12.19.04

One hour until my 29th birthday. Well, I think I was actually born around 8:00 in the morning, so I will probably be standing on the subway platform when this event takes place.

We have been popular this holiday season. Five party invitations in two weeks. Three were held on the same night, so we could only make it to three in total. All were equally fun, but the one last night lasted until much later and had a different vibe. Probably because M's sister and her husband were in attendance. That isn't a bad thing, just different. It was an interesting night that didn't end until around 4am. There were a few very memorable moments, but I won't speak of them. The fewer people that know of them, the better.

I am ashamed to say this, but I couldn't tell you the last time I was out that late. My schedule is totally off now.

Sorry this is a short post, but I promise to make up for it once I have finished my last paper for the semester and I am enjoying my two 4-day weekends.

11.30.04

With December almost here, I thought I would give you a link to Dickens' A Christmas Carol. This is offered through Project Gutenberg. If you haven't checked this site out, you should.

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/46

11.26.04

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. We stayed home and had a nice roasted chicken with mirepoix and for dessert, whipped pumpkin pie with ginger streusel. I was so happy that it turned out well. It was my first time roasting a chicken and my first time making a pumpkin pie. I am not a pumpkin pie fan, but Micah loves them. It wasn't a basic pumpkin pie, so I thought it was tasty myself. So did Zero.

We put up our tree this year. We haven't done this in four years. I have just never been in the mood to put it up and was always afraid Zero would go after the ornaments. So far, so good. It is an antique aluminum tree (1956 in its original box), so Zero doesn't bother with it. The ornaments are all shiny too, so I think he is a little afraid actually.

I was doing some research online, trying to get some gift ideas and I came across this anti-Barbie site for Feral Cheryl. I laughed about it, but the doll makes more sense than Barbie. I just can't imagine any of my cousins playing with it.

11.07.04

Just for the record, I voted for Kerry. If you know me at all, that isn't a surprise to you.

I also would like to admit that this was the first election that actually made me sick to my stomach and eventually led to a crying fit in the Butler Library 3rd Floor bathroom.

Is it just me, or does it seem that we really haven't come very far since the Civil War?

I know this has been mentioned before, but isn't it telling that the states MUCH more likely to be hit with another terrorist attack went to Kerry?

10.31.04

Yeah, Halloween. Actually, this has been the most uneventful Halloween ever. The highlight will be tonight, when we watch scary movies with some friends. That's it. No costumes or candy. Just chili, movies, alcohol, and cookies. Okay, that doesn't sound too bad.

I have a small collection of horror movies: Halloween (1st one), Friday the 13th (1st one), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1st one), Nightmare on Elm Street (1st one), Psycho (original), Misery, The Shining, Hellraiser, and The Exorcist. I think that's it, for now. We have decided on Halloween (my favorite) and Nightmare on Elm Street (with Johnny Depp).

Right now I am procrastinating as usual. I have a website to finish by Tuesday. The website is entitled "High-Performance Building Technologies." Pretty interesting, huh? This project is for my SciTech Resources course. I have to give a presentation explaining the navigation of the site, my audience, etc. . . I will post a link as soon as it is finished.

10.14.04

Again, sorry for the delay between posts. I have been busy and under the weather.

This past weekend I flew down to Tuscaloosa to surprise my dad for his 50th birthday. He was definitely surprised. He was working midnights, so sleeping during the day. My sister-in-law, Stacy, picked me up from the Birmingham airport and dropped me off at my parent's with a key. I snuck in and took a nap. I heard him wake up, so I went into the kitchen. When he stepped into the hallway, I called to him quietly, "Dad?" I didn't want to scare him to death. I think he was confused, because he walked into the living room. He thought my voice was coming from the answering machine, so I called him again a little louder. He heard me and followed my voice. "What are you doing here?", he asked. SURPRISE!

So, we had a good time. Just hung out at home, visited my grandmother, watched the Alabama game ROLL TIDE, and went out to eat and drink with Keenan & Stacy. My mom wasn't around most of the time, so it was father-daughter bonding time. She volunteers every year at the Moundville Native American Festival. I did get to ride around in her new car, a Mazda 6 Sportswagon. NOT an SUV, thank goodness!

I flew into LGA late Monday night. I made it to work, but was completely miserable. It's either my allergies or a cold. I am leaning towards allergies. I skipped work yesterday to rest up and get some of my school work done, since I am behind.

