real life notes

i know i didnt post yesterday. i had a friend in town and thats a rare occasion, especially rare since she is one of my many friends living abroad and just happened to make it back to the states and just happened to be lovely enough to come all the way to beantown during her brief stay.
one of my other closest friends living abroad, B, who you've all heard of/from on this blog, is in Peru but in her mysterious way a package arrived on my doorstep last night from her, full of so many good things i need in life including a copy of an unassuming but truly genius book that we read aloud to eachother during the two boston adventures she accompanied me on this fall.
The book is called Real Life Notes: reflections and strategies for life after graduation, by Kenneth Jedding.

you all must find it and buy it. you must. it deserves to be the bible of this blog.
the cover is nothing to write home about and the title isn't exactly gripping but we gave it a try because we had a lot of time to kill in cars and let me tell you, half way to boston we realized we had something special on our hands.
I'd drive and B would read, occasionally exclaiming or murmurring in disbelief at what seemed like the man's direct line into our inner lives and outer struggles, and i'd bang on the steering wheel and say READ IT OUTLOUD and shed say i will i will i just want to finish the chapter and then ill read you the most important parts and i'd make a fuss until she just started at the beginning and read the whole way through stopping occasionally so we could wag our fingers at the book and say, YOU, YOU'RE GOOD, YOU.
Sometimes though, the things he'd say would be so spookily right on target it was all we could do to just put the book down and stare at eachother and then back at the book and then at eachother and then out the window and then back at the book and then sigh and start reading again.
So she took the book to Peru on an incredible adventure that i dare say might be partially inspired/motivated by this book, and i stayed in boston trying to remember some of his pearls of wisdom. and trying to remember why i wasn't in Peru too.
this morning i decided to work from home since internet is slow in the office. so of course i picked up RLN, opened to page 64 randomly and started reading. i'm screwed on work, i have so much to get done today and havent even started, but work shouldn't be too mad because of course, while i was expecting to read some of the passages that B had read outloud that inspired her to take her leap, what i opened to was perfect for MY life and my choices. i started to type it out but work really is calling me so let me just leave you with this quote:
"we do not need and indeed will never have all the answers before we act... it is only through taking action that we can discover some of them."
oh and J's coming tonight! WOOOOO!

The conversations I have with my father

J: Hi papi, how are you?

Papi: Good, how are you? what are you doing?

J: I am in the studio I just went to the bookstore to work then went to the gap and bought some things.

Papi: Did you bring your stick?

J: No papi I went to the Gap.

Papi: It doesn't matter, you are supposed to bring it everywhere.

J: Papi I will not bring my stick to the Gap, what will they think?

Papi: I said you are supposed to bring it with you all the time.

Last post of 2008!

First, Let me apologize for forgetting to post last weekend. I realized that I had missed in on Monday, but with the holidays and such I decided to just wait until the next Sunday.

Second, I'm starting to have my first mild panic over working a 9 to 5. Many of my friends are still in school, don't have jobs, or are doing something other than a desk job so most of them are having Christmas break right now. I get christmas day, the day after christmas, and new years day off. That's it! Otherwise I'm just going to work like normal. No real break! It's really starting to freak me out. When do I relax? At least at school when a quarter was over it was really over, now there is always something hanging over my head that I should be working on. Not that I'm doing much work on the weekends, but I know I probably should be. Especially since pretty much all I've done the past couple of days is watch the Office and eat frozen pizzas......I've seen my friends at night, but my days have been really really quiet. I keep trying to talk myself into being relaxed. I can't figure out whether I'll feel more relaxed laying around doing nothing or being out and about seeing people. I also don't really have anything to do, I could go to the gym but I'm not that motivated, so besides driving to Starbucks I don't have any ways to entertain myself. Also, C is having a "reorg" in January which is really freaking me out. What if it includes lay offs? What if I am laid off? I really like my job and I really don't want to have to find another one.....I'm exhausted just thinking about it! I think I should get myself out of my house....

Third, On a happier note - last Tuesday was my cocktail party! Amazing as always! I know I just post picutres from facebook - but these have added captions, any maybe you're not on facebook all the time I like I am so you haven't seen my pictures.

Happy Holidays!My high school friends! I won't bother listing names, but let's just say it's at least a quarter of my class. And two of the most important ones aren't even there!

There were two Dartmouth people at the party Nat (not pictured) and one other. Can you spot him? It's like where's Waldo! he he

This is the Clorox group that was there. My friend D was in Aspen so he couldn't make it, but most other people came. We're all holding my product!

Fruitcake Update

I wasn't sure whether to write this as part of the comment thread where the question was asked or if it should just be a new post. I decided on new post since I'm not sure how often people go back to see if comments have been updated (more often than not I don't).

The fruitcake came out unmistakably as a fruitcake! Success! A product most likely to last through nuclear fall-out, filled with dried fruits and nuts, and upholding all those other fruitcake stereotypes.

Though for next year, my Dad suggested I add more butter (the two loaves already used two sticks of butter) or oil to make it moister/lighter. And I need to soak with more and for longer in brandy, to force the moistness (and wobbly knees) into it.

The recipe I followed.

