11.25.2003
Working Late. . .
Yeah, I know what you're thinking.
You think I'm a slacker.
This is not entirely untrue, as I willingly admit to being a slacker, but it's not the case this week.
I feel like I've done more work and put in more hours in the past two days than I have all quarter.
Welcome to Hell. . . there's always room for one more. . .
Yeah, I know what you're thinking.
You think I'm a slacker.
This is not entirely untrue, as I willingly admit to being a slacker, but it's not the case this week.
I feel like I've done more work and put in more hours in the past two days than I have all quarter.
Welcome to Hell. . . there's always room for one more. . .
Stress and Stress
Don't get me wrong, it's better to be busy at the office than slow, but things are HECTIC this week.
In this 3-day week (er, 2 and a half), I've already put in an hour and a half of overtime, and it's only Tuesday.
I think this means I have the cash to start that phantom car fund. . .
Don't get me wrong, it's better to be busy at the office than slow, but things are HECTIC this week.
In this 3-day week (er, 2 and a half), I've already put in an hour and a half of overtime, and it's only Tuesday.
I think this means I have the cash to start that phantom car fund. . .
11.24.2003
Workouts. . .
So I've been LAZY lately and haven't been to the gym as often as I'd like. . . of course, I volunteered for this project team so I'd stop bitching about stuff, so this might be the cause of my seeming lack of motivation.
I went to the gym on Saturday for the first time this month.
This is pretty damned sad, considering I pay for it whether I go or not. And I get cranky and irritable if I don't go.
I think I might be able to go again tonight, but I'm not sure.
In the meantime, Matt and I are making Thanksgiving dinner at his parents' house because his mom has been sick and hasn't felt up to handling the entire cooking thing.
I think we managed to earn their trust with our kitchen skills (and cooperative skills) when we made dinner for his mom and dad on Saturday night. I had a lot of fun doing it, to tell the truth, and am looking forward to the dinner responsibilities.
If all goes well, there will be a bright-and-cheery blog update on Friday. =)
So I've been LAZY lately and haven't been to the gym as often as I'd like. . . of course, I volunteered for this project team so I'd stop bitching about stuff, so this might be the cause of my seeming lack of motivation.
I went to the gym on Saturday for the first time this month.
This is pretty damned sad, considering I pay for it whether I go or not. And I get cranky and irritable if I don't go.
I think I might be able to go again tonight, but I'm not sure.
In the meantime, Matt and I are making Thanksgiving dinner at his parents' house because his mom has been sick and hasn't felt up to handling the entire cooking thing.
I think we managed to earn their trust with our kitchen skills (and cooperative skills) when we made dinner for his mom and dad on Saturday night. I had a lot of fun doing it, to tell the truth, and am looking forward to the dinner responsibilities.
If all goes well, there will be a bright-and-cheery blog update on Friday. =)
11.21.2003
Knife of My Dreams. . .
As has been repeatedly verified, I am biologically a girl, but socially, I am more of a guy.
For our anniversary, Matthew got me an assortment of gifts that demonstrated to me the fact that he listens and remembers every single word I say.
That being said, he purchased a beautiful 6" chef's knife for me that's exactly like the one Rachael Ray uses. . .OK, so she uses a Wusthof like this and mine is a Henckels, but I don't care. I mentioned ONCE, while going through a fancy-schmancy chef's supply catalogue that I would like to get a hollow-ground SANTOKU knife. . . but it was too pricey for me to consider it. Matthew went to 5 stores to find it, and even managed to get it on sale.
I used it for the first time last night while chopping onions to start the sauce for his birthday-dinner of baked lasagna and fancy store-baked bread. I didn't cry because the knife CUT the onions and didn't BRUISE them.
So I'm thinking, "Wow, cool knife", and I even managed to use good knife skills.
Then I hit the garlic. . . and it minced it like butter. BUTTER! Wow.
Best. Knife. Ever.
So, while the onions and ground sirloin - the local grocery store is so shitty that regular ground beef looked too icky to consider, so I paid the extra buck-fifty or so a pound for the ground sirloin; if you'd've seen it, you'd've done the same - were browning, I hit the fresh herbs I bought to mix into the ricotta. . . rosemary and basil.
