time is not on our side

at the risk of revisiting a topic i've already ruminated on, i'm going to go ahead and say that it's a) time for lots of things, including figuring out what to wear to new years (at least have semi-sorted out plans enough to be onto the outfit stage, which, to be perfectly honest, is pretty much the point of any sort of social gathering). we're also running out of 2006 (remember that 'hour glass analogy from a couple days ago?), but i digress.

sorry for the lack of updates over the holiday - as megh says, i was busy doing nothing. which means i was watching hour after hour of law and order (svu AND ci, though let the record show i prefer svu) and obsessively swiffering (it's one of my interests) and playing game after game of water pong with my brother in the basement. too bad we're not going to htown for new years - i'd be bringing my a game. someone who is going, however, is steger - more on this later.

xmas was nice - got lots of practical things. biz casual sweaters, an at home dry cleaning kit (will report back on how it works), a lint roller. no my mother is not trying to say something about my laundry skills, but i will say they have GREATLY improved from the days of the 'lyon load'. i do still mix black and whites, but i use the drying rack so my clothes last longer. then again, i was always borrowing boxa's, so maybe this is not in fact an improvement.

got back to the city yesterday evening, in time for russ lane's bday party that turned into a fiasco. let me record it for you here. a lot of the d kids are in town, and by that i mean, newspaper kids. i think it's fair to say that the d is a drinking association with a newspaper problem - brought on i'm sure from the days of that horrid horrid blackberry brandy that dan weinberg kept in the managing editor's desk drawer to be broken out at 5 pm on thursdays. (in fact, any errors that went into print were often b/c of drinking and editing. and also b/c of the oc being on on thursday nights, but that's a separate issue. and this is all off the record - don't hate me megh).

anyway - the d kids are around, and they were at said bday party as well. quite a good time really, dax, kevin, colin, slaine, spillane, megh, celeste came along, steger was there, the phi delt contingent, etc. dax was v. drunk v. early, as evidenced by his practical passing out in the bar, willingness to put any beverage in his mouth, regardless of whether it was his, and his bellig attitude when we told him there was a 'big secret pizza party' we wanted him to go to, ala bed is better than xh. by the time it was time to leave, the bar was ridiculously crowded, so i'm pushing and shoving my way through, holding dax up, while people are yelling at me to stop pushing and i'm yelling back that the kid is about to pass out and/or boot and i could do that if they would prefer.

finally make it out of the bar and into a cab with kevin b/c dax 'trusts kevin and not me' we get dropped off on 22nd and slaine's apt where dax is staying is nowhere in sight. so kevin and i wander around the streets in a three block radius looking while dax is fighting us, arguing, running away, refusing to move, etc. at one point he falls in the street, at one point we call jaques and beg him to talk some sense into dax, but to no avail.

just when i'm thinking that if we can only find this stupid apt, we can get dax inside and all will be well, we find it. unfortunately, we cannot, for the life of us, get the key to open the door to the apt. dax is running throughout the building and lost until we find him passed out on a floor two floors above slaine's apt. finally colin comes home with another set of keys and we think we're home free, but his keys don't work either and he passes out in front of the apt door. i must say here that colin is in the marines, and i'm not sure what they're teaching these people, but he was not able to operate a simple key and lock to secure entrance to the apt. he did say he could break down the door if we needed him too, but he passed out before he could execute.

meanwhile, i'm frantically texting slaine who's replying that he 'uses that key every day' and cannot understand what the problem is, and kevin is running all around listening to his ipod - at one point he tells me to, "listen to his favorite song", throws me his ipod, and runs off. (if there's any sort of video cameras in this building it has me, kevin and dax running all around the building restraining dax, and pounding on doors). finally kevin goes up to the roof, jumps down onto their balcony and jimmies the door open with a bamboo shoot to get in (i would say their apt isn't secured, but i would have given up a long time ago if not for the passed out kids and i'm POSITIVE a thief would not have hung around to figure it out). kevin and i go get dax and carry him down the stairs and dump him on the couch and finally run away home. i call slaine and tell him to check on the kids to make sure they're alive and all he can say is, "where are you? i'm going to mcdonalds." here ends the epic night.

