Wednesday, March 31, 2010

mar 2010 twitter archive

  1. @erdysouth lindenwood? Island park? Downtown? You want city or nature?
  2. @erdynorth - serious?? Live? In person?
  3. just bought miami vice full series on buy.com for $40! thanks @dealsplus!!
  4. i've put together a post listing a few #fargoflood and #flood10 and #fmflood links and referneces. looking for more... http://bit.ly/aNKGax
  5. i think i have bed bugs in my new apartment. http://wanderlust-ndstyle.blogspot.com/2010/03/wind-of-change.html
  6. fun picture of movie quotes - could you guess them (w/o the captions - dont cheat!) http://bit.ly/9dNNxP
  7. @delicateleah - was he guilty?
  8. I mean the ipod is an hr ahead and I'm not an hr late for my flight
  9. Almost had a heartattack-thought I missed my flight then realized my ipod is an hr behind. Phew.
  10. An hour early for my flight in far and the gates aren't open to go through security...??
  11. Flight delayed until tomorrow - in fargo tonight woo hoo!
  12. wish my brothers and their friends would just comment on my blog. then i wouldn't DM or twitter anymore... http://bit.ly/ad7YUC
  13. thanks @erdysouth and @parithed who helped me move my stuff to prepare for the flood. reminiscing last year's flood: http://bit.ly/ad7YUC
  14. "Imagine" is on the radio. Did you know it was the theme song to my moms senior prom?
  15. I don't know about @hassie and @erdysouth but I'm having fun watching @erdynorth play ball
  16. In winona ready to watch @erdynorth play some awesome basketball!

hey, ho, let's go!

i feel like crap. second day in a row. i have no desire to go to work today, but i will because i'm trying to finish this massively annoyingly detailed project. i shall triumph! i will overcome it! i need to get pumped up about it. it would be great if i could finish it today. we'll see.

today is a glorious state holiday in california so the office should be pretty dead - i work in an office that will be open, but the other 90% of the company should not be there. so i've decided i'm going to do 2 things. first, i want to find an apple i really like. i heard a podcast on eartheats, i think, about apples and the fact that there are THOUSANDS of different types of apples, and most americans know of ... say 5. i can name: green apples, granny smith, red delicious (which aren't really delicious, actually), ... hmmmm... ok, i can name 3. off the top of my head. so i was at nugget the other day and they had some delicious looking apples. so i bought 5 or 6 different kinds - one of each, and i'm going to take a picture of each and eat them and decide which ones i like. i may add peanut butter to the green one - those can be so tart. so thats thing one that i am doing.

thing two that is new to me is effective, april 1, 2010 (tomorrow), i am going to give up candy for ONE YEAR. yep, you heard me. to confess, the idea is not mine. i read it here. and it seems like such a good idea. because, honestly, WHY does one EAT candy anyway? i can't think of a good reason other than it tastes good for like 5.19 seconds. and if you pay attention to your body, you most likely feel like crap an hour or two after eating candy. because your blood sugar rises so quickly (making you feel good) and then it crashes to levels that make your body feel horrible. but my point isn't why SHOULDNT i eat candy (i can come up with TONS of reasons for that), but Why SHOULD i? seriously. aside from a small rush and tantalizing my taste buds, there is NO REASON to eat it. so i started to think about why i do eat candy. boredom. because its there. because i'm hungry and its cheap(ish). because someone offers it to me. because i feel bad. none of these are reasons to actually DO something. yet, i use them all the time. or i eat candy all the time. (not ALL the time - i could go weeks without eating any, but then i might have some and not really pay attention). which brings me why NOT to eat candy. its bad for you. literally, there are NO NUTRIENTS in candy. your body gets NOTHING GOOD from it. it rots your teeth - i am deathly afraid of losing my teeth and having to have dentures. ew. i dont like the thought. it makes you fat. even if there is no fat in it, its filled with tons of sugar which turns to fat when its not used. you're basically wasting good money. think about it, you spend $1 2-3 times a week on candy (if you only buy a candybar. if you buy a big bag of it, its 3 times that amount), that equals $150 a year on candy. at a minimum. think of everything else you could buy with that money. but i digress. i have decided that effective tomorrow, i will no longer eat candy. and i loooove me some candy. in preparation for this, i bought a bag of brachs candy corn last sunday. it was... ok. i didnt love it like i used to. in fact, it reminded me of my childhood. if i was craving candy corn, my dad would go to the store at 10pm at night for me and get me some. eating the candy corn brought back memories, but didn't make me want to not give it up. i also bought one bag of peanut butter m&ms and one bag of reese's pieces yesterday and compared them last night. it did not make my stomach feel well. i felt lethargic and frumpy after i ate them. but i did want to compare them. and i realized that i think i like the reeses pieces better. for YEARS i've said the opposite, but now i'm rethinking. either way, it doesnt matter. effective tomorrow, i'm giving it all up. for one year. and we'll see if i want to eat it after that.

