out of all of these gin joints

well kids - a bit of a mixed bag tonight.

last night went on a crazy blind date. it's something i stumbled on reading a blog where you input a minimal amount of information and a time you're free and they match you up with someone who is also free and in your area on a blind date. like simplified and more living on the edge than online dating. i think it's a great idea - one of my main complaints about nyc is how hard it is to meet people - even in bars where you're wasted, so a service that does it for you and all you've got to do is have guts enough to go? sure. and of course, always up for anything that sounds like it will be a good story for the blog!

last night i got a message asking if i wanted to go on a date. i liked the looks of the guy - and by this i mean, i liked what he had answered for the few screening questions - they blur out the pic until after the date - and agreed. at 9 i ventured out to the bar where we had been told to meet. get inside and look around for the guy in a blue hoodie. spot him and it turns out to be . . . someone i already knew. a friend of aida's from unc - he came to our halloween party in the fall. out of a totally random match up out of all of nyc i end up with someone i already know. i still can hardly believe it. it's positively 'casablanca'

we sat and had a drink and chatted - but the chemistry wasn't there three months ago - so nothing romantic will come out of it. but it was really fun, i discovered a new cool bar, and spent an hour talking to someone who didn't already know the story of my life. i am def going on more dates and i highly recommend you check it out.

other good news - i just heard from the boy from sat night, after much audible sighing and lamenting of the awfulness of the male sex (i take it all back). the bad news is he asked if we were still having a party tomorrow night (we are - v. informal - come by if you're so inclined) which is normally a good thing, except had invited another kid - a friend of vin's - who apparently has been wanting to hook up with me forever that i also wouldn't mind hooking up with and now i'm not sure what to do. must think on this one. must remember not to blackout regardless of what i decide.

other bad news - my office crush is moving to our other office location temporarily. but the temporary part is about 9 mths. i am crushed. without him in the office i don't know how i will get through the day. looking cute and wearing make up will be pointless. am really quite sad about this. sigh.

no apt news to report either - have seen some places - all expensive and unsuitable. i realized i have to stop comparing everything to our current apt b/c it never will measure up. effectively i have to break up with my apt. man this sucks. another thing i have no choice about but must bravely soldier on with life. i'm so tired of growth experiences. 'i think i'll just hide in this paper bag until death comes'

so kids. that's where we are. batting significantly less than 500.

the best games are not those in which all goes smoothly and steadily toward a certain conclusion, but those in which the outcome is always in doubt. similarly, the geometry of life is designed to keep us at the point of maximum tension between certainty and uncertainty, order and chaos. every important call is a close one. we survive and evolve by the skin of our teeth.

trying to keep that in mind

hazy shade of friday

Aida: do you remember when i told u to go talk to those french dudes at desmonds?

me: no

Aida: you said that you dont speak french

5:42 PM i was like lyon... just go say FOUX DE FA FA

and you did the funniest pose and said it to them

me: i did not

are you kidding me?

Aida: hahah it was great

5:43 PM me: what pose did i do here

5:44 PM Aida: ill have to show you

sassy

it was like hands on the hips

like you were annoyed

5:45 PM like they should have known what foux de fa fa was

HAHHA

5:46 PM me: oh

my

no recollection

i was so drunk

DISASTER

Aida: yes

ill do an impression for you

5:47 PM truly a funny moment

5:50 PM me: hahha

i'm glad you enjoyed it

5:51 PM Aida: :)

weddings? I LOVE weddings! drinks for everyone

wedding news folks! elise is engaged! ceppos informed me this happened awhile ago, and while it doesn't really surprise anyone - it was news to me when ceppos mentioned it - so congrats to her! according to ceppity-cepp the ceremony is set for august. lovely!

am taking the jeopardy! online test tonight - they give it once a year online and if you score high enough they contact you and you go do an audition. this is what the website tells me. anyone can sign up to do it - check out the website if you're interested. i don't have particularly high hopes for this - but am doing it so that my dad will quit hounding me about it. he thinks it's the fastest way to make a lot of money in a short amount of time. i think he's full of baloney, but his track record is pretty impressive when it comes to micromanaging my life (one exception - joining sd) so i will dutifully take the test and spend the rest of the year holding it up as an example of my commitment to making money.

