On the Upside

if there's one advantage to working like sicilian olive picker, from dusk till dawn, it's the gobs of overtime i'm being paid. today being payday, and in light of having lost 6 (yes six)DS games on the bus, the other day, i treated myself to a shirt from Shirt Woot. sorry, sweetie...i'll throw out either my B-52's 2000 tour or my "Girls Have Cooties" shirts to make room.

Weight a Minute 9: the Return

in case i haven't made it too obvious, i've been off Weight Watchers since the wedding; though i did attempt to go back "on program" a few weeks ago, i didn't last a day. with these crazy hours i've been working, it was just too much to concentrate on.

the eye opener was putting on my shorts from last september and having them feel ever-so-slightly snug. i didn't like that feeling, one bit. so, here i am again, back on the WW train headed to Slimville.

i anticipate it's going to be a very short trip, as i only want to lose the 10 lbs i gained since the wedding. wish me luck.

A Philodendran Grows in Brooklyn

how fabulous does dear, sweet Phyllis look? so lush! so green! so ALIVE!

Test Day: Winging It

Your Personality at 35,000 Says...

Deep down, you prefer spending time alone to spending time with others. You enjoy thinking more than talking. You are good with your place in the world. You are confident and comfortable with who you are. Your gift is having a way with words. You know how to express yourself well. You are inspired by what is possible. Real life is often too ordinary for you. Your life has a lot of ups and downs, but things generally end up being pretty positive. It's one big emotional roller coaster, that's for certain.

The Personality Test at 35,000 Feet

Office Debate of the Day:

Leona Lewis: tranny*?

*actually, my co-workers used the word "he-she", regardless of how many times i attempted to correct them; i had to have her fame explained to me.

Seriously, I Haven't Even Had My Coffee...Put the Crueller Away

so, did anyone else start their day by having a (begrudgingly attractive) puerto rican bear, expose themselves to them, while standing alone on the train platform?

show of hands..?

Another Muffin Story

i had meant to "tell" this 2 weeks ago when it happened, but i was way too busy, but now that i'm slightly less haggard, here goes...

as i've mentioned, once or twice, it's my daily ritual to get my cup of coffee at the Man in the Box outside my building. every so often, the young, hot, latin, coffee boy isn't there, and it's just the older larger Coffee Ogre. as odd as it seems, despite being his life's work, the Coffee Ogre makes terrible coffee. i dunno what he does, but it's usually weak and it's rarely prepared the way i like it ask for it. so, anyway, on the days i can see that the Coffee Ogre is flying solo, but i don't want to get a latte` from Starbucks, i go to Au Bon Pain for a cup of "morning blend".

well, on this particular morning, in addition to my coffee, i felt a keen desire for a chocolate chip muffin (when i was a kid, that was my favorite kind of muffins from Dunkin Donuts). because it was terribly early, the big wall of muffins was not labled. rather than admit to the anyone there that i might need help, i stood there, for about five minutes, trying to figure out which muffin was just chocolate chip (as opposed to Double Chocolate, which is, in my opinion, an over-sized cupcake). Blueberry was easy, ditto oat bran and corn, but there were two that were kinda sketchy; both of the muffis were the color of "plain vanilla muffin", but i honestly couldn't tell if either of them contained chocolate chips, raisins or some other blackish specks. in the end i went for the one that (at least to my color blind eyes) closely resembled chocolate chip.

sadly, when i got to my desk and cracked open said muffin (like they do in tv commercials), and bit into it, it was clearly cranberry and walnut which is, at least to me, the anti-chocolate chip. later that week i asked someone at Au Bon Pain, and it turns out they don't even sell plain chocolate chip muffins.

Sunday In the Park With Stephen (and Maybe Rufus)

yup, once again i'm strapping on my mandals for the annual AIDS Walk New York on May 18th. Now, i'm sure you've noticed the bright blue block on the right, which has been there for the last month or so, but consider this my formal appeal for donations.

AWNY has raised millions of dollars for the HIV/AIDS community and, through the GHMC (Gay Men's Health Crisis), has been able to provide support to other local AIDS related organizations (you can get all the specific info here) for over twenty years. it's a great event for a great cause.

i know times are tough (trust me, i know) but anything you can give is greatly appreciated; just hit up my link on the right to make an online donation.

a Weekend Well Spent

Friday evening:

• Desperate Housewives and dinner at our favorite diner with real conversation.

Saturday:

• Stephen woke me up with homemade chocolate chip muffins and coffee; yes Whitney, i do love that man.
• got the car washed and a haircut; you have no idea how much it was bothering me that work was precluding simple things like going for a haircut.
• played Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Wii Sports' Bowling (i finally made Pro Bowler, MS and no, the ball does not feel heavier).
• BBQ with the neighbors; straight people have a thing for grilled meat, but not side dishes or dessert. go figure. they're fun though...a board games and booze kinda crowd. plus, Rufus was invited over to play with their puppy, Andy and his friend Benny (a yorkie, one month Rufus' junior). it was hilarious.
• bar hopping with John: it was our mini-tour of Chelsea; View, Barracuda and Rawhide. his boyfriend is in San Diego and my husband was home cleaning the bathroom and playing Super Mario Galaxy; a good time was had by all and we rolled in around 2am. i needed a night out like that more than you know. i haven't laughed so hard in years.

