{Spring 2011 vs. Spring 2012: A Comparative Analysis}
This time last year we were planning our escape from sweltering Jaipur to the vertiginous wilds of Ladakh, that forgotten kingdom at the northern-most tip of India and Pakistan, just over yonder from Tibet to the east and Afghanistan to the west. On the advice from friends (and amazing bigBANG readers!) we spent three days adjusting to the altitude in Leh, then hitched a ride through the rugged Karakorum Range and down into the apricot orchards of Nubra Organic Retreat, a modest, magical, family-run tent camp in a tiny village. Hands-down one of the highlights of our ten months in India.
...
Today I realized half-way through my graduate seminar that a pair of underwear had gotten stuck in my jeans in the dryer and I'd been walking around all morning with a Hanky Pankian lump lodged against the back of my knee. What does it say about a person who puts on a pair of jeans, rides the subway for thirty minutes, and gives a presentation without realizing there is something of substantial size *inside* one's rather thin and stretchy pants? That there is laundry within one's laundry, sartorial mise en abîme? I dunno, but I couldn't excuse myself to the ladies room, stuff the stowaway in my pocket, and return to the discussion on French feminist theory without giggling just a little bit.
And that sums up the difference between Spring 2011 and Spring 2012. Have a great weekend. P. is picking me up tomorrow and taking me somewhere (A SURPRISE!) for my birthday and I'm so excited I might just wear ALL my clean laundry in my pants tomorrow for easy packing/ extra cushioning. I will be one year older when next you hear from me. Shazam.
P.S. Thank you for the LUDICROUSLY AWESOME BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS.
This time last year we were planning our escape from sweltering Jaipur to the vertiginous wilds of Ladakh, that forgotten kingdom at the northern-most tip of India and Pakistan, just over yonder from Tibet to the east and Afghanistan to the west. On the advice from friends (and amazing bigBANG readers!) we spent three days adjusting to the altitude in Leh, then hitched a ride through the rugged Karakorum Range and down into the apricot orchards of Nubra Organic Retreat, a modest, magical, family-run tent camp in a tiny village. Hands-down one of the highlights of our ten months in India.
...
Today I realized half-way through my graduate seminar that a pair of underwear had gotten stuck in my jeans in the dryer and I'd been walking around all morning with a Hanky Pankian lump lodged against the back of my knee. What does it say about a person who puts on a pair of jeans, rides the subway for thirty minutes, and gives a presentation without realizing there is something of substantial size *inside* one's rather thin and stretchy pants? That there is laundry within one's laundry, sartorial mise en abîme? I dunno, but I couldn't excuse myself to the ladies room, stuff the stowaway in my pocket, and return to the discussion on French feminist theory without giggling just a little bit.
And that sums up the difference between Spring 2011 and Spring 2012. Have a great weekend. P. is picking me up tomorrow and taking me somewhere (A SURPRISE!) for my birthday and I'm so excited I might just wear ALL my clean laundry in my pants tomorrow for easy packing/ extra cushioning. I will be one year older when next you hear from me. Shazam.
P.S. Thank you for the LUDICROUSLY AWESOME BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS.
Such cool photos. And happy early birthday!!!
ReplyDeleteOMG lady...happy birthday! i'm so excited for your surprise to happen so you can tell all of us what it was! haha. :) i know that whatever it is, it'll be amazing. (as long as it's not the rest of your laundry, dirty. that would just suck.)
ReplyDeleteYour undies in the pants story made me laugh. It sounds like something I would do. Have fun on your birthday adventure!
ReplyDeletehehehe, it says at least that you have very small underwear, donc un tout petit cul...
ReplyDeleteLaughing and loving that story! Things only get better - Happy Birthday and enjoy your surprise with laundry in tow - or not.
ReplyDeletei think the french feminists would have wholly enjoyed your story. the same thing once happened to me in gym class. in seventh grade. nothing hanky pankian about those circumstances. and yes, the offending pair of hanes her way did fall onto the gymnasium floor. good news, i survived.
