21
Aug 10

Evil espresso, eviler wine, evilest fake running

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been almost three weeks since I last blogged.  I have a lot to catch up on.

I’m finally at a point in my work project that I don’t have to work too much this weekend.  While I’m glad to have time to work on my own stuff, I’m a little nervous too.  The work project is a no-brainer.  There’s a set process and  I just follow it.  With my own stuff, it’s a lot more loosey goosey.

My low cholesterol life is still going strong, though I did splurge twice this week on  fatty pesto pasta with fatty sausage, the first time after I had drinks with my co-workers and the second time last night because I didn’t feel like fish. (Last night was chicken sausage but the pasta was still pretty oily.)

It’s been almost a year since I’ve had a drink.  MB doesn’t touch the stuff and I’m allergic to alcohol so drinking is never that much fun.  Wednesday night I had a glass of red wine – no, half a glass of red wine – and I was DRUNK.  Very warm, very red, light-headed, and chatty.  By the time I got home, I was craving bad food.  Hence, the fatty pesto pasta.

I was also a slacker about working out this week.  Last Sunday I just didn’t feel like it, and was so blah in the afternoon, I made the mistake of having a double espresso.  As with alcohol, I’m sensitive to caffeine.  I mean, I can have as much as I want before noon, but after that, I’m in trouble.

I thought I’d be up till one or two.  I was up till 5:30 AM.  The worst was when I’d drift off, only to be jerked awake by something random – the door creaking, the girl downstairs talking at the top of her lungs, my brain skittering off to some random memory.

Luckily I work part-time so I just switched my days, working from home on Monday and going in on Tuesday, which meant missing yoga.  Boo hoo.  Then I went in on Thursday instead of Friday because we had a meeting I didn’t want to miss, which meant missing yoga again.  Must go twice next week!

Speaking of the gym, lately I’ve noticed this chick who simultaneously cracks me up and annoys me.  She’s Asian, very thin, and has a lot of dyed hair – you know, that weird brownish, reddish, yellowish color that some Asian women seem to favor.  She runs on the treadmill, but she runs 1) with all that hair down 2) fully make-up’d, and 3) holding onto the side rails for dear life.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to run next to her.  Being that close, I could see that in addition to big hair, she had big, fake boobs.  I mean, not ginormous but solid and perfectly round.  For a moment I wondered if she was actually post-op (ie, formerly a guy), but looking at her hands, I didn’t think she was.

To motivate myself, I got into a pretend competition with her.  I *have* to run more than this chick, I told myself, with all her hair and her tribal tattoo and silicon lady lumps.  But she ran a lot, and pretty fast.  Glancing at her machine, I saw that she ran six or seven miles an hour.

BUT.  She was holding onto the machine the whole time, the sides or the handles at the top.  And she wasn’t sweating at all, as far as I could tell.  Meanwhile I was running between 5.7 and 6.3 MPH for four miles, and I was drenched.

Then someone she knew took the treadmill on her other side, and they had a whole long conversation.  I mean, she was hardly out of breath.  I kept thinking, It’s because she’s holding onto the handrails right? She’s basically bracing herself or lifting herself up.  (The real question is of course, Why do I care? but I do and that’s that.)

This morning I found that it *is* fake running to hold the treadmill the whole time. Yes, vindicated!  I mean, I already knew that, but I just needed the internet to assure me again.

Now that I’m done being catty, it’s back to the gym again.  I’ll say hello to Miss Big-Hair-Fake-Boobs-Fake-Runner if I see her.


02
Apr 10

Tidbits

I feel like I barely got any work done today.  Yesterday I started an essay that I was supposed to type up today, but the day just totally disappeared.  I did at least pitch an idea to another magazine.  Then I just remembered I wanted to do a blog post today too.

My essay for Smart Pop Books Dollhouse contest didn’t win. Oh well!  Here it is in full if you’re interested, and a list of the winners.

I finally got a hair cut. Now MB can stop calling me a “dirty hippie.”  Even my hairdresser was like, “I think you waited too long to see me.”  Charles is great!  He’s French and a total scifi/fantasy nerd.  We always talk about movies, and today he basically critiqued all the C.S. Lewis books.

I ran eight miles today. I ran four, rowed for a couple of minutes, and thought I’d run two or three more, but at three I knew I could do another.  Hence, eight!  Hopefully that will make up for having cheese at nearly every meal yesterday (breakfast: cheese toast, afternoon snack: cheese in a pita, dinner: pizza).

