31 August 2007
29 August 2007
I got webbed.
That mean's I got the apartment!
[And also, farewell to the blog for a short while.]
After living for three months in utter uncertainty, my life seems to finally be coming together. I've landed both a job (a couple weeks ago) and an apartment (last night) in Manhattan and I move out of my current place in...2 days. Next time I am going to see how much closer I can cut it. FUN game!
Ok, so about my new place. It's a 3 bedroom with two other girls about my age on West 57th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue. Two blocks from Central Park, two blocks from Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Center (where there's a Whole Foods, many shops, and basically every subway I need to get where I'm going).
This place was the last apartment I looked at after a long day of scurrying all over town on Monday looking at hell holes. Monday I had woken up at 5am to catch the 6am Chinatown bus because I had a noon meeting at my new office. I met with my new boss and the managing partner of my new firm to discuss upcoming projects and what I should expect. Things went great. I think I will fit in well and will have a lot of opportunities in my new position.
The rest of the day I had decided to dedicate to apartment hunting once again. However, based on my last go-round, I decided to focus more on roommate situations. Most places were being shown in the early evening hours, so I had some time to kill between my meeting and 5pm. I ended up having lunch at Il Cantinori in the Village and then going uptown to meet Sarah for afternoon coffee.
Every place I looked that evening at had some sort of terrible living situation, be it a bad roommate or a horrible living area. My favorite was this place I went to in the East Village. It was really the only apartment downtown I looked at, and my appointment was in between showings uptown, so I took a cab in order to make it on time. The place was the top floor of a 7-floor walkup, and there were about 15 other people in the apartment looking at it at the same time. The room was decent but had no closet (which is KIND OF a deal breaker for me if you've ever seen the amount of clothes I own), but I was nearing the end of my rope, so I actually considered it. Until I saw who I'd be rooming with. Apparently it was with a raver from 1998. Or maybe the head of wardrobe for Da Ali G Show. I overheard him interviewing one of the other potential roommate applicants: "Do you have any diseases? If so, what kind? How many times per week do you have sex? How many times per week do you anticipate bringing someone back to the apartment to have sex?"
[Exit apartment].
The apartment that ended up webbing me was the last one I looked at. I was tired, stressed, and frustrated as I rolled up to the door. But as soon as I met the girl showing the place, we immediately hit it off and the apartment, while small, was very cozy, charming, clean and livable. Then I took a look at my would-be room, which has a loft area for either storage or a bed (I am planning on putting my bed up there so that I can use the main space for my favorite red comfy chair and a little entertainment area). Then I turned around and closed the main door to see [angels singing from the heavens and a halo glow emerging] a huge (by NY standards) closet. I let out an audible gasp and said "I just looked at a studio the size of this closet and they wanted $20 more rent per month."
Then we chatted in the living room a bit. I was told that on top of rent, that cable including HBO was a non-negotiable. We then proceeded to discuss every HBO original series that aired the night before- Big Love, Entourage and Flight of the Conchords. Then she talked about how it's rare that the three roommates are all home at once and how everyone basically keeps separate lives and values their privacy, but if everyone's at home they'll sit around and have a bottle of wine and watch Sex and the City, to which I replied, "I like red wine. Sign me up."
After I told Charlotte about this discussion she typed (in what I will assume was 'sarcasm font'): "Wow. I hope you fit in."
By the way, if you enjoyed reading about my previous adventures in apartment hunting, you'll like the expanded essay I wrote for Farmhouse Magazine, which should be hitting the internet September 1 at www.farmhousemagazine.com.
The blog is going on the back burner for the time being, since, in two days, I am out of DC, later next week I am off to Hawaii and immediately thereafter moving to my new place in NY. But I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell once I'm settled. Stay tuned...
[And also, farewell to the blog for a short while.]
After living for three months in utter uncertainty, my life seems to finally be coming together. I've landed both a job (a couple weeks ago) and an apartment (last night) in Manhattan and I move out of my current place in...2 days. Next time I am going to see how much closer I can cut it. FUN game!
Ok, so about my new place. It's a 3 bedroom with two other girls about my age on West 57th Street between 9th and 10th Avenue. Two blocks from Central Park, two blocks from Columbus Circle and the Time Warner Center (where there's a Whole Foods, many shops, and basically every subway I need to get where I'm going).
This place was the last apartment I looked at after a long day of scurrying all over town on Monday looking at hell holes. Monday I had woken up at 5am to catch the 6am Chinatown bus because I had a noon meeting at my new office. I met with my new boss and the managing partner of my new firm to discuss upcoming projects and what I should expect. Things went great. I think I will fit in well and will have a lot of opportunities in my new position.
The rest of the day I had decided to dedicate to apartment hunting once again. However, based on my last go-round, I decided to focus more on roommate situations. Most places were being shown in the early evening hours, so I had some time to kill between my meeting and 5pm. I ended up having lunch at Il Cantinori in the Village and then going uptown to meet Sarah for afternoon coffee.
Every place I looked that evening at had some sort of terrible living situation, be it a bad roommate or a horrible living area. My favorite was this place I went to in the East Village. It was really the only apartment downtown I looked at, and my appointment was in between showings uptown, so I took a cab in order to make it on time. The place was the top floor of a 7-floor walkup, and there were about 15 other people in the apartment looking at it at the same time. The room was decent but had no closet (which is KIND OF a deal breaker for me if you've ever seen the amount of clothes I own), but I was nearing the end of my rope, so I actually considered it. Until I saw who I'd be rooming with. Apparently it was with a raver from 1998. Or maybe the head of wardrobe for Da Ali G Show. I overheard him interviewing one of the other potential roommate applicants: "Do you have any diseases? If so, what kind? How many times per week do you have sex? How many times per week do you anticipate bringing someone back to the apartment to have sex?"
[Exit apartment].
The apartment that ended up webbing me was the last one I looked at. I was tired, stressed, and frustrated as I rolled up to the door. But as soon as I met the girl showing the place, we immediately hit it off and the apartment, while small, was very cozy, charming, clean and livable. Then I took a look at my would-be room, which has a loft area for either storage or a bed (I am planning on putting my bed up there so that I can use the main space for my favorite red comfy chair and a little entertainment area). Then I turned around and closed the main door to see [angels singing from the heavens and a halo glow emerging] a huge (by NY standards) closet. I let out an audible gasp and said "I just looked at a studio the size of this closet and they wanted $20 more rent per month."
Then we chatted in the living room a bit. I was told that on top of rent, that cable including HBO was a non-negotiable. We then proceeded to discuss every HBO original series that aired the night before- Big Love, Entourage and Flight of the Conchords. Then she talked about how it's rare that the three roommates are all home at once and how everyone basically keeps separate lives and values their privacy, but if everyone's at home they'll sit around and have a bottle of wine and watch Sex and the City, to which I replied, "I like red wine. Sign me up."
After I told Charlotte about this discussion she typed (in what I will assume was 'sarcasm font'): "Wow. I hope you fit in."
By the way, if you enjoyed reading about my previous adventures in apartment hunting, you'll like the expanded essay I wrote for Farmhouse Magazine, which should be hitting the internet September 1 at www.farmhousemagazine.com.
The blog is going on the back burner for the time being, since, in two days, I am out of DC, later next week I am off to Hawaii and immediately thereafter moving to my new place in NY. But I'm sure I'll have plenty of stories to tell once I'm settled. Stay tuned...
23 August 2007
Moving day.
I dread moving. Not moving away. The actual moving process. Last Friday I got the process going by inviting my brother, Evan, over so that he could drive me to the Fort Totten dumpster. It was a really generous offer that he simply couldn't refuse.
I took a half day at work because the dumpster is only open during work hours. And why not? What are they going to do? Fire me? Fire me for taking half a vacation day? A vacation to the dumpster in Northeast?
