All the single ladies...all the single ladies

should just go to the bar by themselves.

The last two nigts I have shown up at a bar by myself and both times I have been showered with attention.

So the first night I was just at the bar early and was planning on meeting at least one person, if not a handful for trivia. The bartender and hit it off, it was nice.

Tonight, I went to the Cambridgeside Galleria for some free swag. I ended up getting my make up done by Mac and then got my hair straightened/styled. Once I realized how cute I looked, I knew I couldn't head home and decided to head to Redline to visit my favorite bartender. While there, I was hit on by no fewer than 4 men. It was kind of cool. Even had some drinks sent my way!

I guess what I have learned is that one female is much less intimating than a handful of them...that and make-up definately helps out. Maybe this is what has been my problem -- I go out with too many people. Being by yourself makes you much more approachable...I guess.

I think I will continue going out on my own everysooften to see how this all goes.

Guess I don't need a wing (wo)man afterall...

I may need to do a bit more research in all this before I come to a definate conclusion!

Screw puppies, I want one of these!

Say hello to Honduran White Bats. They are only 37-47 mm long which is roughly 1.45 - 1.85 inches (or so the online converter tells me).

They kind of remind me of puffballs with pig faces.

They also live in leaf tents.

A-DOR-A-BLE.

No words. Found this link via twitter today.

I don't have anything particularly clever to say about these guys except for AWWWWWW.

Swine Flu cont....

I was lucky enough to watch CNN in the student lounge area during my lunch hour just as the afternoon female anchor interviewed the secretary of agriculture about the Swine Flu(!!!!!). The whole 7 minute segment consisted of her asking questions about "Swine Flu" and him politely requesting that she refrain from that term and used "N1H1" or whatever the sequence is, as it sends the wrong message. Swine Flu is not a food born illness, which means it is perfectly safe to eat pork products. Being the political genius he is, the secretary let the public know he ate bacon for breakfast and pork for dinner last night. The dumb brunette kept talking about Swine Flu, and he kept trying to get her to understand that the term should not be used as it could have a negative effect on pig farmers in the US. Once the interview was over she turned to the camera (probably read off a teleprompter) and continued to use the term Swine Flu.

The request had clearly fallen on deaf ears as she could not break from "swine flu" when speaking with a Sr Medical Expert in the next segment. This expert was another woman who seemed to only truly grasp the difference between a vaccine and an anti-viral (one is a shot, the other is a pill - she got this on good authority from a trained medical professional). Also, I learned that there is not a vaccine for this flu strand, but there are two anti-virals that should work, theoretically.

If you are concerned about havin caught Swine Flu, you may want to visit the following site:
http://doihaveswineflu.org/

The last segment I had the pleasure of watching was about President Obama's "Swagga". Yes, the "r" was left off intentionally, this is how CNN put it up in their graphic. It was one of the more ridiculous news segments I have seen. But, because of it, I learned that the African-American culture invented hugging, believe in inclusion and are extremely social - which is why Obama is so different from our previous white presidents. In fact, I learned that Bush went to bed by 10 pm on the night of his inauguration but Obama was up till 3 in the morning. Please tell me, how is this news?

I sadly had to miss the three hour block of grading our current president on his first 100 days as I was at trivia tonight. We probably came in 4th as we did not make top three, 1st place was 118 and we ended with 114.

Side note: My mother works at a middle school. The high school in her district has been closed for two days because one of the students went to Mexico recently and he is now sick. No lie.

Classic case of judging book covers

On Sunday I met up with a friend of mine for some (window -- for me) shopping -- for her and dinner. At one point we found ourselves at Mint Julep which, in case you aren't familiar, is a small somewhat pricey boutique. The items they carry are beautiful, and if I earned more I would be down for a purchase here and there. Although I am considering contacting their ring lady to see if she could make something that would fit my crazy skinny fingers.

The two girls working the shop were wicked stylish and super trendy. We chatted a little while my friend was looking around and they seemed like nice girls. I quickly typecasted them as girls who shop. Then all of a sudden one checks her blackberry and says "ooooooooh, they lost". I hear this and perk up. What game are these girls following? I ask. I can't help myself -- I'm nosey. They let me know they are die hard Celtics fans. If it were up to them, they would have closed the store to watch the game. I was floored. But you know what, I get annoyed when my love-of-sports is questioned. I wanted to share this story to remind you, don't judge a book by its cover.

On a related note, I am currently laying on the futon eating my pineapple fried rice, sitting in some really gross workout clothes and watching the Celtics play the Bulls. I feel like such a fake Celtic's fan. I really only watch during the playoffs ... and only the night games. But I do love watching the sport.

I'm being jumpy in this post, I know this. But, I completely missed what team Noah had been drafted to after he finished at Florida. Turns out it was the Bulls. He was my mom's favorite when he was in college. ESPN.com just wrote a great article about him. After reading it, I would kind of want to meet him he sounds like a really nice guy.

Side note: could not find a picture of girl sports fans on google images...tried many different variations of the concept...nothing. type in girls shopping had my pick of TONS of images. just saying

Swine Flu

The last few days I have seen more articles, tweets, and statuses regarding the Swine Flu in the US. I realized I have been in such a news bubble lately and needed to find out exactly what was going on with pigs in the US. I found an article on news.com that was relatively useful in giving me the basics of this outbreak.

