"Beauty" and the Beast

In the spirit of Christmas, I am going to (partially) break my anonymity policy and share with the world a bit of the hideousness I once was. This is the one of the worst photos taken of my brother and I. Ever. Laugh as you feel necessary.



















Keep in mind....it was the early 80's. Time has made us both more red/brown than we actually are. Also please note that my brother here is brand spankin new and therefore sort of pinched looking (a la Yoda).

Office Christmas, Part 2

I just got a Magic 8 Date ball from a co-worker! It's pink and has a glittery "8" on top. And there's glitter in the water! How fun.

My love life will surely improve in 2006 now that I have access to the future!

Christmas at the Office

One of our sales reps gave all the women in Marketing Coach wristlets for Christmas. I am seriously touched and impressed. My Evil Sith Lord came in and saw my happy glowing face and pointed out that I am an example of how people can buy friends. That made me sad, because I don't think I am that way. But who cares. I got a nice present from this particular sales rep and the Evil Sith Lord did not.

Operation "Friendly Neighbor" Update

On Monday TCN came over to keep me company while I stressed about Christmas. He kept me entertained, complemented my photos, and helped me make decisions regarding what photos should go where. Aside from the fact that he hung out with me for two hours (while I worked) here are some small indicators about his potential affection towards me:

1) He loved one of my photos. So I gave him and extra print. He was very excited about that and said he'd go out right away to get a frame (he wants to put my photo up in his room!)

2) He showed off my photography to his graphic-design sister (who was a photog major).

3) His sister has warmed up to me and during a conversation even alluded to the fact that I would probably be spending time with TCN (and her and her BF) in the future. (She is not the nicest person sometimes and she's very close to TCN. So it's a good thing if she likes me).

4) He asked me for advice on what to do for some Xmas gifts.

5) He took my advice and called me about it (twice) before he went to the store I suggested.

6) He called me after he went to the store to tell me about the frame he got for the photo I gave him.

7) He told me a joke (sort of a dumb and immature one) but was embarrassed to tell it to the General. READ: He feels comfortable around me.

8) He thanked me for letting him hang out with me.

9) When saying good-bye, he gave me three hugs and we had a conversation about when we both get back from holiday stuff. A la "so I get back on x day..."

Of course, I am a girl so I notice all this while he is a guy and therefore not thinking about any of this. And maybe he just wants to be my friend...But my boss (AKA the Evil Sith Lord) who is an ex-therapist said that all this behavior indicates he's into me. Of course, then the Evil Sith Lord said that all guys want is sex and that any meaning behind any apparent affection is because "all guys want is sex."

On another note, I had a date last night with he-who-I-do-not-mention. I've been a little disenchanted with him lately and so the date was fine--casual and fun. At the end he asked when we could see each other again. I told him of my schedule (which keeps me out of town a lot through the second week of January). He seemed disappointed because during the second week of Jan, he leaves for New Zealand for three weeks. It was really hard for me to say, "Well, you should have remembered all this when you flaked on me last week and were all of a sudden too busy to hang out over the weekend." Of course, that would make me sound like I am three. And I try to keep that part of my personality hidden from the world.

Christmas Mishaps....or Christmishaps

I love Christmas. Really, I do. But last night I started to hate it just a little bit. Why, you may ask? Because last night everything was going wrong...Here are some of the things that caused my mini tantrum last night.

I am giving my bro a big picture collage of door images I took while in Puerto Rico. I wanted it to be ready for Christmas and so I went two weeks ago to order this. I brought the print in and had the frame dimensions. I picked out a nice neutral color with a good texture, and was pleased with myself when I heard that it would be ready with plenty of time to assemble and wrap this week. I went last night and picked it up--braving the angry, mob-like Christmas crowds. They made me check it there before I left. I even had to sign some paper saying it was perfect. Only problem is, I was so concerned with the inside dimensions that I never stopped to think that maybe they had gotten the outside ones wrong. I drove home, lugged everything into the house, brought the frame and poster downstairs, cleared a spot on the floor, opened everything up only to discover that the matte was two inches smaller than it needed to be. Sure, the inside opening was perfect, but it was too small for the frame. I'm not kidding when I say that I started to cry. I ran upstairs to look at my copy of the original invoice. Sure enough, on the original one it said the smaller size. So I thought surely they would blame me and I would need to shell out another $50 for new mattes. I called the store and was first put on hold for 15 minutes. Then I hung up and tried calling back. The line was busy for a half hour. At this point, I was actually half-screaming in frustration every time I heard the busy signal.

