ode to blitz

it's been a long time since i logged in to my blitz account multiple times a day and my blitz name didn't have a class year attached to it but with blitz being replaced for good i read this article on dartbeat and had a wave of nostalgia for 'the way we were' and had to comment:

it's impossible to put into words how much blitz shaped my dartmouth experience (class of 2005 here) esp since i was on campus when cell phones weren't at all prevalent. from blitz bombing roommates, creative nicknames (whatwouldjimmybuffettdo), blitz wars that opened 30 emails on your screen the second you logged in after your 12, the familiar 'ping' of an incoming blitz, hitting ctrl m to send, accidentally blitzing the wrong message to your prof or coach, having your non-dartmouth friends look at you like you were crazy when you talked about blitzing someone, rapid fire convos about meeting for lunch, take me off this list, contracting pink eye from the blitz terminals (avoid eye contact!), agonizing over language while crafting morning after blitzes, running up the basement stairs to check blitz mid-pong game, checking blitz while out on a saturday night to find the people you were meeting up with on frat row, dedicated blitz computers on the first floor of frats/sororities, the unique ability to highlight text and reply with a 'you wrote and end quote' - blitz defined my college experience. i'm sad that future dartmouth generations will miss out on the experience of blitz. 

good bye old friend. thanks for the memories.

all the news that's fit to print

hello from brooklyn - i'm 'working' (no really i am) from home today b/c my chair and ottoman came! i ended up ordering them from cb2 b/c west elm's 8-10 week delivery delay was just ridiculous. all in all i am quite pleased and feel like my apt is really coming together! this is the most expensive piece of furniture i've ever bought and i hope to have it for a long time and spend many hours cozy with a book, my ipad and some tea.

spent last weekend up in new england on a fall foliage tour with christine. we motored (cue sister christian) through western massachusetts along route 2, viewing and praising the foliage and oohing and ahhing over the main streets and back roads of new england. lots of pumpkin patches, scarecrows, apples, antiquing, ponds and nature in full blaze. it's always so incredible to me that nature does this every year - it's just so cool. takes my breath away.

got up to hanover eventually and hung out with my sister. had a late lunch at molly's (complete with some shipyard pumpkin ale and cinnamon sugar rim) and then a constitutional around occom pond. played harbour early on which means the later part of the evening is a bit of a blur but i do remember that christine and i were the only ones singing to 'bats in the belfry' in the basement when it came on my (500+ songs) basement mix playlist. aka we're old.

the week before i was out in LA where it was still summer-like. kevin and i went swimming at venice beach on friday afternoon - the waves were tossing us about so much that i might as well have been skinny dipping - and then i did the beach on saturday while kevin was at a wedding. sunday we rented a mini cooper convertible zipcar and drove up the pacific coast highway blasting britney, the skyfall theme song (can't wait!), and assorted other favorites. SO fun to drive the mini, great sound system, and the drive was gorgeous. really glad we did it.

i also saw the LA boy while i was out there - we had a great dinner on thurs night and then were out dancing in santa monica on friday night. it's pretty clear we both like each other and enjoy each other's company - just the minor issue of the fact that we're on different coasts. no immediate plans to see each other again has me wondering what to do next but in the words of gift from the sea - patience and faith. :)

this weekend i'm off to the domincan republic for a friend from hs's wedding. really she's more than a friend from hs - we became best friends in 6th grade and were pretty inseparable for a long time. crazy to think that she's getting married and i remember baking cookies in her kitchen after saturday's rec basketball games circa 1996. what a long strange trip it's been. never been to the DR and it'll be a quick trip but beach and sun and surf are always appreciated.

and on the topic of weddings i did want to post about ceppos's wedding in late august (i'm a delinquent). it was beautiful and a blast - best wedding dj at a wedding i've been to yet (the dj spins at the joshua tree and he played levels!). i also appreciated the boston-themed songs - we danced to shipping up to boston, sweet caroline and the last song was 'dirty water'. it was such a privilege and an honor to stand up with ceppos as well - at this point some folks have been in relationships for so long that they and their significant other are kind of a package deal - but standing on the altar while ceppos and the boy said their vows i really felt the importance of what was happening and i was thrilled to be a part of it. :)

post reception we went to the gingerman in greenwich to continue celebrating (laurak pointed out that she'd frequented all three gingermans in the ny/ct metro area in one short week). the music at the bar was great but no one was dancing and the bartender commented on it. the exchange went like this:

bartender: no one's dancing
me: i'll dance if you let me dance on the bar
bartender: okay
me: really? are you going to kick me out if i dance on the bar?
bartender: no
me: okay. don't tempt me 'cause i'll do it

so me, ceppos and cody got up and danced on the bar - ceppos in her wedding dress. i was slightly concerned that we were going to fall off and die but it was a definite highlight of the event.

kevin is in nyc next weekend/week so my favorite game of 'see my favorite people all the time' continues. kevin and i made new year's resolutions to see each other more in 2012. so far we're knocking it out of the park. ;-)