Another Kind of Nerd

updates and such

2011-09-21T08:49:00.003-07:00

I can barely get a handle on the fact that I've been back in the States for two and a half weeks. This goes in both directions. I was still in Germany a month ago. I spent Labor Day weekend in London. And yet. And yet. And yet. It feels like I've been back much longer. I've stayed in 3 different places since being back and I'm getting tired. I couldn't sleep the other night and tried to count the different places I'd slept over the last 6 months in place of sheep. I lost count. Now I'm commiserating with a friend of mine about the difficulties of looking for a place to live when you don't currently live in that city. Don't be fooled by my complaining, though. I've managed to see a lot of people in the mean time and I'm looking forward to some fun and luxury next week. I'm the genius who made appointments for everything before I left: hair cut, massage, acupuncture, teeth cleaning (I actually like that) and a soccer game! Yay me! Throw in the awesome people I'm going to see and it's shaping up to be a fantastic time.

Happy day, all!

I love the Alps and other tales.

2011-08-25T02:34:00.003-07:00

I, quite simply, love the Alps. This extends to pretty much all mountains, but some hold sway a bit more than others. And this little spot in the German Alps holds me. These are mountains that you can simply sit and stare at and have that be an activity in and of itself. Mountain rivers can hypnotyze me the same manner. I imagine that this is what Ocean people feel when they watch the endless waves crashing to shore (not really my thing). I will admit that I particularly love these mountains because they enable my love of nature without demanding hikes with heavy packs. Yes yes, I've been on multiple hikes in the Alps (both by walking up and taking a cable up to start) that had their challenging moments. But it's not hard. And then you turn a corner in the path and there's a rasthaus WHERE YOU EAT FOOD AND DRINK BEER up ON the mountain. Now that's a civilized hike! And I also really enjoy walking in mountains without worrying about bears and such. I'm a wimp like that, what do you want?

In other news, this little trip to the Alps was also the last one for my time on the Continent. Tomorrow I'm attending a fest, the Weindorf, in Stuttgart while Saturday and Sunday remain mostly up in the air. But I think I'll stick around close to my camp because on Tuesday I fly back to England. I'll have work for the week, then it's Labor Day weekend in London and my flight home to the States. Wow. Less than two weeks left. I'm particularly looking forward to London as Sunday shall be Sunday Funday with the intrepid Bernie, of Royal Wedding and A Very Jane Austen Day fame. I'll have to figure out some super touristy things for us to do. I'm talking things that any normal British person would be ashamed to do but for the fact that they got stuck with an American. The suggestion box is open.

Finally, to answer your question EM, you can find my pictures on my flickr site. All the bits of my trip are basically organized by location/event for you to pick and choose.

SLIPPER! Updates

2011-08-12T12:09:00.004-07:00

So... it's been some weeks since I last updated my blog. And I must say, I've used that time well. The sis came over and we did some general hanging about in Germany and then headed for the blue skies and clear water of the Cyclades and the land of Zorba: Crete. I have this compelling urge to write my impressions and observations served up in little anecdotes, but that would take entirely too long and be entirely too boring. So I cheat. I make list... it shall contain at least one bit of useful information:

everyone has a doppelganger in the world and your doppelganger has a Greek counterpart. Fact.
avoid islands where cruise ships dock... someone should have told us this.
my sister accused me of being tan. then she looked closer and said, "oh. nevermind."
good things happen when you avoid large towns.
eventually magic happens when you keep ordering new things.
you really can eat that many tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta.
feta ain't the only cheese in Greece.
I don't watch enough sunsets; or, clearly Greek islands lend themselves to sunset watching.
night ferries that save you the cost of a hotel one night really aren't worth the drain on your system.
for all the island beauty I'm still a mountain kind of nerd.

Speaking of mountains, I'm now slightly further south in Deutschland. This means, of course, that I'm that much closer to the Alps. I have grand plans. Hopefully this weekend I can attend the Zwiebel Fest in a nearby town, next weekend I'll be in the Alps (still deciding between the German Alps I know and love and the slightly further away & more expensive Swiss Alps), and finally there's the Weindorf in Stuttgart in two weeks. After that I go back to England and soon home to the States. That's it, people. Time is ticking by, three weekends here in Germany and one in England. But I've already got big plans for that, so no worries there. I may as well take this opportunity to announce that I'll see the Women's National Team for the 3rd time this year when they play Canada in Portland. Get your tickets while you can! Woot!

Have a great weekend. Over and out.

Swim

2011-07-20T10:33:00.005-07:00

Or don't. But more on that later. It's in the low 60s with a light drizzle at the moment and my mantra changes by the day: only X more days until Greece. I was chatting with my friend from Sweden about how I finally understand why people go crazy and travel to sunny, hot places to expose their pasty white bodies to the sun and she succinctly replied, "you turn into fungus if you don't get sunshine." One way or another I'm getting to that sunshine. I'm hoping, however, that at no point do I need to do what Google Maps instructs when travelling from China to Taiwan... check out #48 on the image above. Thank you Google Maps for putting a smile on my face after a long day of work.

That is all.

tonight.

2011-07-17T01:51:00.002-07:00

Things of interest; with such problems as these; or is that with such friends as these? No matter. I offer some snippets form the past week:

I'm currently drinking coffee out of a mug that reads, "Atheist Wine Club - Celebrating 'life before-death.'"
I'll marvel at my own purchasing power when I return to the States in September, the US dollar to US dollar conversion being what it is.
The church bells, they ring. Really, it never ends.
I get to go watch the US play Japan in the Women's World Cup final. This is indescribably rad for a whole mess of reasons.
Ferry schedules will be understood! I have to go to what island to get to which island?
Less than a week until the sister arrives.
The "New York Times" restrictions on the amount of articles one can view in a month could cut down on my ability to stay in the loop. Until one remembers to clear their cache and dump their cookies.
Spotify comes to the US! Embrace it friends! It's a great way to test-drive music. Think of it as the little booths or headphones one used to find in your local music shop.
9 is a beautiful number.

To Berlin!

2011-07-09T01:06:00.002-07:00

Last Sunday I hauled my cookies to Berlin. Ah, Berlin. Berlin is a place I've wanted to go for quite some time, but it always seemed so far away. So very far away. Considering some of the places I've been (Budapest, Prague, Bratislava), this was a very silly thought. I figured it out, though: Berlin is just close enough. You always feel like you could go there. It is in Germany, after all. But when you start to examine the ways and means, the nitty gritty, the brass tacks, it all falls apart. Too far away for a weekend and too too (if you know what I mean) for an American Tourist kamikaze trip. I did well, though, with Berlin. For sundry reasons I opted to rent a car for the treck. I mention this only because I was stopped by the polizei on the way out of town for a "spot check" and asked if I'd been drinking. At 7:45 in the morning. I attribute the stop more to the Fest going on that weekend in town than to a lack of driving skills. Better yet, it was as if the polizei was my first checkpoint into Berlin. Because I drove through Checkpoint Charlie, the Checkpoint Charlie, and everything had to be in order. Never mind that 20+ years have gone by. I turned a corner following my GPS instructions and there it was: guard house, giant picture of a soviet soldier, and tourists everywhere. Welcome to Berlin!

I stayed in the historical center of Berlin, Mitte, and walked everywhere. Literally. I took two walking tours on the same day because there was just so much to see and learn. And Mitte had it all: the middle ages, Frederick the Great, Humbolt University (Marx, Engels, Lenin!), Cabaret, WWII, the Cold War, and reunification. This created quite the witches brew: bullet holes still riddled buildings from the Battle of Berlin; buildings returned to the Jewish Community waiting patiently for a new purpose; Soviet memorials to the Communists killed by Hitler next to unified German memorials; East German crosswalk signs (loved the ampellmann); and a community of people that embraced it all. I feel I should apologize for the lists, but I'm still trying to unpack it all.

I recommend a visit.

The excitement didn't end with Berlin! I made my way on Wednesday to Wolfsburg (home of the VW Bug) to watch the US play Sweden in the women's World Cup. The game itself was disappointing because we lost. There were missed opportunities, some panicking, and all the luck seemed to fall to the Swedes. But what fun was had. I sat alone in a sea of Swedes and Germans all rooting for Sweden. Alone I stood and cheered the amazing footsave in the first 10 minutes of the game by Hope Solo. Cheered the close calls, cheered the goal to pull it back within one, and applauded when the final whistle blew. That bit I wasn't alone. Those Swedes and Germans loved the outcome. That brings my tally of soccer matches up to two for the trip. Not bad at all.

Sadly I returned to reality on Thursday. Back to work. But it's fine. My sister arrives in two weeks time. We'll do a small amount of hanging out in Germany, but then it's off to the Greek Isles for 10 days. I don't consider myself a warm weather traveller. I do not seek the sun. I run from shade tree to shade tree. But I've had so much rain and cold weather this trip I can't wait for the Mediterranean sun and heat.

Have a great weekend, all!

Oops.

2011-06-30T12:16:00.003-07:00

I made a flippant Nazi remark while in public in Germany. Yeah. Oops. In other news, I'm back to picking up some random food item not available (or only limitedly available) in the United States. While in England I focused on candies, generally speaking. You know, all Cadbury has to offer. I do realize that you can get Cadbury in America, but it's not really the same. As an example, eating a Cadbury Egg before Easter didn't make me want to vomit. Other gems that I would heartily recommend: Jaffa Cakes and Reggae Reggae sauce.

My initial purchase was an item that looked like Cheetos Puffs and had the same texture but was peanut flavored, Erdnuss Locken. I am a peanut butter enthusiast. I start many of my days with peanut butter toast. Why not try the strange Cheetos-like German peanut chips? They were that unexpected good... the kind where you just keep eating them even though it's so. very. strange. This week, I decided to up the ante. I purchased the "Mexican Style" Erdnuss Locken. I'll admit, I was afraid. This should in no way surprise: there is no good Mexican food here. And why should there be? Anyway, I do get cravings for Mexican food and I have made Mexican food as well as I could with the options available to me. But here before me, in the small German grocery store in the small German village I am staying in, were two great loves combined! Mexican Style and Peanuts! I had to buy them! And the force of their goodness compelled me toward excessive exclamations of enthusiasm! No really. They were good. I'm not kidding. Think about other glorious peanutty-spicy combination much loved: pad thai, thai peanut curry, etc. Magic. All-in-all, a total win.

the church bells, they ring

2011-06-21T12:00:00.002-07:00

The church bells, they ring. And they ring from 6:00AM to 10:00pm*. It is the Summer Solstice and the church bells just struck the 9:00pm hour. Ringing out to scare away any heathens that might gather to celebrate the arrival of summer. Nature, from my window on the world at least, seems to be in league with the heathens; the sun emerged for the first time in days just a few hours ago.

And what am I doing? Well, I just checked to make sure that Bjorn, the garden gnome, has not fallen over. I think he likes to booze it up a little too much. I find him face down, passed out in the dirt far more than is healthy. I'm also listening to The Head and The Heart**. And I'm also waiting to see if an IT update is going to make my work-life annoying like it did the last time. Keep your fingers crossed.

One other thing I'm getting up to... I'm waiting for the crows. There is a birch tree in the meadow behind my friend's house where crows congregate at night, just after sunset. They don't stay there too long, but they gather, kind of peck at one another, make all sorts of crow noises, and then they fly away. It is the coolest thing. And I realize I'm kinda strange for enjoying crows, but whatev. I'm gonna try to get a photograph of them tonight. I may have an update for you tomorrow. Wish me luck.

* the church is literally 40 yards away, as the crow flies.
** on to the band The Civil Wars by the end of the post

welcome to germany

2011-06-13T06:31:00.002-07:00

I've been in Germany now for just over a week. My new window to the work-a-day world is no longer an office complex, but rather a home office filled with history books that look out into the back yard and the meadow just beyond. I like this new view. What I lost in office banter and shared lunches I get back in birdsong, church bells, and runs in the forest with a very sweet dog. It would be more fun if there could be a bit of a balance rather than one or the other, but I'd be lying if I said I wanted it to be the office.

Things to report: I attended a very traditional German party this weekend, the Richtfest. The Topping, if translated. Basically, when the the walls are up and the roof is finished on a new house, they have a ceremony to thank the builders, ask for protection, and show off the new digs. The carpenter that worked on my friends' house wore traditional dress and delivered the Richtspruch, the Richtfest speech. I couldn't understand it as I don't speak German. No matter. Also as part of this ceremony they (the builders) attached a small tree to building, drank some wine, and threw the glass that held the wine. The glass broke; a good omen. It was all very German. But perhaps not so German as what I saw when I looked up from working late this morning... a woman cutting down the grass of the meadow I look out to with a scythe. A SCYTHE. People still use those. Anyway, I didn't want to scare or startle the scythe-wielding German, so I snuck out of the office, grabbed my camera, and headed up stairs for a better view. Yeah. A scythe.