Anyway, I had a hodgepodge of items in my apartment to dispose of. A tall Ikea bookshelf that cost about $19.99 and was in no way worth moving; some ugly glass nesting tables I got as a hand-me-down; a weird hamper/shelving unit that my former roommate left behind; and who knows what else? It's out of sight/out of mind now.
Our biggest challenge was that my brother drives a Mazda 3 and the point of going to the dumpster was that I needed to get rid of items too large to dispose of in the regular trash. Large items, small car. This required destruction of said items before transporting them.
Destruction that Evan deduced could only be inflicted via karate chopping.
E: This isn't working. I wish I could just karate chop it.
L: If you have to karate chop it, karate chop it.
E: But I've never karate chopped anything before.
[Leslie exits living room. Immediately hears loud crash. Returns to see a broken top shelf.]
L: HEY! Quiet down! People live downstairs!
E: I can't be quiet when I'm karate chopping.
L: You're going to splinter yourself.
E: Not if I go through it. Karate choppers do it all the time. [long contemplative pause.] I'm not a blackbelt though.
L: If I get evicted before August 31st, I blame you.
[Evan attempts to karate chop through the wood again. Unsuccessful].
E: Ow! That hurt. [long pause]. I'm really not that good at karate.
After 3 unsuccessful attempts at breaking the shelf via karate chop, and one painful forearm later, I finally realize the need to capture this on video.
About 20 minutes later, we were headed to the Fort Totten dumpster. And little did I know, going to the dumpster is possibly the most cathartic Friday afternoon activity of all times. Now, I'm told by Evan that our experience at this particular dumping area is much different from others, but I'll walk you through what happened.
Upon arriving in the vicinity of the dumping grounds, we approached a security booth. The guy at the booth just waved us in. A bit later down the road we approached another gentleman at the gate who asked us to roll down our windows, but then said nothing. So I started talking.
L: Um, do you need my DC License?
Guy: [mumbling in what I could only half identify as Creole].
L: I.D. Do you need to see it?
Guy: [still sort of mumbling, but I manage to understand] Did the other guy look at it?
L: No, he didn't ask for anything.
Guy: But you have one, right?
L: Yeah. Wanna see it?
Guy: No. Go ahead.
Who knew the Fort Totten dumping grounds operated under the honor system?
We then pulled into what appeared to be the set of a Mad Max movie, loosely disguised as a construction site, driving ABOUT 4 miles per hour on the dirt surface while a dumpster employee yelled 3 or 4 times "Slow down!" So Evan brought it down to about 2.
There was absolutely no order to anything going on around us, but apparently the process is to back your car up as close as you can get to a random pile of trash and just start chucking your unwanted crap into the heap. We were launching 2x4s into the air, tables were getting hurled into garbage oblivion, and in a strange twist of fate, I ended up getting a splinter. I'd say for the dumpster experience, though, it was well worth it.
I took a half day at work because the dumpster is only open during work hours. And why not? What are they going to do? Fire me? Fire me for taking half a vacation day? A vacation to the dumpster in Northeast?
Anyway, I had a hodgepodge of items in my apartment to dispose of. A tall Ikea bookshelf that cost about $19.99 and was in no way worth moving; some ugly glass nesting tables I got as a hand-me-down; a weird hamper/shelving unit that my former roommate left behind; and who knows what else? It's out of sight/out of mind now.
Our biggest challenge was that my brother drives a Mazda 3 and the point of going to the dumpster was that I needed to get rid of items too large to dispose of in the regular trash. Large items, small car. This required destruction of said items before transporting them.
Destruction that Evan deduced could only be inflicted via karate chopping.
E: This isn't working. I wish I could just karate chop it.
L: If you have to karate chop it, karate chop it.
E: But I've never karate chopped anything before.
[Leslie exits living room. Immediately hears loud crash. Returns to see a broken top shelf.]
L: HEY! Quiet down! People live downstairs!
E: I can't be quiet when I'm karate chopping.
L: You're going to splinter yourself.
E: Not if I go through it. Karate choppers do it all the time. [long contemplative pause.] I'm not a blackbelt though.
L: If I get evicted before August 31st, I blame you.
[Evan attempts to karate chop through the wood again. Unsuccessful].
E: Ow! That hurt. [long pause]. I'm really not that good at karate.
After 3 unsuccessful attempts at breaking the shelf via karate chop, and one painful forearm later, I finally realize the need to capture this on video.
About 20 minutes later, we were headed to the Fort Totten dumpster. And little did I know, going to the dumpster is possibly the most cathartic Friday afternoon activity of all times. Now, I'm told by Evan that our experience at this particular dumping area is much different from others, but I'll walk you through what happened.
Upon arriving in the vicinity of the dumping grounds, we approached a security booth. The guy at the booth just waved us in. A bit later down the road we approached another gentleman at the gate who asked us to roll down our windows, but then said nothing. So I started talking.
L: Um, do you need my DC License?
Guy: [mumbling in what I could only half identify as Creole].
L: I.D. Do you need to see it?
Guy: [still sort of mumbling, but I manage to understand] Did the other guy look at it?
L: No, he didn't ask for anything.
Guy: But you have one, right?
L: Yeah. Wanna see it?
Guy: No. Go ahead.
Who knew the Fort Totten dumping grounds operated under the honor system?
We then pulled into what appeared to be the set of a Mad Max movie, loosely disguised as a construction site, driving ABOUT 4 miles per hour on the dirt surface while a dumpster employee yelled 3 or 4 times "Slow down!" So Evan brought it down to about 2.
There was absolutely no order to anything going on around us, but apparently the process is to back your car up as close as you can get to a random pile of trash and just start chucking your unwanted crap into the heap. We were launching 2x4s into the air, tables were getting hurled into garbage oblivion, and in a strange twist of fate, I ended up getting a splinter. I'd say for the dumpster experience, though, it was well worth it.
21 August 2007
True Life: I want to live in a Manhattan studio for $1200/month.
Yesterday was my first experience apartment-hunting in Manhattan. The reason I chose this day to apartment-hunt was because I found a ridiculously cheap (by Manhattan standards) midtown studio listed online with pictures...and it appeared to be fantastic. Small bed area, but decent-sized kitchen, private bathroom with a tub and well-kept. I kept thinking there had to be some sort of catch, but I wanted to see for myself, so I made the first available appointment to see it yesterday, which was the day it went on the market.
FIRST of all, the agent I made the appointment with called out sick. SUPER start already. So I met with another lady, who didn't have time to take me to see the apartment but gave me the key and directions. That's fine with me. I know my way around, I could take my time looking at it, and without any pressure. I just felt it was a bit odd, if you're going to charge me a $2,000 broker fee for an apartment, maybe you should do something besides process my application. I'm pretty sure experian.com can pull my credit report for like $20. So you have about $1,980 to account for, ma'am.
Alright, so I take the subway back down to where I started, to Penn Station/34th street, and walk two avenue blocks west and one street block up to 35th and 10th. The apartment building is on 10th Avenue, sandwiched between an empty tire-repair lot and a Madison Square Garden parking garage. The front door to the building looked like it had been hinged on with masking tape. Also, I'm pretty sure they shot the Taxi Driver apartment shootout scene in the front hallway of this very building. DeNiro was here! And they kept it in its original authentic painting and flooring! What a landmark! Sweet Jesus.
But I was still in good spirits as I started making my way up the stairs to the 5th floor, as I thought I could now save about $90/month by not having to join a gym. By about the 4th floor though, I was wondering if the ceiling would hold well enough for me to install some sort of pulley rope system so that I could repel up and down each day. Saving time and energy, obvi.
The apartment was a DEBACLE. The listing online provided pictures, which I will assume were either taken by a pulitzer-prize-winning trick photographer or were not of this apartment.
I returned to the broker's office and politely declined.
