I haven't written in a while because 2008 has been a pretty bad year for me so far. In the middle of December I lost my grandmother, Carol, to stomach cancer. She was 72 and stubborn. She knew that she was ill, but didn't trust doctors. By the time my mother was able to drag her to the it was too late. He looked at her and cried. My mother moved out of her house and in with my grandmother to provide her around the clock care; and the toll this was taking on her became quite visible. Carole died on the 18th of December 2007. Two weeks later, my Aunt Cleo passed away. I'm no less touched by Cleo's death than Carole's, right now its all just rolled into one giant melancholy.
Coupled with this, work has been very unpredictable with a stream of rank and file leaving the company while management's response to that has been to hire more executives.
I find myself wanting to cry, and I can't. I try to force it and it just doesn't happen. I'm hoping that the spillover is not saving itself for a day that I am at work or giving a presentation to a client.
I'm hoping that by throwing myself into work and other things I can pull myself out of the current funk. I volunteer with a group that supports victims of domestic violence. We are having a casting call tomorrow for an Off-Broadway production of "The Vagina Monologues." Hopefully I'll get a part (at the very least I can be a stage hand). I'll keep you posted on where I land.
Sempei.
This was my day today (traveled across may timezones but reported in ET)
11:00pm - Wake
11:10pm - Shower
11:30pm - Get dressed
11:45pm - Cab to Nottingham train station
12:00am - Arrive Nottingham train station
1:00am - Arrive Leicester (pronounced Lester) train station
1:30am - Arrive Nuneaton train station
1:45am - Arrive Coventry train station
2:15am - Arrive Birmingham International Airport (have no idea which terminal has my flight)
2:30am - Check luggage and get boarding pass
2:45am - Get searched; thoroughly.
3:00am - Arrive at gate
3:15am - Begin boarding
4:00am - take off
11:28am - Land at Newark International Airport
11:45am - Immigration (that was some crazy shit)
12:00pm - Customs
12:25pm - Baggage claim
12:56pm - New Jersey transit train to home
1:42pm - Arrive at my stop
2:00pm - Home
Hi Y'all,
I'm thinking of changing the colors in the living room and the kitchen. Any suggestions.
The pharma industry has finally proven to me that money is more important than good health.
I saw a commercial today, I think it was for Viagra but who knows, it could have been for Levitra, Cialis, Enzyte, or one of the many other products for natural male enhancement. The premise of the commercial was one man expressing that he has high blood pressure and another man with diabetes. A by product of both of their conditions was erectile dysfunction.
So what do they do to fix their high blood pressure or diabetes. Nothing! But make sure that dick works and pass the little blue pills.
Hi Y'all.
I love all things food. I've been known to eat sushi and tamales in the same day. I love restaurants, from the fancy 5-star joints to the hole in the wall that you find in your more common neighborhoods. I also love to cook. My biggest regret in life right now is that I didn't buy a place with a bigger kitchen. I would love a big ole kitchen with an island in the middle where I could do all of my chopping. Right now I have an alley kitchen that only one person can fit in at a time. When someone tries to come into the kitchen with me, it really pisses me off. Stay out of my kitchen, I'm very territorial there! I have pretty decent equipment for an amateur; Henkel knives and stainless steel Calphalon cookware. I'll work my way up to the Wusthof and All Clad when I have a real kitchen.
This weekend I tried my hand at making mushroom risotto. OMG it was so fucking good. I paired it with hunks of this horrendously expensive sheep's milk cheese that I picked up from the local Wegman's. I was afraid to make risotto because of all the chefs on Hell's Kitchen that ruined it at every attempt. I will admit, risotto is very labor intensive. You cannot put it on the stove and walk away like regular white or brown rice then come back in 20 minutes. For risotto, the liquid must be added 1/2 cup at a time approximately one minute apart. And the liquid must be hot, so you're operating two pots at a time in addition to what ever sides or main dish that you might be cooking. This recipe called for Oyster mushrooms sauteed in cognac and butter, but they ended up tasting like ass so I excluded them from my pot.
Want the recipe.. hit me up.
Sempei!
For the first time in months I've gone back to salsa class. As luck would have it, the gentleman that I've learned from for about 2 years now has taken up shop with a women that opened a dance school less than two miles from my job. Lucky me!
Classes are every Friday, which isn't the greatest for me, I usually like to go out on Friday nights but what the hell.
Our first class consisted of six people. Two married couples, me and another guy that I know from the local salsa circuit. I'll call him Arnold. Arnold is a nice guy. I'd put him in his mid forties. He's not exceptionally coordinated but he tries his best and he's a gentleman. Suffice it to say, he gets the important stuff right.