This weekend will be a nerd extravaganza. Tonight are the season premieres of Stargate Universe and Merlin on the SyFy channel.  Tomorrow MB and I are going to WonderCon and seeing Clash of the Titans.

My mom changed her mind AGAIN. Now the cruise is out, and coming to SF is back in.  But they’d only come for a few days because it turns out they don’t have to be back in L.A. the following weekend to take care of my grandmother.  My aunt volunteered to skip the wedding (sure she’s crushed) and come up the weekend my grandmother needs care instead.

My parents will take care of their own flight.  We just need to find them a hotel.  A possibility is seeing if one of the furnished apartments in our building will be vacant at that time.  That would actually be ideal.

MB wants to go to G&L Guitars in Fullerton while we’re in L.A. But how will we get there?  We don’t drive!


06
May 09

A quick one

I can’t decide whether or not to go to BookExpo at the end of the month. I have till 5/23 to sign up for the early bird prices, which seems to be cutting it pretty close to the date of the expo. Maybe they have fewer people signing up this year.

The last time I went it was fun, though overwhelming. I heard some great talks, and got lots of free books. This time I’d have the additional perspective as a wannabe-librarian.

School is finally winding down. I’m nervous about my presentation tomorrow. I’m just talking about my corp speak project, but I don’t know if I put it in the right format. All this design science stuff is hard for me to grasp. I have another presentation on Monday but that’s on my patient sastifaction paper and I’m pretty familiar with that. Sunday I have a final but it shouldn’t be a big deal.

I’ve started trying to up the intensity of my workouts. This past year I’ve been sort of lax, or at least hit a plateau, and ended up gaining about 5-7 pounds. Not a lot but enough to go up a pants size. Actually I was relieved to see that small weight gain; I kept thinking it was more like 10 pounds.

I want to incorporate longer runs into my routine, but lately I haven’t had the time and/or motivation. So instead I’m including some “hill” work (i.e., increasing the incline on the treadmill) and speed work into my 4 miles runs. I think makes a difference. Plus it alleviates the boringness.

MB showed me some exercises he used to do when studying martial arts – they’re supposed to make your butt rock hard, including that area beneath the cheeks. You lift your pelvis off the floor, as high as you can, making sure your upper back and arms are relaxed, and your stomach is flat, and then just hold it as long as you can. I can do a couple of sets of ten slow breaths right now.

Then lift just the right hip,and the left, holding each for as long as possible. Finally, something like a pilates move: pelvis in the air, one leg straight up, and just holding it. In pilates you bring that leg down about 8 times, which is HARD. I don’t know if it’s doing anything for my butt, but my abs and quads are tighter. Maybe I’m doing the exercises wrong. :P

Aight. Back to work.


07
May 08

Motivated suddenly

As always: 1) procrastinate, procrastinate, procrastinate, 2) wake up at 6 in the morning panicking at everything I haven’t done, and 3) work like crazy.

It’s amazing how much I got done in the last 90 minutes. More than in the last week, I’d say. I don’t know why I do this. Maybe because I keep getting away with it.

I also have yet to start studying for my Knowledge Organization final tomorrow night. I figure I can get started this afternoon, do more tonight, and finish up tomorrow. I got A’s on my Information Professions term paper and presentation by the way. Yay!

My cold still hasn’t kicked in fully, but hasn’t gone away either. Right now I feel fine, but when I woke up this morning, my throat was killing me and I felt crummy. Then I had some hot coffee and my throat felt better.

It helped to run yesterday, and I hope to run again today. It’s amazing how much better I feel about myself after just one workout. Last week I was feeling particularly fat, and made sure to hit the gym four times, and felt great by Friday. Then by Monday I felt totally fat again. I hate that feeling – more than enough motivation to get my butt moving.

MB finally heard about his job situation. I think I mentioned his company was bought out recently, and he has been waiting to hear whether or not he’d get a job offer or a severance package. He did not want a job offer unless it paid ridiculously more than his current job. Dealing with all the corporate BS wasn’t worth it to him.

The real sticking point was that if you were offered a job and turned it down, you got zilch. If you were laid off, you got a ridiculously good severance package.

And lo and behold, they came through with a sweet severance package. It amounts to about six months’ worth of his salary, which is more than enough to live on, especially now that our rent is cut in half.

