Sun Soaked Saturday in Central Park

On Bow Bridge in Central Park. Photo by Chris (or Jennie?). Cropped to remove a random girl on the right.

I took other pictures of some flowers and random letters for my ABC projects. I stupidly didn't take a single picture of our guests, although I probably shouldn't post other people on my blog anyway.

They did take a photo of us in the ocean life room at the museum that I'll have to get from them to post -- their camera is a newer version of mine with a more powerful flash. My camera just turned out a lighted Shawn in a dark background instead of showing the big blue whale.


Pink flowers near my library (took this photo last week during some rain -- love the water droplets)


Purple flowers on top of Bow Bridge


Hearts and arrows flowers (or something) near the Central Park Zoo (Penguins of Madagascar!)

Things I Don't Know

Chris and Jennie came to visit this weekend and it was super fun and super exhausting. We wore ourselves out at the Natural History Museum (dinosaurs, "dum dum" and ocean life -- oh my!) and then walking in circles (almost) in Central Park. Why don't I have a sense of direction?! We couldn't have asked for better weather though -- really idyllic. Then dinner in the Village and a Broadway musical, La Cage Aux Folles.

OMG that was so good, possibly one of my top plays we've ever seen (and thinking back we've seen a few in our time here. I've saved most of the playbills and think maybe I could frame them or at least keep a scrapbook with them after our New York days are the past). Anyway, the show is basically the movie Birdcage, back in the 90s with Nathan Lane and Robin Williams (which is possibly based on the play in the first place). I just thought it was fantastic -- the songs and especially the love story.

It's a relatively new show -- opened in early April, and I'd definitely recommend it. We were able to get tickets and were in the very last row of the top section BUT we could still see and it was great. This is in the same theater that Boeing, Boeing was in, which we saw with Shawn's parents a summer or two ago. There are quite a few more shows I'd like to see, but not sure I can part with the money for the tickets! We'll keep an eye on the NYU discount tickets though, and maybe I can squeeze in another show when my family visits and definitely when Shawn's parents' visit!

Today was less exciting, as it was raining and drab. We slept in, then went around looking for bagels, check. Then to the Strand and Broadway Panhandler. Pizza and relaxing in the apartment for the rest of the afternoon. Sometimes it's good to just catch up, and they got to see "our" New York -- i.e. sitting on our butts! Also relived the entire bedbug story, which was obnoxious on our part!

But seriously, I'm realizing again just how much we DON'T know about New York. Where are the best bagels? I don't know. Where can you get the best pizza? I don't know, although we like Pizza Mercato. Where can you get the best NYC style cheesecake? I don't know. Where's a good place to have dinner? I don't know.

I guess part of it (the good place to have dinner) is not trusting our own taste: there are places we like but don't think they're necessarily "good" places to take people to, and we don't frequent restaurants that are in the top spot guides because of cost, exclusivity or what-have-you. Seems a bit ridiculous in a foodie city like New York to not be sampling new restaurants and taking advantage. I think it's just how we roll.

Purple Tights at the Theater

Last night we went to an NYU Graduate School production of "Once in a Lifetime," and this is what I wore. My mom sent me the purple tights a few weeks (months?) ago, probably Valentine's Day? In any case I hadn't worn them yet. It was too chilly to go bare legged, and most of my pants are too big or just too winter-y, so the tights got a night out! I thought they were so cute with my Mary Janes that I had Shawn take a picture. My mom also gave me the necklace I'm wearing in the picture. Cold Water Creek for the win!

The play itself was a good time. It was a sit-where-you-want kind of affair and a pretty intimate set up, especially considering the large cast (maybe 20-25 students, many of whom played multiple parts). It was a Hollywood satire in three acts, and each act was almost an HOUR long. I guess getting your money's worth is the name of the game, BUT by the end the actors were tired and so were we.

ALSO I ended up with the worst seat because of the woman who sat next to me after we had to be seated. She was very large, so encroached into my seat terribly, causing me to have to veer into Shawn's territory (he didn't mind, and he was on the aisle). The seat to her left was EMPTY so she could have pushed her excess that way instead of into me. How awful am I to want to complain about it? Pretty awful. And my fat-acceptance guilt wouldn't let me move seats, although we could have relocated to a seats more on the side. It was a LONG play, but my back feels better today so hopefully the awkward seating didn't do lasting damage.

Hey - this is post #777. Kind of a dud, but what are you gonna do?

Retail Therapy: Pier One Coffee Sleeve

I scored this for $1, so 75% off its original price. I went to Pier One for candles (found ridiculously scented pineapple votives, which I'm digging) and being my mother's daughter, I checked out the clearance bin.

They had these, and they weren't marked with a clearance tag. I had gone to Pier One back in December on a mission for these very things (saw them in a magazine as a stocking stuffer idea). I balked at the $4 price then, but thought what-the-hey this time. Of course if I'd checked the receipt and realized they were only $1 I would have bought several more for future gift giving. They had other designs too, but this was my favorite.

I like to treat myself every few Sundays to a Tim Horton latte. For whatever reason this Canadian chain makes the best, sweetest latte, and it's just skim milk, foamed up, with espresso. I drink it on the bus ride down Lexington. BUT the TH by my church doesn't always have the little sleeves for the cups and my hand gets hot or I have to waste an extra cup. Problem solved with this beauty ... assuming I remember to pack it in my pocketbook.

Always something.

FWD: Bounce this Around

Very clever marketing if Bounce had anything to do with this (note that the message doesn't say "fabric softener sheet" and plays on the product name):

Subject: Fwd: Bounce This Along!

The U.S. Postal service sent out a message to all letter carriers to put a sheet of Bounce in their uniform pockets to keep yellow-jackets away. Use them all the time when playing baseball and soccer. I use it when I am working outside. It really works. The insects just veer around you. All this time you've just been putting Bounce in the dryer!

1. It will chase ants away when you lay a sheet near them. It also repels mice.

2. Spread sheets around foundation areas, or in trailers, or cars that are sitting and it keeps mice from entering your vehicle.

3. It takes the odor out of books and photo albums that don't get opened too often.

4. It repels mosquitoes. Tie a sheet of Bounce through a belt loop when outdoors during mosquito season.

5. Eliminate static electricity from your television (or computer) screen.

6. Since Bounce is designed to help eliminate static cling, wipe your television screen with a used sheet of Bounce to keep dust from resettling.

7. Dissolve soap scum from shower doors. Clean with a sheet of Bounce.

8. To freshen the air in your home - Place an individual sheet of Bounce in a drawer or hang in the closet.

9. Put Bounce sheet in vacuum cleaner.

10. Prevent thread from tangling. Run a threaded needle through a sheet of Bounce before beginning to sew.

11. Prevent musty suitcases. Place an individual sheet of Bounce inside empty luggage before storing

12. To freshen the air i n your car - Place a sheet of Bounce under the front seat.

13. Clean baked-on foods from a cooking pan. Put a sheet in a pan, fill with water, let sit overnight, and sponge clean. The anti-static agent apparently weakens the bond between the food and the pan.

14. Eliminate odors in wastebaskets. Place a sheet of Bounce at the bottom of the wastebasket.

15. Collect cat hair. Rubbing the area with a sheet of Bounce will magnetically attract all the lose hairs.

16. Eliminate static electricity from Venetian blinds. Wipe the blinds with a sheet of Bounce to prevent dust from resettling.

17. Wipe up sawdust from drilling or sand papering. A used sheet of Bounce will collect sawdust like a tack cloth.

18. Eliminate odors in dirty laundry. Place an individual sheet of Bounce at the bottom of a laundry bag or hamper.

19. Deodorize shoes or sneakers. Place a sheet of Bounce in your shoes or sneakers overnight.

20. Golfers put a Bounce sheet in their back pocket to keep the bees away.

21. Put a Bounce sheet in your sleeping bag and tent before folding and storing them. It will keep them smelling fresh.

 22. Wet a Bounce sheet, hose down your car, and wipe lovebugs off easily with the wet Bounce.

Quick, bounce this along within the next 5 minutes! Nothing will happen if you don't, but your friends will be glad to hear these hints!

