Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Spring Mourning

We've reached 19 months.

I thought things were really moving last month when my ortho put a stronger wire on my teeth, and they looked and felt better than they ever did before. I saw the light at the end of the tunnel. Spring was in the air, it was warm and I felt like I could take on the world. But last week, my doctor put on an even stronger wire and I feel like I've been smashed with a sledgehammer on the left side of my face. I've been off my game ever since. I feel like my teeth are moving too fast and I feel them moving every day. Though it might seem like that would be a good thing, my inadvertent mantra has become "It's not normal!"

But then again, Mother Nature is off her game too. The calendar says that it's Spring, but the snow which came last week, and threatens to arrive again tonight tells another story. I think Spring rushed in so fast that it needed to put on the brakes, regress, and move back to the strange "comfort" of complacent winter. No one is happy with arrangement. We're ready for warmth. We know Mother Nature can bring it to us. So what's the hold up? Why is she hiding the best parts of her when we so very much want to see it shine? Where are my beloved cherry blossoms that are yearning to show their pink finery in April?

I love this poem by Izumi Shikibu, as much as I love the soon-to-bloom cherry blossoms in my back yard. Everything changes, always too quickly and not fast enough.

Nothing in the world is usual today.
This is the first morning.

Come quickly—as soon as these blossoms open, they fall.
This world exists as a sheen of dew on flowers.

Even though these pine trees keep their original color,
everything green is different in spring.

Seeing you is the thread that ties me to this life—
If that knot were cut this moment, I’d have no regret.

Sleeplessly I watch over the spring night—
but no amount of guarding
is enough to make it stay.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Oliver's Twist

This Note From the Universe was delivered a few days ago:

"Sometimes that which you don't understand is drawn to you so that you will understand it. But never because you needed the lesson, and not because all must be so initiated, but only because there had been earlier thoughts of awe, wonder, or criticism. And such thoughts, as all thoughts, must have rearranged your life."

This has been sticking in my mind, and I've been tossing it over in my head like a shiny new penny in one's palm.

I was reading the latest O Magazine and Martha Beck's column highlighted Mary Oliver's poetry, which I've also turned to over the years. In the column, she remembered the poem pieces here:

When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement
And who will care, who will chide you if you wander away
from wherever you are, to look for your soul

Maybe it is because earlier thoughts of awe or wonder or criticism that I am quite utterly amazed by things that are happening lately. A four month old baby was found in the Japanese rubble alive and unhurt. I was embraced and kissed by an Italian stranger in the street yesterday while on my way to get a salad for lunch (!) The temps neared 70 today and all thoughts of winter and blizzards were immediately forgiven and forgotten. And much to my surprise, today I heard "Dear Prudence" by the Beatles for the first time--ever. So I will quote the Fab Four and wish you much amazement in your own day:

The sun is up, the sky is blue
It's beautiful, and so are you.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Nom Nom Nom

The Nom Wah Tea Parlor in Chinatown was today's destination:


Our waitress showed real surprise at the amount of dim sum we ordered, skeptical that we could finish it all. I wanted to title this picture "Nom Nom Nom" while my dining companions wanted to entitle this "Why White People Are Fat." Both work.

Just to bring the point home, this was what we had as an appetizer, not a dessert:


I mean, come on! Little Italy was right there! We had time to kill! How do you say no to Baba Ricotta just taunting you?

I don't think I can keep blaming my weight gain on the braces...

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Toofs!

One of my favorite books of all time is Bitter With Baggage Seeks Same

which cracks me up every time I open up the pages. The book may have come out in 2003, but it just never gets old! It's a book of tableaus which follow the adventures of fuzzy toy chicks and their (rather dark) adventures. Dollhouse furniture, candy and craft supplies are used to create the scenes, and the captions are so devilishly biting, that you can't help but go, "Oh, snap!"

I've read other books of the genre (Desperate Cupcakes is a lot of fun, my fellow foodies) and I've been waiting for a such a book to come along about teeth so I could blog about it.

Imagine my joy when I found out about My Milk Toof!


The book will be in stores on March 23rd, but I got an early copy and I'm so excited! The book tells the story of the really sweet adventures of Ickle and Lardee, teeth who were lost at childhood, cared for by the tooth fairy and now have found their way home to their original owner to play and live and stay. (I love the part where, tucked into a comfy bed after his first day back home, Ickle asks, "Can you leave the door open? Just a little? Do you need me to pay rent? Can we eat waffles for breakfast?" Oh yes! Waffles! My teeth want those too!

I had no idea that the book was attached to the My Milk Toof blog, which is so completely adorable, that me and my tooth obsession can't believe that we haven't seen it sooner. I can only imagine the day when my own teeth, shackles thrown off, can seem as cool and relaxed as this:


Hey, the braces are due to come off in August, so I just might be able to join these little toofs at the pool!

Inhae Lee, I think your stuff is awesome! (Dare I say toothsome?) I bow to your incredibly creativity and attention to detail. How's this for a new adventure for Ickle and Lardee: whatever would they do if they encounter braces? I can't wait to see!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Picture Perfect

I took a photography class at the Metropolitan Museum of Art this weekend. Just thought I'd share some of the fun ones:

Empty Grand Staircase


Grand Staircase Hug:

Reflections in the Wishing Pool:

Reflections in the Wishing Swamp:


Reflections in the Temple of Dendur:


Other Photographers:
Little Girl Making A Wish