high of 50 in nyc today - clearly this means i should wear a skirt. only problem is, it's 31 right now. big difference. hmmmm. tricky.

met a guy on sat night that actually might be mildly legit. of course, the definition of legitness depends on if he calls me. i was really annoyed b/c i spent the whole night pretty much with it, chatting him up and it was quite obvious we were going to hook up - and then i wake up in my bed alone on sunday being like, 'why am i here alone?' turns out i had blacked out for the hook up part. this is after an entire night of build up. it was v. difficult to piece together what had happened - to be fair - it was 4:30 by the time we all got back here to drink more after closing down the bar - and i had had a lot of vodka cranberries around 2:30 - but it was truly nancy drew and the case of the missing hookup. and we def did hookup. let's just say i'm certain of that and leave it there. anyway - with such an intriguing beginning - who cares how it ends - but am kind of hoping to hear from him. as usual, we'll see.

who can it be now

i just received a call from a number i didn't recognize or have in my phone. i answer with the lilting 'hello?' you use when inquiring who it might be and how dare they call you when you don't have their number already.

it's a guy - he says his name is paul and he's talking like i clearly should remember him from last night, so i go into automatic flirt mode as i try to prolong the conversation long enough for him to drop details that will place him in the haze that was friday night. he's having trouble with the convo but not only do i think i shouldn't help him (he called me!), i can't. no idea who the guy is.

he asks me if i karoke often - that places him around 7 pm and says he didn't know that i wanted him to call me or hang out after the first time we met. shit. not only do i have no recollection of saying that, i don't really want him to call me or hang out. so i suppose he was right about one part of this new-found knowledge.

i start to get irritated by the same thing that irritated me the first time we met - if he doesn't have the guts to straight up ask me for my number or out on a date then i want nothing to do with him. and apparently he doesn't. it took me being blacked out in a bar and feeling sorry for him enough to play along with whatever he was spouting.

i point this out to him and he responds that i'm right, he should have tracked me down somehow, but then comments that i could have tracked him down too. now, this guy doesn't know me, but you guys do - if i want to find someone i will. and i didn't want to find him. but i can't v. well respond with that so i play the 'guys should call girls' card and drop it.

convo ends with me suggesting we get a drink sometime this week. still have no idea what he does, what we talked about, and why i gave him my number and still feel badly enough for him that i suggest this thing that i don't really want to do to get him off the phone.

i call aida and tell her i have a funny story. she responds with, 'i'm sure you do'.

shit.

pathetic things

our apartment has been without toilet paper for two days. we've resorted to paper towels. we could go out and get some, but it's pretty cold out.

i incurred a splinter from the bar last night. how is it possible to get a splinter in a bar? as vin said - it wasn't a v. nice bar.

i really don't understand how a studio thought it was good idea to have drew barrymore pretend to be 17 in 'never been kissed'. but i'm watching it so maybe that's the answer. the answer might also be the fact i'm hungover.

other comments: drew looks terrible - i don't think she's heard of foundation. or blush. leelee sobrieski - so awk and tormented. and surprisingly, this is a good movie for six degrees - jessica alba, courtney cox's husband whose name i forget, molly shannon.

honestly - kind of am hating myself for watching it. the gratuitous d self-call isn't even enough to save it. ;-P

if i'm not dead by thursday

i'll be roaring friday night!

not dead yet folks. ;-P

continuing to quote movies (drink!)

what difference does it make?
the difference is, i'm in the mood to kick a little ass
- the cutting edge

current favorite song:



