courtesy: Home Sweet Home
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
looking forward to autumn
DC had it's first cool day today in a while, like 75 degrees. It felt amazing and made me remember why I love Fall. I even popped in some of my fall-only-music (this time, a Guster CD) to get into the mood. I think I am most excited that my first season as a resident of New York will be Fall. Hopefully my brother will let me borrow his car so I can take a brief trip out to the Catskills.
courtesy: Home Sweet Home
courtesy: Home Sweet Home
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
the end
I finally feel like myself again! Happy and playful and full of life! They don't call me the little ray of sunshine for nothing :)
So what do I feel so elated?
Well, I did it. I finally put in my two weeks notice! It went over swimmingly. I had no idea what sort of response I expected but everyone in my office is excited for my move to NYC. They think I am stupid for going without a job but I have to remember that their decision making depends heavily on a family and mine depends more or less solely on me! I have a lot more freedom to do what I want and time to figure out exactly what that is.
The boyfriend told me randomly this week that he is so excited I quit my job. I think he can already tell a difference in my day to day mood. I have to admit, all day Saturday, I just felt a sense of relief and relaxation. There is nothing like knowing you are putting a bad situation behind you.
I hope this sense of excitement and happiness stays with me along my transition to New York. I don't want to become one those jaded Manhattanites that you always hear about. Lucky for me, I have a bigger support group there than I started out with in DC.
Now that's done, on to step two. Finding a new job. Which, by the way, I have an interview this Friday. I am very optimistic about this opportunity and the job sounds absolutely ideal and the exact opposite of the job I just quit. Cross your fingers for me!
So what do I feel so elated?
Well, I did it. I finally put in my two weeks notice! It went over swimmingly. I had no idea what sort of response I expected but everyone in my office is excited for my move to NYC. They think I am stupid for going without a job but I have to remember that their decision making depends heavily on a family and mine depends more or less solely on me! I have a lot more freedom to do what I want and time to figure out exactly what that is.
The boyfriend told me randomly this week that he is so excited I quit my job. I think he can already tell a difference in my day to day mood. I have to admit, all day Saturday, I just felt a sense of relief and relaxation. There is nothing like knowing you are putting a bad situation behind you.
I hope this sense of excitement and happiness stays with me along my transition to New York. I don't want to become one those jaded Manhattanites that you always hear about. Lucky for me, I have a bigger support group there than I started out with in DC.
Now that's done, on to step two. Finding a new job. Which, by the way, I have an interview this Friday. I am very optimistic about this opportunity and the job sounds absolutely ideal and the exact opposite of the job I just quit. Cross your fingers for me!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
atlas shrugged
He said nothing when he entered, he looked at her, making his silent presence more intimate a greeting than words.
-Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
empathicalism
It's hard to explain, but it's all part of empathicalism. We don't have to communicate with words. They understand me through the way I feel, and the tone of my voice.
-Jo Stockton (Audrey Hepburn) in Funny Face
the truth
“There are certain emotions in your body that not even your best friend can sympathize with, but you will find the right film or the right book, and it will understand you.”
- Björk
courtesy: I'll be chasing you the rest of my life.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
potato peel pie
"I can't think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can't talk to, or worse, someone I can't be silent with."
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
postal carriers
I love how in old movies and TV shows everyone knows their postal carrier. The characters greet them by name and know things about them and their family. The postal carrier often plays an integral role in the lives of these characters. There are beautiful scenes of young kids waiting every afternoon for the mail to come in hopes of receiving that bottle rocket they sent off for with 20 cereal box tops.
Your postal carrier is the person you trust with delivering your mail safely and accurately. Sometimes that may mean you are allowing them to handle your intimate love letters or even a glass vase you are sending to your mom.
So my question is, do you know your postal carrier?
I feel like these TV shows and movies speak to a time of the past. Only in cities do postal carriers even walk from door to door anymore. Growing up in a small town, I always looked for the vehicle where the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car, I never noticed the person driving it!
I recently had an amazing run in with my postal carrier who saved my package from an awful blunder my mom made in sending me a package. To start, this all happened because my mailbox is too small to receive a package and my postal carrier will not leave packages on my doorstep. I am in a big city and things get stolen, regardless of if the thief realizes there is not significant resale value in my dad's tire treatment sample he was mailing me.