But...I eventually got through. And they are re-doing the mattes at no cost to me. And they're rushing the order so I can maybe get it before Christmas. And the rush is at no additional cost to me either. Good job, Michael's. You definitely have the Christmas spirit going on!

After giving up on the matte, I thought I would move to another gift project. I will not say much about it, as someone who reads this blog is getting this gift. All I will say is that it involved several different photos and more than half of them were the WRONG SIZE. Yay. Another trip to Target's photo center, anyone?

After giving up on the "wrong sized photo" gift, I thought I would finish my Christmas cards. Remembering that I needed to get a gift card to put into one of them, I ran upstairs (for, like, the gazillionth time that night) to seek it out. I actually had purchased this gift card long ago and I last saw it somewhere in my room. Only last night I couldn't find it anywhere. I tore my room up in pursuit of this stupid little piece of plastic. I knew it HAD been in there somewhere...but then I thought maybe I accidentally threw it out? So then I checked all the trashcans I had been using. Still, nothing. But since the media kept reminding me that yesterday was the last day you could send things out for it to arrive in time, I HAD to send this gift out! So what did I do today? I bought another gift card. I just hope that I come across the original one soon as this duplicate purchase is going to upset my Christmas budget a teeny bit.

And there you have it....those are the biggest mishaps of my 2005 Christmas season. Of course, they are augmented by the fact that I hadn't finished wrapping anything last night and hadn't even thought at all about WHEN I was going to deliver and/or ship out gifts until yesterday (which, let me remind you, was the last day you could ship anything out in order for it to arrive before the big holiday).

Much Ado About TCN

TCN and I hung out big time last night.

One day this is going to get so messy. It's like a Shakespearean tragedy. But perhaps a little less dramatic. Okay, well maybe the only similarity is that the audience and some of the players (me) know that the end will not be not good.

Oh well. For the moment is it so fun, and since I have officially recorded that I know there is a 50% chance of getting hurt, I am hoping to stave off any actual sad/bad/unhappy feelings later on.

The human psyche works that way, right??

ML and the Snooty, Judgemental, Prissy, Insulting, Meddlesome Co-worker

I have this friend at work (hint: her name is similar to KAH's and BD's and many of you have met her). I have never been very good friends with her because of several reasons 1) She is very snooty 2) She is very judgmental 3) She is very prissy 4) She is very into fixing people up--to the point where it can be meddlesome and 5) She thinks the idea of a good time is hanging out only with other couples.

On top of all this, she is sometimes insensitive (she's said so herself so this is not a sole ML observation). Combine this insensitivity with the characteristics above and one is bound to be insulted/judged/criticized in some way at some point by her.

Well today she basically called me sneaky and deceptive. She didn't come outright and say "ML you are sneaky and deceptive." Rather, she said someone we both know is that way and then she connected those characteristics with a group of people I am a part of. So I said, "That basically means you're calling me all those things." And she said, with big innocent looking eyes and a direct gaze, "Well you are."

Now within the context of the conversation, she is right. The deception/sneakiness she is referring to is the fact that I am changing careers and not telling people. But it is not the truth that bothers me here, its the way she says things! And it's the style and frequency of such comments that hurts. Maybe I am too sensitive, but I'm tired of her always implying that there are better ways to do everything and that those better ways are her ways.

Also, she said our Christmas party on Sunday night was "weird."

(I am sticking my tongue out at her).

Now....onto less annoying things: some boy updates. The perfect date from last week, aka "The date I do not speak of" (his nickname is now sort of like Voldemort), is being flaky and non-communicative. It is annoying and I am starting to think of him as less perfect. But TCN has been there to pick up the slack a bit. Last night he asked for my number, came over to look at pictures from the party, and asked about when we were going to this one wine tasting thing we've talked about. It was fun getting to know him better. And even though there is definitely no long-term potential with this one, he is attractive and that means I enjoy him in any capacity.

