Wednesday, November 05, 2003

Daisy Adams 1990-2003

She was the best dog anyone could ever have.



Wednesday, October 29, 2003

sick...and halloween

so the emotional lack of energy has managed to turn itself into actual lack of energy in the form of a killer cold that i can't seem to shake. its going on 5 days now. and it started out relatively benign - a simple sore throat, corrected with water, lozenges (sp?), and sleeping with the humidifier. but it was not to be denied...after plenty of rest and fluids, my sore throat decided it had been short-changed and moved into my nose and chest, causing all kinds of disgusting secretions that the normal human body has the good sense to repress. so here i lay, quite hoarse with a completely non-productive cough just waiting for the clock to show me the time i can take the next dose of medicine out of the sam's club size box next to me. the pinnacle happened today at work...i wanted to give blood (to keep up my every-56-days streak), but was told in quite the patronizing voice "no, you can't donate blood when you have a cold. you'll just have to wait."

and on top of all this, i need to think of a costume. there are plans to go out this weekend to many a halloween party downtown, and my friend insists we all have to dress up. any ideas anyone?

Wednesday, October 22, 2003

desperately seeking a new post...

i've been thinking for days about something to write a new post about. but i can't come up with anything good. everything i think of is either too trite or too personal...some things are best not shared on a blog.

what i can come up with is this...energy and psychology are inextricably linked, though i am not sure how. when life is good, and i am happy, i have boundless energy. i go to the gym everyday, my dishes are always done, and i stay up until midnight reading books and the internet. when life sucks (as it has recently), i'm always tired. i go to the gym and drag my ass through the workout, the dishes pile up (as does the laundry), and all i want to do is go to bed every night at 9 pm.

now, i took physics in college...i know the Newton's law "energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only change form". so my question is this - what "form" is psychological energy in? and how are these two things linked scientifically? anyone know?

Sunday, September 28, 2003

Odds 'n' Ends

* Today was an absolutely beautiful day here in Baltimore. The sun is shining, it is about 70 degrees outside with a light breeze, and there a just the few wispy clouds in an otherwise bright blue sky. I went for chai at Starbucks and walked outside for awhile and somehow felt like I was in the middle of a movie. Days like this remind me how oddly beautiful the world is, with a hurricane just 2 weeks ago and today not a speck of evidence that it ever happened.

* Went to see "Under the Tuscan Sun" yesterday...I would recommend it. I think its a very sweet film that doesn't try too hard to be anything special, but I found it somewhat inspiring. It reminded me that frequently in our lives, we focus on one thing that we want/don't have and in doing so, miss out on the joy of the events that go on around us in pursuit of that one thing. Like the joy of a beautiful day (see #1). Plus, the movie has an extended scene of a young man doing "flag throwing" - a male flaggot! (Flaggot = (n.) an individual who puts on a costume and flips a flag around in order to impress and audience. This often occurs with musical accompaniment frequently in the form of a marching band).

* Spent Friday night with friends at a tavern in Mt. Washington. Do you have friends who are "conversation killers"? I really think that as a society we need to spend more time teaching people how to make conversation. This is not a commentary on shyness - I understand about people who are shy. My best friend Lisa is quite shy, but still one of the most interesting people I've known. And she's good at conversation. There were several people who attended our gathering who were maybe the worst conversationalists I've ever met. Learn how to talk to people. Don't let your legacy be that you're bad at conversation.

* I always bring a sweater to the grocery store. Someone once told me this was weird, which made me somewhat self conscious. But today, as I walked down the frozen foods aisle, and put my sweater on to protect against the inevitable chill that comes from the opening and closing of the doors, an older woman looked at me and said "That is so smart. I always get cold in grocery stores, but I never remember to bring a sweater." So there.

* My tivo recorded the "Anna Nicole Smith Show", somehow thinking that would be something I might like to watch. I was curious, so I watched some of it. She scares me.

Sunday, September 14, 2003

Welcome to the AC...

