It's That Time of Year

Easter time when the Cadbury Mini Eggs rear their ugly heads. So much for all that dieting and gymming.



Thanks, dad.

Put A Robot In It

I'm taking a fiction writing class this semester, and we have two rounds of workshopping, which means you have to submit a completed 12-20 page story of fiction to disperse to the class for review and critique. My second workshop assignment is due today, so I holed myself up in my apartment all day yesterday (so much for Sunday Funday) to write it.

In the evening, I found myself online and chatting with Ronnie, who asked how it was going since I had to turn down his invitation to Flushing to work on the paper. I told him about the story and how it was going, and he gave me a suggestion, which made me LOLOLOLOLOL for five minutes straight:

Ronnie: well you should also incorporate robots somewhere
Ronnie: because they are everlasting
Ronnie: and they can be programmed
Ronnie: and the robots could be exalted
Ronnie: and one of the robots should be a slut

It wasn't the worst idea, but in the event that the New Yorker wanted to publish it (they won't, ever), and I had done that, then I'd have to credit Ronnie somewhere.

It also all reminded me of this little Portlandia gem:



The new tagline for writers should just be: PUT A ROBOT IN IT!

It Is Your Birthday

Dear Mother.



At least you get a Friday! I had a dumb Wednesday



Hope you have a fabulous birthday with hopefully the day off.

New York Public Library

Of all the books to have overdue at the library, I was late in returning... The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I would have been proud if I was fined for overstaying my welcome with like, an Ayn Rand novel or even the last Harry Potter book at least (those volumes are huge!) But no. Three weeks was not enough for me and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But at least I was able to sign it to a captivated classroom in that time.



And it was a beautiful (dare I say it?) warm walk to the library to shamefully drop it in the return box. Late.

A Timely Spring

This time last year I still felt fully invested in a New York winter. And yet today, the first day of spring 2012, was the first time in months (5 1/2 I'd guess) that I was able to step outside with bare legs, and it always feel so bizarre. Not wearing stocking or legging or tights or nylons with a skirt or dress after half a year, it's as though I am feeling my legs for the first time, it's really strange, but freeing, and exciting to know that this remains in my future for the next long while, as do capri pants and flats!

In a quick backtrack, last weekend was nice, albeit a little uneventful. I spent all weekend recovering from my birthday night out, the East Village dance clubs and bars, champagne toasts and free shots that put me in bed at 5am and continued to plague me through til Sunday evening. Still, Jens and I got to the Bronx Zoo on Friday (and it was a zoo just getting there) and it was the best zoo experience ever, better than San Diego and Santa Barbara, because it was quiet, and cool and overcast, the animals were SO ACTIVE!


West Side Entrance


"And how does lemur skin reflect sea, Velouria?" -The Pixies


I used to live in Africa with all the little birdies and all the little monkeys!

And St Paddy's Day was joyous great weather. We started with brunch and St Patrick's Sangria! A white wine base with kiwis, limes and apples!



Enjoying the city and everyone's green antics, we made it to Strand Bookstore before finding bars in the West Village and ultimately, Union Square, when I ran into some coworkers. What are the chances? (Answer: They're slim). Walking in Greenwich we happened near what must be NYU's Linguistics Department:


Hi friends! The culmination of all my years of studying and time poured into my senior thesis came to this moment, this one picture

Oh and the good ol' faithful Empire State Building was all green for the occasion, which looked beautiful and festive early in the night, but later on when clouds were rolling in, it looked so spooky!



And now? Now, my birthday is over. Now, work is crazy with admissions decisions going out. Academic spring break is over so I'm back to late night classes, readings and papers and dreading Jayna moving away...! Happy Springtime!

The Second Saddest Thing

...is the day after your birthday. I already learned what the first saddest thing was in college. The mailroom for students living in the dorms was a room of vast floor-to-ceiling little brass doors that could only fit letter-sized envelopes, so anything larger than that had to be posted with the mail counter, and up on their wall they put up a sign that said "There's Nothing Sadder Than An Empty Mailbox" and I thought it was so true! Don't you feel a little defeated everytime you check the mail and there's nothing there? Me too!