The short story: my mom wrote the wrong address on the box! She wrote the street number as 1801 instead of the actual 1809. She has done this before and my $50 gift card to Target ended up at my neighbor's house and lost to me forever.
The rest of the story: I knew the package was coming and came home one day to find the inevitable orange slip asking me to pick up my package the next day from my local post office, which thankfully is only 2 blocks away, super convenient! I went the next day after work and the package was nowhere in sight! I was advised to return the next day as it may not have been brought down yet. Still not a big deal since it is so close to me. I return the next day to find they still cannot find the package. This is kind of annoying as the contents of the package were time sensitive to their relevance. I am then given a number to call to inquire about the location of the package. The evening supervisor, John, tells me that he will have to call me back after he talks to my postal carrier directly because the package is not anywhere it should be.
Later that evening, I get a return call from John who tells me that my package actually was at my post office but under the wrong address and my postal carrier will redeliver it to me the next day. So, in other words! My postal carrier knew the package was for me despite the address and left me the orange slip but when I gave the orange slip (with my correct address on it) to the worker at the post office, she looked for my correct address on the package. We now know that the correct address is not written on the package I am seeking.
Luckily, the next day, I stay home all morning waiting on my postal carrier to arrive so I can receive my long awaited package. She tells me in all modesty, "When you are a good postal carrier, like I am, you deliver by the name and not the address." So she knew that whoever was sending me a package had my address wrong and she took it upon herself to correct the error.
If only I had known this when I went to the post office the first time!
Regardless, I now know my postal carrier and greatly appreciate the attention she pays to her work. If it weren't for her, I would not have gotten my package at all!
Your postal carrier is the person you trust with delivering your mail safely and accurately. Sometimes that may mean you are allowing them to handle your intimate love letters or even a glass vase you are sending to your mom.
So my question is, do you know your postal carrier?
I feel like these TV shows and movies speak to a time of the past. Only in cities do postal carriers even walk from door to door anymore. Growing up in a small town, I always looked for the vehicle where the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the car, I never noticed the person driving it!
I recently had an amazing run in with my postal carrier who saved my package from an awful blunder my mom made in sending me a package. To start, this all happened because my mailbox is too small to receive a package and my postal carrier will not leave packages on my doorstep. I am in a big city and things get stolen, regardless of if the thief realizes there is not significant resale value in my dad's tire treatment sample he was mailing me.
The short story: my mom wrote the wrong address on the box! She wrote the street number as 1801 instead of the actual 1809. She has done this before and my $50 gift card to Target ended up at my neighbor's house and lost to me forever.
The rest of the story: I knew the package was coming and came home one day to find the inevitable orange slip asking me to pick up my package the next day from my local post office, which thankfully is only 2 blocks away, super convenient! I went the next day after work and the package was nowhere in sight! I was advised to return the next day as it may not have been brought down yet. Still not a big deal since it is so close to me. I return the next day to find they still cannot find the package. This is kind of annoying as the contents of the package were time sensitive to their relevance. I am then given a number to call to inquire about the location of the package. The evening supervisor, John, tells me that he will have to call me back after he talks to my postal carrier directly because the package is not anywhere it should be.
Later that evening, I get a return call from John who tells me that my package actually was at my post office but under the wrong address and my postal carrier will redeliver it to me the next day. So, in other words! My postal carrier knew the package was for me despite the address and left me the orange slip but when I gave the orange slip (with my correct address on it) to the worker at the post office, she looked for my correct address on the package. We now know that the correct address is not written on the package I am seeking.
Luckily, the next day, I stay home all morning waiting on my postal carrier to arrive so I can receive my long awaited package. She tells me in all modesty, "When you are a good postal carrier, like I am, you deliver by the name and not the address." So she knew that whoever was sending me a package had my address wrong and she took it upon herself to correct the error.
If only I had known this when I went to the post office the first time!
Regardless, I now know my postal carrier and greatly appreciate the attention she pays to her work. If it weren't for her, I would not have gotten my package at all!
awkward compliments
I often find myself giving people compliments of this sort. Like the time I told a rather large man on the Kennedy Center shuttle bus that I liked his suspenders. He told me in so many words there comes a time when you get so fat that a belt doesn't hold up your pants anymore. I still really liked his suspenders.
courtesy: ffffound!
courtesy: ffffound!
little girl and chocolate kitty
I saw this picture and immediately thought about the bedtime stories my dad used to tell me when I was little. His stories were all about a little blond haired girl and her magical kitten, Chocolate Kitty.
courtesy: ffffound!
courtesy: ffffound!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
meeting the parents
An acquaintance once commented that he thought it bizarre that I should be as close to my friends' parents as I was to my friends. I, on the other hand, find it bizarre that he did not even know his friends' parents.
