unbound @ seema.org

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

 
More pictures

I'm in the process of uploading all of my pictures from my trip to Calgary last week. There are a lot of them and it took me a long time to go through them all -- I think 300 total, and only a fraction of those are getting uploaded. Okay, maybe half. That's the good and bad thing about digital cameras with a 1 gig memory card with capacity for 2700 pictures. I can take as many pictures as I want and only keep the ones I like, but then I have like a gazillion pictures and many of them are the same as others, but from different angles, or more "artistic" or sometimes they are victims to shaky hands, so I often take multiple shots "just to make sure." Then I have to decide which of two identical pictures is the better of the two. Decisions, decisions.

As an FYI -- some of the pictures posted on this blog will probably disappear due to limitations on the Flickr account where they live. So if you see broken pictures, that's why. The Calgary pictures are taking up all the room in my account now.

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| 8:40 PM |

Monday, June 16, 2008

 
Lake Moraine, Alberta, Canada

Isn't it just gorgeous? Incidentally, seconds after I snapped this picture, it started to snow.


calgary trip 169

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| 10:02 PM |

Monday, June 09, 2008

 
Three nutty things that happened today

1. Someone suggested reducing demand for gasoline by cutting the USPS' service from six days to five

2. In my salsa aerobics class, a woman was texting while shuffling her feet and shaking her hips

3. My dentist gave me a bottle of champagne

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| 9:38 PM |

Sunday, May 18, 2008

 
Defeat

I've given up explaining the economics of high gas prices to people. Truth be told, I'm not an apologist for the oil and gas industry, even though that's what's been keeping me gainfully employed for the last five years, but there are many things the industry does that I don't approve of, but price manipulation isn't one of them. Price manipulation is what people come up with when they are unwilling to face the plain and simple truth -- consumption is coming to bite us all in the butt. You combine consumption with any number of geopolitical factors (Hello Iraq! Hello weak US dollar! etc) and the price of oil is going up and it's going to keep going up. I think we're going to see $4 gasoline in the next 2-3 weeks easily, if not by the end of the Memorial Day weekend. I think it's going to keep going up all summer and no gas tax holiday is going to stop it.

I find it fascinating that ordinarily intelligent people just refuse to believer or understand in the concept of supply and demand. I find it amazing that they believe that oil prices are US-centric rather than existing in a global market where the US is no longer the prominent, influential player it once was. I think people refuse to understand because it's difficult, it's complicated, and they don't want to have to make sacrifices. It reminds me a lot of that book -- "What's the Matter with Kansas?" -- where the GOP made in-roads in Kansas by focusing on a "simple" issue: abortion. It was easier for people to focus on abortion rather than the economic issues and as a result, Kansas went red, when in truth, going blue is probably best for most people there. That's how I feel these days when I'm trying to explain the new oil economy -- people could understand, but they don't want to, especially since the explanation invariably means some kind of sacrifice on their part.

So I've decided to stop explaining because it takes too much effort and no one really cares about complex situations that have no easy answers. If people really want to understand, they will make an effort. But most people like the idea of price manipulation -- even though it's patently false -- because it's simple to understand, even if there is no basis in reality. "Price manipulation" is a great bandwagon for politicians to pander and it allows people to shift "blame" to the oil companies, rather than focusing on why they're driving 80 mph in a Hummer in an urban area that looks nothing like a war zone.

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| 8:43 PM |

Thursday, May 08, 2008

 
Yum

I'm losing my battle with the ants, I'm very tired due to lots of extracurricular activities, and the mercury is rising. But, all is well because I have discovered Tofutti Cuties. I've always wanted to try these, but my usual grocery store doesn't carry them, and my back-up grocery store doesn't either. But tonight I went to a third grocery store that has a ton of vegan food and found the chocolate Cuties. Really good, and honestly, if I didn't know they were vegan, I would have assumed they were real ice-cream. The price point is steep though, especially when you compare these to regular dairy ice cream sandwiches, and while they were good, they weren't as satisfying as my fruit bars, not to mention that at 130 calories per snack bar, I might as well eat the real dairy version. But all in all, very pleased -- these things are goooood.

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| 9:36 PM |

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

 
Ants

The ants have migrated from my kitchen to my bathroom. They are attacking my mouthwash. Unbelievable.

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| 8:39 PM |

Sunday, April 13, 2008

 
The tax man cometh

So I'm finally finished my taxes and now it's a question of just getting everything addressed and mailed off (certified, of course). Some people have been surprised that I've waited this long to mail my taxes, but here's the deal -- I owe Uncle Sam money, and I'm in no hurry to turn it over to him. I did my taxes back in January, discovered the sad truth, and have been sitting tight ever since. Of course, there's the thought that if I owe taxes, that means I've had income this year. Still, that's minor consolation when it comes to actually paying up.

I did learn something new while doing my taxes. I've always taken advantage of a particular tax "savings" strategy for the last few years and I've always thought I've made a smart financial move. Well, come to learn this year, I've been an idiot and a fiscal nicompoop. In a nutshell, to save $1 in taxes, I had to spend $7 and the net loss to me is $6. If I went to any thinking adult on the street and said, "Hey, if you gave me $7, you could save $1 on your taxes, how about it?", the any thinking adult on the street would laugh in my face and walk away. I should note that the $7 that I "gave away" for every $1 wasn't for the purpose of owning tangible property, so I'm essentially out assets all for a measly savings; I'd have come out ahead if I'd just taken the tax hit. Clearly, I won't be doing this again next year. Live and learn, I guess.

I think the same thing is true about a house about how you get a break for the mortgage, and I haven't done the math, but I think it's the same concept as my "learnings" above. Yes, homeowners get a tax deduction, but it's something like you have to pay $1 to get 33 cents back on your taxes. I mean, it's better than not getting the 33 cents back and if you're going to buy the house anyway, then it's moot and maybe even a bonus, depending on your circumstances. But the more I think about it, the tax arguments for buying a house seem kind of nicompoopish.* There's an interesting article here that basically says depending on your house, location, equity, etc., the tax benefits of a mortgage payment can vary. With my luck, I'll be the couple in Akron, OH, who get absolutely no tax benefit from owning a home.