I am actually being a little selfish, because I think I got an extra 5 hours of birthday celebrations, so I more than got a full day. After work I raced home (in stilettos. Not recommended) and with the time change it was a beautiful, sunny, warm evening and I had the most refreshing power nap in a bright, cheery room before getting ready for my birthday dinnerrrrrr!

Mexican Radio is a fabulous little bar/restaurant in SoHo and I am loving this time change because it was still light (and warm!), and Jens and I got there first, and watched a movie being filmed across the street, and got drinks while we waited for the table. I had a (delicious!) dinner with friends from old work, new work, college and Germany in attendance, splitting the pitchers of beer and sangria (save for Jenny who is about to pop with a full grown baby in 4 weeks) and I enjoyed the photo shoot Samantha and I embarked on in the right middle of dinner











After dinner and birthday flan, Josh suggested we meet up with some coworkers in town from their foreign posts who were getting drinks. So we hiked over to East Village, and this is the part of the story where it becomes so unexpectedly amazing I got wind to stay out until 4:30a.

Sean is from South Africa, working for my old work in Bangkok, and he was exactly like I remembered him from the last time he was in town: party. animal. Sean will do anything and everything, and do it 110%. He has the most infectious good mood and energy, and is SO FUN. Being reunited was fun enough, but finding out it was my birthday, he went absolutely crazy (I think they loved having an excuse to party so hard and for so long on a Wednesday!) and they were shouting and singing, giving me the tabletop candles to blow out over "Guacamole Cake" (read: bruschetta with guacamole smeared on top) and then two bottles of champagne were brought to the table and more singing to me! I was just eating it up. I love my birthday! I couldn't believe I found someone who was arguably more excited about it than I was! (Everytime it seemed to occur to Sean that it was my birthday, it would come out again: BIRTHDAY GIRL! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) and the surprises didn't end there. Who shows up but JOE!! Joe is THE busiest, most high-life socialite you can EVER expect to meet. He is booked up months in advance, always off on a new adventure, opening some new art gallery, or vacationing in the Hamptons (and yes, he was the one that brought me and Jayna to the Hamptons last Fourth of July!) and Joe is FUN! I was so excited to see him and said I couldn't believe it, it was like seeing the sun! I don't even know what that means, but he seemed to enjoy it!



More drinks, more champagne! And because Sean was there for "work" they took the entire tab for us. I'd say that's a birthday gift in itself! We didn't stop there. We found ourselves at a dance club around the corner (SO FUN!) and then closed at a dive with a pool table, (there's no other way to end the night when Josh is involved) and here, Ben wanted to get me a birthday drink, and the bartender didn't even charge us! Oh happy day! It must have been that we were STILL yelling and screaming our excitement anytime anyone said "Birthday girl!" Or "Happy Birthday!" At some indeterminate time, Josh, Jens and I split a cab uptown and I crawled into bed between 4:30 and 5? So I am a ray of sunshine at work today.

So you see, I should be so thankful I had such a great birthday, but I can't help but feel like it's the day after Christmas today. So sad!

Happy Happy Birthday

To Who? To ME! Oh, you! What a fabulous, beautiful day to have a birthday! Today is even more beautiful than yesterday what with the sunshine, breeze and temperature. I got to blow out candles at midnight and I got to wake up to texts and messages from friends more east than I am, and I'm having a great day.



Jens is in town from Germany so we did a sushi birthday lunch, birthday gelato, and birthday shots!!



I came back to surprise cupcakes in my office, as well as this great ecard from a friend:



And I'm channeling in Chicago-song Cobra Starship today. How can you listen to this and not be in a good mood?



