my pirogues are legendary. So far, three couples have fallen in love after eating them. I'm guaranteed a spot in heaven because one of the couples is Jewish and skipping a ring in hell because another is Christian and my karma is set for at least the next life since the other is Buddhist. Just sayin.

http://missbanannas.blogspot.com/

training for a triathlon, fundraising for Leukemia Lymphoma Society (if you'd like to donate... shameless plug: http://pages.teamintraining.org/nca/lavatri13/banannas)

Sitting still, making breakfast fun, baking sweet potatoes, killing hills, laughing loudly, knitting, parking like a Jedi

and I'm a wonk, medicaid statistics, cost-benefit analysis, that's my beat.

the compliment man, who used to walk up and down 16th Street by U Street, said that I have an amazing smile.

huge fan of vonnegut, david foster wallace, austen, ayn rand, achibe, capote, dumas. http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/691543-anna

have had a hard time getting into swift and old satire in general.

Best quote about love: tom robbins. "love is not a harpsichord concert in a genteel drawing room. and it sure as hell isn't Social Security, Laetrile, the Irish Sweepstakes, or roller disco. Love is private and primitive and a bit on the funky and frightening side. i think of the Luna card in the Tarot deck: some strange, huge crustacean, its armor glistening and its pinchers wiggling, clatters out of a pool while wild dogs howl at a bulging moon. underneath the hearts and flowers, love is loony like that. attempts to housebreak it, to refine it, to dress the crabs up like doves and make them sing soprano always result in thin blood. you end up with a parody. there're lots of pretty sounds that describe 'like,' but 'love' is more on the order of barking."

music, I frequently download mixes from the internet to get a good flavor of newer bands and promptly forget their names. I don't go to a lot of shows, although I like going. last show I went to was Bombay Bicycle Club. I like the stand-up bass, fiddles, trumpets, pianos. On my most played playlist: breeders, crystal stilts, Beethoven, autolux, phantogram, cats to Peru, Mumford and sons, short stack, deftones, ramones, blur, Bombay bicycle club, dum dum girls, Ida Maria, noisettes, tv on the radio, Florence and the machine, daft punk, fugazi, kaki king, talk taxis, anti-nowhere league, cocorosie, the jam, new order, pixies, weezer, black flag, miles Davis, morphine, pulp...

food, oh lovely food, I eat what is healthy and what is nourishing. my diet changes though, I try to be gluten-free, then not gluten-free, then to keep away from fruit and then all the fruit everywhere! and currently I'm on a vegan kick because I went to a buddhist retreat and after a week of eating the AMAZINGLY delicious vegetarian menu, I noticed that because I'm just naturally not a huge fan of cheese or milk that de facto, I was eating like a vegan. I have never felt healthier so I'll stick with it until I'm ready to eat something else. not truly wedded to it, just trying it out :)

this is really hard to answer only because the last dose of spirituality I got was buddhism, and part of the dharma is impermanence, so really, I'm cool no matter what. but what I really like and am grateful for:
the universe
breathing
a bath tub
toothpaste
a few friends and my mom
running shoes (and socks, but again, the beauty of running is that there's really no equipment necessary. I just happen to <3 my minimalists that's all)

Ginger molasses cookies, the next bike ride, how I can be of service to the universe, beautiful things like birds' songs, clouds, the roll of waves against the bottom of a boat.

getting coffee with my besties, out to eat in midtown, on a run, learning something new, swimming

Choose Your Own Adventure:

Waking up wrapped in soft sheets. It’s summer, the ceiling fan whirls, and the bed smells like the two of you. His arm still falls over your waist and you play footsie with each other for a minute. He nuzzles your neck and then slips out of bed. He knows it takes you a minute to break into the morning, so you turn and move onto his pillow and spread-out, taking up the whole bed now. He pads down the stairs of the three story town house, in whichever city you’re living. You can hear the crunch of the coffee grinder, the toilet flush, the squeak of old pipes turning on for him to take a shower. He doesn’t drink coffee, he makes it just for you.

Finally, you get out of bed and you go get the paper. When he comes out of the shower and downstairs, you have situated yourself sitting like a yogi at the breakfast table reading the paper. When it’s just you and your unicorn, you walk around in pannies and an old t-shirt; this morning you stole the one that says “hang the dj.”

“What would you like for breakfast? I think there’s some spinach and mozzarella,” you say. With his toothbrush in his mouth, he continues brushing and nods his head. There are peonies from your backyard cut and in a clear vase on the table. You have a mismatch of plates and silverware, hand-blown Venetian glass juice cups that you picked up in college on your summer abroad. You start making breakfast with the heavy iron skillet, because the eggs taste better when they’ve been scrambled in it. Off-center, above the breakfast table, you hung a mobile you made when you were living in Washington, DC. A bicycle wheel without the tire and little bits of glass and shells and wooden toys, a hodge-podge of cheap jewelry hang from the spokes. It’s supposed to turn, but never does.

Out of the kitchen and into the office in the back which used to be a closed in porch which was converted into an area where you could watch the kids playing in the back and still futz around on the computer; you tell him that breakfast is served.

He takes the world news and you take the federal pages and eat in the wonderful silence of mid-morning. The kids are at your mom’s house for the weekend, you’ll have two days all to yourselves and the house will remain spotless.

Maybe you’ll go to the park, maybe you’ll go to the new museum exhibit downtown. Maybe you’ll find things to do around the house and stay inside all day long. But it doesn't matter, because right now is perfect.

To go to the park, turn to page 2.
To go to the museum exhibit, turn to page 14.
To sit still and just enjoy the moment... Exactly.

you love to laugh, can beat me in a game of bananagrams, have some of the characteristics of my cat (I saw this phenomena on a PBS show about how we seek mates who are similar to our pets): past trauma but healing and growing, have a lot to say to everyone, chose me, cuddles but ultimately sleeps on the other side of the bed, a good jumper, resourceful, doesn't binge eat, still playful even though not a kitten anymore, interrupts me when something is needed, forgiving, likes my mom, trusts, gives good backrubs, comes to my rescue when I get stuck in the neighbors' trash bin....