All (-ish) – Page 312

Requiem: skinny strap all-cotton tank

Back in the day (c.1998-1999) I worked for Bread and Circus Whole Food Market, which was the official name of the Whole Foods stores in the Boston area. I worked in Prepared Foods, which meant I wore an apron and a chef’s jacket every day. We worked right in front of the ovens and though most of the case was refrigerated, there was also the hot case. I was always moving, whether to restock or to get a customer just the right amount of Mexican Casserole. I also (and still do) sweat a lot.

So I always wore tank tops to this job, even in the dead of winter. (I had a sweater I would wear over the tank top during transit to and from.) One day, I put on a shirt with sleeves, thinking it would be okay. It wasn’t and on my first break, I bought this tank top from the nutrition area so I could make it through the rest of the day.

This is my last wardrobe item from my time at Bread and Circus. I outgrew it years ago (I mean it fits, but really it just “fits”) but kept it because I liked the feel of the functional organic cotton, even if I was just brushing by it in my drawer.

Farewell soft cotton tank top. You are an end of an era.

Top Movies of November 2015

Total movies watched: 16

Words & Pictures
“Grownup” love story and a good meditation on teaching.

The Intern
Way more complex than I thought it would be, with great characters and a female-centered plot.

42
Hard to watch biopic of Jackie Robinson.

All the President’s Men
Great Redford/Hoffman pairing, and one of THE best newspaper movies.

Spotlight
Another amazing newspaper movie with great acting and frustrating subject matter.

Brooklyn
Possibly the most perfect movie I’ve seen this year.

Alien
It’s a classic for a reason. And there’s a subplot with a cat.

All the Real Girls
Realistic portrayal of early 20s bumbling in love that also captures the beauty of a small mill town.

Requiem: Two coats.

I found this red 50s swing cost many years ago and it’s been my go-to “theater” coat for years. It’s got 3/4 sleeves, and it always makes me wish I had long gloves to go with it. I love the button closure at the top and the material. However, I have a good winter coat (that is actually warm) to wear to the “theater”, so I think it’s time for this coat to find a new owner.

I’m terribly sorry that I only have a blurry picture of the Recess Coat. I bought this years ago at the William Temple Thrift store, because it was reversible. I’m a sucker for a reversible coat. It was also obnxoious in it’s fake fur nature. It kind of sat around for a few years until I got the job at The Emerson School which came with recess duty as one of its requirements. This coat then migrated to school and was always ready to keep me warm. I always accesorized it with those $1.00 stretchy gloves from Fred Meyer and some chapstick. The white card was my laminated “bug and a wish”* reminder to use with the kindergartners. With it, I wore a wool hat (which I am not getting rid of) that I bought at the Council Crest Thrift Store. This coat kept me warm during many a cold and rainy recess. When the weather would warm, I would joke that I’d look like a crazy person, because I would still wear the heavy coat. Because standing outside in shade for 45 minutes is still chilly, even on a sixty degree day.

As I do not have recess duty any longer, it’s time for this most excellent coat to find a new home. Note that it took me almost two months to part with this coat. We’ve had a good partnership.

*It really BUGS me when you [follow me around]. I WISH you would [stop following me around])

Three sentence movie reviews: Brooklyn

I’d read the book years ago and didn’t really care for it,* but I’m a sucker for both Saoirse Ronan and Nick Hornby, plus I’d heard the raves, so off I went. I settled in for 111 minutes of pure pleasure as I navigated the choppy waters of Eilis’s new life. Emory Cohen** was remarkable, but Ronan was mesmerizing.***

Cost: I think $6.00?
Where watched: St Johns Twin, in the small theater upstairs with a lot of other people with grey hair.

*However, sitting waiting for the movie to start, I thought about just how many scenes from the book I could clearly remember, even five years later. I also could remember the entire plot, which is something I can’t say about some books I read six months ago, or even one month ago. Well done, Colm Toibin.
**He was that sketchy dude in the third part of The Place Beyond the Pines, and completely different in this role.
***Also, you will get your money’s worth just watching Julie Walters trying to keep control of her boarders’ conversation at the dinner table.

poster from: http://www.impawards.com/intl/misc/2015/brooklyn.html

What I’m not doing this Christmas

There was a good three-hour window in which I was totally going to make one of these gingerbread houses. Because they are totally awesome! And then I came to my senses.

Maybe next year.

A new look

I’ve grown a bit tired of my blog format. I find especially the font is annoying and hard to read. So it’s time to change it up.

Before:

And after:

Eventually I will get around to separating things into pages so everything isn’t in one long stream, but that will be a future project. In the meantime, enjoy the readable font.

Hanging around downtown

The holiday tree (which I believe is it’s official name) is getting its branches attached. I think they supplement with branches from other trees, judging by Douglas Firs I’ve seen in the wild. (aka the neighborhoods of Portland)

Somewhere on this post is a picture of a big hole. After a period of recession-era shutdown, that big hole has now become a very sparkly new building.

Said sparkly new building towers over Director Park (picture it on the far right of the picture below). Perhaps its height will make the covered area in the park look a better scale. By the way, the roof of the covered area is being repaired as its instillation was faulty.