November 19, 2008
Today sucked
I had a meeting right at 9 this morning, which meant I had to sit in a crappy traffic jam for an hour and get to the office at 9:05, already late for my meeting. A meeting where I learned that my company was laying people off today. Not me. My job is safe. But other people lost their jobs today. People I liked and respected and cared about and I will miss them.
That’s all I’ll say about it, but to not mention it at all would be wrong and fake and I just couldn’t blather on about Twitter and Facebook tonight (now you know what to look forward to tomorrow) and not acknowledge what happened.
Then I heard that a girl I work with got hit by a car in front of our building last night and is in the hospital with serious injuries. I don’t know her very well, but she is sweet and nice and I really hope she’ll be ok.
And hey, then the stock market decided to completely fall apart. It was the perfect cap on a crappy day.
Let’s hope tomorrow is better. It kind of has to be.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
November 11, 2008
Randomosity, courtesy of my headache and caffeine
I have one of my stupid headaches. I finally gave in and took an Excedrin Migraine, which worked its magic as usual. But it is chock full of caffeine, which I don’t usually have, and which I never have at 8 pm. So we’ll see if I get any sleep at all tonight. I’m whee! whirring around the room right now (incoherent ranting is likely to ensue), so I may need to take Excedrin PM to come down, Elvis-style.
Now on to more important things, like TV. On the Biggest Loser, oh how I LOATHE the blue team. That Vicky is an evil bitch, her husband is a jerk and Heba, who I used to think was kind of sweet, is a whiny, smug pain in the ass. Edited to add: Ha! In your face Vicky!
On True Blood, John thinks the killer might be Rene. I don’t want it to be him! I love his Cajun accent and the silly advice he’s always handing out to people. Of course I can’t figure out which character I do want it to be. I pretty much adore all of the misfits and weirdos on that show. Well, except that Amy, who I do not like and actually hope gets what’s coming to her in some sort of gruesome fashion. Although I do think the actress who is playing her is doing a wonderful job.
Moving on, here are some movies I’m very much looking forward to: Quantum of Solace, although it will be weird not to go see it with my brother, because we always go see the Bond movies together. Also (of course) Twilight. I got my boss hooked on the books, and now have grand plans to fight our way through hordes of teeny boppers to go see it. We’re pretty confident we can take them if it comes down to a battle for good seats.
Ok, I’ve been trying to find a way to wrap this up, but I’m tired. And yet still wired due to the caffeine. Awesome. I think I will just say goodnight.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:44 PM | Comments (3)
November 10, 2008
They are plotting something, I just know it
My mom’s eyebrows are much like my mom – well mannered and orderly, never a hair out of place. I don’t think she ever has to do a thing to them, and yet they are perfectly arched, not too thick and not too thin.
My dad’s eyebrows, on the other hand, are just as much of a reflection of who he is – unruly, sometimes faintly hostile, at times even somewhat jovial. They bristle and wiggle and pop off his face with a life of their own.
My own eyebrows lie somewhere in the middle, neither as nicely groomed as my mom’s nor as wild as my dad’s. I’ve always had to shape them and thin them out a bit, but in general I’d say my eyebrows are fairly well behaved. And yet, I’ve always lived with the fear that one day I’d wake up to find that they’d somehow gone rogue and gotten bushy on me. That hasn’t happened so far, but I swear they are considering a coup against my eyelids. Rather than getting puffier, they are expanding their territory down my eyes. I’m finding more and more stray hairs on my actual eyelids. This is not cool. But do not fear for my eyelids! I will be vigilant. I have tweezers – girly pink Tweezerman tweezers – and I’m not afraid to use them.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:15 PM | Comments (1)
November 06, 2008
There may be a box bigger than that in my basement right now
I spend a lot of time writing copy these days. Some days it is fun. On other days the stock market falls 5% while I’m trying to write a press release for a guy who says the market has bottomed and everything is going to be fine. Those days are less fun.
While desperately searching for inspiration – or was it just plain distraction – on the internet today, I somehow stumbled across a link to this story about a guy who makes over tiny spaces for Oprah. Well, he probably does other things too, but they only talked about the tiny space makeovers. I know tiny houses are kind of a hot new thing these days. They are economical, environmentally friendly, in keeping with the new frugal we-don’t-want-another-depression chic and unlikely to get foreclosed on.
They are also really, really small. This woman’s apartment is 250 square feet. If you click through and look at the photos, you’ll see they made it an exceptionally nice 250 square foot apartment, with all sorts of clever storage and tucked away things (the litter box is particularly fancy) and a very cool looking teensy kitchen. Even so, I would lose my mind in a space that small. She doesn’t even have room a door for the bathroom, just a curtain. I just couldn’t do it. I don’t need some 10,000 square foot mega mansion, but I need walls and space and a room of my own. Even when I was growing up, I loved it when my family went out and left me in the house by myself. Another classic American case of Manifest Destiny, I guess, just on smaller scale.
Plenty of people seem to feel these tiny spaces are just wonderful. What do you think? How small a space could you live in on your own? Or share with others?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:45 PM | Comments (3)
November 01, 2008
Do over
I was not happy with that Memory Lane post. I was tired and distracted when I wrote it, and it did not say what I wanted it to say.
I wanted to talk about what a lovely person my friend’s mom was. How much I admired her, and how said I am that she’s gone. Due to my somewhat unusual background, very religious people often make me uncomfortable. That was never the case with my friend’s mom, even though she was a devout Catholic whose faith permeated all facets of her life. She was someone who tried very hard to live life as a true Christian – helping the less fortunate, treating others with kindness and never judging – and when she said “God bless you” you knew she was handing you the highest compliment she had to offer. She was an eternal optimist and lived a life that seemed to be filled with joy. Over the years I saw her get flustered or stressed out from time to time, but never angry. And while she lived a very traditional life while I knew her, she also had lived a very daring life before she settled down, married a widower with six kids and had a child of her own. In a time when women weren’t given a ton of options, she traveled the world as a stewardess, living in Tokyo and the Philippines and going all over Asia. She could fit twice as many clothes in a suitcase as a normal person, rolling everything up carefully so there’d be more room and nothing would get wrinkled. Eventually she came back to the States, got her Master’s and then went to live in San Francisco. When I was struggling to learn to drive a stick shift, she told me a hysterical story about learning to drive on the hills of San Francisco and rolling backwards halfway down some huge street. And that’s just the way she was. Supportive, encouraging, and always ready to laugh. I’m sad that’s she gone, and I’m devastated for my friend.
I also wanted to talk about how seeing all those people from my past, and going to so many places from my… youth, I guess it would be, considering the span of years from Kindergarten to the end of high school, reminded me that even in today’s fast paced modern world, where it seems sometimes like I do all my communicating through technology – phone, email, blogs, Facebook, Twitter, texting and so on – I’m still connected to other people. That I can go to a place and have someone say “Hey Mom, remember Hillary Maidenname?” and that mom will cry out in joy and give me a huge hug. That there are people who remember my birthday party at Shakey’s when I was six, that we played hide and seek in the boxwoods when we were in second grade, that my friend and I convinced her older sister to take us to see Beverly Hills Cop even though it was rated R and a whole lot more. It felt good to see them all, and hear about their lives, and to say to them, yes, I have a good life. I’m happy. It is so easy to get caught up in the day to day business of living life, and then you look up and realize a whole year has flashed by. And so I walked away from funeral quite determined to spend more time with the people who matter in my life.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 12:04 PM | Comments (1)
October 30, 2008
Memory Lane
A very dear friend of mine from middle school’s mom died this past Sunday. She’d been ill for over a year now – a long, slow, cruel decline that was particularly hard on the whole family. She was a genuinely wonderful person, a truly kind, encouraging and enthusiastic woman who will be missed by everyone who knew her.
Between the viewing last night and the funeral and the reception today, I’ve had quite the tour of my childhood. I saw people I’ve known since kindergarten and first grade, including the “other Hillary” who I had many of my birthday parties with and the first boy I ever kissed. Plus their parents. And friends from high school. It is weird to see them all grown up, with kids and careers.
Then today I went to the funeral in the church up near my middle school, to the cemetery right by the house where I grew up, drove past Kennedy High School where many of my friends went, past the turnoff to my friend Laurie’s house (Laurie being most notable for having introduced me to the wonderful Mr. Penguin) and to Columbia, where so many of my elementary and middle school friends lived. The reception was in a historic house in Vantage Point, a neighborhood where friends of my parents lived. One year in that house the kids put on a Halloween show for the parents. I particularly remember turning Blondie’s Call Me in to Kill Me, which we thought was very spooky. I drove past Running Brook, which has the distinction of being the neighborhood where I went trick-or-treating for the last time as a kid. At the reception I swapped stories with old friends and their families, remembering events I hadn’t thought of in years.
I’m sorry it had to happen this way, but it was nice to see everyone and be reminded of my past.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)
October 28, 2008
Behold the powers of the knee!
On Friday, my knee got really achy and I couldn't figure out why. We'd taken Seamus for a hike in the woods, but it wasn't a very strenuous hike, and I'd deliberately chosen to not work out because I felt like my body needed a day of rest. My knee still gets stiff or a little sore from time to time, but mostly it hasn't been giving me much trouble.
Then on Saturday it poured for most of the day. Mystery solved!
Last night, my knee got achy again, and again, I wondered why. This morning when I woke up, it was raining.
Who needs Doppler radar? The knee knows.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 07:50 AM | Comments (1)
October 23, 2008
Modern Philosophical Dilemmas
Forget pondering whether or not there is justice, if thinking means you are, or who should control the means of production. The questions we have to answers in today’s world fall into a whole new dimension.
For example, there is the problem of when to buy Halloween candy. Make your purchases too early, and you’ll just end up eating the candy before Halloween. Wait too long and you’ll get stuck handing out weird and irrelevant candy that no kid wants, like Bit O’ Honey and Raisinettes. They’ve pretty much started putting the candy out in August now, so you have to resist for quite a while. I’m may be pushing my luck, but I think I’m going to grab some candy this weekend. I’ll just tuck it in a closet and try not to think about it until Friday.
