Turtle Power

Going to the Chapel...

2007-09-11T18:32:00.000-04:00

Casie, my friend since 6th grade, got married last weekend in Virginia Beach. This is a significant event of course for Casie, but also for me because Casie is my first friend to get married. Kind of freaks me out.

To be corny for a second, it feels like just yesterday that Casie and I met on a 6th grade field trip to the Air and Space Museum. When we thought one particular scene in Empire Records was hilarious, and kept watching it over and over. When we started high school, and remained friends. When we prided ourselves over never having had a fight. When she visited me in college. And, when she met her now-husband, Jason.

Middle school reunion!

My date Caitlin

Garter time.

Throwing the garter

Seeing the newlyweds off

Congratulations Casie and Jason!

Rocky Mountain Park: Part II

2007-09-05T18:41:00.000-04:00

After walking back from Alberta Falls, we began the drive up Trail Ridge Rd, to the highest point reachable by car. None of us were prepared for the steadily cooling conditions on the way up.

Towards the bottom, where it was still nice and warm.

Taken from the car while Jess and Lauren braved the brutal cold.

The weather quickly went from warm and sunny, to cold and sunny, to colder and rainy, to freezing and rainy, back to freezing and sunny, which at least resulted in rainbows.

Almost to the top!

We made it to the highest point reachable by car. But, there was still the highest point reachable by foot. The air was thin, and brutally cold. But, we made it this far, we couldn't stop now.

The stairs leading to the top. We didn't think we would make it.

But, at least we had a nice snowman to accompany us on the journey.

Finally, we made it to the top, 2.3 miles above sea level! Enough time for a quick couple of pictures before we froze to death.

Rocky Mountain Park: Part I

2007-08-22T21:00:00.001-04:00

Well, it's been two months since I came back from the road trip. Maybe I'll finish the wrap up in another two months.

After we left Monument Rocks, we passed through the town of Amy, Kansas.

Passing through into the Mountain Time Zone, which meant we were almost finally out of Kansas!

Finally we were in Colorado! You can kind of see the Rockies in the distance.

After staying the night in Loveland, CO, we were up the next morning, ready for Rocky Mountain National Park.

The Rockies in the daylight, view from the motel parking lot.

The drive to the Park

And....Rocky Mountain National Park

Bear Lake. And, as a little kid asked...no, there are no actual bears in the lake...I think

One of many cute chipmunks we encountered.

Alberta Falls

The two photographers

I am so ashamed

2007-08-04T20:27:00.000-04:00

This weekend I could have been at the Virgin Festival seeing (for free) the likes of Fountains of Wayne, Peter Bjorn and John, Interpol, and the Beastie Boys.

Ah, the Beastie Boys. Back in high school, I was such a big fan that I delivered a speech on their merits for an English presentation. Sure, I'm not as much of a fanatic of theirs as I was in high school, but I still consider myself a big fan. Or at least, I did.

This week on a local radio station, they were giving away tickets for the Virgin Festival, tickets that costs $90 for each day. Weasel, a local legend, who used to DJ for the fallen WHFS, now is a morning DJ on 94.7. On Tuesday morning, he told listeners to call in and win tickets if they could answer this trivia question: What is the profession of AdRock (from the Beastie Boys) father?

I was stumped.

I called in and figured I would wing it on the slight chance that I would actually get through.

And I actually got through.

And Weasel's distinctive voice was on the other end.

"What does AdRock's father do?" he asked me.

"Uh...is he a musician?"

"No" he said, "Try again."

So, what does his father do? He is a famous playwright.

So, instead of spending the weekend enjoying music, I am at home, avoiding studying for the GRE's, which I take on the 16th. I am truly a sad excuse for a Beastie Boys fan.

Sorry Boys for letting you down.

On the subject of DJ's, I also spoke with another local legend, Cerphe on the same radio station, later in the week. I called to see if they had already given away tickets that hour, and had a short conversation with him. A couple minutes later, I hear my voice come over the radio, replaying the same convo I just had with Cerphe.

I may not have gotten free tickets to the Virgin Festival, but at least I spoke to two DJ's I had listened to for years, and got on the radio.

We're almost not in Kansas anymore

2007-07-26T15:15:00.000-04:00

Before going to Colorado, we decided to check out Monument Rocks, which are 80 million year old rock formations, and up to 70 feet tall.

Driving to the Rocks, down a long dirt road, we encountered amber waves of grain.

Finally, we reached the rocks. And..they were really amazing. Warning: many pictures of rocks follow.

All right, enough rocks! Next blog: Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado

More from the middle of Kansas!

2007-07-18T18:48:00.000-04:00

During our scenic byway off of 70, we happened upon Mushroom Rock State Park, a national park that is exactly as it sounds: rocks that look like mushrooms!

Then, more driving

Somewhere in Kansas, we stopped at a grocery store. As we were leaving, an older guy in an old truck wearing a cowboy hat was turning into the grocery store. As he was turning, he smiled, and tipped his hat at us. Love it.

It was getting late, so we attempted to find a motel in Oakley, KS. Apparently, Oakley is hopping at this time of year, as all the motels we passed had no vacancies. Finally, we found a motel called the Free Breakfast Inn, around midnight. The office decor reminded me of the scene in Harold and Kumar in Freak Show's house The room's decor had not been changed since the 60's. I kept picturing the Bates Motel, and Norman peeking in at us through a hole in the wall. However, the next morning, in the light of day, the place did not seem nearly as scary.

And, we got free breakfast! Breakfast was served at a steakhouse across the highway.

They frown upon people driving like hell.

Next blog: The last of Kansas-Monument Rocks

Kansas: Part I

2007-07-15T19:46:00.000-04:00

After leaving MO, it was time for some good 'ol minor-league baseball, in the name of the Kansas City T-Bones in Kansas. Proudly wearing an Orioles shirt, we sat down to our seats. I hear "How bout them O's?!", and turn around to see a man in an Orioles cap and shirt. Turns out he was from MD, and was visiting his son in Kansas City. I love that I ran into an Orioles fan in Kansas.

The game was relatively uneventful, apart from the amazing sunset.

And a little sumo-wrestling in between innings

After the game, we headed to Topeka for the night.
Topeka from the hotel room.

After an excellent buffet breakfast from the Ramada (a little money will get you a long way in Kansas hotels), we went to the site of Brown vs. Board of Education.

At the museum, I learned that one of the cases that became the Brown vs. BOE Supreme Court case involved the University of Delaware. In 1950, UD became the first university to desegregate by court decree. Not something I ever heard on the campus tour.

We then passed through another president's town: Abilene KS, home of Eisenhower.

When we went through the house, Jess told the tour guide that we had been by Truman's house the day before. The woman scoffed and said that the Truman's house was much more high-class, and Eisenhower grew up in a blue-class household. Meow.

Abilene was nowhere near as cool as Independence, but still had character.

After that, we left civilization for awhile, and saw lots of the Kansas countryside on a scenic by-way off 70.

Next blog: more Kansas countryside, and attempting to find a motel in the middle of Kansas.

Pardon the interruption

2007-07-09T18:43:00.000-04:00

I interrupt the road trip picturefest wrap-up to talk about my camp job.

The first day, I was completely ready to call it quits. On Mondays, I don't have any groups, so I had to go to the pool to shadow a kid who was completely uncontrollable. He could not communicate, did not listen, scratched, and bit. At the pool, he kept pulling down his swim trunks, and at the end of the day, ran into the kiddie pool, pulled down his pants, and peed. To put the kid into perspective--he was so bad that he was kicked out of the camp after two days...and this camp has a number of difficult kids.

But, after two weeks, dare I say...I don't hate it. And, that's a pretty good review for me. There are a number of kids that I really like. And, it's kind of fun planning activities for the kids. So, I'll make it through the next four weeks, and at the end, I will have a really good experience on my resume for when I apply to grad school for OT.

St Louis and Independence, MO

2007-07-05T16:10:00.000-04:00

For our last day in St Louis, we headed to Laumeier Sculpture Park, a 72 acre, open-air museum.

A sampling of the sculptures:

After walking the park, it was sadly time to leave St Louis. But, not before taking some more pictures of the Arch!

From East St Louis, IL

On our way to a minor league ballgame in Kansas City, KS, we passed signs for Independence, MO, home of Truman. I sort of made the girls agree that we could quickly explore the town. And we were all glad we did. Not only did we see (the outside of) Truman's house, but Independence is a great little town! The downtown area was really nice and felt like you were stepping back in time.

Truman's house

Downtown Independence

My mom actually met Truman when she was four. Now, I am the second generation to "meet" him. Nevermind that it was just a statue of him.

Next blog: Kansas City, KS baseball, and Topeka

St Louis: Part II

2007-07-03T20:27:00.000-04:00

After the Arch, we were off to tour Anheuser-Busch, which was about 10 times as big as the Shipyard Brewery tour I went on in Maine.

First, we visited their Clydesdale horses.

My favorite was Bruce

Then, a tour of the rest of the brewery, which encompassed many blocks and buildings.

After the tour, the best part: two free pints of beer.

On the tour, there was a big group of young monks or priests or religious folks of some sort, speaking French. The monks/priests/whatever they were, enjoyed the samples most of all.

Next blog: St Louis: The Conclusion, and Independence, MO

St Louis, part I

2007-07-01T20:27:00.000-04:00

After the very exciting Indianapolis, we were off to St Louis. We stayed with Jess' friend, Becca, who just happened to be housesitting for her parents friends. Not only did we have a free place to stay, but we had a free place to stay in a nice, air-conditioned house! And, Becca, being from St Louis, made an excellent host, showing us around St Louis.

Upon arriving on Sunday night, food was of course the first thing on the agenda. For dinner, we had toasted ravioli, and St Louis style pizza, which was delicious. After dinner, we were all stuffed, so what better time to get more food? By suggestion of Listmaker, we went to Ted Drewes Ted Drewes, a St Louis staple serving custard. Jess and I shared chocolate custard with peanut butter cups, and it was oh-so great.

After passing out in a food coma, we woke up on Monday morning ready to be tourists. First stop: the Arch.

Going up to the top is a very strange experience. Unlike other tourist destinations like the Empire State Building, or the Washington Mounument, in the St Louis Arch, you go up in little cars that can fit at most, five people. As Lauren described it, the pods were like "a 1960's view of the future."

This picture kind of shows how small these little elevators were, but does not give it justice.

We made it!

The views from the top

Next blog: Anheuser-Busch Brewery tour.

Road trip, part I: Indianapolis

2007-06-27T20:03:00.000-04:00

Well, I got back from the road trip on Sunday. Our flight from Denver was at 7AM, and I did not get home until 6 since I had to drive back from the Philly area. This week has been crazy busy with starting camp, and a GRE prep class at night. Needless to say, I'm exhasted. I am sifting through the 600 pictures I took on the trip, so it might take me awhile to sort through them.

But, to get started---
Lauren, Jess, and I left from Exton on Saturday night, heading to Columbus to stay the night. This portion of the trip was pretty uneventful apart from some random cats in the middle of the highway in Ohio.

Crossing into West Virginia (which is apparently "open for business") in our attempt to capture each state's sign. This mission failed after Indiana.

After getting a few hours of sleep, we were off to Indianapolis for the Grand Prix.

After taking the wrong exit into Indianapolis, we actually came across a nice park in downtown.

But, we had to leave the park, as the Grand Prix was calling.

And -try as I might, I cannot comprehend the appeal of watching cars drive fast around a circle. I was dumbfounded.

This was pretty much it for two hours:

Trying to feign some enthusiasm

After it was finally over, we came across these guys, who were much more entertaining than the actual Grand Prix. I should have asked them to explain to me the appeal.

Next blog: St. Louis

Road trip!

2007-06-18T19:28:00.001-04:00

This week I am on a road trip with Lauren and Jess. We are making our way from Exton, PA to Denver. Right now, we are in St Louis. Lauren is updating her blog via text message, so make your way over there to see our trip so far.

Boston, part II

2007-06-05T18:39:00.000-04:00

On Memorial Day, Allie, Sam, Laura, and I saw a game at Fenway against Cleveland. The tickets were a bit pricey, but well worth it!

It was a first place showdown. Sam reads up on the facts.

Before the game, there was a nice tribute to Trot Nixon, who played for 10 seasons with the Sox, and a standing ovation from the crowd during his first time at bat.

As the game was starting, a group of four people around my age (three guys and a girl) arrived to sit in the seats in front of us. We all knew immediately that they were trouble. The girl refused to sit on the end, and was whining and would not sit until her boyfriend let her sit in the middle. She then started bitching about how much she hated Boston and baseball. Two minutes after they sat down, it was time for another beer run, where the girl said that they owed her the next round because she had bought the first two rounds.

And they kept drinking.

And they kept being more annoying.

Short video evidence: Drunkenly trying to start a wave.

The guys were extremely, ear-piercingly loud, and the guy in front of them nicely asked them to quiet down. They nicely said sure--and then for the rest of the game shouted into his ear. Nice.

In the beginning, the couple were oh so in love. They were making out, and just being generally obnoxious.

Look at that look of love, admiring her idiot boyfriend- before the drama went down.

But, as the night wore on, the making out became more sporadic, and the boyfriend's true colors really shined through. He started being really drunkenly mean to her, and slurring his speech. This resulted in her crying and demanding that they get up so she could leave. She did not come back for the remainder of the game. As we left the game, we saw them on the sidewalk outside of the park, so I assume they are okay. I'm sure they are making out right now.

Anyways, the rest of the game was great. Kevin Youkilis hit an inside the park home-run! And the Sox won!

Sweet Caroline during the 8th.

During the game, a guy behind us said to his friend "There is only one thing better than going to a game at Fenway- Going to a Fenway game and the Sox winning." Indeed.

More info

2007-06-04T23:07:00.000-04:00

A couple months ago, I wrote that I was planning on pursuing Occupational Therapy. Today's New York Times has an article discussing the pediatric sensory integration area of OT, which I will be working in this summer. It is a somewhat lengthy article, but pretty interesting, and gives more detail on what I (think) I am intersted in doing.

Boston, part I

2007-06-03T16:17:00.000-04:00

Last week, I went to Boston. I visited Allie for her birthday, saw the Bossman, Heather, the Edward Hopper exhibit at the MFA, and best of all, went to a Red Sox game!

Some highlights:

Celebrating Allie's 25th with a birthday cake decorated with icing adorned Pocky.

