dream apartment - 3

it's ironic that all the things in my dream apartment so far have been kitchen-related, especially since i'm such an idiot in the kitchen. and so i figured that not only would my dream apartment have an awesome kitchen ladder like this one, i should have a rolling ladder in every room of the place! what do you think?

p.s. check back to mad tasty in november for new posts!

left in the wrong world part 18

overheard at work:

"being american means voting conservative 100% of the time."

26th on the 26th!!

ironically, (or oddly?) both of my brothers celebrate their golden birthdays this year. crazy!

so in honor of my little brother's birthday, i declare this chocolate day: happy golden 26th birthday, homie!
it's chocolate day because i've never met anyone who loves chocolate as much as my brother, homie. in fact, i think all of my lack of chocolate love was saved in my mom's womb for him, next born. we used to go to ponderosa growing up and homie would get chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce topped with chocolate sprinkles (jimmies for the east coasters) and chocolate chips. seriously.

anyway, i don't remember homie being born (i was 2.5 years old). but i do have one story that i can tell you about his birth. [my whole family is groaning because they all know this story.] i was a wee little thing and my dad brought me to the hospital to introduce me to my brother. my mom held him and my parents showed me how he was different from me. i was uninterested. i went to play in the hall and while i was outside, the nurse came in to get my brother. apparently i walked back into my mom's room and demanded, "where did that penis go??" that's when my parents realized they needed to come up with a name for my brother. they decided against penis erdmann.

and to that extent, here is a picture of me and my brother from my cousin's bachelorette party last may. ironically, i am wearing a penis sticker:
this is also the party where i had a dare to kiss the tallest guy in the bar, and of course, it was my brother.

so join me all in wishing my little brother a happy birthday. love you much!!

everybody wants to rule the world

one of the saddest moments is when you glance at your wine glass then lift it to your mouth only to find that it is empty. not enough wine left to drip down the glass to your lips. i am very sad now because this just happened.

so.... sunday night it is. for me, this means: food network night. love it. and i just downloaded the food network ipod app - i'll let you know if it sucks. i'm totally excited for this.

i can't believe the weekend is gone. i wonder what i did and for once, i haven't felt like i did nothing. i feel like i was busy all weekend, even if i can't remember what i did. i watched a lot of movies and that makes me happy. today i went to capitalism: a love story and it was pretty good. it was a bit long, but the beginning really tickled me: the history of the roman empire which was all empowering and impressive and once at its own height and then fell because of... well, you need to watch it. but i thought this was cool because i listened to a podcast within the past 6 months about the US and being THE super-power and comparing it to companies and when they fall - they fall because they don't realize they're falling and can't stop the process. it was based on a business week article. the question is: when are you at the height and when do you fall? and can you stop it?

anyway, i went to that and then came home and have decided that i need to redo my finances. i'm not a huge michael moore fan - i appreciate his message and his movies, but i'm not the ultimate fan. however, i do get his newsletter or whatever it is which i normally skim. the most recent one really hit me. it talked about not giving business to companies that ... essentially don't deserve your business. and after watching his movie today i realized that one has to have principles and stick to them. so i am going to sign up for the local bank and try to stop shopping at businesses that give to organizations i dont like. there is a great website which allows you to see where companies donate their money or if they're green or suppor local causes: http://www.goodguide.com/. it helps you to be a more informed consumer and i really appreciate that.

i'm also doing this because i had a near-heart attack on friday at work. i'll try to make this really long story short but basically i have too many bank accounts. i have the account i never use (and really should close, but i'm pretty sure i have to close it in person and i'm never in boston anymore). there is the account that i prefer to use in boston but isn't in fargo. there is the account in fargo but not in boston. none of these are in columbus. then i have the online account which i use to transfer money among the three. i might have another one somewhere... i should look into that. so basically my company pays me into the account in boston. but i dont have the ability to deposit my expense account checks here in columbus, so i have the boston company send them to my mom in fargo so she can deposit them. which means i have my money split in many different accounts. apparently, a few weeks ago when i set up my amex payment for the due date (last friday), i set it up to come out of the fargo account. but i didnt remember doing that. so earlier this week when i realized i had to pay my rent for november, i started transferring my money from my fargo account to my boston account, via the online account. forgetting of course that i out-smarted myself and paid my amex bill from the very account which i was transferring money. once i realized this on friday while at work, i called my mom and told her (not asked her, unfortunately) told her to check the mail immediately when she got home, see if my expense check was there. if so, she had to go deposit it before 3pm. it was there, which was great, and it got into my account and somehow cleared in time for me to not get any overdraft charges (YET). i think everything is ok for now... but i have learned my lesson. i need to NOT have forty thousand accounts. and i need to not deal with companies taking bailout money and not treating customers correctly (wells fargo and citibank). so i am going to cancel those accounts (along with the boston account i dont use - citizens bank who i HATE) and start using a local, north dakota based bank. any suggestions? state bank of fargo? bank of north dakota? i appreciate your input.