ReplyDeleteI've done that before... in addition to unknowingly wearing underwear inside out all day. I'm not sure which is worse! Have a lovely birthday weekend! xo
ReplyDeleteonce on the way out of my high school dining hall as a brace faced freshman, i happened upon a crumpled up pair of what appeared to be blue granny panties being trampled on and snickered at by the throngs of 14-18 year olds lining up for dinner. well -- on closer inspection, they were mine, and had unknowingly fallen out of my pant leg on the way upstairs. i am not sure they were clean, and had been in full view of strapping young lacrosse players and future junior leaguers for a solid 45 minutes.
ReplyDeleteHappy Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteHappiest of birthdays. And so wonderful to have seen Ladakh. I tried to go to Sikkim in 1982, but my paperwork failed to arrive in time for a visa. The memory of arguing with a low-level Indian bureaucrat, as a fan circled on his ceiling, is compelling but insufficient recompense.
ReplyDeleteyou make me laugh out loud woman! happy birthday to you, spunky one!
ReplyDeleteone time i fashioned myself a strapless bra out of the top of a pair of control panty hose...i think i had read about it in a women's magazine...anyway, it actually worked really well. other than when it was down around my midsection, hanging there like some sort of weird skin-tube. got some looks on that one!
Have such a wonderful birthday, Lily! This underwear story sounds like a classic Kate Miss move, so I feel ya, girl.
ReplyDeleteI found a pair of tights in my long sleeved shirt and the end of a long day of high school.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday!
Happy Birthday, lady! Enjoy every minute of it. xoxo
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday.
ReplyDeleteI have absolutely done that except that the underclothes in question flew out from my pant leg as I sauntered into my classroom in college.
Fun times!
Hope you're having a smashing birthday!
ReplyDeleteI, too, have discovered stowaway socks and undies. But my favorite lingerie-gone-awry story is this one: My poor college roommate, while heading out of our cramped dorm room, snagged a bra from a drying rack onto the folded music stand sticking out of her backpack. She then biked across campus to her clarinet lesson, my bra streaming merrily behind her like a banner, wondering why she was getting so many strange looks. Fortunately, she's very forgiving.
Uhm, excuse me Aries sister but when is this birthday? Mine is Thursday! If I thought a Raspberry mojito would make the journey, I'd send you one immediately!!! Happy Birthday!!!
ReplyDeleteHope you have a wonderful birthday weekend! Sounds perfect, I just hope you wear the cutest undies on top of all the others. ;) My two best friends were born today and tomorrow 30 years ago, so I've got a big celebratory weekend ahead of me too (as per my email). :D
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Lily! Have a wonderful weekend...
ReplyDeleteHappy happy birthday!
ReplyDeleteUm, that laundry story pleases me deeply. Happy birthday to you!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous pics! - The fact that you obliviously wore balled up undies at the back of your knee under your jeans just makes me like you even MORE.
ReplyDeleteI hope you have an over-the-top fantastical wonderful beautiful amazing birthday!
xo
cortnie
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ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, dear! Please report back on your SURPRISE.
ReplyDeleteP.S. - Have had the underwear in the pants experience. Also, the stray sock in the pants. Laundry (and all things related) continues to be the bane of my existence.
Hello Lily,
ReplyDeleteI happened upon your blog while looking for ideas to finish my 84 13' Scamp and ended up spending...oooh maybe three or four days (at least) reading your entire blog. Really enjoyed reading all about your life adventures and creations. Now I REALLY gotta get back to my shop bookwork. Take care and Happy Birthday from another Lil(y). Will keep checking back to bigBANG!
I did that once when I was in fourth grade. Not sure the panties were clean, though.
ReplyDeleteI'm pinning this to my "EXPLORE" board on Pinterest so I remember! I'd love to make it to India one day. Your blog has been so inspiring on that front, Lily. Well, on many fronts. I've been meaning to tell you congrats on your feature in Kinfolk Magazine!
ReplyDeleteOh Lily-I am totally endeared to the vision of you with a lump of laundry in your pants! Makes me happy. Matt and I talked to a class a few weeks ago and half-way through I realized I missed a few belt loops, thus allowing my belt to inch oddly up my body. oy.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday lady!