Let's take a ride in the way back machine, shall we:
Sing it with me kids!
Ain't nothin' gonna to break my stride
Nobody's gonna slow me down, oh-no
I got to keep on movin'
Ain't nothin' gonna break my stride
I'm running and I won't touch ground
Oh-no, I got to keep on movin'
So for no particular reason, that's the song thrumming around in my head this morning. Star's already sick of it, because I only know that one verse, but I figure it's enough to get me through the day. Wait until I sing it at today's meeting at NSI! Then they'll see what I'm made of. uh yeah.
So...this weekend was relaxing, productive and comical all rolled into one and it was just what the Dr ordered (although I had asked him to order some Valium or something, so the whole "productive" thing does kind of pale, but I digress)
Saw the Bourne Ultimatum Friday night at the historic landmark Senator theater, which was a pretty cool little place. I would go back, but they only show one movie at a time so it won't be until they change flicks. Anyhoo, the movie was pretty good. I haven't seen the other ones, which some people claim make a difference, but seriously. Matt Damon, shooting people and throwing them around and beating them up. Worth my 9 bucks (off topic 9 FUCKING BUCKS FOR A MOVIE NOW), and I left the theater happy.
Saturday was a whirlwind of thrift stores, yard sales and woodsy jaunts with the dog. I actually struck WAY out at the thrift stores and yard sales, which was sad. I have been looking for some ways to spruce up the Baltimore office (my house) and I'm interested in some furniture for the place so I can move around what I have. I found the 2 coolest most comfy chairs for 25 bucks each but they were JUST being sold as I strolled up. boo!!! so close! Anyhow, not wanting to return home empty I jumped at the opportunity to check out the much touted H&H Surplus Campers Haven store and SCORE! I got a ton of crap, some of which I actually needed. Big blue bag full of stuff for 25 bucks. So that took the edge off some, and gave me stuff to play with for the rest of the afternoon. Topped off the day with run through some woods with the dog and a grilled cheese and tomato courtesy of Paper Moon Diner, curled up with a book and pretty much called it a day.
Sunday was pretty sweet, but much the same. Woke up early and cruised around solo to take advantage of the little bit of coolness and silence the morning had to offer. Met some cool people, got some info on a sweet indoor bike rack I saw while looking in someone's window, when unnoticed by me, the dude was sitting right there next to the window while I was looking in. We chatted for a bit about the problem's of hanging women's bikes up and he pointed me in the right direction to get what I need.
I hit another yard sale and totally scored! 3 of those Ikea hidden wall shelves for 5 bucks! I don't know where I'll put them but I knew I needed them. (what I didn't factor in was the 12 blocks back to my car I would have to carry them, but they were totally worth it!) Then I explored the previously uncharted territory of the Farmers Market under the expressway. Hot damn, I have found my new farmer's market! I usually go to the Waverly one, but this shits on Waverly. I mean, it's not walking distance so I'll still go to Waverly sometimes, but it just seems so Junior League now. Anyhow, I picked up some flowers for the garden at $1.00 a pot because the end of season is approaching. That's actually exciting, because the empty box has been bugging me and I've been holding out for a specific flower I was having trouble finding. So I found it, and for a buck! I also got a Foxtail Fern for the house, because in my redecorating frenzy I've been looking to round out the plant collection with some new stuff. The Foxtail -which is gorgeous but a little creepy when you transplant it because there's all these little sacs in the soil which kind of skeeve me out- fits the bill perfectly and is going to look smashing in my room. If I can ever find my camera again I will post pics.
Then I spent the rest of the afternoon working in the yard: planted the Hibiscus I bought, potted some houseplants, finished up the last of my garden box with the previously mentioned cheap ass plants, and hacked my bush/tree thing out back to pieces. As expected, there was one small incident, see artist' s rendering below (later because I'm out of time!).
Capped off the evening by making dinner, Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic. Yeeeeeaaah buddy! It was delicious, but took much longer than I thought to make. Also, my recipe called for a lot of Olive oil- 2/3 cup and I think I would use less next time for sure. Other than that, delicious! I love roasted garlic. Smear it on some bread and dipped in gravy and I'm in heaven.