Again, the knife minces to a fine, almost pesto-quality mince, and my knife skills don't suffer. Wow.
Did I mention that this is the BEST. KNIFE. EVER. ??????
The lasagna was a thing of beauty, with no icky chunks of onion, no tears and no cut fingers. And Matt didn't have to step in and "help".
Yup. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread and my Ikea knives don't do it for me anymore.
As has been repeatedly verified, I am biologically a girl, but socially, I am more of a guy.
For our anniversary, Matthew got me an assortment of gifts that demonstrated to me the fact that he listens and remembers every single word I say.
That being said, he purchased a beautiful 6" chef's knife for me that's exactly like the one Rachael Ray uses. . .OK, so she uses a Wusthof like this and mine is a Henckels, but I don't care. I mentioned ONCE, while going through a fancy-schmancy chef's supply catalogue that I would like to get a hollow-ground SANTOKU knife. . . but it was too pricey for me to consider it. Matthew went to 5 stores to find it, and even managed to get it on sale.
I used it for the first time last night while chopping onions to start the sauce for his birthday-dinner of baked lasagna and fancy store-baked bread. I didn't cry because the knife CUT the onions and didn't BRUISE them.
So I'm thinking, "Wow, cool knife", and I even managed to use good knife skills.
Then I hit the garlic. . . and it minced it like butter. BUTTER! Wow.
Best. Knife. Ever.
So, while the onions and ground sirloin - the local grocery store is so shitty that regular ground beef looked too icky to consider, so I paid the extra buck-fifty or so a pound for the ground sirloin; if you'd've seen it, you'd've done the same - were browning, I hit the fresh herbs I bought to mix into the ricotta. . . rosemary and basil.
Again, the knife minces to a fine, almost pesto-quality mince, and my knife skills don't suffer. Wow.
Did I mention that this is the BEST. KNIFE. EVER. ??????
The lasagna was a thing of beauty, with no icky chunks of onion, no tears and no cut fingers. And Matt didn't have to step in and "help".
Yup. This is the greatest thing since sliced bread and my Ikea knives don't do it for me anymore.
11.19.2003
OK, It's Happy Time. . .
It's almost time to leave the pit of despair and go home.
Today I want to pick up my new contacts (that have been sitting at the eye doctor's for about a month now) and then go home and have soup for dinner. I have lots of soup in my cabinets.
If I'm really good, maybe I'll be able to pick up some chopmeat and fix a sauce for lasagna. . . mmmm, lasagna.
It's almost time to leave the pit of despair and go home.
Today I want to pick up my new contacts (that have been sitting at the eye doctor's for about a month now) and then go home and have soup for dinner. I have lots of soup in my cabinets.
If I'm really good, maybe I'll be able to pick up some chopmeat and fix a sauce for lasagna. . . mmmm, lasagna.
Politics and Rules
This link here:
Chatterbox
is in defense of the BEST EVER Twin Towers memorial, which was recently disqualified from eligibility for being part of the eventual September 11th Memorial in Lower Manhattan. Yes, technically, and in a strict-interpretation of the rules, the architect should be disqualified, BUT, on its aesthetic merits alone, it's a damned shame that it'll be out of the running.
It also links to the archived story that so moved me to share why 'Twin Piers' was the most touching and beautiful design I had seen thus far and why it had my vote, despite my not being on the committee.
I am upset by the decision, although I understand the reasoning.
This link here:
Chatterbox
is in defense of the BEST EVER Twin Towers memorial, which was recently disqualified from eligibility for being part of the eventual September 11th Memorial in Lower Manhattan. Yes, technically, and in a strict-interpretation of the rules, the architect should be disqualified, BUT, on its aesthetic merits alone, it's a damned shame that it'll be out of the running.
It also links to the archived story that so moved me to share why 'Twin Piers' was the most touching and beautiful design I had seen thus far and why it had my vote, despite my not being on the committee.
I am upset by the decision, although I understand the reasoning.
