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!

i think she wanted to throw down

Picture it, Sunday, grey gloomy and cold. After spending all afternoon on the couch watching the movies Derailed and Crash I decided to go grocery shopping - even though I really wanted to shoot myself in the head, man those movies are awfully uplifting! In my jeans and sweatshirt I ran in for the essentials - soda, cereal, pasta, and some veggies for a salad. It was in the pasta aisle. There were two girls shopping there as well. One of them turned and gave me a really nasty look. Then she turned to her friend and said, rather rude and loudly "I wish some people would stop staring at me!"

Since I was the only other one there I assumed she was talking about me.

I wasn't quite sure how I should break it to her that I, in fact, was staring past her at the pasta so that I would know which box I was going to get when I reached around her, politely saying excuse me, and grabbed my groceries. I was tempted to slap her in the face as I reached for the Barilla - but I refrained. That was a good choice, because we ran into each other in a similar situation in front of the lettuce. However, it was she who was staring. In my head I definitely said "God, I wish people would keep staring at me and not at that crappy lettuce", but then I'd just seem crazy - talking to myself and all.

the way things work

I flew to New Mexico on Sunday - I was really tired when I woke up and headed to the airport. I got there and checked in at the Delta kiosk and it nicely asked me if I wanted to change my flight. I was scheduled to be on a flight from Boston to New York to Cincinnati to Albuquerque and now I was being asked to go Boston to Albuquerque with a stop (not a plane change) in Atlanta. I would leave about an hour earlier and arrive in Albuquerque about 4 hours earlier. hell ya I wanted to change flights. I got my boarding pass, hurried through security sans any liquids - sans anything really, it was all checked. I managed to find time to scarf down a bagel and then I boarded.

I fell asleep before we even left the gate. I woke up as we were pulling up to the gate in Atlanta. awesome. But I was struck with this weird feeling I have sometimes when you have to go on faith that things happened. It felt like I'd been asleep a long time, but had I? Were we really in Atlanta, could this just be a different gate at Logan? A similar thing happened when I had my wisdom teeth out. I had all four out, and was heavily HEAVILY sedated. I have recollections of him ripping the top right tooth out, but nothing else. I also felt that no time passed. For a week I was convinced that he only removed the one tooth instead of all four. It wasn't until I went back to get the stitches removed that I was sure there was a hole where each tooth had been. I've had this similar thought when in an elevator that is completely closed off (i.e., no windows). I know it sorta feels like you are moving, and lights are telling you that you are...but couldn't it be that you haven't actually gone anywhere and the floor you were on just changed around you? come on, it's POSSIBLE!

So, I supposedly flew to Atlanta - although the airport could have just changed around me while I slept. In Atlanta some people got off and new people got on and then we headed to Albuquerque. While in Atlanta, however, my luggage decided it looked nice and was one of the people to get off the plane. Bye clothes, bye lens solution, bye hair brush. You can imagine my anxiety when I arrived in Albuquerque and my luggage was no where in sight. Luckily a nice Delta woman assured me - "oh, it's in Atlanta, it will be getting on the next flight and arriving in Albuquerque at 930pm. Our driver will bring it to your hotel." I did not get the luggage until the next morning, but I did get it. I hope it's learned to stay on the plane with me from now on, do you think there is suitcase obedience school?

pop quiz: the results don't lie

In college I was introduced to the multitude of quizzes available at emode.com Ranging from an IQ test (179), to which TV family are you (the tanners), to which theme song is yours (laverne and shirley), to which pop star are you (christina aquillera), to which n'sync member are you (jc chasez), to are you Jennifer or Angelina (Jennifer - ok, so I took that one two weeks ago!). I could go on and on. But, the one thing I've found...it seems they don't lie.

I took one over and over and over. I remember clearly. It was the "which celebrity hunk is yours?" I took it, with high hopes of Brad Pitt, or Tom Cruise (i promise this was college, when he wasnt a psycho), or even Tom Selleck. And in the end, the anxiety as I waited for my hollywood hunk to be revealed. . . . .

fabio. yep. FABIO. I took it over, and over, and over. Fabio. Fabio. Fabio. And one time, as the page loaded, I noticed that the long flowing hair was not in the picture. It was true. I had gotten a new, real hollywood hunk to call my own.

richard simmons. Now, how he was even an OPTION - I will never understand. No one else I ever knew saw either of these choices. But, leave it to me to trade-up Fabio for Richard Simmons.