I know that you've been waiting on pins and needles for the recap of the trip to Atlantic City. Don't try to deny it.

Okay, so after an ear-ly morning flight in and a quick nap, we got started with the birthday celebrations...this involved a little shopping, lunch, plans for the trip, and subsequently dinner (Chinese food and beer) and an educational video (Ocean's Eleven - because if you can't win in casinos, it's good to have a backup plan) - man, do we know how to party or what?

We got up the next morning and got ready to go. We made a stop for money, coffee, and food and set on our way to the East Coast version of sin city. We spent approximately $12 on tolls just to get there, which we complained about profusely until we realized that it was entirely possible to drop twice that amount of money in less than 2 hours once we got there. At that point, we made a pact to quit complaining about money. We broke that pact many, many times.

We got to our hotel, which was crazy cool (thanks mommy and daddy) and promptly checked in to our room with a view. The bathroom was roughly the size of the bedroom I inhabited in NYC. After spending a little time in the sun and then the gym (aren't we good?), we decided it was time to go to the casino. We promptly declared our status as "low rollers" by 1) not knowing how to work the coinless slot machines; 2) embarrassing ourselves at the cashier's window by trying to change money into, well, money; and 3) looking like squirrels trying to cross a highway while looking at the blackjack, craps, and roulette tables. Sadly, there are no pictures of this. We also learned the lesson that the casino will give free watered down drinks as long as you sit at a slot machine long enough for the waitress to come back, which is roughly the amount of time it takes the lose the cost of the drink in the machine. But hey, its fun, right?

The second day, we woke up, got some coffee, and decided to hit the boardwalk. The weather was beautiful, and we tried to see the highlights, including the steel pier. We also stopped into some of the other casinos, shops, and restaurants along the way. At the Tropicana, we bought tickets for a comedy show later that night. After another day in the sun, we went back to rest up for the rest of the night.

The evening included dinner at the noodle bar, where it turns out that broth noodles are quite like salad (in that you eat and eat and eat and yet nothing disappears). Then we headed back over to "The Comedy Stop at the Trop" for an evening of drinks and giggles. Of course, we were early getting there, which left us sufficient amounts of time to lose some money at the casino - and get really freaked out by the old (and obviously well-seasoned) guy sitting next to Lo at the video poker machines.

Then the fun really started. During the course of the comedy show, the main act decided to make Laura part of the show - and he didn't even know it was her birthday celebration. This involved some harmless comments at first, and quickly escalated to a serenade and a trip to the stage for Laura (she was mortified, I was merely angry about the "no flash photography" rule). All in all, it was good fun and lots of laughs. We left the next day a little lighter in the pockets and the heart, with some solid sister bonding completed before Laura's semester in London.

Maybe next time, we'll be brave enough to try the table games...

Pre AC.JPG
The room 2.JPG
The view.JPG
The bathroom.JPG
The Boardwalk.JPG
Steel Pier.JPG

(just so you know, i tried to be cool and put the pictures in as links from the words. but apparently, i'm not that cool...)

Tuesday, September 09, 2003

Still in the works...

I plan to post more detailed recap of the weekend in Atlantic City (complete with pictures), but frankly, I'm a bit tired right now...it's always a long first day back to work, even after a short vacation, and I really just want to sleep...

So stay tuned, hopefully the post and pictures will be available tomorrow...

Thursday, September 04, 2003

21

No, this is not a new Kiefer Sutherland drama where the characters actually sleep for 3 hours...today is my little sister Lo's 21st birthday. It's amazing how the time goes by...I can very clearly recall being little with her and playing together. Here are some of the highlights...