UGH sorry!!

yes i know i forgot to post. sorry, sorry, sorry! but really? how could i have topped d's post? that video really may be my favorite thing EVER. especially the jazz hands. i also think we should re-create it live. yes? yes?

i am currently sitting here watching west side story on pbs (thanks d for letting me know it was on!), i love the duking it out through snapping, high kicks and jazz hands. apparently the original broadway choreography (which they were showing a tape of in an exhibit in NY this spring) was even more stunning, and fierce, according to the new yorker review (which yes, i am just getting to, actually i'm up to july and determined to catch up completely by the new year.)

as for christmas, i hope you all had a very holly jolly day! i spent christmas eve day doing cookie decorating with the extended fam. there was some great creativity this year (although not from yours truly, whose work constantly got mistaken for my 6 year old cousins), as well as some breaking free from the holiday theme, a xmas boot was made into a bunny, a reindeer into a beaver, and there was even an obama cookie. christmas was lovely, a quiet morning at home with the fam, followed by a big family dinner filled with roast beef, yorkshire pudding and family stories. lots of stories.

also! off the topic, i just saw doubt with the amazing meryl. i didn't see the show when it was in nyc but it got amazing reviews, and the movie is quite good, i'd highly recommend it. i'm excited to see frost/nixon too.

okay that's all, again sorry for the delay!

merry christmas guys.

i actually cried laughing watching this. cried.
they limited it to five elves or id have joined the ho down.
this site is the best thing to happen to my holidays.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas!

I hope that the holiday (and if the holiday isn't your particular cup of tea, then at least the time off) finds everyone well, in good spirits and good company.

The holidays bring a hiatus in new TV programming and the round of usual holiday movies. My mom always clamors to see "It's a Wonderful Life," but with her memory and tendencies, I think she just likes the idea of seeing it as to actually remembering what the heck the movie is actually about.

But thinking about movies, I got to thinking about new holiday classics for our generation or specific to you.

Here are the three that immediately came to mind:

1. Elf - An absolute given. This is a movie that when I'm my mom's age, I'll want to see "Elf" the same way she wants to see "It's a Wonderful Life."

2. Love Actually - Because Christmas is the time of the year when you tell everyone what you think. Or something like that. I never understand that driving force of the movie, but maybe it's a reflection of the Brits.

3. Lavish Chinese martial arts films (read interruption below for explanation)

--

My sister came in from the city and to spend Christmas as usual. Christmas at the Lee household is rather low-key, our other relatives are always off with the other sides of their family, so year to year it's just the four of us.

We've picked up a few Christmas traditions. Favoring rib roast for the dinner. The traditional fruitcake as the sole present for my Dad (a few years back, he pronounced that from henceforth, the only thing he wanted for Christmas is a fruitcake [the man's an odd ball, he likes fruitcake AND brussels sprouts]). And going to see a movie. Now this is quite the treat for us, since my Dad cannot fathom paying ticket prices for first run movies and we also don't tend to do things like this as a whole family.

Well, this year we saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (basically Forrest Gump but more stylized and less heart). But in year's past, we've seen Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and last year's, The Curse of the Golden Flower. Now both are the "lavish Chinese martial arts films" I mentioned above and for me, movies of this genre just resonate with the season.

--

What are your new holiday classics?

--

Fun relevant aside: This year, for my Dad's fruitcake, I opted to attempt to bake him one. After raiding the dried fruit section of Trader Joe's, it's currently in the oven with about 30 minutes left. I have very low expectation for it, since the "batter" looked as if you could imagine sawdust mixed with minimal liquids and lots of dried fruits and nuts. As long as it doesn't have the consistency of a brick I'll consider it a success.

In my culture we show love through a big Stick

I had quite a long journey today.  It took 11 hours to get from hanover to my little home in queens.  And when I finally arrived it was so very nice.  I forgot what it is like to come home to a place with people, animals, all this random food to pick on and the place seems lived in.  And my mom took out a bunch of the Christmas decorations so it was a particularly nice homecoming. 

After I showed my parents a few things, gave my mom her birthday gift and we all spoke for a little bit my father said with a smile from ear to ear "I got you something.  It is over there on that box near the shoes, the stick."  I originally thought it was something next to the stick, but no no no.  It was a stick.  My father brought me an arm length stick from our guava tree from florida.  He picked the stick, cleaned it up, and brought it on the plane with him from florida as one of my holiday presents.  He was going to put a ribbon around it but forgot.  My loving father brought me a stick to beat the crazy people hiding in the forest of hanover.  And then I told him about the actual crazy man, and he said see this stick will be good, better than that stick you took from the woodshop.  Then he told me all about why that stick was so good and why he picked it over the others.

In most families receiving a stick three days before Christmas doesn't mean much, but I will take a stick over any other present any day of the week.  

Happy Holidays! hope you Christmas is full of love and a big stick

a very long story about the world being small. and some last minute gift suggestion.