- 'fast car' wyclef jean featuring paul simon

rock friday kids

late night ruminations

People always say that change is a good thing, but what it really means is that something that you didn't want to happen, has happened.
- you've got mail

i think that quote is a bit extreme - i mean, sometimes change is a good thing (winds of change, spare change)- and sometimes it's less black and white - you hadn't really thought about whether you wanted something to change or not - but i think the inherent point is an interesting one - so much of life is reacting to things that happened that you maybe didn't want to happen and the only choice you have is to come to terms with it. who knew a meg ryan/tom hanks movie could be so profound?

as most of you know - i play bball in a corporate bball league. just had a game - interesting to think about what it would be like to play with my own coworkers (i play with taylor's firm). you can tell a lot about people by how they perform in team sport situations. senator bill bradley even takes potential hires out on the court for some three-on-three to give them a test run. as most of my coworkers are 30 or so - i imagine this would be interesting. but you can certainly tell a lot about people. ie - people who give up at the first sign of things not going their way. people who play dirty when the ref isn't looking. people who give orders but don't follow them - theirs or someone elses. people who make their foul shots under pressure, hustle back on d, and offer a hand and word of encouragement where it's needed. people who take pride in their performance. i currently have a massive bruise on my knee from taking a fall and i'm kind of enjoying it. reminds me of a person i once was. maybe still am? but need to let show more. it also reminds me i'm not dead. thanks rosi.

fierce

i've been watching what is probably unhealthy amounts of 'america's next top model' during the series re-runs on mtv. it drives me crazy how many times tyra says 'antm' but i am a sucker for the 'before' and 'after' of the photo shoots and the pictures and the outcome at the end. it's not that far off from 'law and order' - dramatic tension and satisfying resolution - all in 60 minutes!

i actually am impressed by the ideas they come up with for the photo shoots, lessons and challenges, i will give tyra that. and i do think that shows like this one and 'project runway' promote ideals that women/people don't hear very often - or if they do they hear them in a cheesy 60s-poster flock of seagulls kind of way - that you have to work with your strengths, bring your personality, be different, work it, etc. i have to say i don't think i would last very long on 'antm'. ah well. i'm not quitting my day job. though i can't say i couldn't benefit from some 'model behavior' coaching . . .

it's excessively cold in nyc - and i know it's not much warmer anywhere else - but thank goodness we had today off for mlk so i didn't have to leave the apt. did go look at a potential apt - no dice. sigh. this is going to be v. v. unfun.

a book is a present you can open again and again

charlo sent me a note a few days ago commenting on the reference to 'the eyes of the amaryllis' as being a favorite book of hers when she was younger. which got me thinking about kids books - i adore them. have a collection at home and that's what i read when i go back. anyway - i thought i'd make a list - i know i've forgotten a bunch. the good old days, they were - well, you know the rest

the trumpet of the swan and other eb white faves - charlotte's web and stuart little
the westing game
eloise
madeline - 'and to the tiger in the zoo, madeline just said, 'poo poo'
from the mixed-up files of mrs. basil e. frankweiler
my side of the mountain
chronicles of narnia (side note - 'the spiderweb chronicles' - a movie that is about to come out - complete ripoff of this. shouldn't they have tried at least a little bit to disguise it??)
little house on the prairie
the great brain books
judy blume books - 'superfudge'; 'are you there god, it's me margret' et al
a wrinkle in time (a bit too science-fiction for me - but still classic)
the egypt game - loved this one
nancy drew
a little maid of new england (yes - this book exists - don't hate)
scott o'dell books - 'streams to the river, river to the sea'; 'island of the blue dolphins'
the polar express
where the side walk ends
the giving tree
chicka chicka boom boom
where the wild things are
goodnight moon
going on a bear hunt
one morning in maine, make way for ducklings, blueberries for sal
harriet the spy
cheaper by the dozen
the phantom tollbooth
all of a kind family
the very hungry caterpillar
alexander and the terrible, horrible, no-good very bad day
arthur
clifford
courdory
paddington bear
the runaway bunny
the very hungry caterpillar, brown bear brown bear what do you see

there are tons more i know - any favorites i forgot?

