It's the A in CAPE!

 

Chosing what I am going to give up for Lent is always such an intense decision.  Remember when I tried to give up sarcasm and Luke started missing me even though I was still living with him?  One year, Maureen tried writing to someone everyday... I sent out a couple packages this weekend, and I'm exhausted for the rest of the month.  Promising to work out is always a nice healthy, yet painful way to show that I love the Lord.... maybe I'll just agree to do that. :)  Or maybe I'll think about it some more....

 

I messed up making coffee today at work.  You would think that my addiction would make me a pro at creating the rich, hot, tastey beverage... but I can't be trusted.  In fact, 15% of my coffee making is a disaster.  If I ever say I know what I'm doing, tell me anyway.  Sure I'll act blustery, but deep down, I know its for the best.  Today's brand of catastraphe was in the form of not locking the filter mechanism properly, so when I returned to the office kitchen nook there was DD Hazelnut coffee all over the counter--and I needed to try to mop  it all up with these sad, virtually unabsorbant paper towels before a co-worker spotted my blunder. 

 

I made Brookie's for the people on my floor at work, as well as my mysterious roommate, in an attempt to bribe them into liking me.  If this doesn't work, I guess I'll be giving up office friendships for lent. 

 

Did I tell you that my uber boss genuinely thinks that I single handedly got everyone sick last week?  Meanwhile, I got it from at least two guys the week before, but b/c I got hit the hardest, I'm officially the plague in her eyes.  After seeing me with my nephews, she actually came up to me and said "it it okay for you to be hanging out with them?" 

 

I've been in NY for 2 1/2 months now and have basically not gotten together with any of the people I said that I would try to hang out with.  Apparently its easier to be friends in theory than in practice.  

 

k... seeing as it's only been 1/2 a week since my last correspondance, I think I might have to end this one early.

 

I hope all is well... and you're all planning a crazy Mardi Gras tomorrow night!  

 

I Cannot Go To School Today, Said Little Peggy Ann McKay

I really do hate when I have to miss work to b/c I'm really sick and not just gallivanting.  I hate even more waking up and feeling like death.  After spending Saturday and Sunday between Javits and the Showroom, when I woke on Monday (a day that so many good people rightly have off even if they are employed) I felt like all sorts of yucks and it took every fiber of my being to shower and get dressed at get myself down to the showroom only for my boss to say wow you look like death, hand me a piece of paper with a 24 hour clinic address on it, and send me out the door. 

Beth Isreal.  I can't say that it will be my primary care physician.  The nurse that checked me in seriously sounded like the godfather.  I didn't think anyone could talk like that in real life... had I been a lil more alive I would have truly appreciated it.  After I received two prescriptions, my sad body tried to make its way to a pharmacy to fulfill them.  I nearly started to cry when a rite aid told me that there wasn't a single rite aid in Manhattan that carried the crazy inhaler medicine, and then the duane reade told me I had to walk two more blocks to another DR.  By the time I made it back to the strangers apartment, I just wanted to sleep.  Even when my mom and dad came to see if I wanted them to drive me home, I couldn't bring myself to make the trip.  Sad Panda.

On a related note, cough medicine with codeine does not make me drowsy, it makes me have weird dreams that make me afraid to go to sleep.  I'll stick with NyQuil, thank you very much. 

My nephews want to take the train today... so they are coming to meet me at my office before joining me on my way back.  On my way into the office I have already spotted at least 5 "toys" that are not toys, that are really going to just serve as teases to three little boys... I honestly have yet to figure out how to explain to a 5 year old that yes, it looks like a toy, but its actually work.  And I have yet to figure out for myself why we have plastic batman tyke bikes behind glass.  The rhinestone studded superman shirt I understand, the back pack and lunch box?  Not as clear on.  I'm hoping the Gotham city walls when you walk in, and maybe the daily planet entrance on the 7th floor will be cool enough... b/c I'd hate for them to be disappointed given the fact that I've told them that I work with Batman and Superman every day. 

Oh! Did I tell you that the day I did work at the convention, they left me all alone in Javits as the resident "expert" on all the products?!

For those Grey's fans out there, I swear if they kill off Izzy Stevens I am going to be so pissed. 

I'm slightly allergic to the apartment (how can you tell Tiffany? You've been on your death bed?) well I'll tell you, Friend.  The sporadic heater is literally sucking away all the moisture from my skin... where I may have been 90% water before, now I think I'm about 77.8% at this point and fading fast. 

