i've been a bad, bad girl...

my good friend [dave] turned me on to this cool map thingie. i thought i would share with you, but i'm not creative enough (or is it smart enough?) to figure out how to put the actual pictures in my blog, so you'll have to follow this link and see the glory that is mapping the seven deadly sins by state. and after you look at your favorite state, notice where north dakota lies: almost always better than the majority of the country. for easy reference, nodak is the rectanglish state smack dab in the middle of the country at the top - bordering canada. hmmm... there might've been a better way to say that, but i'm not going to think too hard about this.

where does your state fall?

PS i'm surprised california has such a low rate of STDs. they must have good education and advertising...

[you've been hit by a] smooth criminal

and so here we are. a new week. a busy week. i figured i should take a few moments today to update since i will be really, abnormally busy in the next few days.

it is sunday. my least favorite day of the week. today, even more so because i was awoken TWICE last night by someone talking LOUDLY on a cell phone, in what i assume was the apartment next door. although, at the time, i honestly thought he was in my living room and i was too tired to care. i had locked my bedroom door and figured if he wanted to come get me, he could. i was too tired to care. but he never did so i reason that he was actually in the apartment next door, not in mine.

despite being so tired, i awoke at EIGHT AM. grrr. i was up until almost 2 so this was not happy for me. i couldn't really get back to sleep and i have a lot to get done today, so i got up and decided to watch a movie online. i'm really good at procrastinating.

i was up so late last night because i went to not one, but TWO movies. i love double features. and although i think i could've gotten by with not paying for the second one, i felt guilty doing that, so i left the theater and paid for the second movie. i decided to go to the movies last night because i knew it would be dead. i hate going when its busy. and last night was a home game for OSU. the fans were out in full force all day. everywhere i went there were red jerseys and buckeyes and all sorts of nonsense. when i left for the movie at 745, there was hardly a car on the street (8pm game). i drove past a church with people sitting outside on lawn chairs and a big projector showing the game on the building wall. it would be difficult for me to come up with something less interesting for me to do.

in any case, i did join the college football pick-up pool at work. each week, one of the nicest guys in the office puts together a pool of big 10 football teams (this is big 10 country, after all) and a few other assorted games along with their vegas ... what is that called again? spread. i almost had to look it up, but i remembered. games along with the vegas spread for each game. then people pay $5 and pick who they think will win (including the spread). the spread is really annoying to me. and makes me think that i actually have to try harder than picking on team colors or mascots. plus neither the mascot or team color is listed, so i would have to do some research before making my picks, which is too much time for me. instead, i called little brother, homie and he helped me pick on the phone. (they gave me permission to ask family members) i know that i got one wrong already. usc should've beat ohio state by more than 4.5 pts, but they only won by 3. grr to usc! or should i be upset with ohio state for not going down easily? either way, that sucks. i did pick minnesota over the air force. i have no idea who won, though. maybe i should ask him to put an NDSU game in sometime...

so, as i suspected, the movie theater was pretty dead. i first saw extract which was a decent flick. i thought it was going to be funnier - for some reason, i thought it was an apatow-type film, but i really didn't know because i've been avoiding previews so the movie isnt ruined for me (like the hangover was because i had seen all the good parts in the previews). i liked it, but realize that its a bit more serious and not a far-fetched comedy. and who doesnt love jason bateman? after that, i had no desire to go home, so i went to see the tyler perry movie based on my friend, w's recommendation. i t was really good. i sniffled a few times. it was touching and madea was funny. the movies ended around midnight and i went home. NO ONE was on the street. it was the latest i had ever been out in ohio. it was eerie.

as a side note, i'd like to talk quickly about the streets in columbus. i drove around yesterday because i was terribly horribly bored and i realized that this is simple people country. not in a bad way. just simple. for example, the streets around here are all very basic-named. i drove down high school road and guess what - there was a high school on it! it was near cemetary lane, which, coincidentally had a cemetary! one of the roads i take often is GODOWN RD. i write it like that because for a long time, i glanced at it and said to myself "goodwyn" or "god own" road. then, when my mom was here, we realized its Go Down road. so i do as it says and go down it. often. just something i noticed.