Tonight is Mexican Radio for margaritas and Mexican foooooooooooood om nom nom. It's funny cause a friend asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I don't know. Growing up you just want things things things (or was that just me?) and now what makes me excited is getting messages and notes and love from friends and family. Well, that and money. This friend then proceeded to tell me he got a Keurig coffee machine and that's when I was like... oh damn. Maybe that's what I want. Lulz.

For Uncle Wayne

I heard of Uncle Wayne's passing yesterday in the middle of a brunch with two friends. It's pretty surreal, and mainly very sad. I wrote him a card when he moved to Chula Vista and he had to ask my mom which daughter I was, which only made me laugh because all 4 of us are our own interchangeable hot messes. It's very weird to think of him gone and I'm saddened for all the brothers and sisters, and grandma, and everyone, and sorry I can't be closer with everyone at this time.

My favorite memories of Uncle Wayne were him always, every year without fail, shouting out a request for "O TANNENBAUM IN GERMAN!" at Christmas when us cousins were making collective fools of ourselves by caroling to everyone. I did learn that song in German for a show in elementary school, but as the years went on I forgot everything except "O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, wie treu sind deine Blätter" and so I used to just continue on in made up German-sounding jibber jabber for the rest of the song and whether he realized it or not, he was still just as happy.

This is the picture we all seem to be loving and passing around the most, so I will close it out with this.



Love and miss you all and hope you know I wish I could be closer during this time.

THE KOOKS

My birthday present to myself this year was a ticket to see The Kooks perform here in NYC at Terminal 5, and the magical day came last night!! I had an appointment in midtown after work, then ate in Koreatown before trekking to Terminal 5 on the west side near the river.

I'll never forgive myself for not listening to my crazy English and Irish friends in France when they would flock to their concerts (since they're infinitely more popular in Europe although gaining some steam in the US) and I would think they were all just hyperactive Englishers off to weird shows. I finally started listening to them a few months after I returned for my senior year of college out of nostalgia and immediately regretted never giving them a thought sooner. I did get to see them in the Fall of 2008 in Hollywood with Becca, and they are one of those bands and performances that as soon as it's over you're like "So when are they coming back again?" I loveeeeee them!!!

Terminal 5 is a fabulous venue... spacious but intimate, airy, all general admission. This was waiting for The Kooks to come on after one of their opening bands (I missed the first opening act, but they were called Yawn, and that name alone tells me I didn't miss much.) People were sitting on the deck with their feet hanging over, and it was a kind of cute shot with all these shoes dangling



I don't like taking pictures/filming during shows because I would rather live my life through my eyes than my media, but EVERYONE was doing this, and it was a sea of screens leading up to the stage, and it felt a little bit like I had the visual version of surround sound. It doesn't come across as well in this picture, but that was my attempt at it. And I am officially the pot calling all those kettles black.



THE SHOW WAS AMAZINGGGGGG! I was SO SATISFIED with everything! The crowd, the vibe, the energy, the show, the setlist, etc etc. I'm pretty sure the band was completely drunk (only amplified by them swigging their beers instead of waters onstage) but it made it that much more entertaining! I loveeeeeee them! I don't even know what they are, British rock? But they're the perfect recipe for a great show, loud, catchy, dancey, fun fun fun!

So sad when it was over. I preferred to let the stampede to the doors (after the encore!) thin out (did no one learn anything from Mufasa's death??) and loved the drum set on stage so took a picture while I was waiting.



I'm NEVER good at picking the right samples of anything (I turned some friends off to the Office for YEARS because of the episode I chose to show them, and they since gave it another chance and love it NOW) but here's a song of The Kooks that I love.



I don't even care if you like them or not, because I love them and will continue to claw my way into their shows.

March Madness

Doctor's appointments! Hair appointments! Dress shopping! Empty bank account! It all points to one thing... DA BIRFDAY.