Update: This apparently is not 100% accurate. See http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/bounce.asp. H/T Welcome to My World. 

Via Flickr: Brooklyn Bridge

Brooklyn Bridge
Originally uploaded by mallisser

Holy geez. I wish I could take snaps that look like this!

Eighth Letter

I've made it to the 8th letter of the alphabet in my ABCs of NYC project. I have random letters from the rest of the alphabet too ... just doing them methodically one-a-day, as they come.

While I had my camera out I took some pictures of myself in my new blue scarf. It's got a pretty pattern in it that's invisible in the pictures and that I didn't notice when I bought it (they come wrapped in cellophane pouches, although there are copies that are out to be touched). I love it!

This is me, post-workout, no makeup (natch) and you can also see the denim jacket I "borrowed" from my mom. I wear it every day! I've got my iPod going -- The Song Remembers When from my "sad" playlist. (I've got problems, I know.)

Laying on the bed and fanning my hair/the scarf out was inspired by those Amazon Kindle commercials -- I think they're clever and cute, although to be honest I have no desire to own one and pay $$ for books digitally. I might reconsider if you were able to check out books for it from the library, which kind of defeats the business model.

While working out I perused my iPod, looking for something I haven't listened to a million times on the elliptical (April 15 marked six months of solid, regular working out with little additional music, save The Black Eyed Peas' The E.N.D.) -- I found Cam'ron's Come Home With Me -- a truly vulgar record that had one pop-ish hit "Hey Ma" on the radio during my Stillwater years, and that song was what prompted me to buy the album.

I remember buying the CD in an OKC Target on a trip home, popping it in and listening. There's a song Welcome to New York City that features Jay Z. I really liked it (I still do, once I listened to it today), but I remember thinking "oh, maybe this is a sign that I need to move to NYC," a thought that scared the stuffing out of me.

Sometimes the scariest things end up being the best, especially when the coincide with things you always knew you wanted, like my marriage to this man.

Auntie M Loves Uncle Shawn!

Peering Into Other People's Lives

What Falls Away: A Memoir by Mia Farrow
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Finished today, and while I knew the Woody/Soon-Yi story, I'm filled with disgust anew, as I was just a teenager when that was all going down ... and a teenager in the middle of the country at that, but even I heard about it and was appalled. Her early life was less known to me -- her parents and marriage to Frank Sinatra. I absorbed this book in about a day and am left wondering what's happened since 1997.



My First Five Husbands...and the Ones Who Got Away by Rue McClanahan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I dig reading about other people's lives, and I loved the story of a Golden Girl. Liked that she grew up in Oklahoma, that Manhattan feels like home and how mobile she has been throughout her life.

Festive

The first street fairs of the season were this weekend -- two right in our neck of the woods, two days in a row. Oh the joy of eating a Gyro (and for Shawn a $6 Thai food combo and $2 Thai iced tea). The joy of wandering the cramped stalls -- fingering glass pendants ($2 + $1 for a cord) and dodging the aggressive massagers -- browsing the T-shirts with funny (and not-so-funny) sayings.

My true weakness is the pashmina stands -- $5 per scarf OR 3 for $10. Although I have several -- black and two shades of purple -- I've been longing for a bright blue and bright pink to liven things up. It isn't like I'll have many cold days this winter, but they're nice even in moderate weather or for indoor air conditioning. You can guess what I purchased today at the street fair!

The fair was also rife with letters -- I could probably get a complete set just from photos of that. As it was I only took a few, although it's the LOOKING and actually paying attention to how much language is printed in-my-face that excites me the most. (Clearly it doesn't take much.)

The street fairs are high on my list of things-I'll-miss about NYC.

Laughing all the Way

I used this for the "C" in my ABCs collection (I'll post as an album or something here when I get a full A-Z set). I'm not sure what the CG stands for here, but I do know who it made me think of! This fence (?) around a tree is on LaGuardia Place between Bleecker and West Third.

Also realizing that graffiti is going to be an excellent source of lettering for this project. It seems somewhat rare to find individual letters, although I'm sure I can Photoshop or crop creatively.

Had an impromptu dance party when an exceptional song came on the radio. But then I realized one person can't make a party. I kept dancing anyway. Bring 'em out, indeed. And THEN "Like a Virgin" comes on ... oh dear.

And webcamming tonight!

Read: Dead Until Dark

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Recommended by my friend Koki, in part because they are set in Louisiana, where Shawn and I are moving in ~3 months (yikes!). Koki said I should get as many of these lined up as possible because once you start you won't want to stop.

I didn't have QUITE the same reaction (i.e. I can wait until book #2 in the series is ready for me at the library), but did really enjoy the quick read.

This was written in 2001, and I am not sure how that fits in the timeline of the Twilight books, which I haven't read. I did watch the first Twilight movie on Showtime. I've never seen True Blood, the HBO series based on these Sookie Stackhouse novels.

Bottom line: liked the book a lot, will likely request and read the others. It's also one of those books that clearly was written by an amateur/isn't polished. I expect future books in the series to be edited a little more ... or something. ALSO it's one of those books that made me think "I can do this."

BUT we were in the Union Square Barnes and Noble this weekend after seeing Date Night (a movie I can't recommend enough -- LOVED it and its sweet happy marriage message).

Anyway, at the bookstore (which we'd never been to before ... guess we get stuck in a Strand rut, but we went mainly to find the latest Crochet Today magazine -- mission accomplished), I was overwhelmed by all the books -- and the idea that so many people DO write and are published. I guess just gave me pause about whether I CAN write something ... anything.

ABCs of NYC -- A

Got this idea from reading DearBaby and the idea of a collage for a baby name using images from around your home.

I’m not pregnant, as much as I might like to be, and I don’t have baby names picked out. Since we’re leaving NYC I thought I would start collecting letters for a future baby name collage.

My goal is to get a couple complete sets of the alphabet from images of letters around the city. It’s surprising just how much text surrounds us — in the form of advertisements, building plaques, road signs, subway cars, etc.

Here’s my first “A” — from the Astor Place subway, which I take to get to church uptown.

More to follow and I'll try to keep it in alphabetical order. I took a LOT more pictures on Sunday -- walked about 30 blocks after donating platelets on the East Side. I'll repeat this project in Baton Rouge ... and maybe even see if I can get a set of letters in Indiahoma?!

Ketchup and Pickles, Please

I sometimes randomly sign up for things online, if there's a promise of something free -- a sample or in this case free pins in the shape of a ketchup bottle and pickle (I imagine it's dill). This offer was probably six months ago, because I certainly don't recall signing up for it recently, although when the packet arrived today in the mail I knew it had been requested. I don't really have a use for the pins or anywhere to wear them, but they're so funny. I'm going to pin them on my bulletin board. If you'd like your own I think you can request them here. Also, here's some trivia:

What was the origin of the Heinz pickle pin?
Henry Heinz attracted traffic to his 1893 Chicago World's Fair booth by offering a free gift— a small green pickle charm, which later became a pin. The pickle pin is one of the most famous merchandising giveaways in history and has become a popular collectible.

I also got an Amazon pre-order in the mail today -- Trisha Yearwood's second cookbook. Homewrecker or not (I maintain NOT), her cookbooks are awesome, although many of the recipes aren't "legal" it doesn't hurt to pore over the pictures. And maybe this cookbook is different than her last and has less carb-filled foods. I haven't read through it yet.

Yesterday was Gran's birthday. Wahoo! We had a nice talk, and it sounded like she had a great day with a mini party during Women's Circle at church when they gave her flowers and each brought her a card. Someone else gave her a Happy Birthday balloon.

Gran gave me advice on the too-small "easy shells in soft fern" blanket a few posts back -- just add more border. So I pondered that, looked at my pattern books and realized it was very do-able. So I've started on that and it's looking good. I should be able to add 4-6 inches in border and it will be a lovely, giftable blankie. Good thing too -- the yarn is so soft it would be a shame to waste on a doll baby (hey Diannia!).

And yes, that is a lunch bag hanging on the wall in the background. We make use of ALL the available storage space in this joint. I actually have some light things stored inside the lunch bag!