Then there’s this problem, which may not apply to everyone. Is the benefit of adding a morning workout completely undone if by 2 pm you are so tired that you are forced to turn to Starbucks in order to prevent a faceplant on to your desk? I managed to get up and exercise three out of four mornings this week, but it is completely sucking the life out of me. I don’t understand why an evening workout is usually energizing, but a morning workout makes me a zombie (minus the appetite for brains).
While pondering the following excerpt from a review in the Washington Post of AC/DC’s new album
"But mostly, 'Black Ice' contains songs about rocking. Specifically, about how much AC/DC rocks, how much it's rocked in the past and how, if given the opportunity, it plans to rock some more in the future."
John and I invented the following koan: What is the state of the world when AC/DC stops rocking? Much like the sound of one hand clapping has never been heard, this state has never been achieved, because AC/DC always brings the rock.
And finally, I’ll leave you with two interesting links that people have sent me recently:
Michael Pollan outlines the plan he’d like to see the next President follow for our new food policy.
John and I were supposed to go out of town this weekend, but ended up canceling our trip. I decided to keep my vacation days though, so I’m headed in to a luxurious four day weekend. Hope yours is lovely!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:04 PM | Comments (4)
October 16, 2008
I humbly apologize
That last post is proof that I can’t turn a partially formed thought into a coherent piece while also watching the debate and commenting on every answer while also trying to come up with a smartass funny fake answer to each question. I struck gold on a few of those, but unfortunately, my concentration was not on my writing. And on top of that, I had gotten up early to get in a pre-work exercise session and then went to kickboxing class after work, so I was tired. Instead of the intelligent and insightful post that was in my head what came out was kind of an incoherent mess. Sorry.
I really do need to start making some sort of morning exercise a regular part of my routine, because while I feel like I get stronger and more fit every day, I am not losing any damn weight. I already work out most nights after work, so mornings are all that are left. The problem being that I hate mornings. Yesterday I meant to get up and do 30 Day Shred (30 minutes that will kick your ass like you wouldn’t believe) but I was so sleepy I was worried I might do myself bodily harm. Confidence was high that I’d whack myself in the head with a hand weight, and wouldn’t that be a crappy way to start off my day. So I rode the exercise bike instead. Good, but not as good as 30 Day Shred. It’s just so dark out in the mornings now. My internal clock is set to dark=stay in bed. This morning I didn’t quite make it out of bed early enough, but I’ll try again tomorrow.
Speaking of today, apparently today was Bosses Day. My team took me out for a surprise manicure, which was very sweet. I now have freshly manicured fingernails painted a loverly shade of dark blue. My team rules.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:04 PM | Comments (2)
October 08, 2008
Not so bad, really
My mood has been a bit uncertain lately. Just ask my poor husband, who has had to put up with my sudden obsession and random hostility over where the Christmas tree will go. In two months. If there could be a physical manifestation of my mood, it would be a sullen, spiky black cloud with bad hair, bags under its eyes and a scowl on its face. I’m outside of my comfort zone in my new role at work, which is good for me and my career growth in the long term, but stressful. I’m pissed off about my lack of weight loss, and my infertility has really been getting me down. I don’t know why sometimes I care more than others, but that’s the way it goes, and right now caring is on the upswing. On top of that, I had a bizarre bruising incident after getting blood drawn. I am not even exaggerating when I say that about 1/5th of my left arm was covered in bruises and very painful. Every time I rolled over at night (and I roll over a lot) I woke up, so I didn’t get enough sleep for about a week. And I was having anxiety dream after anxiety dream. I’m assuming the pain was causing that. Thankfully the bruises have faded and I’ve actually gotten some rest the last couple of nights.
The needle started swinging in the other direction at some point yesterday. Who knows why, although we did settle the burning Christmas tree issue. I’m sure you’re all very relieved. However, as I headed off to work this morning, already nursing a headache because the weather was changing, I turned on the radio and heard: world markets down, futures down, Fed rate cut, markets and futures up! No wait, markets and futures back down. As soon as they said the FTSE and the CAC had zoomed up and then down over 5% even after the rate cut, I said to myself “oh, it’s going to be one of those days. Fuck it, I’m going to Starbucks.” It is so hard to know what to say to people about the stock market when it changes every 15 minutes.
The drive through at Starbucks was packed, so I pulled in and parked next to an older looking Subaru station wagon. As I got out of my car, I noticed it was packed with stuff. As I walked toward the back, I could see that there was a mattress and pillows and blankets in the far back of the wagon. Someone was living in that car. You know, theoretically, that this is happening. That the numbers in the stock market indices and the foreclosure statistics translate in to real losses for real people. But it hadn’t hit home for me yet.
Suddenly my life started looking pretty good. And today, I worked really, really hard to be grateful for all that I've got.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:30 PM | Comments (3)
September 28, 2008
Me & Don
I have a new job. Same company, new role, blah blah, leaving the details vague because I like my job and I want to keep it.
However -- and I think I can share this without crossing any work boundaries -- I realized the other day that I now have virtually the same title and even some of the same job functions as Don Draper from Mad Men. Minus the chain smoking, constant boozing and womanizing, of course. Now I just have to figure out how to fit a small wet bar in to my cube. And get a fedora. Don Draper always wears hats.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:55 PM | Comments (2)
September 02, 2008
This Just In: Bad Penguin Approaching Geezerhood
On Saturday night post-wedding we headed out for an evening of bar hopping. Mike, aka the groom, worked in the restaurant business in Boston for years so he knows everyone. He’s also a great guy, so everyone is happy to see him. They were playing one of my favorite songs as we walked in to the first bar, which I took to be a good sign. And we had a really great group of people – smart, funny, good conversationalists – including a couple of people I hadn’t spoken to in 15 years or so.
I was tired, and my feet hurt, and after a while I didn’t care how interesting the conversations I was having were. The bar got hot and noisy and more and more crowded. So we went down the street to another bar. This time I snagged a barstool, so at least I was off my feet. The sparkling conversation continued, but I was seriously flagging. I may have started babbling about nothing. I wasn’t drunk, but I was tipsy. At one point I tottered over to Mike on my sore feet and told him, possibly at length, just how happy I was that he and Jules are together. I meant it, but perhaps not quite as emphatically as it came across.
By then it was after midnight and the group was ready to move on to the third bar, which was also a nightclub. I really wasn’t up for dancing. And I think I’d been up for almost 21 hours at that point. So I took a cab back to the hotel, washed my face and collapsed into bed. Ok, first I wasted some time trying to take a photo of myself in my outfit to show John and Becky (Becky being the person who suggested the store where I got my top) like they would never see it in person. It wasn’t a magical Cinderella-style disappearing top. Except, you know, I’d had a few drinks and I kept either blocking myself in the mirror by holding the camera in the wrong place or by forgetting to turn off the flash. I wonder if that is easier sober.
Back in college I was a hit multiple bars, close down whatever bar I was in, find an after hours club or party and then go get pizza or IHOP and roll in as the birds started to chirp kind of girl. Even when we stayed in the dorms or at someone’s house, I was up and in the thick of things all night long. I guess with being in Boston and being with some of my old crowd, I expected to feel the same way. But even though Saturday was a fun evening with people I really like and in cool bars where we were getting high quality food and drinks at a discount, I could have had just as good a time sitting on the couch with John, watching cheesy British sci-fi TV shows.
Just one more sign of my advancing age. I think I’m ok with this one though. I like my life a lot more now than I did when I was 22.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)
August 26, 2008
Like your camera?
I have a digital camera that is at least five years old. In digital terms, that's practically from the Pleistocene era. Lately I've been having trouble where at least half of my photos are coming out poorly. This is because the camera now takes forever to figure out the light levels and then set off the flash. A bunch of my photos from my college reunion didn't come out because people thought they had taken a photo when they hadn't. And then there's all the pictures where people are making weird faces because they had to wait and wait and wait some more for the camera to actually take the photo. It kind of defeats the purpose of taking pictures.
I researched it, and apparently this is something that happens with Canons when they get older. So, ok, perhaps it is time for me to get a new camera. Do you like your camera? Would you recommend it?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:29 PM | Comments (3)
August 20, 2008
No more purses until I’m 40
I have been a purse buying tear over the last year and a half. I went from not buying any for years to suddenly racking up a total of seven. It started somewhere around the time that I made this purchase.
After I bought that bag, Coach kept sending me coupons. So I bought a couple more purses – they do come in so many different and pleasing colors and styles – and a wallet. And then I picked up this out of season Kate Spade bag I’d always liked on eBay. This spring I made my slightly tipsy assertion in Vegas that I was going to go gamble and win money so I could buy a Louis Vuitton purse. Well, I never did win any money. Gambling is just not fun for me. At one point, bored and bitter after my flight got delayed I was actually up about $17 on the slots at the airport, but $17 isn’t getting me any purses. Actually eBay came through again there, and I acquired a Cabas Piano bag that I absolutely love. It is the perfect size, shape and weight purse. Seriously, if that thing ever wears out, I’m buying another one. That’s how much I love it.
Lately I’ve been eyeing an absolutely adorable red patent leather LAMB bag. I’ve wanted something red patent leather for a while. I could never quite justify spending money on shoes though, because really, how much use am I going to get out of red patent leather shoes? A bag, however...
So I watched it for a while. Then I found out my friend Laila had bought the exact bag I wanted, but in green. She loved hers. Still, I waited. I was very disappointed in Nordstrom for not including it in their Half-Yearly sale. I even dragged poor Becky in to my obsession with this bag. Which is why, when she got a coupon from Bloomingdales today for a 15% discount and free shipping, she immediately sent it my way. And I pounced. My new bag arrives on Monday!
But that is it. I am done with buying purses for a good long while. I have enough. I have more than enough! In fact, I just remembered I bought a clutch to take to England with me, which brings my total up to eight.
There are two exceptions to this rule, which I will lay out ahead of time.