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| 8:40 PM |

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

 
RL update

I started a new job on Monday and it's been busy and I haven't had time to blog when I come home, just because it's been kind of intense and I've been tired. Which is funny because I didn't have time to blog when I was house hunting and once I stopped that, I was blogging all the time. I'm hoping things settle down soon and I'll have more time to say things.

And oh! I filled up my tank for the first time in more than a week on Tuesday evening and I calculated during my experimental "hyper-miling" phase I got nearly 37 miles to the gallon (36.575 for those of you into precision). My Corolla gets 30-32 mpg on the highway and 25-28 mpg in the city. So yes, driving slower (when it was safe) and cruising to stop signs and traffic lights does work and saves gas.

That is all.

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| 10:21 PM |

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

 
Now that's yummy!

I'm waiting for my veggie tofu bake to cook, and in the meantime, I generated this:

My Chipotle Burrito:

Chipotle Fan.com


Which is really making me feel like I ought to say heck to the healthy veggie tofu bake, jump in my car, and drive to Chipotle and order one up. Clearly, I need to work on will power and resolve.

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| 6:41 PM |

Thursday, March 27, 2008

 
Today

It's been a Dateline kind of day. Film available offline.

In other news, a combination of super saturated SHOUT, bleach, Woolite, and Ajax dish soap can mostly get red wine spatter out of a white sweater.

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| 11:12 PM |

Monday, March 24, 2008

 
DT redux

I'm fast (and scarily) becoming a Discount Tire groupie. I ended up having to go there after work because my car was vibrating and shaking so violently on the interstate that I was genuninely concerned about safety. It had been vibrating at over 60-65 mph on my way home yesterday and then this morning, the threshold dropped to the 55 to 60 mph. I called Discount Tire to see if they could get me in at lunch time but their wait time was about 90 minutes. I figured I'd put it off until tomorrow or the weekend.

Well, on the way home, the shimmy and vibration grew fierce enough that I became concerned. I was confused too because Discount Tire had told me that they had rebalanced my tires on Saturday but the last time this had happened, it was a balancing issue. I was really hoping it wasn't anything more severe. There was a Discount Tire on my way home, so I got there around 5:15 pm and they were able to get my car in and out in just over an hour. Apparently, the tires were out of balance. Weird. Anyway, once I got back on the highway, I floored it to 70 mph, a speed I rarely hit in my decade-old Corolla, and there was just the very slightest vibration. So problem (mostly) fixed, and again, at no charge.

But yeah, I've been to Discount Tire three times in four weeks. They're probably going to start flagging me as a problem customer. Shessh.

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| 9:13 PM |

Saturday, March 22, 2008

 
Nostalgia

I was reading old comments from previous ASC Awards and the trip down memory lane was fun. So many stories, so many great writers, so much enthusiasm, interest and *fun*. I miss that. What was scary though was I don't remember half the stories I wrote and that appeared in the Awards. I saw some comments for one of my stories and I was like, "Huh? I wrote that?" Reading the comments though made me more motivated to actually write something. We'll see. Maybe I'll go back and find some of those old stories I read comments about; after all this time, it'll be new (probably scary) to me!

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| 10:49 PM |

Customer service

I don't think I can adequately express in this blog just how much, just HOW MUCH, I heart Discount Tire. Seriously, the service is awesome, quality is great, and you can trust these guys to make a problem right -- even when it's not THEIR problem. I've had two recent experiences with Discount Tire that pretty much sealed the deal for me. The first was when I needed to get my tires balanced. Three of my Frankestein tires are from Discount and the other is from Firestone. So I fully expected that Discount would give me the three tires I'd bought from them for free and I'd have to pay the rebalancing on the fourth. They gave me all four tires for free. Awesome and unexpected.

The second story came today. My car -- 10 years old! -- failed the state safety inspection (but hey, it passed the emissions tests no problem, so... yeah?) and so I needed to get a brake job in order to pass. So I took the car in, got the brake job done, and then the techs there told me there was something wrong with the lug nuts and then the studs and the threads and all those scary things techs tell you and you think, "OH MY GOD, I AM GOING TO DIE WHEN I GET ON THE HIGHWAY." So I went back to Discount Tire because they were the last ones to deal with my tires. I told them nicely (I've learned my lesson re yelling at mechanics; more on that in another bloggity) that I trusted their opinion, the brake job people scared me, could they check out my lug nuts, studs and threads? Anyway, when I called them back later, they told me not only were they replacing my lug nuts, they were ordering them from another store (hooray?). I got my car well before the 2 pm time they told me and not only that, they didn't charge me for the new lug nuts, even though I have no idea where the problem (if any) originated. Also, they rebalanced my tires and put air in them. For free.

The best part was when I offered to pay for the lug nuts and they said no. I said, are you sure? And the response? "Yes, just come back and see us again."

I heart Discount Tire.

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| 10:33 PM |

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

 
3 am

So no two clocks in my life have the same time. The variation is as little as 5 minutes and as much as 40 minutes. Currently, the clock in my car is correct because my dad changed it and it's throwing me off my game a little bit. I look at the time and it's actually the right time and I lack the comfort of the 23 minute "buffer" that used to be there. Any day now, I'm going to change the time on my VCR so I don't have to subtract 3 minutes from the beginning time of a show and add 3 minutes to the end. You'd think it'd be easier to just have the right time. I've completely given up on my microwave clock and I don't set it anymore. I have two wrist watches and one of them has the right time and the other doesn't. I don't know which is which. I'm not usually late though.

My alarm clock is the biggest problem child. I have no idea how many minutes fast it is. I think it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 minutes. I set it fast when I changed jobs last summer because my commute, time wise, is now 3 times longer and to get there on time, I'd have to leave my apartment at the same time I used to wake up to get to my previous job. But I have this thing -- I don't believe in waking up before 7 am, an irony you realize when I tell you the second alarm on my clock is set for 3:30 am, the time I wake up to go to the airport. But anyway, my normal alarm goes off now at "6:30 am" and then I proceed to hit snooze until the clock reaches "7:00 am". That's when I roll out of bed, and start to get ready for work. Yesterday, I looked down at one of my two wrist watches and realized it was only 6:40 am and I'd already been up for 30 minutes. Some fictions only go so far.