Frothy Read: Eleven on Top

Eleven on Top by Janet Evanovich
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After picking it up on the shared bookshelf in the laundry room, I read this book mostly on the elliptical machine. It's not tough stuff or high literature but it kept me smiling. And the audio versions of volumes 1-5 or so were part of the soundtrack of my drive east in 2004. They're just so mood lifting and F-U-N. Recommend.

Rattling Around

I helped a coworker find a lost document by locating the hidden Outlook temporary folder. She had worked on this thing for hours, always saving, but she hadn't done SAVE AS when she started working on the attachment. I felt like a rock star when I finally figured it out ... of course I took it upon myself to trouble shoot. Some habits die hard. Other technical things aren't going as smoothly, but in the next day or two they should resolve themselves. (Knock on wood.) Today I posted the job announcement to find my replacement. That was not easy. And due to the technical difficulties it's still not complete. UGH.

Shawn woke me up this morning pre-7 a.m. to tell me he was going to the gym ... in case I woke up I wouldn't freak out. Yeah, I would not have woken up. He woke me up BEFORE he was ready to go ... and proceeded to eat his cereal while I laid there trying to drift off. I eventually did and slept so soundly I didn't hear him come home, shower and leave again.

He found out when the gym opens -- 7:30 a.m., which actually seems late. I guess NYU kids like to sleep in as much as I do!

It's hotter'n a mug in here, and I'm getting perilously close to plugging in the AC and turning on its fan. Right now I've just got my mini fan set on top of the AC -- probably not the best solution but air flow is air flow. I guess I'm just being cheap and thinking the mini fan uses less power than the AC fan.

Shawn's birthday gift finally arrived -- a picnic blanket that folds into its own carrying case. Should be handy for sitting on the dirt-they-call-a-lawn in WSP ... or even partaking in a little Sheep's Meadow action. Oh, New York. Will also be good for the beach -- yahoo!

Shawn didn't like his other gift -- a leather keychain with an "S" embossed on it. Don't know what I was thinking. I should have had them put a "W" on it ... then I could use it instead! But someone with an "S" name will get a gift when she comes to visit in early June!

Static But Moving

Two days in a row - Friday and Saturday - I walked all the way to the gym before realizing I didn't have my wallet (and therefore the ID needed to get into the gym) with me. Both were a direct result of having had my wallet in an actual purse the nights before -- going to "God of Carnage" on Thursday and the movie "Greenberg" on Friday.

Both times I turned my happy butt around, got the wallet, waved to the doormen (who really couldn't care less) and walked back to the gym for a standard workout. Not exactly a far piece to get to the gym, but still a bit of extra walking.

Hopefully that compensates me from no Easter exercise*. The gym was closed (seems random and NYU is about as secular a place as it gets), but I didn't even do any NYC style walking although the weather was perfecto for it.

Instead Shawn and I trekked uptown for church (is it wrong that I prefer worship when things aren't SO crowded?), rode a bus down Lex to Astor Place (luckily we didn't try a 5th Ave bus, since it would have detoured around the Easter Bonnet Parade!), had brunch and then lounged on the dirt-they-call-a-lawn in Washington Square Park. Seriously it stinks! And the renovations probably won't be complete before we move, so we'll have put up with all this construction for naught.

Despite the dirt, we had a pretty good lounge. Overhearing random conversations of hipster doofuses is a nice pastime, and I managed to read the Sunday Times and write most of a letter to Gran. Double score.

Now to finish that letter, prepare some dinner (FreshDirect delivery today ... possibly the thing I'll miss most about NYC? Definitely in the top 5) and get pumped for Butler v. Duke. We'll see how it rolls.

*Although we didn't work out on Easter Sunday we also did not partake in any Easter candy or treats. I asked Shawn if he was sad that I didn't make him an Easter basket with his faves (Reese's pieces) or my fave (Cadbury Creme Eggs). He said no -- the right answer.

Unexamined

Put my Chucks on for the first time this spring. Ah, bliss.

If I don't write something down will I remember it? Not to-do's or phone numbers, but experiences. Memories. My life.

I've been writing about it for more than 20 years -- the first being a diary with a lock and pink pages. It may have been Hello Kitty and pretty sure Auntie Sue gave it to me.

I've been "blogging" or "online diary-ing" about it for more than 10 years. A decade or more of (somewhat public) navel gazing.

To what end? To remember it? To stretch my writing muscles? To feed my narcissism? Just because?

I don't know what I'd do otherwise. So this continues.

A Peek Down Lucy Liu's Dress

Last night Shawn and I went to the theater -- a Broadway show. "God of Carnage" with Dylan Baker, Janet McTeer, Jeff Daniels and Lucy Liu. The show was crazy, but we enjoyed it.

We sat in the second row -- the only way to go. It was the same theater where I saw The Country Girl with my mom and sister a couple years ago.

Because we were so close we could see everything -- from the spit coming out of the actors' mouths ... to RIGHT DOWN Lucy Liu's top! She's very pretty. VERY pretty.

The show itself was pretty pretentious and a little preachy, but overall we liked it. And love the idea that we can do things like this so easily. Being in Times Square is still a little magical -- the lights, the crowds, the tourists. Not something to do every day but I like knowing that it's just a few stops away on the train.

There are lots of things I love about -- and will miss about -- New York. I plan to chronicle them here in the time we have remaining here. We're having gorgeous weather this weekend AND the final NCAA games are tomorrow.

Good Friday to you.

Going to the Bayou

Apologies to those on my e-mail list who also read my blog, but I couldn't NOT post this here. I actually could not post it until now, although I wrote and sent this message on March 13.

Shawn has accepted a position at Louisiana State University! We will be moving from New York to Baton Rouge in early August and are really looking forward to the next phase of our lives.

Shawn will be an assistant professor with a teaching load of one and one, and he’ll have a lot of great opportunities for collaboration. And the school’s color is purple!

Beyond permanent employment and a clear career path for Shawn, the move to Baton Rouge will provide a home base and some life luxuries I’m really looking forward to: more living space (a real bedroom!), a washer and dryer, and a car. I’m giddy just thinking about the positive changes in store for us, but there’s also a bittersweet feeling about leaving New York that has surprised me.

Our time here has been filled with ups (getting engaged at the Top of the Rock) and downs (remember the bedbugs?). The long goodbye to the city has begun. We will be doing all the touristy things we haven’t yet done and enjoying a final spring in the city. Someone told me that New York is an easy place to visit once you’ve lived here, but I know won't be the same.


We are both over the moon about this opportunity and all the future holds for us. Go Tigers!

My Own IT Technician

Last night I spent a couple hours playing with Blogger in Draft and ended up with a new-ish look for this blog. It's wider ... which was one of my main dislikes about the old template choices ... and I tweaked the colors a bit more. I really like the new template options but decided against a photo background. Maybe later.

Next up -- making silvermari.com the home of this blog and doing away with the few outdated pages that live on that domain now. I think I've got the steps to do that, just need to implement them. And it's possible the blog would be down for a couple days, so I'll have to be strategic. The blogspot URL will still work -- just forward to my domain.

I think I can make tabs within the blog and have a static "about" section, or just have my crochet project posts together ... still exploring and mulling. But I think I've convinced myself to stay with blogspot and it's Google-y goodness instead of the hassle of transferring/updating to a WordPress blog. It's also made me think about my old Tripod blog and whether I could/should port over some of those entries. It would give me a more robust archive, which could be good for SEO.

Related techno-wizardry. I got a new work computer. It came in a box ... with no instructions. There is a docking station that seemed pretty self explanatory, but who knew? I did manage to figure out how to get everything working -- laptop in the docking station, connected to monitor, etc. And I can switch back and forth relatively easily to the old tower (because I've inevitably forgotten to wipe various things off the tower and need to look up some settings, etc.). This is the same computer that had my login set as "Mary" ... setting off the snit fit of a couple weeks ago.

I've also read through (top-line) all the posts on this blog, modifying a couple ... everything seems OK now, but we'll see. It was fun to travel back in time. Like talking to younger versions of myself. I really do write like I talk, although I'm not sure the people who tell me that mean it as a complement. Meh.

