I woke up with a headache.
I took 4 Advils so far.
I still have that headache.
Damn you, brain, damn you!
In other news, I survived another holiday season with nary a scar from the stress. In fact, I have never had it so good. This year I joined the legions of last-minute shoppers and did all my purchasing online during the week of Christmas. Then I drove Anthony to Charlotte, and proceeded to sit on my tush for 4 days. It was GLORIOUS.
I still have New Year's and Anthony and my own Christmas before the year is through, but all the major shopping and traveling is done. I fully intend to do nothing on New Year's Eve, other than sip Martinelli's cider in my pajamas and shower Anthony with Christmas gifts. If the conditions are right, I may even stay up til midnight to watch the ball drop on Times Square and feel thankful that I'm not in NYC for the event. Heck, I may allow myself to feel a touch superior to all those people who are drunk, cold, and have to piddle.
Of course, most of my weekend will be spent in my pajamas, studying. I'm halfway through all the math crap, and by week's end I intend to start on the vocab. Maybe I'll just run through a few of the practice tests I have. We'll see.
The biggest temptation will be to not play Myst, a computer game I got for Christmas. Normally I am not a big computer geek, but after playing the Samorost games online I can't resist a puzzle-solving game. I could be at the computer for days before I realize I'm hungry - it's THAT good.
Other than that, I'm out of fresh conversation. My head hurts too much.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Tuesday, December 20, 2005
They Still Do That?!
This morning, a small Asian man with a Christmas-green sports coat got on my subway car. Once the doors closed, he said, "Excuse me," and then burst into a heavily accented version of "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" (I think) through two subway stops.
When he finished, he thanked us and then left the car. WITHOUT asking for money!
For a moment I felt like I was back in NYC (barring that whole transit strike they have going on today), but then, with a whoosh, I was brought back to earth. The man didn't want any money! And I would have gladly given it to him, seeing how inappropriate for the cold his coat was.
But this situation proves exactly what the holidays are about: celebrating with family and friends, and being kind to strangers.
His song certainly lit up my corner of the world.
When he finished, he thanked us and then left the car. WITHOUT asking for money!
For a moment I felt like I was back in NYC (barring that whole transit strike they have going on today), but then, with a whoosh, I was brought back to earth. The man didn't want any money! And I would have gladly given it to him, seeing how inappropriate for the cold his coat was.
But this situation proves exactly what the holidays are about: celebrating with family and friends, and being kind to strangers.
His song certainly lit up my corner of the world.
Monday, December 19, 2005
Absolut Insanity
You don't know where you've been until you see the pictures. At least, I'm sure that's how several of us felt after spending Friday night, of all things, celebrating Eric.
Yes, yes, he has finally passed into his 26th year, and just in time for 2006.
In any case, we came, we saw, we drank Jameson, we grabbed each others' nipples, and before you knew it, we were feeding Eric water through a straw. It was GLORIOUS.
There are many pictures illustrating the event, as can be seen through Kodak Gallery if you quickly make friends with either Dave or I. The only other problem (i.e. other than being friends with us) is that we have a difficult time sending them out because they make both of us look awful. As in "we never should have brought these cameras" awful. Basically, I reign as Queen of all Things Experienced with Eyes Closed, and David is the King of Nostril Hair. Enough said.
In other news, I went to see Derek's band play on Saturday night and redeem myself for missing his gig last weekend (which was merely 5 blocks away from my house). I'm not entirely sure what happened, except that the first band that played lost their drummer for about a half hour, the bartender(s) stole our money right in front of our backs, and Derek's band took an hour to set up. By the time they went on, it was after 1AM. WAY past my bedtime. Like the whiny little girl I am, I checked out early. Maybe next time I can see their entire set, but that night wasn't in the cards. I needed my down pillow - and fast.
Sunday was spent pretending we were going out of the house. Okay, so it did happen, but that wasn't until around 4:30PM so we could check out a junk shop before meeting Eric and Jeff at Ben's Chili Bowl. After buying a homeless guy a half-smoke, Anthony joined Peco at the hockey game and the boys and I visited my apartment. Which is the site of one good old-fashioned Scattergories timer disassembly.
Eric insisted that the timer needed batteries (it didn't), unscrewed the back, and all the gears fell out. He and Jeff then spent the entire game of Trivial Pursuit (obviously, Scattergories was out of the running) putting the darn thing back together. But that's just because they didn't want to admit defeat. Damn you both and your ambition.
So now I'm one Scattergories timer richer. And boy, is that rich!
We ended the weekend with a jaunt to our local hotspot, the Black Cat, to attend a garage sale. That's what they called it anyway. The lighting was awful, but we managed to pick up a handblown glass vase, a handblown glass necklace, and a blankety-blank for Eric's mom (I can't tell you what it is - what if she finds my site and discovers her gift before Eric has a chance to be seen as the giving son he is?!). It was, for all intents and puposes, a success.
