On Walter White

(Article Spoiler Alert.)

Unlike most Breaking Bad fans, I didn’t have weeks or months to mull over whether Walter White would end up in jail, dead, or sailing off the coast of an unnamed island. Quite the contrary: my investment in Walt’s fate has been an intense whirlwind (19 episodes over a 48-hour period and, yes, I am utterly exhausted today), in which I watched one horrific scene after another in order to enjoy the series finale with the rest of the nation, confident that my bedtime dreams would be filled with murderous threats, irreparable bombs, and gory, unexpected deaths.  And filled they were but with an unyielding sympathy to a severely flawed character, whose erratic decision-making processes I was (strangely) always able to get behind.  And so, in those last few minutes of a relentless, committed television companionship, I was joyously stunned by how easily my own heart felt at peace with the outcome, secretly rooting for even the most tortured souls to find redemption, including but not limited to Mr. White himself.  Enjoy!

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On Reuniting With Relatives

Theories of Relativity.

I'm always been jealous of the few friends who travel across states to reunite with a hundred plus family members from around the world.  Yet, every two to four months, the five to eight member Einstein clan have their own mini-reunion, gathering around kitchen tables, backyard barbeques, and/or hikes in the Rocky Mountains for their exclusive kinfolk hoedowns.  While we may not gather around campfires and bocce courts, the comedic exchanges and exclusive private jokes more than make up for it.  Enjoy!

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On a Breaking Bad Marathon

A Very Long Weekend.

For the first time since I started this blog, I can't actually click on the article I've posted because it's entitled "How Does Breaking Bad End?" and here's why.  My roommate, AR, and I still have 20 episodes left (4 episodes in  the 4th season and the entirety of season 5; we're up to the part where Ted is being audited) before the finale airs this weekend (or whatever day BB is on).  Since we've lived together, we've also never actually done a television marathon (-the majority of my HBO and SHOWTIME commitments have been with my younger brother, JE, including five seasons of the Sopranos the summer before the final 6th; we were very dedicated viewers).  But AR and I are seriously contemplating whether we have enough hours in the oncoming weekend to pull this off before the finale amidst multiple plans that last several hours long (apple picking and camping!) despite what shape this will put us in. Because, as many of you know, in this very moment, we feel an indescribable urgency to know what happens to Walter White, and maybe even to "save him," whatever that alludes to.  So, BB fans, tell a fellow-addict what to do.  Enjoy!

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On Being Bored

DAM.

On a recent semi-dreaded trip to the DAM (Denver Art Museum), I anticipated hours of impenetrable boredom in which I pretended to profoundly interpret statues and paintings just to impress my museum companions when, in reality, I am much better suited for over-analyzing television characters and critiquing modern dance.  Stick me in a room with Hank Moody (Californication), Don Draper (Mad Men), or Dexter (er, Dexter) and I'll give you a hundred-and-one reasons why their relationships always fail.  But stand me in front of the Mona Lisa and my mind draws a blank.  Luckily, upon arrival, turns out DAM has damn near every interactive alternative for the distracted patrons like me, from a felt-covered room (see photo to the right) to a quilting cave with copious amounts of scraps, so that in between serious connoisseurship, the rest of us can dabble with our strengths.  Enjoy!
 
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On(line) Dating

Less Traditional Path.

Growing up in an era where friends and family search for significant others in instagram databases (aka match.com) and facebook photo albums (I even know a fb success story! - they have a kid together), a girl who found romance in more traditional ways can only wonder what her own online pursuit would have looked like, and - more importantly - whether this path would have led to her current destination.  Either way, we must play the cards we're dealt with, hope for the best, and have faith that what's meant to be will be, whether it shows up in a gchat message or flesh-and-blood.  Enjoy!

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On the Perfect Wardobe

Geographically Dictated.

In a city where Patagonia fleece and Columbia windbreakers go a lot further than that delicately-knit, navy blue, pencil dress in Anthropologie (that I desperately wanted to try on yesterday), I find myself homesick for New York.  Not that I can argue with wearing gym clothes on every errand - big or small - but gone are the days (at least temporarily) where skinny jeans, over-sized jewels, and platform shoes are a priority.  Enjoy!

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On the Whole Foods Dilemma

 'One-of-a-Kind.'

After years of volunteering my services and time to the Park Slope Food Coop, it's hard not to wander into the Whole Foods nearby on a regular basis.  During a recent conversation with a fellow-Denver addict, I described the emotions affiliated with stepping into a Whole Foods Market as "one-of-a-kind."  And it's not that I can afford to shop there because I really can't (I work in a non-profit!) or that I'm elitist about my food choices (Cauliflower is cauliflower is cauliflower!). But the unexpected sense of ease, that somehow life will be easier and maybe even better after organic, cancer-free, overpriced leather treats made with real fruit you've never actually heard of and you won't actually taste is pervasive and persuasive, and nearly impossible to walk away from.  Enjoy!