now the issue is... what constitutes as candy? clearly candy bars, m&ms (and the like), jelly beans, skittles. i'm going to throw in life savers and york peppermint patties. i do like mints for breath purposes, but they are kind of candy-like and individually packaged, which is not green. so i will give those up, but i will not give up gum. does that seem fair? what items am i missing?

oh, i forgot my second point to the second point. we'll call it 2a. or would candy be 2a and this be 2b? hmmm... either way, i'm also going to give up pop (or "soda" if you prefer). i had my last diet root beer yesterday (which is really the only pop i actually like). and i didnt really love it. it tasted like sugary water. so i'm through. no more pop for me. which will be hard because i like to use it as mixers in alcoholic drinks. this just means no more long islands or rum and cokes. i'll haev to switch to straight-up martinis. mmmm... so those are my new decrees. no more candy and no more pop. and find an apple i really like. what do you think?

in other news, dont forget to read my quick post at madtasty for this week (on cooling beverages). and the cake vs. pie debate continues on! its getting heated at jezebel. i'm firmly in the cake camp, BUT this post was pretty funny trying to get people to vote for pies. i like these two pictures in particular which lead to the final picture:

which gives you this:::::::

know what it reminds me of...??? DUMP CAKE! ya'll remember that, right?? (hint, hint to my friends who were at my "holiday"? party a few years ago - it was that party, right?)

ok, i've got to get to work... wish me luck!

["Hey, ho, let's go!" by The Ramones from "Blitzkrieg Bop" just because i feel like i'm starting something new]

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

dream apartment - 18

wow. combining two of my favorite things: stairs and bookshelves. and spirals. i could learn to love spirals just so this would be the ultimate staircase. yes, i've just decided i love spirals. its very seashelly when you look at the other pictures of it, as seen here. just check it out. its fun.

Monday, March 29, 2010

paranoid

in honor of monday, my favorite day of the week, i figured i would put up some things for you to enjoy. things that made me smile. i feel like others don't like mondays and that's too bad. maybe this will help.

i was totally stoked a few months ago when listoftheday posted their video of the day from my favorite group, garbage. just awesome.


this video from jezebel makes getting stuck in an airport look super fun. i've never had to spend the night in an airport (knock on wood) and i've flown quite a bit. now i kind of want to...


this site has pictures of kit kats from around the world. i think i've only had regular, but its still fun to look at

once i learn to kayak, i am TOTALLY doing this (higgi, you're totally coming with me!):


and this video found here kind of makes me want to make my own twinkies. or at least eat someone else's that are homemade. regular twinkies are NASTY though.


tonight i am getting my hair done - woo hoo! and then... well, i guess nothing. yoga next monday. woo hoo! so what makes you happy on mondays? and what do you think about twinkies?

[song: obviously by garbage]

Sunday, March 28, 2010

spinning wheel

i hate sundays. and i'm particularly annoyed with last night.

it's 11:15am and i'm bored. i've already watched a movie this morning and caught up on all my reading. what else am i to do today?? i have to meet the trainer at noon and i think i'm breaking up with her. i'm just not impressed and i get frustrated and pissed off. i guess i'll go back in to work and try and do some things. i'd go see a movie, but not sure if the times work for me. i have a 40% off coupon at borders so maybe i'll head over there and see what i can buy to give me a thrill for about 4.987 seconds. then what? i've already seen a movie in the theater this weekend - friday night i went to see chloe. not a bad flick. i guess i have 2 netflixes i need to watch. i'll probably try to go rollerblading. we'll see. maybe i'll go to a coffee shop and read a book or work on my german. but even that sounds boring. bleh.

so last night around 2:30am i woke up. i was annoyed because i had taken 2 tylenol pms since i could sleep in today. i fell back asleep only to be awoken at 4am by the freakiest thing. someone was walking around the hotel pounding on doors. but it wasn't a knock. it was like with the palm of his/her hand. bam, bam bam. bam bam, bam bam. when it first woke me up, it was far away - at the end of the building. but it grew closer and i could hear people above me get up and walk around. i don't think they opened their door. i laid in bed terrified that someone would figure out i was in this room. i didn't move because the bed is kind of creaky. i didnt want to check the time on my computer afraid the blue light would shine through the door and he/she would figure out that i was in here. i willed myself to go back to sleep but wasn't sure if i would be able to because i usually fall asleep with some sort of noise on - tv, radio or computer playing something. and i didn't want to do that because i didnt want to be found out. after about a half hour i think i fell back asleep and then woke up after 8 this morning.