* Maple Town - I don't know whatever happened to this, I suppose it was replaced by Pokemon and Teletubbies, but this was something we truly enjoyed. I can distinctly remember the excitement of new "families" and the Maple Town house. Good times.
* Sharing a room - Lo used to sing me to sleep when we shared a room. My favorite was "Little bunny foo foo hoppin' through the for-est, scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head!"
* Christmas Eve - for many years, we would share a bed on Christmas Eve and speculate about the morning to come. Then I became older and stupid and put an end to this practice, but I feel really bad about it. I even shamed her into staying with me last year :)

As Lo got older, the inevitable sibling tensions were there, and Maple Town was no longer cool...but she's a remarkable woman. One of my favorite memories is the night she was elected President of the Band for her senior year of high school. Our parents were on vacation in Alaska for their 25th wedding anniversary, so I was the one who got to be there with her. I was so proud, I almost cried. Then we celebrated by going to Steak 'n' Shake for milkshakes and fries. That was a good night.

So happy birthday, Lo. And brush up on that poker face for a weekend full of fun in Atlantic City! Stay tuned for pictures...

(For other tributes to Lo, see Bryan's blog)

Wednesday, August 27, 2003

time for a new post...

i'm reading george stephanopoulos' book about the clinton administration call "all too human: a political education" which is unbelievably interesting. it actually reads like a novel. and an episode of west wing. somewhere in the middle. but its a very interesting look at the inside of clinton's politics (and it may get into the other stuff too, i just haven't gotten there yet). thus far, it has brought me to the same conclusion i felt at the time...clinton was a good president. he may have been a crappy person, and a shitbag for a husband, but as a president - he did some good, or at least he tried to. and i really do believe that. he was certainly a politician, and he was very good at the game of politics, but i suspect (and like i said, i'm not to this point in the book yet), his lie to the country was more the result of poor counseling on the political "spin" of things than an actual malicious witholding of information. but we'll see.

i'll keep you posted (no pun intended)...

Friday, August 08, 2003

tidbits...

*going to columbus for the start of my vacation, and this time i'm flying, but last weekend i was driving, and i noticed so many little driving idiosyncracies that i have. i talk to the other drivers quite a bit. i say things like "are we carting rocks in our trunk, mister mazda protoge? then MOVE OVER." and "the left lane is not a good place to live. try the suburbs."

*arnold schwartznegger running for governor of california. are we kidding here? he's not even a very good actor. if california elects him, then they deserve him. so there.

*books. i have tons of unread books in my apartment (mostly because i really enjoy buying books as much as i enjoy reading them) but this week i went to the public library and took out yet more books to read. i'm actually getting through these, though. i love places with lots of books. i almost passed out from happiness at the library.

*playstation. once i start, i just can't stop. i feel that, normally, i don't have the world's best attention span. but put me in front of tetris, and it seems that moving little blocks into larger squares and getting rid of lines can hold my attention indefinitely. i usually stop when my thumbs start to hurt. what do you suppose tetris says about my personality?

Tuesday, July 29, 2003

amazing

it never ceases to amaze me how many people leave a "wrong number" message on my answering machine. since i've lived here (almost 4 months) i've gotten about 15 messages on my answering machine from people looking for peaches, jerry, angie, mike, and jimbo. just so that you understand what's happening here, you should know that the outgoing message on my answering machine is, literally, "hi, this is emily, leave a message." not only do people not realize that they are dialing the wrong number, but when they hear this message, they STILL proceed to leave a message for peaches, jerry, angie, mike, or jimbo. on one day, i actually got 3 separate wrong number messages. i've even called the machine myself to make sure that the outgoing message doesn't mistakenly give the impression that i am peaches, jerry, angie, mike, or jimbo - it doesn't.

by the way, don't take this post as an invitation to start calling me and saying "this is peaches/jerry/angie/mike/jimbo - have there been any messages for me?

Wednesday, July 23, 2003

another casualty...

awhile back, i did a post about my unique ability to make things that are electronic inexplicably stop working. i'm very sad to report that there has been another death in the electronics family. the tivo, which brought me such joy not so long ago, decided yesterday to succumb early on in its life to the supernatural forces surrounding, namely, my own touch. (does this mean it died of "supernatural causes"?)

at any rate, the tivo is now sitting like a plastic piece of nothing on my living room floor, awaiting the exchange process, so that the new tivo can come in and take over. the only good thing about this situation is that i seem to only break things once. of course, the criteria for breaking it is that
1) i have to use it all the time,
2) it must be really expensive to begin with, and
3) it must be a complete hassle to go the process of getting it fixed.

optional characteristics include
1) it is outside of the warranty period
2) the tech support person says "huh. we've never had THAT happen before"

all i can say is, they should have put ME in the matrix. i could have f***ed that stuff up right from the start.

