erg room

was just listening to some songs from the mid-90's erg mix - sadly the entire cd did not make the transition from my old computer, circa freshman year, to the new one - i'm hoping i can steal it from skips in a week or so - as i am getting all nostalgic for the '05 crew reunion to commence in ann arbor in a week and a half - and boy do those songs (think: real mccoy) bring me back to winter training 2k erg tests in that sham of a room that was more archery range than 'training center' in the basement of the gym. i guess some things never leave you.

incidentally, it was rosi's bday yesterday (thanks facebook!). also according to fb, she is nyc. if there's anyone i would have thought less likely to be here than me, it's her, so must do the 'nyc thing' and get coffee with her (dirt cowboy anyone?) and see what the deal is.

there's news to update on, but i am (gasp!) actually busy at work, so i must finish my power point presentation first. stay tuned.

and classy blog readers

food for thought

be not the slave of your own past - plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep, and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience, that shall explain and overlook the old
- ralph waldo emerson

news

am about to be very late to work, but there are things to update on!

first - laurak is moving to san fran in mid-sept. this should make karla v. happy. it makes us east coasters v. sad. as long as lauark is happy, though, i guess we should be happy for her. she'll be working and living on a boat - kind of like she was in stamford - i suppose it's only fair we allow the west coast children to be educated as well. and it will be a great excuse to get out to san fran!

this is also a good thing b/c i have managed to successfully talk laurak into coming out east before she goes west (young woman) and come to jimmy buffett! with this, we will have a pretty good reprise of the original jb gang circa '03x. very very excited for this.

laurak also told me she talked to allette, who will def be up this way in early sept. i have yet to talk to her though, so i don't know her plans. hoping to see her though for sure.

noticed, via the ever-reliable fb, that steph d has joined the crowd of kids peacing out of nyc and heading to boston. check in and tell me what you'll be doing now steph, and we'll miss you here! (note - with this move i have about zero friends here. how me, the last person on earth i thought would end up in nyc, is still here while tons of people i like a lot and feel like i relate to are not is a mystery to me).

talked to kevin g, most recently last night when i ran into c mackenzie at down the hatch, incidentally, she works around the corner from my apt - haha. kevin did not get into ucla law, which he is bummed about, and i am too, but only b/c he is bummed, it means he'll most likely be on the east coast at bc law! (tough life).

mulley is back in nyc for her usa visit - so exciting! vin and i ran into her brother coming out of the barney's warehouse sale on monday - sometimes nyc is a v. small place. grabbing dinner with her and ally tonight. incidentally, ally is heading to boston v. soon as well - she will be able to make it to jb - shaping up to be a fabu time.

taylor is also back in nyc after an extended trip to new zealand. have yet to hear the details of this trip - hopefully one of these days - and we have rough plans for a hike up the hudson to take advantage of the fall. we'll see if that happens.

as for me, i turned down my job offer on tuesday - am back to where i started. am getting pretty good at declining job offers in what i think is a tactful manner. maybe my relationship break-up skills could take a lesson from that. have played excessive games of snood at work - maxed out the demo freebie games. i never played snood during the sweeping craze three or four years ago - so it was something new and interesting to do. however, now i see reds and blues every time i shut my eyes. i think it's good i've been forced to stop playing it. haha.

tuesday was so cold it tied the record for the coldest day in august since 1911. it was 60 degrees. damn cold. but after the heat, it was so nice to be able to sleep. not for long - high of 90 for tomorrow. never a dull moment.

gotta get dressed for work! (there's snood/blogs/insert procrastination option here to take care of!)

take a number boys

i LOVE waking up on sunday without anything to do. the day stretches out long and luxurious and i just lie in my bed and thinking about getting up without doing so. haha.

had a crazy couple days with massive amounts of binge drinking - namely with charlo, stein and nyac interestingly enough. everyone in nyc goes out on thurs night - this is not surprising - but we went out in such a big way on thursday night that friday felt like sat and it just went on from there. by my calculations it should be monday. i need a new liver.