and, of course, now that the sun is shining, this place seems totally normal and without fright. i ignore the sketchy people who come and go. i haven't seen any one person enough to think that he or she is living here (like me). which is really depressing now that i think about it. who would live here?? no one. except me. this is not ideal. maybe after i do the dishes today (woo hoo! something to do today - bleh) i'll take some pictures and post them for your enjoyment. it most certainly should make you feel better about whatever your current station in life is.

i don't even have anything fun to add to this today. there was nothing interesting to read about.

maybe going to a movie is the best idea. what movie do you suggest i see? here are some i might see:
creation - not really interested in seeing, BUT i bought a movie pass for this theater and this is the only movie that they are currently showing that i am even slightly interested in seeing. and i have 5 movies to use up at this theater before i leave
greenberg - looks good and its at my favorite theater, tower theater, but is it going to be sad??
a prophet - also at tower theater, and in french, but it looks super dark
alice in wonderland - def want to see, but am i in the mood? and do i see it in 3d or not?
brooklyn's finest - no idea if this is good or not - havent heard anything about it but i like richard gere and don cheadle
hot tub time machine (??) - this could be extremely funny or totally horrible. do i dare waste the money?
shutter island - def want to see but am i in the mood for scary by myself?
the bounty hunter - again, this is probably horrible, but sometime i like seeing horrible movies just so i have something else to direct anger at.

what do you suggest?

[spinning wheel by blood sweat and tears chosen because i feel like i'm just going to be spinning my wheels today.]

Saturday, March 27, 2010

six underground

greetings from sacramento and the office. yes, its saturday night and i am at work. its not so bad. there is actually another guy here. i'm not sure what he's doing. it can't be work (unlike me - ha!), but i'm not sure. my trainer came this morning and i'm kind of thinking its a waste of money. e.g. today, we went up and down stairs and then did knee lifts in my room. i mean, i could do that myself. i just really would have to actually force myself to do it. my trainer in columbus, tt, was really good. i miss him. *weep*

i came in because i have about 100 things to watch and do online, but the internet at my place is so crap, its not even worth it to try. every now and then i think "wow, what if i had gone to africa?" and using the internet in my room is like that - i'm sure the internet would be waay slower, if even around, in africa. its crazy and sad how much i depend on my computer. i guess its mostly because i live in an area where i dont know a lot of people and spend a lot of time on my own...

oh, yeah, back to my day. trainer came over, then i watched entourage season 5 and wrote some cards. then i went rollerblading, showered and came in to work. i'm watching a video of a guy eating the hottest chili in the world, the bhut jalokia. it looks good. he is getting sick, but i think i would like to try it. i bet it would give me a new-found appreciation for serrano and wasabi and whatnot (both of which i LOVE).

i think i'll spend another hour here or so, then go get some food and head home to watch law and order. i like that nbc repeats them on saturday nights, i'm always dead tired by 10pm during the week.

and now for your viewing pleasure, take a look at this side-by-side picture of mcdonalds food taken one year apart (same food!). eek. found here. scary. just think about it.

[is a song by the British band Sneaker Pimps, from their 1996 album Becoming X - i love this song and i figured it was appropriate because eating macdo all the time could leave you in a grave 6 feet under mwahahahaha [insert evil laugh]]

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

forever may you run

it's thursday night and things have been crazy busy! i didn't get home until after 7:30 this evening. i was eating my dinner (chicken pad thai) and it was so spicy i couldn't finish. i'm watching criminal minds (which i love!) and gavin rossdale is in it. i love him. i'm sure i've written about him before. i mean i love his music. or mostly his jawline. i dont personally know him, obviously.

there are a lot of things up in the air right now, once i know more i'll let you in on all my secrets. until then, enjoy this video that my friend andrew, from grand forks, found. its super cute and so true....

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

wont you please please help me

UGH. i am SUPER FRUSTRATED. grrrrr. i have been trying to soup-up my mac. (soup-up? sup-up? let me check urban dictionary... soup up. i was right.) i bought microsoft office for the mac 1) even though i bought the stupid mac word processing and excel versions when i bought my computer and have used them like twice but can't figure them out and 2) because i have been using the excuse that i couldnt do my resume at home because i didnt have word at home and now that is no longer an excuse. BUT because my stupid extended stay hotel has really crappy, slow internet, i can't download the upgrade for microsoft office - it keeps TIMING OUT. which is so frustrating. ALSO, i bought quicken for the mac so i can be better at budgeting and watching my expenses (read: to see how long before i have to freak out about not having a job) and for some REASON, i can't set it up (something about already having a quicken login, but they won't send me the password because i technically haven't used it for quicken, just for intuit which is the turbo tax software. so annoying!)

