texas or bust

I've arrived safely in Austin, but what an adventure getting down here. And since my mom planned a great road trip and Mia was a fantastic traveler, the six days in the car seemed to fly by.

Here is an account of our trip, taken from another blog I contribute to. Enjoy!

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7/26/07, Day 0. Destination: Rhode Island

9:43am I am nervous. The apartment is nearly empty, and the pod is still here (it shouldn't be). I'm off to get a check for the washer and dryer I sold.

10:37am I've returned with my check, and am pleasantly surprised to see most of the free stuff I left on the sidewalk is gone. Only the microwave remains. And the pod is still in the driveway.

11:18am All the trash is out of the apartment and Mia is officially being deprived of food. One last trip with 5 bags of clothes to the goodwill drop box!

12:21pm Showered, microwave and pod still present. Carting luggage down to my car. Mia is now officially being deprived of food AND water.

1:02pm The Bilateral Sagittal Split Osteotomy should be about half over by now...wonder how the soon-to-be-Owen Wilson doppelganger is doing?

1:13pm Keyspan does not supply letters of credit, $200 deposit to Austin Electric coming up!! Apartment empty, pod and microwave (you guessed it) still here!

1:32pm Mia is all ready to go, and in true Martinoz fashion, the last thing to get packed is the modem. It strikes me now, I no longer live in Watertown...I don't live in Austin yet...it's confusing. Rhode Island or Bust!

3:11pm If a pod is picked up from a driveway and no one is around to see it, has it really been picked up?! They say that they have my pod...I wonder if the microwave is still there.

3:47pm I've arrived in RI. Day zero, complete. Now off to see the fluffy bunny!

10:07pm Millie has been updated with new software and current maps; hotel confirmations, addresses, phone numbers have been printed; books on CD have been obtained; and lots of kitty cleansing wipes have been stored in the car. I think we're ready for day one!

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7/27/07, Day 1. Destination: Washington, D.C.

7:10am I'm up. Mia's hungry, but no food for her this morning. Busily trying to get everything we need for a five day car adventure.

8:30am And we're off...DC or bust!

9:01am We’ve left our house in RI, all packed in the car, and Mia seems terribly excited! Mileage 15888.

11:07am We’re in NYC, driving through the Bronx, to the GW bridge. Boos erupted as we passed Yankee Stadium.

11:37am Entering NJ. Allison is exit 13, we’ve waved.

12:23pm Stopped for lunch – no fried oreos in sight.

3:17pm In Delaware, our 5^th state of the day. (RI, CT, NY, NJ, DE)

3:55pm STILL in Delaware. Traffic sucks, I hate the Delaware Memorial Bridge.

4:39pm Entering Maryland. It’s hot, I’m grumpy. We’ve just finished our first book on CD, Ellen Degeneres reading her book “The funny thing is…” (and it was funny….)

7:15pm Stopped to buy flowers in Georgetown (Washington, DC) to bring to our gracious hostess for the evening.

7:29pm In Arlington, Virginia. Seven states today, and DC. Off to get food, and beer.

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7/28/07, Day 2. Destination: Bristol, VA.

7:08am I’m up. Mia’s pretty vocal right now, and it’s not a happy vocal. We spent the night with some old friends (of mine) who have a cat that is an old enemy (of Mia’s). She’s been secluded from the mean cat (Bentley) but can tell he’s nearby. She’s not been terribly happy.

8:58am The car is re-packed, Mia is happy to be out of Bentley’s apartment, and we’re on our way from Arlington,VA. Mileage 16264

9:43am Ok, now we are REALLY on our way – after much needed stops at the bank, the drug store, for coffee and soda, and gas.

10:53am Recalculating. Millie is very angry. I’ve missed our exit (the SECOND time today). Effective cost, about 15 miles, 25 minutes, 3 different highways, and probably a full day and a half of kind-hearted ribbing from my mom.

11:34am We’ve arrived at the Skyline Drive. Many pictures to follow.

12:05pm I’ve connected to our router, and posted my blogcast from yesterday. Also heard from Bilateral Sagittal Split Osteotomy patient…he feels terrible.

1:49pm We’ve stopped for lunch, complete with a few bottles of Dominion (Virginia brewed beer) and are having a mini-picnic on a grassy area. Mia seems happy to be out of the car, although she won’t run around like I wanted her to.

4:57pm Blogging from the road, are you catching this? I finally gave my mom a chance to drive...so here's what you've all been waiting for! We're on 81 South in VA, at exit 150B

7:15pm We've arrived in Bristol, Virginia. Now to find dinner...

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7/29/07, Day 3. Destination: Townsend, TN

7:55am I'm up. Mia seemed happy in the hotel all night. We've got a shorter driving day today so we're going to take our time getting out of here!

9:08am A hair-dryer, finally! I haven't used one of these since I packed mine last Sunday night.

10:06am Off for breakfast at the pancake house.

11:25am After breakfast, gas and a trip to Wal-mart we’re off! Mileage 16677.

11:34am Entering Tennessee – the Volunteer State, whatever that means.

1:32pm Stopped at an information center, with free soda and popcorn. I picked up two coupons (one for me and one for my mom) for 50 free firecrackers – no purchase necessary. My mom said “No!” I know for a fact if I had been on this road trip with certain other people I’d have at least 100 free firecrackers right now (200 if we could go back twice!)

1:48pm I’ve been pretty good at getting us where we need to go, but I was reluctant to miss this turn, it was an important one, so I did cut someone off pretty bad. Got the Tennessee finger!

1:54pm At the entrance to Dollywood! (see, I told you that turn was important).

2:21pm Inside a gift shop at the Smoky Mountain Welcome Center. There is music playing, and the refrain of the current song is "...nothing but the blood of Jesus..." ahhh, the South!

Some other hours between 2:30 and 5:30pm At the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. Man, this place is freakin’ beautiful. I’d love to come back – we should make a Martinoz camping trip, to this place. We saw mountains, and rivers, and waterfalls, and trees, and birds – oh my. Even Mia got out and ran through the woods a bit.

5:50pm Found our hotel, the Bunkhouse Inn on the River. There’s a sign out front saying they’re closed “See y’all soon!” We had to call and find the secret hidden key to let us into our room, decorated with birds.

7:12pm Chicken Dumplin’s for dinner. And big cans of Coors Light. While sitting on the river. I can almost hear a banjo playing…

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7/30/07, Day 4. Destination: Memphis, TN

6:43am I'm awake. Today is a bit longer of a day, especially because we want to stop for lunch in Nashville. The rest of TN has a lot to live up to, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and Townsend have really been a trip.

7:02am Mia's crying, for really the first time the whole trip. Likely she's hungry, but she's just not getting any food. I feed her each night, when we stop, and that's it. I've learned too much food in a kitty's belly is no match for the car.

9:03am Ate breakfast and on our way. Mileage 16866.

10:10am(Eastern)/9:10am (Central) Crossed into Central Time Zone.

11:37am (Central) Arrived in Nashville, tried to find the BBQ restaurant Neely's - but they have no outdoor seating and it's too hot to leave Mia in the car. Headed elsewhere.

12:04pm (Central) Arrive at the Grand Ole Opry House. Mia fights me a bit on her way out of the car, I've got a scratch down my arm, one on my face, I had a paw in my mouth, and I have a few gashs nicely placed elsewhere - I look like I was in a knife fight. I like it.

1:35pm (Central) Leaving Nashville, headed for Memphis.

3:27pm (Central) This ride is semi-uneventful.

4:57pm (Central) Arrived in Memphis.

5:59pm (Central) I've set up phone, cable, and internet for my apartment in Austin. The guy at the cable company was very friendly...maybe he wants to be my friend? He's currently the only one who knows my new phone number - since I diddn't bother to write it down!

6:03pm (Central) Off to see what the heck is on Beale Street.

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7/31/07, Day 5. Destination: Dallas, TX.

5:05am Mia is up and lonely. She won't stop crying. CNN seems to help.

7:02am I'm up, and tired. We're off early today - lots of stops.

7:39am We're leaving the hotel, have gotten gas and are on the way to the first very important stop. Mileage 17312.

8:33am We've made the pilgrimage to Graceland. They open early in the morning to view the grave sites, so we walked up to see them. I was surprised by the non-garishness of the exterior of Graceland. We did not go inside, I'm sure that's where the good stuff is.

8:45am Welcome to Arkansas. I asked why it was pronounced "arkansaw" but spelled A-R-K-A-N-S-A-S. Apparently the General Assembly agreed (by vote) to pronounce it "arkansaw" - weird.