Orchard House in Concord, MA, where Louisa May Alcott lived.

Being "little women" in front of the house.

On Memorial Day, before the Sox game, we went out on a boat, with Allie's friend Erin's family and friends from Lesley into Boston Harbor.

Stay tuned--next blog: Fenway!

The Golden Girls

2007-05-04T11:35:00.000-04:00

Lauren Graham carries Alexis Bledel off into the sunset.

Just yesterday, Stone Groove remarked that this week's Gilmore Girls episode was much better than the rest of the season. I have been remarking all year that this season should be the last. The show was getting painful to watch.

So, this morning at breakfast, Stone Groove looked at the paper, and started to moan. It appears that this season will be the last for the Gilmore Girls.

I say good riddance. While I count Gilmore Girls among my favorite shows, it has just been so bad this year. Season 6 was not great either.

Only two new episodes left! All I have to say is that Rory better not marry Logan on the series finale.

But, I am sad to see it go.

I don't know why Stone Groove is complaining. We are only 10 episodes in on season 2, so by my calculations, he still has about 100 episodes that he has never seen before.

Gilmore Girls-Where you lead, I will follow- to DVD. Thanks for the memories.

Oh, and on the subject of TV--did anyone watch the two hour Grey's Anatomy/pilot for Kate Walsh's spin-off last night? It was truly awful.

Great

2007-05-01T16:03:00.000-04:00

Not so happy to be left-handed right now.

Just Another Day in the Neighborhood

2007-04-25T11:31:00.000-04:00

Last night, in my seemingly tranquil neighborhood, my house was happy as can be. My dad was in bed, my mom was watching Law and Order, and I was watching YouTube. Around 10, my mom and I found it a little strange that there was a low-flying helicopter with spotlights repeatedly circling the skies. Unusual, yes, but nothing we hadn't seen before.

But, one helicopter grew to two, and kept getting closer to our house and louder.

My mom decided to look outside. Not only were there helicopters, but a number of people in the woods behind our house with flashlights.

We may have been overreacting, but we decided to call the police to see what was going on. Oh yes, the dispatcher told me, there is indeed something going on. "Are all your doors locked?", she asked. Apparently, there was an armed robbery at a gas station about 10 minutes from our house, and the helicopters and people in the woods were cops. There were two suspects, one was in custody, the other one was thought to be near our house. She told me if we see anyone on foot who is not a policeman, call the cops.

Right. The only thing that I was going to call was my bed.

This morning, it was reported that two cops were injured near my neighborhood, chasing a drunk driver. But, this happened at 1:30 in the morning, hours after the helicopters and cops were circling my neighborhood on foot. But, I find it hard to believe the two were not related. They would not have had such a high-powered search if cops had not been involved.

Whatever the cause, I am damn sure locking all the doors tonight.

Why?

2007-04-23T13:46:00.000-04:00

It's been a week since the horrible shootings at Virginia Tech. A week filled with sadness, anger, and endless questions about why and how this could have happened.

In the last week, I have been unable to get the 32 people killed out of my mind. Most of those killed were around my age, just sitting in class, just like any other day. I can not even begin to imagine the horror they must have felt in the last moments of their lives. I can't imagine the amount of grief the friends and families of the victims are left with.

Which goes back to the endless questions. Why did this happen? I have endlessly been reading articles to try to make sense of what happened. But, I can't. I have read articles that have turned to God for a sense of comfort. But, I keep wondering, if there is a God, how could he allow stuff like this to happen?

A few years ago, I asked an acquaintance, who had recently become religious how God could allow such things as the Holocaust, September 11, or the countless other horrible things that have resulted in needless deaths throughout history, and continue to exist throughout the world? Her answer was that God created in people free will.

In the days following Virginia Tech, I asked my mom the same question. Yesterday, she sent me this article, which basically says the same thing that my friend said years ago.

What would be the answer to why God would allow something like the tsunami that killed 300,000 people? Or Hurricane Katrina? Or cancer? Or AIDS?

I probably should not be saying this, and I am sorry if I have offended anyone. But, I would really like some sort of explanation to my seemingly unanswerable question.

It's Oh So Quiet, take II

2007-04-13T14:31:00.000-04:00

Start your weekend right with this video.

A Somewhat Simple Plan

2007-04-12T15:26:00.000-04:00

For the past month, I have been doing Public Affairs stuff for a plant biology non-profit. This is my last week, and I am currently extremely bored. So, what better time to write in my defunct blog...to update you on what I have been thinking of for a career.

For the past couple of months, I have been thinking of Occupational Therapy. I had thought of Physical and Occupational Therapy in high school, but was turned off by the science that was involved. However now, I feel that if I am sure about the job enough, then I will work hard enough in the science classes to do well. I think it would be a good job for me because it would be helping people, creative, not a desk job, decently payed.

So how do I get there? Occupational Therapy requires a Master's in OT. Before I can apply to grad schools, I need to take two semesters of Anatomy& Physiology, and maybe a lifespan Psych class. I also need to take the GRE's, and volunteer/work experiences in two different sectors of OT.

I have signed up to volunteer in the OT Department at a local hospital once a week. This summer, I have lined up a job working at a camp that features OT, working mostly with autistic children. Last week, I worked at their spring break camp, and while it was exhausting, I enjoyed it.

I am looking at grad schools in Philly, Towson, and a few other cities. Although I don't want to stay in Maryland, the Towson program looks good for the in-state tuition, and the option of doing your six months of fieldwork abroad.

In the meantime, I will hopefully continue to work with the non-profit staffing agency before and after the summer, volunteer, take classes, take the GRE. Jess and I still talk of traveling all the time, but hopefully we will push ourselves into going somewhere in the fall.

Hair Hair, Go Away

2007-03-13T13:46:00.000-04:00

I have always had bushy eyebrows, which apparently runs in the family. When I was 17, I finally started getting them waxed, having been too afraid of the pain to get them done before. I was happily surprised that the pain was not nearly as bad as I had anticipated. Since then, for the price of $8-10, I have gotten my eyebrows waxed about once a month. I leave with my eyebrow area a little red, but it is well worth not having bushy eyebrows.

But lately, I have noticed a trend at the various nail salons I go to get them waxed. I go in and tell them I need my eyebrows waxed. They take me back to the waxing room and in the process of waxing my eyebrows, they will always try to upsell me. The exchange will usually go something like this:

Woman Doing the Waxing: You want your nails done too?
Me: No, just the eyebrows today.
Woman Doing the Waxing: You want your lip waxed?
Me: Nope, I'm still good with just the eyebrows.
Woman Doing the Waxing: You want a bikini wax?
Me: Um...that's okay.

Now, I dread going to get waxed because I then leave feeling worse about myself. I have to keep telling them no, plus, they apparently think I need all these beauty services. But, unfortunetly, my eyebrows have no choice, unless I want to go back to looking like the female version of Bert.

Does anyone still read this?

2007-03-11T20:21:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, I haven't posted in awhile (thank you for reminding me many times Jess and Kristin.)

For today, I will just post some pictures of Allie and Sam's visit a couple weeks ago.

Sam had only been to D.C. once, so being tourists was a priority. Even though I grew up outside of D.C., I still love going to the museums, and monuments. The first day they were here, we spent all day at the Spy Museum which was cool but definetly not worth $16. The next day was spent at Ford's Theater, going up the Washington Monument, walking in the waterless reflecting pond, and more museums.

Sam is very mature.

Views from the top of the Washington Monument

Walking around the monuments in the windy cold.

On their last day here, with plans of hitting up more museums, we were annoyingly stuck in house because of snow. Instead of sightseeing, we shoveled, made cheddar beer soup, pumpkin bread, and watched the seemingly endless Oscars.

Well, that's it for today. I will try to be better at posting but I can't guarantee anything.

Hair Club for Jeremy

2007-01-26T16:01:00.000-05:00

I have been a fan of Jeremy Piven since the days when he was on Ellen Degeneres' first sitcom in the mid-90's, and how could you not love him on "Entorage?" So, I have been happy seeing so much of him on TV lately promoting his new movie "Smokin' Aces."

Since I have seen him so much in the last week, I have been struck by his hair.

Take a look at his luscious locks:

But Jeremy, come on, who do you think you are kidding?
Jeremy, 10 years ago

Obviously, he's had something done to his hair. Was it hair plugs? Toupee? Whatever it is, I think I actually prefer the balding Jeremy. I think his soaring fame is literally going to his head.

Harold and Kumar no more

2007-01-16T11:48:00.000-05:00

Quick thought: So far, I am really enjoying the new season of "24." However, I find it very disconcerting that Kal Penn of "Harold and Kumar" is playing an evil terrorist. I know it's just a character, but for some reason, it saddens me to see him play evil.

He will always be Kumar in my heart.

Oh, and how awesome was it that Sacha Baron Cohen won a Golden Globe last night, and his accompanying speech?

O.C, I barely knew ye

2007-01-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

I heard the news this afternoon: after four years, the O.C. has been cancelled.

A year ago, I would not have cared. However, this season, I have actually somewhat gotten into the show, more than any time before. And just when I start to kind of get into the stupid show, Fox cancels it!

I think I will be okay, but Stone Groove is very upset. Listmaker left a nice message consoling him. I hope that Stone Groove, Melissa, and Jonathan can learn to live without the O.C. in the difficult days that lay ahead.

O.C.: Thanks for the memories.

New Year's

2007-01-03T21:36:00.000-05:00

This year for New Year's, I went to a place I never thought I would: Times Square. Why would I want to go to a crowded place where people camp out overnight in the cold, all to see a stupid ball drop?

That was all before I knew that Liz's brother Tom was in the NYPD and could easily get us a space in Times Square without actually having to wait outside for hours.

Before heading out; what some people might call "pre-gaming."

We get a few blocks from Times Square around 11PM, only to find ourselves at a complete standstill on the sidewalk. When an old guy behind me started to molest me, I began to think this Times Square thing might not have been the best idea after all.

Liz then called her brother, and somehow he found us in the madness.

Tom got us through the crowd, and led us through the closed streets, past guarded gates. Megan and I could not wipe the silly grins off our faces. We got to Times Square around 11:45.

Megan, very excited.

Liz and Jess, not quite as excited.

The countdown begins

It's 2007!

Confetti madness

Overall, this was probably the best New Year's I've had in quite a while.

There's something in the attic

2006-12-22T14:32:00.000-05:00

And it’s scaring the bejesus out of me.

Last night, I went upstairs, and I heard a strange sound. A sound like a cat playing with a loud ball. But, the cat was sound asleep on my bed. The sound was coming from up above.

Although I do not believe in an afterlife, for some reason, I have always been scared of supernatural things. When my brother lived at home when I was 13, we watched “Twin Peaks” in its entirety. The character of Bob who was able to possess characters and was responsible for Laura Palmer’s murder freaked me out. My brother and I watched the show in the basement, and when we would walk upstairs after the show was over, I would have to turn my back to make sure Bob was not behind me.

Bob:

“The Exorcist” freaks me out.

As does the creepy kid in “The Grudge.”

I’m sure that whatever is in the attic is just a mouse or squirrel or something. But, if it’s Bob, or a creepy possessed kid, well, I love you all.

Still here, still reading

2006-12-21T11:30:00.000-05:00

I have not really had much inspiration to write anything lately. But, I have read some good books!

"The Partly Cloudy Patriot", Sarah Vowell
I enjoyed this one much more than "Assassination Vacation." "The Partly Cloudy Patriot" is pretty much a number of short stories detailing what a nerd Vowell is. I love nerdy exploits, and I loved this book.

"Watching the World Change: The Stories Behind the Images of 9/11", David Friend
Friend sets out to not rehash the day, since the events of 9/11 have been written about extensively in other books. Instead, Friend looks at 9/11 from a photographic and media persepctive. The book focuses on the week of 9/11 in pictures, and the effects that the media had on the day. The chapter on the actual day of September 11 did go into great detail on both professional and amateur photography, and I wish the rest of the book had followed suit. Subsequent chapters seemed a bit unfocused, and I had a hard time following them. The last chapter chronicles the famous flag-raising photograph taken at Ground Zero on the evening of September 11. Friend explains how the photo came to be taken, and the impact it had on the world. If Friend had focused the whole book in this format, I think it could have been a great book. Despite this, I still really enjoyed the book, and it is definetly worth reading for a different perspective on September 11.

"The Know It All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World", A.J. Jacobs
Wow, I loved this book. Jacobs decides that over the span of one year, he will read the entire Encylopedia Britannica, cover to cover. The result is a hilarious mini-encyclopedia. Jacobs does intersperse actual defintions of what he is learning about. However, the book is more of a biography/ what is going on in his life during his year-long reading quest. My only complaints of the book were that he talks a bit too much about trying to get his wife pregnant, and there were a lot of spelling typos (ironic since Jacobs is an editor for Esquire.) Despite this, I was sad when I was done with the book, and will probably even read it again.

I watch too much TV

2006-12-06T21:50:00.000-05:00

I have always been a big fan of television.

But, this fandom has hit new heights since moving back home.

You see, my dad bought a 50 inch flat screen TV a few years back.

And, since moving back home, I have become accustomed to premium channels, DVR, and high defintion. Things that I never knew how badly I needed in my life. Things that make living at home not so bad.

Since moving home, I have watched a lot of TV with my parents on the DVR, where my dad controls the remote. And, every episode, without fail, my dad will pause the show in reaction to a new character coming on and say "Who is that actor/tress?"

Usually, within a second, I will know who it is. "Oh, that's Luke's sister on Gilmore Girls." Or, "That's the chief's wife on Grey's Anatomy."

Tonight, after recognizing an actress right away, I came to a realization: I watch WAY too much TV.

I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not.

Express Yourself

2006-11-20T14:27:00.000-05:00

I hate the D.C. Metro. I hate the fact that it costs more money to ride during rush hours. I hate that how much you pay depends on where you go. I have never seen such stupid policies in any other major cities public transportation system. Basically, I hate the ludicrous amount that it costs.

However, there is one thing I love about riding the Metro: The Washington Post Express. There are several reasons for my love of this publication including:
1.)The extemely nice guys who stand in front of the Metro every morning handing them out.
2.)The condensed versions of articles published in the Post. Now, I can read almost the whole newspaper in half the time!
3.) It is free.
4.) Quotes from various area blogs.