pretty hilarious though - and a damn good story. and we were laughing about it as well. epic. off to brooklyn for a fiesta at charlo and ally's later tonight, boxa and miniboxa will also be in the city tonight - looking fwd to reconnecting with her and then it's new years. am avoiding times square like the plague. laurak's bday was yesterday, as was taylor's - send bday wishes their way.

send advil and a cute top

stand forth and do battle

so here i am at work, i actually do have some, but i feel like that scene in dazed and confused where they're all just biding their time before they can bust out and have summer vacation. (fortunately for me, the threat of being paddled does not exist - just the looming traffic on 95 and the torture of 5 hours on a bus. sigh).

anyway - messing around on fark.com of course - and come upon this super cool link with how to build a castle out of cardboard. there is also a pirate ship option. considering what a great time we had during clean ups one morning where someone had brought a big box and we took turns putting it on our heads and thumping each other, i think we could really blast off into euphoria if we had a CASTLE made of cardboard.

side note: said cardboard incident was one of those times where you just feel silly, pure and simple, and it feels good to laugh. had another incident when christine and i were swimming in the bio bay last wk with our adopted family (from rhode island) and we started laughing about this book i had found in the closet of the house named 'deeds of the destroyer'. some of the other book titles by this author included, 'the night of 400 rabbits' and 'the last camel died at noon'. we were having a great time trying to figure out exactly what that last one could be about, and laughing about it hysterically in the bio bay while everyone looked at us like we were crazy. felt really good though. and reminds me of this quote: "i've always thought a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying "ain't that the truth." if we couldn't laugh we would all go insane.

hit up spillane's bday party in chinatown last night - saw some of the usual suspects. megh, back from france, was tres tired - but sounds like he had a good time. kevin p and celeste bonded over jaw surgery, charlo didn't make it, but then again, she did have to get up at 4 am to go home today. got rather tipsy myself. i'm headed out sometime later today - unclear when - to let the fiestas begin. safe travels to everyone heading home and i'll check in with y'all from the cape.

send aloe and traffic-free roads

fiesta!

also wanted to mention that the one year anniversary of this blog has come and gone with v. little fanfare, other than this post.

the avg life of a blog is six months, so i am rather pleased to say, have walloped that one with flying colors. thanks to the folks who read my ramblings, be it for info about friends, for my crazy ramblings, or b/c they are bored at work and have nothing else to do. you don't have to tell me which one it is, perhaps it's better that you don't.

what a long strange trip it's been, and i'm sure there is more to come. stick around. ain't we got fun or what?

also, i would like to note that 'congratulations' and 'celebration' are two of my favorite words. most of you know that i have many many words that i do not like, but i also have an extensive list of words i do like, including cloud, marshmallow, resplendent, sunshine, smile and wiggle.

that is all

attn: kmart shoppers

today's post title is no reflection on the style and taste of any of my readers, rather something i like to say, or more accurately, something my dad likes to say that i have picked up.

today's picture is courtesy of my brother, who has been SO bored at home on the cape over vaycay that he has built and painted a beruit table. he asks all d readers to forgive him for the fact it is not a pong table, but such is the extent of his boredom.

tidbits of interest before i launch into the puerto rico update: ppocket has some exciting news that she has yet to announce. will leave it up to her to do so, but you could certainly prod her a little bit to spill. skips's bday was on sunday, a happy happy birthday to her, and many more. swanny also had some good news in the med-school dept. - congrats to her! i wrote an article for the class of '05 alumni newsletter - megh gave me the v. exciting topic of 'fundraising' - so keep an eye out for that at the end of jan. speaking of megh, he returned yesterday from a jaunt to france which i'm sure was bon bon bon, though i have yet to hear the details. mulley is back from london - she had a brief stopover in nyc before being whisked away to boston. she is in good spirits, seems elated at how well things have worked out, and will be back in the big apple again for new years, hopefully with boxa in tow. karla is definately moving to san fran, no word yet on whether she'll be living with maynard, but maybe joanna who just got some exciting job news from out that way if you know what i mean.