8 Words:  Oatmeal at Jamba Juice:  Steel Cut Oat Wonderment. 

If I could send that "your cough is freakin' disgusting" card to myself, I would. 

The one girl upstairs has taken to calling me at least once a day... just to see what I'll say.  I know I should be flattered that she thinks I'm funny finally, but its very intimidating b/c five minutes later when I go upstairs... my boss is like heh, I heard what you said heh.  Repeating any of my babblings to my boss is basically a nightmare.  I don't even remember half the stuff that spews out uncontrollably.  I cannot, and should not, be quoted.

and  Finally... a nod to the Oscars:

germ infested kisses

T O'B

PS Eva CCD does not infact stand for Central City Dump.  It is also not Catholic Christian Doctrine (though it is commonly referred to as such.  The abbreviation actually stands for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

I've Got a Date For Valentine's Day!

Perhaps my subject line was slightly misleading... as the "date" that I have for Valentines day includes several people from Blizzard that I have only conversed with over email and phone, and the other several people consist of my co-workers... but hey, if I was in love with World Of Warcraft, this could have been the night of all nights.  Instead, I am just going to hope that some of these strangers are extremely entertaining, and comfort myself in fact that I'm too busy and important for silly holiday's like "Valentine's Day" and "President's Day." 

Last week was carazy!  I mean not exactly exciting, but just interesting enough to add an extra syllable to the word "Crazy."  I'll try to give you the gist of it without going overboard... 

Tuesday Boot camp: The chick was late, so we didn't stretch.  It was an hour and half of intense, yet not terribly creative, workout with lots of sit ups and push ups.  Every time she yelled, I smiled at her... so I was smiling the whole time (to the annoyance of my workout buddy).  Not b/c I was happy, but b/c I thought it was hilarious that she thought we were going to do yet another round of whatever it was she was yelling about.  I can proudly admit that I did not cry, but three women did, and one almost threw up.   

Wednesday: I was in a state of utter hurt in every muscle in my body. I struggled in vain to remember another time in which my body had been abused in such a way and came up totally blank.  As if this uncomfortable state of being wasn't enough, at around 2pm I started feeling nauseous and dizzy.  I thought it might be something I ate so I itemized my consumptions for the day: Two slim fast bars, Two cups of coffee, and a cupcake.  I tried to blame the cupcake, but as the illness grew, I realized it wasn't fair to the cupcake.  I don't know if you've ever been sick at work... but the assessment of the situation can really utilize a lot of your brain power.  You try to decide where the best place to get sick is, if the need arises... and then start calculating your trip home, trying desperately not to have some horribly embarrassing mishap between where you are, and where you need to be.  Knowing that the final destination was a strangers apartment, with a bathroom smaller than your average cruise ship, was not making me happy either.  Suffice to say the not so friendly stomach virus that I had did not make my second night in Hell's Kitchen the dream situation as I had hoped.  Oh, did I mention the aching body that I had at this point? and that every hour the pain woke me up as I stupidly tried to change positions in my bed?  Lovely.

Thursday:  Feeling slightly better, and not willing to take a day off of work, I decided to head to the office, albeit slowly b/c the rigor mortis in my muscles was still showing its true nature.  Shockingly I decided NOT to go to class two of Boot camp, but did meet up with my brother after work.

Friday: Had my first day working for DC Comics and a convention... to which I was totally hazed when they had me place the name cards by all of the pieces in the show case (man do I hope someone double checked everything.)  This is where I digress for a bit... there is this guy that works in the office across from mine... and he's super quiet... which to me just screams a challenge.  So every day when he comes in... I always greet him with a big cheerful "Good Morning Adam!" plus, the printer is in his office, so he's basically a sitting duck to my enthusiasm... poor poor Adam.  My strategy in friendship making is to share crazy/I think they're funny stories with anyone who seems even the least bit receptive.  If these people then reciprocate, or come back looking for more, I know I've won them over.  If not, if they truly think I'm a loon, well then it wasn't meant to be.  Given that strategy, three of these people came to visit and chat with me at the con while I was stuck behind the counter, and quiet Adam brought me coffee... and my one and only friend making strategy has won again. 

And basically, other than the one night where I saw my roommate on my rush to the bathroom saying "I'm so sick, sorry, I am seriously sick" and then almost passing out in the bathroom... I haven't seen my roommate at all... I must seriously be either the weirdest, or the most awesomest roommate that this guy has ever had. 

Saturday my mother said to me "So it sounds like you had a really great week in the city."  I don't think she was listening to me very carefully...