And I got individual dessert servings of Creme Brulee for me and some delicious Chocolate Boule thing for my companion.
Then, secure in the knowledge that I had Gotten Things Done and Been Healthy this weekend I turned in to get a decent night's rest to prepare for today. Meeting Pa Looza.... blech.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
F*cking Mondays
1)early meetings all around
2)99 degrees and no A/C
3)got yelled at by one of my clients at NSI
4)crappy meetings all day, deployment pushed back 10 weeks!
5)my dog PEED ON THE FLOOR. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. (how rude)
6)the magic bullet broke! smoothies, coffee, GONE! nooooooooooooo..................R.I.P. good friend.
I did the only thing I could. Went out for chocolate oreo cheesecake and a Guinness at the air conditioned pub down the road. Hit the spot, no more case of the Mondays!
2)99 degrees and no A/C
3)got yelled at by one of my clients at NSI
4)crappy meetings all day, deployment pushed back 10 weeks!
5)my dog PEED ON THE FLOOR. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. (how rude)
6)the magic bullet broke! smoothies, coffee, GONE! nooooooooooooo..................R.I.P. good friend.
I did the only thing I could. Went out for chocolate oreo cheesecake and a Guinness at the air conditioned pub down the road. Hit the spot, no more case of the Mondays!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Where does the time go?
crazy week kids. emphasis on crazy.
Firstly let me say, I'm entering the last 6 weeks of the equipment deployment phase of my project at NSI. This last bit is pretty fast paced and I need to have all my ducks lined up, which they are not due largely to the fact that it is nice outside and HN lives right next door. I've been playing, and generally not doing the amount of work I should. So last week, I took some me time and made a point to get VERY caught up. I put my nose to the grindstone and went on a meeting/documentation/planning frenzy. I got shit done, and it was good. Amen.
Now during the industrial revolution, my boss had called and told me the NC office was going to be deserted-ish this week and he had some new processes he wanted me to work out and document, and how would I feel about moseying down that way for a bit. I love the new project we have going, and was psyched to get the call so I packed up DogZirra, hit the road, and I went down to NC for what I thought was going to be a relaxing half week in the south.
It's amazing how wrong I can be sometimes. Seriously.
There was a big deployment coming up and my work buddy has been traveling a lot and hadn't had time to get prepared so we hunkered down to configure 6 machines and the networks by the time of his big trip. We worked until 6 Monday, then packed his car full of machines and headed home to work until roughly 11pm getting those bad boys ready. Tuesday was much the same story, we worked like animals until the 5:30 FedEx shipment went out and then settled down to a big "aaah" and the last 2 beers in the office fridge, merrily toasting the past 2 days
of work and the successful result. Now, notice how I don't mention any of my work in this paragraph. Because I wasn't getting any of my work done. I was thinking about it, stressing about it, but not getting it done because I was helping with this deployment business. I was also freaking out a little about not getting any work done on that, but only a little because I didn't really have enough time to freak out alot.
So I got home Weds night, and after having had enough time during the drive to get caught up on my thinking about the project and getting anxious I did the only sensible thing: Ripped my house apart. It's amazing how thereapuetic shoving your shoulder into a piano can be. It kind of acts as a physical interpretation in the exercises in futility that have been my week thus far, and that helps. now however I have a piano in my living room, and no means of getting it anywhere else. The floor took a beating during the initial move and I can't in good conscience do that again. Plus it was heavy, and I'm not sure i have enough anger left to move it.
I'm thinking of getting rid of the piano, I'm having a dilemma. I wanted to fix it up, but I'm not sure I'm ever going to stand still long enough to do so. And it makes me feel encumbered, which I'm having some crisis about this week. But it's so pretty. and a Stieff. with an iron soundboard. A total find, but am I ever going to play it is the thing? sigh.
I hope it resolves soon, otherwise when they come to investigate the arson, they'll find the hotspot started in my living room, right about when the piano is.