on that note - we commence puerto rico trip details. will do these in a jimmy buffett format, as i had lyrics running through my head the whole time, and the island really is a jb song:

'well now that's just the start of a well-deserve overdue binge" (the weather is here) + 'ran into a chum with a bottle of rum and we wound up drinking all night' (changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes - the first lyric doesn't have any particular relevance - but the song is about a guy blowing off manhattan to go down to the tropics and then falling in love with 'life in the palm trees' and never coming back. and the 'if it doesn't work out, they'll never be any doubt, that the pleasure was worth all the pain' part does apply to our sunburns and even if the intent was to reflect on the last year, it was hard to do with the bacardi rum factory around the corner.

'up on the beach there are two empty chairs who say more than the people whoever sit there' (lone palm) + 'the water so green and the air was so clean he just stuck right to his task' (havana day dreamin) the beaches on this island were freaking amazing. vieques used to be a us naval base - the navy vacated three years ago - and so you can drive for 15 minutes along gravel and dirt road and end up a GORGEOUS deserted white sand beach. christine and i spent all day in the sun, and swimming, while our two beach chairs sat waiting for us.

'she came down from cinncinati' (fins) + 'some of them are running from lovers, leaving no forward address, some of them are running tons of ganja, some are running from the IRS' (banana republics) + all of coconut telegraph all the people we met down there had come down once (many from new england!) and never left. or left and then came back. and everyone had a story, but you didn't dare ask too many questions about who they were and why they were there b/c you weren't sure you wanted to know the answer. someone told us it was the kind of place where if they told you they were taking you out on a boat tomorrow you knew you were in trouble. and everyone knew everyone else and their business. last night's sketchy man circling for the kill was tomorrow morning's breakfast cook. news travels fast on an island that's 20 miles long by 7 miles wide . . .

'like stars on the water' (stars on the water) - vieques has one of only 4 bioluminescent bays in the world, and we went on a nightime tour one night. it was already pretty incredible to be out in a kayak under the stars (there's no light pollution in vieques b/c it's far enough off the coast to avoid it) and then you'd get in the water and you'd glow as you moved. it was like liquid gold. doing the later dance in it was v. fun. and then you could drip water down your legs and arms and they would sparkle in the darkness. really seriously cool.

'we had only come for chicken we were not a ganja plane' (jamaica mistaka) - this island had all trappings of running grass, etc. etc. so this line kept running through my head. we asked about it one night and were told that rastafa eddie was the person to see - apparently he keeps stuff in his dreadlocks. we didn't stick around to find out if that was true.

'we do it for the stories we can tell' (stories we can tell) - bottom line, we def have to go back. it was a rough place, lots of abject poverty, chickens, HORSES in the road (did you come by car or horse is a legit question) but also music everywhere, beautiful beaches, and sunshine. i'm in love. besides, 'they were freezing up in buffalo, stuck in their cars, and we were lying there beneath the sun and the stars'. what's not to like? and the type of place where everyone has a story, and you add to it every day. amazing.

send money for a beach house and an ideas on what to give my dad for xmas

my tv debut

to continue in the vein of scraping code and posting video on the blog, today's video is a behind the scenes of rocketboom, which also happens to be my tv (vlog) debut!

for those of you who don't know, rocketboom is, in their own words,

currently one of the most popular videoblogs on the internet with more daily subscribers for original syndicated multimedia content than nearly any other site, including podcasts.

they have a gazillion of archived episodes, definately fun if you're looking for procrastination outlets, and the above clip has me interviewing the host in front of the map. we went behind the scenes to tape the shooting of today's episode, documentary style. so, yes, it is more than just a girl who doesn't know how to read her lines (hi diane). tee hee hee.