THIS was about the time her attitude surfaced. She was acting like I was a waste of her time. I wanted to be like, "Um, you are wasting MY time by posting pictures of an apartment with a kitchen and then showing me a place that not only DOESN'T HAVE a kitchen, but also looks like Satan's earth vacation home." I know the place is cheap, but it doesn't save me much money if I have to eat take out every night because I can't even boil water for ramen noodles and I have to choose between getting the apartment refloored or wear steel-toed workboots 24/7. Also, if there's no air-conditioning unit, you could at least install a shower so that I can take cold ones in the summer. (you read that right. No shower.) Rather than going to see more apartments after she ended up being a total bitch when I, after looking at my first NY apartment EVER, didn't beg her to fill out an application, I just thanked her for her time and left. If you've ever seen me angry, what happens is I stew to myself for about 5 minutes, and then I get real determined. I get more work done in the 10 minutes following an idiot-induced anger spell than I do during any normal work week. So around 11:45 am I am standing in Columbus Circle calling every other agency I could Blackberry a number for.
I did end up finding an agent I liked who agreed to meet me right away. By 12:15 I was on the Upper West Side, walking up another 5 flights, but this one in a much more pleasant building. I fell in love with the neighborhood and the 2 top-floor studios he was showing had access to a private terrace. Everything in the apartment was new and clean. I even considered it for a moment. The problem was, the unit was literally the size of a walk in closet. I would be able to fit my mattress in it and that's it. As a point of reference for my PSU friends, roughly the size of a Heister Hall single without the closet space. As a reference for my "Flight of the Conchords"-watching friends, roughly the size of Jermaine's "studio"/maid closet. Maybe down the road I will get that desperate. But I have some time and, fortunately some generous friends I can crash with when I first move up, so I am not settling now.
This broker was really nice about discussing options with me, not pressuring me into the apartment, suggesting neighborhoods I might want to check out to see if I like them, etc. So I will probably try calling him when I get back up there. I also think it will be a much easier process once I am actually there and can make appointments as places open up. I'm definitely glad I made the trip, even though it proved unsuccessful , as I at least got to experience a few places/brokers and now have some point of reference for future apt-hunting. Moral of the story...I'm much more open to rooming with people now.
Which brings me to a few Craigslist "roommates/shares" listings I came across last night. (Key- Headline: "Most important part")
$250 livin companion: Okay, this one you should just click on it. He's looking for a live-in girlfriend on Craigslist.
$1285 Dope place in East Village looking for Roomates (East Village): "im 24 and make music. Im in the studio all day and i go out at night never around this place is 420 friendly and im open to all people my last roomates for two years were a gay black man and a white female stripper so im into meeting new and all types of people."
(http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/roo/398786955.html)
By far my favorite:
$480 small rm./pri. full bath apt. share for small female under 5'3" (Midtown West): "The reason for the height limitation is that the stairway of this duplex doesn't have much headroom and you should be petite because of small passageway... I use the kit. 1 day a week and most of the time I am not here. Should help a bit w/lt. housework. seeking a friendly, social, respectful person(can you ride a bicycle?)maybe snacks. I'm looking for a long term situation." (http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/roo/401929151.html)
Good lord. I don't know what will end up being more stressful. Finding a job (done) or finding an apartment (sketchyyyyy).
FIRST of all, the agent I made the appointment with called out sick. SUPER start already. So I met with another lady, who didn't have time to take me to see the apartment but gave me the key and directions. That's fine with me. I know my way around, I could take my time looking at it, and without any pressure. I just felt it was a bit odd, if you're going to charge me a $2,000 broker fee for an apartment, maybe you should do something besides process my application. I'm pretty sure experian.com can pull my credit report for like $20. So you have about $1,980 to account for, ma'am.
Alright, so I take the subway back down to where I started, to Penn Station/34th street, and walk two avenue blocks west and one street block up to 35th and 10th. The apartment building is on 10th Avenue, sandwiched between an empty tire-repair lot and a Madison Square Garden parking garage. The front door to the building looked like it had been hinged on with masking tape. Also, I'm pretty sure they shot the Taxi Driver apartment shootout scene in the front hallway of this very building. DeNiro was here! And they kept it in its original authentic painting and flooring! What a landmark! Sweet Jesus.
But I was still in good spirits as I started making my way up the stairs to the 5th floor, as I thought I could now save about $90/month by not having to join a gym. By about the 4th floor though, I was wondering if the ceiling would hold well enough for me to install some sort of pulley rope system so that I could repel up and down each day. Saving time and energy, obvi.
The apartment was a DEBACLE. The listing online provided pictures, which I will assume were either taken by a pulitzer-prize-winning trick photographer or were not of this apartment.
I returned to the broker's office and politely declined.
THIS was about the time her attitude surfaced. She was acting like I was a waste of her time. I wanted to be like, "Um, you are wasting MY time by posting pictures of an apartment with a kitchen and then showing me a place that not only DOESN'T HAVE a kitchen, but also looks like Satan's earth vacation home." I know the place is cheap, but it doesn't save me much money if I have to eat take out every night because I can't even boil water for ramen noodles and I have to choose between getting the apartment refloored or wear steel-toed workboots 24/7. Also, if there's no air-conditioning unit, you could at least install a shower so that I can take cold ones in the summer. (you read that right. No shower.) Rather than going to see more apartments after she ended up being a total bitch when I, after looking at my first NY apartment EVER, didn't beg her to fill out an application, I just thanked her for her time and left. If you've ever seen me angry, what happens is I stew to myself for about 5 minutes, and then I get real determined. I get more work done in the 10 minutes following an idiot-induced anger spell than I do during any normal work week. So around 11:45 am I am standing in Columbus Circle calling every other agency I could Blackberry a number for.
I did end up finding an agent I liked who agreed to meet me right away. By 12:15 I was on the Upper West Side, walking up another 5 flights, but this one in a much more pleasant building. I fell in love with the neighborhood and the 2 top-floor studios he was showing had access to a private terrace. Everything in the apartment was new and clean. I even considered it for a moment. The problem was, the unit was literally the size of a walk in closet. I would be able to fit my mattress in it and that's it. As a point of reference for my PSU friends, roughly the size of a Heister Hall single without the closet space. As a reference for my "Flight of the Conchords"-watching friends, roughly the size of Jermaine's "studio"/maid closet. Maybe down the road I will get that desperate. But I have some time and, fortunately some generous friends I can crash with when I first move up, so I am not settling now.
This broker was really nice about discussing options with me, not pressuring me into the apartment, suggesting neighborhoods I might want to check out to see if I like them, etc. So I will probably try calling him when I get back up there. I also think it will be a much easier process once I am actually there and can make appointments as places open up. I'm definitely glad I made the trip, even though it proved unsuccessful , as I at least got to experience a few places/brokers and now have some point of reference for future apt-hunting. Moral of the story...I'm much more open to rooming with people now.
Which brings me to a few Craigslist "roommates/shares" listings I came across last night. (Key- Headline: "Most important part")
$250 livin companion: Okay, this one you should just click on it. He's looking for a live-in girlfriend on Craigslist.
$1285 Dope place in East Village looking for Roomates (East Village): "im 24 and make music. Im in the studio all day and i go out at night never around this place is 420 friendly and im open to all people my last roomates for two years were a gay black man and a white female stripper so im into meeting new and all types of people."
(http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/roo/398786955.html)
By far my favorite:
$480 small rm./pri. full bath apt. share for small female under 5'3" (Midtown West): "The reason for the height limitation is that the stairway of this duplex doesn't have much headroom and you should be petite because of small passageway... I use the kit. 1 day a week and most of the time I am not here. Should help a bit w/lt. housework. seeking a friendly, social, respectful person(can you ride a bicycle?)maybe snacks. I'm looking for a long term situation." (http://newyork.craigslist.org/mnh/roo/401929151.html)
Good lord. I don't know what will end up being more stressful. Finding a job (done) or finding an apartment (sketchyyyyy).