Easy Shells in Soft Fern

Green Baby
Originally uploaded by silvermari

This blankie ended up smaller than I expected, 28 inches square, but it's so soft that I expect to give it to its intended mom-and-baby anyway. It really is an easy pattern, from the book Dale gave me, and I picked a complimentary border from the same book that worked out really nice.

I have several more projects in the works, found out about some more babies-to-be and placed a little order at Herrschner's. I have the makings of 1-2 more blankets here and no shortage of patterns I want to try. I'm on a roll here!

A Cake for the Day He Was Born

Shawn and Cake 2010
Originally uploaded by silvermari

I baked a cake today!

Shawn's birthday is tomorrow. Happy, happy day!

The cake was OK -- a little tough for some reason, probably was over mixed but made from scratch and with LOVE! I got to use my PURPLE Kitchen-Aid mixer. Wedding present for the win.

Click on his photo to see more images from the cake baking process on Flickr.

There's probably a way to use Picasa to show a slideshow of them here, but all this baking tuckered me out. And the basketball games. Yowza! My bracket is a mess. But so fun to watch the games.

There's a chill in the air here - after a warm weekend when we sat outside in Washington Square Park. Crazy weather, but soaking it up anyway.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
The language in this book is superb. It seems even better knowing that it was translated from French. The characters are incredible. I felt like I could see them. I forced myself away from my usual gulping of words, paragraphs, pages and savored each brief chapter (one is a single sentence). Certain passages gave me pause, made me think and I'm still ruminating on what it all means, especially with the unexpected ending. Highly recommended. This book was a gift from a colleague.

View all my reviews

Pinwheels in White

close up back side of pinwheels
Originally uploaded by silvermari

This is a stunner -- a pieced baby blanket made for my cousin Kelli. It took a lot of time because of the 52 individual motifs and putting them together. The border was a dream and I crocheted backward for the first time (reverse half DC - nice). I can't wait to hear how it goes over at the baby shower this weekend. I got it finished and sent just under the wire!

A Couch

Filters

I realize now that I am way TMI with some of the things I tell coworkers. And yet I'm stifled in others (not by my own choosing). Will be glad when this is behind me and my message is no longer controlled by others.

Ever heard of Walker Coon Hounds? I hadn't until Shawn's buddy suggested we get one. Oh brother. Puppies are cute though.

Shawn is activating my new SIM card to use in my old phone and de-activating the SIM card that's in the lost/stolen phone. I'm not sure if it was just lost in the dishes when the table was cleared or if someone picked it up and didn't turn it in to lost and found. I didn't have an "ICE" (in case of emergency) contact ... and the only number labeled other than a name is "WORK" ... so if it is ever found maybe someone will call work. Dummie returns, and I'm going to put it behind me. Things fade with time so this will be less awful later.

Another lovely mental break down is that I forgot the cord for my work laptop in the office. Thankfully the cord to my personal laptop fits/works (Dell to Dell compatibility for the win), but I still hope they'll send it to me. I couldn't get confirmation that it was even still there. Guess it's a big pain to walk into a room and look on the floor. Geez, could I be any crankier?

Likely if I don't get something to eat soon.

The last time I was this stressed and forgetful was during CNS -- I left my entire purse on the shuttle bus to the car. I remember chasing the bus all around Annapolis until it got to the depot. I did get my purse back then, but it was an ordeal. I guess being flaky isn't an exception ... just part of my nature and I'm not as together as I'd like to think. Wah.

End of broken record.

THE WORST

I'm on the train to NYC. Acela wifi hasn't done much besides stress me out. I did get to catch up on my non-work blog feeds. I have been WAY off reading my work feeds. A lower priority than production.

I am exhausted -- totally and completely, as always after the big day of events. I'm even more upset because of the phone situation. It's 100% my fault, but dishonest people don't make things easier when I make mistakes like this.

Shawn was able to turn on something called "family map" to see where the phone was. And he could see it was in Arlington, VA. So either a waiter pocketed the phone when clearing the table or (less likely) it fell in the cab (I split the first cab from the auditorium to the hotel, so I had to slide across and had my purse and backpack). The auditorium people said a guest must have taken it (I know they can't actually do anything about the wait staff but it would have been nice to admit it). And would it even be theft if it was just left there? I'm wondering if I can report it stolen. I never would have lost it if I haven't had to tweet about the event. Whatever.

I still have my old phone, and I was actually a better texter on that phone anyway. I didn't lose contacts because they're backed up on the old phone and I have an excel file backup of numbers. Still, I'm just SICK over the carelessness. I like to be together, and so often I am not. Just ... ridiculous.

The wifi is super slow and I'm so hungry. I don't know how long this train ride is but I should probably go look for some food. I am really hating on myself though.

come uppance

lost my phone. very distraught. had it all day and must have left it on the table at the dinner. it's on vibrate so even if it were in something or someone picked it up (or if it fell out in the taxi?) it wouldn't ring.

i have a lot of expletives to say. but it's just a phone and will be a hassle to replace but whatever, i can do it. i will just be glad to figure something out.

EFF.

i got my come uppance (?) because i was teasing someone about picking something up/forgetting something. and then i go and do this. i'm so tired and upset.

Guitar World

Being in Dupont Circle takes me back in time a little bit. That was the main subway stop during my DC summer internship (gasp, NINE years ago ... surely that's not right, but it is).

I would ride the bus from the Georgetown dorms and walk to my internship office. (If I'm remembering correctly I did not take the subway every day, although I could be wrong.)

There's the guitar shop where David found strings ... David the ringer for Justin Timberlake. Wonder what happened to him.

And the Starbucks where I figured out that what I really like to drink -- mocha frappuccino (can you say sugar rush?) and first ate an espresso brownie. (Don't judge, I'm from the middle of nowhere! Starbucks was a big deal to me when I was 20!)

Everything came together swimmingly for tomorrow. I know I'll have trouble sleeping tonight, but tomorrow night's sleep will be BLISS.

Topaz

Checked into the hotel in DC for the work event. Was quite the ordeal to get here ... an hour behind schedule and just ... yech. I didn't plan food so got super super hungry.

As a member of this hotel reward thing I get a "raid the honor bar" thing -- $10 worth of free honor bar stuff. Oh man, I was so hungry and took a look through the offerings. There was a King Size Snickers bar -- a COLD king size Snickers bar. You'll be proud to know that I abstained and managed to get to a restaurant (where I had a hamburger, but still...). I wish there were a way to ask for a "no sugar" or "low sugar" honor bar. Or maybe I should have just said no thanks to the key. I don't want to leave the free $10 of food though -- probably enough for one bottle of water. Oh brother.

The hotel room itself is SWANK. Bigger than our apartment (minus the kitchen). There's a seating area with a couch -- a PURPLE couch. OMG! The bed is huge and plush. The TV is ginormous. There's free wifi (another perk of this hotel reward thing) and a sitting area for make up application. HA! And this week I'll actually be wearing some makeup. Hope I remember how to put it on. Also Topaz is my birth stone.

I had my meeting with the mystery letter writer. She does live in a rehab place or halfway house. Nothing was clear except she wants to move to Oklahoma (specifically Tulsa), where she thinks that she will get more for her money (probably true BUT Tulsa is still a city). She didn't ask me specifically for anything, but I will pray for her and over the situation. She suggested going to a museum or city garden together, but I'm not sure I'm comfortable doing that. BUT I didn't know how to say that, so she probably thinks I will call her. And I'll have to feel guilty about that for a while.

Daylight savings time is killing me. I had to get up earlier than normal to get to church before the service to meet with this woman. And then with the time change it was even EARLIER, basically I woke up two hours earlier than a normal Sunday and one hour earlier than a normal workday! This week will be full of odd times, given that I have to wake up earlier and actually commute tomorrow and Wednesday, and of course Tuesday my day starts at 7 a.m. and will last until 10 p.m. or thereabouts.

Here's hoping for a smooth, easy and successful day of events.

Snit Fit

Technology is really killing me. Today my router/modem/something decided to randomly block all access to my work VPN and email server. So for about two hours I was effectively offline and using gmail to work.