He is really happy. He’s been in this limbo for the past couple of months, not knowing how long he’d be getting a steady paycheck, or whether or not he’d get a lame job offer he’d have to turn down. Now he can take his time, work on his own projects, and consider carefully his next gig, rather than take any old one that comes along.

Okay, back to work.


06
Mar 08

Feeling better

Helped that I ran five miles yesterday, and have been trying to lay off the junk. For instance I could have had gelato for dessert last night, but I went with the sorbet instead.

I think I’m ready for my midterm tonight. I spent a good chunk of the day yesterday studying. Then on Monday I have a short paper due, which I should be able to crank out pretty quickly.

Another one of our assignments – which is due at the end of the month – is to do a site visit at a library and write a paper on our observations regarding how well – or not – it’s run. My choice is the Memorial Sloan Kettering medical library. I called them yesterday and have something set up during the week I’m on spring break. On that day they’ll be giving training to some nurses on an online tutorial system. Should be interesting.

MB and I have planned our first vacation together. It’s a short one, essentially a long weekend at the tail end of my spring break, but a going-away-together all the same. We’ll be heading down to Charleston, South Carolina. It’s just a two hour flight, and MB has been there before and said it’s a nice, pretty town to spend a weekend in. Hopefully it will be somewhat warmer than here!

I want to check out the places that Rachel Ray visited on one of her $40 a Day episodes. Not that I’m such a huge fan of hers, but wherever she goes on that show seems good.


04
Mar 08

No motivation around here

So half the team seems energized about their new positions; the other half, including me, seems to spend a lot of time milling about.

No big announcement at last night’s 5 o’clock meeting. My boss ended up calling in, and he indeed sounded very sick. I guess that was why he barely said two words when usually you can’t shut him up. Also the senior VP, my boss’ boss’ boss, kept saying, “I’ll just chime in for you, Lame Boss,” and would speak for him. Hmmm.

We didn’t get any clarity about what’s happening, but it was clear where priorities are, ie, not with my half of the team. Oh well.

I don’t really care. I’ve never been emotionally invested. But I feel even less motivation than usual to do a damned thing except look for a new job. Oh yeah, and blog.

In better news, I got an A on my Andrew Carnegie paper. Yay! I enjoyed writing it but there’s always that panic of opening to the back page and seeing a big fat D. On Thursday I have my Knowledge Organization midterm. Boo hiss!

I’m somewhat worried about it. The test will be 10 questions, 1 that’s doing a MARC record with access to the MARC codes and other online stuff. No biggie. But the other 9 questions have to do with the concepts of all the different standards and encoding and other junk that’s out there. AACR, Dublin Core, EAD, blah blah blah. The teacher was nice enough to type up her notes and put them up on the online learning system. Hopefully reviewing those will be enough.

Running42K commented that he doesn’t read about my running anymore. That’s cuz I’m lucky if I get two runs in during the week. Partly it’s because it’s winter, partly it’s school, and partly it’s hanging out with MB on the weekends. But there’s still the work gym, which I must must must get down to today.

I’ll leave you with an Overhead on the Lower East Side:

Clueless white guy: I didn’t know there was a a deragatory term for Koreans. What is it?
Stupid Korean girl with too much eye makeup: It’s gook.
Clueless white guy: Oh, I thought that was just for Guatamalens.

What? That’s so wrong on so many different levels.

I acutally didn’t hear it myself. MB did and looked at with an expression that made me spit out half my ramen.

Ah idiots.


17
Sep 07

Weekend highlights

Wow, I hadn’t realized how long it’s been since my last post. I guess work was pretty busy last week.

Friday
No half-day for me, which was okay since I feel like I accomplished a lot.

After work YP and I went to his friend’s art show in Brooklyn, which was far better than the one in NJ last weekend, and then dinner and drinks afterwards.

Apparently the bar we were in was a gay bar, but it didn’t seem very gay. Maybe cuz it was virtually empty since it was so early and it’s new. It was still fun though. Had a couple of gin and tonics, and played some pool. I suck by the way.

Saturday
In the morning helped YP with a photo shoot for his flyer for his next stand up show before heading up town for my haircut. Yay, finally!

Grabbed a late lunch with SB. Ridiculously expensive dim sum. Shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, turnip cakes, and fried squid – for $50! In Chinatown we would have paid like a third of that. Last time I’m eating dim sum in my area.