Likewise, I've taken the "which desperate housewife are you?" quiz a million times. I just want the shirt that says "I'm a Susan" and I want it to be true. But, no. Everytime...I'm a Bree. BREE. One of these days I'm just waiting for it to say "I'm a Richard Simmons" and thats the day I buy myself the I'm a Susan T-shirt anyway...I'll live the lie, I mean, I'm a Bree!

more pictures

Originally uploaded by with an eye.

The set of pictures from Siena is also online now. I've uploaded a grand total of 1,160 photos from my trip. The Singapore and Paris pictures will be up tonight as well!

I think I'm ready to go back now.

oddities

I have my blog registered with a tracking site, so that I can see who reads it. That's right...while you get to spy into my life I get to spy into yours. It tells me things like where you are, the IP address, how you got here, how long you stayed, your favorite color, and what outfit you are wearing. (ok, not all of those are true!)

Everyday there are two people who visit me. One from Ohio and one from Connecticut. The odd thing, I know they are both my mom (who is neither in Ohio or Connecticut, but in Rhode Island!). Here's how she shows up:

Location: Ohio, Parma, United States
Hostname: wsip-XX-XX-XXX-XXX.ri.ri.cox.net

and

Location: Connecticut, Manchester, United States
Hostname: wisp-YY-YY-YY-Y.ri.ri.cox.net

There have been two people recently who got to me via web searches. One searched google for "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to fenway park" and indeed, there I am on the bottom of page one. And someone else searched for "above the influence" and found me too, right in the middle of page five.

And, also oddly enough, while I was abroad this summer people from each country I was in visited my site, along with someone from India, Canada, Australia, England, China, and Brazil.

So keep visiting, searching, and by all means keep not leaving comments...I kinda like it all uncluttered and stuff. (ok, not all of that is true either!)

the fort

the fort
Originally uploaded by with an eye.

My pictures from Rome are posted on the flickr site, so go check them out. This was one of my favorites!

my mia

My cat and I have been together for a while. She was adopted by me and some apartmentmates our senior year in college (2001). She's gone everywhere with me. While I was gone on my trip this summer she stayed at my parents house - which she's done on various occasions before. They used to LOVE having her come over, it is nice to have a pet. Now they have two cats of their own, and while they still like having her come over I'm sure it's less fun because she hides the entire time and when she isn't hiding she's growling or hissing or otherwise making noise to fool the other cats into thinking that she is ferocious and scary. The only time I could take her down there was Memorial Day weekend, so she was gone for over a month. I was afraid that when she came back she'd forget who I am. Or she'd be super mad at me. I think it's clear we are both a little different since my trek around the world - but she's become a lot more considerate of my need to sleep at 4am instead of getting up to shake her food bowl and show her that there is actually plenty of food in it and she has my permission to eat it.

Recently she and I took some pictures of ourselves...see how much she loves me! (it may look like she could care less that I am there, you may even see a hint of annoyance in her eyes...but you have to understand cats...that look means she loves me. It must, I mean, it's the way she always looks at me!)

gold star number three

I've been bad at going to the gym lately. real bad. I don't go. I don't wake up. I snooze my alarm. I bring clothes with me to work so I can go on my way home. I don't go. I go right home.

Today is Saturday and instead of sleeping in I got up and went to a class at the gym. I've been wanting to do this class for a while. It's a group weight lifting class - so like an aerobics class, but not cardio...weights. It was awesome. We started the class and the instructor asked if anyone was new to the class. I was slinking around the back of the room, checking out all the equipment everyone else had pulled out so I could know what I would need (a step bench with two steps, a yoga mat, a bar with all these crazy weights...) I raised my hand all cool and non-chalantly, so that no one would know I was knew. Thats when the instructor says, into his microphone "Hi back there, everyone say hi to the one girl who's never done this before. All of you turn around and look at that small blonde girl who is wearing a Saturday Night Live T-shirt and watch as she has no clue which equipment to pull out! Turn! Look!"

