Busy but fun.
Thursday
MB and I managed to get out of the house by 12:30 (that boy sleeps late but gets ready fast). For some reason I thought traveling on Thanksgiving Day wouldn’t be as bad, but Penn Station was still a madhouse! I guess Wednesday was worse, but there was still a line waiting to buy tickets all the way across the station. Luckily it moved pretty quickly.
The ride overall was fine. We were able to find two seats together and both had iPods to tune out annoying conversation. The only thing was people kept standing in the aisle instead of moving up a few cars and sitting their asses down. Got to NJ around 3:30 and spent the rest of the day eating: a light, late lunch, then Mongolian hotpot for dinner, then the apple pie we brought for dessert.
MB also spent most of the time helping my parents download these Korean soap operas. For years they’ve had dial-up but just got cable expressly for this purpose. Downloading the videos wasn’t bad, but my mom prefers to watch them on TV, so that involves burning the videos to DVD, which took HOURS AND HOURS. They had to be converted to something, then something else, then the actual burning. MB and my dad explained the whole process to my mother again and again, but she just kept asking, “Is it burning? Is it burning?”
By the next day, they were finally able to get a couple of DVDs done, but because of some weird glitch, the files were humungous so only one episode was able to fit on a single disc. MB and my brother both recommend that my parents get a Mac Mini, which we will probably get them for Christmas.
I tried to keep that a surprise. My dad kept saying he wanted to get the Mac, and I kept saying, “We’ll take care of it,” and my mother kept saying: “But it’s $800! $800!! $800!!!” Finally I had to come out and say, “WE WILL BUY IT FOR YOU FOR CHRISTMAS!” Jeez.
MB also spent some time fixing up my dad’s computer, removing files and programs he doesn’t need so hopefully it will run faster now.
Friday
More eating, lounging around, and messing with the computer. During the day, if my parents don’t have mah-jongg or karaoke plans, they watch game shows. There are so many! I’ve never really watched Deal or No Deal before, and got totally sucked in. The whole time I kept saying, “This is so dumb!” and yet I couldn’t stop watching.
We ended up leaving after dinner since MB was so determined to help my parents with their videos. They were EXTREMELY appreciative, and happy that we had stayed another meal.
We took a 7:15 train back, and although there were quite a few people, it was pretty quiet. I think everyone was tired.
At home we just lazed around, watching TV shows on Hulu.com. I still managed to stay up till 2, and MB till 4, which he has been doing since school let out.
Saturday
I wanted to get a bunch of stuff done before ES came into town, but I didn’t get up till 11. Luckily she came in a little later than planned so I had time to do laundry and clean the bathroom, yay!
ES was staying YP’s. After she got in, we hung out for a bit before ES and I headed over to my neck of the woods. She saw our place, MB demonstrated some music stuff as he does for all our guests, and we grabbed something to eat at our favorite Italian place.
Afterwards ES, YP, and I went to the movies (MB begged off, wanting to practice). We had wanted to see Australia or Bolt, but they were sold out. So we ended up seeing Quantum of Solace. It was pretty good – non-stop action – and of course Daniel Craig was sexy. But I thought the Bond girl was dull and couldn’t stop wondering what the heck “quantum of solace” meant (they never explain it or even talk about it, I think).
After the movie, we went over to YP’s and had some wine. Later MB came over too, needing a break from practicing. We had fun, yakking and laughing.
Sunday
Saturday was another late night, but Sunday I was up by 9 for our photo expedition. Unfortunately the weather was awful – cold, rainy, and windy. I brought an umbrella but no gloves (duh) and my brand new boots, I soon found out, were not waterproof.
Still, after breakfast, we sludged through the day (the theme was “LES” or Lower East Side), taking pictures when we were able to pry our frozen hands out of our pockets. We lasted about an hour before needing to head back inside. We chose Teany, which I pass all the time and have never tried.
I had a chai latte, which was delicious and gave me a total boost. I thought I didn’t like chai, but this Indian restaurant MB and I sometimes goes to serves it at the end of the meal, and I decided I liked it. The first chai I ever tried was from Starbuck’s, probably not a good benchmark.
YP had had enough wet, cold, picture-taking by then so we walked back to his area, and caught the train near his place to the Canstruction exhibit at the World Financial Center. By then ES and I had had enough of the weather too, and so were content to hang out there for the rest of the afternoon. In addition to the exhibit, there were a few stores open, and we both did some shopping. ES got some stuff for her parents, and I got a few shirts for MB.
