Vintage

Hope

This is 40: overpaying to live in a building you
partied in during your 20s. '90s warehouse lofts turned 2013 luxury apartments,
complete with branded tote bag and floorplan-containing blueprint tube. Did I
mention that I'm moving?

But before I get ahead of myself. There was chatter
this week about an Elizabeth Wurtzel piece. I initially confused Weil with
Wurtzel and couldn't figure out why there was so much hatred for this Times
article about Americans not having the language for unmarried spouses (you do
get to a point where boyfriend/girlfriend just sounds too young and frivolous).
We also don't have words for unmarried spouses who divorce. And that may be
where I end up. For right now, I'm saying separated. To say you've broken up
with a boyfriend implies something a teen does over text, not changing course
after 13 years spent with an individual (ugh, not "partner" either, gross).

Of course, people were reacting to this frightening,
most truly frightening teenage journaling ever written by a middle-aged woman and
published by New York. "I am 45 and have been living like I’m 25 since I was 15." Yikes, it scared me straight. This is no way for anyone to be,
at least not so unabashedly, publically. I never did read Prozac Nation–maybe it would be suitalbe now with nearly two decades of distance.

This weekend one of my very favorite, horribly underrated shows, Enlightened
is coming back to HBO. And Laura Dern's wisdom in the Times couldn't be truer.  

Ms. Dern said pairing Girls and Enlightened is almost like a public service
announcement reminding viewers to get their lives together by their 30s.

“Someone in their early 20s trying to find themselves
is so much fun and crazy,” Ms. Dern said. “But stay tuned until they’re in
their 40s and it becomes a cautionary tale of who you don’t want to be."

And so I tread carefully from here on out. No one
need hear the raw inner thoughts of a grown up. Obviously, I have a lot going
on right now and I'd rather not turn this into a geriatric livejournal. And if
anyone has actually even vaguely kept up with this from its '90s incarnation,
I've toned down anything overly personal or salacious considerably over the
years. But I'm not one to stay wholly mum either, despite recent thoughts of
shutting this all down for good–everyone just uses Facebook and Twitter now
anyway–and moving on to a privately introspective life.

 

46 thoughts on “Vintage”

  1. I’ve been following your blog since the late 90’s version (and prior to that your zine, which was one of my favorites) it would be a tragedy if you took down the blog…BTW, as a regular non commenter I feel so creepy and stalkery saying this!

  2. Likewise – as someone who lives in Portland, was a librarian many years ago, travels often to NYC and loves food, your blog is my favorite. I hope all will work out for the best for you and if you cannot keep the blog going, thank you for keeping it up as long as you have.

  3. It’s funny how Time works on one…

    >>>I never thought I would say this, but maybe you should friend me on Facebook? <<< -This Blog, December 6. Is this invitation for real? You could work at all those Byzantine privacy and grouping settings and take on all of us loyal-readers-since-the-90's -- this should be an irresistible option for a natural-born Leo.

  4. I love when people come out of the woodwork (not stalkerish at all). I don’t actually think I’ll shut down the blog for good, I’m just wondering out loud at what point is it weird to write about yourself online and if you’re supposed to stop at a certain age. Obviously, there are no rules.

  5. Keep making your own rules, Krista. I still love your blog even though I don’t visit as much as I would like. When I do, however, I end up spending way more time than I should, and put off doing other stuff… Like now, for instance, I could be getting ready for work instead of having another cup of coffee, curled up on my couch under a furry blanket reading Project Me, Part 2. Will there be a Part 3? Sounds like big changes are afoot. I will stick around for however long you do!

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