[oh, btw, love the opposite of a shout-out to senator conrad in michael moore's movie. HA. and now he's embroiled in the healthcare debate. shame, shame.]

oh. my. god. i LOVE it. i just saw a food network sundays commercial and the song. THE SONG! its a remix of a poe song! i love it!! she is one of my FAVORITE artists. i'm so stoked right now. also, i have to make a comment on next iron chef. can we all just agree that its going to be chef freitag? i'm not happy about this, but she clearly has the biggest food network profile, i feel like putting her in the next iron chef competition is their way of making it seem "fair" to make her the next iron chef. i think they have too many iron chefs already, but if they "need" another one, it should def be a woman, so ... freitag i guess they are thinking. i kind of like chef creen, but that might be because of a proclivity towards the french.

sigh. ok, so that is it for me and my fast-paced sunday. or not? i can't remember if it was faced paced now or not... in any case, i'm going to get more wine.

left in the wrong world part 17

last weekend i went out with a coworker and her friends. my main point to them was that no one WANTS a big government. but it companies are going to take advantage of people so that executives get richer and other people get poorer, something has to be done. i'm all for people making money. it's just that when they are stomping on people who can't defend themselves that i have a problem. in that vain, overheard at work:

"They want to dictate pay, credit card products, the cars you manufacture."

then later in the day:

"Obama wants the jobless rate to get over 10% so that then he can take over all these companies like Ford."

i could go on, but it gives me a headache...

left in the wrong world part 16

overheard at work:

"Typical liberal ideology that I’m smarter than you, you don’t realize that this is good for you. I will make the right decisions for you and for the environment and this is going to be an optimal society."

this is after hearing the same guy say this about an hour earlier in the day:

“I’m not even sure they’re very smart.”

the miracle worker

i called my mom earlier this week to ask her about a story from my childhood. as i have understood the story, i was an early reader. one day, we were on a road trip and i was in the back seat with my favorite book - a chapter book about helen keller. my mom asked why i was crying and i said, "because her teacher just died." my mom hadn't realized that i could read.

i was reminded of this story when i watched this video of helen keller. i have always been enthralled with her story - maybe because it was one of the first books i read on my own, certainly because she has such an interesting story. i remember watching the movie about her and absolutely loving it.



hellen keller has been in the news a lot lately because a statue was put up in DC of her running her hands under a water pump. if you don't know her story, its really inspiring and interesting. i called my mom because i asked her how old i was when i was reading this book. "umm, 2nd grade, i think?" i was shocked because i thought it must've been before that, "2nd grade?!" then she replied, "i dont know. maybe 5th grade?" i was doubly shocked. i am POSITIVE it was not 5th grade - i was reading box car children at that age. in my mind, i was reading at age 3 or 4. if she says 2nd grade, we'll compromise on kindergarten. i read my first chapter book with few pictures at age 5. that makes sense, right?

in any case, i loved reading and still do, although i don't do as much as i used to. to try to encourage my brothers to read, i give them books as gifts for most holidays. i don't think they read them. grr to that.

even more than reading, though, i love movies. here is a scene from one of my favorites, the miracle worker...

i touch myself

scandalous subject, i know, i know. i remember when the divinyls song came out - i was in 5th grade and it was playing on the radio. i had my mom come into my room to listen to the song because i thought it was so great. being a nurse and never shy about explaining things, she told me what the song meant. i didn't get it at the time.

in any case, i am writing today to promote national breast cancer awareness month - currently right now in october. just because the month is more than half over, i don't want people to forget. women in my family have died of breast cancer so it is an issue i am concerned about. i was reminded of breast cancer month when at the grocery store yesterday - i bought yoplait yogurt with pink labels and even some frozen veggies where proceeds go to the komen foundation. here is a good article with a short video. go ahead, ladies, feel up your boobs. men, help them out (if they ask, please don't go molesting anyone under the guise of "checking for lumps"). breast cancer is very serious and often treatable if found in time. i thought this video was great for raising awareness.