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| 9:34 PM |

Friday, February 29, 2008

 
Hmmm, shiny tech

Apparently you can put a "call me" button on your weblog now, courtesy of google. If I do such a thing, it means you all can call me -- without knowing my phone number -- and leave messages on my voicemail. The more techy me of a decade ago would have been all over it. The new me is just overwhelmed by the myriad ways people can get in touch with me and somehow, even with two cell phones, three email address, one land line, three AIM name and on one Y!messenger name* it's not enough ways to keep in contact. I can't even imagine what life on Myspace has got to be like. Isn't that one long contact fest?

* BTW, I'm not counting the three ways you can contact me at work.

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| 9:46 PM |

Sunday, February 24, 2008

 
House part II

I've seen more than 50 houses now and my choices still haven't clarified themselves, but I'm getting closer to narrowing in what I like.

* First, is it worth buying new construction in a new neighborhood that's surrounding by shady surroundings? I drove through there last night and was happy to see a public library right across the street from the new subdivision and I was reassured by the presence of a gigantic FBI building and two churches. But other than that, the street's main residences are crumbling apartment complexes. I looked up the rent on them and they're $400/unit. There are no nearby convenience stores that don't have bars on the window. I realize that if I buy in this neighborhood, which has everything I want except location, I will pretty much hang out in my house because there is nowhere -- not even a McDonald's -- to eat or go that looks remotely safe.

* Second, is it worth buying a fixer upper in an older, established neighborhood that is becoming gentrified? Lots of new construction, lots of renovations and remodeling in this neighborhood and a new Starbucks in process of being built. In this case, I'd be buying a hobby not a house, and it could turn into a money pit. But at the same time, I'd be in a house that will appreciate probably at a better and faster rate than the new construction.

I have pretty much ruled out townhomes, and anything that looks too contemporary. I like Victorian architecture, but barring that, I don't want anything that looks too dated on the outside or that appeals to very specific tastes, such as metal exteriors.

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| 10:00 PM |

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

 
Home shopping

Things I've considered in the past 10 days:

* Number of bedrooms -- 2 to 4 and in one occasion, 5. What the heck am I going to do with more than 2 bedrooms? But here in Sweat Sock City, more is often cheaper.

* Verticality -- How high do I want to live? In Sweat Sock City, developers like to build up, not out. Yesterday I visited a 4-story house. I'm in good shape, but good grief. By the time I got to the fourth story, I was done for.

* Yard -- How much land do I want? At one point, I wanted a lot of land, and another point, I was all about paving it over with cement. Who needs greenery?

* Granite! -- And other such options. Tile in the kitchen? Laminate backsplashes (ugh!), hardwood floors, Berber carpet, spindle railings, art niches; these are the things I've been thinking about. Only a couple are a must have for me.

* Proximity to things I like -- This is a big thing. For a while, I was reluctant to look outside of my current neighborhood, which is young and professional and up coming and hip and all those things. I found the house I like just a few miles outside of where I wanted to buy a house and for quite a bit less.

I'll keep you posted on progress.

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| 10:32 PM |

Thursday, February 07, 2008

 
No love

So I'm already having a falling out with the IRS. I don't have a problem paying taxes because I understand that taxes are what makes this country go. It's what provides the roads that take me to work and the various other amenities we enjoy. What I just can't deal with are the archaic language and form numbers and good GOD, all the convoluted financial stuff that is possible. Apparently if I sold a sheep for a loss while standing on my head and singing "La Bamba" to a trio of underprivileged school children, I'll get a tax credit. When I'm reading through, I'm like, "Why didn't *I* think of that?" I'm finding out soooo many interesting things that can get me qualified for the Alternative Minimum Tax. On second hand, maybe I won't sell my sheep in 2008...

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| 11:10 PM |

Note to self

Shredding tax documents very, very, very bad.

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| 10:11 PM |

Saturday, February 02, 2008

 
Saturday morning

I really envy people who can turn off their internal clocks and sleep in. It's Saturday morning, I was darn tired last night and fell asleep in front of the television before 10 pm. I woke up around 7, just a few minutes later than my usual wake-up time. This is a plus in the sense I rarely oversleep during the workweek, even when it's difficult to wake up, but on the flip side, when I'm tired or go to bed late -- say 3 am in the morning, though I can't remember the last time that happened -- I still wake up at the same time. Aggravating, aggravating. I guess that's what Saturday naps were made for, but even those are slip sliding away from me. ::sniff::

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| 7:55 AM |

Saturday, January 19, 2008

 
Weighty matters

Last night some friends and I were discussing just how hard it is to find exercise information for women who actually (gasp!) want to lift weights and develop muscle tone. Most of the advice articles I've read are all about lifting less weight for more reps because heaven forbid women have muscle tone. I've been lifting weights for about two years now, and the most I can say for my muscle tone is that I no longer jiggle. It's incredibly frustrating because we're only a couple months away from tank top season and I really want well-defined arms. The only thing I can think of now is to reduce body fat percentage so the muscles that I do have show through.

We also agreed that we love push-ups. It's a weird thing to acknowledge, especially since two years ago, I could barely do one on my knees. Now I can routinely do at least one set of 12 push-ups without going to my knees, and on rare occasions, I've managed three sets of 12 without knees. Seriously, there's nothing more empowering and psychologically uplifting than finishing a set of push-ups.

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| 3:48 PM |

Monday, December 24, 2007

 
On the road with Seema

I've been discombobulated lately, which is why you haven't heard much from me. In the last 10 days, I've been in 6 different cities -- one of them twice. My suitcase has taken up residence on the living room floor and I don't know what's in it anymore. I vaguely recall throwing sweaters and turtlenecks in one day, and then replacing all of those with t-shirts, only to learn my destination had temperatures in the 30s and 40s. Frequent flyer miles are building, as is my toiletry collection. You'd think after all of this, I'd get the TSA rules down, but no -- last week I forgot the little baggie and got my toothpaste tossed out. Yes, I was one of *those* people.

I've run out of steam, basically. I've got a few days off now and I might write, but mostly I want to figure out if Shakespeare was actually Shakespeare or someone else. I also have a couple of book reviews to put out, and some major cleaning/organizing/tidying to do. I really just want to spend one whole day lounging around, not having anywhere to be, or any baggies to organize or think about whether I need a sweater or a short-sleeve blouse. I might even (gasp) watch some television and if I'm really, really lucky, I'll catch a movie. But mostly, I just want to relax.