And now that the connection is done, whatever the IT guy did when he remotely accessed my system wiped out my Firefox settings. The font looks different (I even reset it and don't know how to get it to look right) and ALL my bookmarks -- pouf, gone. Luckily most of them are on my Firefox on another computer and/or are Google Bookmarks that are not browser-specific, but BIG dud to see my carefully laid out bookmark toolbar wiped out. Slowly rebuilding it, but that's not a big deal BECAUSE I finally got the new work computer I'd been promised for more than half a year and would need to transfer bookmarks anyway.

I turn on said laptop (finally making sense for working remotely, two years later) and see my login name as Mary. I flipped out (I was already dealing with the connection issues and didn't know the problem was in my router/modem yet). I've worked there nearly four years and my name still gets messed up? Pissy pissy pissy!

I spent like 5 minutes with the new computer and was able to reset my name to be Mari. It's still wonky and I'll need to spend time installing some other programs, but I'm much calmer. I need to remember to act with kindness ... snit fits are not at all flattering, trust me. And they get me exactly nowhere.

Weirdness Waits

Correspondent to the crazies?

I got a letter yesterday -- to this address although the apartment was incorrect. Mysterious return address in Queens.

Reading the letter ... it's from someone at church. I can't tell if the church gave her my address (my checks have the old apartment number on them, so it's impossible for me to get them to understand I've moved because they base everything on the money, honey) or if she gave the letter to the church office to address (different ink and the handwriting looks a little different on the address itself, although I'm not entirely sure).

Whatever the case, the letter talks about Stillwater, Oklahoma, and begs me to call her. (My name and former church were listed in the bulletin when I transferred my membership ... and yes, I didn't transfer membership to either my Maryland or Virginia churches ... and I should have joined the NYC church sooner, but hindsight, 20-20 and all that.)

The letter asked to call between 1 pm and 5 pm "for reasons she would explain." So I tried around 2 pm and got a busy signal. Hit redial a few times, still busy. Had a bunch of work stuff crop up, on and on, but just before 5 I remembered to try again and the call went through.

She practically cried and still wasn't clear about what she wants from me other than to talk. I'm going to meet her before church on Sunday. Just what I need.

I have a feeling she's living in rehab or something because she talked about where she lives as the ghetto, not a nice place, but basically seemed to imply that she has a curfew and ... I don't know. It all seems very sketchy BUT I think meeting in the church can't be too bad and maybe she's just a lonely person who needs to talk. I seem to know another person like that ... (hello, my name is Mari and I'm terrible at making friends.)

Speaking of my ability to demolish seemingly strong friendships, I dreamed about Sage last night. It was so real and bizarre. I think it was prompted because we saw a woman with the EXACT same face as Sage at the NYU women's basketball games at Stevens.

That in itself (the championship game) was a lot of fun, but I seriously think we were were the ONLY two NYU fans there. There were a few other people from NYU but I think they were all members of the athletics department and therefore couldn't cheer/boo/whatever. We harassed the opposing fans (who were sitting all around us) ...

I have a seriously loud clap, the gym was otherwise quite and I would do a rhythmic clap during NYU's key defensive moments. That made the Stevens fans so upset and annoyed that they started doing it to NYU when Stevens was on defense. It's very effective. I guess my Big 12 cheering skills came in handy there. (And the NYU women won the game/tournament ... although it came down to luck I thought, since their defense was utter poo.)

So I'm a fan, but not a fan girl in that I can't bring myself to actually speak to the players/tell them good job or that I enjoyed watching them compete this year. So I do it semi-anonymously on a blog that they'll never read.

Go Violets!

A Violet Affair

The NYU Women's Basketball team didn't do as well as we hoped in the season, although I'm sure they're feeling it too. Anyway, they didn't make it in the NCAA D3 tournament and so are playing in some type of local tournament? They're seeded 6th, but will play in the championship game tomorrow. We went to the semi-final tonight because it was local -- in Hoboken, just a Path train ride away.

Getting there was easy ... empty car on the train that showed up right as we swiped our Metro cards. Finding the gym was a little trickier, but we had plenty of time and the 20-ish minute walk wasn't bad -- especially with views of the skyline across the Hudson. I don't think I'll ever tire of looking at that!

The game itself was a winner. The gym was quiet ... and actually smaller than the gym in Indiahoma, OK, where we played our knees out on the ridiculous cement-based floor. It was a neutral site, in that the other team was from a different school too. And there weren't too many fans. We were close up to the action and could actually hear the players talking to each other on the court, which was odd. NYU's gym isn't huge, but we sit near the back so we definitely are removed from the players! (I sometimes wonder if they recognize us like we recognize them ... like seeing them in the gym where some of them work, or if they even care about having fans/a following.)

We cheered with the best of them and the team pulled out a victory. BUT one of the team members wasn't suited up. And I can't figure out what happened to her/how she was injured (odd since I read all the summaries). AND another player wasn't there at all -- someone who had been doing really well. I can't find any news about that either. All I can think of is she is either sick or got kicked off the team, although that seems like even the bad student journalists at the NYU publications would figure that out and write about it. One would think.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up and apparently Hoboken celebrates all month long. It's been a while since I've seen so many drunk people all together. It was disconcerting, felt unsafe and awful. I'm not sure I'd ever be happy doing that, even though it's what you're supposed to do as a young, hip person. I'll just cling to my youth while I can. In the midst of green-clad kids we waited for the train back, ended up on the wrong platform because of poor signage and had to cross over. Got on the train, were very crowded by the people, but finally made it home.

An unexpected date night, and not really a "New Yorker" thing to do. But it was fun.

Go Violets!

Reviews: Two Memoirs

Prairie Tale: A Memoir by Melissa Gilbert
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I bought this at The Strand - the newly released paperback version. Never heard about it when it was first released. It's interesting because she's a celebrity, but not very well written -- some weird errors/inconsistencies in how names are spelled. And I kept wanting Rob Lowe to show up again at the end. I really wanted her to end up with her first boyfriend. Other things were glossed over, and I hated that she didn't even mention her sister Sara's success, or explain why Sara used her last name, although they are sisters via their mother. It was a ridiculously fast read because it is written at a low level, but I liked it enough and it was probably better than reading a gossip mag, since it was likely mostly true, at least as true as her memory could produce.

House Rules by Rachel Sontag
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Another day, another memoir. This girl's life was awful, in the psychological torment she endured by her dad and the impact of her weak mom staying with him. I kept hoping for it to get better, as in, she would break through and find a way to fully be free of him. And while she's estranged from her dad at the end (and therefore pretty much from her mom), it didn't seem very hopeful or happy. There wasn't really a message within the book, or a lesson to be learned. That made me think "I could do this," (meaning write a memoir, not be estranged from my family) BUT I'm not sure my family life/growing up story is as interesting ... or that I would be able to publicly air it like Rachel does. I am interested in what happened after the book was published. If her dad exploded or if it's just continued to keep the rift between them growing wider. The author lives in NYC.

View all my reviews

Multitasking Fool

Randomly, what I was doing last night almost simultaneously: crocheting, watching TV and reading a book.

I would crochet while watching the show (only 7 motifs left before I can put the baby blanket together!), and then on commercials would read.

Probably not healthy at all. I'm not so much concentrating on anything these days but just skimming the surface -- to get the book read, the blanket crocheted or the TV show watched.

Am I enjoying the act of doing these things?

Probably not as much as I would if I did things one at a time. Perhaps an experiment in my future to be more deliberate and separate my activities.

Marching

Yeah, staying away from blogging has been more of a forced thing than an "ah, no blog to write" kind of feeling.

Yesterday on the way home from the gym I had a moment ... a happy to be alive, to be able to walk, to breathe, to exercise, to live, to love, and on and on. Bee-bopping to my music down the city sidewalks. I even put a happy spin on the broken elevator and having to walk up 8 flights of stairs (my butt got an extra workout)!

During work I am LESS grateful and introspective. I don't know when I got SO MEAN to people (oh yeah, I've always been this mean). I know I should be grateful to be employed at all ... eh.