It's the one time of the year I actually take care of myself and let myself indulge in things I want all year long (pedicures! concerts!) because if nothing else, it's nice to feel good and fresh and pretty on your birthday. This year, my big day is on a Wednesday, which is so blah, but it's only 26. Who really cares?

I generally spend the week before my birthday stressing out beyond all belief to take care of anything I could possibly need to take care of, so on my big day I can just... relax.

And on the subject of March Madness, I really need to find some league or whatever to join. Following those brackets will run your entire life. And I loves it!

Good Morning Baltimore!

If you have never seen Hairspray, then you wouldn't appreciate one of my karaoke staples, and post title, and therefore I officially feel sorry for you. My first time in Baltimore, and what took me so long I will never know, but I finally got to spend a weekend with with Palak, one of my roomies from San Diego that left all too soon!

Now before I can get into Baltimore, I feel obligated to tell a character-building story. You know all those painful, WTF memories your brain stores for you against your will, just to bring up at night or during the quiet hours of your life to make you cringe and wonder what the hell you were thinking or doing? Well, my weekend started with one of those.

Friday evening I caught a bus from midtown, and it started just fine, even waiting on West 33rd St, I made two friends also on my scheduled departure. The vessel was full, we got separated, and I sat next to a very disgruntled young girl about my age who was not interested in anything. I sat in my seat, working on a story for class on my laptop, before putting on the sounds of Arcade Fire and Death Cab as New Jersey scenery swept by. Before I knew it, the bus was taking a break at a Delaware welcome station. I have had an abnormal obsession with finding myself in Delaware one day. Exhibit A:



And here I was! The bus driver made an announcement I couldn't hear with my headphones in, not to mention his accent was so thick I gave up understanding him before I even boarded the bus, but I take this same bus company to Boston often and figured we had the same 15-minute break. I got out, took some obligatory Delaware pictures, went to the bathroom, got a Starbucks.



There was an announcement inside the station that sounded like my bus, but that couldn't be right, plus the accent and quality were so bad I couldn't even understand it. As I'm making my way back to out, the bus driver recognizes me, beelines to me and starts chewing me out, saying where had I been and didn't I hear his announcement, and everyone is waiting on me (I think, that was what I made from it). I felt angry and defensive and close to arguing back just because, what the hell? Instead all I managed to say was "okay. Well I'm here now" because honestly, what difference did any of it make now? The bus was full, and EVERYONE was in their seats, and my one empty chair sat at the very back. Everyone was staring daggers and it was humiliating to walk down that aisle, appearing late with (of all things!) my caramel macchiato in tow. One guy even said "Okay" all loud and huffy. I paused by his chair, because I felt so defensive, it was an honest mistake and not at all malicious and I'm sure he had NEVER been late for ANYTHING before in his life, right? I was about to bring this up and say so to him. But I thought the better of it and just continued down the aisle to my seat with my eyes fixed on the floor until I reached my place... sat down, lowered myself into a little ball and immediately dreaded this memory ever coming back to me and wanting to be in Maryland and off the bus ASAP as possible!

Palak picked me up from the rainy bus stop at Baltimore's Penn Station, and I told her the whole story and she thought it was hilarrrrrrious and I was still mortified and hadn't recovered, but at least she made me laugh at her laughing about it.

ANYWAYS, I hadn't seen Palak in a year and some change and it was great to be back in her presence! The whole weekend was fabulous... relaxing at her apartment, watching Sleepless in Seattle (awful, awful movie!), enjoying briefly living together again, and exploring DC and Charm City! We spent Saturday night out in DC and definitely fell asleep on the metro back to the Greenbelt stop.

This little boy was posing like this for his own picture, and I'm SO HAPPY that he made it into ours too. He. Is. Awesome.

West Coast Home!

East Coast Home!

So as fun as Baltimore and DC were, Palak and I had the EGGSPERIENCE of a lifetime at this brunch restaurant Sunday morning, called something ridiculous like that, Eggcelent or whatever. The menu was OVERLOADED with all these egg puns, I couldn't even handle it anymore, but it was soooo delicious. And so thematic!



