How I know Rick has been influenced by me. February 21, 2008 ~ 1:16 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Rick , comments closed(Because that sounds nicer than: How I know Rick is well-trained.)
We were talking about Macbeth as we walked to the subway last night, and both agreed that it felt really long in the second act in spite of stellar acting. Rick then said “You know that really long scene between Macduff and Malcolm? They could have used a dramaturg there.”
Thank you, yes, they could have. This is the second only to last weekend when I showed Rick a scarf that I was knitting in a chevron pattern (which basically makes the scarf edge wavy instead of straight), and not realizing that it was designed that way, he commented “It’s really nice, but you’re going to have to block the hell out of that, aren’t you?”
He got some for that.
We’re mature February 11, 2008 ~ 12:04 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Rick , comments closedSitting in traffic on the way home from Manhattan Friday night, I extended one finger to within an inch of Rick’s leg and said “Not touching you.” He quickly moved his leg so that I was touching him. I pulled my finger back and looked out the window on my side of the car, waiting for the red light to change.
The next thing I know, there was a flash of orange light on my left side and I looked over to see my boyfriend had ignited a lighter by my left leg. I jumped away from it, at least as much I was able to with a seatbelt on. “Not burning you,” he said sweetly.
“Dude, what the fuck?” I asked. “Why would you do that?”
“I’m just taking it to the next level,” he replied.
Many things flashed through my head, but in the end I said the only thing I could: “I am so blogging this.”
He’s not a doctor, he just plays one… November 6, 2007 ~ 11:35 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Rick , comments closedJulie: So is it wrong that after I had a pelvic exam I was thinking of you?Rick: Um………….I hope that the pelvic exams I give you are more pleasant than the one the gynecologist just gave you.
Julie: Definitely.
Rick: Okay then.
Bananas are HOT. October 23, 2007 ~ 10:45 am
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Random Insanity, Rick , comments closedThere are no pictures of Rhinebeck here today because…well, Rick and I went to our favorite Mexican place in the city and our friend Sergio is now head of waitstaff and made sure our margaritas were strong. And then he got us free shots of pineapple tequila. We love Sergio.
Conversation with Rick this morning about my matching yellow bra and unders (I never ever have matching undies. I basically make sure the that bra isn’t going to show through the shirt I’m wearing and grab whatever unders my hand meets first in the drawer.):
Rick: Wow, that’s nice! You look kinda like a banana. (Realizes that this is not, in fact, a compliment, and tries to rectify it.) You know…in my imagination.
Julie: That is so not sexy. That is perhaps the least sexy comparison I’ve ever heard. Bananas are not sexy.
Rick: Well, you look like a hot banana!
Yes, because that made it all better. I only wish I could blog the earnest look on his face as he said this, trying to make amends.
It’s fall, I’m sick. October 2, 2007 ~ 2:09 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Craftiness Is Next To Godliness, Rick, Urban Family, photo safari , comments closedI blame the baby. She has a cold, and after spending several days around her this past weekend, I think I have a cold. Which resulted in hardcore post-nasal drip, which resulted in…well, in me puking in the wee sma’s this morning. Yuck. So I am home today, recovering. Recovery involves drinking a lot of EmergenC and watching America’s Next Top Model. Hey, whatever works.
But hey, guess what? There’s a picture of me over on Mason-Dixon Knitting. (If you’re a knitter, you’re jealous.) Top picture, left hand side. That’s me in the Steelers cap and aqua hoodie, concentrating very hard on my spinning. The Spin-Out was a lovely way to spend Saturday - I walked up the hill to the fountain, and suddenly, there was a crowd of my people! Even better? There were a bunch of people spinning on Lendrums! We’re a cult! (Check the Ravelry groups if you’re on, we really are a cult now.) I spun for about five hours with a few trips to the bathroom and to get food, made a bunch of new friends, and got a few lessons (and a lovely birthday present) from my friend Jenny. (She is a miracle worker. The superfine merino top that I was spinning up as crap last week? Now looks like real live yarn! Even Rick couldn’t believe the difference!) Kids were spinning, guys were spinning, girls were spinning, and we became quite the tourist attraction. Really…the rickshaws were stopping beside us and pointing us out to tourists. Same with the carriages. I made some wonderful new (look at the picture of me, it makes me laugh) friends who I will see again at Rhinebeck later this month, and I just really enjoyed myself.
Afterwards, Rick and I met up with J and Thabs and Samang for dinner at a German restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen. We ended up sitting right next to another table that was celebrating a birthday (Librans are everywhere, I must have run into about twelve people with birthdays on or near mine this year), and so there was a lot of talk back and forth, and a lot of beer.
The next morning, I woke up to…well, continuing proof that Rick is the best boyfriend ever. When I woke up there was a handmade card and a small wrapped package. I unwrapped it and found a memory card that didn’t fit anything I own. I thanked him for it, but said “What do I use this for?” He said “Well, you can always use more memory. Especially if you have this.” and pulled out a Nikon D-40. There will be a steep learning curve, especially as I find myself reaching for the non-existent zoom button, but I love my first SLR very very much.
We then went over to Prospect Park for a little birthday party with some friends. Jordana, Thabiso, and Samang were there of course, and the girls took some time out of their schedules to come out, and Jessie, Andre, and Zula joined us as well, but the person who gets the biggest amount of points for showing up? The Retropolitan, who not only came from his distant Bat Cave, but came out to help celebrate my birthday when the only person he knew there was me. No pictures were taken of Retro, because he is so mysterious that he cannot be captured on camera, but now you are all jealous of me, knitters or not. It was an amazing birthday weekend, and I am just thrilled to have all these wonderful people in my life.