and i should get going... i have to clean this apartment because i am moving out tomorrow morning. i want to work out or something and then shower so that i dont have to wash my hair tomorrow morning - i need to "rent" the vacuum from the rental office today. i also have to pack ALL my things - finish all the fruit thats in my freezer, clean the bathroom and take off the sheets. sigh. so much to do. oh! and i want to go see the goods tonight at 6:45. i'm afraid i'll miss it in the theater and thats a movie one should see in the theaters. tomorrow, i have to go to work and then i'm leaving early (around 3) to get back to my apartment so i can walk through with the guys while they videotape this place, i guess to see what has changed and to try and charge me for any "damage" or whatever. i will not let it happen! there has been no damage in my one month here. i'm so glad i'm leaving. THEN i have to race across town with all mythings and drop it off in the basement of my new place. but, i'm not moving in there quite yet. then i will go to the hotel to drop off my suitcase for the week. i'll need to grab dinner and then return the rental car and take a taxi to the hotel. phew. i'm already tired and i haven't done anything.

and just because i'm REALLY good at procrastinating, i'm going to go watch a movie...

north dakota: hey! that's me!

ok people. time to man-up and do something for some change. this is an excellent video explaining what a public option is. it's simple. call your reps and tell them your thoughts.


Senator Kent Conrad
530 Hart Senate Office Building
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510-3403
Phone: (202) 224-2043
Fax: (202) 224-7776
Online: http://conrad.senate.gov/contact
E-mail: https://conrad.senate.gov/contact/webform.cfm
Toll-free Phone: 1-800-223-4457

Congressman Earl Pomeroy
1501 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Phone: (202) 225-2611
Fax: (202) 226-0893

Senator Byron Dorgan
322 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
Phone (202) 224-2551
Fax (202) 224-1193

a midsummer night's dream

[ok, so it's almost fall...but this is a dream, quand meme]

i have a few things in the works right now, but for the moment, i thought i would honor president obama's speech today and post a few important and moving stories / videos for your enjoyment.

found on huffpo


from respected newsmag newsweek - the 5 biggest lies in the health care reform debate - h/t to my brother homie.

one good reason to get mad about health care.

and one of my favorite videos on true debates.



just found this gem, too.


i have my own story of being denied health care (yes, me, personally) and i hope to share that with you soon. i just need to actually write my letter...

champagne now

please join me in saying welcome to the blogging community to one of my best friends, w, author of the great new blog, champange now.

here is a preview of her blog:

Join me here to find out how I manage to eat well, live fully and laugh loud on a serious budget. I'm currently an MBA grad student and a personal trainer. As I start school this year I have 3 personal goals, SAVE MONEY, STAY FIT, HAVE FUN! Uh yeah I probably should include getting a job after graduation in there too. Managing my champagne tastes on my beer budget is sure to be a fun ride up a rocky road.

left in the wrong world part 9

so it appears that in ohio, the biggest sport is college football. and at work they were discussing this fact:

"you can blame liberals for the fall of the big 10. it's a direct result of liberalism – all these people taxing people up here [in ohio] so people move down there [to the south] and that’s why football is so big in Georgia. all the good football players are moving down there"