am off to PR tomorrow birght and early. check out the house website to live vicariously through me.

send sheryl crow songs and a make up artist

vlogging fun

my mom is trying to learn imovie and windows movie maker so she can make videos of my sister playing basketball to send off to coaches who one day might theoretically recruit her, so she's messing around with video while i do my best to advise her from afar. here's an experimental video starring, "logan and moxie and sadie the fat kitty". it has quite a bit of my pets, vinettes of my house, and some of my mom. hilarious. (btw - she messes up a bit on purpose to practice editing. basic videotaping is not hard - even for a 51 year old woman.)



i also had the priviledge of visiting the rocketboom studio today for work and interviewing the anchor in front of the iconic map. i think the video will be up tomorrow - stay tuned. i know that doesn't mean much to you guys - but it was a dream come true.

my cousin also got into d! she'll be an '11 if you can belive that, play lax. yeah, i know, my family is sick. i've accepted it.

chatted with maynard last night - she's off to ca today for her large company that is also a verb interview. best of luck to her with that. she's not quite sure what her plans are otherwise, and the graduating from school bit hasn't sunk in yet - but it was great to talk to her - boy do i miss her a lot. =)

must go home and run around and get organized before i leave on friday. good lord - never a dull moment eh?

send suntan lotion, detergent, and a dog.

wii have a problem

hahaha - this site is HILARIOUS. don't know how familiar this audience is with the video game sector, i am really only in the loop b/c of our client that deals with tech, but i have been more and more seduced over the last few by the ads on tbs for the nintendo wii. check out some of the google videos on the video game:



and then check out this website that is chronicling all of the injuries from people who let go of the remote while bowling, or threw the controller though a window or whacked people in the face: wiihaveaproblem.com it is TOO funny. i particularly like this email that nintendo sent asking "gamers to use common sense." HILARIOUS.

warp zone

so friends – i had the interview. thanks to all who sent blitzes of confidence, gchats of good luck, vibes of positiveness, etc. three hours in a room, 6 people – 2 by phone – eeeek! long day. and the whole thing is like some horrible real life version of nintendo mario brothers (or duck hunt – where you try not to get shot out of the sky) where there are no ‘1 up’ mushrooms, evil mushrooms and chasms of death to fall down, no warp zone to skip ahead to the next level, and those dreadful venus fly-trap like plants that come out of the shoot. and i think you’ll understand the analogy even further when i say that i was not v. good at nintendo the video game. my parents refused to buy it for us (they are the pbs and discovery channel only types (that being said, i really do miss ‘where in the world is carmen sandiego’, ‘ghostwriter, and square one’, but i digress) so whenever i went over anyone who had it’s house, i really wanted to play. they, of course, were bored of it long ago, and v. good, so when we played ‘2 player, play til you die’ i never got v. far. or any practice. it was rigged i tell you. so as you might guess, i don’t think it went v. well in the real-life career version. hell – ‘job interview’ would be a great video game. maybe it could have strategic tips along the way that could pop up and be like ‘back in level 1 you chose a revealing camisole for this interview’ bad choice. (hi steger). you do not get this job, you fail at life and will spend the next 40 years scrounging for food (insert bad john kerry joke here). but i’m not bitter. really. (incidentally, this blog has an exploratory essay examing mario's skill as a plumber but that's a separate issue)