Sunday:

• woke up to an empty house; turns out, stephen had gone out to get us bagels and Brunswick Bowling for Wii. sing the chorus, whitney. Wii Sports is way more fun (albiet a tad less realistic; but who wants realism in a video game? if i want reality, i'll leave the house; reality means i can't bowl in my penguin covered boxer shorts).
• went food shopping at the King Kullen around the corner and was reminded why we usually drive ten minutes away to Stop 'n' Shop: better selection, better prices, smarter cashiers and meat that isn't a "manager's special" (read: with today as the sell-by-date); it's worth the gas.
• watched Chocolat and several episodes of Charmed before making a fantastic dinner.
• Desperate Housewives and stephen's homemade guacamole. 3rd times' a charm whitney...from the top.

Notes on a Desktop

i absolutely love this picture (nicked from DC Comics' website) but, i guess i've been out of the comics loop for so long that i've got questions...
a) when did Hal Jordon (Green Lantern) get so effin ripped?
b) why does Superman look so damn young, still? he went from looking like a kid (far left background) to looking quite manly in the next panel to looking 20 again. is that a super facelift?
c) who's that busty chick behind GL?
d) when did Black Lightning and Red Tornado come back?
e) is that Speedy? Green Arrow? WTF?
f) where the hell are Aquaman, the Flash and the Atom?

Test Day: Cocoa Loco

What Your Taste in Chocolate Says About You

You are sophisticated, modern, and high class. Your taste is refined, but you are not picky. You are often the first to try something new. You are fun loving, outgoing, and very social. You love meeting new people and celebrating. You can be a bit of a fair weather friend. You don't like bad news or drama. You love to be the center of attention. You enjoy entertaining your friends. You feel lost when no one is interested in you... You're too interesting to be ignored.

The Chocolate Oracle

the Award for Biggest Letdown of the Week Goes to...

the "chocolate chip muffin" without any chocolate chips in the muffin.

e tu, man in the box? e tu?

an Open Letter to the Incredibly Hot Construction Workers/Electricians/Carpenters/Plumbers Who Ride the Express Bus at 5:30 am

hi fellas. how you doin?
i get that you work hard; i do.
i see you every morning, en masse, wearing your tight jeans with the rips at the knees, tool belts and various union t-shirts; clutching your bags of tools, your NY Posts and steaming cups of Bagel Barn coffee. You've got that macho "i can build a house with my bare and calloused hands" look on your tired faces. you do seem tired; very, very tired.
apparently, you're so tired that you need the entire bus ride to sleep. that, in and of itself, is fine. i'm sure you work very hard, hammering nails and cutting boards, fixing pipes and rewiring things. collectively, i give you alot of credit. i greatly admire those who can use their hands as something other than a showcase for rings, since i can't change the batteries in my Wii remote without help and the only building material i can use effectively is Lego.
what i can't quite grasp, though, is why you feel the need to recline your seats on the bus, horizontally. as someone who sits in his seat without any recline at all, i'm mystified that you can ride the bus on your back, comfortably, but to each his own, right?i've got to give you credit though: it seems that in your quest for comfort, you're able to break the reclining mechanism, in almost all the seats on the bus, with such effectiveness that their natural ability to recline only a little, are completely overridden to allow a total recline. concurrently, i'm not sure if you're aware of the limited amount of space which we bus riders share, but reclining your seat to such a degree severely limits the amount of leg room the person behind you has. it's just something i thought i'd point out...an observation, if you will.
anyway, i just thought i'd let you know that as much as i'd love to have your head(s) buried in my lap or even get into our mouths, having you in the denitst-patient position is not what i had in mind. besides, 1st thing in the morning is not a good time for me...i need my coffee 1st.

"All those boys/With fascinating fingers/Working creating/Touching their tools"~ My Spine (Bjork)

I'm Back

ok maybe that's not entirely accurate but work seems to have reached a steady and (almost) tolerable pace. though i won't be posting every day, like i used to, expect posts with greater frequency. i won't pretend that i have any idea what's going on out there in the blogging community, but i'll try and catch up over the next couple of days.

thanks for all the kind words (via e-mail and comments); rumor has it we'll be hearing our fate within the next week or two; keep your fingers crossed.

Quick: a Let Down

i went to treat myself to a little somethin' cute.
something i had my eye on a while back (thanks to BL).
now i can't find it, for sale, online.

anywhere.

**sigh**

Work Me Goddammit

yes, i am still alive.
no, i have not been on vacation.
yes, i do work for bear stearns.
no, i haven't been outside in the daylight in 3 weeks.
i've been working 12 and 13 hour days since the day after my last post.
i have a job...for now.

i'm utterly exhausted, depressed, and angry.
i've come to realize exactly how stupid some of my co-workers are and how much i detest them.
i miss my husband.
i miss my dog.
i miss my friends.
i miss blogging.

i hope you all are doing well; i'm not sure when i'll get to post again, but i'm sure it will be because i don't have a job to come to every day...that's when the really interesting posts will appear...