THE BOOBY SCARE Featuring Alyson Hannigan, Emily Deschanel, Kat McPhee, Minka Kelly and Jaime King - watch more funny videos

in addition, i would like to bring your attention to the idea of PREVENTION not just treatment. there have been many studies that say that following 4 ideas will decrease your chances of getting cancer and other preventable chronic diseases (diabetes, heart disease, etc). i really like listening to the fitness rocks podcasts on itunes that talk about different studies that basically follow these ideas:
1) no smoking
2) eat a diet of mostly fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and nuts
3) exercise at least 30 min a day
4) maintaining a healthy weight

i'm the first to admit i don't follow these all the time, but i am trying harder. i've even hired trainers to come to my house to force me to work out because i really really really hate working out. but it's important because i don't want to develop a chronic disease.

so, join me in getting more fit (fitter? more fit? fitter?) and know your girls.

left in the wrong world part 15

its sometimes funny to hear a conversation and summarize it in one sentence. when talking about ohio mandating car insurance and comparing that to the health insurance battle, i overheard this:

“They don’t say you have to own a car AND pay for insurance.”

and then on his way to the printer, still upset with liberals:

“they should fucking be all shot.”

no more yankie my wankie. the donger need food

happy sunday! my list favorite day of the week, but i am trying to be productive, including finally putting pictures up of the beautiful victorian houses in my neighborhood here in columbus. i live in the short north district of columbus, which apparently is the gay district (or closest thing you can get to a gay district in middle america) so there are a lot of rainbow flags and obama bumper stickers. i finally (almost?) fit in.

in my effort to be productive, i made a list of things to do today. first thing: get to the grocery store before it gets busy. i HATE shopping when there are tons of people there. i took a bit of time getting out of bed, which i shouldn't have. by the time i took off, on foot, for the grocery store a few blocks away, i realize why i should've gotten up sooner: the columbus marathon. and it happens to go right by my house. all the way to the grocery store. visions of living in boston during marathon monday flash through my head and give me a headache. i wasn't sure what was going on at first because there were just a bunch of cops and orange cones. i asked a traffic cop when the runners were gonna get there and he said that the lead guy was on mile 23 and we were at mile 25. in the time that it took me to walk a little less than a mile to the grocery store, the lead person ran past me. he was a skinny black man, so i'm guessing a kenyan. they sure like to run. i dont know why. anyway, i stopped and cheered him and the 2nd place guy on, but the rest of the crowd was far behind so i kept going. it was awe inspiring and i almost teared up. i truly believe marathon runners should be / could be certified crazy, but i also realize what a feat it is to run 26.2 miles and i'm happy for them. even if they are a bit delusional.

on my way to the grocery store, i took some pictures* of the nice houses along the way. i tried this the other night, but since it was nearing dark, the houses look a bit ominous. so i am putting up all the pictures i've taken - the other night and today. so, while i go make a salad, enjoy these lovely photos..










*i noticed. and i'm not happy. someone took the plastic protector off my camera screen and now it might get scratched. i WILL find out who you are and punish you.

left in the wrong world part 14

overheard at work:

"Liberals cannot accept that in an optimal society there will be losers. You can’t protect everybody."

i mentioned this to cake boss in boston and he said, "you're only as good as your weakest player." which i think is the same for society.

left in the wrong world part 14

i don't know if i can stress just how much this guy at work went off yesterday - he was shouting and raising his voice and i seriously thought that if i brought up some counterpoints to all of the stupid things he says, he would've hit me or something. or maybe shot me. a different woman at work has lots of guns, and i'm all for gun ownership, but its still scary. anyway, this is not about that. this is about a hostile work environment and crazy things people say. here are a few more quotations for your enjoyment:

regarding senator o. snowe who voted for the finance committee health bill:

“She’s going to fuck up America.”

here is a made up statistic on the health reform bill that must be from fox news, which rachel maddow did an interesting piece on how inaccurate their reporting is and people are misquoting figures because of it:

"70% of Americans against it."

and then this one:

"They’ve voted to ban the bills from being put online so people can’t read them."