i made the very poor choice of scheduling a dentist appt for 9 am on saturday morning. i felt like death - my mascara was smuged, my hair was all over the place, and my clothes disheveled. quoth the raven - never more.

gathered briefly last night to say goodbye to pollypocket - who is moving to boston today for law school. one of the hallmarks of being a young alum from college is making the transition to the real world and the people that make it at the same time in the same place with you are kind of your comerades, navigating the big city. and now she's off and it's a little like the end of an era, though it's not like we will never see her again - esp. with the way i go to boston.

i've been reading 'eat, pray, love' and finding it like a balm for the soul. it had been recommended to me by many of you folks - and though i'm still in the middle of it, i would also recommend it highly to everyone here.

no job news to report - i have to decide about my offer by eod tuesday. i haven't even opened the fed ex with the details inside. i'm thinking this is a bad sign. i've always made these job decisions by gut - which by definiton defies our belief that we are a logical, rational human beings - but i suppose we really aren't logical when it comes right down to it, so i think i'll keep doing it 'by heart'

had dinner with celeste last week, finally, she's been working ridiculously, but reports that she does really like it and while it may be a tough time for the market right now, it's a good time for her to be learning. she will be coming to jimmy buffett in a mere TWO WEEKS which is good news for us!

i think new york doesn't have enough singing. i love singing. one of the ways i know things are really bad is if i can't even get up the desire to sing. and i've found i've been v. quiet since moving here. there's no singing in the car, which of course i love to do, b/c there are no cars. there's music - ipod all the time - but still not singing. so maybe i'll try and do it more and see where it gets me.

now, must figure out breakfast

rhythm is a dancer

or in my case - not at all.

'there is an intrinsic value in doing something without being the best at it' - susie gephardt

definately applies to the gym class i was just at - a dance class - i love dancing and moving to music, but i sure can't learn a routine well enough to add my own flare and style. still, there are points in the class when i feel like i'm moving to the music and flinging my body around. but it certainly is humbling to be in a class watching people who are good at dancing do the routine. and still be enjoying it. the instructor at 19th street says two things i like: 1. have FUN 2. it is important for you to watch, but it is also important for you to be WATCHED. i think he gets it. =)

in this particular class the routine began on the floor and involved lots of twirling on to our knees. i have worse brusies than i did when rosi made us play soccer in the snow during winter training freshman year . . . the song we were dancing to was about pain, suffering and sadness - luckily i've been feeling plenty tortured as of late, so i had lots of material to draw on for my art.

had a lovely wknd down in princeton with stein. this was her show, so i was happy to sit back and smile. we were down visiting national team rowers - boy do they eat, breathe and sleep crew. i stopped caring about crew, if i ever cared about crew at all, back during junior year - so i was content to sit back and them the discuss without giving a damn what their conclusions were.

it was great to get out of the city and into the suburbs. we started off with white russians when we arrived, and the liquor was flowing from there. we went and played adventure mini-golf - boy was this adventurous - and not just b/c we were drunk - there were rapids and gully's and perilous cliffs and rocks to bounce things off of. the girls prevailed in the end - i'm sure it's b/c of the putting coaching i've been getting in the office.

went out and danced on sat night - listened to some snoop on the way back to the house. lay on the grass and looked at the stars for awhile - something i don't get to do too much. it was a gorgeous night. great to sleep without a fan or ac too! after a delicious breakfast of crab cakes benedict - we went berry picking and then back to nyc. a delightful wknd all around.

was reflecting on this blog and what it means to me to publish my life and thoughts (or some of them) here. kind of reminds me of the radio show - i guess here i have more of a chance to gather my thoughts. and less musical accompaniment. aw - who am i kidding! =)

getting excited for events in the next few weeks - jimmy buffett in ma in less than 3 wks. and then the wknd after that i am taking off for a duckling reunion in ann arbor - finally cleared it with the boss so i'm good to go. zana, skips, gretchen, marta, squeeze and possibly laurak? can't wait. =) also planning a trip to the still north to see the grand parentals in october if anyone will be around for that. we should discuss.