Had a run in the late afternoon. Gorgeous day. Wanted to do 8-10 miles, but was kinda hungover and sleep deprived. Did 6.1 at a 8.34 minute mile.

Sunday
Was up early again for another photo shoot with YP since the pictures we took on Saturday didn’t work out. Then out to the Brooklyn Book Festival.

I almost never run into anyone I know, but as PL and I were standing in line waiting to get into an event, guess who came out of the crowd. The history professor. We totally made eye contact so there was no way to avoid each other. Like a civilized person, he did come over and chat a bit though probably for too long. It was really really awkward but pretending to be normal. Whatevs.

After the festival, PL and I grabbed some dinner near me, as well as dessert at Pinkberry.

Tonight I’m supposed to go to the movies with a coworker. When it rains, it pours!

The dating front
This super cute guy wrote to me, but his emails sucked. He didn’t ask me anything about myself, and in his very first email, he asked about getting together. That might be okay for someone else, but I personally need a little back and forth before agreeing to meet up.

Still, I wrote back with some questions for him – just making conversation – and said sure, getting together sounded like fun. He responded a couple of days later, not even answering my questions, just: “So when do you want to get together?”

Um, never.

I’ve been in correspondence with a couple of other guys. One is probably too old for me, though he looks young, and the other seems cool. We’ll see.


17
Aug 07

The desert that is my brain

Maybe I’m just not in a blogging frame of mind lately. I’ve been working on my other writing – the positive thinking essay, a running essay, the second part of my memoir – and have started trying to take more pictures again. Also reading a lot. Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures is pretty engrossing.

I thought it was a novel, but it’s actually more like a series of vignettes with the same cast of doctors. Most of the vignettes focus on a particular patient, and once the patient leaves the doctor, the story for that person is over, like on E/R, which always leaves me feeling a bit dissatisfied. Like, did the mother live? did the baby? is the baby healthy? I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s a great book, like The Kite Runner and Atonement are great books, but I like it very much.

I’ve been obsessed with running, actually scheduling it into my weekends. This afternoon or more likely tomorrow I hope to run 10 miles. (6 on Sunday, 4 on Tuesday, 4 yesterday.)

I reactivated my online ad once again. Eep.

This time around: lots of dating. Lots and lots of dating with a variety of people before you-know-what. I’m gonna party like it’s 1959.


06
Aug 07

The weekend didn’t go quite as planned

But it was still a nice one.

ES ended up going straight to New Jersey Thursday night. Unfortunately SB got sick and wasn’t able to host her, and I had the concert. ES said she wouldn’t mind staying at my place on her own, and I said great! since SB had extra keys. Unfortunately she couldn’t find them. That’s awesome in case I ever get locked out.

The concert was pretty fun, though it wasn’t so much a concert as a 30-minute performance at the end of a long evening. Portions of it were entertaining, like the fashion show and the lip synching drag queens, but parts were tortuous, like all the awards given out and long-ass speeches. (It was a fund raiser for Pride in the City.)

En Vogue was great. They performed all of their hits: My Lovin’, Free Your Mind (my fave!), Giving Him Something He Can Feel, Hold On, Don’t Go, and one or two others I didn’t quite recognize. They’re excellent performers.

Even though ES wasn’t around, it was good I had Friday off since I didn’t get home from the concert till about 1. YP had taken to day off too, so that morning I helped him take some pix for the flyer for his next stand up comedy show. Afterwards I hung around Union Square, going to the Strand, the comic book store, and an Asian market.

Saturday I had to wait around for the exterminator. I hate it when he gets there so late (about 1 this time). By the time he finished, I had total cabin favor.

I went to the Met. Looked at the Poiret exhibit as well as the Asian Art wing. I always like checking out the Buddhas. Plus that part of the museum is icy in the summer, a nice reprieve from hot yucky weather.

Besides Poiret and the Buddhas, I had another celebrity sighting at the Met: Lucy Liu. As she walked by, I thought, That looks a lot like Lucy Liu. Then she smiled and I knew it was her. She’s a wisp of a girl. Probably not more than 5 feet tall and 90 pounds soaking wet. She was with some supercute hipster boy.

