Layers

I do like winter. I am thrilled that it finally feels that the season has come. I went snowboarding today in the snow and it was great. The problem with winter comes when you try to date or go out. It's a tough season to try to look your hottest. Static from hats, hat head, chapped lips, layers and layers of clothing and boots and mittens and scarf and coat. The city has been so icy lately it is impossible to wear heels, my preferred footwear. LL Bean is generally not the first name that comes to mind when I am getting dressed for an evening out. But I'd rather not twist an ankle or slip like so many people have.

So blue

Work has sucked. School is getting really, really busy. Date with man with no-name was meh. I drove into to work today and almost got hit by every crazy driver on the Pike and in the Stop and Shop parking lot. I have not been in the best of moods.

So I walked into my door tonight and sat down in front of the computer. A few clicks later I had reupped my sponsorship for a new sister through Women for Women. I asked for my sponsorship dollars to go either to Sudan, Afghanistan or Rwanda. In about 12 weeks I will get my sponsorship packet and be off and running. I would sponsor more women if I could but I am only one person and can only do this.

I got tired of feeling sorry for myself. So I am turning my blues into action and helping someone who really has something to feel bad about.

What's in a name?

So I met a guy on my crazy Friday out a few weeks back. He seemed nice enough so we've been in touch. We have plans to go out this weekend. The problem? I have no idea what his name is. He introduced himself to me (and my 3 friends) at the bar. None of us know what it is which is sad since clearly none of us were paying attention. . We are also not sure of his nationality. His accent was German. Or Russian. Or Spanish. When he calls me he doesn't say his name. I was hoping to get his voicemail but no such luck. I'm not sure of the etiquette, but I think we are past the point where I can just ask him point blank. So I am left to hope that he pays by credit card so I can sneak a peek at his name. Or I can ask him for his email address.

So essentially I am going out with indeterminate accent no-name guy. It should be interesting :-)

Snow and Valentines

Well as far as Valentine's Days go, this one was good because our first major snowstorm hit today. And let me tell you, it's about time I got a snow day! Happy Valentine's Day!

Goodbye Gotham

I had a quick trip to NYC to visit the girls. I decided to stay over as a bit of a break. I can do homework in an airport or hotel as well as I can at home.

We were celebrating new house, new job, new teeth, new engagement and the fun of being together again. It a blast and we usually laugh so hard that it qualifies as an ab workout.

My day started and ended with a case of mistaken identity. In the security line at Logan, the family in front of me had four kids. One of the little boys wasn't really paying attention, nor was I, and next thing I know he's got his arms wrapped around my legs hugging me! I don't know who was more shocked! The look on his face when he realized I wasn't his Mom was too funny. I mean we all must look the same when you're 3 feet tall. Apparently he is a painfully shy child as well. I'm sure he recovered by the time they got to Florida.

At dinner that evening, I was sitting alone in the middle of a row of tables. I was having a great time and had just finished my goat cheese and beet salad. All of a sudden this man I had seen at the bar earlier was across from me trying to hand me his coat to put on the bench next to me. I had no idea who he was but he was certainly insistent. Then he sat down at my table. The waiter looked at me. I looked at him. The people around me looked. The man then asked the waiter for a glass of wine. All of a sudden this man realized I was not his date. She was sitting four tables away looking really peeved. It was hysterical and I'm guessing the date didn't go well after that.

Because I Say So

So it appears that after 3 weeks of intensive counseling former president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Rev. Ted Haggard, is now 'Completely Heterosexual'. This is in spite of that pesky incident with the call boy which caused him to have to step down.

Well thank goodness. I guess if you say something to yourself enough times it will be true. Oh, that's right. It's only true if you have 21 days of intensive "counseling" with four ministers. They can declare you completely heterosexual - as long as you leave town and enter the secular workforce. Sounds to me like they really, really believe he's straight.