Well, that's my life at the moment.

9.18.04

As you have probably already guessed, I will not be posting as often as before. Things have really picked up at school and at work. Classes have started at both Queens College and Columbia. My boss is on vacation in Spain for the next two weeks, so work will be interesting for a while. I will, of course, be overwhelmed most of the time. Training work-study students is very time-consuming. It is much more difficult than I imagined it would be, but I am learning much about myself as a teacher this way.

Last week there were two deaths in my family. My cousin, Warren, died of AIDS after battling the disease for four years. His nephew, Dwayne Jr., shot and killed himself after a break-up with a girlfriend. He was only 16 years old. My thoughts are with the immediate family.
Rather than sending flowers, I made a donation to the AIDSfund in Warren's memory. Honestly, I never thought the disease would ever touch my family. I know that was naïve of me, but you never want to think of those things.

On a lighter note, I have registered for the annual ALA MidWinter meeting in January. It is being held in Boston and since I have a free place to stay (Hi Mandy!), I couldn't resist.

9.6.04

Apologies on the lengthy absence. The fall semester has started and I am trying to get back into the swing of things. Both of my classes will be loads of work, but it will be worth it. I have a feeling that these classes will be my best so far in the program. One is a reference course with emphasis on science & technology and the other is also a reference course, but emphasizing business resources. Both of these areas are my weakest, which is why I signed up for both courses. I have never had great interest in either subjects, but that doesn't matter to the patron. I must be prepared for those type of questions.

Our Labor Day weekend was beautiful. We took Zero to the park and he had a grand ole time with a Boxer puppy. The rest of the weekend was dedicated to studying. Micah is studying for his exams and I am drowning in library research. Oh, autumn!

I am counting the days until Halloween. I cannot believe I don't already have a costume in mind. Ideas?

8.25.04

Okay, here's the last of our Philadelphia story. Monday was our last day. We were so dead tired that we lounged around and leisurely made our way closer to the bus station. We wanted to check out the Reading Terminal Market before leaving town. It is such a cool market. It is actually indoors and is a perfect place to meet someone for lunch. There are so many different types of food to choose and although I hate to say it, it was a little like the food court at the mall. Well, except that these weren't separate stores. Instead it was all out in the open. Loved it. Micah and I grabbed sandwiches and a doggie treat for Zero. We took the 2:00 bus back to NYC. Great trip.

8.21.04

So, continuing my Philadelphia story.

On Sunday, we started our day by wandering around the Art Museum area. This is the neighborhood seen in the photos below. We loved this area. It was really nice and had a mix of people--young, old, singles, families, etc. . . This is definitely the neighborhood at the top of our list for purchasing a home.
We stopped and had brunch at another Moroccan place called Figs. I had a very excellent Eggs Benedict. Note that the breakfast served was not really Moroccan, although Micah had his eggs with some sort of Moroccan stew.
After brunch, we toured the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Wow, this place is huge. There were many pieces there that I was unaware of them having. I won't list all the artists, but will say that you cannot see everything in one day. At least not well.
Then we walked up to Fairmount Park. It is a very large park, but unfortunately we were hot (very humid) and tired (after the museum.) We walked back towards Center City. We had trouble catching a bus because there was a very large musical festival going on. Not sure what festival, but the music was not up our alley. It seemed to be a mix of gospel and r&b.
We grabbed the 23 bus and rode through North Philly. This area has seen better days--or maybe it hasn't. It almost looks like a war-torn village. Not a pretty sight. I am not sure how safe it is there, but I wouldn't wander around at night. The destination of our bus trip was Chestnut Hill.
Chestnut Hill is nice if you want to live in Mayberry. We hated it there. It was TOO perfect. It gave me the creeps. As soon as we stepped off the bus (end of the bus line), we started looking for a way out. I felt bad that we wasted time on checking this neighborhood out. I had heard good things about the area. I guess it is good if you like the suburbs. Yuck!
Once we got back to Center City, we headed to Olde City and had a nice dinner at an Irish restaurant called The Plough & the Stars. It is an upscale place with live Irish music. It was very relaxing and after all the walking we had done, I had a hard time getting up out of my chair after the dinner was over.
Once I was able to actually stand up and walk, we again wandered around until we came to a place called Monk's Cafe. It looked pretty cool so we decided to check it out. This tavern's specialty is Belgian beers. The Beer Bible is pretty damn impressive. I just had a German Dopplebock (I wasn't in a adventurous mood, but Micah had a great Belgian beer. Sorry, but I can't think of the name of it now.

