I ordered stamps from the post office last Monday. They arrived today. TODAY, one whole week later. And in a gigantic priority mail envelope. WTF? The postal worker came to our mailbox everyday except Sunday. That means they had five chances to bring me stamps from where they work, I don't get it! If someone knows more about this mystery, please tell me.
Not all bad news, Andy rearranged the furniture to how I suggested last year. It looks awesome! Our living room feels so much bigger, and the TV no longer dominates everything - I am happy.
And good good news: I got a call for a phone interview that will happen on Friday. I applied for this job over a week ago, and it's one I'm super excited about. But I'm not going to say anything more yet.
Ow, my wrists hurt. No more typing!
7.30.2007
Bad girl
7.23.2007
Don't ask me about the job search anymore, plz. Seriously.
This afternoon I was really upset about my job situation. I've applied to at least 17 jobs since May 15 - maybe 20 - and I've only had interviews at two different places. At those two places, I had very positive feedback about my resume and interview, and was invited back for a second interview both times. One of my professional references also said my resume/cover letter was great.
SO WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!! Why can't I get a job? Over two months, almost 20 resumes, and only two bites? I am incredulous. And frustrated. And tired. Some days, I'm at my wits end. I keep repeating in my mind, "Tomorrow someone could call," and telling myself I'm doing everything I can by applying to a few new places a week, following leads from former coworkers and bosses. But those pep-talks only last so long - and my work week is 40 hours. Forty hours of monotony. Forty hours of soul-crushing monotony that also happens to be chipping away at my body, part by part.
Sometimes I hate this city so much. Move back to California, fuckers! All those tech douche-bags brought their significant others who have taken and are taking my jobs! AGH!
So anyway, how bout this weather? Right now it's raining and I'm outside on my balcony. Very soothing. Our pool is closed. I wonder if it is unclean.
7.09.2007
I'm in a dark period
You guys, it's really bad. For the last two months, I haven't been able to buy Good chocolate, only the cheap stuff. I had to begin repayment of my student loan in June. Made quite a dent in my grocery budget.
These are dark times...and it's all this guy's fault:
7.07.2007
Pwetty Pwetty Pwinceth
Friedrich hadn't been to the vet since last January (as in '06). He's a healthy, indoor dog, so that's no big deal. Howevah, I stopped buying him his heartworm/flea/tick medication last fall. I know, bad mom. It was so expensive at our vet, and to buy it anywhere else for cheaper, you must have a prescription from the vet. And for about a year, things have been just great!
But last week, we found a few flea bites on his tummy, and I woke up with a flea bite on my foot. Fleas love me, so I knew it couldn't be too big of a problem, or I'd have red welts all over me. So Pandy-Bear, the sweetheart he is, took Mr. F into a new vet for an appointment yesterday. He does have a few fleas, but he is parasite and heartworm free. So we gave him a fifteen minute bath today, and he'll start his meds next week!
The funniest thing is that Pandy-Bear said the women at the front desk thought Friedrich was a girl! They said he looked very feminine. Awww, how adorable - I luvs my little dandy!
6.28.2007
Spring Awakening!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my god, you guys, I am so in love with this musical! The soundtrack, at least. I listened to it twice today at work, and the day before that, and before that. I am ready to hop on a plane to New York and go see it! Who's with me?
It's based on a play written in 1891 about German teens discovering sex and their bodies. It's got teen pregnancy, masturbation songs, gay lovin', and sadly, icest, abortion, and suicide. The music is written by Duncan Sheik. Remember him? He did that song Barely Breathing, back in the day. Here's some videos from the website (www.springawakening.com). It won 8 Tony awards, including Best Musical! Yeah!
What it's about and interview with Duncan Sheik!
Bitch of Living Music video
6.12.2007
BUg(s) in the Rice
Last night I made some brown rice. It's been in the pantry for a while, but not more than 2 or 3 months. There were a few cobwebs in the bag. Little teeny strings - I wouldn't have noticed except some rice was hanging from it. I made the rice anyway. It would cook any bug that was in there, and from the looks of it, the bugs would be really small (I didn't see any).
So the rice was done and some cooked bug was laying on top. It was brown and about a centimeter long. Looked kinda like a shrimp. Took it out and ate the rice with stir fry. Yummy!
6.11.2007
By the time I'm 70
Someday I hope to be able to play songs I've heard a few times on the piano. I just think that would be so much fun. Nothing perfect, but to be able to pick out the melody, add some chords. At least enough to sing along with.