I have a canker sore in the back of my throat. It is the worst, and may be the beginnings of a sore throat, although here's hoping it's just a sore that goes away. Be glad I don't take a picture of it, because I really could and it would GROSS YOU OUT!

Webcamming tonight though and I'll for sure show my Owen boy. He's always showing me the inside of his mouth, so maybe he'll get a kick out of seeing mine. We'll see.

To the library!

Strange

The writing prompt for March is about "strange" or "strangers" ... that could be fun, but not 31 posts fun, so this should be my final forced post for a while. Perhaps I'll have something to write about every day in March, but I doubt it.

There is a soothing sense of accomplishment by doing something regularly -- a habit that becomes a ritual. And writing is something I want to keep up with, although perhaps not these throwaway posts that don't really stretch my skills or imagination.

Recapping my life is great and I can imagine myself as an old lady reading back through these posts and being able to remember exactly how I felt when I wrote them, not knowing what will happen next, the way I feel now when I read back over old journals. Who knows what technology will be like in 50+ years.

The snow is melting -- everything is slushy and wet and I bet the piles will be gone by week's end because it's so warm. The weather may send more snow though, so I'll just keep going with the flow. Either way I'm an inside girl almost all the time.

Thanks for reading this February, and I'm sure you'll see me writing in March (if nothing else to express my joy over March Madness and/or the thrill of getting through yet another year's "Super Tuesday" at work). OMG.

Memory Reset

My memory is a funny thing. I saw an Ikea commercial sometime before Christmas -- only saw it once (it has since been aired much more often) -- but I was CONVINCED that I'd seen the actress playing the wife before, and I had a feeling it was at a play Shawn and I had seen. I searched and searched for who she was based on the commercial (it's the one with her and a red haired husband talking to their mattress like they're sports coaches). Although that search was fruitless, several months later I finally figured it out.

I saw her in The Good Guy last Sunday and figured I would be able to find her name, and I was right. She's Kathy Searle, which I figured out by looking up The Good Guy on IMDB. Then I searched for her name, found her website and ta da -- listed right there on the home page: Just wrapped the 2 and 1/2 year run of the Off Broadway hit "My First Time" directed by Ken Davenport. 

It's been a while since Shawn and I saw that play, but for whatever reason her face and voice stuck with me, but I couldn't place where I had seen her. Mystery solved!

Closing

February is coming to a close, and I can say I'm glad for that. I won't try to do a NaBloPoMo again until November I think.

Last night I went with Kellie to see Shutter Island. Creepy and the more I think about it the more I like it. We also ate at Spice, and it was certainly spicy Thai food!

Shawn's flight was canceled, so he's been rebooked for tonight ... will be home around 11 p.m. I guess another lazy day alone won't kill me. AH!

Shawn also reminded me that he was gone to Norway longer than he's been gone on this trip. I had been thinking this was the longest we'd been apart. Not sure why it feels that way. I can't even remember what I did when he was gone to Norway. Maybe there was better TV on, and certainly work was less stressful at that point.

The snow is still piled up here, but no more falling. The white blobs are nice, and kids seem to be having a lot of fun playing in the big open playgrounds of snow. I'm sure Washington Square Park would be fun -- if it weren't overrun with construction and mostly cordoned off. Oh well.

Giving up on listening to this NYU women's basketball game. Just a slaughter AND the announcers aren't really clear about the game -- all they do is cheer for their team, not really calling the plays. So awful.

And I have to go out and get cash for the laundry card. GRETCH!

Buried Snowman

Last night I made a mini snowman with the snow accumulated on the air conditioner. If I'd had coffee beans or mini carrots I would have decked him out, and it was all I could do to keep from crocheting him a mini cap. (Can you tell I'm going stir crazy without Shawn?)

Anyway, this morning I woke up and my poor snowman is neck-deep in fresh powder! It's a winter wonderland here and NYU is closed again. The gym closes at ~5 p.m. today, so it's a good thing I went yesterday and decided to take today off!

Wiggle It

I was crossing off an item on my to do list (things are crazy enough that I'm creating a new one each day), and I started scribbling a bit -- just an up and down motion that led to a small flood of color. The motion and resulting scribble reminded me of a pen I had that would vibrate on its own and create squiggles while I wrote. I'm sure it was a late 80s/early 90s thing, but wouldn't you know Amazon has it.

While I know I would enjoy owning a squiggle writer again, I also thought it might be a fun toy for Owen of which Shawn could approve (although perhaps when learning to write it's not ideal to have your writing implement wiggle violently?).

Off to the gym, since I'll probably take tomorrow off. (One good thing about living in relative isolation is that people will be able to tell the difference/appreciate the results after not seeing me for a few months.) The snow should be fun to trudge through. The snowfall has been absolutely stunning today and it was impossible for me to be as grumpy as I have been the rest of this week.

Smiley for that reason AND because Shawn comes home tomorrow!

FREE Lance

Emphasis on the free.

Doing some donated work on a brochure for my church. It's harder than it seems and gave up on trying to do it in Word. These people will just have to make due with a PDF and I can make their changes until they're happy. Oiy!

And thinking about this title and Lance made me remember my most embarrassing high school moment -- when I hooted and hollered over a baseball player (opposing team), not knowing that his dad was sitting nearby in his truck and heard everything. I was at least 4 years younger than the player, but it was so humiliating. I still blush a little when I think about it. The dad called me out and I just ran away mortified. But I never did anything like that again!

The player's name was (is?) Lance.

That's all you get for tonight. Until tomorrow.

Five of Five

It's a perfect storm -- everything at work crashing all at once. Such is life, but this is the fifth blog post I've written today.

It's a special day for two of my favorite people who also happen to be readers of this blog: my mom and friend Holly. Funny that they share a birthday.

Zum Geburtstag viel Glück.

It's been raining today, which I'm pretty sure is my favorite kind of weather. I didn't even mind trudging through it to the gym (although my pants soaked up a ton of water). It's cold and grey and soggy. Very Eeyore-ish.

At the gym I felt like calling the locker room police, which isn't unusual, as I'm always ticked off about something going on in there. Usually the offenses are to my senses -- i.e., please don't wander around naked in front of me, old lady or the smell of chlorine is so strong I think I have singed my nose hairs -- or puddles of water because swimmers refuse to take their towels with them to the pool and instead traipse in to their locker, dripping. It's disgusting! Today my complaint was the number of lockers that were filled with stuff (in some cases a single umbrella) without locks. And they were TOP lockers. Geez. I think I'm a little too ... too. But I didn't steal anything!

I'm looking forward to Monday, which will be the end of NaBloPoMo. I'm not feeling particularly inspired or writerly of late. Just pouring out some things out of my head and nothing else. I should revisit my "ties" post ideas and make some of those happen to finish out these last few posts. I'll believe it when I see it.

Chain Chew

One in a chain of no-good days, and today one way I combated the stress was with a chain of gum. Some people chain smoke, apparently I chain chew. I've only allowed myself one pack, but I've certainly buzzed through it, spitting out the gum almost as fast as it gets in my mouth and definitely before it loses its flavor.

Hello, Sunday

Lazy days. But I still got to church and a gym run. Will try to catch a movie -- something Shawn wouldn't want to see.

Thought I would need to work today, but after an e-mail check got the good news that everything can be handled tomorrow.

On the way back from church/to the gym I stopped at K&G Fashions. I almost bought two more suits and a really cute lacy skirt. (I bought a pinstripe skirt/jacket combo at Penney's last weekend.) The two suits today would have cost together the same as the one I bought last week (the one last week was $45, so we're not talking big bucks here). One was a purple jacket and skirt (the skirt hit at a very cute length), and the other was a pinstripe pant, vest and white shirt combo. (The lacy skirt was cute, but the lining was still super see-through.)

My reasoning against the purchase included: I have too many clothes I don't wear anyway; I don't have much reason to dress up and have plenty of clothes that will work for the dressing up I need to do in the near future; any clothes I buy now will theoretically/hopefully not fit me in a few months, so certainly doesn't make sense to make that investment; the white shirt w/ the pinstripe pants/vest was super see-through and had weird bell sleeves (if I could have just bought the vest I would have -- because that looked great); and can I really buy a PURPLE suit? I've owned a purple car, I have on purple pants, I have a purple cord jacket, a number of purple scarves, etc. etc. So it's not like I'm a stranger to surrounding myself with my favorite hue. But something about a purple suit. I just couldn't do it, even at $15.