When we were almost done with the exhibit, we both realized we were starving and had some sushi in the food court. It looked better than it tasted, but it was good enough.
Finally it was time to head back to YP’s so ES could pick up her stuff before heading out to Penn Station. She took the train there, and I walked home through the terrible, terrible weather. It was so windy and raining so hard! I was completely soaked and freezing by the time I got home.
I did not want to go out again so MB was sweet enough to run to the grocery store to pick up stuff for dinner. We had what we had Wednesday night again: bbq chicken, stuffing, and string beans. Yum!
Today
It was really hard getting up this morning, and difficult to focus on any actual work. And of course the weather today is just gorgeous! Almost 50 degrees, sunny, and NOT raining. Oh well.
MUST go to the gym.
relationships
01
Dec 08
The long-ass weekend
27
Nov 08
Happy turkey day, everyone
Ah, Thanksgiving – showing thanks by carving up a large bird carcass, ingesting too much food, and letting out past and petty grievances with the family. I know it’s one of my favorites holidays.
Actually, Thanksgiving with my parents is pretty mellow (except for the giant fight my mother and I had in 2006), just the three of us and some Mongolian hotpot. This year MB will be joining me. Should be interesting. Luckily he is so good-natured and sees fun in almost everything, even going to the mall.
This day with my ex and his family was always amazingly stressful – all the people coming over, my ex angry about us having to do the bulk of the work, and inevitably my ex fighting with his mom and/or dad. About a week before my eye would start twitching.
Not having to do that anymore is something I am definitely grateful for.
Yesterday at work was totally dead. I did a few things in the morning before getting in one last workout before the long and piggy weekend. Had lunch and tied up some loose ends before heading out to brave the crowds and pick up some wine and dessert for today. I thought I’d go to a couple of places, but Grand Central had everything I needed – apple pie from The Little Pie Company and a couple of reds from the wine store upstairs. I was all set.
And I thought luck was totally on my side when the bus arrived just as I got to the stop. But since it was only about 3, we ended up picking up all these school kids. There were tons and tons of them! And all Asian it seemed. I overhead a high school kid say it was because of P.S. 104, which is apparently almost all Chinese.
They were generally well-behaved, but there were so many of them, they were noisy, and took up a lot of room with their giant, nerdy backpacks and violin cases (I kid you not). And kids 10 to 13 are just annoying I think. They seem to repeat things a lot. “I told you she was on the bus! I told you! I told you! I TOLD YOU!” All right, kid, you’ve told everyone now.
What with the traffic, it took forever to get to the apartment. I tried to get the driver to let me off before my stop – at a non-stop – but he wouldn’t, though by law he’s supposed to.
Later MB and I decided to brave Whole Foods and pick up some stuff to make dinner in case restaurants were closed. It was crowded but not crazy. The check-out line was totally manageable and we were outta there pretty fast.
He made a good dinner of barbecue chicken chunks, steamed string beans, and stuffing, yay! to get in the holiday spirit. I ate way too much stuffing.
For most of the evening we just lazed around, then saw a midnight showing of Labyrinth. I actually have never seen that movie. I think I’ve seen only the beginning and then wasn’t interested. Now I know why: it is a bizarre and trippy movie, and oh so ’80s. David Bowie wears the craziest outfits that totally show his unit. Weird!
Okay, we’re outtie.
20
Nov 08
How did a whole week pass since my last post?
Lazy, I guess.
Last weekend
I had a fun time with my brother. I took Friday off and met up with D. at his hotel. His room was nice! The regular rooms are supposed to be shoebox size, but he got an upgrade and it was totally decent, big enough for two people. It was also very clean – hard wood floors, white bedding, very white bathroom. Quite Japanese in a way. The downstairs was all hip.
We had lunch at Sarabeth’s before walking up to The Whitney, which I haven’t been to in a long time. The only special exhibit they had was on Calder, which was pretty cool but too crowded. MB was supposed to meet us, but he got a late start and didn’t show up till we were almost done. But of course my brother and I had totally rushed through so it was good to look at the exhibits again.
Afterwards we had an early dinner – Italian – then went back downtown to show D. our place and neighborhood. We also got some drinks. I didn’t get quite so plastered this time. Nursed one vodka tonic and was fine.