So last night while writing my personal statement to go with my extensive profile on the boarding school teacher headhunter site that will hopefully be connecting me to an english position, i stopped for a moment and considered whether i really wanted to teach over-priviledged kids.
Its a debate ive had with myself a number of times. on the one hand, i was one of the over priveledged at choate and really, besides probably thinking my hair looked good the way i insisted on wearing it, there was nothing wrong with me.
i learned for great teachers, i carried their wisdom with me into college, i would not be where i am today without them. i deserved a good education as much or as little as the next teenager.
on the other hand, when you see the student- teacher ratio in developing countries its staggering. its motivating. so i spent a few hours reading about how much id have to pay/kill myself to get my TEFL certifcation on the weekends in Boston and then went poking around places that are pretty much the antithesis of a new england prep school: ophanages in senegal and makeshift schools in the refugee camps in darfur.. things like that.
well i happened upon a school called "Empire Des Enfants" in Senegal that was for "kids in difficulty". i think. since the site was in french. so i googled it to try to find some info. What i found was actually a page dedicated to a rolling stones cover with chris martin from coldplay:

the moment i saw the cover i noticed his bracelets because i have a thing with an arm full of bracelets as you all well know. it turns out the proceeds from their sale go to Empire Des Enfants through an organization called "made with love"
did some searching and found the organizations site. its a non profit dedicated to raising funds for NGO's aiding women and children in need through the production and sale of fair trade indigenous products made in Africa, Brazil and Haiti.
A lot of the stuff is interesting or cute, which is all one expects from these kinds of crafts, but some of them go beyond that by quite a bit.
These are the african bracelets featured on Chris Martin's arm, theyre made from recycled rubber by women in Djenné, Mali.

they also come in different color variations
and long colorful necklaces
and a particularly cool charm necklace on a leather cord
ANYWAY i fell in love with both the concept (not original but executed very well and with some serious partners to legitimize it) and with the products.
In the spirit of barely makeing rent, id planned for my christmas presents to be limited to an emailed mp3 or two, a phone call, a meal cooked by me when you see me and some of my homemade peppermint patties made sunday.
on the other hand... my mother really likes lime green and isnt very gracious when it comes to half baked peppermint patties and homemade meals. i also really wanted to get a few each for friends and since a set of twenty is 20 bucks, thats some value.
SO i set about ordering two sets. but the site wasnt working so i called the number expecting an automated system or voice mail and this woman picks up and says HEY. like i know her or shes expecting me. and im like hey? and i say my name and say that i want to buy some bracelets... and shes like oh. sorry, were closed. and then she cuts off and says, wait a second. are you Lee's daughter?
and i'm like, why... yes i am. and APPARENTLY she used to work for my mom in her store thirty years ago! WHOA!
Here's her bio, shes done some fantastic things with dance and fashion and costumes and namely, charity work in brazil. shes the force behind Made with Love.
so we reminsced about how my mothers a task master but scary good at what she does and she asked about my dad and she talked to me about her travels in Brazil and her experience with schools in Rio and talking to chris martin on the phone and eventually she took my order by hand and gave me such a discount that i ordered another set because i can only think of a hundred people who would like them... and anyway i just thought it was so crazy and wanted to tell you and if youre looking for something cool and a decent way to spend your money, this is an idea. :)
love to you all.
D

this is what would happen if i ever tried to get married.

you think im joking.
you dont know my extended family.
*sorry for the ad ps couldnt find it anywhere but hulu.

turkey lurkey deconstructed

sorry for the double-post BUT i found this on youtube when i was looking up the video below...these are seth rudetsky's comments on the below video. he's quite the broadway character and talks about it's "the worst song ever but also, the BEST".
it's amusing and not too long

christmas capers

it is the start of the holiday season here in CO, at least for the "L" family. this afternoon we went and got our xmas tree, which every year is somewhat of an ordeal since it involves all five of us piling into the car and driving around to the different tree lots, trying to find one that is not empty as we always leave the tree to the last minute (barrett and family got theirs BEFORE thanksgiving, sheesh) when we finally end up in a tree lot, all complaining because it's freezing and usually snowing, the trees are usually quite picked over and while we are trying to decide "p" inevitably gets emotionally attached to a tree, which is usually dead and browning, and at least in the past two years decidedly "dr seuss" looking (to put it nicely), last year it was missing branches on one side and curved to the right. two HOURS later, we finally get it home, everyone cranky.

this year, when we were getting ready for the tree trek, my dad and "I" decided that perhaps we should just cut our own from the back yard....seriously. apparently they had been thinking of thinning out the trees anyways, but really family? really? they decided on one, cut it down, a small, pretty blue spruce although definitely sort of 'wild' looking, with branches weirdly spaced and poking out at odd angles. after the ordeal of dragging it into the house with 'p' sort of chucking the tree at 'i' to catch until we all remembered that he had in fact just had shoulder surgery....we finally placed it, set it up, and then (once the gloves from outside were removed) we realized why you never really see blue spruces in the tree lot. this is possibly the most prickly, sharp PAINFUL tree that i have ever encountered. so painful that we briefly considered putting this tree on the porch and going and getting a softer one. although as "i' remarked as we were wincingly (is that a word?) hanging the lights, no one that brushes against it will ever EVER do that a second time. kind of like the way little kids learn that when they touch the stove it is hot and never to do it again. at the same time "i" and i say "we should bring barrett over and tell her there's a present in the tree"

after the painful process of tree decorating, we finished putting up the other xmas decorations stockings, holly etc. now we're not terribly religious, but we do have this small, wooden, hand-carved nativity scene figures, all about an inch high that usually get set out on the piano. this year however we were missing both mary and the baby jesus, which left us with a wooden sheep, goat, 3 wise men and empty manger which just looks like a barn yard feeding scene. this also prompted my mother's comment to all of us "if you see baby jesus around, stick him on the piano, i'm afraid the cat may have gotten him". baby jesus is still mia.

all in all a lovely family afternoon. and now we are all attempting to scrub our arms as they are covered in sap and scrapes from the tree. i really do love this season.

on the note of holiday ridiculousness/office party ridiculousness (i'm living vicariously through you all now) here's a gem of clip from a 60s show. the quality isn't great, but it definitely worth watching a least the first 30 seconds. and really, i'm all for silly musical-ness, as you all well know, but this really takes the cake. there are also some TERRIFIC dance moves, take notes for your office functions.