There was one segment in this article that particularly caught my attention...

Major diseases throughout history

Swine flu, 2009, has killed 86 people and affected possibly 1400 others in Mexico since April 13. There are 20 confirmed cases in five US states and suspected cases in Canada and France, and 10 people have tested positive for influenza A in New Zealand.

Avian flu, 1997, killed at least 200 people in Indonesia, Vietnam, Laos, Romania, China, Russia and Turkey and millions of poultry in Asia, Europe and Africa. The death of a Chinese woman from this virus was recorded earlier this year.

SARS, 2003, the World Health Organisation reported 8098 infected cases and 774 deaths from SARS, which was first reported in China then spread to more than two dozen countries in the US, Europe and Asia. There was one confirmed case in Australia.

Asian flu, 1957, killed one million people around the world and was thought to have started in China.

Spanish flu pandemic, 1918, led to the deaths of between 20 to 100 million people worldwide and was thought to have originated in the US, spreading as far as the remote Pacific Islands.

Black Death plague, 1340s, killed 75 million people worldwide and was thought to have begun in Asia, spreading to Europe and North Africa.

I am all for interesting facts about history, but I feel like this list is somewhat arbitrary and missing some centralization. At first I thought it was a list of diseases that cross-species but AIDS/HIV did not make the cut. Then I thought it was animal flus, as AIDS/HIV is not a flu, but the Spanish flu was listed. The number of deaths range from 87 to 75 million...I just wish this list was slightly more cohesive. I like statistics but I also like themes.

At least now after reading the FAQ article I feel like I know what is going on.

UPDATE: Totally just checked my work email...There is one in there letting me know of resources available to me if I think I have caught Swine Flu. Not even kidding.

That is a major flip-flop

Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter will switch from the Republican to the Democratic Party, multiple sources tell CNN

This just showed up in my email from CNN. Hey, I don't do politics on this blog all that often, and even now this is more of an inquiry... can an elected official just switch like that? Aren't you voted in based on your politics/political party?

Then again, one can be a liberal conservative or a conservative liberal...

Meh, just thought I would introduce a topic of conversation. and Welcome Sen Specter to the Democratic Party

Say it isn't soooooooooooooo!!!!!!

Maxi dresses are in this spring. What is a maxi dress? A maxi is the opposite of the mini. Skirts to the floor. Now I love a good hippie skirt as much as the next gal but come on! Summer is for short skirts.

This one is kind of cute. I saw one in a store similar, and by similar I mean it was to the floor and in pastels. Actually looking at this dress reminds me of Jeffrey's winning line from Project Runway. I love that dress it was soo amazing and I mean it's short :)

Now, don't get me wrong, I love the concept of the dress. The movement looks wonderful. I can see myself wandering down a beach or putter around the house in it. But going on errands? Going to a BBQ? I feel that all that fabric would just be hot and heavy. Additionally, I am just unsure that they will be long enough for me. Long dresses are usually gorgeous on a hanger but then hit me mid-calf and look awkward. I don't want my dress hanging in the air like that. It's not like have cankles or anything, but I hate it when the skirt looks like it was hemmed wrong.

Maybe I am simply a mini-dress kind of girl. Over the last few years I have gotten more and more comfortable with short skirts...I still can't bring myself to wear shorts but whatever. I am just not quite ready for the fashion world to move the hemlines down that low. In fact, I just ordered a few more from urban outfitters online yesterday. I have never ordered clothing online before, I hope things work out.

I got this one...in blue. I hope it fits. The reviews from other costumers said that it was short but they felt amazing in it. I'm kind of excited :)

I'll keep you posted.

Love family play-by-plays

I called my mum to check in about some things this afternoon, our conversation was interrupted so that I could get the following play-by-play...

"Oh there is a bee in the house. I wonder how it got in here. It must have come in when the door was open yesterday. I am going to try to kill it"

"Let me see if I can kill it without it stinging me. Hold on"

"I got it. Oh I'm crushing it"

"It's dead"

This all happened within a matter of moments. With slight pauses between segments it was a wonderful way to start the afternoon. Well, it can hardly be compared to the time I got a play-by-play of a family of deer that were hanging out in the backyard, but family of deer --- bee...they are no where near the same level.

Working 8 to 4 what a way to make a living...

The song/movie/now musical is titled 9 to 5 but I have just begun my life as an 8 - 4 girl. Over the last 10 years of work, I have had off work hours; 8-4 at the beach club, 10-10 at the call center, noon - midnight catering, and 8-7 when I worked in finance. 9-5 is just not something I ever did prior to my current position.

Socially, I love going out and staying out -- I will admit staying out past 3 am is much harder now than when I was in college, but hey, I am older. But professionally, I really like the early hours. Even if I have a fun midweek night out, I have this strange ability to just hop - ok shuffle - to work and get through more tasks than you can imagine. I am pretty excited about this switch, at least for now. We shall see how long this lasts :) hopefully I don't have to give it up anytime soon.




Yes Minnie and Daisy are in the background of this video.