left in the wrong world part 13

it quickly became clear today that DC was doing something important when one of my co-workers started ranting for - what seemed like - hours all day about "fucking liberals." sure enough, there is a lot of news going on with the healthcare debate. for the record, most of the upcoming "left in the wrong worlds" are from today... here is the first gem for you:

"Obama is a slick guy trying to divert attention away from everything else."

dream apartment - 2

in august, i decided to start a recurring series on things i want in my perfect apartment. (or house, but can anyone really picture me owning property unless its in paris??) i haven't found a ton of things that i thought would be must-haves, but i haven't really been looking. and then today:

oh my gosh. i can hardly believe how cool this thing is. check out this picture of a trap door for wine. i don't know how you get into it, but i don't care i want one!

what do you think?

left in the wrong world part 13

i woke up this morning and read the news before going to work. “Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize.” My first thought was “for what?” but I didn’t dwell on this issue – clearly there are people far smarter than I who decide these things. My next thought was a sigh of relief, “yes! There is nothing bad my coworkers at work can say about this. clearly winning an award is a good thing for whatever reason.” Am I naïve?

Said directly to me as she takes out her phone and we get in the elevator:
“my husband and I rag on Obama all the time. We love it.”
[Calling husband]
Overheard her talking on the phone:
“Honey, guess what a broker sent me today? He said that Obama was awarded the Cy Young award for throwing the first pitch at a game.” [Hysterical laughter follows]Also overheard at work:

“Being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize because he’s a liberal.”

And

[trying to discredit the nobel peace prize] “they gave it to Yasser Arafat. A KNOWN terrorist. Come on.”

exciting, albeit funny, news! i've just had an editorial published!! here is the link to the fargo forum's newspaper and their online website, in-forum. from past experience reading their website, i know that articles are soon archived, so here is a pasted text version of the site:

Published October 08 2009

Rural Americans need reform bill

I am disappointed that when rural people have been shown in the health care reform debate, when they’ve been shown at all, it’s mostly been screaming and shouting against reform.

By: DLE, Fargo

I am disappointed that when rural people have been shown in the health care reform debate, when they’ve been shown at all, it’s mostly been screaming and shouting against reform. The truth is the silent majority of rural Americans want and need health care reform that is inclusive, affordable and includes a strong public option.

Rural Americans are more likely to be uninsured or underinsured and have fewer choices of private insurance and health care providers while having more health care needs. While all Americans stand to gain from health care reform, arguably rural Americans have the most to gain. Please make sure this side of the story is heard.

Tags: health care reform, public insurance option, rural americans, opinion, letters

as stoked and proud as i am about this, i find it a bit ironic... see, i've been meaning to write my own editorial for a long time. i was going to, and still hope to, write to senator conrad about my experiences being denied healthcare coverage (can you believe that??!!), but since i am a well-known procrastinator, i have not gotten around to it just yet. in the meantime, i got an email from brave new world foundation talking about health care in rural america (i think from brave new world, but i viewed it from work, so i can't find the direct link for you right now). you watched a very poignant video on health care affecting rural america. then, you have the option to put in your zip code, so i put in 58102, and up pops a listing of local newspapers (the forum in fargo). it gave you a sample text you could use to write an editorial to the paper. i didn't have a lot of time, so i clicked send and off went my pre-written editorial. i just thought i should come out clean with all the details. don't get me wrong, i believe in the everything the editorial says. and i'm happy to put my name by it. but if you see the same words somewhere else, that is why.

and guess how i even found out about this. my friend, kj's husband emailed her to show her that i was in the paper and then she emailed me. my own family didn't even notice! :) but now i'm published and that's cool. and i believe in healthcare reform and i hope to one day write an even better editorial that is a bit more personal.

left in the wrong world part 12

i tried reading this story today on cracked.com about 6 Beloved TV Shows (That Traumatized Cast Members For Life). when i went to the cracked.com website link here, i received this warning on my computer:

[Company] Internet use policy restricts access to this web page.
Reason: This Websense category is filtered: Tasteless.

this may or may not be the first time i've been called tasteless.

left in the wrong world part 11

overheard at work today (unfortunately i missed half the conversation, but this part was funny):

“he doesn’t know what a lefty is. I think he’s one of those lefties that wants to sit around and smoke pot all day.”

highlights

i've had some interesting days, but it will take me a minute to go over them. until then, enjoy this video