Firstly let me say, I'm entering the last 6 weeks of the equipment deployment phase of my project at NSI. This last bit is pretty fast paced and I need to have all my ducks lined up, which they are not due largely to the fact that it is nice outside and HN lives right next door. I've been playing, and generally not doing the amount of work I should. So last week, I took some me time and made a point to get VERY caught up. I put my nose to the grindstone and went on a meeting/documentation/planning frenzy. I got shit done, and it was good. Amen.
Now during the industrial revolution, my boss had called and told me the NC office was going to be deserted-ish this week and he had some new processes he wanted me to work out and document, and how would I feel about moseying down that way for a bit. I love the new project we have going, and was psyched to get the call so I packed up DogZirra, hit the road, and I went down to NC for what I thought was going to be a relaxing half week in the south.
It's amazing how wrong I can be sometimes. Seriously.
There was a big deployment coming up and my work buddy has been traveling a lot and hadn't had time to get prepared so we hunkered down to configure 6 machines and the networks by the time of his big trip. We worked until 6 Monday, then packed his car full of machines and headed home to work until roughly 11pm getting those bad boys ready. Tuesday was much the same story, we worked like animals until the 5:30 FedEx shipment went out and then settled down to a big "aaah" and the last 2 beers in the office fridge, merrily toasting the past 2 days
of work and the successful result. Now, notice how I don't mention any of my work in this paragraph. Because I wasn't getting any of my work done. I was thinking about it, stressing about it, but not getting it done because I was helping with this deployment business. I was also freaking out a little about not getting any work done on that, but only a little because I didn't really have enough time to freak out alot.
So I got home Weds night, and after having had enough time during the drive to get caught up on my thinking about the project and getting anxious I did the only sensible thing: Ripped my house apart. It's amazing how thereapuetic shoving your shoulder into a piano can be. It kind of acts as a physical interpretation in the exercises in futility that have been my week thus far, and that helps. now however I have a piano in my living room, and no means of getting it anywhere else. The floor took a beating during the initial move and I can't in good conscience do that again. Plus it was heavy, and I'm not sure i have enough anger left to move it.
I'm thinking of getting rid of the piano, I'm having a dilemma. I wanted to fix it up, but I'm not sure I'm ever going to stand still long enough to do so. And it makes me feel encumbered, which I'm having some crisis about this week. But it's so pretty. and a Stieff. with an iron soundboard. A total find, but am I ever going to play it is the thing? sigh.
I hope it resolves soon, otherwise when they come to investigate the arson, they'll find the hotspot started in my living room, right about when the piano is.
Saturday, July 28, 2007
Century club!
yes, I ks, have made history by finishing the ginormous box of freeze pops I bought at wal-mart like 2 years ago. It truly is the end of an era here at Casa di apathe'. It wasn't an easy job, but it had to be done.
This is pretty much the highlight of my weekend, it has been largely thus far time without result. My list of things to do is getting overwhelmingly long so I've spent the day trying to make a dent in it, with little success.
It's my fault, I took a lot of "personal time" this week, and now it's time to pay the piper. I unfortunately slacked myself into a corner, to a degree which is unusual for me, but I had a last minute trip pop up. Anyhow... I worked on documentation for work until 1am last night, and did more this morning. Before I go to bed tonight I will do more yet.
Then in personal matters I also tried to square my account with the Curtains of Doom and get them out of my life, but I have yet to succeed there. I just had to stop, I worked 5 hours today hunched over this table and I just want to set them on fire at this point. I had to put them somewhere else for safekeeping but I am almost done. There is hope.
Right now I'm taking a break from being goal oriented and having some dinner while I contemplate the most refreshing summer beverage, quite possilby ever.
Fresh Basil Strawberry lemonade. Trust me on this one.
Simmer 2 cups basil leaves with 1/2 cup sugar and 2 cups water for 30-45 min
strain out the solids and reserve liquid
pulp 2-3 lemons into this mix (more if you want)
add 2 cups water (more or less depending on how strong you want it)
chill. serve over ice with fresh strawberries mixed or, or possiby just use frozen ones like i did because i had no ice cubes. they were edible and delicious by the end.
also, add vodka if you like sometime.
and with that, im back to my torments.
This is pretty much the highlight of my weekend, it has been largely thus far time without result. My list of things to do is getting overwhelmingly long so I've spent the day trying to make a dent in it, with little success.