Tale of Two Ribs

Thursday before the Ballet we decided to eat at Rock Bottom. This decision was made mainly because our first choice appeared to be closed. I was in the mood for protein, even though my body wanted veggies like you wouldn't believe, and decided to go with the half rack of ribs. Let me just say, these ribs left much to be desired. First off, they were hard to separate. Good ribs should just breakaway from the pack without a fight. These, however, required the use of the steak knife and I had to cut all the way through from end to end. If I tried to just cut a bit and rip the rest of the way, nothing happened. The meat just didn't give. Not only that, but the ribs were kind of fatty AND not saucy enough. The menu had no indication that they were dry-rubbed and so I anticipated much more or a wet mess. In the end, the ribs left me rather disappointed. Thankfully the lemon drop martini was well done...

Now last night, I went to Redbones. I had finished bowling two games (I scored a 106 the first time, the second score doesn't matter because I won the first game) and was going to head over to the Burren once I ate. Bowling had caused me to work up quite an appetite, but since we waited so long to go to dinner I ended up just eating cornbread, hushpuppies, the Perfect Rib (3 babyback ribs) and some mac & cheese. These ribs were exactly what I was looking for - I opted for the side of sweet bbq sauce to drench them in. The meat just fell right off. They were soooo delish. I can't wait to go back and have a whole rack :) Really, these have to be the best ribs I have had up here in Boston so far.

I have been eating racks of ribs since I was 10. I find that they are a great food and are just so amazingly good if done correctly. I am always on the look out for a great BBQ place. If you have any other suggestions that could beat out Redbones let me know!

PS - just so you know Redbones can cater events for 10-10,000 people. They have great range

Windows Stayed Fresh

FROM TO
I wish this was my window/view*

With the forecast of consecutive days of 80 degree weather, to be followed by days in the 70s and 60s, we chose to finally take the saran wrap off the windows earlier this week! It felt great peeling away the plastic wrap and taking off the foam sealant --- almost as if I was finally giving the outdoors permission to come inside.

We now have a steady stream of fresh air blowing through our bedrooms/kitchen/livingroom. It is kind of amazing... Having new air circulating really can make an apartment feel like a classier joint. Yesterday, we were reminded how cool our apartment likes to stay. In the winter our place is kind of like an icebox, or so I am told by my roommates, as I apparently do not have cold receptors. In the summer, it does not switch to get hot, it actually stays pretty cool and comfortable. For example, yesterday our indoor/outdoor thermometer that we keep in the kitchen told us that it was 87 degrees outside and 71 degrees inside. That is a major difference!

Spring is finally here, and summer is just around the corner. I can't wait to get to the beach!!!

*For the record I stare out my bedroom window and look at the side of the apartment that is next to me.

We are friendly!

The people I meet who have been transplanted from the midwest/west coast, or the south to the Boston area all tell me that we north-easterners are not friendly. Well, before I thought that I might, not agree, but admit that we have our moments. Then today happened.

What happened today? Well, I will tell you... Since the weather is so nice I thought I would combat my slight hangover with a 2 hour walk. (weird, I know, but I did feel amazing by the end) First, I had to go up to my office to retrieve my iPod that I left there on accident last night. This turned out to be a blessing as I also had to use my emergency deodorant that I keep in my desk drawer -- I realized about half way to my office that I missed the deodorant step in the getting ready process and from my last post you must realize that is a no-no. From there I walked down to Harvard Sq, got a large iced coffee from DD and started my way to Central stopping in used bookstores along the way. After wandering around Mass Ave for a bit I completed the circle and headed home. Throughout these journeys I have countless people say hello to me as I walked by and at least 10 people (ok older men) complement me on my summer dress. People ARE friendly here. Everyone was smiling and waving. We just needed some sunshine.

IS

The thing is, that the winter wears us all down and we tend to retreat into our parkas. It's not mean/rude it's just that we don't want to use up the energy that could produce body heat to raise our arm and wave hello....

But is it strong enough for me?

A good deodorant is hard to find. Women's deodorant commercials often claim to work wonderfully and have stupid catch phrases like" strong enough for a man, but made for a woman". Yeah, that is a bunch of bull. Maybe my friends and I are just particularly sweaty individuals but we all have come to an agreement that most women's deodorants just don't work well enough. Even the perscription strength stuff seems to fall a little short.

I recently had a revelation and decide to switch to using men's deodorant. If the whole if it is strong enough for a man, I hope it is strong enough for me! So far, I have found that not only do they work better, but they also smell better. I don't particularly like smelling like baby powder or bathroom air freshner, thank you very much. It isn't like I feel like I now smell like a man either, I think I just smell clean.

For the record, Speedstick is excellent. I recently tried Right Guard, not such a big fan - doesn't keep you as dry -and think I should probably make the switch back. Yes that this is a bit of a TMI but I figured it was important to share my findings.

Dear Om, your cocktails are ummmm lacking

The title of this post was way funnier in my head than I think it is to actually read, I apologize but I just didn't want to think of something else. Yesterday I wanted to go the beer garden after work to enjoy the beginnings of what appears to be an amazing weekend (and possible week) of weather. I was able to convince a co-worker of mine to come along so I wouldn't be some weirdo sitting/standing by herself. We got the beer garden and sadly way to many other people had the same idea. Given that we had others meeting us we decided to find another location and ended up at Om because we had never been and heard good things.

Their food was overall decent - my sweet potato raviolis were awesome. The sauce was delish. But the other dishes ordered seem to fall flat. So that averages out to decent. The drinks on the other hand were like drinking juice. I would really suggest staying away from that place. For $11 a pop you should be able to feel the alcohol, you shouldn't really taste it as they claim to us high end stuff like Grey Goose but really you could have fooled me.