15 August 2007
It's the MOST wonderful time of the year
I'll be the first to admit that NCAA football preseason rankings mean absolutely nothing. In the past we've gone from being unranked to being #3 and from being #3 to unranked by the next season's end...and just about everywhere in between throughout the years. It does warm the cockles of my heart, though, to see that Penn State (who else did you think I meant by "WE"?) is included in the preseason rankings today released by USA Today. AP rankings are yet to post.
It also somewhat warms the cockles of my heart, while at the same time baffles the cockles of my heart, to see that Wisconsin is ranked #7 and Ohio State is ranked #10.
First of all, let's review some facts about my heart cockles:
1. The happiest day of my life will be when Ohio State is ranked infinity last -OR- loses the national championship to Penn State in a gut-wrenching gloooorious play in the 4th quarter. The latter might be a stretch as it's pretty unlikely that two Big 10 teams will ever play each other in the National Championship. I'm certain that "infinity last" is an actual possibility, though.
2. I only care about the Big 10. Exceptions: Notre Dame (which I would like to see ranked infinity last + 1, and Duke, which basically already is ranked infinity last +2 when it comes to football).
3. Out of all of our opponent Big 10 teams, Wisconsin is probably the team I have the least amount of hate towards. In fact, I'd venture to say I'm pretty neutral on them football-wise. And, as it turns out, people from Wisconsin aren't nearly as big an assholes as people from Ohio. Or any other state for that matter. Wisconsin has good beer (Miller Lite), good people (I actually went out with a Penn State guy who transferred from UW-Madison a few times, we were friends for years), and cheese (which is inherently good).
The only thing that's irking me about this whole preseason ranking situation is that I have a handful of Wisconsin-loyal friends that I primarily hang out with in DC (Tristan, Mike, Will, Ted...I think they may have even converted Rachel by buying her a Wisconsin shirt. I'm basically surrounded.). And I just know I am going to have to listen to them talk a big game and rub it in my face until October 13th. When we settle it on the field.
HOLY CRAP IT'S ALMOST FOOTBALL SEASON!
Pretend an MP3 of "It's the most wonderful time of the year" is playing in the background (if you aren't already singing it in your head). Also acceptable to pretend is playing: "Fight On State." Bonus points if you pretend like you are the Blue Band conductor with the stick-thing in your hand while humming it (coughSHAMRAcough-cough). Carry on.
It also somewhat warms the cockles of my heart, while at the same time baffles the cockles of my heart, to see that Wisconsin is ranked #7 and Ohio State is ranked #10.
First of all, let's review some facts about my heart cockles:
1. The happiest day of my life will be when Ohio State is ranked infinity last -OR- loses the national championship to Penn State in a gut-wrenching gloooorious play in the 4th quarter. The latter might be a stretch as it's pretty unlikely that two Big 10 teams will ever play each other in the National Championship. I'm certain that "infinity last" is an actual possibility, though.
2. I only care about the Big 10. Exceptions: Notre Dame (which I would like to see ranked infinity last + 1, and Duke, which basically already is ranked infinity last +2 when it comes to football).
3. Out of all of our opponent Big 10 teams, Wisconsin is probably the team I have the least amount of hate towards. In fact, I'd venture to say I'm pretty neutral on them football-wise. And, as it turns out, people from Wisconsin aren't nearly as big an assholes as people from Ohio. Or any other state for that matter. Wisconsin has good beer (Miller Lite), good people (I actually went out with a Penn State guy who transferred from UW-Madison a few times, we were friends for years), and cheese (which is inherently good).
The only thing that's irking me about this whole preseason ranking situation is that I have a handful of Wisconsin-loyal friends that I primarily hang out with in DC (Tristan, Mike, Will, Ted...I think they may have even converted Rachel by buying her a Wisconsin shirt. I'm basically surrounded.). And I just know I am going to have to listen to them talk a big game and rub it in my face until October 13th. When we
HOLY CRAP IT'S ALMOST FOOTBALL SEASON!
Pretend an MP3 of "It's the most wonderful time of the year" is playing in the background (if you aren't already singing it in your head). Also acceptable to pretend is playing: "Fight On State." Bonus points if you pretend like you are the Blue Band conductor with the stick-thing in your hand while humming it (coughSHAMRAcough-cough). Carry on.
08 August 2007
I have a new love.
My new favorite time-passer-by/waster at work is Last.fm. In an effort to continue expanding my musical horizons (I finally tired of listening to my Shins, Arcade Fire, and Justin Timberlake CDs on loop), I set up a "dashboard" at Last.fm this week and downloaded their music-player-application-apparatus thing.
Upon signing up, the site instructs you to listen to music for about a week and then it will start streaming a station based on your preferences (I know that this thing called "Pandora" exists, but I have banned it due to my mental affiliation with Pandora and the band "Deep Forest." Thank you, Mike.) And although I have never tried Pandora, I am going to ignorantly assert, anyway, that this site is better. Case in point? I use it. That makes it better.
So, anyway. When you get to your page the first time, it asks you to type in an artist you like. I typed "Spoon" (since I was already in that mood having listened to "Ga ga ga ga ga" for the 200th time since it came out 2 months ago). Now the page says that I am listening to "Station: Spoon's Similar Artists." Cool.
The only issue I have encountered? About every 7th song or so is a Spoon song. Not that I mind. But Spoon isn't similar to Spoon. Spoon is Spoon. This is absolutely a recurring issue, as the "Station: Rilo Kiley Similar Artists" and "Station: Ryan Adams Similar Artists" each played several songs by Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis and Ryan Adams, respectively.
However, I WILL say that almost every suggested artist has been dead on, about 25% of which I already have in my CD library somewhere because Last.fm is predicting that I will like music that I already know I like. So basically, I have found a radio station that plays a song/artist I already know I like about 25% of the time and plays new shit I end up liking the rest of the time.
In addition, every time a new song comes on, a bio with band trivia appears. This is particularly helpful to me because when hispters eventually take over the world in about 10-15 years (inevitable from my perspective), I'll probably have a shot at winning "The World Series of Pop Culture: Indie Rock Edition." I put the grand prize somewhere around $1 million + a lifetime subscription to Paper Magazine.
Here are some of my new favorite songs I've discovered on Last.fm:
Cat Power: "The Greatest" (I heard this song for the first time on Monday. iTunes says I have played it 11 times since then. You know, if anyone ever gets a hold of my iTunes play count list, I will be so embarrassed. DO NOT JUDGE ME BY HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE LISTENED TO SALT N' PEPPA'S "PUSH IT"! Is there any way to clear that history?)
Cold War Kids- "We Used to Vacation"
TV on the Radio- "Staring at the Sun" (incidentally, a friend of mine also predicted I would like this band and burned me their album "Return to Cookie Mountain" a couple of weeks ago. "Staring at the Sun" is from a different album though. And they're both right! Love them! This is one of my new favorite bands!)
Sparklehorse- "Shade & Honey"
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists- "I'm a Ghost"
Other songs I suggest you listen to, and that Last.fm would probably suggest to me, if I didn't already pre-empt it's awesomeness:
Spoon- "You got Yr. Cherry Bomb" (Obviously, I am a little obsessed with them at the moment. Spoon is to the latter part of 2007 what the Shins were to the former. Mainly due to their June/January 2007 new album release dates, respectively)
Ben Harper- "In the Colors" (New single. Probably has played 11 times in the past two days as well because it's on my playlist right after that Cat Power song I've taken such a liking to).
Okkervil River- "Unless it Kicks" (This album is getting great reviews. It came out yesterday, but I haven't gotten my hands on it yet. Can't wait to hear the whole thing. There's a link to "Unless it Kicks" here and a discussion of and link to another song on the album here.)
PS- This is by far the best blog series I have EVER read. Ever: "Who's worse?"
