I mean it, that's it. I am not spending one single more ha'penny on this yard this summer. Not one. And not only that, I'm suddenly obsessed with things I didn't even think I liked. Like bamboo. Like succulents. Like paisley. Paisley?!?! I don't like paisley. I don't even like paisley. I am a rose-and-polka-dot person, not an exoticant. I like strawberry-ice-cream pinks, fluffy peonies, and gingham. But look at this, a paisley-smothered bower of smooshy down-filled hammockness (I put a down-filled featherbed on my hammock, yes) and I love it. I need a string bikini and some Coppertone and it could be 1974. Where did I get all this passion-flowered Provençalia? At the POTTERY BARN, on super-sale. Things are getting weirder and weirder. Not that I don't like Pottery Barn but I think of them as having, like, ticking stripes and monograms, or whatever. I don't know anything.
Succulents. Though rose-ish, in their way, they've never particularly appealed to me. I needed them, 5 p.m. yesterday, in rush-hour traffic — off to the nursery for a bonsai pot and six little waxy-leaved plumpers. I've never bought a cactus-type plant in my life. I saw one of these in one of my magazines, I think it was Domino? Is that all it takes? I see it in some magazine and that's what I do now. I just grab my wallet and jump in the car and go buy SIX. Not just one, when I happen to be at the nursery anyway. I make a special trip for them. And a fancy pot. My face blazed with conspicuous consumption. Then I saw other people's trolleys and didn't feel so bad. People had trolleys PILED with plants, and pots, and water features, and soil amendments, and more plants, and they all looked rather chagrined. So I felt better, but still confused — what other things that I think I dislike will I suddenly start liking, out of the blue? And, really, what good is a blog if you can't talk publicly about how much you dislike, for instance, vinegar? Or thongs? Or jazz?
So here, in no particular order, is a list of things I don't like that I'm still waiting apparently about to suddenly like:
- Vinegar
- STEELY DAN
- Mosquitoes
- Running out of bobbin thread
- Pot roast
- Olives, capers, or anything pickled
- Those shirts with the medallion things on them that all the ladies of Real Housewives of Orange County wore. I totally don't get that look.
- Flying
- Bats
- Going to Home Depot. I'd rather be kicked in the shins.
So, that's it. I'm going to just sit here and wait until it all turns around now. Though I feel quite confident that I will never, ever like Steely Dan. I just won't.
Stay in the light! Keep away from nooks and blind corners of all sorts! It's like your own self is sneaking up on you ....
Great post, Alicia!
The older I get, the more I find that I'm capable of anything. A couple years go by, and suddenly I'm a new woman. And thank goodness. We humans are all about growing and adapting (or at least we should be) and hence our perspective changes.
I'll just bet that The Who have changed their minds since they were young..."I hope I die before I get old"
:)
Hmmm. I have always loved paisley.. I think it is some back of the brain preppy leftover thing. I like succulents, only if they are like the ones you bought.. I do not like all the spiny ones. I mean, just what does that say? I kill planets easily and enjoy pain? Not sure.
Now, on to your list ...
Vinegar -- I actually like
STEELY DAN - NON NON NON
Mosquitoes - do not understand their purpose
Running out of bobbin thread - I actually curse on this one
Pot roast - if I eat it, that is what I feel like.. a big pot
Olives, capers, or anything pickled - YUM, loved picked stuff
Those shirts with the medallion things on them that all the ladies of Real Housewives of Orange County wore. I totally don't get that look. -- reminds me of little ol lady glitssy stuff. Just need some metallic flats.
Flying - LOVE
Bats - at least they eat the Mosquitoes
Going to Home Depot. I'd rather be kicked in the shins -- there have been points and times in my life I have actually almost lived there.. it is what remodelling does to you
My Add --
WASPS
Humidity and temperatures over 92 degrees
stir up pants (I have actually seen someone in them since the late 80's/90's)
Work in a building that is not my home (this is one that is getting bad for me. I seem to be really attached to my home, my "nest" more and more as I grow older)
I could go one, but your list did a pretty good job!
No one could ever love running out of bobbin thread! I'm afraid one day I'll start to like coconut. I've already softened on rice made with coconut milk, and it's the one taste/smell I'm adamant about disliking.
Careful now, one succulent leads to many, many more. They're seductive. But paisley? Blech.
One day I'll have a mouthful of apple pie heavily flavoured with cinnamon and murmur how delicious it is. Until then, I'll keep wondering why anyone would want to ruin a nice apple pie with cinnamon...
