So I'm here in the lovely town of Charlotte, which is startlingly clean and aseptic. The American Association of School Librarians is jam packed with ladies who look exactly like school librarians. I met this lady at the Days Inn this morning and she and I wandered around the conference center until we saw EBSCO doing a presentation that included a free lunch, in which we gleefully partook. Salad! Breadsticks! Vegetable lasagna! Green beans! Carrot cake! Tea! Water! Coffee! Wow!
I'm stuffed now, and waiting for the opening session at 3:30 featuring the infamous danah boyd (of Brooklyn, I believe). The exhibit hall opens right afterwards and my goodness, I had no idea that librarians were so bloodthirsty for all that cheap swag. People brought like three suitcases to cart it all home.
I had an embarrassment at work on Halloween. I was so nervous about it raining (which it did) that I kept checking to see whether or not the customers had umbrellas out. One man stepped up to my counter soaked right through his shirt. "Oh no!" I said, "Did it start raining outside?". "No..." he said. That's when I realized that he was just really, really sweaty. Ew!
Daniel and I were about to head out on a walk the other night when we saw a huge cat tree just discarded out on 107 and Amsterdam. Knowing full well how expensive those can be, we lugged it over to Mark's apartment and set it up in the bedroom so that Mark could de-fur it when he got home. He reports that Levi is both excited about having a perch and very interested in smelling the old cat.
I promise you that I haven't been avoiding writing out of spite. I'm going to fall back on the 'but I'm so busy!' line which is true. James Spader, that hunky devil, was in my concession line at work. Same with Rosie O'Donnell. True! I put my laundry in at 2:00 today and completely forgot about it until 5:00. The amazing thing is not just that my soggy clothes were undisturbed in the washer but that my detergent was still there. I suppose those hours are not the most popular.
Mark wants to give Leviathan a Happy 1st Birthday party on Halloween, and I suspect that is only so he can put Levi in a birthday cone hat for a millisecond and take a picture.
Oh by the way, this darling cat wants to say Happy Halloween!
HE LOVES THAT HAT. LOVES IT!
And look how shiny he is! Mark is going out tonight to buy him his first adult cat food (XXX!) instead of the kitten stuff.
My very first baby shower is on Saturday and Mark was supposed to come all the way out to Hamilton, New Jersey with me but he just heard that he might have to go to Massachusetts, but maybe not, it's all up in the air, so the gist is that he may or may not come out with me. The point is that we'll have to wait and see. I bought very practical presents.
One thing that was disappointing at the beginning of the semester was that I was promised all online classes but hey, when I looked at the syllabus for one of them it said we met in person on Wednesdays. Pain. So I had to rearrange my work schedule (I worked Wednesday nights) and change it to Monday, and dread going all the way out to Queens Campus each week.
But to make a long, tedious story less long and tedious, it turns out that the lady at the office put me in the wrong section and now I'm in two online classes. Which is great news. Hours of my life have been saved. Hours!
I didn't switch back shifts at work because there was really no reason to. So now I work Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and have this big stretch of time during the week where I go to the library a lot.
Mark took me to some gaming meetup yesterday night at a bar on the Lower East Side and we met some weird guy that immediately came up to me and asking all about how I am in relation to the gaming world and not even acknowledging Mark even after he spoke. Uh, uncomfortable! But it wasn't bad and I managed to sweet-talk an iPhone case for Mark from this promotion guy.
After that we walked over to Little Italy for the San Gennaro tacky street fair. Mark got me a, hm... bruscoli? Broccoli? Bruschetta? (or, as the spell check recommends, Brushstroke?) Something like that, I think. Anyway, it was a lot of meat with onions on bread. A+. We split zeppoli for dessert and it was tasty.
Tonight we're finishing off the hamburgers that his roommate left in the freezer and pairing them with lettuce and tomatoes left over from the terrific salad he made the other day. It's nice when everything works out like that.
I've been rearranging my clothing in preparation for the upcoming cold weather. Right now it's at that perfect temperature that would be appropriate for all kinds of outfits. However, I know this is not to last and I'd better pull all of those jackets out of hibernation.
I wrote this during the seven hour bus ride home to Pittsburgh. Enjoy!
