Ten Essentials

Every month, GQ features a celebrity, icon, or man-about-town and the 10 things that man considers “essential” to…his existence, I guess. These range from clothes to hygiene products to books to family tokens, etc. For interested parties, and because I’m unemployed for two weeks, I have compiled a list of my own. I should say these are essential entirely in the context of my life as a young grad student in Chicago.

1. Planner. Yes, a real-live paper planner that you write on. Even when I don’t have assignments to keep track of, I can’t imagine not having a planner. I wouldn’t remember ANYTHING. Transitioning to digital organization would be logical, but there’s just something so satisfying about crossing an item off your to-do list, and seeing your whole month planned out in front of you.

2. Moving Comfort Gaia sports bra. TMI? Maybe. But I spent years with my boobs squished under spandex sports bras, still unsupported. This thing is magic. I no longer worry about the sagging effects of running.

3. Blank thank you cards. Always, always, always come in handy. Thank you for the gift, for writing my recommendation, for interviewing with me, for being a great supervisor, for letting me stay with you, and so on. You don’t want to have to run out and buy a card every time something like that comes up. Thank you cards are oh-so-classy, and everyone loves getting handwritten mail.

4. North Face Borealis backpack. Once I graduate, I will burn this thing. Except not really, because it has withstood three years of hard use and shows no more wear than a little dirt. It’s heavy and a pain in the ass, but it has gotten me through many days with two meals, a change of clothes, school books, and all my needs. And it’s water resistant.

4. Outdoor Research Aspire rain jacket. If it were winter, I would have said my North Face parka. But it’s not, and it has been raining all week. I love this jacket. It’s not as cute as a London Fog trench, but I look goofy in those anyway. It’s a cute dark red, the hood is extremely snug and sturdy and doesn’t flop around, and it has a lifetime guarantee. Something every commuter should have.

5. Sunday Chicago Tribune subscription. I got a year for $13 with Groupon, or else I never would have gotten this. But I LOVE it. I love reading the newspaper with coffee on a Sunday morning. No matter how busy I am, I know I will have at least that time. And even if I don’t really know much about the news, I can at least stay a little in touch with the times.

6. Boar’s hair bristle round brush. Yes, one of those round combs, but the bristle’s are made of bar’s hair. No matter how many defrizzing products I’ve tried, a boar’s hair brush is the most smoothing and eliminates 80% of the job formerly done by my flat iron.

7. Allrecipes.com. I’m not really sure if this counts. But I use it all the time. They have a feature where you can search for all recipes containing a certain ingredient, so if I find myself with a whole lot of something that’s about to expire, or needing to cook for a party but with only a select few ingredients, Allrecipes is super-handy.

8. UPASS. For the summer, my UPASS is out of business and I had to buy a good ol’ fashioned monthly pass. However usually I pay $80-100 for the year…or semester…yes that’s a big difference but either way it’s a good deal considering how much I use this. Like, 2-8 times every single day.

9. Forever Yogurt. This isn’t an essential in the sense that I go there a lot, but it’s an essential in the sense that it’s awesome and where Thomas and I usually end up after we go out to dinner or spend an evening wandering around Wicker Park. For the unenlightened folk, it’s a build your own fro-yo bar. With endless free samples (well, I’m sure they’d catch on eventually).

10. Small (fake) pearl studs. I'll be honest, I would forget to wear earrings if I didn't constantly have these in. In fact, I didn't wear earrings for several years for that reason. Then I put these babies in about a year ago and haven't taken them out much since. Shower, sleep, gym, whatever, they go with anything, and they're elegant and understated. Always removable for more special occasions.

Guess what I have to do today. NOTHING.

For the first time in a very long time, I literally have nothing scheduled. I do plan to go to the gym and chiropractor, but I can do that more or less whenever I want. I slept in until 8 am. 8 AM. That's nine hours of sleep (I went to bed at 11, which is 30-60 minutes later than usual, because I didn't have to worry about waking up early)! I read the newspaper this morning whilst drinking my coffee, haven't showered, and am still in my PJs. Why you ask? Because I no longer have classes to attend for the next four months. I never have to go back to Loyola again. I'm thrilled.

Yet here it is, almost 10 am, and guess what - I have a paper due Friday. I also must contact four internship referrals, one of whom requires writing samples and a cover letter. So the question is: Do I get started, or do I allow myself a day off and do it Wednesday? If I wait til Wednesday, at least for the paper, I'll inevitably end up grumpily scrambling to add the shoddy final touches Thursday night when I get home from my internship (which I still must attend Tuesday and Thursday this week). Yet I really, really can't drum up the motivation to get started now. Even if I try to picture it in my head, I literally can't imagine sitting down to work at my laptop all day.

But if I don't at least do something productive, I'll feel guilty and not truly able to enjoy the relaxation. So maybe I'll go back and finish the newspaper, get dressed so I feel more like a real person, tinker around with some things on my to-do list, and then possibly feel more ready to take on Community Interventions and uber-intimidating professionals who have no patience for the less-than-outstanding. After lunch.

Update as of 1pm: that is EXACTLY what I did. However now I'm writing that cover letter and won't have much time to write the paper before chiro and the gym. Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE cover letters? They're so formal. Why can't I just be like: "For real, I have crazy Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder and everything I do is organized, detailed, and professional. Those other suckers you're interviewing suck at writing - seriously, I've edited their stuff. And they say dumb things in class. So if you want someone competent with no patience for the indecisive and illogical, it would be in your best interest to hire me. And then give me a job when I graduate".