Snippets

There have been many blog posts on the tip of my tongue, but it seems as though I have neither time nor energy to sit and make coherent and reader friendly prose. I can't blog from work, and life at home rarely gives me the quiet time and space I need to organize my thoughts.

I've wanted to tell you how four times this week when getting into my car for a quick lunch break from my new job, the song "So You Had A Bad Day" (I think that's the title) by James Blunt (I think that's the singer) was on the radio when I started the car. Then he was a Jeopardy question last night. Weird.

I've wanted to tell you my reflections on living in a household where I don't speak the predominant language and the etiquette rules I have learned about being in the middle of a conversation I cannot participate in. It's a bit of an art to look neither completely disinterested nor overly eager. I can't say I do this successfully, but everyday I try.

I've wanted to tell you about the multiple day trips we've made out East to some beautiful parts of Long Island. I never knew that there was such beauty here, and I am constantly surprised by the quiet coastline and quaint towns.

I've wanted to tell you about my job and the trials of being the "new girl" again. It has been a long time since I was the NG, the last time I was 23 and fresh to the corporate world. Now I am a decade older and expected to make big decisions about the future of the company while still figuring out if the milk in the fridge is community milk or private milk.

For now, I just leave you with these snippets. I'd like to tell you I will be better and blog more, but I can't say for certain it's a promise I can keep.

A poem for ME

There lives a girl in Long Island
Who today seemed to be smilin’
She just turned thirty-three
So she sang Happy Birthday to ME!

Did you get me a present?

OK, I admit. I was never the poet.

To commemorate the big day, I wore this same outfit pictured to work today.

MoMA Mamma

Back to School Season!

It feels like those last lazy days of August, when, as a kid, I would be reluctantly getting ready to go back to school. I am excited to get back into challenging my brain everyday, but I want to take advantage of these last days of freedom. And by "take advantage", I don't mean spend an hour waiting in the 6x10 foot waiting room at the Social Security office as I did yesterday. I lost my soc card and you have to have one in order to get a NY State licesnse... I guess my current MA license, passport and original birth certificate aren't enough to prove who I am.

TO-DO items on my checklist:

- Hair cut
- New shoes
- New Notebook, calendar, no. 2 pencils (ha ha, kidding on that last one)
- Drivers License
- grocery shop to prepack lunches for next week
- update makeup, hair products
- Trapper Keeper
- Lunch box and what my brain wants to call a thermostat, but isn't a thermostat at all! What is the name of that cannister like thing that keep beverages and soups hot? Damn. My brain really does need the work out.

See, just like the days at Winston Churchill H.S.!

Speaking of WCHS, I learned recently that my high school math teacher killed himself. I am gutted! He was a little out of the ordinary, but I really liked him, despite my intense hatred for all things mathmatical. He slicked his hair back and smelled like cigarettes, but he had a good sense of humor and seemed to "get" us crazy kids. It makes me sad to know that he was that unhappy.

Well, off to Supercuts. See, not only do I need the brain work, but I need the pay check as well. Lets hope I don't totally screw things up when I attempt to highlight my own hair later today.

Good to be an Aquarius

For the last several days my horoscope has been indicating that some journey I am on is about to come to a close. And today I get this:

Today you will reach your destination, but you might not realize that you've arrived. With all the energy you've been directing toward the journey, your vision is blurred as to the reality of your situation. So wait things out today, and don't make any rash decisions -- you've got to give yourself time to settle into the way things are and fully realize that you are finally, undeniably done! To make a change now would be shortsighted

So, should I be so surprised that today I received a great job offer? Naturally the "journey" is the job search that has occupied nearly every waking thought since I left EF on August 23rd. Clearly the stars have dictated this latest development; thank god I was born under the sign of Aquarius! Yippieee! I have taken the weekend to think over the position, but I am pretty sure I am going to take it. What a relief to know that a regular paycheck will be making its way into my bank account again. I am really excited about the challenge of the position I am about to take on as well as working for this particular company.

2007 is going to be a great year!

Diamonds Are A Girl's Best...

...Way To Be Immortalized For All Eternity?

From LifeGem, "because love lives on", diamond creators:

To desire a LifeGem diamond can mean only one thing. You have experienced a love without equal. You have had someone truly special in your life and mere words simply will not do.

Love knows no boundaries. Love knows no end.

LifeGem...

The LifeGem^® is a certified, high-quality diamond created from the carbon of your loved one as a memorial to their unique life.


Oh yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, you heard me right. Now you can have the carbon from the cremains of your loved one converted into a beautiful diamond ring or pendant. I don't mean any disrespect to those who find this touching, or to those who have purchased one of these "keepsakes", but this is kind of creepy to me. Several of the testimonials refer to their gems as the name of the loved one whose body creadted it. Such as, "Joe is such a beautiful gem". The willies... that gives me the willies. Ashes to Ashes, Dust to... Diamonds?

You can even have your beloved pet made into a gem! But please, as LifeGem requests, "You do NOT need to send the deceased to our location in Chicago."

Prices run from about $3,000 to $25,000 per gem. Need a discount for the whole family? Take advantage of their Family Plan. Want to own a piece of history? Bid on one of the Celebrity LifeGems about to go on sale! Check out Project Beethoven LifeGem. Yes! You could wear a piece of Beethoven himself around your neck or finger!

Everyday Heros

I saw this in the news today and am just in awe. Have a look for yourself.

Man who fell on NYC subway tracks saved

By DEEPTI HAJELA, Associated Press WriterTue Jan 2, 10:31 PM ET

A quick-thinking commuter saved a teenager who fell on the subway tracks by pushing him down into a trough between the rails, allowing an approaching train to pass right over them, police said.

An 18-year-old man had some kind of medical problem Tuesday and fell onto the tracks, which are a few feet below platform level, police said. Wesley Autrey, of Manhattan, saw him fall, jumped down onto the tracks after him and rolled with him into the rut between the rails as a southbound train was coming in.

Autrey said he initially tried to pull the man up to the platform but had to decide whether he could get him up in time to avoid both of them getting hit.

"I just chose to dive on top of him and pin him down and pin myself down," he said.

The train's operator saw someone on the tracks and put the emergency brakes on. Two cars of the train passed over the men — with about 2 inches to spare, Autrey said — before it came to a stop.

The subway trough, which is used for drainage, is typically about 12 inches deep but can be as shallow as 8 or as deep as 24, a New York City Transit spokesman said.

Neither man was hit by the train, police said, and Autrey, who had his two young daughters traveling with him, refused medical attention. The rescued man, whose name had not been released, was taken to a hospital, where he was in stable condition.

Onlooker Patricia Brown said Autrey, a Vietnam War veteran, "needs to be recognized as a hero." Others cheered him and hugged him outside the train station.

The incident took place around 12:45 p.m. Service on the line, which runs between the southern tip of Manhattan and the Bronx, was suspended for about 45 minutes.