Between my iPod, and the Express, my commute into D.C. is almost enjoyable.

Speaking of area blogs, how did this guy get a two page write up in the New York times for his successful blog published from Towson U? Because of this blog, he is already getting job offers, and is making a good chunk of change before he even graduates. No fair!

The Doors

2006-11-16T21:54:00.000-05:00

My parents are getting the house painted. This means that the house now smells like paint, and that I have to remove the pictures from one of my doors. This is proving to be a very sad prospect.

We moved into our house 10 1/2 years ago. This was only the second house I had ever lived in, after spending my first 12 years in my beloved Peachwood neighborhood. The room in the old house was quite small, and while sad to leave that house, I was also quite pleased that in the new house my room was huge. Not only that, but I had two closets, and a shared bathroom.

After about six months in the new house, I decided that the doors of this room were way too bare. So, I went through back issues of Seventeen, YM, and Entertainment Weekly to find suitable pictures to hang on my doors.

The project of decorating my doors started at 13 with the front and back of the entrance to my room door. The project concluded around the age of 16 at the door to one of the closets.

Now, these doors have become a sort of time capsule to my entertainment and crushes of a time gone by. And now, I have to take some of them down!

Taking them down, I could only smile at the pictures of the "cute" boys from Seventeen magazine that had been hanging on my door for the last 10 years. I had also hung up a letter to the "WhatEVER" column from Seventeen Magazine that said:
"Dear WhatEVER!,
Why must girls call their periods their 'little friends'? Mine isn't a friend; I hate it. We should call it our 'little enemy'"-Confused
I had also hung up "Get a clue", and "Girls Rock."

Some celebrity crushes of days gone by include:
Matt Damon (circa "Good Will Hunting. Later, I would have an obsession with Ben Affleck, but in 1996, Matt was my man)
Jared Leto (a few years after "My So Called Life" was cancelled)
Matthew Fox and Scott Wolf (in the "Party of Five" days)
Jakob Dylan
Joseph Gordon Levitt from Third Rock From the Sun
Skeet Ulrich and Matthew Lillard from "Scream"
Ethan Hawke
Jon Spencer
Freddie Prinze Jr.
Prince William

Last night, as I sadly took down my time capsule, I reflected on times gone by through my door. Now, part of my 13 year old self is now in the trashcan. However, I was not forced to take down the pictures from inside my room, so my 14-16 year old self can still live on (at least until those doors get painted.)

My dearly departed decorated doors:

I guess I should be happy...

2006-11-14T17:56:00.000-05:00

Almost two years after the death of my high school friend, Linda, her murderer was finally brought to justice. Today, Donta Allen, the man accused of the crime, pleaded guilty on what was supposed to be the first day of his trial. He will be sentenced in January, and is expected to receive life in prison with the possibility of parole.

I am not sure how I feel about this. According to the article in the Baltimore Sun, Linda's parents were accepting of Allen's guilty plea, which I am thankful for. I do not really have a strong opinion on the death penalty, however I think that in this case, that was what I was expecting Allen's outcome to be. With his guilty plea, there is the possibility that he could get out on parole one day, and he deserves life in prison without the possibility of parole.

After the police made an arrest in the case in March of 2005, Linda's father said that he was happy they had made an arrest, but that did not bring his daughter back. Today, that is how I am feeling. I am happy that there is now some sort of resolution, but it does not change the fact that Linda's life was ended tragically at the age of 21.

Linda is still on my mind all the time, and I think she always will be. I can only hope that today, her parents really are satisfied with Allen's guilty plea, and it will bring some small bit of closure to them.

The time has come

2006-11-09T15:48:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday, I was an exit poller for the third time. I worked outside in the cold rain for 14 hours, (having to stay until 11PM to get the final tally numbers for my location), asking every 8th person leaving the precinct if they would fill out a quick exit poll.

I did exit polling for the 2004 elections. Many more people in Delaware were willing (and even eager) to take part then. In the 2004 elections, the early reports (partly based on the exit polls) projected Kerry as the winner. Maybe in 2006, people were mad at the exit pollers based on the 2004 elections. Or maybe people in Maryland are just meaner.

However, I still got a good number of people to fill out the poll. The survey asked questions about Iraq, what to do about Iraq, approval of George Bush, etc. What I found very interesting was that even people who voted for Republicans expressed dissatisfaction with Bush. Every person who voted Democrat said they did so to show disapproval of Bush.

It seems that the rest of the country felt the same way. Rumsfeld is gone, Allen just conceded the Senate race in Virginia, and the Democrats now have both the Congress and Senate.

Two years ago, when Bush was re-elected, I remember thinking that the people who voted for Bush would come to regret it. Obviously, many people did, and I can only hope that they will continue to regret it enough to elect a Democrat in 2008.

Battle of the Bobbleheads

2006-10-23T22:04:00.000-04:00

Recently, two very important members of the family (Buddy Holly and the Oriole bird in a dress) were very badly hurt. Witness the atrocity!

Thankfully, Chuck Thompson was unharmed.

Thanks to a skilled surgeon, and a little super glue, the bobbleheads are back and proud, with all of their necessary appendages.

And yes, the bird is back in his dress.

Thing's are looking up

2006-10-19T17:53:00.000-04:00

Finally, I got a (paid) internship! Starting Monday, I will be the Development Intern for a woman's health non-profit in DC. I will be assisting in grantwriting, writing/designing their newsletter, and organizing fundraising events. The internship will last through the end of December, and at that point I will decide if I want to stay there for the spring.

I am also still looking into teaching. Various universities in the area will pay for you to get your master's if you intern and agree to teach in the county for three years. The problem with that is, I'm pretty sure I don't want to stay in MD and make that time commitment.

So, slowly, a bit more direction.

RIP Tower Records: 1960-2006

2006-10-08T12:49:00.000-04:00

After 46 years, Tower Records is going out of business.

I can't say that I'm upset that Tower is going out of business because I'm a frequent shopper (prices there are/were way too expensive.) But, Tower was always there when I needed it. It was there for a free Foo Fighters concert in the Tower parking lot when I was 13. It was there when nothing else was open on Christmas. It was there when friends and I were bored, and there was no where else to go at night but Tower. After all, Tower was always open until midnight. It was there when I wanted to listen to music on their headphones, or peruse their racks and racks of magazines.

Now, Tower will soon be gone, and another music store chain will disappear. What a sad day.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

2006-10-03T14:27:00.000-04:00

Ah, fall. The leaves are changing. The weather is slowly turning cooler. And, the fall TV season finally begins!

I have never claimed to be a patient person. I have always found it difficult to wait four whole months from May to September for new episodes to return of my favorite shows. And after four months, I usually find myself disappointed when the new episodes finally arrive. This year proves to be no different.

The Office
So far, I have not been too impressed. I am not happy that Jim is at another branch. I know he is coming back to Scranton soon, but come on! Pam is boring without Jim to flirt with, and Dwight is not as funny when he's not reacting to Jim's pranks on him. I think that once Jim gets back to Scranton, things will be better. I am enjoying Ed Helms at the Stamford branch though.

Gilmore Girls
I was prepared to throughougly hate the season premiere. Season 6 mostly sucked, and the creators of the show are gone. Since I prepared myself for the show to suck, it was not great, but also not as bad as I had anticipated. The first episode was better than most of season 6, and fighting between Luke and Lorelai could be interesting. My game plan is to not expect anything from the season, therefore diminishing disappointment.

Grey's Anatomy
Meredith/Ellen Pompeo continues to be annoying.
So far...too much sap, but still enjoyable.

Tomorrow..the show I have been anticipating the most-Lost. And, I'm sure I will be in for another season of frustration.

Also...can anyone answer a question about Project Runway for me? Last week, the last 4 contestants were going to design a runway show in September. But, this week it is a reunion show. Huh? Is there not a remaining contestant? Allie already tried to explain it to me, but I'm still mighty confused.

I can read!

2006-09-19T20:15:00.000-04:00

In the past month, I have also read a few good books. To borrow from Mondale, I shall now review them:

The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion
I had been looking forward to reading this for a long time, and was a bit disappointed in the end. The writing was a bit choppy, and did not have a clear tone. But, perhaps the book is purposely written this way to show how disjointed one's thoughts are after the death of a loved one. Didion write this memoir soon after the sudden death of her husband, and follows the year after his death. The book details her thought processes through the grieving while also going back and exploring highlights of their marriage. The book was still a good one, despite the disjointedness, clearly showing the long process one goes through when grieving, and how everyone grieves in different ways.

Ruminations on Twentysomething Life, Aaron Karo
While Karo's whole "recovering frat boy" schtick can be a little too..well...frat boyish, this guy still greatly amuses me. Thanks to my dear Kristin for getting me into him, lending me the book, and buying us tickets for my birthday to see him in Philly in November. This quick read covers the few years after college, and addresses everything from roommates to family antics to crappy jobs. It was great to see such a funny spin to early twentysomething life.

And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts
I watched the TV movie of this book for a college class, and was suppressions not bad considering it was produced by Aaron Spelling. I have always been fascinated with AIDS, and this book (coming in at about 700 pages) covers every detail of the early years of the AIDS epidemic. Both the book and the movie highlight how no one cared about AIDS until it started killing straight people. When it stopped being simply a disease that gay people and drug users got, only then was something done to try to stop the virus. Reagen did not even address the issue publicly until years later, when it was too late to stop the spread, and countless people had died. This book provides a clear portrait of the history and politics of AIDS, and it is definitely worth a read.

The Ruins, Scott Smith
Upon moving home, Stone Groove immediately started telling me how great this book was, and how I needed to read it. I picked it up at the library, and was at first quite skeptical. The book does not really pick up until around page 70, but once it does, it is very hard to put down. I quickly finished the book (before Stone Groove, which made him very upset that I finished before him.) This book is about four twentysomethings (Amy, Stacey, Jeff, and Eric) who have just graduated from college, and are on a last vacation in Mexico before the real world starts. They decide to follow a young German tourist they meet in Mexico to find his brother. The German's brother left to follow a girl, and left him a map.
Once they all get to where the ruins are supposed to be, things quickly go downhill. They are forced to stay on the top of this hill by native Mayans, who guard the bottom of the hills with guns and arrows. The reason they will not let them escape is because of a man-eating plant. If they leave the hill, something bad will happen ( I think the plant will grow or something.)
I know that this book sounds quite stupid from the description. But, it is more a tale of survival, and is somewhat like a scary "Lord of the Flies." I am now anxious to read Smith's only other book, published 13 years ago, "A Simple Plan."

I'm back!

2006-09-17T21:44:00.000-04:00

Apparently moving home means that I don't update my blog in over a month.
Currently, I am temping in a doctor's office making more than what I made at TSP, and looking for internships. I may shadow an 8th grade English teacher, and am also researching teaching somewhere overseas. Philly is still a possibility. So pretty much, I am still confused about what to do, but have a tiny bit more of an idea.
Some highlights of the last month:

*I went to the beach and stayed with Jess and friends at her parents beach house in Bethany.

Photo by Jess

*I was reunited with Caitlin at the beach, and she was kind enough to "make" a delicious breakfast feast, even if it was a bit burned.

*Back in MD, Melis turned 23 while Jonathan looked creepy.

*In Philly, I turned 23

Erin celebrates with an appletini. Another photo by Jess.

*Stone Groove hurt his back while tripping on the stairs (something about a bulging disc.) He was in an intense amount of pain for days, and I played nurse which was oh so much fun. Don't believe anything Stone Groove says: he was a big baby.
Thankfully, he is now doing much better.

*I voted in an actual voting booth, the first time since I turned 18 where I did not vote with an absentee ballot.

*I went to the MD Renaissance Festival. It was pretty much exactly the same as when I was a kid, except this time I could drink, which made it slightly less cheesy.
Joy sure loved the Festival turkey legs.

So that's the last month in a nutshell. Hopefully it won't take me a month to post again.

Maine

2006-08-09T09:26:00.000-04:00

Once I decided that I was moving back to MD, there were three things I wanted to do before I left Boston.
1.) Go to Salem which I did, and it was LAME!
2.) Go to another game at Fenway since the first game I went to (against the Orioles) was five years ago. It was cold and rainy, and not a good experience. I am going to try to get scalped tickets this Friday (again, against the Orioles), where the weather is expected to be much better, and hence I will appreciate the park more.
3.) Go to Maine, which I did on Sunday. Heather and I were going to try to go camping around Camden, but the stupid Maine Lobster Festival was in town, and hence every hotel and campground anywhere close to Camden or Rockland was full. Many hotels and campgrounds laughed at me for even asking if they had any vacancies. So, instead of Camden, me, Heather, Allie, and Sam took a day trip. The weather was perfect, and Maine quickly became one of my favorite states that I've been to.

We left Boston at around 8:15 on a Sunday. After a quick stop for some coffee, we were on our way.

First stop: Kittery, right on the border of New Hampshire and Maine. Kittery is a town of outlets. We got there at 9:50, the stores opened at 10, and there were already many people waiting to get in. After going to a few stores, we left Kittery at 10:30. The parking lot was already packed. People are pretty serious about their outlets.

Next stop: Portland.
After grabbing some pizza, we did lots and lots of walking.

Apparently, they did not serve nice people here before 1954. In 1953, they were all jerks.

A motto I live my life by:

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's house.

We got there at 3:30 after having walked for a couple hours around Portland. To actually go inside the house, it would have cost $8. The house tour closed at 5, and we wanted to go to the Shipyard Brewery tour, which also closed at 5, and was free. Beer ultimately won out over educating outselves.

The Shipyard Brewery

After the tour of the brewery, we sampled the beer, and it was good.

Before leaving Portland, I could not resist taking a picture of this laundromat on the walk towards the car.

Next stop:

Kennebunk/port is a cute little town where George BushI has a house. I really liked the town, but it being at the height of tourist season, kind of took away from its charm.

After having a delicious dinner of scallops and desserts, it was unfortunately time to leave Maine. Maybe on my next visit I will be able to see Camden and vicinity when the stupid lobster festival is not in town.

Summer of the Stach

2006-08-07T21:36:00.000-04:00

Ah, summer. A time to relax, wear shorts, and grow a mustache. As Summer Listmaker can attest, the best time to grow a 'stache is in the summer. Which is why two co-workers challenged the bossman to grow one. The bet was: if bossman could go for 10 days with a mustache, then they would pay him $100 bucks. Yesterday was the last day of the bet. He is at work today and the mustache is gone, which is truly a shame. Here is the bossman in all his stache glory.