Crampy, Cranky and Tired
WARNING: This is a rant about something that happened on Monday night while I was trying to get to sleep. I am not apologizing for it and I acknowledge the fact that it's completely self-centered. I promise I will post something worthwhile later on in the day; I just need to get this entirely out of my system.
Let me begin by saying that my downstairs neighbors should all be drawn and quartered for their lack of common sense.
I am not typically an insomniac, except when I am experiencing 'female issues'. Whether it's the flux of hormones or the occasional severe cramping, I don't know, but what I do know is that it makes me tired and gives me trouble sleeping. That being said, I was having trouble sleeping on Monday night to begin with, although I was tired and cranky and went to bed early.
This, I soon learned, was a mistake.
Having lived in the downstairs apartment for two years, I know the exact geography and layout of the place. On Monday night, I became painfully aware of the fact that not only are my downstairs neighbors serious night-owls but they also have kids. Noisy, running-through-the-house, screaming-in-the-bathtub kids. Kids who, in my opinion, should have been IN BED at 9:30pm. On a Monday night. But weren't.
Add to this the fact that, for whatever reason, their parents'/caregivers' TV's, radios and stereos must always be played at the loudest possible setting, and they always have to shout when they're on the phone in the bedroom. . . the bedroom that was mine for two years. The bedroom that's DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH my current bedroom, where I was trying to sleep.
There was running through the entire apartment, from the bathroom, through the kitchen, to the room that used to be my roommate's bedroom, and back and forth over and over again. And noise from TV's and stereos.
It's now 10pm and I'm still tired, still awake and getting angrier and crankier by the minute. Add to this the fact that I'm uncomfortable and feeling sick and crampy, and I'm losing patience.
Yet another appliance goes on, this time it sounds like it's in what we used as our living room, which is little more than a glorified hallway. Directly underneath my present kitchen, which is directly outside my bedroom. This time, I stamp loudly (*bang-bang-bang*) on the kitchen floor to express my displeasure. It has a slight effect, so I go back to bed.
10:30pm. The neighbors are still loud and I'm still awake. Wide awake. So the phone doesn't wake me up when it rings. It actually comforts me that someone remembers I'm alive up there and cares about what happens to me. I start crying and blubbering and complaining and apologizing all at once. . . but it's the release I needed and the calming effect that kicked in along with the naproxen sodium I'd taken for the cramps. After I hang up the phone, I crawl back into bed, but am kept up until about 11:30 because of a conversation between a mom and her kids and a radio being turned on and off intermittently.
I get up every day at 6am to go to a job I hate in a city that hates me as much as I fear it. If I feel I need 8 hours of sleep per night in order to face it, being kept up until 11:30pm, when I've been trying since 9:30pm, is unreasonable to me. *growl*
END RANT. I told you it was self-centered, but I feel much less obligated to relate this to my coworkers, many of whom are lawyers so I feel justified because I hint at asking for legal advice without actually doing so, yet again.
p.s. - The story has a happy ending because Matthew took me to Wegman's on Tuesday. We got to drool over the fancy-schmancy food and decided to try the gourmet generics because we could. There will be a food-review later today, if I have the time to post it.
WARNING: This is a rant about something that happened on Monday night while I was trying to get to sleep. I am not apologizing for it and I acknowledge the fact that it's completely self-centered. I promise I will post something worthwhile later on in the day; I just need to get this entirely out of my system.
Let me begin by saying that my downstairs neighbors should all be drawn and quartered for their lack of common sense.
I am not typically an insomniac, except when I am experiencing 'female issues'. Whether it's the flux of hormones or the occasional severe cramping, I don't know, but what I do know is that it makes me tired and gives me trouble sleeping. That being said, I was having trouble sleeping on Monday night to begin with, although I was tired and cranky and went to bed early.
This, I soon learned, was a mistake.
Having lived in the downstairs apartment for two years, I know the exact geography and layout of the place. On Monday night, I became painfully aware of the fact that not only are my downstairs neighbors serious night-owls but they also have kids. Noisy, running-through-the-house, screaming-in-the-bathtub kids. Kids who, in my opinion, should have been IN BED at 9:30pm. On a Monday night. But weren't.
