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A few days ago, one of my guilty pleasures arrived in the mail: the Tilley's catalogue. Guilty, because I know it assumes a particular, privileged viewpoint - nearly all the pictures are of middle-aged or elderly white people viewing vague but exotic locations while enjoying the comfort of a well-made pair of shorts. One of the Big Features of most items in the catalogue is the Speshul Sekrit Pokitt so your wallet doesn’t get stolen - good idea, since all these clothes pretty much scream rich tourist. In fact when Himself wears their gear, which he does all through the summer months, he gets “^%$#ing tourist!!” yelled at him; mostly by college-educated twentysomethings, if I’m not mistaken.
The clothes are well-made, though, and in some cases, pretty. Actually, I know the real reason I enjoy reading about travel - it’s the planning what to take. I’m obsessed with the concept of kits; of items that do double duty; of packing with maximum efficiency. My home and especially my closet are a disaster area - which I suppose is why I relish the thought of going somewhere, anywhere, with a small, neat package of well-chosen basics.
Yesterday I scored a purple Paul Frank bag from the Sally Ann, with a little vampire bat on it; it would not make an ideal travel bag (no interior dividers) but it is cute. At the counter the woman ahead of me was questioning the clerk closely: she wanted to buy a certain piece of jewelry but the 50% Off Sale wasn’t on yet, and the Red Tag Sale didn’t apply to the item in question. She had what I think of as a Dangerous Wheedling tone of voice - the voice of someone who can turn on a dime, emotionally - and I kept waiting for the moment when she’d make the switch and start screaming curses at the clerk for perceived unfairness, but luckily she didn’t. When she turned around I noticed her face was painted a vivid purple all over; so my reservations about her mental state still stand, kinda.
I also got a silk-nylon-angora-blend sweater to unravel for the yarn, and spent much of Aaron’s Roman New Year Party explaining what I was doing, and why. We (“we” includes benet and theengineer) also wound up watching a lot of Strongbad e-mails because Aaron’s computer has a really fast connection. A good time was had by all, but today Himself seems to have been struck down by the bug that everyone else had last month. I should probably go to bed soon so the cat will stop harassing him.
The clothes are well-made, though, and in some cases, pretty. Actually, I know the real reason I enjoy reading about travel - it’s the planning what to take. I’m obsessed with the concept of kits; of items that do double duty; of packing with maximum efficiency. My home and especially my closet are a disaster area - which I suppose is why I relish the thought of going somewhere, anywhere, with a small, neat package of well-chosen basics.
Yesterday I scored a purple Paul Frank bag from the Sally Ann, with a little vampire bat on it; it would not make an ideal travel bag (no interior dividers) but it is cute. At the counter the woman ahead of me was questioning the clerk closely: she wanted to buy a certain piece of jewelry but the 50% Off Sale wasn’t on yet, and the Red Tag Sale didn’t apply to the item in question. She had what I think of as a Dangerous Wheedling tone of voice - the voice of someone who can turn on a dime, emotionally - and I kept waiting for the moment when she’d make the switch and start screaming curses at the clerk for perceived unfairness, but luckily she didn’t. When she turned around I noticed her face was painted a vivid purple all over; so my reservations about her mental state still stand, kinda.
I also got a silk-nylon-angora-blend sweater to unravel for the yarn, and spent much of Aaron’s Roman New Year Party explaining what I was doing, and why. We (“we” includes benet and theengineer) also wound up watching a lot of Strongbad e-mails because Aaron’s computer has a really fast connection. A good time was had by all, but today Himself seems to have been struck down by the bug that everyone else had last month. I should probably go to bed soon so the cat will stop harassing him.