The next day D. and I had lunch near his hotel. We picked a random Japanese place – well, not that random, he Yelped it first – and it was really good! It seemed more authentic than other places, and had a lot of good noodle choices. I got a curry noodle bowl with duck. It was yummy! In fact, it makes me hungry right now. After lunch we walked around a little before D. had to run off to get ready for his friend’s wedding.
Sunday I mostly worked on the usability report that was due for Information Technologies. It wasn’t difficult, just tedious. I kept getting bored and wasting time. But I got it done.
This week
Very quiet at work, as it has been for a while, though that might not last long. Now that my boss is fully transitioning to his new position, a lot of the communication-related stuff he did will fall into my lap, which is good because it means I’ll be needed.
Info Tech class on Tuesday sucked. It was really boring, then stressed me out because it made me realize how much work needed to be done (or redone) on our website. In fact, I woke up an hour before my usual wake up time on Wednesday, thinking about it. But it was good because I got a shit ton done (at work, haha). Now I *think* we’re in good shape. Or at least there’s nothing else I can do as webmaster before my group turns in their stuff to me.
Last night I got my hair cut, yay! It was driving me crazy being all mullet-like (I exaggerate, but it felt like a mullet). I asked Yoli to make the back very short but leave the top longer. Now I love my hair! It’s rather like Twiggy’s.
Afterwards I shopped a little and ended up buying these short Born boots for $90 (25% off). That makes five pairs of boots now. I don’t know what’s the matter with me. I keep trying to find comfortable boots but haven’t had much luck. I have a brown pair from Clark’s with heels that are too high, a black pair with high heels, a black pair from Clark’s that are too narrow (maybe I should stop buying boots from Clark’s), and an old winter pair.
I think I can get rid of the old winter pair, which I’ve had for years. And hopefully these new ones will be comfortable and sturdy enough fro walking around the city, which MB and I do A LOT. I’ve been wearing my Keds, which are great, but I want more wintery ones. I tested the new boots out last night and they seem comfy. Time will tell.
Tonight I have my other class, which is relaxed if boring. And I’m glad it’s not raining! It rained all last week, which made traveling the city a pain.
This weekend I need to do my site visit for Info Tech. I picked the New Museum, which should have a lot of interesting technology. Although it’s not due till 12/2, I’ll be glad to get it out of the way before Thanksgiving weekend, which will be busy between going to the ‘rents’ and seeing friends (yay!).
13
Nov 08
Skipping work for Conan totally rules
Yesterday I left work early to watch a taping of the Conan O’Brien show with my brother.
Originally I wasn’t going to go since I’m taking tomorrow off. Not that I’m so busy at work, but I felt guilty. Then my brother, D., was like, “C’mon just go. How often do you get to see your brother?” Okay, so now a different kind of guilt. Or just an excuse to go.
It was great fun, though the now-famous NBC pages were kind of strict and mad with power. Or at least one of them was. D. has connections so we were able to bypass the joe-schmo line and get on a special line. To get on this special line, a page had to check our tickets. Fine. Then we got to the line, this Ashely Todd look-a-like spat, “Guys, I need to see our tickets and your wristbands.” How do you think we got back here?
Then later she checked them again before we got on the elevator, then shouted at us, “Everyone has to move back! Everyone. . .MOVE BACK!” Then upstairs she barked, “Have your tickets ready!” cuz this other girl was collecting them at the door. Geez, I know it’s important to run an organized show, but you’re still just a page.
We had awesome seats, just a few rows back from the stage and on the aisle. But then this other page asked us if we would move for this couple who was on their honeymoon. We just stared at her, trying to comprehend why they would deserve special seats. I don’t care if they’re on their honeymoon, and was starting to get fed up with getting pushed around by these pages. Still, I felt sorta bad, but then my bro was like, “Um, no, I don’t really want to move.” And neither did anyone else. Ha!
Before the show started, Conan came out and joked around with us. He’s extremely tall and his hair seemed much higher in person than on TV. He also looked a bit older than I expected. There was music and he started dancing, and this random guy on the aisle got up and danced with him. Then later that guy and his girlfriend ended up getting picked for the audience participation portion, which was the funniest part of the show.
The guests were Tom Brokaw and this comedian. The comedian was funny, but Tom Brokaw was snoresville. There was also a musician (yawn).
In the end, I’m really glad I went, and glad we didn’t move because we had a great view and you can totally see us in the audience. Here’s the show online. t will probably disappear soon.
