In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!?"

New Year

2012-01-02T20:47:00.002Z

It's a new year, a new day, and maybe a new blog. I haven't written in a long time but I am bound and determined to start writing again. 2011 was not the best year for me, so I'm hoping that 2012 treats me a little better. And I think I need to write. I need to get my thoughts written down so I can deal with them.

Soop - I plan to make myself write *something* on a regular basis. It might be gibberish, it might not - who knows?

If you are still reading, thanks for your support!

Depression

2011-10-02T13:45:00.000+01:00

Depression – it’s not all a barrel of laughs.

I woke up this morning with that thought, or something like it, running through my brain. It’s currently 6:49am and I’ve been wrestling with those thoughts for over an hour so I finally decided to get out of bed, write and get them out.

As you may have noticed, this has been a pretty crap year for me so far. Which bugs me because it’s supposed to be “my year” – it’s the Year of the Rabbit, and I’m a Rabbit! And Rabbits are supposed to be really lucky! But nooooooooooooooooooo….

I was depressed before this year started, but I think things have gotten worse. I’ve been in therapy and on and off of a light dose of Lexapro for a few years now (ever since I had a boss who LITERALLY drove me crazy). It all started because I was just angry all the time. I’m a pretty happy type of person generally speaking, so when I realized that I was pissed off at everybody and couldn’t control it, I thought maybe, just maybe, there was a problem. Especially when I also realized that I was taking out my anger on my friends and for no apparent reason. (Yeah, depression is fun: you don't take it out on the people who really deserve it, you save it all up for yourself and your loved ones...)

My family have a history of depression which helped my self-diagnosis, but even more importantly, helped me feel comfortable seeking help. It was something like: I need help, therefore I will get help! It was also fortunate that I had been told "if one therapist doesn’t work for you, try, try again!" I had tried a psychiatrist years before and been told that my parents had abused me because I had been born in Hong Kong and moved around a lot as a kid. Funny thing was that the person who told me this was a foreign-born national who had moved around a lot as a kid. Hmmm, projection much?

ANYWAY – I was very lucky to find a great psychiatrist who has even become my talk therapist after a disastrous attempt with someone else who decided I had PTSD… because that was her specialty. *sigh*

…

And I’m doing it again. I have a tendency to start talking about something and then veering off into tangents. They might be related, but they aren’t really the point with which I started. Ever noticed that? ;-)

…

What I started out writing about this morning was what’s going on with me now and how it’s not a whole lot of fun. I have gotten almost paralyzed socially, but I think I hide it well until something comes up that makes it impossible to hide. Like these last two weekends.u

Las weekend I almost backed out of going to (very good) friend’s birthday party because a) I might have to stay over night and b) a lot of people I don’t know would be there. I had really bad allergies and felt miserable, but I made myself get off my couch and get out there. Luckily, another friend offered me a ride so I didn’t have to drive OR stay overnight -- I had already gotten myself into “go to the party” mode on my own, but that helped a lot! I had a great time and even played horse shoes for the first time!

Last night I was planning to go to a party with friends I haven’t seen in YEARS for a semi-reunion of sorts, in honor of another friend’s birthday. I was really looking forward to seeing everyone again and hanging out with them. So, I woke up yesterday with what I thought was a bad hangover. Yes, I drank a lot on Friday night, but I stopped around 12:30am and got food and drank water. I was home by 1:30am and drank more water, took Advil, and was asleep by 2am. I woke up around 9am, made Toad-in-the-Hole (my new favorite breakfast), then sat on the couch and caught up with work and stuff. And suddenly, I felt chills and fever and just felt awful. I took some allergy drugs and then a nap and still felt crappy. I again thought it was just a bad hangover and allergies (the weather changed considerably between Friday and Saturday), so I thought getting up and out of the house might help. So, I went to a movie (“Money Ball” – quite enjoyable).

Enjoyed the movie, walked around the street fair a little, then got a coffee and came back home. And within 30 minutes was back in bed, under the covers, shivering and snuggling with my warm, fuzzy kitty. I took some cold drugs and then slept for a few more hours. Woke up and called my friends and told them that I was just feeling too lousy to go to their party after all.

And today, I feel a lot better physically, but I wonder if all of that “illness” was just anxiety? Depression?

My depression isn’t one of those where I have to convince myself each morning that I really should not kill myself. It’s much less demanding than that. Or maybe not – because it’s really more of just having to convince myself to get out of bed. No, I can do that when it’s work I have to get to, but if it’s a social thing, then it really takes an effort for me. And I’ve noticed that it has gotten REALLY hard for me to get my butt off of my couch and exercise. I’m signed up to do the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) 10k at the end of this month. I’ve been signed up since June and I will be running with my nieces and nephew in honor of my brother… but I can NOT get myself to work out and train for it!

Why?

I don’t know.

And it upsets me.

Maybe I should do as Professor Hathway suggests and “up the voltage” heehee

Horsing Around

2011-08-19T15:12:00.000+01:00

It's been a while, but I just haven't felt like writing. As my sister put it the other day, I'm trying to "recalibrate what 'fine' means". But - I was reading an old thread on my favorite discussion board and came across one of my favorite true stories from my childhood -- and I thought I'd share...

I've only ridden about three times in my life, but the first time was a WONDERFUL experience!

I was in 6th grade at British school in HK, Black Beauty was my favorite book and those plastic horses were my favorite toys. Two of my friends had riding lessons every weekend (as you do, if your British) and they invited me to join them one weekend, saying they had reserved the quietest, sweetest horse for me to ride. However, when we got there we found a birthday party for a bunch of six-year-olds in progress... using "my" horse of course.

The only other horse available hadn't been exercised yet, and they were worried that he might be too antsy for a new rider. Well, he WAS the only horse available, and I wasn't going to go out to the riding place and NOT ride, uh uh no way!

SO... they got me up on his back, and walked us out to a little paddock with a well-trod circle in it, and gave me lessons about the paces and how to ride in a circle. I enjoyed it, but I honestly never got the bouncing thing (until later) -- ANYWAY, after about 30 mins of this, my friends wanted to get out and really ride, so we headed out of the training paddock and turned right onto a short path that joined with the main path to a much larger paddock that adjoined the one we had been using, with a large gate/hedge in between.

But, as soon as we turned right again, my horse looked down the path and went "SPACE!!! I'VE GOT SPACE!!!" And took off at a gallop down the road! Other than that morning's training, my only "riding instructions" were from watching movies like "National Velvet", so I hunched down and leaned forward over my hands like a jockey, and the horse (not surprisingly) took this as "GO FASTER"... so he did. It was BEAUTIFUL, if just a mite scary!

My friends were screaming "Pull the reins, pull the reins" and I noticed the entrance to the other paddock coming up on the right, so I started pulling hard right. The horse pulled into the paddock and did a u-turn and headed straight back down ... and OVER the hedge into the training paddock! Where he calmly trotted around the training circle again. I stayed glued to him and alternated between gasping for breath and laughing out loud. Brilliant!

I'll never forget Fiona Hutton's injured tone when she finally caught up with me again: "You never told us you could jump!" Of course, *I* had nothing to do with that jump, it was all horse... and I thank him for an absolutely exhilarating experience! And after that, he had gotten his ya-yas out and he was just sweetness and light.

Man -- just remembering that story makes me all happy inside. I really need to ride again!

Thanks kaspinet for the awesome ani!

Life, interrupted

2011-06-15T20:23:00.006+01:00

It's been a while since I last wrote here. Why? Well, life got in the way.

On April 27, as tornadoes bore down to cause massive and unprecedented destruction in Alabama, my brother called 911 and was driven to the emergency room at Jackson Hospital in Montgomery, AL. He was alert but "wheezy" and they were concerned that he had a serious case of pneumonia. He gave the ER nurse his emergency numbers: his wife Marla, his commanding officer (CO), and me, his baby sister.

For some reason, Marla's phone kept going straight to voice-mail so the ER manager called me instead. I was in Georgia with my parents, watching Jeopardy! as usual. I almost didn't answer the phone because I didn't recognize the area code, much less the phone number. But I'm glad I did. I didn't really understand what the nurse was saying to me at first, but it finally got through that my brother was seriously ill and needed family by his side as soon as possible... and they couldn't get in touch with his wife!

I got the phone number and said I was going to try all the numbers I had and then would call them back in 30 minutes regardless. I had already decided that I would drive to Montgomery if I couldn't get in touch with anyone.

I sent text messages to Marla and her two daughters (in their 20s), and was actually on the phone with the hospital again when Rachel called me back. Apparently Marla had been packing up their house in GA so they could move officially to AL the following weekend, and she had left her phone in a "dead zone". But now they were all getting together to drive from the Atlanta area down to Montgomery... through the tornadoes. (Meanwhile, my brother's eldest, Sara, is a flight attendant and was on a flight which was delayed on the Atlanta tarmac because of the storms. The pilot decided he had to pull the plane back to the airport for gas - so she could get off. Nice pilot!)

Marla, Rachel, Sara and Dan tag-teamed driving and made it to the hospital by about 12:30AM (ET), much to the relief of Dad, who had been tracking them through the tornadoes, and me, who had been waiting to see if I needed to drive down myself. As they were safely in Montgomery (in a house with no furniture), I decided I could finally go to sleep, and then suddenly noticed there was a massive storm outside!

Anyway -- It took several weeks, but they finally figured out that my brother had ARDS - Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Probably a result of a flu bug that turned into pneumonia, plus the facts that he had been spraying bee poison recently and he had been smoking for about 40 years. He had not been feeling well the weekend before and he went to a doctor on Monday with a 103* fever -- and was sent home with allergy pills and cough medicine. And two days later, his lung x-rays showed both lungs completely clouded.

Marla called me that Friday so I ended up driving down to Montgomery that Saturday, ostensibly for one day, but I didn't leave again until the following Wednesday. It was supposed to be my last week in GA, and I *had* to drive back to DC no later than May 8 because that's when my dealer tag expired (yes, after 10 car-less years, I bought a car)! Also, Rachel was graduating on May 7. So, I drove back to Eatonton, then drove my mom to Atlanta and back on Saturday for Rachel's graduation, and then drove to DC on Sunday, May 8. The good news was that Dave was off the respirator! He came off the day I left, and he seemed to be improving!

I spent the next week at the DC DMV or sleeping. Or, occasionally, working. I got my temporary DC tag and was starting to get back into my regular work routine when I got another call from Marla. Dave had developed a staph infection and they were going to have to put him back on the respirator.

Two days later (May 20), my cat and I were driving to Charlotte to spend the night with my sister and her husband before heading back to Montgomery. During the week I had been gone, Marla and her daughters had gotten everything moved from Carrollton, GA to the new house in Montgomery. They still had a lot of boxes everywhere -- but at least they had furniture!

We woke up early every day to get to the hospital by 9am (Central) so we could talk to the doctor before the 10am visiting hours. Eventually, I worked it out that if I skipped the 1pm visiting hour, I could work a full 4 hours before the 4pm session. (Thank god for the flexibility of my job!) And then we would go back to the hospital for the last session of the day at 8pm. In between, we picked up necessary (and some unnecessary) items at Target, Walmart, or Publix, had lunch, and/or watched TV. It was exhausting, but I am so glad that I was able to spend that time with Marla, Sara, and Rachel. I also got to know Dan (Sara's husband) and Revas (Rachel's boyfriend) better. It sure beat being by myself in my effiiciency apartment in DC wondering what the hell was going on.

And then came the Thursday when the doctor gave us bad news, May 26. The doctor some of us nick-named "Dr. Gloomy Gus" because he tended to be bound and determined to give us no hope at all, told us that morning that Dave was not going to make it. There was a lot of confusion then because other doctors said they still had tests to do, and Dave's "sats" seemed to be doing better. The nurses were convinced that Dave still had a chance, but we sent out the word to the whole family that it was time for them to come say Goodbye.

One of the deacons from my parent's church drove them down from Eatonton; my sister Karen and her husband Carlton drove from Charlotte; and my other sister Cathy flew down from DC and then drove from Atlanta. Marla's twin sister Carla, and her daughter Ashley, drove down from Little Rock, AR. Cathy's flight was delayed in DC, but everyone else got to Montgomery by Thursday night (she got in around 6am on Friday). Mom and Dad were able to visit Dave in the ICU, but Dad was not physically capable of staying too long.

We all met for dinner at Mom and Dad's hotel and it was so good to have the family together - we all laugh so much, even through tears! And Dad got to meet Dan and Revas for the first time. :-) The dinner service was interminable, but it turned out OK because we were all there long enough for the travelers to arrive. And one of Dave's buddies in the National Guard, Gardner Perdue, came by and was just a gem. The next day we were all in Dave's room and he started doing magic tricks and telling jokes - not like "LOOK AT ME!!!", just kind of "hey, have you seen this?".Soon, the entire family was laughing and smiling - and Dave's sats went up considerably. It was just what we needed. I wasn't there for the whole show because I figured 75 people in an ICU room was a few too many (OK, 10 or 12), but the rest of the crew could not stop talking about it.

Dave survived that weekend, but he wasn't actually getting any better. My parents had to get back home because they needed their medications, so Cathy drove them back and stayed the night before heading back to DC. Karen and Carlton stayed in Montgomery for few more nights, as did Carla and Ashley. I'm very glad that I was able to spend one of those nights watching bad movies with Dave. That's what we do. :-)

We learned on Monday that Dave's blood oxygen percentage was very low, and had been for a while, which caused a lot of concern. They did an EEG to check his brain function, but it would take a few days to get it analyzed. The nurses bent over backward fighting for Dave to get better - but, they had been reducing his sedation and he wasn't coming out of it... There really wasn't a lot we could do except wait, pray, and hope.

Meanwhile, Dave's new neighbors had started providing meals for us every night, except the night the guys decided to throw a cook-out in his honor. These were neighbors who, for the most part, had not met Dave. But they knew he was military and they cared and helped us anyway. There were just so many people who cared. Dan and Sara's friends came down to keep our spirits up (emotionally and liquidly), and it helped SO much!

On Wednesday, June 1, we got the results of the EEG: not good. Not good at all. We realized that we had to make a decision about Dave. With a lot of tears, but also the knowledge of what Dave would want, we made the decision to remove his ventilator the next day.

On Thursday, June 2, I held my brother's hand, and Rachel and I stayed with him. We knew that Dave really hadn't been "there" for a few days, but I still felt the need to hold his hand. It just broke my heart that he really was gone.

And he was. I still can't quite wrap my head around it...

Edited to correct a time reference from 12:30pm to 12:30AM. Doh!

Earth Day

2011-04-22T18:54:00.000+01:00

It's Earth Day?

Who knew?

Well, I didn't at first, I just knew I officially had the day off. My body did anyway.

I had planned on getting up at 7:30 and working for a couple of hours so that I could then spend the rest of the day helping Mom and Dad haul books to the truck so we could then haul them to the PCS (Putnam Community... uh... Something - local version of Goodwill but Christianish... Services? maybe? WHATEVER! moooooving on...).

HOWever, my body decided that it was a day off DANGIT! So, I slept until 9:30ish, at which time Mom and Dad should have been back from the salon (Mom gets her hair done on Fridays -and sometimes Saturdays when Dad forgets what day it is...).

But they weren't. The car was there, but then I noticed that Dad's truck was gone. In it's place was Mr. George's truck. He's the guy who does the lawns for both houses and trims up Dad's gorgeous back-yard garden. And he's only about five years older than Dad! Just had cataract surgery last week. Sheesh, I just wish he'd get out and do something. :-)

Dad's gorgeous back-yard garden

So, I said Hey to Mr. George as he mowed the lawn and I walked up to my parents' house, petting a wet and whining Hero along the way. All I found at the house was a whining 12-year-old puppy who really REALLY wanted to get out and find my dad! I figured that they had gone to the store after the hair salon, so I decided to let Hogan out on the leash,and spend the time making myself an omelet (cheese and broccoli) and toast for breakfast. It was delicious, and Mom and Dad came back just in time ... in the truck, of course.

But our original plan of hauling books was foiled because Dad's mail-order plants came in! So he and Mom were opening up the boxes and figuring out what went where and putting the potting soil out. And then... you'll never believe it! I actually planted something! Not sure what, but I was down on my knees with hands in soil, planting stuff. I think it was azaleas. It was a joint effort: Dad directing, me placing the plants where he said they were supposed to go and Mom starting off the planting with a trowel in hand. I took over the planting because a) I wanted to and b) Mom was overdoing it as usual and getting tired. And then Mom and I spread bark all over the back of the row and in between the plants. It was a good morning.

What I think I planted will look like someday. I think.

Afterwards, Mom went in to get the dirt from under her fingers and rest a bit before heading to church (her church is having Noon services all week because it's Easter week) and Dad explained what else he wants to do in the garden while I brushed Hogan. Dad had saved some fleurs for Mr. George, so we three had another planting conversation (because I'm a planter now, you know...) I helped get the pine straw out of the truck and Dad's threw the rest of the bags of potting soil onto some very hardy plants that get bright yellow flowers everywhere at the end of the summer. He told me what it was but I have no idea what he said. (See? Complete gardener here, aren't I?)

I was about to head back to my house to take a shower and do that work I hadn't started yet, but Mom asked if I would drive her to church. So, instead of a shower, I spent about 10 minutes carving the dirt out of my nails with the hooky thing from the nail clippers (I like to use the correct technical terms), and then drove her all two minutes over to the church.

When I got home, I turned on the computer to do the two hours of work I had planned on doing, and saw the "Earth Day" references and thought, "Well, I certainly celebrated it properly!" I still haven't taken a shower yet, so my knees are still stained with the black potting soil. It's kind of fun! Reminds me of being a kid...

And I think I'll be spreading pine straw this afternoon. Or napping.

heeheehee

Driving

2011-04-19T17:59:00.000+01:00

I bought a car a week ago, and immediately drove it 100+ miles to Atlanta because I had to go back to DC for a week. It's funny - after nearly 10 years of saying, "I don't need a car" and "I'm SO glad I don't have a car", I am SO excited to have a car! And it's the car I always said would be my next car: a 2002 Honda CR-V. OK, I didn't predict a 2002 version, but I love it! It's green and it's got low mileage (well, until I got a hold of it), and it completely suits me.

I left it in my neice's gated parking lot instead of the airport because it's still got the dealer tags and I was warned that it would get stolen immediately. That worked out very well though - my niece and her mom picked me up at the airport last Sunday and we went back to her apartment so I could pick up my car ("Charlie"). I asked if we could go down to Pizzeria Venti for their Bocce Balls™ (YUM), and I even decided to pick up some Bocce Balls™ to take with me because Mom & Dad need to get in on this deliciousness.

And then I drove down the highway with all four windows open to get the yucky car shampoo smell out, radio rocking to "11", and my hair FLYING out the window (took about 10 minutes to get all the knots out when I finally stopped... heeheehee). It was a great ride.

Especially when I got on the "Eatonton Road" (it's the "Madison Road" going the other way), and all the cows and calves were out in the fields, having a bit of a kip. It reminded me of the Sesame Street bit when the announcer says "C is for Cow" and a cow comes out and says "Meow". The announcer says, "No, that is what a CAT says, but C is also for Cat!" So a cat comes out and says, "Moooo". heeheehee Of course, I just can't resist!

So, I felt somewhat Eddie Izzard-ish, driving along, turning my head and saying "Meow!"...

and laughing...

a lot!

Wow! It's Been Awhile...

2011-03-28T12:55:00.011+01:00

Wow, a month has gone by already? I had no idea! Well, it's been a LITTLE busy lately...

As you know, I've been telecommuting from GA for a few months now. I think my last post was when I came back to GA at the end of February. I went back to DC for two weeks starting March 5 and stayed through my birthday to return on the 21st. It was a great time, including a few days off to celebrate, and since my sister-in-law (M) was not able to drive me back to Eatonton on a Monday, I rented a car for a week. The plan was for me to drive back to Atlanta the following weekend, spend some time with my brother's family and then return the car and one of them would drive me back to Eatonton.

And that is what would have happened if I was not an idiot! I left my work cell phone charging on my bed. In DC. Which makes it hard to use when you're telecommuting from GA. SO - slight change of plans. I drove to Atlanta and stayed with my brother and his family as well as my sister-in-law's sister, niece, and nephew. What a BLAST! Wine, beer, burgers, dogs and conversation outside on a beautiful evening, and LOTS of laughter. Then I drove myself to the airport and flew back to DC. I stopped by Nanny's for a few drinks, then went home to crash out for a bit. (First thing: put the phone - with charger - in my bag!) I decided to take a 30 minute nap. I hit the snooze for 10 more minutes and then woke up about two hours later! D'OH! But I got up, got dressed and went down to see my friend Damion play only a few songs before his set (and night) was over. But I'm so glad I got to see him - otherwise I wouldn't have seen him play for almost two months! Nooooooo! ;-)

And I woke up late on Sunday, but made it to the airport by 11:15am only to find that my 12:40pm flight had been delayed to 1:35pm. *sigh* I texted Marla to let her know, and then settled down to wait. And wait. And wait! I bought two magazines, Time and People, and quite enjoyed them actually. Haven't read Time in eons, and I thihnk I read every single article! Well written and informative. People however... not so much! LOL

My flight didn't actually leave National Airport until about 2:15 (about 15 mins before it was supposed to arrive in Atlanta originally!), so we didn't land in Atlanta until 4:00pm. Luckily, M had been smart enough to look up the flight status before she went to the airport so she hadn't been waiting too long! I'm so grateful to her for being willing to pick me up, drive me an hour and a half and then drive BACK about two and a half hours! I wouldn't have been able to do this otherwise.