That is all.

All that time wasted.

2011-06-03T03:53:00.003-07:00

Not really. My title is merely intentionally provocative, the opening salvo. Tomorrow I'm travelling on a jet plane to Germany. Thus I present the UK in list form:

Tweeds really are that fun.
This island is really small.
Real Ale is a fancy name for warmish, flat beer.*
People dress fancy in the office. Way fancier than on the West Coast.
Edinburgh = AMAZING.
Snowdonia = Fantastic Middle Earth adventures.
It's all about the gravy.
HP sauce should be imported to the US.
Mind the gap!
I'm convinced there is a conspiracy to keep me away from Westminster.
"Posh" is a word used all the time with a meaning that I don't fully comprehend.**
The only way to survive is to not think about the US Dollar to British Pound Sterling exchange rate.
Bacon or sausage sandwiches for breakfast rule.
Proper pubs, when you find them, are magical places.

When things slow down next week I'll have some pictures of Edinburgh to offer. Until then, as Christian Slater said in the epic film "Pump Up the Volume," Talk Hard.

* Part of me really enjoys the adherence to this traditional pub fare. The other part of me just screams out for German beer or my beloved Pacific Northwest offerings.
** The British preoccupation with class bubbles up at the strangest times and in the strangest ways.

a very Jane Austen day

2011-05-23T12:49:00.002-07:00

Caversham: May 23rd

My dear ---,

I will first talk of my visit to Bath, as previous descriptions cannot have given you a very particular picture. On Saturday last Bernadette and I travelled 70 miles of good road to our destination. We took refreshments while changing horses in ---shire and made the town limit in good time. To my particular delight we happened upon a coffee festival. Though it fashionable to drink tea, I prefer a strong cuppa and rarely have I the opportunity to partake. B complained the caffeine made her nervous, but valiantly pushed forward. I was able to secure a coffee cone for reproducing the delights at home. This is particularly pleasurable as my own was lost in the last move.

Okay okay okay. I'm not Jane Austen and can't, for the life of me, write in the style of 200 years ago. And I really can't if the 5 people who read this blog will continue to return. I did, in fact, go to Bath last weekend. And it was my "Very Jane Austen Day" with my homie Bernie. She pretends to tolerate my American enthusiasm, but secretly she loves it (I'm including the forced Royal Wedding viewing in this which she will vehemently deny deny deny). And I wasn't kidding about the coffee "festival" that consisted of one large tent. One large tent populated with an unnatural number of tea stalls for a coffee festival. There was one guy serving his coffee using the line of coffee cones one finds in farmers' markets of the Pacific Northwest. He took pity on me and sold me one of his cones and a stack of filters for a Fiver (that's £5). The day was already a smashing success and we hadn't even started our Jane Austen audio tour.

The tour itself was fantastic. At the beginning, B. has a very strong need to do these things in order no matter where you find yourself on the map at the start of your day, the tour guide voice said we should feel free to pause the tour at our leisure. With that explicit permission our estimated 1 and a half hour tour took about 5 and a half hours. I almost knocked on Jane Austen's front door (the first of the 3 she occupied in Bath and the most fancy), learned how triumvirate of men shaped the look of the city through shameless self-promotion, had cream tea at the Jane Austen Centre (just down the street from her 2nd house at 25 Gay St.), and promenaded along the Royal Crescent. The city loved Jane Austen (present) and Jane Austen detested it (200 years ago); so many conniving, insipid, gossiping, and ridiculous characters stem from the city of Bath that their current residents can do nothing but shrug, acknowledge their own history, and hold out their hand as you buy a button from the BBC production of "Pride and Prejudice." It's a fun relationship.

Other things of note, they tried to make us pay £1 each to sit by the River Avon as we ate our take-away sandwiches for lunch. Instead we decided to sit in a nice round-about across the road that had plenty of grass, a statue, and some trees. It was a fine little spot that even afforded us the pleasure of witnessing a taxi/tour bus battle. I can only assume that the slew of insults and vulgar hand movements we saw is a frequent occurrence. I was quite pleased we saw this side of Bath because it is a beautiful city. Perhaps the fact that Bath has been a tourist destination for so long has something to do with it. They know how to keep the crowds coming back.

Things that I need to return to Bath for: ridiculous fancy dinner and actual promenading in the manner of Jane Austen ("We did not walk long in the Crescent yesterday. It was hot and not crowded enough."), taking the waters, tour of the actual (rebuilt) Roman Bath, taking a turn in the Upper Room. This last one might require an invitation to something fancy which would be more difficult to achieve.

My very Jane Austen day was a smashing success. Even after being interrogated and made to speak for ALL OF AMERICA at a pub. Because it wouldn't be fair to mention that and not give the shining snippet of mostly one-sided conversation, at one point the dude said to me, "I believe all humans have the ability to judge a good horse." The context doesn't help that at all, trust me.

the technological floating population

2011-05-17T10:55:00.006-07:00

It's almost 7:00pm at night (in the UK) and my co-workers in the States have been working for a few hours now. I'm chatting with one about a meeting we need to have. She's just starting her day (originally from Slovakia). When I started my day a friend of mine in California (originally from Ecuador) was up working late. Between the 3 of us we'll have had 24 hours of steady work. This, to me, is both normal and crazy. Normal because this happens more than I care to think about. Crazy because this is normal.

Meanwhile, my lovely friend (originally from Sweden) who opened her home to me is sitting on the couch listening to a lecture from a globalization course she's taking through Oxford. Yes, that Oxford. The line I just heard (in some indistinguishable European accent) was, "Are we Superman or are we Homer Simpson?" Again I'll say, yes, that Oxford. Today I'm particularly struck by the strange web of people I know where this is the norm. There are people who never leave their state, sometimes almost their home town and I'm having a strangely normal day filled with accents of the Great Technological Floating Population. Though I do technical things I'd hardly consider myself technical. So I feel a bit on the outside of this group I just made up. Actually, I'm sure there's some well-established names/fancy studies on this. And I did steal that floating population bit. But still, it's new to me and the same discovery can happen at different times in different places. How's that for logic? This is all a very long-winded way of saying I'm boggled, this fine evening.

My mind is boggled by accents and location and work. The cure for said malady is to go download my free audio walking tour of Bath. This is fantastic news because it's a Jane Austen's Bath walking tour I'm taking this Saturday. You see, this is how nerds de-boggle the mind.

secrets and such

2011-05-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

Where to start? Where to start? When I last left you I was complaining. Not much fun there. And I was complaining about food in England. A rather predictable topic, I'd say. So, no complaining this time. There will, however, be a slight amount of unpleasant reporting. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it could be.

Things that are awesome: I went to London last friday to do a bit of walkabout before our Secret Cinema excursion. Both the walkabout and the event were fantastic. It might not be the most efficient way to go about things, or provide the most complete view of things, but I'm rather enjoying simply walk walk walking around as a method of being a tourist. I had an agenda, but that didn't work out due to my unwillingness to wait in line for an hour. Whatev. The experience of the Secret Cinema was fantastic as well. It was held in the Old Vic Tunnels by Waterloo, in the theater built for the premier of the Bansky film "Enter through the Gift Shop." Imagine Algiers in the tunnels of London. Also awesome: going to a Reading FC match. The crowd was quite polite, but the visiting side (Derby County) had hilarious fans who chanted and sang to their hearts' content. The home side won the day, so everyone left happy. Okay, maybe not the Derby fans, but whatev.

On to the unpleasant reporting. I'm currently locked in an epic battle of wills against my head. The migraine has not struck, but yesterday and (now) this morning, things are on the cusp. Normally I'd schedule an acupuncture appointment, but I'm not around my lovely Luke and Melinda and I've received no recommendations. So wish me luck!

** Lunch time update: things are looking up, people! Head appears to be cooperating and the loud lady with the particularly grating voice who sits directly behind me is almost quiet today. Almost.

a note on food.

2011-05-03T04:26:00.004-07:00

It is lunch time, yet I sit at my desk willing my stomach to limit the growling noises that threaten to escape. It's not that I don't have a lunch waiting for me. The meatloaf sandwich I made this morning waits patiently along with an apple to my left. It's a late night at the office you see, meetings on various continents being what they are. So I hold off. Dinner won't come until sometime around 8:00pm. Now that I'm thinking about it, I might save the apple until mid-afternoon. I find this is an appropriate time to mention food, both because of my (now) growling stomach and the fact that I've been in England for a full month.

Long, long ago I cynically told KFR the secret to remaining optimistic (or some version of happy) was to foster perpetually low expectations. This isn't exactly how I operate, but sometimes it's necessary to get by. And sometimes it is essential. I find this to be the case with the food in England. Not nice to jump on the bad-British-food bandwagon, but I feel they've more than earned their reputation. I should qualify things a bit. I've had some fantastically bad food from restaurants and some beautiful food from friends' kitchens. I've come to a couple conclusions: first, the joke about Britain taking over the world to find better food is true. Because even some of the pies and pasties I've had, in the British culinary wheelhouse if you will, are not spectacular; second, the British stiff-upper-lip reserve bites them in the ass when it comes to food. People can cook here. The friends with the delicious food exist! The standard for restaurants, however, seems to be rather low. I imagine one friend saying to another when deciding to head into a restaurant, "well, it tasted crap and my dog refused to eat the leftovers, but it's better than the place across the street." It's as if the entire nation is a bad tourist trap where the 5 restaurants in town all have the same menu.

I will spare you the list of specific complaints I have. I will also return to the one pie-shop that is exquisite. That's it for now. The meatloaf sandwich calls.

"each step is like a vasectomy."

2011-04-27T12:32:00.003-07:00

"Each step is like a vasectomy," said the teenage dude walking up the Miner's Track of Mt. Snowdon.

Yes, that is something I actually overheard whilst making my merry way down the Miner's Track path. Let me set the scene: the Miner's Track of Mt. Snowdon is mostly easy-peasy, lots of gentle incline and mountain lakes, with a straight up-hill climb that last bit. I don't want to down-play it. It took us 2 hours and 40 minutes on the way up to the top and only 1 hour and 50 minutes on the way down. And there were points where I was quite, quite glad that it was, in fact, misty and cloudy; vertigo being what it is.* But a vasectomy? Surely that uphill climb is easier than a vasectomy. Even to those given to hyperbole. After chuckling at the fellow I found I just wanted to call him a pansie. Yes, he had the decency to be embarrassed that 4 women witnessed that complaint. But still. Pansie.

Don't let my mini-rant throw you. Mt. Snowdon, though covered in cloud and mist almost the entire day, was lovely. Even with the hoardes of tourists. Seriously, you could spot the people on the various paths like ants at a picnic. On a clear day it must be spectacular. That was my second trip to Wales in as many weekends and I'd absolutely go back. Particularly to northern Wales. Get me a nice little cottage for a week by a creek and go hiking during the day, sit by a fire at night, pretend the the cute-as-a-button lambs in the field aren't the same ones I have for dinner....

Yes yes. Life is good.

The way up:

* I reserve the right to use commas and semicolons as I please.

Queenie of Snowdonia

2011-04-20T11:14:00.003-07:00

Have a new nickname, folks. Queenie. One of my more entertaining officemates coined the name for rather obvious reasons. Feel free to use it as you will. In my own Royal news, I'm trying to figure out what I'll be doing for the Royal Wedding. There are supposed to be all kinds picnics and neighborhood parties and such. All I know is that I've heard the word "bunting" more in the last 3 weeks than in all the years of my life combined. But before I get ahead of myself, other schemes are afoot.

Friday we're off to Mt. Snowden in norther Wales, the tallest peak south of Scotland on this tiny island. I'm super excited even though it's only 3,500 feet tall. Last weekend we walked up Pen y Fen in southern Wales and it was gorgeous. We're even expecting fine weather! Which, believe you me, is quite a topic of conversation around here. Basically clear skies, temperatures approaching 70 degrees and 3 holidays in two weeks time. I'm surprised the whole of Great Britain is surviving this trifecta. And I didn't truly understand the extent to which Brits will run head-long into sun without sunblock until I saw a warning against sun in the weather report for Mt. Snowden. They list the various hazards, you see: blizzards, heavy snow, gales, persistent and extensive hill fog, storm force winds, thunderstorms, heavy persistent rain, and strong sunlight. Because among that list of things to watch out for, strong sunlight is on the tops of my list. Just so you know, we're expecting a "Medium" risk of strong sunlight.

Please feel free to leave suggestions on my Royal Wedding doings. I'll feel free to completely disregard them.

Atop Pen y Fan in southern Wales....