As great as his mustache was, my favorite stache I have seen this week was this guy in the audience at Shakespeare in the Park. Not only was his mustache thick and long, but so were his eyebrows. He looked like he was an old baseball player from the late 1800's. I think it is a look that needs to come back.

Just like a heat wave!

2006-08-04T10:27:00.000-04:00

The heat wave is finally over! This week the heat index reached 110 degrees, which I guess is hot enough to bake cookies outside. Extreme heat waves especially suck when your third floor apartment does not have air conditioning, and there is no point of buying one since you are moving in a week. Thanks to two very nice co-workers, I was able to sleep at their places with AC to escape the unbearable heat in my apartment.
Word to the wise: Do not leave any Lush products lying around during a heat wave. If you have an cocoa butter body bar, it will melt at 98 degrees, and look like throw up.

The heat may have been bad, but at least I didn't get stuck to the toilet.

One week left in Boston. The next week will be spent packing, working, drinking, and spending lots of time with people I will miss.

First event: tonight, Shakespeare in the Park, and according to the local news this morning, the weather will be "delightful."

My trusty iPod

2006-07-21T13:40:00.000-04:00

So, as you all know, I have been struggling to make a big decision over the last couple of weeks. After much debate and consideration, I have decided to move home for a few months or more. I was pretty certain of my final decision yesterday, but was still feeling a little shaky about it.

Driving home from work yesterday, I was feeling sad, and wondering whether I was making the right decision. I was driving along, and the first song to play on the shuffle was REM's "Everybody Hurts." While the song has never been one of my favorites from the band, it played at just the right time to make me feel a little better.

The next song that came on was The Specials "You're Wondering Now." The lyrics are "You're wondering now what to do, now you know this is the end." Why yes iPod, I am indeed wondering what to do, and I do think this is the end for Boston.

Next up: Pete Yorn's "Come Back Home." That was it, my iPod was really talking to me, understands my dilemma, and is telling me to come back home. I have decided that my iPod will now be making all my important life decisions for me. But, that might not be the best idea since the next song that played was Elvis Presley's "Devil in Disguise." I guess my iPod can only talk to me for so long.

Help!

2006-07-12T15:04:00.000-04:00

So, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I had made a decision that I was going to move to Philly with two friends, Kristin and Jess, sometime in August. First, Kristin decided that now probably would not be the best time to move out of her parents because of money issues. Now, Jess is having second thoughts about moving out of her parents because she needs to decide where she will be going to grad school.

My dilemma is...do I want to move to Philly when I may not even have roommates? Allie (my current roomie) has already found another place to live starting in September when our lease ends. But, a friend from my book club said that I could live with her and her two roommates, and the location of her apartment is great (10 minutes from a subway stop, a movie theater, and tons of bars and restaurants.)

Any and all suggestions are welcome: Should I stay in Boston for another year and find another job where hopefully I will be happier? Or should I move to Philly where I may or may not have a roommate?

At one with nature and animals

2006-07-09T19:48:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, Heather and I went to Walden Pond. The day was perfect to lie out, swim in the pond, and making friends with cute little kids.

Lying out

The pond

My new best friend

On Sunday, Allie, Sam and I went to the Stone Zoo in Stoneham.

The headliners for the zoo...the baby jaguars.

Mountain goats....I think I prefer the band though.

Take me out to the ballgame

2006-07-04T14:02:00.000-04:00

I'm back in Boston after being gone for a week and a half.

The first day of the trip was a White Sox game at Cellular Field against the Astros. I can't say I was all that impressed with the stadium. But, I was quite impressed with the grand slam home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game, but the Sox still lost. I was not impressed with the jackass sitting in front of us (who looked suspiciously like my asshole landlord) who insisted on loudly whistling repeatedly each time the Sox came up to bat.

The next day was our first out of two games at Wrigley Park, against the Brewers where the Cubs lost both games. Wow, this ballpark is amazing.

Game One

Before the second game at Wrigley on Tuesday, we left Stone Groove (trying) to snooze in the Chicago Cultural Center while we went to Millennium Park. (And by "we", I mean me, Listmaker, Kristin his old co-worker who we stayed with, and her two cute kids.)

Millennium Park

The coolest part of the park was the huge egg shaped mirror thing that reflected the city's skyline.

Playing under the egg

Day 2 at Wrigley

After leaving Chicago, and not finding a hotel until 3AM in the morning, we were ready for a Detroit Tigers game after a few hours of sleep.
The best part about the Tigers ballpark was the Ferris wheel where the carriages were shaped as baseballs. I indulged myself in a ride.

After the Tigers won, we headed to Ohio to spend the night. The next day, we dropped Listmaker off in Detroit where he continued his baseball trip, while Stone Groove and I headed back to Maryland so Stone Groove could sleep in his little bed.

Baseball trip '06 is over. What will baseball trip '07 bring? (If Stone Groove can handle it)

Baseball!

2006-06-23T09:53:00.000-04:00

Commencing sometime tomorrow is the second Turtle Power/Stone Groove/Listmaker baseball extravaganza. Last year took us to Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. This year, takes us to Indianapolis, Chicago, Detroit, and Pittsburgh. I see lots of baseball and bickering in my future.

The State of the Office

2006-06-14T10:00:00.000-04:00

I have always loved the movie "Office Space." But, I have not watched it since I have started my first job after college. The other day, bored at work, I was looking at "Office Space" quotes on IMDB, and the quotes, which I had heard repeated many times became newly funny. I started laughing hysterically at my desk, with tears coming out. I believe that the tears were a combination of laughing so hard, but also from the realization how much these quotes from the movie now resonate with me. These quotes include:

"You see Bob, it's not that I'm lazy, it's that I just don't care."

Peter Gibbons: I sit in a cubicle and I update bank software for the 2000 switch.
Joanna: What's that?
Peter Gibbons: Well see, they wrote all this bank software, and, uh, to save space, they used two digits instead of four. So, like, 98 instead of 1998? Uh, so I go through these thousands of lines of code and, uh... it doesn't really matter. I uh, I don't like my job, and, uh, I don't think I'm gonna go anymore.
Joanna: You're just not gonna go?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Joanna: Won't you get fired?
Peter Gibbons: I don't know, but I really don't like it, and, uh, I'm not gonna go.
Joanna: So you're gonna quit?
Peter Gibbons: Nuh-uh. Not really. Uh... I'm just gonna stop going.
Joanna: When did you decide all that?
Peter Gibbons: About an hour ago.
Joanna: An hour ago... so you're gonna get another job?
Peter Gibbons: I don't think I'd like another job.
Joanna: Well, what are you going to do about money and bills and...
Peter Gibbons: You know, I've never really liked paying bills. I don't think I'm gonna do that, either."

Bob Slydell: You see, what we're trying to do is get a feeling for how people spend their time at work so if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Bob Slydell: Great.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way Lumbergh can't see me, heh - after that I sorta space out for an hour.
Bob Porter: Da-uh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk, but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too, I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.

Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.

Obviously, I am not happy at my job. I work customer service at an educational software company, and answer the same mundane questions day in and day out. I decided to write down these calls to represent just how mundane and annoying these questions will get after a year.
Calls over a day and a half:
Three transfers to tech support
Five transfers to someone else in the company
Verify our address
Five calls for our shipping rates
Three calls seeing where a package is
Two calls requesting a copy for an invoice
Two calls asking what the universal name and password is for one of our programs
Is this product OS X Native? (Only 8 of our products are and we constantly have to tell people that we are working on changing all of our products over to Native, but we do not have an exact date at this time.)
What is your vendor number? (The person would need to get this from the school)
Do you have this product in stock?
Does this product run on Windows XP?
Two calls transfering to Sch*olastic, our parent company
Do you have to be a teacher to buy your products?
Two calls asking for our fax number

I'm sure this must be boring to read, and even more boring to answer over and over and over and over.

As I'm sure most of you know, I have decided I am moving to Philadelphia within the next couple of months. I am ready to leave now, but my lease does not run out until September 1, and I need to find a job first. I do not know what I want to do with my life, but I have decided that a desk job is not for me right now. So, I just need to get through the next couple of months without going insane at this job that I hate!

Congratulations Clifford

2006-06-06T12:59:00.001-04:00

Yesterday morning, my coworker Andrew (or Clifford) had a baby boy, named Clifford, Jr (or Joshua.) No word yet on whether the baby resembles a giant red dog.

Damn those montages!

2006-05-31T13:41:00.000-04:00

I do not know what is happening to me recently. I was never one to cry during movies, and would roll my eyes at people who did. But lately I have become quite the sucker for cheesy montages. Gear one of those up, and I get teary eyed.

Lately, it has been with my new found love "American Idol" where at the end of every episode when a contestant goes home they play a montage with the annoying song "Bad Day" playing in the background. Even when I did not like the contestant, I would still get choked up. And in the finals, when they had montages of the finalists growing up, there were actually tears in my eyes. This does not go well with my old cynical and critical self.

Today was Katie Courac's last day at the "Today" show. I don't even like her! But this morning, with the Today show in the background they showed clips of Katie over the last 15 years, and I felt the lump in my throat rising.

Today was also the last day of work for a guy at my office who is going to be working for our parent company from home. I was fine during all of the speeches from my co-workers, but then they showed a montage from his last 12 years here. And of course I got choked up. Luckily there was not cheesy music playing in the background or I would have lost it in front of my coworkers, and no one wants to see that.

Montages are pure evil.

The Wonder Years

2006-05-25T14:46:00.000-04:00

It has been a year (on May 28) since I have graduated college. Wow. Throughout my senior year in college, various people would ask me "So, what are you doing after you graduate?" To this, I wanted to say "I don't know, leave me alone!" I was never good at answering the "What do you want to be when you grow up?" question. And a year out of college, I still have no idea. It is not a good feeling.

Various possibilities I have sort of considered are high school English teacher, or librarian. Both of which require me to go back to school. I would not mind doing this, but the GRE's and the cost of grad school scare me. Plus, I should not go to grad school until I really know what I want to do, and I do not see me figuring that out anytime soon.

My current job as a customer service rep is definetly not what I want to do with the rest of my life. But, it seems that that is all my resume sees me cut out as doing. As most people reading this should know by now, I have recently decided that I am going to move to Philly within the next couple of months to move in with two good friends. There is still a problem of finding a job. I have already applied to a good number of places, and have yet to hear back from any of them. Very frustrating.

So, I will be moving to a new city, again with no idea what to do as a job when I get there. I'll probably end up doing customer service again, which does not look too appealing right now. Will I ever figure out what I want to do with my life? I hate the people who have always known what they wanted to do. I am so lost. Being 22 sucks.

"Give him hell!"

2006-05-24T14:45:00.000-04:00

As I have previously written, my landlord is quite the dick. For the last 10 days (since May 14), we have not had working outlets or light in half of the apartment. Allie and I, since day 1 have been calling Joe (the landlord) at work, and on his cell phone, leaving many messages ( I feel bad for his poor secretary, but I guess she must get angry phone calls a lot considering her boss is an idiot.) Of course, wonderful Joe has not returned any of our calls.

I finally reached him on his cell phone on Saturday. He told me that we needed to turn off and on all the switches on the circuit breaker. Both Allie and I did that, but I guess since we are two young girl's, he thought that we did not know how to do this correctly. He came on Monday to do the exact same thing we had already done with the circuit breaker, and surprise!, it did not fix the problem.

Backtrack to 9 months ago. When Allie and I first moved in, both of the knobs on our doors were falling of the hinges. We knew that Joe would not fix them, so we each paid $10 for new doorknobs with locks on them for privacy. Joe did not like this. Apparently it is against the law. I have not listened to him to remove these doorknobs because I hate him, and I really do not believe it against the law.

So today, I finally was able to reach him. Instead of apologizing or offering a solution to our outlet problem, he starts getting on me about changing the doorknobs. I told him "We will change the doorknobs as soon as you fix our outlet problem." Then he told me again that it was the circuit breaker. He said that he is going to get an electrician in tomorrow, but I doubt it. Then again about the doorknobs. I told him "Joe, I am not going to go out of my way to change the doorknobs. We put them in in the first place because they were broken, and we knew you were not going to fix them. It is not a priority for me to change them when you have not done anything for the last 10 days about our not having working outlets in half of the apartment."

To this, he started stammering and saying that he has been trying to get in contact with me. The only number he has of mine is my cell phone, and I have seen no missed calls from this moron, and neither has Allie. He stammered a bit more, and said that the electrician would be in tomorrow, and when we get a chance, could we please take care of the doorknobs when we could.

My boss and co-workers overheard my conversation. John (my boss) IMed me while on the phone to "Give him hell!" I guess I tend to let people get away with stuff, and it was a great feeling to tell Joe off. I should do this more often!

This is bad

2006-05-17T14:12:00.000-04:00

Shortly after the beginning of 2006, I made a New Year's Resolution that like most resolutions quickly was quit. I decided I was going to lose 20 pounds. After losing about five and quickly gaining it back, that resolution really needs to be picked back up.

But, that is really hard to do when temptations surround me. A couple weeks ago, my company moved to a brand new office space. The curses of this space is that it is a one minute walk away to Panera.

Since moving to this space, I have probably had Panera for lunch about 65% of the time. While I have been eating relatively healthy there (today I had black bean soup in a bread bowl) I can not keep eating there everyday both for the sakes of my stomach and my wallet. I need to start eating healthier but Panera is so good.

To make matters even worse, the ice cream man comes by in his truck every other day or so. Today, I could not resist the temptation to buy some ice cream since it was the first warm and sunny day in the last couple of weeks.

I need help!

This is not a turtle blog

2006-05-10T11:26:00.000-04:00

Within the last couple of months, I have discovered the magic of the blog Site Meter. Here, you can see who is looking at your blog (by what city, internet service, how they found your blog, and what website they went to after viewing your blog.) Usually, I can recognize who is who, but sometimes people happen upon my blog by a Google or Yahoo search. The majority of people who do not know who find my blog are people looking for turtle information. These searches have included:
"how can i tell my turtle is sick"
"turtle graffiti"
"turtle strep throat"
"buying my first turtle"
"pictures of turtles"
"white spots on my turtle"

These poor people must have been pretty disappointed to find my blog and not find any turtle information. Maybe I should turn this into a turtle blog to oblige the fans.