11:00am Arrived in Little Rock for lunch. We drove on Bill Clinton Avenue, and found River Front Market. Mia sat outside with us, and attracted many comments from passersby. This area of Little Rock seems really cute, and everyone is so friendly - I'm not sure I can handle the Southern Hospitality, sometimes I just want to buy a sandwich without having a full out conversation.

12:19pm Leaving Little Rock on the way to Texarkana. At this point I've begun to tune out Millie's voice and I did not hear her tell me to bear right. I went left - towards Mississippi. But, Millie did not take offense and got us back on track.

2:30pm In Texas.

2:31pm In Arkansas.

2:32pm Texas

2:33pm Arkansas. We are in Texarkana, a town in both Texas and Arkansas, and keep going in and out of the states. We stopped at the "Ace of Clubs House" and also the Post Office, the only US post office that straddles two states.

3:28pm Really in Texas. The sky is bluer.

3:46pm Passing Exit 201 on US 30, for New Boston.


6:15pm 7 more miles. And we've hit rush hour traffic. It is pretty annoying.

6:47pm We've arrived at our hotel, not a minute too soon! Mia seems unaffected, but I am happy to be out of the car.

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8/1/07, Day 6. Destination: Austin, TX

7:03am I'm awake, and into the shower. We're heading to Austin today, and it's a short day, but we've got an exciting excursion this morning.

8:35am After some hotel breakfast we're off - heading to South Fork Ranch in Parker Texas.

9:02am We're the first, and only people here, at the ranch where the show Dallas was taped. Who shot J.R.? I don't know, I'm not sure I ever saw the show...but whoever shot J.R., shot him here!

9:47am I'm corrected. Whoever shot J.R. shot him on a sound stage in California. They were only allowed to shot exterior shots here, nothing inside, and only during the months of June, July and August. We've learned about all the camera tricks (large mirrors and wide angle lenses make their small pool look Olympic-sized; a powdery substance laid on the asphalt driveway makes it look like it's a dusty dirt road!)

11:26am We're back from the ranch, picked up Mia, and away we go. To Austin. Mileage 17821.

2:13pm We've stopped for lunch in Waco, Texas.

3:03pm We've heard from my Dad, he's landed in Austin. We're about an hour out - so even with our 5 day head start, he beat us.

4:15pm We're here. We arrived in Austin and I let out a huge sigh. Mostly because I had to take a leak for the last 20 miles...it was starting to hurt. Mileage 18038.

and for those of you who like visual aids:
And thus concludes my trip to Texas. Thanks for giving me something to do each day.

Over and out!

key day

So far today I've signed my new lease, and the pod with my stuff has been delivered. I'll get the key sometime around 3:30!

vogue

I haven't yet decided if burnt orange is my color - but I have a piece of fleece that color now. We raided the campus store today, it looked like a longhorn blew up in there. I mean, they have longhorn everything. Seriously, EVERYTHING!

southern hospitality

I don't think I'm the first one to notice that the South is very different from the North. Or that New England is a strange little place that somehow exists in a very unique way. But, they sure are different. Let me start with, people in Virginia, Tennessee, and Arkansas definitely merge onto the highway differently. I can't say they are bad at it, it's just different. It took me a while to figure out. While, in my mind, I was giving them a perfect hole to slip into - about 7 Boston cars would have zipped into the hole I left. But, no, down south, no zipping in. There was a strange waiting game, where they slowed down to get behind me. So I learned, to not really slow down - maybe speed up.

The other thing that is different - sex. Never have I thought so much about premarital sex. But, all throughout Tennessee there were these billboards, trying to prevent premarital sex. One had the picture of a pregnancy test and said "Here's one test you don't want your kids to pass". And the website was something like www.waitformarriage.com (but it wasn't that, but it was close). My other favorite had a set of wedding bands and said "The Only Real Sex Symbol". Really?! Now scattered amongst all of these billboards were others for the millions of 24-hour Adult Bookstores, and Sex Toy Stores, and the like. I've never seen such mixed messages.

But, what I can get used to is the "Southern Hospitality" - people are just legitimately friendly. I mean, maybe they're just bored - but they're not bored and grumpy. I've had some great conversations with people everywhere, a woman in the rest area, the clerk at a store, a billion waitresses, a woman who was waiting in line for a sandwich with me, another woman in the bathroom, people in our hotels, people in the parking lots. Everywhere. All the time. They are a'talkin'. And holding doors. Lots of door holding. It makes me smile.

trouble with numbers

Yes, there have been problems.

Hostess at the restaurant: “how many?”
Me: “3”
Me: “no, 4, sorry”
Me: “wait, 3…sorry”
Me: “um, us”(pointing to me, my mom, and Anne).
Hostess: “ya”
Hostess(to Anne now): “It’s a 15 minute wait – is that ok?”

Me: “Thirty-thousand feet”
Mom: “umm”
Me: “I mean, Thirty…Hundred”
Mom: “uh, ya”

Millie: Exit 13
Gladys: Exit 6
Me: Exit 1B?

where in Boston is Carmen San Diego?

There were lots of things I was supposed to do to get ready to go…I mean, lots. One of the things my mom kept telling me to do was to go to AAA and get some maps. We have Millie, and we have printed out directions from her GPS, but…we wanted maps too. Well, I never got there. I hate to say I forgot, because I didn’t. I just never made time, or found time, or however it went down. I thought it was alright, since I do have an atlas in my car. So we’re about 20 minutes in to the trip and my mom pulls out the atlas. About 10 minutes later she decides to find where in CT we are. Well, that’s when we realize that my US atlas is really a Boston atlas. Oops! Not going to be much help. She bought an atlas the first stop we made. I think it’s silly to have paid for an atlas, I mean AAA will give us maps for free, we should have just thought of that!

cypress

I spent the morning doing some last minute errands, and by 1:30 I had left my apartment, sparkling clean and completely empty, and was heading to RI. By the time it came to leave I was itching to go...it had just been too long of a build-up, to much of a good-bye, too slow of a ripping off of the band-aid.

The thing that pissed me off the most about the whole ordeal, how freaking wasteful moving is. I threw out perfectly good things because I didn't need them. Food, lots of food was tossed. It began to make me a little sick, just chucking everything. So I began loading my car up with things I thought I could unload on my parents. Like yogurt. And cherries. And spackle.

The stuff I packed into the pod on Monday was supposed to be picked up yesterday - but that didn't happen quite as planned. It was successfully picked up this afternoon. I was hoping that the extra time would allow me to shop for cool new things I needed, since there is extra room in the pod. You know, things like dishes, or pots and pans, or pillows. But, that didn't happen quite as planned. I did add 3 or 4 more things this morning. 8 rolls of paper towels, 6 rolls of toilet paper, paper bowls, paper plates, and plastic cups. I didn't want to waste them, so now I am paying to ship these things 2000 miles!

tetris

All those years of playing in college finally paid off.

solo

Last week, while home alone and pretending to pack, I think I had a little psychotic break. The cable was busted, so I called the cable company trying to get it fixed - yes, fixed for about 4 days until I have to have it canceled. They sent a cable guy over to check it out. The guy that showed up had actually been here twice before, he remembered me, and he's very nice. I was apparently excited to have some company and someone to talk to, I think at one point I offered to make him a sandwich - truly, a sandwich...for the cable guy. In the end, it turns out I unplugged one of the cable wires, which is why it wasn't working. He plugged it back in and everything was fine. Honestly, I didn't KNOW I unplugged it - but I can't be sure that I didn't do it all subconsciously, looking for a friend...

Hmmm, today the phone seems to be acting up...I hope the phone man is nice!

omission

Those of you who know me may have noticed a lot of big news left off the blog. And in fact, those of you who don't know me may have just noticed lots of time between posts. I blame it all on the copious amounts of denial I've been living in.

I left my job a week ago and have been packing up my apartment in preparation for a move to Austin, Texas. I hear that Austin is the only place in Texas to go - so I'm going. Well that, and I'll be attending the University of Texas at Austin for graduate school. I decided the commute from Boston was a bit too far! Everyone asks me if I'm excited, and I have my standard answers, that are shades of the truth. My repertoire includes: "Yes, I'm excited, but there is so much to do!", "It's sad to leave, but I'll be happy once I'm down there!", "Austin is a great city!", "Yes, I am happy with the choice I made!", "Oh, I leave next week. It's so soon, I'm not quite ready, but it sure is exciting."

There are few people who've heard the real answers, those are people who are going through a similar thing...and after testing each other out a bit, we ease into the actual truth. Afraid of what is actually going through our heads. Afraid that we may be alone in thinking...