It's my fault, I took a lot of "personal time" this week, and now it's time to pay the piper. I unfortunately slacked myself into a corner, to a degree which is unusual for me, but I had a last minute trip pop up. Anyhow... I worked on documentation for work until 1am last night, and did more this morning. Before I go to bed tonight I will do more yet.
Then in personal matters I also tried to square my account with the Curtains of Doom and get them out of my life, but I have yet to succeed there. I just had to stop, I worked 5 hours today hunched over this table and I just want to set them on fire at this point. I had to put them somewhere else for safekeeping but I am almost done. There is hope.
Right now I'm taking a break from being goal oriented and having some dinner while I contemplate the most refreshing summer beverage, quite possilby ever.
Fresh Basil Strawberry lemonade. Trust me on this one.
Simmer 2 cups basil leaves with 1/2 cup sugar and 2 cups water for 30-45 min
strain out the solids and reserve liquid
pulp 2-3 lemons into this mix (more if you want)
add 2 cups water (more or less depending on how strong you want it)
chill. serve over ice with fresh strawberries mixed or, or possiby just use frozen ones like i did because i had no ice cubes. they were edible and delicious by the end.
also, add vodka if you like sometime.
and with that, im back to my torments.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The only good bug...
...is a dead one. That kitty killed and bit in half like 4 days ago, so it's all dry and not nasty anymore and can be tidily scooped up with an envelope or something. Just found one of those and I was being thankful for coming across the corpse this way because giant bugs are not nearly as fun to find when they're:
Anyhoo, I was cruising around and I tripped over some thing called "what's for dinner weds" where you show everyone something you made to eat. Since I decided people should know more about the mundane details of my life, I thought I'd institute a little venture called "what's for dinner when my lazy ass gets around to picture gathering" Tonight is the first episode, but look for more to come, because I just got this cookbook (for 8 BUCKS. I rule.)
So. Tonight's dinner is a yummy little Mediterranean medley brought to you by the fact that I love cilantro, it's too hot to cook, and I have 8 tomato plants growing in my yard.
1)Tabouleh salad
2)Diced tomatoes, because I pretty much eat them any way they go now.
3)Cilantro-Jalapeno hummus
I never pay attention to what I do but these recipes are close to what I made. I'm shoveling it in with a tortilla but a pita would do it too.
Cold, spicy and delicious. This might be a big summer feature. and you can pretty much put chopped frozen spinach into anything you cook I've decided, because I used it in the hummus and the tabouleh and I'm going to put some in the smoothie I'm making before I go climbing.
Cos that's how I do.
- a) alive and huge and coming right at you
- b) newly killed and stuck to the floor leaking innards
- c)in the process of being eaten by your previously cuddly looking cat who is in actuality a stone face killer and eating a bug with the same mouth that will be chilling out on your bed in 20 min. Don't get me wrong, the stone faced killer thing is dead handy round the house, and kind of a bad ass alter ego for the common cat but that live bug shit's happened to me before and it's just gross.
Anyhoo, I was cruising around and I tripped over some thing called "what's for dinner weds" where you show everyone something you made to eat. Since I decided people should know more about the mundane details of my life, I thought I'd institute a little venture called "what's for dinner when my lazy ass gets around to picture gathering" Tonight is the first episode, but look for more to come, because I just got this cookbook (for 8 BUCKS. I rule.)
So. Tonight's dinner is a yummy little Mediterranean medley brought to you by the fact that I love cilantro, it's too hot to cook, and I have 8 tomato plants growing in my yard.
1)Tabouleh salad2)Diced tomatoes, because I pretty much eat them any way they go now.
3)Cilantro-Jalapeno hummus
I never pay attention to what I do but these recipes are close to what I made. I'm shoveling it in with a tortilla but a pita would do it too.
Cold, spicy and delicious. This might be a big summer feature. and you can pretty much put chopped frozen spinach into anything you cook I've decided, because I used it in the hummus and the tabouleh and I'm going to put some in the smoothie I'm making before I go climbing.
Cos that's how I do.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Patience children...