There we are, out of the cinnamon closet at last.
Please, please, please don't start liking Steely Dan.
Someday, I hope you'll like Steely Dan. My husband hates them too. I guess they remind of roadtrips to visit my Dad's college friends in the late 70's & early 80's. I hear "Peg" & I'm in the backseat watching the skyline of Kansas City zipping by. Nostalgia can be a powerful thing!
I love this post! and your blog. I'm always deciding I like things I didn't, maybe I'm just fickle..or perhaps I'm just a really open person! I'm with you about bats, the last house we rented one flew into our bedroom at night, I didn't have my contacts in and asked my husband if it was a moth! He broke it to me gently....My husband won't fly so I totally understand about that too...it's not something he'll suddenly decide he likes.
Oh, now. The succulents are totally cottagey. Martha Stewart was making big peat-filled balls covered with them a decade ago. And the colors are sooooo pretty--pink and green and lavender and blue. Total cottage.
LOVE the dislike list! Esp. HOME DEPOT. I ditto that COMPLETELY! lol. Your hammock looks/sounds like HEAVEN...hmmm. it only takes about 50 minutes to get to Portland if I drive like a maniac...to plop into that?! OH YEAH- looks worth a speeding ticket to me! lol
babylon sisters..... SHAKE IT.
Well, I don't see you suddenly starting to like any of those things, especially mosquitoes, and running out of bobbin thread. But pot roast and pickles? Mmm...
Hmm, this is very interesting, I guess we'll see how it develops. And finding out Jane doesn't like cinnamon is quite shocking, don't you think?
I've always loved paisley, its so well Scottish! Succulents are fun especailly when yu live in the desert like I do, they do so well! I can't even remember what Steely Dan sounds like at this point. Good luck with the turnaround, I do that sometimes, two years ago I went through a mid-century modern phase, luckily I didn't buy anything I just looked and decided that my antiques were better. It's kind of like when you think you should cut all your hair off you know you'll hate it in the future so just don't do it.
That is just funny. Its also funny because I keep seeing that sort of thing happening around here. I like tiny leaves. And tiny flowers. And just plain leaves. I used to be all delphiniums and scabiosa and now I love a good hebe and the tiny flowers on huchera make me swoon. And they are hardly flowers. I will always hate Home Depot though. I am embarrased but I have cried in there on more than one occasion. Just walking in the building makes me feel angry.
You seriously crack me up sometimes! Okay so really Steely Dan isn't that bad, coming from a 70's chick! I think your paisley is looking pretty good on that hammock. Enjoy your new experiences!
Teresa
Welcome to the bamboo side, its nice isn't it? I've been loving it for a long time (notice the abundance of shades in our family room http://blairpeter.typepad.com/weblog/2007/04/index.html). Lately though, I'm often feeling very swayed by a single glossy page of a good mag spread. I think that's why I can't jump in and do Emma's room, I keep changing my mind. I feel so, I don't know, average consumer, like, they got me...they wanted me...they got me.
You make Pottery Barn look great by the way, that store is at the top of my do not like list.
What?? Not even Balsamic?? Oh my.
sorry, wrong link for the bamboo shades...http://blairpeter.typepad.com/weblog/2007/04/blur.html
Ha ha ha! Another olive-hater -- yay! My olive-hate is well-known among my friends and family. Capers are okay though. And bats? I LOVE bats, though I have never had one tangled in my hair or anything. As for flying, I'm with you as far as not loving airplanes, but "flying" as a notion: I support it, and would will wing-graft surgery as soon as it is perfected. (that from the person who is still waiting until the first round of laser eye surgery people grow old, and see how that turns out for them!)
The first thing I said when the page loaded was, "ooh, love the paisley!" So, when your other self kicks in again, mail me the paisley. Hey, on the other hand, are there things you're thinking you really shouldn't be liking but do? I'm dying to buy some fabric at the store that's going out of business. The problem? There are cabbage roses galore on that fabric! It's so, what, 80's? But, I love it!
maybe your tastes are changing? (and that's alright?)
I have to agree with Kat about succulents. Hens and chicks - the cuteness is right there in the name! Yours look lovely.
I have to be real careful about voicing my dislikes, because like you (but way more often) I find myself all of a sudden loving something that previously I would not have anything to do with.
My boyfriend always catches these and can be heard saying "but I thought you didn't like those....?" one too many times.