After Om we went over to Redline. One of my favorite places and accidentally crashed a HBS social, it was fun. The drinks were way better. :)

Got something on my mind

Message received via gchat today from a friend down in DC:

Friend: you've got me seriously craving DD with all the donut web-talk this week!

As soon as I saw this, I laughed. The quickly reflected and realized that my facebook, blog and twitter accounts have all be focused on iced coffee and doughnuts for the last week or so. Currently, I can't decide if my need for coffee and recent love of doughnuts is awesome or slightly pathetic/disturbing...I'm going with awesome.

But just so you're up to date on the latest buzz, my intern brought in a box of doughnuts this morning. How sweet is that! He loves the chocolate frosted ones so half the box was made up of that flavor. Since my favorites were missing - chocalte glazed and pumpkin (which is seasonal) - I attacked the chocolate frosted ones. So gooooood. I was super pumped to see them arrive this mornong and quickly put my fresh fruit salad into the fridge.

Side note: I can find the area of the doughnut due to my degree in mathematics. That was always one of the big statements teachers in high school and professors in college made to help justify the impracticality of what we were currently studying. A doughnut in the math world is a torus.

Brie and Ballet

is just not my taste.

I got a sandwich from the Market in the Square that was made from roasted turkey, brie, green apple and honey mustard. Sounded good when I read it on the chalkboard. Over the last few years I have convinced myself that I enjoy the flavor of Brie Cheese. I will try it baked, in entrees and in sandwiches...always ends the same way. I am extremely disappointed. It just isn't my kind of cheese. The rind weirds me out. And quite simply, there isn't enough bite to it.

Moving on. I went and saw Sleeping Beauty at the Wang Theater with a friend of mine. The music is beautiful and the costumes were amazing. But once we ran out of story, I got figidty. All the ballerinas are dressed the same give or take a color scheme. The puss n boots dance did almost save the last 20 minutes of showing off. Two cats on point, cat fighting and butt rubbing is AMAZING. Once the show was over, I was ready to leave.

Give me the cartoon version any day. I will give Disney mega props for using so much of the music from the ballet. But they used is very differently...kind of confusing to hear the music that plays while Maleficent is trying to kill Prince Phillip being played while two cats dance. Just saying....

Maybe there will be a point in my life when ballet and brie beat out cheddar and disney --- maybe.

USA got a make over. His name is Obama

NPR had an article today that talked about how countries outside of the US are responding in a friendly manner to visiting American citizens. It has been noted in the past that American tourists are not always the most well received, particularly in countries in the Middle East. In the article written by Ron Elving entitled "Obama's Attempt to Transform America's Image" he talks about his recent travels and interactions with local people. He explains how people now hear "American" and respond with "Obama". They are excited about what he represents and the changes he has spoken about these last few months as our President. The article also touches on his desire to eliminate torture as a means of interrigation.

But the old anger and resentment may fade with time. And the Obama White House can chart its new course toward world approval only so long as no new terrorist attack strikes the homeland. If one does, Cheney's attitude will be back with a vengeance.

It is interesting to know that our current President is making this kind of impact. In the span of a few months, America has begun to get a facelift and appear to be friendly and nice...Were our former Presidents unfriendly? I thought Bill was supposed to be super charming. Maybe that was just me... But I hope that the article wasn't a fluke, and things are shaping up. One woman was quoted "I don't have to pretend to be Canadian any more." (I really hate it when people say stuff like that...it is just rude)

On a funny side note, I feel like you may have gotten the hint that I kind of love Google Image, and so you will appreciate the image I found when searching "friendly USA". I had hoped for a picture of a smiling map or something. I got her -- oh the internet

I also feel like I should disclose that I found this article by following NPR on Twitter.

Best Smelling Place in Vegas

When I was in Vegas, I wanted to see as much of the strip as I could. It was awesome going around and seeing the casinos that are referred to on tv, in movies, or books. My aunt and uncle have been a few times and they recommended that I go see the Bellagio fountains - particularly at night.

Saturday we thought to take a break from the slots and take advantage of the nice weather, so we walked down the strip and saw some of the sites. These casinos are AWESOME. I do want to let you know that "the strip" is much longer than I expected and the road is much busier. You can't just cross from one side to the other. A local informed us that many people get hit who are visiting because they do not understand the importance of waiting for walk signal. But anyway, the fountains were super fun. We saw them during the day and at night after our dinner at Paris. (I have a short video clip, but of course, a fire truck or something came by and I still can't figure out how to edit sound clips with Floyd. But when I do, I will be posting some videos :) )

One of the girls wanted to see the glass flowers that are in the Bellagio. We went in. The ceilings were beautiful. They also had some gorgeous upside-down paracols that hung in the hallways. My favorite part was the indoor gardens. It smelled wonderful in there. No traces of cigarette smoke. We didn't want to have to leave there. I mean it was also super fun. They even made a snail out of flowers - it was wicked cute!

I have become addicted to taking pictures of blossoms up close. I hope you enjoy them :)

Completed the Planes, Trains and Automobile month of April

As I mentioned early this week, I was in Mystic, CT for the weekend. This makes four weekends in a row of adventures in states other than MA. I have flown to the west coast twice (planes), driven to RI for Easter (automobile) and took Amtrak to Mystic Connecticut (train(s)). Phew, boy am I spent both monetarily and physically... I have enjoyed all of the different modes of transportation I took --- well as much as you can enjoy a red eye from coast to coast. Hands down traveling by train was probably the most amusing.