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On Parenthood

(Real Life.)

On the brink of (eventual/impending) family expansion and in the midst of facebook baby diarrhea (can I say that here?), I'm savoring every moment of independence, free time, and alcohol consumption (a glass of wine here and there) before it disappears for the foreseeable end of my "youth."  As friends rush to get started - counting and prodding and crying and celebrating - my awareness of what's at stake (as well as to be gained, of course) is as acute as ever. Enjoy!

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On Those Who Can't Do...

Teach.

“This is precisely why I loathed being a teacher! Young people are so infernally convinced that they are absolutely right about everything. Has it not occurred to you, my poor puffed-up poppinjay, that there might be an excellent reason why the Headmaster of Hogwarts is not confiding every tiny detail of his plans to you? Have you never paused, while feeling hard-done-by, to note that following Dumbledore's orders has never yet led you into harm? No. No, like all young people, you are quite sure that you alone feel and think, you alone recognise danger, you alone are the only one clever enough to realise what the Dark Lord may be planning.”  -J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 

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On Rainy Sun-Days

Cooking Up a Storm.

For a second there I forgot what I did before I started planning a wedding in my spare time and then my first post-wedding Sunday rolled around and I went straight to my second home: the supermarket.  With the unusual (Denver) rainy day excuse to stay inside (*Denver is known for its 300 days of sunshine), I set out to choose from five recipes - 1) homemade hummus (with olive brine!), 2) zucchini fritters, 3) veggie burgers, 4) pickled curry cauliflower, and, my personal favorite, 5) bruschetta - and collected ingredients for all.  Once back, I intended to only select one or two in total, for an afternoon snack, perhaps an eventual dinner, and (if we were lucky) leftovers for Monday lunch.  And yet three hours later, all but the bruschetta crowded our dining room table, as I insisted to my new (stuffed) husband (AR) that he try each and every option.  And then I remembered what life was like last fall...and I'm wondering what to cook up for next weekend!  Enjoy!

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On Summer Lovin'

 
(Had Me A Blast?)

As fleeting summer romance becomes less relevant to the 30-something settled life, both its detail and significance recede slowly but not surely into the emotionally-jarring past.  The heartbreak and excitement, once all-encompassing and unreasonably dramatic, have been swapped for stability and calm.  Yet old photo albums, chaotic journal entries, and occasional scraps of hand-written letters remind us of the necessary path that provided strength and wisdom too painful to appreciate then.  As we tormented, indulged, and moved on, we eventually found(/find) the real deal, that will see us through decades of summers to come, and make the sordid seasons past seem moderately irrelevant.  Enjoy! 

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On the Things We Dread

The Hard Lessons.

With wedding planning behind me and once-abundantly free time back on my hands, I can return to my usual list of usual life-anxieties that motivate me to eat healthy (cancer!), exercise (heart disease!), take naps (flu season!), watch the news (natural disasters!), call home (see aforementioned parenthesis!), and take vitamins (diminished immune system!).  Calming my brain to align appropriately with the reality of the risks at hand can feel next to impossible - [did you know the a woman is more likely to get hit by a car than have a miscarriage?] - but a necessary goal so as not to let the rest of our humbled lives flash before us through the lens of the Woody Allen syndrome without taking a breath of calm and enjoyment.  (Enjoy?)

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On Being Authentic

Different Places & Spaces.

Our authentic selves find voice and shape depending on the people, places, and things surrounding that particular space in time of our lengthy and complicated existences. We are everything and nothing simultaneously: a friend, sibling, child, leader, mother, father, mentor, teacher, student, deceiver, receiver, giver, lover, enemy, neighbor, stranger, joker, and achiever.  We search for the best parts of who we hope to be against the backdrop of who we really are, always observing, changing, and striving to be the truest self buried somewhere deep down inside. Enjoy!

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On My New Name

Mrs. Einstein

We came, we saw, we kissed! (see photo to the right), and we conquered, and two short weeks later, we're married and I can finally (ahem) tell you all about it.

It was as splendid as everyone said it would be, surrounded by family and friends who flew to Colorado from all the way across the country - running errands at a moment's notice, staying calm when we needed them to, mingling with the newer west (coast) participants, and applauding on cue.   And the husband-and-wife-to-be remained present and relaxed (with the exception of the moment two minutes prior to walking down the aisle, of course, which came and went with semi-unexpected ease), drinking their usual cup o' coffee together the morning of, driving to the venue together as if it were a normal road trip to the local Park, joking that passerby will likely confuse the Woman in White as being accompanied by her sibling, and giggling effortlessly through the last moment of the matrimonial ceremony.  Friends warned me it would go by in a flash but, in some ways, getting married on August 31st went by at the perfect pace - not too quick and not too slow but just (as) right ... in the same ways we're meant to be together.  (Enjoy!)

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