Sunday, July 20, 2003

things that make me happy....

* my new TiVo...not watching commercials rocks. that's all that needs to be said.
* "friends"...just watching joey's eyebrows emote is enough to make me smile, even on my worst day. and season 4 just came out on DVD...good times.
* "Autobiography of a Fat Bride" by Laurie Notaro - I'm only halfway through this book and it has made me laugh out loud no less than 5 times so far.
* this summer - thus far, not ungodly hot, but with multiple very nice days in the last couple of weeks...i mean, sure, it's rained a lot, but its the middle of july and the door to my balcony is open and i'm not sweating.
* the ghoul in my toilet. it makes random noises when it feels like it. the maintenance people for my apartment came to fix it, and it seemed to be fixed for several days - but i think the ghoul was just hanging out in my washing machine for awhile until the coast was clear. we're becoming friends.

things that make me unhappy....

* this article...i hate george bush.
* people who ask me "what do you think of the Atkins' diet?" - please. quick weight loss that lasts forever - wouldn't we all be really skinny if it worked?
* bills. does this really need explanation?
* junk email...it's completely inevitable, one of the only sure things in this world. it WILL be there when you check your email, there's just no getting around it.

Sunday, June 22, 2003

murphy's law...

saturday was the release date for harry potter and the order of the pheonix. i love the harry potter series, and have been on the pre-order list from amazon for several months (though not quite as long as lo). amazon had a "deal" where you could pre-order the book and have guaranteed delivery on the date of release. my sister opted for this as well, and ended up having her copy of the book sent to my apartment. we waited. and waited. and waited some more. it wasn't as bad for me, i had to work, but my poor sister sat in my apartment literally all day waiting for the books to be delivered (because, of course, the deal is off if you aren't there to sign for it). the shipping info said it would be there by 8pm. at this point, i left to go to the store for a few items...and lo and behold, there is a stack of harry potter books for a price that was less than the "deal" from amazon. since our copies hadn't arrived yet, i picked up two of them and took them home.

and, about 5 minutes after i walked in the door, the fed ex person showed up bearing two copies of the book. so now i have two. and so does my sister. does anyone need one?

here are the pics - note laura demonstrating both frustration and joy...

Lo joy.JPG
Lo mad.JPG

Thursday, June 12, 2003

never happy

don't you think its funny that humans are never completely comfortable? there's always something that could change (the only exception to this rule is laying on my couch in the living room watching friends and eating yummy food...)

it finally stopped raining here in baltimore for, like, a day. and it got hot that day. and all i heard about at work was how hot it was and how we needed more rain to cool things off. i was thinking - are you people crazy? it rained for a whole month (and i'm pretty sure i'm not exaggerating this)...then one nice, albeit slightly warm, day and everyone's panties are in a bunch.

the same thing is true with standing and sitting. after you have been standing for awhile, nothing looks better than a chair to plop down in. but sit around for a good hour, and you'll be dying to stretch your legs. its crazy. and it reminds me of something i read in a biology textbook once. it was something like "the human body must always be at a disequilibrium in order to perform functions. a body that has reached complete equilibrium is dead." ironic, isn't it? we search for comfort and the only time we physiologically find it is when we die.

and sadly, the date with the guy from work will likely be a one-time thing. he wasn't as interested in me as i was in him. butt munch.

