I really like the new Dresden Dolls album. I have been listening to it a lot in the car on my early morning/late evening commutes to and from the office. I have been spending a lot of time at the office of late. The really sad thing I realized this morning: I had put on my name tag before I even left the house and I didn't bother taking it off during the time that I popped out of my event to run up to the office to answer e-mail and harass people about their details for their upcoming events. I am either getting really lazy or I am building up a tolerance to self-identification. Let's hope it is the former rather than the latter.
I thought that I had found a new place to live, but I don't think that it is going to work out (it's just too much money for a three flight walk-up,) which means I get to spend another Sunday going to open houses in Brookline... It is so horribly frustrating. I HATE spending my Sundays looking at crappy places and coming home utterly disappointed by aforementioned crap. I honestly wish that I could just pick my apartment up, like some benevolent giant, and move it to a nice quiet area within walking distance to Coolidge Corner. I don't think that is asking all that much, but apparently, it is. The good thing is, every day is a fresh start with promise in the house hunt. And I am not being sarcastic; every day something new comes on the market that outwardly meets my criteria. When I realized I couldn't buy the place that I really liked, I drank two Stella Artois, said to myself "fuck it" and got over it surprisingly easy, and that wasn't the beer talking. It makes a difference that I can take my time with this; the first time I bought, I was facing an expiring lease!!
The weather has been utterly springlike this past month, and it is absolutely wonderful.
Here are some other wonderful things:
* Peter Pan
* sharing silence with a kindred soul
* unabridged dictionaries
* a standing ovation
* tolerance
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Thursday, April 6, 2006
et in Arcadia ego
While I was walking from the parking lot at work to my office, I passed a large delivery truck with the company name "Christian Party Rentals" painted on the sides. Intrigued by this, I peeked into the open back to see what they could have been delivering, but sadly, the truck was empty. Christian Party Rentals: hmm. Do they rent Christian parties? Or do they rent tables and linens, etc. to people who are planning parties with a Christian theme? What happens if someone comes who is Jewish or Muslim? Does the stuff have to go back as it isn't a strictly Christian party? Or is it okay to have an eccumenical party? The mind boogles with these large existential issues before the first cup of Starbucks.I am wearing my outfit that makes me feel like a combination of Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly: pink three quarter length sleeve boucle cardigan over a white shell, black swirly skirt with black heels. Wearing that with my sunglasses, my black boucle lady coat and carrying my pink Kate Spade purse when I was walking in made me feel like I belonged in Paris, in the 1950s. April in Paris, chestnuts in blossom... so tempting... and yet, not. Maybe if it were the 1950s.
Monday, April 3, 2006
Airport security: feel the irony
A shout out and props to whomever has to travel a lot, either for work or life because I think that the airports on the eastern coast of the United States of America are the most ridiculous, mismanaged thing on the planet. The local 7-11 is better run!
Spent yesterday being personally searched as I was chosen "at random by the airline" to be one of the potential terrorists attacking the airport. I noticed that none of the people chosen randomly by the airline to be my fellow potential terrorists were elderly people or traveling with young children, just a lot of single women traveling on their own. Hmmm, yes, I suppose that we single women traveling alone ARE a threat: we could get all crazy and premenstrual on the flight attendant. SNORT. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be the TSA man who got the personal treat of going through my carry-on bag; it was full of dirty laundry.
I flew into and out of Heathrow three years ago while there were tanks on the tarmac as a security precaution, and I was treated better, less incovenienced and felt safer than I do flying around the US now. First off, there is no standard code followed by all of the airports: case in point - some people make you take your shoes off, others don't (stupid shoe bomber, I would SO like to kick your ass.) Next, in my experience, the people who work security for TSA are NOT happy employees, and, therefore, they take it out on their customers, ie. the traveler. I am convinced that some of those people are on a major power trip. Also, why do two separate TSA inspectors have to look at your I.D.? Thank goodness they have stopped doing the triple check at the gate. I am convinced that one of these days I am going to lose my driver's license at an airport, and THEN where will I be? Lastly, if you are going to subject someone to "the Full Monty" as my inspector jokingly referred to it, don't keep them waiting in line for fifteen minutes before you "get to them." It doesn't make for a happy traveler.