8.18.04

Hope you enjoyed the photos of Philadelphia. There are more if interested. Maybe I will post them later.
We really enjoyed our trip. We left Saturday morning and took a Greyhound bus from Port Authority. The trip was only about 2 hours, so not too bad. We checked into our hotel after stopping by the Pennsylvania Dutch festival. Sorry I don't have photos of that, but probably still have some pony poo on my sneakers. We bought some homemade coconut covered marshmallow, ginger snaps, and root beer. The homemade root beer was so yummy. Sounds like a healthy lunch, right?
Once we dumped our stuff off at the Club Quarters on Chestnut Street, we left on foot and just wandered around. We saw a little of Center City and Rittenhouse Square. We walked by Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell but didn't go inside. I really didn't want to have to stand and go through all the security. I figure we will be back and do the tourist thing another time.
We did stop at the Muetter Museum. If you don't know, it is part of the College of Physicians and is basically a museum dedicated to medical history including the weird stuff like Siamese twins. It was interesting and also disturbing. Definitely worth the visit.
After the museum, we made our way to South Street. This street is full of bars, restaurants, shops, you name it. I swear within 2 blocks, we passed 4 stores dedicated to sex toys. Of course we went inside.
We walked around Queen Village, which is a neighborhood I had heard about. It is very nice and we were lucky to come upon a great Moroccan restaurant called Fez. No menu, just a 8-course prix fix for only $20. The food, ambiance, and service were excellent. The belly dancer was a nice touch too.
After stuffing ourselves we waddled back down South Street and notice a little club on a side street. The name was terrible, Goosebumps, but the 70s funk lured me inside. The place was okay. I am not really into clubs anyway. We had a few drinks and then decided to head back to the hotel. We were so tired. It was pouring rain so we were totally soaked by the time we got back and had to hang our clothes out to dry as well as our shoes. Micah's feet were dyed black from his socks. Funny.

8.13.04

I was forwarded an interesting link on an article written by Kurt Vonnegut. He sings the praises of librarians, as everyone should.

Tomorrow we are traveling to Philadelphia to see some sights. We are also scoping the city out as a future place to live. Everything right now is up in the air. We must wait until I finish my MLS.

Any other cities out there that you would recommend? We are looking for a medium to large city. We would love a city with a mild climate, but would prefer very cold to very hot. Any city with horrible urban sprawl (Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles) is completely out of the question. We prefer our cities to grow towards the sky.

We love NYC, but the cost of living is too much. We have already ruled out Boston and San Francisco because they are just as expensive. We would like to buy something (condo, townhouse, whatever) INSIDE the city. None of this commuting crap. We would prefer an excellent public transportation system, but if we need to purchase ONE car and use okay public transit, that is exceptable. None of this two-car crap. Urban parks nearby are good, as are coffee houses (not chains!).

We like the East Coast, but are open to other areas.

Are we asking too much?

8.8.04

Okay, so I hope it doesn't seem too vain to post photos of myself. I was just trying to show the new hair color for those who haven't seen me in a while.

I have to say I am loving the color. Someone asked yesterday if I was in a band. I was flattered.

Right now I am procrastinating again. I should be working on a paper due Thursday as well as studying for my final. Ughhh.

Yesterday after the dye job and modeling stint (my pic will be on the salon website), we went for some Italian food with M & M. It was a nice, relaxing meal with good friends. You can't beat that.

Afterwards, we met up with Nicole and heading back to Queens. Nicole got to see the pad and meet my baby, Zero. He was obnoxious as usual, but he is so damn cute! We head to Tupelo for some whiskey and chat. See Nicole, Queens is cool! Well, at least our neighborhood.

8.6.04

Friday. This weekend might be busy. I am meeting up with Nicole tonight for her going-away party. Should be loads of fun. Tomorrow looks like hair-coloring and dinner. What color should I be next? I am thinking of doing a mix of red and blonde this time around.