Monday, June 09, 2003

long time coming...
okay, okay....so its been awhile since i've blogged. and frankly, i would like to say that it is because i was SOOO busy and just couldn't find the time, but that's not true. i would like to say its because i was moving/starting new job/etc (a la Lo). but that's also not true. and, i would like to pretend that a hacker ruined my page, thus rendering it essentially impossible to post (a la Bryan). but, alas, still not true. i just didn't have anything interesting/funny/insightful to say.

and i still don't (aww, you were getting excited, weren't you?). but there is news. for those of you who have been keeping the fingers and toes crossed that the guy from work would ask me out - thank you. your crossing has worked, and we are finally going out tonight. now, in order to give credit where credit it due, i have to acknowledge my sister, my father, my mother (for kicking me in the ass to get things moving), and finally my friend monica - for literally helping me when my motor skills failed me.

now, go back to crossing those fingers and toes that we'll have fun and he'll ask me out AGAIN...

Thursday, May 29, 2003

the phone book...

do you ever use the phone book anymore? and i don't mean the yellow pages - though the internet has made those obsolete as well. how about the regular old phone book, where people just have their phone numbers listed for anyone to call?

i don't. i haven't for a long time. if i need to call someone or somewhere, i either have the number, or i look it up online. i just had telephone books delivered to me this week, and at the moment i haven't even unwrapped them because i just don't need them.

and then i was thinking about when i was younger, i can distinctly remember looking up friends' phone numbers in the phone book...i couldn't remember them all, so i would just look them up when i needed them. and there was nothing weird about that. now, if someone i knew marginally called me up and said they found my number in the phone book, i think i would be a little taken aback. maybe that's because it seems like it requires so much effort.

i think the fact that so many people use cell phones for their daily phoning needs is another factor. just about everyone i talk to is programmed into my cell phone. i don't even need their numbers anymore. will we ever have a cell phone book? to look up numbers? or will we simply bypass the archaic paper step and go straight to an internet directory of cell phone numbers?

Saturday, May 24, 2003

a couple of notes on things that annoy me...

i went to see the movie 'identitiy' today - which, by the way, is very good, and you should go see it now. go. now. go on. okay, you can read the rest first. one of the trailers was for 'pirates of the caribbean', and there's a line where a girl hits a guy with a shovel and says something like - "you think you know pain? try wearing a corset." and a girl in the back of the theater goes "YEAH" and then a whole bunch of women start to clap. now i think to myself - "what do any of you know about wearing a corset?" just because we are women doesn't mean that we are any more in tune with that kind of pain than the insolent man who was hit with the shovel. i hate it when people are stupid like that.

and another thing - i think the line "the united states doesn't negotiate with hostage takers/terrorists" should not be allowed in movie scripts ever again. never. because what this really means is - "we will get dangerously close to negotiating when it looks like we have no other option to get back the super important person who is being held hostage...but in the end, the hero will save that person and we won't have to negotiate. HAH!" again, just plain stupidity. this actually harkens back to a blog by bryan, where he spoke about stupid movie lines. i recommend you check it out.

by the way, there was a distinct lack of help on that last one - gold star to patricia for offering worthwhile advice...boys in general get zero points because none of you offered advice and he still hasn't asked me out (though i think we're getting close).

Thursday, May 22, 2003

help please...

okay. so i'm trying to get this guy at work to ask me out...i think he's interested, there have been signs, but the actual date thing isn't happening yet. and that's okay. i'm patient. i'm just wondering if there's something i can do to move the process along. any suggestions?

now, i know, i know - "why don't you ask HIM out?" and the answer is - i don't want to. i want him to ask me. and i'm willing to accept the ramifications of that (ie - he may never ask me). but guys do ask girls out sometimes. so what can girls do to make you want to ask them out? guys? input appreciated.

Sunday, May 18, 2003

just so cool

saw the matrix reloaded today...it reminded me of how i felt when i saw the first one. its just soooooo cool. man. i left there feeling like a total geek - no matter how hard i tried, if i tried for the rest of my life, i could never be that cool. for starters, i don't have enough all black, leather outfits. and my hair is blond. and i don't have super cool sunglasses. and i don't do anything that makes the world slow down and rotate 180 degrees.

it made me wonder how the really geeky people felt - and they were there. you know, the ones who are really interested in explaining the intricacies of the matrix to those who are less enlightened. i wonder what they do to feel cooler...maybe they blog about it...