I know that these new procedures are supposed to make things better and safer for travelers, but I really think that the Europeans, who have been more actively concerned with terrorism in their airports for longer than we have in the US, are a model at which we need to take a long and serious look.
Spent yesterday being personally searched as I was chosen "at random by the airline" to be one of the potential terrorists attacking the airport. I noticed that none of the people chosen randomly by the airline to be my fellow potential terrorists were elderly people or traveling with young children, just a lot of single women traveling on their own. Hmmm, yes, I suppose that we single women traveling alone ARE a threat: we could get all crazy and premenstrual on the flight attendant. SNORT. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be the TSA man who got the personal treat of going through my carry-on bag; it was full of dirty laundry.
I flew into and out of Heathrow three years ago while there were tanks on the tarmac as a security precaution, and I was treated better, less incovenienced and felt safer than I do flying around the US now. First off, there is no standard code followed by all of the airports: case in point - some people make you take your shoes off, others don't (stupid shoe bomber, I would SO like to kick your ass.) Next, in my experience, the people who work security for TSA are NOT happy employees, and, therefore, they take it out on their customers, ie. the traveler. I am convinced that some of those people are on a major power trip. Also, why do two separate TSA inspectors have to look at your I.D.? Thank goodness they have stopped doing the triple check at the gate. I am convinced that one of these days I am going to lose my driver's license at an airport, and THEN where will I be? Lastly, if you are going to subject someone to "the Full Monty" as my inspector jokingly referred to it, don't keep them waiting in line for fifteen minutes before you "get to them." It doesn't make for a happy traveler.
I know that these new procedures are supposed to make things better and safer for travelers, but I really think that the Europeans, who have been more actively concerned with terrorism in their airports for longer than we have in the US, are a model at which we need to take a long and serious look.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
New household addition
Yesterday, my new Kenmore dishwasher was installed. I have christened it "Supah Klean" to along along with its sister, Supah Kool (the refridgerator.) I was home for about three hours with the plumpers and then the electricians. Sometimes I think that I made the wrong career decision. Those plumbers sure make a lot of money, and everyone sits around waiting for them.
I ended up having to unscrew the bottom panel of the dishwasher and reposition the springs that hold the door because it wouldn't lay horizontal. Somewhere between the late arrival of the electricians and the electricans leaving the setting was changed because it didn't have that problem when the plumbers left, and I spent an hour alone with my new dishwasher with the fancy basket for the cutlery and the special holders for stemware. New appliance smell is a happy one.
Anyhow, I realised after having fixed the springs that one of the best things that ever happened to me was being taught how to use an electric screwdriver/drill. One was put in my hand my senior year of college when we were building sets for our production of My Fair Lady (I was Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper,) and I haven't looked back since. It is good to have tools in one's home and to know how to use them. It makes you very independent. I really am the most handy kid in our family. Makes me wonder if in another life I would have done well as a mechanical engineer.
...NAHHHH
I ended up having to unscrew the bottom panel of the dishwasher and reposition the springs that hold the door because it wouldn't lay horizontal. Somewhere between the late arrival of the electricians and the electricans leaving the setting was changed because it didn't have that problem when the plumbers left, and I spent an hour alone with my new dishwasher with the fancy basket for the cutlery and the special holders for stemware. New appliance smell is a happy one.
Anyhow, I realised after having fixed the springs that one of the best things that ever happened to me was being taught how to use an electric screwdriver/drill. One was put in my hand my senior year of college when we were building sets for our production of My Fair Lady (I was Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper,) and I haven't looked back since. It is good to have tools in one's home and to know how to use them. It makes you very independent. I really am the most handy kid in our family. Makes me wonder if in another life I would have done well as a mechanical engineer.