back in the day i used to be pretty decent at computers. now i have no idea. i should definitely learn more. i'm a wiz on excel (whiz?) and pretty respectable at word processing, but i'd like to get into graphics and webpaging and all that jazz.

my inner ear itches.

monday night is my new favorite tv night. himym, chuck, nurse jackie and united states of tara (the ONLY benefit of living here is that i have showtime) and law and order. woo hoo! although that is too much tv for one night. i could go for some pizza right now. tomorrow night i will go rollerblading. oh yeah. did i tell you i bought rollerblades? yep i did. last thursday. i figured i wanted some other thing to do with my day so i bought them. turns out i'm a crap rollerblader, though. i can't skate for shit. so i have to practice, which is a joke honestly. usually i'm good at things i do for the first time. i guess this isn't really the first time i've rollerbladed. and i would've still had rollerblades except that my old roommate allowed her landlord to toss them out. those sorts of things are annoying.

in the effort of making this all about tech stuff, i figured i'd give you some helpful links i've found interesting the past few (insert time here):
my friend [dave] sent me this quiz asking "are you addicted to technology?" i can't remember if i answered 15 or 20 questions with a "yes" (i was using my fingers and i dont have that many), but then when i read about it, i think it was 15. i'm not too hardcore. how about you?

[song from the song "help!" (1965 album/film by the beatles)]

Monday, March 22, 2010

jumpin jack flash

normally mondays are my favorite day of the week. today is not starting out so great, though. i had a plan all lined up for my next step/stop after this consulting gig ends in mid-april. that has all just fallen through. which is kinda crappy. now i'm wondering if i will be able to go to my friend's wedding in paris in july because tickets will be so expensive and just going to paris is always expensive for me (for some reason, i dont have the ability to be frugal in paris. oh, who am i kidding? i'm RARELY frugal...). i guess i'll tell you my plan since its not going to happen: i was goign to move in my with my friend higgi for a few months - he has a FABULOUS apartment in the south end of boston and rent would only be $1000ish and then i could get a temp job or something to pay for rent and look for a job. it would be easier to fly out of boston on a whim to head somewhere for an interview, PLUS i have a wedding in providence (less than 2 hours from boston) in june for a whole weekend (my first jewish wedding ever!) and then the wedding in paris in july. both of those would be a LOT cheaper if i were traveling from boston instead of fargo. so that was the plan, but now the landlord doesn't want someone in for less than a year and i can't sign a lease for a year. so the whole thing has crashed around me and i'm sad. i was really looking forward to it.

---------------------------

ok, so i wrote all of that while i was waiting for my trainer to show up this morning. she finally came - 15 minutes late (which is actually 15 min AFTER i'd like to start anyway - i asked to start at 6 so i could be at work by 8, but she wanted to come at 6:15 because of childcare, so i said fine). well, low and behold, she shows up at my door CARRYING HER DAUGHTER. don't get me wrong, her daughter is SUPER CUTE and so WELL BEHAVED she actually makes me not dislike her. but... it was just shocking. i didn't know what to say, and obviously i didnt want to say anything in front of her. so we work out, although its really awkward working out when a 5 year old is watching you huff and puff, while she sat on my bed watching a movie on her portable dvd player. i have to say something to my trainer, this is just not working. then we didn't even work out an hour! ugh.

so before i hop in the shower, i send a quick email to my dear friend in london lamenting about my day so far. i get out of the shower and check my email and there is one from her - she's so good about writing back so quickly! and, of course, its an out-of-office until NEXT MONDAY. we didn't talk last week, so i forgot she was going to ireland. wtf. now i'm even more upset! i know its not her fault, but sometimes you just want someone to be there and they aren't and then you get upset at yourself for wanting them to be there (ok, insert all "you"s with "i"s). grrrr. [the grrr is DEFINITELY coming back today.]

wait. i'm not done. so i leave for work, already after 8am (when i'd like to be there) and get to work (only 10 min away - woo hoo!) and realize i forgot my quarters at home. which i need to park on the street. i COULD park under the building for the low price of $12/day, BUT i also have NO CASH (because i stopped at a gas station yesterday that was cash only - wtf! - and had to use my last $16). so i turn around and zip home and get my quarters. i get back to work, now its almost 8:45, and there is only one spot left in the whole area of where i park (out of like 20!). (and the FURTHEST from the office) and i go to put quarters in, and there is already 8hrs and 19 minutes worth of quarters in the machine. can you believe that? i mean, good i dont have to pay, but annoying i went all the way home for it!

bleh. so today is not working out like i'd plan. and normally i'd have my favorite yoga class tonight, but since i got to work late (and am writing this), i will have to stay late, which means i cant go to the class (i forgot my clothes anyway) and that makes me sad. i can't go next week because i have a hair appointment, so i have to wait 2 weeks to go. AND tonight is chuck, which is my favorite show, but its also DWTS (i think). i def won't watch dwts because i need to give chuck my attention, but it makes me annoyed i have to choose!!