Shawn will be proud of my spending restraint!

silvermari writes

I read the Mouthy Housewives almost every day. And they recently had a guest blogger, so I clicked over to her site. On her sidebar I saw this "she writes" group, clicked on it and realized it's a ning group for writers. I'm trained as a writer/reporter, although I don't report in any fashion anymore I do write, albeit for myself. Still, I have a Ning ID and was able to join, with my blog as my "reference" I guess -- to show that I do write. So I'm glad for that.


Visit She Writes

Shawn just left for his conference in Minnesota. Nothing more to report on that just now, but I'm sure as the week progresses I'll get crazier and crazier.

Last night we had Crab Stuffed Salmon, a FreshDirect dish I hadn't ordered before. YOWZA it was good. And cheap -- for $12 we had two beautiful pieces of fish STUFFED with crab, and all I had to do was pop them in the oven to cook. We ate with a salad and were quite satisfied. I'll be adding that to my regular shopping order, and it was as easy to fix as a frozen pizza ... or fish sticks ... or any number of pop-in-the-oven treats that we don't really eat anymore.

HA -- I just got a comment on my last post, anonymously of course, and possibly spam, given the odd syntax and typo:

You have to express more your opinion to attract more readers, because just a video or plain text without any personal approach is not that valuable. But it is just form my point of view

Isn't that kind of what I've been dealing with/thinking about "out loud" in this space? Whatever the case, yes, I know that the way I write now and the content is not attractive to a wide audience. And right now that's OK by me. We'll see if I ever come up with any truly interesting content. I highly doubt it.

Contagious

I woke up this morning determined to change my reactions, to keep a positive attitude and spread that infectiously.

It's COB, and while I've had my moments of frustration, today has been a vast improvement over yesterday in terms of melt downs and overall productivity. It's helped by the fact that Shawn is home, but help us all as he'll be gone ALL next week at a conference. Egads!

Decided I do want to keep my notes from the AW service:

• Lent is a season of confession and change. From facade to faith. From resolutions to reality.
  
• It is a lifelong endeavor to be Christian. When people tell Maya Angelou that they are Christian, she responds "Already?!" It is in the search itself that one finds ecstasy.
  
• And how about the best Good News: Nothing can separate me from God's love through Jesus Christ.

A perfectly silver white hair was on my desk today -- definitely mine and definitely one of many. I'm truly becoming SILVERMari, although my hair has been greying since teen years. I remember Pam mentioning it when she cut my hair ... that I'd have to start coloring early. I've dappled in hair dye in the past, but my hair as it is now is natural, in that any dye I may have put in it would have long ago grown out.

Frazzly

At the gym tonight it was student night, or something. All-university games I think? Maybe something riffing on the Olympics. Anyway, the place was crawling with students in brightly colored, matching team shirts. There were signs along the railings with themes that matched the teams' shirts, so I think it must have been Greek night or something.

ANYWAY, the teams were SO loud cheering for each other it was deafening. And all I could think was why can't the students get around and cheer for their actual athletic teams?!

Got a new pair of workout pants, and that's all my news for today. Cheers. (now if only I had a drink.)

To Dust You Shall Return

Working from top of the morning to the end of the evening. I did have a 4 hour break in there when I left for the chiropractor and Ash Wednesday service. I finally gave up after a few final tasks at 9 p.m. Kind of ridiculous, but if I didn't knock them out tomorrow would be even worst than it probably will be.

"Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return." I would write more about the experience but I realize that is sort of like practicing my piety before others in order to be seen, even though that isn't my intent. (See Mathew 6:1-6) But at the same time I want to share those experiences, so catch-22.

I webcammed with the sweetest baby boy tonight, who isn't so much a baby as a 5-year-old Kindergarten kid! And now I'm webcamming with Shawn, although it's one-sided. I can hear him, but he can see and hear me. I'm not that interesting -- typing away on a blog post to get it done. He's working on the Mensa calendar puzzle -- I held it up to the camera and he took a screen shot. Are we nerds or what?!

I rode the bus home from church -- down 5th Avenue. One of my favorite trips in the city. Cheap too. I like seeing all the windows and bustling people (yes, people are always bustling here, be it Sunday morning or a Wednesday night).

Tomorrow Shawn will be home, if only for a couple days before his next big trip. That is all I can muster for today.

Cold Mountain

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was amazing, up to the end. The book has been sitting on my shelf for years. I think I bought it on a discount somewhere. I got swept up in the story and pulled into Civil War history. I read the paragraphs quickly, drinking them in like water -- excited to get to the presumable happy ending. Of course it didn't happen, and it seemed like a FORCED bad ending ... because the bad part was out of character and almost off track, at least in my mind.

If it weren't the middle of the night when I finished it I would have thrown it across the room. Other than the ending the book was amazing. I think I might even rewatch the movie ... and hope that Hollywood gave it a happy ending. Eh.

View all my reviews

Frosted Window Panes

Absolutely nothing exciting today. Woke up a little early because Shawn left for his next interview, the one rescheduled from last week. He'll be home on Thursday, but then he flies out again on Friday for a conference and is gone for almost a full week. Yikes!

The entire day was grey and overcast, with lots of fluffy snow falling down. It melted upon impact for most of the day (although late afternoon there was slight accumulation that has since turned into slush), but from my vantage point on the 8th floor it was a lovely sight.

After an especially stressful workday, I certainly didn't want to go to the gym today, but the days you don't want to go the most are the days you NEED to go the most, so I mustered the energy to go. The gym is still so crowded with students. I don't remember it being as busy last semester. But I guess NYU students getting healthy is a good thing. But I'd rather not have to jockey for position in the locker room ... or wait in line to exercise. That seems a little ... off point or something?

I've been pondering goals for this space. Writing, blogging, journaling, chronicling. I am my target audience, although secondary audiences include my family and a few IRL friends who know about this blog. But should I pick a topic and try to flex my writing muscles? Write about more than myself? And for audiences beyond my small circle?

It's not like I need another project or really want to. I'm just letting that tumble around in my head a little. I also want to do some site work with regard to silvermari.com, which hasn't been updated in over a year. I may even install a WordPress blog and port silvermari & the city into that format. I've also been thinking about possible blog renaming if/when we move from the city. something to play on the reflective nature of my initials. Not sure I'm ready to make that kind of WordPress commitment, but it wouldn't hurt to have a more solidified online presence on my URL.

And then I think about URL. I own silvermari.com, that's where I have my random attempt at a languishing vanity site (and where I hosted my wedding information/pictures). But should I do something using my real life name? There's an author Mari Walker, so she has the .com of the URL, but it seems the .net and .org versions are available (neither of which really appeal to me). marijwalker.com seems open, but that isn't right either. Also, if I were ever to integrate/leverage Facebook, that vanity URL is silvermari, although I'm sure I could do a redirect w/in a new URL'ed site to my profile.

I can't get away from it. I AM silvermari. It's a somewhat ridiculous screen name I picked as a ~14 year old, but it is me. So just writing that out and looking at the options of URLs makes me think silvermari.com is the ticket. Feel free to disagree but I might just delete you. (Like I said, I write for me!)

Thoughts of a nothing-girl for now.

Oh, Bobby!

My cousin is in town this week, and she and I made plans to meet up for lunch today, since I have the day off work (it's only 4 p.m. and I've already worked out!). We met at Cozy's, for lack of a better suggestion, but I got there a little early and she was going to be late. For whatever reason I can't hear my phone ringing ... EVEN WHEN IT'S IN MY HAND. I'm suspecting that it didn't ring at all, but whatever.

I got a voice mail from her that was a little garbled, but I suddenly got the idea that she was at Cosi, up Broadway about 8 blocks. (We had used Strand as the reference point, and Cosi is much closer than Cozy.) So for lack of anything better to do, and to get my blood pumping after standing in the cold for 30 minutes, I hightailed it up there. I went in Cosi and looked around, didn't see her and decided to go back to Cozy.