But now I'm back in the kitchen in Eatonton. Mom and Dad put this house on the market about a week ago, and have already had someone come by to see it. WHICH has made them get on the stick about cleaning it out... so they are in the living room going through stuff to figure out what to keep and what to throw out. I've already given them an edict that anything hand-made or hand-painted MUST BE KEPT! My sister and her husband (K & C) came to visit on Friday and spent that afternoon and evening, plus Saturday morning and afternoon, cleaning out the attic of this house - so now everything is in my living room for them to sort. It's a great first step!

I'm trying to figure out if I can end up staying in GA for the whole month of April, but I think I will still have to head to DC for one of the weeks after all. It's exhausting with all the flying and stuff, but it's never boring! LOL

I'll post some pics and memories soon. If I remember. ;-)

Neighbors

2011-02-25T18:34:00.002Z

I'm back in Georgia! It was a good week in DC because I got to see Damion Wolfe play twice (I heart Damion!), and I got a lot of work done, saw friends, etc. But it was a long week away because I left on a Friday and did not return until the following Monday... and I missed my cat!

I quickly got back into the swing of things: waking up and working, sometimes heading next door for lunch, ALWAYS heading over for dinner, followed by Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy...

And poor arthritic Hogan always greets me at the house with his tail wagging a mile a minute and his doggy smile a mile wide. If I sit on the floor with him, he'll roll over or just scrunch up as close to me as possible, in obvious preparation for another full-body puppy scratch. (Yeah, he's 12, but he's still a puppy to me!)

And the weather has been beautiful this week, so I've seen my dad a bit more. He and Hogan came over to visit the other day so I was able to get pics of Hogan, as well as my neighbor dogs, Harley (Jack Russell) and Hero (German Shepherd).

Harley and Hero are hilarious - whenever I walk over to my parents, I walk the length of their fence, and they follow me the entire way! Sometimes, it's just with their eyes, but other times it's with bounding joy and hopes for scritches. I love it!

The other day, Calypso was "helping" me work again (i.e. sitting/sleeping on the kitchen table) when suddenly the dogs went crazy - Hero and Harley were barking louder than I'd ever heard them and I could hear Hogan barking up at his house too. Calypso arched his back and fluffed out so he looked about 50 lbs (instead of his svelte 22lbs... uh... ok, not svelte), so I looked out the door into Mom and Dad's backyard. There, calmly peeing on the trees and fences to mark his territory, was a beautiful brown Malamute-type dog, Needless to say, the dogs whose territory it WAS were NOT pleased to be penned up or leashed and unable to defend said territory.

I went out and called to the free dog, "Hey puppy, what are you doing?" He wagged his tail then came over and licked my hand, but when I tried to pet him, he bolted and ran a couple of houses away. I didn't follow him past Mom and Dad's driveway, but think he felt sort of safe where he was because he kept looking back and didn't go any farther. A few minutes later, a young man walked by the driveway carrying a leash, looking for his dog "Mac" who had somehow gotten out of their yard. Turns out the young man had been a patient of my dad's before he (Dad) retired, so I got to meet Mac officially. Beautiful, sweet dog! I wish I'd taken a picture, but I have a feeling I might have more opportunities because apparently Mac has a tendency to go "on walkabout" on occasion. :-)

And now it's Friday afternoon... I'm off work because I work a half-day on Fridays and guess what? I'm actually staying in Eatonton this weekend. Mom and I are heading to Walmart this afternoon to get her pictures developed and I have promised to help her figure out how to email her book chapters to a friend who will edit them for her. (I think I'll have to write about Mom's writing in another post... It's pretty interesting!) And Dad has promised to give me a tour of his life in Eatonton so I can take pictures. YAY! I brought my "fancy" camera down just for that purpose!

So until then...

Y'all be safe now, ya hear?

*heeheeheehee*

Just ... get over it!

2011-02-24T23:42:00.000Z

I can’t believe I said that to someone.

Especially someone who was obviously hurting, someone who is obviously suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome.

But…

He was an asshole and he didn’t listen and he just would. Not. Shut. UP!

OK, back story:

I met this guy a couple of weeks before I started my temporary relocation to Georgia. He’s somewhat attractive, and he seemed intelligent and interesting. My first thoughts were “Of course! I meet a great guy RIGHT before I move 650 miles away!” But, luckily, the other side of my brain kicked in and reminded me that I had just met him and didn’t know a thing about him and really shouldn’t jump the gun on thinking “he’s the one” or anything stupid like that.

I saw him the next week and laughed with him that we had both been somewhat inebriated that first meeting, so I was kinda glad to meet him semi-sober. Haha, silly goose! It was about 7pm, and he was soused already. But, we still had a fairly decent conversation. But he told me some more of his story and I felt sorry for him (alcoholic parents, one of whom commit suicde when he was young), and then he talked about being embedded with troops in Iraq and how that affected him. I suggested that he try therapy since it’s done wonders for me, but noooooo, he’s not having someone “shrink” him. I mentioned again how it would be nice to meet him sober, and he just looked at me and said, “Sober. Yes, that’s what I should do. Get sober.”

I looked at him, and said, “Maybe that IS what you need to do. “

As it happened, I had been talking to a now-sober friend of mine shortly before that and she had given me information on AA meetings and a hotline and stuff like that. I mentioned some of this to him and he was just sooooo thankful… as he ordered another drink.

Boy am I glad I’ve got that other side of the brain. That boy is MEEEEEESSED UP! (I actually use a more succinct yet not-PG turn of phrase, but… you get the drift.) He’s a journalist who used to cover the wars, but recently took on a new job with some really rich Indians so that he doesn’t have to go back to the desert, but he hates that job. He is depressed, but refuses therapy, and he self-medicates by getting drunk, really drunk, I’m talking slurred words, squinty eyes, loss of motor function/brain kind of drunk… every night. But he still has enough brain power to argue whatever his point is by shouting down the opposition.

When I was back in DC last time, I saw him a couple of times and it just was not good. The guy has serious problems, and I just don’t know how to deal with them. Or, whether I *should* deal with them. I mean, I’m no picnic, and I have been known to hoist a few here and there… but, I think I’m a responsible drunk, er, drinker (“hydrate while you dehydrate!”), and at least I’m going to therapy on a semi-regular basis! I know I have problems and I’m working on them! But, I made conversation with him, continued to suggest therapy, and just let him rant.

But last weekend, some friends and I had been drinking all afternoon and it was pretty late, but we decided to go down to the bar where I had met this guy for a nightcap. My friends sat at the end of the bar and I put my coat on the seat around the corner from them so we could talk, and then hit the ladies’ room before I sat down. I had noticed a drink at the seat next to mine, but there was no one there at the time. Until I came back from the bathroom and there he was. Psychokiller, qu’est que c’est!

*heavy sigh*

So, I said “Hi” but then turned back to talk to my friends. Of course, he kept pulling me back into his conversation, and I said, “I’m sorry, I’m here with other friends and I’m talking with them.” Somewhere in there, he started on about how terrible his life is because he has seen war and seen people exploding and he went on into gory detail which, just by the way, I REALLY didn’t want to hear! Finally, I just shouted back at him, “Would you just SHUT UP!” He just yelled louder and got into more gruesome detail and finally I couldn’t take it anymore and I said, “Would you JUST GET OVER IT!?!”

He shut up. The bartender, a good friend, looked at me, shocked. My friends were shocked. I was druuuuunk. And angry. And at the end of my rope. I felt that I had done as much as I could for this guy and I didn’t want to be his punching bag anymore. I feel awful for anyone who suffers from PTSD and I know full well that you can’t “just get over it”. It’s awful, it’s terrible, and I can’t really even imagine it. But I’m pretty sure going out and drinking yourself into oblivion every night isn’t going to help. And laying everything down on anyone who will talk to you is just going to piss them off. I like to help people, but I’ve got to remember that they have to help themselves before my help will do any good.

I just can’t believe I told someone to “just get over it”…

Southern Life

2011-02-09T22:45:00.026Z

So, I’m kinda settling into Southern life a little now.

I’ve got cable internet which is faster and more reliable than using the Wi-Fi from next door. Only thing is it’s only available on the kitchen table. I also have a 13” TV which my brother and sister-in-law very kindly donated to me – but no cable TV hook-up. But that’s OK, I can watch TV shows on my laptop. In the kitchen. Or I can watch the HD TV at my parents’ house next door. (It worked VERY well for the Super Bowl!)

Or I could just read…

Anyway - Every day I wake up around 7am, wash face or shower, try to get some exercises in because I’m not walking my normal 1.5-2 miles just getting around DC, feed the cat, fire up the computer and coffee maker, and start working at the kitchen table around 7:30am. I’ve been eating oatmeal for breakfast, but I also have bread, butter, and jam if I want toast instead. And of course, there’s grits, with cheese and butter because I’m a good Southern girl, y’all!

Well, not really. Last Friday, I made an appointment to get a haircut at the same time my mother got her hair “done” and the woman told me the name of the person who would be cutting my hair. I said, “Leah?” “No, Leee-yunnnn”... *face palm* I felt rude for having had to ask her to repeat the name, but I’m just not used to “Lynn” having multiple syllables.

But Lynn did a pretty good job of cutting my hair… until she got to the bangs. It’s pretty simple really – long straight hair, cut off about 1.5” to 2” to get rid of the split ends. Bangs, cut while dry and keep them just at the eyebrows. Somehow, the bangs ended up about a ½” ABOVE the eyebrows, so every morning I now wake up looking like Freddie Mercury.

No, not this one (thank god!):

(Edited because the picture could not be linked into my post, so here's the link instead...)

THIS One:

Pic from of all places, a hair website article about the worst male celeb hairstyles… hahahaha

Ooo baby. *sigh* Anyway – I spend the morning writing/revising documents, responding to emails, and generally doing my job (with the occasional peek at Facebook or DCist) until lunch. Most days I just grab a sandwich from my fridge and spend some quality time waking up my cat and annoying him, but today I grabbed my sandwich making stuff and walked ALL THE WAY (about 20 steps) to my parents’ house and had lunch with them. It was quite nice, and they seemed to enjoy the fact that we all sat at the table for lunch, and then we snarfed down our sammiches. Well, they had leftover KFC, which I couldn’t stomach (when did KFC start being so awful?) so I’m glad I brought my own sammich!

Yesterday, I went over a little early so I could take Mom to her writing group. Well, I don’t take her all the way there, but I take her to her friend’s house and then SHE drives her the rest of the way. It works out well because then I only take about an hour to get her there and I can pick up something on the way back. And Dad picks her up in the afternoon because we never know when the group will end and I generally have meetings on Tuesday afternoons.

Originally, I came down to Georgia to drive my parents everywhere because Mom had been the driver until she had a seizure and was told by the state of Georgia “YOU CAN’T DRIVE”. The good thing though is that Dad is actually getting up and driving Mom short distances. This is good because otherwise, Dad really doesn’t move. And that’s not healthy! He and his arthritic (and impossibly cute) dog are a total pair because neither of them wants to move too much, but at least Hogan gets outside a couple of times a day. I guess he has to, or it would be a really messy house! Heehee

SO – I am working four nine-hour days, generally 7:30am-5:30pm, unless I start early or have a shorter lunch. And then I have a half-day on Fridays, which is great! Last week, I gave myself retail therapy and went to Wal-Mart while Mom was visiting Miss Bonnie. It was fun! And I got some really great buys.

BUT… this weekend I head back to DC. And I can’t wait! Is that bad? I love my parents and I’m really enjoying my time with them. And I loved spending a night in Atlanta last weekend with my sister-in-law and niece and her gorgeous Border Collie, Jake. But… I’m a DC girl. And I want to get back home. Even if it’s colder there. I miss my city!

Of course, the drawback is that I have to leave the cat in Georgia... meow

January? What's that?

2011-02-05T16:58:00.005Z

Well, apparently January did not exist for this blog. But it sure did for me! Many things have happened over the last month, the most important of which is the fact that I am currently writing this post in the kitchen of my Mom and Dad's old house in Eatonton, GA.

Wait, did you say EATONTON, GEORGIA????

Why yes, yes I did! I'm not sure I mentioned it, but my mother had a health issue late last year, from which she has pretty much recovered, but she is still not allowed to drive for six months (by GA state law). Wouldn't be much of a problem except that Dad doesn't do well on driving long trips. In addition, my company is running out of office space, so they are trying to convince people to telecommute more. SO, I took these combined circumstances and decided to temporarily telecommute full-time from Georgia for a couple of months.

A couple of weeks ago, I rented a car for a week and drove nearly 12 hours from DC to GA... with a cat in the back seat. Oh, let me tell you, THAT was fun! ... NOT! Well, it wasn't too bad after the first rest stop when I took him out of the carrier and put him in the harness with the leash tied to the back seat belt. I had (very cleverly) prepared the back seat before the trip with a tarp AND a thick blanket to avoid having white cat hair everywhere, and that actually worked out well.

Calypso was happier having a little more freedom, and he quieted down when he ended up on the "hump" between the two front seats with his head resting against my leg. I tried to get him to pee in a box of litter at some of the rest areas, but he just looked at me like I was evil.

And the other travellers laaaaaughed at the sight of someone trying to "walk" a cat. Oh well, I'm used to being the source of amusement! :-)

We finally got to Mom and Dad's and I set him up in the back bedroom (used to be their's but they live next door in what used to be Grandmother's house), with access to the little powder room next door with the litter and some food and water. Not surprisingly, he snarfed down the food and water immediately! And then crawled up the bed in between the sheets and the spread... and pretty much stayed there for a week!

The problem with that was that I had to go back to DC for a week to figure out the technical glitches (i.e. very low Wifi service) and my mom was going to have to take care of him. Apparently, he was peaches and cream the first two days. And then he realized the weekend was over and I should have been back... but I wasn't. MREOW pht pht pht... and he scratched Mom. Oh no! But she let him be and still fed him and cleaned his box until I came back the following Sunday.

I had to drive back to DC (rental car, remember?), but I made amazing time, mostly because I only had to worry about one being's bodily functions. I was smart and started off about 5am, so I got home about 4pm. Not bad! Coming back to GA, I was lucky enough to have a niece who is a flight attendant on AirTran AND who has buddy passes! Of course, I had to get up at 3am on a Sunday morning to catch the 6am flight, but hey - it was free! (AND first class!) And Sara, Rachel, and Marla met me at the airport and we went to have a fantastic Southern breakfast at the Flying Biscuit, and then they drove me back down to Eatonton. It was LOT of fun!

Now I'm in GA for two weeks, then back to DC for a week, GA for three weeks, DC for a week, GA for three weeks, DC a week, GA for two weeks, and then we decide if I need to continue and/or if my company will let me. Calypso has come out from under the covers and is getting more comfortable with the house, if not necessarily my mother.

He's been "helping" me work from the kitchen table...

*snicker*

But he still runs back to the bedroom if Mom or Dad come over. *sigh*

Today, my sister (in law) is picking me so I can spend the night in Atlanta. Yay! That's a side benefit of being in GA: I get to see my brother's family! Yay!

Another benefit is that my dad sometimes comes over and plays the piano while I'm working. Wonderful! (ok, he came over once and played Claire de Lune. Wonderful!) And, that I have access to a piano AND ragtime piano music so I can remember how to play!

I have dinner with my parents every night and we watch "Wheel of Fortune" and "Jeopardy!", and just in case you don't think we have any excitement, just yesterday I went to the Walmart and got some really cute clothes for next to nothing!

...

Groannnn... My life has changed sooooo much...

Christmas Ad Nonsense

2010-12-20T20:27:00.001Z

You know, I love the Christmas season as much as the next person with a Christian background. The sounds and smells of Christmas, the generosity and good will that is more evident at this time of year, and the thoughts of love and peace and spending time with your family.

What I don't like about Christmas? The terrible, awful, no good 'Holiday' ads on TV and radio. And this year, a new trend* is having people (or animated icons) badly singing a bad Christmas carol with all the words changed to shill their wares. They completely ignore the spiritual meaning of Christmas, unless it really is all about Santa and boosting the economy.

As I write, there's an Overstock.com ad to the tune of Jingle Bells on TV. Another ubiquitous one is the new store called "HM" or something which is SOOooooooo bad, to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas, and then there's that Honda dealership with all the employees singing Fa-la-la-la-laaa.

a) Most of these ads have people intentionally singing off key and/or just plain bad. It's actually a little painful.

b) Changing the words of a carol to sell your products is just... really not right. Also sorta lame because it is SO overdone. I can't wait to see the ad featuring "Amazing Grace"as Amazing Chase Manhattan VISA™ ...

c) These ads play every five minutes. The same ads. Over and over. ARGH! Stop stop stop, you're making me crazy!

All of this is not only making me crazy, but it is impeding my ability to get into the Christmas Spirit. And I've only got a few more days!

OH well. Thank goodness there's a total lunar eclipse tonight. I'll have to stay up for that.

Happy Winter Solstice, y'all!

*or maybe I'm just noticing it more thanks to the awful Quizno's cat commercial earlier in the year - actually made me boycott Quizno's until they stopped playing it. I guess they thought it was cute. Note to Quizno's: IT'S NOT CUTE!!!! IT'S HORRIBLE!!!

The Help

2010-12-14T14:27:00.004Z

I read the wildly popular book "The Help" the other day. It's really good! It's written in three different voices: two black maids and a white writer from Jackson, MS in 1962-1963. It's a fascinating time and an even more fascinating viewpoint, and it's written very well so I recommend it highly.

But I looked up at one point while reading and smirked to myself at the irony. I was sitting in a bar (pool hall, actually, but not a skeezy type of pool hall), listening to rap music requested by the white patrons who were dancing and posing like the "gangstas" they wish they could be. It's nearly forty -- ack, FIFTY -- years after the times written about in "The Help" and there are still racists and bigots, and minorities still have an unfair disadvantage in many ways -- but now it's "cool" for white kids to act black or Hispanic or anything other than the preppy "Biff" and "Muffy" ways the white kids acted in "The Help".

I just found it an interesting juxtaposition. (I'm pretty sure Miss Hilly would not approve.)

And yes, I'm that weird girl at the bar, reading a book.

Basic Guidelines for Professional Sports

2010-12-02T12:31:00.009Z

Last weekend, the Minnesota Vikings came to Washington, DC to play my Washington Redskins at Fedex Field and I overheard this conversation between my bartender friend (QOTJ), and a customer:

Customer:   "So, how do you feel about 'your boy' coming to town to play the Redskins?"
QOTJ:           "My boy?"
Customer: "You know, Brett Favre, who you've been drooling over for years?"
QOTJ:          "Oh, I don't like him any more… he's kinda icky now."

I laughed at the conversation, but it got me thinking. First, I agree that Brett Favre has gone down in my estimation because of his hijinks that were revealed this year (no pun intended). He used to just seem like a pretty decent guy who could really play football. And there was the whole "Something About Mary" thing (Favvrrvrrvr). But now? Skeezy. Same with Tiger Woods. And many, many other idiot superstar athletes.

I think Tiger Woods hit the nail on the head in his "apology" when he said basically that he thought he was better than everyone else and none of "that" (i.e. laws, ethics, humanity, decency) applied to him. That disgusts me.

So, I started wondering why has there been such an epidemic of sex scandals, steroid scandals, criminal activity, and well, just general "better than thou" stupidity surrounding these so-called "role models"?

Not even to mention the fact that anyone could think it's a good idea to send pictures of their "junk" via email or text msg – sheesh! First of all: EWwww! Second: Have they not learned that anything sent electronically will eventually end up on the Internet for public review? (Again, EWWWW!)

So, after all of this thinking, I have decided to give those poor overpaid prima donnas some help.

Gigs' Basic Guidelines for Professional Sports

Basic Truths

Playing a game really well does not make you better than anyone. Seriously.
Money does not buy class.
Money does not buy love.
Money does not buy respect.
All money buys is room, board, and stuff.

Basic Guidelines for Players

Be thankful and humble that you are lucky enough to work in a business that pays you so much to play a game.
Be gracious, and don't boast. Quiet talent is always more appreciated than loud and flamboyant boasting. (Example: Art Monk)

Corollary: Do not go ballistic when you make a good play unless it puts points on the board or changes possession. You are just doing your job, for Pete's sake!

Be a team player. If you play in a team sport, you are not any better than the team with which you play. You might be the most talented player on your team, but you can't win the game without all the other players.
Play fair, because cheaters suck. If you want to be a better player, then train for it. No steroids, no surreptitious filming, no pine tar, no blood doping or whatever the latest cheating mechanism is.
Use your mind, open your heart, and help your fellow man.
Respect your opponents. They have trained just as much as you have for this competition.
Be a part of your community. The people in your community are the people who come to see you play and they are more likely remember you forever if they know who you are OFF the field too. (Example: Darryl Green)

Basic Guidelines for Team Owners*

You own the team, not the people.
Owning a team does not make you an expert in the game. That's why you hire coaches and staff.
Hire the best people for the job, give them the resources they need to do it well, then let them do it.
If you keep your employees happy, they will be more likely to respect you and do their best for you.
You are responsible for keeping your customers (sometimes called "fans") happy and coming back. They are not responsible to you.

*Can you tell I'm a Redskins fan?

Basic Guidelines for Parents

Sports stars are NOT role models for your kids. They are human, and sometimes they make mistakes.
If your kid is ultra-talented, bring him/her up with the basic truths and guidelines above so they don't turn into the idiots in sports today.