Our Little Lego Lady

On July 4th in the year of 2005, something very important happened. "Lego Lady" was borne unto our group. It happened by accident...one night in a bar my brother reached into his pocked and his hand stumbled upon something unexpected. With a quizzical look on his face, he pulled the foreign object out to share with the group. It was a random little lego person. This was hilarious to us all, because we knew that this Lego woman had probably been in this jacket for a long, long time. Also it was funny because, why would she have ever been put into his pocket in the first place?

Immediately, without hesitation, Lego Lady was incorporated into our drunken revelry. And it is in that way that she has become a sort of mascot for our nights out. We take turns bringing her with us. We take photos of her hanging off our cups when the night is boring. We even order her water and request a place for her when we eat post-bar drunk food at RCC. Yes, Lego Lady is now an institution among my going-out friends. A night out without her is, well, just a regular old night out. And we've all had enough of those, right?

And so while the birth of Lego Lady was nothing dramatic, grand or fantastic, she is super fun!

I'll post a picture of her up here soon!

Steak and Wine

Tonight when I got home from work TCN3 was BBQ-ing in the driveway. He greeted me when I got out of my car and walked to my apartment with me. Then he came in and kept me company for awhile (he was going to take some of our hot wings and he wanted to see how the apartment looked in the aftermath of the party). He sat for awhile and hung out. He even plugged in our christmas tree lights for us 'cause I was too tired to do it. The 16 year old son of the woman in Apartment 4 came over too. He and TCN are sort of brother like and I enjoyed watching them give one another a hard time. Then TCN asked if I wanted a steak. I was so tired and hungry I said 'yes.' (even though I am a "meat minimist"*).

So TCN made me dinner! We even had corn on the cob. And he rolled my corn in butter and seasoned it for me too because it was too hot for me to hold. I brought some wine and we watched the movie Elf. His sister came home half way through it and joined us. Then her boyfriend (from apartment 1) came over.

It was like something straight out of a college dorm. Except, in college, we didn't eat fantastic steak and didn' t yet know how to appreciate a bottle of 2000 Cab.

So TCN and I are supposed to go to this one bar later this week together. We'll see if it happens though...

Tomorrow night i have my second date with the guy I do not mention on here. Wish me luck!

*The term "meat minimist," a concept first invented by KAH, is someone like myself who has vegetarian tendencies but who REALLY likes beef and sometimes indulges because she either 1) craves it big time or 2) the cute neighbor is cooking for her.

TCN3 and Me

We had our christmas party last night and TCN3 came. It was fun.

I like TWO boys now!

(giggle giggle).

No Official Updates Here....

I'm not talking about this officially....but it looks like me and the great date guy (henceforth known as GDBF) are going out again next week. Te, he.

In the wise words of Thumper, I am twitter-patted*.

*Twitter-patted describes that giddy school-girl like feeling caused by the early stages of a crush.

It's a Sunshine Day

I had a fantastic date. Fantastic. Of course, now I am freaked out that we won't have a second one. I have no logical reason to think that way, as I know he had a good time and we did discuss future plans. But, regardless, I have seen enough in the dating world to know that I know nothing (when it comes to interpreting behavior, analyzing meaning and determining the future). Therefore, I will discuss no more about him until I know more.

I also had a good little interaction with TCN3 (the cute neighbor in apartment 3) last night. I don't think I've mentioned much about him on here...but then I haven't written much about anything recently. I've been pretty busy with finals. But I digress. Back to TCN3. So he's coming to our Christmas shindig on Sunday. He helped us trim and put up our Christmas tree this past weekend. Men who know how to do things with tools are just cool.

Some music news: I bought the new David Gray CD recently. It's mix of haunting melodies and poetic lyrics--punctuated with a few upbeat tunes--parallels the musical styling of White Ladder (the first DG CD I bought and loved). I'm also really into Matisyahu. Who knew I could like reggae this much? King Without a Crown is my favorite song right now. Very fun with great mix of beats, words, musical patterns. In the words of the General, I love, love, love it.

(BTW, I'm super happy at the moment....can anyone tell? I feel like this whole post is just one big gush because Christmas break, my great date, the cute neighbor, good new music, fantastic coffee... it's as though the Brady Bunch is singing "It's a Sunshine Day" all around me).