sat night i met up with diane kim and went to see the 52nd street project plays at the public theatre. 10 kids spent fall term taking a playwriting course, and then a wknd long retreat writing the plays, which were performed by famous actresses and actors. they were really great, funny and often profound. you would think you would know what came next in the play, or in a song, and it would be something totally different b/c a kid had written it. Some of them were interesting: the dialogue would be, “you’re stupid” or “you made me really angry” or they would be v. simple but bring up major themes like bullies, liking someone, or not having enough privledges. in the first one a brother and sister wanted to go to new york (she was going to syracuse university and he was going to be on broadway) and the brother is like, “where are we going to get the money?” and the sister goes “i know! we’ll ask mom!” in another play, a character held his breath til he died. hahaa. the music was great too – for the play “like father like son” they kept play snippets from harry chapin’s ‘cat’s cradle’ (you know – the cats in the cradle and the silver spoon, little boy blue and the man in the moon. when you coming home son I don’t know when but we’ll get together then, etc.) they’re doing the project again in the spring – everyone should go. i also upped my celeb sighting count – saw harry from sex and the city, and the mother in almost famous. it was good.

Met up with hayley coleman who is back in the city for break for drinks after, and steger came and joined us. ventured over to an alpha xi party on the west side where we had a cupcake and split. good times though.

sunday, headed to bklyn for a dinner party at charlo’s. she made pork with parsnips (how many of you know what that is?) and asparagus and creamy mashed potatoes and brownies. she really out did herself. also in attendance was megh and kevin carmody, as well as some elis in the words of the crossword puzzle. was delicious, but the red wine took a toll and was pretty much useless for the rest of the day. lazy wknd i guess. karla checked in this morning – she thinks she is moving to san fran in feb! (I’ve got news for you friend – the cost of living is VERY high out there. no more house. no more backyard. and far away! meur!) she could room with maynard if she ends up out there. for more karla news, and an intro into the world of bike racing, check out her blog.

everyone is tres busy with the holidays fast approaching. celeste had surgery on thursday, blitz and tell her to feel better. off to PR on friday if I manage to survive this wk. kind of touch and go though. some days i don’t know if i can handle it.

send me caffine and a day planner

values of the game

this i love:

leadership means getting other people to think, believe, see and do what they might not have without you. it means possessing the vision to set the right goal and the decisiveness to pursue it single-mindedly. it means being aware of the fears and anxieties felt by those you lead, even as you urge them to overcome those fears. it can appear in a speech before hundreds of people, or in a dialogue with one other person, or simply by example.
- bill bradley 'values of the game'

and a few others (can you tell i'm busting out the sports psych for tomorrow?)

to be the one person who makes a difference you have to have love - for yourself, for those who work alongside of you, for the potentials inside the game itself. you always have to be ready to give one from the heart.

every now and then, somewhere, some place, sometime, you are going to have to plant your feet, stand firm, and make a point about who you are and what you believe in. when that time comes, you simply have to do it.
- pat riley 'the winner within'

hot date

what else to do on a lazy saturday afternoon but blog? it seems that many people are in agreement on that front. i was sitting here wishing i had a delicious bagel but not relishing the idea of heading out into the frozen landscape to get it, when i recalled that i had purchased some at the supermarket last sunday. the lord really does provide.

so yeah, i had a date. was v. v. nervous about it b/c my knowledge of this kid was limited to a drunken hook up on campus, about 30 blitzes exchanged over the course of three weeks, and his relationship history. aka - nadda. i was concerned that i had made it into more in my head, that i was insane, etc. until i recalled that i didn't really know the ex when we started hooking up either and that had worked out okay (okay v. loosely and perhaps inaccurately used here).

anyhow, the kid had to come into the city, which was another thing. it wasn't like we could meet up drunk or something. and we didn't know each other, so bf/gf activities were out of the question (perhaps my feelings about this particular situation highlight a number of issues with my approach to relationships. hmmm).

he arrived, looked the way i had remembered him (good), and the talking was easy. we have a lot in common and i think we think the same. our convo's kept getting all philosophical which was interesting, but he did just graduate from college and is struggling with the whole 'transition to real world' business, and i graduated two years ago and i'm still struggling with it, so a lot of the conversation revolved around this topic.

when we finally did go out we hit up the joshua tree - he appreciates basement music so i figured it would work. after getting out of the cab i realized that my cellphone had not come along. i freak out, run up to where the traffic is stopped at the light, ask the people in the cab that look like the ones who got in when we got out if my phone is in there. it was, major crisis was averted. VERY VERY narrow miss. i think i used up all my karma for the rest of the year though. good lord!