Any additions?

Wrap it up already!

2010-12-01T02:58:00.009Z

Um, I don't know if you noticed, but it's December now -- so I did not succeed in writing a post a day for November. Ah well, I'm OK with that. A lot happened in November! I had three topics left: 1) A favourite movie (because of the British spelling, I'm wondering if this started as "Remember, remember, the 5^th of November"…), 2) Something I could never tire of, and 3) Three great things that happened this month.

OK, the movie is easy: Henry V (Branagh version). Or maybe Gladiator. Oh no, wait, A Shadow of a Doubt – classic Hitchcock! No… To Kill A Mockingbird. Oooooo what about the Star Wars movies? (Empire, of course, is the best). Hmmm, "Empire" reminds me of Empire of the Sun – excellent Spielberg movie starring a very young Christian Bale. Beautiful. And then there are the kids movies – Toy Story, Wall-E, Harry Potter (not really kids movies anymore), all the Disney movies… sigh, maybe this wasn't so easy after all! (Dang, I didn't even include Real Genius and Princess Bride! Or The Usual Suspects or Pulp Fiction. THE MUSICALS!!! Ohhhhh nooooo!

I think maybe I have spent far too much time in darkened theatres…

(It Happened One Night, The Philadelphia Story, Arsenic and Old Lace, Monty Python & the Holy Grail, Major League, The Thin Man, A Beautiful Mind, …)

*shake* OK, I'll stop now!

Something I could never tire of is my snuggly kitty. He snuggles up next to me on the couch when I'm on the laptop – and sometimes tries to sit between me and the laptop, which is a little difficult because he is 21 lbs. When I go to sleep, I turn on my side and pat the bed and he curls up against me. The other day he kept meowing all over the place and I couldn't figure out why because he had food, water, and a clean box. And then I noticed that the temperature had dropped precipitously – which I hadn't realized because I was in sweats and wrapped in a blanket – and he was COLD! So I pulled out another blanket and patted the couch next to me. He jumped up, irritably, and I wrapped the fleece blanket around and over him, and he just snuggled right up next to me with his head on my lap. It's about time I paid him back for all the love and snuggles he's given me!

And last but not least: three great things that happened this month.

My mom is OK. A few weeks ago, she had a medical emergency and was put in the hospital. She went home from the hospital the next day and they are still trying to figure out why what happened happened, but… she's OK. And my Dad is getting help for a different issue too, so things are looking up there. And I'm going to drive down to visit them in December. Yay!

I got to spend time with my nephew. Yes, I know, I've already talked about him a lot. But I hadn't seen him since last Christmas! I really enjoyed having a "date" with him to see the new Harry Potter movie at the Uptown (preceded by dinner at Spices, yum!). He's so grown up now, even though he's still as much as kid as I am. It's fun to see the world through the eyes of a 19-year-old again – especially when he's so much wiser than I was at that time in my life.

"Hair" – The Musical. My friend "M" was able to get amazing seats (Row J) for us to see "Hair" at the Kennedy Center. It was much fun to have dinner and a show with my "Hoodlum" friends – and WHAT a show! I did my best not to sing along, but then got to join my friends M&G on stage with the cast to sing (and dance) the finale "Let the Sun Shine". It was brilliant, and I still feel the good vibes and happiness that enveloped me that night!

From the Hair Online Archives

Thus endeth my "November Postage". Even though it's December. heeheehee

So, what's next? This has been interesting experiment for me in a lot of ways. I have enjoyed having a topic given to me to write about, but I also realized that I just didn't seem to have the time to write every day. Or maybe I just didn't make the time. Sometimes I didn't make the time because I was exhausted, but sometimes because there were just other things that were more important.

And occasionally, I had something else I wanted to write about – and sometimes I did, but sometimes I just wound it into the given topic for the day. And sometimes I just waited. Maybe that's a good thing, because now I've got some topics lined up for December now. The bad thing about it is that some of those pieces I wrote in my head are… gone. Must have been BRILLIANT, right? hahahaha

All right, night night!

p.s. Thanks to my sister for the pics of my nephew and parents!

What Now?

2010-11-27T22:22:00.002Z

OK, so I was supposed to write on Day 25 about the contents of my purse, but I've already done that.

The only differences are that I forgot to include the flashlight that I always carry, my "old" phone now works because my lost phone was returned and then stolen, and it's way too cold outside to include the fan… SOOOO I'm skipping that day.

And then Day 26, I was supposed to post a picture of some place I travelled. Well, beentheredonethat too!

Oh alright, I guess I could post my favoritest picture, which I took in Kitty Hawk a few years ago (MUST go back!):

Or a Key West sunset

Or just the Mall (hey, I "travelled" 10k that day!)

But Day 27 was about me, a year ago. What's most interesting to me is that a year ago is when I started this blog. It was a weird time because I had to go to a funeral the day before Thanksgiving. I haven't been the most regular of posters, but I have thoroughly enjoyed this journey and I've loved the feedback and it was kind of cool to become "famous" for a day when I got called out by DC Blogs *and* quoted on NBCwashington.com!

And I think I'm getting the hang of it now, so yeah, I think I plan to continue writing -- whether you like it or not! heeheehee

Something

2010-11-24T22:09:00.000Z

I skipped a couple of days, because I think that they are related to today's topic - so I'm going to bunch 'em up together. The topics for Days 21, 22, and 24 are: "Something that makes me rather happy", "Something that I miss", and "Something that means a lot to me".

The "something" that makes me rather happy should really be "someone" or "the people who" because I'd have to say it's my nieces and nephew. I've been so happy to find that they have all grown up into amazing people. They're intelligent, talented, kind, and they are funny. They are all gorgeous and they just make me so happy to KNOW them, much less to be related to them! And they like me! They really really like me! (Thank you, Sally Field! heehee)

I really don't miss a lot of things (vs. people), but I think the thing I miss the most is playing my piano. Yes, I live in an efficiency apartment and I have a piano (upright, natch). Problem is that I haven't gotten it tuned since I moved in three years ago, and therefore have not played it at all since then. I played a bit at my sister's house over Thanksgiving, but I would really love to spend a few hours with my music! It's so relaxing and I think I might need the stress therapy!

As for something that means a lot to me, I'd have to say my friends. Being single (not by choice) has it's good side, but when you are experiencing the bad side, good friends are like gold. It's hard sometimes to be alone, but good friends have a way of reminding you that you are not alone, and that can just lift you up in ways you never thought. And MY friends make me laugh… a LOT. I love that we have catch phrases that mean nothing to anyone else, but we can just say the words and bust out laughing. Like "HOW DARE YOU!!!" or "F*#$ me and grow a beard" or "Shepherd's Pie" or "Plural" (in a Scottish accent) or just pulling your lip when you talk. And now I can't stop giggling…

Fifteen Facts about Me

2010-11-23T20:39:00.003Z

1.    I'm generally 5'2" but I have actually been measured at 5'3 1/8" at the doctor's office once. That's when I found out that you are taller in the morning than at night because your back stretches when you sleep. And then gravity pushes you back down into the ground all day. But 5'2" rhymes better with "eyes of blue" so I just stay with that. Speaking of…

2.    Blue eyes, no matter what that girl at the Clinique counter says! I tried green contacts once and they actually just turned my eyes bluer. *sigh*

3.    I've got a weird laugh. So weird that people routinely pick me out of a crowded room, just by my laugh. But they also tell me that they generally like my laugh, so it's not all bad, eh? :-)

4.    I loooooove broccoli! If possible, I would have broccoli with every meal. I actually pack up zip-loc bags of broccoli spears to take to work so I can microwave them (90 secs) and have steamed broccoli. Delicious!

5.    I ran a marathon in 2003. Well, I ran/walked the Baltimore Marathon in 2003 after training for six months with the AIDS Marathon Training Program. I thought I was all cool and stuff because I was 40 and running a marathon and then found out that my running partner was 65. Way to take the wind out of my sails, Jim! BTW, we finished: 7 hours, 26 minutes.   But we finished!

6.    I love to swim. I don't actually remember learning how to swim, just being taught how to do the strokes correctly. Maybe it's because I'm a Pisces, but I'm at my best and most relaxed in the water.

7.    I was engaged to be married once when I was 20. But I got better! Nuff said…

8.    I am an American, born in a British colony in the south of China, in a Catholic hospital, raised by Southern Baptist Missionaries, and graduated from a Lutheran high school. No wonder I'm messed up!

9.    My natural hair color is probably gray. I haven't seen it in 22 years, but I started turning gray when I was about 13.

10.    My house is such a wreck I don't even know where to start to clean it. So I don't… yikes!

11.    I don't have a car. Haven't had a car since 2001. Now, had I been smart enough to sell my car when I first thought of it, i.e. July 2001, I would have been OK. But no, I waited until October and got virtually nothing for it. Dang terrorists...

12.    It took me 17 years to finish my Bachelor's degree. I wasn't going to school for seven of those years, and most of the last seven were taking one class a semester while I was working full-time and part-time. I look back at those times and wonder, "Who WAS that person? I'm far too lazy to be that person…"

13.    I love to read everything written by an author, in order. Maybe that's a bit OCD, but still – when I meet a new author, I like to read their first book, followed by their second, etc. Most times it doesn't matter character development wise, but it's always fun to see the writer's progression as a writer. The problem with this method is when an author dies or just stops writing. What do I read next?!?

14.   I believe that people should treat people the way they would want to be treated. If everyone did that, then the world would be a much better place.

15.    When I was a kid, my favorite Barbie name was Elizabeth Donahue Megalopolis. Doesn't it just roll trippingly off the tongue?

Bo-hai Birthday

2010-11-20T19:56:00.011Z

I don't really remember much about my sixth birthday. Not too surprising really, because I had the mumps. And the measles. And chicken pox. I could be wrong about the diseases, but I know I had three different childhood diseases ALL on my birthday. Yay.

Now see, birthdays were big events in my house. You got to be "Queen for the Day" (unless of course, you were a boy) and you got to choose whatever your favorite dish would be for dinner, and you got a birthday party. All of the other missionary kids would come over and everyone would have a good time with games and cakes and kool-aid (or Ribena or lemon squash). And Mom would make me a pretty dress.

The main things I remember about that birthday are:

1) I was sick as a dog but parents sent their kids anyway so they could all catch whatever I had and get it over with

2) I didn't feel connected to anyone in the party because I looked funny and I wasn't my normal sunny self

3) I ended up sitting outside with the bo-hai man (shoemaker), because he would let me watch him fix shoes. Yes, while all the kids in the neighborhood celebrated my birthday inside the walls of 28 Oxford, I sat outside the gate with a gnarled Chinese tradesman.

And you know what? I was happy as a clam...

A silly self-portrait

2010-11-19T19:19:00.001Z

Many years ago, I used to listen to the Don & Mike morning show on WAVA radio. Those two guys were fun, silly, and the music they occasionally played was good. They would have contests and trivia questions and people would call in to talk to them. In order to get a better idea of the people with whom they were speaking, Don Geronimo would always ask people "What celebrity do you look like?" I never thought I would call up to talk to them -- although the Jeopardy! game (with "Alex Trebek Geronimo") was REALLY tempting! -- but I started thinking about this question.

People would invariably say they were a cross between two people, usually two very attractive people. So, I thought and thought and eventually came up with "A cross between Julia Roberts and …

... Anne Ramsey."

I figure I'm somewhere in between! ;-)

Day 18

2010-11-18T18:47:00.000Z

(Yep, still working through the Blog-A-Day sweepstakes! According to them, "Day 18 = What I wore today" - and somehow I translated that in my brain to what happened on the 18th, and what was I wearing. I think I need some mental help...)

January 18th it was in the 50s – very unusual for a DC January – and it's a holiday. I was able to walk around in jeans, a t-shirt, and a sweat jacket. And of course my Timberlands to trudge through the snow… I went to a movie. What movie? I have no idea… ;-)

February 18th – recuperating from a fabulous few days in New York City, where I attended the Westminster Kennel Club show, visited the Bronx Zoo and played a lot of Wii with Chats, her dad, kaspi, Max, and Magoo. It was a lovely time but I was very glad I was able to work from home today, especially in the wake of Snowmageddon last week. So, of course, I am wearing my jammies all day. Snuggly and warm! (And Happy Birthday sister o mine!)

March 18th is my birthday – or rather, the aftermath of my birthday celebration. Because I was born in Hong Kong, I start my birthday a little after 12:30pm on St. Patrick's Day (yes, I play that International Date Line to my advantage). On a rainy day like this, I indulged my hangover and sleeeeeeeeeept, still wearing the whatever green I wore yesterday.

April 18th – Daphne and I were scheduled to go pick up a dresser from a horse farm way out in Virginia, but Zipcar called me yesterday to tell me that the car had been in an accident and would not be available. We rescheduled for next weekend, so I ended up enjoying Earth Day by bundling up in sweats and reading a book out in my park.

May 18th is still dank and damp. It feels like it's rained for months, but I am in a good mood. Last week I went with higher level people in my company to Yonkers, NY for a meeting to begin a beautiful relationship with a very well known consumer quality magazine. Today I was able to tell the rest of our team what we would be doing in our team meeting, so I dressed up a bit.

June 18th – Ahhhhhh Friday! I love working 1/2 day Fridays! It's a gorgeous day before the regular summer weather starts in DC, you know, hazyhotandhumid chanceofthunderstormsintheafternoon. I love this weather, just before it turns ugly: warm enough to wear shorts, but not so hot you start sweating as soon as you walk out the door.

Happy Birthday M & E! July 18th, I went down to Virginia to celebrate my niece's 21st birthday. While she and her friends groaned and moaned about their hangovers, I reminded them about hydrating while you dehydrate and kicked their butts playing Balderdash. It was a good day!

On August 18th I am in the middle of the first delivery of my major project so I am wearing black pants and some colory shirt. Yes, "colory" is a word! Isn't it? OK, maybe not. My brain hurts!!! Oh yeah, and it's raining. Argh.

September 18th - Saturday, glorious weather and did I mention it's Saturday? We released the first phase of Major Project yesterday and it's… yes, I'll say it again! Saturday! Maybe some day I'll get caught up on sleep.

October 18th – I slept and worked from home today because I went to the Redskins/Colts game last night with my sister. Tooo much fun, except for the ending.Weather news came out today indicating that not only did we have record-breaking snowstorms last winter, but the summer was the hottest on record too. Maybe the Fall will be the most average temps ever?

November 18th – Ahhh my summer vacation finally begins! (And my mom is back home from the hospital, yay!) I went to the new Russell Crowe movie sneak preview last night (The Next Three Days – slow to start, but really good!), gone to the doctor's and now I'm getting ready for an evening at the THEeah-tah. Going to the Kennedy Center to see "Hair" – so what to wear? Should I dress up in nice clothes? Nope, I decide to go hippy-chick. I'm in a tie-dye t-shirt, jeans, tennies, silver rings on every finger, silver feathers in my ears, tiny braids in my hair and glitter ("my own personal starshine" as someone said) on my face. Let's get groovy people!

And of course, everyone else was wearing nice clothes and I was the only one in "hippy chick chic" … oh well! It was a blast!

December 18th – I don't know where I'll be or what I'll be wearing. It's very possible I will be on my way down to Georgia to stay with my parents for a week or so. If so, I think I'll be wearing something very unusual for me: jeans, t-shirt, and/or sweats. If not… probably the same! LOL

Parents

2010-11-17T20:24:00.000Z

So, I'm still catching up from the 16th and the next topic is actually somewhat appropriate: my family and myself. Why? Because I got a call at around 3:30am on the 16th to let me know that my mother was in the hospital. They thought it was a stroke but they weren't sure. They said she had a seizure and went into a coma, but she woke up in the hospital in Athens, GA so they were doing tests. Turned out that she did NOT have a stroke and they still don't know why she had the seizure.

But this episode highlighted something about my family. We are so used to living apart that when something happens, our first instinct is "how do we get there?" We have grown up really spread out, but we are actually a really close family.

One of my sisters lives in Charlotte and she and her husband were able to drive down to be with Mom and Dad in Georgia. My brother was able to stop in with Dad on his way to training in SC, and his wife and oldest daughter went to see Mom in the hospital.

My other sister and I felt somewhat helpless because we lived too far away to be much help. (Plus the fact that my cell phone had gotten stolen that weekend, so my number didn't work and they couldn't reach me. Thank goodness for that work cell phone!) My mother was sent back home the next day, but apparently she will no longer be able to drive because of the seizures. And she has been the driver for my parents for a few years! So what are they going to do?

I've got some time off in December, so I'm thinking about heading down there to stay with them for a couple of weeks. But will that be enough? I'm worried about my parents, so I'm thinking about something more long term. Of course, I will have to see if it's an idea that will even fly with them.

I'm the only kid in the family who is single, so I feel that I have a little more freedom to possibly move in with them. My job is pretty flexible about telecommuting, although it might require a shift in job responsibilities. What about my cat? I think he's too big to carry on a plane, and who wants to go through the groping required to fly these days anyway? But I can't leave him alone for two weeks, or even longer. I have friends who could come check in on him, but two weeks? I don't think *I* would last!

Anyway - lots of questions, lot of serious thoughts, and now you know why I haven't been writing this last week. (Well that plus "The Next Three Days" sneak preview, "Hair - The Musical" at the Kennedy Center and the new Harry Potter movie... twice. Oh, and the Redskins won on Sunday! Woot!)

Thanksgiving is in two days, and I'm really looking forward to sharing it with the Virginia contingent of the family (i.e. The Flying Cavini), and of course, the obligatory Harry Potter movie on Friday. I have seven work days off for this vacation/holiday, and it is going tooooooooo fast. I need more time to make decisions! And to clean up my house! And to sleep!

Oh well, more next time...

Obsotted

2010-11-16T19:55:00.001Z

I am SO far behind! This past week and has been pretty busy so I have not kept up with my Post-a-Day schedule. I'm not sure I'm going to catch up with everything, but I'll see what I can do. I'm on vacation right now so I don't have a lot else to do! LOL

So - Day 16 was supposed to be "A celebrity I’m swooning over" so I'm going to talk about Russell Crowe.

I've been a fan for a while now. Funny thing is that I saw a piece in Entertainment Weekly about "L.A. Confidential" (LAC) before it came out (1998?) – the fact that both the leads in this very American movie were Aussies – and I distinctly remember saying to myself, "Russell Crowe: he's amazing!" But for the life of me, I can't figure out what I'd seen him in prior to that movie. (And trust me, I've seen all of his older movies by now!)

Anyway – he was fantastic as Bud White in LAC. He was supposed to play this huge burly cop with a heart of gold, but he really wasn't all that big, so he rented a teeny apartment to make himself feel bigger – and he just filled the screen in the movie. And you couldn't help but feel for him when he goes back to Lynn and asks "Why me?" I was intrigued by this guy.

A few months later, I saw a trailer for a movie that captured my imagination: a guy skating down a river and funny stuff happening and then I heard that voice... So, it starred that Russell Crowe guy, along with a bunch of other fun actors. When "Mystery, Alaska" came out, I caught a matinee and laughed my ass off. It's a very silly, fun, romantic, hockey movie for adults, and I loved it! And Mr. Crowe looked nothing, and I mean NOTHING like that guy in LAC!

And then "The Insider" came out. I was already intruiged by this actor, but this is the movie that made me a fan. His performance was absolutely brilliant, and once again, he looked completely different from either of the characters he'd played in the past two movies. He was nominated for an Academy Award and IMHO, he should've won.

I started looking him up on the Internets and found out that he was a year younger than me, single, and really quite handsome. I remember getting the Oscar issue of Entertainment Weekly which I started paging through as I answered the phone one day. At that time, the Oscars were in March, so this issue came out around my birthday, and my friend Holly asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I turned the page to this:

And I said, "That! I want THAT!"

Strangely enough, Holly couldn't see what I was pointing at, probably because she was on the telephone in Philadelphia at the time, but…

I started looking out for his older movies (to figure out which one I had seen before LAC), and ran across "Romper Stomper" and "The Sum of Us" – two great, and extremely different, Australian movies. I learned about how invested he is in character development. I liked him: he's irreverent, does not suffer fools gladly, and he is extraordinarily talented. He's my age, he's intelligent and he's handsome. And he was single! It gave me hope. Not that I would ever meet him (although I joked that he wasn't married because he hadn't met me yet... it was a JOKE!!), but he gave me hope that there were single, intelligent, handsome guys my age out there – something I had pretty much given up on.

And then there was this ad after the Super Bowl that year: It was really simple, but beautifully done.

Ridley Scott directing Russell Crowe in the tale of the General who became a Slave, who became a Gladiator, who defied an Empire. Whaaaaa-haaaat? Visual master Ridley Scott who sometimes has problems with character development is teaming up with Russell Crowe, virtual master of character development? Ooooooooooo! Bouncy bouncy clap clap clap! I was a teenage girl all over again!

I waited four long months and then took the day off to watch the matinee show when "Gladiator" opened on May 5, 2000. I had already planned to see it on Saturday with a friend, and Sunday, I just HAD to go see it at the Uptown. And then I had to see it again during the week. And the Uptown again on the weekend. And so on and so on.

Around August of that year, I found a fan-site for SKG Dreamworks which had a Gladiator discussion forum. They had a room for each of the main stars, plus rooms for Roman History, discussions on the movie itself, and many other topics. I found a new family! And I've been chatting with many of the friends I met on that board, plus many other new friends, for the last ten years!

In the last ten years, I've gone to LA to watch the Oscars (on TV!), I've gone to TOFOG (his band) concerts in Austin (twice) and New York, and I've seen just about every one of his movies.

