A Boy's Life 2

I Hate L.A. (NSFW)

Possible the funniest L.A. video ever. Thanks to Alex for showing me this.

Unemployment: Day 4

The weight of this came crashing down around me this morning. As expected, right around 9:00a, when I was supposed to be sitting down at my desk, resuming work as usual.

I've been thinking non-stop about the work that was left undone. My clients. Looking up at my building every morning before I walked inside. The long hallway to my office. Things I'll never do again. 8 years is a long time to get used to a routine.

Wow. This sucks.

I filed for unemployment benefits this morning. That was an interesting experience. Kind of made want to throw up a little. But it needs to get done, I s'pose.

I am unsure about next steps today. I know there are things I should do today. Update my resume. Reach out to contacts. Apply for jobs. Even maybe clean the house, go to the gym, or...you know, eat something.

But I don't want to do any of those things. I just want to lay on my couch and cry. Which, I think, for today, is an acceptable plan.

Unemployment: Day 2

I was laid off on Thursday morning at 9:30am.

After working for the same company for over 8 years, I was "let go".

Suffices to say I'm a little angry. A little sad. Very worried how I am going to pay my bills (of which there are many). But other than that, I'm pretty ok.

One of my enduring traits is my full faith in my being almost always correct. In as much, I don't feel this event as a blow to my ego or judgment on my self-worth. I see it as the people in charge simply being incredibly short-sighted and, well, wrong. But so it goes.

I have a moderate severance. I have unemployment. And I have the bakery job. So, for a while, I'll be ok. But only a short while. Come fall, if I have not found a new good job, emphasis on the "good", life is going to get VERY interesting.

The oddest thing for my right now is finding a way to hit the "off switch" on caring about the work that I had left on my plate. I simply so not need to care about that anymore, yet my overdeveloped sense of loyalty to my job and responsibility to my clients is still in full-effect. I'm thinking, come Monday morning at 9:00a, I'll find a way to come to grips with it. We'll see.

On the bright side, I do effectively have a paycheck until end of summer. I can take some time to relax and unwind, which I honestly have not done in 8 years. I can get myself back to the gym. I can read. I can call my uncle, which I haven't done in MONTHS. Bad nephew, I am.

And, I can take a crack at continuing to write here. It's helped in times past. Hopefully it will help again.

In the meantime, if anyone has a job opening for an extremely capable and experienced Project Manager, I'm pretty free these days.

Onward and upward, right?

Random Links Friday

I've been a little lazy with updating the blog lately. February finds me rather low-energy. I've never liked this month, I guess. Thankfully, it's our shortest one! :-)

This week's dose of fun/informative links:

• The Claim: Never Blow Your Nose When You Have a Cold - How about that? Blowing your nose the wrong way can produce sinus pressure “equivalent to a person’s diastolic blood pressure reading." Crazy!
• Recovery.gov - You know, even if it's faux-transparency, and only time will tell if it is, I much rather this new administration's penchant for putting everything online. This site will give you all the information you could want about the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and where all the money is being spent.
• Good Question: How To Keep Veggies Crisp in the Fridge? - This is a constant problem for me. I tend to only use a little bit of each celery bunch I purchase, and then I feel like a tool throwing the rest away. This wee article gives some tips on how to keep veggies fresh annnd what to do with them when they have that "not so fresh" feeling.
• Fred Phelps Banned from the UK - Awwww, yeah. Another reason to love the British. The food is terrible, but at least they know enough to keep animals like Phelps out of their country.
• Scientist Looks to Weaponize Ball Lightning - Niiiiice. I want my ball lightning ray gun now.

Random Links Friday

Anybody else had enough of winter? I sure have. What a CRAPPY week in terms of weather. *sigh*

Here is your weekly dose of random links to serve as a distraction from the wintry mess outside.