Normally, I wouldn't classify the train as amusing. Because usually I am going to major stations - you know like traveling end to end of the commuter lines (like the Worcester-Boston or Boston-Providence) or to NYC Penn Station.

Going to the Mystic train station is a different kind of final destination.

The Mystic weekend was a JEM weekend. E and I took the train in together from Boston and J came from NYC, she was scheduled to get to the station first. When the conductor looked at our tickets he looked a slightly interested that we were going to Mystic, but I ignored the facial expression he made. An hour before we get there we received "On man, the mystic stop is super sketchy!" via text.

Awesome.

Our conductor was all about being a problem solver in regards to relocating families who were scattered throughout the cars into adjacent seats. A few stops into our trip we heard conversation between a conductor and the man in front of us about his family's seating arrangement. His girls had seats next to each other but he and his wife were split up and they all wanted to be together. The two people across from us were getting off at the Kingston Station and once the conductor noticed this he asked us to switch with the little girls so that the family could have a whole row to themselves. We agreed, made the switch, and life was good. A few stops later the conductor again was helping a family find seats together and when he looked at us he remember that we were getting off at the following stop and told the father that the "Mystic girls" would be getting off shortly and his kids could have our seats. The reason I tell these stories is to point out that this conductor clearly knows that there are two girls going to Mystic and that we were in the car after the cafe.

Now the train begins to slow and we look out the window to confirm that this is in fact our stop - you can't hear the announcement. And, hey, the last thing you want to do is get off the train at the wrong stop, it's not as if you can walk a few blocks and get to the next station. We grab our bags and go to walk down the aisle so that we can get out and all of a sudden a conductor comes blasting through the doorway walking toward us at speed-walking speed yelling "you the mystic girls?".

We say "yes....?".

He said, "follow me" sternly and brought us to the space between the cars, flipped down the stairs and let us out. We are a bit mystified as we had gotten up immediately, it wasn't as if we had fallen asleep or anything.

J was on the platform standing with the other conductors. She let us know that during that minute of our life all of them kept saying "where are the mystic girls?" "have you seen the two girls getting off?" "there are two girls getting off here"...

They made it sound like we went and hid, it was a apparently bit intense. Talking with J, we realized that no one must ever get off at this stop and so when there is a pick up or let off on the list it is a big deal. When she got there, the train missed the station platform and so they asked her jump out as they couldn't use the stairs or move the train over...

Yes, she JUMPED out of the train. At least it wasn't moving?

Our thoughts about this not being a very busy station was confirmed when we went to the station Sunday night to sit and wait only to find out that it was closed...for the day. But we got to hang out at a real townie bar because of this, which was kind of worth it.

Fun with Google Image

I had to stay a bit later today at the office. When I got home at 6:25 I went to the kitchen table and read a short story while making Annie's Mac and Cheese, then proceded to head to bed...at 7pm.

I can't figure out if it is the weather, vacations catching up on me, my diet (not to misconstrued as me attempting to lose weight, but merely a comment on what I eat normally) or what but lately I have felt like I was run over by bus.

For some reason this made me want to look up images of "run over by bus" This is what I was able to find one page one of google images... I am not exactly sure how this image relates, but I do love the eyes this kid is giving the female, I also love her purple dress. --->

This then made me think how much fun it can be to google image search a concept rather than an object/person/noun

<---- Splat gave a ton of great ink splotches. In particular I loved this one. I wonder what the Disney people think of this depection of Micky Mouse...

Splotch gave many of the same results as splat but this kitten also came up. I never even considered naming my pet something like splotch. Well, I guess people would name their dog spot so its not that weird.. ------>


<---- Flatten came up with very few interesting pictures. This was the best I could find.



But yeah, basically I felt like I had been smooched (most boring set of images, not even worth posting) and immediately attempted to rest up. I hope I can get myself back to my usual self soon.

Tooth hurty

Today I had a dentist appointment and so of course it rained. I started to go to the dentist again when I began my current job -- prior to that I accidently took about a 3-4 year sabbatical from regular professional teeth cleaning. Yes, I realize that isn't a great thing to admit, but I only had one cavity when I went to see the dentist, so that shows I have good hygiene, yes?


This morning I had to get up extra early to make the trek to the dentist. Out of the five times I've gone I have only been able to do the 2 mile walk from my house once, every other time the T has been used as the weather has worked against me. But almost every time I have walked back to my office, as waiting for the bus in the rain is - in my opinion at least - worse than walking in it.

My dentist is very prompt and very quick, I very much admire him for this - I never have to wait. The visit was over in about 20 minutes! W00t!

He started with asking me if I had any concerns and I said I was convinced I had cavities but I followed this statement with an explaination that when I get stressed I often convince myself of ailments like this. Additionally, I have also been hanging out with dentists more regularly and so I have been exposed to many cavity and other dental procedural talk. He said that things had been good last time I was there so he hoped my concerns were for nothing.

After the first once over, he said everything looked fine and explained that the sensitivity I had mentioned was most likely due to the stress. He further explained that tooth sensitivity can be related to teeth grinding or clenching. Just hearing him mention the word stressed caused me to clench my jaw. Diagnosis confirmed.