Next week is the last week of my summer class. I will be quite relieved. I think there might be some schedule changing for the fall. I want to drop one of my classes because my current professor is teaching it. I hate his teaching style.

This week has been relatively quiet. I skipped work on Monday because Zero was sick. I think he ate something off the street, and it wrecked havoc on his stomach. I won't go into the details. Let's just say I didn't get any sleep and there was a lot of cleaning involved.

We did see the Metallica documentary. It was decent. I know the critics can't seem to agree. It wasn't as great as I wanted it to be, but worth the $10.50. It was an interesting look at a band falling apart.

Back to work.

7.31.04

Anyone heard of the musician Jonathan Rundman? He has the great song called "Librarian." I think I will have to buy the album and give it a listen.

7.29.04

Librarians against Bush

This blog was started by some librarians in Brooklyn. I thought about buying one of the t-shirts, but I am not technically a librarian.

7.28.04

Yeah, my midterm is over. It was quick and painless. I was worried that I did not study enough, when actually I studied too much.

My sunburn is still here and it still hurts, though not as badly. It will definitely peel. Damn it! I will look like a monster.

I have been thinking about taking some days off for the Republican Convention at the end of August. Don't worry--I am not planning on attending. I just don't want to be in Manhattan if I can help it. The subways are crowded enough during rush hour without the added madness.

I really want to see the Metallica documentary. Maybe I will see it this weekend.

7.26.04

Itchy. I got cooked yesterday while at the park. I thought about posting a photo, but it is a bit embarrassing. I know, I know, I should have been wearing sunblock. It was cool yesterday and quite cloudy. We stayed at the park longer than I thought we would, blah, blah, blah. The injured parts are mainly my back, shoulders, and chest. I was wearing a v-neck top, so it looks ridiculous. I just popped two aspirins. The pain seems to be getting worse. Stupid.

It was a nice day at the park though, until the sunburn set in. On Saturday, I got my hair cut pretty short. I mean, my hair is always short, but this is kinda punk-short--nearly shaved in the back and longer in the front. It feels great. After the cut, we all (me, Micah, Marianna, & Michael) went to the Barking Dog for some dinner. My Po'Boy was tasty. After dinner, we split up and Micah and I met up with Nicole and had a beer or two. It was a nice weekend and I did not study for my mid-term, which is tomorrow. Surprise.

7.23.04

If interested, here is a link to read the 9/11 Commission Report.

7.21.04 #2

My country is the world and my religion is to do good.

-Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man

7.21.04

Thinking about becoming a librarian or just wondering what I do? I found this information on the U.S. Dept. of Labor site about librarians and our job prospects.

ILL is still really slow right now. I have been told that it should pick up next month. I sure hope so. It is amazing how exhausting doing nothing can be.

I am not too happy with my summer course. It isn't what I expected and many of the students are extremely lazy. I just don't understand why you would pay money for a class and then not do the readings or homework. I want something for my money and time. Otherwise, it is just a waste.

Ranganathan's Five Laws of Library Science:
- Books are for use.
- Every book its reader.
- Every reader his book.
- Save the time of the reader.
- The library is a growing organism.

Added laws:
- Libraries serve humanity.
- Respect all forms by which knowledge is communicated.
- Use technology intelligently to enhance service.
- Protect free access to knowledge.
- Honor the past and create the future.

7.18.04 #2

Does it seem to anyone else that I live a really boring life? Sometimes I think so, but I find those who seemed to have an exciting life are either making things up or live in a fantasy world. I am not a drama queen, although Micah will argue that. He thinks I have a tendency to be a bit irrational sometimes. Okay, so I exaggerate.
 
Strange story with no exaggerations: Yesterday on our way to meet Nicole and Heidi, we were verbally attacked by a Bosnian women here in our neighborhood. It started when the woman asked Micah for a light. He pulled out his lighter and offered it to her. Then she says, "Okay, so I will keep this. You can buy another." Micah is a little annoyed at this remark and says, "No, you can't keep it." She then throws the lighter at us and starts waving her hands in the air and begins ranting. We cross the street and she follows us, continuing to rant about something like, "you killed my husband, you f*?#ing bastard" and "you f*?#ing Americans, Bush is the same as Slobodan Milosevich." Okay, we dislike Bush, but how did the fact that Micah didn't want to give her his lighter lead to this outburst? She started spitting at us as we walked into our bank to get some cash. One of the bank employees actually comes out and asks if we are alright. It was quite embarrassing. I must mention that this women was probably around 90 years old. People were staring at us like we did something to her. For the rest of the day, I was paranoid whenever an old woman walked by us. Strange.  