---------------------------

bleh. so today is super crappy. but in better news - the river level in fargo is going down. and it was in the paper at least twice last weekend. (that always makes me happy) this was on the nyt homepage and this was on the cnn homepage.

ok, and to also make me feel better i will post this picture because i LOVE candy. i know its big, so apologies, but its super fun to follow. the original post is linked here, but i found it here.

notice how there is no path to candy corn or circus peanuts (both of which i love, of course). well, i LOVE candy corn (but NOT the ones in the picture - those are nasty! you can tell they are not made with real eggs) and i like circus peanuts. to appease me and make me feel better, which is your favorite candy?? and do you agree with the path to get there?

[song title from rolling stones, but really we all think of whoopi goldberg's movie, don't we?? and i picked it because its fun to say and so that helps me be in a slightly better mood]

Sunday, March 21, 2010

dream apartment - 17


i love things that are cool. and this is truly cool. it's a "different kind of kitchen cupboard" over at apartment therapy. i wonder, however, if it would be just as cool as a bookshelf or a headboard or something.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

let them eat cake!

the cake vs. pie war over at jezebel (here) is starting to be my new favorite thing. i filled out the bracket with my grandma over the phone. hers was TOTALLY different than mine. i think we had like 2 or 3 in the first round in common. nothing after that. she had banana cream pie going all the way to the finals and had fruitcake winning overall. ??!! i can't imagine even eating fruitcake let alone having it beat birthday cake! speaking of which, now i'm hungry for some cake. damnit! food style is definitely a generational thing.


jezebel is all into it, too. some people are claiming pies will win overall. pisha! cake is waaay better. as proven here:


ok, the video might not be working. hmmm... i think i turned dumber today. i can't imbed a video anymore. somethings going on...


anyway, i said i would share my winners, so here they are (just stating the winners):
Birthday cake
Angel food
Coffee cake
Funfetti
Wedding
Red velvet
carrot
ice cream


next round:
birthday
funfetti
wedding
ice cream


finals for cake:
funfetti
ice cream (winner, but this is totally a toss up)


pie (which, basically, i dont eat any of):
apple
pecan
peanut butter
s'mores (although i dont think i've ever had this kind of pie)
rhubarb
sweet potato
cherry
brown sugar


next round:
pecan
s'mores
rhubarb
brown sugar


finals for pie:
pecan (which i actually really love even though i have only had it like twice in my life - winner)
brown sugar (i've never even heard of this kind of pie, but sounds good)


i'm really excited about this. he he.
so anyway, i'm at work. on a saturday. i was partially doing some work and partially working on my resume and mostly watching tv shows that i missed this past week on tv (no dvr in my "hotel room"). and so i'm working on my resume, which was updated until last summer. but now i need to include these "consulting" jobs which is just perplexing me. i have no idea how to include them. its frustrating. but yeah, i'm going through things and i find this chart from lifehacker showing the best jobs in america.

the only thing that is even close to what i do would be the product management director. that pays pretty well. i should start moving my career in that direction...


ok i just got pretty bored while sitting here. i think i'm giong to take off soon. but before then, here are some interesting articles you might enjoy in honor of the last weekend of health care (hopefully!):


i was just watching stephen colbert interview this woman and he asked if she was black or white and i forget her response, but something like "i dont know" or "who cares?" and he asked "well, do you listen to jimmy buffet records? if you do, then you're white." which made me lol. literally.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

wicked game

this major project i'm working on at work is just that: major. and a pita. [side note: i'm trying to swear less, or swear in another language (seems more intelligent, right?), but its hard not to say pita. pitb just doesnt work quite as well...] and so i'm taking a break at the end of the day to write this - actually i would go home because i've been here well over 8 hours, BUT i told the guy i'm training i would review something for him, so i'm hanging out for a bit. normally i dont ramble from work (well, ramble on here, that is, i definitely just talk about nothing at work), but the whole flood thing is getting me a bit worried and this is my only link to it. speaking of which, my friend pointed out that the fargo flood finally made the front page of cnn today. i didnt see it, but here is a link to the story. for those of you not in fargo and hearing about this 24/7, i just got a note from @fargofloodstage "The Red River at Fargo ND is at 34.12 ft which is 16.12 ft above flood stage."