I actually took this pic! I was sitting front row center. Awesome!

Yes, Russell Crowe has some faults, just like any of us, but he still seems to be a regular guy, happily married to the love of his life (not me! I'm sure you're all surprised), father of two gorgeous boys, making plans for a new tour in 2011, and currently doing all the press for his latest movie "The Next Three Days", and enjoying himself on Twitter. He's still irreverent, he still has no use for fools, he's still handsome, and he is still amazingly talented.

Yep, I'm still obsotted!

p.s. All of these pics are courtesty of my friends at kaspinet

Miss Dependent

2010-11-15T15:44:00.002Z

Something I never leave the house without: My cell phone.

It has become my lifeline! I now use my cell phone as my home phone, so that is not hyperbole. I can access my email, get texts, make calls (what a concept!), and can check my bank balance. I check my fantasy football stats, take pictures, look at videos, and can even read books!

Well, I could. That was before it got stolen on Friday night. *sniffle*

Yes, it was my fault. I left it on the bar while I went to the Ladies' Room, but I do that quite often when I have friends still sitting at the bar. But, apparently, my friend was checking his phone and although he thought it was "hinky" when a guy quickly moved his hand from the bar to his side like he was hiding something, he didn't really realize what was happening. Until I returned and asked, "Hey, where's my phone?"

Dang it! When did I get so dependent on my cell phone?

Well, as I said, it was my own fault. But, I was able to call Verizon and suspend the service AND, something I didn't realize was possible, I was able to put a password on it by remote! Who knew? And why hadn't I done that before? Because I'm an idiot, that's why.

And why didn't I get insurance for my phone, even after losing it a few months ago (and getting it back)? Because I'm an idiot, that's why.

Now – the lucky thing is that I have a work cell phone, so I'm not completely isolated. But, it is a WORK phone, so I really can't use it the same way I used my old phone.

I still have my old LG enV handset which I could use until I get a new phone. It's got all my contacts on it. Well, the old ones anyway. But it's not a smart phone like my Droid was. So, I probably can't download books onto it or have all the shortcuts and apps that I was used to having.

So, should I spend the money to get a new Droid or should I just go back to my old non-smart phone without all the bells and whistles? (Does that make it a dumb phone? Idiot phone?)

It's a puzzlement.

I just found out that a new Droid phone will be about $500+ so…. Hello LG enV! It's been so long! lol

I don't get my "new every two" discount until 12/25/11, so I think I'll just wait a while on the new phone. At least until my tax refund…

Favorite Song

2010-11-14T00:29:00.003Z

I don't know if the Hallelujah Chorus is my favorite song, but it is RIGHT up there in the "fun song to sing" (or play) sweepstakes! My sister posted a great video on Facebook today and it just makes me feel... ahhhhhhhhhhhhappy!

It is not just the absolutely fabulous gloriousity of the music, but the concept of a "random act of culture" - 650+ people of all ages, types, and races took over a shopping mall and SANG their hearts out, accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ - the world's largest pipe organ! Just wow!

Can you imagine how much fun that must have been for unsuspecting Halloween shoppers? I know if my sisters and I had been shopping there that day, we would have joined in spontaneously because we all love the music and that's just the kind of people we are. (Wait, you want us to sing? Out loud? In front of people? OK!!!!)

Not surprising really, but there are several videos of this on YouTube. I've chosen this one because it's not as jerky as what seems to be the "official" one.

If you have the time and inclination, check out the other "Random Acts of Culture". It's cool!

Three Blogs I Like

2010-11-12T18:06:00.012Z

According to the November to Remember list, today is when I'm supposed to tell you about three blogs that I can't get enough of. Disregarding the grammar issues in that last sentence, I still had to think a bit on it because I don't have a lot of time during the work week to read blogs. There are a few other great blogs that I check out about once a week, but I read the following three blogs just about every day.

In no particular order:

The Pioneer Woman
Officially "confessions, cooking, photography, and home schooling" but truly a treasure trove of hilarious pictorials of Ree Drummond's family, home, and animals; great stories of her life and travels on the road; lots of her insecurities and strange sense of humor; and fun contests of trivia, photography, or just to win a Le Creuset french oven or Nikon camera.

My favorite posts lately have been about her basset hound Charlie and the new cat "Kitty Kitty", but I also love how much she loves her family, including her brother Mike whose favorite curse words are "turkey damn butt hell ass!" and the lovely "Things I appreciate about my mom" volumes. I love the fact that she has a tendency to break into Ethel Merman and that she is just as much of a goof as I am.

All Hail the Pioneer Woman!

T-T-T-TURKEY DAMN BUTT HELL ASS!

*snicker snort*

They were all Yellow

OK, I'm slightly biased on this one, but it just makes me SO proud! My niece is a senior in college, learning to be an English teacher. Her insights and beautiful way of expressing them have made me laugh, cry, and just beam with pride. She inspired me to write a blog too, so I guess all I can say is "It's all your fault, Em!"

DCist.com

I might have mentioned this one before… ;-) This is the DC version of a blog that was started in NYC called "Gothamist" which focuses on "local news, events, food, and entertainment for an avid audience of young urbanites." I seriously don't know how I survived without DCist! I read it in my Google reader, so I am alerted whenever there's a new post, and I must admit, I read almost every one!

"Overheard in DC" and the commentariat are hilarious and I have learned so much about what goes on in the District. And I love anything which elicits the response of "Sqweeee!" such as the current plethora of lion cubs at the National Zoo and I read the Morning Roundup and Go Home Already features every day. DCist has figured out how to provide the news of the day with a heavy side of snarky. RIGHT up my alley!

Look for an "ist" near you - there are quite a few of them!

Enjoy!

Peace Love Understanding

2010-11-11T23:44:00.025Z

According to the list of topics for every day in November, I'm supposed to write about something I crave. After thinking about it and coming up with really lame cravings, I realized why I was having difficulty: it's Veterans Day.

So, I decided to write about that instead and then I came up with something! I crave peace. I want a world without war. I want people to stop screaming and maybe open their minds and come up with something that works for everyone. Give a little, get a little.

And most of all, I want all of our troops to come home safely. I hate the fact that so many of our citizens are facing life and death situations, or getting maimed physically and emotionally. I truly appreciate what they do for me and for all of us.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. (John 15:13).

So thank a veteran and wear your poppy in their honor. Not just today though, remember them every day if you can!

p.s. I wrote this on Thursday 11/11, but did not post it until 11/14 because I'm an idiot. Sorry!

Food for the soul

2010-11-10T17:40:00.063Z

For a while there in the mid-80s, I lived in Atlanta and would drive the 1.5 hours down to Eatonton almost every weekend to stay with my grandmother. I did this initially because I had no money and no where else to go, but it eventually became one of my favorite things to do for several reasons.

One was the piano. My grandmother eventually willed that piano to me but she gave it to me when she moved to a smaller house. I was able to have it picked up and moved to Maryland about a decade ago (thanks Mary Ethel!). But at the time in Georgia, it was just a fantastic release for me to be able to spend hours and hours and hours just playing. It was my stress relief, and boy, did I need it! I played hymns and popular music, ragtime and Godspell, show tunes and classical compositions*. And sometimes I'd sing along too.

After playing for what seemed the whole day long, I'd pack up and start back to the rest of the house and often stop short because my grandmother was sitting in the yellow satin high-backed chair, fast asleep with her head bobbing over her elbow. She'd wakeup suddenly when she realized the music had stopped and then, inevitably, she'd ask, "Would you like something to eat?"

For Saturday night, we would often have Brunswick stew and barbecue sandwiches (Georgia barbecue, i.e. pulled pork sandwiches). Or maybe tomato soup and cheese sandwiches, but then we would have to have some vegetables as well. Just a nice cozy Saturday night meal, followed by Wheel of Fortune and hopefully a movie.

It was just the two of us, but for Sunday lunch, she would make a "small dinner" consisting of fried (or grilled when I said I was on a diet) chicken, pot roast, sometimes a pork dish, green beans (hand-shucked and boiled with fatback), home-made creamed corn, home-made mashed potatoes, gravy, home-made biscuits or just sliced bread if she didn't have time, sliced tomatoes (fresh from the garden), at least two types of pickles, maybe a congealed salad, and iced tea.

And she would eat like a bird. So, I would either stuff myself silly, or we would pack all the left-overs up in used Cool-Whip containers or whatever else she had instead of Tupperware, and voila! I had meals for the whole week.

I also learned then that my tastes had changed since I was a kid, and she knew better than I did sometimes what I would really like. Like once, when I said I didn't like tomatoes, she nearly lost it! "Oh yes you do! You just haven't had MY tomatoes!"

Being properly admonished I said, oh alright I'll try a really small piece of that giant Beefsteak tomato you just picked from your garden and sliced up… YUM! Just a little salt or pepper and I ate the whole plate! Of course that doesn't work on every body. I know for a fact that my sister wouldn't be able to do that because she is allergic to tomatoes. I'm very VERY glad that I am not!

But other than the piano and the amazing food, I realized the most important part of why I really enjoyed going to visit Grandmother Smith: she was an AMAZING story teller! After lunch or dinner, we would delay clearing up and just sit at the table in her kitchen and she'd tell me stories about how she met "Mr. Ruil" (my grandfather) and how she and her sisters would get in so much trouble with her mama. We would laugh and laugh – and I must admit, sometimes I was laughing because she got so tickled she couldn't even get the story out. Her shoulders would pump up and down and this "hmph hmph hmph" sort of chuckle would escape from her closed lips. She'd open her mouth to continue her story… but just couldn't! It would set me off again, and that would set her off and… you get the picture. Too much fun, and no alcohol necessary!

I am so glad I had that time with my grandmother, and I'm eternally grateful to her for not only feeding my body, but for feeding my soul and reminding me that laughter is available even in the darkest of times. And I'm glad I was able to give her something too. She told me once that she had never had anyone play ragtime music in her house before, because it was "that evil drinking music". She told me that she was so glad that I had played it because it was so much more beautiful than she could ever have imagined it to be.

It made my heart sing!

*Some of my favorite pieces to play:
Solace (The Sting version)
Maple Leaf Rag
All For the Best (Godspell)
Prepare Ye and God Save the People (Godspell - from the groovy 1973 movie starring Victor Garber!)
The Heavens Are Telling (Haydn)
Ode to Joy (Beethoven)
Levon (Elton John)
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Elton John)
This Nearly Was Mine (South Pacific - gives me chills every time!)
Someone Chanted Evening (South Pacific - Ezio Pinza)
Oh What A Buprengskrul Morning! (Oklahoma!)

I could go on for days! This search for music has been REALLY fun!

eBooks

2010-11-09T17:00:00.002Z

Today I'm supposed to write about the last item I purchased. Well, I got groceries last night, but really the last "fun" thing I purchased was an e-book. I found out recently that I could download both the Kindle and Nook apps to my Droid cell phone - and I can buy books through Amazon.com or Barnes & Noble and read them on my cell phone, instead of having to buy an actual Kindle or Nook! So, I downloaded Kindle and then remembered I had a $50 B&N gift card, so downloaded the Nook. And bought a book!

It's one of the latest Nora Roberts books, but what I found really fun is that I automatically got three free books with the download. And they are: Pride and Prejudice (my favorite book), Dracula (which I've never read), Little Women (never read either - I know, shocking!), PLUS samples of two books I've never heard of: American Assassin and The Lost Hero (Heroes of Olympus).

Pretty cool! Definitely a good way to introduce the classics to people who absolutely MUST have the latest techno gadget! ;-)

You can download the classics for free on Kindle also. I like it. Now, I will never be stuck without reading material again! Woohoo!

The city in which I live

2010-11-08T22:27:00.142Z

I love DC!

As I mentioned in my post the other day, part of why I like DC is it reminds me of the Hong Kong in which I grew up: height restriction on buildings, very cosmopolitan, and any kind of ethnic food you can imagine. But there's more. I like the fact that I can live here without a car, but that I can rent a car and drive an hour each way and find such amazing history among mountains, beaches, or just neighborhoods.

I've lived in the "DC Area" for about 24 years now, just over half of my life. I think I probably moved about 100 times in my first 24 years! But, I ran away screaming from Atlanta (I'm NOT a Southern girl) and found myself in "DC" because my sister lived in Virginia (Alexandria) and my best friend lived in Maryland (Rockville, but she grew up in Bethesda). I lived in various Maryland locations (Rockville, Laurel, Bethesda) for about 20 years and then finally... FINALLY! I moved into the actual District of Columbia. Who knew what a difference there was? I had loved living in Bethesda -- right on the Metro, 200+ restaurants within walking distance, 2 major movie theatres, walking/running trails, location location location. But, then I moved into the city and became a DC resident.

It is SO different, but it's really hard to explain. One thing is that I now very rarely go out of the District, except to visit family. What, you want me to drive somewhere? I can't take a cab or the Metro? Uh... no. Too difficult. :-)

Another is: I didn't vote in the last election. Why not? Because it just. didn't. matter. My rights are now being controlled by a man who was voted into Congress by the fine, upstanding citizens of... Utah? Yeah, that makes sense! I really think it is deplorable that American citizens who live in DC do not have voting representation in the House or the Senate. Definitely taxation without representation, which I believe is what the original Tea Party was all about, right?

Hmmmm, I think I might have to write another blog post about that... ANYWAY, back to DC.

Where did Glenn Beck and Jon Stewart/Steve Colbert have their rallies? And could I have walked there? (Yes... did I? No) Where did Top Chef have its latest season? And did I see any of the contestants? (No, but I watched the show and followed the comments on DCist, does that count?) Where do they have the National Book Festival every year? Yep, right here on our Mall! (And btw, the "Mall" is not a shopping mall; it is "The Mall" where you will find museums, memorials, tourists and a lot of red, white, and blue popsicles.)

DC is only four hours away from New York City, three hours from the beach (Ocean City), and about two hours away from the mountains. We have a park in the middle of the city. It is GORGEOUS here and I have proof!

Taken during Snowmageddon - 02/07/2010

The view from my office

Taken on my walk to work from the Dupont Circle metro station

And we have sports! OK, only the Caps are doing anything good right now, but hey, the Redskins are better than they were last year! And the Nationals have some pretty good young guys in there, so hopefully they will be better next year! We won't talk about the Wizards/Bullets... (No bad vibes, only good thoughts, good thoughts...)

Where was I? OH yeah...

DC is also an up-and-coming foodie place with some really excellent restaurants and people wanting to create more - and remember that ethnic food comment I made earlier? You really can get pretty much anything you want to eat here, and it generally will not cost an arm and a leg. Unless, you WANT to pay an arm and a leg, but that's just crazy talk.

And yes, there is a lot of government business here, but there are also a whole bunch of non-profit organizations which aren't necessarily related to the government at all! (Disclaimer: I work for one, largely because I couldn't stand being a government contractor any more.) Yes, there's an over-abundance of lawyers, but not ALL of them are bad... (don't write to complain, some of my best friends are lawyers!) One of the things I love about this area is that you also have the snarkiness of the Express headlines, City Paper, and DCist.com to keep you sane. How I survived without DCist.com in my Google Reader, I just don't know!

And that leads to one of the most unique things about DC: you seem to get news by osmosis here. Our local news is often national or international news, and it's EVERY WHERE. I love that.

Yeah, I wasn't born and raised in DC, but I figure that I've been here for almost 24 years so I should be able to say I'm "from" here now. No, I guess I can just say I'm "from the DC area" until I live in the District for 20 more years... :-)

A song for the day

2010-11-07T16:25:00.001Z

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life
(Eric Idle - Monty Python)

Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the bright side of life

Some things in life are bad, they can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse
When you're chewing on life's gristle, don't grumble give a whistle
This will help things turn out for the best

Always look on the bright side of life
Always look on the right side of life

If life seems jolly rotten, there's something you've forgotten
And that's to laugh and smile and dance and sing
When you're feeling in the dumps, don't be silly, chumps
Just purse your lips and whistle, that's the thing

So, always look on the bright side of death
Just before you draw your terminal breath

Life's a piece of sh!t and when you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's the joke, it's true
You see, it's all a show, keep them laughing as you go
Just remember the last laugh is on you

Always look on the bright side of life
And always look on the right side of life
Always look on the bright side of life
And always look on the right side of life

Three favorite quotes

2010-11-06T18:25:00.003Z

Obvious

In the words of Socrates, "I drank what?" (Chris Knight, "Real Genius")

Fun

I can resist anything, but temptation. (Oscar Wilde)

Complete

Come up and see me sometime! Try Wednesday, it's amateur night! (the incomparable Mae West)

And because I'm an over-achiever:

If you don't laugh, you die!* (me)

*Closely related to: "Cake or death?" by Eddie Izzard

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

2010-11-06T17:37:00.047Z

Five years ago was a pretty good year for me. I had started planning to go back to Hong Kong in 2003 for my 40^th birthday… and then SARS hit. So, I decided that I would rather wait and NOT be in danger of dying! In 2003, I had already saved enough frequent flyer miles to get an upgrade from economy class to business class on United Airlines, but I decided to make a more concerted effort and see if I could save enough for a *free* round-trip ticket.

So, I got the UA credit card, I signed up to earn miles through my Safeway card, signed up my credit cards to earn miles by dining out, buying flowers online, etc. I transferred balances from other cards to the UA card, and by the end of 2004, I had done it! So, instead of having to pay $1,700 for the economy class ticket, I could use that on my hotels! Yay!

I started planning and decided that I would go to HK for 10-12 days in August. Yes, I know, August is not really the best time weather-wise to be in HK, but… it would feel like home! Hot, muggy, humid, with chance of typhoon or monsoon. HOME! ;-) It was the kind of weather where you are always soaked either from sweat or rain, and there was no real chance of getting dry. Unless of course, you stayed inside in the A/C. ;-)

When I was growing up, one of the special things to do was to have High Tea at the Peninsula Hotel. This hotel is THE hotel in Hong Kong – it's absolutely gorgeous, the service is impeccable, and it is really is a piece of Hong Kong history. I had always told myself that when I grew up and was rich and famous, I would return to HK and stay at the Peninsula. I would be picked up at the airport in a Rolls Royce, and live in the lap of luxury. So, I got online to find out if it was possible… and it was! Well, for two nights. I booked a "spa package" which allowed me to be picked up at the new airport (on Laan Tau Island ACK!) in a Rolls Royce (not a Silver Cloud, but still very very nice!), have breakfast and lunch on the Pool Terrace and get hour-long massages and facials, and the most painful shampoo I've ever received (poor girl put extra effort into the head massage portion – I felt like she was crushing my skull OUCH!), all on my first two days in HK. My room was amazing, and I was right in downtown Tsim Sha Tsui (Jeem Sah Jui) so I could get to the Star Ferry, the Ocean Terminal, the #7 bus, and the Metro. Perfect!

Star Ferry heading to HK Island

Since I couldn't afford more than two nights at the Peninsula, I looked around for other deals and found one immediately across the street from the Peninsula: the Kowloon Hotel. The room was TINY, especially compared to what I was coming from, but mine had everything I needed: a bed, a bathroom, a hot water pot, a TV, and a fridge. I went to the Stop'N'Shop and stocked up on bottled water, soda, beer, and juices to fill up the fridge, and some ramen noodles for quick breakfast or snack. I took to boiling water at night and letting it cool overnight so I could refill my water bottles. So, call me cheap, but I had more important things to spend my money on!

From my Kowloon Hotel base of operations, I was able to get a tour of the new campus of my old high school (HKIS), shop at Stanley Market, meet up with my friend Andy from high school (he now owns seven restaurants in HK), and revisit my old stomping grounds in Kowloon Tong. What a great time!

At the "first" waterfall

I planned to relax on my last couple of nights in HK by staying at the Silvermine Beach Hotel on Laan Tau island. I had a distant hope of being able to climb up "my mountain" to visit the Laan Tau Mountain Camp where I spent just about every summer of my life, but I didn't want to go alone and I had not been able to get a cell phone rental. On the last day that I had time to do it, a woman came up to me at breakfast and asked if I knew anything about the hiking trails on the island… "As a matter of fact, I do!"

Small world, she was from Bowie, MD! Who could have predicted that I would meet a fellow Marylander (I lived in Bethesda at the time) in Hong Kong, on Laan Tau island, who wanted to go hiking? As it turned out, she didn't listen to me about buying enough water and/or food for the trek so we only made it to the first waterfall, but at least I got to hike a PART of the trail! I was a happy camper.

The hotel was a very old hotel (I think my family had stayed there when I was LITTLE little), but just what I needed. After the hustle and bustle of staying in downtown HK, I liked being able to relax a bit. But, I still went back to HK on my last day to make all the remaining purchases. J And I finally went back to Kowloon Tong.

Good ole Lion Rock!

I think I had been afraid to go there because the rest of HK had changed soooooooooooooo much! But I'm very glad that I finally went back to where I grew up. I walked from the Kowloon Tong metro station, down Waterloo Road, to York Road, then over to Oxford and Hampshire Roads, and down by Essex Crescent. None of the houses I knew were there anymore, but the new buildings were still low buildings with very few residents. Probably exorbitantly expensive condos, but… the Asia and Dairy Farm markets were still there! The tennis courts and the big ole Hialeah (?) mansion were still there! And of course, the Baptist Hospital, College (now University), and good ole KBC were there too.