...NAHHHH
Monday, March 20, 2006
March (Hare) Madness
I have to love the people I work with, especially my coworker. She knows that I am not a big fan of my birthday (it's the nine year old in me that just refuses to grow up,) so instead of throwing me a birthday party at work tomorrow on my actual birthday, she and our friend AB arranged to have an "Un-birthday" party for me today that was actually an early Happy 80th birthday tea party for Queen Elizabeth II, complete with tea and biccies and photos of the Queen. I found out about this about a half an hour before the actual party, so I brought a photo of corgis with me. Instead of singing "Happy Birthday," we sang "God Save the Queen" and spoke in English accents for a half an hour.
So see everyone... it isn't just me... the craziness is ENCOURAGED!!! :-p
I ate WAY too many digestive biscuits... but they are so tasty... and people who had never had them before were surprised that they were so tasty. Hmmm, this Anglophilia might just be spreading... MWAHAHAHA!!
So see everyone... it isn't just me... the craziness is ENCOURAGED!!! :-p
I ate WAY too many digestive biscuits... but they are so tasty... and people who had never had them before were surprised that they were so tasty. Hmmm, this Anglophilia might just be spreading... MWAHAHAHA!!
Monday, March 13, 2006
No more sick days!
I can actually breathe and talk again without coughing like a maniac. :-) And the doctor's office called, and I don't have pneumonia!!
There is nothing like being home sick for a week to put things into perspective.
1. Going to the doctor's is a good thing and should not be put off until you are convinced that you might actually have pneumonia.
2. There is nothing good on television during the day, even on the Encore channels. It is good to have a dvd collection stocked with one's favorite films that one has seen a million times so that it is okay if you fall asleep and miss part of the film.
3. Going stir crazy will eventually happen, regardless of how crummy you actually feel. It is good to have nice friends who come over with Starbucks and bagels and eggs when you have spent the whole week drinking tea and chicken broth.
4. The value of clean sheets, towels and pajamas should not be underestimated. It isn't like one would put one's head in the oven if one didn't have them, but they sure make you feel better when you do.
There is nothing like being home sick for a week to put things into perspective.
1. Going to the doctor's is a good thing and should not be put off until you are convinced that you might actually have pneumonia.
2. There is nothing good on television during the day, even on the Encore channels. It is good to have a dvd collection stocked with one's favorite films that one has seen a million times so that it is okay if you fall asleep and miss part of the film.
3. Going stir crazy will eventually happen, regardless of how crummy you actually feel. It is good to have nice friends who come over with Starbucks and bagels and eggs when you have spent the whole week drinking tea and chicken broth.
4. The value of clean sheets, towels and pajamas should not be underestimated. It isn't like one would put one's head in the oven if one didn't have them, but they sure make you feel better when you do.
Thursday, March 2, 2006
My birthday is in nineteen days and the emotional meltdown is beginning already
Stuck in a meeting in a freezing cold room, so what am I doing? Blogging. Oh well. To each his own.
Somewhere in the mail there is a copy of "The Student Prince," which I returned to Netflix last week, but it hasn't gotten there yet. It's been a week, so I filed a missing disc report. I was afraid to do that because I am terrified that Netflix is going to think that I stole the movie. Which I didn't. Cause it was terrible. (Really, even with St. Roop and Robson.) I would have waited another day before reporting it, but I want Curse of the Were-Rabbit to be sent to me before the weekend. I just hope it turns up eventually, because I mailed that dvd in good faith, and now I feel a little bit guilty about it, like I failed Netflix in someway, even though I know that those feelings are utterly unfounded and ridiculous, especially since I read that Netflix deliberately stalls the orders of people who rent a high volume of films per month. On average, I rent about 9-10 dvds depending on the month; they're counting on people to rent about 5. I guess that makes me a "high volume" person, and I throw off the curve.
ETA: "just" received e-mail that Netflix JUST received this movie...HIGHLY SUSPECT!!
