As I was riding my bike this evening, considering how beautiful my neighborhood is and how lucky I am to live here and have the time to enjoy it, I realized that it was the type of musing I always used to write about here. But in the past week, I've tried to recenter myself; I want to be more productive and routinized with my day so I don't end up checking my email every hour or watching dvds while taking up wildly indulgent sewing projects that I'm not sure I'm talented enough to finish. So, that being considered, it seems like a poor use of my time to write about my thoughts here...

Which led me to a thought: why am I so worried about regret? All of my concerns about productivity, health, dating, and my career are founded in a deep seeded fear of making a poor choice; at least if I'm busy, my subconscious neurotic tells me, then I can't be blamed for not trying. I've resolved though, in the face of some loyalty to my generation telling me I should throw caution to the wind and lay around all day this summer as a tell-off to "regret," I'm going to try to get more done. I guess my type A personality can't be overcome even by this beautiful weather.

To keep this update short, then, here's a current likes/dislikes list, similar to the posts of my college days...

Likes
-Mangoes
-Riding my bike everywhere- it's 20 minutes to my Aunt's house south of Lake Harriet, 15 minutes back to a book talk at the Lyndale Community Church (and 1 hour to the school where I teach...maybe I won't ride to work;)
-Swiss Chard & Kale with vineagrette- if I accomplish one thing this summer it's going to be to develop a love of vegetables!
-Crafty Planet's retro fabrics. They're so beautiful & unique. I'm going to copy my favorite dress with this new floral print I found...we'll see if I can figure it out and if it's a success, I'll use the same pattern to make my bridesmaid dress for August!
-Fage greek yogurt. It's fat free but has the consistency of ice cream. Delicious with fresh berries and granola:)
-My summer mix:
Again & Again by The Bird and the Bee
All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth by The New Pornographers
Baby Doll by The Fratellis
Everything's Just Wonderful by Lily Allen
For Emma by Bon Iver
Foundations by Kate Nash
Getting Down by The Kills
Goods by Mates of State
The Grey Estates by Wolf Parade (I get to see them tomorrow!)
Happiness by Goldfrapp
Let Me In by Hot Hot Heat
Lily Two by Matt Pond PA
Look Out Sunshine! by The Fratellis
Milk Crisis by The Go! Team
Oregon Girl by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin
Something Great by Haley Bonar
Sour Cherry by The Kills
Think I Wanna Die by Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin (SSLYBY)
Time to Pretend by MGMT
Vanished by Crystal Castles
Viva la Vida by Coldplay
You Cheated Me by Martha Wainwright
You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb by Spoon

I love them all.

Dislikes:
-Humidity
-Democratic doubts about Barack Obama...let's please not dismiss our own candidate again; it really doesn't help come November
-Sunburns (on my stomach)
-Worrying that my students are getting good meals and supervision over the summer. All of our kids get free breakfast and lunch during the school year, so that's a lot more money that parents need to budget for during vacation. Not to mention that most of the parents work 2-3 jobs, so I hope the children are safe at home (and reading? Maybe that's too much to ask!)

That's all I can think of for now. I hope things get my interesting, spicy, tantalizing, and salacious soon. A girl can hope;)