twiggymin

Everyone Loves a List

2006-12-05T15:22:00.000-08:00

Seems like every blog or website I read these days has a list. Maybe it's just me, but I'm compelled to read a list when I see one and I usually compose my own version of each list as I read it. Here's a few of my own for your entertainment.

6 Foods I didn't eat 10 years ago, but enjoy now:

Chicken Tikka Masala
Pad Thai
Sushi
Refried Beans
Sour Cream
Pears

4 Countries I have visited

Canada
Mexico
France
England

5 Countries I still want to visit

Italy
Greece
India
Thailand
Australia

Resemblances

2006-11-29T23:31:00.000-08:00

I really need to take some more photos. I was looking for something recent to post and I came up with something from Halloween 2004. How did a photography major become so photophobic? At work today T and I were talking about how we both have hundreds of photos of ourselves with our eyes closed. She is also a photographer and we had a little laugh at the irony of it all.

Anyway, here's an open-eyed photo of me from a night out in the Castro 2 years ago with Amy's beauty school doll head. I remember carrying it around by the hair and accidentally letting it roll most of the way down 16th Street. This is one of the few photos I have where I look like my mom a bit and like the other photos where I look like here I'm slightly under the influence of a few drinks. I'm not sure what point I'm trying to make though.

I'm trying to get into the habit of at least writing *something* each day so perhaps I'll eventually come up with something good like Kirsten does on a daily basis. So stick with me while I warm up my blogging muscles over the next few days.

Fast and Furious

2006-11-28T22:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm not really furious. I do need to make this fast because as I type I am also making myself some mac & cheese, painting a chair and working on some freelance web work. Busy as always, but I've always liked being busy.

I got the funniest call from my parents on Saturday. They called me all excited because my high school alma mater won the New York State football championships. A great accomplishment to be sure, but I didn't like the football team 10 years ago so it was diffucult to be too excited about their victory. Go Auburn!!! There, that's my excitement. They also told me that they each hit a goose while golfing. Not familiar with golfing terms I congratulated them. Turns out they each hit an ANIMAL goose, nothing at all like a "birdie." The geese are apparently fine but a bit stunned. Ah, the excitement of a weekend in Central New York ;)

I still need to figure out what to get my secret santa at work. I barely know her because she's only been working with us for a few weeks and never when I'm working. Any ideas for great semi-generic secret santa gifts? I only know that she lived in NYC and that she has a dog and is new to SF.

Sunday Night Football

2006-11-12T22:08:00.000-08:00

I know very little about football. I only know that G loves the Chicago Bears (haha! I just mistyped that as "beads"...shows where my mind is!) and I love it when the Chicago Bears win like they did tonight.

Blogging is great. I read 2 or 3 on a daily basis and I'm never bored, but I still think that I have nothing interesting to say for myself. I need to turn that around! My life IS interesting, damnit!! That being said, here's an update.

I pretty much don't have time for anything these days that isn't productive. I'm not trying to sound stuck up, but I'm just too busy to fart around. It's a good thing though. I have Thursdays and Sundays off from work and I spend most Thursdays doing freelance web work and most Sundays catching up on housework like I did today. Sometimes I'm so stuck on getting things cleaned or organized that I run around the house like a deranged woman and G has to physically stop me in my tracks and tell me to slow down. He thinks that it's funny I'm sure :)

This morning started with a trip to Target for some housewares and cereal (you can't beat their cereal prices) and any day that involves a trip to Target is a good day. When we got home, the football began and as G and some friends watched the games I was busy painting our cheapo IKEA desk to hopefully look more interesting. Photos coming soon...

Benton is in town and he's a great cook, so he taught me how to make about 4 different meals involving chicken in under 2 hours. Everything tasted fantastic, especially the chicken curry. Yum. I even learned how to cut apart a whole chicken and use almost every ounce of it in some way. Even the heart ended up in the chicken stock.

Now I'm sitting on the couch using G's laptop and waiting for him to come home from dropping off Benton so we can watch "The Wire". I do have time in my life for a few good TV shows, probably my only guilty pleasure these days.

I'm hoping to start off tomorrow with a trip to the gym and I'm hoping that by putting it in writing it might actually happen...

Love/Hate Relationship with Noah's Bagels

2006-09-25T16:32:00.000-07:00

I like bagels and I love that I work next door to Noah's but I hate Hate HATE that for some reason it's impossible for me to eat an entire bagel and not have the entire thing taste uncontaminated. If I order a plain bagel with strawberry cream cheese I do NOT want the last bite to taste like an everything bagel with jalapeno cream cheese. Today I was eating my blueberry bagel with butter and the second to last bite had the distinct flavor of chives. Clean your knives or spreaders people. Yuck. End of rant...