1) Should I actually ever get knocked up, I reserve the right to spend a ridiculous amount of money (ridiculous to be defined by me) on a diaper bag
2) In the extremely unlikely event that I get invited to a fancy shindig, I may need to buy an evening bag
Aside from that though, I am publicly declaring a purse moratorium. You all heard me. I'll just have to find something else to blow money on. Or perhaps I'll try this newfangled thing I've heard about called "not spending money on fripperies."
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:24 PM | Comments (2)
August 17, 2008
Burning question
I just took Excedrin PM in an attempt to defeat this sinus headache that has been plaguing me all weekend, so I have about half an hour until I can no longer keep my eyes open. I’ll try to type fast. It’s always the sinuses on the right side of my face that give me trouble. The left ones are very well behaved, but the right ones have a serious attitude problem. I’ve had about enough of their nonsense, let me tell you.
Anyway, I went grocery shopping this afternoon. First I went to the organic market, which was strangely crowded, short staffed and out of some stuff I wanted like peppers and blueberries. So then I went to the regular grocery store, which was also really busy, although better staffed. Not only was there just one register open at the organic market (although to her credit, the poor cashier kept paging other people to come up to the front of the store, and they kept ignoring her) but the guy in front of me in line said his wife had his wallet, but she was in the bathroom. Then she finally came out of the bathroom, and she didn’t have his wallet. And she didn’t have her wallet, so they sent one of the kids out to the car. Luckily for me, at that point the cashier suspended their sale and rang me up. I was trying to be gracious and patient, but what I wanted to say was “get your shit together, losers!” Part of me wondered if it was some sort of scam, but I think maybe I’ve just watched too many episodes of Hustle.
Now, at the organic market I have reusable bags to use, and they give me a 10 cent credit per bag. The Giant and Whole Foods also encourage you to get the reusable grocery bags, and I think they’ll give you a credit too. My question is, is it rude or somehow bad form to use a reusable bag from another grocery store? I can’t help but wonder if the Giant people would give me the evil eye for using a Whole Foods bag. If they truly care about the environment, that would be one thing, but I think they really just want to sell me their reusable bags. Would you use one store’s bag at another store? Discuss in the comments, please!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:16 PM | Comments (5)
August 13, 2008
Tying up loose ends
I’ve been busy. Busy and tired, which does not lend itself to good blog writing. But now here I am, back and ready to rock.
Let’s see…
The great ant invasion of 2008 seems to have abated. John discovered there was a lot of activity under the sink, so we concentrated our efforts there, which made a difference. Let’s hope our many-legged friends stay away.
Also, my poison ivy/insane bug bites/itchy arm plague finally went away. My left arm is now a little dry and scaly, but on the road to recovery.
Last week’s kickboxing class was taught by a sub. A sub who almost killed Becky and me. My legs were so sore that I practically fell over when I got out of bed on Friday morning. Tonight’s kickboxing class was taught by the usual guy, and it was so much fun! It was still a workout, but neither one of us felt ready to keel over at the end. I was sure the guy totally hated me at first, but he turned out to be really nice. We kicked, we jabbed, we punched, we stomped. I’m kind of a girly puncher, but a pretty darn good kicker. I also got confused about which hand I should be punching with when, but I’m hopeful I’ll catch on with practice.
In other news, I made a wedding cake. My friend Jules got married last December. Now she and her husband are having a party for her family, and she asked me if I would make the cake. I’m a good baker, but a wedding cake is a whole different story. My cakes are usually delicious, but decorating is not my strong suit. Plus, wedding cakes are BIG. So last weekend I baked a practice cake. I didn’t make the entire cake, but I made two tiers. Check out the before photo with the huge pile of pre-baking ingredients.
It took me all weekend to bake, no exaggeration. By the end of the weekend I totally exhausted and passed out on couch at 9 p.m, right in the middle of the Sarah Connor Chronicles, which is a high-energy show. At times I was convinced the cake would be a complete disaster, but it came out ok in the end. The cake was delicious, and not too ugly. I do now know that my wedding cake was worth every single penny I paid for it, and perhaps more. Jules’s cake will be a 3 tier strawberry vanilla buttercream cake, which is the top tier of the cake you see here on my practice cake.
The bottom layer was a lemon cake with raspberry filling, but the strawberry was everyone's favorite. So it will be a very tall, white on white cake with strawberries inside. Hopefully it will make it to Boston in one piece for the party.
I also seem to have inadvertently started a rumor at work that I have a wedding cake business on the side, because I put the leftover cake out for my co-workers to eat. I suppose the baking gets easier with more experience, but there's no way I could do this as a sideline. I like having a weekend!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:53 PM | Comments (4)
August 06, 2008
Kickboxing kicks my ass
Becky and I have been talking about trying a kickboxing class forever, but for one reason or another, we never ever made it to one. Until tonight, that is. Holy moly, what a good workout! She and I both exercise pretty regularly – Becky way more so than me to be fair – and we both struggled to keep up with the instructor. Now, the woman tonight was a sub for the usual guy, so I don’t know what the class will be like next week. We will most definitely go back for more though. I guess this is why they say you should keep changing your exercise routine. I think I’ve discovered new sets of muscles that I’ve never used before.
One of the people on my team at work had been to this kick boxing class, and she told me it didn’t involve much cardio. Right. The class started off with five straight minutes of jumping rope. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to anyone to learn that I can’t actually jump rope. That requires WAY more coordination than I have. I had to put the rope down and pretend. Whatever. Plenty of other people got tangled up in the rope, so I think I did more reps in than they did. Then we had to do this fast shuffle in a big circle while jabbing with three pound weights. For some reason, I kept ending up next to the instructor, who could shuffle way faster than I could. And then going in a circle made me dizzy. Yes, I’m a model of fitness. Apparently jogging around the outside of the circle is also acceptable, so I did that when I got too dizzy. There was also kicking and punching (naturally) and balancing on a big ball, and lunging and kicking and this thing where Becky had to run while dragging me and then I had to run while dragging her.
At one point, the teacher looked over at us and said “You two are kind of quiet. Are you getting a good workout” as we stood there, red faced with sweat pouring off our bodies, looking at her like she was insane. New rule for any class that may require partner work, as this one did. Make sure you have a friend with you, or you could end up sweating all over some stranger. And being sweated on by them, too. I thought I did ok at the kicking (probably due to all of those years of ballet) but less good with the punching. The abs section at the end was also killer, and I think I have pretty decent core strength. Not decent enough!
Still, I love a good workout. I know, when the hell did I turn into that person? Let’s all just hope I can walk tomorrow!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:57 PM | Comments (2)
July 27, 2008
Teaching an old dog new tricks
No, not Seamus. He’s just perfect exactly the way he is. It's me. I live 27 miles from my office. I live even farther than that from my mom, from most of my friends, from the good stores, from my favorite Indian restaurant. I drive a lot. That, along with my environmental worries, is why I bought a hybrid last fall. And just in time too, since I hear it is quite difficult to get your hands on one now.
However, I have never even come close to getting the kind of miles per gallon that they claimed I would get when I bought the car. Don’t get me wrong, the mileage I get is good, and better than I got with my non-hybrid Civic, but it is not the spectacular MPG that one might expect. “No big deal,” I always said, “there are more reasons than just MPG to buy a hybrid.”
Of course, the problem had very little to do with the car or marketing claims (although I do think they exaggerate a bit) and a lot to do with the fact that I’m a speeder. Yep, I drive fast. Way faster than I should. Well, I generally don’t get to speed in the mornings, since that is when I spend my quality time sitting in traffic on 270. But I typically stay later at work or go to the gym, which means that there is more open road available on the drive home. However, everyone says that driving slower helps improve your fuel efficiency (pesky rules of physics), so I’ve been trying – really trying very hard – to stick to the speed limit lately.
And what do you know…it makes a pretty big difference. This is DC though, so you can’t ever go exactly the speed limit. Certainly not on the highway, but I’ve slowed down considerably. There are even benefits that go beyond using less gas/saving money. For example, I don’t have to worry about getting pulled over for speeding. That’s a nice change of pace. And I find I’m calmer behind the wheel. Since I’m trying to be courteous to the other drivers, I’ve moved out of the left lane to do my slower driving. I just cruise along at my previously determined appropriate speed, paying attention to what I’m doing (ok, perhaps paying a little bit too much attention, as watching the MPG indicator zoom up and down can get hypnotic), and not worrying about the jackasses who drive slow in the left lane and make everyone crazy. And by leaving the left lane, I’m also generally out of the way of the people who want to go 90 mph. That’s not to say that I don’t occasionally zip around someone who is going ridiculously slowly – for example, the guy who pulled in to my lane today and then dropped his speed for no reason. I thought maybe he needed to get over for an exit ramp or something, but no, he was just a moron.
And I definitely backslide from time to time. Driving slow is not as easy as you might think. I’ll look down and realize I’m going much faster than I mean to be, or I’ll see the MPG number start to drop. I’ll keep trying to make a permanent change to my driving behavior. I have no idea if it will take or not, but I’m giving it a shot.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:50 PM | Comments (2)
July 15, 2008
Wanted: Ant Killing Ninja
I am waging a losing battle against ants. They are invading my kitchen, and peculiarly, my foyer. The kitchen I understand. There’s nothing for them to eat in the foyer though. We don’t have an overwhelming number of ants, but there always seem to be one or two lurking about on the kitchen counter, just waiting for us to drop something or leave a crumb behind. Yes, even the ants are offering a silent, antennaed commentary on my housekeeping skills.
My fear, of course, is that these ants are just advance scouts for the waiting horde, which will descend on my house and make me utterly miserable. I am generally “Miss Hippie Peace and Love don’t kill anything” but I have been giving killing off these ants all I’ve got. We’ve put out ant baits. Multiple different kinds and brands of ant baits, actually. One with “two kinds of foods ants eat” and one with “quick kill formula” and a third that “targets the queen.” None of these seem to have had even the slightest effect on the ants. We’ll get a brief reprieve, and then they return. I even let John spray some nasty, horrible smelling, packed with stuff that is bad for you ant spray, a product which I am completely and totally opposed to, and it made no difference! Now I just smoosh them whenever I see them. Unfortunately, I have a sneaking suspicion the ants have us outnumbered, and I have no idea what we’re going to try next. Please don’t tell the ants.