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| 9:54 PM |

Monday, November 19, 2007

 
Chariots of smoldering embers

So I've taken up running. This has been a slow jog in progress since probably mid to late September. Today, I successfully finished 2.5 miles in 31 minutes, and my one mile time was 11 minutes; not too shabby. I'm definitely feeling stronger and my stamina is there, but fatigue and I are now best friends. I sleep awesomely, deep and hard, through the night, and honestly, when I come home, my futon is my favorite place to rest my weary legs. My original goal was to hit 5 miles by Dec. 9. I don't think that's going to happen, but I am getting close to my goal of a 10 minute mile. I think 3 miles at a 12-minute mile average pace will, however, be very doable by goal date. I'll just stagger and limp my way through the last 2 miles.

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| 8:57 PM |

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

 
These twists and turns of fate

I don't listen to music much anymore except on my commute to and fro. It amuses me because I used to have my headphones glued to my ears and I never thought there'd come a day when I didn't know everything there was to know about the Top 40 chart. Now that I'm in the car a lot more, I do know more of what's out there, but still nothing like when I was a teenager.

One of the songs I really like is Pink's "Who Knew?" It's one of those songs that just really encapsulates a certain sentiment, one that I didn't even know I had, but then then song comes along and it's like "OMG, you too?" Pretty much anything, starting back with by Rob Thomas has that same effect on me. Carrie Underwood's "Before He Cheats" amuses me greatly even if I can't identify it with at all; I think it's "you go girl!" element that I like the best.

Most music just plays in the background, but there are other songs that I think if I were to put together a soundtrack of my life, they'd be included as lyrical descriptors, putting both emotional distance and solidarity together in one 3 1/2 minute bundle.

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| 10:16 PM |

Sunday, November 04, 2007

 
If you're on this list, I need your email address

Pretty please send an email to the Top Sekrit Addy (tm):

T'Other Liz
Alex Voy
Jerie
Busy Bee (work address)
jemima
Tracy
Sarah K (aka munchkin's mom)

Everyone else, I believe I have your email address saved in my Yahoo! address book.

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| 9:11 AM |

Out of practice

I finally got around to upgrading my browser so I'm now blogging at you from SeaMonkey. But I also am so out of practice that I forgot to back-up my files. Okay, maybe not so much 'forgot' as relied on Mozilla's past track record of not writing over my files. Well, note to the wise: BACK UP YOUR FILES. I have lost every email sent to the Top Sekrit address since 2001 ::sniff:: including email addresses. Which means, if you've emailed me very recently and I didn't email you back, well, chances are you won't be seeing a response to that email. I'm actually more concerned about the email addresses since there are some people whose email I don't know by heart and not sure how I'm going to deal with those.

On the plug side, as related to last night's blog entry, I did lose some of those emails that I wanted desperately to delete and forget about, but couldn't, and now as fate has it...

If anyone has any idea of where my email might have disappeared to during the installation process, I'd love your input.

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| 8:37 AM |

Saturday, November 03, 2007

 
Letters never sent

I was thinking about an email I never responded to. It's been a while, and I don't know why it just stuck in my brain now. At the time, I was just floored by the contact because it had been so long -- more than 2 years -- since the last communication and I was finally getting to this 'good' place in my life where pieces were starting to fall back into place and make sense again, and then this email. A couple days later, another email came from someone else who hadn't been a particularly bright spot in my life and I thought, "Good grief, just pile on."

I made a polite but reserved and rather abrupt response to both emails and didn't respond to any further emails. There was, after all, so much I could say, so much I *wanted* to say, so much I wanted to *know* and maybe even some questions I wanted to ask. But in the end, I realized, it didn't matter. The past is the past, and how you treat people at the moment you walk out of their lives, well, that resonates for a long time. In fact, I think about it, because I was similarly harsh to someone else about 18 months ago and I still feel badly about it.

I've been thinking about those unanswered emails, contemplating responding, but what's the point? In many ways, re-initiating contact, even for the sake of the apology, is selfish. The people who wrote to me had no idea where I was in my life, what I was feeling, or even what I had 'suffered' as a consequence of the minefields they left behind. Maybe they felt better by coming back into my life, I don't know, but I certainly didn't. Suddenly, here they were, reigniting memories I had firmly tucked away -- not forgotten, certainly, but I had learned to live with them. If I respond, or even if I send the apology that I so desperately want to send, it's not the thing to do. Sometimes, not hitting 'send' is the hardest thing to do.

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| 10:51 PM |

Monday, October 22, 2007

 
Home sweet home

So I'm home again, and while it's nice to be sleeping in my own bed again after being away for 10 days, it's also a little bit of a letdown, because I had a super marvelous vacation. For those of you not in the know, in the past week or so, I visited Budapest, Bratislava (Slovakia) and Vienna. All three cities were amazing and I had a great time. Bratislava, especially, was a very pleasant surprise -- not at all crowded, relatively inexpensive (given the plunging dollar, which made Vienna and London really painful), and the people there were extremely friendly, and more importantly, lots of vegetarian food!

I managed to do the entire week in about $1500*, which was my budget. I was concerned given the weakness of the dollar, but managed to mitigate the damage by eating pretty cheaply, buying few souveniers, taking public transport instead of private tours as I have in the past, and only going inside of a couple of castles, and skipping museums and churches entirely (many churches now charge admission to go inside -- anywhere from $2 to $10 depending on the church). I bought a 3-day pass for metro in Budapest and that worked great, especially given how freakish Control is about checking tickets there. In Vienna and Bratislava, I mostly walked, though I did buy the occasional metro ticket when the cold or my feet defeated me.

I actually stayed in a couple of four star hotels in Budapest and Vienna, courtesy of Priceline. I highly recommend using Priceline for booking your hotels. I was absolutely stymied while making my hotel bookings because I couldn't quite figure out where to stay, how much to pay, currency conversions etc, etc., and ended up on Priceline. The result was getting two Marriotts for $120/night each, when the going rate in Vienna was $250 a night and in Budapest, $400. Both hotels were located in the city centers, and in Budapest, the hotel was sitting right on the Danube, with a gorgeous view of the Castle and Citadel. There is no way I would have been able to stay in such hotels without Priceline.