that's all i got for now folks. dinner calls. mwah!

kinda, sorta, not really a laughing matter

i am opposed to this, but this does raise some good points, and on the whole, it's hilarious:



home town self call. hilarious!

lame

i'm pretty sure that staying in and catching up on tv (more on this later) and then blogging before bed on a thursday night counts as being lame in nyc. thurs night is the equivalent of wed nights at d - so you can imagine the lameness that's ensuing (WHAT?!? you're not coming to meetings? what do you have like THREE midterms, a paper and the mcats tomorrow? oh you do? so what - skip!).

however, the staying in is my choice - turned down drinks at rink bar - ie - what they have at 30 rock when it's not below freezing and prematurely xmas - so that i could lie on the couch and catch up on tv. lie on the couch b/c i am so sore from the gym yesterday, and catch up on tv b/c i hadn't seen two of my favorite shows - the closer and burn notice - in about three weeks. i feel satisfied now - still totally in love with burn notice, and the closer - well - i'd like to run my team like brenda runs hers. =)

excited for tomorrow - friday of course - and then the office is having drinks for several people's last days in our division post work. i really enjoy hanging out with my coworkers - team lunch on friday we all sit around a big conference table and are snarky and crack jokes or discuss random things like the wiggles - add alcohol to that and you have drinks on the office. however, given the last time i went drinking on the office, i think i'm sticking to beer (see late june if you're just joining us now). of course, i do actually have work to do these days, and i don't just mean trying to beat the taxing lemmings level. lots of meetings to attend, conference calls to listen in on and documents to prepare. my day is practically booked. this is a nice change - esp when people in the office are going around being like - so what is you DO all day if you have nothing to do? i guarantee i will never find myself in this situation in my work life again. haha.

went to the mets game last night to see my sis who was down in nyc working at shea for the week. had decent seats given the fact it was a so-called 'big series' - lots of booing and cheering. my sis, who is a concessions manager at fenway, hooked us up with food and gave us the grand tour of the stadium. was pretty sweet. felt very vip. that's just the way i roll.

observations:

there is a homeless person who has been living at the far end of the block for about 3 weeks now. he has a cart and some bags and a tarp and he's there most of the time. i walk by at least twice a day - at this point i would imagine he recognizes that i probably live around here - prob doesn't know exactly where though. it does make me a bit nervous that he knows my regular routine, but otherwise it's interesting to ponder on teh way to work. sometimes i sort of smile at him, and i thought about giving him my old bed pillows when i got some new ones ($15.95 at tjmaxx -love it) but i didn't. mostly i guess i just don't know how to deal. i saw him in the liquor store on the next block on tuesday when i was in buying some wine. the situation makes me feel kind of helpless. and glad that i have a place to lay my head at night. very sobering all around.

some of the endless heat has subsided from nyc, though yesterday's torrential downpours made commuting hell. it was also interesting b/c i wasn't even aware it had rained so hard - i was still asleep when it happened. so the fact the subways were flooded was news to me. found out pretty quick when no subways were running up town and i had to walk all the way to work sweating balls. as my coworker said, why join a gym when the whole city is a steam room?