Cleaning Circuits

2006-09-21T11:13:00.000-07:00

The condo is a mess. Well, in my eyes it's a mess. In G's eyes it's perfectly fine. I'm not even really a neat freak. I just like things in order and I don't like dust. Maybe that does qualify me as a neat freak to some people. I used to be able to clean for hours on end, but I seem to be losing my attention span in my old age. Now I clean in circuits, like lifting weights at the gym! I'll pick up 5 or 6 misplaced items from the living room and put them away. Then I'll unload the dishwasher. Then I'll sort the laundry but not put it in the wash. Then I'll clean one of the bathrooms. Tired from listening to the craziness yet? Somehow my newfound cleaning ADD gets the job done and gives me an unintended workout in the process.

Today was a great day off from work. Kara drove up from Mountain View to hang out for the day before she moves up to Portland. Why is everyone off to Portland? I must have missed out on something! At least I now have two great people up there to visit. Sounds like a great city from what I've heard from them, too. We walked around Haight Street and did some window shopping. Ate at Ploy II (I'm still full...damn meds!). Came back here to discuss some freelance work we're doing together and then she had to leave to meet someone else downtown.

The remainder of my day off was spent with my newest friend, our 4-drawer filing cabinet! It arrived around 4pm and my cleaning ADD was replaced by organizational OCD and I gutted the office closet, reorganized everything, refiled all of my files, prepared G's drawer for his filing and I have to say the closet looks amazing and we're finally making great use out of the space. We moved into here almost a year ago and just put everything "leftover" into this closet and although it wasn't crammed full it was never really in any order and I will sleep really well tonight knowing that it all makes better sense.

I promise the next post will have more exciting content. Maybe Becky or KZ will find this one exciting :)

Another Year Older

2006-09-19T21:24:00.000-07:00

Now that I've decided to update MySpace and Blogger and I'm doing a shitty job at both I felt the need to do a halfway decent job at one of them tonight. It's probably because what I really should be doing is paying bills and cleaning up the mess that has taken over our bedroom in the last few weeks.

My 28th birthday was a few days ago and it was probably one of the best I can remember. I had an uneventful day at work (there was a somewhat severe papercut on the bus, but I'm recovering), G took me to a delicious dinner at Town Hall and in general I just had a very happy day. I think being very happy with myself and where I am at this moment makes for a happy birthday. It was better than last year and much better than the year before even if I can't say exactly why. It's just a feeling.

Gautam and his fancy new pocket-sized digital camera are to thank for the following photos.

Me outside the restaurant.

Jalepeno cornbread muffins (And I actually ate them!)

Bad photo but the BEST dessert...sticky toffee cake

The rest of the weekend was also great since I was treated with not one or two but FOUR dogs that I was able to visit with up in Marin County. I only have photos of one of them, but I had my fill of dog time and loved every minute of it. Thanks to Racy and Myles for letting me take so many photos of their Pug, Miso :)

That's a heavy pug!

You've gotta love that face

Too Many Blogs!

2006-09-10T23:15:00.000-07:00

After giving in to peer pressure I finally created a myspace page and posted a few blogs there and now I don't know where to post! Blogger offends my artistic sensibilities WAY less so I think I may hang out here for a while.

I've been really busy with work, freelance design stuff and launching afterParis. Check it out if you haven't already done so, and if you have a website/blog and can link to it I would appreciate it greatly!

More later...

Too Damn Hot!

2006-07-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

How hot is it? So hot that I woke up dripping sweat and gasping for air. Nice image, huh? G says that I exaggerate how hot it is, but it's about 95 outside and 100 inside and that's too hot for someone who is used to San Francisco summers of fog and 60 degree weather and WAY TOO HOT for someone like me who has "temperature regulation issues" according to my doctor. Gotta love global warming!

I took the job at Paper Source and I start on August 2nd. This will be my 4th job since March, but I really feel great about this one because it's a smallish company that is creative, positive and has lots of room for growth for someone like me.

I'm in the second day of a migraine attack and I thank modern medicine for Imitrex, but the side effects are a little worrisome. My heart seems to beat a little faster, I can't feel my limbs below my elbows and knees and it's hard to open my mouth wide enough to eat comfortably. The alternative of having a full migraine is so much worse that I'm willing to deal with it. Another side effect is that my thoughts are really scattered and come out slowly. I'm sure the last few paragraphs are evidence.

Weekly Smeekly

2006-07-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

So I'm off to a job interview today at 2pm. Yes, I realize I just started working at Nordstrom 3 months ago, but I'm over it. I thought for sure that I would want to "move on up" in the company, but that's the last thing I want to do now. It's been fun, but to know that you don't want a future with the company that employs you just means that you need to move on and try the next thing. I feel that I'm close to figuring out "what I really want to do", and I don't think I would be as close if I stayed in positions that weren't a fit for me. Wish me luck, and you'll hear from me soon.

In other fab news, I sold my car!!! I'm not sure what I'll miss less, the car payments or the vandalism my poor car suffered during the last few weeks.