I was warned that there is the possibility of a cavity growing between my last two teeth so I should make more of an effort to floss. He said the same thing last time. So I'm not too worried. Don't get me wrong, I will try to floss - at least for the next month or so before I forget about it again.

And for the record I immediately stopped at the DD and got an iced coffee and chocolate glazed doughnut for breakfast :)

Jesse Spano I feel your pain!

It is a classic clip. Everyone in my generation knows it and quotes it. The Jesse Spano caffeine pill freak-out. "No time! There's never anytime! I don't have time to study. I'll never get into Stanford..."

Lately, I feel like there is no time in my life -- especially at work. I cannot wait to get some time to just relax. Today I skipped dance class in the hopes that lounging around the house would help things. Just so you know, I am feeling a little more centered, maybe I can even find some time to read... But I'm not holding my breath.

I Tweet, Therefore, I am

I started Twitter today. I have been putting off entering this world for a while now. But ended up taking the plunge. Previously I was avoiding it because I felt like I didn't need another addictive website/network, especially since I barely have time to read work email during the 9-5 let alone anything else. I didn't need another temptation out there. Oh how I miss getting regular perezhilton.com updates...

What made me take the leap? Well, while lying around this weekend in the Mystic, Ct Howard Johnson for three hours with my two amazing friends after our first big aquarium adventure the topic of Twitter entered into our conversation. One tweeted, the other - like myself - did not. The tweeter said that it was fun and that the only reason she has an account was because another one of her friends made it for her. The other girl created her name and everything. I said one of my big obstacles was the name too. We started blurting out funny ways to play with my name and my twitter name was born...

This morning I went online before the dentist and created my username. I had to add in some "_"s to make it unique, but it's real. So far so good. I think it is pretty amusing, I am going to have to find some people beyond those in my gmail address book to follow :)

Turns out that Twitter was first thought of in 1935. Robotic sticky notes?

Time and Half my ....

When I first started working in the Boston area I worked in the financial district. We rarely had holidays. At first my father pointed out that Massachusetts had its own special holiday "Patriots' Day". It is comparable to VJ Day in the simple way that it would seem that only one state out of fifty acknowledges it. If you are unfamiliar of this holiday, you clearly have never lived in RI. I was pretty excited to know that Massachusetts had a holiday no one else celebrates. Sadly, as Patriots' Day aka Marathon Monday approached in 2007 I still had to go to work.

Super Bummer.

I switched jobs shortly after - for reasons other than holidays - to academia. Surely, I would get this fabled holiday off now!!!

WRONG!

I have since learned that only those on the actual marathon route seem to get the day off. Which mainly is due to the fact that employees would never make into work.

I guess I will just have to get a job out there on the Green Line. Until then, I will be heading into work - with no time and half mind you - on future Patriots' Days to come. Sigh...


PS - Congrats on all who completed the course.

Wow, the Sham WOW was named correctly

My friend is getting married this June. Thursday was her bridal shower. It was a really cute event hosted at a bridesmaid's house. Per proper protocol each of us went ahead and brought along a gift for the bride-to-be (or the BTB for short) to open up. After some mass emailing, we all decided to stick with getting something from one of her registries rather than deviating from her selections. As each gift was opened the BTB squealed with delight.

"SPOONS!"

"SALAD-SPINNER!"

"VASE!"

"TURKEY BASTER!"

"SHAM WOW!!!!"

Yes, she registered for a set of Sham Wows. We were all a bit jealous when we saw it come out of one of the packages, I experienced the same feeling when I learned a friend of mine had gotten a Snuggie...

Once my jealousy subsided -- don't worry it was a whole 2 seconds of my life -- I had a quick reflection which revolved around the question: "do you think those things actually work?" I figured I would just have to follow up with her in a few weeks to see if she had to use one.

Later on in the evening, our hostess went to go grab her cell phone that began ringing randomly and in doing so accidently knocked over a glass that had just a teeny bit of red wine left in it. The wine spilled on the off-white carpet!! Everyone went quiet for a moment and then BTB let out a "Sham wow!!". The box was grabbed, opened and an individual sham wow was passed to me, as I had gotten into position to help clean up the stain.

Now, I can personally attest to the fact that those suckers can absorb up the red wine like noone's business. We added in a little seltzer as well just to be sure that everything that could be done was done. After my blotting was completed, it was determined that you would never have guessed RED WINE had been spilt in the first place.

It really is a mircle maker.

I hope to someday own a set myself. Untill then, I will just wish longingly...

What is this that I am sitting on???

Today I finally got around to cleaning the disaster which was formally known as my bedroom. I would like to say I was shocked, appalled, and baffled about how it got this way, but let's be honest, packing and unpacking three weekends in a row was the cause for most of the trauma. I will attest to the fact that I need to get a bigger book shelf. I have books everywhere in here, it would appear that I have a knack for finding unused storage space.

Taming my room ended rather successfully. Not only can I walk all around my floor, - rather than hopping from one small open space to another - actually see the top of my dresser, - there were piles of earrings, necklaces, ticket stubs and flair - but wait for it.... I actually was able to sit in my clothes chair.

You may need to reread that last part...

I sat in my clothes chair.