Notes from the Cubicle

2011-04-14T09:35:00.002-07:00

I find myself working from an office consistently for the first time in over 2 years. Which is ironic, considering part of the reason why it's easier for me to do what I'm doing is because I've worked from home for the past 2 years. Friends and family asked whether the transition back to an office would be a difficult one for me. You know, since I couldn't roll out of bed at 8:00AM and stroll into my "office" at 8:30AM in a robe with a steaming cuppa. I'll admit that I was a bit worried, but I think the novelty will mostly last until I'm out of the office and in Germany. In honor (or honour, such as it is) of my return to the office, I present general impressions:

I'm doing my best to uphold the lazy American stereotype. An explination: I didn't pack any "office" type clothes because packing for 5 months is interesting enough without trying to please silly people in an office. Also! the Brits in the office just dress up a lot more than our own American offices. No big surprise.
I know I already said it, but they really do drink that much tea.
The low low cubicle walls makes me feel like I'm just a breath away from the office stylings of Mad Men.
It's nice being distracted by people you can actually see. It's a change of pace. I'm sure that might get old at some point.
I made my first journey with a cozy of tea drinkers today. I prefer coffee still. And I'll have to do some hunting of my own soon for new coffee. Sigh.

In the realm of small updates, we did not make it to southern Wales last weekend. It happens. Though it is still on the agenda and Mt. Snowden is definitely on the agenda, regardless of weather. I'm also plotting the next time I'll make Mexican food. Some things you just have to do yourself.

Happy Thursday, all!

brecon beacon beckons

2011-04-08T05:55:00.002-07:00

The weekend is almost here and all my changes, travel, and adjustments finally caught up. With a migraine I am. Or I was, rather. Things are better now since I took my drugs, but when I arrived in the morning for a group breakfast I was completely loopy. Then I was confronted with beans at breakfast. That didn't help. In that moment I likened me trying to figure out what a proper English breakfast looks like to a choose your adventure story. I wasn't prepared and didn't know which thing to pick up or pass on. I was waved off the black pudding by a gentlemanly co-worker.

Things to look forward to: tomorrow we should be off to Brecon Beacons National Park in south Wales for a small walkabout. I think I shall like it. Take a look....

Hope y'all have a fantastic Friday and weekend.

Over and out.
AKN

Collective Nouns

2011-04-06T04:14:00.005-07:00

Sitting in my new office digs at the lunch hour I can safely report that the British are huge tea drinkers. Not that everyone didn't know that already. But knowing intellectually and witnessing firsthand are two very different things. Very different things, indeed. To provide a little spacial context, I'm sititng near the door to the elevator that leads to a little coffee stand and the exit. I'm also sitting right next to the communal tea supply: there are 4 boxes, one with 160 bags in it, for approximately 6 people.

All throughout the day groups of people venture back and forth on tea excusions. The only thing I can compare it to, in terms of the frequency, is a smoke break. Top of the hour? Time for a tea break. Just finish lunch? Time for a tea break. Bored? Time for a tea break. It never ends. And it's almost always in packs. Except the word "packs" doesn't really provide the gravitas that I'm after. Think a parliment of owls, a murder of crows, a gaggle of geese, etc. etc. etc..

The order of the day is quite simple: create an appropriate collective noun for a group of british tea drinkers. Right now the best candidate I could come up with is a "staff of tea drinkers." It is with that small offering that I will now say I'm taking any and all suggestions to fill this gaping hole* in the English language. The winner will be sent a jar of marmite.

* ridiculous and telling spelling mistake pointed out by KFR; fixed at 16:16 UTC

It's like Groundhog's Day....

2011-03-28T10:45:00.002-07:00

It's funny what packing up your crap and putting it into storage can do. People pick up and move for every kind of reason and they say goodbye to their people and their places. Or not. Cross-town moves, cross-state, cross-country, move for work, move by choice, move to escape, move for more opportunity, move to stave off boredom. Move to keep moving. Whatever the reasons, moves always involve goodbyes. With smiles, tears, and sometimes a well placed "suck it." I've known I'd be moving for a while. I've visited all the places I've wanted to, made plans to visit with friends when I should have been packing, even had an amazing mustache themed farewell party. I've said goodbye so many times I think it's starting to get old for some people.

Today is the day I'm supposed to pack up Trixie and head north to visit with the fam before I fly to England on Saturday. I even had one final goodbye this morning that involved silent tears... you know the kind. Except now I might have to stay longer. My work PC is jacked up. Thank you IT and your automatic "updates." So I find myself tied to my work computer and phone in a way that I haven't in a long time. Waiting for them to try and fix the thing remotely. Waiting for them to tell me I need to bring it in to some office. Waiting for them to tell me it will be a week before they could fix it. Whatever. I'm tied to the damn thing and I'm stuck in a place where I've said goodbye to all my friends 5 times over. It's like Groundhog's Day. But not in a funny way.

This is all a very long-winded way of saying I'm excited and ready to leave except I can't. And there is a very real plane waiting for me on Saturday that I will catch, stupid-work-computer fix in place or not. Gooo. It's not the end of the world, just a rather large annoyance. But plans change and good things come out of those changes if you look for them.

of meetings and boxes

2011-03-23T08:18:00.002-07:00

I sit in my office drinking coffee. I used the last of the half-n-half just a few minutes ago, so tomorrow won't be quite so lovely on the coffee front. I am also surrounded by packed boxes and the detritus of crap not yet crammed into to some appropriately sized and shaped box. Finally, I sit in my office only moderately paying attention to a giant, catch-all meeting. You can see my priorities here: coffee (elixir of life), packing (big big doings), and then giant meeting*. Honestly, the giant meeting is much lower but nothing else is doing.

Let me explain the boxes: they are labeled with great detail. You see, I'm putting my riff-raff into storage for the next 6 months or so because I'm going to Europe for 5 months. Maybe a bit longer, at least for the storage of boxes. The movers come on Friday to load everything up. I will now take this opportunity to say that anyone who enjoys packing is completely insane. I've met them. I know they're out there. Except they don't look like the kind of people you wished you'd avoided by crossing the street after you spotted them.

Bottom line, this Nerd is going on a big trip. I'll have two bases of operation over the next 5 months (one in England, the other in Germany) and hope to have trips to Scotland, Ireland, France, Croatia, and Greece. There will be other things. My Easter weekend will be spent traveling through Middle Earth to Snowdonia to conquer the inimitable Mt. Snowdon. All 3,560 feet of it. It will probably rain or snow the entire way up, so I really shouldn't make fun.

Consider yourself warned, all 5 readers who gave up on this blog. The Nerd is back for the foreseeable future to apprise you of the status of the English countryside, the prevalence of tweeds, and the state of German beer. There will at least be 3 other blog posts thrown in between those topics as well. Don't want to give it all away.

* words like "synergies," "mega," "pipeline," and "drive awareness" are thrown about; you can understand why these aren't a favorite work-a-day experience of mine.

flying turkeys

2010-11-04T10:02:00.005-07:00

Things must truly be off in the blogging world when I allow an entire OCTOBER to roll by without some Ode to October. Nothing was wrong, I just traveled for work and other things quite a bit. But have no fear! November allowed me a reprieve yesterday. Well, insofar as being stuck inside all day at work while the fall sun beckoned me can be a reprieve. Anyway, after practically losing my sanity yesterday afternoon with 2 missed appointments (one real, one not my mistake) and 2 late afternoon meetings, I managed to escape to enjoy the final bits of sun. A friend threatened bodily harm if I didn't take my camera, so I dusted that off as well.

Into the sun I went, disguised as a park, to greet the other smiling fools. I believe everyone can recognize the New Sun Smile after a week of bone chilling rain. Anyway, the day was lovely. A senior in high school had the good luck to have her senior pictures appointment scheduled, packs of respectable looking high school students grazed on the sun, and would-be photographers roamed the trails. My own internal battle raged.... sun-staring fool or poor high-school photography class impostor. It's not entirely clear to me whether there could actually be a winner in that battle. No matter!

As I left the park I stopped at one last spot because the leaves (and I mean the actual individual leaves) were so deliciously fun: green, yellow, AND red. Standing there, soaking in the smell of decomposing leaves and dirt, I heard a noise that can only be described as a helicopter in slow motion.... something streaked across the path to my left. I saw enough to know that something large was flying. Something that didn't appear as if it should be able to fly. I don't know why I always flash to pterodactyls when considering critters that fly but seam like they have no business flying. The thing was big. And made lots of noise. While my brain tried to order the sound and the trajectory of the streak, another critter made the same noise and took the same path. What the H? Was that a TURKEY? Just as I assigned "turkey" to the bits of information swirling in my head, a third bird took off from just to my right and landed up in a tree some distance away, the branch bowing under the great weight. I unknowingly flushed a flock of wild turkeys.

Welcome to November, people.

Things that are Awesome. And Rad.

2010-09-20T08:45:00.004-07:00

I recently had a friend lament that the original meaning of the word "awesome" was so, well, awesome that the current slang usage just wasn't up to snuff. Or not cool enough. Or not something enough. Anyway, got me to thinking about my current usage of the term "awesome" and other such phrases from my childhood. One word that never really left me, besides the awesome, is "rad" ..... yes, rad. Many people would be embarrassed by this. I am not. I've also been mentally compiling a list of awesome and rad things to share with y'all, with supporting evidence:

David Gray live in concert.

I have a good decade under my belt of love for Mr. Gray.
He unintentionally moves his head like a bobblehead when singing.
When excited and dancing on stage he looks like a muppet. Imagine Kermit the Frog leaving the stage after introducing an act.
Hello, he's rad. I'm not sure if you're aware or not, but he's a fantastic songwriter.

My parents text messaging me.

They send me pictures of the cat.
They tell me they're watching "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (the movie).
They use emoticons.

Left-over dessert for breakfast.

Pie and/or cake have a proven history with coffee, which is, after all, the breakfast of champions.
You're not all full from dinner and trying to enjoy delicious dessert.
What a way to start your day, right? Full of sweet wishes.

Seeing Beetlegirl Design stuff in a store in Seattle.

She's fantastically creative. I'd say ridiculously so.
She thinks them up and builds them.
The creations are ridiculously cute!

There are, of course, loads of other awesome things (in all senses of the word). But these oneses* have been on my mind of late.

Yes, I did that on purpose. It's quite obviously the plural of "ones"

epic epicness

2010-07-12T08:35:00.002-07:00

A few weeks ago I filled in for a friend's softball team. Softball is fun enough, I suppose, but not necessarily something I seek out. Anyway, amid the boringness that is a softball league with no strikes or balls (for real), I saw the most epic epicness EVER.

Standing in center outfield, pondering my dinner, the grass, World Cup viewing schedules, waiting for the hitter to hit, I heard a din back and to my right. Focusing, the noise turned out to be crows. A lot of them. I looked in the direction of the noise and saw nothing but trees and houses placed neatly up the hill. Nothing, but oh! the hitter hit and it went over by first base with nothing for me to do but cheer and stand and contemplate grass and the movie Looking for Eric and shoes and .... I heard it again. The crows. They really were going batshit crazy.

I looked again, the noise too much to ignore. Out of the trees burst a bald eagle, lazily flying about 150 feet off the ground. Holy Crap! One doesn't see a bald eagle flying that low in the city. Holy Crap! One doesn't see a MURDER OF CROWS chasing said eagle flying low in the city EVER. I didn't even bother to pretend to pay attention to the game. In fact, I distracted my fellow outfielders by pointing out the epic epicness unfolding above our heads. Those crows chased that eagle who knows where. It was the most metal thing I've seen in years. Those crows deserved to be on some album cover art.

Epic Epicness is a murder of crows chasing a bald eagle.

a celebration of sorts, I guess, and actual celebrations

2010-07-08T13:01:00.003-07:00

Huzzah! It's my 500th post! Or so the Bogger Dashboard, in its infinite wisdom, tells me. I'm feeling, at the mo, like I don't deserve the 500th post celebration because my blog has been nothing but weak sauce lately. An explanation: I've been hunkered down for the past month in the morning and at lunch time watching soccer, all standard times of blogging for me. We're finally down to the final match this Sunday and I have my mornings back. Please don't view that as a complaint. It's an entertaining way to start your day, particularly when your friends show up at 6:45AM to watch the match with you. Luckily this event only rolls around every four years.

Also of note, the red head graduated, skated, defended, rodeo(ed), and visited the Yak (in that order) this month. So, between soccer and fun, I didn't sit in front of the computer much when not at work. I've got some things filed away in my brain, but for now I'll leave you with this lovely bathroom picture from last weekend. It reminded me of that fantastic fake commercial from SNL in the 90s, the "love toilet," except this was just the Women's restroom. So, I'm calling it the "Hers and Hers".