Wednesday, May 14, 2003

water balloons and men

you may not know it, but this week is "hospital week" (you know, like last week was nurses week, etc. everyone should have a week). today, to celebrate, the hospital where i work had a big picnic with free food for all the employees and a "water run" where employees coule pay money to buy squirt guns, super soakers, and water balloons to throw/shoot at their managers and supervisors who ran through in groups. it was quite fun actually, much more so than i thought it would be, and the sun was out, people were laughing, everyone got wet...good times. of course, then we all had to go back inside and go back to work. the water balloon thing was such a distraction, i felt off my game the rest of the day due to lack of sunlight.

as for men, well...isn't that self-explanatory?

Saturday, May 10, 2003

do you do this?

i was driving to the airport the other day to pick up a friend, and since i'm new to the area, i've not driven there before and i noticed something...

when i drive around in unfamiliar places, my first instinct is to turn down the radio. seriously. the more unfamiliar and unsure i feel about a place, the quieter the radio gets, even when i'm alone - as if making the radio quieter will somehow make it easier for me to follow my written directions or intuit the way i should go. i find it funny...these two things are unrelated, and yet, the minute i need to pay attention to where i am, my hand goes to the radio knob.

what weird things do you do?

Wednesday, May 07, 2003

the other night i was watching MTV (not actually in an attempt to improve my popular music knowledge) and i am deeply ashamed to admit how much i enjoy watching "sorority life" and "fraternity life". it is particularly good right now because there is a girl on SL who is digging a guy on FL, and that relationship is definitely not mutual. i have to say that the girl is an idiot, and the guy is an asshole, but it makes for some seriously good drama, including dinners at applebee's where pseudoserious conversations take place, including:
FL guy: i just need you to know that if i kiss you, it will takes things to a whole other level, and i'm just not ready for that
SL girl: oh, i know, and i'm NOT asking for that at ALL (emphasis included)

see, the funny part is that this entire conversation is bullshit. the guy doesn't want to kiss the girl because he thinks she's annoying (which she is). and the girl is most certainly asking the guy to take the relationship to the other level (TOTALLY asking for that ALL). it makes me laugh - how much of their behavior is due to the cameras, and how much (gulp) their true personalities? and why is it that these people take the "confessional" thing so seriously - don't they realize that TONS of people will see what they say when it's all over? i'm baffled...and yet somehow intrigued.

Tuesday, May 06, 2003

yay, the computer is back! of course, they had to replace the mother board, the fan, and do several other things that amounted to my losing all data on my hard drive, but i'm tricksy - i had backups :)

in honor of my computer's return, i feel it appropriate to explain why it was gone in the first place. i break all things electrical. and, in fact, the more complex and computerized, the more likely that i will break it. i have a particular propensity to make computers die. you think i am kidding - i am not.

the first computer to succumb to my electromagnetic force field was an IBM thinkpad that was approximately 14 months old, and therefore just out of warranty. i hadn't even used the computer all that much (i also had a desktop at the time), but after 14 months - hard drive completely dead.

the second computer was the predecessor to the one i use now. a toshiba satellite, a nice computer, better than the thinkpad. at 15 months - hard drive dead. that one happened on the eve of a big assignment that was due, and subsequently was lost, requiring an extension from my professor and a complete do-over by me. thanks.

now, i know what you're thinking - that's only 2 computers (even given the problems with your current one, that's not so bad)...but you're wrong. the problems with my current computer notwithstanding (and some of those i can blame on a design flaw that didn't manifest itself until the computer became mine), there have been other appliances that have suffered in the wake of my destruction...

my parents desktop computer, which they don't really even use that much (they both have laptops...we are a computerized family). i don't remember how old it was, but i came home for one weekend during grad school, used it 3 times to check my email, and the next thing we all know - hard drive dead.