• Creamy Cream-Filled Puffs - The easiest cream puff recipe EVER. So easy, and so tasty. Maybe not conducive to fitting into that summer-Speedo, but we have some time.
• Vision42 - Now here's an interesting idea. This is a citizen-driven proposal to turn 42nd street into an auto-free boulevard with a light rail running completely across town. Read and dream...
• Babies Know: A Little Dirt Is Good for You - This is exactly what I've been saying to Rex (a.k.a. "the bf who won't touch the subway poles") for years. A little germ exposure here and there only makes you stronger. The theory of vaccination, really. I don't know if I'd go so far as to eat dirt, per se...
• I LEGO NY - An incredibly creative depiction of NYC through Legos. So damn cute. I chuckled the whole way through.
• Lexicon - I'm not 100% sure that link is going to work, as it has my profile id in the URL, but this tool is quite interesting. A new tool from Facebook for you to be able to search trends across all data on Facebook wall posts. You put a word/phrase/name in, and it will give you statistics across time about how many people have been talking about it. It also gives you some basic demographic breakdowns, associations across phrases, etc. Quite cool. If the link doesn't work, just search for "Lexicon" on the Facebook search engine. Make sure to jump to the new version of it.
• NYC So Costly You Need to Earn Six Figures to Make Middle Class - And people wonder why New Yorkers put up with less shit than anyone else. Read it and weep (for us).

Courage Campaign's "Don't Divorce Us" Video (WARNING: TEARJERKER!!!)

I had to stop watching this three times, as I couldn't see through my tears. And I was at work. Oy.

It doesn't help that this song is one of my favorite songs that Rex put on a mix for me during our first year of dating.

If this doesn't melt some hearts in this country, I don't know what will.

Happy Birthday x 2!!!

Today is my blog's birthday. Today is also my dog's birthday.

Today, my blog is three years old. Today, Eloise is seven years old (or 49 in dog years...she an OLD bitch).

My blog was born on a rainy afternoon three years ago today on the 34th floor of 1585 Broadway. Eloise was born on an unseasonably warm and balmy day seven years ago today in Belpre, OH.

Three years have gone by since I've started this blog. I let it fall by the wayside for first part of 2008. I s'pose I was paying attention to other things. But I'm glad I've gotten back into the swing of writing. As always, it's a good feeling to be able to look back at the passage of time and feel like you're moving in the right direction. This blog helps me with that, I think.

And my Smoo. My little Eloise. My, how the time has flown by, eh? I still remember the first day you came home to me. I believe my exact words to your Mommy were, "Let me see it." You crawled towards me, took one look at my face, crawled into my lap, and promptly fell asleep. It was love at first sight for both of us. While you no longer live with me, I don't see you as much as I would like, and your seventh year has found a lot more grey on your chin, I still love you dearly.

Here's to another wonderful year for the blog and Eloise! Many happy returns to you both!

Random Links Friday

This has been a good week. I think everyone is feeling a sense of renewal. It's a good thing. Let the positivity flow. :-)

With that:

• Berry Marscapone Cupcakes - OMG, so freakin' tasty. So pretty, and SO easy to make! Check out this cool new recipe from PickyCook.com.
• Even in Winter, Provincetown Shines - If you're looking for an amazing winter getaway that doesn't involve a beach (at least a warm one) or skiing, consider Provincetown. I have rarely seen such beauty in the winter as I have in Provincetown in the winter. It's so gorgeous up there this time of year. And peaceful. This article helps capture a little of that.
• Conscientious Cook: Good Uses for Broccoli Stalks - In the "new economy" (I'm beginning to hate that phrase), a more prudent approach to cooking waste seems...well...prudent. I can speak from experience that the stalks of broccoli are just as tasty as the tops and florets. Granted, they need to be cooked for a little longer, this article shows how useful they can be in many recipes.
• Top 5 Most Extreme Exoplanets - A totally cool article in Wired about the top 5 most extreme planets that have been found outside of our solar system. Completely appealed to the geek in me. *le sigh*
• Obama to Reopen Lady Liberty’s Crown - YES! Finally! I never accepted the argument that the place was a deathtrap, so it needed to be closed. Yes, it's cramped. Yes, it's dangerous. But if you limit the amount of people that are in there at any one time, the danger is avoided. I am SO going this summer. :-)

Keeping Perspective

I have moments in my life where I take a couple steps back and look at where I am. I think everyone has these moments. I don't know if everyone does it midstream, sans a catastrophic event, but I do. Even when things are going ostensibly well, I do it. Just to make sure I have things in perspective.

Last night, while working at the bakery, I had one of those moments. I realized I've been working more over the past couple months than I have in a long time. Work at my regular job has picked up significantly, contrary to industry trend, which is a good thing. It makes me feel a little more secure in my place here.

On top of that, I'm not closing at the bakery on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesdays, and working during the day on Saturdays. Which basically means I now work seven days a week.

Jose asked me to work Sundays and I had a moment of hesitation about it. I thought to myself whether I could really handle that or not. And, as corny as this sounds, I started thinking about President Obama's (how cool does THAT sound) inauguration speech yesterday. About how part of the American spirit is all about hard work.