As for Bratislava, I stayed in the Hotel Kjev, which to put it kindly, was a dump (the ceiling in the bathroom was literally falling, the sheets and pillows were frayed, there was no shower curtain on the tub, and I had some doubts on when it had last been cleaned, and the whole place reeked a little bit of Nair). However, the Hotel Kjev was right next to the Old Town and had a great breakfast included, so that helped a little bit. Plus, after staying at the Kjev, I really, really appreciated the Marriotts. :-)

All in all, this was one of my favorite vacations of all time. It was very relaxing, lots of fun, and I consumed lots and lots of chocolate, including the famous Sacher Torte at the Hotel Sacher in Vienna. I didn't think about work once, and that was really good for the trip, but rather discombobulating when I came home because it was like, "Okay, now where did I leave off again?"

My camera died during the Bratislava leg of the trip, so I'm not sure when I'll have pictures to post. I'm hoping it's just a question of having the wrong batteries for the camera and all will be resolved when I get the correct ones. That probably won't happen until this coming weekend when I'm more awake. I'll post some of the highlights of the trip tomorrow.

* Includes hotels, airfare, all transportation including trains, boats, taxis, buses and trams, food and drink, admissions, and souvenier shopping

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| 7:39 PM |

Saturday, October 20, 2007

 
Hello world!

Just wanted to say hello. Full blog entry detailing the last week will appear probably Sunday or Monday evening. Type at you then.

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| 8:35 AM |

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

 
The L word

I took this quiz to find out who I should support in the 2008 election. I thought my answers on the quiz put me middle of the road in terms of political leanings and that my likely candidates would be either Hillary Clinton or Barak Obama. Imagine my surprise when my first time through, my candidate turned out to be Mike Gravel, former Alaska Senator. I have never even heard of him. Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama were in my third tier of candidates, which I found really odd. Then I took the quiz again and my candidate this time around was Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel was second. Again, Clinton and Obama didn't even register in my top two tiers.

Maybe it's time to come to grips with the fact that I am indeed super liberal leftwing. Not sure why I'm reluctant to admit it; maybe because it's that I live in Very Red State, and don't want to stick out like a sore thumb, or maybe I'm just in denial. Still, no good reason to continue denying my leftiness (right down to my handedness!) so as of today, I'm officially disclaiming my claim that I'm a moderate Democrat and declare myself ultra leftwing liberal and goshdarnit, it feels good to admit it.

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| 9:11 PM |

Sunday, October 07, 2007

 
Race for the Cure

This weekend, I participated in the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure. It was my first 5K in literally years, and possibly the first time I was attempting to run 3 miles since probably high school when I was a competitive distance runner on a nationally ranked cross country team. Put in that perspective, the fact I huffed and puffed my way through the 5K is really a little bit embarassing.

The race was amazingly emotional. You get to the starting line and there are all of these people who have "In memory of" and "In celebration of" signs pinned to their backs. There are survivors running too. The statistics are sobering. But despite the emotional context of the race, it was also amazing to see that in Sweat Sock City, which is not known for being athletic, that something like 30,000 people showed up. I was a last minute registrant for the noncompetitive run, and my bib was in the 14,000s.

My goal was to be able to run 2 miles at the race. The course went right by my place and my goal was to be ablt to run to my street. This, I felt, would be a stretch, because the most I've run recently is one mile. My mile time is about 12 minutes right now, again kind of sad when I think about to high school when my mile time was around 7 minutes. So my secondary goal was to finish the 3.1 miles in 40 minutes. I was pretty sure that was doable. After all, I knew I could walk 3 miles with no problem.

The skies opened up just before the race and we all got completely drenched. This turned out to be a good thing actually as it was quite warm and the rain cooled us all down. The rain stopped during the run so that was nice. There were people cheering for us all the way and police officers had blocked off all the streets so that this ocean of human support could just roll its way to the finish line. It was actually pretty amazing to see just how many people had come to participate.

I felt really good at first mile and pushed to the second mile, and I was still feeling pretty good, except for the acknowledgment my knees aren't as young as they once were. I had a little trouble with the one gradual slope on the course, again embarassing considering I was a pretty good hill runner back in high school. I switched to the grass on the side of the road for the remainder of the course, and that helped out with the knees. The third mile was rough and I can't say my run was much faster than most people's walks, but hey, I didn't stop! I'm happy to report that I crossed the finish line at the 40-minute mark, running the entire way. (In high school, I did a 5K in around 22 minutes).

There's a 5-miler in December that I'm going to shoot for now. My goal for that is to run the 3 miles without looking like I'm about to pass out on the side of the road. I originally was going to try to drop my mile time to 10 minutes, but now my goal is longevity. I think the mile time will come as I keep working at it. After all, a month ago, I couldn't even run a mile, let alone finish a 5K. So all in all, it was a very good experience for a very good cause.

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| 8:57 AM |

Sunday, September 30, 2007

 
Snip, snip

I cut off all my hair. My head feels about 10 pounds lighter. I'm not sure what to do with the new, shorter look, which now that it has dried, makes it appear that a giant bush with unruly branches is attached to my neck. The good thing is my hair grows back very, very quickly.

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| 9:12 AM |

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

 
Jetsetter

So last week I went to the East Coast and returned, all in less than 24 hours. It was a crazy trip, fast and furious, but everything went well and I was very relieved to be back home after what can be, by all accounts, termed a successful trip. I just find it amazing that 8 pm in the evening on Tuesday I was standing in the rental car lot at the Philadelphia Airport and by 8 pm the next evening, I was walking through the garage at Sweat Sock City's airport looking for my own car. The funniest thing was just how many people on my return flight had flown to Philly the day before as well and most of them had taken the later non-stop flight. Ah technology. You can be gone and back before anyone even notices...

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| 9:37 PM |

Sunday, September 16, 2007

 
Keeping house

I heard or read somewhere recently that if something will take you less than 20 seconds to do, you should do it right away. So I tried it one day and unwittingly, in less than an hour, I had most of my place cleaned up. I've been going by that philosophy pretty much every day now and the big pay off came this weekend when I was sitting on my futon trying to figure out what in the heck chores I needed to take care of. Usually a good chunk of every weekend is devoted to taking care of things I didn't do during the week. Yet, this weekend, I found myself curiously free of mundane things like putting away my work clothes or folding laundry or emptying the sink of dishes. All of those things had already been accomplished and I was left with my usual weekend chores of bathroom cleaning and shopping. It was an awesome feeling.