i hate fb applications

3 friend requests
6 group invitations
1 cupcake request
2 attack! invitations
1 beer request
4 cause invitations
1 presidential el invitation
2 orgeon trail invitations
1 festive invitation
1 slayers invitation
2 red sox nation invitations
1 movie compatibility request
1 zombies nation invitation
1 movie quiz request
1 zombies invitation
2 pirate invitations

file this under . . .

truer words were never spoken:

q: how it sex like air?
a: it's only a big deal if you're not getting any

sparkling

yesterday's jargon file addition - salmon day:

salmon day: the experience of swimming upstream all day, only to get screwed in the end

if you didn't already know that one - add it to your repertoire, as that is exactly what went down yesterday.

discovered about an hour within each other that the presentation on our entire strategy for the rest of the year was due on thursday (today) and not friday as we had thought. as my brother says - sparkling.

then discovered that our apt building, which is under new mgmt, does not want to renew our lease -which is up in march - b/c it is renovating it into an upscale doorman building type thing. sparkling. to be fair - six wks is an eternity in nyc housing market timeline - but i really just was not mentally prepared to have to find an apt and move in short order. hate hate hate moving - though i am sure i am not alone in this - and it seems to be the hallmark of living in nyc. i know people that have lived in the same apt since entering the real world. in other cities of course. how is this possible? how is this fair? and wtf mate!

so. really just banner all around. after having to take several 'breaks to think about what i had done' (aka - cry/breathe) yesterday - will get on with it. i try to take it one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.

sparkling.

jan marches on

very good storypeople

today she decided to be suitably ambiguous, so you can think whatever you like about her (amount of time scheduled for the opinions of others = zero)

thank you storypeople of the day! this is generally my m.o. at all times really.

the subject of birth order has come up a few times in the last week - namely - where do i fall in that category - and several times now it has been suggested that i am an only child. christine suggested that this might mean these people think that i am independent and march to the beat of my own drummer, however, one person referenced my 'need for attention' - which sort of negates that theory. while i do agree that i like attention (exhibit a - this blog), i def don't think i need it. i believe it was ceppos who described me as being able to put me in an empty room by myself and i could amuse myself (allow myself to introduce myself) for hours. which may also be an 'only child' trait. at any rate - am not an only or a youngest - i am the oldest of four - so put that in your pipe and smoke it meanies. we learned in psych 21 that birth order only matters within family dynamics anyway, though i think i would beg to differ on that one . . .

the other day it was raining so i wore my lobster galoshes on the way to work. when i arrived i had one pant leg tucked in and the other out - sort of gangsta style - as my coworker commented when he saw me. however, i replied that 'lobsters are inherently not gangsta' which i feel to be a statement of impeccable truth and we are now trying to work 'inherently' into presentations and things and see if we can get it to catch on. we have already had success with 'holistically'.

laurak has been boating down in mexico with her educational sea group. if you're on gchat like a fiend you may have noticed she hasn't been on. that is why. no word as to what she's doing after that - though she may be heading back to the east coast. stay tuned.

i still am perplexed at the fact that even when i go to bed early i can't get up in the morning. what is the point if this continues to be the case?

that's about it from this end

of shoes and ships and ceiling wax

so - was a very low-key wknd - i'd say it was a wknd of leonardo dicaprio, cruise ships and good movies for the 'six degrees of kevin bacon game', in that i watched 'titanic', 'the departed' and 'an affair to remember' and those three movies have the aforementioned elements in common.

a few comments on this - where were you when titanic came out? i was a freshman in hs. i saw the movie three times in the theaters (def contributed to its status of box-office record-breaker here) and sobbed my eyes out every time. now i tend not to watch the second part of the film (aka - disc 2). not really a fan of the sinking part of the story. deathly afraid of drowning. i think this comes from growing up by the sea and respecting the power of it - ala the 'eyes of the amaryllis'. this is an excellent movie for 'six degrees', as are 'working girl' and 'animal house'. in fact, 'the departed' and 'working girl' are connected by alec baldwin. knowledge is power.