Class starts and I'm paired up with Arnold. He's about 8 inches taller than me but its not so much that we dance awkwardly together. He takes me by the hand, puts his arm around my waist and smiles. I look up and trapped in my gaze is a humongous booger in his left nostril. It was a very long night.
Responsible for my love of Mathematics, Art and Unrequited Affection:
Tell us two truths and a lie about yourself.
* I have never seen a 007 movie.
* I love Brussels sprouts.
* I really like math problems.
Another warning to people that read my blog: This entry is about my personal issues with my gynecologist. If you are a man or squeamish please read no further.
For many months now I have been neglecting my physical health. Not through direct fault of my own, but through apathy. I've been seeing the same gynecologist for at least 5 years. When I first started going to her consult, I thought she was fabulous. She didn't make me feel as if she was just about to run out the door to give a sideways glance at her next patient. She actually sat down and talked to me at each appointment. She was very gentle and she didn't subject me to more discomfort than was absolutely necessary to complete her exam.
Then one day she seemed to be different. Her exams became slightly more rushed. It started with a really minor thing. After one of my exams, she didn't leave the room to let me clean up and get dressed. Not a big deal, but I was uncomfortable removing the K-Y while she sat at the desk writing her findings in my chart.
At the next exam, she deemed it unnecessary for me to take off my bra in order for her to do my breast exam. WTF! Lumps are extremely hard to find with your bare hands and impossible to find through items of clothing unless they are already visible to the naked eye. Defeating the need for the physical exam.
But I continued to see her....
Then one day she decided that she didn't even need the K-Y to get the speculum in. Oww. Oww. Oww. She had the nerve to ask me why I was fighting her. I responded, "I'm not fighting you, I'm not in the habit of being aroused enough to get cold steel in there." After two attempts she gave up and reached for the K-Y. Not to mention that she was looking around in there longer and longer with each visit. As if she had a little project going on in there that would one day be a nice surprise for my husband-to-be. Redecorating perhaps!
This went on for four more visits.
I finally hit the last straw. I asked her if she could please test me for HPV, also known as human papillomavirus. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that." Excuse me!
Ok, fuck you lady. I'm not sure if the problem is she doesn't care about my reproductive health or has an inflated sense in her medical ability and perception. Either way, I'm done with her. I wish there was a place for me to file a complaint against her, but I'm sure that my efforts would be fruitless.
Thanks to Merck, awareness has been raised about HPV and we know to ask to be tested for it. Rates of infection in American women aged 20-24 was 49% ! Yes, every 2nd woman you know probably has HPV. HPV plays a role in causing cervical cancer so needless to say vaccination is a great thing.
I found a new gyn and I'm extremely happy with her. She was in and out of there before I knew it at my last visit and gave me the due privacy to clean myself and get dressed. Hopefully this won't deteriorate like the last one did, but I'm very happy for now.
Sempei
Hi Y'all,
I know I've been on a really long hiatus, but work has been tumultuous in the last couple of weeks. In my business travels, i found my self in the not so sunny region of Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom. Lovely place, but not very much to do but tour castles and listen to tales of Robin Hood and his Maid Marion.
Nottingham was a very quaint college town with lots of history and magnificent architecture, but I doubt very highly that I could live there. First let me impress upon you how expensive it is to live there.
At my hotel, I would go down to breakfast everyday for the buffet. Breakfast is 10BP (BP =British pounds). About two days went by before I realized the 1 BP is equivalent to 1.98 US Dollars! So my daily English breakfast is costing me $20 every morning. What a total rip for the following dollar store food items:
- Fried Eggs
- Baked Beans
- Sausage
- Bacon (more like fried ham)
- Black pudding ( i still don't know what it is)
- Toast
- Stewed tomatoes
Much to my pleasure, I managed to sneak off to Amsterdam for the weekend portion of my trip.
Amsterdam is beautiful yet strange. Nothing in Amsterdam seems to be illegal. Prostitution and recreational drug use are quite popular and done in plain view of the public. I was momentarily shocked at people's ease with being very high on the streets at noon, but very quickly fell into fashion.
Left, I think, is a smart car. I'm sure I could tip it
In the center is the tourism logo for Amsterdam, kinda cute but people wouldn't get out of the way. I came home very relaxed, even if it was only for a few hours.
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trueman said:
hockey is awesome, let us know what you think read more
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al said:
hmm. really? either i'm so clueless that i haven't noticed or i somehow have been at upstanding bars, but haven't... read more
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