i got a palm pilot for christmas last year...the first one didn't work...we thought it was the cradle, but it turned out to just not work...my fault? maybe...

i had an mp3 player that refused to work with my new computer - so my parents stupidly bought me a newer, nicer one...it likes me so far, but i think that's because i keep it away from my other appliances...

the list goes on, but i'll close with this - my television currently has an intermittent problem where the sound just cuts out for no reason. this can be fixed by either 1)beating the computer on the side, or 2) messing with the volume control until it comes back. i find that option 2 works better than option one. i'm not the boss of my tv, who am i kidding? it just wants me to know that it can break at any point in time - it merely tolerates my ownership of it.

Wednesday, April 30, 2003

whenever you put a bunch of dietitians in a room together and try to feed them funny things happen...

first, everyone only seems to eat about half of whatever they take. this include sandwiches that are already cut in half, muffins, bagels, etc. there are several exceptions to this rule, including bowls of mixed fruit and salad (though they use only half of the little dressing packet).

then, everyone goes back to the food source approximately 4 times to get more things that they only eat half of - like cookies, pieces of cake/pie, more fruit, potato chips, pretzels, etc. if they would just eat everything they took the first time, they probably wouldn't need to go back. at least, they would need to go back only 2 times instead of 4 or something like that.

they also spend a lot of time saying things like "i haven't had chocolate chip cookies in months" which you know is a complete lie, and "i have the best recipe for fat free, low salt, low cholesterol tuna salad" which unfortunately is probably true.

the funny thing is, everyone seems to wait to see what all the other dietitians are going to do before they choose their own food...is this going to be a group that follows the Food Guide Pyramid at lunch? or is this a group the enjoys cookies and other fun things at lunch?

i will be away from blogging for about a week as i have to send my computer in for repairs :( please do come back soon! i promise to be more regular in my blogging!

Sunday, April 27, 2003

ok, ok...after a seriously harsh comment from my sister :(

whew, what a week. the new job is good - coworkers are definitely cool (and i'm not just saying that - they don't even know i have a blog), apartment is good, and had a really fun night at a birthday party last night. it was actually in the style of a "roast" which always makes me picture the person in question on a big stick with an apple in his mouth turning over and over to get the nice rotisserie (sp?) taste. but its not that literal. for those of you who don't know what a roast is, its basically a party where people get up and tell embarassing stories about the guest of honor. last night's was particularly fun, because the guest of honor is a guy who quite enjoys laughing at himself, so there were no barriers. and there were some funny stories.

it made me think of what stories people could tell about me if i were to be roasted. (and bear in mind, i am only 24 - the guest of honor last night was 65!) there were far too many. here are a few that come to mind:

- my first experience backing the car out of the driveway...i won't give all the details (though my brother and sister probably will in the comments - stay tuned) but let's just say that i ended up in the front yard - twice.
- my first week of sixth grade, where i tried to sneak into the auditorium and ended up falling on my face with everyone looking at me.
- sophomore year of college on the WORST DAY OF MY LIFE (up to that point) - falling down in the middle of Adelbert Road, ripping my favorite jeans and literally stopping traffic in the process (emphasis added for my father who is laughing his ass off as he reads this - he found this one particularly humorous)

so what are yours?

Monday, April 21, 2003

so today was my first day of work...my first day in the "real world" if you will. can i just say - holy shit. i didn't realize that the real world came with so much paperwork. i spent most of the morning filling in my name, address, phone number, and social security number on a variety of forms for a variety of purposes...i couldn't tell you what they all were to save my life (and no, i won't give my name, address, phone number, and social security number to you, form or no)...

other than that, the real world felt distinctly like the unreal world, though the prospect that i could theoretically (theoretically, mind you) be at my new job for the rest of my life is a little bit frightening.

had fun with the lil sis this weekend. i recommend you check out the down lo for a quick recap and pictures...the highlights according to emmit:

** seeing the "redneck special" (we did not get a picture, sadly):
lo:"why do you suppose someone from new jersey drives through the balitmore ghetto with four confederate flags on his truck?"
emmit: "to distract attention from his mullet?" (in all fairness to mister r. special, we never actually saw a mullet...however, i have my suspicions that we are not far off...and come on, if he didn't have a mullet, can he truly call himself a redneck?)