Coming soon: A rant

so i've worked myself into quite a state and am ready to "blog" about it, but alas it is a late here and despite my mental rage I am tired, so I am delaying my post, consider yourself warned...

On a side note, I'm quite proud of myself for setting up the new wireless router all by myself and it works! Considering how technologically inept I am and the suspiciously common rejection of me by tech devices, I'm chalking it up as quite the achievement that I didn't electrocute myself (which i have done) and it has yet to shutdown inexplicably. Lets see how long it holds out eh?

here's some Sarah Haskins Gold:

9 to 5 THE MUSICAL

yes that's right, dolly parton has written a musical, based on the movie "9 to 5" (which i have not seen, but heard it is good?  yes?)  anyways it's due on broadway this spring and as far as i know is getting pretty good 'buzz' (i can't believe i just wrote that)  anyways i thought i'd post a little preview from it's out-of-town tryout in seattle this fall since it is our name-sake after all (i also know that now with a direct musical link there may be a movement to change the blog title...)

also, slightly separately i would also like to say how much i've decided i love dolly parton, i watched her "E true hollywood story" and wow, what a broad

Not much to report, but watch that video

So I am just working and trying to finish my portfolio work so I can actually work on my portfolio, so nothing that interesting to report except watch this.  seriously watch then read below.

That is really him singing, I almost crapped my pants, how is that possible?!?

He sings every female singer out there, but i like his man voice.  Why is he doing this? I mean it would make one hell of a freak show for atlantic city or vegas, but still.  How startling is that?

ok on a more serious note, tomorrow is my work holiday party.  My direct boss is the DJ and the other girls in the department are the party planners, i am hoping for a big freakshow of  a drunken party.  I am going to run between it and cleaning eggshells in the basement.  Lots of people are going to want to dance with the girl covered in egg membranes.  (it is for a new project)

ok going home and sleeping it out, hope all is well! Maybe I will give a post holiday party re-cap. 

if i believed in asking for gifts, Japanese toymaker Bandai's "Mugen Puchi-Puchi" a perpetually regenerating square of bubble wrap, would be at the top of my list.
i read about this in the NYT magazines Year in Ideas and spent a solid twenty minutes online looking for how to own this genius gadget but apparently im not genius enough to work through the japanese online shopping process.
also apparently im not the only one whose heart quickens at the thought of an endless popping spree.
probably for the better. if i got my hands on this it would likely cost me my job.
speaking of my job.
and office christmas parties.
that happened .
though id say mine was a faaar cry from S's classy shindig.
first of all we had a 200 dollar budget for 8 people. which is ridiculous. student government at dartmouth was more generous. but its typical of the "special child" boston office of my company. we are totally neglected by our parents.
They actually forgot to ring us into the worldwide conference call the other day. we just sat in the conference room for twenty minutes staring at the phone until my boss worked herself into an insulted rage and tore five new assholes and got us a private session with the CEO.
Anyway, alchys that they are, the team decided to spend about 20 dollars of that budget on food and 180 on wine and beer. and then we went to a funky underground bar where my boss ordered us a round and re-named the event "haze-the daiz" and proceded to pressure me into chugging a gin and tonic. it was actually a great night. they know how to have fun and i feel surprisingly safe around them.
skip to the next morning ive got six women sitting around and on my desk scarfing the six orders of dunkin donuts hash browns that id brought in for all of them upon receiving an email that said: "WTF NEWBIE YOURE LATE..... jk. bring greasy food!"
Id like to share with you all a snippet of the convo that occured between me and my boss infront of the whole office. She has the energy of a kid who forgot his ridillin:

D - i'm pretty sure i heard the term "unshaved beavs" at some point last night.
Boss- you bet your ass you did. That was the lamest bachelor party i'd ever seen. I was like go to a strip club, you pussies. and they were like, oh well, i guess there's Centerfolds and i was like, dude, no, take it from me, the ladies there are nastay. nastay. and thats probably about when you heard the term unshaved beavs. im guessing. but seriously, one of them had a balloon. really? a balloon? what is this a baby batch? come ON! someone drop trau and get this party started! I mean when i thew my best friend a bachelorette party, i hired a midget to dress like an oompa loompa and handcuffed him to her. I was like heres your oompa loompa, do with him what you will. Now that's a party.