and for some other random stuff i have found interesting lately, here is a chart from the economist showing the most expensive cities to live in. why is it that i always want to live in expensive places?? does this say something about my personality? i'm not super-pretentious, i dont think... i guess its just the skyscrappers and cool architecture and lots of people i dont know (anonymity). but anyway, what do you think? AND more importantly, do you have an economist login and can get the whole results??

and now on to the even cooler stuff... jezebel is holding their own version of march madness with voting each day for the cake vs. pie tournament. its totally awesome. here is the link to the explanation of the game. print out your own version and fill it out. the guy at work and i did and we had almost exactly the same thing! so funny. i'll let you know my results in a few days after you have had a chance to fill out your own version. we'll see who wins the actual jezebel tournament. leave your final picks (winner of cake bracket and winner of pie bracket) in the comments section...
who you gonna pick to win??

[wicked game is a song by chris isaak on the heart shaped world cd]

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

special notice

making sandbags is not exactly "money for jam" so i appreciate everyone who has helped out in the fargo flood. sorry, dot.

stars on the water

haven't talked to family today so not sure what the mood is in fargo with all of the flood fight. it got me wondering, though... why hasn't there been as much national coverage this year? sure the river is expected to crest at (only) 38 feet this weekend (vs. 40/41 feet last year), but its coming faster and sooner than in years past. maybe its because i'm not there, but i feel like the sentiment is that its not as big of a deal as it was in years past. is this the case? does the nation think "oh, those hard-working north dakotans, go get 'em! just like you always do..."??!!

so i looked up the flooding at cnn. yes, an article, but hardly anything indicating what the city is going through - last year it was on the homepage. the new york times has a decent article from the AP here and another one here with a lot of the same info. an old coworker from ohio sent me this article from bloomberg news, again nothing groundbreaking.

what's the sentiment in fargo? and how are people holding up? do people across the nation reading this have any idea or only because you read this?

in related news, here is a file from last year - documents to keep in a flood. read it. its important.

[stars on the water is a lovely song by good ol' jb from one particular harbor.]

plaisir obscene


happy st. patrick's day! here is a four-leaf clover (or "club" as i like to call them) for all my dear irish friends. miss you all! and for anyone who is not irish, i don't miss you that much today. :)

its hump day and i'm rather busy, so i just wanted to put up two things that were fun for you to enjoy and think about for 3.17 seconds.

the first is a graph i found here which shows which fast food restaurant is most popular ("most popular" as in because its there, not necessarily because people like it) across the US. notice how dairy queen has a monopoly on middle-of-nowhere north dakota. i like that hardees is still around. their milkshakes are way better than mcdonald's. what's your favorite fast food restaurant?

and how cool is this?? for my compatriots who grew up in the late 80s/early 90s, this will surely take you back. this episode is, in fact, my favorite saved by the bell episode. remember?

[plaisir obscene is a song by french singer emily - it means "obscene pleasure" which is nearly how i felt after seeing these graphs. "nearly," i say. nearly.]

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

rollin' on the river

do do do do do...

so yeah, I’m starting to get a bit freaked out. About the river. Rising. The red river. The red river rising. I keep getting these tweets from @fargofloodstage that tell me the current level of the river (at 9:42 am pacific on tues: "The Red River at Fargo ND is at 28.2 ft which is 10.2 ft above flood stage." YES. That is UP THREE FEET from yesterday). And then I got a tweet from @inforum saying they urgently need sandbaggers. And what am I doing?? Sitting on my ass in california working for the man. Literally. There is a man I work for. So yes, this is all starting to freak me out a bit. Can people go out and sandbag for me? And can you give me updates? How is it all going? What level is your house at?

[urgent need for sandbaggers!!]

For those not in fargo, here are some links so you can keep up-to-date:
you can also subscribe to the flood rss feeds by adding this: http://www.inforum.com/event/rss.group/group/Flood/ to your reader as i just did.

i looked online and see that airfare home for the weekend is $657 and i have a $250 voucher i have to use before may - do ya'll need me to head home and help out?? wait. nevermind. just got an email from my mom who points out they need helpers NOW and not on friday. should i stay or should i go? hmmm...

anyone have any other links i should include for all you need to know about fargo flooding?

[subject from the great credence clearwater revival song. if you need me to explain it, well... ]

dream apartment - 16

when i saw this post at apartment therapy, i hit my head because i was gobsmacked. of course! how have i ever lived without one?? and by "one" i mean my own personal sauna in my dream apartment! its such an obvious addition, how can anyone argue? and how does anyone live without one?? check the original post for more pictures of them. i think i liked this one the best, but i wouldn't mind if i got the first picture, especially if there is a sexy older man included. i mean, really, i'm not going to be picky when it comes to my own personal sauna. and to that extent - do you like wet or dry saunas?