Upon signing up, the site instructs you to listen to music for about a week and then it will start streaming a station based on your preferences (I know that this thing called "Pandora" exists, but I have banned it due to my mental affiliation with Pandora and the band "Deep Forest." Thank you, Mike.) And although I have never tried Pandora, I am going to ignorantly assert, anyway, that this site is better. Case in point? I use it. That makes it better.
So, anyway. When you get to your page the first time, it asks you to type in an artist you like. I typed "Spoon" (since I was already in that mood having listened to "Ga ga ga ga ga" for the 200th time since it came out 2 months ago). Now the page says that I am listening to "Station: Spoon's Similar Artists." Cool.
The only issue I have encountered? About every 7th song or so is a Spoon song. Not that I mind. But Spoon isn't similar to Spoon. Spoon is Spoon. This is absolutely a recurring issue, as the "Station: Rilo Kiley Similar Artists" and "Station: Ryan Adams Similar Artists" each played several songs by Rilo Kiley/Jenny Lewis and Ryan Adams, respectively.
However, I WILL say that almost every suggested artist has been dead on, about 25% of which I already have in my CD library somewhere because Last.fm is predicting that I will like music that I already know I like. So basically, I have found a radio station that plays a song/artist I already know I like about 25% of the time and plays new shit I end up liking the rest of the time.
In addition, every time a new song comes on, a bio with band trivia appears. This is particularly helpful to me because when hispters eventually take over the world in about 10-15 years (inevitable from my perspective), I'll probably have a shot at winning "The World Series of Pop Culture: Indie Rock Edition." I put the grand prize somewhere around $1 million + a lifetime subscription to Paper Magazine.
Here are some of my new favorite songs I've discovered on Last.fm:
Cat Power: "The Greatest" (I heard this song for the first time on Monday. iTunes says I have played it 11 times since then. You know, if anyone ever gets a hold of my iTunes play count list, I will be so embarrassed. DO NOT JUDGE ME BY HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE LISTENED TO SALT N' PEPPA'S "PUSH IT"! Is there any way to clear that history?)
Cold War Kids- "We Used to Vacation"
TV on the Radio- "Staring at the Sun" (incidentally, a friend of mine also predicted I would like this band and burned me their album "Return to Cookie Mountain" a couple of weeks ago. "Staring at the Sun" is from a different album though. And they're both right! Love them! This is one of my new favorite bands!)
Sparklehorse- "Shade & Honey"
Ted Leo & The Pharmacists- "I'm a Ghost"
Other songs I suggest you listen to, and that Last.fm would probably suggest to me, if I didn't already pre-empt it's awesomeness:
Spoon- "You got Yr. Cherry Bomb" (Obviously, I am a little obsessed with them at the moment. Spoon is to the latter part of 2007 what the Shins were to the former. Mainly due to their June/January 2007 new album release dates, respectively)
Ben Harper- "In the Colors" (New single. Probably has played 11 times in the past two days as well because it's on my playlist right after that Cat Power song I've taken such a liking to).
Okkervil River- "Unless it Kicks" (This album is getting great reviews. It came out yesterday, but I haven't gotten my hands on it yet. Can't wait to hear the whole thing. There's a link to "Unless it Kicks" here and a discussion of and link to another song on the album here.)
PS- This is by far the best blog series I have EVER read. Ever: "Who's worse?"
06 August 2007
Weekend snapshot.
[Friday]
Leslie: 3 shots of Goldschlager, please.
Bartender: We're out of Goldschlager. Can I get you something else?
Leslie (famous last words): Just make me something that will kick me on my ass.
[Saturday]
Turns out Jen (recipient of 1 of the 3 shots) puked and Rachel (other recipient of 1 of the 3 shots) passed out on her bathroom floor in a puking attempt.
Now convinced shot was actually ipecac.
I laid in bed hungover until 4pm. Went to see Labyrinth at E Street Cinema for the 20th anniversary celebration with Ted later that evening. So much fun to watch with a big group of people that truly appreciate its campiness/David
[Sunday]
Productivity, finally. Woke up early. Did a little trash and treasure separation in my apartment (I move out at the end of the month). Hit 7-11 for coffee then had a brunch of fruit and veggie samples from the Dupont farmer's market. Also loaded up on locally-grown tomatoes, peaches and fresh basil. Took the metro to
01 August 2007
Ben Versus the Volcano
Rachel is convinced that visiting Volcano National Park=certain death.
You know what I say? BRING IT.
What better way to go out than "Death by Volcano?" If that's not a fucking blaze of glory, I don't know what is.
I thought I had my glorious demise all figured out until Tristan and I started brainstorming our "Tristan is giving up her social life to go to law school/Leslie is moving to New York City/Jessica is turning 24 & getting married in two weeks" blowout party (location TBD, although date-wise we are *thinking* Aug. 25th).
Mike threw in the marvelous (?) idea of incorporating an eating contest into the day, featuring the trifecta of DC drunk staples: Falafel, Jumbo Slice and what I lovingly call the Ben's Chili Bowl "Cardiac Arrest" combo.
Although Ben's is probably my favorite DC eatery, I've never *actually* attempted the "Cardiac Arrest" combo. It consists of my three favorite items on the menu, each of which I've had pairings of, but have never attempted all three in one sitting:
1. Chili Cheese Fries
2. Chili Dog
3. Cherry Milkshake
On its own, I think that's enough to get myself checked into the Howard University Hospital ICU (it's only 3 blocks away). Add that that to Jumbo Slice and falafel, and we basically have a situation where I have pre-empted the Volcano plan.
So which is a better tombstone?
Death by Volcano
or
Death by Ben's Chili Bowl?
You know what I say? BRING IT.
What better way to go out than "Death by Volcano?" If that's not a fucking blaze of glory, I don't know what is.
I thought I had my glorious demise all figured out until Tristan and I started brainstorming our "Tristan is giving up her social life to go to law school/Leslie is moving to New York City/Jessica is turning 24 & getting married in two weeks" blowout party (location TBD, although date-wise we are *thinking* Aug. 25th).
Mike threw in the marvelous (?) idea of incorporating an eating contest into the day, featuring the trifecta of DC drunk staples: Falafel, Jumbo Slice and what I lovingly call the Ben's Chili Bowl "Cardiac Arrest" combo.
Although Ben's is probably my favorite DC eatery, I've never *actually* attempted the "Cardiac Arrest" combo. It consists of my three favorite items on the menu, each of which I've had pairings of, but have never attempted all three in one sitting:
1. Chili Cheese Fries
2. Chili Dog
3. Cherry Milkshake
On its own, I think that's enough to get myself checked into the Howard University Hospital ICU (it's only 3 blocks away). Add that that to Jumbo Slice and falafel, and we basically have a situation where I have pre-empted the Volcano plan.
So which is a better tombstone?
Death by Volcano
or
Death by Ben's Chili Bowl?
25 July 2007
Aloha!
Rachel finally booked her ticket to Hawaii. It reminded me that I'm going on a sweet Hawaiian vacation (because I'm a bridesmaid in a sweet Hawaiian marriage) in about a month or so. When Rachel (my wedding date. She's hot, I know.) sent me her flight information, it reminded me that I should probably actually start planning stuff to do while we're there. I had been thinking that I want to book an island hopper on one of the days so that I can explore an island besides Maui. And until now I had been pretty set on traveling to the Big Island, as I am dead set on seeing an active volcano (which there are at Volcanoes National Park).
However, the National Park Service website is a real Debbie Downer. They need new PR staff because their "safety" page is really not enticing. In fact, it talked me out of going to Volcanoes National Park.
This is their sidebar:
[photo of magma creeping along]
Caption: "View Lava Safely. Prepare well - Stay alive!"
"Stay alive!??" Thank you, NPS, for your advice. This is their safety page in full (Charlotte, don't go! Pregnant women should not be around the volcanic fumes).