Friday turned out to be highly unproductive not just because everyone was hungover but also because around 1:00 while we were all on a call with a number of other offices, a perfectly calm voice came on over the loud speaker instructing us that there had been a BOMB THREAT IN THE BUILDING and we were to proceed calmly to the elevators.
well that clearly isn't how it went down. i was getting the eff outta there.
some dumbass (not from my team) was stupid enough to suggest we uphold the elevator capacity.
i was like PILE ON PEOPLE THIS COULD BE THE LAST LOAD CRUSH EM IN BODY SURF IF YOU HAVE TO GODDAMNIT JUST GET IN THERE.
and then we get outside and the boston bomb squad isnt telling anybody anything so everyone decides it would be a good idea to huddle about five feet from the entrance... uhhhm. HELLO? WHAT PART OF BOMB DONT YOU COMPREHEND?!
turned out to be a false alarm but my team declared it an official work-from-home day and got out of there before someone could tell us the coast was clear.
I had a pretty low key weekend after that. (i mean where can you go but down after a bomb scare) and then yesterday L left me to go back to denver for jury duty, of all the inconvenient things....
so tonight i walked from work to the Trident bookstore and cafe on Newbury st where i flirted with the guy who made me my havarti avocado tomato and honey mustard sandwich on toasted hallah which i ate while reading from a collection of W.H. Auden poetry.
i highly recommend him. i also highly recommend sitting along in a cafe reading. i also highly recommend walking in the dark in the wind.
between auden, alone time and wind rushing through my mouth and out my toes, i feel pretty cleansed right now.
going to bed now. loving you all.
D

Can someone buy Beyonce some pants

I just needed to say something, I have personally seen beyonces upper legs and lower stomach area too much recently, someone should buy the girl some pants. 

and Rihanna has my lover, JT in her latest video "Rehab" 

She gets to touch him and fake being his lover, I hate her, and she also does the no pants thing.  What the hell is wrong with the world when all these women decide to wear underwear as pants. 

I just can't deal

Holiday Parties!

So this week was definitely the launch of Holiday party season. It started with my very first corporate holiday party on Wednesday. All I can say is AMAZING! I was so excited for this party. A couple of years ago Alex had a summer job in HR and had worked on planning a holiday party and so I knew all the time and work that goes into these affairs. Moreover, through classic movies like Love Actually (which I of course watched to prep myself), I knew the kind of drama that could go down. Sadly, we didn't have any crazy stories or totally wasted coworkers, but it was still pretty great. Two of our directors were breaking it down on the dance floor and so pretty much all of my coworkers joined them. It was so funny to see all of these men in their late 30s to early 50s, who are so professional work, really enjoying a night without their wives and children. At the end of the night one of the VPs invited everyone out to another bar, but I decided it was a good time to slip out and head home. I'm already excited for next year!

The second holiday party this week was my friend Danny's ugly sweater holiday party. I decided to bring Daniel, my best friend from work. Huge decision since my friends don't love outsiders - but it ended up going alright. The party was thrown by three roommates, and since I'm only friends with one of them there were a lot of people there who I didn't know. I don't love parties with people I don't know, but I was pretty proud of my ugly sweater and I had enough friends there to introduce Daniel too that all in all it was a really good night. It reminded me though how much I need to find an apartment and move into the city. I mean I had to text my parents during the party to let them know if I was sleeping out or not...this needs to stop.... Oh and the other thing I found out at the party - MC Hammer went to Danny's corporate holiday party - I'm so jealous!! ha ha.....

This coming week is our mother daughter tea party (Friday day), Daniel's holiday party (Friday night), and then one week from Tuesday is my cocktail party! I love holiday season! I would also love any present suggestions - my mom keeps bugging me and I can't figure out what to ask for...

L I promise I'm calling really soon. Hopefully tomorrow. Sorry I'm such a failure at keeping in touch!

It hit me like a wall

The realization that, crap, I'm going to need to get myself a job at some point to fill the months and months ahead of me.

Let's assume that I am to begin classes next fall for a grad program (cross your fingers and getting a bit ahead since I haven't even submitted an application yet), which means that I will have purpose/direction/meaning, but that's still a long time away.

And even if I somehow manage to get one of the summer museum internships (i'm only applying to paid ones, however meager they are, i am clinging to the hope that a degree in hand makes me more favorable of a candidate than those pesky enrolled students) that I'm currently in the process of applying for, those wouldn't start till June.

It's December now. There's a long time between now and then. And the thought of spending the next 6 months the same way I've spent the last 3 months terrifies me. My mind will go numb from a combination of CNN, MSNBC and HGTV. I can already feel it.

I've also given up hope for one of the three Apple stores I applied to to call me, so I had to embark on a new job search. And where did I go? Craigslist. Turns out there's a small accounting company (which is literally less than a mile away from my house and actually runs out of a converted home itself) that's looking to hire a part-time temporary office assistant to answer phones and deal with the loads of paper they are soon to be receiving. I am planning to send my resume tomorrow.

And the other job I applied to today? Shelver. At the local library. Part-time. I'd spend my 16 hours a week shelving books back onto . . . the shelves. It sounds glorious to me. God help me if I don't get a call back for that job.

In other news that's not so gloomy, I thought I'd share the most recent round of books that I checked out from the library. Don't worry, I most likely won't read them all.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers
- Because I wanted to see what all the fuss is about over this guy

The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck
- I have no idea what it's about, but he's my hands down favorite author. And I was looking for a seasonal appropriate book and since Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris was checked out, I saw "winter" in the title and made it the seasonal book

Who Moved My Cheese?, Spencer Johnson
- Again, I wanted to see what all the fuss is about.