Add to this the fact that, for whatever reason, their parents'/caregivers' TV's, radios and stereos must always be played at the loudest possible setting, and they always have to shout when they're on the phone in the bedroom. . . the bedroom that was mine for two years. The bedroom that's DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH my current bedroom, where I was trying to sleep.
There was running through the entire apartment, from the bathroom, through the kitchen, to the room that used to be my roommate's bedroom, and back and forth over and over again. And noise from TV's and stereos.
It's now 10pm and I'm still tired, still awake and getting angrier and crankier by the minute. Add to this the fact that I'm uncomfortable and feeling sick and crampy, and I'm losing patience.
Yet another appliance goes on, this time it sounds like it's in what we used as our living room, which is little more than a glorified hallway. Directly underneath my present kitchen, which is directly outside my bedroom. This time, I stamp loudly (*bang-bang-bang*) on the kitchen floor to express my displeasure. It has a slight effect, so I go back to bed.
10:30pm. The neighbors are still loud and I'm still awake. Wide awake. So the phone doesn't wake me up when it rings. It actually comforts me that someone remembers I'm alive up there and cares about what happens to me. I start crying and blubbering and complaining and apologizing all at once. . . but it's the release I needed and the calming effect that kicked in along with the naproxen sodium I'd taken for the cramps. After I hang up the phone, I crawl back into bed, but am kept up until about 11:30 because of a conversation between a mom and her kids and a radio being turned on and off intermittently.
I get up every day at 6am to go to a job I hate in a city that hates me as much as I fear it. If I feel I need 8 hours of sleep per night in order to face it, being kept up until 11:30pm, when I've been trying since 9:30pm, is unreasonable to me. *growl*
END RANT. I told you it was self-centered, but I feel much less obligated to relate this to my coworkers, many of whom are lawyers so I feel justified because I hint at asking for legal advice without actually doing so, yet again.
p.s. - The story has a happy ending because Matthew took me to Wegman's on Tuesday. We got to drool over the fancy-schmancy food and decided to try the gourmet generics because we could. There will be a food-review later today, if I have the time to post it.
11.13.2003
Fourth Quarter
Not that I'm complaining, but this is typically the busiest time of the year at any business, especially one as time-sensitive as the field I'm in.
However, despite my choosing to maintain the most challenging projects that I can, my 4th quarter has been sluggish.
Yes, I did have a spate of 10-hour days, but they're few and far-between.
And I look around at my teammates, and they're all plugging away at 10, 12 and 14-hour days. . .and I wonder if I truly have less work to do or if I've perfected the fine art of slacking off.
Just to put it in perspective, when the quarter started, I had so much extra time that I volunteered to take on 6 additional projects on top of my ordinary workload. I am now finished with 5 of them and only have 1 project remaining from my "regular" projects. To say that this is an accomplishment is fine, but where's my work?
What gives?
Not that I'm complaining, but this is typically the busiest time of the year at any business, especially one as time-sensitive as the field I'm in.
However, despite my choosing to maintain the most challenging projects that I can, my 4th quarter has been sluggish.
Yes, I did have a spate of 10-hour days, but they're few and far-between.
And I look around at my teammates, and they're all plugging away at 10, 12 and 14-hour days. . .and I wonder if I truly have less work to do or if I've perfected the fine art of slacking off.
Just to put it in perspective, when the quarter started, I had so much extra time that I volunteered to take on 6 additional projects on top of my ordinary workload. I am now finished with 5 of them and only have 1 project remaining from my "regular" projects. To say that this is an accomplishment is fine, but where's my work?
What gives?
11.12.2003
Wednesday's Quote:
"Absence of evidence," as SETI astronomers like to say, "is not evidence of absence." The search has barely begun, and the scientific thing to do, they say, is to keep searching, expecting answers, trusting that we know the questions.
Once again, lifted from the 'Science' section of The New York Times.
"Absence of evidence," as SETI astronomers like to say, "is not evidence of absence." The search has barely begun, and the scientific thing to do, they say, is to keep searching, expecting answers, trusting that we know the questions.