Blues and Whites

2010-06-07T08:10:00.005-07:00

Alas, four years passed since we last had a proxy world war, where the tiniest nations have a chance to upset the world powerhouses. It's all very neat and clean with rules of law if not etiquette. Think what the world would be like if that's how wars were fought. Imagine, if you will, one of those charming announcers with British or Scottish accents they bring in to call soccer games in America to give them a particular gravitas* (unattainable by American announcers): Oh! There's a whistle on the American Colonial side. I have to tell you, he was just blatantly shooting the British player from the safety of the trees and I expect to see a... ah yes, here comes the referee to talk to him. As I was saying, I wouldn't be surprised with a red card for that little trick. And there it is! Red card for the Americans. They're going to really regret later on. They need every man on the field to even have a chance and that will certainly cost them a great deal. If that's how things went down, we'd all be British. Ah yes. So, the World Cup starts at the end of the week with the US taking the pitch in their first game on Saturday against England. Believe it or not, the Americans have a chance to move onto the next round at the top of their group. Don't call during the match please as I'll be too busy watching and fielding my Mom's phone calls about particular plays or calls. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.

As a small soccer fashion side-note, I stumbled across the Girl's Soccer image the other and found yet another reason to thank my lucky stars that I was born when I was. Who wants to wear some Victorian bordella boot type thingy to run around in? Though I must admit, the bloomers on the girls to the left would probably be comfortable after a match.

One final bit, the above images came from the Library of Congress Flickr site. Go there. Explore. It's fun.

* Invariably the Scottish announcers, though not so much the British, are the equivalent of good ol' boys. It's like saying NASCAR announcers have gravitas.

treadmill carpet bomb

2010-06-01T08:06:00.002-07:00

I've been to many gyms in my life, from fancy to not-so-fancy. My objective and goals have changed over the years, but the lessons I learned early in life are still there: people don't clean their equipment thus you clean before and after, free weights inexplicably allow grunts and yells a la Monica Seles, and sometimes people just stink (a lot). The character of a particular gym, of course, depends upon it's denizens (the ones who don't clean, yell, and stink), but ultimately the people a gym attracts is tied to its equipment, classes, and locker rooms.

I've been rather happy with the tiny low-rent gym I've been going to over the last 6 or 7 month. There are no classes, no fancy locker rooms, and the free weights mingles with the machines. You avoid much of the BS of fancier places, though you still see the guy still stuck in 1989 climbing out of his Camaro to lift weights and grunt (hair gloriously flowing down over his face) as well as some women who should really be going to the pizza place next door for a slice or two (and a new relationship with food and exercise). Anyway, I can move about doing as I please for the most part. Yesterday, however, reminded me of something I hadn't seen in awhile. The sweat carpet bomber, individuals who make profusely sweaty people seem like amateurs. Now, I'm not trying to say I don't sweat, but yesterday my only treadmill option was right next to a sweat carpet bomber. Dude had at least a 3 foot radius of sweat. I'm being conservative in my estimate. I'm usually not so squeamish about such things, but I was clearly in the path of destruction. I was mentally unprepared. Maybe those Cave Men running around NYC have the right idea after all. They would have just thrown a rather large stone at the carpet bomber.

creativity, I curse thee

2010-05-20T07:52:00.002-07:00

Classes in the craft center are not something I've indulged in lately. The choice of the word "indulged" is a perfect example of the issue at hand. Let me explain, I am in a creative funk. A creative funk I am in. In a creative funk am I. See?

I have a theory as to the whys and hows. It's pretty simple, pretty straightforward. And utter bullshit, I'm sure. But it's mine. Perhaps I should start with my fear rather than my theory. My fear is that, quite simply, the normal 9 to 5 working-world I live in will make me dumb. The struggle to sound reasonably intelligent on a consistent basis is pretty small. This is not because the people I work with are idiots, quite the contrary generally speaking, but rather the work environment prizes brevity and (what can only be described as) arena rock fist-pumping. Keeping with the arena rock metaphor, the salesmen all purchased front row tickets, upper management sit a tasteful distance from the stage to keep an eye on which way the wind is blowing, and all entry-level people fill in the space behind. I'm lucky, my work group firmly plants itself in the back row, unwilling to drink the kool-aid.* So at least I have that going for me. What's the point, you ask, dear reader? The point is, this isn't my last gig where I struggled to keep up intellectually. The struggle is good. It makes us better. I'm not trying to posit that I'm smarter than everyone I work with, merely that everyone I used to work with on a daily basis were WAY smarter than me. Way. Circling back around to the fear bit, I fear I am now dumber than I was because I no longer have the daily struggle.

My theory is that intense, sustained intellectual concentration and resultant (ahem, required) production of papers to explain your Buddha-like sitting position act as balm to one's creative thoughts. At least it did for me. You tell a story, give it suspense, evidence (!!), tease out the meaning, and hopefully don't put the reader to sleep. The part I loved about writing academic papers was making them not sound terribly academic.** Perhaps it's just the intellectual exhaustion I miss. What I'm getting at is that I had a creative outlet within my work. No such outlet exists for me now so I must go in search of it elsewhere.

For a while, this blog served as a creative outlet. I've built a kick-ass butcher block table which is functional and quite beautiful. I learned bike maintenance and various other things. But alas, I find myself in another creative funk. Creativity, I curse thee.*** Have no fear, I know what I need to do. Creativity is not something to "indulge" or pander to. It is something to chase after. This is just a rather long explanation of why my blog sucks. And my thoughts over the past couple months.

Sincerely,
AKN

* I am in a creative funk, I'm more than allowed to mix my metaphors.
** Perhaps this is a good indicator of why I ventured out into the working world rather than continuing in higher education.
*** Not really. You know what I mean anyway.

you are not going to heaven

2010-05-18T07:31:00.002-07:00

Ummm, had an odd dream. Basically, in the course of an odd dream marathon that involved the combined summer and winter Olympics and me meeting Florence from Florence & the Machine, I ended up looking for something (not religious in nature) in a Morman Temple. Weaving through the stray, scratching dudes who were too pleased with themselves, I burst into the women's chapel on accident where services were being held. A woman walked up to me, put her hand on my head and said, "you are not going to heaven." I really paid her no mind though, because she said that through the giant rat puppet she had on her hand. And when I looked around, there were other giant rat puppet touting women basically keeping people in line all over the room and up and down the aisles.

Avoid people who only speak through rat puppets on their hands. That is the lesson of the day.

so much going on!

2010-05-10T08:14:00.003-07:00

Okay, not really. And with that confident statement, I present a list!

My knees and ankles survived my alumni game. And we won! Amazing things do happen.
This weekend we cobbled enough sunshine together to give me a slight sun burn. Bear in mind the amount of sun it takes for me to burn if you really want to know how consistently "sunny" it was.
I love coffee. I know this is nothing new, but it pretty much always deserves an entry.
The word "synergy" featured heavily in a training I was involved in last Friday. I threw up a little in my mouth every time they said it. Actually, that training deserves a post of its own.
Kickball starts tomorrow people. Theoretically it will not rain. Keep your fingers crossed.
As a non-thieving music fan, I endorse Amazon.com for all digital music desires. They give you the mp3 and have smokin' deals on tons of stuff.
Last night I ate momos until I had to undo the top button of my pants. For real. It was like Thanksgiving, but with delicious Tibetan dumplings. Also tried butter tea. Apparently it is traditionally made with Yak butter, so I don't know what butter portion of the butter tea I consumed. But believe you me, it tasted exactly like drinking hot butter. You could have dipped bread or dunked some crab in there and been fine. Wikipedia tells me this beverage is great for living at high elevations AND chapped lips. So there ya go.

One purchase you should consider is The Bird & The Bee, Interpreting the Masters, Volume 1: A Tribute to Daryl Hall & John Oates

"I pretty sure my cat's been reading my diary."

2010-04-28T08:25:00.002-07:00

I might have almost peed my pants last night watching Glee when Brittany uttered the phrase, "I'm pretty sure my cat's been reading my diary." If I had a cat or kept a diary for that matter, I'm pretty sure it would look something like this:

Dear Diary,

This week has been crazy busy with experimental cooking which turned out better than one might expect. But things are good for me right now! I bowled a 136 on Monday night even though a power outage at the bowling alley totally broke my concentration. If I'm honest, it was all luck, not skill. Oh. And the hot pink size 8 ball. The hot pink definitely helps. La. I'm nervous for the alumni game on Saturday and hope I don't hurt myself. The last time I played (2 years ago) the oldest alumni was 28. I'm beyond that now, so hopefully I'm not the oldest. Eek! Wish me luck! (Is it weird to ask my diary for help? Or write side-bar comments like the parentheses block out the diary?)

xoxo,
AKN

Important side note: sending good vibes down to the SC for Re-B, KFR, and their new Baby X!

some london and prague

2010-04-21T11:32:00.004-07:00

London: walking along along the south bank of the Thames on our way to the Tate Modern:

Prague Old Town Square: Easter Market at Night

The Sis!

I've got loads more pictures to put up. Germany hasn't even made an appearance yet. But I've been fighting the end of a cold picked up in Munich before my friend's wedding and last night I had a dream with creepy Ben Linus from Lost in it. Weird. I'll have more to report later.

leavin' on a jet plane

2010-03-28T08:56:00.002-07:00

The time has come for my Next Grand Adventure (NGA) with the sis. The parental unit just arrived to take us to the airport for NGA and I'm already plotting out my sleeping strategy to minimize jet lag once in London. Woot! So be well my friends. Some thoughts for travels in general:

flex and stretch legs when sitting for long amounts of time
water water water
mentally prepare yourself for bad coffee depending upon destination (I don't hold out much hope for London)
stay with people you know if at all possible
always pack less than you think you'll need
smiles are good, but people (Brits) think Americans are disingenuous anyway, so whatev
Orroit Innit?

travel plans and such

2010-03-19T08:28:00.004-07:00

Things of passing interest to pretty much three people:

Thinking on KFR's salt predicament makes my heart hurt.
I'm starting to giggle like a school girl when I think about my trip (see above photo).
I'm not in crazy packing mode for my trip yet, which is actually astounding.
I still love Florence + the Machine.
If I had a dream of meeting someone on the streets on London, it would be David Gray.
If I could steal voices like Ursela from Disney's The Little Mermaid, it would be Annie Lennox's voice.
Coffee in the morning is delicious.
I no longer judge people who buy decaf coffee. They're doin' what they've got to do to continue to enjoy that delicious elixir of life. I must be maturing.
For anyone, like me, who has to use Instant Messenger consistently, I offer unicorns. I'd also like to give a shout-out to "the #1 unicorn and rainbow service worldwide, making websites sparkle around the world."

holy galactica awesomeness

2010-03-10T15:41:00.001-08:00

If you ever enjoyed watching Battlestar Galactica, watch this. Now.

the sound of your disappearing career

2010-02-11T09:52:00.003-08:00

If you ever want to know what the sound of a disappearing career is, it could (quite literally) be a toilet flush. And I'm not saying that simply because I've been watching Ally McBeal.

At certain points in the year, particularly around quarter-end or fiscal year-end, I attend enough meetings to drive any rational person (ie: me) insane. I passed the 5 hour mark for meetings on Tuesday and realized I had 3 more hours to go. Meaning, 3 more hours to go insane. When does one eat lunch? Go to the bathroom? Get any work done? These questions and others created such a din in my head I got a migraine. Bygones. Yes, that was a Fishism. Anyway, you see my point. You get tired. Off your game. Do irrational things. Do dumb things.

Yesterday was just such a(n) (idiotically dumb) day for some poor schmuck. Let me break down the scene of the crime, a Big Time meeting: scheduled for 2 hours, over a hundred people, many people attending by calling in on a conference line, lots of background noise because people can't figure out how to mute their phone. To add to the chaos, everyone not attending in person dialed in on the "moderator" line rather than the "attendee" line. What this means is the odd automated voice* that said, "all lines are on mute" lied. The voice lied. Repeating that phrase over and over again. So, as the meeting was getting under way with our VP going over points (yada yada yada) everyone heard the unmistakable sound of a flushing toilet ring out and echo over every telephone line to every corner of every conference room where employees crowed around the phone as if it was the only source of heat around.

A toilet flush. Silence. Laughter.

I'm not gonna lie, I harbor the fear of my mute button not working. But if I have to pee during the middle of a meeting where I don't have to talk, you better believe I'm leaving the phone in my office. I don't know what happened to the guy.** Methinks the shame of the VP saying he wish he had handi-wipes and antibacterial hand gel to give out was probably enough punishment. And my guess is that the lesson of toilet flush, silence, laughter will be a long lasting one. Perhaps at another company.