~ ~ ~
On another note, I’ve had two celebrity sightings – aside from Conan and everyone on the show – in the past few days. Earlier this week I saw Clinton Kelly from What Not to Wear right outside my workplace. He was very tall and more handsome in person. He might have been shooting but there were no cameras or Stacey around, just two serious looking women. He looked right at me as I walked by. I like to think he was thinking, Nice jacket!
Last night I saw Quincy Jones at the Barnes & Noble MB were hanging out in. I think he had just finished a reading or talk. He was getting on the elevator and talking on his cell phone. “We’ll be right there,” he said.
MB’s all done with his semester – he passed his classes, yay!, and gets to return next semester. Last night we took a break and saw Splinter. We had read some good reviews, but I thought it was just okay. Better as a rental.
I have tomorrow off, yay! I so need to do laundry before meeting up with D. Then this weekend I need to do school work, boohoo.
10
Nov 08
A Jean-Claude kicking, dim sum eating, drunk gay-zombie-movie watching kind of weekend
After the election last week, I was barely able to do anything except look at news stories and videos and cry, cry, cry, in a good way of course.
This weekend was kinda busy. Friday night MB and I saw JCVD, which was actually pretty good! I’ve never been a huge Van Damme fan, though I did enjoy Timecop, but the movie was well-done. Of course MB loved it. Jean-Claude was supposed to be there that night, but for some reason couldn’t make it.
Saturday I headed out to NJ. My brother’s in town this week, and will be in the city in a few days, but my mom wanted me to come home so that we could all be together. My brother’s plane wasn’t getting in till later that night so that afternoon I just lazed around. Read, took a nap, then actually got some homework done. And of course ate, then ate again when he got in around 10.
Sunday morning I was up fairly early, around 8:30, and got more homework and a tiny bit of writing done. Then we all went to the mall, the usual Jersey thing. My brother got some shirts; I got a brown hat to go with my new green and brown scarf. Then we got some dim sum, which was tasty but very salty.
I got back into the city around 6, and MB and I went to meet YP to see Otto, or Up with Dead People. We had drinks beforehand, luckily, because the movie was – I can’t even say it was awful. It was just really bizarre, and not in a David Lynch way. We expected it to be a zombie movie with some gayness, but actually it was gay porn with one zombie, who may or may not have actually been a zombie, and the parts between the porn parts were pretty boring.
But like I said I was drunk (from one drink!) so I didn’t care much, except now I’m totally hungover.
At home MB and I watched the new 30 Rock on Hulu, which was HILARIOUS (Liz Lemon: “Madonna’s arms are CRAZY!”), and a Burn Notice, which we are enjoying a lot.
Today I need to finish some reading for school tomorrow. Thursday I have a paper due but I already finished it. Wednesday I’m leaving work early to see a taping of the Conan O’Brien show with my brother (connections!), and I’m taking Friday off to hang with my bro again.
I guess I should try to do *some* work today.
27
Oct 08
No clever introduction. Launching right into a weekend recap.
No clever title either, apparently.
Friday
Friday night MB and I went to that jazz/house/disco band performance. It was pretty fun and a lot less of a pain than seeing his classmate perform heavy metal Wednesday night. We had time to eat dinner, and even dessert. And we did *not* have to wait outside.
The music was fun but a lot of the audience was annoying. It seemed to be mostly gay men and straight women. We were sitting at a table against the wall, and when we went to the bathroom, had to step over a lot of people. When I did, these women just stared at me. Like, what? Is this a private party or something? Then when MB did, one of the women said loudly to her friend, “People should really say excuse me when they walk by!” Oh gee, maybe people shouldn’t sit with their legs all splayed out in a very crowded club right in front of the bathroom.
Then there was one woman who seemed to be swimming in a sea of gay men. She had on this annoying silver scarf, and kept dancing right up to the tiny stage, putting a thumbs up or clapping like a robot right in the lead singer’s face. Then she’d turn around and blow kisses at one of her gays sitting at the table behind her, and do horrible vogue-wannabe movements with her arms. Then suddenly stop stock still and start Blackberrying madly. Then start dancing crazily again, over and over.
I wanted to kill her.
At least the music was fun.
Saturday
Exhausting overall. At about 1 I went to pick up my parents from Penn Station. From there we hopped the subway to the theater. Chicago’s been out FOREVER, but there were still a zillion people waiting to get in.