Still around

2006-05-08T14:31:00.001-04:00

I have not written in a couple of weeks. I suck. I really do not have much to write about these days, and am trying to figure some things out.

But...this weekend, was Somerville Open Studios. Saturday and Sunday, artists open up their studios (which can include an actual studio or their houses) to display their artwork for show and sale. The weekend was spent walking all around Somerville going into random artist's houses and studios, looking at their art, and eating their snacky food that was out.

The art was good and bad. It ranged from really innovative photography to beaded bracelets done by weird cat loving women. (Who called their cat a whore.)

With all the good and not so good art around this weekend, what did I end up buying? A cute purse and skirt.

Festival Wrapup

2006-04-25T14:52:00.000-04:00

The Boston IFF ended yesterday, and I got to see a number of free, and good (for the most part) movies.

Loud Soft Loud: A Film About the Pixies (which I described here.)

Infamy
This documentary, directed by Doug Pray (Hype!) follows a number of graffiti artists from cities across the U.S. The film shows the art work behind what goes into graffiti, and the two types of graffiti artists. The people who do it for the rush of breaking the law, and the people who do it for the art of it. Infamy also follows a guy in L.A. who lives his life obsessively driving around L.A. to erase any signs of graffiti in hopes to make the city safer. A very interesting and entertaining movie, and gave a new angle to this article in today's Times.

American Blackout
This movie was similar in tone to Fahrenheit 9/11 but better, and it made me leave the theater a lot angrier about the pitiful state our country is currently in. The film highlights Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney from Georgia who was voted out of office based on misinterpreted statements she made about the Bush administration. American Blackout uses McKinney as a way to look at historical black voter disenfranchisement from the Civil Rights Movement to the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections. Cynthia McKinney spoke after the screening with the director, and she was charming, and down-to-earth, and it seemed obvious that the recent press about her in the media as a stereotypical angry black woman is exaggerated.

The Legend of Lucy Keyes
Starring Julie Delpy and Justin Theroux, the movie is based on a true story from western Massachusetts about a ghost that haunts a small rural town. I am not a big fan of ghost stories, but usually when I see them I am entertained because I am trying so hard to keep calm. But thinking about it later, the visual effects of the ghost were lame, and the pacing of the story was not great. An okay film.

Chalk
Centered around young high school teachers, Heather described it as "The Office" with teachers. A very funny and realistic look at the politics and life as a high school teacher.

Bob Saget's full house

2006-04-24T11:48:00.000-04:00

As a child, I watched a number of what I now consider bad TV shows. I still watch some of these every now and then for nostalgia. These shows included Step by Step, Family Matters, Saved by the Bell, and Boy Meets World. But perhaps my favorite of these shows was Full House. I used to dream of being on the show and becoming best friends with Stephanie. The shows saccharine quality did not bother me as a kid, but as an adult, it leaves me with a bittersweet feeling (such as with the awful 7th Heaven.)

Which is why, in the last few years, I have become a Bob Saget fan, especially after The Aristocrats. Half of why he is so funny to me is because of his crudeness after his years of playing the dad-next door on television.

So when Patrick informed me that Bob Saget would be playing at the Comedy Connection, I jumped at the chance to see him. Of course, the show was crude as promised, although not as crude as I expected after The Aristocrats. While it was very disconcerting to see the TV dad I had watched for so many years cursing every other sentence, and talking about sex and drugs, it was an extremely funny show. I will never be able to watch Full House in the same way again, and I have Bob Saget to thank for that.

Volunteers of America

2006-04-21T10:31:00.000-04:00

Throughout my life, I have always been very interested in and enjoyed volunteering. In college, I participated in various walks (AIDS, breast cancer, etc.), volunteered at a children's hospital, helped raise money for charity, etc. But this week, I am going to enjoy the best possible volunteerism. Thank to my good friend Heather, I have been introduced to the benefits of volunteering for the Boston Independent Film Festival. The benefits of volunteering include a free t-shirt, and free entrance to any of the movies playing during the week-long festival. All for volunteering for 1 or 2 six and a half hours shift.

Last night, my free entrance ticket was to "Loud Quiet Loud: A Film About the Pixies." The documentary chronicled the Pixies reunion tour that started in 2004. Although the film was nothing earth-shattering, and was basic rock documentary fare, it was still quite enjoyable. Having been a big fan of the Pixies since I was a youngin (thanks to Listmaker), but not really knowing much about them, I learned quite a bit. Such as:

Frank Black is a dick.
Frank Black likes to have his shirt off a lot.
Kim Deal formed the Breeders. (I can not believe I did not know that.)
Kim Deal seems like a very depressed woman.
David Lovering (the drummer) is insane.
Joey Santiago is the most normal of the group.
The band does not like to communicate or talk to each other. (Example: In 1992, Frank Black did a radio interview where he announced that the band was breaking up, but failed to inform the rest of the band of this.)

I am now on a Pixies kick. Hopefully, I will be able to see for free some of the other films that will be playing the IFF Boston this week.

A bunch of family photos

2006-04-17T18:38:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, I flew down to Charlotte to visit my relatives down there. Between the relatives of Charlotte and relatives coming down to Charlotte, the number of family totaled 15. It was great seeing everyone, and it was a really great weekend.

Among the highlights:
Seeing my cousin Jerry in "The Goat. Of course Stone Groove needed a picture with the poor goat.

Having genuine Southern cooking for the first time. The biscuit, mac+cheese, and salmon patties were delicious. I also tried grits for the first time; not very impressed.

And of course the biggest highlight was seeing and catching up with all the family.

And now to bore you with a number of family photos:
Listmaker lurks in the background

Youthlarge and Listmaker, non-lurking

Stone Groove with Sister Groove

Cousins, part I

Cousins, part II

Aunt Alice+ Cousin Toby

Stone Groove+Mrs. Groove

This post should be Stone Groove's favorite ever because of all the pictures of him.

Ridiculous shoes for a ridiculous girl

2006-04-10T14:35:00.000-04:00

I have a little bit of a shoe problem. I am not like many girls who care about dressy or designer shoes. But, I love me my sneakers, especially Saucony Jazz and Pumas. They are all over the apartment, and I probably did not need another pair of them. But this weekend, I went to the mall and I could not resist buying a truly ridiculous pair of shoes. Make fun of me what you will, I will still love them (even if they are giving me blisters on my feet as I break them in.)

Massholes

2006-04-03T16:43:00.000-04:00

I moved to Massachusetts in August. I had spent the majority of my driving years in Maryland and Delaware, and now I realize how spoiled I was. Sure, there were always the jerky drivers who did not use their turn signals (one of my biggest pet peeves), but I learned to live with it.

My first month in Massachusetts was spent living in Worcester. Almost immediately, I was struck by what jerks people were when they were driving. Not putting on a turn signal was just the beginning! Cars would constantly cut me off, turn left when they did not have enough time, and were generally awful. I was complaining to Allie about this to which her reply was "Yea...that is why people call them Massholes."

Once I got to Boston, it was no different. The drivers up here continue to be among the rudest and worst I have ever encountered. And its not just the drivers! Pedestrians are jerks too. They will slyly and slowly jaywalk across the street without looking. I honked once, and the dumb teenage girl cursed at me and hit my car.

I have talked to some native Massachusettsians about this. Apparently, the only way to solve my frustration level is to become a Masshole like them. But, I do not think I want to stoop to that level. I will continue to try to be as courteous a driver as possible, and will always use my turn signals.

In health news: I am now completely better after 5 days of feeling like complete crap. Thank you to everyone who asked how I was doing, and to my brother for calming me down over the phone during the worst of it.

Sick, AGAIN!

2006-03-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

I do not understand this. I usually do not get majorly sick too often. The last time was 3 years ago when I had mono. Since then, I have had a few colds, but nothing too serious. Freshman year, my roommate got mono, I never got it. Junior year, when I studied abroad in London, all 30 odd people in my group got sick at some point except for me. My immune system has held up well over the years. Not this year.

Just two weeks ago I had strep throat. All day Monday I felt just fine. I woke up in the middle of the night on Monday with a temperature of 102 which reached 103. This illness is even worse than the strep two weeks ago. I went to the doctor twice this week, and they said it was a sinus infection which would make it the fourth one within the last 3 months. I have never heard of a sinus infection giving someone a fever this high. My throat is bright red with white spots all over it. The glands in my throat are so swollen that it hurts to move my neck even a little bit. I have no energy, not even to watch my beloved TV. All I can do is lie in bed and sleep. The antibiotics that the nurse practitioner gave me have worked a bit, but I am still feeling sick, with a little improvement. At least my temp has dropped to 100, and is no longer 103. The doctor referred me to a ear/nose/and throat specialist because of the recurring sinus infections. They do not have any appointments open until mid-May. If I get sick again before then, I might go crazy.

Orlando

2006-03-26T20:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I got back from 5 days in Orlando. The conference was exhausting. I ended up making friends wtih one of our resellers, L*earning Services, and they took me with them to MGM Studios. They even paid for both my admission ticket and lunch.
Here are some pictures, and a few things I learned from my stay in Orlando.

When the temperature is in the low 60's at night in Florida, it is considered cold.
If I stand for 10 straight hours, my feet will swell up.
Teacher's love free company pencils.
Teacher's will get crabby if they do not win in the prize wheel drawing contest.
I wish I were still a kid, as Disneyworld would have been more "magical."
Florida has the worst bagels ever.

The view from my room in my hotel, which I spent very little time in.

MGM Studios

Taken mostly to make Allie jealous.

I told you I would make friends with Mickey.

Strep to sun

2006-03-21T11:39:00.000-05:00

The previous five days:
I have been sick with strep throat, which I have not had in 12 years. It was almost as much fun as the last time. I missed 3 days of work, and it was a struggle to get out of bed. My 3 days off from work, and the weekend included:
A LOT of sleep.
A lot of TV.
A lot of reading. "The Great Mortality" is a great read when you are sick. It reminded me that my sickness could be so much worse.
A lot of milkshakes and hot tea.
A very nice boy helping to take care of me.

Alas, penicillin is a miracle, and I improved in time for the first day of spring, with temps in the 30's.

The next five days:
I will be in Orlando for work, where temps will be sunny in the upper 70's. I look forward to hobnobbing with Mickey.

Spring is coming

2006-03-13T22:27:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, me, Heather, and Patrick went to Haymarket, an amazing farmer's market, with lots of delicious fruits/vegetables and cheap prices.

Most of the people running the stands were very nice. But after taking this picture, the guy tried to charge me $1 for taking it.

After the crowds of Haymarket got to be too much, we walked around on the beautiful pre-Spring day. We met a very nice guy on a bench, and we all soon befriended him.

It was mid-March, the day was beautiful, and I could not have been happier because winter is almost over, and spring is coming!

Missing college

2006-03-09T13:44:00.000-05:00

It has been 9 months since I have graduated college, and oh do I miss it. I miss my friends there. I miss Main Street. I miss the beautiful campus. I miss being able to take a nap in the middle of the day. But, being the huge dork that I am, one of the biggest things that I miss is classes. Every semester, when the new class schedule came out, I would excitedly flip through to see what classes were offered and what professors were teaching them. The beginning of the semester was always exciting because I got to look through the syllabus to see what I would be learning for the next semester. Even the trip to the bookstore for the semester's books was a thrill.
But throughout my four years, there were the few classes that I loved. I would look forward to attending, and when the semester was over, I was sad that these classes were over as well.

Here are the good, the bad/ugly of the classes during my college career, done by year.

Freshman:
The Good
Civil Rights Movement

The reason I liked this class so much can be seen here.

Since I already wrote about this class before, I get two good for freshman year.
Intro to Screen Arts
The professor for this class was hilarious, and my friends still give me a hard time about my supposed crush on him. But what I really loved about the class was that I no longer can watch a film without noticing, critiquing, and analyzing it.

The Bad
Child Development
While the class was very interesting, the testing was just plain evil. The professor was a good guy, but he was used to teaching doctorate students. The tests were extremely long and hard. I ended up getting a B in the class, but that was only from studying 12 hours straight for the final test.

Sophomore
The Good
Problems of Corrections
As someone wrote on ratemyprofessors.com, going to this class was like going to an "informative comedy club." One class before a test, the professor said "I wrote up the test last night. I think it is pretty good, but I was high when I wrote it." Aside from that, the class really opened my eyes to the severe problems that exist within our justice system. To no surprise, an emphasis of the class was the utter stupidity of the punishment for drug offenders. As the population of people in jail continues to rise (often for non-violent crimes), I continue to remember that great class and wish things could be different within the system.

The Bad
History 101
Hey, I have a great idea. Lets jam thousands of years of history into one semester! Let's make it even better by having it in a huge lecture hall with hundreds of kids! Ooo, and you know what would top it off? Having a horrible professor teach it, with an incomprehensible lecture style.

Junior
The good
All of my second semester classes in London
I took Appreciation of Music, Art and Architecture in Context, Studies in Drama, Early British History, and Modern British History. Each class was amazing because we actually went to the places we were learning about. In the drama class, we saw a play every week; in Art History, a museum every week. It was great to not simply be lectured to, but to be able to actively participate in learning outside of a lecture hall.

The bad
Climactic Processes
I had to take this for one of my four science requirements. Again, teaching a class in a giant lecture hall is never a good idea, and is definitely not conducive to a good learning environment. I learned absolutely nothing, and it was always a huge struggle to stay awake. To top it off, the idiot professor put all the notes online, and simply read straight from the notes in class, making it extremely easy to skip class and not miss anything. To top it off, the accompanied lab was taught by an inept grad student who made us walk around in the freezing cold measuring who knows what. I was lucky to pass that class.

Senior
The good
20th Century France
Taken during my last semester for my last requirement for my History minor, this class seemed destined to be boring. But I learned a tremendous amount about French modern history from films to racial tensions. When the riots outside of Paris occurred earlier this year, I was not surprised given their history. And with the recent murder of a young Jewish man there, it echoes the injustices committed against Alfred Dreyfus because of anti-Semitism.

The bad
Film Theory: Film+Comics
What should have been an awesome class sucked because of the professor. He was young, and thought he was cool, but had absolutely no concept on how to lecture. His lectures were all over the place, making it impossible to take notes, and very difficult to write papers. Despite this, I do find comics a lot more interesting than I used to.