Maybe it was just where I grew up, but it was common that you should know your friends' parents and even feel comfortable calling them in a time of need. Sometimes, they were better to go to with your problems than your own parents because they gave you a more objective opinion on the situation. Especially when it comes to significant others. I am more anxious for my boyfriend to meet my friends' parents than some of my own family members. I know they are going to be more critical and they are also going to be the most fun. These are the people that have seen me grow up and know my embarrassing stories. They remember the things my parents forget and even know some things my parents don't!
My friends' parents are often a back up set of parents when mine are not around. When I left for college, the first thing I did when I made new friends was to meet their parents. These people opened their house to me as a home away from home (thanks Lee Bugs for sharing your Diddy). College can be scary at times and knowing you have a place to turn and adults to turn to can make it easier to deal with, even if you never need them.
I even looked to a friend's parents for a source of encouragement when mine were acting too cautiously like parents. My dad freaked when I decided to study abroad in Hungary. Not that Hungary is a scary place, but what if something happened? It would take over a day for him to get to me and that did not settle well with either of them. One afternoon while I was out swimming at a friend's house, I stopped by an ex-boyfriend's parents' house just to say hi. (You never break up with the parents!) They were so excited to hear that I was going to study abroad and made me promise to call them when I got back so they could take me to dinner so we could sit down and I could tell them everything about it. THAT was the kind of thing I needed to hear from my own mom and dad. I was scared as well about moving to a foreign country (where hardly anyone speaks any English) but I knew it was going to be a once in a lifetime chance I couldn't pass up. I needed someone to be excited for me. I don't blame my parents for acting the way they did, I understand, they are parents! They are supposed to worry. I was just grateful I had other adult influences to offer the encouragement I also needed.
Ultimately, I am usually really excited to meet the parents of anyone in my life. They are bound to be someone important. I also enjoy talking to people older than I am. When I was younger, I was that kid at the adult table sitting on my mom's lap or beside her because I found the adult conversation so much more entertaining than what was going on in the kid room/table. I have also felt at ease when meeting new people and in particular parents of the boyfriend. Seeing a boyfriend interact with his parents can tell you a lot about him that you might not know. However, for the first time in my life I am freaking out about meeting the parents of my current boyfriend. I was never worried about meeting them. It is my goal to make them like me and I know not to do, wear, or say anything that would ruin the first impression, so why now? Why am I freaking out about these parents. I blame the boy. He has done everything he can to make me worry that I am going to do something wrong. He means it all in playfulness but seriously, I am girl and girls worry!
I am meeting them tonight. I hope I don't screw this up!
Maybe it was just where I grew up, but it was common that you should know your friends' parents and even feel comfortable calling them in a time of need. Sometimes, they were better to go to with your problems than your own parents because they gave you a more objective opinion on the situation. Especially when it comes to significant others. I am more anxious for my boyfriend to meet my friends' parents than some of my own family members. I know they are going to be more critical and they are also going to be the most fun. These are the people that have seen me grow up and know my embarrassing stories. They remember the things my parents forget and even know some things my parents don't!
My friends' parents are often a back up set of parents when mine are not around. When I left for college, the first thing I did when I made new friends was to meet their parents. These people opened their house to me as a home away from home (thanks Lee Bugs for sharing your Diddy). College can be scary at times and knowing you have a place to turn and adults to turn to can make it easier to deal with, even if you never need them.
I even looked to a friend's parents for a source of encouragement when mine were acting too cautiously like parents. My dad freaked when I decided to study abroad in Hungary. Not that Hungary is a scary place, but what if something happened? It would take over a day for him to get to me and that did not settle well with either of them. One afternoon while I was out swimming at a friend's house, I stopped by an ex-boyfriend's parents' house just to say hi. (You never break up with the parents!) They were so excited to hear that I was going to study abroad and made me promise to call them when I got back so they could take me to dinner so we could sit down and I could tell them everything about it. THAT was the kind of thing I needed to hear from my own mom and dad. I was scared as well about moving to a foreign country (where hardly anyone speaks any English) but I knew it was going to be a once in a lifetime chance I couldn't pass up. I needed someone to be excited for me. I don't blame my parents for acting the way they did, I understand, they are parents! They are supposed to worry. I was just grateful I had other adult influences to offer the encouragement I also needed.