This is the fourth time I’ve seen this show. The first was many years ago in Boston with ES. Then I saw it through work for free, and then I think ES and I saw it again because we got cheap tickets. All the performances, including this weekend’s, were good, but the best had to be the time both Bebe Neuwirth and Ann Reinking were in it (I think that was the time through work).
This performance was very good. We had great seats – orchestra right – and most importantly, my parents really enjoyed it, my dad in particular. He kept saying how “professional” everyone was. Plus we were so close we could see the sweat glistening on the dancers’ bodies, including the amazing pecs of this one guy. *squeeze*
After the show we headed over to the restaurant, where MB would meet us, having decided to forego the musical portion of the day. It was a challenge because suddenly it was all rainy and windy. And my parents walked really slowly. I tried really hard to slow down, but they would still end up way behind me.
I wanted to take my parents somewhere other than Asian food so I picked Kellari Taverna, this Greek place I *think* I went to through work. The food was pretty good. For appetizers we had fried octopus in this delicious vinegary sauce, and fried zucchini and eggplant “chips.” Then we just got a couple of pounds of fish – I forget which ones, I let MB do the choosing – and a couple of sides, potatoes and green beans. For dessert we shared a chocolate souffle, which was incredible.
The food was good, but a little overpriced. Still I was happy to treat my parents. Most people have big banquets when they turn 70, and spend thousands of dollars. But my dad wanted something low-key.
After dinner we took my parents back to Penn Station, made sure they knew what train to look out for, and headed home.
Although I was pooped it was still early, not even 9. We thought about going to see the midnight showing of Monty Python’s Holy Grail, but then MB noticed that Swedish vampire movie we’ve been wanting to see was out.
It was GOOD. The vampire stuff was very subtle, and we noticed that they didn’t show a lot of violence, which I think is how it is with lot of European films. For instance, a guy would be slitting another guy’s throat, and they’d only show the guy from behind, but it was just as menacing and disturbing.
The people behind us were, guess what, ANNOYING. They kept making loud, snarky comments all during the previews. Now I know the previews aren’t the movie, but they are like mini movies so everyone should shut the fuck up. Then when the actual movie started, which it did so silently, with no music, against a scene of softly falling snow against a dark sky, the girl behind us goes, “It’s so QUIET.” Really? Do you think it’s cuz YOU’RE IN A MOVIE? Luckily they all shut up once the film started.
Sunday
I was semi-productive in the morning, getting a load of laundry done. That afternoon I headed out to meet YP to see The Secret Life of Bees. I actually had no idea what the movie was about. It wasn’t bad, of the Fried Green Tomatoes/Steel Magnolias type. Some melodrama, some stereotypes, and lots of crying.
At home I found that MB had bought another guitar (!!!). That makes four. Oh well, he really loves it and a got a good deal.
After getting some food – noodles at the Lower East Side Noodle Bar – we had a quiet evening in. There was a new It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia on Hulu (that show is frigging hilarious), plus we watched the pilot episode of Sons of Anarchy (enh) and an old Family Guy.
~ ~ ~
In other news, I decided to start a movie blog, in addition to my book blog, to keep track of all the movies I see. I may or may not add very short reviews, or at least one word ratings (eg, Sucked, Just Okay, Pretty Good, Awesome). At the very least, the movie posters are cool to roll through.
20
Oct 08
Wow, so lazy
I have been so lazy about blogging lately. This is what happens when I get caught up in my writing.
I think I wrote that I attended a “how to sell your first book” seminar, and that the instructor, a former teacher of mine, suggested I contact two other former teachers for advance blurbs for my agent letter. Well, I finally sent the revised letter about a week ago. One teacher returned a blurb that night, while I just got the other one. Yay! I didn’t think I’d ever get that second one. Problem is now the letter is too long. Time to cut.
I don’t remember if I already wrote about this, but I decided to restructure my book (again!). Right now it sort of alternates between what I’m calling the China and adultery stories, and while the China sections were pretty much chronological, the adultery sections were not. In a way it’s interesting because certain events resonate, but it was too confusing.
So I’m putting the adultery sections in chronological order too. But the whole books open with a pivotal scene so that readers will know immediately what happened. It’s not about maintaining suspense but about exploring why this and other events happened. Also, putting these sections in order is also helping me fil in the blanks with additional anecdotes and whatnot.