If you have made it down this far, I am impressed as I'm sure no one cares about the classes I took in college. In missing college and classes so much, I am beginning to wonder more and more whether grad school is in my future.

Should I stay or should I go?: Part II

2006-03-07T14:54:00.000-05:00

Netflix is a dear friend of mine. But lately, my friend has been quite distant. I decided to write a letter to my friend explaining my hurt feelings towards them.

I have been a member of Netflix since September 2005. For the first few months, I was extremely happy with the services that Netflix offered. I would return my movies on Monday, get an e-mail on Tuesday, and receive my new movies on Wednesday.
Within the last month, I have noticed a drastic change in the great level of service that I was used to. Currently, it takes a week or more for the nearest Netflix shipping center to inform me that they have received my films. Being that the nearest shipping center is 40 miles away, I know that it should not take nearly that long to get there. After it is finally received, it will take 3 to 5 days for me to receive the films.
I was complaining to someone about my recent very poor level of service, and they informed me that frequent renters are treated with the least amount of care. Apparently, this has become such a problem within the company that there was a lawsuit about it.
Part of why I joined Netflix was based on the advertising for the company. The claim in the ads is that you can have unlimited rentals a month. Now, with such a slow turnover rate, I am only getting 2-3 movies a month. I might as well rent from a video store because it would be less expensive per rental at this point.
I am a recent college graduate at a job where I do not make a lot of money. I allow myself this one extravagance per month because I believed that Netflix was worth it. I am really angry with the level of service lately, and if things do not improve within the next week, I am taking my business to one of your competitors.
Thank you for your time.

Netflix sent me a form letter response explaining the way that their business works and how prompt they are. Ha! I sent them another letter back.

I understand that you are trying to maximize your profits by putting the most frequented renters at the bottom of your list. But I know of a number of people that are really angry by the way these customers are being treated. I should not be punished for being a frequent renter. You also should not base your advertising on "unlimited rentals per month!."
The turnaround time right now is two weeks just to get a movie, which is ridiculous. Honestly, I am not satisfied with the answer I have received or with this policy. Because of my disapointment with this policy and with the company, I have decided to discontinue my membership to Netflix,and am going to join Blockbuster to see if they are any better. And I guarantee that other people are going to drop out because of this policy. By trying to maximize profits, I feel that in the long run you are going to lose business by not treating all of your customers with the same levels of service.

Since writing to Netflix, the service has improved. I will give them another month before dumping them and going to Blockbuster.

Should I stay or should I go?

2006-03-03T11:45:00.000-05:00

I found out earlier this week that I will be going to Orlando for 3 days at the end of March to help out at an education trade show. Woo hoo! The show ends on Friday night, and I would not be leaving until Saturday morning. I have asked my coworkers that are going to the show if they would want to go to Disneyworld with me, and they cannot for various reasons.

This is where my dilemma comes in. Since anyone who knows me at all is fully aware that I can not make a decision to save my life, I need help making one. Should I stay an extra day in Orlando by myself to go to one of the Disney parks (emphasis that I would be going by myself.) I am just scared that if I go to by myself, it will not be fun. But then, what other chance will I have to get a free flight to Orlando, and only have to pay for one night's hotel, and the entrance fee to one of the parks?

Help me make a decision please!

Happy birthday Grandpa

2006-02-28T21:18:00.000-05:00

Today would have been my grandfather's 85th birthday. I decided to honor his birthday by donating blood. Grandpa used to donate blood reguarly, and for the past few years, I have too. Grandpa even made it into the newspaper at a WWII veterans blood drive in the 50's with Debbie Reynolds in attendance to thank the boys. The picture that made the paper was of Debbie kissing Grandpa on the cheek. Donating blood was just one of the many ways that my grandfather made a difference in people's lives, and by donating blood today, I can only hope to carry on his tradition.

For more, go to Listmaker for another example of the many ways that my grandfather greatly affected people.

Peapod wins the Beanpot

2006-02-26T17:52:00.000-05:00

My freshman year at Clark is not full of many good memories. Among the few are meeting my current roomate, going to a Red Sox game (aganist the Orioles) and getting on TV, and the Pea Pod Squad. The Pea Pod Squad is Clark's improv troupe, and they never fail to put on a great and entertaining comedy show. University of Delaware's equivalent, the Rubber Chickens were no match for the Pea Pod Squad. So this weekend, when Allie invited me to a competition at Impov Boston featuring the Pea Pod Squad, I of course jumped at the chance.

The Beanpot Competition at the Improv Boston featured 8 area schools, and was set up like March Madness. We went on Friday night, and Clark beat Northeastern and Harvard's ass, and made it to the semifinals the next night. We went again last night, and again they beat Suffolk to make it into the finals aganist Boston U. The competition was very close, but the Pea Pod Squad pulled through to win the treasured Beanpot!

The moment of victory

The improv champs with their trophy

Don't touch me cause I'm electric, and if you touch me, you'll get shocked!

2006-02-24T09:56:00.000-05:00

Over the last month or so at work, I have been in a shocking situation. For some reason, the building that I work in has been giving me big problems in the forms of numerous electric shocks throughout the day. And not just puny electric shocks. These are hardcore. I will be walking around the halls, and be inches away from a wall, and still get shocked. Shocks have even gone through someone I am standing next to, onto me. It has become quite the problem. Is there some sort of anti-shock device that I can invest in? If not, I am going through the rest of the winter with staticy hair, or I might really be electrocuted and meet an early end. Any suggestions?

Watch this

2006-02-23T21:31:00.000-05:00

Thanks to a co-worker, I have been introduced to this very funny video, created by some Emerson students. It is a take-off of Brokeback Mountain's trailer. Watch it here.

I am so ashamed

2006-02-23T12:32:00.000-05:00

As mentioned before, I often tend to scoff at many pop cultural phenomenon. For the past four seasons of "American Idol" that had been the case. But one night, I guess nothing else was on TV, and I got hooked into one of the audition shows. Watching people make fool's of themselves is always funny. Plus, it was great to see the few people among the many that actually had some talent.

Now the show has moved into the finals, with 12 guys and 12 girls left in the competition. I can not believe it, but I am actually really rooting for two people, and actually care. American Idol is evil for luring me into its addicting and commercial filled clutches.

Paris Bennett

This 17 year old from Georgia is great. She has the sweetest, softest speaking voice, but when she sings, she becomes a different person. For her first finals song she sang "Midnight Train to Georgia" better than Gladys and her Pips.

Taylor Hicks

This guy is totally different than the rest of the guys this year, which for the most part are pretty boring. I like Taylor and want him to win because he looks like Kirk from "Gilmore Girls" and performs like Ray Charles.

While I am not as invested in this show as many Idol fans, I will still be watching it every week until the end. And shaking my head in shame the whole time.

Valentine's Day with my iPod and roommate

2006-02-14T13:09:00.000-05:00

Valentine's Day. For the single gals, just a day like any other. On the way to work this morning, I was listening to my iPod like any other day. The songs that played on my way to work on the shuffle feature were all suspiciously nostalgic. I can only attribute these song selections to being played strictly for Valentine's Day.

Song 1: "Amie" by Pure Prairie League
This song never fails to make me misty eyed. Yea, I know that Amie is not how I spell my name, but it is still my song. I would constantly beg my dad to play this for me as a little kid. I used to think that the lyrics were "I could play with you" instead of "I could stay with you." Now, whenever I hear it, I think about being a kid, the excitement of hearing it, and listening to it with my parents.

Song 2: "Allison" by Elvis Costello
This song is not very nostalgic for me personally, but it is my roommate's name, so is therefore personal for me in turn.

Song 3: "The Last Date" by Floyd Cramer
This is the song that my brother walked down the aisle to at his wedding. It puts a smile to my face because it reminds me of the wedding, and how I felt seeing my older brother walking down the aisle and feeling so happy for him.

Song 4: "Death in the Park" by Archers of Loaf
This is one of my favorite Archers songs. Vee Vee came out when I was in 7th grade. 7th grade was not the best year for me, and I remember being really bitter towards some of my fellow stupid classmates. I would listen to Vee Vee on tape every morning on the bus on the way to dreaded school, and thought that I listened to such better music than my fellow classmates. While 7th grade is not a fun time to reflect on, Archers of Loaf then and now still puts me in a good mood.

By this point I had arrived at work happy that my Valentines Day ride had provided me with such nostalgic songs. For Valentine's Day, I gave silly Ninja Turtles cards to my co-workers. I am celebrating tonight by having dinner with my roommate while watching TV together. What a great Valentine's Day.

Fantasmagoria

2006-02-09T14:00:00.000-05:00

Today I am seeing a dentist for a routine cleaning. I have only seen two dentists in my life, so it will be interesting to see another one. In my search to find a dentist near work, I really did not care who I went to. Then I saw a name that made me decide that this dentist was the one for me. My dentists name is Dr.Fantasia. I just hope that he is not like this dentist:

With a name like Dr. Fantasia, I can only hope that I will be leaving his office like this:

Superbowl weekend for a girl who could care less

2006-02-06T20:02:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Allie, Sam, and I went to see some band in Boston that I had never heard of called Hellogoodbye. They were not bad, good performers, with very catchy songs. Go here, and listen to "call n return" for quite the catchy song. Although the band was enjoyable, I was quite put off by the audience that was there to see them. The audience consisted of a bunch of 16 year old girls who were screaming the whole time. Apparently the band just premiered on MTV, so that should not be a surprise. But how can you not like a band who performs the last song in ketchup, Santa, and hot dog outfits?

Waiting to get inside, I had to take a Fenway shot.

Silly costumes are always fun

Sunday, we went to the mall to get Heather a Build-A-Bear. Heather has been very sick for the last couple of weeks with a sinus infection, strep throat, and mono. To top it all off, she has to get her tonsils removed next week. I collected money from people in the office to get her a bear adorned with a robe, Bearaspirin, a thermometer, and an ice pack. Cheesy? Yes. But if I was sick, I would love it.

We rushed home to get ready for the Superbowl. Allie had invited a couple classmates over. One of them is from Croatia, and thought that she was coming over to watch a big soccer game. Being from Seattle, Allie of course was very excited for the Seahawks making it to the Superbowl for the first time.

A Seahawks cake was made.

As were Seahawks cupcakes, which the sick bear enjoyed immensely.

In the end, the beloved Seahawks did not win the Superbowl. But when cake, cupcakes, beer, and pizza are involved...who cares?

Not your average Joe

2006-01-31T16:35:00.000-05:00

Recently, Listmaker complained about his awful landlord. While at least we have heat in our apartment, our landlord is still pretty bad. Therefore, it is my turn to bitch!

My first indication that our landlord Joe was an idiot came shortly after Hurricane Katrina. This was shortly after I had moved into the apartment, and I was very excited that we finally had cable. The whole week following Hurricane Katrina we did not have cable, and I was upset to be missing live coverage of what was happening in New Orleans. When I had first moved in, Joe asked me to fax over a list of what needed to be fixed. He never gave me a time that he would come. On Saturday morning, while I was still in my pajamas, he knocked on the door. After tinkering around to fix the garbage disposal, he heard the CNN coverage of Hurricane Katrina. He said it was awful what was happening down there. Agreed. He blamed the government for their slow response. Agreed. Then he said that the government left all the "colored" people around there, and weren't doing anything. Uhh...ok? "Colored" people. Are we in 1950?

Okay, whatever, I can overlook that if he were not a complete asshole. My biggest problem that I have with him (apart from him not fixing anything that needed fixed when we got there) is the lack of a washer and dryer. When I first moved up here and was living in Worcester, I looked at about a dozen apartments before I found my current one. One of the major selling points was that this apartment had washers and dryers! Sure, they were coin-operated, but who cares? We soon signed the lease on the false information of working washers and dryers.

Upon first moving into the apartment, I soon realized (after wasting about $4 in quarters) that these washers and dryers did not work. I called Joe about it, and he acted surprised, and said he would call Sears about fixing them. After talking to the guy on the first floor, who had lived there for six months, he said that Joe had known about the broken machines for months, and had yet to do anything about it.

After a couple months of calling Joe about the washers and dryers, he stopped by unannounced when I was alone in the apartment, after stepping out of the shower. Answering the door in my towel, I find Joe smugly standing there, licking an ice-cream cone. He informs me that he is not going to bother to call Sears to fix the machines because winter was approaching, and the pipes would freeze. He then promised that he would bring us some quarters to use at local laundromats for the inconvenience. We have yet to see one quarter.

I now try to go as long as I can with out doing laundry, about once every two weeks. Let me tell you, it is a joy to lug the laundry down three flights of stairs, bring it to my car, and waste an hour and a half at the laundromat waiting for it. I would not be so annoyed if we had not taken the apartment partly based on it having a washer and dryer. But knowing that if Joe was not such a jerk, all we would have to do is walk down one flight of stairs, put the laundry in, and go back upstairs until it is done.

After washing my clothes at a local laundromat yesterday, I put them in the dryer. To my surprise, one quarter did not give me 8 minutes anymore, but instead only 6! I asked the lady there why they had raised the prices, and she said it was because gas prices were so high. One more reason to hate Joe.

Allie and I have decided that we probably want to move when our lease runs out in September. Partly because we want to be closer to better public transportation, and partly because of Joe. In the meantime, whenever I walk upstairs, the washer and dryer room is there, teasing me.

It's been a year

2006-01-23T09:22:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was a year, and tomorrow it will be a year since the deaths of my high school friend Linda, and my grandfather, respectively. Instead of being sad today, I am trying to be as positive as possible.

Linda:

Instead of continually questioning why Linda was killed, I am going to take a break from that today. At her memorial service at Johns Hopkins, one of her friends said (I am paraphrasing) that instead of questioning why she died, we should question why she lived. The president of Johns Hopkins said that Linda did more in her 21 years than most people do in their lifetimes. Both of the above statements are 100% true. While what happened to Linda will never ever make sense to me, a year after her death, I am able to think of her without being completely sad.

Instead, I remember the difference she made in people's lives. In a fickle high school environment, I never heard one bad word spoken of Linda, but instead people would talk about how great she was. I remember having Ceramics with her senior year when we both needed a fun elective. I would look forward to ceramics, because I would have a chance to talk to Linda, which was always a bright spot to my day. When I was freaking out about getting into colleges, Linda would assure me that everything would be okay, and in a way that I actually believed her. She made it look easy getting straight A's, being on the volleyball and gymnastics teams, and getting a full ride to Johns Hopkins, her first choice. She did all this with her trademark smile and giggle.