The desk will come. The things is, I really want you, my audience to get the full effect, so I'm trying to hold off until it's 100% done, including ergonomic devices installed, computers set up and shit (like POW, behold, for it is my workstation! and shit) , but I haven't been arsed to finish the cleaning of the room that I started when I undertook constructing the thing (there was a lot of stuff in there I didn't much need but having not seen it for so long as it was buried under piles of other stuff I really didn't need masked the depth of the project- it really turned into a major thing overall), BUT I'm making progress. Should be finished this week and I will for certain post pictures shortly. Then it will be a simple matter of finding the perfect stool to go with. I'm thinking Ikea, but will make the obligatory rounds at local thrift stores before shelling out. I will attempt to placate with this picture of the desk in the early phases of construction. I didn't think to take a total before picture (as in, when my bureau was poorly fitted into this cubby and it's potential was wasted) but use your imagination.
I have mounted the supporting boards. Titillating, no?*
In the meantime, sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I've spent lots of time away from the computer, and I've had tons of great ideas but unfortunately by the time I get back to my machine the ideas have deserted me. Terrible thing really, because some of that shit was funny. I don't remember what it was, but I remember cracking myself up over it. Not to worry though, I've found my microrecorder and am going to be carrying it with me from now on, to capture the pesky ideas as they come and transcribe and expand on them for your reading pleasure. I'm going to be like the Hunter S Thompson of blogging. Minus all the shooting at stuff and road trips, etc. (for now anyway, though hopefully the road trips bit will come in due time)
In the meantime, I was reading this story and all I can think is "I WOULD DO IT" and then "why???" I would totally take a menial job if the cash was decent. Sigh, where are my offers? Yes, rich people I will be the best fucking PA you ever had! It's like in Europe, where all sorts of jobs pay decent wages, so you don't just get the people who can't do anything else doing things like streetpaving and baristas, etc (did I just insult U.S. streetpavers and baristas? I didn't mean to...)
I was also reading this (thanks Mimi Smartypants) and wondering about this poor soul. He's way too cerebral about his Garfield. I mean, really is all. Seriously.
and in other news, I have added fish to my menagerie! yay! ok, I didn't really add them, they were castoffs from some animal behavior thing that went down but they are oh! so! pretty! and I don't mind telling you I made a sweet little pad for the one of them. The other is still in his institutional looking bowl, but I will save him soon. I've been scouring thrift stores and yard sales for more interesting containers but haven't found "the one" yet. but I will, and you know this. and more importantly, I know this. I believe in me!!
Anyhow, my fish. You should see his trick.
In fact, let me put you on hold and go download the pictures I took of cool fish. You'll see what's so cool about it in a minute and in the meantime, you just sit right there and think about what you've done:.....
So here is blue fish. I'm thinking of naming him Kitty because that always seems to want to come out of my mouth when I'm talking to him. I'm still on the fence though.
Check out his cool oversized barware shack:
Pretty
and for his first trick, magic fish will DISAPPEAR! (oooh, aaah, no?)
Sneaky
and then, he will come back IN DUPLICATE (the crowd goes wild!)
Rad.
You can't tell me that's not cool. or that I don't get out enough.
and the ants have given up! I basically put everything I had containing sugar in the freezer and I believe they have accepted that I am more stubborn than they are and gone to the neighbors house. SUCK IT EXOSKELETOR!
*I have been encountering many foreign people lately and I have noticed many seem to end their sentences with a question. I like it, I'm giving it a go for a bit.
I have mounted the supporting boards. Titillating, no?*In the meantime, sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I've spent lots of time away from the computer, and I've had tons of great ideas but unfortunately by the time I get back to my machine the ideas have deserted me. Terrible thing really, because some of that shit was funny. I don't remember what it was, but I remember cracking myself up over it. Not to worry though, I've found my microrecorder and am going to be carrying it with me from now on, to capture the pesky ideas as they come and transcribe and expand on them for your reading pleasure. I'm going to be like the Hunter S Thompson of blogging. Minus all the shooting at stuff and road trips, etc. (for now anyway, though hopefully the road trips bit will come in due time)
In the meantime, I was reading this story and all I can think is "I WOULD DO IT" and then "why???" I would totally take a menial job if the cash was decent. Sigh, where are my offers? Yes, rich people I will be the best fucking PA you ever had! It's like in Europe, where all sorts of jobs pay decent wages, so you don't just get the people who can't do anything else doing things like streetpaving and baristas, etc (did I just insult U.S. streetpavers and baristas? I didn't mean to...)