No. I'm not excited. I'm terrified. Yes, it's a big move, yes it's far, yes I don't know anyone. These things frighten me. But I'll get over those. Yes, I'm sad to leave behind my friends, yes I'm nervous of how the distance will change things, yes I'm afraid of being replaced. But I'll learn to handle that. It's terrifying to think I've committed to do something for a substantial period of time that I'm not totally sure of. No, I don't know what I want to do, no I can't tell you what I want to be, no I'm not always sure why I am doing this. Those things - are terrifying. But, I'm comforted in the thought that everyone else I know headed off on a similar venture has faced the same. I've focused so much on the "moving", trying to cope with that - I've left so much of the "future" wrapped up in my nice little package of denial. And while I choose to ignore it, I ignore it knowing it's there.

Its scary to think that I'm so unsure of what I'm getting into and for what reasons. I mean, it makes sense to me as something to do, and there are small goals along the way. But to say I really understand how it will fit into the grand scheme of my life, I don't. To say that it was worth it to pick up and move, leaving a happy little life behind, I can't. To say that I'll be better off for it in the end, how would I even know.

So I sit here, in an empty apartment, boxes that I hope will fit into the pod on Monday and a cat that is slowly becoming psychotic surround me, and I'm terrified. I'm terrified in a way that I can't even share with anyone. A sort of terrified that likely has some excitement buried under it, a sort of terrified that is likely going to be ok one day...but today, I can't see any of that. I see my empty apartment and nothing familiar in front of me. Today, the terrified is winning.

pusher

One of the benefits of being over 21, you can buy your own cough medicine! I wonder, then, is it illegal to buy cough medicine for minors? What if it's a minor in need? Either way, I'm happy to oblige - kids out there, if you need cough medicine, you can call on me!

rulez!

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listening

Grey Street - Dave Matthews Band

Oh look at how she listens
She says nothing of what she thinks
She just goes stumbling through her memories
Staring out on to Grey Street

She thinks, “Hey,
How did I come to this?
I dream myself a thousand times around the world,
But I can’t get out of this place”

There’s an emptiness inside her
And she’d do anything to fill it in
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart

How she wishes it was different
She prays to God most every night
And though she swears it doesn’t listen
There’s still a hope in her it might

She says, “I pray
But they fall on deaf ears,
Am I supposed to take it on myself?
To get out of this place”

There’s loneliness inside her
And she’d do anything to fill it in
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now
It feels like cold blue ice in her heart
When all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart

There’s a stranger speaks outside her door
Says take what you can from your dreams
Make them as real as anything
It’d take the work out of the courage

But she says, “Please
There’s a crazy man that’s creeping outside my door,
I live on the corner of Grey Street and the end of the world”

There’s an emptiness inside her
And she’d do anything to fill it in
And though it’s red blood bleeding from her now
It’s more like cold blue ice in her heart
She feels like kicking out all the windows
And setting fire to this life
She could change everything about her using colors bold and bright
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart
It breaks her heart
To grey

ssshhh!

It's been well documented that I am not really soft-spoken. I'm not rude, but I'm loud. I'll admit it. I do know HOW to be quiet, and I am in most of the appropriate times. But my indoor voice is a little raised from others, and my outdoor voice - whoa!

I was in Target yesterday, buying an umbrella, face wash, and a card. I was walking down the main aisle, there was a woman in front of me. She turned down the same side aisle I was going to turn down. I turned down the aisle because it dead ended at the face wash. She stopped. I stopped.

She said: "Oh, go ahead" and motioned for me to go.
So I said: "Oh, I'm just looking" and motioned toward the products in front of me.
She replied: "Oh, I just wanted you to go in front of me. With the clip-clopping and all. It's so loud" As she said 'clip-clopping', she motioned towards my feet and turned her mouth in disgust.

I wanted to say: "LOUD?! You ain't heard NOTHING yet!" But I just turned back to the face wash, because clearly she's deranged - like I'd be any quieter in front of her.

aminals

There are days when we - we being my roommate and I - sit in our living room and hear noises. My cat, she hears them too. She's a little more excited by them, she'll chase the noise around. We, we're a little more scared of it. One morning as I was getting ready for work I heard one of these noises, and I attributed it to my cat, clawing at something in the living room. She doesn't usually claw at things, so I was annoyed, and in my annoyance I just kept yelling to her "MIA!" "MMMIIIIIAAA!" "STOP IT". She didn't. So I went out to the living room to see exactly what she was doing. On my way out of my bedroom I saw Mia, curled up at the end of my bed. Then I heard that noise again. I apologized to Mia.

I believe it to be squirrels. In the roof. I think they have gotten in from outside and run around. They run all over, and even up and down the walls sometimes. I don't think they live in there all the time, because days go by without the noise.

One morning I was startled awake by the squirrel, in the roof above my bed. I sat there for an hour or so listening to him run all over my ceiling, up and down the wall between my room and the bathroom. I sat there envisioning this squirrel chewing in to my room from the ceiling. What will we do when that happens?!

Last week I was trying to get some things out of our storage crawl space. It's this enormous space off of the living room that we've jam-packed with boxes. I needed a few of them out of there. My roommate and I had agreed that we should go in there only when we are both home - for fear of bugs or whatnot. So I told her that I was going in there and she should come out if she hears screaming. And inside I went. I was way back, maneuvering things around to get at what I needed when I saw something disturbing. I started to scream a little, and I tried desperately to get out quickly - but I had barricaded myself in there pretty well. I come tumbling out and slammed the door and moved something in front of it. My roommate, meanwhile, is rushing out to the living room to see what disaster has happened. I'm sure she expected to see a swarm of spiders, or a line of ants, but she saw nothing. She asked what happened and I told her what I saw. All of my books, nibbled all down the sides. All of my manila envelopes with old class notes, chewed through. One of the reasons I love my roommate is that she and I think so much a like most of the time. She instantly freaked out and said, "What if the animal is still in there? What if it's in some of our boxes? What if it gets in here?" Exactly my point, hence the screaming and the running.

The next day a friend of mine came over to pull out my boxes. He was very nice to help, it was hot in that crawl space, and he's not short like me. He was under advisement that if an animal got out of there into our apartment he was responsible to remove it. Once all 6 of my boxes were pulled out I made him check them all for animals or bugs. He found none. So I sent him on his way!

Caution: Contents Hot

This morning I was running a few errands on my way to work, the bank, CVS, and Whole Foods. A few of my friends and I often eat lunch at Whole Foods and knowing that I was going there I had asked a friend of mine if I should pick anything up for him. He requested soup (as usual) and told me he wanted Butternut Squash, Shrimp Bisque, or Carrot soup - in that order.

I got there and had a bit of time to kill before the bank (next door) was opened, so I milled around. There was no soup out yet, it was too early, so I got myself a banana-chocolate chip muffin and went to drool on the bakery display. On my way back from the bakery I noticed they were bringing out the soups. So I waited as the man put all the bins in their place and then began putting out signs. I asked "Do you have Butternut Squash today?" He said yes, and put a ladle in the Butternut Squash soup container for me. He then said, "Careful, it's hot!"

I began to ladle the soup into my soup cup and I spilled some - all down my thumb. It was HOT. In fact, it was scalding. my thumb. And I stood there, dumbfounded, unsure of what to do. Because I don't eat butternut squash soup. But it was on my thumb, burning it, while I watched. With no other course of action, I shoved my thumb into my mouth.

I left Whole Foods with a burnt thumb, the after taste of butternut squash, and a smushed banana-chocolate chip muffin. No where to go but up!

it's like riding a bike

I want to extend a thanks to my pals Allison and Chris, who put up with me on Saturday! They took me out, and taught me to ride a bike. When I was leaving my house on Saturday and told my roommate I was going to learn how to ride a bike she asked, "You never learned how to ride a bike?" So, let me start at the beginning.

When I was younger I had a big wheel - you remember big wheels, right? I didn't have the Knight Rider one, I don't think that I wanted the Knight Rider one even. I had a Kermit the Frog one - I loved Kermie. But, I used to remove Kermie from the front, and stick him on the side (the little pole that held him on the front fit into the hole in the handle bars) and I would ride around the driveway talking to Kermie (and calling him Kitt). I progressed up to a shiny red tricycle. I used to ride this up and down the driveway, sometimes standing on the back and pushing with one foot, like it was a scooter. Then I got a bike. It was purple. It said Buttercup on it. It was a bike with training wheels, and I think if I had my way it would have stayed a bike with training wheels until now. But I didn't have it my way. One day my dad made the training wheels lopsided, so I could learn to not use them. And then, one day, they were gone.