This day has been full of busy. Daniel woke me up at 7:30 indavertently and just laying on the couch wasn’t much fun so I got up and realized that I hadn’t really packed anything useful for my fun trip to Pittsburgh. So, I grabbed at random things from the dirty clothes bin (free laundry at home!) and hopefully I ended up with an assortment of things rather than ten shirts and no underwear.
Rob came up yesterday! All the way from Dover, NJ! Thanks, Rob! He got in a bit after I finished work, and met up with us at Mark’s apartment where I was preparing the meal of my life. Oh, it was fantastic – sliced baguette pieces and Boursin spread to start, then Mark made garlic bread using said baguette and minced garlic. Next was steamed asparagus with melted butter (really margarine, but you couldn’t tell). After this carbfest was the main course, turkey meatballs in a sweet pepper tomato sauce with mushrooms and basil over spaghetti. Dessert was mini sprinkle cupcakes. And everything was delightful.
Do you know what made it even more delightful? We got to use the SlapChop! Oh yes indeedy! The thing actually works like it shows on TV! My favorite, however, is the “but wait, there’s more” Graty, which grates cheese like whoa and cleans up so easy. Mom and I came up with the idea that Mark and I should go as Vince Offer and a hooker for Halloween – Mark can carry around the SlapChop and have a headset in, and I’ll have a palm print on my face and wear nothing but a ShamWow. We’re classy devils.
Anyway, since we’re wild and crazy in addition we went out after dinner for a walk and met Pat for drinks. I’d love to be all adventurous and try different bars but we ended up back at Rancho’s for their pricey, decent margaritas. I didn’t end up going to bed until about 1:45.
Back to my tale, so we get up and my stuff is thrown into the suitcase and I manage to dress myself AND make omelets for my boys (with cheddar, spinach, and mushrooms). We went to the West Side Market to grab some snacks for this bus ride and then Rob drove me to work so I was twenty minutes early.
Work was great, in that few people were there and those that were had small appetites. I’m about halfway done with The Cider House Rules and can’t put it down. John Irving is one of those authors that I really, really like reading and then immediately forget after I finish the book.
So, the plan was to meet Mark at the 59th street downtown subway platform at 4:40. From there, we would take the 1 train down to Canal Street, then walk to the bus with plenty of time to spare. What could possibly go wrong? Well, the fact that I’m retarded and didn’t realize that hey, Canal Street may stretch from one end of Manhattan to the other. And guess what? We’re on the wrong side.
It’s now about 5:10, and we’re three odd miles away from where we’re supposed to be. Not the end of the world, just grab a taxi, right? Well, not only is there bumper to bumper traffic the ENTIRE way with stoplights every five feet, you can’t get to the far end of Canal Street without turning down some convoluted alley and cutting across East Broadway and turning back up again. Our poor cabbie had the unfortunate experience of me saying “I reeaaaaaaaaaaally appreciate that you’re helping us get there fast. Really. Did I mention that we’re in a hurry? Oh yes we are.” He was a super nice guy though and I believe that he husted as fast as one could hustle in a traffic jam. As soon as we got somewhere near where 34 Canal Street could be, Mark took off and left me his bag so that he could start running to this mystery bus (it was now 5:31 and I was having a heart attack). I gave the cab driver everything I had (about $18 for a ten dollar cab ride, and worth every penny) and awkwardly tried to balance two pillowcases, a backpack, and a wheelie suitcase down this unevenly paved road. By some lucky and incredibly unlikely chance, Mark managed to grab the guy who was driving the bus the moment before he shut the doors and probably made some aspirant heaving to indicate that there were two of us and I was still lumbering towards them. The luggage doors were already shut by the time I got there so I had to haul it down the tiny, blocked aisle. And, oh, I thought I was going to die of heart failure.
But we’re here! En route! I think we’re around… Altoona? maybe? at the moment, at a rest stop. I daren’t go to the bathroom or anything because one time I went to WashingtonDC I was almost left behind when a friend and I were getting a wonderful Cinnabon and spent too long revelling in its sugary temptation.
Mark is alternately a good and boring travel companion. He sat up and chatted for awhile and then his throat started to hurt so he retreated back to his set of seats (the bus isn’t full so we got greedy) and did some stuff on the computer. I managed to sleep for awhile and when I got up he was fiddling with his phone. Next I knew, he was asleep and has been for the past two hours.