Anyone with ant-killing ninja skills, please apply in the comments.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:07 PM | Comments (7)
June 19, 2008
Six little words
Jerri Ann tagged me for the Six Word Autobiography meme. My friend Becky tried to get me to do that one a while back, and I came up totally blank. I guess I'm just not good at being succinct. Plus, with only six words, I could practically change from minute to minute.
For example, Curly haired, good natured, loves dogs
applies to me today, but so does worked late, went to gym anyway
as does lost one pound, did happy dance
I'd claim to be too complex to be summed up in six words, but the truth is it just doesn't suit my personality. It's why I don't like haiku, or people telling me what to do. As in, Perverse streak makes Hillary resist rules.
What six words fit you right this minute?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:41 PM | Comments (3)
May 20, 2008
Adventures in Penguinland
So I came back from Vegas, and it was very, very good to be home.
My plane was delayed, which meant I got stuck at McCarran Aiport for a while. Southwest did a wonderful job of quickly getting everyone's bag checked, and then all of the passengers for all of the flights were sent off to stew in the noisy, dirty, smelly, crowded pit of hell that is the C terminal. Every flight seemed to be delayed for one reason or another. The flight to LA, Oakland and Boise had problems with birds. The flight to Birmingham was waiting for a new flight crew to arrive. My flight was held on the ground at San Diego for some reason. Luckily I was flying with three co-workers who I particularly like, so I had people to hang out with. We finally got in around 2 am, which meant I didn't get home until almost 3 am.
Let's see...I started the book Twilight by Stephenie Meyer on the plane, and I absolutely loved it. I'll be picking up the rest of her books for sure. It's a new twist on a vampire story, and it is really well done. Her characters are likeable, her plots are interesting, and her descriptions are lovely. It was a nice, distracting read on a crappy flight.
Other updates:
* I went for my knee MRI, which was far better than I thought it would be. I go back to the doctor on Friday for results. I haven't been running, so my knee has mostly been behaving.
* Going to England, coming back for a few days, and then going to Vegas has completely screwed up my body's internal clock. I've lost touch with what time it is and I'm exhausted. It seems to be getting better slowly.
* John and I went to the auction place where we picked up our fancy china cabinet and scored a nice haul of new-to-us furniture. We got a little sideboard that goes beautifully with the china cabinet. We got a really, really nice dresser very cheap. We got a massive credenza for only $10 bucks. And then, what I think is my favorite acquisition -- we got an antique Singer sewing machine table, with an iron base and the sewing machine still attached. I don't think the machine works, but I don't sew, so that's ok. It just looks cool.
* Then I went back to work. To say I have a lot going on at work right now is such a massive understatement that I can barely type it with a straight face. Thank goodness we have a long weekend coming up!
So, what's new with all of you?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:26 PM | Comments (2)
April 24, 2008
Don't worry...
...I haven't fallen in to the great Frederick sinkhole:
I've been just a wee bit busy is all, and it is making me less creative than usual. Perhaps even less intelligent than usual. This morning I was so off kilter that I left the house without my purse, drove to the gas station, and then realized I had no money. Luckily, the house is fairly close to the gas station. I had my gym bag and my lunch bag and my radar detector, but no purse. Kind of an annoying way to start my day.
What's the dumbest thing you've ever left behind at the house in the morning?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:33 PM | Comments (3)
April 20, 2008
Confessions of a pack rat
In a couple of weeks my company is moving to a new office building. We need more space, so from that standpoint, the move will be great. However, we are transitioning to an open floor plan where we will all have workspaces instead of offices. Supposedly it will foster a more collaborative environment. I am a huge believer in the effectiveness of collaborative teams, and I work really hard to encourage it on my projects, but I am also a huge fan of walls, and privacy and being able to concentrate. However, I am keeping an open mind, and we’ll see how it goes.
Part of moving to a new building with no offices means less room in which to keep all my crap. I’ve been with the company for eight years now, in the current building for five years and in my current office for at least two years, possibly longer. The stuff, it has piled up over the years, and I’m not going to have nearly as much space in the new place. I actually made “the list” of people they are concerned about as we get close to the move. Of course, during the week I’m way too busy to deal with sorting through files and reorganizing stuff. So on Saturday afternoon, after the haircut, shopping and lunch with my mom (all of which were fabulous), I headed in to the office to get a little work done and to start my cleaning out process.
Yeah, it took me FOUR HOURS, and I’m not even done yet. I did achieve my main goal of compressing the contents of my four large file drawers in to two drawers. I filled my recycling bin and half of the large one out in the hall. I maxed out my trash can and the very large one out in the hall. I rediscovered projects I had forgotten that I ever worked on, and realized that I was hanging on to a bunch of stuff that held no meaning whatsoever anymore. I have a habit of saving notepads for a while so that I can refer back to old notes as necessary. That is actually not a bad idea for a notepad I have just finished using, but I had 22 pads filled with cryptic notes that don’t mean anything to anyone, including me. I’m a terrible note taker. I get too caught up in the discussion and the ideas to take proper notes. And when I do have a complete write-up or summary, I typically tear the sheet off the pad and stick it in the project folder.
Apparently at some point I was worried there would be a shortage of interoffice envelopes (which, by the way, I almost never use) because I found two separate stockpiles of them. I had two rolodexes that I had inherited from employees who left the company taking up space on my bookcase. I found the Franklin Covey organizer that I quit using ages ago because it just didn’t work for me, plus a pile of pages for it from 2004. I found massive amounts of samples that I really did not need. Why did I have all of the print PO’s for a newsletter we haven’t published in years? No one will ever want to see those! I had binders that carefully documented processes that have changed so much over the years as so be completely unrecognizable. What the hell is wrong with me?
I come by all this packrattiness honestly. If you think I sound bad, you should see my mom. She hangs on to everything. And when I say everything, what I mean is everything. Her house is crammed with books, papers, magazines, business cards from some person she met 12 years ago at a party, random files, knick-knacks and more. John and I once figured out that she had 13 different versions of the phone book in her office. We started sneaking them out to the trash when she wasn’t looking.
I make fun of her but secretly, I get it. Part of me is convinced that in six months I’m really going to want something that I threw out on Saturday. Every time I have to do something like this, I vow that I’m going to be better going forward. And I am, for a while, but I always backslide. Perhaps life in my luxurious new workstation will finally cure me of my packrat ways.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:12 PM | Comments (3)
April 15, 2008
I always have something to say
Except lately, that is. Work got a bit overwhelming last week, as a product I’m helping to launch kept running in to delays. I’ve been on “well, once we get through the launch, I can focus on that” for a week now. But I think it really will happen tomorrow. When I say that work got overwhelming, I don’t mean to give the impression that work is bad. It’s not. Work is great. We have a particularly good team right now, which means I get to work with a ton of people who I really like and respect. I have fun at my job. I get to do interesting stuff. But it does take over sometimes.
Last week was actually a fine time for work to take over, because I couldn’t work out at all. That freed up some time for me to work late. My knee is finally feeling better now, but it is still not right. I wouldn’t dare run on it, nor can I do lunges. I’m giving in and going to the doctor. On top of the knee, my TMJ has decided to act up for some reason. That usually means I’m about to experience some sort of dental problem, but my teeth seem ok aside from the jaw pain. I’m not sure what is going on there. Maybe I’m just stressed out. Happily, I am getting back to some exercising, which will help with the stress.
The only non-work thing of much interest that was going on was house hunting. Tonight John and I went to look at a house that, based on the Internet, looked like it had real potential. The Internet can be a wee bit misleading. I was suspicious of this house because it really shouldn’t be in our price range, and I was right. Everything they said about the house in the listing was true, but none of it was exactly as you'd expect it to be. The lot was weirdly shaped, and the other houses in the neighborhood were built all crowded in to the corners of the lots so that they were closer together than we thought they’d be. The house was built more recently than where we live now, but our place is in much better shape. It was just shabby, and the kitchen needed updating, and even though they recently dropped the price, they didn’t drop it nearly far enough. Oh well. Looking is fun, and we don’t really want to buy until the summer sometime anyway. I think I’ll go back to obsessing over model home floor plans for a while.
Anyone have any opinions on which is better, new homes or existing ones?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:47 PM | Comments (2)
March 30, 2008
It was inevitable, really
Yesterday Becky and I had our last training run before the big race next weekend. We only had to do six miles, but she came up here to go running, so they were a hilly six miles. About a mile and a half in, I stepped wrong on the perfectly flat and even sidewalk, and whammo! I went down like a ton of bricks. It hurt, but not too badly. One good side effect of a lifetime of being clumsy and uncoordinated is that I’m pretty good at falling down in the least hurtful manner possible. I twisted my ankle and banged my knee, but after walking for a couple of minutes, I was able to start running again, and I’m proud to say I finished the rest of the six miles.
I was more worried about my ankle, but it is my knee that really started hurting later. I took it easy today, and it is already hurting less, so I assume I’ll be in good shape for the race. Falling down aside, Becky and I had a nice run. She took care to point out all potential hazards and obstacles that I could potentially trip over. Sadly, that was not enough to keep me from tripping over this one stake that lay in the middle of the sidewalk. I knew it was there and I still ended up running in to it! That’s talent.
After the run, I embarked on a completely different sort of adventure. We’re thinking of buying a new house this summer, so we spent the afternoon driving around looking at model homes. Naturally, I have fallen in love with a specific house in a specific neighborhood, both of which are probably too expensive. Part of me thinks we should just hang out in the house we already have. We have a nice little house in a pretty, quiet neighborhood. But the chance to move closer to work while real estate prices are down is pretty enticing. Not that real estate prices in this area have dropped so far as to make moving closer in all that much cheaper.
I have to say, I found the whole process a little disheartening. All of the models are so loaded with options that they actually cost up to hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the base price. It is hard to tell what the house would be like without all that extra stuff, most of which I can’t afford, and plenty of which I don’t even want. None of the basements come finished, so that’s an added expense too. Then they charge extra for certain lots. If someone could explain to me why you can only get gas fireplaces in new houses, I’d love to hear the reason. I prefer real fireplaces. And then there are the people. Everyone is so determined to have a nice chat with you. Really, I’d like to be left alone so I can form my own opinions, and then I’ll ask questions if I have them.