Ultimately, I am usually really excited to meet the parents of anyone in my life. They are bound to be someone important. I also enjoy talking to people older than I am. When I was younger, I was that kid at the adult table sitting on my mom's lap or beside her because I found the adult conversation so much more entertaining than what was going on in the kid room/table. I have also felt at ease when meeting new people and in particular parents of the boyfriend. Seeing a boyfriend interact with his parents can tell you a lot about him that you might not know. However, for the first time in my life I am freaking out about meeting the parents of my current boyfriend. I was never worried about meeting them. It is my goal to make them like me and I know not to do, wear, or say anything that would ruin the first impression, so why now? Why am I freaking out about these parents. I blame the boy. He has done everything he can to make me worry that I am going to do something wrong. He means it all in playfulness but seriously, I am girl and girls worry!
I am meeting them tonight. I hope I don't screw this up!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
atlas shrugged
I don't know why you should call my behavior rotten. I thought you would recognize it as an honest effort to practice what the whole world is preaching. Doesn't everyone believe that it is evil to be selfish? I was totally selfless in regard to the San Sebastian project. Isn't it evil to pursue a personal interest? I had no personal interest in it whatever. Isn't it evil to work for profit? I did not work for profit--I took a loss. Doesn't everyone agree that the purpose and justification of an industrial enterprise are not production, but the livelihood of its employees? The San Sebastian Mines were the most eminently successful venture in industrial history: they produced no copper, but they provided a livelihood for thousands of men who could not have achieved in a lifetime, the equivalent of what they got for one day's work, which they could not do. Isn't it generally agreed that an owner is a parasite and an exploiter, that it is the employees who do all the work and make the product possible? I did not exploit anyone. I did not burden the San Sebastian Mines with my useless presence; I left them in the hands of the men who count. I did not pass judgment on the value of the property. I turned it over to a mining specialist. He was not a very good specialist, but he needed the job very badly. Isn't it generally conceded that when you hire a man for a job, it is his need that counts, not his ability? Doesn't everyone believe that in order to get the goods, all you have to do is need them? I have carried out every moral precept of our age. I expected gratitude and a citation of honor. I do not understand why I am being damned.
-Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
stress free
courtesy: GOOD
Here is a list of stress busters:
1. Sleep more. Sleep is the body’s time to repair itself, as well as the face’s chance to take a break from wrinkle-forming gymnastics. Even more important: Rats deprived entirely of sleep die within 10 to 20 days, a faster rate than starvation. If you're prone to insomnia, try these tips: Force yourself to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier; step away from the computer or television an hour before it’s time to go down; read the dictionary; keep your room pitch black and cool; when you wake, immediately let light into the room or step outside (this will help you reset your internal clock); and avoid caffeine, especially in the afternoon.
2. Exercise a lot. It releases serotonin, which is one of the reasons why it makes people happier (and in turn, less stressed). Exercise is also proven to help with sleep—but only if it’s done at least three hours before bed. It also improves circulation, oxygenates cells, stimulates lymphatic movement, and makes you sweat, ridding the body of toxins.
3. Have more sex (by yourself counts). Sex and orgasms release a cocktail of wonderful stress-zapping chemicals into the brain including serotonin, depression-fighting endorphins, and oxytocin, the cuddle chemical. You know what else oxytocin does? It helps skin repair itself (at least in rats).
4. Breathe deeper. Learning to lengthen and deepen your breaths is one of the easiest ways to reduce stress and, according to alterna-doctor par excellence Dr. Andrew Weil, one of the most important. Shifting your focus to your breath several times during the day will help relax the mind and bring more oxygen to cells.
5. Stop and smell the jasmine. Aromatherapy may have earned its scientific wings this week with a new German study reporting that smelling jasmine is as effective at calming nerves as valium, at least on the brains of mice. Apparently when their cages were filled with it, they ceased all activity and sat quietly in the corner. Could it do the same for the mouse on the wheel in your brain? It’s worth a try.
6. Meditate, or try to. This requires taking the breathing thing even further, into a magical place where thoughts stop having meaning. Of course that could take a lifetime (or several), but studies show that even the most novice practitioners show an almost immediate capacity to better handle stress.