The first part of my life in New York was very me-centric. I spent money I didn't have. I enjoyed myself thoroughly. And while I don't regret those decisions, I have come to the conclusion that I need to pay for them now. In order to make sure the rest of my life goes the way I want to, I'm willing to bust my ass now. I'm willing to do my part to drag myself fully out of debt, create savings for myself and Rex, and put in the effort to deserve the good things I want later.

I know. Sounds like a simple conclusion, right? I think it's harder to live that than say/write it. We shall see. For myself and the rest of the nation. I think we'll all be working harder in the days ahead.

Other than that, life goes apace. The whole not drinking thing is working out really well. I haven't had as much trouble with it as I had thought. I've even been out with my friends who were partying and not given in to the temptation to drink. And, interestingly enough, my friend Alex is considering going dry for February, and I told him that if he did it, I would do it with him to show support. So this might be a two-month streak of sobriety for me. Perish the thought. ;-)

Anyway, I guess my point is that things are good right now. I feel good about working more. I feel good about putting money in the bank and making healthy choices. I feel good that I'm planning a little more for Rex's and my future. I guess I've reached a sort of fork in the road in my life, and I think I've chosen the right path. Maybe not the easier one for now. But so it goes, right?

Get It On

ROFL

Slingin' baked goods...

Random Links Friday

I have the day off today. And holy CRAP is it cold outside! I pity you poor bastards that have to drudge through this to and fro work.

So here is your weekly dose of random links. Hopefully, some of them will keep you warm.

• Life On Mars - NASA scientists have confirmed the presence of methane in the Martian atmosphere, which they believe can only be attribute to an organic source. Totally amazing news. Life = water = colonization. Who wants to move with me?
• Steve Hanson Closes Fiamma, Ruby Foo's Uptown, Blue Water Grill Chicago - I am so beyond bummed about this. Fiamma was in my top 5 restaurants in this city. I loved that place. LOVED. To echo a lot of the commenters, this is the first three-star restaurant in NYC to go down due to economic woes. And it probably won't be the last.
• An Open Letter to an Aging Madge - I love Madonna. Everyone knows this. I defend her fiercely, as the woman is just bad-ass. Anyone who can drag themselves up from the dregs of Detroit to being a millionaire businesswoman is ok in my book. But this article is just too damn funny not to post.

Just in case anybody is counting.

$3725.00The Cadaver Calculator - Find out how much your body is worth.

Random Links Friday

Welcome to Friday, people.

One full week into 2009, and we seem to be doing ok. Well, relatively, anyway. I'm five days into no drinking, and it's been...well...liberating.

So, in the vein of continually distracting myself and others from sobriety, here are your weekly links. I'm a little heavy on food this week. Maybe I'm compensating for the drop in calories from alcohol?

• Fresh Start for a New Year? Let's Begin in the Kitchen - A great article for anyone wondering how to properly stock a pantry. Great suggestions for the basics all the way through the more esoteric ingredients necessary to make great dishes year round.
• The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of 2009 - So you can start scheduling now, of course. Not only is this a good cheat-sheet of the "must-sees" for 2009, but this writer made me laugh out loud no less than three times. My favorite line was "If you’re like us, you’d watch Christian Bale paint a fence..."
• Saving a Squirrel By Eating One - Umm...wow. Seriously? I mean, I knew British food was bad. But really? I mean, squirrels are just rats in drag. Ew.
• The Best 11 Foods You Aren't Eating - Nutritionist and author Jonny Bowden has created several lists of healthful foods people should be eating but aren’t. Out of the whole list, I have one item in my house. Whoops.
• Palm Unveils Its Long-Awaited Smartphone, the Pre - Awwww, that's adorable. They're trying to compete with the iPhone. *giggle*

36" Sony Model KV-36FV26 for sale - $250 o.b.o.

Condition: used

36" Sony Model KV-36FV26 for sale - $250 o.b.o.

A few dings here and there from moving over the years, but otherwise in 100% working order. Need to sell to make way for a new TV coming on 1/10/09.

Buyer must pick-up.

All model information is here: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=KV36FV26

A Sobering Thought

I've decided to not drink any alcohol for the month of January. Well, more exactly, I've decided to not drink any alcohol for the rest of the month of January. 28 days, starting from yesterday.