The other thing I'm working on right now is cleaning my closet. I've gone on a couple of shopping sprees lately to replace and update my outdated wardrobe. My new job requires a more professional look and I've also been working out hard and with enough watchings of "What Not To Wear", I also know how to dress myself. The end result is that I have to donate older clothes to make room for the new (good-bye high-waisted, elastic pants! (g)). My problem comes out of a sense of loyalty. There are things hanging in my closet that just look old and tired and I haven't worn them in forever. But they have nostalgic effect for me and even though I know the chances of wearing them are next to nothing, I can't bear to part with them.

For instance, I have a skirt hanging in my closet that I bought just before starting my job at Very Big Insurance Company. Hem lines were much shorter 10 years ago than they are now, and the skirt is high waisted. The material is black rayon with speckles of tan all over it it, so it isn't the most pretty thing around. I wore it recently and it wasn't particularly flattering, yet I can't bring myself to part it with it. The other candidate for dismal is a pretty green cordoroy jumper that is too precious for words and I still love it, even though I acquired it back in college. Again, the hem length is way too short for someone in the three decade of life. Still, can't part with it. I have a tank top from college that I keep thinking I'll wear, but with new styles today, the shirt isn't long enough to reach the tops of my low-rise pants, so I can't wear it or I'll be flashing people all day long. Yet, it still hangs, somehow earning reprieve after reprieve. Too bad the 20-second rule isn't as effective on my closet as it is on the rest of my house.

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| 4:11 PM |

Sunday, September 02, 2007

 
Sunday not so blue

I can't believe the weekend is 66 percent finished. I shouldn't be dismayed, because I got a lot done, including finishing that story I've been belly-aching about for MONTHS. I finished it this morning and parts of it fell immediately into place and other parts that have been bugging me were 'easily' rectified. It's as if I had to put it aside for a while, let it ferment, and then go off and do a whole lot of reading just to remind myself how it's done. In fact, I think the break was good for me because I'd fallen into a rut, was making the same stylistic choices and using some of the same phrasing over and over again. I'm not saying I didn't do that here, but I do think I approached it with a somewhat different mindset because I've been away so long.

I also think my summer of reading was a good way to ease back in. I was able to see what worked for writers and what doesn't work. Plus, I was exposed to different styles of writing, different genres, different cultures and different tonal qualities. All of that helps shape my approach. The lack of exposure and laziness got me into my old pattern and yes, it worked for a while, but it was kind of like writing the same story over and over again. The feel was always the same, the characterizations, the moods, etc. I'm not necessarily saying that's gone this time around, but I'm more aware and I think that's important. Hopefully I can keep this momentum going.

I finally tackled those pesky house chores that just never seem to go away. What's up with the sink NEVER being completely empty of dishes? What about the laundry that never seems to be done? It's like I empty the sink and do dishes and turn around and lo behold, gotta do it again. Oh well. If this is the worst problem I have to deal with, I'll take it!

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| 6:00 PM |

Saturday, September 01, 2007

 
Three day weekend

It's the end of summer as we know it and wow, what a summer it's been. I closed one chapter of this summer by turning in all of my paperwork to the court this afternoon. I dropped my car off for an oil change and then walked the two blocks to the court. It was pretty warm, and I was feeling a little sore, since I had already worked out for 90 minutes this morning. I had to wait in line, but I felt happy because it was like FINALLY, I can put this all behind me and look at me being more than 30 days in front of the deadline.

Anyway, I got my stuff into the court clerk and was dismayed to learn that my 'receipt' is only that I've completed and turned the necessary paperwork in to dismiss my ticket. My ticket hasn't been dismissed and I STILL have to wait for the judge. The good thing is my deadline was Oct. 9 so if I don't hear anything via snail mail, I have plenty of time to call in and check before my Next Very Big Vacation (tm).

I continue to read my way through the summer. I already talked about Harry Potter and Khaled Hosseni's latest book. The Middle East theme continues as I most recently picked up "Reading Lolita in Tehran"; it's all about books forbidden in Iran, mostly concerning books I've never read. Now I know how "The Great Gatsby" ends. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I also finished Bob Woodward's biography of Hillary Clinton called "A Woman in Charge." Next on my list is "Gods and Generals" by Jeff Schaara. I also finished "Snowflower and the Secret Fan" by Lisa See and "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns, both for my book club. "A Confederacy of Dunces" is on my immediate reading list as well and I'm waiting for a bunch of books at the library.

All in all, a pretty decent summer. I've settled into the new job pretty well after a couple of months of stress and mental gymnastics. The commute and early hours are getting better, but I do miss the proximity of downtown and the pure joy I felt wandering through the narrow streets and gazing up at towers of glass and steel. My social life has gotten a little out of control with nearly something going on every weekend and several nights a week. Of course, I'm happy about that in the best possible way after several years of sulking on my futon. Finally, I am seeing some SERIOUS muscle definition. All those hours in the gym are paying off big time. I love the fact that when my arm stops moving, so do my triceps, biceps, and every thing else that used to jiggle. All in all, it's been a great summer and I'm sad to see it end.

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| 5:15 PM |

Sunday, August 12, 2007

 
Why does it always go

That I figure out what ails my story and how to fix it when I'm in the least possible position to fix it? I've been contemplating my latest disaster and deciding with uncharacteristic zeal that I want to resurrect it and fix it, whatever the quality, so I can at least have a recent accomplishment of "I wrote something! Hooray!" So the first problem was the de-evolution of narrative and description and dialogue into paragraphs of serial events told to you, the hapless reader.

I realize now that the paragraphs are important because they are the guideposts to the story's action. It's not necessarily the content of the paragraphs that is the problem but more the way I've related the story. A few 'telling' moments here and there sprinkled through a story isn't the kiss of death. An entire third of the story is. Now that I realize the exact issue, I also have some idea of how to fix it. At some point (meaning the future, not tonight, because lately I seem to excel at procrastinating), I will turn my paragraphs into something that cannot be advertised as a cure for insomnia.