I was so overwhelmed by the edible choices that I was just going to get 2 eggs any style (over easy!) and Palak laughed in my face and said it was unacceptable to come to a brunch place like this and just get 2 eggs any style, so I went all out and had this ridiculous concoction of 2 eggs sunnyside up under a bagel with melted cheese and bacon over it. And we got a cinnamon roll too.



I don't take pictures of food, so I took pictures of us waiting instead. All part of the eggsperience!

It was SUCH A FABULOUS weekend, relaxing and being with Palak, a little piece of home. I sincerely, really love this northeast corner of the United States, I love the East Coast, I love traveling and exploring, but every now and then, nothing compares with being with old friends and feeling like I'm back where I started from. I foresee many more trips to Baltimore.

Australian Michael Surprise!

On Tuesday I got a message from Australian Michael. I figured it was a mass message, but was fully taken aback to see he was writing to me directly, to say that he was going to suffer a 10 hour layover in JFK and would be coming into the city and it was a long shot but did I want to get lunch?

I met Michael at the University of Bordeaux, and I believe we all owed it to Pam and her friendly warm welcome of everyone who invited him along with the Americans to some lunch or outing (although to be fair, Michael is extremely outgoing, personable, friendly, and never seems to get uncomfortable, anywhere, ever) and he became a close friend that year. I admire Michael for many reasons:

1. He was always down to do ANYTHING! Count on Michael to try any restaurant, any bar, go on any road trips, or meet any new people. He never seemed to be too tired to come out or be social.
2. Michael was daring! He moved to France from Sydney with no French, no real goal, and no friends at all. He lived with a host family with no knowledge of the language before eventually getting his own place
   
3. Michael plays rugby and found his way onto Bordeaux's rugby team. He would always invite us not only to his games, but to the afterparties as well, and always shared his friends with the rest of his friends. In springtime, my roommate Katie and I made it a regular Sunday morning event to cross the Garonne (river) to the rugby fields and watch Michael's games and join the team at the bar afterwards.
4. Michael is fearless. He eventually left Bordeaux to Montpellier, where he continues to play rugby, got a job (yes, his French became that good) and maybe be relocating to Mexico now. Because it's time and he wants to. You have to admire that.

Here is one of my favorite memories of Michael:


At the Thanksgiving dinner Pam and I hosted!


Michael was such a good sport at being incredibly interested as I retold the story of the Pilgrims and the Indians!

We had to start referring to Michael as Australian Michael when he became best mates with another rugby player from his team Michael, from England, (British Michael) and they were seen together everywhere they went. After I had said my goodbyes for the year, I spent my last day in Bordeaux running errands, and happened to run into Michael at a tram stop, he was on his way to a rugby game. It was unexpected, and became our last goodbye. This was the last time I ever saw him, in 2007:



Until yesterday! I was ecstatic Michael was coming into the city and we arranged to meet at Columbus Circle at 1pm. It was rainy and nasty so the trains were slow and I ended up a little late. It wasn't until I got off the train, walking to the Time Warner Center, that I finally got nervous and wondered if I would recognize him, and how did he look? I saw him first, and then he saw me, and it was like nothing had ever changed. He looked exactly the same. Maybe more fit (he's still playing rugby) and his accent sounded thicker than I remembered, but same old Australian Michael! I overstayed my lunchbreak (oops) as we talked and laughed and caught up on all our old memories, our lives since we'd last seen each other, and where we were going next. It was his first time in the States... and he was running around NYC like a madman for a few hours. That is so Michael!

We parted in the subway. I gave him directions to the World Trade Center and I caught my own train back uptown to work.



Okay wow, that was ridiculously long-winded, but it has been almost five years and I am still so nostalgic over my year in France. It's such a great feeling to have a little part of it again and realize it wasn't all a delusion in my head but that it really happened.