I was SO glad that I had been able to get back to Hong Kong! My trip was wonderful, and it also changed me in some important ways. For example, after I got settled in at the Peninsula on my first night, I sent an email to my family with the subject line: "I'm HOME!" And when I returned to my apartment in Bethesda, MD after ten wonderful days and a very VERY long flight home, my first email to the family was titled, "I'm home!"

Now that might not mean much to everyone, but to a third culture kid like myself, it was HUGE! Ever since I left HK to go to college, I felt like I had no home anymore, especially in 1997 when HK went back to China. My trip back to HK in 2005 reminded me that "you can't go home again", because life goes on when you're not there. The HK in which I grew up was a lot like DC in a lot of ways: height restrictions on the buildings, very cosmopolitan, and any kind of ethnic good you can imagine. But now that they have moved the airport, there are no more height restrictions and HK has just BOOMED – and now it's more like Manhattan. Which I love! But it's not the same place.

And that's OK, because I'm not the same person. Hong Kong grew up, and so did I!

Silvermine Bay at dawn, my last morning in HK

I also learned that Business Class is the ONLY way to fly around the world! hahahaha

More pics from my trip here...

James

2010-11-05T16:59:00.001Z

So I was supposed to write yesterday about a dear friend. I started it, honest! But then I kind of got bogged down. Well, there was the work thing too, but that wasn't really it.

I was having a hard time picking "my dearest friend". What a hardship! I have so many "dear" friends that it's difficult to figure out who is the dearest! LOL

It's true – I've got a LOT of friends. That's partly because I grew up overseas (Hong Kong) in a very transient place, and now I live in another very transient place. I've got a lot of different "sets" of friends… my HK friends, my old college/Hoodlum friends, my old "Bob's" friends, my work friends, my Nanny's friends, my trivia buddies, my Aroma friends, my RHR friends, my family friends, etc. etc. etc. Some of these "sets" overlap in weird ways too, but it is a bit nice to have a lot of friends who don't necessarily even know each other!

But, when it got down to it, I asked myself: "Who would you say is the one person on whom you can always count to be there, to make you feel better, to make you laugh? Who will always have a piece of your heart?"

And I realized that that one person isn't here anymore.

Hasn't been for about almost 27 years.

And that's why I couldn't write.

But… it's important to write about him, isn't it? If it still hurts 27 years later, maybe writing about him will make it a little better. So… let me introduce you to James.

James moved to HK when he was about nine months old, shortly before I was born. His dad and my dad were both surgeons, medical Southern Baptist missionaries. My understanding is that Uncle Don (his dad) came to HK to work with my dad (who James called Uncle Lewis) in the Baptist Hospital (which my dad had just finished building). As it turned out, their entire family became my family's best friends. Aunt Mary and my mom got on like a house on fire, their oldest son was the same age as my brother, and I was between James and his little sister Donna.

I don't remember first meeting James (probably because I had barely been born) but there are SO many pictures of the two of us together as little little kids, I'm just imagining that we were best friends from birth! I used to call him my "twin brother from another mother" (after the Dan Fogelberg/Tim Weisberg album of the similar name -- to which I was introduced by James, of course).

James was hilarious. He was very very smart and could use words like a paint brush. I remember in elementary or maybe even in Jr. High school, he convinced his parents to let him open up an ice cream store… in their living room! I, of course, was his willing assistant, and I think Donna, Paul, and maybe even Devra got into the act. I used to go over to their house to spend the night, and it alternated somewhat between staying with Donna or James… but mostly James. I remember magic shows and other entrepreneurial adventures, and still love the fact that his parents let us do them!

And I remember hours and hours playing with James, Donna, Paul, and Devra creating towns with the Fisher-Price people, connecting them with the Matchbox tracks as highways… from James and Paul's room, all the way down the hall, turn left and all the way down to the living room and back.

I remember playing circus under the dining room table. They had this great tablecloth that looked like a "Big Top" and we would while away the hours under there with James's imagination keeping us entertained.

I remember one time when I was sleeping on the bottom bunk, and James jumped off the top bunk in the middle of the night. I called to him but he didn't answer, so I followed him. Down the hallway, down the stars, open the house door, down the driveway, and then he went out of the gate and closed it. (I stayed INSIDE the gate!) I heard him say something like "Oh crap!" as soon as the gate was locked, so I called him again and never heard such a grateful James. Apparently, he had a bit of a sleep-walking problem!

I remember in Jr. High and High school, we would sit in the huge living room while James introduced me to Fusion Jazz on the family's quadraphonic stereo (I especially remember that they had reel-to-reel tape!) . Or, we'd just listen and laugh our butts off to Bill Cosby.

I remember visiting the family in Louisiana on one furlough – I think I must have been going into third grade – and they had two horses, a black one and a brown one. Which James of course, had named "Bwack and Bwown Booty". I sat behind him on "Bwown Booty" and laughed and laughed!

We had both started school at Kowloon Junior School, but he was a year ahead of me. Then his family moved to the US for a furlough and they put him back a year because he was too young for the American system. As I mentioned, we visited them in the states a few years later, and then they went back to HK and we stayed in the US.

When they returned to HK, James went back into the British system at KJS and then KGV (King George the 5^th). I came back for 5^th grade and was sent to Beacon Hill School so I didn't get to see James at school at all. So, I would head over to Essex Crescent nearly every day instead!

I started going to the American school (Hong Kong International School – HKIS) in 7^th grade, and I believe James's family went back to the States while I was in 8^th grade. When they came back, James joined me at HKIS and we were in the same grade… and in some of the same classes. That was perfect for me! We had English (1^st period) and Humanities (6^th period) together, and along with my good friend Scott Morris, we put those teachers through hell! But even they couldn't help laughing.

I lived in Atlanta in 10^th grade, and we didn't really write all that much, but when I got back to HK, we were inseparable again. His girlfriend Tracie wasn't really that excited about it at first… I left Atlanta the day after school ended, which was about a month before school ended in HK. So, James convinced me to come to school every day and hang out on the Village Green, an area set up in the cafeteria for hanging out purposes. It was great! It was made up of four large blocks (about 6' by 15'?) covered in green indoor/outdoor carpet. James, Steve I. and I would move them around into interesting shapes and sit in precarious positions reading, playing cards, or whatever. And then Tracie (who I knew from 7^th – 9^th grade) pulled me aside and said, "He's MY boyfriend!" To which I laughed and said, "Yeah, but he's my BROTHER!" Then I explained using our last names, which when combined was the name of our dads' fairly well-known partnership at the time, and how I'd known James since birth, and she went "Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!"

James and I had 11^th and 12^th grade together at HKIS, and he was still the amazing, senstive, creative, wonderful guy I'd always known. In 11^th grade, my parents and I moved to an apartment on Nathan Road, which was no where near anybody else, and made me fairly depressed. But James would go out of his way to walk me home and cheer me up (usually involving something like wearing his underwear (CLEAN!) on his heaed), so I wouldn't feel lonely.

We moved back over to 30 Oxford Road, and for some reason, James started coming to stay with me after school. We'd get home at about 4:30pm and I'd make cheese omelets. We'd turn on Sesame Street (only show on the English channels at that time), or play piano and sing, or we'd joke about soccer, or something. I think our upstairs neighbors had gotten the trampoline at that time (which had travelled from the Harvey's house (28 Oxford) to our old house on York Rd to the house on Essex Crescent and back), so sometimes we would sit out there and plot our take-over of the universe… no, not really. We'd just talk. About life, the universe, and everything.

And then we went to college.

I went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, and he went to Baylor University in Waco, TX. Once again, we didn't write that much, but we would call each other at least once a month. Freshman year was hard on me, and the worst was that I didn't get to see James at all that year. Sophomore year was weird because I got mono for part of the year and didn't know about it until it was almost over. (Messes a person up!) But I was able to get back to HK during summer and hang out with the teenage Devra, which was fun!

Junior year was the worst. I sort of "unofficially" dropped out of school for one semester, and then officially dropped out the next when Vanderbilt put me on academic probation. A lot of that time is a bit of a blur for me, because a LOT went on in my head then. I went back to Vanderbilt the next Fall and thought I was doing well until my English prof failed me – even though I had aced every test and paper – because I didn't show up to class enough. When I went to protest it, I found out he had gone on sabbatical so I had to wait a year. Needless to say, the things coming out of my mouth at that time were NOT the most complimentary!

I had also met a guy and gotten engaged. I found out later that he was sleeping with a friend of mine and decided, "uh, this is NOT going to work!". But at the time, I was just a bit of a basket case. I was out of school, living with my boyfriend, and working part time at a sub sandwhich shop (along with my boyfriend). I felt like I was having a meltdown – nothing was going right and I just didn't know how to change it back to the right path!

And then one night, I was working at the Sub Base and I got a call from my brother. James had killed himself. He didn't know all the details, but he knew that I would want to know as soon as possible, because he knew how close we were. I felt like I had been stabbed. I was very lucky that my (very dear) friend Megan was there that night because I just could NOT take it all in! I took over washing dishes in between phone calls and crying jags – and washing dishes surprisingly helped a lot.

Megan called my boyfriend to come pick me up (I not only didn't have a car, but I didn't know how to drive), but he couldn't do it. I found out later that the reason he couldn't do it was that he was tripping his brains out – this was AFTER he had told me he wouldn't do acid anymore, so it was just one more thing. He also had the gall to give me crap for getting a guy he was not very fond of to drive me home. Needless to say, every bit of my anger and grief and vituperative bile came out at him, and at all the other people tripping balls at my house. (Also needless to say, we didn't stay together for much longer.)

I went back to Hong Kong for a month to recuperate, and I'm sure my parents were very worried about me. This was in 1984 and I suddenly realized why George Orwell picked that year – it was a horrible year! But the absolute worst part was that James died because he didn't think anyone loved him. I did! And I still do. And I always will.

I learned something very important that year: do not ever assume that your friends know that you love them. Tell them!

OK, I'm going to stop crying and leave the office now…

My Day in Close Up

2010-11-03T19:13:00.004Z

Alarm!

Snooze

Alarm!

Snooze

Alarm!

Snooze

Cat sitting on head

GRR-OFF!

Alarm!

Oh alllllright…

Shuffle shuffle BRIGHT LIGHT!!! Ow. TV chatter

Clean litter box

Shower

Get dressed… wait, which sweater am I wearing? Oh, the red one… Do I have socks? Yes, Christmas ones. Well, at least it's past October now…

Feed the kitty (mreow mreow mreow)

Take the drugs

Pack the bag, get newspaper, stuff it in bag with the rest of my life

Crap, my coat needs to be cleaned or at least pressed! OK, leather it is…

Good to go? Bye kitty, be back tonight! Turn off lights, lock the door.

Go back in, retrieve glasses, leave again and lock the door and leave the building...

Next Bus = 36 minutes? You've GOT to be kidding me! Wait, isn't that my bus just coming right now? Why yes it is! Woohoo!

Grrrrrr, wouldn't it be great if my DC vote actually counted for something? I know, I know, I didn't actually vote - for the first time since I was old enough to vote, I really didn't think it would matter. All of the people I would have voted for won their DC elections, none of the SUPREME nut jobs made it in, and my vote DOES NOT COUNT in the grand scheme of things regarding representation in the House or the Senate because DC does not have voting representation in the US government! Sheesh... Grumble grumble grumble

Wouldya look at that? I'm at work almost ½ an hour early! Just enough time to stop at Corner Bakery for the worlds best coffee and a bagel!

Work work work

Lunch from the Brown Bag –

I love Dr. Brown's Cream Soda (Diet)!
Just sayin'!

Blog blog blog (during lunch of course, certainly not on work time, oh noooooooo)

Work work work

Database Database Database

Document document document

Lose mind, bang head, face palm
I'm FINE, really!
work work work
(Facebook, Facebook, Facebook)

Is it time yet? YES! Laptop, backpack, tote bag... why do I feel like a bag lady?

Walk four blocks to the Metro, get off in Cleveland Park

Hi Mrs. Shaffer!!!! How's married life? ;-)

Home, feed kitty

TV/DVR Castle, last half of Amazing Race, NCIS, Zzzz, Glee, Survivor…

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz MREOW GRrr-off! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Something I Ate Today

2010-11-02T17:51:00.020Z

For lunch today I decided to walk somewhere and get something decent that was not Au Bon Pain. And then I went outside. Without a coat. It's COLD! So, I walked the two seconds it takes to get to Au Bon Pain, thoroughly intent on getting the soup mixture I tend to devour on a regular basis: chicken noodle (without all the broth) and a topping of broccoli/cheddar. Add some crumbled crackers and it's fantastic! And warm! And yummy! (OK, enough enthusiasm...)

But - I'm a little tired of that concoction because I tend to have it 2-3 times a week. And then I saw... Macaroni & Cheese! *swoon* So, yes, I decided on a (small) cup of Mac & Cheese, grabbed an apple for something healthy and went back up to the office "café " for a nice comfort-foodie type lunch. So I'm sitting there eating my low-fat Mac & Cheese (believe that? got a bridge I wanna sell ya!) with my caffeine-free Diet Coke (it all balances out), when one of my friends pulls out this huge platter from the refrigerator.

"What's that?"

"Huh? Oh, it's leftover cheese platter from a party the other day!"

"Hum. Wouldn't it be all hard and icky by now?"

"Mrpmph.. nomph, iss priddy good!"

Uh oh. So yes, for lunch yesterday, I had Macaroni & Cheese, with a cheese chaser! (Heck, it was good cheese! Mozzarella, cheddar, Swiss, monkey jack, and mmmmm smoked Gouda! And grapes!)

Yes, I did eat the apple and grapes as well, so it was a very nicely balanced meal... right?

November Postage

2010-11-02T17:48:00.001Z

Thanks to Emily for an idea to get me writing EVERY DAY! I just realized that I missed an ENTIRE month of writing on this blog... ACK! So, Em's friend suggested doing this for November, so I'm going to too... OK, I'm a little behind, but still, I 'll do what I can!

Yesterday's (Nov. 1) post should have been a self-portrait, which it isn't really, but it's sort of a portrait of a day in my life. A weird day, but aren't those the most fun?

So here's what I'll be writing about for the 30 days hath November...

Day 01: A self-portrait.

Day 02: Something I ate today.

Day 03: A close-up of my day.
Day 04: A fabulous friend.
Day 05: Myself, five years ago.
Day 06: Three favourite quotes.
Day 07: A song for the day.
Day 08: The city I live in.
Day 09: The last item I purchased.
Day 10: My favourite place to eat.
Day 11: Something I’ve been craving.
Day 12: Three blogs I can’t get enough of.
Day 13: A favourite song.
Day 14: A favourite TV show.
Day 15: Something I never leave the house without.
Day 16: A celebrity I’m swooning over.
Day 17: My family & myself.
Day 18: What I wore today.
Day 19: A silly self-portrait.
Day 20: A childhood anecdote.
Day 21: Something that makes me rather happy.
Day 22: Something that I miss.
Day 23: Fifteen facts about me.
Day 24: Something that means a lot to me.
Day 25: The contents of my purse.
Day 26: A photo of some place I’ve travelled.
Day 27: Myself, one year ago.
Day 28: A favourite movie.
Day 29: Something I could never tire of.
Day 30: Three great things that happened this month.

Weird Monday

2010-11-01T17:45:00.002Z

November 1st was a wonderful day. Strange, but wonderful!

I woke up very late and very sore, because I ran the Marine Corps Marathon 10k on Sunday (10/31). But, I had scheduled myself to go into the office at 10am, so it was OK. Except the sore legs part, but … whatever…

I had planned to take the whole day off originally, but then I had to move a very important meeting to avoid schedule conflicts so I decided to just work half a day. And then my friend Sharon decided to get married on Monday. (I found out last Friday!) So, I got into the office around 10:15 and left at 3:00! I went home, changed pants and shoes, took the bus back down to Nanny's then cabbed up to the Knights of Columbus in College Park with my friends Wee Eddie, David James, and Christophe. Sharon and Ronnie were married in a lovely, SHORT ceremony officiated by his friend who is a judge. They both looked gorgeous, and they were surrounded by family and friends, and just generally a lot of love. And an open bar. ;-) Life is good!

Ronnie's best friend gave a really funny speech/toast, the cake was decorate with lovely roses… and a Redskins flag and a Ravens flag (Redskins on top, of course). Willie, Sharon's dad, made a lovely toast too and then David James slipped through about six different people trying to stop him to make a drunken toast about Wee Eddie working on 17 years to get Sharon, but no luck! And then he told both Sharon and Ronnie how much he loved them. "Elvis" sang "I can't help falling in love" which turned into a group sing (awesome!) with S&R dancing, and we got a TON of pictures. I was the only one from Nanny's who remembered to bring a camera so I tried to get as much as possible. Then I gave my picture card to Christophe because he has Photoshop and photo paper at home. Problem is I won't see him again until Saturday! Ack! Must have prints! Lol

Anyway - Luke and Montana were kind enough to drive the four of us "cabbies" back to Nanny's afterwards (me in the front with Luke, Eddie in the way back of the SUV, Hooba in the middle of Christope and Montana – what a hoot! Especially Eddie's "trunk driving"). What was funny was that by the time we got there, it felt like it was about midnight… and it was only 8:30pm! LOL We all had a drink and then headed home.

So, I was standing in front of the bus stop at Connecticut and Ordway after checking my "Next Bus" app and finding out the bus was about six minutes away. I looked up and did a double-take. Yes, that was boat heading towards me! I turned to the guys sitting in the bus stop shelter and said, "There's a boat coming up Connecticut Ave!" They, not surprisingly, looked at me like I was crazy. And then they looked down the street, and I heard one of them exclaim, "She's NOT crazy! Look, there's a boat!"

It wasn't a huge boat, but it wasn't a rowboat either. It started a lively discussion on why the heck there would be a boat in this land-locked area. Maybe they heard about the "Connecticut River" during those rainstorms earlier this year? Lake Rock Creek? It was just weird!

And then the bus came and we were still talking about it. We went about a mile further and more people got on, so we asked them if they had seen the boat. "What boat?" Soooo, it turned off somewhere along there! Very weird.

But somehow appropriate for the weirdest Monday I've had in a long while!

Hello again

2010-10-16T20:42:00.006+01:00

Where have you been?

I just noticed that it's been nearly a month since I've written on this blog, and that's too long! I'm not one of those bloggers who thinks that my followers are waiting with baited breath for my next missive, but I think it's been too long for ME! I need to write - it helps me relax, helps me think, and is just generally a good thing.

I've been too busy lately, and I've been doing a lot of writing for work I guess, so I haven't been spending the time I should on writing down my thoughts and fears and joys etc... And there's been a lot to think about!

I thought of writing the other day after that poor kid killed himself because his asshat roommate live-fed him having sex. The event sparked off a lot of outrage against gay bullying, which got me thinking. I'm pretty sure I would have been mortally embarrassed if anyone put a live-feed on the web of me having sex! Of course it wouldn't have been of any interest, would it? Why is it so much more interesting if it's gay sex?

Maybe it's the fear factor. People are often afraid of something different from their norms - just because it's different. And it's easier to hate or be afraid of it than to open your mind and learn that it's not something to be afraid of! I mean seriously, what does someone else being gay have to do with your own sexuality? Could it threaten it? Only if you let it. Are you afraid that you might somehow be "turned" gay? Then you need to figure yourself out, because the only way you can be turned gay is if you already are. I admit, being gay would be a pretty scary lifestyle: I mean, you'd have to put up with the bullying and sneering of the "straight" crowd. You could be outcast from your pre-established group of friends. You could be disowned from your family. You couldn't have a normal future of finding someone to love and marry and have kids, because that would be illegal in most states.

Gosh, looking at all of that, I wonder why anyone would CHOOSE to be gay?

Hmmmmm....

Note: This was originally written Oct. 16, but not published until Nov. 9. Sorry about that! I thought I had published it already...

Meet the new cat, same as the old cat....

2010-09-20T21:33:00.003+01:00

Well.... MAYBE!!!

OK, I probably shouldn't put this out here because it's very possible that I will not end up with this cute little girl kitty named Maple*. I think Maple is a silly name, but I think she might really be a Mabel, which I kind of like. And she is adorable! And she has a heart on her butt, just like my Caly! It's meant to be, don't you think?

You all know that I've been thinking about getting a new kitty to give Calypso some company while I'm gone all day, and I think I just fell for this one. But maybe he'll think he's looking in a mirror? heh heh heh... Of course, I have to meet her first, and get approved to have another kitty (by the WHS), and make sure Calycat is OK with her, and figure out how to introduce her into an efficiency apartment with way too much stuff in it... but wouldn't it be nice?

Meanwhile, one of my friends responded to my email about all of this with an intimation that Calypso might not be the slimmest of felines and this new girl looked all "sweet and delicate" comparatively. Well, she's got a point! But Caly used to be a little guy too! Just because I can, I'm going to show you:

See? He's just a widdlw BITTY kitty!

Well, he was always a widdlw PSYCHO kitty...

And then he started growing...

Note the little heart on his butt? Ain't he CUTE???

and growing...

... aaaannnnnnndddd now, for your scritching pleasure... GIGANTOR!!!!

Rub my belly!!!!

Use this computer at your own risk...

Wha - huh?

Yeah, he's just a teeny tiny, eensty weensty, miniscule and minute little 22 lb cat!

*snicker*

*I decided not to post a picture of Maple here because I wasn't sure if it would be polite to do so, but please check her out on the WHS site link!

P.S. Found this when I went searching for the earlier musical link. One of my all-time favorite songs... Enjoy!

Caffeine or Not Caffeine?