That’s the third celebrity sighting I’ve had in as many weeks. Two weekends ago it was Derek Jeter at the Starbuck’s near my house, and then Tony Danza in Central Park. Tony Danza looked kinda weird. He had his shirt off and is definitely in shape, but he seemed almost too wiry. And although he was reading, he kept smiling to himself, like he knew people were watching him.

After the museum, I headed home. I balanced my checkbook (finally!) and paid some bills, including my rent. I have $190 to last me till 8/15. Yikes! I have savings as well but I don’t want to touch that – anymore. I’ve been dipping into savings all summer and I hate myself for it. Buying that MacBook really pushed me over the edge, plus the little trips I’ve taken and the slew of running clothes I’ve bought.

Around 6 I headed out for a run. It was pretty toasty so I was a bit worried, but it was actually all right. The trees in the Park do such a good job of providing shade. I think I started out more conservatively than usual because at the Public Theatre, which is my 2/3 way mark, I thought, Already?

At the end of the 6.1 miles, I still had some energy so I jogged up to the Reservoir entrance, about half a mile, then once around, 1.58 miles. So in total a little over 8 miles. Yay! I used to run 7 or 8 miles at a time when I lived in Boston, which was almost 10 years ago and on a treadmill. To do it outside with some challenging hills felt really good.

The next day was the NYC Half-Marathon. I saw people coming out of it and really wanted to be one of them! Next year, totes. In the meantime I’m gonna look for a 10K. I have a 5K in September, the annual Race for the Cure.

As I was walking out of the Park, I saw this squirrel sitting in the middle of the pathway. Usually they run off when you come anywhere near them, but it didn’t move even when I got up close. Squirrels are fluffy-tailed rats to me, so I slowed down, wary about its next move.

It jerked towards me, which me jump, and then finally ran away. The guy walking behind me was laughing. Nice squirrel.

Sunday morning I worked on my writing, and in the afternoon went to Asia Society to see this film exhibition, which was closing that day. It’s a Taiwanese filmmaker, Chen Chieh-Jen, and the films are silent, extremely artsy performance pieces.

I understood the ones that took place in old factories, but I really didn’t get one that starred himself in a factory, making prints. Then there was one that was a live re-enactment of a photograph of lingchi, which is a Chinese form of torture. Basically, criminals were slowly dismembered till they bled to death. Nice.

Had a quiet evening in, reading and listening to This American Life. Watched more of The Two Coreys, despite myself.

Haven’t heard yet about the job. Will call HR tomorrow morning. In the meantime, my boss sent me a document that is supposed to help me justify my getting a promotion. Hmmm. . .


30
Jul 07

What weekend?

Not that it was busy. More like one minute it was morning and I was vegging in front of my computer, and the next it was five hours later.

Thursday and Friday were pretty busy, between coming back from the meeting in Chicago, my office move, interviews, and a semi-big meeting I ran Friday afternoon. By Friday night, I crashed and just did laundry, then chilled with my book and TV.

Saturday was the day I managed to do almost nothing till about 4. My one accomplishment was cleaning the bathroom, no small feat I guess. Late afternoon I ran a couple of errands. It was so hot and humid, by the time I got home, the last thing I wanted to do was go back outside. Cleaned more.

Sunday I was finally able to get it together and write a little, though not as much as I wanted. Another humid day, though cloudy and not as hot. Had lunch with SB and company. Was going to go to the Park to write, but it was pouring by the time we left the restaurant. Went home and finished cleaning. Cleaning my place really kills a whole weekend.

I finished up around 5, and by then the downpour had slowed to a drizzle so I headed out for a run. Since I hadn’t had one since Tuesday, it was fairly manageable. Plus there was no sun. I’d rather have a steady drizzle than sun. I was going to run the Reservoir but there were too many giant puddles. The lovely Loop instead.

Didn’t pull any muscles, but I did have some stomach issues. Literally had to sprint home and up three flights of stairs. Made it in time! Whew. That would have been really embarrassing, not to mention disgusting.

Watched The Two Coreys last night. It wasn’t that entertaining. Corey Feldman’s wife came off as really uptight. Corey Feldman looks kinda good, I have to say. Corey Haim looks like a washed up frat boy. Both still look pretty young though.

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years since The Lost Boys. That’s so wrong.

Had my last interview today. Four for one position. I’ll hear at the end of the week.

Sushi for lunch. Wholly unsatisfying. I need something dessert-like, and yogurt’s not gonna cut it.