a date full of vegetables, etc.

So, my friend Liz Besanson took these photos.
My niece Lyric told me that I “look like a really gorgeous and nice vampire in this picture.”

hahahaha she gives the best, most creative compliments, I think.

And, today I had my very first swimming lesson ever.

A friend from capoeira is basically a fish in the water (okay, she’s human, but you know what I mean) and, after hearing me say that I don’t swim so well, offered to teach me on the spot. That was yesterday and today she was like, “Yo. Let’s do this thing.”

And so I put on a bathing suit (duh), swim cap (hot), and goggles (hotter) and I learned how to do the fancy breathing and the crawl. It was lovely. And exhausting. Swimming is not for the weak, I think. And now I have this pool that I can go to and practice whenever I want and I think I might just do that.

It’s funny, here I am, having moved to New York, and I am learning to do all sorts of new things. I love it. I feel like I am sucking every last drop out of the great dishrag of life. Not the most poetic metaphor, but it’s how I feel.

And tonight, Betsy and I went on a date. We each had a salad. A SALAD. This is significant because those things are full of vegetables. I must admit, sometimes I totally forget about vegetables. And then I feel guilty and buy a bag of baby carrots at the Fine Fare down the block. And then I bake cookies and I continue to “test out” the cookie dough until I feel guilty about that, remember my bag of baby carrots, take them out, and start eating them while I bake to keep myself from eating cookie dough. It’s a classic case of the woman who swallowed the spider to catch the fly. Thank God I was dealing with things that do not wriggle and wriggle and wriggle inside me, though.

And then I am full of carrots and cookie dough and it’s a strange combination to have rolling around in your belly right before you take your very first swim lesson of your life, folks.

And because of all the carrots and all the cookie dough, I totally forget to eat lunch or dinner and so my friend kindly forces me to eat her almonds right as capoeira starts and so while everyone else is warming up, I’m the weirdo in the corner munching on almonds.

Anyway.

Betsy and I went on a date and it was marvelous. Cause after our respective salads (so! many! vegetables!), we went and saw The Help. And we were either crying or laughing through basically the whole thing. Which lasts close to three hours, by the way. And it felt like five minutes, which is really saying something for me. Cause, I love a good movie, but the long ones–well, I am generally ready to wrap it up before the credits roll, if you know what I mean. This one, though–it was just beautiful. I loved it. Every minute of it.

I read that book when I was going through a dark night of the soul, and so I think that story has a very special place in my heart. It took me on a journey that felt a whole lot better than my own at the time.

So yes, go see it.

Like, now.

Okay fine, you can wait till tomorrow, I guess.