Phil the Weather Rodent

Roy and I did always want to go to Punxsutawney PA during college, but then, when we thought of it in time, and had a completely free day to drive out there, we realized that we were wrong, we didn't actually need that experience to make our lives complete.  

Remember that zip up that I got during WWTexas with Hell's Kitchen on the back? And remember how I used to say, ya, my grandmother was from Hell's Kitchen?  And remember how my dad always said that she was always trying to get out of Hell's Kitchen? Ya, well, I'm subletting a place there for February.

My February already sounds hectic with lots of late nights and working weekends... so I decided not having to commute back and forth would be both convenient and a chance for me to brave, and possibly embrace, the true New York experience.  Basically this guy's apartment has an extra furnished room... and while my mother was slightly apprehensive about me living with a stranger, Mo's evaluation that I "could take him" if it came down to it, made everyone feel much better. Plus, the kitchen has a chalk board and he said I could draw on it as much as I wanted to.  I also asked some police officers about the neighborhood, and one of them was very good looking... oh and said it was a relatively nice place to live. 

 I was going to wait and complain about this next week, but then I realized I could tell you about it today, and then I could complain about it NEXT week... solving the very difficult information control issue that I was having.  I signed up for Bootcamp.  No, not the army, don't be silly. (Although, I have considered joining the army, or some kind of military something to a) see how long it took them to throw me out of bootcamp, and b) b/c I think there are a lot of interesting non-fighty, behind a desk kind of jobs that are available... but then I started thinking about how I cry when I even think someone has possibly used the wrong  tone of voice with me, and decided I probably wasn't cut out for it.)   As I was saying, this chick at work who I am going to call my friend, invited me to do this 6 week bootcamp workout class with her.  While I determined that it looked hellish, I also determined that I was in way better shape than she is, and if she could make it, I certainly could suck it up for a couple classes.  Plus its only a block away from work so I won't have to walk too far.  :P  (Side note to Eva: The word I was looking for was cynical.)

I bought my first shirt with the lil thumb holes, and seriously how did I live without these?  I need them on every shirt and if that means I need to start cutting, I will.  My fashion industry gurus: Is there a technical term for this bit of fashion?  Can I just google thumb hole shirts and start clicking away?

Who's excited for the 3-D Chuck tonight?  I got a lil nervous about finding 3-D glasses until I scavenged through some of these DC Comic books to find a 3-D issue that provided the proper eye wear for the event!  Z100 this morning had a commentary about 3-D which made me a lil miffed b/c while they enjoyed the concept of 3-D TV, of all the MC/DJ people, none of them could name the Disney movie (Monsters Vs Aliens) from the commercial that they were oohing and aaahing about, and then none of them even watch Chuck normally... so they made the content more of an afterthought which really burns my biscuits.  I could so do Elvis Duran's job in a heartbeat. 

And lastly... it is 37 degrees out in New York... and compared to what it has been... it feels like 60 degrees... and sunny... which essentially makes New York City a hundred times more pleasant.  Or maybe its the thumb hole shirt... I can't tell. 

T O'B...1984

From what I have been reading on someecards.com (my sole source of news) this super bowl game sounds like a real eye roller.  I mean I thought that the Cardinals were a baseball team..  not that I'm an expert or anything... but still... I am really hoping for some good commercials to make the whole event worth the calories I will inevitably inhale while watching the game. 

My day so far:  I was stuck in traffic on the taconic for 45 minutes... bringing my commute up to a nice 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Which isn't so bad, but then I got coffee... and one of the lids wasn't sealed properly so it leaked through the bag and then fell through the bottom... seriously uncool... and then the Internet was down at work for the first hour and a half of my day... I literally didn't know what to do with myself.  It's those moments when the Internet is down, or I forget to bring my phone some where, that I realize how deeply rooted my addiction for the Internet is.  This morning I passed by a poster that I see every day for "Oswald Cobblepot for Mayor" and I started to panic b/c I couldn't google who Oswald Cobblepot was when I got back to my desk.  The moment the Internet returned, my interest in this character from an unknown comic book ceased to exist.  Weird. 