2010-09-19T17:09:00.001+01:00

Caffeine, that wonderful drug! It's what wakes you up in the morning, keeps you going throughout the day, and makes life just move at a faster pace! Yes, it's wonderful! I sing its praises!

Uh, no... wait. I don't "do" caffeine. Why not? Well, it keeps me awake at night so I can't sleep, and well, there was that time when I passed out in the boss's office...

OK, that was 20+ years ago, but it is still important. To me, anyway. I had gone in to complain about something (as was pretty usual then), and suddenly I saw these little black dots in front of my eyes and felt myself sit back down somewhat abruptly. The next thing I knew, I was on the floor and the boss and assistant manager were freaking out and patting my cheeks to wake me up. JUST a little scary!

Soooo - I went to the doctor, found out I was anemic so he asked me about my eating and drinking habits. So I went through a typical work day: I would start off making a big pot of coffee (the 10-cup version) while I took a shower, and then drinking a big Renaissance Faire mug (at least 24 ounces, maybe more) of coffee while getting dressed, eating some toast, putting on make-up and drying my hair. Not necessarily in that order.

I'd finish off that pot re-filling the mug for my drive to the office. I was the first one in the office those days, so I'd make a pot of coffee just for me. By the end of an hour, I'd go back in, finish off that pot and make the three pots of coffee (two regular, one decaf) for the office. I'd drink coffee non-stop until about 10, 10:30, when I'd switch to Diet Coke. I'd drink those one after the other until 3:30 when I'd have one last Diet Coke for the drive home. And then I'd get home and have a beer.

At this point, the doctor exclaimed, "Of course you had a beer, you had to come down!" :-)

The doctor was concerned about a few things (caffeine, smoking, drinking, bad eating habits), but he figured the easiest one to quit would be caffeine so he told me I had to quit it cold turkey. I did, but I had a headcake for about two weeks! Don't let anyone tell you that caffeine is not a drug!

About a year later we were all laid off, and I decided to go to Computer Learning Center to get a piece of paper that said I was a programmer. Back in 1990, there weren't a lot of decaffeinated diet drinks (and Pepsi Free SUCKED!), so I generally just drank a lot of water. But sometimes I really wanted a soda, so I had to make the decision between caffeine or sugar. One time, I chose the caffeine. A few minutes later, my desk mate in CLC (who I had only known for about two weeks) asked me if I had gotten a diet Coke during the break. I said I had and asked him why? "Because you're bouncing off the walls!"

Well, it had been a year, and apparently my body just didn't quite know what to do with caffeine anymore. ;-)

(That was also the time of my life when I lost about 25lbs on the "No Time, No Money" diet. I was unemployed for 10 months and worked about a billion part-time jobs, and went to school. I look back on that time and wonder, "Who WAS that girl?" And btw, the "No Time, No Money" diet is NOT recommended!)

Fast forward about 15 years. I'm in a new job, still caffeine-free, and one of my friends decides to go on a Starbucks run so I asked for my usual ("decaf venti vanilla latte, no foam, and please make sure it's decaf!"). I drank about half of it and suddenly realized that it wasn't decaf. My first clue? Sweats, pasty skin, shaking... signs of an overdose if I've ever seen them! I went to the kitchen and drank gallons of water and then went into the Time Out room (one of our conference rooms that had nice couches and lights on a dimmer), and laid down for a while. When I felt better, I made excuses to my boss and went home. It was a serious scare to me, so I called my doctor.

My new doctor gave me a good idea. She told me I was probably right that I had overdosed and she said I could try inoculating myself. Basically, I could have a small dose of caffeine in the morning, which should help me avoid having another episode like that but it would still be early enough in the day so it wouldn't keep me up at night.

So now I stop by the Corner Bakery (or Soho or Au Bon Pain) and get a decaf coffee with a shot of hazelnut or whatever flavored "regular" coffee they've got. I might have another decaf coffee later on, because I love the flavor of coffee, but I don't do anymore caffeine. On weekends, I sometimes switch and drink about a 1/2 a coke, and then drink 7-Up or Sprite if I drink another soda. I think the best thing though is that I still tend to drink a lot water. Because water is actually REALLY good for you!

So, this was really boring, wasn't it? Well, we can't always be interesting and perky.

Yes, pun intended. :-)

A day like any other...

2010-09-11T21:13:00.004+01:00

I went to sleep last night planning to go to a wine festival today with some friends of mine, and then to a birthday party tonight for another friend. Good times! But then I woke up this morning feeling exhausted and decided to scratch the wine plans. Then I got out of bed and OUCH! My every-so-often slipped disc apparently decided to slip again. It's weird because it's very painful in my lower back so I can't stand up, but also it's a sharp stinging pain in my big toe! The body works in weird and wondrous ways…

But that's not the point of this post. (And now I understand why Damion says I "tend to wander a bit" before I get to the point… oops, I did it again!) ANYWAY…

I suddenly remembered that today is September 11^th.

Nine years ago this morning, hijackers flew a couple of airplanes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, and then into the Pentagon. Another airplane was taken over first by hijackers and then by the every-day ordinary Americans who heard about the other tragedies and took control of their own deaths to crash the plane in Shanksville, PA instead of flying it into the White House.

Wow, just writing that was hard.

I remember being frustrated that morning because somehow some idiot (me) had scheduled two meetings at 9am. Luckily, they were in conference rooms right next to each other and my friend Kia was in one of the meetings. Business as usual, not a problem, right? I stopped Kia outside the conference room a few minutes before 9am and asked her if she would take notes for me.

"Ummmm, no."

"What? Why?"

"Well, an airplane just flew into one of the Twin Towers."

"Hahaha, c'mon Kia, you can't get out it that easy…"

"No, I'm serious! Go check the TV in the kitchen; it's all over the news!"

I ran around the corner to the kitchen and sure enough, there was the North Tower in flames and Katie Couric and Matt Lauer were talking to an eye-witness about what had happened.

I sat there agape in the kitchen, which started to fill up as the rest of the office heard what was going on, and then suddenly… there was another plane. When that happened, I knew it was NOT an accident, it was a deliberate attack. And my eyes started leaking. I thought of all those people trying to get out of the building, and those who suddenly realized they were not going to be able to get out. I thought of the firefighters, EMS, and police who were moving INTO the building. I thought of all the families of those people. And I thought of myself.

Shortly before that time, I'd read a Tom Clancy book called Debt of Honor which detailed an attack on the U.S. where a guy flew a 747 airplane into the U.S. Capitol building. I knew what this was. And I was scared! What the good-googly-moogly was going on in this world? I thought of the impact on the US. What would happen now? Would we go to war again? Would we retaliate? What did the rest of the world think of this? This was just absolutely crazy!

I looked around the kitchen and there were various expressions: fright, confusion, fright, confusion, disbelief, tears, shock, confusion, fright. I work in a very international office and every single person was feeling the same things. And everyone was holding on to someone, whether they knew them well or not. You just didn't want to be alone. The world had just gone insane, so you needed contact!

I went back to my desk and emailed all of my friends in NYC to make sure they were OK (and heard from them, whew). I emailed my family. I went online to see if there was any more news. I wrote on my discussion board. And then I went back to the kitchen.

It was a nice kitchen. The office has since moved into fancier environs which have several plasma flat-screens, but I liked the old kitchen too. We had one 19" TV posted up in a corner. There was a high-top island, with seating for about 10 people, plus two lower tables with another eight seats and a counter that ran down the windows with another 5-10 seats. That morning there were at least 75-100 people squeezing in to share seats, stand by the vending machines, pull in office chairs, and crowd in around the coffee makers to stand four deep at the island. We were a family then, and all talking about what would happen next. Would we stay in the office? Could we? How could we continue working as usual on a day like this?

About 30 minutes later, we were watching the towers and NBC's Chief Pentagon Correspondent, Jim Miklaszewski, was talking about what the military knew about the hijacked planes. They went on to talk to a State Dept person who mentioned that the airports were closed. I got up to get more water, and as I sat back down, my friend leaned over and whispered in a horrified voice: "the Pentagon's been hit!"

"What? No, they're showing the towers, that's what they're talking about!"

"No, Mikleszewski is at the Pentagon and he just felt something hit!"

More shock, disbelief, confusion, and real fear. The Pentagon is not that far away from 20^th and L Streets NW where we worked! We hurried over to the south side of the building and sure enough, there was smoke from the Pentagon direction. The shakes began then. And then I thought about my friends who work at the Pentagon. The local news people were wondering whether the White House or other DC places might be targets. And then I thought… "I gotta get home!"

I ran back to my desk, closed down the laptop, and started packing up. As I was doing that, there was an announcement through the office that we were closing, so I didn't feel too guilty. I got my backpack set to go and went back into the kitchen.

And the South tower fell. Gasps, horror, tears.

And then a car bomb exploded in front of the State Dept. about a mile away…

And then the North tower fell too.

Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! Hugs. Tears. Prayers. Shakes. Oh those poor people. Oh those poor people!

And then we heard a rumor about a bomb threat on the Metro at Farragut North… yes, that would be the station I use to get onto the Metro.

So now what? I lived in Bethesda at that time, I didn't drive, there were no buses that went from here to there, and I couldn't take the metro. I guess I'd get a really good workout walking home! All ten miles! (It's really about seven miles, but I didn't know that then...)

And I felt just a little selfish. I heard of the people who jumped out of the towers because they couldn't take it. I later saw footage of the people who had to walk out of Manhattan wearing whatever they had on, covered with the detritus of the WTC, having no idea where they were going, no idea if their friends and family (and pets) were alive, no idea if their HOME still existed. And I was bummed about walking home a few miles. I think the main thing though was walking home alone.

Kia was a life saver for me in many ways that day, because she offered me a ride up to Silver Spring where I could then take the one of the "J" buses back over to Bethesda. As we were leaving the office, the fire alarms went off. PERFECT! Like we were not already freaked out enough! Turned out to be another bomb threat. So we were definitely leaving…

Luckily, Kia had parked in a different building so we were able to get her car out and start our long trek to Silver Spring -- along with EVERYONE else in DC -- around 11am.

It was like a snow day, with everyone in the world trying to get out of DC -- except that it was the most beautiful, gorgeous, sunshiny Tuesday. It seemed so weird. The sky was absolutely clear, azure blue. No airplanes. Lots of sunshine. No snow, no rain, not a natural catastrophe -- it was man-made this time.

Kia had given two other people a ride as well, and we listened avidly to the radio to find out what was happening. We heard about UA 93 and we worried. We heard about the other buildings falling. We heard survivors talking and we cried. I think it took about three hours to drive a little less than seven miles to the Metro station in Silver Spring. Another hour for the bus to get me to Bethesda, and I was home by about 3pm-ish. Alone.

My voice mail was full of messages from people outside of DC calling to see if I was OK, and I remembering thinking that that was so bizarre… why worry about me? I'm not in NYC; I don't work at the Pentagon! And then I remembered that there had been rumors that the fourth plane was headed for the White House… which is about four blocks from my office. And the bomb threat in the Metro, and the one in my building. OK, I can see the worry.

So I called everyone back to let them know I was fine but freaked out, and got to freak out along with them. By this point, I was exhausted from all of the fear and emotion. I had cried and pulled myself together at least four times already and it was only 3:30pm! Once I finished all my calls, I finally turned the TV back on again. I changed clothes and sat down with my two kitties to watch the news and cry.

Alone.

And I couldn't take it.

I washed my face, put on some mascara, hugged my cats again (much to Jamocha's disgust and Calypso's sheer joy) and headed two blocks away to my favorite pub (short walk there, short crawl home). I walked down the stairs into the dank, dark basement that used to be Flanagan's, and was interested to see that none of the tables were lighted up or occupied, but the bar was packed. A couple of guys let me squeeze onto a stool between them, and the bartender poured me a beer while asking where I was when it happened.

I started crying. But this time, I immediately had arms around me, friends patting my back, and a strong hand holding my hand. It helped. It really helped.

As we heard more and more about what had happened, watched the footage over and over, heard about the bravery of the passengers of UA 93, watched as more buildings collapsed, and saw the beginnings of the search for survivors, I turned and looked around the rest of the pub. The restaurant portion was still mostly dark, but the bar was shoulder to shoulder and about four people deep. We had also become a family that evening. I don't know how long I stayed at Flanagan's, but I know I poured myself into the bed that night. Getting hammered probably isn't the best way to handle a major traumatic event, but it sure was better getting drunk with my new "family" than getting drunk all by my lonesome!

The U.S. started bombing runs in Afghanistan that night. Someone brought in the late edition of the Washington Post, and put up a poster of a target with Osama Bin Laden's face on it. I had to laugh a bit at that, but it wasn't a happy laugh, more of an ironic chuckle. I just knew we were going to war again, and I didn't like the idea. Of course, I liked the idea of blowing up the Twin Towers and the Pentagon even less. It really was not a good day.

I woke up the next day with a massive tears and beers hangover (I hate crying!), and was happy to find out that my office was closed. Well, pretty much everything was closed. I don't know what I did that day or the next, because it's a blur to me. I probably watched the news. I remember going back to work a few days later and being absolutely shocked, but somewhat comforted, by the Humvees and armed guardsmen (and women) on every corner in DC. The skies were still empty, and the world was still upside down and we were going to war again in the Middle East, but I just felt it was going to get better.

So, has it?

Maybe I'll write about that next time.

Meanwhile, take care of yourself and your loved ones. Thank a soldier. Remember the people who died in the Towers, the Pentagon and the passengers of all four airplanes, especially UA 93, and their bravery. Remember the people who went into the burning buildings to save people. Remember what it meant to you when it happened. Remember what it changed in you.

Mostly, remember that it was all the fault of a few fanatics, and NOT the entire population of Muslims in the world. Extremism is wrong no matter what the faith.

Positive Picketing

2010-08-22T14:58:00.003+01:00

So the other day I'm walking to the Juice Joint to pick up lunch and I noticed a protest going on down the street from my office.

It wasn't so much the shouts of the people walking in a well-organized picket line that caught my attention as much as the giant inflated RAT in the back of the pick-up truck! I had never seen anything like it, so I had to take a picture and post it on Facebook. (One of my FB friends illuminated me: apparently this is a "union rat" ... ohhhhhh)

ANyway - I started thinking. (OUCH!)

Why is it that people only seem to make a big noise about negative things, like unfair pay? Or protesting against something they don't believe is good and right, like the anti-gay protesters. Why is it always so negative and ugly?

And then I remembered a video a friend of mine had sent me a few days back, about people in Germany or somewhere giving away free hugs. (On further reasearch, there's apparently a whole movement about free hugs... Go check out the Free Hugs Campaign.) I loved the concept - it's positive and reminds people that there is good will and kindness out there in the world, and most importantly, we're not all alone.

As I walked back from JJ, I decided to walk on the same side of the street as the protest and check it out a little more. I was interested in how much fun the participants were having. Yes, it was a protest, and they were angry about how they were being treated, but ... they were having fun! They were chanting and singing and dancing and it was a joint effort. They had water and shade for people to sit and rest if they got hot and tired (98* in the sun), they had a leader shouting out the chants, and they switched off that role so no one got tired out.

And I wondered...

What if we had positive picket lines? What would happen if a bunch of people got together and set up a picket line to publicize something they LIKED? Can you imagine a big line of happy, dancing, chanting people walking around in a circle ... say in Lafayette Park across from the White House, saying "We like Obama!" Or maybe in front of the Verizon Center saying "Let's go CAPS!" Or maybe something more lowkey like giving away free hugs in front of the Vietnam Memorial. Wouldn't it be great?

I don't know. There is just too much negativity out there, so I just wish we had more "acceptable" ways of celebrating the positives in life. Or maybe I've just got stars in my eyes.

I'm gonna figure this out...

A purse is a purse is a purse

2010-08-10T22:09:00.000+01:00

I saw somewhere recently that there's a blogger who asks people to send in pictures of what's in their purses. My first responses: "Are you flippin' CRAZY?"

But then today I was looking for a pen. I had one with black ink, but I needed one with some sort of color for contrast as I marked up my notes. I reached over the desk to the cup in which I usually keep my pens and realized the contents were all dry-erase, Sharpies, pencils, straws (straws?) or scissors. "Strange," I said to myself, "where have all my pens gone?"

I remembered putting a pen into my bag yesterday so I could do the crossword on the bus home -- because I hadn't been able to find a pen on the morning ride. So, I decided to search for a pen. I dug and I dug, and then just up-ended my bag and found a pen...weellll, about 20 pens. All different colors. Got your basic black, blue, and red, but also purple (4), teal, orange, green, and pink. What's life without a little color??? ;-)

I also found about 8 different types of lip goop (including two Chapsticks, so I'm still the Chapstick Queen), three types of hand lotion, eye liner, and about six hair tie/clip thingies. Not to mention two phones (one work cell and my old phone that doesn't work but has all my contacts on it... note the absence of my current cell phone... which is LOST!!! sob sob sob I think it's on an island with a polar bear), a hairbrush, an umbrella, a book, a balsawood fan (engraved (etched?) with "Sara & Dan 06-26-10" Awwww!), two newspapers, dental floss, a mirror, a notebook, allergy meds, hand sanitizer (2), two folded reusable grocery bags, a Clif bar, a phone headset, gum, nail clippers, and a Metro card.

Wow. Who knew how much crap you can fit into one bag? I wonder what all of this says about me... Obsession with pens, and hair... and who knew I used so much lip goop?

Now as I leave the office, I'm going to put everything back in the bag, add a bottle of water and head on away hame, as my Scottish friend would say...

So have a lovely day!

Random Thoughts - Things I Like

2010-07-29T21:55:00.008+01:00

I love the rain. We've been having big storms lately, with big fat saturated drops that splash happily on your face and suddenly you're sopping... LOVE IT!   Want to go play in it. Except that lightening thing.

Have you seen Inception yet? Christopher Nolan has a very twisty brain. Thank goodness!

If I could have dogs in my apartment, Stella, the five-week old Rotty puppy up for adoption on the Washington Humane Society page would be MINE! She reminds me of Ron. A very very small (and female) Ron, but...

Hmmm... Maybe I should move?

Have you gotten addicted to True Blood yet?   I have. I started watching the Season 1 DVDs a little over a month ago. And now I'm only one episode behind. Is there a cure for this? Don't want it! Go check out Jessica's blog, it's hilarious!!

My friend from Montana is coming to visit next week. We will have fun, it is decreed!

Stevie Ray Vaughn is awesome.

"Unctuous" DOES mean oily, slimy, overly solicitious... like Uriah Heep.   Just ask Webster's Dictionary. It does NOT mean "delicious". That's scrumptious. :-) Not to be bumptious or anything. *snicker*

Speaking of words... I really enjoyed playing Balderdash with my niece and her friends on her 21st birthday.    It was a convivial afternoon, with a bunch of grandgousiers who fnezed. heehee

And they learned that "hydrating while you dehydrate" is a good rule of thumb for more than just running.

Working half-days on Fridays is really fantastic. The other four nine-hour days ain't so much fun, but starting the weekend early does NOT suck!

It's nice to know that I have friends and family who care about me. Especially when I have a panic attack. Or just need a hug. Or a giggle. That IS my name after all! LOL

And my cat is snuggly.

Take care y'all, and be excellent to each other!

Mom

2010-07-26T20:23:00.000+01:00

I was cleaning my house (and saw pigs flying outside my window) and found my old Creative Writing folder. There was one thing I wanted to find and was very pleased to do so. It was an assignment to write something about someone you admired, and I wrote it about my Mom. This might have been written 15 years ago, but it all still applies! :-)

Mom (September, 1995)

She is a short, silver-haired dynamo. She walks very fast and with a slight lean forward, as if her legs just don't move fast enough for her. She has an unwrinkled face with sparkling blue eyes and a bright, pink-lipped smile, and a ready laugh. Somehow the cloud of white hair doesn't match the youth and personality shining through her.

What is her secret? "I enjoy life! I believe that if you greet each day with a smile, you can't go wrong. I also truly believe that the more you give, the more you get. I have lived a full life, a life full of joy and sorrow, but the Lord has blessed me with the ability to accept the sorrows and celebrate the joys -- this keeps me young!"

I saw Jesus today...

2010-06-21T14:09:00.001+01:00

No really! He was on the bus this morning! OK, not really. But I've never wanted to take a picture of a complete stranger SO much in my life! He got on the DC Circulator in Columbia Heights (I think), a man of African descent, probably around 40, with slightly graying dreads down to his elbows, and a slightly gaunt, handsome face, with deep, very serene eyes. He wore a cream coloured loose-fitting shirt and black palazzo pants and sandals, and he sat on the edge of his seat with one foot on the ground in front of him and the other on the step down... and he seemed so very comfortable in himself.

He got off the bus at 14th and P Streets, and I wanted to follow him.

Maybe it was his serenity, maybe it was the palazzo pants, maybe it was the realization that he looked closer to what Jesus probably really DID look like (although I'm not sure about the dreads...), but... I saw Jesus today and it was cool.

I don't want to talk about it

2010-06-20T23:52:00.006+01:00

Have you ever said that? And then the person you're speaking with probes you for more information? That drives me crazy.

I had to make a tough decision last week to NOT go on a vacation I had been looking forward to for a while. The decision was based on some work issues and some personal stuff, but nothing major except that I was stressing out and having made the decision made me feel better.

So, this guy at work -- not a close friend, but we had spoken about this vacation -- catches me in the kitchen and asks me if I am counting the days etc - so I told him that I had had to cancel it. He asked me what happened. I was in a rush, and just said, "Well, a combination of work and personal stuff, blah blah blah..." (Literally said "blah blah blah" as I'm re-filling my water bottle between meetings).