Fishnets and raindrops

It was a very interesting Friday evening. It was a long night out that really seems to have been broken into three distinct acts. I got an extra act that the rest of my friends did not, but it certainly wasn't what any of them thought.

Act I - An outing with a friend prior to meeting up with other friends. Had great conversation, wine and tapas and a few laughs at the scenery.

Act II - We all finally met up and headed out. We had no idea it was raining so a quick sprint to the T and trying to find a bar based on proximity rather than preference. We settled in, had some snacks and drinks and had a rather entertaining evening with quite the revolving cast of characters.

Act III - I headed off to see another friend for something I was not expecting. He had mentioned great life changes so I was anticipating great things. The discussion that followed was a complete shock. I am still reeling with the information I have been given because I had no idea he was in such pain. Why is it that conversations like this happen at the wee hours of the morning?

Postmortem was lunch with the girls to deconstruct the evening.

Overall it was a great evening. It's going to take me a few more days to make sense of some of it but I will rest assured that I have a great smile.

And the fishnets of the title were a big hit!

Can we please stop talking about this?

Ok I give up. I cannot bear another day talking about the Mooninites and the Turner Broadcasting guerilla marketing campaign. Should you have been blissfully spared of this news, see the story here.

Fine, maybe in this touchy time we live in putting Lite Brights on a bridge overpass was not the brightest idea. But what gets me more than anything else is that it took almost 2 hours for the media and mayor to say that this was a publicity stunt. Two hours. So instead of letting all of us know that there was nothing to worry about, the massive police presence continued. At 6pm when I went to take my train home I could barely get through the throng of Transit Police clogging the platform.

I am all for safety and security and will admit to a bit of travelling on faith every morning that each of the hundreds of other commuters I encounter mean me no harm.

Debacles like this one make me feel embarrassed and nervous that if something really did happen (god forbid) this city is still not prepared for it.

Read to yourself

Actually today was about reading out loud. I love Dr. Seuss and it's really a blast to read out loud. The words swirl and twist and spin and circle back on themselves. But two Seuss books in a row left me feeling like my tongue was too big for my mouth! For the remainder of the day it was very hard not to write my emails in rhyme. The first prose I tried to read after the Seuss books I tried to get that rhyming cadence. It didn't work so well.

In spite of the tongue callastenics it's a great way to spend a lunch hour!

Past? Future? Present?

I found a very interesting article in the NY Times today Amnesiacs May Be Cut Off From Past and Future Alike. It seems that a new study has found that people with amnesia are very much stuck in the present. So while their past may be a mystery to them, their future memories are also affected. As the Times puts it “To the brain, it seems, remembered experience and imagined experience are reflections from the same mirror. When one is gone, so is the other.” The hippocampus seems to be a more of a major player in memory formation than was previously thought.

Being stuck is never good. I have loved ones in my life who are very much stuck in the past. In that way, they cannot move into the present or dream of the future. It’s very sad. Maybe they need amnesia.

A Sick Cat is Not a Happy Cat

In fact neither my cat or I are happy at the present moment. My poor ginger guy has got a urinary tract infection. I noticed it this morning and he's gotten worse since. I was able to get my vet on her pager and get a prescription called into CVS before they closed. It was fun when they had to put him into the computer so he is now registered with CVS for all his prescription needs! I got the first dose into him (and on me and the floor!) and am just waiting to see if he feels a bit better. He ate dinner but that was it. He finds comfort on the couch and my bed but his dripping is making for a mess. I had to line them with trash bags and then cover them with other blankets. My other bedding is in the wash now. I finally got him to take a bit of yogurt smoothie but I am worried about him being dehydrated.

Since he is a boy kitty, the fear of course is if he has crystals or a blockage. I pray it's just a simple UTI. He is heading to the vet, I'm just not sure if it will be later tonight or if he can hold off until 7am tomorrow. It's going to be a very long night.