* oddly enough, the automated voice on US based calls are male ("please press the pounds sign") whilst British based calls are female ("please press the hash mark")
** I'm assuming this person was a dude. Bygones.

old man candy

2010-02-09T08:16:00.002-08:00

I've recently experienced a candy renaissance of sorts. Suddenly the long-neglected candy aisle holds more interest than some variation on peanut butter (Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Peanut Butter M & Ms, Peanut Butter Twix, etc.). I'm rediscovering old classics and developing new candy theories. To foster your own candy renaissance in your area of the country (these things are highly regional, after all) here is my recommendation: follow an old man down the candy aisle. Go straight for whatever that old man picks up, no matter how much it may ruin his dentures.

While Worthers and other such hard candies (I prefer butterscotch discs) are an excellent starting point, just jump right in. A personal favorite of my is the Chick-O-Stick. It's like the inside of a Butterfinger without the bad chocolate around it. Moreover, the Chick-O-Stick is lovingly rolled in toasted coconut. It creates a magical flavor combination that kicks a Butterfinger's ass any day of the week.

Next up, I'm eating crow. Not the literal kind, of course. But I've poo-pooed Big Hunks recently because all I remember is weird nougat and a candy which requires strategies for consumption. Not my idea of fun as a wee one. I disparaged the Big Hunk in front of a life-long Big Hunk lover. Last week a Big Hunk made it's way into my hands as a result. Tastes change, I know this. I'm opinionated, not obstinate. I tried the weird nougat that requires strategies for consumption. The result? Brilliant. Absolutely delightful. A salty sweet (with peanuts!) concoction of such dense proportions one must fully commit to the candy. There is certainly no ability to speak when indulging.

Next old man candy adventure: Abba-Zabba

In summation: old man candy is where it's at. Shadow an old man down the candy aisle. Do it.

my boy builds coffins, I make chili that will put you in one

2010-02-05T08:40:00.002-08:00

I'm just gonna say it. The chili I make is awesome. It's thick, meaterific, perfectly seasoned deliciousness. I bring this up because it's super bowl weekend and the super bowl is nothing but an excuse to eat food that is not good for you while drinking beer. Chili will most definitely make an appearance at this year's festivities. I suppose people actually watch the game. I mostly watch in fits and starts, but if it's good I'm a bit more inclined to pay attention. One thing that I won't have, because I think it's in the back of Matt-O's old car, is my old Nerf Turbo. Now that, friends, is a good time. Playing catch in the street and moving aside for cars to go through, just like you did when you were 11 years old.

One other thing that's awesome: Florence + the Machine. The fabulous MQH passed along the recommendation and I'm eternally thankful. The song below is called "My Boy Builds Coffins".... listen. Do it.

Migraine Update

2010-02-02T10:49:00.002-08:00

I recently read a personally affirming article on the NYTimes regarding migraines and my particular approach to living with them over the past 3 months or so. One thing, however, that gave me pause was this particular line: "Researchers are learning that pain and the medications used to treat pain can potentially change the biology of the brain." Brilliant! But things are going well at the moment, so I'm not going to dwell on the issue. Just keep on keepin' on. Don't rock the boat, so to speak. And this is why... ahem: "[Migraine] Sufferers inherit a hypersensitivity to physical and emotional events — like stress, noise, certain foods and even bad weather."

You can check at least 3 of those things for me. I'm not sure about the noise bit for me personally, but I probably just haven't put two and two together.

I'm doing well at the moment. HUZZAH!

huzzah! travel!

2010-01-28T14:07:00.002-08:00

A couple of announcements.

First, a trip down to Cali is in the works for sometime in the last two weeks of February. Just need to confirm dates then we can plan a Hug Attack. This particular work trip promises to be full of productive crap as well. Which is always nice.

Second, I secured dates/tickets/places to stay for my Next Grand Adventure (NGA). NGA shall also feature my sister, which is a total bonus. Destinations include London, Munich/Salzburg, and Stuttgart for my friend's wedding. Hells to the Yes.

All in all, I'm feeling rather lordly at the moment. Don't worry, I'll try not to let it go to my head. But for now, I'm excited.

That is all.

toy: red shirt & skinny jeans

2010-01-26T09:08:00.001-08:00

cheese & peanut butter

2010-01-25T08:44:00.002-08:00

The last two weeks for me could be summed up rather easily: supermarket laziness. The store is not someplace I wish to be. Menus for the week are not something I want to spend my time on. Choosing between the tiny cart or the basket is not a decision I feel compelled to address at this particular point in time.

This, of course, has consequences. I ran out of bread 2 days ago. The main contents of my refrigerator are condiments and stray beer. Perhaps I could call those singles feral beer? People know not to approach them. They keep to themselves, hide in the corners, and tend to inexplicably multiply. There are exceptions to the no-shopping feeling. These exceptions are quite narrow in scope: coffee & half-n-half. That's the long and short of it.

All this open real estate in my fridge and pathetic scavenger hunt for something marginally nutritious for dinner last night (I wanted to read and watch movies and sit on my couch and not do anything) led me to a very important culinary question. How could I combine two things I love, two things that survive the feral beer colony, into one delicious food? How can cheese and peanut butter come together for the greater good? I didn't get very far with that question as I turned my attention to other "important" matters. But the thought I had when I woke up this morning was Apples. Apples are the answer. Apples bridge the gap. I'd go to the store to test out my theory today, but I think I'm busy.

Be a Caveman, Give Blood

2010-01-13T08:42:00.004-08:00

I feel as if I'm letting an opportunity pass me by. I could be a caveman. Err, a cavewoman. Let me explain. There are a handful of enterprising young people in New York City who fancy themselves neo-cavemen. For health reasons. Because, you know, a life expectancy of 30 years is pretty good.

The rules: eat lots of meat; don't eat agriculture supported foods (such as bread); fruits and veggies are fine (though there is some debate as to the place of nightshades in the caveman diet). Oh, and fasting is always good. You never know where the next giant ground sloth will come from. The delightful article all this caveman knowledge comes from further explained, "These urban cavemen also choose exercise routines focused on sprinting and jumping, to replicate how a prehistoric person might have fled from a mastodon." Bonus! Exercise would be more fun as well. It could involve "scooting around the underbrush on all fours," rock jumping, and throwing rocks. I'm just going to throw sprinting and clambering up trees in there because that seems like a reasonable thing for cavemen to excel at. One final small detail to include (with the meat, running without shoes, and fasting) is to give blood early and often. Cavemen got hurt. They lost blood. Then they had to go wrastle a giant bear.

This is all to say that I could have been a caveman. If I'd only planned accordingly. I gave blood yesterday. If only I stocked my fridge with all variety of meat. I mean, I don't have woolly mammoths to contend with and it wouldn't be very nice to pick fights with bums in the park, either. And foolishly I went to see a movie rather than scooting around the underbrush. Perhaps next time.

still here.

2010-01-11T09:26:00.002-08:00

I'm still here. I've got nothing terribly clever to say at the moment, so I'll leave you with some pictures I took this weekend. There will be more explanation at a later point.

short but sweet

2009-12-18T15:25:00.003-08:00

Hug attack was entirely too short. But they were quality hugs. So it's okay. Besides, I'm now safely snuggled into my new wool scarf. There is indeed a warm fuzzy hug in every wrap.

impending hug attaaaaaack

2009-12-15T12:03:00.002-08:00

I'm trying not brag here, but I've got an awesome Hug Attaaaaaack in my immediate future. I head on down to the Land of Strip Malls this afternoon for some work Big Doings and as a result, I get hugs on the corporate dime. Yay! In other news, Christmas shopping is moving in fits and starts. I'm still without migraine (yay! 3 weeks!) and hope to continue that trend. And I cut my hair. Which I'm sure all 5 of you wanted to know. Hope your Tuesday is going well!

Over and out.

sitting in an apple tree

2009-12-07T15:18:00.002-08:00

I'm not really sitting in an apple tree, but I kinda feel like I am. Sitting in an apple tree in an old orchard, a haven from the glare of the sun, a place to sit and think, or plot, or just lose track of time. My apple tree is two weeks without migraines. Now I feel like I have to explore the frontier, figure out how to step into blazing sun. I haven't worked this hard at being good to myself for myself in a long time, maybe ever. There are winners and losers in this effort. While it was good to hit the reset button and not drink anything, that's not a direct cause of migraines for me. So I'm back on the sauce, as it were. Sleep! Blessed sleep is a biggy for me. I don't know how insomniacs function. I certainly couldn't do it. I'm gonna knock on some wood as I have experienced a bout of insomnia in a couple of years. Exercise is excellent, so long as you're not one of those compulsive exerciser types (and I've known my fair share). Massage is excellent! Ask around and find a good one. Your body will thank you. Acupuncture is good! Follow the same rules as when finding a massage therapist. Ummm, other smaller recommendations: dance in your kitchen, sing front of someone (even when you're terrible) as you'll be braver for the effort (it's a life-skill I suppose), give some hugs (and be a squeezer, no one appreciates a dainty hug), and tell someone something you appreciate about them. These smaller recommendations just make you feel better overall.

That's it from the apple tree. Over and out.

because you must know brandi carlile

2009-11-20T14:53:00.001-08:00

updates on clean living

2009-11-20T08:42:00.002-08:00

In a comment that struck close to my heart, young Dolce Vita expressed concern over the welfare of my shoes in the rolfing process. For the uninitiated, individuals who are rolfed are generally instructed to Adios their shoes because their bodies, specifically their feet, have changed so much. To keep wearing the old shoes would only be a detriment to the overall process. The process, for your edification, essentially focuses on the fascia in an attempt to open up bound up muscles thereby bringing your body in proper alignment with gravity, or some such junk. Some people find this to be very painful. I've been fine with it most of the time. I will say that there have been a few points where it hurt so much I just started sweating. Profusely, even. Those points of sweaty pain generally center on the time where my massage therapist (who is a massage therapist rock star) says something like, "okay, I'm going to scrape your bone a bit here. So just let me know if it's too much." We have a safe word.

I'm coming up on my fifth appointment which means I've passed the point where I had to get rid of all my shoes. Except I didn't have to get rid of them. My feet, particularly my heels, didn't change to the extent that keeping newer shoes would become an issue. I did, however, git rid of a whole bunch of old shoes. Needed to be done.

Where are we at with the migraines? Ummm, I've been relatively good. I've had a couple migraines in the last two weeks, one of which was connected to the weather. So that doesn't really count because I can't control the weather. It's been over two weeks with no alcohol (writing that just makes me feel like an alcoholic... It's been 17 days sober, where's my chip?) And I've been good on the exercise. So the big, giant reset of my system appears to be moving along swimmingly. Keep your good thoughts coming.

clean living, or something

2009-11-13T10:50:00.002-08:00

We are only 13 days into November and the month has not been kind. Methinks it is most fitting that today is Friday the 13th and I'm finally writing about the horror that has been my head over the last month. Things have been tenuously okay at best and downright mean at worst with regard to my migraines, a month of waiting for the other shoe to drop. That's not really fun. What's a girl to do? Hit the reset button. Thinking back over my years as a migraineur I've tried to tease out periods when things weren't bad, at least insofar as anyone who lives with migraines can claim. As a result I'm going back in time. Reset button = time travel, or something like that. Destination 1999: Clean Living. Lots and lots of exercise, no drinking, a concerted effort at good nutrition, regular sleep, etc. Along with this reset button is the tag-team of acupuncture and massage (rolfing, to be more specific). That's right, people, I'm not fucking around with this. I'm not saying I've given up on delicious beer & wine or tasty cocktails. Alcohol in moderation has never been a trigger for me. But perhaps regular alcohol in moderation doesn't exactly help, ya know? Yeah. It's been over a week sans booze and I have had a migraine in that time. It's not an exact science. And I don't know when I might break the fast. Maybe not until thanksgiving. Maybe not until after. Maybe before. Ultimately I'm just trying to get a handle on things to break whatever cycle I seem to be in. All of my actions encompass what I'm calling The Kitchen Sink method, because I'm really throwing everything I can at it. Keep you fingers crossed.

Happy Anniversary Sesame Street

2009-11-10T08:59:00.001-08:00

40 years of fun and learning.