And by success I mean I only had to deal with Eric calling my holiday card "slightly creepy" once.
Yes, yes, he has finally passed into his 26th year, and just in time for 2006.
In any case, we came, we saw, we drank Jameson, we grabbed each others' nipples, and before you knew it, we were feeding Eric water through a straw. It was GLORIOUS.
There are many pictures illustrating the event, as can be seen through Kodak Gallery if you quickly make friends with either Dave or I. The only other problem (i.e. other than being friends with us) is that we have a difficult time sending them out because they make both of us look awful. As in "we never should have brought these cameras" awful. Basically, I reign as Queen of all Things Experienced with Eyes Closed, and David is the King of Nostril Hair. Enough said.
In other news, I went to see Derek's band play on Saturday night and redeem myself for missing his gig last weekend (which was merely 5 blocks away from my house). I'm not entirely sure what happened, except that the first band that played lost their drummer for about a half hour, the bartender(s) stole our money right in front of our backs, and Derek's band took an hour to set up. By the time they went on, it was after 1AM. WAY past my bedtime. Like the whiny little girl I am, I checked out early. Maybe next time I can see their entire set, but that night wasn't in the cards. I needed my down pillow - and fast.
Sunday was spent pretending we were going out of the house. Okay, so it did happen, but that wasn't until around 4:30PM so we could check out a junk shop before meeting Eric and Jeff at Ben's Chili Bowl. After buying a homeless guy a half-smoke, Anthony joined Peco at the hockey game and the boys and I visited my apartment. Which is the site of one good old-fashioned Scattergories timer disassembly.
Eric insisted that the timer needed batteries (it didn't), unscrewed the back, and all the gears fell out. He and Jeff then spent the entire game of Trivial Pursuit (obviously, Scattergories was out of the running) putting the darn thing back together. But that's just because they didn't want to admit defeat. Damn you both and your ambition.
So now I'm one Scattergories timer richer. And boy, is that rich!
We ended the weekend with a jaunt to our local hotspot, the Black Cat, to attend a garage sale. That's what they called it anyway. The lighting was awful, but we managed to pick up a handblown glass vase, a handblown glass necklace, and a blankety-blank for Eric's mom (I can't tell you what it is - what if she finds my site and discovers her gift before Eric has a chance to be seen as the giving son he is?!). It was, for all intents and puposes, a success.
And by success I mean I only had to deal with Eric calling my holiday card "slightly creepy" once.
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Quizzes Are For Those Of Us Who Are Busy Avoiding Everything Else
You rule. in 15 years, you won't be as known as you
are now, but most of the people that will know
you then will like you (or else I'll beat them
with a stick). You're nice to listen to.
What band from the 80s are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Anthony Would Be So Proud
Congratulations, you make it until the end! You
are the strong, modestly good looking man or
woman who doesn't take it from anybody.
How fast would you die in a cheesy zombie flick?
brought to you by Quizilla
More Online Quizzes to Clog My Time
I found this one on Mumbles' journal, which I just found (see sidebar) today by looking through Erin's friends on livejournal. In any case, this is kind of wacky because it's sort of accurate. I don't want to say how much, just so you can't make too much fun of me. So without further ado, my quiz results:
Ryan, your hemispheric dominance is equally divided between left and right brain, while you show a moderate preference for auditory versus visual learning, signs of a balanced and flexible person.
Your balance gives you the enviable capacity to be verbal and literate while retaining a certain "flair" and individuality. You are logical and compliant but only to a degree. You are organized without being compulsive, goal-directed without being driven, and a "thinking" individual without being excessively so.
The one problem you might have is that your learning might not be as efficient as you would like. At times you will work from the specific to the general, while at other times you'll work from the general to the specific. Sometimes you will be logical in your approach while at other times random. Since you cannot always control the choice, you may experience frustrations not normally felt by persons with a more defined and directed learning style.
You may also minimally experience conflicts associated with auditory processing. You will be systematic and sequential in your processing of information, you will most often focus on a single dimension of the problem or material, and you will be more reflective, i.e., "taking the data in" as opposed to "devouring" it.
Overall, you should feel content with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself - and of others - while maintaining an "openness" which is redeeming. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity is not in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, the more obvious and the more functional.
Ryan, your hemispheric dominance is equally divided between left and right brain, while you show a moderate preference for auditory versus visual learning, signs of a balanced and flexible person.
Your balance gives you the enviable capacity to be verbal and literate while retaining a certain "flair" and individuality. You are logical and compliant but only to a degree. You are organized without being compulsive, goal-directed without being driven, and a "thinking" individual without being excessively so.
The one problem you might have is that your learning might not be as efficient as you would like. At times you will work from the specific to the general, while at other times you'll work from the general to the specific. Sometimes you will be logical in your approach while at other times random. Since you cannot always control the choice, you may experience frustrations not normally felt by persons with a more defined and directed learning style.