I’ve also been somewhat busy with schoolwork. I had a paper due last week, and a short presentation to give this Thursday, based on a resource. I was going to look at the book on Sunday, but it was at a branch of the library that was closed. :( So I have to go at lunch today. I totally could have done it on Friday or Saturday, but I was feeling lazy.
MB is deep in music-school-world now. This weekend he got a keyboard, 61 keys. It’s fun to have a keyboard in the apartment. He’s been encouraging me to play again and bought a beginner’s classical book, saying that it was for himself to learn out of. But he totally knew I’d want to start playing those pieces, which is what I did most of yesterday afternoon. Now I want to pick up some old piano books from my parents’ house.
The only thing about the keyboard is that you can’t play louder and softer. In that way Bach is more fun to play since he wrote for the harpsichord, which also was not adjustable in terms of volume.
This weekend we saw Quaruntine, which was pretty dumb but also pretty scary. Why is people behaving like animals so disturbing? This upcoming weekend I’m taking my parents to see Chicago for my dad’s birthday. It’ll be my fourth time but I don’t mind since it’s for my dad who has never seen a Broadway musical before, and it’s one I really like. Plus I got a special deal through my credit card, $100+ tickets for $60! Orchestra seats.
Okay, work time.
07
Oct 08
Venting, and an update
I hate my information technologies class.
We have a group assignment due today, basically a group web page. It doesn’t have to be 100% complete but it does need to be in web format.
No problem – it took me less than an hour to do it. But that’s the problem: it took ME, by myself, less than an hour to do it.
I’m no martyr. I mean, I volunteered to be “webmaster,” mostly by default, but the way this class is being taught makes no sense whatsoever. Instead of practicing HTML in class, the professor lectures about it and we read about it, but we never actually do it.
That’s all well and good as an introduction, but our assignments, ie what we get GRADED on, are web pages! For me it’s no problem. Our page is really simple and I do simple HTML for my job. But for those who have never done it before, all they’ll do is take what I’ve created and change the text. So unless they work really hard on their own outside of class, they’ll probably never learn to do even simple HTML coding.
Then again, maybe they will. In addition to the group page, we all have individual pages that link to pages that house our assignments. I’ve created the basic templates and now they need to go in and replace the verbiage, which forces you to try to understand what’s going on with the code. I’m definitely not going to do it for other people. They need to do it themselves.
You know what else gets my goat? Last night we were supposed to meet as a group to tie up loose ends before today’s presentation of our page. Only 3, including me, out of 6 showed up. One I knew couldn’t make it, though she was totally lame with her last minute excuse of, “Oh, I thought I could get out of class but I can’t – I owe everyone ice cream!!!” Yeah cuz ice cream’s gonna get the work done. One had a legitimate excuse of being stuck in traffic and was very apologetic. One just “forgot.”
*Sigh.* I don’t know why professors think group assignements are a good idea, especially for those of us who have been working. I mean, hello, I’ve worked in a “team” for a good 15 years, I don’t need a refresher.
My other class is a little boring, but at least I feel like I’m learning. Who knew there was such a process around helping people with their research questions?
For my last two semesters, I’m taking all traditional library courses. No more of this tech bullshit that I can learn on the job or read out of a book, or that I already know just from playing around on the web.
~ ~ ~
This weekend we thought we didn’t have anything planned, aside from a Margaret Cho show with YP and some of his friends on Saturday, but it ended up busy anyway.
MB forgot one of his friends was in town so at the last minute on Saturday, we ended up having lunch with him and his girlfriend, then taking them around SoHo and the West Village. It was fun. Both friend and girlfriend were really nice with good senses of humor. (You’d think that’d be more common but it’s not.)
After that we had just about an hour before meeting YP and his friend for Korean dinner. On that very day there was the first ever Korean Day Parade and Festival, so it was madness in Koreatown. The restaurant YP’s friend, who’s Korean, originally picked had a super long wait. Luckily she was able to find another one with no wait at all.
The food was good. Though it’s hard to go wrong with bibimbap and spicy tofu soup.
Margaret Cho was performing for one night at Radio City so the sidewalk outside was craziness! But once we sat, we noticed lots of empty seats. Weird. As always, she was hilarious. Lots of sex talk with a dash of mother impressions. Plus this guy was a guest. You know I’d never heard of that “shoes” video till I went to another one of Margaret Cho’s shows last year.