anyway - he loved it, we had some drinks, talked some more. at one point he returns with a shot of jose cuervo and is like, 'this is for you'. and i was like oh god. but i did it, chased it with jack and coke, and didn't boot. success.

in the cab on the way home we got into this heated discussion about how he and the rest of the xc boys think that they would have gotten more girls if they had been in a different frat b/c the hockey guys get all the girls at xh. this i vehemently disagree with (the misguided priority of 'getting girls' aside). i find it so hard to believe that girls would hook up with a guy just b/c he's on one team over another. perhaps i am naieve (sp?). i did once hear some girl say that she 'only went to wheelock frats' so maybe i should know better.

get back to the apt and hook up. this is the one time when it is kind of a pain living with people you don't know. not all roommates are willing to put in ear plugs and become addicted to nyquil, or write it off as porn, so it makes me feel bad about hooking up in the apt sometimes. maybe it can be an ice breaker or something. this morning it was like, well - off you go. not sure what's next. are we just going to blitz to no end for months on end? that seems kind of silly. it's too bad though. it was fun.

i am trying to prep for my interview on monday with a large organization whose name is also a commonly used verb. it's not going v. well. thus far, have, like a blind man at an orgy, been feeling my way through so i guess i just have to go in and give it my best shot. mental toughness training and all that. wish me luck!

heard from laurak, who is doing her wilderness outdoor training class in hanover this week. she's still up there before heading out to colorado for her sister's graduation from college next weekend. diana called me at the ungodly hour of 9:15 this morning to tell me to 'wake up and call her' but i don't know what was so urgent b/c she has not returned my call. perhaps she wisely went back to sleep. huyett called me on thursday - she's been busy and good. her parents moved down the street, she's being dragged to belize for new years, but is in for condo-renting next year. she'll also be down here next wknd, but i, of course, will be tanning in the banana republics. rats! swanny jumped on the gchat train, so i caught up with her at work yesterday. she's also doing well - she and ehrl are planning a trip to mexico in february. mexico dreaming on such a winters day. =) ceppos has a black tie affair tonight for dre's firm - she and i spent quite a bit of this wk gchatting about ettiquette and sling back shoes. i'm sure you look gorgeous regardless - can't wait to see the pics!

i've also been meaning to mention this - i dont' know how many of you heard about the story of the man who was lost in the oregon wilderness for two weeks. i don't want to give too many details, b/c the company he worked for is our client, and i don't want this to show up in some blog report, but he and his wife and two kids were driving home for thanksgiving in seattle when they took a turn on a wrong road that is not safe to travel in winter. their car fell off the road and they were stranded. they burned the car tires and the mom breast-fed the kids to keep them alive. the dad set off after a week to look for help, the mom and the kids were rescued that day, and the dad's body was found a few days later. the whole thing is just so so so sad. a series of unfortunate events. but my point is this: more people read the article about his memorial than read the article about the iraqi papers when the report came out. this kind of reminds me of 'love actually' and the 'when the planes hit the twin towers the messages weren't about hate, they were about love.' this is kind of the same thing i think. when it comes right down to it, love is what's really important, and what triumphs overall.

when the night has been too lonely
and the road has been too long
and you think that love is only
for the lucky and the strong
just remember in the winter
far beneath the bitter snows
lies the seed that with the sun's love
in the spring becomes the rose
- bette midler 'the rose'

deck the halls

hey kids -

it's that time of year. the time when the time before the year ends seems to speed up and go faster and faster, kind of like when you get to the bottom of an hourglass and there's just a bit more sand/time to go and there is less sand so it starts moving more quickly. that's my attempt to be philosophical and 'einstein's dreamish' (excellent book if you've never read). or as we were joking when ceppos was directing me and laurak to buy spices in the co-op for thanksgiving dinner, "everyone can use more thyme". ahhahaaha.