** realizing that we are out of touch with popular music:
emmit: "who is this?"
lo: "i don't know."
emmit: "i need to watch more mtv."
lo: "hmmm. i'm not sure that's the answer."

** picking out familiar faces in the museum:
emmit: "that woman looks like someone i know."
lo: gives emmit a disgusted look and quickly shuffles away.

** picking out unfamiliar faces in passersby:
(man goes into store)
emmit: "was that him?"
lo: "no."
(man comes out of store)
emmit: "was that him?"
lo: (looks at man) "nope, still not him."

all in all, a good time bonding (awww, bonding, pet pet)...

Thursday, April 17, 2003

one of these days, i'm gonna get around to playing with my template - you know, spice it up a little...that'll reel 'em in...

okay, so what i was unsucessfully trying to post earlier was a little video clip sent to me (by someone i actually like) which consists of a power point presentation of 9/11 photographs and a song called "have you forgotten" which implies that opposing the war equates with forgetting that 9/11 happened and it sucked...i'm here to tell you that these two things are not equal. if i can eventually figure out how to upload the file (help me bryan!) i will post it for your own viewing...torture.

i highly recommend that you have a receptacle handy in the event that you feel (as i did) the sudden urge to vomit...

on a less political note...did anyone see Friends tonight? can you believe the hype that kiss got and it was only a dream? i'll tell you what...if it weren't my favorite show, and if i didn't have a completely useless encyclopedic knowledge of Friends trivia, i would totally quit watching after that shit...

Wednesday, April 16, 2003

i saw this quote today, and though i am not a particularly religious person, i thought it was appropriate given that this sunday is easter and we have a president who believes that the will of God is war against one person with the end result of killing a whole lot of people.

(of the crucifixion of Jesus) "I don't pretend to understand any of it. Sometimes I think that the suffering of Jesus was not God's will at all. It was, instead, the will of those who were arrayed against him--those whose patriotic values he had offended, whose sense of God he had betrayed."

this quote struck me as being so profound when i think about the war...not that i would equate saddam hussein with Jesus by any means, but the idea that this war is not at all the will of God but rather the will of a president whose "patriotic values" have been offended and whose "sense of God" has been betrayed - i think this is an accurate description of our current military action. the most frightening part is that our president is not only unwilling to see the connection himself, but also completely unwilling to listen to any discourse on the subject. the label of "unpatriotic" has been propagated on anyone who is opposed to this war, and yet the term "patriotic" is completely in the eye of the beholder. and who is Bush to decide what is and is not patriotic? just because he has the money, clout, and name to force his way into the white house does not mean that he has a better understanding of the relationship of a country/government to its people than the average citizen. i dare say that it was never intended that one person get to decide what is "patriotic" - isn't that a defining characteristic of a dictatorship?

Tuesday, April 15, 2003

ok, so i'm relatively new to this whole blog thing. the intro message was actually posted by my brother, who got me all set up with this - lest you think i'm a loser who posts happy birthday messages to myself online. but i have fun reading others, so...

by the way, i highly recommend matt's blog - an insightful friend of my brother's and the first blog i ever started reading.

i just moved into my own apartment in baltimore, and i have to say that so far i love living by myself. not that i ever really disliked any of my roommates...well, that's not entirely true - there were a couple that i would like to "rip my arm off just so i could throw it at her" (a quote from Friends), but for the most part, i've enjoyed those i lived with in the past. but there's really no substitute for doing your own thing whenever you want and however you want. sharing is great, but not sharing is even better! of course, i say all this prior to any of the bills coming...
This is a test post. Happy birthday, and happy blogging, em!