First Impressions

i think when you get to be a certain age -- like 25 -- you stop meeting so many new people all the time and you forget how you come across to them. then when you're back in a new place meeting new people once again, phrases like "emotionally crippled" start to creep themselves accusatorily into conversations with the roommate you've known for 3 days. i prefer the term "private." my bartender at friday happy hour told me he'd never seen a girl that was more fanatical about college football. fanatical is a pretty strong word (defined: possessed with excessive, irrational zeal; rabid) -- what's wrong with "spirited"?!? i even had a boy whisper in my ear conspiratorily, "you know, you're kind of a bitch." that's a tough one to argue. but as my own attorney, i'd separate "bitchy" out into some more flattering adjectives like honest, loyal, confident, bold, realistic, resolute ...

of course i laughed at these descriptions of myself. partly out of respect for someone who calls it like they see it. but mostly because they're true -- they're just not dressed up the way i like and the way i'm used to hearing them.

in other news, i spent the morning hiking around pinnacle peak in scottsdale. as i should have expected, the weather was unbelievably gorgeous. yep, just me and the stepford wives getting some fresh air. i didn't really fit in with all those blonds in their perfect mascara and coordinated workout dubs -- 1/2 trophy wives jogging along with their not-so-perfectly tanned asses hanging out the back of little bitty shorts (enough so that it was clear that the rays of the tanning bed did not reach the crease where their butt and thighs meet), and 1/2 volvo-driving soccer moms, hoofing it with distressed-looking kids strapped into complicated harnesses on their backs and fronts and making playdates on their cell phones half-way along the trail. and i didn't even brush my hair or tie my shoe laces before i raced out of the house at 6:30 AM to beat the heat and the traffic on the 101. i guess i didn't realize i needed to impress the trails & cactuses & big blue sky...