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| 9:59 PM |

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

 
A long time gone

So I'm back, which is kind of what I said in my last post, and it's kind of misleading because I was never really gone. I felt like taking a hiatus from the internet for any number of reasons last week, though I was online a lot this weekend as I was taking a defensive driving course online (6 hours!) in order to get my speeding ticket dismissed. I'm pretty happy to say that at this point, I'm just waiting for paperwork to make its way to me so I can get the entire thing dismissed. I have until October 9th to file all the paperwork with the court, but really, I just want it over with. New developments make me think things are going to get a lot busier from here on out and the last thing I want to worry about is Sweat Sock City's finest showing up at my door to haul me off to the slammer because I forgot to take my course and file the paperwork. For the record, I'm happy to report that I did receive 100 percent on the final exam, though my record through the course was less than stellar -- somewhere around a 94.

I'm feeling out of practice. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting next time.

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| 8:46 PM |

Thursday, July 26, 2007

 
Back!

Hello, all, I'm back. I am finished the book and since I have no way of discussing it here without spoiling it, all I will say is that the 7 straight hours I spent reading the book were very enjoyable. Your mileage may vary.

I feel like I've missed a lot in the last few days. It was just Harry Potter that's been taking up my time, but I've been out and about. I'm supposed to be working on my story but somehow I don't seem that motivated to do something about my summary paragraphs and I feel very much like cheating and just saying "the end". But then I think, if JK Rowling did that, we readers would feel totally gypped. Not, btw, am I insinuating in any way that JK Rowling and I have anything in common except for maybe a love of coffee houses.

So how about you? Have you read the book? Was it worth the wait? The anticipation? And please, out of consideration, no spoilers.

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| 7:59 PM |

Thursday, July 19, 2007

 
Offline

Beginning tomorrow evening, I shall be offline. Well, offline as much as I can be. I'm hoping against hope that I will NOT be spoiled for Harry Potter and one of the only ways to assure that is to stay off the computer and not read the newspapers or watch television. As it is, the New York Times has already published a review of the book, and spoilers are everywhere. Some media outlets are better than others when it comes to this kind of stuff, but I don't want to take the chance.

I will get the book on Monday (hopefully) and it's gonna be a sprint reading session. So I'll see you guys when I'm done reading!

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| 8:13 PM |

Monday, July 16, 2007

 
Writer's block

It's not so much that I have writer's block -- I have lots of ideas and phrases running through my head at all times -- but that I despise editing with a passion. I mean, I really, really, really, really hate editing. There was a time when I didn't mind it, when I actually looked forward to the process, but now, it just grates on my nerves big time and the only way to avoid this necessary evil is to not write at all or do what I've been doing lately -- edit as I go along. Those of you who have been there done that know that the 'editing as you go along' process is not the wisest because it turns you, the writer, into an automatic self-critic and once you start second-guessing yourself, the story is not going to get off the ground.

I have a story that started off really well, even included some dialogue, but the last half of it is nothing but paragraphs of writing right to the anti-climatic end of the story; and yes, it reads as tediously as it sounds. The lazy in me is tempted to just leave it at that and slap a "the end" on it so I can move on to the next project which will be infinitely splashier and more exciting, but the critic in me is wagging her finger and saying, "Now, now, now, don't cut corners." What to do, what to do? In the end, quality's got to win over getting something done quickly, because if I'm not proud of it, then there's no point in sharing it with the world, right? So back I go to flesh out my lackluster endings and add in dialogue and detail and bring my sketchy paragraphs to life so my settings and characters 'pop'.

That doesn't change the fact I still hate editing.

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| 9:08 PM |

Sunday, July 15, 2007

 
Car talk

Here in Sweat Sock City, it's become a rage to have valet parking at restaurants, upscale ones and the not so upscale ones. It actually makes me a little crazy because I can park my own car -- an act I engage in at least four times a day. And then I show up at this restaurant and I have to give my keys to some guy I've known for about 2 seconds and trust them to park my car for me. It especially aggravates me when the restaurant in question has a huge parking lot -- such as the newest, hip spot just down the street from me. Huge parking lot and it's all valet. And not free valet either.

I don't get it. Is this some service that people really need? I understand in cases where the weather is bad or parking is hard to find, but in places with their own lots? I don't get it. It especially irritates me because most of these places, you'll spend at least $15/person for dinner, probably closer to $30, and then you have to also pay the guy to do something you can do yourself. Depending on the place, you're lucky if you can get by with $5 to the valet. It's just like a local big movie theatre complex here -- they charge you $3 to park there.

I no longer frequent places with valet parking or if they do have valet parking, I check around to see if I can park on the street. In a couple of cases, the weather was so bad and the only option was valet, I drove out and went to another restaurant entirely. Needless to say, I also don't go to the movie theatre where you have to pay to park (another movie theatre in downtown where you do have to pay to park, validates your parking ticket for you, so it's all good).

I bet valet parking adds some kind of 'status' to a restaurant and probably attracts a up-scale crowd. I'd really like to see some studies on it, because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only who is aggravated by this particular growing trend. I'm also curious to know how many people choose not to go somewhere because you have to pay for parking.

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| 9:19 AM |

Friday, July 13, 2007

 
Sweet dreams

Spend the night at IKEA! Can you imagine? It reminds me of that time in high school -- I'm pretty sure it was senior year -- when someone thought it'd be a great idea to have a class sleepover in the gym. You can imagine that no one got any sleep at all that night. I remember lying in my sleeping bag, debating the meaning of life with my friends as the shadows danced themselves into weird shapes on the cinder block walls. Things get kind of trippy in a high school gym at 3 am in the morning and when you're 18 and think you know everything there is to know.

Anyway, I have a hard time thinking about spending more than an hour at IKEA, let alone an entire evening, but if they'd throw in the flight to Oslo along with the bedsheets and bathrobe, I'd totally be up for it.

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| 10:10 PM |

Semantics, schemantics

I realized I used the word 'megalith' in this post in regards to the upcoming release of the last Harry Potter novel. I really meant the word 'juggernaut'. I'm eagerly looking forward to the book, even though I have very little memory of what happened in the last one, or even the five books preceeding it. I'm not a huge Harry Potter fan, probably pretty low on the scale, but I love the idea of being part of a huge reading community and devouring a book voraciously in a way that I haven't since, say, high school. These days, I tend to go at a very languid pace of about 3-6 pages a night if I'm lucky, and every now and then, I'll spend about 30 minutes reading.