Death in Venice, Thomas Mann
- It's my friend's favorite book and when we were in Venice, he made me eat strawberries and take a vaporetto over to Lido just so we could stand on the beach. I want to know why.

The Grand Tour, Jim Moore
- It's about the "european adventure of a continental drifter." I wanted to give another travel writer besides Bill Bryson a chance and also, I love everything associated with the idea of a Grand Tour.

ok i lied...

but this isn't really a musical video, just some cute advertising for the upcoming "shrek the musical" which is opening sunday on broadway. my personal favorite is "everything's coming up ogres" but perhaps that is just because of my love for gypsy the musical/patti lupone.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/12/01/business/media/20081201_Shrek_SlideShow_ready_index.html

i actually feel a little mixed about shrek coming to bway, on one hand it's wonderful to have ANYTHING opening right now as things are closing left and right (spamalot, legally blonde, title of show, hairspray, spring awakening, xanadu, a tale of two cities, grease, my beloved gypsy is closing in march....the list goes on, several of those were not so great and deserved to close, but most of them really didn't) and many upcoming shows are delaying their openings but the fact that it's "shrek the musical" is a little disheartening. it just is more of the "disney-fication" (yes, yes i know it's technically dreamworks) that is becoming more and more what broadway is these days. of the 4 new musicals nominated for "best musical" this year, only "in the heights" remains open...sorry about the bway ramble, enjoy the link!

moving and job and jury duty, oh my!

hello hello!

so let me first apologize for two things, 1) that this post is technically after midnight on friday, although since i've been the mtn. time zone contingent for some time, i'm going to say it's fine and 2) that this post is so short, i promise a longer post later this weekend, AND a musical link which i know you all look forward to every week and would be crushed without. i'm running around doing a zillion things since i am flying home on sunday for JURY DUTY UGHHHHHHHHH, and again, UGHHHHHHHH so frustrating! especially since had this happened any time in the last 6 monthes, this wouldn't be an issue. yuck.
in more exciting news, i have a job! well a part-time one anyway, which is a step! still looking for that oh-so-elusive full time one, but exciting to have something, and it's in a corner of the art world so even more exciting! i'm sure i'll talk to all of you soon/will post more, but yay! okay got to run.....i miss you all, really and truly. it gets a tad lonely when it's me, the cat and the allergies all day. will post more soon!

Hello Out There!

Sorry for the late posting. Verizon stuck it to me again. This time it was the big one, the wireless router died. I did however have a very pleasent conversation with my customer service representative and a new router will be here on tuesday (how an "overnight" shipment will take 4 days im not sure, holidays i suppose). I am currently coming to you via dial-up connection. My lovely mother, who balks at any change in internet technology, is still a regular AOL user and now I am eating crow for all the ribbing I have given her about it as I am reduced to it being the only reliable option for me. The search for local alternative (free wifi/internet) begins. Until then consider me "internet challenged"

Two notable moments from the past few days:
the "Lost Parents Inquire Here for Children" sign in front of Disney's "city hall." My mother and I went to the "Happiest Place On Earth" the other day, which obviously isn't all that happy for some people. (the picture of my mother's face on Space mountain: priceless)
I am getting better at having blood drawn, which used to completely freak me out, it feels like a big step

Okay, now I have to go so that our phone line is freed up

oh mista sheffield! and other things ive found while monitoring tech blogs

The nanny is running for senator
article here
What next? My mother in congress?
wow. terrifying thought. though shit sure would get done.

man creates perfect wife robot and falls in love
(A, hold on to your hat, this ones gonna get to you)


NPR is laying off 7% of its employees
so.
depressing.
between broadway closing, newspapers folding and now this... our culture is dying.
article here

This made me laugh.

http://www.geekologie.com/2008/11/good_idea_man_submits_drawing.php

guess where i am

i'll give you a few hints:
im surrounded by grey walls under flickering hallogen lights and theres a perpetual hum of the variety used by oppressive regimes as a form of torture.
THE OFFICE!
woooooooooo!
today i was on calls, as in, headset on, note taking, transferring from one pre-booked internal conference or external business call from one pm until 6:00.
at around 3 i realized i had to pee.
by 4 i was cross legged gesturing to coworkers with the i-have-to-pee sign
at 5 i had pretzeled myself into the position in which my bladder would be least likely to explode and was gesturing to coworkers with the i-am-about-to-flood-this-office sign.
im not even going to get into what happened at 6.

i should go home.
i have so much work, all of it assigned or realized during these calls but ofcourse i couldnt get any of it done because, um, THERE WERE STILL VOICES IN MY EAR.
but even if i stay i wont get it done.
i'm just staying because its balls cold out and normally i walk home and i really shouldnt because i'll probably die unless i run in which case id die for fitness reasons...

well. i should go. i'm going to go. but not before i fulfill my role on this blog to write depressing posts that everyones too intimidated by to comment on.
So i'll just leave you with this poem sent to me by my poem a day email subscription.
much like a horoscope or fortune cookie, i always fine a way to make it meaningful in my day.
this one wasn't too hard. i think its resoundingly true any day but i know personally true these days.
love to you all.