Once again, lifted from the 'Science' section of The New York Times.
11.11.2003
Today's Quote:
"You don't know what it was like in 1950. It wasn't just the dreariness of Bing Crosby that made life tough." - Dr. James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA's structure, as quoted in today's 'Science' section in The New York Times
"You don't know what it was like in 1950. It wasn't just the dreariness of Bing Crosby that made life tough." - Dr. James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA's structure, as quoted in today's 'Science' section in The New York Times
Updates. . .
Recently added. . . a good friend from high school, Ms. Rebecca, an artist, feminist and all-around good egg.
Recently added. . . a good friend from high school, Ms. Rebecca, an artist, feminist and all-around good egg.
11.10.2003
COLD!
When did it get to be winter all of a sudden?
When I left the house this morning, the weather man was announcing area temperatures in the teens. . .and my face felt really raw and numb until the train showed up.
Of course, once I arrived at work I found. . . the heating system is still screwed up and I'll bet you my left mitten that it's warmer outside than it is in here. Brr!
Thus ends my first COLD weather rant, but continues my perpetual "the office is too goddamned cold" rant.
When did it get to be winter all of a sudden?
When I left the house this morning, the weather man was announcing area temperatures in the teens. . .and my face felt really raw and numb until the train showed up.
Of course, once I arrived at work I found. . . the heating system is still screwed up and I'll bet you my left mitten that it's warmer outside than it is in here. Brr!
Thus ends my first COLD weather rant, but continues my perpetual "the office is too goddamned cold" rant.
11.07.2003
Today's Quote:
On the black cassock Keanu's Neo sported in The Matrix Reloaded:
"The soutane doesn't gain from being displayed at the Met. But the shades bring out the schizoid special-agent effect. Jesuit below, C.I.A. above. Partners in secrecy."
Excerpetd from: 'In the Land of the Free, Who Wears the Skirts?' by Herbert Muschamp, appearing in today's online version of The New York Times.
Registration is free but required to read this review of this season's Costume Institute exhibition, 'Bravehearts: Men in Skirts' which opened this past Tuesday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On the black cassock Keanu's Neo sported in The Matrix Reloaded:
"The soutane doesn't gain from being displayed at the Met. But the shades bring out the schizoid special-agent effect. Jesuit below, C.I.A. above. Partners in secrecy."
Excerpetd from: 'In the Land of the Free, Who Wears the Skirts?' by Herbert Muschamp, appearing in today's online version of The New York Times.
Registration is free but required to read this review of this season's Costume Institute exhibition, 'Bravehearts: Men in Skirts' which opened this past Tuesday at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
11.06.2003
Growth Spurt. . .
Because I like them and only realized recently that I'd neglected them, Dave and Randi have been added to the BlogList at the left.
That is all.
Because I like them and only realized recently that I'd neglected them, Dave and Randi have been added to the BlogList at the left.
That is all.
Rain, Rain Go Away. . .
Not that rain is necessarily a bad thing, but I don't like wet icky weather. I think if I broke down and bought some boots (the flat, non-glamorous, lace-up kind), I might have fewer problems with it.
If it doesn't clear up, I'm gonna go home from tomorrow's team outing early. Manhattan in the rain isn't my cup of tea.
Not that rain is necessarily a bad thing, but I don't like wet icky weather. I think if I broke down and bought some boots (the flat, non-glamorous, lace-up kind), I might have fewer problems with it.
If it doesn't clear up, I'm gonna go home from tomorrow's team outing early. Manhattan in the rain isn't my cup of tea.
11.05.2003
Space. The Final Frontier. . .
“The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.” - Carl Sagan
These words, about the Voyager spacecraft which today neared (or reached, NASA isn't sure just yet) the edge of our solar system, have got to make you stop and think.
It's more than that silly (light beer) ad, it's a candle in the darkness, leading the way back to . . . us. It's our way of making our mark on the Universe, and ensuring our immortality.
Either that, or it's going to come back in 300 years and get us.