I figured that was it, but he came up to me and said, sotto voce: "Soooo, what happened?"

"Um, well," I stepped back a bit, "I don't really want to get into it, OK?"

"So, was it work stuff? Family stuff?"

*slightly long pause as I just stare him*

"As I said, I don't really want to talk about it right now, OK? It's nothing awful, just ... ya know..."

"Oh. OHHH!" he said as if whatever "it" was had just dawned on him, "Well, I hope it all gets better!"

... and I walked away...

I walked back to my office thinking, "what part of "I don't really want to get into it" did you not understand?" Is it me? It's not like he's my closest friend who might understand it all, and it's also not like anyone is injured or anything, it's just that it was less stressful for me to decide NOT to go than to keep trying to go! And it really isn't any of his business!

Now, the big difference? When I talked about the same thing with my close friend, I did a bit of an experiment and said, "I don't really want to get into it, it was just some work stuff and some personal stuff." She said, "Well, I understand that. If you want to talk about it, just let me know -- but the main things is: do you feel better about having made the decision?"

And THAT, my friends, is why she IS my close friend... :-)

Fattitude

2010-05-20T14:19:00.002+01:00

My sister has started writing a blog about her battle(s) with her weight and how she is winning the battle. It's most interesting to me because I followed her into a lot of those battles! When I was in High School, I felt I was WAAaaaay overweight - and looking back, I realize that I was NOT overweight, I was just athletic and had big boobs! Probably the fact that my brother decided to "protect" me from all of his guy friends by hanging the nickname "Ugly" on me didn't help much either, but that's a story for another time. The thing is, my senior year, I decided to stop "dieting" and working out (I did shot put, track, and swim team)... and I lost 25 lbs in about two weeks.

As I said in the comments on my sister's blog: For me, my weight battle is not so much about winning, it's more about being happy with who I am. So, I am beginning to embrace my "fattitude" and realize that my weight and my general appearance really DO have a lot to do with my attitude and how I'm feeling. Heck, if I don't love me, why should anyone else? Right? (Thank Phred for therapy! hahaha)

I learned a loooooong time ago that if I ever try to ban something from my diet, I crave it almost obsessively. No more chocolate! I WANT HERSHEY'S!!! No more red meat! ARE YOU FRICKING KIDDING ME??? No more broccoli! Hey, that stuff is good for you! I'll eat as much as I want, so there... No more sex! *sigh*

Instead of eliminating the "bad" stuff from my diet, I've been able to reduce the amount of it I eat. For example: I would be a great vegetarian... except for that burger thing. I loooooooove burgers! Cheeseburgers! My favorite is with crispy bacon and blue cheese crumbles... oh YUM! My doctor would probably call that "heart attack on a plate" and she'd be right. I used to eat burgers a couple of times a week, because Nanny's makes AWESOME burgers - and burgers have made a sort of culinary renaissance lately so there are numerous "fancy" burger joints around. I started out telling myself I could only have one burger a week, and then eventually switched to one a month. The thing is, I realized recently that there have been months when I have more than one burger (such as this one), but then... there are also several months when I don't have a burger at all. All it has really done is help me be more aware of what I am eating. Instead of ALWAYS getting the burger, I'll think about how many I've had in the last few weeks. I've also started getting a salad with my burger instead of fries. Not really a big thing because I'm not really a big French Fries fan. They're all right, but give me a good salad with black olives and ranch dressing and I'm a goner! (Yeah, "healthy" salad... but better than fries!) The good thing? My cholesterol has gone down from "just over the border" to "just under the border". And I feel better.

The other thing I've done is start exercising again. DC recently opened a gorgeous, FREE 50-meter pool near my house, and I've got a gym in the basement of my building. With the weather (hopefully) turning nice, I hope to start running again... especially since I'm signed up to do the Army Ten Miler again in October! Swimming is still my favorite exercise, even though you have to wear a bathing suit. It just feels so good! I told a friend once that swimming just makes me feel long and lean. I'm 5'2" and well, not lean, but swimming makes me feel um... long and lean! What's not to like? :-)

Hmmmmm- I think I've been babbling. But that's a good thing, right? At least I'm writing, and I'm thinking, and I'm alive. Life is good. Sure beats the alternative!

OK - one last thing, name the movie:

Just remember: No matter where you go, there you are!

Bravery

2010-05-18T16:11:00.004+01:00

I just read the most amazing story about bravery and just loved his definition:

Bravery isn’t being fearless. Fearlessness is idiocy. It’s why they recruit Marines so young.
Being brave means being scared as hell and doing what you’ve got to do anyway.

Well, the story is about cancer and depression, which sounds really depressing, but... it's not. It's about friendship and truth and life.

Go check it out: And I'm Not Lying

I've had therapists like his and wish I had the cojones to say what he did!

Edited to add: And I didn't even realize the irony of my throw-away line at the end until JUST NOW! LOL *smack head*

Self Indulgent Rant

2010-05-14T17:39:00.000+01:00

There's been something bothering me lately. It all started around Mother's Day, a day which is like any other Sunday, except that it has been put aside as the day to celebrate all mothers as the wonderful human beings they are because they gave birth to someone.

But that's not true. Just giving birth does not automatically make a person wonderful. Just ask Renee Bowman's daughters. But that's also not the point of this post.

In the last several years, I've had several married friends who have been unable to get pregnant naturally, so they have gone through IVF and other tortures in the desperate attempt to have children. Sadly, these attempts have not worked, so to them, Mother's Day is just a big fat slap in the face. As is any pregnant belly that accosts them at work or the store, or whatever. I love them and I feel for them, I really do. I think it would be great to have little versions of them running around in the world, especially because I would TOTALLY spoil them rotten. I think they would probably be great parents, and I empathize with them on the fact that they can't have children.

The problem is that really, neither can I. Well, I don't know if it is still physically possible, but realistically, I can't have children either. Why? I'm single. I haven't had a steady boyfriend in years, and it doesn't really look like I'm going to get one anytime soon. Or ever.

I've said this before, and people have responded with "Well, couldn't you do the sperm donor thing?" And they are completely missing the point: why would I want to create a child with some stranger who happens to meet whatever impersonal criteria I put on an application? Shouldn't a child be created out of love? Should I create a child just so that I can get the love I don't have in my life? That's just stupid. Quite honestly, I'm tired of being alone. But I'm not going to purposefully create a life just to keep me company. I have a cat for that.

But I think I would have been a great parent too, mostly because I'm a pretty good aunt (which I love being), but… it would have been nice to be able to have a child with someone I loved and who loved me and with whom I wanted to spend the rest of my life, watching our kids grow up. My childless friends seem to forget that at least they have that person in their lives, even if they don't have the kids.

So – what's my point? I think this started really bothering me when one friend asked me how another friend who has been going through all the IVF stuff survived Mother's Day. I understood her concern, but the conversation went on and on about how sad it was to know that "you and your husband" couldn't have kids, and it just bothered me. I felt that my own heartbreak didn't matter.

And it does matter. It's the sort of thing that gets a girl depressed, which certainly doesn't help her meet and fall in love with the perfect man who will whisk her away on his Fluffy White Horse and swear his love and fidelity forever and ever and kiss her JUST right and they'll all live happily ev … *cough* Sorry about that... went off into Fantasyland there for a sec! ;-)

Anyway, self-indulgent rant over. I just wanted to say that there is another viewpoint in all of this. Yes, it's awful when you go through all of that and realize that your body just can't do what you need it to do. Just think how horrible you would feel if your body could do it, but there was no one to do it with.
.
.
.

OK, I'm going to see Robin Hood tonight so I can fantasize about a bearded rebel wearing leather and riding a big white horse. And don't worry, I'm seeing my therapist next week. :-) (And get your mind out of the gutter.)

Hugs and kisses, kiddycats!

Spring Fashion in DC... ACK

2010-04-06T19:17:00.009+01:00

Hello blog! How are you? It's been aaaaaages! I've missed you so! *hugs* *air kisses*

*AHEM*

Sorry. Sometimes I anthropomorphize(1) a tad too much.

And sometimes I get distracted by SAT words. In the immortal words of my sister...

"Squirrel!"

*snicker* *snort* *guffaw*

(I know, I know -- WAY too easily amused!)

ANYWAY - I haven't written in a while, but over the last week or so, something has made me take note and start writing a post in my head. Basically, Spring has sprung in DC and apparently it has so addled people's brains that they are commiting the worst fashion fox passes EVER!

I freely admit that I'm guilty of my own faux pas, such as flip flops with dresses, sneakers with work clothes, a basic wardrobe of t-shirts and jeans/shorts, etc. So, I'm not a fashion plate in ANY sense of the word and could probably be greatly helped by Clinton and Stacy, but ... c'mon people! Do you look in a mirror?

OK, a few cases in point:

Man on the metro, very nicely dressed in a suit and tie, dress shirt etc. And then he stands up and he's wearing JEANS! Seriously? Is it "casual day" only from the waist down? (And to make matters worse? He was wearing dress shoes!)
Men at bars, on the metro, whereever... wearing jeans or khakis, button-down shirt, no tie and... a suit jacket. No, sorry, a suit jacket is NOT the same as a "sports" jacket. Just because it is shaped like a blazer does not mean it "goes" with jeans! And yes, this was not just one man, I saw this all over the place over the weekend.
A woman on the metro in a very nice sleeveless silk sort-of-watercolor print dress, wearing nice pair of black mary-jane type heels... with white ankle socks! Hm. Going for a "cute, school-girly" look? Not working for you... and oh no! They AREN'T THE SAME PAIR OF SOCKS! AAAAGH!
Last but not least... Let me set the scene for the most egregious case and the one that really prompted me to write: Easter Sunday, we go to the Marriott Wardman Park for a very nice champagne brunch. My friends and I are having a wonderful nosh when this teen girl walks in front of us on her way to the buffet. I turned, speechless, to my friend Kay, who was turning, speechless, to me. Oh. My. God! The girl was wearing a skirt so short the world's her gynecologist!(2) It was one of the bubble mini-skirts with ruffly things to make your ass look big (and did a great job too). It literally hugged her butt, and honey let me tell you, that was one butt that should not have been hugged! The poor teen was not fat, but she had enough heft to make that dress one of the worst decisions she'd made up to that point. Kay and I were just hoping she wouldn't bend over... "Oy, we're eatin' heeeere!"

And then we started feeling bad for being extremely catty on Easter Sunday. " I know I promised, Lord, never again. But I also know that YOU know what a weak-willed person I am. " (Name that movie!)

But seriously, does the girl not have a mirror? Or friends? Kay and I solemnly swore that we would NEVER let each other out of the house wearing anything close to that. That's what friends are for, right?

*SIGH*

OH well - at least I haven't seen any women wearing white nylons yet. Yeah, I don't get it either. The only people who should wear white nylons are nurses, and I don't think even THAT is true anymore!

Let's review, shall we?
Men: Suit coats go with suit pants. Sports coats go with jeans or khakis. Sort of. Jeans shorts are right out.

Women: If you're going for something cutsey, you still need to be neat and clean and MATCH goldarnit!. And if you're going for the mini and your thighs meet at any point below the hem- RETHINK! NObody wants to see that! (My eyes, my eyes!)

And thank you Lord for knowing how weak-willed I am. Meow. I mean, Amen. :-)

OK - back to work, dear blogaroo. Keep in touch!

(1) SAT word of the day: anthropomorphism - The attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena.
(2) Thank you Patsy in Absolutely Fabulous

Spring Sprang Sprung

2010-03-24T16:51:00.002Z

Yep, I was awoken by VERY loud birds on Monday morning (apparently the chick on the next block is SUPER HOT!), and lots of the trees have begun to bud, but we had cold rain Monday afternoon and Tuesday, and my allergies are going haywire. Must be Spring in DC!

And I say BRING IT ON! My toenails are painted paink, my fingernails got the deep purple treatment, and I'm ready for the sun!

The milk of human kindness... or is that coffee?

2010-03-08T14:23:00.003Z

This morning was turning out to be crap. My allergies are in full-blown "It's SPRING dangit!" mode and my bus misadventures just seem to continue to haunt me on Monday mornings. BUT, as it turned out my bus came shortly after the (running very late) other bus route and got me down to work pretty much on time. I stopped by Corner Bakery as I do just about every day, ordered my coffee and a panini because I was hungry and then looked into my ginormous bag for my wallet... and looked... and looked... and... Crap! I left my wallet on my couch after I used it to add money to my laundry card yesterday!

I looked up to the cashier and said, "Uh, I have a problem! I think I left my wallet at home!" I was about to cancel everything and walk away, but she put the coffee cup up on the counter and said, "Oh no problem, you get your coffee and food today, and pay us tomorrow." At first I thought she was just going to give me a free coffee, but no, she trusted me to come back tomorrow and pay for the whole thing! "You're a regular customer, no problem!"

So, yes, I got my bacon and cheddar panini (I'm sure it's extremely healthy for you), and the best coffee in town, and walked to work smiling. And then I saw the guy walking his corgi... and I smiled even bigger!

What a nice start to the week! And it could have been so much worse! ;-)

Balderdash, anyone?

2010-02-24T20:27:00.011Z

Have you ever noticed the words you have to enter when you are posting a comment or getting tickets to something online? You know, the text is all wonky

I think it's supposed to make sure it's a human trying to do whatever you're trying to do. I kinda like the idea that it assumes that a computer can't read wonky text, but sometimes they get really out of hand and even *I* can't read the wonky text!

But, what has caught my attention the most lately is not the weirdness of the text, but the text itself. Have you noticed the WORDS being used? Here is a sampling of the words I've seen lately (and yes, I am just that ana…um… METICULOUS... why?):

outsupen
gulcater
haliseab
resoze
undster
calumme
hyperst
gisel
scrystsh
tmentio
snesse
aedogi

Are those even words? Some of them seem SOOOOO close to being words, but well, I just don't think so… Sounds a bit like a Balderdash game, doesn't it? Can you put it in a sentence, Alex?

I bet I can outsupen you in the gulcater, but you'll have to resoze the hyperst or it will be a calumme! Don't tmentio it to your undster, just scrystsh the haliseab and we'll be gisel. Aedogi?

(Snesse!) Bless you!

*heeheehee*

How much is that doggie...?

2010-02-22T00:59:00.005Z

I have to introduce you to my favorite dog of the whole show... Ron the Rottie: I was walking around and saw this Rottweiler just chillin' between his owner and handler, who were talking to each other and ignoring him completely.

I asked if I could take a picture and got to meet Ron

Shortly after this picture was taken, I put my hand out for him to sniff so I could pet him. He licked it. Then he licked my wrist. And then up my arm, and then LICK LICK LICK LICK alllllll over my nose and face! His owner was horrified, but I was giggling madly with my arm over his shoulders laughing, "It's PERFECT! I love it!" hahaha

I heart Ron...

Kickin' the bucket... no, not that bucket!

2010-02-21T19:52:00.011Z

I was lucky enough to go to the Westminster Kennel Club show last week. My preferred dog didn't win, but then, I really couldn't pin down just ONE dog that I wanted to win! :-) I had a WONDERFUL time and met at least 100 different dogs. Some were too buys working, some were sacked out, some were being silly, and one decided to lick me all over. Wow, what a dog fix! (I have to have those regularly or I go into cataplexy... luckily, there are a LOT of dogs in my neighborhood!) And yes, the pun was intended...

ANYWAY - I'll probably do another post about my ginormous dog fix later, but one of my friends reminded me of how lucky I was to be able to go to this show. And I realized that I'm kinda going through a bucket list of sorts.

So, I decided to start writing it down, and realized that sports are a large part of my life. And music. And traveling. And doing stupid things. And doing things for others. I think this is the start of something. I've already checked off the things I've already done at least once, but that doesn't mean I can't do them again!

I'm sure that my list will grow and change, but here it is so far, in no particular order...

Go to the Olympics:

Summer - (Atlanta 1996)
Winter -

Go to Westminster Kennel Club show - (2010)
Attend something amazing and historical on the Mall in DC - (Bill Clinton Inauguration, Jan. 1993)
Run a marathon - (Baltimore 2003)
See a Broadway show (on Broadway) - (Spamalot, Lestat (awful!), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Equus)
Go to the Stanley Cup finals
Go to the World Cup finals
Go to Wimbledon (the whole dang thing!)
Go to the Super Bowl
Go to the World Series
Sing the Messiah in a choir
Jump out of an airplane for no good reason
Play "Rhapsody in Blue" in concert, preferably at Carnegie Hall (Guess I have to finish learning the piece first!)
Hike the Appalachian Trail
See Elton John and Billy Joel play together
Go to Ireland, Scotland, Wales
Go to Australia & New Zealand
Take a cruise
Go to Canada
Visit every continent
Start a charity/non-profit

To help runaway teens
To help shelter animals
To feed the hungry
To clothe and house the homeless
To support our military personnel and their families

Shake hands with the President of the USA
Have a beer with Russell Crowe
Ride a roller coaster in every state that has one
Go back up Laan Tau and stay in Cabin #18
Record a song with my nephew
Stop crying at the ASPCA ads with Sarah McLaughlin's "Angel" playing... sob sob sob
Get a house with a huge yard so I can have about 10 dogs! (From the shelter, natch!)

p.s. Pics from my doggie weekend are here

There's SNOW business like SNOW business like SNOW business I knowwwww....

2010-02-06T17:25:00.014Z

Snowzilla, snowpocalypse, snowgasm, snowbama, whatever you want to call it... It's HERE!

Here in DC, we've had a LOT of snow this year, and right now, we're going through the BIGGIE! A local newsman (Pat Collins, NBC4) is stationed three blocks away and measured about 16" of snow at around 9am this morning. (p.s. upgraded to 23" at 12n-ish) Aaaaaaand, we're expecting another 10-12" when the "big" snow falls this afternoon. FUN!

No, I really mean it! FUN!!!!

DC is not equipped to handle this kind of snow, but it's doing OK, considering. The Metro is limited to the underground stations and there's no bus service since we hit 8" accumulation, but the road crews have been working all night and have gotten the main roads fairly clear. Well, they're still covered, but the snow is all nice and smooth... for the most part. ;-)

Started out the day yesterday with a 1/2 day working from home, then went and braved the grocery store. Not sure why since all the shelves were empty!

Got home, took a shower, and then went down to join Daphne and other friends at Nanny's. I walked in and asked "Who are all these people and WHY are they crowding up MY PUB????" I guess a few other people had the same idea. Regardless, we had a great time and chatted with friends, watched the Caps game (#13 in a row, woohoo!) at Aroma, and went down to Murphy's to see her boyfriend play. I was planning to get "stranded" at Daphne's house last night, but... I wanted to wake up in my own bed!

So I decided to take the metro and trudge the four blocks home. I started trying to walk through the 8-10" of unshoveled snow on the sidewalk, but ended up walking in the street (toward traffic so I could see it coming), along with a LOT of other people. And that was a piece of cake! Well, except when the snowplow came by and I had to jump to the side - and straight into the thigh-high snow! But it was fun, and I got home feeling like I'd had a hard-core work-out and fell asleep almost as soon as I hit the pillow.

This morning was an early awakening when Calypso (aka Pyschokitty) wanted to get under the covers with me because the snow had started up again in earnest and was clicking against the window. Sure is nicer to have a snuggle bug on a snowy day vs. being stuck alone, by myself, and all by my lonesome in a 4BR house with no other living creatures! (i.e. 1996 snowstorm from hell aka "When Giggles loses all of her marbles"). And then my sister called because texting takes too long. :-) After a bowl of tomato soup and a cheese sandwich (Mm Mm Good!), I'm debating right now over staying at home and sleeping or getting my butt off the couch and going for a walk, or maybe even checking out the Official Dupont Circle Snowball Fight in, surprisingly enough, Dupont Circle.

Actually that last one sounds like the most fun... not necessarily to participate, but to go down and get Krispy Kreme donuts and coffee while taking pictures. YUM! And it's all on the metro, so all I'd have to do is walk to and from the metro again.

Zzzzzzz Zzzzzzz Zzzzzzz OH! Wha-huh? Oh sorry, snoozed off there for a sec... so maybe it will be option #1 after all!

Have a safe and warm weekend, Giggles OUT!

NOTE: These are all pics from my phone. I took a lot of other pictures with my "real" camera and as soon as I can find the cord, I'll upload those and post them as well.

Stress management 101

2010-01-27T16:58:00.009Z

My friend Daphne is having a bad day. Someone (who we shall call "Miranda") drove her so crazy that she punched the phone. So, being the friend I am, I tried to help... via gmail chat:

me: Sounds like you need to go outside, find a park, raise your arms above your head as you face the sky, screaming your lungs out. Or go throw darts at Miranda's face...

[about 15 minutes later] Daphne: Hey, it worked!

me: Which one?

Daphne: The first.

me: Screaming is always good - less destructive too. Of course, the homeless people in the park might think you belong there...

Daphne: They high fived me

me: LOL - excellent! you're making new friends! LOL

Daphne: yeah. They agreed Miranda's a bitch.

me: bwahahaha

And my work is done...