7.18.04

Oh lazy Sundays. Yesterday we did all of our weekend chores before noon. We are losers. We got up around 7:30 am because Fresh Direct was delivering between 7:30 and 9:00. While Micah waited for the delivery, I went and did laundry at the laundromat around the corner. Once the clothes went into the dryer, I walked to my doctor to get my bi-monthly allergy shot. I got back around 10 and we cleaned the apartment. I LOVE a clean apartment. I love it too much; it's a sickness.
 
After the chores were finished, we went into Manhattan to meet up with Nicole and Heidi for lunch. We met at Nicole's sublet and wandered around the area until we found a decent place. We settled for an Italian restaurant with outdoor sitting in the shade. It was quite nice. I enjoyed the carpaccio with arugula, avocados, tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella. Yummy.
It was a nice lunch and I enjoyed catching up with Heidi and gossiping about OU people.
 
Today, we are meeting up with Michael and Marianna to see Spiderman 2. We are watching it at the Loews on 34th because it has nice seating and huge screens. Should be a good time. Maybe we will stop for drinks after.
 
That's it.

7.13.04 #2

Micah sent me this link, so I thought I would pass it along. This company has been inserting this tag in t-shirts. It is rather funny.

I have to vent: this Ken Jennings guy on Jeopardy is really making me mad. We watch Jeopardy pretty regularly and this guy has really taken the fun out of the game. He knows nearly every answer and keeps getting better every game because he is used to the buzzer, set, etc. . . Jeopardy better rethink their change in policy. UGH!

7.12.04 #2

I have surfed into this blog called Library Avengers a few times and I always get a chuckle out of it. There are so many librarian blogs that I couldn't begin listing them. If I find interesting ones, I will post them.

Right now, I am procrastinating. I have a paper due on Thursday and of course I won't start on it until Wednesday night. Why, oh why am I like this? Does anyone else suffer from this affliction?

7.12.04

Mondays. I woke up feeling pretty terrible with my allergies. I popped a Benedryl so now I am drowsy. We had a office meeting today to discuss office policies. I can no longer surf the web while at work. Well, I can during my breaks. I am fine with that. Actually, I usually don't use the internet for personal reasons, except during breaks. It is just since we have been so slow, it is tempting. It is either that or stare at a wall. I guess I will be staring at a wall from now on.

This past weekend was good. It was a bit humid, but not unbearable. The only interesting thing we did was go to the Beer Garden. We met some friends, including Nicole. I had not seen her since Amy's wedding. She looks great and seems to be enjoying the NYC life while she is here. Maybe she will eventually move back north?

I talked to my dad last night for a while. It was a good conversation. Just yaking about my childhood, parenting, etc. . . Yes, I am thinking about kids, but not anytime soon. I think it is good to discuss this sort of thing with my parents. I can always use the advice and don't want to repeat the same mistakes they made with us. I am not saying they were bad parents at all. Nobody is perfect and all is forgiven.

What are other's thoughts on parenting? Do you talk about it with your parents?

7.8.04

I am a little aggravated. I actually posted a few days ago, but it never appeared. It seems that when you are not using Internet Explorer with Blogger, things can go very wrong.
I stopped using IE because of all the scares and also because Butler Library wants our employees to now use Netscape Navigator. So, now I am using Navigator at work and Opera at home. Blogger doesn't support the version of Netscape we are using or Opera, any version.
Crap.

I apologize for not having posted and also for not having links. The nice linking feature only works with IE. Damn Microsoft!

My summer class has started and is going well so far. We have loads of reading since it is a condensed session. We are squeezing 15 weeks of work into 6 weeks.

Just in case some of you don't know, my brother-in-law, Mark, is now in Afghanistan with the National Guard. I just mailed out our first care package to him. I hope it gets there in one piece.

Well, that's it for now.

7.5.04

We did get to see some fireworks last night, but it wasn't because of the 4th. Greece won the EuroCup, so the neighborhood went insane until the wee hours of the morning. We were barbecuing at some friends' place, also in Astoria, and we could hear all the honking and yelling from their apartment. The roar of the crowd made it seem like we were actually at the game. Those crazy Greeks.