Man, I hate sleeping on buses. I always feel like I’ve slept for several terrible, noisy hours but it’s usually only about thirty-five minutes. And there’s always someone talking on their phone right in front of me.
Oh oh OH! Three things shocked me towards the beginning of the trip. I looked up at the front of the bus and a: the driver was SMOKING, b: he didn’t have a single window open, and c: I couldn’t smell a thing. There must be a remarkable air filtration system in place. Smoking! In an enclosed vehicle! Wow!
Now he’s outside smoking but I don’t know why he is bothering.
Famous person at the LPC alert! Highly esteemed director Ang Lee deigned to introduce his new movie Taking Woodstock at the 7:40 show tonight. He walked by me! Eee! I was taking some girl's order, and I totally interrupted her in the middle of her popcorn deliberation and was like HOLD ON SHUT UP IT'S ANG! and she was not as fangirl as I would have expected. We were sold out of that show, and to further compound the delicious scents of Polident and Aqua Net in the theater, the air conditioning broke halfway through. Heh. People were unhappy, to say the least.
And a skim milk had its NYC sell-by date today, so I was a lucky lady who now has a quart of milk in her fridge. Pudding!
Oh, speaking of milk, I tried to make Cream of Wheat for breakfast today at Mark's and ended up with Soup of Wheat. I have no idea what happened, except that maybe I should have been a tad more exact on my liquid-to-wheat ratio. Next time, perhaps. It was still good, just not congealed at all.
And ugh ugh ugh, let me just tell you how much I disapprove of any roommate who skips on out of town with not so much as a by-your-leave and thus ends up forcing ME to help clean the gross kitchen so that pictures can be taken for a new-roommate Craigslist ad. Thanks a bunch, Will. More like won't, am I right?
Right now I'm kind of missing Daniel but not enough to want to give up his sweet, wonderful bed. Did I mention that his pillows are hypoallergenic? Oh yes.
Ooh ooh ooh, I managed to cordon off a week of life to come home to Pittsburgh. We're taking the bus (!) for six and a half hours from Canal Street to Oakland. Although given my colorful history with Chinatown buses, we'll probably be four hours late and break down in King of Prussia. Then I'll hitch a ride on the local boxcar and meet some colorful yet kindly characters en route.
Some girl stuck a temporary tattoo on my arm last weekend at Monster Mania and it is still tenaciously holding on. I tried to scrub it off with soap in the shower but this thing will not budge. It used to say "7 Deadly Sins" with the website URL underneath but now the 7 is all worn off and the site name is practically illegible. Where's my Goo Gone?
Because I am dumb and don't learn new tricks, I took a nap today after getting home from the library and taking a shower. And now it's 1:47 in the morning. But the nap felt soooo good!
Oh, but it's been a busy week! Travis is in town until next Tuesday and we went out for margaritas at noon a few days ago. Our big major plan was to get over to the Met and see the Bacon exhibit (sadly, not of real bacon) but surprise, boo, the exhibit closed on Sunday. Lame. So we kind of puttered around the area until I got too hot and cranky and took an extremely tardy bus home.
I was in some kind of weird funk all yesterday morning (it's because our little lamb is in Switzerland and I know I will miss him bunches) but by work I snapped out of it. Do you know what? It's probably the tasty iced coffees. Anyway, I made like three dollars in tips because we haven't had any new movies in forever. I got word that we aren't getting anything else on Friday, either. Great. But I do get a lot of reading done.
And then today I had ye olde mystery shoppe at, uh... Austin's. It was the 27th and Park location, which is not quite as nice. However, they are the sushi-offering one, which is fantastic because their Thai tuna sushi is indescribably delicious. This shop required five pictures so Mark and I had to scurry to the bathroom with his iPhone to be all stealthy about taking pictures of debris on the floor.
I've had a ton of shops lately!
Oh oh oh, and I have to get up somewhat early tomorrow morning because Mark and I are taking the train to New Jersey! Fancy! We're stopping at the stop near Yardville and his sister Heather is going to pick us up and you will not even guess where we are going for lunch. All right, I'll tell you - PIZZA HUT! Huzzah! Ohhh man, it's been way too long. I was telling Pat, I recognize that there are probably a million pizza places that are objectively better than the 'Hut, but I will have none of them. Mmmm.