Listen, I'm willing to "prepare well to stay alive" if I'm going to see some lava. But apparently the danger level (based on some stupid earthquake like a month ago that's still going on) has increased enough to force a couple of park area closures and it seems here that there's no lava to be seen, at least on one of the volcanoes: "According to scientists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, NO lava is visible at Pu`u `O`o, flowing on the pali or coastal plain, or entering the ocean."
Well, you can't fool me. I am pretty good with research in the "internets." And I DO KNOW that there is lava/magma to be seen somewhere, but according to this bulletin, that area is closed:
National Park Ranger guy, I ask you this: Am I going to see some fucking magma or what? Tell me now before I book my ticket. Until then, I am bookmarking this geological "blog" which will update me daily on the volcanoes' status. If I can't figure out this situation by mid-August, Oahu it is.
However, the National Park Service website is a real Debbie Downer. They need new PR staff because their "safety" page is really not enticing. In fact, it talked me out of going to Volcanoes National Park.
This is their sidebar:
[photo of magma creeping along]
Caption: "View Lava Safely. Prepare well - Stay alive!"
"Stay alive!??" Thank you, NPS, for your advice. This is their safety page in full (Charlotte, don't go! Pregnant women should not be around the volcanic fumes).
Listen, I'm willing to "prepare well to stay alive" if I'm going to see some lava. But apparently the danger level (based on some stupid earthquake like a month ago that's still going on) has increased enough to force a couple of park area closures and it seems here that there's no lava to be seen, at least on one of the volcanoes: "According to scientists at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, NO lava is visible at Pu`u `O`o, flowing on the pali or coastal plain, or entering the ocean."
Well, you can't fool me. I am pretty good with research in the "internets." And I DO KNOW that there is lava/magma to be seen somewhere, but according to this bulletin, that area is closed:
Road and Area Closures Due to Current Seismic
and Volcanic Activity on Kilauea Volcano's Upper East Rift:
An intrusion of magma into the upper east rift zone of Kilauea has prompted the closure of some roads and areas in the park while the situation is carefully monitored.
Side note: as a communications student, I was only required to take two soft science classes to graduate with a B.A. I took Astronomy (along with pretty much every other liberal arts student...I fucking punished the final in that class too) and "Geology of National Parks." Aside from my Ancient Architecture class, this had to be the coolest elective I took in college. I've already been on my gothic cathedral tour of France, I'm ready to see some volcanoes erupt!and Volcanic Activity on Kilauea Volcano's Upper East Rift:
An intrusion of magma into the upper east rift zone of Kilauea has prompted the closure of some roads and areas in the park while the situation is carefully monitored.
National Park Ranger guy, I ask you this: Am I going to see some fucking magma or what? Tell me now before I book my ticket. Until then, I am bookmarking this geological "blog" which will update me daily on the volcanoes' status. If I can't figure out this situation by mid-August, Oahu it is.
24 July 2007
Beep Beep!
Before I tell you about the best part of my weekend, I need to put it into context, by telling you about the other things I did this weekend.
In no particular order (OK, I guess it's pretty chronological):
1. Had dinner at Fado with Lindsay and Rachel Friday night. Fado, it seems, has introduced a "fancy" drink menu. On this new menu appeared one of my all-time favorites, the Caipirinha. I decided to give it a whirl, even though I thought it was kind of weird that an Irish restaurant featured a Brazilian cocktail. And my suspicions were confirmed after one sip. Terrible. It was essentially a bad excuse for a margarita. We decided then and there that we should stick to Irish drinks at Fado. So we had a round of car bombs and left it at that.
2. Attended Rachel's birthday party at Rocket Bar. Rachel and I had scoped this bar out before she decided that this would be the venue for the party. I was immediately sold because they had a video game table featuring Frogger, Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Pac Man Junior, Pac Man Plus (there are a lot of Pac Mans), Tetris, Pooyan (this game features fire-breathing dinosaurs that fly through the air on balloons. You have to pop their balloon before they reach the ground or they will come and eat your babies! UPDATE: Wikipedia says the "dinosaurs" are actually wolves. But I don't believe this for one second.), Burgertime (Don't play this game. It sucks. I *think* the goal is to hit the bad guys with burger toppings, but I lost before I could really figure out what was going on.), and Tetris. About a week before the party I asked Ted if he would challenge me at Pac Man, to which he said "do you even have to ask?"
There was a lot of smack talk leading to Friday, and a lot of Ted telling me that he was going to "waste my ass."
I came prepared for battle: $12 worth of quarters in my Marc Jacobs tote.
Long story short, I don't think Ted will be disrespecting my skills any longer. By the end of the night, he declared me the undisputed Pac Man champion.
3. Attended Jessica's Bridal Shower. Conclusion: I need to trick someone into marrying me so I can get a shitload of awesome stuff from Crate and Barrel too. And while she was being inundated with toaster ovens, indoor grills, wine glasses and lingerie, I was manning the blender to make sure Jessica's mom was getting drunk on Blue Hawaiians and Pina Coladas. Charlotte did an awesome job prepping for the shower and turned their house into a veritable "House of Leis," Jessica looked super cute in her new Lily Pulitzer dress, and we dined on Outback coconut shrimp all day long. I posted some pics from the shower in my "Summer 2007" Flickr album.
Also, for one reason or another (probably me not paying attention), I hadn't really absorbed the full scope of the beachhouse we're renting in Maui in September. All I really absorbed was that I am staying with pretty much the coolest people I know for really cheap for 10 days. I was enlightened on Saturday at the shower, though, as to the full extent of the awesomeness. Pool table. Pool. Hot tub. Blender.
If you don't think we're having a pool party every night featuring tropical mixed drinks and Jimmy Buffet blasting from my i-Home, you are sorely mistaken. SORELY.
4. Punched myself in the face (accidentally) twice and stubbed my toe, all in the course of an hour on Sunday afternoon. This really was never a contender for the best part of my weekend. But, man. I just wanted to go on record and declare what an idiot-klutz I am. The inside of my lip is still broken.
OK, so considering I went to dinner with two of my favorite people, a kick-ass birthday party where I dominated at Pac Man (obviously), and a sweet hawaiian bridal shower where I discovered the life of luxury I'll be living in for 10 days in September, the best part of my weekend was....wait for it....
5. Saturday night visit to the Bowie Rita's Italian Ice stand. Who knew Rita's was such a magnet for the weird and ridiculous?
If you've ever hung out with me, you know that one of my favorite things to do is stand around joaning on people. But honestly, if you could have seen the odd ducks pulling up to the italian ice stand that night, you'd have agreed that they were just asking for it. The best was this 40-ish guy wearing a yellow tye-dyed shirt with an airbrushed roadrunner (of roadrunner and coyote Looney Tunes fame) on the chest area tucked into his stonewashed jean shorts. As soon as he queued up behind me in line I snickered a little to myself about his ridiculous outfit. When I got back to Robbie, Jessica, Levi and Rachel (who were already enjoying their italian ices near the parking lot and watching this guy all along) they told me to take a guess as to which car he arrived in. I scanned the lot for about two seconds before I said "That one."
It was a souped up canary yellow hot rod with a roadrunner decal on the back window and Maryland license plate "BIRD 8 U."
The best part was when we all finally got a back view of Mr. Roadrunner. His yellow tye-dyed airbrushed roadrunner shirt had a catch phrase airbrushed on the back: "Beep Beep!"
At that, we all had to step away from Rita's and into the Rent-A-Center parking lot in the hopes that a few more feet of space would muffle our comments and uncontrollable laughter. I think things really hit rock bottom when I noticed that Robbie was spitting out his gelato onto the sidewalk because he was laughing so hard.
That guy, in all his ridiculousness, made my weekend.
