Life & Love

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I finished The Great Gatsby last night, and my first reaction was ā€œWTF, that was stupid! What a pointless mess!ā€ But, after thinking about it and absorbing the message some more, I think thatā€™s how I was supposed to feelā€¦ and I think I got it!

It was interesting how closely it paralleled some of my own experiences, and the lifestyles I was exposed to in my DC world. I frequented some lavish parties hosted by millionaires and their athlete/supermodel/celebrity friends, in decadent Georgetown and Embassy Row mansions and sparkling yachts.

Someone I know personally matches every character in the book, for better or for worse. I like to think Iā€™m Nick Carraway – a relatively aloof and somewhat bored participant who recognized the emptiness of what we were doing, but participated anyway (albeit from a guarded distance without taking it too seriously, if that makes senseā€¦)

Though I must say, our millionaire hosts werenā€™t quite as elegantly, mysteriously interesting as Jay Gatsby. There were plenty of rumors of course – but more along the lines of snorting cocaine off 14-carat gold bars just for the heck of it, and bizarre sexual practices with high-end hookers in Cannes or St. Tropez (or DC), and yes, maybe some investment fraud here and thereā€¦

But fortunately, no oneā€™s lives were ruined by their extravaganceā€¦ that I know of. Just reputations maybeā€¦ but even those stains disappeared with the relatively anonymous cycle of revelers that go in and out of those kinds of shin digsā€¦

ā€¦Canā€™t wait to see the movie!

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Now I’m Depressed

I just gave notice at my job, that I will be moving away in August. They are having some pretty serious financial difficulties, so I decided to let them know sooner rather than later, so that they can more appropriately make plans (and hopefully save someone elseā€™s position, if it gets to that point.)

But UGHā€¦ so sad. Iā€™ve really enjoyed it here, and the people have been so good to me.

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What would YOU do with $600 Million?

Iā€™m reading about the mystery Powerball winner from Florida, and the amount of money this person won is just mind boggling. I really donā€™t know what I would do with that much money!!

I think I would:

– Travel the world (duh)

– Buy a beach house on the Coast, a mountain cabin in the West, and a villa in the South of France

– Earn/buy my way into some esoteric but practically useless advanced degree from Oxford (in Classics or Philosophy or something)

– Donate to anything having to do with animals, mental health, and medical research. Iā€™d open and fund my own animal sanctuary for any unwanted or abused or homeless critters!

– Pay off my sisterā€™s school loans; help my dad/in-laws retire some place awesome.

– Get the most fun job I can think of (since I would go crazy if I didnā€™t work). I think Iā€™d open my cupcake shop and do photography and writing on the side!

– Get my eyes lasered.

Sigh. A girl can dream šŸ™‚

First try at my new curling wand! Not too shabby for a rushed on-my-way-to-work job, if I do say so myself šŸ™‚ Canā€™t wait to experiment with it!

(And just ignore the awkward twisty-pose that makes me look bloated.)

All the pictures on my Facebook newsfeed of friends with their moms made me sad – especially the wedding day ones. Love and miss you Mama, no matter what you say šŸ™‚

This is me with two of the few reasons I attended my high school reunion over the weekend. Rachel is on the left. She is an accomplished pianist who now teaches and specializes in the Taubman method. She has become a master of homeopathic healing methods. Meredith lives in Boston and is earning her PhD in geophysics at Harvard. She is learning to play the fiddle.

Neither of us were in love with our high school experience, so we bonded over being overall misfits in an elitist school that was the inspiration for the now infamous Mean Girls film. Going back was a combination of curiosity, closure, and of course, reuniting with those who made the experience better.

However, it must be said that the reunion with the rest of the class went pretty well, too. Any event like that will have its awkward moments, but everyone was nice, and hearing what the girls have been up to was inspiringā€¦ and humbling. Now that I live in a place where itā€™s a surprise to learn someone has a college education at all, hearing about all the ā€œOxfordā€, ā€œPhDā€, ā€œPrincetonā€, ā€œstart-upsā€, and other miscellaneous accomplishments made me wish Iā€™ve done more with my education and expanded my credentialsā€¦ until I plummeted back to reality with the realization that my dad is not the CEO of Motorola, and my mom is not the President of the ABC News Washington Bureauā€¦ yay for being the financial aid kidā€¦ šŸ™‚

Anyway, the weekend overall was a mind-boggling whirlwind. All my worlds were squeezed into a 24-hour time frame! I met with college, post-college, and work friends, then did the high school thing, then met with family. It was so good to see everyoneā€¦. but my head sure is spinning šŸ™‚

Today marks the beginning of Mental Health Awareness month. Today also marks the beginning of my motherā€™s homelessness.

According to the Mental Illness Policy Organization, people with untreated psychiatric illnesses comprise one-third of the homeless population.Ā My mom suffers from Paranoid Personality Disorder and Delusional Disorder, and she has no insight into her condition and thus refuses treatment. Itā€™s been more destructive to her and to our family than any kind of cancer.

Take some time to learn something this month as we continue to find hope for those who struggle with this every day of their lives.