You may also minimally experience conflicts associated with auditory processing. You will be systematic and sequential in your processing of information, you will most often focus on a single dimension of the problem or material, and you will be more reflective, i.e., "taking the data in" as opposed to "devouring" it.
Overall, you should feel content with your life and yourself. You are, perhaps, a little too critical of yourself - and of others - while maintaining an "openness" which is redeeming. Indecisiveness is a problem and your creativity is not in keeping with your potential. Being a pragmatist, you downplay this aspect of yourself and focus on the more immediate, the more obvious and the more functional.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Time Again for Happy Harry the Hannukah Bush/Christmas Tree
It's either that or the fact that last night I finally ventured out to see my first movie since the Thanksgiving marathon: Harry Potter. If you haven't yet done so, the Harry Potter series is practically required reading. And two hours after you've started the books, which you will now have invariably finished reading (I assure you, they are THAT addictive), you MUST go see this movie. Yeah, yeah, the first three were fun and PG-rated and all, but the latest installment actually stands alone as a GOOD MOVIE and not just a visual treat for fans of the books. The child actors they hired are actually starting to ACT, and director Mike Newell makes the whole adventure POP with dread, melancholy, and fair share of wit.
You'll notice (if you've been watching the previous movies) that the outlook for Hogwarts has changed, but I believe Newell's vision is more accurate to the book. I prefer Richard Harris' more kindly version to Michael Gambon's Dumbledore, but you can't have everything, now can you? All in all, I really liked this movie. So on the Netflix scale, I give the movie 4 out of 5 stars.
In other news, my coworkers are looking for mention of their names in my Blog, which is highly amusing to say the least. I guess when you work with a group of professional computer geeks, as I lovingly refer to all high-tech employees, they are going to sniff out any mention of you on the internet. So, Mo, Bill, this mention is for you.
Slightly more important on my list of things to discuss is the fact that I have been quite remiss in blogging lately. Much of that has to do with the fact that I am studying for the GRE and writing grad school applications at the same time. That and coddling Anthony (and his not quite yet formulated flu) seems to zap up all my free time.
Oh sure, there's been ice skating at the Sculpture garden and mad attempts to see Derek's band, but for the most part I've been a homebody with no particular attachment to my Blog lately. I suppose you will just have to forgive me or hate me forever. Totally up to you.
And that, my friends, is all I have to say about that.
On a high note, my 5-year college reunion is happening in May. I've been dreading this and looking forward to it. Part of the dread is due to the hope that the alumni association never really finds me so they can't send me requests for donations (damn you and your money-leeching!), but I've also never been all that good at revisiting the past. As my mom can tell you, I only visit my hometown once a year, and that's only because she lives there (and because it's happy turkey day, which, as you all know, is my favorite holiday of the year - although mom, if you don't get your act together and start serving up my regular homemade fixin's, I'm a-gonna stop that tradition)!
The upside of getting older is that the college reunion gives my friends yet another excuse to make a special effort to hang out with one another. Las Vegas was only the beginning, baby.
You'll notice (if you've been watching the previous movies) that the outlook for Hogwarts has changed, but I believe Newell's vision is more accurate to the book. I prefer Richard Harris' more kindly version to Michael Gambon's Dumbledore, but you can't have everything, now can you? All in all, I really liked this movie. So on the Netflix scale, I give the movie 4 out of 5 stars.
In other news, my coworkers are looking for mention of their names in my Blog, which is highly amusing to say the least. I guess when you work with a group of professional computer geeks, as I lovingly refer to all high-tech employees, they are going to sniff out any mention of you on the internet. So, Mo, Bill, this mention is for you.
Slightly more important on my list of things to discuss is the fact that I have been quite remiss in blogging lately. Much of that has to do with the fact that I am studying for the GRE and writing grad school applications at the same time. That and coddling Anthony (and his not quite yet formulated flu) seems to zap up all my free time.
Oh sure, there's been ice skating at the Sculpture garden and mad attempts to see Derek's band, but for the most part I've been a homebody with no particular attachment to my Blog lately. I suppose you will just have to forgive me or hate me forever. Totally up to you.
And that, my friends, is all I have to say about that.
On a high note, my 5-year college reunion is happening in May. I've been dreading this and looking forward to it. Part of the dread is due to the hope that the alumni association never really finds me so they can't send me requests for donations (damn you and your money-leeching!), but I've also never been all that good at revisiting the past. As my mom can tell you, I only visit my hometown once a year, and that's only because she lives there (and because it's happy turkey day, which, as you all know, is my favorite holiday of the year - although mom, if you don't get your act together and start serving up my regular homemade fixin's, I'm a-gonna stop that tradition)!
The upside of getting older is that the college reunion gives my friends yet another excuse to make a special effort to hang out with one another. Las Vegas was only the beginning, baby.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