I was never one of those kids who rode my bike everywhere. I rode it up the driveway, and back. I rode it to the corner (our house is the last one on the street) and back. I was a daredevil, sometimes I went around the corner...but never to the next. We lived at the bottom of a few great big hills, I rarely ventured over those. One time, we were vacationing on Block Island, and had rented bikes. This was way back before "helmet laws" - back when us kids used to sit, unbuckled, in the front seat of a car while playing with BB guns. After a full day of riding and swimming at the beach we were headed back to return the rented bikes. Like any tired 10 year old I was begging my mom to let me take off the stupid, itchy, hot, too big helmet. She finally gave in. It was about this time that fell off. I'm going to save the details of this story - because they are good enough to warrant their own post - but let's just fast-forward to the end.

Stitches. in. my. head.

After I was healed, like any good mother, my mom wanted to make sure I wasn't ruined on bike riding forever. She would suggest that I ride to a friends, or go down the street. I used to ride to the corner, hide my bike in the bushes, go for a walk, and then pick up my bike and ride home. After a while of doing this, I think I just dropped the act. I eventually got too big for the purple bike that said Buttercup. Years later I used my own money to buy a pair of rollerblades. I used to use these inside of our cluttered 2 car garage.

So, back to Allison and Chris. Basically they had to deal with me - someone who has never used a bike (or similar thing) to do anything useful or even exciting. Ever. I was using my mom's old bike (circa 1974) - made by Panasonic. It's a great bike. If I were about 3 inches taller it would be awesome. As it is though, the seat is as low as possible and it's a tad too high. The three of us spent about 45 minutes going in circles around a playground where there was a baseball game going on. And when I say circles, let me point out that we surely stopped EACH TIME we made a complete circle. One time I was following Allison, and she kept going. I remember I said "oh, around again?" I proudly announce each time I was able to shift the gears (which I never really knew if I did right) and use the brake (singular because one didn't work!) Then - we rode up the street for ice cream.

And my neuroses about eating an ice cream cone are worse (right, Al?) so I'll stop now.

THANKS GUYS!

Update

On Monday I wrote about the make-out session that I witnessed at work, and made claims that it's always exciting where I work. On Tuesday a super-computer that we have blew up. Well, OK, it "caught fire" - there was some faulty wiring, and it caused some power component of the machine to ignite. Pyrotechnics are fun. I was blamed for the excitement, I'm always blamed when something happens to this particular computer. A legacy I hope to be known for long after I am gone from here.

And today, during our Brainmap seminar, I won a pineapple.

fast times at ridgemont high

I work in a somewhat large building, about 10 stories, full of various types of scientists. There are lots of people in the building all doing research of various types on various topics. Somehow though, there never ceases to be excitement in the building, like the day there was a bomb scare. Last week I had plans to have lunch with a friend of mine. After we walked out of the cafeteria, with our lunches in hand, we had to search for a table. This activity always puts me back in the lunch room in high school, where you desperately scan the crowd to try and find your friends, or a table you can sit at, anywhere.

Today I was innocently walking downstairs to meet another friend for a snack. I walked out one door into a common area (with lots of tables for people to eat at) and I see two people "going at it". I don't want to simply say that they were kissing, I mean this was "Saturday night at the disco" quality making out.

At 3pm. At work. At a lunch table.

I did what anyone would do, I stopped and starred. I starred from a few different angles trying to see if I knew who it was. I mean, it's my opinion that if you are going to make out here, then I have every right to stare. I proceeded to go downstairs, where I told my friend (in my ever-so-soft indoor voice) that "there are totally two people making out up there!" When he asked where, I then pointed (loudly), and the two of us burst out laughing. I'm not sure who made more of a scene - the two of us pointing and laughing, or the two people "getting busy" upstairs.

Either way, the conclusion is the same. Scientists are fun.

is this thing on?

it's been a while, but I'm coming back....

The captain has turned on the fasten seatbelts sign

1/8/2007
BOS STL BOS CMH STL BOS LGA RDU LGA BOS ORD SDU LAX BOS AUS JFK BOS STL AUS ORD CDI ORD BOS
3/31/2007
4/1/2007

red, gold and green...

1. I was driving on the MassPike, and my lane was ending. I admittedly squeezed over with little warning, but the car behind me was pretty far back there - and I had plenty of room/time to safely join his lane. He honked, and I waved, apologetically. But, no harm done. However, he was unhappy. He drove up very close to my bumper. Then he pulled to my left lane and got very close to me. Then he pulled in front of me and kept slowing and speeding up. Then we came to the toll. He went through one station, to my left, I went through another. He finished first. And waited... By the time I pulled out he swerved into my lane, then back to his, then back to mine, then back to his, all the while chucking me the bird. After this, he sped off - flashing his NY license plates in my face. * Just up the road a cop who had seen this display pulled him over for reckless driving and gave him a pretty hefty ticket.

2. I was at a movie theater with some friends, the theater was packed as it was a free premier, and it was close to the time the movie would start. I had to use the restroom so I quickly got up to find it. There was no one in either of the two stalls when I went in. I used the last little scrap of toilet paper while I was in there. When I came out, someone was just about to come out of the other stall and two women were waiting. I said to the woman who was first "There is no toilet paper left in this stall so you might want to grab some from the other stall first" She looked at me, didn't say thank you, and when the other stall was free rushed in. She, however, did not grab some toilet paper, she shut the door and used the stall - not even allowing the other woman waiting in line to grab some paper. * On her way out of the bathroom she stepped in a suspicious puddle that cemented a long trail of toilet paper to the bottom of her shoe that everyone laughed and pointed at for the remainder of the evening.

3. I was at the grocery store and I watched in horror as this one man, with a cart load of groceries barreled his way through a crowd of people. We were all milling about trying to determine which lane to use, because one of the self-checkout lanes was not working, and one of the other lanes seemed like it WOULD work, but the light was off, so we were basically trying to make a group decision as to what to do. There were 3 or 4 of us, and only a handful of items each. This man with his cart stormed right through us and up to the self-checkout lane in question. The rest of us then went off in search of other lanes. * After struggling through the self-checkout lane that wouldn't work properly, this man's grocery bag ripped and his grapes went all over the parking lot.

*the endings may or may not be true, but I have to believe that karma will come around and bite these people sooner or later!

approaching exit five

I went to high school in Providence, RI - about an hour from the town I grew up in. In general, I consider myself fortunate to have been able to go to that school; it was a wonderful school and a really great place for me to be. On top of the financial burden of sending me to school there, my parents also willingly supported the distance burdens that we picked up. I had to get to school after all. And someone had to get me there. Most of the time it was my mom, she got up early in the morning and drove me a whopping 25 minutes up I-95 to East Greenwich (exit 8), where I caught the bus. Then she turned immediately around to drive all the way back to go to work (exit 2). She'd work a full day, and leave to drive back up to East Greenwich to pick me up (exit 8), and we'd drive home (exit 1) together. When I think back to those times, now that I have a full time job, I hate myself for the times I stood there silently cursing her for making me wait a few minutes at the bus stop for her to arrive. I feel so ungrateful. Besides the time commitment, and the frequent gas station stops, I must add that she made all four of these daily trips basically alone.

My morning schedule went something like:
wake up, eat, brush teeth, get dressed, grab bag, pile into car.
This generally took a total of 25 minutes, and is interspersed with my dad gently telling my mom and I that we'd better hurry because we were late, as the two of us ran around looking for keys, or sneakers, or a notebook, or homework that was misplaced from the night before. Once I was piled into the car, I went to sleep. Seriously. Sometimes before we were out of the driveway. Most times before we were off our street.

It was a similar thing in the afternoons, I would get off the bus and hop in the car. Zzzzzzz. Seriously. Sometimes without saying Hi probably. What can I say, I was sleepy?!

My poor mother. But, I while I was awake I really enjoyed these times riding with her. We had fun. I remember one morning when we were listening to the radio and Tubthumping by Chumbawumba came on the radio. It was nothing special, but I remember it so clearly - we were just passing the Bess Eaton on Rte 3 and we both laughed about how ridiculous the name of the song, the name of the group, and the lyrics were (and then I likely went to sleep). I remember listening to Jones and Joan on 93.3, and tying to predict whether we'd miss the bus. I remember the crazy Wednesday afternoons where she probably wished I slept and I most definitely did not - choreographing complete dances while still buckled up (read, LOTS of hand motions!) And I remember approaching exit five.