anyway - it's also the time of year for holiday cards. so if you want one from me, blitz me your address. i'm not even going to pretend to have them all, and i would like to touch base with everyone, plus it's always fun to get mail right?

and again

another cool video, courtesy of diane kim. not exactly sure what 'stop motion' is - but it looks pretty neat and has good music. and that's all that's required to receive facetime on the blog. ;-) completely safe for work, la biblio, your parents, etc.

in other news, i made pancakes this morning for breakfast. aka - i actually had breakfast instead of swigging a glass of milk and figuring i'll grab a bagel (which never happens), and yet, i'm still starving. it might be the starving of boredom though. tricky.

cool links

this video is tres cool. big debate over whether it's computer generated or legit - if legit, it was built using john deere parts by students at the university of iowa's engineering school (now that's what i call poetic). draw your own conclusions:

FantasticMachine
Envoyé par Loul sur wat.tv

other interesting thing if you've got geeks on your xmas list: the thinkgeek site. i especially like the tshirts, including the one that says: i know (how to meet ladies) and 'there's no place like 127.0.0.1' interestingly enough, i get a lot of these now that i have dabbled in blogging and hyper-text mark-up language and web design. i'm also plotting who i can give the 'geek' iron-on patch too. or maybe i'll buy myself the 'i'm blogging this' shirt. mwahahaha. enjoy.

if you need a little perspective (b/c you're trying to make some sense of it all) check out this link: the beloit college mindset list. it's a list of cultural touchstones that has shaped each class entering freshman year in college. the link goes to the class of 2005 - but i was just reading 2008, it's crazy to think that those kids have never known a time when 'america's funniest home videos' was not on tv. for that matter - they STILL haven't found america's funniest home video? sheesh! ;-P

starry starry night

nights like this where it's clear and cold and the moon is out shining with a hallow makes me miss walking around occom pond. or any sort of place where it's okay to be out late at night without fearing foul play.

i used to like doing it as a study break, or a way to get out and commune with nature. it was the perfect length of a walk. happily we've taken to doing it while on campus as a sober/hungover quality activity or 'constitutional'. but there are times when i wish i could do it now.

other news to report: they are filming a movie on west end ave and my roomate saw hugh grant today! apparently the name is 'music and lyrics by'. incidentally, hugh grant is the only movie celebrity i have ever seen - when we were in london freshman year of high school we were renting a flat in notting hill and they happened to be filming 'notting hill' a few streets over. so one night we gathered with the neighbors and watched julia roberts and hugh grant walk up the street. and aerosmith is playing two blocks up. we're like at the epicenter of the arts up here on the west side - hahha.

the d club of nyc holiday party is tomorrow night - kind of not keen to go. they charge you 15 bucks, and a cash bar to schmooze with weird guy that keeps asking me out? not my cup of tea. celestia is back home for break, however, and she wants to go - so i suppose we'll see. and of course will report back.

some jokes before i sign off to get cozy like a bear:

q: why do mermaids wear seashells?
a: b/c the b shells are too small and the d shells are too big!

q: how do you know that you don't have enough work to do?
a: when captain whiteout has lead a charge against sargent paperclip and general pushpin has called for reinforcements.

i need more champagne in my life

well. had a DELIGHTFUL time out last night, and since, by some miracle of god i feel absolutely fine, i will relive the experience via le blog.

first, the hangover glossary (know your symptoms):

the over easy: you drank a lot last night, but for some strange reason you're feeling no pain. you quickly write down the magical equation of food, water and painkillers you consumed just before bed.

in this case, i don't remember what they are. maybe just a lot of practice from years of formals has made me a pro at drinking champagne. but i digress.

