Instagram Envy

if you have to be stuck in the suburbs on a business trip, you can't ask for more than an H-Mart right next to your hotel. an oasis in a desert of chain store blandness, H-Mart offers riches such as over 20 different varieties of frozen noodles (spinach, buckwheat, sweet potato, vermicelli), fresh kim chi in quart-size deli containers to go, and a gazillion asian sodas (what's jujube???). for my dinner of champions, i selected a frozen jabchae entree (better than my lean cuisines at home) and a japanese red bean rice cake (that one not so good, i didn't finish it), paired with a cup of ginger tea. H-Mart, see you again tomorrow night!

OOJ: Lead Pencil Tricks

another verbal OOJ from work today:

kid: (pulling off the eraser on his lead pencil) i can do a trick with my lead pencil!

me: (in a fit of bravado) i know all the tricks one can do with a lead pencil!

kid: do you know how to put it under your arm and make fart noises?

me: (pause) no i do not know how to put it under my arm and make fart noises.

kid: you said you knew all the tricks!

me: i guess you proved me wrong.

OOJ: Office in the Sky

recently the universe gifted me with the best flight i've had in a long time, on southwest airlines from MDW to ABQ. the flight wasn't full, so i was able to snag a window seat near the front with an empty middle seat between me and the snoozing guy with the kindle in the aisle seat, giving me extra space to curl up my legs and spread out my stuff. i spent a near blissful 2.5 hours alternately reading magazines (NYT), practicing drum patterns on my lap ("Basic Rock [Variations for Bass Drum]" p. 10), and gazing out the window into the inky night sky. at 30k ft in the air with the constant engine drone as my soundtrack, i felt like i could write a book, compose a song- create anything. instead, i let my mind meander the mundane: how long can i wait until my next haircut (i got one last week)? what will i wear to work tomorrow? what will i search for on ebay when i get home (rebecca minkoff studded crossbody clutch)? up there, i had no idea where i physically was in space, and the absence of a geographical orientation somehow freed my brain- i hadn't realized how much energy i spend thinking about where do i need to be next, and after that, and after that. my day is a chain of place-hopping, so i'm constantly thinking forward. this flight allowed me to simply be.