megfowler.com

September 27, 2008

rest in peace, mr. newman. 1925-2008

Filed under: love — meg @ 8:04 am

Paul Newman left us today at the age of 83.

I don’t normally do memorials to notable figures who pass away, but I am a longtime Paul Newman fan for a giant number of reasons, so I wanted to put a little something up to say goodbye.

I have always loved his commitment to giving (and to kids and camps, no less!), along with his frequently self-deprecating sense of humour, and his devoted and oft-expressed commitment to his wife in a fickle town.

He was also a tremendously gifted actor and, well… probably one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen, and enduringly so.

I mentioned him here a few times.

Thanks for everything, Mr. Newman.

September 19, 2008

friday love list: the empire waist strikes back.

Filed under: love, listy — meg @ 3:47 pm

My top officially decided today would be a good day to get hooked up in my foundational garments without me noticing UNTIL I STOOD UP ON THE TRAIN IN FRONT OF NINE MEN.

Well, hello stomach! How are you? QUICK EVERYONE LOOK AT HOW WHITE IT IS!

OH, YOU’VE BEEN BLINDED? SORRY.

That’s the kind of beginning my day had, and it’s gone spectacularly from there. Heh.

I’ve actually been sick all week with a really weird cough-sinus issue combo, so I haven’t felt motivated to do much of anything except make hairball sounds and try to avoid walking into things when I got dizzy.

(I don’t know what my inner ear has against me, but it’s totally in on the vendetta with the underwire in my bra.)

I. Need. Love.

You. Do. Too.

So let’s get on it.

(Please leave your own love list in the comments, or link it for us if you put it up at your blog!)

THINGS I LOVE

The majesty and power of espresso
Fresh Moleskines
Grapefruit lotion
Big watches
Things too cool to be coincidental
Lemon-slice moons
Leather smell
The future promise of getting better
Shea butter
Sisu vitamins
Genmaicha
Belly laughs
Tapas
Boys who send flowers
Dumb quotes
Doodling
Patience
Okay, anyone who sends flowers
Arguments with Brit friends about slang
Glenn Gould, Oscar Peterson, Duke Ellington and really, most piano dudes (John Legend!)
Ira Glass (Love List Frequent Mention Winner)
The first fireplace of the fall (last night!)
Edamame
Being 2-0 in all my football pools
Heirloom tomatoes
Ballet flats
Sleeping in
Being taken care of (sometimes!)
Big sunglasses, big purses, big headbands, big pearls (prep!)
Dumb trivia
French fries

AND YOU?

September 11, 2008

happy birthday, sean!

Filed under: love — meg @ 7:46 am

Today is my brother Sean’s 38th birthday.

That is OLD.

That is SO OLD that I’m relieved that the lovely young woman up there (my sister-in-law, Carey) was willing to marry such an OLD man.

I don’t know what it’s like to be that OLD but wow, I bet it’s interesting.

(I know. Sisters are JERKS.)

He’s not really that old (well, he is, but there’s no way 38 is “old”, especially when you consider my Dad’s age, which is SO FREAKING OLD).

(I’m going to get disowned.)

Sean, I love you!

You make me laugh.

You are proud of me even when I’m a dork.

You challenge my ideas and my notions about things.

You inspire me with the things you’re doing right now.

You are gracious, compassionate, witty, thoughtful, generous, intuitive, curious and just deep down GOOD.

Thanks for being my big brother and my friend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

September 9, 2008

the horror! the horror!

Filed under: random — meg @ 8:29 am

I had a conversation with my friend Steve once about the Chicken McNugget (while I was eating a McNugget, mind you.)

He claimed they had more ingredients than anything else on the menu at McDonalds, and I was a little skeptical.

“More than the soda? More than the cookies? More than, say, a Shamrock shake? Who even knows what’s in those? McNuggets are just batter — which has a few ingredients, yes — and pressed chicken and seasoning and oil. What about the spectre of the McRib? There’s some crazy shit in there.”

“The horror of the term ‘pressed chicken’ notwithstanding, I’m pretty sure you’re underestimating what they add to the chicken when they McNugget it.”

“I already mentioned the oil and seasoning?”

“No, I don’t mean salt and grease. I mean, stuff to make it more… chicken-textured.”

“Okay, the horror of the term ‘chicken-textured’ notwithstanding, what the hell does that mean?”

“Thickeners, texturizers, bodifiers…”

“They put hair products in McNuggets?”

“Seriously. They might. Don’t be naive.”

“Okay, I know there are lots of ingredients, but I still think by saying they have ‘the most’ that you’re full of crap.”

“You’re full of McNuggets. AND WHO KNOWS WHAT THAT MIGHT INVOLVE!”

“Do you want one? I AM totally full.”

“Yes.”