remember the time

so 5 years ago, for my parents 25th anniversary, i had just started working - good paying job, not quite paying back student loans, and living the high life. my oldest younger brother was in college at ASU. the youngest younger brother was in high school - sophomore year, i think. their anniversary fell on a weekend so i planned to have fly myself and my little brother home to fargo on friday. i took the day off from work and caught any early morning flight to fargo. i was flying through minneapolis and since homie was south of fargo, he was flying through denver. we were both supposed to land around 1:00 in fargo and homie's friend, baklava was going to pick us up from the airport. we were going to hang out at his place for a few hours until my parents left. you see, player, the youngest brother, had a football game on friday night in minot, nodak (which is about 5 hours from fargo in the northwest corner of the state). my dad is from minot (i guess us kids are, too, but we moved to fargo when i was 7 so now we're mostly from fargo) and my parents lived there together for many years, so they have a lot of ties in the city, which means that they'll drive the five hours just for a high school football game (i guess they would've gone anyway, but they looked forward to going because they knew so many people there). i had called my parents friends in minot ahead of time to tell them to plan for a surprise anniversary party after the football game. we arranged to have player stay with us after the game (instead of heading back to fargo with the team). my parents were planning to take the suv to minot and they would just leave the car in the garage at home in fargo. so it would be perfect for us to use the car and drive to minot, again, 5 hours away. my parents were leaving around 1:30, after my mom got home from work. homie and i were going to leave at 2, just in time for the football game (which was from 7-9 that night). it was perfectly planned...

i land in minneapolis for my layover and immediately call my brother in denver to see how his flight was.

me: "hey, homie. how was your flight?"
he: "i dont know. i missed it."
me: ..."are you kidding?"
he: "no, i woke up at 6:46 for my 7:02 flight."
me: ..."seriously?"
he: "yes, i'm serious. i'm in phoenix right now waiting at the airport. brett woke me up - i totally didn't hear my alarm."
me: "ok... so what time do you get to fargo now?"
he: "not until 5:30."
me: "ok... so what do you think? should we still go to minot?"
he: "yeah, yeah."

i was incredulous at first. that would mean we wouldn't get there until 10:30 - looong after the game and after everyone was on their way home. luckily, i had an insider.

my cousin, amanda, lived in minot with her husband and was going to be at the football game. i called her and told her we had a set-back. we would be arriving late, so depending upon what time we got there, we'd have to have her get my parents to the party location and she would have to tell all my parents friends.

i got on my flight to fargo and baklava picked me up from the airport. i went to his place (Suite 56) and took a nap on the couch while i waited for homie. after i knew my parents were on the road to minot and safely out of fargo, i went home to my house, just a few blocks away. i hung out until a half hour before homie's flight was to arrive. i drove to mcdonalds and got dinner and was sitting at the airport waiting for homie. he only had a carry-on so we didnt have to wait for luggage. he came outside, got on the road and 35 seconds later we were on the highway to minot.

i drove while he ate and once we got to grand forks (an hour north of fargo) we switched drivers. homie has a heavier foot than i, although my foot has never been light, and we started heading west. we called my cousin and told her where we were - about 200 miles from fargo and it was only a little after 7:00 - and she said, "woa, you're gonna get here in plenty of time at that speed!" and she was right.

we got to the football field at 8:45.

the game was still going.

since it was so late, we didnt have to pay to get in. my cousin told us about where they were sitting and so homie and i went to the top of the bleachers behind my parents. i called my mom, which is normal during a brother's athletic game, and she answered her phone all the while staring at the field.

me: "hey mom! how's the game?"
she: "it's great! we're ahead!"
me: "awesome! wasn't that a great catch by player?"

she stopped.

she: "how did you know he caught the ball?" [then to the crowd] "ok, who's on the phone with my daughter?"
then homie took the phone from me. homie: "hey mom! how's the game?"
she: "good! oh! are you guys on a conference call? that's funny!"
homie: "mom, how come you have sunglasses on your head?"
she: "ok! who is talking to my kids?!"

of course, everyone knew we were there and had turned around to see us, except my parents who were intently watching the game. so homie and i walk up to them while we're still on the phone and my mom's mouth almost fell off her face when she saw us. my dad sat, hunched over from watching the game, and just started laughing. they had no idea that we were going to be there. or WHY we were there. we were like, "happy anniversary!" they were really surprised. it was great.