But Harry Potter, well, that's a force of nature to be reckoned with and my speed will be dictated by the fact I don't want to be spoiled at all as to what happens and hence, I will need to read quickly to avoid from finding out the ending before I get there myself. This means I'll have to quarantine myself from all forms of media (::sniff::, Today Show), and maybe even people... In preparation, I've been trying to up my reading pace to about 10 pages an evening. We'll see how it goes. Since this will be a quiet weekend with no plans, I might spend a big chunk of time building my reading 'muscles', so I'll be game-ready when the book comes out next week...

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| 9:28 PM |

Monday, July 09, 2007

 
Pop Culture

Reading: Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
Movie watching: A Very Long Engagement starring Audrey Tatou
Television watching: What Not to Wear
Listening: Wide Open Spaces by the Dixie Chicks

I've been reading a lot lately and these are some of the other titles I've read and do recommend:

Return From Troy by Lindsey Clarke
One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead
I Love You, Nice to Meet You by Lori Gottleib and Kevin Bleyer
Four Queens by Nancy Bazelon Goldstone

I've checked out a lot of books from the library, but I read so slowly these days -- about a book every two weeks -- that the number of titles I started and not finished is immensely long. I am, however, greatly enjoying "The Inheritance of Loss", which is unexpected. Next on my list is Resolute by Martin Sandler and Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns, but of course, that's without taking the megalith that's Harry Potter into consideration.

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| 9:46 PM |

Friday, July 06, 2007

 
Rain, rain, go away

It's been raining non-stop for weeks now and it can stop at any time. There's this funky smell hanging over the city (hence my endearing name for it) because the storm drains are backing up pretty quickly and the drainage ditches that criss-cross the city overflowed their banks today. Fun all around. I'm watching a line of storms right now coming up from the south and whether it comes here or turns northward, it doesn't really matter. It's soggy no matter where you go.

I steered clear of any water on the streets on my way home from work today. I had to detour a lot because so many roads and intersections were under water, but that's okay. I had a high water experience about 10 days ago and I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown right there and then in the middle of a flood intersection. I got through it and pulled into a parking lot to wait it out, but once is enough for me. It's not worth the risk -- not to me, not to my car, not to anyone around me. Waiting*, as far as I know, has never killed anyone. But yet, I keep seeing truck after truck going into water that's at least as high as their grills. It's mystifying to me.

*for high water to recede, that is

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| 5:48 PM |

Monday, July 02, 2007

 
Wasabi!

So the other night, outside of a local sushi restaurant, I'm introduced to this woman. She looks vaguely familiar, her name is vaguely familiar, but it takes me a few minutes to figure out -- well, actually, I have to ask her, "So what do you do?" And even before she opens her mouth to respond, I had a sudden vision of torrential grey sheets of rain, cars stalled out beneath a gray overpass, and this woman knee-deep in water, cowering beneath an umbrella. It's in this moment of soggy clarity, I realize she's a journalist for the local NBC affiliate. "You're the one who's always standing in the rain when it floods!" I exclaim. "Oh gosh, I always feel so bad for you."

At least I didn't say, "Wow, you look really different without your raincoat and floppy rain hat..."

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| 10:17 PM |

Sunday, July 01, 2007

 
What's going on

So it's been a rather eventful week. I returned from a business trip to Philadelphia late one night after being delayed on the Philly tarmack for 2 hours. It was hot, hot, hot in Philly that day and when people from the deep south say it's hot, well, you know it's got to be hot. So I was not quite awake the next morning when I drove into work and got caught in a very strategically placed speed trap just half a mile from my apartment. Most excellent.

So I'm sitting there at the side of the road, fuming and wondering just how it was after four years of driving down this road, how did I not know the speed limit was not 40 mph, but rather 30 mph? The cop wasn't that nice to me either. He not only handed me a doozy of a speeding ticket (12 miles over the speed limit will cost you $188 here in Sweat Sock City), but I was also the lucky recipient of not one, but TWO citations, that in total add up to another $350. Luckily, one of the citations -- proof of financial responsibility -- I'll be able to get knocked off. The insurance card in my car expired in May and I'd neglected to replace it with the new one. So that's easily taken care of. The second citation, well, that's going to be interesting to deal with.

I never changed my driver's license address when I moved to Sweat Sock City four years ago nor when I was in Ye Olde University Towne six years ago. Instead, I put the parental units' address on my license, deciding that until I figured out where this tumbleweed was going to land, I wanted to have a permanent address. Well, the cop didn't buy that explanation and gave me a stern lecture: "You're not a child anymore, you don't need to rely on your parents." Methinks someone doesn't have a good relationship with his parental units.

Anyway, I went online to DPS to change my address and found out that my current address is way too long for the address bar and there's just nothing I can do about that, short of going to DPS in person (I'll call in the morning to find out what's what). So now I'm not sure what to do. My court date is on July 20th, which means I have 20 days to procure a new license to show to the judge and hopefully get my $100 fine on that waived. Except that it takes 15 to 20 working days to get a new license, which means if I can't do it online, I'm out of luck. ::sigh::

As for the speeding ticket, I've decided to accept responsibility and plead guilty/no contest (I was, after all, speeding) and petition to take a driver's education course. It'll still cost me some change, but if I successfully complete it (and this will be my third* time through, so I have no doubt I will pass it), then I avoid having this ticket on my license and no points will be added to my driving record -- which is very important to me, because I do have a clean driving record (no accidents in the past 6 years, one speeding ticket five years ago).

The lessons here are:
* Don't speed
* Make sure you have an up to date insurance card in your car
* Make sure your license address matches your insurance card

The first time I took it was for the insurance discount; we get 10 percent off our insurance premiums on successful completion.

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| 8:19 AM |

Sunday, June 24, 2007

 
Oops, I did it again

I bought a $320 suit for $54 at Macy's. And it's a classic style in charcoal gray, a quality brand, so nothing weird about it. Amazing. I needed a blazer and Ann Taylor had one on sale for $60 that was okay, but then I went to Macy's and the whole suit -- the only one left in my size -- was on sale for $60 and then I had them knock down the price 10 percent because it was missing a button (I can reattach it myself). Not bad, not bad at all. I love being a bargain hunter :-)

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| 7:57 AM |