Monday, March 15, 2010

wind of change

its 4:18am. i don't think i have slept a wink so far. i was in bed slightly after 11 and don't remember sleeping at all, yet i am wide awake.

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now it is mid-morning and i am taking a quick break from a super-fun project looking up transactions to update quickly. (mostly so i don't fall asleep) this project is booooring. but its doubly worse today because i am so so very tired. i did not sleep at all last night because i was ITCHING. EVERYWHERE. i'm not sure if its my new sheets, the fabric detergent they were washed in, or what. i stopped writing above at 4am because i was also looking up information on bed bugs and i determined, using my scientific brain, that i do not have bed bugs, just the itchies. so i tried going back to bed hoping that would make me feel better ("that" being scientifically proving that i don't have bed bugs), but i still could not go to sleep and then at 5:30, my alarm went off. you see, yesterday i moved out of my friends house to an extended stay hotel which i had to hand clean the bathroom because there were strands of hair everywhere and where i now must wear slippers everywhere. this is actually the third room i've been in. the first room i checked into smelt really badly. i called the front desk and the woman told me she would look for some spray and call me back (i didn't want to tell her that i would prefer not to put chemicals into the air for me to breathe in, but i really wanted it to not smell bad, so if she could find the spray i would probably use it). i waited an hour for her to call me back - i was just sitting in a mostly dark hotel room trying not to move much because the place felt gross. when i finally got up to walk around, i noticed the carpet hadn't been vacuumed and there were crumbs on the table. so i went back to the front desk and she told me that the spray was locked in the janitor's closet. i did not ask why she couldn't call me back to tell me that. so she gives me a key to look at another room. i look at it, it's clean and smells fine, but the bathtub has rust stains in it. lovely. so i go back to the front desk and ask about the king size room. its $200 more per month, but by now, i think i need the extra space so i dont kill myself. so i get a king size room and then move all my stuff downstairs to another room.

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ok, another break. it is now the end of my day and i should be heading home soon... but first, let me finish my story:

so i moved in to my king size room. i waited until after 'til death on fox (not necessarily a good show, but i went to high school with one of the guys on it, timm sharp, and so i thought i would watch to see him for a second) was over before i could go to the grocery store to get some cleaning supplies for my place. i found some of 7the generation - is that the new company? - eco-friendly cleaning supplies and went home. but by that time, i was too tired so i just got in bed excited to be between the sheets (which i assume are clean) rather than sit ontop of the comforter (which is suspect). and i go to sleep. or try to. and i try to. for hours on end. at some point, i realize i'm not sleeipng because my legs and arms keep itching. i'm itching in the bed. its at 4am that i get up and look up bed bugs. they say to check the crevices of the mattress for bug droppings. i see none. i convince myself there are no bed bugs and try to go back to sleep. no avail. my trainer comes at 6:15 and we work out in the dark. i do not like working out in the dark. i do not like working out in the light, either, but i more dislike it in the dark. i wasn't going to go to work because i was so tired, but i realize staying in that apartment is worse than going to work. so i go to work.

and now i am tired. but i've gotten a lot done! and my trainer said she would stop by tonight to bring me a real comforter (with down!) and some extra sheets i can lay on my couch so i dont get grossness on me when i'm watching tv. i still have to unpack and make the place my own, so we'll see how it goes once i've done it up. half the day i've been sitting here wanting to move, but every place in town is so expensive or too far. i'm going to suck it up and live in my bug-infested bed with the "goal" of saving money...

oh, and then while i was up at all hours this morning, i realized that fargo is flooding. again. and i am not there to stop it. err... help. help! help sandbag. so i joined a few twitter feeds to get updates on the river levels (fyi: according to @fargofloodstage: The Red River at Fargo ND is at 25.69 ft which is 7.69 ft above flood stage #flood10 #fargoflood as of 4:36pm California time on Monday). for those far away, you can watch the rising flood levels at http://www.inforum.com/pages/floodcam. as i find more flood articles, i will keep you posted...

and now, because monday is my favorite day of the week, i have a video for you:



["wind of change" by the fabulous german scorpions because, just as momentous as the falling of the berlin wall, i have moved in to a new hotel that is very much like a communist apartment. AND so that higgi and i both know it is wind. not wing.]

Sunday, March 14, 2010

little early pearly came by in his curly whirly and asked me if i needed a ride

i'm feeling very down tonight - i moved out of my friends house and into an "extended stay hotel" and its less than adequate. yet another place i will be wearing slippers everywhere. i'll take pictures and post them in the next few days, but until then, and because sunday is still my most hated day of the week, i shall present for your consideration this song that my friend jim turned me on to. its such a fun song! i won't be in a bad mood for long...