We ruled out one neighborhood for sure, and I think we’re fairly close to ruling out a second one. That would narrow it down to two neighborhoods and a couple of different builders. Or we could always go with a newer existing home, which might be slightly cheaper than brand new. Or not move at all. Ah well, I don’t have to make a decision for a while yet. And now I have a pile of floor plans to obsess over, which is actually pretty fun for me. Yes, I have found yet another way to be geeky.
So how was your weekend?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:17 PM | Comments (1)
March 23, 2008
Hippity Hoppity
Highlights of my weekend (the hippity):
1) Successfully running 10 miles. 10! Ok, I probably ran 8.5 miles. Even so, that’s really, really good for me. Becky and I did our ten mile practice run on Saturday. It was a little cold, and for a while there it looked like we were going to get rained on, but we did it! If you’re from DC, allow me to astound you with our run. We went from the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda to just past Fletcher’s Boat house and then back again. As in Bethesda to Georgetown. When Becky first suggested I do this race with her, I thought she was nuts. I thought there was no way I could run ten miles. But it looks like I’m actually going to pull this off!
2) Delicious Easter brunch with my mom. Good food and good conversation. I’ll take it. Plus she gave me pretty new earrings an Easter present.
3) When Seamus and I went through the drive through at Starbucks, they gave him a dog biscuit. I expect him to start asking for caramel macchiatos any day now.
4) The end of Lent. I’m not terribly religious – ok, I’m not even remotely religious – but I like the tradition of giving up something for Lent. This year, I gave up buying books. I think it was the hardest “giving up” I’ve ever done. Today I got to go on a little spree at Borders, and it was delightful. Except for the part where I couldn’t find any new mysteries that looked intriguing. Got any mystery book recommendations for me?
Lowlights of my weekend (the hoppity):
1) Even though we ran farther this week than last, I actually felt better physically at the end of this run. Maybe I’m finally building up some sort of stamina. However, my knees really stiffened up overnight, to the point where I woke myself up whenever I bent or straightened them. This morning I hobbled around looking like the Tin Man while walking Seamus. After a little while my knees warmed up so it wasn’t so bad, but they are still a little sore.
2) Target was closed, I guess for Easter. If I had known they were going to be closed, I would have dragged myself over there yesterday.
3) For as long as there have been Cadbury Chocolate mini-eggs, my mom has given me a bag of them for Easter. I deliberately did not buy any Easter candy this year because I knew my mom would give me a bag of Cadbury Chocolate mini-eggs, and those would be my Easter indulgence. Did my mom give me any mini-eggs? No! Because suddenly she doesn’t want to give the diabetic candy or something. The earrings she gave me are lovely and I quite like them. Unfortunately, now everyone will be out of mini-eggs, and I won’t be able to get any for a whole year! Unless Target has a stash since no one could get in there to buy anything today.
4) The jerkward asshats in my neighborhood who were setting off fireworks and terrifying my dog. I may not be religious, but I know Easter is not a fireworks kind of holiday. Those celebratory roadside church signs never say “he is risen, now let’s go light some stuff on fire!”
Posted by Bad Penguin at 09:47 PM | Comments (4)
March 10, 2008
Must fill blank space on screen
So I’ve been a little busy lately. Imagine my surprise when I pulled up my blog today and saw it was completely blank! When your job involves giving people advice about the stock market and the stock market decides to lose its fucking mind for an extended period of time, life can get complicated. While I personally don't give the advice, it is my job (in a way) to ensure that advice gets from the advice givers to the customers in a timely fashion. This entails, well, a lot of time and effort on my part, to keep it nice and vague. Although really, half of the people at my company have blogs now, so I don’t think writing about my job carries the same peril as it did before. Still, better safe than sorry.
Anyway, work=busy and exhausting. Plus I’ve been doing the whole getting up earlier thing, which leaves me even more exhausted. And then they (they being the guv’mint) had to go and move daylight savings time up, which means that for the last two days I got up even earlier. I heard an interview with some expert on the radio who said that if you get thrown off by switching the clock forward one hour, you probably have some underlying sleep problem. Well, duh. I could have told him that.
And hey, I turned 37. I ate Indian food and brownies, and got presents, and fielded calls from friends and family. I have no complaints about that, although it is a little weird to be officially in my late thirties. My friend Laila recently came across a videotape from our Beach Week trip after we graduated from high school, and she claims that I have not changed a bit, but I know that is a lie. Back then I was thinner, blonder, and had way less grey hair. Being 18 was fun, but overall I’d say life is definitely better now, grey hair, crazy stock market and all.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:06 PM | Comments (1)
February 21, 2008
The Generation Gap Strikes Back
A while ago I wrote about how I’d gotten “generation gapped” at lunch with my co-workers. Well, in what is probably a sign of my swiftly approaching decline into senility and being completely out of touch, it happened again yesterday.
One of my team members was telling me about how she read on some blog somewhere that they are developing fancy computerized limbs so that amputees will “have cool new arms like that science fiction guy Luke something.” “You mean Luke Skywalker?!” I said. “You’ve never seen Star Wars?” And no, she never had. And then it turned out that one of my other team members has never the Star Wars movies either. Never seen one! This is inconceivable to me. Star Wars and the Empire Strikes Back and yes, even Return of the Jedi were such a HUGE part of my childhood. I was Princess Leia for Halloween in 1st grade. I remember very clearly being excited to go see the sequels. Apparently not so much for girls who were ten years younger than me.
Now, my brother is around the same age as a few of the people on my team, but he’s seen the movies. Of course, he’s related to me. And evidence from the rest of my team seems to indicate that the younger guys did see the movies, although some of them may be more excited about the Transformers. I do remember watching the Transformers with my brother when he was little, and I have to say, it’s no Star Wars. Although it probably is better than Episodes 1-3, burdened as those movies are with Jar Jar Binks, Hayden Christensen’s leaden acting, and horrible writing. As one of my co-workers put it “After watching those movies, I actually thought Natalie Portman was a really bad actress until I saw her in something else.”
Perhaps I have been confused all these years. I thought all my peers had seen the Star Wars movies, but I could be wrong. Maybe it was just me and my particular group of friends. So I ask you: Did you see Star Wars and do you know who Luke freaking Skywalker is? How old are you (a range is just fine for those of you who don’t want to be specific)? And are you male or female? Now I'm curious about whether it is a generational thing or a gender thing. Either way I'm still the odd one out, but I'd like to know!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:29 PM | Comments (8)
February 17, 2008
The Cost of War
My uncle Tommy died yesterday. While it is sad – it’s sad when anyone dies – it’s not for the reason you think. The truly sad part is that I didn’t really know him very well. I could probably count the number of times I spent with him on two hands, or at least very close to it. Uncle Tommy was one of those Vietnam vets who never made it all the way back from the war. All three of my uncles were in the military during the ‘60’s and ‘70’s. I’m not sure if they were drafted or what. Their dad, like most members of his generation, had served during WWII, fighting in the Aleutians and then going to Europe at some point after D-Day, and my grandma was a nurse in DC during the war, so maybe joining the military was just what was expected of them. Tommy was the only one who got sent to Vietnam though. He was a gunner on a helicopter. I don’t know exactly what that means, but I always picture it kind of like the air cavalry scene in Apocalypse Now.
Of course, he physically came back from Vietnam, but he struggled with alcohol and drugs and PTSD for years, and drifted in and out of VA institutions. I remember hearing my mom and my grandma talking about him being all drugged up on Thorazine but not really understanding what it meant. He married a woman who was involved in some weird cult, and had a son who we only ever got to meet once, although my grandma did get to see him a few more times. Tommy lived a pretty tenuous life, renting rooms, spending time homeless. My mom can’t pass any guy who looks like a homeless vet without giving him money, because they always remind her of Tommy. In the last few years he had settled down to a certain extent. He hooked up with a girl my age (yep, a little weird) who seemed to make him happy. He still struggled with alcohol, and was on disability and couldn’t drive, but they had a place in Manchester together and brought each other some stability. He’d be fine for a while, but he’d always fall off the wagon or get belligerent or just be difficult, so no one in my family had much regular contact with him. His health has been poor for a long time though, and the VA medical care was all he ever really had. At some point last year they figured out that he had something like three different kinds of cancer. My mom is convinced that he was exposed to Agent Orange or something bad during his time in Vietnam. They told him he didn’t have long to live. He made it through Christmas, New Year’s and finally the Super Bowl, and then I guess he just ran out of milestones to keep him going. He wasn’t even 60 years old yet.
I went looking for a photo of him to post here. I thought I had at least one because he came to my college graduation, but I don’t seem to have any. He looked a little like Jerry Garcia, only more New England-ish. One of the clearest memories I have of him is from the family graduation dinner, which both he and his twin brother attended, probably because my grandma was paying. It was at this awesome Chinese restaurant outside Boston called Kowloon, which looks kind of like a temple from the outside and has outrigger canoes and tiki bars and palm trees inside. Because we were all smokers at the time, I ended up down at the end of the table with Tommy and Teddy and Teddy’s girlfriend. They all knocked back Mai-Tais and traded jokes, and I tried to fit in with the grownups. My brother and my cousins ran around, and I chatted with my mom and dad and aunt and grandma and got to see what it was like to be part of a big family for once. It was nice. I’m glad I have one nice memory of him.
As I said earlier, what really makes me sad about this is that I never really knew my uncle. He went off to war as a bright, promising young man, and it totally ruined the rest of his sad, too-short life. And that, more than anything, is why I am against the Iraq war. Why are we doing this to more of our young men and women? What are we accomplishing by being there? Iraq hadn’t attacked us. Do I have to point out again that they didn’t have anything to do with 9/11? They didn’t have weapons of mass destruction, and their vaunted army really wasn’t all that much of a threat. It’s all such a stupid, pointless waste of lives and talent, and I don’t want one more person to have to go through what my uncle Tommy did.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:21 PM | Comments (2)
February 14, 2008
Frankly, I'm amazed I make it to work in one piece every day
I've been trying to hold off and only post when I have the time and energy to spend on carefully writing something that might actually involve creativity and improving my writing, rather than the quick hit type posts I can put up without too much effort...