Ok, so thats NOT how it happened. I think he just said "Hi" and/or "Welcome to Group Power" - but it felt like "turn and laugh..."

gold star number two

I went to the dentist this week for a cleaning. Now, if you know me, the dentist is not my favorite thing. They always find something wrong, yell at me for not flossing, make my gums bleed, shove all those tools in my mouth and then sit there and laugh while I drool and spittle all over myself. It's such a confidence boost! Not to mention, the immense pain because I am basically immune to novacaine.

So I went to the dentist and they said I had beautiful teeth. They said my gums were beautiful and it was obvious I was a good flosser (which I am now - thank god for the Reach Access Flosser!). They said my teeth were brilliantly white. And then they said the best thing ever:
"See you in six months!!"

Now, my dentist is great, I really like him (if you are in the Boston area and looking for a dentist I'll give you his name if you want), but he's come out with some choice comments to me over my short 9 months with their office. Here are my two favorites:
"Has anyone ever told you that you have a very powerful tongue?"
"I can imagine how you blind everyone at the bars, the way that fluorescent light must bounce off your front teeth!"

gold star number one

love in an elevator
Originally uploaded by with an eye.

I've finally got some of my trip pictures online. All the Florence ones are up. Three hundred and ninety nine of them from the 4 days I was in Florence.
too. many. pictures.

But please go look at them...and leave some comments too - I ran out of steam with the titles and the captions!!

www.flickr.com/photos/with-an-eye

example

I registered with a website today and we all know how that goes now - with "internet security" a big issue whenever you register for something and have to give out your email address you then have to wait for the confirmation email. But then you have to go a step further and validate this by clicking on some button, going to some link, or replying in some manner. I understand the security measure here, to prevent people from signing up for things under someone else's email address, or being able to later claim that this was not what they wanted. However, the confirmation email I got today began with one sentence that seemed to be a very polite attempt at explaining why I had to go through all this crap:

We require this step to protect our relationship with you

It struck me - what a good idea this is. An initial step that is required in order to protect the relationship. I'm thinking of saving this email and using it in many other instances in my life. You want a ride from me, first you'll receive an email indicating that I require this step to protect my relationship with you. You want me to go to your party, first you'll get this email. You want to buy me a drink, have my phone number, take me to dinner, EMAIL. Then I will require you to go to a webpage, check of that you agree to the terms and conditions, and maybe make you enter a string of letters and numbers that are artfully disguised behind a mess of criss-crossed lines and stripes. Can't ever be too safe!

cupcakes

I heard the best advertisement on the radio today - it was one of these anti-marijuana ones, but I think we're stretching it a little bit here. (I'm glad I get to type this because when I tried recounting it this afternoon to my friend Jess I messed it all up because I was laughing too much)

Here's how it went.

Girl (in a very serious voice):"A week ago my friend Amanda told me to smoke pot, and I did. Two minutes ago she told me to shoplift and now I'm here with a cupcake and frosting down my pants and it doesn't want to stay there. The store manager keeps looking at me, like he knows something."
Store Manager (sounding kinda gruff): "excuse me girls, can I help you"
Announcer: "Live above the influence..."

I'm sure the announcer said something else but I couldn't hear it because I was laughing to hard. SERIOUSLY - they said "and now I have a cupcake and frosting down my pants and it doesn't want to stay there". I'm sorry, forget the whole marijuana part, who shoplifts a CUPCAKE? by putting it DOWN THEIR PANTS? Where is this store with cupcakes laying around so that you can easily shove them down your pants? All the stores I know keep the cupcakes safely behind the counter. I never thought of it before, but this is obviously an attempt to keep the potheads from shoving them down their pants!

who is this girl? and as my friend Jess pointed out - why were her parents allowed to procreate?

the greatest words in the world

On Wednesday I decided not to go in to work so that I could, instead, go to Fenway Park and try to buy tickets to the Red Sox game. My friend picked me up at 10am, and we drove into the city and began our quest for tickets. After a bit of looking, and some lunch, we then got the BEST TICKETS EVER. We were sitting right behind home plate - it was awesome. I've been to a few red sox games in my day, not nearly as many as the friend who was with me on Wednesday - but a lot. It always amazes me how I never cease to be excited to be there. And then when the announcer comes on and says "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to Fenway park - America's most beloved ballpark!" - oh I love it!!