(HAH i just went to paste the poem and what came up instead was the Barron's editorial calendar bc thats the last thing i was copying, which listsall the financially oriented articles that will be written in 2009. which might just be the antithesis of this poem)

Love Poem With Toast

Some of what we do, we do
to make things happen,
the alarm to wake us up, the coffee to perc,
the car to start.

The rest of what we do, we do
trying to keep something from doing something,
the skin from aging, the hoe from rusting,
the truth from getting out.

With yes and no like the poles of a battery
powering our passage through the days,
we move, as we call it, forward,
wanting to be wanted,
wanting not to lose the rain forest,
wanting the water to boil,
wanting not to have cancer,
wanting to be home by dark,
wanting not to run out of gas,

as each of us wants the other
watching at the end,
as both want not to leave the other alone,
as wanting to love beyond this meat and bone,
we gaze across breakfast and pretend.

Miller Williams

Videos and Procrastination

So for graduation my brother gave me an iflip. From past experience, as I'm sure L remembers well, it's usually a bad idea to give me anything that videotapes. I'm kind of famously bad at filming or at least my home movies are always pretty ridiculous. I brought the iflip on the boat trip this summer and insisted on pulling it out at the most inopportune times. Today I decided to post two of my favorite videos to facebook. I can't explain why I love these videos. Seriously everyone who I am filming just seems annoyed with me, I'm giggling away in the background with my weird voice, you get dizzy watching the camera fly everywhere, and they just aren't flattering at all. Watching them does bring up all of these insecurities about whether a certain 3rd best friend of mine actually likes me all that much. Sometimes I really think I just drive him nuts. But still I love my videos. I can't help but grin and laugh as everyone rolls their eyes at me and I remember being exactly in that chair in the south of france just a few months ago. I wish I was back on the boat trip! Any ow I'm adding my two videos below so you don't have to go to facebook to find them.

Other than that I think I'm going to have to cut this post short. It's midnight and I'm still sick so I really need my sleep and I procrastinated all day today and didn't get my work done so I need to be super productive tomorrow. But if I get my act together I might post mid-week for a further update (is that allowed?). L why isn't emergen-C making me better?!?!

not sure if the internet will hold out but....

so i'm in boston YAY. it's so nice to be here, the apartment is lovely (please please please come and stay all of you!) i've spent the last 48hrs cleaning, unpacking, and trying to find my way around the little bit of our area that i've explored. it's so weird not be at home after all this time there and being here feels like such a big step forward (exciting, and a little scary) even though i don't have a job yet. which is now the main focus! the law school apps are in and now its JOB TIME (or buisiness time if you will. is that enough of a segue into the following clip??...an oldie (ish) but SUCH a goodie). back to the topic. yes! i am going to find a job! one that doesn't involve children! (fingers crossed) one that has a salary! i have an interview on monday, it's only for a part-time position, but its at an auction house so that would be cool, i'd get to see a lot of art. i also talked to a great alum today and got some ideas there so hopefully something will come up...i only need one!

on a different note, d's cat and i have spent the last 2 days trying to come to an understanding...out relationship goes as such: i get up, see the cat, prompty sneeze, take my medicine, sit down to eat, the cat jumps on the lap, i move her, she jumps, i move her, she jumps, i move her, she jumps, i move her....she jumps (repeat 5x). she finally gets huffy leaves, and then i find her nestled in my pillow. i am though growing to like her more, we had a nice moment today where i patted her head. then i washed my hands. (note: i am very much not allergic to all cats, just d's cat's crazy mutant dander, if worse comes to worse i shall take craig's advice and try and keep the cat sopping wet all day to keep the dander down, just give me a bucket and a super-soaker)

anywho, sorry for the short update! apart from the painting party that's happening tonight i really don't have much going on, hopefully more next week!

and yes, the clip doesn't really relate to my post.....but so ridiculous/great

GRE? DONE.

Test was fine, I'm happy with my score and I don't have anything to complain about. I'm just glad to be done. It was funny, I had to go into Chicago to take the exam since the place out in the suburbs was booked. And after the 4 hour test, I walked out of the building and went to walk around the city. And I had no idea what to do with myself. The thought of not having to flip through flash cards or alternate practice exams and HGTV left me a bit confused. Weird, and a bit sad, but then headed over to see the newly lit christmas tree and then the Art Institute to see their feature exhibit on tapestries. Sounds awful I know, but these are freaking massive tapestries. And there were 70 of them. Just ridiculous.

Stayed around for dinner with a friend and then headed off to trivia night with a bunch of his work friends. Good to meet his work friends and get a glimpse to the new life that's forming. I mean, he has furniture. Legit furniture that includes a bedroom set. I am so far and away from a bedroom set right now, I'm just trying to get my lazy ass off the couch.

I applied to a job at my local Apple store, so hopefully they'll do some holiday hiring.

And in a bit of randomness, I decided to part my hair the other way this past week just to see how it went. Then I realized that it doesn't matter since either way, I still need a haircut.