I know. Insane, right? Me? But I have been thinking about it for the past few weeks, and the new year seems as good a time as any to give this a try.

The idea to do this started with the thought that I could not, no matter how hard I tried, remember the last time I went without drinking anything alcoholic for four weeks. At least, not since college started, that is.

While that's not particularly alarming to me in any way, as the statement does not mean I've been drunk that entire time, it is something worthy of note. And presents somewhat of a challenge. And I digs me a challenge.

Also, I have found my friends' reactions rather interesting when discussing this idea with them. All of them, with the exception of my boyfriend and Andy, scoffed. You know who you are, you naysayers. That, in an of itself, sealed the challenge for me. No one tells me what I can and cannot do, and I rather dislike being so, well, predictable.

If you want to hang out over the next 28 days, I'll probably be pretty free. Museums, movies, walks in the park, walks around the city...all are fair game. Hit me up. :-)

So it goes. 28 days. No alcohol. Pray for me.

Bun in The Oven

No, Rex isn't pregnant.

Yet.

My boss just told me she is four months pregnant (which is awesome, since she's gonna be a kick-ass mommy). I asked if she'd thought of a name, as she knows she's having a girl. Her and her husband are still in the name vetting process, and I told her I knew of this really cool interactive graph of names throughout history. It's a couple years old, and it took me some time to find it again, but it is still quite cool. Check it out:

Popularity of names starting with STEPHEN

Random Links Friday

Welcome to 2009, people. Here's hoping it's...well...survivable. I may shoot low for 2009, in the hopes that little to no expectations will leave me pleasantly surprised at the end of the year.

In the meantime, your weekly dose of the fun, creative, and informative links:

• F#ck You, Penguin - One of the funniest blogs I have seen in a long time. The author is just plain sick and hilarious. Read it. And relatively suitable for work, btw.
• What is HDMI? - Rex and I just bought a brand new 52" LCD TV. I know. Don't worry, you'll be invited over soon for an Xbox party. :-) In the meantime, having gone through the whole, "what the eff is HDMI and why do I care" debacle, I figured I'd save you the trouble. This article has literally everything you need to know about this new standard for TV cables.
• Total Wine Bar - At a holiday party the other week, I met the extremely cute owner of this fabulous little wine bar in Park Slope. Charming and sweet, with notes of masculine oak...oh, wait...we're supposed to be talking about the bar. So, yeah. Totally awesome joint. It's intimate and perfect for a first date, providing a surprising array of wines and tasty treats. Again, the bar. We're talking about the bar.
  
• What Carriers Aren’t Eager to Tell You About Texting - Ever wondered why text messaging plans are still so expensive? With the trillions of SMS messages sent per year now, shouldn't the price be dropping? Read on and find out how our carriers are screwing us, yet again.
• Is God An Accident? - An extremely well-written article from The Atlantic, discussing the origins of "God" from a psychological standpoint. Reflective of many of my own beliefs on the subject. Part of the overall "Think Again" campaign that I mentioned a few months back.

Upon further reflection...

Ok, so 2008 wasn't the best of years for a lot of people. Looking back at my year, however, and considering everything from a relative standpoint, 2008 was pretty damn good for me.

I got to spend it with my man by my side, which I'd have to say is the highlight. We had our ups and our downs, as any relationship does, but we have arrived at 2009 in a better place than when we arrived in 2008. And, as I've said a thousand times on this blog before, relationships only move in one direction; forward. And we seem to be heading that way, so all is well.

Work has also had its ups and downs. While I would say it's currently in a neutral place, it most definitely and undeniably could be worse. Namely, I still have my job. I aim to kick myself in the ass in the new year. I think it may actually be my one *gasp* resolution for 2009. Kind of either a shit or get off the pot kind of situation, if you'll pardon the expression. Either I really want to be here, or I don't. And I believe I do, so it's time to rededicate myself to my work.

Other than that, things went rather swimmingly. Lots of new friends were made. I went on a big gay cruise with my man. I got to vote with my man and got a (hopefully) kick-ass new President. I got to travel a bit to Savannah, Texas, Mexico, and Fire Island (hopefully, there will be more traveling in 2009). I am happy and healthy.

So on this New Year's Day, I wish all of my friends happiness, health, and prosperity for 2009.

The Old Year has gone.  Let the dead past bury its own dead.  The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time.  All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!  ~Edward Payson Powell

Three Confused Pugs

OMG. Could you just eat them up, or what?