I finally ventured out into the world of laundr-o-mats today. Yes, that is correct--I've never used one before. Oh, except when I was in Italy, but I'm just referencing the States here. I was feeling very city-girl as I broke my 20 to get a caramel macchiato and then ventured to the "Super Laundry Center" on St Paul Street. I started my wash and sat down to do some crosswords while some art teachers griped about the "art world" in the back. A little boy was watching Power Puff girls, much to my detriment, but what did I care? I had puzzles to do and a David Sedaris book to read.
I was cherishing this moment of urban life when suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, a giant cockroach crawled across the floor as if he was making a break for it. No one else noticed, so I smooshed him with my shoe and scooped him up with a CVS circular. Ugh. One of the less glam aspects of living in a city. At least it wasn't in my apartment. I didn't set any of my bags on the floor just to be sure I didn't carry one home with me. Don't need any roach immigrants in my place.
It has been snowing off and on today, making the city look beautiful. Less dirty. Unless you're in Philly, when the plowed snow collects a film of black soot to remind you of all the disgusting filth you walk on every day. Even the snow can't hide it forever. I'm listening to my record player a lot the past few days, mostly because my CD player no longer works but also because I have some cool records. Right now I'm listening to Frank Sinatra. Yesterday, it was Astrud Gilberto and Jack Johnson. The day before, it was The Beatles. Sometime Seamus tries to catch the record as it spins around, so I have to be careful. He's been mostly interested in swatting at the falling snow from the windowsill this afternoon.
The AFC Championship game was last night, and the Ravens lost. I'm a little bummed, for one who never really got into football until October of 2007. McGahee was injured pretty badly in the fourth quarter and the dudes in the booth kept replaying his brutal impact with Clark of the Steelers. It was pretty nasty--lots of whiplash. I don't understand why we needed to see it 17 times. I asked the barista at Starbucks today, as if he'd know, and he blames it on our nation's fascination with violence. "Just watch the UFC," he said. No thanks. No likey.
I've started cleaning with vinegar, lemon juice and baking soda. I use microfiber towels and it seems to be working pretty well. I still need at least one or two rolls of paper towels (mostly to mop up cat puke or other gross things I don't want on my towels, even though they're washable), but at least I'm using a lot less. I feel bad to waste so many trees when we can just reuse rags and towels. I'm even going to cut up old fitted sheets and t-shirts and turn them into dust rags. They weren't nice enough for Goodwill but they're great for cleaning!
Oh, I want to plug a great little blog that my friend Jen turned me on to: Bakerella. I used one of her recipes Saturday to make Brownie Candy Cups. Very yum! I love her photography and her awesome baking ideas. She is a very cool chica. She even made Mii cupcakes in celebration of her contest to win a Nintendo Wii! I will be entering it as soon as this blog post is finished.