So why did she live, and how did she do more in 21 years than many do in a long lifetime?
Simply, anyone that met Linda had to be affected by her. It was hard not to be. She did more than most people by spending part of her summer in college volunteering at a children's AIDS hospice in Vietnam. Her goal after college was med school and to find ways for people in third world countries to have better access to medical care, and I believe that she would have accomplished her goals. I know that she has inspired other people to live their lives more like hers. I was lucky to have known her, and remembering how remarkable she was makes me feel somewhat better about the tragic end to her life.

Grandpa:

Thinking about my grandfather's death after a year does not bring me sadness like Linda's. He was almost 84 when he died, and lived a good life. Like Linda, I feel incredibly lucky to have known him and to have been his granddaughter. I miss him so much, but I still feel like he is here because I know how he would react to things. Nothing made him happier than hearing about his grandchildren. I know that he would have been so happy to have seen me graduate college in May, and to have seen me start my "grown-up" life in Boston. And I know that when I would talk to him on the phone to tell him what was going on in my life, he would say with a twinkle in his eye "That's so great, Amy." I miss his hugs, that twinkle, his enthusiasm over everything; simply everything about him.

At my desk at work, I have a picture of me and Linda from high school, and a picture of my grandfather from when I was a kid. By having those pictures facing me all day, in a way, makes me feel as if they are still here.

Incredible aging

2006-01-20T13:18:00.000-05:00

As mentioned before, there are some things in pop culture that I just do not get.

The latest thing that I have tried to understand the mass appeal of is "The OC." While it does not leave me as completely dumbfounded as Harry Potter's popularity does, I still question the show.

When the show first aired in the summer of 2003, it was all the rage with my 19 year old friends as we were the perfect demographic for the show. The air would be abuzz on Thursday with OC talk. In London, it was one of the few options we had on television, but I still was not really into it. Even now, watching it every week out of habit, I can take it or leave it. I am usually entertained by the show, but if I miss a week, I would not care. (This is somewhat ironic considering that in one episode of the OC about 5 dramatic plot lines occur, and the story changes drastically from week to week. If you miss a week, you will have some catch-up to do.)

I have always been a fan of ridiculous shows from "Melrose Place" to "90210." But there is one plot point with the OC that is unusually dumb. In the first season, Marissa had a younger sister who looked to be about 10. After the first couple of episodes, she was virtually erased from the show, sent off to some distant boarding school never to be seen from or heard of. But, in last night's episode "mini Coop" returns, and now she is like 15!
Mini Coop from this:

To this:

Time must move very slow in OC land because it has only been on for 2.5 years, and she has aged 5. This show is so ridiculous but I will probably continue to watch it every week.

A weekend with kickball, Korean BBQ, and HUEY!

2006-01-18T18:31:00.000-05:00

This last weekend I went down to visit Listmaker and Youthlarge in New York. On Friday, I got to Listmaker's school in the afternoon, and came just in time to play a game of kickball with his 3rd graders. The kids were really great, and briefly, I considered maybe I could be a teacher. But I quickly brushed that thought aside when I remembered that I have no patience.

After recess, there was a 15 minute Q+A with me and the kids. The kids then presented current events.

The kids are currently learning about strikes throughout history and what they can accomplish. The kids then went outside and demonstrated their own strike in front of waiting parents and passing people on the sidewalk.

Saturday was spent in rainy pursuit of Huey tickets. Read all about the Huey performance at Listmaker. After Huey, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed our Korean BBQ dinner.

All in all, it was a great weekend. But what weekend involving Huey would not be?

Ugh

2006-01-11T15:40:00.000-05:00

I have been sick for a week. I knew I would get sick. Half of the people in my department were sick, so I knew I would be next. It started out as a cold, and it is pure evil. Me and a co-worker are still sick. I went to the doctor today, and lo and behold it has become a sinus infection, my first ever. It is awful.

The point of sharing all this is because I want to bitch. I don't have a mommy or an Allie nearby to complain to (although Heather has been taking the brunt of my whining.) I want to bitch because I always seem to get sick at the worst times. I usually get sick when there is something that I was looking forward to. The last major time was at the end of freshman year. To celebrate the end of the first year of college, me, Allie, Melissa, Joy, and Justin planned a trip to Ocean City, MD. The last week of school was very stressful with finals exams and papers stressing me out. Although the stress was huge, the Ocean City trip to look forward to got me by, and I even ended up with good grades. The day we drove to Ocean City I got very sick with a fever. While medicine enabled me to still have a good time, I was still quite upset during the trip. Why did I have to get sick during a time I was looking forward to so much?

Last week I was supposed to go down to NYC to see Youthlarge and Listmaker, and to see Huey Lewis in "Chicago." But of course I got sick. So the play was rescheduled to this weekend. Although I have seen Chicago on Broadway before (in 1999 with Alan Thicke playing the role that Huey will be playing in this go-round), it is tough to not be excited about a chance to see Huey. But being sick is diminishing my excitement. Let's just hope the antibiotics will make me better very soon so I can enjoy Huey in all his glory.

Speaking of Huey....why am I so excited to see him? Hearing and seeing Huey is my ultimate nostalgic trip. My dear brother Listmaker was a huge fan when he was a young teen, and forced his poor sister to listen to him as a toddler. There is a tape of me when I was 2 1/2 where I fill in the blank to Huey lyrics that Listmaker recited. I have loved Huey ever since then. After seeing him in concert twice (once with poor Youthlarge who does not share the love for Huey), seeing him in Chicago will be great.

Sorry for the rambling post. I believe that the sinus infection has spread to the brain.

A reason to look forward to the Oscars

2006-01-06T15:41:00.000-05:00

I'm sure this is old news to everyone by now, but it was announced yesterday that this year the host for the Oscars will be my beloved Jon Stewart! While Jon Stewart has become somewhat overexposed in the media recently, I still adore him. He's cute, smart, liberal, funny, self-deprecating. What more could a gal want? All of this is a perfect combination for a Oscar host.

My idolization of Jon started when I was a young teen. I read his book "Naked Pictures of Famous People" and I immediately took to his dry humor. I was thrilled when he started hosting the "Daily Show" when I was 15, and I have watched the show as often as I can since then.

This summer, right after graduation, I got the chance to see him in person! My friends and I made it to the second row with an excellent view of Jon. When I was about 16ish I saw Conan O Brien. While he was funny in person, his jokes and demeanor felt stiff, and there was no audience interaction during the commercial breaks. Such was not the case with Jon. He had a Q+A before the show with the audience. During the commercial breaks he talked with the audience. While a video segment that Rod Corddry did was playing, he seemed genuinely amused by it. When I saw Conan, during a video segment he was too busy and important talking to producers to watch the segment.

Seeing Jon Stewart's show in person proved to me that his fame has not gone to his head. He is still the same laid back, modest person he was over a decade ago on his MTV show. Hence, I am very interested to see what he will do as Oscar host.

Me in bliss before seeing the Daily Show taping in June.

So this is the new year, and I don't feel any different

2006-01-04T16:25:00.000-05:00

Apparently I have been a "blog slacker" lately, so here is an update from the last couple of weeks.

*Allie has gone home to Washington until January 21. I miss her. I have had a number of roommates over the years, and have not liked the majority of them (excluding Kristin, Aileen, and Belinda.) So if most of my previous roommates had gone away for a month, I would have been thrilled. But Allie is one of my best friends and has stayed so despite living together. We joke around about it, but she is kind of like my wife. She makes me dinner a lot, I pick her up after class, we discuss our days, we watch TV together. She is a great friend and roommate, and I will be happy to have her back. Until then, my apartment is very quiet and lonely.

*I went home for a week. It was a good trip home with lots of quality time with my parents. Stone Groove, and I (plus special guest Kristin) went to see King Kong. It was long, but still entertaining. We all agreed, at least a half hour could have been taken off of the movie with nothing lost. Damn Peter Jackson and his long movies!

*While home, Kristin came to visit from Pennsylvania. I have not seen her since graduation, and it was a nice reunion. Plus, she brought us delicious chocolate covered pretzels, and home-made cookies (of which Stone Groove consumed most of them.) AND, she stuffed a Hanukkah stocking for me! What a great friend!

*Office jobs are no good if you gain weight easily. In college, I did not go to the gym much, or eat that well, but I walked a lot around campus. Now, I go to the gym, am not eating that well, and sit all day. My body is not liking this. Since starting this job about 6 months ago, I have gained about 10 pounds, to the point where my clothes are getting tight. I have reached this weight twice before this. I refuse to go above this weight. In high school, I was able to take 20 pounds off, and a couple years ago, I was able to take about 10 pounds off. And its time again to take this damn weight off for the new year. So I have joined ediets.com, which so far is actually pretty great. They give you a customized meal plan which covers every meal for the week, a fitness plan, a grocery list, and lots of support. This is exactly the kind of structure that I need to help me lose the weight.

I have given my co-workers permission to not let me snack anymore at work, or partake in ordering lunch out. I also give everyone in blog land permission. (But, I may be going down to NYC this weekend. I give myself permission to stray away from the meal plan this weekend, but not to over do it.)

That is about all that is going on in Turtle Land.

The tale of the amazing traveling hat

2005-12-18T15:26:00.000-05:00

About two months ago I bought a winter hat, which can be seen here. So what? Well, to put it simply, I love this hat.

Normally, I would not have bought this hat. I had first seen it at the North Face store on Newbury St. It was $25, not that much for a winter hat from North Face, but more than I wanted to spend. About a week later, I got my first incentive check from work. Incentives checks are monthly bonuses which customer service receives for various reasons. The checks vary monthly by how many phone calls we answer individually, how many leads we do, how many price quotes are written, how many e-mails are answered, etc.

After receiving this first check, I figured the perfect way to spend some of it was to get this hat I yearned for. Since buying the hat, I have received many compliments, it has kept my head warm, and it has overall treated me very well.

However, I can not say the same thing for how I have treated my beloved. I have dropped the hat in a store, to luckily find it later. I left the hat on a shelf in the library to thankfully find that a librarian had left it at the book check-out. But yesterday, I almost lost my hat for good.

I met my friend Suzy in Boston for a matinee. We had dinner together, then parted ways. To get back to my apartment, I had to take two buses home. I boarded the first bus, the 93 to Sullivan Station. When I first got on the bus, the extreme heat inside felt good compared to the frigid outside. But soon, I realized that my hat was no longer needed for the bus ride. I took it off, to put on my lap, instead of putting it in my purse which would have been the smart thing.

Upon arriving at Sullivan, I had forgotten about my hat, after all it has done for me. It must have fallen off my lap when I got off the bus. The minute I stepped outside, and my head was cold, I realized my mistake. I wanted to cry. I called the MBTA, but they were closed for the night, and they probably could not do anything anyway.

The 101 bus to my street was not coming for another 40 minutes. I stood there in the cold, without my hat to keep me warm feeling very sad. About five minutes before my bus was scheduled to arrive, a bus pulled into the platform. It was a different line than I had taken to get to the station, but the same bus driver! I ran up to the bus, and the bus driver reluctantly let me on the bus to see if my hat was still there. And there it was, on the floor, my beautiful hat smiling up at me!

I exited the bus feeling happier than I have in a long time. I know it is somewhat pathetic to love this hat so much, but who cares. I will henceforth (try) to never let that hat out of my sight again!

The New York Times feels my pain

2005-12-16T13:39:00.000-05:00

As I recently complained, this time of the year is not a fun time to be a Jew.
Yesterday the New York Times published this article that showed that many fellow Jews feel my pain. Apparently, it is now "hip" to be a cultural Jew, but not religious (which I guess is what I am.) The whole article is good but some highlights follow below. (And by highlights I mean that I relate with what the article describes here.)

Mr. Tannenbaum said he tries to convey his feelings to his Christian friends by asking them to imagine this: "Everywhere you go strangers say to you, 'Merry Ramadan.' Anywhere you go you can't get into a store because people are bowing to Mecca. You'd be an angry minority. You'd be like, 'Enough of this Ramadan all ready.' "

In 1997 the creators of "South Park" mined the potential agony of being a Jewish child during December with the lament, "It's Hard to be a Jew on Christmas." By 2003 T-shirts that read "Jewcy" were selling like potato hot cakes, and Jewish hip-hop went from a simmer to a boil. On Monday VH1 will attempt to understand why Judaism is all the rage with a pop culture special called "So Jewtastic." An excerpt from the show's press material reads, "In an age when Madonna demands to be called 'Esther,' Jon Stewart is a sex symbol and seemingly everyone speaks a little Yiddish, it's never been hipper to be a Jew."

Over the last three years more and more young Jews have been flaunting their heritage, donning T-shirts that proclaim their Semitic roots, listening to the Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu and climbing onto the celebrity-driven kabbalah bandwagon. And though many occupy the same Lower East Side walk-ups that their grandparents once did, they are not interested in quietly assimilating. They identify more with the cultural trappings of Judaism - the music, the cuisine, the humor - than with the teachings of the Torah.

"We ourselves are less observant Jews, but we are still very culturally Jewish," Mr. Steingart of Jewcy said. The comedian Rebecca Drysdale is of like mind. "My connection with being Jewish is not a religious one," she said. "It's cultural."

Mr. Neuman explained: "There's this emerging sense of new Jewish culture that is self-consciously postdenominational and largely devoid of religious context."

All right, I'm done bitching about being a Jew. Go Hannukah! (I'm not even sure if that is how you spell it. I am truly a bad Jew.)

Christmas in a warehouse

2005-12-15T20:13:00.000-05:00

Last night was T Snyder's office Christmas party. The company is moving offices in April. But as of now, the new office is still in the somewhat gutted out phase of planning. What better place to have our Christmas party than here?! Considering the party was here, it came together quite well.

Heather and I all dressed up.

Kendra and the bossman

Once people had a sufficient amount of alcohol in them, the dancing began.

Even THE T Snyder did some dancing!

And not this Snyder!

Unrelated silly picture with Sam upon arriving home from the party.

I Found a Reason (to go to Prague)

2005-12-14T13:29:00.000-05:00

Who wants to go to the Czech Republic to get this breed of dog with me? Who's in besides Kristin?