My mom blogged about this today. In case you didn't click that link and read it, she said, about me, "She has grown into a wonderfully talented woman. But, for just a brief moment today she was that child in school, traveling with me up the highway." The fact that I grew into a wonderfully talented woman is not really a huge surprise to me - I have two wonderfully talented, generous, kind, supportive parents as role models. A bit of that was bound to rub off. But, I remember the days of riding with her to school as some of the happiest times I can think of.

Hey Mom, wanna drive me to work in the morning?? I've been especially tired lately, and could use the nap! hehehe. love you!

wind chill

It was 75
and sunny
on Saturday
in San Diego.

and that's all I have to say about that.

Echo, Echo

When you think of an echo, do you picture a small person standing at a big cliff yelling into the abyss, and the abyss yelling back? That's what I picture.

I don't picture that annoying black spot (or blue if your eyes are closed) that clouds your vision after you stare into a bright light. I also don't picture the after taste of strawberries. Nor do I picture the throbbing sensation that remains after someone pokes you where you are bruised. But - aren't these all echoes? Just not the auditory kind.

Sunday, Bloody Sunday

It's a rare day when I have nothing to do, especially early in the morning. But Sunday, I had nothing to do. I mean, I had to teach math at 3, and a jazz dinner show to go to at 6, but basically that's nothing. I could sleep in. And I did. I woke up at 11:45, which is so unlike me. Who knew that I would only have about 35 minutes of peace in the whole day? I certainly didn't. I got out of bed, turned on my computer, checked my email, switched on the TV, and could almost taste the bagel with cream cheese and strawberry jam that I was about to make. I could almost taste it. Who knew I never would? I certainly didn't.

I'm going to warn you now, I am not going to spare any details. You've been warned.

I got the bagels out of the freezer, those mini Thomas' bagels that are pre-sliced, I freeze them so they last longer. I grabbed a knife, a huge serrated steak knife, because it was one that was clean. I held my bagel over the sink, you know so the crumbs wouldn't get everywhere, easy clean-up. The frozen bagel offered a bit of resistance, and so I pushed with my super-human strength, right into my finger. I'm not talking straight down though, more at an angle parallel to the surface of my finger, creating a flap of skin about the size (thickness to) of a dime hanging from my finger. It took me a while to see how big it was because the first thing I did was drop the knife and bagel into the sink and run to the bathroom. In hindsight, I'm not sure why. I ran to the bathroom to use the sink. I was already standing right at a sink. But, I went to the bathroom. I instinctively ran my finger under water - OW! Not smart. So I grabbed some toilet paper and began to wrap my finger up. Blood was pouring out. More blood than I would have liked to have seen. I wrapped and wrapped. I decided to apply pressure and put my finger over my head. At this point I began pacing around, wincing, and freaking out. On one of my laps around the apartment I passed the bathroom and saw that I had gotten blood everywhere, so with my finger still wrapped and bleeding above my head I pulled out the Clorox spray and a sponge and began cleaning it up. I mean, you gotta stay ahead of the mess.

I decided I needed to tell someone, anyone, what was happening - in case I passed out and died from blood loss, maybe someone would know. As I had mentioned I had already turned on my computer, it was sitting right there with my email open and google chat on. I had this conversation with a friend online:

me: ijust totslly sliced my finger open.....

owwwwwwwwww

Him: i know how that goes for sure

[my friend had recently sliced his finger, but one band aid fixed that]
me: no i think mine is a bit worse

there is blood everywhere....

oart of my finger might be missing...

im not sure a band aid is going to work

Him: you got a hospital you can go to?

do you need an ambulance?

me: no ambulence...

ok, so my mom isnt home.

how do i make it stop bleeding....

Him: well you can still type, so I'm not that worried about you

[little did he know that I was mopping up my blood as I typed. People, I am hard core!]

Eventually my roommate came home and my friend Melanie came over with first aid supplies (and ice cream, thanks Mel!) My roommates insurance has a 24-hour nurse hotline to call, so I called it. I was then subjected to a slew of questions that ranged from typical, "what's your DOB?" to abnormal, "have you successfully removed the knife from your finger?", to the absurd "And you are sure the cut is not to your eyelid or abdomen?" After about ten minutes on the phone, it was decided I should, in fact, see a doctor. So about an hour and a half after the incident Melanie and I headed off to the hospital. Now, if you've read this far I should point out - I HATE HOSPITALS. Also, I hate needles, pain, blood, really, just about anything that was happening.

thats just the way it is

There are really only two good things that can result from a trip to the ER.
a.) your doctor is hot
b.) they send you home with pain medication

and I got neither. the glimmer of one, but in the end - neither.
more to come...

Hello, McFly!

Sometimes I forget to remember that this is my life, and not something that is just happening around me.

kids these days....

I was at the gym last week (that's not the news...) and while I was running on the elliptical trainer I was also watching the news. It happened to be a PBS news broadcast, I could not clearly see the other TV that was carrying CBS Evening News. This broadcast covered a wide variety of topics, including the Boston Bomb Scare, but the story that disturbed me most was one about the planet Pluto.

Let me interrupt by saying that I am a "scientist" in that I've spent the past 12 or so years focusing on subjects that are heavily in the science field. My young, girly exterior makes it difficult for people to see me as intelligent sometimes, but I tend to be - here is a description my friend Anne has left on my friendster page "She may be blond, short, and have a high-pitched voice but under that exterior lies a tough, wildly-brainy woman." I'm not sure I would say wildly-brainy, but it's not unlike me to think critically.

The story about the planet Pluto involved a discussion about whether there were 8 or 9 planets. Whether we should count Pluto as a planet, or listen to the astronomers who say that it is not a planet. The part that was the most disturbing was that they showed a bunch of 5th graders, and 5th grade teachers, who were actively mourning the loss of Pluto as a planet. The teachers were saying that they would teach that there were 9 planets because "that's the way they were taught it". There were children who reacted with tears at the thought of Pluto not being a planet because they had "always known it as a planet". What are we teaching kids with this sort of reaction - that science is static, unchanging, concrete? This is exactly the wrong message. Science is a very fluid and living entity. Things change, all the time. They progress, and regress, and move sideways - but they always change. I hate to think of what it would be like if they didn't, would we all still be living on a flat, dark world simply because that's the way it had always been.

I don't expect everyone to grow up with a passion for science, but if we're no longer teaching children that change is a possibility, how can they possibly grow up to change the world. And if they aren't going to change it...who is?

I thought I heard a city sob this morning...

Damn!

shoulda

...before I used the 'self-cleaning' option on my oven, I should have located our fire extinguisher.

Out of Range

It's funny how something so little can quickly bring you back. I am in a great mood this morning. As I was leaving the house I flipped open my old binder of CDs and grabbed one at random. I'm not even sure what made me do this - for those of you who don't know me, my CD collection is HORRIBLE. My car was broken into a few times during college, and all my CDs stolen each time. I gave up on replacing them. And now with my emusic.com subscription, I don't need CDs.

I ended up grabbing one that used to be a favorite of mine. Used to be. A long time ago. Back when I was different. I've been thinking for a long time how different I am now. I mean, I still look the way I did when I was five. But there are some things about me that are just really different, even from just 3 years ago. It may be hard for anyone else to notice, but I notice, all the time. And so often I forget how I used to be, as if "she" is one of those sadly lost college friends or something. But, in an instant, this CD gave me a glimpse of who I was...and it was nice. I remembered about a thousand different times when I listened to each song, memories that shouldn't be so difficult to conjure up. I almost didn't want to get out of the car!

"somebody do something, anything soon. I know I can't be the only whatever I am in the room. so why am I so lonely? why am I so tired? I need company. I need backup. I need to be inspired."

listening

I wish I was a punk rocker (with flowers in my hair) - Sandi Thom

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In '77 and '69 revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When the head of state didn't play guitar
Not everybody drove a car
When music really mattered and when radio was king
When accountants didn't have control
And the media couldn't buy your soul
And computers were still scary and we didn't know everything

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In '77 and '69 revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When pop stars still remained a myth
And ignorance could still be bliss
And when god saved the queen she turned a whiter shade of pale
My mom and dad were in their teens
And anarchy was still a dream
And the only way to stay in touch was a letter in the mail

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In '77 and '69 revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

When record shops were still on top
And vinyl was all that they stocked
And the super info highway was still drifting out in space
Kids were wearing hand me downs
And playing games meant kick arounds
And footballers still had long hair and dirt across their face

Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair
In '77 and '69 revolution was in the air
I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

I was born too late into a world that doesn't care
Oh I wish I was a punk rocker with flowers in my hair

12...11...10...8...

I'm not a huge New Years Eve fan - I mean don't get me wrong, I love watching the ball drop, but I totally despise the day. It's one of those holidays where you are required to find these great plans, right, because your whole year will be ruined if you aren't exactly in the right place, with exactly the right person, with the worlds best new years kiss - right?! It's a totally absurd concept, but it's the way it is.