[song title from my most favoritess song "blinded by the light" - i prefer manfred manns version]

Saturday, March 13, 2010

this is how we do it

after having lain in bed for at least a half hour this morning, i rolled over to check the time on my computer and saw that it was 7:29am. it makes me frustrated, but not surprised, that i am up this early. now it is 7:38 and i wish i were asleep. i went to bed sometime before 3am (i think), which means i got AT MOST 5 hours of sleep last night. i am sad. its saturday morning and despite drinking what can only be quantified as "quite a bit" last night, i was hoping to sleep in. but nooooo. my body does not like to sleep in after drinking alcohol. one of the perils of getting older.

but its ok. because today i start working out with my old trainer. woo hoo! i am actually kind of looking forward to it. in the next month i will spend approximately a grand to have her force me to work out, and work out well. i have been reading a lot of articles on health and nutrition and fitness lately and i am determined and motivated to be a healthier person. i don't necessarily want to live a long time, but for however long i am living, i want to be healthy. i keep reading articles, listening to podcasts, and hearing people talk about all of these issues that are becoming more and more clear. i am trying to clean up my eating for health and environmental reasons:
  • after today, mostly because i am trying to stave off a hangover, i will not be drinking pop anymore (ok, fine, SODA). this article explains that soda is an environmental issue, contains high fructose corn syrup (which i am cutting out of my diet), can contain fecal matter when coming from a fountain, and other reasons why not to drink soda.
  • i am also going to try to stop buying things in cans because cans contain bpa which is now being linked to alzheimers and cancers. read about it here.
  • i'm going to cut out processed breads because they can contain bromides which lead to thyroid issues as explained here.
  • this article backs up a lot of what the other articles are talking about. i am thinking of starting a blog on diabetes - i do not have it, nor am i pre-diabetic (i just got tested in dec), but my grandmother, aunt, and uncle on the other side of the family are all diabetic and i am known to have a sweet tooth. something like 90% of type II diabetes is completely preventable. and if you read what people with diabetes have to go through and how their life can be altered, it makes me never want to get it. it's a long article, but really worthwhile. because of their effects on blood sugar, i am going to try to eliminate refined carbs and products that contain a combination of flour and sugar.
  • i will also be snacking less, if ever, because ... did you know that snacks now account for one quarter of daily calories consumed? this is not a good thing because you don't realize you are snacking and you eat the same amount at meals, so you are just eating more. check out this nutritionists info here.
i was going to have sober march, but then i wanted to share some bubbly with my family, so i ended up stopping that and then last night i had a really good time with my landlords (friends who i am staying with) and drank a bit, BUT i definitely want to spend at least a month on a bit of detox (i usually do this once a year or so), so starting today i am going to go at least a month with no alcohol. which means i have to put off my napa trips until mid-april. which is fine. BUT, i like this article because it says that drinking alcohol isn't that bad for you. wait. i just reread that. i guess it says that alcohol drinking doesn't necessarily cause weight gain. still a good thing, though. [oh yeah and about last night: the three of us went for food and had some beers - last time i'll be eating fish and chips! - and then came home and had some more drinks while we went through my itunes and youtube clips to listen to old school songs. it was really fun. that's where i got the post name from - thanks, montell jordan!]

once i do have my own apartment, i am going to make sure to keep my fridge clean because of this. having a clean fridge will also allow me to know what i have IN the fridge, and i will try to eat it all and not let it go to waste, which will also mean that i will be better for the environment - winner all around!

i am also more interested in WHERE my food comes from. this article explains the benefits/reasons why you should be interested, such as the fact that big corporations dont have you in their best interest; if you don't care, you may end up spending more on your health in the long run; and our government does not subsidize healthy food.

i'm going to try to be better at being so opinionated about what people around me eat. wait. no, i'm still going to be opinionated, i'll just try to keep those opinions to myself. this article made me realize that its probably not my place to tell people what to do (as opposed to write about what *i* am going to do and why and letting you all read it). i definitely don't like it when people tell me what to eat or comment on what i eat, so i will try to do it less, as well.

the headache i have been trying to avoid is creeping up on me (thanks a lot polish vodka!), so i shall end this soon. the main point: let's all be healthy, people! i know just about everyone who reads this and i care deeply about all of you, so i want you all to be healthy, too. i'm really excited about eating better, this will be fun!

i'm going to go watch airborne, one of my favorite movies growing up. i just discovered last night it features a young jack black. ironic! (because i was talking about jack black last night with my friend and we agreed we aren't super huge fans)