30? It ain’t so bad. Pictures here to prove it.
“Teenagers scare the living shit out of me!” September 24, 2007 ~ 9:58 am
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Reviews, Rick , comments closedRick and I spent an unholy amount of time this weekend flipping back and forth between VH1 Classic and Fuse. On VH1, we found Metal Mania, where I could relive my misspent youth. (I know he was awed that I still remember all the words to “I Remember You,” and I’m pretty sure he was impressed that I still have Warrant’s Cherry Pie on cassette. Try as I might, I could not lay hands on Poison’s Flesh and Blood. It has to be around somewhere, I would not have thrown that gem out.) On Fuse, we found a treasure trove of catchy songs and Rick learned about emo (he saw his first My Chemical Romance video). I have been alternating between singing MCR’s “Teenagers” and Killswitch Engage’s cover of “Holy Diver” all morning.
What did we learn? That music videos are still completely overblown. But now they can do the overblowing with computers and it doesn’t look like the video cost $5 to make. Ah, technology.
Bathroom wars September 12, 2007 ~ 9:44 am
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Rick , comments closedRick puts toilet paper on the roll so that the end of the roll hangs down the back. I put toilet paper on the roll in the correct way, so that the end hangs down the front and is easy to access. When we’re at his house, I play by his rules and don’t say anything about the bass-ackwards way the toilet paper hangs, and at my house, he should respect my superior toilet paper replacement skills and leave well enough alone.
I came home the other night to find a new toilet paper roll had been placed on the holder, and after I was done with my business and replaced the damn thing correctly, I confronted the boy.
“Okay, one, who the hell taught you to replace toilet paper?” I asked, because subtlety has never been my strong suit, and maybe he didn’t know how much it irritated me before that. “The flap goes in the front. And two, did you not see that I stuck a four pack of toilet paper under the sink for you to use?” (This much was clear, he hadn’t. The stuff under the sink is our first foray into recycled toilet paper, and the stuff hanging on the roll was still Quilted Northern, obviously gotten from the hall closet.)
Rick gave me a “What are you talking about?” look and went back to fixing his tea. No more was said about it, and the next morning after he’d gone off to play golf, I find out the bastard has flipped the toilet paper again just to be contrary. I flipped it back, not to be contrary, but because it’s my house and I am right. And even if I weren’t right? It’s still my house. War is on, people, even if we laughed about it on the phone later.
And seriously, how do two people go through toilet paper so much faster than one person? Is there some obscure law of physics that covers this? What the hell?
Another gem August 17, 2007 ~ 10:29 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Random Insanity, Rick , comments closedRick: We could go to Nova Scotia.
Julie: I’d like to go there. And Prince Edward Island.
Rick: I have no interest in going there. It seems too touristy.
Julie: I want to go see the Anne of Green Gables house.
Rick: Wait, that story was on Prince Edward Island?
Julie: Yes…
Rick: I thought that was in France.
Julie: No.
Rick: I thought the movie was just Americanized.
Julie: Dude, Gilbert say “I’m soorry, Anne!” They said “aboot”!
Rick: Oh. Soorry.
I don’t know which one of us comes off stupider in this conversation - Rick for thinking Anne of Green Gables was set in France, or me for my Anne liking.
Overheard August 15, 2007 ~ 9:53 pm
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Rick , comments closedLast weekend, Rick and I went to the grocery store to pick up something for a barbecue at his cousin’s house. Vanilla Ice came on the grocery radio. Rick started bopping his way through the produce section. I laughed at him.
Rick: “I can’t help it, I have to walk like this when this kind of music comes on. Why don’t you?”
Julie: “I dunno, maybe because I’m not a dork?”
Never quantify your love or you will regret it. August 13, 2007 ~ 9:35 am
Posted by Julie in : Coupledom, Random Insanity , comments closedOn Friday, I took the bus up to Pittsfield to see Rick and the Youngest. I have referred to this bus as “the milk run” in the past, because really, how in the fuck does it take four and a half hours to make that trip? We can make it in three hours in the car. Then again, we don’t stop at every freakin’ town in Connecticut and Massachusetts on the way.
I digress. How unusual. Anyway, before I got on the bus, I told Rick that I loved him four and half hours of bus worth, but not nine, and so he would be taking me back to the city in the car. I was half joking, since I knew he would be driving me back, but at the same time not joking -you sit four and a half hours in one of those seats where the only way to stretch is to go back to the toilet and hang on for dear life while trying to take a pee and then tell me how much you love the person you’re traveling to see.
When he picked me up at the bus station, I asked him why the car was making a funny noise when he made turns. He said it had was nothing to worry about, he had already talked to the dealership about it. However it got worse as the weekend wore on, and by yesterday morning the steering was getting dodgy even though we put more power steering fluid into the car. In the end we decided not to risk a trip down to Brooklyn and back, so Rick drove me to the nearest MetroNorth station (still an hour and a half from his house) and dropped me off there to catch the train back to Manhattan before heading back to make sure the car went to the dealership first thing this morning. If we add that hour and a half to the train ride (two hours) and the subway ride (a particularly craptastic hour and a half due to construction)…my return commute was akin to five hours. And because we had to leave early to make sure I caught the train, I didn’t get to go water skiing at his cousin’s house. My continuing neuroses with being well ahead of time when traveling beats me over the head again.
The lesson to be learned from this? Never say “I love you this much but not this much” or you will get a smackdown from the universe.