My ten year college reunion is coming up in June, and a woman in my class (with whom I became really friendly our senior year) and I have been e-mailing back and forth a bit about our misgivings regarding attending the events. Reading her e-mails are hysterical: she basically has all of the same concerns that I have, with all of the same corollating subtext. We aren't married (subtext: UNLOVED AND UNWANTED), no kids (subtext: BARREN AND UNFULFILLED), both are involved in academic administration (subtext: MAKE LESS MONEY THAN ALL OF THOSE LAWYERS IN OUR CLASS), and both of us feel we could really do with loosing about 15 pounds (subtext: PROBABLY COULD BENEFIT FROM LYPOSUCTION AND A MAKEOVER AT GUCCI.) The whole thing would be really funny if it weren't happening to us. We are both strong, smart, creative women, and yet, here we are, reduced in our own eyes to these Bridget Jones-like individuals, only without the Silk Cuts, the pervy boss and the mothers with the pickled gherkins.
The one positive thing that we both have in common is that we love to travel, and I have been thinking that is the way that I am going to show up at this reunion with my head held high.
Hypothetical conversation with Smug Married Classmate #1:
"Oh, look at your little toddlers... how sweeet! ::gag:: Now dahling, let me tell you about how I jetted away to Europe for the weekend two weeks ago, sweetie dahling." (subtext: I AM STILL FREE AND YOU ARE OLD AND BORING!!)
I am probably giving this way too much thought and emotionally overacting. It will probably be fine, and everyone will be very nice. It's just that there are all of the expectations of milestones that I feel that I should have reached that I haven't. The only one I am really disappointing is myself; I think that is the part that hurts the most because I SHOULDN'T be disappointed in the first place! Overall, I am happy; shouldn't that be enough?
Somewhere in the mail there is a copy of "The Student Prince," which I returned to Netflix last week, but it hasn't gotten there yet. It's been a week, so I filed a missing disc report. I was afraid to do that because I am terrified that Netflix is going to think that I stole the movie. Which I didn't. Cause it was terrible. (Really, even with St. Roop and Robson.) I would have waited another day before reporting it, but I want Curse of the Were-Rabbit to be sent to me before the weekend. I just hope it turns up eventually, because I mailed that dvd in good faith, and now I feel a little bit guilty about it, like I failed Netflix in someway, even though I know that those feelings are utterly unfounded and ridiculous, especially since I read that Netflix deliberately stalls the orders of people who rent a high volume of films per month. On average, I rent about 9-10 dvds depending on the month; they're counting on people to rent about 5. I guess that makes me a "high volume" person, and I throw off the curve.
ETA: "just" received e-mail that Netflix JUST received this movie...HIGHLY SUSPECT!!
My ten year college reunion is coming up in June, and a woman in my class (with whom I became really friendly our senior year) and I have been e-mailing back and forth a bit about our misgivings regarding attending the events. Reading her e-mails are hysterical: she basically has all of the same concerns that I have, with all of the same corollating subtext. We aren't married (subtext: UNLOVED AND UNWANTED), no kids (subtext: BARREN AND UNFULFILLED), both are involved in academic administration (subtext: MAKE LESS MONEY THAN ALL OF THOSE LAWYERS IN OUR CLASS), and both of us feel we could really do with loosing about 15 pounds (subtext: PROBABLY COULD BENEFIT FROM LYPOSUCTION AND A MAKEOVER AT GUCCI.) The whole thing would be really funny if it weren't happening to us. We are both strong, smart, creative women, and yet, here we are, reduced in our own eyes to these Bridget Jones-like individuals, only without the Silk Cuts, the pervy boss and the mothers with the pickled gherkins.
The one positive thing that we both have in common is that we love to travel, and I have been thinking that is the way that I am going to show up at this reunion with my head held high.
Hypothetical conversation with Smug Married Classmate #1:
"Oh, look at your little toddlers... how sweeet! ::gag:: Now dahling, let me tell you about how I jetted away to Europe for the weekend two weeks ago, sweetie dahling." (subtext: I AM STILL FREE AND YOU ARE OLD AND BORING!!)
I am probably giving this way too much thought and emotionally overacting. It will probably be fine, and everyone will be very nice. It's just that there are all of the expectations of milestones that I feel that I should have reached that I haven't. The only one I am really disappointing is myself; I think that is the part that hurts the most because I SHOULDN'T be disappointed in the first place! Overall, I am happy; shouldn't that be enough?
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