Tomorrow is the beginning of my summer class. I am excited, but I would have like to have had some more time off. It is a condensed, six-week course, so it will be over before I know it.

7.2.04

Unbelievable, it is already July. The weather has, up until today, been quite nice. Today the air was quite thick and sticky. Yuck!

This weekend's plans consist of seeing Fahrenheit 9/11, browsing Labyrinth Books, and maybe eating at Tom's restaurant. All of this happens on the Upper West Side near CU. For the 4th, it looks like we will go to some friends' place and barbecue. We are thinking of playing some pool as well. It sure has been a long time since I played pool. As I recall, my game is better if I am slightly intoxicated.

I hope everyone's holiday weekend turns out well.

Cheers!

6.28.04

Today I applied for a new position at Columbia. It is a supervisory position and pays much better than my current one. I am not sure if I have a real shot at it, especially since I just started in February. I do think I would be perfect for the job, but it will require more responsibility as well as not-so-great hours. I have kinda gotten used to the whole 9 to 5 thing.

Besides that nothing much is happening. We are still trying to decide what we were are doing this 4th of July. It is supposed to rain, so fireworks and a barbecue are probably out.

6.23.04

I have decided that I cannot read the Onion while at work. I almost spit out my coffee after reading the horoscopes--they're my favorite.

I forgot to mention that Micah and I witnessed the Olympic Torch being carried down the main street in our neighborhood. I guess it is a once-in-a-lifetime kinda thing, but was really boring and uneventful.

Work is still pretty slow and boring right now. I think things should pick up next month. My summer class, Libraries & the Internet, starts up on the 6th of July. I have already gotten my textbooks and they seem pretty interesting.

My friend Anna informed me that she has a new job in Long Island, so she will be driving to class. This means I have a ride home this fall semester. Yeah! I won't have to wait for the bus.

For those who are not in NYC, there have been several subway shootings this month. One was at my neighborhood station. Some people seem to be getting freaked out about the whole thing, like there are people with guns randomly shooting bystanders. I think the model who was shot at Times Square was actually random. The papers don't think she was the actual target. That is a little scary. The victim at the Steinway shooting was the CEO of Drake Business School, which recently closed down. There were many layoffs and some financial irregularities at the school. Not random. The shooting last night in Chelsea did not seem random to me either. Witnesses said the shooter(s)seem to know the victim.

This all being said, I feel as safe today as I did yesterday.

6.21.04

I was just looking over my blog and thought that I have quite a lot of links in my entries. I guess it could be annoying to some, but my parent's will be reading this and they will enjoy the links. That way they can see what I am talking about. Hi Mom and Dad!

Does it seem strange that I am letting my parents in on my blog? The purpose of this is just to let the people I care about know what is happening in my life. Most of my friends and family are far, far away, so I figured that this would be a good way to keep in touch.

That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to keep your comments clean. Doesn't bother me and if it does bother anyone they don't have to visit my blog, now do they?

So, the weekend was nice. The weather was great, so we took the opportunity to take Zero to the sculpture park. He ran around with the other dogs there and really enjoyed himself. Mark and Anna came over yesterday morning to have some blueberry pancakes I made. It went over well.

Saw two movies on DVD this weekend: Mystic River and Monster. I enjoyed both, but was particularly amazed at Theron's performance. I was lost in the movie and completely forgot that it was her. I am no real movie critic, but I felt the performance was extraordinary.

6.17.04

Still really slow at work. It is making the day just creep by so slowly. I really can't stand it.
So, the in-laws have left for Boston to visit with Mandy and Adam. It was nice to see them, but I am sure glad to have my bed back. We were sleeping on the air mattress. It wasn't horrible, but I really love our bed. The mattress and pad are both from IKEA and surprisingly comfortable. I wish I were there right now.
Not sure what will be happening this weekend. Stacey will be here on a business trip and I will try to meet up with her. I don't think I have seen her in about five years. I am thinking maybe a movie on Saturday night. I would like to see something at the theater, but not sure I am up for it. I am really exhausted from our trip south and from the in-laws' visit. It never seems to end.

6.15.04

I am back at work today. I took yesterday off since the in-laws are in town. Craig and Camy came in on Saturday around 3 p.m.