I was thinking this earlier today while listening to my iPod at work. How long it would take to develop this skill, I have no idea. Several years, at least. Lots of practice, continued practice, not skipping a few months here and there.
What else would I like to do? It would be nice to know another language inside and out. I want to dream in French, tell jokes in Cantonese! I'd like to have a book published, and I'd like to have a screenplay turned into a film shown at multiple theaters (not just at festivals). I'd like to have art hanging in a museum. I want to live in a few somewhere elses for a year or two at a time, but always have a home to return to. There's probably more for the list, but those are the big things. For the moment, anyway.
6.03.2007
Year in Review
So it's not officially mid-year yet, but ohs well, I gonna do this anyway.
January: I don't remember...Oh! I got a shitload of extra days off from work due to the death of former Pres Gerald Ford and bad weather. Was very nice, and I had a really fun time walking in freezing rain around the neighborhood. No one was out, and I almost fell right when I passed the only other person out. Very funny.
February: I started really walking a lot, think I was going about every day. Had fun in my thesis class. Work started getting boring. Desperation sneaking in...
March: Decided at last minute to apply for grad school. Still walking, but some major issues towards the end of the month with my legs. Health problems, minor and confusing. Frantically trying to work the last numbers for thesis. Beautiful spring, those peach tree blooms smelled more amazing to me than anything else has pretty much ever smelled.
April: Crashed and burned. Major health problems, confused, confused, confused! Didn't talk to friends for a few weeks. Sat this one out. Couldn't walk or turn pages. Fam came over for birthday, brought yummy food and cake. Waitlisted for grad school. Got better towards the end.
May: Just making up for lost time. Didn't finish thesis, didn't do presentation, finally a social life again. No more sick time left! Started walking again mid-month. Mucho improvement health-wise, but still a ways to go. So mysterious, this illness. Back to thesis with my bud.
June: So far, can't complain. Thanks for the snacks, guys!
5.21.2007
Definition of Miss L
Miss L -- [adjective]: Similar to butter in texture and appearance 'How will you be defined in the dictionary?' at QuizGalaxy.com |
5.17.2007
Good book
Moth Smoke, by Moshin Hamid.
A good book! I didn't love it starting out, but it turned out to be a pretty amazing read. The main character is on trial for murder, and we follow him on his downward spiral from a month or two before the trial. He loses his job, has an affair with his best friend's wife, starts selling drugs. It takes place in Pakistan among the educated and status obsessed in the city of Lahore. His account is mixed with chapters from the perspective of the other main characters of the story.
The writing is at times beautiful and inspiring. The main character is an anti-hero figure, but intelligent and easy to identify with. Hamid doesn't get all Chuck P on the reader. What I mean is even when the situation is bleak, the writing elevates it above typical angsty, "we're screwed in modern society" verbage. The heart of the story is much more about an individual in a specific time and place, not simply a person as a victim of a culture with misplaced values (although that is an aspect).
I definitely recommend!
5.14.2007
Your help is needed...
What should I listen to? I get to listen to my iPod at work, so I'd love suggestions of musicians, books on tape, podcasts, etc.
Thanks in advance for your help!
C. Y. A.
One day several years ago, at some relative's house, I was goofing around with my sister and cousins, and I knocked over a glass bowl or something like that from a coffee table. I don't remember if it broke. What I do remember is immediately exclaiming, "Sarah!" as if she had been the one to knock over the bowl. I was a teenager. I was reflexively covering my ass.
I tell this story to illustrate that I do understand how sometimes it just happens. We go on the defensive. We haven't been accused of anything, but know it's coming. Or maybe we just go around with a chip on our shoulder, or we are guilty (of something similar?) and are rightfully defensive. So I understand. I do it too.
I am so sick of hearing it at work! All day long, it's "Well, Someone did this first," or "But Someone told me," or "I was told by Someone that Someone blah blah". No one is willing to just say, "Okay." There's always a big explanation, a shifting of blame, or some mysterious Someone involved that will never be named. Do they fuck up that often? Do my coworkers feel that threatened? Am I just so new that I have yet to feel the boot of management up my ass? Maybe after working there for 10 years, they take simple questions as criticism. The work has become personal. Or maybe they are just like me, reflexively covering their ass. I don't know. I just wanted to bitch.