No Diggity

2009-11-07T09:55:00.002-08:00

Ain't no party like a West Coast party cause a West Coast party don't stop. Okay, you're right. That wasn't from No Diggity. It was, in fact, from "1, 2, 3, 4, Sumpin' New" by Coolio. My apologies. I recently acquired a great deal of music from the 1990s. I've spent some time this morning organizing the tunes and reminiscing. I can honestly say Mariah Carey, Puff Daddy, the Backstreet Boys, and New Edition have never factored into a Saturday morning before. Certainly not with anything that I had control over. Somehow this connects back to the ringer selection process for my sister. She had all sorts of great requests for songs to indicate she was calling. But no, she got "I want it that way" by the Backsteet Boys, the result of some serious car singing/dancing when the song came on from an old CD she found. When I say old, I mean the kind that took some time to burn with the songs most likely stolen with the help of Napster. Anyway, it was an epic performance from both of us. And now it's her ringer when she calls. In my defense, I couldn't get "Return of the Mac" by Mark Morrison, which was her request and mine. The world is cruel to Mr. Morrison. "Return of the Mac," I'm told by Wikipedia, was kept out of the number 1 slot of the Billboard charts in 1997 by the hideous "MMMBop." Tragedy. Ah, "Don't Let Go (Love)" by EnVogue just came up. 1996. Featured in the movie Set It Off, I believe. So good.

Don't judge, people. Embrace it.

San to the Fricso

2009-11-04T11:26:00.003-08:00

new old hats and new old tricks

2009-10-28T16:37:00.002-07:00

New old hats: So, the Euge has an awesome new vintage store which is entirely too cool for the town. Seriously. I procured the featured hat there last night for a mere 6 clams. Sometime soon I'll feature the jacket I also picked up. Ski Levi's. Just try to wrap your mind around that one.

New old tricks: Okay, not really any new old tricks or even old new tricks. But I am down in San Francisco for work staying in a old (new) hotel. You know, the nicely remodeled and well appointed places that you'd never think of to stay if you were actually paying? One issue that has cropped up is the new toilet on old pipes doesn't always flush. I feel the need to practice because that's just not something one wants to mess with. I've tried to develop some technique without much success.

Tonight it's the Mission and Burritos with a homie from work. Should be most excellent. One final bendiction... May your toilets easily flush.

oh time, where do you go?

2009-10-22T14:31:00.003-07:00

So, I feel as if I've been doing nothing but running around all month. I was busy getting ready for a trip down to Cali for work and work decided to be much more demanding than normal. Spent time in Cali in meetings and meetings, thus normal stuff I needed to get done were delayed for work later. It's funny how even though you're someplace for work the actual work you need to do doesn't adjust. One might say, "Hey! I've got this big stuff going on, I need to pay attention to that!" Then your normal work slaps you across the face and cries, "you don't pay attention to me anymore!" Meanwhile, the marriage counselor "tut-tut"s you into working extra super-duper hard because of course it's your fault. Okay, that doesn't make a lot of sense. But I've been busy. And I'm down to Cali again next week for more stuff. Just 3 days this time though.

Luckily, I was able to see some awesome people. The ever fashionable KFR, Beetlegirl, and Ms. A, respectively. No less than two awesome hug attack opportunities filled with chats, wigs, and beer. Most excellent. Then, when I returned home the bro came down and we had a splendid time hanging out, walking around, takin' in the sights, etc. Even better, we went to a Hell's Belle's concert. In case you're not in the loop, they're an all-female AC/DC tribute band*. If you ever get the chance, I heartily recommend them. And that musical event leads me to my evening tonight. I'm up to the big city to see one Ms. Brandi Carlile and then some general hanging about in PDX on Friday. That's right! I'm neglecting the work! Oh, what would the marriage counselor say?

* not to be confused with a cover band, which are just generally bad.

October Fun

2009-10-11T10:00:00.002-07:00

I love October. Seriously, I could break into verse at any point because I love it so much. Rather than bore you with that, I'll bore you with a list. Why I love October:

yellow, orange, and red leaves
sweaters without coats
the fun angle of your shadow on the ground
the idea of baseball playoffs
transition
running through leaves
the crisp smell in the air
gourds
corn maze
halloween
apple cider
brown liquor

I could go on. But I'll leave it at that. And as a party favor, also leave you with this picture I snapped with my cell phone yesterday. Oh, I'd also like to offer up some excellent Hug Attttaaaaaack warm-fuzzies to everyone. I'll get to see the Cool Kids of Cali this week and my homie M's fiancee comes back from Iraq on Monday.

I lost my shoe.

2009-09-29T08:11:00.003-07:00

Welcome back, kiddies! School is starting up again and even though I haven't been a student in more years than I'd like to admit, it's still an easy way to track time. Students are back in town, which means a few things: going near the university for anything is a bear; shouts of "woo!" will rise exponentially as will the hem of skirts; you won't be able to go out to breakfast on a weekend and not wait an hour if you show up after 10:00AM... hangovers are, after all, a slow process; and finally, fights.

Friend M. observed the last item this last weekend in a town about 50 miles up the road. She sent me a Captain's Log of events in poetry form. I told her I must share. The second is particularly good.

From MQH~
Here's my weekend in coffee house poetry form:

Just Another Testosterone Saturday Night

Huge fist fight broke out right in front of my house. Horrible.

25 to 30 skinny white boys in hoodies.

I had to call 911. The cops chased them down just like on TV.

Handcuffed face down in the grass.

There were injuries. A circle of blood left on my lawn.

Recite with bongos and black beret for maximum effect.

Stab Wound to the Neck

He's bleeding out. Said the cop.

I lost my shoe. Said the boy.

You're injured. Said the cop.

I lost my shoe. Said the boy.

Get something to tie it off. Said the cop.

an anwanted guest lingers

2009-09-16T08:37:00.003-07:00

Well, I finally managed to give myself some form of food poisoning. Those are the breaks, I guess. This happened late last week. I wasn't nice to my stomach over the weekend, thus I'm getting my ass kicked (yet again). And this is a really, really bad time to be sidelined from good food. Because it's everywhere. Good food is everywhere and applesauce makes my stomach feel like the end of Spaceballs when they spoof Alien. Not nice. So, let this be a lesson to you: check dates, smell, reheat, don't drink cream or milk if it curdles on hot beverages, etc. etc. etc. I've prepared a haiku in honor of the occasion:

in the House of Nerd
an unwanted guest lingers
flush summer away

this program is for really intense dudes only

2009-09-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

a trophy on the line

2009-08-27T14:29:00.002-07:00

Here's an image for the approaching end of summer. This weekend marks the end of summer kickball with the playoffs and a BBQ. Should be quite entertaining. As the one piece of competitiveness allowed in an adult co-ed city kickball league, everyone is gunning for the ONE annoying team that took everything way too seriously the entire season. I'm anticipating a few attempts to bean one particular dude in the head (a no-no in the rule book).

Wish us luck, people. There is a trophy on the line and it does travel from winner to winner over the seasons.

On a side note, the lovely J made a quick trip last weekend and shared his plans to take over the world. You'll all be informed of your roles in due time. Until then, my friends, fight the power with booze, bunnies, and kickball.

The Game of Life

2009-08-19T08:33:00.004-07:00

I had quite the exciting weekend: big trip to Costco, high school reunion, David Gray concert, kickball. Now I know that those four things may sound like the Seventh Level of Hell to many of you, and quite frankly Costco almost achieved that for me, but the rest was grand. Well, it was an interesting version of The Game of Life, writ large. People married just out of college? Check! People with lots of kids? Check! Doctors? Check! Lawyers? Check! Let's get to the lists:

High School Reunion, how time was spent:

ignoring the asshats
"I'm doing well! How are you? You look fantastic!" (rinse and repeat)
find more interesting people on fringe
talk with German exchange student (yes, he came specifically for the reunion)
convo breakthroughs! after you slog through the initial ritual conversation, you move on to other, more entertaining and interesting, topics. hold the phone, people, a real conversation is possible!
talk about kids
win award for "most unusual job" because you're the only one who entered... who am I kidding, they saw my title and walked away with their heads in their hands because they knew they couldn't win
gauge everyone's level of drunkenness and determine how that correlates to their born-again christian ethos

David Gray, in all his awesomeness:

nicely cut 60s style suit
fantastic new songs (he's so awesome he can pull off new songs in concert)
my own personal greatest hits as the set-list
piano & guitar, nothing else needed
le sigh, David Gray

hot pants

2009-08-06T22:14:00.004-07:00

This song has been in my head as of late. No real explanation. I was first introduced to "Hot Pants" waiting for a graduate seminar to start when I was a young, enterprising undergraduate. The fellow who told me about it had long gray hair and played in a band that occasionally covered Jimmy Buffet songs (just to give you a mental picture). He had a deep and abiding love of James Brown, going so far as to burn me a copy of James Brown Live at the Apollo just so I could experience a bit of the joy. There's no footage of the 1962 concert, only audio. And that, my friends, is almost a sad fact. Because, soup to nuts, that recording is an amazing listen. I wonder if seeing him jumping around on stage, falling down on his knees, and whatnot would distract from the music. Mayhaps it's more powerful because you're forced to work out what's going on when the crowd SCREAMS and HOLLERS. And believe me, they scream and holler. So, be content with this bit of Hot Pants.

And, if you know your way around the interweb and love music, give this article a read. Then go here and sign up. If you are musically inclined but not web savvy, bookmark the site and wait for it to be available in the US.

tough. or something.

2009-07-31T13:43:00.000-07:00

From my cousin's wedding last weekend.

heat wave.

2009-07-28T15:40:00.002-07:00

Ummmmm, I like to think I can be tough. I certainly feel like I'm better prepared to take on the heat today than I was yesterday (yesterday we broke the century mark as well). But this is just ridiculous. It's 88F in my apartment. It was 85F at 11:00PM last night. And the above screen shot was captured at 3:30 this afternoon. There are two days left in this heat wave as well.

Trying to enter zen water mode... I can't even imagine how the elderly without AC are coping.

summer things.

2009-07-21T08:35:00.003-07:00

When I got back to the States I went to an establishment that serves delicious Rogue Brewery beer. This was my order, "I'd like a beer with so many hops they'll punch me in the face. Thank you." I got my wish. And things have remained much the same.
Am currently experience weird heat-induced dreams. I won't bore you with the dreams. But let me just add that last night I actually punched someone and connected. Usually when I punch someone in dreams it results in lame, little glancing blows that don't do anything. Last night, however, was a different story. Perhaps I should question why I'm punching people in dreams rather than worrying about whether or not I'm doing it well?
Kickball. Outside. Brilliant. The only downside I can see is a No Adult Beverages rule where we're currently playing. On Sunday we were short a few people, so I played outfield with one other person. There was a lot of sprinting. I'm a little ashamed to say that I'm sore.
Was kicked out of the office. No complaints though. Am now officially a remote employee. Wait. Only one complaint that is offset by every other positive thing.... I don't have air conditioning like they do in the office. It's a good thing I'm tough. And I have survival skills from my desert youth.
It wouldn't be summer without weddings. I'm off to the north this weekend for just such an event. Should be a good time. Oh, and yesterday I got the official day for friend M's wedding in Germany. It's in the spring. Must start scheming and watching the price of flights. Europe in April is lovely and delightfully free of tourists.

driving gloves

2009-07-09T09:31:00.006-07:00

First, I've made contact with Matt-O. A bear did not eat him. An elk did not gore him with a giant antler. An eagle, however, thought about swooping him off somewhere to poke his eyes out. But rest assured, he is safe and sound, still handing out JR. Ranger certificates and taking slow hikers around to look at wildflowers.

Next up on the docket, driving gloves! I may have mentioned before that my apartment complex is much like the Golden Girls tv show. Except it's not Miami. And the place isn't as nice, nor as entertaining. So I guess that just leaves me with old people. I think I discovered an appropriate Stan last night. There is a little sporty car (I swear it's nothing more than a Honda Prelude) that parks a little bit down from where I park. Though the car is parked under the protection of covered parking, it always wears a cloth car cover. I only recently found out what color it was (a weird light purple-blue). Anyway, last night I was heading out after work to help some friends when said car and owner stopped to ask me a question...

"Excuse me, was it you who left...."

I could hardly concentrate on making it to the end of the question because all I could see were driving gloves and Poncherello sun-glasses. Driving. Gloves. Driving gloves and Poncherello sun-glasses. Quite serious driving gloves. Stan driving gloves.

Snapping out of my driving glove fog, I politely answered in the negative to his question, smiled, then got into my car (easy to do as it's not protected with a cloth car cover) and left. One thing is clear from this moment last night: I need to find an appropriate Sophia in the complex so we can say snarky things about Stan and tell stories that begin with, "Picture it! Scicily, 1942."

green porno educational video: bees

2009-07-05T09:49:00.002-07:00

Must. Watch. Video. Starring the wonderful Isabella Rossellini.

back around.

2009-06-27T07:24:00.003-07:00

I'm back home now, mostly over the jet-lag. I say "mostly" because I just happened to wake up at 6:30 this morning. Not a normal time for a Saturday morning wake-up in my world. Friends gathered at the BCC last night for a little welcome back meet-and-greet, which was absolutely lovely.