Coffee and sunshine

2010-01-22T16:08:00.008Z

It was supposed to snow/sleet/hail this morning, but it is really more of a cold rain. I'm OK with it, but I was among the thousands of people hoping for a huge block-all-roads type of storm so that we didn't have to go to work today. BUT, it's not all bad: I only work 1/2 days on Fridays anyway, so I just have to go in for four hours and then I'm done! And this way I don't slip all over the place... much. ;-)

But today started off extra nice: My normal commute is cross-the-street, take-the-bus-to-the-end-of-the-route, stop-at-Corner Bakery-for-coffee*, walk-three-blocks-to-the-office. It can be made into a bad commute by watching the bus fly by my stop as I'm stuck on the other side of Connecticut Ave because the light hasn't changed. Today, the light changed and then the bus pulled up to the stop RIGHT as I was walking across the street! PERFECT! I scrambled on, and waddled through to a seat in the back (trying not to hit anyone with my bags), and waited until the metro stop when everyone else gets off (just about). Then I slipped over to the empty seat and got comfy. I read my magazine since I didn't have time to pick up the Express, but it was good because I finished it - and I'll get a new one this afternoon anyway!

Then I get to the end of the route at McPherson Square, and I'm walking across the square, headed to the Corner Bakery. Another passenger had gotten off the bus from the front door and so was walking straight toward me at an angle and we almost ran into each other. I stopped and let her go first with an "Oops!" and a giggle and she walked forward, but turned back to say, "You're so pretty!"

I was a bit stunned because that's not something you hear too often after letting someone pass in front of you, but ... and this is key ... I smiled and said, "Thank you!" Sometimes, you've just got to take a compliment, eh?

So yes, it's a gray, rainy, cold morning, but I got a little sunshine this morning. And it's going to be a good day. It might not be like last summer in Kitty Hawk, but it sure feels nice anyway!

*Best coffee in town, I do not lie!

UPDATE: Edited to clarify that the picture posted above is from my vacation last summer in Kitty Hawk, and here are more of them. Yes, I took it. And yes, I really want to be there now. REALLY!

Random Thoughts

2010-01-21T13:26:00.005Z

So, is it wrong to eat Ben & Jerry's "Everything but the..." ice cream while watching "The Biggest Loser"?

word play

2010-01-13T13:20:00.005Z

I was just revising my profile name back to Giggles and I noticed that one of the labels in my last post was "materialistism"... What a great word! I guess it means that I like "stuff" AND I have a tendency to make lists? Both true. But really, what it's all about is that I love a good typo... it gives one the opportunity to create a new word. I have a friend who used to give me great typos all the time, but she found spell check -- and I realized that she thought I was making fun of her when I came up with definitions for the words she created. I wasn't, honest!

The Washington Post used to have a columnist named Bob Levey, and he had a monthly neologism contest: he would provide a definition and invite readers to submit the new word to which the definition belonged. I loved the contest, but never won. My sister won, twice, but we came to the conclusion that she was good at coming up with words from definitions, whereas I am good at creating definitions from messed-up words!

Amazing really, considering I was more a math major type! :-)

OK, back to work...

What I really want for Christmas...

2009-12-29T00:33:00.008Z

OK, yeah, I really was feeling all "peace and goodwill"-ish the other day, but I got over that. ;-) So, having spent Christmas with my sister's family, I've decided that there are some things I really do want for Christmas, or birthday, or whatever. So, here's my materialistic side:

I want a Wii! My favorite bar has one and I learned how to play Wii bowling over a year ago and had a great time. Then my company set up a Wii bowling competition as incentive to get people to contribute to the internal Wiki. Man-o-man, do I love that game! (AND, btw, I rock!) Speaking of rocking, on Christmas day, I played Rock Band... FUN FUN FUN! (And got to introduce my niece and nephew to the Talking Heads... Psycho killer, qu'est que c'est, fafafaFAfa fafafaFAfa *ahem* Sorry...) So yeah... I want a Wii! And I could really use the Wii Fit too so I can lose some weight.
Speaking of weight loss, I also want the Jillian Michaels exercise DVDs. My niece and her roommates have been doing them all semester, and she and my nephew did the advanced exercises on Christmas (while their parents and I relaxed in the La-Z-Boys and watched them - it was great!). I've never really been a fan of exercise tapes, but I like the fact that most of the exercises require you and a floor and that's about it! So... I want to be a smaller Biggest Loser!
Ooooo, and a flat screen HDTV (and HDTV cable, at no extra cost hahahaha, I crack me up) to watch all of it on!
Although I've been arguing on the side of physical books ever since they got competition, I think I'd really like a Kindle. It would be great for reading on the Metro and travelling (if I ever went anywhere anymore), because you would only have to take ONE book-sized object and still be able to read several books. Of course, the down-side is that you can't really share an e-book, and that's part of why I love physical books. *sigh* what's book-aholic to do? heeheehee
And I really do want a kitten for my cat, Calypso. He's lonely!

OK, that's all I can think of at this point. It's almost the end of 2009, so I'm sure I'll have a New Year's post. Can't believe this year went by so fast!

Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T18:49:00.001Z

I started this blog at Thanksgiving and completely thought I would be writing every day, or at least every couple of days. I've had MANY stories and posts running around in my head, but they just haven't seemed to get written down! A lot has happened since my last post: at work, we got the update release out the door and published, we had several "holiday" parties, including a "white elephant" party which was lots of fun, and I'm now on vacation. I started on the 17^th, but did go into the office on the 18^th for a Wii Bowling Tournament which was a sort of prize for participating in a company event.

Personally, I've emceed several trivia nights, did not win the one in which I competed, had lots of fun and laughs with my friends and have seen several movies, "The Blind Side" and "The Princess and the Frog". But yesterday was the best day, because my niece and nephew came into DC to see "Avatar" with me at "my" movie theatre, The Uptown, in Cleveland Park. They got there a little late, so instead of the 11:30 movie and lunch, we had lunch at Nanny O'Briens, then walked through Wake Up Little Suzie for lots of giggles and headed down to Firehook for a coffee and just to "hang." We still had some time, so we went down to the Zoo for a bit before heading back for the 3:15 movie. It was a really great afternoon, and topped off by a really fun movie – very cool story and AWESOME special effects.

Oh, and there was this snow storm thingie… Did you hear about that? Sixth largest snowstorm in DC recorded history, and we were STILL digging out four days later! I know, those of you in the Northeast or Montana are going "18 inches? That's a big storm??!?" Well, yeah, for DC, it is. Our normal "big" storms are about 6" of snow, so having three times that makes it a little difficult for our planners. I will say that the main streets were cleaned up pretty well and pretty quickly (luckily, the main storm was on a Saturday), but the sidewalks? Not so much! DC is very much a pedestrian city – yes, the roads are extremely important so that all of the suburban residents (you know, the ones in Maryland and Virginia) can drive into work or shop, but most of the DC residents are dependent on walking to the Metro or taking the bus.

Cleaning the sidewalks is ostensibly the responsibility of the property owners, so many of them are fairly well cleared. But the sidewalks next to parks and all of the corners are a complete mess! Two pedestrians have been killed in the last two days because "cars have gone out of control" (because cars obviously have minds of their own) and the pedestrians were in the road… BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT WALK ON THE SIDEWALK. Also, no matter how clear the sidewalks are, the snow plows have pushed all of the excess snow onto the corners so that pedestrians have had to either climb over two to three feet of packed ice and snow or trudge through a foot (or more) of slush to simply cross the street.

As for taking the bus, it took two days for WMATA to clear the bus stops, but there are still four foot high mountains of ice and snow piled up between the stop and the road! At some stops, riders have stamped out a path from the sidewalk to the street, but it is still slippery and dangerous. A couple of nights ago, I had to stand in the street at the corner to flag down a bus because there was NO way to get to the bus otherwise. Ridiculous!

GAaahhhhh!

Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now (carefully, so I don't slip on the ice)... Today is Christmas Eve and I'm heading over to my sister's house for Christmas. We'll have Chinese food for dinner, go to a new church this year (because their regular church has a band instead of a choir, and last year's experience was not QUITE the thing...), and then it's back for hot chocolate as we drive around to look at the lights. I'm really looking forward to the Dancing Trees, where the people have set up the lights to go on and off in time to music. Tomorrow, I'll run down the stairs with my "kids" to open our presents and then eat lots of turkey and ham and probably take a nap on the La-Z-Boy with Patti in my lap. (Ha, I'm a poet!)

So, Merry Christmas! If you don't believe in the Nativity story, just treat the day as a day of peace and hopefully good will. Enjoy the day, enjoy the people around you, enjoy yourself, and smile.

All I want for Christmas...

2009-12-24T15:07:00.008Z

For my cat, Calypso
A pet kitten

For me:
Peace: Can't we all just get along? I would love for the wars in the Middle East to be over and all of our troops to be home, but I know that's not possible at this point. In the meantime, I send my support to the troops who are fighting those wars, as well as those protecting the homeland and military posts around the world. You stand between danger and the rest of America, and for that I cannot thank you enough.

Good will toward all: My niece is going on a mission trip to Belize the week after Christmas, to provide help and support to an orphanage. She has arranged the trip, including travel arrangement and toy/gift donations for the orphanage. My family has a huge "helping people" gene, but I could not be more proud of the example she provides to the world.

Since we can't all go with her to Belize, my hope is for those who have a little extra money to help out those who don't. Check out the Modest Needs website and see what a $10 or $20 donation can do. Or look around locally! One of my friends went to the Army/Navy store to buy socks and then distributed them to the homeless. Go to your local Food Bank and help pack or serve meals. Go to the local VA hospital and say thank you to a Vet. They deserve it!

Obviously this isn't a funny post, but it's how I feel. Or as Elvis Costello so aptly put it... What's so funny about peace, love, and understanding.? (Woah oh!)

A little poetry for a yucky day

2009-12-02T19:03:00.001Z

Peanut M&Ms
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways
1. Yummity Yum Yum
2. Yummy Yummy
3. *snarf*
Oh darn, they're gone!

The early years: A fricking genius is born

2009-11-28T21:55:00.011Z

Disclaimer: Obviously, I do not remember these events first-hand, but I've heard about them all my life. If I get something wrong... get over it! ;-)

A long time ago in a galaxy very close, a Southern Baptist medical missionary family moved from Georgia/North Carolina to Hong Kong. Officially, my dad was supposed to be heading to HK to work in the Baptist Hospital, however, he got there and found that the "Baptist Hospital" was literally still blue-prints. So, being the guy he is, i.e. Mr. Multi-Talented-Just-Get-It-Done, my dad the surgeon became my dad the building administrator and got that hospital built so that he could work in it!

About three years after they moved to HK, my parents were taking language lessons (Cantonese), going to the Chinese church and sending the older kids to British school, and I was due to be born on April 1. My dad was playing piano on a tour with a Christian singer named Claude Rhea, so he was in Malaysia in the middle of March when I displayed the first evidence of my genius by proclaiming "I ain't no fool!" and deciding to be born in Baptist Hospital just after midnight on March 18th. (Surprise!)

Mom says she was trying to get me born on St. Patrick's Day, but it just didn't happen. If I had been a boy, I would have been named "Patrick Sean". Yeah, we're just a tad Irish. And now that I live in the US, I use the international date line to my advantage and celebrate my birthday just after 12n on March 17th... and very rarely buy my own beer on St. Patrick's Day!

Anyway - fast-forward a couple of years and we're on vacation in Thailand. We had traded houses with another missionary family for a week, so we had full maid service, including a cook. So, I'm about 1 1/2 or 2 years old and I'm in my favorite place in any house, the kitchen, chatting with the Thai cook. My mom walks in and watches, then runs out into the living room yelling to my dad, "She's a genius! She speaks THAI!!!" My ever-sceptical dad went to the kitchen to investigate and saw me having a voluble conversation with the cook, hand gestures and all, and she was responding in Thai. He asked her if she could understand what I was saying, and she looked at my dad like he was crazy as she shook her head, "No." ;-)

But it's nice that my mom had so much faith in me! And, btw, I don't think I've stopped talking... but hopefully it's not all gibberish anymore!

More thoughts...

2009-11-26T19:06:00.002Z

I had to go to a funeral yesterday. M and G picked me up for the drive down to Old Town Alexandria, and since we had allowed for traffic, we got there about an hour early. We decided to go another 11 miles and see if we could see Mt. Vernon: the answer is no, we couldn't (wasn't open yet), but it was a nice side-trip anyway! The drive was gorgeous in my eyes -- very gray, stark, and misty, which I loved. It seemed appropriate for a funeral, and for Thanksgiving; my favorite was when you couldn't see the difference between the river and the sky. Lovely.

Anyway, during the funeral service, I started thinking: What would my funeral service be like? I was born in a Catholic hospital, raised a Southern Baptist missionary kid, and went to British and Lutheran schools… in Hong Kong. I call my religion "Phredism" because it's mine, an amalgam of everything I've learned and believed through the years and the main tenet of Phredism is "Do unto others as you would have done to you." I can't imagine having a church service for my immortal soul since I believe it's already been taken care of.

I started thinking about the music I would like to be played: Solace (Scott Joplin), Rhapsody in Blue (George Gershwin), All Good Gifts (from "Godspell"), and Every Little Thing She Does (The Police). And on the classical side, maybe "The Heavens are Telling" or anything by Mozart. I'd like to maybe record something with my nephew, maybe "Angel" by Sarah McLaughlin. That would be kind of cool to have my voice at my own funeral. If not, then I'd love for Stephen to sing something, especially if it's his own composition. And "I Wish" by Stevie Wonder. OK, pretty much anything by Stevie Wonder. "Bridge Over Troubled Water"? And what was that song I heard last night by Rare Earth? "I Just Want To Celebrate (Another Day of Living)," yeah, that's it. Elton John, Beatles, Motown (Marvin, 'Retha, Rev. Al Green, Smokey, Gladys and her Pips, etc. etc. etc.), Coldplay, U2, Crowded House, TOFOG, … oh the list goes on, who can choose? ;-)

As for words, I'd like to be able to say something to everyone who had been in my life and made me a better person. And then I realized that it would be a better idea to go ahead and say it while I'm still alive!

So:

Thanks to the Hoodlums who have stuck with me through thick and thin and thick (and thick) again.
Thanks to my family who love me anyway.
Thanks to my parents for raising me to think for myself.
Thanks to Mom for always being willing to stand on her head.
Thanks to Dad for introducing me to mystery books, crossword puzzles, and Shakespeare.
Thanks to my kitties who snuggle with me when I am down.
Thanks to Sara, Rachel, Emily, and Stephen who give me inexpressible joy, always.
Thanks to my brother for being there when I needed him and for always ALWAYS laughing with me.
Thanks to my sister "K" for being such a wonderful, caring, amazing person and thanks to her and her husband for letting all of us invade their space for so many Thanksgivings!
Thanks to my sister "C" for opening up about things she didn't want to talk about, so when I experienced them I knew what I was in for and wasn't as scared. And thanks for sitting on Dave when we were kids.
Thanks to my in-laws for recognizing what wonderful people my siblings are, and loving them even AFTER you met the rest of the family.
Thanks to the people who serve our country, in unbelievable ways.
Thanks to Ang who will sit down right next to me even (especially) if she has nothing nice to say.
Thanks to the police and all emergency personnel who go into the situations from which the rest of us run away.
Thanks to all of my ex-boyfriends who taught me something even though it hurt. Every time.
Thanks to all my high school teachers for being brave enough to move overseas to teach ornery, obnoxious, smart-ass "third culture" kids. And for doing such a great job of it! (Especially Mr. Matthews, Mrs. Chern, Mrs. Jiminez, Mr. Kohl, and Mr. Meyers)
Thanks to the people who walk their dogs down the street and let me meet them. I can't have a dog in my apartment, so I really NEED my dog fix!
Thanks to the dogs I meet who give me waggy tails and puppy kisses.
Thanks to my DC friends for laughing at my jokes and making me giggle and "lol out loud" when I really really need it.
Thanks to the people walking on the sidewalk who make eye contact and smile.
Thanks to the guys behind Monty Python for making me laugh and laugh and laugh.
Thanks for sunshine and for rainy days.
Thanks to Todd for letting me hear the Elton John/John Lennon concert (awesome!), Rare Earth, and Motown, and all of the great bands to whom you've introduce me.
Thanks to my friends at Crowe Crossing for their imagination, artistry, hilarity, and caring.
Thanks to Dale Wilson (and "The Sting") for introducing me to Scott Joplin music.
Thanks to my best friend from college (M) who introduced me to DC so many years ago and helped convince me to move to DC. And G for loving her, and for being the token man in the Hoodlums.
Thanks to Mike, Andy, and Ben for being the best trivia team EVER (even if you did move away and leave me stranded).
Thanks to Pioneer Woman for making me laugh, smile, and drool over her cooking. And for convincing me to start this blog (without even knowing it).

I'm pretty sure this list will continue!

Remember to be thankful

2009-11-25T18:44:00.004Z

I went to a funeral today, the day before Thanksgiving. I sat in the church, listening to the music and thinking how odd it felt to have a funeral on the day before Thanksgiving. It's been an emotional year for me because this was the third funeral I've been to this year, but honestly? I'm pretty thankful for all three of these people.

My grandmother died in January at the age of 99½ … I know the reason she didn't make it to 100: she always hated it when Willard Scott would yell people's ages on TV! She was a wonderful, amazing, hilarious, strong, soft, intelligent and beautiful woman, and what's funny now is how much I've learned about her since her death – mostly about her youth, when she was just as forthright and determined as she was later in life. But also how much we are alike.

That funeral was very hard, especially since I had to be part of the eulogy and everything I wanted to say had been said in a poem I had written for her on her 90th birthday, and which was posted at the viewing! But, I spoke from the heart and was lucky that I had heard a really good quote that week: "Don't cry because [she's] gone, smile because [she] existed!" I am very happy to be related to her and I'm soooooo glad that I was given the time to get to know her. I hope I can be more like her in the rest of my life.

My friend, PJ, died this summer. I've only known him a few years and wouldn't say we were that close, but I counted him as a friend. He was a little older than me and when I first met him at Nanny's, he had quit drinking and smoking for health reasons. I loved the fact that he still went to Nanny's for lunch every day and every day he had a new joke for Sharon (and the rest of us). He was the nicest person in the world, and would do anything to help a person out. I hadn't planned to go to his funeral because I was supposed to be starting my training to do a 10k… but I went to the viewing on Friday night and the ensuing Irish wake, and so I woke up too late for the training. I got dressed up and ran out to catch the bus to his funeral. Since I had just missed the bus, I was lucky that my friends Tommy and Dan (who I had not seen in eons) saw me on Connecticut and stopped to pick me up. I got to the church and joined more of my friends in the pews for the service, which was sad and funny, and just perfect. My favorite story was by PJ's brother who said that shortly before he died, PJ had pulled him aside to tell him something he wanted to pass on to the "younger generation": "You know kids, I quit drinking, quit smoking and started eating healthy… and look what THAT got me!" That was PJ!

Today's funeral was for my friend Cathy's mother. I met her mom once, nearly 20 years ago, but Cathy is one of my best friends, one of the "Hoodlums" – a bunch of friends who have been hanging out together since the late 80s. I didn't know Cathy's mom at all, but her daughter is an awesome individual. Her mother used to always ask her about her "Hoodlum" friends with a little giggle because the name is so silly and inappropriate when applied to us (Cathy's dad was in law enforcement so he had a completely different definition of "hoodlum" and doesn't much like our adopted sobriquet). And more, Cathy told me of a recent incident that just melted my heart, because her mother had started understanding her daughter more and remembering the love that was always there.

I am sad for the loss of all three of these people even if I didn't really know all of them all that well. All three had their faults as well as their sterling qualities, but all three made a positive impact on my life just by living theirs. And I've learned a lot.

Remember to be thankful, remember to love, and most of all remember to live.

Getting started

2009-11-25T10:25:00.003Z

Welcome to my blog. As you might have figured out, I'm a bit of a "Real Genius" fan. ;-) People have been telling me for years that I should be writing down all of my stories and anecdotes, as well as general thoughts and stuff, so.... having determined that it was a"moral imperative" I decided to start this blog.

I'm quite scared about this, but I hope you find it entertaining or at least thought-provoking. I look forward to your comments!

In the immortal words of Socrates, "I drank what?!?"

New Year

Depression

Horsing Around

Life, interrupted

Earth Day

Driving

Wow! It's Been Awhile...

Neighbors

Just ... get over it!

Southern Life

January? What's that?

Christmas Ad Nonsense

The Help

Basic Guidelines for Professional Sports

Wrap it up already!

What Now?

Something

Fifteen Facts about Me

Bo-hai Birthday

A silly self-portrait

Day 18

Parents

Obsotted

Miss Dependent

Favorite Song

Three Blogs I Like

Peace Love Understanding

Food for the soul

eBooks

The city in which I live

A song for the day

Three favorite quotes

Home again, home again, jiggity jig!

James

My Day in Close Up

Something I Ate Today

November Postage

Weird Monday

Hello again

Meet the new cat, same as the old cat....

Caffeine or Not Caffeine?

A day like any other...

Positive Picketing

A purse is a purse is a purse

Random Thoughts - Things I Like

Mom

I saw Jesus today...

I don't want to talk about it

Fattitude

Bravery

Self Indulgent Rant

Spring Fashion in DC... ACK

Spring Sprang Sprung

The milk of human kindness... or is that coffee?

Balderdash, anyone?

How much is that doggie...?

Kickin' the bucket... no, not that bucket!

There's SNOW business like SNOW business like SNOW business I knowwwww....

Stress management 101

Coffee and sunshine

Random Thoughts

word play

What I *really* want for Christmas...

Christmas Eve

All I want for Christmas...

A little poetry for a yucky day

The early years: A fricking genius is born

More thoughts...

Remember to be thankful

Getting started

What I really want for Christmas...