They played the Kansas City Royals, the second worst team in baseball. We met one of their fans at Stub Hub and she was hoping to see them get win number 32. (for those non baseball fans out there - each team has played about 96 baseball games so far...And Kansas hadn't won 32 of them yet!) It was a good game, Josh Beckett was pitching and Gabe Kapler was playing, and Doug Meintkiewicz was in town. We saw Ortiz bunt, and it was pretty. Manny hit a homerun and there were about 5 amazing catches in the outfield.

One of the things I love about following a baseball team is getting to know the players tendencies. Most people remember Nomar's glove thing, and maybe people know Ichiro's samurai stance before batting, - but there are so many others!! Big Papi who spits in his glove and slaps his hands together before each at bat, Manny taps his bat twice behind home plate, Gabe Kapler (#44) stands perfectly straight before walking into the batters box. I caught that one on film - although I'll admit maybe I was just trying to take a picture of his bum because he's cute!! Coco Crisp does something that I don't quite understand - between each swing he bends down and picks up some dirt, then he spits into his hand, and then he grips his bat. So basically each time he is making mud on his hands and then rubbing it on the bat. YUCK. And he doesn't use batting gloves.

Lastly, we got to see Papelbon pitch - and he's just amazing. And such a cool guy too. When he comes into a game the whole place goes nuts, applause, cheers, chants. It's awesome. Everyone stays standing just a bit longer and claps just a bit louder when Papelbon is on the mound - and he deserves every bit of that!

Let's Go Red Sox!!

time flies...

I am helping out at an Almuni event for my college next week. It's for the incoming freshman and their parents - to meet the alums and listen to how much we loved the school and to see how cool we are now and to give them hope for their own futures! I'm very excited about it, because I did love my school and I am cool now, and I'd like to give people hope for their futures. But, these kids, that will be starting in colleges around the country at the end of next month...

they are the class of 2010. that's right. two thousand and ten. '10.

twenty-ten.

(clearly I can't get over this!)

nostaglia

I don't know why I thought of this story the other day - perhaps it's because I've made friends with a few of the janitors at work, but I remembered a story from college about the cleaning guy, Effrain. And I thought I would share.

It was my sophomore year, and I was living on the second floor of Sanford Hall (ahhh - Sanford, the old apartment!) and we had the nicest cleaning guy. It turned out I had a 8 or 9am class everyday - so I was always up and showering early. Our room was conveniently positioned right across from the bathroom and the kitchen. It took a few weeks for Effrain to realize that I was always up early, but he caught on. He also noticed that I would let him clean the bathroom first so that I could be the first one to use the sparkling bathroom!! It started slowly, but eventually we fell into a little system. I would wake up and crack open the door. Then I would sit and check my email or whatever and wait. When Effrain was done with my bathroom he'd knock lightly on the door (so he didn't wake up my roommate) and I'd run in to get ready! He was so sweet. Some days if he was running late he would come up and start on the second floor bathroom just for me. All year it went like this - and I was the first one to use the newly cleaned bathroom!

I can't believe I forgot about this, it seemed so important at the time!! Thanks Effrain!

did we try to fight it?

I had the opportunity to be in the car for a while today, and Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire" came on. Great song! And it allowed me some time to think. One of my favorite teachers in high school, Mr. Meyer, had us analyze this song once. It was 'history' class - but really it was more 'life' class, since he really taught us more about where we were going than where we had been. He gave us the lyrics to this song one day and we went through and discussed each event and how it was important in the development of the 20th century. We had to write a paper about it, not cataloging the events, but explaining why they were grouped together the way they were in the song and how things as different as British Beatlemania and the Bay of Pigs Invasion were pivotal in shaping that point in time. It was a cool project. Today, when I heard the song, I wondered what would make it into a current version of the song. At the heart of it, I bet we'd find they are all the same. Are we making the same mistakes over and over? Or are we really trying to fight it?

Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I" and "The Catcher in the Rye"

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye.

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockerfeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Chon, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu, and "Rock Around the Clock"

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, "Peter Pan", Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, "Ben-Hur", space monkey, Mafia
hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola, and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo

Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs Invasion

"Lawrence of Arabia", British Bealtemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beat Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcom X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say?

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon, back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollolah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

"Wheel of Fortune", Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller Cola Wars, I can't take it anymore

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on....


this site has references to all these major events - and even some papers similar to the one I was asked to write once.
http://www.teacheroz.com/fire.htm

If anyone has the desire to try and write a new version of we didn't start the fire I'd love to hear it - hell, I'll even help if you want....