On a different note: to anyone who is a fan of fruity gum, I highly recommend Trident's new Tropical Twist sugarless gum. I have to admit, I'm a bit addicted to it. The flavor lasts for a good hour, which is more than can be said for most gums these days. It contains Xylitol which is apparently good for your teeth in reducing plaque. The only negative (which some may consider a positive) is that the gum's fruity smell is far-reaching. I will by lying on the couch in the apartment, and across the room, Allie will be able to smell it. When I throw it in the garbage can, the fruity smell radiates out of the can. It is a magical gum.

One snowstorm down, infinity to go

2005-12-12T17:18:00.000-05:00

I have officially survived my first New England snowstorm.

I left for work early Friday morning. The snow was not supposed to be heavy until around 9AM. By 7, it was already inches high, and enough for me to skid several times on the way to work.

Upon arriving to work, co-workers said that they heard the snow was supposed to turn to rain by noon. By 2, the snow had gone from snow, to rain, to hail, back to snow. Not only that, but there was a lightning storm to liven things up. It was announced during the worst of the storm that we could leave early.

I waited it out, and trekked out to my car around 3:30. The snow was up to my mid-calf in the parking lot. A wonderful (and cute) young man offered to shovel my car out. Then my boss came out, and drove my car out to the road for me. On the way home, I saw many cars stuck, with strangers helping the stuck cars out. I was amazed by the acts of kindness that snowstorms bring out in people.

A two hour car ride home, and 30 minutes of shoveling later, I passed out in my apartment. If this is just the beginning, this is going to be a looooooong winter!

Two things from my past, that will soon cease to be

2005-12-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

Within the next two weeks, two things from my past will officially never make it into my future. One is being done for good reasons, the other because of greed.

1.) During my four months spent living in London, I would occasionally ride one of the famous Routemaster double decker buses. But tomorrow, because of inaccessibility to the handicapped, most of these buses will be retired. While I understand the reasoning behind the retirement, I do not understand why these buses have to all be retired. There are a number of bus lines that run in London that did not use that type of bus anyway. And since they were such a huge trademark of the city, it will definitely be a sad day in London. I am glad that I was able to ride the buses, while happily looking over the streets of London before they were put away.

2.) And speaking of sad days: In less than two short weeks, The Stone Balloon, a Newark, Delaware staple will be gone. And what will be put in its place? Pricey condos. Great way to make Main Street suburban. Grrrr.
Why is the Stone Balloon so special? In it's 30 plus year history, the Balloon has been host to annual Homecoming celebrations, a venue for bands to play, a place to hold charity events, and most importantly home to Thursday Mug Nights. These plastic mugs that could be bought at the Balloon for $10, would get you $1 beers, and $2 mixed drinks every Thursday nights. On top of that, there was also almost always a band, which were usually pretty good.

I loved how every Thursday night, Main Street, and the surrounding vicinity would be littered with students walking around with their mugs. I loved how at mug nights, you would run into a friend you hadn't seen in a long time. I loved how the bands would play covers, which are always great when you're drunk. I loved how Thursday's were all about "Are you going to Mug Night tonight?" While I would not go every week (usually about once a month), Mug Night's were always guaranteed to be a good time.

There has been rumors for years that the Balloon was going to be turned into condos, but it is finally true. Last year, the night of graduation, there was a "Senior Sendoff." As I stood there with my beloved mug, and my beloved friends, I got a bit misty eyed. I had just graduated, and this was one of my last nights at University of Delaware, and my last Mug Night ever. As the drunken seniors sang their last "Piano Man", I wrapped my arms around my friends trying to savor the last moments of college and of the Stone Balloon.

Thank you Stone Balloon for providing me with so many great memories. This article also sums up pretty well exactly what Newark is losing.

King Kong Walks With Me

2005-12-05T17:03:00.000-05:00

I have tried to remain blase about this, but I think I am actually excited for the new "King Kong" remake.
Until now, I have remained only mildly interested in the movie. But, for some reason, seeing this picture of the film, and subsequent article in the New York Times, and I guess I am now officially excited for three reasons.

1.) As mentioned above, it looks amazing. While I was not really a fan of the Lord of the Rings movies, I still think that they were made well, and it will be very interesting to see what Peter Jackson will do to remake this classic film. Plus, it stars Adrian Brody and Jack Black which is quite an interesting combo for a movie such as this.

2.) Junior year of college, I took a great course, "Film History." We spent a good amount of time studying the history of the original "King Kong" focusing mostly on how it was made. Knowing the history of the film will make it all the more fascinating to see how much film making has changed over the last 80 odd years.

3.) This summer, I was supposed to see "Red Eye" with Stone Groove, but alas I moved away before the film was released. So I have promised that I will see this movie with him when I am home for the holidays, and I am sure his excitement will fuel mine.

On a side note: Over the Thanksgiving holidays, my dear mother took a bad fall, and has subsequently been in terrible pain for the last week. I just wanted to say hope you're feeling better soon Mom!! And I'm sure she would love any get well wishes sent her way (by way of the comments section. Thanks!)

Come on, I dare ya!

2005-12-02T14:20:00.000-05:00

I was flipping through the "next blog" feature on Blogger, and came across a hilarious post about work dares. It cracked me up at work, and I dare all of you at work to actually do these dares.

One Point Office Dares
1) Ignore the first five people who say "good morning" to you.
2) Groan out loud in the toilet cubicle (at least one other 'non-player' must be in the toilet at the time).
3) To signal the end of a conversation, clamp your hands over your ears and grimace.
4) Leave your zipper open for one hour. If anyone points it out, say,"Sorry, I really prefer it this way".
5) Walk sideways to the photocopier.
6) While riding in the lift, gasp dramatically every time the doors open.

Three Point Office Dares
1) Page yourself over the intercom (do not disguise your voice).

Five Point Office Dares
1) At the end of a meeting suggest that, for once, it would be nice to conclude with the singing of the national anthem(extra points if you actually launch into it yourself).
2) Walk into a very busy person's office and while they watch you with growing frustration, turn the light switch on/off 10 times.
3) Speak with an accent (French, German, Porky Pig etc) during a very important conference call.
4) Hang a two-foot long piece of toilet roll from the back of your pants and
act genuinely surprised when someone points it out.
5) During the course of a meeting, slowly edge your chair towards the door.

'Tis the season to hate being Jewish

2005-12-01T13:55:00.000-05:00

Ah, December. The weather starts getting a bit colder, marking that the official start of winter is soon to come. It is also the time when excitement hangs in the air because Christmas is just a few weeks away. Christmas lights start coming up on houses. Trees are put for sale. While for many this is "the most wonderful time of the year", I consistently dread this holiday.

As a kid going to school with very few Jewish people, I always felt like a bit of an outsider because of this. At the beginning of every school year, we would get two days off within weeks of each other. Most kids would be delighted by this. But not me. Instead of getting to play and enjoy my days off school, I was subjected to torture: a High Holiday service at synagogue lasting hours, and which were quite possibly the most boring things ever. I envied my classmates who could enjoy their days off, while I was subjected to stupid temple!

But what I most envied my non-Jew friends for was the fact that they got to celebrate Christmas. They got to decorate Christmas trees with their family. They got to wake up at the crack of dawn on Christmas day and excitedly run down the stairs to open presents. While Hanukkah was fun and all, it was nothing compared to Christmas. (Although the Hanukkah where our cat Mittens set his tail on fire from the Hanukkah candles was a pretty good one.)

Since I have "grown up", I've done my best to jump on the Christmas bandwagon. Freshman year, my roommate and I had a "sexmas" tree where our ornaments were condoms. And now, Allie and I have a Christmassy plant with lights in our apartment. But its not the same as a real Christmas celebrated with family. So what's the solution? I need to find a nice non-Jewish boy to marry so I can finally attain my lifelong dream of celebrating Christmas just like most everyone else.

Three Dog Night

2005-11-28T19:33:00.000-05:00

For details on how I spent Thanksgiving, make your way over to Listmaker.

Since Listmaker sums it up so well, I would like to use this post to declare my love to a dog named Princess. Princess is my cousin Leah's dog. Leah is living in London right now with her boyfriend, so my other cousin, Jason is taking care of Princess while she is away. After the three days spent with Princess, I have decided that I want a dog. Having grown up with cats my whole life, I never really gave dogs much thought. But lately, I have wanted a dog more and more. And the holiday with Princess clinched it. I know that all dogs are not as cute, calm, and little as Princess. But one day, when I am a little more financially secure, and a little more responsible, a dog will be mine!

How can you not love this dog?

Tiny Princess and the giant cat Sunshine

Oh, and over Thanksgiving I promised Stone Groove that I would post this picture.

I hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving, even if yours did not include an adorable dog.

A weekend with a foreigner, IKEA, and a rock

2005-11-20T22:37:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Allie's friend Yvette from South Africa, by way of Manchester, England came to visit. This was only her second time to the states, the first to Boston, so touristy activities were on the agenda.

On Saturday, we (and by we, I mean Allie, me, Yvette, Sam, and Erica) went to a delicious brunch at Sound Bites, a great brunch place near us in Ball Square. We then made our way into Boston to Faneuil Hall, where we then decided that we wanted to see the site of the Boston Tea Party. Unfortunately, we never made it. We walked for a good hour, and then realized that we made a wrong turn way back. We were all getting cranky so we decided not to pursue our mission any farther.

Sam attempting to steal a street sign after our failed attempt to find the ship.

We crankily made our way to the North End where we indulged in a delicious Italian meal. After, I was way too full to get any more food, but Erica, Allie, and Sam were brave enough to get more food at Mike's Pastry Shop. I admire them.

Allie with her moonpie, with Erica's ghost next to her.

Sam's Rum "Babuh" which was 85% rum, 15% actual pastry. Notice the drip from the cake.

Sunday:
Last weekend IKEA finally opened about 30 minutes away in Stoughton. My sometimes nice brother and sister-in-law got me a wonderful gift certificate for my birthday/housewarming in September. I used the gift certificate to get a bookshelf to put my books and DVD's that have been sitting in boxes for months. Thanks again Youthlarge and Listmaker.

Allie admiring an IKEA ottoman.

Basking in the comfort of a chair.

After spending FOUR hours in IKEA, and consuming delicious Sweedish meatballs and cinnamon rolls, we headed off to Plymouth to see Plymouth Rock.
The rock....very exciting?

It's a good thing that I am going home to Maryland this week, because being a tourist can be exhausting!

Pump it up!

2005-11-17T16:46:00.000-05:00

I am proud to say that within the last month or two, I have made going to the gym a semi-regular routine (about 3-4 days a week for 45 minutes.) I have never been a huge fan of the gym. But my wonderful iPod makes the experience much more enjoyable. If I have the right song going on my "Gym" mix, then the time on the elliptical or weights flies by, making the gym much less dreadful.

With that in mind, I only have 156 songs on my gym mix. While most of them pump me up (by the way, Elvis Costello's "Pump it Up" is indeed part of the mix), I feel like I am going to get sick of these songs soon. And once I am sick of them, the gym might become a dreaded experience once again.

Stone Groove was nice enough to give me a code that he got from Bose for 15 free downloads from iTunes. Thus far, I have only used 3, with 12 remaining. I would love if my valued readers would be so kind as to help me with suggestions on good motivating gym songs to download from iTunes. Handwashings: What got you through the NYC Marathon on your iPod?

Here are some examples of what is already on the mix. Most of the music is not very good, but it does the trick:
Beastie Boys, Britney Spears (taken from my dear roomate), Gorillaz, Kanye West, Jay Z, Ludacris, Outkast, Archers of Loaf, Hives, Hot Hot Heat.

Any suggestions would be very much appreciated.

A Weekend with Listmaker and Youthlarge

2005-11-14T20:15:00.000-05:00

This weekend Allie and I went down to see Youthlarge and Listmaker
The weekend included:
A whole hell of a lot of making fun of me. What else are big brothers and sister-in-laws for?
A whole hell of a lot of walking, and shopping.
A whole hell of a lot of eating, then complaining.

The happily betrothed couple.

I don't know what is more beautiful: the Manhattan skyline or the delicious ice cream from the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge

All in all, it was a great weekend. Thank you Listmaker and Youtharge for having us, and for letting us burn countless CD's.

No "Lost" tonight honey, I have a headache

2005-11-10T16:23:00.000-05:00

All day yesterday, I was excited. It had been three weeks without a new "Lost." It has become a weekly ritual that Heather will come over, and we (and by "we", I mean Allie or Heather) will make dinner, then sit back and relax for an hour of Lost.

Last night was turkey taco night. We quickly ate in anticipation of what we had been waiting three weeks for. And in typical Lost fashion, it was everything that we had expected.

Typical Lost: The whole hour keeps us in suspense. Nothing is ever resolved. This week seemed even worse though. The episode ended with a cliffhanger of course. But now, they are starting a whole new arc next week! I don't care about these new characters (and the incredibly annoying Michelle Rodriguez!) This is so frustrating!

My analogy for the show is that its like being in an abusive relationship. It is so good to you, but it beats you down repeatedly, but you keep going back to it. But Heather's analogy is much better. Her gem: "This show is like having sex without reaching orgasm." I will leave it at that.

An Unfortunate Tale

2005-11-09T14:42:00.000-05:00

Today at work, we had a company meeting. This was followed by an assortment of Chinese food that was delivered. It was oh so delicious.

To me, one of the best things about Chinese food is when the meal is over, and it is time to read your "fortune." I put the word fortune in parentheses because over the years, the word has lost its meaning in these once delightful cookies.

When I was a kid, before I could read, my mother used to make up fortunes like "Your daughter will be a good girl today." I was always amazed that the great fortune cookie people always catered to me (or my mothers) fortunes.

As I got older, I of course realized that these fortunes were not catered directly to me. But, it was still fun to read the fortunes nonetheless. Lately though, I have noticed that I rarely ever get an actual fortune inside the cookie. Instead I have received stupid philosophical sayings that no one in their right mind would describe as actual fortunes.

Today at the company lunch, the customer service department (all five of us) sat together and read our fortunes. I was shocked (SHOCKED!) to see that not one of us (after opening many fortunes each) had a real fortune.

I am saddened by the sad state of fortune cookies. I wish we could return to the glory days of when fortune cookies were actually FORTUNE cookies. But since this is obviously not to be, I will go back to the classic game of adding "in bed" to the end of the fortune. I have to find some ways to have fortune cookies continue to be fun.

An example of the pitiful state of the fortune cookie industry.