Stupid, stupid man

I am still stunned about the statements that Bill O'Reilly made on his show O'Reilly Factor while discussing Shawn Hornbeck on January 15. O'Reilly stated, "I think when it all comes down, what's going to happen is, there was an element here that this kid liked about this circumstances," adding: "The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school. He could run around and do whatever he wanted." O'Reilly also asserted that "I don't believe this kid" enjoyed attending school. On January 16, O'Reilly further declared on The O'Reilly Factor, "I hope he did not make a conscious decision to accept his captivity because" his kidnapper "made things easy for him. No school, play all day long." (See article here Media Matters O'Reilly Factor Article)

How someone could make such stupid statements about a kidnapping is beyond my wildest comprehension. For Mr. O'Reilly to state that it is much better to be kidnapped and held by a pedophile than remain with your own family has me so angry I could just spit. This poor kid didn't go to Disney Land, he was taken from his family and held against his will. Who is this man? Why is he still on the air spouting his vile, ignorant opinions?

Not Everyone Lives Happily Ever After

I have seen the most amazing movie this weekend. It was torture waiting for it to open in wider release and finally it did. Pan's Labyrinth is most often described as an "adult fairy tale". I didn't think this would be an apt description. I was wrong. It's as apt a rendering of the horror of the Spanish Civil Was as Guernica is.

If you recall the fairy tales of our youth, there is always an undercurrent of violence. Poison apples, wicked stepmothers, a wolf that eats Grandma, houses of gingerbread to fatten lost children and so on. The difference with this movie is that the violence causes you to shrink back into you seat in the theater and watch through your fingers. The fantasy portion is breathtaking and so is the violence. This is truly a very grown up fairy tale. You would be doing yourself a favor by seeing this movie. If it's not playing near you, get in the car.

Snow of a different sort

I apparently was a bit overzealous in my wish for snow. I got snow, but only on my television not in my yard. I guess I should have been more specific! After being on the phone with the cable company and letting them do their thing, I now have no TV at all. I should have been happy with the snow.

So with no TV and school not starting for another week, I've had time to reflect on a few things that have been rattling around in my head this week.

The first would be the death of Lily Munster. I was saddened to see that Yvonne De Carlo had died. I know she had done other work, but to me she will always be Lily. I loved the Munsters when I was kid. I thought Lily was just the coolest. I secretly wanted to be her. I think it might have been the cool dress with the bat wings. I wanted to live in a house with secret passages. And the staircase that opened up for Spot. Just brilliant!

Other things on my mind are the two books I got from the library this week. Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran Xue and The Syringa Tree by Pamela Gien. The first is an epic story of a Chinese woman who went to Tibet to find her husband. It was a beautiful story of endurance. The second book was also a story of endurance in a way. It is one child's recollection of growing up in South Africa under apartheid. It was a moving, funny, touching, heartbreaking story. I finished it on the train and it brought tears to my eyes. They are both books that will stay with me for awhile.

Disconcerting weather

I just got home from dinner and realized I had left two windows open. It's January in New England, the heat is off and I have windows open at night. I also just killed a mosquito in my house. I am dying to go snowboarding. Instead, I went mountain biking. Where is winter?

iPoddity

I have a 16 month old 20G Photo iPod. I've loved it since I first pulled it out of it's package. I have taken very good care of my iPod. It's been covered and protected since day 1. I have never dropped it or done anything jarring to it. The first sign of a problem was one day on the train home. It froze up on me. I got home, went to the iPod support page and was able to reset it. The next time it froze up on me on the plane to New York at the holidays. I could not reset it and it stayed on until the battery wore out. Once again, it seemed fine when I got home.

I did not use my iPod at all between Christmas and New Year. One New Year's Day, I charged her up. I realized that the little charging icon wasn't showing up. All of a sudden, my iPod was making a frownie face at me http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61771. It dawned on me that it was probably not a good sign. I followed the IPod support instructions but to no avail. I could not get my iPod to respond. So off to the Apple Store I went at lunch time today.