I was also reading this (thanks Mimi Smartypants) and wondering about this poor soul. He's way too cerebral about his Garfield. I mean, really is all. Seriously.
and in other news, I have added fish to my menagerie! yay! ok, I didn't really add them, they were castoffs from some animal behavior thing that went down but they are oh! so! pretty! and I don't mind telling you I made a sweet little pad for the one of them. The other is still in his institutional looking bowl, but I will save him soon. I've been scouring thrift stores and yard sales for more interesting containers but haven't found "the one" yet. but I will, and you know this. and more importantly, I know this. I believe in me!!
Anyhow, my fish. You should see his trick.
In fact, let me put you on hold and go download the pictures I took of cool fish. You'll see what's so cool about it in a minute and in the meantime, you just sit right there and think about what you've done:.....
So here is blue fish. I'm thinking of naming him Kitty because that always seems to want to come out of my mouth when I'm talking to him. I'm still on the fence though.
Check out his cool oversized barware shack:
Prettyand for his first trick, magic fish will DISAPPEAR! (oooh, aaah, no?)
Sneakyand then, he will come back IN DUPLICATE (the crowd goes wild!)
Rad.and the ants have given up! I basically put everything I had containing sugar in the freezer and I believe they have accepted that I am more stubborn than they are and gone to the neighbors house. SUCK IT EXOSKELETOR!
*I have been encountering many foreign people lately and I have noticed many seem to end their sentences with a question. I like it, I'm giving it a go for a bit.
Monday, July 16, 2007
There is every possibility I'm eating ants right now
Apparently I have an ant issue. It was more of a non-issue for me, because in my opinion the house is more than big enough for some guests but this morning they did the unthinkable. They messed with my coffee, invdaded my coffeemate! My beloved powdered cow! (I never use all of my milk when I buy it, so I've given up and just use the powdered stuff for coffee now. It never rots!)
Anyhow, I opened the container and see that the previously identified as not horrible cohabitants had helped themselves to my CoffeeMate without even asking. Bastards, there's plenty of crap on the counter they could be happy with but nooooooo, they have to eat my good stuff! Well fuck that. First off Do. Not. Fuck. With. My. Coffee. It's just not cool and it's not right and I don't care how cool you are with your fancy exoskeleton, I won't stand for it.
Tomorrow, it's Borax and sugar cocktails for everyone, my treat!
Second, the jokes on them. At 6am, I am utterly unable to come up with an alternative, so I just scooped all the ants I could see out with a spoon, and went back into the container like I hadn't seen a thing.
Then I put the whole kit in the freezer. It's a new jar, I'm not sure I'm ready to throw it all away so in the meantime I'm killing anyone who might be inside and not already dying a high fructose corn syrup solid smothered death. I'll decide what to do about it later, but I dont think ants are toxic. hmmm. mmmmm...
Anyhow, I opened the container and see that the previously identified as not horrible cohabitants had helped themselves to my CoffeeMate without even asking. Bastards, there's plenty of crap on the counter they could be happy with but nooooooo, they have to eat my good stuff! Well fuck that. First off Do. Not. Fuck. With. My. Coffee. It's just not cool and it's not right and I don't care how cool you are with your fancy exoskeleton, I won't stand for it.
Tomorrow, it's Borax and sugar cocktails for everyone, my treat!
Second, the jokes on them. At 6am, I am utterly unable to come up with an alternative, so I just scooped all the ants I could see out with a spoon, and went back into the container like I hadn't seen a thing.
Then I put the whole kit in the freezer. It's a new jar, I'm not sure I'm ready to throw it all away so in the meantime I'm killing anyone who might be inside and not already dying a high fructose corn syrup solid smothered death. I'll decide what to do about it later, but I dont think ants are toxic. hmmm. mmmmm...
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