See Gina Blog

Curiosity did not in fact kill the cat, originally uploaded by gina.banina.

I apparently took an unplanned hiatus from my blog. Winter has left me a wee bit uninspired and wiped out, I’m afraid. To kick off my attempt at a return to blogging, a bullet post:

• Appetite. One of the ways I know when some part of my life is askew is via my appetite. Suddenly I am eating less, hungry less, and determined sometimes too to choose to eat less. Anxiety, emotions, and relationship muck have all resulted in this at one point or another. Tonight I realized I hadn’t eaten since 2. It is ten-thirty. Huh.
• Cold, so cold. This morning it was zero degrees out when I left for work. I wore: a sweater set, a hoodie, a winter coat, a scarf, gloves, a ear warmer, cap, and two pairs of socks. When I got to work, my fingers and toes still hurt from the cold. When I returned from work this evening it was thirteen degrees. I waited for the bus for 20 minutes. Seriously? Winter: suck it.
• Friendship. I am in the midst of one relatively new but incredible friendship right now, one for which I am absolutely grateful. Another friendship is strained and both of us feel helpless to fix it. Other friendships seem to be disappearing and appearing at various speeds. And still other people in my life leave my head spinning and grasping for a wall to hang onto for a minute.
• Literature. I finally finished “Mockingbird,” a biography of Harper Lee author of my favorite book of all kind: “To Kill a Mockingbird.” A review will be up soon, I promise. In the meantime: go, buy it or check it out, and give me your thoughts on it!
• Train Travel. I took the train back and forth to/from Kansas City last weekend. I loved train travel! I had five hours alone to think, nap, and read. I can’t imagine a better mini vacation for me. I can’t wait for another opportunity to use the train to travel solo. Or with a partner in crime, that too could be pretty awesome.

I found the Proust Questionnaire through Vanity Fair magazine.  I decided to complete it, just as numerous celebrities have done for Vanity Fair.  I invite you to fill it out and post it to your own blog or you can always just send it to me. :)

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Perfect happiness is love, laughter, friendship, peace, and passion in my life.

2. What is your greatest fear?
Dying alone.

3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Desire for approval.

4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?
Self-righteousness.

5. Which living person do you most admire?
I admire my mother and grandmother for everything that they have gotten past. I admired my father immensely when he lived.

6. What is your greatest extravagance?
Magazines, I suppose. I pore over them, reading them from cover to cover.

7. What is your current state of mind?
Frustrated and yet contented.

8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?
Purity.

9. On what occasion do you lie?
Unintentionally.

10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?
The way my chin crinkles, or my teeth not being straight entirely.

11. Which living person do you most despise?
I plead the fifth.

12. What is the quality you most like in a man?
Authenticity.

13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?
Intelligence.

14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
Awesome.  Amazing.  D’oh.

15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?
Jasper.

16. When and where were you happiest?
A week ago last Sunday.  Contentment and peace collided wonderfully.

17. Which talent would you most like to have?
The ability to read people’s minds.

18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
I would be more cerebral.

19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Winning an award in a photography exhibition. :)

20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?
A pampered feline.

21. Where would you most like to live?
Somewhere warm year-round, with a beach to sunbathe on nearby.

(more…)

Originally uploaded by evad 33

Happy Birthday, Amy!

Originally uploaded by anna piovani

Tee shirts have been around since 1880, originally as a form of undershirt, in England. During World War I US soldiers began wearing them under their uniforms, having noticed the Europeans wearing it and not sweating nearly as much as they were.

The tee shirt was not worn without a shirt covering it until after World War II when it was used as political advertisement by New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey in 1948 and then President Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 during their campaigns.

In 1955 the tee shirt became a fashion icon when James Dean wore a plain white tee without covering it and he in turn became a heart throb in girls’ eyes everywhere. Now the tee shirt is one of the most popular articles of clothing.

Some great tee shirt sites:

Busted Tees
Threadless
T-Shirt Hell

(Topic provided by Seth)

Courtesy of the ever-fab Avitable:

My favorite age: 30

My best friend: Jasper.

My celebrity crush: Megan Fox, or Daniel Radcliffe.

My defining characteristic: My eyes and my explosive laugh.

My most evil moment: I have been quite the vixen multiple times. ;)

My favorite food: Steak or cupcakes.

My grossest injury: Breaking my jaw on both sides and cracking all my back teeth when I fainted at 14.

My biggest hatred: It’s a tie between disrespect and dishonesty.

My most illegal activity: I have done [minor] drugs once or twice…

My need for justice: Reigns supreme.  (LOL)

My most knowledgeable field: I really am not sure about this one.

My life’s goal: To make every moment matter.

My mother’s influence: She taught me the importance of regular correspondence.

My nerdiest point: My entire h.s. experience.

My oldest memory: I was 6.  It was traumatic and involved physical pain.

My perfect date: Dressing up, flowers, steak dinner, and a funny movie.

My unanswered question: Is there a higher power and if so how pissed is (s)he?

(more…)

A big part of GTD is finding ways to be more productive and thus stress-free in one’s life.  For me, including routine in my daily life allows for more productivity and less stress.  I have begun an evening routine – my before-bedtime routine, if you will:

• Make a cup of tea.
• Put on comfies (or PJs).
• Lay out clothing and shoes for the next day.
• Lay out breakfast things – cereal box, bowl, spoon.
• Make sure bag is packed for tomorrow’s bus ride.
• Look at the calendar to see what is ahead tomorrow.

I am prepared for the morning, so then I will not have to rush around and feel stressed just as my day is beginning.

I am a magazine fiend, have been my whole life in fact.  I have subscribed to numerous magazines over the years, from the youthful to the architectural to the Cosmo-type, to the men’s magazines, and so forth.  My favorite mail days are the ones where a new issue of a favorite magazine comes in the mail.  Today my new issue of Domino came in the mail!

I intend to spend the afternoon reading it from cover to cover.  After I take a leisurely nap, that is!

My fridge as of today. I live like a bachelor. Oh and I am po’. I don’t cook either.

I have discovered that I have a ridiculous number of novelty/vintage tees in my collection. Inspired by The Beautiful Kind who discovered she had a crazy number of panties in her collection and began the Panty Parade on her blog, I am adding a Tuesday Tee feature to my blog. I will model one of my many novelty/vintage tees each Tuesday until I have gone through them all – and may be inspired to buy more to keep up this new feature (what a shame that would be!).

Today’s tee: Pigpen.