5.10.2007
Dearest Brandon,
Where the fuck are you? You were supposed to be here yesterday ... Oh, well. I guess I can forgive you once you get here. I'm sorry for being upset, it's just we have so little time left. I'm graduating college (again), you're still in junior year at West Beverly - seriously, we live in two different worlds. These last few days we have are precious. Like your face.
Here are some tips for the future: Kelly will break your heart. So will Emily and Susan - pretty much every woman you will ever meet in L.A. Steve is a loser, he'll get you into trouble again and again. You should follow your sister to Europe, because other than Donna getting a stalker, life in Beverly Hills will continue to get lamer and lamer with each passing season. Stay away from racing cars. Don't grow a beard, facial hair makes you look like a pussy. Speaking of, Dylan will return to claim everything you've worked for.
But before all that, we have a few days left.
Ciao,
Miss L
4.25.2007
Q & A with Miss L
Q: Miss L, does Central Mark-up have a ton of chocolate?
A: Excellent question. The chocolate at Central Mark-up is found in four main locations throughout the store: the bins, the baking aisle, the chocolate island, and the temptation lane on the way to the express lane check-out. I will only include these four locations in the analysis as the chocolate that is found in other locations in the store, i.e. seasonal items such as valentines chocolates or easter bunnies, fluctuates and are not present year round.
Let's start with the bins. By my estimation, about one inch of bin chocolate is equal to one pound. The bins are about three feet high. That's 36 pounds of chocolate per bin, about ten bins, that's 360 pounds of chocolate in the bin area. The baking aisle holds considerably less chocolate. Mostly in the form of cocoa powders and chips, I guess the chocolate here most often is available in 10 oz. bags or tins. Probably about 125 of these items. That comes to about 78 pounds of baking aisle chocolate.
Moving on the chocolate island. This is more of the premium chocolate in the form of bars, but also bin chocolate in pre-weighed (and priced) containers. The area is a large display table with the chocolate stacked in attractive baskets. The standard bar is about 10 oz., and the overall area available is similar to the amount of space in the baking aisle. However, because of the shape of this chocolate, rectangles and squares, I would guess there is more chocolate on chocolate island than on the baking aisle. I'm putting this at 100 pounds.
Temptation lane is the wild card of Central Mark-up's "ton" of chocolate. Part of this is due to the configuration of temptation lane: flush against the wall, temptation lane features chocolates (and other goodies) in to-go sizes ranging in size and priced from $2.50 to $9.00 (or so). Here you find the standard 3 oz chocolate bar. Nuts, fruit, spice, marzipan - lots of fillings here. Keep in mind this will be subtracted from the total chocolate weight. The side of the lane against the wall is over six feet high, while the other side is about four feet. Both are approximately a foot deep. Three ounces, two dozen bars a box, at least two boxes of each variety, 100 varieties, that's 7,200 ounces. That's about 450 pounds. Don't forget, we've got to subtract the nuts! Let's cut our losses and round it out to 380 pounds of chocolate on temptation lane.
In total: 360 + 78 + 100 + 380 = 918 pounds of chocolate. But wait! What about the stock in the back of the store? Well, Central Mark-up isn't going to keep that much again in the back, it just doesn't make sense, they don't move the merch that fast. Let's be generous, and say they keep 2/3 of the amount on the floor in the back. Two thirds is about 612, so that comes to 1,530 pounds.
So the answer is No. Central Mark-up does not have a ton of chocolate.
Q: Miss L, how many Topo Chicos would you have to drink to reach the RDA of sodium?
A: Assuming I was on a 2,000 calorie diet, I would have to drink 100 11.5 fl oz bottles of Topo Chico to reach 100% of the RDA of sodium. Incidentally, I would reach the RDA of calcium at 50 bottles.
4.08.2007
3.26.2007
For Twinkle Toes
You asked what is shaking. Here it goes:
Up at 6 AM. Work at 7. Very, very sore from practicing Wii baseball so oneday I will beat Pandy Bear. Listened to Martha Wainwright Martha Wainwright (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE her), Kate Bush Aerial, Tori Boys, PJ, pet shop boys, Transformers soundtrack, and assorted podcasts. Spinach salad with tomotoes, salmon, cucumber and dressing for lunch. Scanned and cleaned scanner. More soreness, black ink on nails (which are longer than ever because I am too lazy to cut them. Good thing my toe nails don't grow so fast!)
Deposited check from Pandy Bear (for services rendered), got change to do laundry.