And then after that madness, we're going to the Monster Mania convention at some place in Cherry Hill. Mark's staying over to hang out with some of his friends but I am playing the responsible girl and coming back early since I have to work on Saturday and Sunday.
Mark broke down and purchased a kitty bed which Levi loves even though it's a bazillion degrees. He's not a smart cat, but we like him anyway.
...it's been a while, huh? Well, don't worry, nothing big happened. It's hot here. And muggy. Pretty soon I'll be all, "too darn cold and windy!" but we have a month or two before that happens.
Daniel's sister and her husband have been here for the last week, which I thought would be the longest week ever but they're both super cool and it hasn't been bad at all.
Since it's 12:17 on Tuesday morning and my brain is mush, let me just post up some pictures that I took using Daniel's spiffy new camera. Somehow I managed to take a lot of demonic cat pictures. Enjoy this extra-special glimpse into my life...
Levi loves the dollar store fish-on-a-stick that his kitty gramma brought all the way from Pittsburgh for him.
He started to overheat after awhile and made a weird panting sound, so we figured that this was a good time to stop.
He indeed is our preferred pet.
Big sexy! This is the most seductive cat picture I've ever seen.
The Time-Traveler's Wife was playing in the big fancy-schmancy theater at the AMC on 67th. Too bad the movie didn't live up to the cool decor.
Yeah, the lights were fancy but our apartment has sconces.
Oh, old guy feeding pigeons.
Insert fart sound here.
Mark's sister Heather came into town on Friday night because her husband was recording or something in a studio.
It was smoky when he tried to cook the other day.
Note: do not try to cook potatoes and onions at the same time in a wok. It doesn't work.
At work:
The salmon sandwiches are big sellers.
I always think I'm going to like salmon when I smell it because it's kind of salty, but it's always gross.
We recently had to drop the price of muffins from $2.50 to $2.00 because they weren't selling and we'd get these incredibly old, stale muffins. Then they sold less. Now they're back up again.
Danish coffee cake. Of all the pastries, I try this one the most often because Alam gives me the crusty ends when he cuts up the loaf.
Oh look, Alam and the crusty ends! Those soon ended up on my plate.
Whenever anyone asks for recommendations I pimp out the toffee brownies. Mmm.
Weekly shipment.
I'm both sickened and entranced by movie theater popcorn.
The owner's daughter painted this way back in the early 1990s and it had been there since.
Oh, there's Emile! She's from Ethiopia and taught me to say "bad!", "excellent", "thank you", and "shut up!" for both women and men.
The espresso/cappuccino machine was on the fritz the other day (gasp!) so trusty Alam had to come in with his steamer and steam off all the gunk that accumulated on the inside parts.
We always start with a dollar in the box so people will be compelled to donate likewisely. This was a slow, sad morning.
The trusty George Foreman grill that we use to toast the cheese sandwich.
These are the roots of the flowers that are delivered every week by some local company. It's a nice touch.
One of our fridges was broken for the longest time so there was only half the normal amount of bottled water. If you think people won't line up for ages to spend $2.50 for water, you are incorrect. They do so gladly. Anyway, Vitamin Water took pity on us and sent a new fridge.
I love these posters, don't get me wrong, but I still don't get why there's a fish skeleton in the background. Is fish a particularly hazardous food? Maybe cut-up hot dogs would be more appropriate.
Ew. This wasn't even a not-good picture. It looks like this in real life. Nasty and unappetizing.
This is the staple of my day, the soda water.
And steamed milk for my cappucinos.
And the coffee so I can make my delicious iced coffee. Want to know my secret? Of course you do. See, you take two Equal packets and put them in one of two cups that you have expressly put out for this purpose. Then you add a half cup of regular coffee. Stir with red stirrer. Then about three tablespoons of half and half and stir again. Then, pour back and forth into the other cup, which is filled with ice. When the ice starts to melt, add more ice and serve.
Delicious.
Oh yes, I had to pee so badly the other day and there was a freaking cockroach in the stall. It took all of my professional demeanor not to 'forget' I saw it and go outside and get Francesco and wait for some woman who was taking forever to get out of the bathroom so that he could sweep up the offending bug.