the departed was a great movie - had not ever seen it - was sitting there watching it with my computer opened to the review on wikipedia so i could hide in case someone's brains were about to get blown out. i've never been one to stress over surprise endings or whatever - i'd much rather know stat then be surprised. i hate not knowing things.

the last movie i watched was 'an affair to remember' - which is an old one -but after watching a sinking ship all i could think about was 'aatr' which has a significant cruise ship part where the ship does not sink. it's one of my grandparents favorite movies. just an all around good feeling movie.

had dinner on friday night with tay tay - she'll be bopping around locales other than nyc as she catches up on life, and while we'll miss her around here, we think she def deserves a break!

busy wk coming up - dollar drafts with the girls tomorrow night, drinks with my work girls on wed and then team drinks on thursday. suddenly i'm really glad i had a low key wknd. lots of actual work to do too - running all over nyc to meetings. never a dull moment!

happy monday everybody. is that an oxymoron?

on the way down

hello blog readers!

i have not, as you may have feared, broken my leg on my skiing adventure and been unable to post. no, the lack of posting is due entirely to laziness, delinquency and a busy schedule. but i digress.

first off - skiing was a BLAST. as noted in the previous post, i went into the adventure with a willing heart and a gung-ho spirit, but it still could have gone v. badly. and happily, it did not. got a late start out of the city on friday night which was great in retrospect b/c there was zero traffic. was up to htown in 4 hours flat. pretty impressive. charlo's bf's ski condo was an hour north - it was sort of sad to be so close to hanover and yet not going - but i suppose we have to sever the cord at some point.

vermont was beautiful - snow on the trees, crisp, clear, cold, STARS (we don't have these in nyc except one or two in the more remote (read: sketchy) areas of the city. the condo was down the road from the mountain - i took a skiing lesson on sat and then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to solidfy the muscle memory enough to do it again the next day. and i have to say, it wasn't pretty, but i was def skiing by the end of the second day. also, maybe all the little kids that were learning have it right - they didn't over think it, they didn't worry about breaking their legs, they just sat back and let it rip. of course, they had less to fall and their parent's insurance to take care of them if anything happened but i'm just saying . . .

thanks to charlo, megh and tom for putting up with my beginner ways and offering support and mental toughness training on site and on demand. and in a weird way, the coaching i was getting (and doing) to get myself down the mountain (there were def times when it was like - i'm sorry, it's too steep and i can't do this. and i wanted to cry) has been surprisingly helpful for my other work-place confidence issues (that are disappating by the day btw) in that i think the same thoughts in the office as i thought on the mountain except clearly i could do it and not only that, i had to do it or i would not be getting down the mountain before nightfall. and knowing what it felt like to overcome that - quote that kept running through my head 'to be afraid is one thing, to let it grab you by the tail and swing you around is something else' - has been v. helpful. funny how that works!

the rest of the weekend was spent in a low key, enjoyable manner. had some beers, sat in a hot tub while it snowed, ate a lot of pizza. really nice to be out of the city and celebrating winter. i really don't think i could have asked for more! hoping to ski more now that i can actually do it without being a terrible burden to the people going (i imagine i'm still a bit of a burden, but hopefully this is less so now.) all in all, i'm pretty proud of myself and puffing out my chest like a self-satisfied cat.

been busy since returning to the city - exie annual meeting last night - aka - stuff our face with champagne and cipriani's - always enjoyable. the number of glasses of champagne consumed rivaled new years, and i met a lawyer who may or may not call me. i also saw my flakey guy - not sure that i pulled off suave and sophisticated but whatevs. it doesn't matter with him - he'll be back. yes ladies and gentlemen, i am that good in bed. (kidding!)

lingley is moving to washington dc in the next week or so to start her new job working on the hill. it's about time she joined the real world, though a little part of me is dying at the thought of her leaving htown. she says to tell everyone she will be v. poor - but 4 hours in one direction is as good as 4 hours in another, and at least there are more options for getting to dc than to htown!

i am also wondering why it is that inevitably, three days before you go to get your hair done, it decides to start looking fabulous, leading you to wonder if maybe you shouldn't get it done after all. cruel, i tell you, cruel.

i'm also v. amused by this gem from today's ggmm (generic good morning message). yesterday's ggmm was about an american gladiators concept idea. someone took it one step further and made it applicable to d frats. i have to say, the accuracy of these statement is really spot on. enjoy.