I don't think I have ever sat in that chair for the almost two years I have had it. Not only that, but I was able to clear off my desk and put my computer on it. Normally Floyd here travels around with me on top of a hard cover book (which is a great way to plug the fact that if you ever feel the need to get me a gift at random, I could REALLY use a lap desk). But yeah, I took all of the clothing off the back of the chair and removed the old magazines and papers from the seat. Sitting in the chair was a strange sensation. I don't plan on revisiting it any time soon, I just felt wrong on so many levels.

The clothes were temporarily moved to hang over the top of the closet (if you can classify that cubby of a space a closet) door. They will be relocated back to the chair in a few moments. I am quite sure that anyone reading this understands the importance of the clothes chair. If for some reason the concept is escaping your grasp, the clothes chair is where items go that do not belong in the drawer/closet but also should not yet be put in the hamper. Think of it as a fashion limbo. There is no reason to try and change the chair's purpose back to sitting, my bed can fulfill that function just fine. I mean the clothes need to go somewhere and I don't think there is such thing as a clothes bed....that just sounds silly.


Please note, that is NOT my clothes chair. But that is the first image you get when one google images for one!

Breaking News!

Ashton Kutcher is first to reach 1 million followers in Twitter contest with CNN. (I thought the picture above would pair wonderfully with the headline)

I know you all feel more relaxed to know this. I had this breaking news delivered to me via my CNN email subscription. Generally, I get notifications of political deaths, war, tragedies, causality counts, etc. Major news points that most people would find useful to know. How did this make my breaking news???

Since the subject of Twitter was broached, I feel like I should remind you all of the article that the Daily Mail put out about how studies found that services such as Twitter (and even facebook) are making our population immoral. The studies used explain how the abundance of information that is throw at an individual who uses these networks is so large and so fast that the person does not have the proper time to react emotionally.

A great example is reading through the main page on facebook and making quick note of people's statuses. These are examples from Wednesday morning that I saw myself

A.'s status of R.I.P. Gramma funeral
which was followed up with
R's status of fudging up natzi zombies, on world of war call of duty, i love my x box lol. PEACE!

A person doesn't have time to react to A's loss before reading R's random personal fact. It doesn't help matters that 8 hours later A updated her status to say "thankful I have a computer once again" minimizing any impact her previous statement may have hoped to have given that it was quickly replaced with a materialistic statement.

Well, whether or not the studies are true, they do make for an interesting discussion. A follow up article was written online and posted on walletpop.com claiming the Daily Mail's was not based on science...this appears to be someone's blog while the Daily Mail is a UK publication, but I am not arguing which side would be more accurate by any means.

Don't Get Any Ideas

Was the only message in the email my father sent me today that included the following news story...

Prepared to be dazzled

---------------------

The $200,000 white wedding for the 16-year-old girl who lives in a trailer.

What Daddy's little girl wants, Daddy's little girl gets.
So when Missy Quinn insisted on a big white wedding with her boyfriend, her father said YES. It didn't matter that she was only 16 and the groom 17.

Daddy also said yes to a $32,000 wedding dress (which looked suspiciously like a crop top and skirt) and yes to 150 guests at the reception. Then there were the cars, the hotels, the tiara and the $10000 bouquet!


Check out the belly-ring ... it matches her earrings! So sophisticated.
In the end, making Missy's wedding dreams come true cost her father - who lives in a trailer and surfaces driveways for a living - a whopping $200,000! But as his princess, who hasn't been in a classroom since she was nine and wants to be a glamour model (good luck), posed for photographs, her father Simon, 35, declared it was worth every penny. 'I'm very proud of her today,' he said.

Missy was just happy to be the undisputed centre of attention.
Her dress, studded with Swarovski crystals, and with a 10 ft. wide train, was so heavy that it took ten guests to help her struggle out of the Rolls-Royce Phantom that brought her to the church.



Missy with groom Thomas Moghon, 17, her mother Theresa (who, it seems, forgot to wear a top ....) and father Simon.

'It was huge. I wanted to outdo everyone else's wedding dress,' she said. 'It was extremely heavy and just standing in the church was really difficult. But despite all that, I felt just like Cinderella.'

The bill was around five times the cost of the average wedding.

Missy said: 'It cost a fortune, but I've always wanted a big wedding and my dad has been saving for ages to pay for it.'

Missy met Thomas at Alton Towers Theme park when she was 13. They continued to date despite her traveller family leaving their trailer park in Stoke-on-Trent every summer to tour the UK while Thomas lived with his parents in Wolverhampton .
Missy said: 'I just knew he was The One from the beginning. He's perfect.'

Her mother Theresa, 33, who married Missy's father at 16, said: 'I was surprised they wanted to get married so young in this day and age.. But we could see they were madly in love.'

The couple married six days after Missy turned 16 at St Mary's Catholic Church in Congleton-Cheshire.

The bride carried a chrystal bouquet that cost $100000! No fresh flowers for her.

After the ceremony, guests in feathers and crystals enjoyed champagne and an all-day buffet at the reception. Girls as young as nine showed off bikini tops, high heels and make-up. It was a classy affair.
Guest Victoria Docherty, 23, who wore a £700 hotpants and bra outfit, said: 'This isn't unusual - it's just what we do at weddings. It's all very extravagant. Everything is paid for by the bride's daddy.'

Missy and Thomas honeymooned in Turkey before moving into their own $36,000 trailer - a wedding gift from her parents.

Amazing 47 year old singer!