...but I had a filling removed and refilled today, and I'm kind of in pain and tired, and this one was just too classic to skip.
As I'm sure I've mentioned a time or two, I am not a morning person. I've been trying to improve on that, and get up a little earlier each day, in hopes of eventually being able to get up early enough to fit in 20 to 30 minutes of exercise time. It's not going very well. I am not meant to be up early! Mostly it seems to be adding to my general sleepiness and crankiness, rather than making mornings easier to deal with.
Take today, for example. I got up a little earlier than usual, took Seamus for his walk, checked my blood sugar, packed up a snack to take to work, and then put all my stuff in my gym bag. Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when I went to get ready for spinning class tonight and realized I had no towel, no water bottle and two mismatched shoes, both of which were for the right foot. Thank goodness I keep a pair of sneakers in the car, and that they'll let you charge a bottle of water to your account at the gym.
Perhaps I should start organizing my stuff at night.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 12, 2008
If you’re not watching Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles…
…You really should be.
My mom came over and watched the Super Bowl with us last week. Fox pushed its own programs pretty relentlessly throughout the game, and one of the shows they were really leaning on was The Sarah Conner Chronicles. My mom looked over at one point and said “I hope you’re not watching that.” to which I replied, “Of course I’m watching it! You know I liked the movies.” My mom just shook her head and smiled, no doubt wondering for approximately the one millionth time how she ended up with a daughter like me. My mom is relentlessly optimistic and outgoing and cheerful (well, aside from the obsessive worrying) loves Mary Poppins and My Fair Lady and books with happy endings. She doesn’t like things that are dark, or sad or scary. If you think I’m a big sap who cries over everything, well she’s 10 times worse than me.
And somehow her daughter turned out to be a dressing-in-black, science fiction loving, post-Apocalyptic story enjoying fan of depressing music. Yes, there’s way more to me than that, but I was definitely hooked on the Terminator movies from the first time I saw the original Terminator at some point during high school. Laila and I went to see T2 something like the first night it opened. And I even liked Terminator 3. But then again, I’ve had a soft spot for Claire Danes since the My So Called Life days.
So I was predisposed to like the series, although liking the movies actually made me a little suspicious that the TV show could suck. Luckily, it does not. So far, it has been well written, well acted, and totally engaging. John and I have been fans of the actress playing Sarah Conner, Lena Headey, since seeing her as Ruby Ryder in the BBC show the Long Firm. Another actor I’ve always liked, most recently from Rescue Me, is Dean Winters, who plays Sarah’s former fiancé. The fabulous Garret Dillahunt, who was the creepy Francis Wolcott on Deadwood is the Terminator who is after them. The kid who plays John Conner as a teenager, Thomas Dekker, and the female Terminator (named Cameron, in what I assume is a tip of the hat to James Cameron) who is helping them, Summer Glau, are the real standouts of the show though. You can actually see the potential that John Conner has to be a leader in the future, and Summer keeps the old robot learning to understand humans thing interesting. It even features Brian Austin Green (yes from 90210) in a very un-David Silver like role.
So far the show has combined plenty of action and ass-kicking with thoughtful storylines about what it means to be human, to have compassion with others, and struggling with the balance between the greater good and individuals lives. They haven't gone with a predictable story yet, and I'm really caught up in the series. I highly recommend it!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:26 PM | Comments (4)
February 05, 2008
The February Blahs
Everyone I know seems tired and cranky and generally out of sorts lately. They are grumbly and defeatist and glaring at strangers. I’m blaming February. Sure it has Valentine’s Day and President’s Day and the birthday of one Mr. Penguin, but by the time February rolls around, people are tired of short days, grey skies and cold temperatures. And really, Valentine’s Day has the potential to make people more bummed out that excited.
Something is certainly making my coworkers cranky, although there are probably many reasons for that. You hear about how I work crazy hours, but I’m not the only one. All of us are pushing hard these days. Today was particularly fun because we didn’t have Internet access for most of the day. Do you have any idea how hard it is for people on the e-business team to do anything when there is no Internet? I got some copy written, which was good, and spent some time messing around in a spreadsheet. Does enjoying spreadsheet time make me an absolutely unredeemable geek?
Anyway, I’ve got to find a way to fight off the blahs. I think I’m going to get donuts for my team tomorrow morning in hopes of cheering them up. Good morning Krispy Kreme! Donuts are but a fleeting joy though, and frankly, one I won’t be sharing (perhaps I’ll get myself a donut hole).
Tell me, how do you deal with the blahs?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:58 PM | Comments (1)
January 30, 2008
Stress Monkey
I left work tonight at 8:55, which sadly was only because they were getting ready to shut down the network for maintenance. See also: So hungry I was about to start gnawing on my own arm, zombie-style. I have a big deadline looming on Friday, so there’s been a lot to do lately. I may be just a wee bit stressed out about it all, which is manifesting itself in delightful 4 am wake up calls where I just lie in bed listing off all of the stuff I still have to do in my head. I’m tired and cranky and overloaded during the day which I’m sure is making me a joy to be around. By the time I get home at night all I’m good for is sitting on the couch and staring at the TV. And I’m sure Becky is enjoying my slightly hysterical texting during the day. (Sorry Becky, but it really does make me feel better!)
I am pleased to say that major progress was made today, and the end of this stage of the project is in sight. Soon all of the cool and fun parts of this project that I’ve been looking forward to and telling people about since last March will start and I’ll actually feel like I’m accomplishing something. Once I make it to Friday, that is.
Three things I’m very psyched for that are getting me through the week – 1) hitting the deadline and crossing a whole bunch of stuff off my list 2) the premiere of Lost on Thursday and 3) getting a manicure and pedicure on Saturday. You gotta have goals!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:05 PM | Comments (2)
January 24, 2008
Cupcake Highway Robbery
I have a deep and abiding affection for Williams Sonoma. I’ve picked up many a bargain at their outlet store in Leesburg. I’ve been lured in to buying their fancy cake pans (one Easter Bunny, one train set). They successfully converted me from a loyal Maryland girl McCormick’s Vanilla buyer to one who is convinced of the superiority of their fancy-pants vanilla. Their Emile Henry ceramic pie pan changed my pie crust life, and I’ve gotten tons of good recipes off their website. So clearly, I like their stuff.
In fact, and it’s a little embarrassing to admit this, but I treat the arrival of the Williams Sonoma catalog like an issue of a magazine. I sit down and read it cover to cover in a little consumeristic greed fest. There have been plenty of items I’ve looked at and dismissed as being too ridiculously expensive, from the $1,000+ vacuum cleaners and irons to the $400 toasters to the $69 Provence Salt Keeper . Yes, it was really pretty. It was also a little tiny ceramic box. Unless it is continually refilled with salt by magic, I can’t imagine that a little tiny box could be worth $69. However, in the latest catalog they’ve managed to completely surpass themselves in terms of ridiculously overpriced merchandise.
You can get a whopping nine cupcakes from some bakery in California for $59. $59! That’s $6.55 per cupcake. And I bet they charge you shipping and handling on top of that! Do you have any idea how many delicious and gourmet cupcakes I could provide for $59? A whole boatload more than nine, that’s for sure. At the same time, I’m almost tempted to order them, just to see what $59 cupcakes taste like. I mean, I can’t quite imagine how good they would have to be to make them worth that much money. I’m not sure that it is physically possible for a cupcake to be tasty enough to justify that kind of money. But no, I haven’t completely lost my mind, so I’m not actually going to buy them. I will wonder though...
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:44 PM | Comments (5)
January 20, 2008
Brrrr
Enjoyable parts of my weekend:
• it is Sunday night, and yet I have one more day off of work. And I got all my errands done yesterday and today, so tomorrow I can be lazy.
• my friend Becky and I went to see 27 Dresses, which was cute. Definitely girly, but a fun and sweet movie.
• I bought some really pretty pink and yellow tulips to remind myself that spring will come.
• the usual good time hanging out with John and Seamus. So far this weekend we have covered nutrition, affirmative action and nature vs. nurture, the lameness of that movie The Terminal (fine actors, poorly written), and the awesomeness of a good belly rub (with Seamus). Oh, and John would like the world to know that the phrase is “the devil is in the details” not “God is in the details.” Tomorrow I will probably get my ass kicked at chess, but I will have fun doing it.
• two good workouts in a row, although no running.
That which I have not enjoyed:
• it is insanely cold here. I know I bitch about winter all the time, but this is ridiculous cold for DC. Tonight, to walk Seamus I wore jeans, an insulated shirt, a long sleeved shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, a full length heavy wool coat and scarf, a padded running cap with ear flaps, socks, winter boots and gloves. And I was still cold! Even Seamus (in his sweater) was like “hey, I know – let’s not stay outside for very long.” I am very fortunate to have been born in the time of central heating, or I would have spent a chunk of my life as a miserable human being.
• waking up at 4:30 am for no apparent reason, and then not being able to get back to sleep for an hour.
• taking down the Christmas tree. Yes, I know it is mid-January. Whatever. It’s nice having a tree in the house. I broke a brand new ornament that I really liked, and then came this close to chucking the tree with the lights still on it, declaring “LED lights are more environmentally friendly anyway. We should just get those.” I don’t know how the hell we did this, but the light strands were practically braided on to that damn tree. I eventually prevailed, but it took forever and now my hands are covered in scratches.
• I failed at making bread again. I don’t understand why my bread always sucks. I’m good at baking just about everything else, but my bread is reliably craptacular.