SATURDAY: We just stayed at our apartment that night and cooked some ravioli. Afterwards, we took a leisurely stroll around Astoria. Nothing too stressful.

SUNDAY: For breakfast, we took them to a great little diner on Northern Boulevard. It is one of the original train-car style diners. Food isn't anything to rave about, but the owner is really nice and we like to give him our business.
We decided to avoid Manhattan because of the Puerto Rican Day parade. It is a madhouse on the entire East Side. This is probably the largest of all the parades--maybe even larger than the Macy's.
So, we stayed in Queens and took a tour of the recently-renovated Noguchi Museum and stopped by the Socrates Sculpture Park. It was a beautiful day. Cloudless and around 75 degrees. We also took them to the American Museum of the Moving Image, which they had never seen. Micah and I go fairly often since we are members and get in free. There were a few new things since the last time we were there. There were some costumes from the movie Chicago and also some wonderful drawings by Tim Burton. The museum has always had vintage arcade games, but this time around, they gave use tokens to actually play them. I played Donkey Kong, Frogger, and Space Invaders. Loads of fun.
For dinner we went to a Greek restaurant figuring we had to since Astoria is known for the excellent Greek good.

MONDAY: This was the day we ventured into Manhattan. We did the Soho-shopping thing, making sure to stop at the new location of Pearl River. We wandered until we reached Little Italy and stopped for coffee at Sambuca's. It seems that whenever I am in Little Italy, I always go there. I think it is because it is easy to spot and it cheaper than some other places.
After the coffee, we started walking north and passed several galleries in the East Village. We kept on wandering until we got to Union Square and stopped at Heartland Brewery. This is a chain that is supposed to make you feel like you are in the Midwest. The food is decent and the beer is great. It is a corny little place, but if you are hungry, it's a good option.
After the late lunch, I left the group and headed home. Poor Zero needed to be taken outside. The rest of the family left for the Hudson River Pier 83 to catch the CircleLine cruise around Manhattan. I have already experienced the cruise and because I was exhausted, I skipped out. Also, I knew I had to be back at work today and wanted to rest up.
I got the scoop when they got back. They both loved the cruise and also were amazed at Times Square at night. I had forgotten that we didn't do the Times Square thing when they were here last.

TODAY: As noted, I am back at work. I just called to check in with them, and was told that today they are going to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and the American Folk Art Museum and then just wander. You do a lot of wandering in NYC. I leave work at 5 p.m. and will meet up with them on Indian Row in the East Village. We felt that they could not leave NYC without that experience. Our favorite of the restaurants is Milon, so I think that is where we are headed.

more later. . .

6.11.04 #2

Okay, I have to share this. I keep a bag of Dove dark chocolate pieces in my desk at work to keep me from racing out and buying a brownie when the sugar cravings come. Anyway, the wrappers have little sayings on them, which I always read like fortune cookies.
Here are two sayings:

"Life without chocolate is too terrible to contemplate" -- This is true.
"Eating chocolate is like giving yourself a big hug" -- Maybe this is why I have gained 50lbs since college. :)

6.11.04

Here at work on a slow Friday. I am still surprised at how slow it is here on campus. Summer school is going on, so not sure where the students are.

More Alabama stories to tell:
Okay, as mentioned before I was sick for the first part of my vacation. I started feeling well enough to venture out on Tuesday. Micah and I headed south to Hale County to see some buildings that were designed by the Rural Studio of Auburn University. Samuel Mockbee was the architect that started the program, and Micah thinks very highly of him. I checked the weather and it was supposed to be rain-free. Think again. It was a drenching thunderstorm the entire trip to Akron. We shot a few photos of the community center there, even in the rain. Eventually the rain subsided and we continued on our little expedition. We did not see all of the buildings, but were happy with the opportunity to see the ones we did. If you make your way to the Black Belt, definitely look for these buildings. Very interesting.

On Wednesday, we just hung around my parent's house (they were both at work) and relaxed. We did head out later in the afternoon to meet Amy in Birmingham. It was great to see her and Chris. We just sat and ate a late lunch at the Macaroni Grill. Decent fare, but a chain so I can't say too many good things. I guess I shouldn't really link to that. They don't need any more publicity.