Thought about grad school, job, my This is Good Shit! Chocolate Cake that I will be making for this weekend (for future reference: do not buy chocolate for a cake a week in advance because I will consume most of it), and should I wait for it to stop raining before I take Friedrich out?
Read article from New York Times Magazine about adaptationist and byproduct views of evolution of belief in God (just in time for conversation mom and I had last week. Mom: So why do people believe in God and religion? Me: Um, well, if it has a biological basis, which I believe it does, it is somehow tied to evolution and principles of natural selection. It has to be beneficial or be linked to something beneficial... Mom: Like what? Me: I don't know. Mom continues asking questions with no answers, I continue saying more or less the same thing over and over). I like this Atran guy. Dawkins strikes me as unnecessarily defensive, explosive. Can't we all just get along?
Read other thesis students' two page summaries of thesis. Alton Brown is making things in parchment pouches. I wish Pandy Bear ate fish.
Will I ever be able to enjoy a glass of wine or good martini with little physical problem again? Annual salary: 21, 264. Wtf? It seemed like so much when I wasn't working. I would love to have another bunny, but evidentally, male rabbits are prone to fight with each other, and they molest female rabbits constantly. Dell wireless is fraught with problems.
Coconut sorbet is yummy. Antony and the Johnsons is waiting for me at the library. Library instead of Netflix? I could save about $13 a month. I haven't read a novel since January. I love this neighborhood. I want lots of fruit trees! I prefer rain to cloudy sky.
I tried to include pictures, but for some reason uploading one small photo of Mr. F was taking over 10 minutes, so you'll have to be patient.
PS Kelly broke down when the guy tried to rape her at the dealer's where she was buying coke. Brandon *sigh* rescued her, and she's in rehab now. I know you all were wondering.
3.11.2007
Recent Zoo Trip
I went to the San Antonio Zoo with my mom a few weekends ago. Just a random trip. Here are some photos:
A crane.
A pair of lories.
A rhino.
A warthog.
A silly rabbit.
A silly puppy.
Thesis Update
I know you all are dying to know what's going on with my thesis.
I finished stage one of the computer analysis. Now I'm collecting the rest of the data needed for stage two. I have about 10 or so pages written - intro draft, methods draft. I'm not going to address even half the questions I originally started with, not even hint at primate brain evolution (my main academic interest) because I have run out of time! Not to mention, to do a decent job, I'd probably need to write a two-hundred page book, not a 40 page undergraduate thesis. I am confident I'll finish on time.
I'm very glad I decided to write this thing. It's given me a whole new perspective on research, scientific query, and the power of my own brain. If I decide to continue in academic research, as a career, I feel as though I'm laying the foundation for some great research opportunities later on in my life. I am finishing up an application to a local university for an MA Anthropology degree. We'll see what happens!
2.22.2007
Sicky-pooh
So it finally happened. I slept like crap Monday night (poor Pandy Bear was coughing all night) and the next day I felt pretty scary. Dizzy, sore throat, etc. But I went to work anyway. So dizzy and feverish all Tuesday, but I stupidly stayed at work. Luckily, not many people were there, so I don't think I infected anyone. Yesterday I went to the doctor, stayed home from work, and bought me some pseudoephedrines from the pharmacy. (now they know when I bought the stuff so when my meth lab blows up they can connect the dots). It hasn't been terrible, my fever only got to about 100 (normal on a thermometer for me is usually 97.8 - I have trouble getting it to 98.6), and I feel a lot better today. But so tired!
All season, I've been secretly congratulating myself on avoiding the usual sinus infection/cold-virus/strep throat crap that is the norm this time of year. In late January, when the shit hit the fan and coworkers started dropping like flies from colds and whatnot, I started being extra diligent about washing my hands, taking my probiotics and emergen-c. Then Pandy Bear got really sick on Valentine's Day. I hit the Wellness drops hard, continuously drank water, and pumped him and me full of oscillo. homeopathic flu remedy. I felt fine. And so proud. Pandy Bear started recovering, too, and by Friday was back at work (against my advice).
Then he went out Saturday and had several beers. Up late. Same story Sunday night. By Monday, he was sneezing out what looked like moldy pizza (his description) and the doctor diagnosed him with a sinus-infection and bronchitis. It was just too much for me. Now the two of us have spent this week moaning and lying around. Mr. F has sensed our pain and been extra cuddly. I just hope we get this out of our systems by next week! And next flu/cold season, Pandy Bear is getting the full preventive treatment so we might both get away with no colds!