met up for dinner with tay tay way over in our old apt 27 haunts - bistro 1 on 62nd and 1st. SO cute, v. intimate, and v. reasonable. HIGHLY recommend. cody and i had hit it up over the summer, and i def want to go back again. tay tay and i chatted, i had half a roast chicken with mashed potatoes and rosemary au jus. then, b/c we were feeling decedant, we split chocolate fondue for dessert and had coffee liquors (tres intense!). come visit and i will take you there. =)

after dinner we cabbed down to the west village (which makes NO sense in terms of logistics) to meet charlo, ppocket, and ally at a nameless, small bar. there was a sign suggesting champagne, so taylor and i ordered a glass and toasted to new years. this led to drinking five more bottles of the stuff, which, incidentally, was all the bar had. we just kept toasting each other, and the music, and the things in our lives we were happy about, etc. we also fed dollar bills into the jukebox and played 'we'll all meet back at the local saloon' and 'fins' and sang at the top of our lungs. lots of fun. random, but i think those are the best! we DEFINATELY need more champagne in our lives i have decided.

tay tay and i cut out, back to the upper east side to dance a bit and then i got home at 4:15. i accomplished my ever present goal to stay up tres late. had such a great time though - lots of fun. =)

not sure what i will do with the day since i'm feeling okay and not like death post champagne binge. have a v. amusing blitz list from the kids that i blitzed about going to puerto rico - kind of encompasses lots of people from different areas - fun to see what people come up with. i miss mass blitzing. there should be more. yes, i suppose i should mention that my boss is giving me his house in puerto rico for a long wknd over dec 15th. i think lingley, christine and tay tay are going to come, though i am trying to peer pressure diana to come too. it will be nice to have some fun in the sun!

for now, though, a bagel and orange juice is definately in order.

quotable quotes

one of my favorite quotes is there are the years that ask questions and the years that answer. since dec is typically a time of reflection on the last year, i've been trying to figure out what 2007 was for me. haven't figured that out yet - but it is interesting to consider.

in that vein, i'm going to steal an idea from a fellow blogger (see the voyerastic fun link) and post a survey on the site that people can respond to in comments. why? b/c it's interesting, people are taking finals/bored out of their minds at work/why not?

without further adeu (sp? my french stinks):

1. Name: Lyon

2. Ragey alter ego: Lyon (Doodad isn't exactly my alter ego - it's more of a component of my ego)

3. Location: a centerally located island

4. Current favorite Website: http://jakechristie.blogspot.com

5. What's on your holiday however-you-define it list? A new mouth guard. I keep stress in my jaw and I need it when I sleep so I don't destroy my teeth.

6. If your bf/gf/significant other was cheating on you would you want to know? Definately

7. Favorite Bond (actor or movie): Live and Let Die (Roger Moore)

8. Define foreplay: The flirting, suggestive, teasing build up to hooking up.

9. According to Paul Simon, there are 50 ways to leave your lover. Name one. Make like a tree and get the hell out of there.

10. Where is your happy place? The strip of land between the head of Nantucket Harbor and the Atlantic Ocean on a summer day.

11. Favorite Christmas Carol: Carol of the bells

12. The last time I had sex was: a)today; b) in the last week; c) last month; d) last 6 months e) last year; f) fuck you, i haven't had sex in over a year: c) last month

13. Original phrase: Hi Friend

14. Share a favorite college memory (sober or otherwise): When Taylor and I went out to the BEMA and cut down a Christmas Tree during finals and then decorated it with decorations stolen from the TDX xmas party.

15. Favorite quote/motto/lyrics: 'we do it for the stories we can tell' - jimmy buffett

16. I HATE: people that mix up you're and your

17. Signature drink: Pussers Painkiller

18. In the song "Blame it on the Boogie" what should we blame on the boogie? The fact his gf is dancing instead of hooking up with him.

19. Was 2007 a year that asked questions or a year that answered? Why? I think it was a year that answered. Figured some stuff out and it was a bit easier going than a question year. then again, answers are the easy parts, questions raise the doubts!

20. Instead of doing this survey I should have been: Calling back Taylor to figure out our plans for tonight.