I had no real plans, up until New Year's Eve eve I wasn't even sure what state I would be in, which was making it very difficult to make plans. I came back to Boston, from my parent's house in Rhode Island, at about 4 in the afternoon on New Years Eve. I was exhausted and had no desire to go anywhere. I turned on the Law and Order: SVU marathon and proceeded to fall asleep on the couch. After a mini-nap I woke up to a few text messages inviting me to a few various parties. I decided that perhaps going out was better than staying in.

I went up and met my friends Allison and Chris, who were eating dinner and drinking beers with their friends Brian and Claudia. We spent the before-midnight portion of the night watching these DVDs that Allison and Chris have, of a show that was on TV only one year and i had never heard of, but that was really funny. At about midnight-minus-7-minutes we stopped and started watching the Dick Clark/Ryan Seacrest coverage of Times Square. We (and by we I mean Chris) successfully opened a bottle of champagne (that was a present to me from a lab at MIT). It was then that we realized that we had no noise makers, and wanted some, so we did what anyone would have done - we created our New Years Eve band. Everyone had their own instrument and we counted down. We watched as Dick Clark messed up the countdown, as Ryan Seacrest tried to kiss Christina Aquilera, and as everyone said "Happy 2007!" To which my friend Chris said "oh, it wasn't already 2007?"

Wishing everyone a very happy and healthy new year!

Happy 2007!

Happy 2007!
Originally uploaded by with an eye.

with an eye

The name for this blog has a bunch of different meanings. One of them is about the spelling of my name, which is J-E-N-N-I, with an I. No one ever gets that. I sign my emails with it spelled correctly and people write back to Jenny. Do they think I've misspelled my own name? And if I did - who are they to correct me? Another reason for the blog name was the purpose I started it, to share travel photos. To share the world through my eyes! And I guess I continue to do that without the photos too.

But, also, I have brown eyes. Big brown eyes. Dark brown eyes. I remember when I was younger - eight or nine maybe - and my dad and I were playing cribbage with my grandfather. I remember looking up and being totally shocked that starring back at me were 4 eyes that looked like mine. We really do all have the same huge, deep brown eyes. This is the point I want to make today. As I stood at the mirror scrubbing to get the remnants of last nights mascara off (just in time to put today's mascara on) I was starring at my own eyes. My light, golden brown with green in them, eyes. I'm not saying one is better than the other, but what I want to know is - when did it change? And how did I not notice?! My eyes - my eyes that I share with my father and his father - are not big and brown any more. I did then run out to see an old picture of me and an old picture of my dad, and I did once have big brown eyes. On a related topic. My blond hair, the golden blond hair I was born with, that was always naturally highlighted (and thicker than anything you've ever seen) is not so golden blond anymore. It's begun to grow in, dare I say it, light brown.

I suppose that as I continue to share the world through my eyes, I need to start seeing myself through the worlds eyes.

1 (800) ABCDEFG

...hooked on phonics worked for me!

A while back I went out with some friends to hear a few DJs we know play at a cute little bar in Cambridge. At some point, as usually happens, I was starring off into space. Often when this happens I end up perseverating on something, in this case reading it over and over and over in my head. So much so that it often ends up not making sense anymore. There was one time in college when I was riding in the back of a station wagon reading, out loud, the college sticker that was on the back window "Suffolk Law University". It was really annoying to everyone in the car, but by the end of the ride no one could even recognize those as words. (and once we got where we were going we also realized I had read it wrong, as it clearly said "Suffolk University Law" - but that wasn't the point!)

So, anyway, I was reading this little flyer over - but the problem was, it stopped making sense before I even read it. The first word was definitely "Your". The second word was "are". Your...are...? Your....are....a...? really, this couldn't be. But it was - your...are...a...of..?! these words don't make sense. So I stopped reading them. But it wasn't long before I was back at it again.

your....are....a....of...the....

really, this is how it started. So finally, maybe about 45 minutes since the first time I had read this and been confused, I picked up the flyer and showed my friend Allison and said "Allison, what does this say?"

Luckily for me she paused and hesitated - I knew what was going through her head 'your...are...a...of...the..., this doesn't make sense!' But then her friend Nuno quickly read it out loud, with that tone of voice that clearly and loudly said "how dumb ARE you?!"

time flies...

...but am i having fun?

Lately I've not had the time or will to post anything. Not sure why. Winter? Applications? Working? Could be all of those. But I'm not short on stories...no no no. I've got stories all over the place. Some of the better ones require me to scan a few things into the computer so I can post those, and that is too much effort right now. Until then though, might I suggest you check out a few sites.

marmadukeexplained.blogspot.com
I find this one awfully funny, an explanation of the ridiculous comic strip Marmaduke by Joe Mathlete. Sometimes I can't contain my laughter at my desk. Who am I kidding - I don't even try to contain it!

thisnext.com
It's like an online shopping mecca. Nothing is actually sold through the site, just descriptions and links to pages, and recommendations by people. But it's a million times cooler than that description. I found this there, and I want it for our office:

www.amysedarisrocks.com/ilikeyou.htm
While we're on the topic of things I want, I saw this book - and I want it! It looks cool, and the website is fun too.

Enjoy - more to come!

grate typo

meant to write:

see you next Friday,
Jenni.

actually wrote:

see you next frienday,
Jenni

jedi mind trick

I was doing my thing at work, using all the stuff I normally use, when I hit an odd combination of keys and mouse clicks and managed to pop up some useful windows and toolbars. It was kind of cool, I was very impressed that these capabilities already existed - sometimes the developers can't predict the ways in which the users are going to be using things and I often request features like this after the fact. But here they were, already there, like they were reading my mind! I emailed the developer in charge of the program to ask how long these features had been there and to tell him how cool and useful I found them. (I believe in positive reinforcement). Here is his response:

A few months at least, since right around the time that you requested it!

I guess its like I was reading my own mind.

not what i meant

*part of a conversation I had with this very sweet 22-year-old girl that is new at work while we were out at a bar last night.

me: "I always said I would never dance in front of people I work with."
her: "I know, I'm a bad dancer too!"

i'm a bree

my downstairs neighbors have been expecting a baby - she was due on Nov. 8th, but was late. The plan was that if she didn't deliver by the 15th she'd go in and they would induce labor. I happened to see her on Tuesday night, so we spoke a little bit about how excited and nervous they were. She said "I'm getting less and less nervous for the labor and more and more nervous that we are going to come home with a baby!" On Wednesday I thought of them at one point...wondering if they had a new daughter yet. Thinking how exciting it would be to bring her home with them. And my next thought was -- and I don't know where this came from, really...I don't -- I wondered if they had cleaned their house before they went to have a baby. Not cleaned their house in the baby-proof-set-up-a-nursery-buy-baby-furniture way, but like, do the dishes and the laundry. I'm not sure why I thought this was important, it's not like they are having a house guest...they are having a daughter - and she certainly wont care if they are a day or two behind on dishes.

oops!

I just emailed my boss to ask him something and he answered me, and added in an extra line at the end. A sentence whose information confused me (however it was of a very trivial nature, along the lines of which free desk someone was going to use, it was the choice that confused me). So I stood up and asked my nearby-cube neighbor if it made sense to her. Our other cube-neighbor stood up and said it didn't make much sense to him either. We had a little conversation about it. I sat down and there was another email from my boss:

p.s. don't spread it around - it's still a bit of a secret :)

a secret??!?! I'm blown away that this topic is a secret. And more shocked that my boss didn't realize he needed to tell me that sooner...

misunderstood

At work today I was on my way back to my desk when three of my co-workers who I haven't seen in a little while were all standing around the hallway chatting. The conversation started with "Jenni, you look like you are in a hurry" (which I was) so I said, "ya, I didn't get here until 11:30 this morning because I had a doctor's appointment, and now there is just so much to do." And then someone made sure to ask if I voted. To which my response was "Yes, I was up early, I went to vote, and then I went and got two shots." The conversation continued for a little while about the elections and then one co-worker interrupted with "what shots did you get?" and another co-worker further questioned "bourbon?" and the third replied "no, tequila?" to which I said - "No, flu!" I guess they all thought that I was slamming them down after voting at 8am.

I'm less concerned that they thought I was at the bar at 8am, and more concerned with the fact that at least two of them thought this was fine and could go unquestioned...

infiltration

This morning I had messages in my work Inbox, and I wanted to share them.

From: Gilda Farmer
Subject: needle girder multiple-disk clutch


and the two housemaids.dared not believe it, and could not help saying so.