my current favorite song, though the video is weird, courtesy of diane k


send an air conditioner on sale and the answer to a 64,000 dollar question

love the lovely friends

v. tired, but i did want to do a quick post, as tomorrow is monday and i feel that there are few other things so appealing on a monday morning as procrastination - thought you guys would appreciate it. =)

just got back from the cape - lingley peer pressured me into heading up her way on friday night, and she met me in boston and we drove down to the cape. v. relaxing, low-key wknd - thankfully the temperatures on the cape were MUCH cooler than nyc - the humidity here last week was BRUTAL - so we enjoyed the cool ocean breeze and the sound of planes flying overhead (when the wind is blowing in the right direction my house is in the flight path of hyannis airport) - nevertheless, a welcome change from garbage trucks and men on motorcycles with too much testosterone that you find here in nyc. lings got to meet my family, i believe she now understands why i am the way i are (if that's even possible)

got pedicures with christine on sat morning, and headed to the beach after some lawn mowing and laundry to help my mom get the new house ready for this week's renters. my parents just built a new house that they are currently renting out. in true lyon family fashion, they're doing most of it themselves. spent sat afternoon tanning, actually lingley tanned and i burned despite the spf 30. curses! and then we headed down to the raw bar in new seabury for some oysters on the half-shell and mudslides before meeting up at huyett's in falmouth.

huyett had rounded up some usual suspects - maynard, reiten, and then robin drove up to join us - it was a true usual suspect reunion. maynard, back from colorado for a brief vacation, cooked up some delicious vittles ala the dinners she used to cook for us at the edge senior year. robin, who i can never seem to catch up with here in nyc, had come up from westport where her family has a house. she's been bopping down to dc for work, but we plan to get together when brogiin moves to nyc from la at the end of the month! and reiten just started a new job at planned parenthood, which makes her much happier than her last job did, even if she never has free time to talk on gchat.

we all had some beers, some good food, burned the shit out of some eggplant on the grill. no one seemed to notice or be overly concerned about the fact the house was filling with smoke. hmmm. all's well that ends well i guess. played catch phrase and enjoyed the beautiful night that is early august on cape cod. skips also checked in in a way when she called me to say she was stranded in provincetown without a place to sleep, having thought she could find a room last minute on a saturday in the summer. was starting to be concerned that an hour-long drive down cape was in my immediate future when she called to say some of their friends from the ferry (they had no car) were taking them in. she didn't sound too concerned, though i haven't heard from her today, hope all is well on that front.

lings and i hit up the beach again today before a delicious lunch of fried fish and seafood kabobs. then we escaped the traffic leaving the cape for a dash up to boston where i caught the bus back to the city.

said bus is 4.5 hours long - 2 things i was reflecting on while traveling:

1. when you start dating, (actually, let's be honest, it's just hooking up) with someone new, when is it appropriate to mention certain predilictions you may have in the bedroom? take for example the pirate porn. when do i bust that out on someone? 'oh hey, i have this porn set in a pirate move (or is it a pirate movie set in a porn?) want to come back to my place to watch it?' is that a pick-up line in itself or something to save for when you've run out of positions and need something to spice it up? this is a puzzlement. i guess i'm about to find out whether springing it on someone early on works - as i did just that to this kid i had a great hook up with a week or so ago. the general reasoning was, if he can't handle that then i shouldn't waste my time right? will see how it goes.

2. two conflicting sayings - out of sight, out of mind and absence makes the heart grow fonder. which is it? i'm particularly interested, as the weeks drag on and my office crush shows no signs of making an appearance in nyc. he also is partially responsible for figuring out my job offer, which makes me uninclined to reach out to him for fear of committing a disasterous hr blunder. perhaps the difference btwn the two depends on what stage of the relationship you're in. if you haven't had a chance to fall hardcore for someone, you could prob care less if they're around (ie - what my office crush is thinking). but if you have, then you're already committed in a way, and the only thing you want is for them to come back to you - so i would imagine that would make the heart grow fonder. or (and this i know) make you want to cut out your heart so the pain of their absence goes away - but i don't think we're at that point with this yet.

so. to recap. great time this wknd - check out the pics on fb. we missed all of the usual suspects who couldn't be there and hopefully we can do it again soon. i really can't say enough how lucky i feel to have such a great group of friends. we fall back into it really easily, even if there aren't pong tables and a tv room to gather in. and for that i am incredibly grateful. =)

and though you are miles away, there are always two cups on my table

over and out