Across the street, by the movie theater, who do I spy?

My Holy Grail of celebrity sightings...

Vincent D'Onofrio. [wikipedia]

ZOMG. Crap on a cracker. And all the excitement in the world!

He was not filming or in character. He was smoking a cigarette, leaning on a newspaper box and looking very grizzly. Smoking hot (literally). Anyway, I was NOT smooth, and the recognition on my face caught his eye, even across the street. He looked at me, I looked at him. He smoked, I looked at my phone, trying to decide how rude it would be to try to take a picture.

In the end I decided too rude, and he moved away from my line of sight as the light turned green and traffic ran in front of me.

I booked it back to Cozy, arriving just as Jenn did, and we had a lovely lunch. Although the food isn't spectacular, it is cheap and the company could NOT be beat! I forget how much I like people and being around them! Ha-ha!

And the delay in connecting and the garbled voice message were all in the plan to let me see Mr. D'Onofrio, me thinks.

I wish I'd taken the picture though.

The Look...

Happy Valentine's Day!

I don't have many ruminations for this post. We just watched another loss ... the NYU women's last home game of the season. Possibly (probably?) the last we'll ever see. Such is life.

We're planning to take a brief shopping trip just for something to do. I have tomorrow OFF work so am most looking forward to sleeping in. Hopefully I'll be able to put thoughts together for an actual content-rich post tomorrow.

Fingers crossed.

Bedlammo!

How 'bout those Cowboys? WOW. My workout today went so much faster and easier because I was watching the first half of that game. Amazing! I guess that somewhat soothes the NYU women's team loss to Chicago last night.

I've got a lot of things done today -- errand types: bank, post office, drug store, gym. When I work out on the elliptical I usually read a magazine and listen to music. The number of magazine subscriptions I have is a little ridiculous, but of the ones I read I've started to find I enjoy the women's magazines targeted to families. Instead of Cosmo and Glamour I like Ladies Home Journal and Good Housekeeping.

Here is an ad spread I found particularly funny ... and it was in Glamour - the one with Posh on the cover!

 

There's no way they don't go together, because they don't make sense without the other. I love it! It's the little things in my life.

Busted

At coles watching the women get their butts beat. Sad.

Via my iPod cuz Shawn has a log in.

Hatin on the refs and ready for this to be over.

Optional Hair Styles

Picture 1: my hair after washing, blowdrying after about an hour of air drying and then sleeping on it. Lots of body but OH-SO-SHORT! (My teeth are not that white -- it's clearly a factor of the webcam and blurring the teeth together or something.)

 

Picture 2: Later that same day, my hair after being flattened with my Chi straightener. Serious rocker face, right? LOVE the razor-ed ends, so I know it will grow out and I'll grow to love it. 

My hair seems a little LESS short, although still shocking my system to see it so chopped, especially the random 3 inch section at my crown. Alfalfa moment for real. This flat it will fit in a ponytail, although so short and the hair around the nape of my neck isn't long enough to fit.

Temperament

Learned something today -- I would have bet money that temperment was how that word was spelled. (I wrote it in a blog comment and the little red squiggly line led me to look it up). The correct spelling reminds me of tempura and tempera paints. But the more you know ... or something.

Starbucks sent me (and I'm sure thousands of others) an intriguing e-mail about a coffee delivery service. Unfortunately it's not a daily latte-delivery service, but rather whole/ground coffee delivery. I love the idea, but alas as a single coffee drinker (Shawn doesn't even really like the smell, can you IMAGINE?!), it doesn't seem feasible. Although I AM tempted because of the offer of a free red French Press pot for new signups.

Lately I've been digging Mud Truck coffee, which seems to be available only in NYC and possibly ONLY at Morton Williams (there's one by the gym). The Mud Trucks themselves are visible in my neighborhood, but I've never actually got a cuppa from one. Anyway, my last purchase accidentally was whole beans rather than my pre-ground laziness of late. I have a grinder, so no big deal, just an additional step each day. And I'm sort of thinking it does make a difference/the coffee tastes better. Not sure I'll restock with whole beans on my next grocery stop.

I mentioned Etsy a couple posts ago, and today read an article about PicClick, which has a page for Etsy that allows for visual shopping. You put in a keyword (might I suggest purple jewelry?) and then see all that the site has to offer. You can even limit the price range.

The federal government, and therefore my office, are still closed today. But I'm still working and making relatively reasonable progress on my projects, including a great interview today that almost made me miss reporting. I am looser with personal blogging time (as evidenced by the published times on this week's entries), but unlike what a co-worker suggested, I will NOT be working over the weekend to make up for the time others did not work this week.

 

The single snow picture I took yesterday -- of a fence on Mercer on the way to the gym.

Flat hair shots may come later today, or maybe I'll save for tomorrow. Meh.

Pixilate You

Beth, as viewed via webcam tonight. One of us was having a slow connection that came and went.

What Did You Expect

The snow has been underwhelming. While beautiful during the day, it seems to have stopped and probably the roads will be clear in the morning. We'll see. Not that it impacts me in any measurable way.

Shawn's flight did get canceled, so that trip is rescheduled for next week.

Things in DC, however, are probably not as good ... and I expect the office to be closed again tomorrow. I have a lot of griping to do about that, but won't do any good, so there's that.

The gym closed early today, so I took advantage of the "officially closed" work status to go work out a few hours early. Offsetting the time by still working right now, but better than not exercising at all.

All for now.

Model Citizen

I'm not a model employee, but I do OK. Example: the office has been closed since 1:30 p.m. on Friday. It hasn't affected my work situation other than it being much, much slower than normal. I will say it's been very tempting to turn off the e-mail, grab my crochet hook and watch my backlog of DVR'ed shows. I haven't done that ... yet. :)

Today I was another kind of model -- a hair model at the BBU project, where stylists from around the country come to NYC to learn the Bumble & Bumble techniques. I've had a free cut there before, and there were last minute slots available for today, so I signed up again. The goal: get rid of the triangle Supercuts cut I subjected my hair to.

I'm not as excited about this cut as I was about the first one. Mostly because it's SO much shorter. I mean, Little Orphan Annie, or serious MOM hair (which I'd be all about if I actually had a baby, but that's a topic for a non-public facing blog and personal conversations). But hair grows, and mine grows exceedingly fast. And I'd never know how my hair looked so short if I hadn't cut it! Shawn hasn't seen it yet, so we'll see what he thinks. I think it's even too short for a workout ponytail. Eeek!

I did before/after shots again. Let me know what you think. I know it will grow fast, that I can style it to be less round AND that it will look banging when it's straight (and I'll actually have long fringy bangs if I want - the hair in the front is THAT short).

 

 

Am I a little too hair obsessed?! It's only for today.

Brief weather update: the walk to/from the salon (it's on W 13th, near the Hudson River ... so quite a hike) it was GORGEOUS -- sunny and low 40s. They say the snow is coming, but we'll see. Shawn has travel plans for tomorrow so I hope whatever comes doesn't impact air travel. Although being snowed in with Shawn doesn't sound like the worst thing!

Already Pretty: A Head to Toe

I really like the blog Already Pretty. I probably share a post from there once or twice a month. The author is just very good at writing pro-body, pro-love yourself posts without seeming sappy or icky.

I also scan a lot of sartorial blogs, which seem to be the ticket in NYC -- people love to blog about their daily outfits and record their clothing choices. I'm down with that, but clearly I could never aspire to being a fashion blogger like that (in part because my work-from-home routine means jeans and T-shirts at almost all times). Sometimes I wear a something cute (at least cute to me) and I want to take a picture of it. This was one of those times -- a dress for church on the one Sunday it wasn't bitterly cold.

I used the Gorillapod tripod that my mother-in-law gave Shawn as part of his post-Christmas Christmas gifting to capture the shot on my own. The shoes aren't visible, so I took a separate picture of them. LOVE!

Dress: grey and black paisley, Bijou-Bijou/JC Penney
Camisole: Old Navy
Tights: We Love Color
Shoes: Aerosoles at DSW