The Mumbler

2006-05-15T22:57:00.000-07:00

Those of you who know me well may think that the title of this post refers to me, but it doesn't! There's a frequent flyer who comes into Nordstrom to browse the jewelry and pretty much mumble nonsensical phrases at the necklaces and bracelets for hours at a time. Since we're trained to greet each and every person who walks into our department with a smile and a big "hello! How are you doing today?" I made the mistake of greeting The Mumbler and getting stuck in a painful conversation about a necklace and how many pieces were in it...luckily a coworker rescued me (thanks, Susan!), but I did hear The Mumbler babbling about her trip (that she most likely never went on) to the girl who is newer than me (and who also talks to herself fittingly).

Everything is going well, even great, as I write this. My work schedule is a bit erratic, but I have more energy than I've had in years, and even after 8 hours on my feet, I'm coming home to cook and/or clean and do other things I never seemed to have the energy for when I sat down all day at work. Funny how that goes...

I'm looking forward to having 2 weekdays off this week to finish up with my cleaning and some freelance computer work. I may even find some time to sit by the pool and read. Life is good.

Big Dog

2006-05-05T09:56:00.000-07:00

Ehren and Stacey just brought home a very cute (and very big) Great Dane, and I was lucky enough to see it on Tuesday. Her name is Oxygen (Oxy for short) and she really is a gentle giant. You can get an idea of her size from this photo, but somehow I think she's even bigger than she looks here. Ignore the stupid expression on my face.

Working at Nordstrom is going really well so far. I had a HUGE day in sales yesterday and I'm hoping my manager is really impressed today when I go to work. Even on the slower days, I feel like my shift is about 3 hours long instead of 8. Time really does fly. My coworkers are all great and very helpful to me as a newbie, and I can really appreciate the amount of process this company has in place--just enough to keep things fair and clear for everyone, but no so much that it's stifling. My body is slowing getting used to being on my feet all day and having an irregular working schedule, but I feel like it's good for me. I'm eating healthier and getting plenty of exercise just with walking to and from work and constantly moving while I'm there.

Training Complete

2006-04-26T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of training in Walnut Creek. Everything went well and I'm excited to be using an intuitive register system for the first time in years. It even uses a touch screen! My first official day of work up here in SF is Friday. I'm excited!! I'll be sure to post something this weekend for those of you who are curious.

Here are a few photos from my East Coast trip. I'm HORRIBLE at remembering to take photos, and this time I did manage to take a total of 50 shots. That's a record for me. I'll get better...

Gautam with the Proscias, Auburn, NY

Badass with drugstore sunglasses (and Sameer)

LOVE Park in Philly. Damn, I'm a shorty!

St. Patty's Day Fun

2006-03-20T20:50:00.000-08:00

For the first time since 2001 I managed to go out and celebrate St. Patty's Day in style. I did things like this:

(photo by Becky)

Almost Ten Years Ago

2006-03-11T20:44:00.000-08:00

It's Saturday night and I'm in a cleaning mood. I finally feel better from "The Plague", and I can do something about how messy it's getting around here without feeling like fainting each time I bend over to pick up a sock and throw it in the hamper.

I started cleaning my computer files and found this photo:

This was one of my first year photography assignments at RIT--using shutter speed to control motion. Not very exciting and these days it would take about one minute to create an image like this in Photoshop. When I think that I took this image in September of 1996, in some ways it seems like yesterday and in others like it was another lifetime.

I was hoping to say something more profound, but I'm listening to The Ricky Gervais Show as I write this and I can't concentrate on two stories at once. Check it out, it's damn funny...

Resignation

2006-03-10T15:19:00.000-08:00

I know I shouldn't be posting at work, but I'm allowed a ten minute paid break each day according to our handbook, and I can use it to do whatever I'd like to do.

At 10:30am I resigned from my job. It felt very liberating because as great as this job has been at times, it's also been endlessly frustrating, too. I gave my two weeks notice so my last day will be March 24th. Too soon to celebrate or to truly vent since I am still legally employed here.

Time for a real post

2006-03-09T17:46:00.000-08:00

Now that I'm done playing around with the look of the site (for now) it's time to write some real content. Now that Kirsten has me linked back into her site I cannot disappoint!!

I went home early from work today. I have "the Plague" that has been going around the office lately and I thought I made it through the worst, but I was really wrong. I was sitting at my desk around 9:45am and I could feel my pulse in my sinuses. That can't be a good sign. Days like today are what sick time is for anyway.

I'm ready to start a new chapter of my life. Very ready. More on that tomorrow for sure!

Soon to be less nerdy

2006-03-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

So I've been playing around with my template on this site and it's easy to do anything I want...now the question is...what do I want? Why I ever had a handbuild site before is beyond me! Once I get things sorted out this promises to be a hilarious blog. Trust me, I've got some good stuff coming up. Hopefully no one will be offended.

Mindopia is back...sort of

2006-03-07T19:46:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have begged and pleaded for me to bring back the blog...it's back! And it's free and easy, too! No jokes. I'm going to see just how user friendly blogger is. Stay tuned!