In no particular order (OK, I guess it's pretty chronological):
1. Had dinner at Fado with Lindsay and Rachel Friday night. Fado, it seems, has introduced a "fancy" drink menu. On this new menu appeared one of my all-time favorites, the Caipirinha. I decided to give it a whirl, even though I thought it was kind of weird that an Irish restaurant featured a Brazilian cocktail. And my suspicions were confirmed after one sip. Terrible. It was essentially a bad excuse for a margarita. We decided then and there that we should stick to Irish drinks at Fado. So we had a round of car bombs and left it at that.
2. Attended Rachel's birthday party at Rocket Bar. Rachel and I had scoped this bar out before she decided that this would be the venue for the party. I was immediately sold because they had a video game table featuring Frogger, Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Pac Man Junior, Pac Man Plus (there are a lot of Pac Mans), Tetris, Pooyan (this game features fire-breathing dinosaurs that fly through the air on balloons. You have to pop their balloon before they reach the ground or they will come and eat your babies! UPDATE: Wikipedia says the "dinosaurs" are actually wolves. But I don't believe this for one second.), Burgertime (Don't play this game. It sucks. I *think* the goal is to hit the bad guys with burger toppings, but I lost before I could really figure out what was going on.), and Tetris. About a week before the party I asked Ted if he would challenge me at Pac Man, to which he said "do you even have to ask?"
There was a lot of smack talk leading to Friday, and a lot of Ted telling me that he was going to "waste my ass."
I came prepared for battle: $12 worth of quarters in my Marc Jacobs tote.
Long story short, I don't think Ted will be disrespecting my skills any longer. By the end of the night, he declared me the undisputed Pac Man champion.
3. Attended Jessica's Bridal Shower. Conclusion: I need to trick someone into marrying me so I can get a shitload of awesome stuff from Crate and Barrel too. And while she was being inundated with toaster ovens, indoor grills, wine glasses and lingerie, I was manning the blender to make sure Jessica's mom was getting drunk on Blue Hawaiians and Pina Coladas. Charlotte did an awesome job prepping for the shower and turned their house into a veritable "House of Leis," Jessica looked super cute in her new Lily Pulitzer dress, and we dined on Outback coconut shrimp all day long. I posted some pics from the shower in my "Summer 2007" Flickr album.
Also, for one reason or another (probably me not paying attention), I hadn't really absorbed the full scope of the beachhouse we're renting in Maui in September. All I really absorbed was that I am staying with pretty much the coolest people I know for really cheap for 10 days. I was enlightened on Saturday at the shower, though, as to the full extent of the awesomeness. Pool table. Pool. Hot tub. Blender.
If you don't think we're having a pool party every night featuring tropical mixed drinks and Jimmy Buffet blasting from my i-Home, you are sorely mistaken. SORELY.
4. Punched myself in the face (accidentally) twice and stubbed my toe, all in the course of an hour on Sunday afternoon. This really was never a contender for the best part of my weekend. But, man. I just wanted to go on record and declare what an idiot-klutz I am. The inside of my lip is still broken.
OK, so considering I went to dinner with two of my favorite people, a kick-ass birthday party where I dominated at Pac Man (obviously), and a sweet hawaiian bridal shower where I discovered the life of luxury I'll be living in for 10 days in September, the best part of my weekend was....wait for it....
5. Saturday night visit to the Bowie Rita's Italian Ice stand. Who knew Rita's was such a magnet for the weird and ridiculous?
If you've ever hung out with me, you know that one of my favorite things to do is stand around joaning on people. But honestly, if you could have seen the odd ducks pulling up to the italian ice stand that night, you'd have agreed that they were just asking for it. The best was this 40-ish guy wearing a yellow tye-dyed shirt with an airbrushed roadrunner (of roadrunner and coyote Looney Tunes fame) on the chest area tucked into his stonewashed jean shorts. As soon as he queued up behind me in line I snickered a little to myself about his ridiculous outfit. When I got back to Robbie, Jessica, Levi and Rachel (who were already enjoying their italian ices near the parking lot and watching this guy all along) they told me to take a guess as to which car he arrived in. I scanned the lot for about two seconds before I said "That one."
It was a souped up canary yellow hot rod with a roadrunner decal on the back window and Maryland license plate "BIRD 8 U."
The best part was when we all finally got a back view of Mr. Roadrunner. His yellow tye-dyed airbrushed roadrunner shirt had a catch phrase airbrushed on the back: "Beep Beep!"
At that, we all had to step away from Rita's and into the Rent-A-Center parking lot in the hopes that a few more feet of space would muffle our comments and uncontrollable laughter. I think things really hit rock bottom when I noticed that Robbie was spitting out his gelato onto the sidewalk because he was laughing so hard.
That guy, in all his ridiculousness, made my weekend.
17 July 2007
Possible extra footage for "An Inconvenient Truth II" reel.
Last Thursday I get an e-mail out of the blue from my friend, Rich: "Adam is in town. Want to go fishing?"
LG: "Fishing? Um, no."
Rich: "You don't have to fish. Just sit on the boat and drink."
LG: "OK. Sold, sign me up."
So around 1:30 Saturday afternoon, Rich picks me and Adam up and we drive out to Deale, Maryland (this is what I will refer to as "red state" Maryland, or you could also go with "redneck" Maryland. Whatever is least offensive.) to board our fishing vessel.
The Capitan (Cap'n George) isn't quite ready for us when we arrive, which was fine because we were starving and decided to eat lunch at the restaurant on the dock. They served Hush Puppies, so I was a happy camper. Adam decides that this trip, being his first fishing venture onto the Chesapeake, is really a personal expedition for him to find out firsthand as to whether or not we really need to "Save the Bay." If we catch tons of fish, he isn't going to worry about it. If we do OK, he might get one of those Save the Bay license plates. And if we catch nothing, he is going to bat-phone Al Gore.
Just as we're being served our food, Capitan George walks by and slurs the words "Be back in a few, just need a refill," and holds up a thermos. CG is ABOUT 98 years old, from the looks of his leathery wrinkly skin and has clearly subsided on whatever fish he's caught, coffee, cigarettes and booze for at least the past 20 years. At this point, I'm realizing that this boat is going to have to be driven by one of us. Because there is no doubt in my mind that he is refilling his thermos with vodka.
Our fishing trip, which really turned into a booze cruise, was about 4 hours long. Our "first mate," Eric, claimed to be 19 years old. Although if I were a guessing person I wouldn't have put him a day under 25. I guess that's what life at sea does to you. Maybe Captain George is really only 35. Just "weathered."
Eric was (underage) drinking Captain Morgan from a straw out of a Coke fountain cup and told us he once jumped off a lighthouse drunk. He doesn't recommend it to us, though because "there's rocks down there. They hurt." He was pretty knowledgeable about all things Chesapeake, I'll give him that.
With less than an hour left to go "at bay," and having caught ZERO fish, I turned to Adam and said "Well, I don't think we are going to catch a tiger."
Adam: What?
LG: You said earlier that you wanted to catch something CRAZY. Like a tiger. Remember? I was laughing really hard.
Adam: I said "TIRE. I want to catch something crazy like a TIRE." I was wondering why you laughed so hard at that. Who's catching a tiger? THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
Leslie: EXACTLY!
Eric: Well, I caught a deer out here once.
Leslie and Adam: [baffled stare]
Eric: You know. It was just like a deer carcass out there. Floatin'. I reeled it in.
Adam: Well you should definitely call Al Gore. He could use that footage. Let's do a contrast shot of a polar bear prancing through a dandelion field and a deer on a boat. Then no one will be able to deny global warming.
Rich: One day at sea and you're already turning into a conservationist. What will your republican friends think?
Leslie: What other crazy things have you caught? Have you ever caught a person?
Eric: Yeah. Four people, actually.
(Now I'm totally losing it and he's telling a story about dead bodies washing up on shore. Which is totally blowing my mind. He said the Coast Guard was already on it though.)
Leslie: So what do you think makes for a better story? Catching no fish or catching one?
Adam: I'm going to go with none.
Leslie: Well, I think you're going to luck out.