I'll head out and explore some of the local wonders later this morning. One big lesson/reminder from my trip was that it's not hard to just get off your ass and go have fun. Now, I realize we don't have multiple castles within short car rides or even within walking distance (if you're into that kind of thing). But there's all other sorts of things out there. Go explore. Find a spot and hang out. Take your friends along. Eat cake before you have dinner. What's not fun about that?

my bags are packed.... not quite yet

2009-06-20T01:08:00.004-07:00

Ireland was grand. That about sums it up. I'll have more pictures once I get back to the states, so this little bit of M. documenting me documenting myself outside The Temple Bar in Dublin will have to do. We managed to fit in a lot of stuff by getting rid of our tentative schedule and branching out. There were many highlights, but one that really sticks out was a woman in her 70s (with red hair, I may add) dancing a jig while the local musicians played at a pub in Doolin. Fantastic.

Now it's time to think about packing up all the bits I've acquired over my month here as I fly back to the States on Monday.... sigh.

Have a great weekend!

off to the emerald isle

2009-06-12T00:43:00.000-07:00

Today I depart for some days to Ireland. I am, to say the least, quite excited. Quite. Some time will be spent in Dublin where I know some locals, then it's off to the west and the Dingle Peninsula. Quite excited. Quite. I'm also looking forward to unplugging, as it were. One town we're staying in (the only reservation we made) is so small that has no ATM in it. Anywhere. Quite excited. Quite.

I've been watching this video as the time to my trip ticked by from when I first booked the tickets. I laugh out loud every single time. Enjoy.

wicked storms

2009-06-11T07:25:00.001-07:00

Today has been particularly stormy here in Deutschland. Lots of wind. Some rain. Spots of sunshine followed by more clouds. I have to say, though, the storm last weekend in Meersberg was the best so far. We watched it come down out of the mountains and move quickly across the Bodensee. Here's a picture I took about 5 minutes before it forced us inside. Rad.

Philosophenweg

2009-06-09T01:11:00.002-07:00

Last weekend was one for exploring local sites, such as they were. Saturday we headed down to Meersburg on the Bodensee and watched a wicked storm roll down out of the Alps. It was an altogether successful low-key day. Most excellent.

Sunday I hitched a ride with some folks heading up to Heidelberg so I could explore. Heidelberg is a delightful spot. I mean, it can boast to being the place where the Bunsen Burner was invented. And they've got a great Schloss (that's a castle to you and me).

One bit of my day there that particularly struck me was the Philosophenweg, the Philosopher's Walk. There's this path that goes from across the Old Bridge of Heidelberg, up the big big hill, then gently slopes down towards the University (of Bunsen fame). I started out on the Philosophenweg by the University, hoping to walk up on a gentle slope, then down all the really steep bits. Well, that didn't really work out. I apparently missed a turn somewhere along the way and the path was much shorter than I'd anticipated. Such is life. I will say this though, I noticed my mistake while standing on the Old Bridge. I had no agenda. I had no one else to consult. So I fixed my mistake. I started up the steep steep part of the Philosophenweg. The entire path up is laid with stone and has a few spots with stairs, made necessary by the incline. Not only is it a steep steep path, but it's also walled in on the sides a good portion of the way (please see the above photo).

The Philosopher's Walk did not make me want to ponder the deeper meaning of life in general. I was not overcome by the beauty of Heidelberg (though it is quite stunningly beautiful). It made me think about my homies plugging away at their PhDs. I mean, think about it, you've got this arduous path up where you don't have any guide beyond what you can see in front of you. There are giant walls on both sides, keeping you in, limiting your view of the outside world around you. Only occasionally do they let you move off the path for a quick look around and maybe take a picture so you can see where you've been and perhaps get an idea as to where you're going. And the thing about that look when you get it is you see how everyone is carrying on down below. Anyway, I salute you, my homies in PhD-land. Keep on keepin' on, because you're almost to another outlook.

döner kebab

2009-06-04T05:46:00.004-07:00

Ahhhh, yesterday I was able to cross one food agenda item off my list, the döner kebab. Such meaty deliciousness in a handy little bread pouch. And all for the low low cost of 2-3 Euro. I know they're bad for me... with all the salt and the fat. But I can't help it. So good.

In other news, the work-week goes well here and the weekend plans are much closer to home, such as it is. There will be a quick trip down to the Bodensee (between Germany and Switzerland). Tomorrow I think I'll head out during the late morning to downtown Stuttgart. Explore things a bit. I like exploring.

bratislava grafitti

2009-06-02T03:20:00.000-07:00

Pivo and Pork!

2009-06-01T05:35:00.002-07:00

Ventured to Slovakia this last weekend. Most excellent. Most most excellent. First, let me say I stayed with a friend of mine who was there on vacation with her family. I should also add that she's from Slovakia. That completely changed the experience from what it could have been at some hotel in the Old Town area. I got out into the suburbs (1960s Soviet era GIANT housing complexes), she took me to meet her family and friends, and was an all-around excellent host.

Two words: pivo and pork. Pivo = beer. Pork = (for our purposes) pork fat. Saturday night I went with my friend and her fam to visit her cousin. They started things off with a delicate aperitif which was, in fact, a gin-like drink that had only been distilled once and was 52% alcohol. It could put some hair on your chest (if you're after that kind of thing) if you drank too much of it. Pivo was, of course, on hand as a chaser. But it was all worth it when we got to the food: stuffed cabbage leaves in this this soup-like paprika broth. Delicious. So so good. Real stick-to-your-ribs peasant food (Hungarian peasant food, more specifically). After dinner we gathered in the living room to chat more, drink more pivo, and hang out. The pork fat (a specialty of sorts) was mentioned earlier in the evening, as my friend's husband had told me all about it earlier in the day. The cousin's husband disappeared for a spell, then poked his head in the room and told us to come with him........ sitting at the table was a plate of delicately sliced pork fat. Like bacon fat without any of the meat. Accompanying this delicacy was thinly-sliced onion, and bread. When in Rome... well, I'd like to say I hesitated at the thought of stuffing straight-up pork fat into my mouth, but that would be a lie. I ate freely. And enjoyed every minute of it. Slovakia is not a place for vegetarians. I'm also pleased to report that the combined aspects of the not-quite gin drinking, pivo drinking, and pork fat eating meant I made a favorable impression on the family.

Ah, the pork fat.

My visit really was wonderful. Aside from the great food I was able to really see little glimpses of life there, not just your typical tourist stuff.

to Slovakia for Swedish Meatballs!

2009-05-28T23:04:00.006-07:00

Just kidding. I am off to Slovakia for the weekend in about 30 minutes. But not for Swedish meatballs. I had those at the local IKEA earlier this week (please see the above picture). Yes yes, Bratislava. This will be my second trip past *gasp* The Iron Curtain. . Should be fun. I'll be staying with a friend and her family. I've just got to get to the appropriate place on time. Don't worry, I made sure to put my big-girl pants on this morning.

Have a good weekend, all.

everyone speaks english!

2009-05-27T05:57:00.002-07:00

I managed to get out of the flat today to do a walkabout of the town I'm in. I went off in search of the market, not knowing whether or not today was, in fact, the second market day of the week. After wandering too far down, making some course corrections, and a few leaps of faith, I found the market! Woohoo! Despite my indirect course, I think I could find my way back without too much difficulty. I've also learned a fairly obvious lesson: just because someone says, "oh, they all speak english... you'd be surprised." does not make it so. No problem. I managed to get the veggies I was after without much difficulty. The cheese, however, was something else altogether. I ended up buying 13 euro (pronounced oy-row)worth of goat cheese. Now, it is a delicious cheese. But that's a lot of money for a hunk of cheese.

On my way back I encountered an old man walking down the street. I had been looking in the storefront windows, etc. and didn't see him coming. By the time I looked up, we were heading directly for each other and thus started the whole stutter-step-I'll-go-this-way-you-go-that-way-wait-I'll-go-that-way-no-I-was-going-to-go-that-way dance. It was a good time. We laughed. I smiled. He said, "English?" I said, "yes." And he nodded his head in understanding. It was a good-natured understanding.

Now the vegetables are roasting in the oven and I've got some spargel in some water in the fridge. Most excellent.

in the moment

2009-05-25T12:19:00.002-07:00

Went to the Alps this weekend. You know. As you do. I struggled back and forth between sitting (or hiking) and just taking everything in or reaching for my camera. I like to tell myself I struck a nice balance, but I think it depended on the day. The short trip, however, allowed for both. Living in the moment is something I'm trying to work on... and I found myself exclaiming some interesting things because of it: "Holy Shit, that's pretty!"; "Seriously?" (because half of it looks like it cannot possibly be real); and of course ... "Beautiful. Gorgeous. Wish you were here." So, what did I see? I saw cows with bells around their necks. I'm here to tell you that you can hear them up while hiking, even if you can't see them. I saw lots of men in lederhosen and women in dirndls. I heard accordion music (did not purchase the dude's albums). Drank lots of beer. Ate some excellent wurst. Wrap your mind around the deliciousness of Spätzle with sourkraut and bacon. Had a migraine (not beer related), but who cares when you're in the Alps (okay, I did a little). And finally, I laughed a lot with some fantastic people. I cannot complain about anything for a long time.

to the Alps!

2009-05-22T06:21:00.002-07:00

I like to say "To the Alps!" like I say, "To the Batcave!" More of an exclamation with a finger thrust into the air.... And I'm still with the jet lag, so I can't tell if that's really as entertaining as I think it is or if I'm just punchy from the lack of sleep. Anyway, we shall depart to the Alps here shortly, to Garmisch-Partenkirchen if you're at all curious. There promises to be good German food, a trailer, beautiful mountains, picturesque lakes, and relaxing hikes. Most excellent.

Got a holiday?
Good Sir, Drive On! To the Alps!
Watch out for the goats.

in deutschland

2009-05-20T22:31:00.002-07:00

I arrived safe and sound at my friend's house yesterday. We promptly left her flat, took her dog for a walk, and then got a beer. With the dog. On the restaurant's patio. Because Germans love dogs. Most excellent.

As I sit here at the kitchen table there's a nice thunderstorm rolling on through. We've seen some lightening, heard the thunder, and now the pooch is hanging out by my side. I'll have some pictures soon enough.

Anyway, in the spirit of KFR's last post, here's a haiku I put together before I left on Tuesday for my homies at work:

Say "bitte ein Bit"
And squint your eyes a little;
An Alpenhorn blows

quick visits and travel

2009-05-13T08:40:00.003-07:00

Apologies for the lack of blogging. I'm currently in travel mode, even though I'm now at home. Last week was an amazing combination of 730 miles driven and a flight from Seattle to San Jose and then back again. I don't know what those miles are, but rest assured it was enough. But the travel was good. Very good. I was able to visit the fabulous A. and then KFR and Beetlegirl ventured over the hill to see me. There was some hanging out in my hotel room complete with leopard print robes. Really, they came to see the robes. If only we'd had a bubble pipe or two.

Anyway, I'm still in travel mode because I'm getting all my crap lined up and ready to go for Germany. One month away means I better not leave any fruit on the counter or milk in the fridge. That and I'm one of those crazies who cleans like mad before they go on a trip. So yeah, have much of what I need packed, but I've also got an expanding list of things to take care of before I go. I don't mind, though. Because if you look at the picture below, that's where I hope to be over Memorial Day weekend. Woot!

for anyone contemplating a job change

2009-05-01T12:10:00.002-07:00

A friend of mine from work sent me this and I just have to share it. I think we could wind up in a situation where certain bands of superheroes start fighting with eachother... like those that prefer Star Trek to Star Wars, D & D people vs LARPers, etc etc etc. Anyway, watch the video. You won't be sorry. I promise.

the matrix?

2009-04-23T12:49:00.002-07:00

A friend of mine from work sent me this lovely window into an untapped culinary world the other day. It proved to be an entertaining distraction and we both agreed that the hotdog bits with spaghetti through them looked like those machines that attacked Neo in The Matrix. Anyway, I suppose you could make an adult version of Spaghetti-Os with this? Scary.

In the realm of updates, I've got a few to make:

am currently slightly obsessed with the new Neko Case album.
am currently residing on the outskirts of migraine land.
am currently annoyed at the travel part of work travel... just air plane annoyance.
am currently overjoyed with visions of a Hug Atttttaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack in the Bay area.
am currently trying not to squeal every 5 minutes with Big Travel plans which are rapidly approaching.

I think that's a pretty good list. I had an excellent time lazing about last weekend and look forward to making some Chili for friends this weekend. That's right people. THE Chili.

Neko Case: This Tornado Loves you ... a song explanation: this is a love song from a tornado to someone. The album, Middle Cyclone, is just fantastic.

some moments from last weekend.