after the game, we told player what happened and we all went to a bar with my parents friends where we had this little party. it was fun. we stayed at the allex's that night and the next day, the three of us kids headed back to fargo. my parents decided to stay in minot for the night. we planned another surprise party on sunday in fargo to be with fargo family and friends. i decorated the house and 20 people showed up for the party. of course, my parents said they would be home around 3 and at 1 or so, they called and said they were stopping along the way. they didn't end up getting to fargo until 4 or so. i had to entertain a house full of people who were just standing around waiting for my parents. at the same time, i couldnt urge my parents to get home sooner because then they would know something was up. so i said, "well, i want to hang out with you before i go back to boston." it was hard not to crack. they finally got home around 4 and walked in to a house full of people who yelled, "surprise!" apparently, they knew something was up because one of the allex's said to my mom, "make sure you hurry up home to your kids now!" which was an odd thing for her to say.

in any case, it was a great weekend, despite my brother missing his plane and the surprise almost being ruined.

and this year, no surprise party - sorry. maybe for the 35 year...

what’s your vector, victor?

people ask me all the time what i do. i explained to a friend in london last week. here is what i wrote:
What do I do? What DO I do? WHAT do I do? Yes… good question. I’m a relationship manager for a financial firm. So, basically Firm A has hired me to make sure that their client, Firm B, is happy. I do whatever Firm B wants me to do on behalf of Firm A and try to make Firm A look good while I am keeping Firm B happy. Does that make sense? And the actual doing is moving of stocks and bonds from different accounts. I make sure they move and everyone gets paid and fix problems and whatnot. It’s a jack of all trades, master of none type job.

and for the purpose of everyone's knowledge here, let's say that Firm A, who i used to work for, is a cake seller. they buy and sell cakes (or borrow and lend) cakes from one firm to other firms that can use them. and Firm B, who has hired Firm A, is a cake maker. They make the cakes and put them together and Firm A, who has hired me to be a consultant, wants to make sure that we get the cakes from Firm B's warehouses to the buyers warehouses. i am here to make sure all the cakes move correctly and that Firm B has all the ingredients they need from Firm A to make the cakes so Firm A can get the cakes in the market.

the reason why i have chosen this analogy is because i like saying cake boss. that is the only reason.

cake boss.

so yeah, work these days is a bit tedious. to make it analogous to cake making, i am basically counting the granules of sugar. one by one. that is how detail oriented and yet mind-numbing this job is right now. it shall get better in a few months when i have to train the next cake mover (that's me, a cake mover) to take over. i like training. it means i get to talk a lot.

...


as an aside, my mom is in town for a few days. so i have been rather busy running here and there and then everywhere. last night, i picked her up from the airport and we went to easton - this cutesy area - and had pf changs. chicken lettuce wraps and kung pao chicken. mmm mmmm good. and then we came home after driving around a bit and then i had to go to bed.

this morning i drove myself to work, worked for four hours, then drove all the way back to my apartment to pick up my mom. then we drove BACK downtown to return the rental car. but we couldn't find a gas station, so we got BACK on the highway and made it almost to the airport before finding a place. THEN we go BACK downtown to return the car and get a new car (so her name is on it) only to be told that we don't have to actually switch cars, we can just switch contracts. so the gas was for nothing. then we take off and drive all over looking for the stupid panera bread i went to last week. i thought that we must've missed it, so we turned around - we never passed it. we must not have gone far enough.

so we end up eating at an au bon pain which was fine. mom finally dropped me back off at work - 2 hours later. i stayed at work late until 6:15 at which point she picked me up again and we drove around and then went to my favorite mexican place - where they remember me. that was just as good.

now we're back at home and about to watch weeds and smoke some reefer. ha ha. just kidding. maybe.

left in the wrong world part 8

overheard at work:

"i dont understand why people are so upset with insurance companies. they just don't want them to make any money. kellogg's makes money every year and no one gets upset with them."

happy 30th mom and dad!!!

today is my parent's 30th wedding anniversary - congrats mom and dad!

and to think what i was doing 30 years ago... oh wait... no. that's can't be. :)

i'm actually surprised that its already 30, in fact. i wish i had planned some sort of surprise party (sorry mom and dad, i didnt) like i did for their 25th anniversary. and i digress....

nope. i won't. i'm too tired. i have to go to bed... i'll finish this story later. it's a doozie.