Thursday was our last full day in Tuscaloosa, so we went out to my grandmother's place and visited with her, Kenneth, Steve, & Veda Ann. It was a nice visit. Yet another thunderstorm rolled in and after that was finished we headed back to my parents'.

Friday we left around 8 a.m. and kept driving until Harrisonburg, VA. It was around 6:30 p.m. and we decided to stop, sit down and eat, and get a hotel. Have I mentioned that Zero was with us on this trip? He stayed in the hotel and we went to the elegant Chili's across the street. I have to say this hotel was a real dump. Never stay at the EconoLodge in Harrisonburg. It was $75 too! We were tired and didn't want to drive around looking for a better deal. I thought I would warn others.

more. . .

6.10.04 #2

Back again. Still dead here at work.

More about the AL trip:

So, we finally roll into old Tuscaloosa around 10 a.m. on Friday. We were exhausted, so we took a quick nap. When I woke up from this nap, I did not feel well. I was all stuffed up, runny eyes, the works. I figured it was all the Alabama vegetation, so I took some Claritin. It didn't clear up the next day. I still felt pretty crummy, but I had the reunion to attend, so I had to suck it up.
The picnic started around noon and there was a pretty good turn out. There were loads of kids and there is no way I could tell whose kids were whose. It was about 95 degrees and extremely humid. This just added to my misery.
That night, we all met up at the dock of the Black Warrior River for our riverboat dinner cruise. It went okay. The food was decent and the conversation wasn't too terrible. My head was pounding the entire time and I started to feel a little queasy, but I kept it together. After the cruise, the plan was to go out to a bar for more catching up. A few non-drinkers left the party at this point. My ears started to hurt and my tongue felt like it was swollen. I really, really tried to hang out. I just couldn't take it any longer, so Micah and I had to say our good-byes and leave early. It was only around 10:30. I felt so bad. Bad in a sick way and bad that I had to leave my reunion, which I had been looking forward to all this time. Not so lucky this time.

Anyway, I was sick in bed both Sunday and Monday. I eventually decided that it was not just my allergies; I had also come down with a mean spring cold.

more. . . .

6.10.04

Okay, I decided to do a personal blog. The other I have given links to coworkers, etc... so I don't feel I can really vent or anything.
I cannot decide if I should leave family out of this blog too, so I can vent about them as well. Hmmm. I will think about that. For now, I will keep it clean.

Work is really boring right now. Since it's summer, campus is dead. That is another reason I decided to start this up. It gives me something to do instead of staring at the computer screen. I cannot really pick up a book and start reading, even though I work in the library. I cannot disguise that as work.

Right now, I am reading On the Road by Kerouac. I am not sure what to think of it yet. I checked it out thinking I would read it on my way down to Alabama. I didn't even crack it. So, I have started since we got back. I have to say, I was a little disgusted at the way he talks about women. For example, the male characters just see women as blondes or brunettes. I try to keep in mind the time that this was written, but it still kinda irks me.

My trip to Alabama was not the best, but not the worst. We left NYC on Thursday morning around 6 a.m. We had little trouble driving through Manhattan, which was unusual. Once you hit I-81 in Harrisburg, PA, it is a straight-shot until TN. The weather was nice and the long drive was uneventful.
It was after we crossed the Alabama border that the fun begins. It was about 10 p.m. and we needed gas so I took an exit to Fort Payne. At the Citgo, I got out, used the bathroom, and grabbed a coffee. We were on our way. I had promised my mother that we would call once we got to Birmingham. Once I saw the sign saying, "22 miles to Birmingham", I asked Micah to give my mom a call. "Where's your purse?", he asked. What, where's my purse!!???!!! It only has everything I need in it--why else would I lug the thing around, wherever I go? I panicked and decided to pull over and search the car. No purse. Crap. Micah and I racked our brains and remembered that the last place we stopped was a gas station in Fort Payne. Gas station?--that means we would have paid with the debit card. I grabbed Micah's wallet and took out the receipt. Yeah! I had an exact address, but no phone number. No fear- I called 411 and was connected immediately. The guy at the other end answered my frantic question with a "no, no purse here." I pleaded that he check the women's restroom. Few minutes later, "Yes, we have the purse." Great, but then I found out the place had just closed. What did we do? What could we, we rented a hotel room. Early next morning, found the gas station and got my purse. Wow, I was lucky!

More Alabama stories to come. . . .