--- You wrote:
American Gladiators Events:
--- end of quote ---

Alright, what about D Fratiators. Think about it:

Assault: The contestant has 30 seconds to make it through a course that spans the entire floor of the pit at GDX while having full cans thrown at them at high speed from the stairs and the balcony overlooking it.

Gauntlet: The contenders have to run through the narrow hallway between the two rooms at Psi U while eight brothers piss on them from the sides.

Hang Tough: The contestant has 60 seconds to swing from one side of the overhang at SAE to the other. Four SAEs will stand below and shoot champagne corks at the contestant, though rather slowly.

Hit & Run: The contestant traverses the length of the gorf in AD. Sixteen brothers attempt to knock the contender off his path using power-booting.

Powerball: The contestant has 60 seconds to sink a cup on every table at XH while Hereots try to flip the tables over, turn the lights off, and have a dance party.

Pyramid: More of a reverse pyramid, contestants have 45 seconds to sneak into the basement of Trikap and steal a keg from the back room and then excape the frat within the allotted time. Very doable.

The Wall: The contenders scale to the Phi Delt porch while Phi Delts harass them while refusing to leave their house.

hahaha. love observational humor.

well my friends, i think that's all for now. must take a shower and head to bed. another action-packed day coming up. my goodness

new mistakes

am embarking on ski adventure with several readers of this blog tomorrow. key take-away point - self doesn't know how to ski.

maybe self should have learned how to ski while at d where there was plenty of skiing to be had with the apt reward of a phys ed credit. maybe self should not agree to go on ski adventures to vermont when the only skiing experience self has is with stupid, but talented in the skiing dept, ex-bf. maybe self should stop referring to self in the third person. probably all of the above is true.

regardless (or in the words of mean girls - irregardless) - self is going on a ski adventure. have wanted to learn how to ski since aforementioned trip with sebf. plus - i like vermont/the still north in the winter. also, am in mood to just totally kick ass, thanks to extensive self-help/intense attitude-adjustment period over xmas break, so will face the slopes and the inevitable result head on and do it with a smile. i'm looking forward to it.

so. am off to see the lizard. will report back. wish me luck. self needs it.

merry new year!

back to work for most of us i think. i also think comedy central had it right declaring yesterday 'national hangover day' and proclaiming 'last night's mistakes to be SO 2007' (clever of them).

i did not get out of my bed for more than 10 minutes at a time, and i think that was to microwave the frozen pizza i had delivered to my door. the height of laziness, yes, but i think i deserved some indulgence (the problems start when i use this to rationalize all my lazy and jv choices).

party was lots of fun - the ringing in of the new year was really just a bit of a distraction from the drinking at our fiesta (really - midnight is soooooooo early) - which was evidenced by the quick way everything went down hill after 2008 came in. great to celebrate with some familiar and not so familiar faces - megh came out (and told me he is anti-adverb. will keep this in mind) as did kjb and her boy - nice to meet him finally. dax - though preoccupied with impending work - came and brought his roomate and jaques which was a fantastic surprise. kaufman and overton, as well as some coworkers - current and former - made for a lovely time. just the way i wanted new years to go. =)

and now it's back to work, which to be honest, i'm kind of looking forward to, as all these holidays have become quite dreary. time to get back on the horse and bring in january in style. january's 'chicken soup with rice' for those of you interested:

in january it’s so nice, while slipping on the sliding ice,
to sip hot chicken soup with rice.
slipping once, sipping twice, sipping chicken soup with rice.
- maurice sendak

and on that note, we cue the music

it's the little things

thank god for america's next top model marathons. that is all