She wouldn't respond for them either. It was when the Genius behind the counter asked me if I had the Apple Protection Plan that I knew it was not good news. So with no protection, I could not get a replacement iPod. It was interesting to note that the protection plan only covers you for 2 years and they recommended I get a Nano insted since it has no hard drive.

I dejectedly walked back to work mourning the loss of my iPod. When I Googled to see if anyone had any suggestions other than just getting a new iPod, I was pleasantly surprised by the Whack-A-Mole theory of iPod repair found here. http://supamb.com/supafine/2006/02/16/resurrecting-your-dead-ipod-whack-a-mole-theory/

Apparently, whacking your iPod against a hard surface a couple of times might be enough to get it up and running again. I figured I had nothing to lose so I got home from work and plugged my iPod into my computer. I then took it in my hand and whacked it hard on the floor 5 times. At first nothing. But then, it was a miracle! It came back to life with the "Do Not Disconnect" screen and ITunes was able to pick it up again.

It is now charging away and in seemingly fine working order. Who would have thought that a whack would do it! I'll take it on the train tomorrow and see how it works.

Hole in My Broken Heart

2006 was not a good year. I wanted to do a wrap up of it here, but it was while looking back that I realized how painful it was. The crystallizing moment was the death of my Grandfather. When he took ill and was rushed to the hospital in March I figured that was it. He hung on until June. I did not plan to watch him die. Rushing from work to get to his bedside 15 minutes before he took his last breath was both something I was glad I was there for and something I really wanted to miss. His absence has created a hole in my heart that time has not healed yet.

So I was more than happy that 2007 dawned. A new year! A fresh start! No more tears or hurt from people who I love and have bared my soul to.

It was nice while it lasted. Twenty-two hours into the New Year I found myself with a broken heart. This one from a person who led me to believe he wanted what I wanted. "I love you, but.." has to be the cruelest phrase in the English language. Thanks for finally letting me know.

I sincerely hope you find what you’re looking for.

Christmas Wrapping

To all the people who decorate the exterior of their homes, thank you. The more lights the better as far as I am concerned. And extra credit to people who use colored lights. I think this takes a lot of courage since I remember the big, colored light bulbs that decorated my childhood tree. They used to get so hot you wondered how they didn’t ignite the tree. While white lights can be elegant and lovely, I will always have a special place in my heart for multi-colored Christmas lights. To my neighbors who have the one lone strand of white lights strewn on their bushes, close but no cigar. It looks like someone tripped while hanging lights and that’s where they stayed. Try harder next year. To my other neighbor who decorated their porch, it looks great. But do you think that decorating the railings was such a good idea?

Now I can enjoy a break from work and from school and chip away at my Netflix queue and visit the library.

Happy Holidays!

Welcome to Whoville

Well it's official. Christmas is imminent. I saw It's a Wonderful Life on Saturday night.
What a great movie. It makes me cry my eyes out every time. It's not Christmas without it. I also saw the Grinch. 30 minutes, narrated by Boris Karloff. There is no other.
And to wrap it all up, Charlie Brown's Christmas. It's really a trifecta of holiday-ness.

In spite of all the tv cues, I just do not feel Christmassy. Maybe the stress of finals and the fact that it's freakishly warm outside are not helping. I don't require a white Christmas but winter would be nice.

Maybe I should finally mail (ok, start writing) my Christmas cards.

Final frenzy

Well I am getting down to the wire. I have my last final due in a week. It's such a tough class that it is going to take me every moment to finish it. Then I will get a glorious month off! I can't wait. It's tough balancing work and school but then add into it the Christmas mix and December becomes just insane. I haven't bought a single present or mailed a single card as of this moment. While I did put a wreath on my door, that's as far as I have gotten. At this point, I just want to put my books and notes away and clean my house! Forget decorating, I'd just like to wash my kitchen floor.