September 6, 2008

top ten things i wonder about at 11:30 at night.

Filed under: listy — meg @ 10:28 pm

1. What it would take to get me a ride in a convertible tomorrow.

2. Why I can never remember the middles of jokes.

3. How people who understand math and physics and difficult things along those lines see people like me who trip over air and memorize WHAM! lyrics and swoon at cut flowers.

4. Who still watches Survivor and Big Brother… and why?

5. Why potatoes can’t just be potatoes, and need to be carbs.

6. Why I never realized how easy things were when things were easy.

7. How anyone thought up rollercoasters, Fun Dip, and ping pong.

8. When I’ll become the person who just DOES things, and doesn’t worry about disappointing anyone with her choices.

9. Where my perfect spot on earth is.

10. When I’ll be with the someone who rolls over and goes, “Woman. Stop wondering and SLEEP.”

September 5, 2008

friday love list: fill in the blanks edition!

Filed under: love, listy — meg @ 9:30 am

It’s Friday! It’s time for love!

But instead of me telling you all the things I love (not that I don’t love a lot of things, but I did tell you about a few of them just the other day…), I’m going to get you to tell me things YOU love in the comments. Woo!

It’ll be LOVE CENTRAL.

You might even discover a new thing to love by checking out everyone else’s loves, or find someone who loves all the same things you do. Then I’d be like… the eHarmony of comments.

Ew.

Okay, well, we don’t want THAT. But still.

Here we go — and when you look at a category, try going with the first thing that comes to mind. It’s kinda fun that way!

THINGS YOU LOVE

Song you love:

Word you love:

Academic subject you love:

Hobby you love:

Type of baked good you love:

Type of sky you love:

Beverage you love:

Vacation you love:

Restaurant you love:

Way of getting around that you love:

Person you love:

Room in your home (or ideal home) you love:

Movie you love:

Book you love:

City you love:

Future plan you love:

Form of communication you love:

Junk food you love:

GO!

September 3, 2008

fits and starts.

Filed under: love, think, listy — meg @ 10:10 am

Busy week, it was.

Tired, I was.

Better now, I am.

Yoda, I’ve become.

SERIOUSLY NOW, I’m doing better with this fresh week, though the next few weeks of my life show no signs of slowing down to accommodate staring dreamily at falling leaves or sipping on cocoa or tossing on a pashmina (see our pashwall above) or anything else one might do to welcome fall. Which is almost here, you know. Fall. Autumn. The Third Season. Which startles me, since I’m not quite done with summer. COME BACK HERE. YOU’RE NOT EVEN DRY YET!

So perhaps it’s good that we’ll be having more August-y than September-y weather — sunshine, blue skies, fluffy clouds that don’t have angry, gray brows — again this weekend. I can lie outside and pretend the months aren’t cycling by like the Tour de France.

(And hurrah for the last harvest of this year’s freckle crop! It’s true that they are sweeter at the end of the season, just like grapes.)

I haven’t done much here to commemorate my creeping insanity or love of things and stuff in general, so it seemed a good time to just prattle out some odd thoughts and clear the cobwebs from my noggin.

I love…

Moonrises
An extra shot in my latte
Warm blackberries from the bushes
Adele
This American Life
My iPod Touch, which gives me hours of commusement (a new word I invented that combines commuting and amusement. You’re welcome!)
Lemon tarts
Little fake diamond studs
Salt and vinegar chips
New purse smell
Pedicures
Tiny birds that hang around outside cafes, scuffling for crumbs
Good scissors
Emergen-C powder
Jolly voice mails
Mixtapes

I miss…

When I didn’t seem too short because everyone was short as well, save for that one kid, Trevor, who looked like a telephone pole with a baseball cap.

My first taste of almond steamed milk.

When all my friends’ kids were babies and I was Auntie Meg more often.

When the above ground pool at my Auntie’s seemed big.

When one could carry off a beret without looking like a hipster, a French cartoon character, or Che.

When deadlines meant papers on Irish Lit or Italian Domestic Policy or Where The Whales Have Gone.

When I could jump my whole height on a trampoline.

When fresh bagels were around the corner.

When I used to doodle and stare out the window when I should have been doing algebra.

When the pop-skin grapes were in season.

When my grandma would cook bacon at 5 am on vacation and rouse my brother and I from sleep far too early for my mom’s liking.

I’m going to keep…

Making lists.

Making mix tapes.

Loving stuff.

Making myself lovely dinners, even if they are just for one.

Remembering to wear sunglasses to stave off the certain wrinkles that are ahead.

Squooshing my hair into a bun when my hair just won’t cooperate.

Enthusiastically recommending things.

Shaking the trees.

Trying to convince myself of the value of practical footwear in the long run.

Dreaming of road trips.

And you?