I kinda think that you get ideas too.

Exactly one week before Christmas I woke up with a sore throat. This is nothing unusual, since I am known in my family as the one who is always sick during holidays. However, two weeks and one day later and I am still sick.

The way Jesse got me to go to the doctor's today was with what may or may not have been a 'pep talk' last Friday night. I had just come back from seeing (a blurry version what with of all the tears gushing from my eyes) The Impossible and we went to a neighborhood restaurant to eat. I did the cough thing I'd been doing and he gave me husband-concerned-face and we discussed how my never-ending sore throat could be tonsilitis. I was like, yeah, maybe, that's fine, whatever, I'm not contagious and I don't have a fever. And then he stops eating and his voice got really low and he says, "you know, you could die from that. You can die from any infection."

Thanks, husband!

So I cough-coughed on the way into the doctor's office today and I don't have strep throat but, hey, let's send away a lab test anyway. The doctor ruled out tonsilitis, but was concerned I may have some sort of 'superinfection' in my throat. Yes, that was the word she used. Superinfection.

Of course when I texted the husband about my supposed diagnosis he goes, "Your Super! Power!" Being sick is my super power, you guys. Don't be jealous.

The good news is that right after that my friend Sean texted me that Baz Luhrmann had stopped him on the street to say hi and that this was something he thought I would enjoy. He was right and I spent the rest of the wait time for my prescription thinking about how to harness the potential of this acquaintance into a dinner with Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor. Maybe Jesse can come too if he can hold back the morbid comments on my health.

I should note that the picture above was my only view in the tiny exam room. And that said husband gave me the Diane von Furstenberg purse for Christmas. Maybe I'll keep him and all his jokes after all.

Maybe I'm crazy to suppose.

How to proceed, then? First, this post. Then one tomorrow.

My father started blogging after I stopped and continually asks me to start again. He blogs every single day. Like I used to, once.

I'll try to blog every day, but perhaps this time without...

But more like the beginning: just the need to write.

And now my dad can stop complaining.

It's 2013 and I started today by planting a kiss on my sleeping husband and then taking a shower and then putting new pajamas on. I don't plan on changing. I'm going to take it easy and watch some movies, probably consider my final assessment of the films of 2012, and pet cats.

Last night my best friends came over and we ate tacos and played games and danced into the wee hours. I have some cleaning to do today, but it's all worth it to have been surrounded by great people. We used the instant camera I gave Jesse on our three year anniversary this past year, which is super fun except when it comes to posting them on the internet easily. So these are some photos of the photos. Here's to the New Year!

The wind's feeling real these days.

A few weeks ago, a friend brought to my attention a post by a blogger I don't read; boy did it eerily ring with the echoes of my own recent thoughts:

Every time I sit down to write, I am overcome with disappointment with what this blog has become. It used to be a place that I loved, that I was proud of. Not so much, anymore. I feel completely lost in this sea of New Blogging. I am not a brand, I do not have a "story" to sell. It's just me, writing words, telling you stories about my life, about the family that I love. And I wonder if it's worth writing anymore because of how much things have changed. I doubt myself. I doubt my place here. I doubt the value of the words that I type here and publish for the world to read.

I understand completely, and whereas this blogger decided to try to reinvigorate her blogging again, I cannot do the same. A few years into Tried to Live Forever's inception, I tried getting into the swing of New Blogging - not advertising (never!) - but  due to a certain opportunity. I just couldn't hack it. And as my audience grew, my censorship did as well. A great many things have happened this past year and I've chosen not to share them because I want to keep them to myself and those involved. And sometimes I'd want to write about them and would draw back because I would begin to guess the popularity (or unpopularity) of the post, and that, my friends, wasn't the point of this place when I started it.

The point? I used this space to have a place for casual writing, but writing to keep me writing somewhere. I wasn't doing it in my job, and after four years studying and writing journalism, I needed to keep the pace. However, last year's NaNoWriMo finally proved to myself that I can write more seriously if I put my mind to it. And after having written more seriously, and now in the stages of editing, my writing quota is going pretty well without blogging too often.

All this said, I'm not giving up on my "internet life." I'll continue posting the briefer updates as I always have on my tumblr and my twitter. Perhaps one day I'll open up a long-form blog again; but for now I don't have the time or drive to keep one up. And so, this will be my last post here.

I do have to thank you all for reading. Sincerely. It started as a place just for my own benefit, but ultimately it was you who I thought of when I wrote. And I found some amazing blogs (which I continue to read!) and even friends through this little spot on the internet. Thank you for reading, and thanks for being wonderful and mostly, positive. You're the best!

X

They got the keys to the city but we got a lot of shakin' in our hips.

January was a month of trips and projects. Here are the fruits of last week's project: paint the kitchen. We used to have this yellow, as you can see below. The yellow was fine when it was a huge room, but once we built out the second floor of the loft, it made the kitchen feel closed-in and the yellow itself started looking dingy. Cue the bright blue!


The right side is primed, it used to be the same yellow!



The blue is called "Serene Sky." Apt.

I was exhausted last week coming home from work every night to tape, prime, and paint the walls. It was completely worth it though, now that the kitchen is far more welcoming and feels more spacious. And we're not even done with it! Jesse and I pooled our Christmas money earnings to frame all of our posters (well, the three posters I own and the 80 Jesse does. Ha.). The posters collection will now be adorning our heretofore blank 16-foot ceiling walls. Plus, we have one more paint project in us.

Jesse returned yesterday morning from Brazil, around seven in the morning, and I had breakfast waiting for him! Bacon, english muffin, and an Erica-approved egg & spinach quiche! The roommates Sam and birthday boy Jim also got to enjoy, as well as our neighbor Adam. Who knew breakfast hangs could be so popular?

Domesticity is all the rage for 2011.

The city breathing, the people churning.

Hello - happy new year! I recently returned from a fantastic vacation to visit family in Panama. I read a few books, daydreamed in the sun, bodysurfed in the Pacific, and spent time with my wonderful loved ones.

Jesse left for Brazil last night for two weeks and in doing so, left me in charge of his music blog - My Aim is True. I'm over there posting a song a day, which started on Monday and goes through next week. Follow it, add it to your reader, and/or even tell me your thoughts here!