in the Chicago Get Lucky Half Marathon. I was so proud of her. She started running recently and just stuck to it. I felt really inspired watching her, almost enough to start running again this week. Almost. Bernie and I were on the phone again for like, five hours on Saturday night. Sunday was a g

My Kristin is sick. Like, doctors can't figure out what's wrong, they're doing lots of tests, she's had the symptoms for a while now sick. One of those symptoms is nausea, so I stopped at CVS the other morning to get her some motion sickness wrist bands to help with that. (I wore them when I was pregnant and never threw up.) Of course I had to get a card, so I began browsing the Friendship section of the Hallmark aisle. I was about to give up when I found the perfect card. It had a picture like the one below. "I'd follow you anywhere..." the front said. Inside: "The view from behind is great." I wrote a little note affirming the awesomeness of Kristin's ass. Goodness knows that canyoneering has led to some close encounters with it. But upon further consideration, it occurred to me that that's not a typical friendship card... I think I strayed into the Romance section by accident. Not sure what this says about our friendship. Kristin

Just a helpful hint, guys- when searching for topics of conversation on a first date, extremely detailed descriptions of how cars work and/or eating the heart of a deer you've just shot probably shouldn't be your go-to choices. I mean, I'm sure there are some girls out there who would find these things fascinating. But if your date says, "I am a vegetarian," she is probably not one of those girls.

I am asked "How are you?" many times throughout the day, and during the past week or so, I'm not sure how to answer that. Life, in general, is good.  I had a great weekend last weekend.  Had a two hour lunch with my new friend Allison, who I think is seriously one of the coolest people I've ever met. Ann and Allison are good friends, and Ann told me the other day that she and Allison have gigantic girl crushes on me, which is awesome because I feel exactly the same way about them.  Whitney and I had dinner at Kopi Cafe, one of my favorite Chicago spots, and we hung out at her place, halfheartedly crafting and mostly just enjoying our conversation.  Veronica (another new friend/neighbor) and I tried a yoga studio down the street on Sunday morning, and then she joined me for my weekly pilgrammage up to the Jewish deli in Skokie.  Sunday night I took a bubble bath and sang Billie Holiday songs, then read some of "On the Road" before going to bed.  I mean, lif

Pete is a controversial figure in my life. I know a lot of my friends don't like me talking to him, but there is some good in this friendship, otherwise I wouldn't maintain it. It was announced at a union meeting today that many teachers will be losing their jobs. As a first year teacher in my district, that means a 99% chance that I'll lose my job. I'll officially be told on March 20. Now, I've been mentally preparing for this for a while, but hearing that it was officially announced today hit me hard. I filled out an application for my Phoenix school district, but then I started thinking about working on my résumé, filling out more applications, packing up my apartment, not having enough money to fly back to Chicago for holidays... One thought led to another, and I was overwhelmed. When this happened last year, I texted Pete and he came over immediately. Same thing this year. He was here within an hour of the text. Listening. Telling me funny stories to di

1. Painting your toenails red 2. Sunshine 3. Singing 4. Going for a run 5. Doing a random act of kindness 6. Planning something fabulous 7. Having a ridiculous conversation with a girlfriend

I am almost halfway through "On the Road." More things I am loving about this book: "Soon it got dusk, a grapy dusk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves and long melon fields; the sun the color of pressed grapes, slashed with burgundy red, the fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries. I stuck my head out of the window and took deep breaths of the fragrant air. It was the most beautiful of all moments." (This almost made Fresno sound appealing! That town had such a shady vibe. I stopped there in between Yosemite and King's Canyon and was happy to escape back into the mountains.) "We give and take and go in the incredibly complicated sweetness zigzagging every side." "Lucille would never understand me because I like too many things and get all confused and hung-up running from one falling star to another till I drop." "What are you going to do with yourself, Ed?" I asked. "I don't know," he said. "

The other morning, I woke up to a revelation. From now on, I need to live my life according to the philosophy, "What would Beyonce do?" Think about it. Beyonce is clearly winning at life. She must be doing something right. I need to learn from her! I watched her documentary the other night and took notes. Here is what I learned: 1. Don't be too hard on yourself. 2. Set boundaries. 3. Don't lose yourself in your job; balance it with your personal life. 4. Know what you want. 5. Don't be afraid to end unhealthy relationships. 6. Learn to dance. 7. Maintain friendships with women. Be silly with them. 8. Have a professional vision and don't be afraid to be assertive to make it happen. 9. Work your ass off. 10. Film/document your life. 11. Find something in your life that empowers you, that makes you feel powerful, like a total badass when you do it. Do this as often as you can. 12. Have standards for the things that are most important. 13. Love

Well, I am definitely not excited about being “in my 30’s,” but my birthday was lovely. I celebrated Saturday night with a trip to DC’s.   It felt so good to dance!   I was hoping to get in for free since apparently, I am the face of DC’s.   But no such luck.   That’s all right, we had a blast.   I loved that my girlfriends were brave about trying the dances.   There were two moments that really made me laugh that night: Nina texted and said, “We’re here.” I met her at the entrance less than a minute later.   She already had a drink in her hand.   The first thing she did upon walking in was hit the bar.   This is a testament to our friendship; there is absolutely nothing Nina enjoys about this place, but she’ll come here anyway if it’s for my birthday.   Leisa was asking me about how I found the place, how long I’d been going there,etc.   Then she said to me, “Erin B. (she always calls me by my full name), you fascinate me. I feel like I keep discovering these facets

When I arrived in Phoenix, the last stop of my road trip last summer, a copy of "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac was waiting for me on my bed at Rachel's house. I finally picked it up and started reading today. Oh my goodness, "On the Road" + Mumford and Sons = itchy feet. I just want to go go go. This feeling is fueled even more by my annual birthday argument with my dad (this year I was told I make stupid decisions and am irresponsible), and a late night text from Bernie informing me that he is rafting down the Colorado River from the Hoover Dam to Yuma. (I am insanely jealous.) I'm not too far into the book, but already found something I love: "If you drop a rose in the Hudson River at its mysterious source in the Adirondacks, think of all the places it journeys by as it goes out to sea forever- think of that wonderful Hudson Valley." I am going to buy roses and drop them in all the headwaters of streams I see in the Smokies. I just think it