2009-04-15T19:06:00.002-07:00

Squirrel Guns

2009-04-13T11:51:00.002-07:00

I loaded on up and went home last Thursday for Easter weekend. I had plenty of snacks, water, space blankets, etc for the late-night trip that sent me over a mountain pass... but I did not have a squirrel gun. This, I soon learned, was a shortcoming given my family's Okie roots. Our unofficial bunny day dinner was Saturday night and believe you me it was a good one. Not only was the chow delicious, the conversation was quite lively. All I can say is that the trip down memory lane involved a distant male relative dubbed Penny the Pervert (his name was, in fact, Penny) and Grannies with squirrel guns. That's right people... grannies with squirrel guns. And you need those special guns because if you don't get the squirrel just the right spot than you can't use the meat. I suppose in the grand scheme of things that a squirrel gun would have been useless on Thursday had I needed it, given the fact that it was dark. But still. I'm sure I could rig some sort of gun rack in my car, start a new trend. Get myself a squirrel gun and ride around listening to country and western music. Its a pretty short leap for me when you think about it....

scheming update

2009-04-08T09:36:00.002-07:00

With the travel restrictions in place for work, I haven't been down to see the Cool Kids since last September. Luckily some have managed to head north for family visits (which means I get to see them as well), but I'm itching for more visit time. For the entire Hug Atttttaaaaaaaaaaaaaack gang.

Just so y'all know, I'm in proper scheming mode. And if scheming mode doesn't work out, there's always cheap airline tickets and comfy floors with bunnies.

Over and out.

those wacky germans

2009-04-03T10:12:00.003-07:00

Ummmm, I'm providing a nice dance video for your friday. I plan on learning this particular dance as I shall travel to Germany next month. I'm quite excited about it and that excitement needs to come out some how. This dance is as good as any other... I mean, I've got the snoopy dance down already. Have a great weekend and learn a new dance!

why I have class: reason #31

2009-04-01T07:30:00.002-07:00

Last night I had some foie gras and watched Point Break.

lambs or goats and dames or divas

2009-03-30T08:50:00.003-07:00

I had a very entertaining end to my week last week. So entertaining that its keepin' me goin' through this Monday morning of jacked-up WiFi (which means I can't have a change of scenery when working). Let's see here... saw the stylish and amazingly rad couple KFR and B. There was wine, hug atttttaaaaaaaaaaacks, shootin' the shit, catchin' up, and generally a very enjoyable time. THEN we got to do it again (minus the wine) the next morning at breakfast. Most excellent.

Saturday was adventure time. Went on a back road adventure to the outlet mall with an upstanding member of the BCC. We had 3 goals to accomplish: see baby lambs, stop at the menonite lady's home bakery, and return some pants/hunt for socks. While trying to make conversation with the bakery lady I mentioned the cute cute cute lambs we'd seen. "You mean the goats.".... Ummmm no, I mean the lambs. Miscommunication miscommunication miscommunication... "They're goats." I hadn't seen any goats yet and told her as much. "Those are goats outside." Ah. I finally caught up. I told her we saw lambs on the drive, but hadn't seen HER goats yet. I don't think she actually believed I knew the difference between sheep and goats. Later that evening I went to a drag show. Very entertaining. I wonder if she would have known the difference between dames and divas.

Yesterday was a lovely day of lounging, mucking about on the computer, and playing kickball. I'll just add that I kicked in the winning run. Woot!

sign of the apoalypse

2009-03-24T08:44:00.002-07:00

Okay okay okay. I know I've been out of the loop for a while now. So I'll try to give a quick update and then be much better about tending to the blog. Ummm, because I only have a few minutes before a meeting I'll utilize The List:

We almost won a game in dodgeball. It was so close. The match was epic. EPIC.
St. Patrick's Day wasn't nearly as exciting as the Muppets song listed below. It happens.
Spring is in the air.... travel shall be in the air soon enough as well.
I had a delightful potato doughnut. With cinnamon and sugar. I highly recommend them.
Went to cousin's wedding last weekend. It was outside. In a forest. And cold. Despite the cold, it turned out really well.
I get to see KFR and Re-B this week! Huzzah!
I happened to be at a mall the other day and came across the outfit featured below. I threw up a little in my mouth at the sight.

one must always be prepared

2009-03-13T09:07:00.000-07:00

luck of the draw

2009-03-11T09:54:00.002-07:00

So last weekend I had my fortune told at a bar for the price of a beer. It seemed like a fair enough price. I was told The World was my future... cool. Anyway, the last couple days I've been meditating on what it means to send good thoughts out into the world in general and the trickiness of judgment. Sean "P Diddy" Combs was on the Ellen show the other day. Ellen pressed him for letting the punk Chris Brown (a correct judgment, I think) use his house in Florida as a place for him and Rhianna to make up or whatever. P Diddy was all, "I just want to send positive vibes, goodness into the world. blah blah blah." And Ellen's response was basically, "I get that, but I don't want girls thinking its okay for men to hit them."

Here's my question, do good vibes count when they're laced with righteous violence? For example, my good vibes come in the form of a small legion of microscopic warriors that know karate and battle things like wife beaters and cancer cells alike. Who am I kidding.... I'm okay with this combination of good and bad. I guess its all luck of the draw, initially anyway, and then how you move forward.

I should also add that I went to see Watchmen last night, which is probably influencing my good/bad vibes thought.... The movie was good, but entirely too long and with the most ridiculous sex scene. Ridiculous.

YES to style!

2009-03-05T10:02:00.003-08:00

Okay, I admit a certain amount of ridiculous self-satisfaction at owning a SIGG canteen since 2004. Yes, it was a tad odd when people's first comments were, "ummmmm, isn't that a liquid fuel bottle for cooktops and stuff?" They had no idea the veritable fashion STORM of SIGG bottes was on the way. I just needed something that would fit neatly into my bag as I travelled around Europe. Setting aside the pretentiousness of that last sentence (and what follows), I noticed this add on nytimes.com yesterday as I scoped out the latest headlines and read Maureen Dowd....

"Say NO to plastic -- YES to style! Invest in Yourself & A Greener Earth."

I sort of love the fact that they're so clearly targeting city hipsters. I bet you could actually see some of these when walking around Portland, hipster-central. Methinks it takes a very specific type of individual to walk around with a GIANT canteen slung over their shoulder. But once that very specific individual does it, I wonder how long it will take others to do it?

Meh. Environmental Fashion. Add it to the list.

Album MeMe; or, a Follower

2009-03-01T15:18:00.006-08:00

Following in the footsteps of KFR and the venerable Count Fosco, I present my album cover. I was quite tickled by the both the band and album name, though I admit I stretched the band name a bit. A long latin name for a trout found in Croatia just wouldn't cut it. Meh. I also must admit I was hoping for something a bit more metal in terms of imagert to go with the names. Whatev.

If you're after your own album cover, please refer to this lovely "Not (yet) on iTunes" post from Count Fosco.

And just to give a bit of credit, the image was from Dyrk.Wyst on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dyrkwyst/3302855961/
Full quote: "Here's a rule I recommend: Never practice two vices at once." -- Tallulah Bankhead
Random Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salmothymus_obtusirostris_salonitana

Its peanut butter jelly time!; or A product endorsement.

2009-02-25T09:20:00.005-08:00

I make no secret of my love affair with Peanut Butter. I love peanut butter and all the wondrous things you can pair it with. Hell, Elvis even put it with pickles. I bring this up because I go through a lot of peanut butter and I prefer Adams, organic please. Anyone who has ever purchased this particular type of peanut butter (old fashioned) knows that you have to work for it. You've got to mix mix mix it up the first time you open it because the naturally occurring oil separates. I've always hated the mix mix mixing because it takes 5 minutes of attempts at stirring with oil slopping over the edge. Plus your hand can cramp. Its not fun. Anyhoo, for a while I wanted a peanut butter mixer. I know, I know. Its not very smart to buy kitchen appliances that only do one thing. But I had to.

I found my treasure at a kitchen store in downtown Seattle. I have warm feelings for this kitchen store because every time I purchased something there they always have information about using it. And if they don't, they say as much. The skeptical looking woman who helped me stated, "I can't vouch for this... but I would bet it works because it looks like it functions on the same principle as a dough hook." Good enough! I'm sold!

Now, I've only used the mixer once, but it handled everything beautifully. It will get used again this week I'm sure. If you are at all a lover of Adams peanut butter but hate the mixing, go get yourself one of these.

Peanut Butter RULES!

weekend.

2009-02-18T10:50:00.003-08:00

I made it up to Seattle last weekend for the first time in way too long. It was fantastic to hang out, play some pool, see the sights, and just be. Unfortunately I missed two kickball games, but it was well worth it. Please enjoy some of the pictures from the weekend. Among my faves is the brick wall... if you go to my flickr site and see the large version of the image you'll be able to pick out the thousands of pieces of gum that decorate wall of the building.

Respect my Author-i-tay!

2009-02-13T09:56:00.002-08:00

That's right people! Its all about RESPECT! Last night I had to officiate a dodgeball game before my own games started. Fine, no problem. We're all adults who look silly playing dodgeball for fun. The rules are fairly simple, follow them and don't be an ass about it.

Not so simple last night.

There was some serious gorilla chest pounding over dodgeball. Apparently some words were exchanged (which I did not hear) between Short Gorilla and Tall Gorilla. Next thing I know, Short Gorilla runs over and gets up in Tall Gorilla's face! I'm talkin' chest to chest, Short Gorilla almost on his tiptoes to make himself bigger... Bah! Nobody on either team was doing anything to stop the escalating situation so I had to go over and stop the staring-content-chest-pounding riff-raff. Are you kidding me? For dodgeball?

Short Gorilla (who obviously had some sort of experience with this before) knew to flee the scene. He started to walk away quite quickly. UNACCEPTABLE!

My response: Hey! Stop! Look at me.
Short Gorilla: walk walk walk, stop turn, continue to walk on...
Me: Stop. Now. Look at me. You can't do that.
Short Gorilla: moves like he's going to walk away again....
Me: I mean it. Look at me. You cannot do that.
Short Gorilla: Am I out?
Me: You're done. For the game.

BAM! Take that! Luckily dude was shamed into apologizing after the game was over. I don't actually believe that means he'll change his behavior in the future, unfortunately. And the people around him didn't seem all that concerned either. What a bunch of wing nuts.

Anyway, let this be a lesson to you. Respect my Author-i-tay!

mr roboto

2009-02-12T10:37:00.001-08:00

Ummmmm, Mr. Roboto. Terrible song. On so many levels. Terrible. One thing I will say for it, though, is that its quite fun to say.

Lost in the Queen's Handbag

2009-02-06T09:28:00.003-08:00

I called up KFR the other night before the latest episode of Lost. You see, KFR and his lovely wife Re-B got me hooked on the show. I'd roll over to their house about an hour before the show started with an acceptable beer and we'd shoot the breeze, eat delicious cookies, and ponder John Locke. The John Locke of Lost... not the philosopher. Anyway, I called KFR to talk Lost as we used to do and we ended it by agreeing to blog about it. At some point. If one felt compelled. Kinda.

Right.

So! Was I so thrown by Wednesday's episode that I felt compelled to write about it? No! I feel compelled to write about Queen Elizabeth's handbag! You see, before lost started a program on PBS covered the Queen's last state visit in 2007 (commemorating 400 years of settlement at Jamestown, yadda yadda yadda). Catching only snippets of this (as I talked with KFR), I could only wonder what the Queen kept in her handbag.... I figured it out in a dream Wednesday night. All the Secrets of Lost are in the Queen's handbag. She's carting around a polar bear, the weird smoke (to smite down all who get in her way), directions off the island, Jacob's direct phone number, the meaning of the number, as well as the Charter document of the Dharma Initiative.

Some say dreams have the unique ability to provide powerful insights if we only know how to interpret them. Well, I'm listening.

Check the Queen's handbag.

working girl

2009-02-04T08:55:00.006-08:00

I saw bits and pieces of Working Girl on TV yesterday and was drawn in by the out-of-date exercise equipment. There she is, Tess, just trying to get her work done in her inexpensive shoulder pads and tennies (with heels safely tucked away in a secondary bag) when she spots the high tech exercise bike sitting in the corner. As you can see by the picture, she proceeds to jump on the bike and exercise whilst working. Is this too much to ask?

The weather has been right over the last week or so to actually get out and run some. Well, its been long enough that the running is interrupted by intervals of walking. Gotta start somewhere. Anyway, I bring up Working Girl because I like exercising during the day. I don't do well early in the morning and I'm not consistent in the evenings. This leaves lunch time. The noonish hour. Now, I work from home quite a bit so this isn't a problem. A luxury, I know.

Anyway, I'm wondering if I should troll Goodwill or St. Vinny's for an exercise bike like the one above? Cross-training,anyone? Woohoo!