I went skiing this weekend with Sean's family... and I learned two things.  One, if you fall down and then take your ski's off, its way easy to get back up (even if you are entangled in an orange fence) the second was that you can actually be younger than thirty and still complain of hip pain... which I have been even since I woke up yesterday.   The two moments of drama on the trip were when I got a sliver of the plastic rental ski in the form of a splinter in my finger before we even started (yea for my handy first aid kit!) and the second was when a 10 year old girl fell off the ski lift.  We were on the ground at the time, and when we asked her if she was okay... I think she was too embarrassed and shocked to speak coherently.  But seriously... how many times have you raised the bar on the ski lift before you get off and wonder/calculate/fear slipping off the seat?  Especially if you are in the center with nothing to hold on to.  Well... this little girl found out the hard way...and while that was scary, the imprint 3 inches deep into the snow of where her body hit the ground was kinda amusing.  Oh and Sean reminded me that the trip up to CataMount was significantly shorter than my commute to work.  So helpful!

Yesterday I was sifting through old pictures looking for a good image of our old yellow volkswagon camper... and my parents were very amused by how adorable I thought all of my baby pictures were.  I don't know why they were giving me a hard time... the pictures really speak for themselves.  Although I did notice that my brother spent 1/2 his life carrying me around... to which I am very thankful.  In addition, Maureen told my parents last night at dinner that the best toy they ever got her was me. :) Rock on!  Too bad for her I had go and grow up... but it was good while it lasted.  Oh wait? Did you want to see some of the awesome adorablness that was Tiffany?  Okay!

Now... if I could just get that hair color back... I think I could relly make something of my life.

What's this about a new President?

We all went into a conference room to watch the big event this afternoon.  Now I know that the majority of the country is very excited about our new president and the hopeful for the future.  And I am also swept up in the satisfaction of having my candidate take the office of POTUS.  And yet, I actually was getting very uncomfortably irritated by the commentary of my co-workers as they berated both President Bush's to the point of yelling at the screen with nasty, unsavory and not in the least bit humorous barbs. (as you know, most everything is forgiven in the pursuit of humor).  Maybe its just me, but when something as momentous and as beautiful as the historic and peaceful change of power is unfolding, is it really classy or approriate to kick the men, who for better or worse, dedicated years of their life to our country?  I suppose its our right as citizens to speak freely, but I still don't have to be proud of the people sitting around me. 

I found myself sending this someecard out today... an oldie but goodie :

in response to receiving a communique from WB that there would be staff reductions in the near future.  How hilarious would it be if I got laid off twice in 4 months?  Okay, not the greatest of news, but I cannot fail to find humor in the irony of the events. 

I am sure that there are about 20 really excellent stories about my weekend in Seattle, Luke's Bar Mitzvah, and lolly gagging with the folks on the West Coast.... but I am so incredibly sleepy that I am surprised my head has stayed in this email this long.. so they will have to wait for yet another day.  :)

The Old Man Was Snoring..

Today, I woke up up an hour late, on purpose, hoping that all of the ice would just magically disappear by 7 am.  This was not the case.  I would appreciate the coolness of a car flawlessly covered in a layer of pretty ice if I didn't have to smash through it in order to open the door.  When I got out of grand central I saw all the prepared professionals whip out their umbrella's to attack the weather, and I also saw vendors selling these fancy water repelling devices, but I said to myself, what's a little rain?  5 blocks and 3 avenues into my walk I started to re-evaluate.  While I went 5 years in Seattle without an umbrella, one rainy day in NY and I'm convinced that I need to invest.  Just last week I was flaunting the opinion that umbrella's were wet and messy, and who wants to carry one of those around... but now... as I am flaunting soaking wet trousers... I'm willing to take a different kind of plunge.  On that same note, I think clothing stores should open at 8... so that when you have a real fashion emergency... you have some where to go.  I even went so far as to wonder if there was a service that would deliver pants to your office if you needed them-- I mean if they can deliver booze... why not new dungarees? 

One of my co-workers told me that he once came in on a Saturday after standing in line for an hour in the pouring rain waiting for tickets to Shakespeare in the Park.  Thinking that no one was in, he took off his pants to dry and laid them on one of his extra chairs... all was good until one of the executives happened by to say hello... luckily he didn't inquire further to find out if he was indeed having a no-pants work day.  I decided, upon hearing this story, I'd keep my pants on and take my chances. 

Speaking of rain... I think I need to talk about these Watchmen posters.  They are all over the place.  I'm not talking about on the streets of NY, I'm talking about every single office on my floor has a watchmen poster in their office or on their door (including me.)  It releases 03.06.09 BTW, and the guy is standing in the rain on a city street... theres a variant poster that has a smiley face that looks like its been shot in the head... really uplifting... and honestly, I'm afaid I might have to look up what its about... naw... maybe not.  I mean who's honestly going to walk into my office and go... hmmm what's this "Watchmen" movie all about?