It wasn’t even 10 by the time we got out, so MB and I had energy to see a midnight showing of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I haven’t seen that quite as many times as other movies that have played at that theater (eg, The Shining, Spirited Away) so it was really fun. The special effects seem so cheesy compared to now. And Harrison Ford was hot! I’d forgotten.
Sunday was a practicing music day for MB and a shopping day for me. I need pants! but didn’t have any luck. I did manage to buy some other stuff I needed, including a shower curtain. At home I took the opportunity of a temporarily shower free tub to clean the bathroom. Yay, clean bathroom!
That night I finally got my schoolwork organized and realized that I’ve fallen behind in my reading. But now I’m all caught up. This upcoming weekend will be all about homework. I have assignments due Tuesday and Thursday.
It’s getting chillier and chillier. Yesterday I bought some sweaters from Barami, buy one get one free. But the turtlenecks, which I didn’t try on at the store, threaten to choke me so I need to exchange them for regular sweaters. Since moving and getting rid of old stuff, I feel like I have practically no clothes.
29
Sep 08
Back from DC
And lounging with the morning off.
First off, I wasn’t home for more than an hour last night before I got two mosquito bites. Wtf? Where do they come from? Don’t the buggers realize it’s fall?
Last week I tried returning the too-small, too-funeral-y dress to the little boutique on Avenue B. I knew there was a chance they’d only do store credit, but that was fine by me. What I wasn’t expecting was that they only did exchanges, and I’d pretty much have to pick the new item right then and there.
Of course I wanted to get something of the same value, preferably two on sale items. But there was nothing I loved. The owner of the store was there and she helped me again with choices. I was trying on a couple of things when she called out, “How about that gray sweater dress on the mannequin?” I’ve never worn a sweater dress and was hesitant, but said sure why not.
It was totally adorable, very soft and warm. “It’s cashmere,” the owner said, and she the other girl there agreed that it looked cute on me (they were not vocal about the other things I had tried on).
I agreed. The only problem? It was another $100.
Who goes to return a $190 dress to come back with a $300 dress? Me, that’s who.
I didn’t feel any buyer’s remorse, funnily enough, I guess because I really love the dress and can picture myself wearing it often.
We left for DC Saturday afternoon, and it was pretty much a comedy of errors. We rushed out right before to go to the post office, and when we came back, I was dripping with sweat and changed my whole outfit. Okay, already exhausted. It was raining and disgusting out, but we managed to snag a cab, but as we were walking into the station, MB held up his hands and said, “Oh no!”
“What?” I said.
“My suit!” he cried. He had managed to remember all the musical stuff he wanted to practice – travel guitar, recorder, books – but forgot his suit for the wedding.
We went into Border’s to find me a place to wait with our stuff while he’d race back downtown. Unfortunately the cafe was full so I said let’s just go into the station, but as we were going back down on the escalator, I saw an empty bench.
“Let’s go back up,” MB said.
Now. In the movies and TV, people go back up going-down escalators all the time. They seem to do it with little trouble. Well, lemme tell you: it’s HARD. Of course as you’re walking up, the escalator is moving down at the same or faster pace, so you’re basically staying in one place. So genius me figures, “Oh I just need to go faster, even with this heavy backpack!” And what do you think happens when you try to race up a descending escalator with a heavy backpack? You trip and fall.
I thought I was fine, just banged my knee, but then my knee started bleeding through my pants. “I’m so sorry,” MB kept saying over and over. “I’m so sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
I didn’t know what I was thinking, convinced that I’d be able to go up a down escalator.
In the end it wasn’t a big deal. I was able to change my pants and slap on a bandage (luckily I was stocked up), and while we missed our train, we hopped on the next one for just $30 more each, and with MB’s suit in tow.
We got in around 7:30. Our hotel was very nice, but I didn’t pick such a good location. When I was first planning this trip, I thought we’d have time to tool around the city, and heard this hotel was good because it was nice and also near the metro. True on both counts, but we didn’t have time to do any sightseeing and so it was pointless to be at a place not close to either Union Station or the wedding site. Ah well. At least it was a reasonable price and there were tons of restaurants nearby.
We ate a good but overpriced Italian dinner, took a little walk, then were in for the evening. MB needed to practice and study, and I was just pooped and looking forward to lots of TV.