My coworker sent me this youtube link - sadly the embedding has been disabled.

This woman is an amazing singer. The video has had over 9 million hits and at 3 pm today it was around 5.7 million. I don't know if I've seen a video get so popular so quickly.

The nightly news here in Boston just made reference to it...the female anchors let us know that "she has never been kissed and is proving beauty is not just skin deep". Ouch ladies! You couldn't think of anything nicer to say! Really?

Seriously, watch the link and listen to the commentary both before and after. AMAZING

Tequila you saucy minx

I only recently began to dabble in tequila and I must say Margaritas are a great way to relax after a long day at the office. Border's Cafe serves a decent one, but the on I had at the Cantina was a step up.

Last night I had Mardi Gras Margarita at the Sun Set Cantina. The margarita is described as "A smoky margarita with Mezcal, Anejo & Reposado Tequilas, Sour Mix, Cointreau over ice with a salted rim". Prior to that we had a round of Cabo Wabo shots. Both were delish.

The Mezcal is a bit smokey and adds great flavor to the drink mix. I would highly recommend it. The Cabo Wabo was very smooth and tasty. Some of my friends didn't use salt in the salt-tequila-lime equation. I think the salt is half the reason I like tequila and tequila drinks. I am unaware of any other drink that involves salt. Mmmm salt...

The tequila definately helped get the evening going :) Sadly, the band I was supporting for the Battle of the Bands did not win, but we all had fun jamming and hanging out. I did manage to record the final song in the set but you can hear someone (I assume me) singing very off key in the background, loudly. I was hoping to use garageband to clean it up but I'm having some issues. We shall see if I can make some magic.

Whoops...

Easter evening I stopped at my cousin's condo to have a short visit on my way back from RI. My aunt and uncle were in town and haven't seen them for quite some time so I figured it was a good idea to stop by. While there, I mentioned my blog and my aunt was really excited to read it. I told her I had no problem with her looking at it, and always enjoyed getting a new fan. She asked what my mom thought of it, and I said she didn't really read it. I thought nothing of this conversation. I mean, I only write things that I am comfortable with the world seeing so it's not like this would be embarrassing...

I did not count on my aunt calling my mom and telling her that she enjoyed High Heels Short Skirt. My mom felt a little guilty about how her sister was reading my work and she hadn't found the time to read it herself. So she did.

Well, if you recall a few days ago I wrote about getting to church on Easter morning and how my dad and sister didn't exactly make there with me. We never told my mum that I was the only one who went and let her think she was the only bad Catholic in the family...

Well she read the post, then told my father he was busted. She had read it late at night and almost woke him up to bust him immediately. Fortunately she did hold off till morning before breaking the news. But now he is now referring to me as "the rat"! I honestly didn't think she would ever read the post. Oooops. Just a friendly reminder that one should always be care about what one puts out there...

Addiction is contagious

I have been drinking coffee since 7th grade. Clearly, coffee does not stunt your growth. I began my addiction by getting jumbo ice coffees from Bess Eaton. (I believe jumbos were 64 ounces...does that sound right? maybe 32 ounces...I just can't remember)

Well anyway, I started as a fair weather friend to coffee drinking but became an addict once I began working at the beach club. Since I worked the opening shift of 8-4 I always went to grab a coffee on my way in. Then once everyone else arrived I got a second round with our daily coffee run. Nothing like two 32 ounce ice coffees (light and sweet at the time) in the span of a few hours. My daily dose of caffeine has continued ever since. Interestingly enough I did tend to give it up when I was in college mainly because I felt the coffee sucked.

The thing that my family found amusing is that neither of my parents drank the stuff. My father was a tea man and my mother enjoyed her diet coke. A few summers ago, my father began enjoying the occational iced coffee from DD while on vacation. He particularly frequented DD for this treat whenever he was in Florida, but would always go back to his usual lifestyle when returning north.

This Easter I learned that my father has come over to the dark side. He now gets an iced coffee every day on the way to work. No hot coffees for him, as he is a true Rhode Islander. I honestly never thought to get it hot until I moved to Massachusetts. My father has had to deal with my need for coffee for so long. There are times he has gone out of his way to stop at DD because he knows that I just get cranky if I can't get my fix. Well, he too is now in the club. Perhaps we will be making a few more stops from now on.

I am so proud of my dad. I knew it was only a matter time. After all, he was an avid coffee milk drinker. What is coffee milk you ask? Only the BEST drink out there!!!! Thank you autocrat :)

Quick Fix?

I drove home to RI on Friday morning and the Powerball billboard outside of Providence said that the jackpot was down to $20 million. Personally, I don't feel like I would want to bother with purchasing a ticket until the pot was at least up to $80 mill...that's just me. But today the pot was already up to $25 million.

In 48 hours it jumped $5 million. And over a holiday weekend no less! I guess Easter isn't for everyone and even for those that do celebrate it, it is just one day, but I was still shocked at the jump.

Honestly, I don't completely understand how the economy works, but I can't imagine that the lotto really does much to help with the recession - there is no real investment going on but then again I am clueless about this. (If I am wrong please let me know, I'd really like to learn) But my thought was simple; how about if people quit with the powerball tickets and take that money and use it to help turn around this shitty situation. It isn't a very helpful thought as I don't know what else an individual is going to do with $5 -- which is why I need some help with this one.


5 million dollars.

48 hours.

Crazy man.