From: Carey Hansen
Subject: paper-palisaded nut palm

an embarrassment impossible to be overcome. had his first appearance, or his resemblance to the

From: Francisca Baca
Subject: never-ending ordeal tree

amiable feeling; that had his actions been what mr. wickham represented them, so gross a violation of and extensive patronage. yet in spite of all these temptations, let me warn my cousin elizabeth, and


From: Edmond Mckay
Subject: nipa alcohol night-fly

and i do not think it of light importance that he should have attentive and conciliatory manner towards

deranged

I know everyone has a moment, or even a whole day, where they just do completely asinine things. You know, nothing huge or earth shattering, but a "where is my head" moment. I seem to have a day like that at least 5 times a week.

I pulled out the tupperware to put my leftover dinner in it. After filling the tupperware container with said leftovers I promptly put it away. Back in the tupperware drawer.

unprepared

Last night I went out to see my friend Chris' band play a Halloween show. (Miles From Land 4eva!) It was a Sunday night, kinda late, and even though I hadn't taken a shower all day I convinced myself to brush my hair, put on a clean shirt and some nice shoes (not sneakers). We get to the place and, after showing our IDs and getting purple ghost stamps on our hands, we make our way into the bar. The first 6 faces I see are familiar ones. But eerily familiar. Familiar in the way that at first glance you think it's bad.

I went to college in another Massachusetts city and I had a boyfriend for, what some would consider, a very long time. He grew up in a small town about 20 minutes outside of our college city and has 4 best friends from - well, from forever. They all ended up going to college in the same city, or one very nearby, so needless to say, we ALL saw a lot of them. It's been a long enough time that we've not been together where I'm not upset about it at all. But, it's still one of those things you try and not think about too often.

So I walk in and see 1, 2, 3, 4 of them. And like I said, at first it made me cringe. But I went over and said "Hi!" and we all chatted for a while. And one of them told me that their friend was in the band who was playing right before my friend Chris' band. I looked up, and yes - in fact, it WAS their friend. A 5th person I knew. And his parents were there to see....and I knew that because I've met them and been in their house. It was only then that I realized I did know the name of the band that was playing, because we used to go to all their shows. How quickly you forget (or block out) these things!! From where I was standing at that point I could see only half the bass drum, a tom, a crash cymbal and one drum stick. And I'll admit to peering around the corner to check out the drummer to see if it was my ex-boyfriend. It wasn't.

The shows went on, and they were great. But the weirdest part, that I was most unprepared for, was that it wasn't weird to see these guys. I was actually very glad to see them. And maybe even realized I kind of missed them. Turns out they are all living up here, so maybe the other weird thing is that I haven't run into them yet. But, it was nice to see them and catch up for a bit.

and I was totally glad I put on nice shoes and brushed my hair!

things i didn't know i'd need to know...

I'm applying to grad school for admissions in Fall 2007, and I'm right in the middle of trying to get everything ready. Each application asks for a different set of crazy things. The worst so far, one hoity-toity school requires me to list, in order of relevance, grouped by subject, all the classes and their text books, that I've EVER TAKEN.

seriously. they are asking me to fill out this form. it clearly says a transcript can NOT replace this. But they ask for the transcript too.

seriously - TEXT BOOKS. (and I'm thinking - "the yellow one with a strand of DNA on it" will not do. I'm also thinking that neither will "I DON'T FREAKIN' KNOW!")

where i get sentimental

I never cease to be amazed at the flood of emotions that I feel when I am standing in the driveway at my parents house looking up at the night sky. There are so many stars, stars just keep peeking out from behind other stars the longer you look up at it. It can be summer, fall, winter, spring; it can be hot, cold, raining or snowing. And there seem to always be hundreds of millions of stars out. When I lived there I had no idea how amazing the stars were. I didn't even miss them when I first moved out of the house and went to college in Worcester. I probably didn't even notice that I missed them until I came home for a visit. I got out of the car, and I looked up. And it was paralyzing. I remember suddenly being filled with a billion memories, standing in the same driveway and looking up. My dad and I trying to locate the big dipper, or my mom and I following the belt in Orion to find Taurus. I remember being out there coming home from a vacation, or walking the dog, or coming in from playing with friends, or getting back from a school dance. I never really noticed that every time I come home I get out of the car and look up. But I do. And I don't think about it ever. There are no stars to speak of in Boston, and I certainly don't stand outside staring at an empty sky. It doesn't ever cross my mind, until I turn into that driveway and get out of my car and look up at the star-filled sky. And remember every one of the million times I've done that before. And that's when I am back home.

odorific

I spent this past weekend in NYC. I decided to risk the Fung-Wah, which goes from Chinatown in Boston (south station) to Chinatown in NYC. Yes, this is the same bus that has flipped over, caught fire, and other unheard of accidents, but it's only $15. Awesome. Now, I was heading down there on Friday the 13th, really, a gamble with my life. The night before I laid out my bubble wrap suit, my helmet, mouth guard, and other protective attire. But - I suppressed the urge to actually put it on in the morning.

I had purchased my ticket and was on the bus within 5 minutes of arriving at South Station, and off to NYC I went. The right down was great. I slept, I read, I listened to music. We stopped at a rest stop where I ate my packed lunch on a picnic table. The whole ride took about 4.5 hours. Super!

On Sunday, I made my way from the Upper West Side down to Chinatown, and had to first walk past the Lucky Star stop. This is also a Chinatown-Chinatown bus, and $15. They were boarding as I passed, so I bought my ticket and got on. This time we stopped at a Chinese Buffet for a rest stop. Which sounds great, because you could buy lunch. But - a bus load of people eating Chinese take-out - that? that is a HORRIBLE idea.

boxers or briefs?

I would have always said that I would prefer a guy to wear boxers instead of briefs. Every fall/winter when I go play field hockey I always throw a pair of sweat pants over my shorts so I'm not cold on the way to the game. And every time I do this I am all bunched up and uncomfortable...and I'm wearing SWEAT PANTS. For forty minutes. How does anyone think it's comfortable to wear boxers under their pants everyday?? So now, I think I say I prefer a guy who doesn't wear boxers...Because the ones that can stand that everyday are obviously whacked.

it never changes

I just got this email from a friend of mine at work:

you just have to be quieter i guess. which for you is probably a good idea anyway!

My parents, and any teachers from lower school who might be reading this are laughing already. You see, when I was younger I was something of a talker. I mean, I like to talk, what's wrong with that? Apparently what's wrong with that is that when you talk when someone is trying to teach a class you are being "disruptive". I think that the teaching was disruptive to my conversation, but I suppose we are splitting hairs with that, I do see that both can't happen at the same time comfortably. So, after all the years of getting in trouble for talking - comments at parent/teacher meetings, being exiled from my friends during class(this never worked, sit me next to a stranger, my worst enemy, i was a-talkin'), etc. - I tried to stop. Overcompensation ensued and middle school began with comments like "Jenni needs to participate more in class". I remember being so confused as to what they wanted me to do, until I figured out the difference between talking to my friend and answering the teachers questions. That was the key!

Apparently I am back to my old ways. For a while one of my friends at work was in the same general area as I was. People referred to us as the giggle twins, and some even went so far as to make comments that they couldn't get anything done while we were together. They were kidding, of course, but I'm sure there was a little truth in there. Well - she up and moved into an office, leaving me all alone. I've, of course, found a new giggle twin - but it's gotten MUCH better. With my new bose headphones and a subscription at emusic.com I'm all plugged in and quiet, most of the time. But apparently thats not enough...the one who sent me this email works on the floor below me.

what can I say...I'm kind of a talker.

camouflaged

I've been to Museum of Science twice in as many weeks with two of my friends. Since the summer Gunther von Hagen's Body Worlds 2 exhibit has been there and I've been dying to see it. "Dying" - in a half extremely curious, half extremely disgusted sort of way. Two weeks ago the museum had it's annual "College Student Night" where any local college student is allowed entrance into the museum, all of its exhibits, and the IMAX movies for free. And well...I have three college IDs, none of which have an expiration date, so...that makes me a college student, yes?! YES!

We arrived there with the masses, I've never seen so many college students in a museum before. I had, in fact, just come over from MIT where I am auditing a class this semester - so I AM a college student! I was wearing a pair of jeans and a shirt of some sort, nothing fancy, and I fit right in. We waited in this chaotic line for a few minutes, then realized we had to push passed the line to get these stickers (which indicated we were students) and then get BACK in line to wait for our free tickets. Such a process. But, I got a sticker and had passed the test as a true college student.