And also a nice cup of tea. (I know: I sound 80.) The hotel website said all the rooms had coffee makers. Ours did not. We looked and looked, and couldn’t find one. I went down to see if I could get tea to go from the bar, but they wouldn’t sell it to me. “We don’t want people walking around holding hot beverages,” the bartender told me, not unkindly.
So I mentioned the missing coffee maker to the concierge. He said it should be under the TV. Looked again. No coffee maker. I called housekeeping.
“It should be under the TV,” she said.
“I looked,” I said calmly. “It’s not.”
“I’ll send one right up.”
Tick tick tick. Forty five minutes. I called housekeeping again.
“It should be under the TV,” I was told once again.
“It’s not,” I said, through gritted teeth.
“I’ll send one right up.”
“Well, I called 45 minutes ago.”
“I just got here, ma’am.”
How is that my problem?
At this point, MB said screw it and ordered a tea tray plus fruit via room service, which actually turned out to be very nice. A whole slew of gourmet teas, beautiful fruit with tasty walnut cake. Luckily he did, because when they finally brought the damned coffee maker, that was all they brought.
Coffee maker. No coffee, no cups, no tea.
Am I crazy or don’t hotel rooms come with the whole shebang when there’s a coffee maker? Coffee filters, cups, cream and sugar, tea?
Lame asses.
Anyway, the wedding was very nice. The ceremony was in a lovely, simple chapel. You could tell that it was quite old. The reception was at a hotel/college campus nearby, and I realized we should have just stayed there. But someone I talked to said it was sort of noisy with rowdy college kids. We all had a great time dancing and SG’s son is just adorable. I kept wanting to squeeze his cheeks.
Afterwards we ended up back at Union Station hours before our train at 8:45. So we decided to hop on an earlier one, the 6:20. Waiting to get on the train, there seemed to be a million people, but once we were seated, it was pretty relaxing. I actually fell asleep.
Today I’m glad to have just half a day at work. Last week was insanely quiet. My boss just got promoted to a different position – I’m happy for him but sad to be losing him as a boss. He was really great. But it will be a few to several months before someone new comes in.
05
Sep 08
School days
Classes started this week. This semester I’m taking the last of my required courses, Information Technology and Information Sources and Services.
I know several people in Information Technology, including that crazy old bat from one of my first classes, who also happens to be in my group. Dammit! That’s what I get for arriving late the first day.
The teacher has a sort of negative reputation. Rumor has it he’s made people cry. But keeping that in mind, he doesn’t seem too bad so far. Also, I’m glad I took that web design class over the summer – I’m used to trying to follow someone who’s going very quickly. And he’s not going to stop to help anyone out, that’s for sure. First class he had us save a web page as a .htm, no biggie, but the old bat couldn’t do it. She interrupted saying, “Can you help me?” and he said, “No, I’m sorry, I can’t. There just isn’t time.” Kind of mean but also kind of awesome.
We won’t be using Dreamweaver or Photoshop in this class; he wants us to code by hand. That’s fine by me. So far I find writing HTML easier than using Dreamweaver.
My other class was yesterday, and lasted all of 40 minutes. The teacher had some minor emergency (a sick daughter), and the class was sort of blah. I was surprised to see that about 3/4’s were newbies. I recognized just one person.
Oh, and the A/C hasn’t been working properly in the classrooms. It has been positively roasting.
In other news I just booked our train tickets for SG’s wedding in DC at the end of the month. Yay, SG! Should be fun. I still haven’t decided on a hotel. I’m tempted to book a more expensive one since it’ll be just one night, but I want to discuss it with MB first.
Next week I was supposed to go up to Connecticut for a tour of one of our facilities, but that night I have class. I thought I could just catch a slightly earlier train to get back in time, but there isn’t one. There’s one that gets in at 6 – class is at 6:30 – but that’s cutting it too close, I think. Amtrak’s usually late.
MB is auditioning for music school today – in fact, he’s auditioning right now. This is something he has always wanted to do, and with the severance package, he’s able to. Of course this doesn’t stop the ‘rents from asking every two seconds when he’s going to start looking for a job. Grrr! He is not your son or son-in-law!!! I do think it’s sweet that they are already starting to think of him as a son, but they need to lay off, for reals. We have more than enough to live on, and right now we want to pursue our dreams, which do not currently involve buying a condo or house.
It has been soooo quiet at work lately. It’s lovely to have all this time to myself to plug along on my projects, but it’s also too easy to get unmotivated.