7. Get a massage or go for acupuncture. These kinds of alternative treatments are a great way to sneak in some serious relaxation. Like other forms of pleasurable touch, massage can boost oxytocin levels, and if acupuncture can reduce hot flashes in breast cancer patients and knee pain in a study of 600 sufferers, we're ready to believe it probably can reduce stress too.
8. Do yoga. This is the all-in-one to all of the above. Breath? Check. Exercise? Check. Meditation? Check. Detoxification? Check. Anyone who’s ever been to a yoga class has also heard that inversions—like standing on your head—will keep you younger by reversing gravity and bringing more blood to your head and heart.
9. Turn off your gadgets. We are a nation of stressers: Even before the recession, 4 in 10 Americans reported feeling very stressed, and the latest polls now say that nearly half of us are experiencing debt-related stress as well. Being constantly connected to, say, a job you don’t like, or depressing news about the economy (let alone the environment) via all your gadgets can’t be great for anxiety levels. Unplug daily.
10. Do stuff you like. Or something you haven’t done for a while. Or something you’ve never done that doesn’t involve texting, tweeting, or BBM-ing. Even a couple of hours away from the world, or with someone special, can give you a fresh outlook.
Here is a list of stress busters:
1. Sleep more. Sleep is the body’s time to repair itself, as well as the face’s chance to take a break from wrinkle-forming gymnastics. Even more important: Rats deprived entirely of sleep die within 10 to 20 days, a faster rate than starvation. If you're prone to insomnia, try these tips: Force yourself to go to bed earlier and wake up earlier; step away from the computer or television an hour before it’s time to go down; read the dictionary; keep your room pitch black and cool; when you wake, immediately let light into the room or step outside (this will help you reset your internal clock); and avoid caffeine, especially in the afternoon.
2. Exercise a lot. It releases serotonin, which is one of the reasons why it makes people happier (and in turn, less stressed). Exercise is also proven to help with sleep—but only if it’s done at least three hours before bed. It also improves circulation, oxygenates cells, stimulates lymphatic movement, and makes you sweat, ridding the body of toxins.
3. Have more sex (by yourself counts). Sex and orgasms release a cocktail of wonderful stress-zapping chemicals into the brain including serotonin, depression-fighting endorphins, and oxytocin, the cuddle chemical. You know what else oxytocin does? It helps skin repair itself (at least in rats).
4. Breathe deeper. Learning to lengthen and deepen your breaths is one of the easiest ways to reduce stress and, according to alterna-doctor par excellence Dr. Andrew Weil, one of the most important. Shifting your focus to your breath several times during the day will help relax the mind and bring more oxygen to cells.
5. Stop and smell the jasmine. Aromatherapy may have earned its scientific wings this week with a new German study reporting that smelling jasmine is as effective at calming nerves as valium, at least on the brains of mice. Apparently when their cages were filled with it, they ceased all activity and sat quietly in the corner. Could it do the same for the mouse on the wheel in your brain? It’s worth a try.
6. Meditate, or try to. This requires taking the breathing thing even further, into a magical place where thoughts stop having meaning. Of course that could take a lifetime (or several), but studies show that even the most novice practitioners show an almost immediate capacity to better handle stress.
7. Get a massage or go for acupuncture. These kinds of alternative treatments are a great way to sneak in some serious relaxation. Like other forms of pleasurable touch, massage can boost oxytocin levels, and if acupuncture can reduce hot flashes in breast cancer patients and knee pain in a study of 600 sufferers, we're ready to believe it probably can reduce stress too.
8. Do yoga. This is the all-in-one to all of the above. Breath? Check. Exercise? Check. Meditation? Check. Detoxification? Check. Anyone who’s ever been to a yoga class has also heard that inversions—like standing on your head—will keep you younger by reversing gravity and bringing more blood to your head and heart.
9. Turn off your gadgets. We are a nation of stressers: Even before the recession, 4 in 10 Americans reported feeling very stressed, and the latest polls now say that nearly half of us are experiencing debt-related stress as well. Being constantly connected to, say, a job you don’t like, or depressing news about the economy (let alone the environment) via all your gadgets can’t be great for anxiety levels. Unplug daily.
10. Do stuff you like. Or something you haven’t done for a while. Or something you’ve never done that doesn’t involve texting, tweeting, or BBM-ing. Even a couple of hours away from the world, or with someone special, can give you a fresh outlook.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)