Adam's Chesapeake eco-action experiment RESULTS:
-Four hours on a boat.
-No fish caught.
Conclusion:
-Deer are going swimming.
-Polar bears are frolicking in gardens.
-The Chesapeake is beyond saving.
Personal conclusions:
-"Fishing" is code word for "sitting near or on water and drinking beer." In fact, even though I went on the trip purporting NOT to fish, I did just as much as everyone else on that boat. And I probably drank more.
-I am the best fisherman.
LG: "Fishing? Um, no."
Rich: "You don't have to fish. Just sit on the boat and drink."
LG: "OK. Sold, sign me up."
So around 1:30 Saturday afternoon, Rich picks me and Adam up and we drive out to Deale, Maryland (this is what I will refer to as "red state" Maryland, or you could also go with "redneck" Maryland. Whatever is least offensive.) to board our fishing vessel.
The Capitan (Cap'n George) isn't quite ready for us when we arrive, which was fine because we were starving and decided to eat lunch at the restaurant on the dock. They served Hush Puppies, so I was a happy camper. Adam decides that this trip, being his first fishing venture onto the Chesapeake, is really a personal expedition for him to find out firsthand as to whether or not we really need to "Save the Bay." If we catch tons of fish, he isn't going to worry about it. If we do OK, he might get one of those Save the Bay license plates. And if we catch nothing, he is going to bat-phone Al Gore.
Just as we're being served our food, Capitan George walks by and slurs the words "Be back in a few, just need a refill," and holds up a thermos. CG is ABOUT 98 years old, from the looks of his leathery wrinkly skin and has clearly subsided on whatever fish he's caught, coffee, cigarettes and booze for at least the past 20 years. At this point, I'm realizing that this boat is going to have to be driven by one of us. Because there is no doubt in my mind that he is refilling his thermos with vodka.
Our fishing trip, which really turned into a booze cruise, was about 4 hours long. Our "first mate," Eric, claimed to be 19 years old. Although if I were a guessing person I wouldn't have put him a day under 25. I guess that's what life at sea does to you. Maybe Captain George is really only 35. Just "weathered."
Eric was (underage) drinking Captain Morgan from a straw out of a Coke fountain cup and told us he once jumped off a lighthouse drunk. He doesn't recommend it to us, though because "there's rocks down there. They hurt." He was pretty knowledgeable about all things Chesapeake, I'll give him that.
With less than an hour left to go "at bay," and having caught ZERO fish, I turned to Adam and said "Well, I don't think we are going to catch a tiger."
Adam: What?
LG: You said earlier that you wanted to catch something CRAZY. Like a tiger. Remember? I was laughing really hard.
Adam: I said "TIRE. I want to catch something crazy like a TIRE." I was wondering why you laughed so hard at that. Who's catching a tiger? THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE.
Leslie: EXACTLY!
Eric: Well, I caught a deer out here once.
Leslie and Adam: [baffled stare]
Eric: You know. It was just like a deer carcass out there. Floatin'. I reeled it in.
Adam: Well you should definitely call Al Gore. He could use that footage. Let's do a contrast shot of a polar bear prancing through a dandelion field and a deer on a boat. Then no one will be able to deny global warming.
Rich: One day at sea and you're already turning into a conservationist. What will your republican friends think?
Leslie
Eric: Yeah. Four people, actually.
(Now I'm totally losing it and he's telling a story about dead bodies washing up on shore. Which is totally blowing my mind. He said the Coast Guard was already on it though.)
Leslie
Adam: I'm going to go with none.
Leslie: Well, I think you're going to luck out.
Adam's Chesapeake eco-action experiment RESULTS:
-Four hours on a boat.
-No fish caught.
Conclusion:
-Deer are going swimming.
-Polar bears are frolicking in gardens.
-The Chesapeake is beyond saving.
Personal conclusions:
-"Fishing" is code word for "sitting near or on water and drinking beer." In fact, even though I went on the trip purporting NOT to fish, I did just as much as everyone else on that boat. And I probably drank more.
-I am the best fisherman.
10 July 2007
Killing me Softly with any song by Nickelback.
Apparently I have conversations with Rachel sometimes that I don't remember ever happened. Like for example, this morning I had a revelation that the new Interpol album was dropping today and I really had an electrifying wave of excitement come over me at my desk this morning when I discovered this "news". Then, in my jubilation, come to find out that I had mentioned something to Rachel about it last week??
Well whether that conversation actually took place or not, I KNOW I have been eagerly anticipating Spoon's new album "GA GA GA GA GA," also dropping today (which I didn't remember until this morning). I guess this new music Tuesday just crept up on me, that's all.
Then, around lunchtime, I heard a DJ mention something about a new Idlewild album also coming out today. Could it be that today was a A LESLIE SUPRISE GOOD MUSIC TRIFECTA?
Well, yes and no. Idlewild does not have a new album. But the band's lead singer (Roddie Woomble) does have a solo side project that came out today (yeah, I know. That name is so ridiculous on many levels). I had a listen on MySpace and it's pretty tight. A lot more folksy than Idlewild, but Roddie Woomble's voice kept me listening and I came around.
Finally, during my MySpace perusal, I listened to Charlotte's new profile song (surprisingly NOT Neil Diamond), which is Mark Ronson's remix of Toxic. Loved it. Clicked on the link to Ronson's page to hear more. AM NOW OBSESSED with his remix of Amy Winehouse's version of The Zutons "Valerie" (there are so many layers of versions of that song. Like a parfait.)
By the way, guess when Mark Ronson's album "Versions" came out? Today.
Is this the best new music Tuesday ever? Possibly. But then I also found out in my "new music Tuesday" search that Nickelback's new album came out today.
So that pretty much cancels out anything good in this world.
[UPDATE: Here are some things to make you feel better--
MP3 of Spoon's "The Underdog" [Which, the first time I heard, doubled checked on IMDB to make sure hadn't been in a Wes Anderson movie before. After reading a few of my favorite music blogs, however, it seems as if I'm not the only one who picked up on it's Anderson-esque-ness.
Foo Fighter's to release 6th album with a track titled: Cheer Up, Boys (Your Makeup's Running)]
Well whether that conversation actually took place or not, I KNOW I have been eagerly anticipating Spoon's new album "GA GA GA GA GA," also dropping today (which I didn't remember until this morning). I guess this new music Tuesday just crept up on me, that's all.
Then, around lunchtime, I heard a DJ mention something about a new Idlewild album also coming out today. Could it be that today was a A LESLIE SUPRISE GOOD MUSIC TRIFECTA?
Well, yes and no. Idlewild does not have a new album. But the band's lead singer (Roddie Woomble) does have a solo side project that came out today (yeah, I know. That name is so ridiculous on many levels). I had a listen on MySpace and it's pretty tight. A lot more folksy than Idlewild, but Roddie Woomble's voice kept me listening and I came around.
Finally, during my MySpace perusal, I listened to Charlotte's new profile song (surprisingly NOT Neil Diamond), which is Mark Ronson's remix of Toxic. Loved it. Clicked on the link to Ronson's page to hear more. AM NOW OBSESSED with his remix of Amy Winehouse's version of The Zutons "Valerie" (there are so many layers of versions of that song. Like a parfait.)
By the way, guess when Mark Ronson's album "Versions" came out? Today.
Is this the best new music Tuesday ever? Possibly. But then I also found out in my "new music Tuesday" search that Nickelback's new album came out today.
So that pretty much cancels out anything good in this world.
[UPDATE: Here are some things to make you feel better--
MP3 of Spoon's "The Underdog" [Which, the first time I heard, doubled checked on IMDB to make sure hadn't been in a Wes Anderson movie before. After reading a few of my favorite music blogs, however, it seems as if I'm not the only one who picked up on it's Anderson-esque-ness.
Foo Fighter's to release 6th album with a track titled: Cheer Up, Boys (Your Makeup's Running)]
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