Before we went we had tried to pick an IMAX movie we wanted to see - it was narrowed down to 2 choices, "The Human Body" and "Stormchasers". In reality, I've never seen a bad IMAX movie, so I didn't care. But when we got to the front of the line, "The Human Body" was sold out - so we got tickets for "Stormchasers". A little twinge of remorse hit me, perhaps now I knew that I really did have a preference, and "Stormchasers" wasn't it.

We saw the Body Worlds 2 exhibit, which was amazing. I mean, really. It was gross - some of them had skin and hair and faces and if you stopped to think about what it really was....ewww. But if you stopped to look at the innate beauty of what you were seeing. It was truly awesome (in the actual, awe-invoking meaning of the word and not the 'like, totally, eh-he!' meaning). I mean, you saw everything - muscles, nerves, fat, bones, organs, all healthy and unhealthy. Really, truly, awesome.

Now, the IMAX we saw. Well, I've now seen a bad IMAX. It was called "Stormchasers" so you think, wild crazy footage of these horrible big storms - pretty cool. Nah, it was wild crazy footage of meteorologists watching computer radars and predicting storms. Then the obligatory bolt of lightening and a plane or two...but, I was unimpressed. (and I fell asleep). But Body Worlds 2 made up for it.

Last week the Museum of Science had its "Educators Night" where teachers can go for free. One of my friends who I went with before is actually an educator - he teaches chemistry and pre-algebra at a high school. He had registered for this. When he registered his girlfriend and I also registered, because, well, they weren't doing anything obvious to verify that we were educators. And when you come right down to it, I teach math to high school kids, just not in a school - and Allison, she teaches lots of things, to lots of people. The day after College Student Night we got email confirmations to say that we were registered for Educators Night. Allison and I had the same exact thought - "we can see The Human Body IMAX!" So, we went back.

Apparently the Museum of Science trusts educators more. There was no chaotic line, no need for a sticker proving I was an educator, nothing. I just walked in. This time I was wearing a nice pair of dress pants and a top, and again I fit in nicely. But there was no test to pass - I had nothing to prove. The difference between the two nights was shocking. College Night had a DJ and dancy-club music pumping throughout. Educator night had veggies and dip and grilled sandwiches. We also snuck into a demonstration on the Sky Lab, a mobile planetarium that can go to schools for special programs. I guess this was the one test, when the guy said to the crowd "what ages do you all teach?" I felt myself freeze...oh god oh god, WHAT AGE DO I TEACH??! Until I remembered I could just say ANYTHING! First grade, that works. I look like a First Grade teacher.

The Human Body IMAX was worth it.

food pyramid

I was standing in front of the vending machine, getting ready to leave work for my field hockey game, and I tried to decide what in there most resembled dinner. Almond joy? no! doritos? no! I decided that the Peanut Butter crackers and a granola bar I have in my desk was my closest option.

off to the game!

listening

Paper Bag - Anna NalickShe don't run from the sun no more
She boxed her shadow and she won
Said, "I can see you laugh through these bottle caps
And this wire around my neck ain't there for fun

But someday we'll all be old
And I'll be so damn beautiful
Meanwhile I'll hide my head
Here in this paper bag
Cause if I can't see you then you can't see me
And it'll be okay
Fly little bee away
To where there's no more rain and I can be me"

Yeah, they talk about her
She smiles like she's so tough
She says, "Hey, can you talk a little louder?
I don't think my heart is broken enough.

But someday we'll all be old
And I'll be so damn beautiful
Meanwhile I'll hide my head
Here in this paper bag
Cause if I can't see you then you can't see me
And it'll be okay
Fly little bee away
To where there's no more rain and I can be me"

Some days I wade in the indigo
Singing that song on the radio
I blame these puddles on the rain
You know I gotta keep these cheeks dry today
Gotta keep my cheating strategy
And baby I'm gonna have it made


But someday we'll all be old
And I'll be so damn beautiful
So I'll hide my head
Here in this paper bag
Cause if I can't see you then you can't see me
And it'll be okay
Fly little bee away
To where there's no more rain and I can be me

And I'll hide my head
Here in this paper bag
Cause if I can't see you, then you can't see me
And it'll be okay
Fly little bee away
To where there's no more rain and I can be me

Where I can be me . . . yeah
I can be me
Ohh
Where I can be me

confessions

I've been harping on all y'all for not commenting - it was getting really annoying and lonely thinking no one cared to read this lovely bit of randomness...But, I owe everyone an apology. The fault was mine. Apparently I had set a setting which required me to click this other tab and "publish" the comment (clearly I am not one of those people who blindly clicks everything). It's been months and I never did that. So, now I have. Your comments are there. I'm sorry. And more importantly - THANK YOU!!

and now with that out of the way...Here's the answer to the Labor Day Errands Challenge:
the GAS. The GAS was most expensive. Good job hol!

picasso

I've taken today off from work and will be painting my room. I'll post pictures of my progress, because I think there are some discrepancies out there as to how long this will actually take me.
This here is the paint chip I have taped to the wall.


UPDATE: 7:45am
I'm emptying my room of furniture.

UPDATE: 9:15am
I have taken all the furniture out of my room (except my bed). In the process I found 3 missing socks, 1.36 in change and discovered my latest business adventure. I am going to go into the animal-toupee business. I found enough cat hair to fashion 8 or maybe 9 cat toupees. When I was a child we had a dog, Coco, and she was bald. I will name my new business Coco's Mission, after her.
















I have spackled and taped off the entire room. Now I'm finishing up the sanding and then I will do the first (of many) washes of the floor! And then.....PAINTING.

UPDATE: 11:30am
I have finished the first coat on the first wall - pretty much event free. I of course freaked out that I didn't like the color, it seemed too purple and I wanted it to be more blue...But it's drying bluer and I do like it.

UPDATE: 1:30pm

Walls 2 and 3 are done. And now I'm going to eat lunch!

UPDATE: 3:35pm

The first coat is done on all the walls. I think I've decided to just do the one coat, and simply touch up some spots that need extra rolling. I've done the touch-ups on three walls, but the last one needs to dry more before I get to that. Then I will let it dry for the night, and re-assess the situation in the morning. So, I'm done for day 1!

errands

I went out today, Labor Day, and I made three different stops - 1. I stopped for gas; 2. I bought new running shoes; 3. I bought paint at home depot.

Now each stop had it's own set of issues. At the gas station, all the self serve pumps were full, so I pulled up to the correct side and waited near the guy who was paying. When he left, the guy behind him also left. I backed up to let them out, and some lady drove forward and blocked me out of the pump. Now, she only needed one pump, but she certainly pulled up more than she needed, making it impossible for me to get my tank near the pump (we were nose to nose). So I asked her to pull up and take the one I was in front of and I'd pull back and take the one she was in front of. After a small display of annoyance, she complied. thank god.

Then I arrived at the New Balance outlet. one word. ZOO. There were a zillion people there, including everyone's full set of jewish grandparents who were sitting on every conceivable surface to sit on - NOT trying on shoes mind you. In fact, I'm not sure that some of them were even there with anyone buying shoes. I grabbed about 17 boxes and then, having no place to sit, I piled them up and planted it on my shoe boxes. Trying on pair after pair after pair, multiple questions to the salesman and a few phone calls for help. One would think I could reasonably buy a pair of running shoes without such a hassle. nope.

Then, Home Depot. Ok, all of the people who owned the jewish grandparents at New Balance had snuck out and jetted across town to Home Depot. Apparently New Balance has more seats for the grandparents. And everyone seemed to be buying paint. I had already decided on the color (Romantic Isle) and I knew I needed a gallon. I also knew I needed: rollers, paint tray, paint brush, drop cloth and tape. I was amazed at the wide variety of rollers (that all looked the same) that varied so drastically in price. They had rollers for rough surfaces, smooth surfaces, clean surfaces and dirty surfaces. It made me wonder - if I used a roller for dirty surfaces on my dirty wall, will it clean it and THEN paint it so that I end up with a clean painted wall. Or will I just end with a dirty painted wall, because if that's the case...whats the point?? Luckily for me, I am the worlds best eavesdropper and heard some girl say to her roommate (ya, I found out later they were roommates) "you'd be better with this kit I found, it's got everything and so much cheaper." I was intrigued, so I nonchalantly put down the roller I was holding and slyly followed the roomies to said kit. Amazing - paint tray, three differet sized rollers, brush, tape, drop cloth all in one. Then I got my paint and headed to the register.

Of the three purchases I made - gas, running shoes, paint & supplies - which do you think cost the most?? Place your votes.

**the answer will appear in a future post if y'all post your votes!