It's the most wonderful time of the year

I've taken it upon myself to announce it... it's Christmas time! That's right, we have the fire on (gas fires don't roar or crackle so much) and we even turned on the heat in our house for the first time this year (due to the chilly 57 degrees outside) and then there are my flannel christmas sheets, that's right christmas sheets. I currently rest my head on a pillowed cased in red flannel with a very happy snowman on it. I'm sure it doesn't come as a surprise but i love the christmas season, so im excited for the impending seasons greetings. eggnog, garland and latkas, oh my!

in other news, spurred by an almost quarter life crisis and the very successful completion of a triple chocolate pecan pie, i'm leaning towards throwing it all to the wind and becoming a pastry chef. homemade croissants for all!

and now some amazing funny:

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Dance has taken over my life

I have decided that if I had any talent I would want to be a dancer.  Dancers are incredible, they are beautiful and can use their bodies to do things that are magical. And I thought I wanted to marry an engineer, nope I want to marry a dancer who wears an all black sweatshirt, jeans and sneakers.  We would lead a lovely life together.

So when did I come to this realization? Sunday when I finally saw Step Up 2 The Streets. Which dare I say it is the best dance movie to be made.  It has crazy dancing, street, jazz, latin and everything in the middle, cute leads, tons of laughter and a romance that I want for my own.  

 am currently watching the film for the third time in 3 days.  And it is only the 3rd time since I didn't have the film for a day and a half.  I seriously can't focus on anything but this amazing film before me.  

I just love the dancing, it moves a part of my heart that i only notice I have when I see amazing dancing.  And having a good looking partner might make me realize another part of my heart exits.  For those of you who haven't seen it, you must watch it.  Don't even rent it, but it! This movie almost made me quite my job and try to become a professional dancer, then i remembered that maybe I should leave the flipping on my head to the real professionals. But I can always dream.  

Moral of the story, you should all see Step Up 2 The Streets, it is my dream.  

Also related to the dance you must all look at these 2 videos.  I don't even want to give away any part of them because they are so damn funny.  I think it made almost all the people I have show the video to pee their pants, including me.  I couldn't watch them at work because I was going to laugh so hard that I might have lost my job.  I can't concentrate when I laugh that hard or am watching this movie that is just too good.  It's like cake that is so amazing that it might be deadly.  I will try to write more tomorrow when I am not a laughing pile of mush.  

Watch that second video until the end if you can without splitting your side.

laughing at the office

J had sweet advice for me today.
she told me to laugh as much as i can in the office.
youd think that would be made easier by the fact that im lucky enough to have people working around me who are as colorful as the actual environment is color-LESS but they rarely pop their heads out of their cubes.
so ive decided to go on a campaign to make everyone in my office laugh outloud involuntarily at least twice a day.
its a hard task because A. theyre stressed and B. theyre funny people and that means theyre tough customers.
but im determined.
kind of like terry tate, office linebacker...im going for Daisy, office clownface.
maybe you all have some suggestions for a better title...
today after coming back from teh bathroom where i tried to engage some of the techies we share the space with in convo, and failing, i emailed a coworker that " im convinced everyone on the right side of the building has the same social disease as my cousin john who often spends hours of family functions locked in various closets refusing to come out. we think he has assburgers. or however you spell it."
and from across the sea of cubes, i heard a snort. and then a full on laugh.
office clownface 1. Office Blues 0.
in the same vein im posting the following site
http://www.overheardintheoffice.com/
id heard about it years ago when it came out as an adjunt to overheardinnewyork but it makes especially good sense these days, just as The Office has become my new favorite show.
its all about mocking the misery.

IO'dU

a blog post
because i sat in one place staring at a screen for 15 hours today
and then i came home to a bed rumpled and smelling like the person who spent the night with me, who you all know, whos absence i felt like a wreaking ball as i walked up the stairs with a bouquet of recently arrived bills in my hand, my cat complaining bitterly because in my love induced haze this morning i hadnt left her enough food.
and then i had to objectively edited my mothers letter to my father telling him he can go eff himself.
because i cost less than her lawyer.
and then i had the real, actual pleasure of reading J's essay for stanford and am now about to fall asleep thinking about what i could ever be passionate enough to go back to school for.
i will write more in the morning.
from my desk.
christ.
if L werent coming i might not make it through the week.
love
D
tuesday morning addition:
see its kind of not fair that i post on mondays. you all must think im a whiny bitch.
every monday i hate my job and every tuesday i wake up and rethink that statement
its so cliche and i only really just realized that im doing it.
i should attach that song, monday monday....whatever else it says. i cant remember the lyrics except that they too were bitching about mondays.
anyway, in my defense it was a particularly rocky monday for personal reasons.
plus theres the fact that i got a bloody nose at work
which is just gross
no one wants to see that
and then, for whatever reason, that sparked a series of memories about my night, wont get into the connection, but that led to me CRYING while i had a bloody nose so then my coworkers REALLY thought i had a weak screw.
and then THEN i went to the bathroom and it wasnt until about four oclock that i realized my fly had been down all day!
LUCKILY i sit down so much theres no fear of anyone seeing my lower HALF.
i mean, PHEW, good to be thankful for some things.
here i am hating my job again.
i refuse to be sucked down that spiral of toilet water.
i am lucky to have this job. any job. people are being laid off all around me. i could be laid off. i should be thankful for my swivel chair and my array of ball point pens i have been given but never use because no one handwrites so much as a sticky note.
im finishing this post before i get rolling again. also, i have to get walking.
ive taken to walking not just from but also to work. its the best part of my day.
also, i pass a dunkin donuts every mile so i can refuel.
america runs on dunkin, people.