Now, that may sound like the most boring weekend ever, but I like my life just the way it is. I got to thinking about that after having an interesting conversation with one of my co-workers on Friday. We’d made an emergency run to Starbucks in the afternoon, which I never do, but I was really tired and I had a lot to accomplish before the weekend. I suppose that caffeine may have been why I woke up at 4:30 in the morning on Saturday, but I’m doubtful. I didn’t have any trouble falling asleep, just staying asleep. Anyway, the barista had numerous tattoos and piercings, and my co-worker asked me if I ever wished I could do stuff like that, to which I replied, “I would dye my hair blue in a second if I could.” Which led to a discussion of being a non-conformist in a corporate universe, and how that doesn’t have to be a square peg/round hole type of experience (although in my particular company, it does exclude the possibility of blue hair). I know that friends I had when I was younger would look at the life I have now and sneer at it.
I have a mainstream job and career ambitions and a townhouse in the outer suburbs. I don’t live in a cool loft somewhere, publishing my own magazine while hanging out in art galleries and traveling to LA, London and Paris on a regular basis – or whatever the alternative, punky version of “keepin’ it real” is. My brother likes to tease me and call me a yuppie. I’m not a yuppie, but I have to admit, I never saw myself being the one of my friends who ended up going the corporate route, and even more, liking it and being good at it. But here I am. And I’m happy, and still a creative, non-conformist person even without blue hair, tattoos or multiple piercings. So, even including Christmas tree scratches, botched bread making attempts and single digit wind-chills, I’ll take my life just as it is.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:36 PM | Comments (4)
January 10, 2008
De-Lurking for De-Lurking Day
I've been sort of lurking on my own blog this week. Every night I come home, look at my laptop and think, eh, I'd rather chat with my husband...snuggle with my dog...read my book...watch TV. I just haven't had anything interesting to say about anything.
Actually, I'm having similar problems at work this week, where I've been churning out line after line of uninspired dreck every time I sit down to write something. It's getting kind of annoying actually. And on top of that, I've been so busy that I haven't even made it to half of the blogs I usually read. You've probably all gone and gotten new jobs, new hair, announced you're getting married or having babies or moving, and I have no idea.
But then I heard from Chris that he was going to bring back de-lurking day and thought it was just perfect timing. I will make the rounds today at lunch and comment my little heart out. Who knows, maybe I'll even pick up a few ideas along the way. And if you happen to stop by here today, please feel free to say hi in the comments.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 08:04 AM | Comments (6)
January 04, 2008
Sean Connery Is Very Disappointed in Me
Duh. As my brother pointed out in the comments on Miserable, SCT is Scotland, as in the country a chunk of my ancestors came from, which I could have figured out if I had given even three seconds of thought to the Burns Night (SCT) holiday listed on the calendar for later in January.
Boy do I feel dumb now.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 07:56 AM | Comments (3)
January 01, 2008
2008 Arrives
John and I celebrated New Year’s Eve in what is becoming our new tradition – I made a mini-appetizer feast, and then we hung out in front of the fireplace, enjoying the fire, watching TV, and snuggling. It was a lovely evening, but I actually cried a little bit right at midnight. 2007 was a tough year for a lot of reasons, so part of me was thrilled to say goodbye to it. At the same time, somehow, there was good stuff too, and it was hard to believe another whole year had come to an end. And on top of that, it felt like the year ending made Nora’s death even more final. I know that’s not logical, but that’s what was going through my mind.
But time marches on, and the new year is here, which for me means it is time for a new list of resolutions. I had a big, long list of pretty specific resolutions last year. I kept some of them and missed on some others. I don’t think I’m going to be that specific this year, with one exception. I absolutely, 100% intend to run the Cherry Blossom Ten Miler in under 2 hours. Other than that though, I think I will be more general. This year I’d like to:
1) be a good diabetic and keep my blood sugar under control. Ideally, the blood sugar I had this morning will be the highest one I had all year.
2) focus on being consciously kind to others, from people who are closest to me to people I don’t know at all
3) keep changing up my workouts, and reach my goal weight, finally
4) find that elusive and tricky work/life/workout balance
5) take a fabulous trip to Paris and London with my husband
There. That should be a manageable list, right? Everything else will comes as it comes, and I’ll deal with it then. What’s your philosophy for the new year?
Happy New Year! Now I have to get ready to go back to work tomorrow. Hey, it's an opportunity to work on resolution number four, right?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:53 PM | Comments (3)
December 30, 2007
Slugtown, Population: Me
I had great and grand plans for my crazy 11 days of no work. They weren’t terribly luxurious plans, but I was going to get stuff done. I was going to meet up with friends, and write Christmas cards and get my house organized and play chess with John and all sorts of stuff. Well, here I am on day nine, and I think I’ve accomplished exactly two of the things on my list.
Day one was a total bust, as I ended up working pretty much a full day from home. And that’s on top of putting in a 12+ hour day the day before. Whatever, there were a couple of projects where I had to wrap up my piece and pass them off to someone else before I could put them out of my mind and truly relax. So I got them done.
Days two and three were spent making cookie dough, baking cookies, decorating cookies, and wrapping presents. Oh yes, and let’s not forget making a last minute lasagna.
Day four: Despite my best efforts to ruin Christmas by “doing it all wrong” I managed to save the day with my thoughtful and delicious salad, lasagna and garlic bread. No, we actually had a pretty nice day. The weather was good, and we had a nice visit with John’s dad and then my mom. I cleaned up in the gift department. I now have so many cookbooks we had to rearrange some books to open up a new shelf.
Day five: I woke up exhausted and feeling like crap, and spent most of the day sprawled on the couch, watching TV, whining and feeling out of sorts. I did see The Price is Right for the first time in my life. For those of you just tuning in, my parents had a pretty restrictive TV policy, so there are many, many TV shows that the rest of the world has seen that I have not. I knew who Bob Barker was, and I had seen bits of the show, but I had never watched it start to finish. John tells me Bob Barker made the show more interesting than Drew Carey does. I did start to have fun rooting for people though, particularly this one kid who finally got his shot to go guess the price of something, only to have it turn out to be some lame painted dresser and radio/flashlight/storm kit combo…or so he thought! It turned out there was a car back there too. I was pleased for him when he won. Then it was on to watching Running Scared, which, really America? Did we think that movie was funny in the ‘80’s? Because on Wednesday, it helped me decide that what I really needed was a nap. A nap, followed by more time on the couch, eating way too many cookies, takeout for dinner, and then bed.
Day six: perked up enough to leave the house for a quick trip to Barnes & Noble. Got sucked in to watching part of the Biggest Loser marathon on Bravo. I’m not sure which season it was, but the guy who won lost 214 pounds. 214 pounds! It was pretty darn impressive. Ate leftover lasagna and salad, followed by more cookies.
Day seven: Did some reading, and actually made it out of the house to go running. Wow, did that suck, since I couldn’t breathe half the time. At least they had the gym down to a normal temperature.
Day eight: loaded a bunch of new music on to the iPod, thus accomplishing one of my goals for the week. Went down to my mom’s for her annual Christmas party, which was fun. John and Seamus and I mostly hung out in the basement, watching the Patriots-Giants game, providing score reports for the people upstairs, and eating large amounts of dumplings, spring rolls, empanadas, fried raviolis, crepes and brownies.
Day nine (today!) ran errands and met a friend for brunch. I had orange and vanilla bean French toast with roasted potatoes. Orange and vanilla bean French toast turns out to be very, very good. Even better: Catching up with a friend I hadn't seen in a year. There's something special you have with long time friends that just can't be defined.
That may not be a complete rundown of all of my activities for the last few days, but it covers the high points. Now, I have two days left, and a whole long list of stuff that I haven’t gotten done. Still, I think I’m just going to take it easy, rather than running around trying to cram all that crap in to a very short time frame. Sometimes, you just gotta know when to chillax and embrace your slughood.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:25 PM | Comments (3)
December 09, 2007
Sunday Summary
I’ve been pretty much ready to go back to bed or have a nap since I got up this morning, so expecting me to come up with a clever title is probably setting the bar a little high. I don’t know why I’m so sleepy, but I have been tired all weekend. I really shouldn’t be. I had Friday off of work as part of my annual use it or lose it vacation time dash. I had big plans to get up early and head to the mall before getting my hair cut at noon, but instead I got up, walked Seamus and went back to bed. I did make it down to the salon for my cut and color, which I desperately needed. Happily, my grey is now all covered up and my ratty ends are history. All was not lost on the gift buying front, as I did make it in to Barnes & Noble where I picked up a calendar for my mom and a present (which must remain vague) for my brother. I came home, talked to said brother on the phone, watched the Top Chef holiday special with John, and was in bed by 10:30. See? Tired.
I did get up and out at a decent hour on Saturday. I hit the mall, ready to shop, and successfully spent a bunch of money…on myself. I was looking for presents for people, honest I was. Somehow I kept finding stuff for myself instead. I did eventually pick up some presents, so I guess I won’t look like a complete and total selfish jackass. And then I came home and ordered some stuff online. Now I just have to get presents for my nephew and my nieces, a present for John’s dad’s wife, and one more thing for my mom. And bake 17 million cookies, of course. I like the cookie baking though, so that’s ok. Oh, and a present for Seamus, of course. He gets a new stuffed bear to “kill” every year for Christmas.
Of course I didn’t get half the stuff done that I thought I’d get done this weekend. I was supposed to have tomorrow off too, but it turns out that I have to go in to work in the morning for a meeting. Just for a while though, and then I have the afternoon to myself. Perhaps I’ll get something more done then.
How are your holiday preparations going? Have you been smugly finished for months? Feeling like you've got it under control? Or perhaps you're starting to feel a little pressed for time?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:14 PM | Comments (3)
December 06, 2007
This is the way my mind works
A completely implausible and not even remotely possible scenario that played out in my head while I was washing my hair this morning:
“If I ever put out an album, I think I’d want Jack White to produce it. He did a great job with that Loretta Lynn record he produced a while ago. Or if he couldn’t do it, maybe Mutt Lange or Rick Rubin. Or John (my husband, who I’m positive would be a really good producer if he ever took a shot at it) of course.”