“The spacecraft will be encountered and the record played only if there are advanced spacefaring civilizations in interstellar space. But the launching of this bottle into the cosmic ocean says something very hopeful about life on this planet.” - Carl Sagan
These words, about the Voyager spacecraft which today neared (or reached, NASA isn't sure just yet) the edge of our solar system, have got to make you stop and think.
It's more than that silly (light beer) ad, it's a candle in the darkness, leading the way back to . . . us. It's our way of making our mark on the Universe, and ensuring our immortality.
Either that, or it's going to come back in 300 years and get us.
11.04.2003
Footsore But. . .
This past weekend saw some of the most physically and emotionally taxing times I've had in the past year, but, because we can communicate, Matt and I have managed to get to the point where we're seeing eye-to-eye again.
Other than that, the lingering ache in my feet is another penance. Fortunately, it doesn't keep me from walking or going out to the office.
Last night, Matt came over and we went out to get him some dinner and then for ice cream and frozen yogurt at Thomas Sweet. . . we also had a minor food fantasy in Next Door (the candy shop, next-door to Thomas Sweet) because we saw the most gorgeous caramel and chocolate and candy-coated apples and have decided that it would be a fun Thanksgiving treat to bring some to the festivities with his family.
I'm also trying to figure out what I'd like to do for our upcoming anniversary. . . I want to do something special, fun and new, so all ideas are welcome. =)
This past weekend saw some of the most physically and emotionally taxing times I've had in the past year, but, because we can communicate, Matt and I have managed to get to the point where we're seeing eye-to-eye again.
Other than that, the lingering ache in my feet is another penance. Fortunately, it doesn't keep me from walking or going out to the office.
Last night, Matt came over and we went out to get him some dinner and then for ice cream and frozen yogurt at Thomas Sweet. . . we also had a minor food fantasy in Next Door (the candy shop, next-door to Thomas Sweet) because we saw the most gorgeous caramel and chocolate and candy-coated apples and have decided that it would be a fun Thanksgiving treat to bring some to the festivities with his family.
I'm also trying to figure out what I'd like to do for our upcoming anniversary. . . I want to do something special, fun and new, so all ideas are welcome. =)
11.01.2003
I don't know if I've reinforced this concept lately, but, I am a completely selfish asshole who thinks of noone but herself.
Since this is the general consensus of those nearest and dearest to me, it must be true and I feel like a dumbass for not seeing it myself.
Now I don't know what to do, but, in the meantime, I will have to face facts. I am not a good person and I won't be until I change. Of course, this begs the question "how?", but I guess I'll figure this out.
I did nothing but complain yesterday afternoon and evening and managed to completely ruin one of the most fun and fantastic nights I could have had in a very long time. Because I am selfish, I proceeded in a completely selfishly oblivious manner over the past three weeks of deciding on and constructing my Halloween costume, with an absolute disregard of the feelings of the person who was helping me out.
I have an absolutely self-defeating attitude and no sense of adventure. In short, I am boring and self-centered and an overall bitch.
I didn't even try to make the best of things and that was completely unfair. And I don't know if there's any way I can make reparations.
Bottom line: Today, I feel like I am a jerk and don't deserve to have people who care about me in my life.
Since this is the general consensus of those nearest and dearest to me, it must be true and I feel like a dumbass for not seeing it myself.
Now I don't know what to do, but, in the meantime, I will have to face facts. I am not a good person and I won't be until I change. Of course, this begs the question "how?", but I guess I'll figure this out.
I did nothing but complain yesterday afternoon and evening and managed to completely ruin one of the most fun and fantastic nights I could have had in a very long time. Because I am selfish, I proceeded in a completely selfishly oblivious manner over the past three weeks of deciding on and constructing my Halloween costume, with an absolute disregard of the feelings of the person who was helping me out.
I have an absolutely self-defeating attitude and no sense of adventure. In short, I am boring and self-centered and an overall bitch.
I didn't even try to make the best of things and that was completely unfair. And I don't know if there's any way I can make reparations.
Bottom line: Today, I feel like I am a jerk and don't deserve to have people who care about me in my life.