The most ridiculous part of this musing of mine is not that I will never meet any of those people, excepting John, naturally. No, the most ridiculous part is that I cannot sing, nor can I play any instruments. I am unlikely to ever record an album. Prior to this morning I had never even given a passing though to recording an album. It would be like giving thought to climbing Mt. Everest or being able to fly. Actually, I’ve probably spent more time contemplating having the ability to fly, which would be both cool and useful, than I have any hypothetical album recording. I love listening to music and discussing music but I do not create music.
On top of that, I don’t really know much about Loretta Lynn beyond having seen a couple of music videos from that album she did with Jack White, and, of course the movie with Sissy Spacek and Tommy Lee Jones. I think I was thinking about her because I’ve been loading more music on to my new iPod and I asked John to pick some songs for a country section because I don’t know much about country. Just to be clear, I don’t like crappy, lame, overly sentimental country. The stuff I like tends to fall in to three categories: old-timey stuff from the 20’s to the 40’s that is practically folk music in some cases, a select few artists like Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Patsy Cline, and then what is technically alterna-country, like Kasey Chambers, Allison Krauss, Neko Case and Lucinda Williams. John is also responsible for the metal selections, because I am terrible at knowing song names. I generally refer to them with overly complicated descriptions “you know, the song where they whistle like Guns & Roses and talk about Gorky Park. I think it is the Scorpions?” and “that Motorhead one that I like.”
At least with John's help I'll be able to identfity them. You know, in case I want to cover one of them on my album.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:55 PM | Comments (2)
November 14, 2007
The great sweats debate
Recently a friend of mine went out to lunch with one of her male co-workers, and they saw a woman in the parking lot wearing sweatpants. “Oh, that’s sad,” said the co-worker. “She’s in sweats. She’s given up.” To which my friend replied, “Hey, what do you mean? I wear sweats out on the weekend.” And her other female co-worker chimed in agreeing with her. This apparently completely shocked their male co-worker, who was just appalled by all this sweats wearing. Now, he is a gay guy, so I’m not sure if his opinion of what women are wearing will really matter to sweat-pants-wearing-women, since he’s not really their target market if they’re looking to attract a guy. On the other hand, plenty of gay men are considered fashion experts, so perhaps this is valuable insight.
When she was telling me the story, my friend said, “You wear sweats out in public, don’t you?” and I had to confess that in fact, I do not. I own a couple of sweatshirts, which I wear to walk Seamus sometimes, but that’s it. I’ve only ever even owned one pair of sweatpants, which I think had to have for PE in middle school (what is with me and the middle school PE tie-ins this week?) Of course, as soon as I admitted that casual wear for me means jeans, she immediately said, “Oh, right, because of your mom.” Everyone reading that who has ever met my mom just nodded and muttered “yep, because of her mom.” My mom is very proper. She never goes out of the house looking less than perfect. She never, ever, wears sweat pants. It is only recently that she’s bought a pair of jeans, and those are a wild departure for her. She is St. John knits and cashmere, not sweatpants. I spent years rebelling against whatever she wanted me to wear, but it was more that I didn’t want anything peach colored or floral, not that I wanted to dress down. Perhaps sweatpants weren’t goth enough. Whatever the reason, I never wore them, and I’m not in the habit now.
That does not mean I think there’s anything wrong with people wearing sweatpants out to do stuff other than exercise. I’m sure they are comfortable, and probably the right weight to wear in the fall. I say if people want to wear them to run errands or whatever, they should. I don’t think it means they’ve given up. It just means they don’t spend every second of their life focused on looking perfect and trying to attract members of the opposite sex. Help us settle this one, Internet. What do you think? Are sweats just comfy clothes, or a sign of defeat? Oh, and to throw you a little curve ball, what about those fancy velour-type sweat suits. They’re fancier…but are they fancy enough?
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:16 PM | Comments (5)
November 12, 2007
A new challenge
Well, I may have lost my mind, but after spending the weekend thinking about it, I have decided to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler with my friend Becky in April. Our goal is to run 10 miles in less than one hour and 50 minutes. I think it is just the thing I need to motivate me and make me push myself again. I’ve just been coasting along, not getting to the next level of fitness, and I’m getting tired of it. If I’m going to do this though, I want to do it right, and not humiliate myself. So, the training begins. I’ve got to build stamina and get faster before I can even start to tackle long runs. And then there’s the matter of hills. I really struggle on hills, and the only way to not struggle is to keep running them until they aren’t so hard any more. Good times.
The race is at the beginning of April, so I’ve got roughly four and a half months. I think that’s enough time. I’m not a great runner, but I’m not a complete disaster. And running 10 miles is something I can be really proud of, as well. If I can run the race I want to run – hell, being able to run 10 miles at all – but really, more running 10 miles the way I want to run 10 miles will mean I’ve finally hit the level of fitness that I want to have.
I’m sure a real serious runner, the kind who covers more ground in one training session than I do in a week, might snicker a bit at that, but I don’t care. This is what I want to achieve. I have friends who have run marathons, and I was proud of them and impressed by them. I don’t really have any interest in doing it myself though. Maybe a half marathon, if I survive the 10 miler, but maybe not. A year and a half ago, I hadn’t run since middle school, and I only ran then because they made me, either through PE or when we were playing field hockey or lacrosse and I had to run up and down the field. By the way, if I sound like a lousy runner, you should have seen me play lacrosse. Wow, did I suck at that.
But I digress. 10 miles. April. Stamina, speed and hills. I can do this. I will do this.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 11:25 PM | Comments (4)
November 09, 2007
Randomosity
I’m kind of sleepy so I’m taking the easy way out with a collection of stray thoughts in bullet form as opposed to a coherent, organized post.
• I’m finally figuring out the right way to drive my Honda Civic Hybrid. I’ve been averaging one extra mile per gallon for the last couple of days. Go me.
• I had the distinction of having an employee who just started on October 15th quit yesterday. I don’t think it had anything to do with me, (she got offered what she described as her dream job) but it was still a little disconcerting. And so now I’m hiring again. Great.
• Our trip to Europe is back on for spring. Paris, Amsterdam and London, here we come, baby. I’m excited, but also feeling a little anxious about leaving Seamus behind. I know people go on vacation without their dogs all the time, but I just have this feeling of dread about getting someone to watch him. Also, the airfares are more expensive than I thought they would be. Ok, I might need to work on my enthusiasm.
• My friend Becky has challenged me to run a 10 miler with her in April. I’m a little intimidated by the notion, but I also kind of like the idea of going for it. Running 10 miles would be a pretty big deal for me, though. I’d really have to get to be a faster runner, because the notion of running for two hours straight doesn’t really do anything for me. Still, it is good to have a goal. I might go for it.
Ok, I’m now so tired that I’m struggling with the bullet format. I’d say that’s a clear sign it is time to go to bed. Bonne nuit. Bonne nuit to you all. (Insert gargoyle here)
Posted by Bad Penguin at 12:01 AM | Comments (3)
October 19, 2007
Psyching myself up
I have the day off today, which is lovely. I'm probably shooting myself in the foot because my team has an enormous deadline looming on the 29th, but as I said to my boss a couple of weeks ago when I asked for today off, I just need a day.
And what am I going to to do with this day? I'm going car shopping. It's one of those situations where I am excited about the notion of getting a new car, but dreading the notion of having to go to a car dealer to buy one. I'm prepared though. I've done my research, and I know what my car is worth, what the cars I like should cost, and what colors and options I want. I even have a loan lined up already at a very good rate, so unless I can get one of those 0% financing offers at the dealership, I should be all set.
John and I have worked out a multi-step plan that we think will work in our favor. I'm going to go test drive the cars and see what I like. I'll talk to the sales people, do a little pricing recon, but I won't buy anything. If any cars look promising, I'll come back with John and we'll back each other up. We're in no hurry, so we have the luxury of being prepared to walk away.
Wish us luck!
Posted by Bad Penguin at 08:42 AM | Comments (3)
October 04, 2007
Ok, fine, Steve Jobs, you win
I’ve always liked Apple products, all the way back to preferring the Apple IIes to the IBMs back in the low tech computer lab in middle school, but I never bought one. My roommate my sophomore year of college had a Mac, and I liked that. However, John never wanted to get one because they don’t make the computer games he likes for Macs, so we never bought one as a desktop. When I was looking for a laptop a couple of years ago, I really wanted to get a Mac, but couldn’t quite justify the extra expense, because they were a lot more than my little Toshiba.
Then the iPod came along, and just about everyone I knew bought one. I got why people liked them, but the decent sized ones seemed too expensive. When my mom bought my brother an iPod as a graduation gift, I hated it. I was supposed to load songs on to it for him from John’s extensive music collection. For whatever reason, I had a really hard time getting it to do that. I kept deleting things by mistake. And I hated the click wheel. So, no iPod for me.
When the iPhone came out, of course I thought it looked cool. But I have still have and like my little sidekick. Plus, again, it was too expensive, and I wasn’t interested in switching to AT&T anyway.
Well, that all changed when one of my colleagues brought in his new iPod Touch to work to show off to the rest of us. Holy crap that thing is cool, and wow do I want one! The video looks amazing. The interface is so much better. And the size of the touch is just right. They are still kind of expensive, but I think I might have to get one. Steve Jobs, you’ve caught me at last.
Posted by Bad Penguin at 10:34 PM | Comments (2)
September 20, 2007
Sometimes, there just ain’t no substitute
Last night the challenge on Top Chef was to create something fabulous using the basic ingredients of chicken, onions and russet potatoes. I think the idea was that by focusing on simple ingredients they could really showcase their technical skills for the judges. The chefs came up with some interesting dishes, but none of them made what seemed to be the most obvious choice to me – roasted chicken and potatoes. I suppose it might not be gourmet enough, but they were cooking for French chefs, and you can make a lovely French roasted chicken. It got me to thinking about this Dijon mustard/herbes de Provence crusted roast chicken with chunks of onions and potatoes that I used to make. It was really, really good.
They can do a lot in the fake meat arena these days. They’ve made a lot of progress just since I went vegetarian six years ago, and now you can get decent fake bacon and “steak” strips for cheesesteak subs and stir fries, fake turkey for sandwiches, and veggie burgers, of course. But there is no vegetari