i want a pony

Patches is worth the few minutes of your time.

i was just thinking i had a case of the mondays

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23382572-details/Blue+Monday:+The+unhappiest+day+of+the+year/article.do

I just don't hate him - plus a prediction

Marcel, I mean. He kinda reminds me of an ex-boyfriend that I have fond memories of, so even though he's eccentric and I could see how that would get on some people's nerves, he's just not mean spirited and I have a tough time taking people being downright mean to him. I used to like Elia, but she's not a favorite anymore. And she really should stop talking about Jesus if she's going to be mean on public television.

The top three are going to be Sam, Elia and Marcel.

I love bears and colts

So I will be happy with whoever wins the super bowl this year. It's rare that I would be happy for either team to win - though many times I've wanted neither team to win (only to inflict harsh punishment on one another and thus weaken their teams). But Peyton is cute and his little colts proved they could. The Bears . . . I just like them - always have - probably more so because their name is the bears and my childhood comfort stuffed animal was a bear . . . but still.

Consolation Prize

I work for a company who works a lot for the government. If the government isn't working, you'd think we wouldn't be working, if for no other reason than our clients are unavailable, thus inhibiting the conduction of business. But no. Anyone working at a government building that is closed, must come into the company office to put their 8 hours in (or work from home). Logging 8 hours means $$ for the company though . . . so I can understand a bit of the motivation stemming from that (why let employees have federal holidays off, when we can make money that day without having to deal with the clients?)

So fine. We work on federal holidays. A lot of people do. The funny thing is, the company gives us consolation prizes for working on the holiday. We get to wear jeans and have a potluck.

"Oh, so sorry. You got, 'Where to work with the most holidays off' for $400 wrong. What do we have as a parting gift for our sad contestent? Jeans and banana pudding pie!"

College Football

Not to start a blog war, but because I thought it was a good topic, I'm hijacking AK's football post. Yes the pros have better more experienced players (and also harder hits), but I think there's something lacking as far as maintaining fan affection. The same is true for basketball. I've thought of two reasons why I enjoy watching college ball more than pro.

1. Players are devoted to the team - they're not looking to trade teams and make more money. For four years, they play for the same team looking to make themselves the best they can. As a fan, your team is your team and watch the same players grow individually and together without wondering who's gonna come back next year.
2. You root for a college team (at least your favorite) because of an intimate connection to the team that transcends the randomness of where you were born. You choose which college teams to root for, whereas God chooses the pro teams you're born into.

Am I lonely in this as well?

Do you ever go through your cell phone contacts, making calls in alphabetical order until someone picks up? I don't actually go through name by name, but I go through the names of the people that I could call without any legitimate reason (eg. just to talk). I usually go through this ritual on Sunday nights. I think Sundays lend themselves to lonliness because you realize that a week has come and gone and you are facing another week where perhaps you know you'll be eating cereal for dinner (every night).

I often wonder if the A names (because I'm lazy and put in first names then last names, the A's are actually the Andrea's and the Aunt's) get sick of me calling once a week. Sometimes the S's don't quite get called because somewhere around the M's or N's, someone picks up. I wonder if they feel missed.

Alright, so maybe I start out with the E's (that's a good letter in my phone), but when they turn up not available, I revert to ascending alphabetic order. OCD?

Ornery Microwave

You know when microwaves have finished microwaving, they usually have some sort of output reading - generally, "End" or sometimes, "Done."

The microwave here at work outputs: "FOOD IS READY!" and all I can imagine is that the microwave is a grumpy old man getting ready to spit your food out. Weird.

January is the new April

as 101.9 dj's said on my way into work - i know they're saying it's 40 degrees and heading up to the 50's, but darnit, i'm still cold - could it be that my skin is getting thinner as the world gets warmer, thus nullifying the effect?

in other news, i spent a very relaxing new year's day watching the nittany lions beat the volunteers - i can tell, 2007 is going to be a good year

Christmas Cheer

Because you like to see me dance.

These are a few of

My Favorite Things (by friends from London)

Pennies from heaven

who knew? http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061214/ap_on_bi_ge/mint_coins

tut tut, feels like rain

Driving to work today I thought, "Gee, what an ugly day." And then I thought, "This is what it's like in Seattle every day." Which took me down a line of thought. Here in Baltimore, we have multiple seasons with mulitiple weather patterns. The weather is a good general topic of discussion when you don't really have anything to say. If you're in a city where the weather is pretty much a constant, what do you small talk about? Do you have another equivalent to talking about the weather? (How bout those Mariners?) Or do you still talk about the weather? (Nice day out, only a slight drizzle.) Besides Seattle, I see this problem in San Diego. Do they say, "What a horrible day, look at those 5 clouds in the sky!" Is weather talk relative to the geographic location?

Morning Ritual

If any of you remember my first blog, you might remember my infatuation with apple spice hostess cup cakes. The cup cakes were part of my morning ritual - a schedule to help make the day get going.

I haven't seen an apple spice cup cake for a few years now. But I do still have a morning ritual. It begins when I'm still in bed. I set my alarm for 6:53 (with the clock set 7 minutes fast). Therefore, I can hit snooze 3 times and still be out of bed by 7:14. In between getting out of bed and leaving the house at 7:45 is free time to get dressed/eat/pack lunch in the order that matches my mood.

I take 95 to work and park in the farthest part of the lot and go up the side stairs. I set my things down, put on my badge then start my computer. After I enter the password, I go to the kitchen to make tea or hot chocolate.

The real ritual begins now. I sit at my computer and open my work email. Then I read CNN headlines, followed by Yahoo mail.

If no work is immediately expected of me, I embark on the following schedule:
http://www.aaronkaro.com/column.php (every other Monday)
http://allisonkasic.blogspot.com/ (for football, songs, and fun)
http://appetitivebehavior.blogspot.com/ (for recipes and style)
http://ramones.football.sportsline.com/ (on Tuesdays for picks)
http://bloggingprojectrunway.blogspot.com/ (but not so much since the season is over)
http://theonethirdwriter.blogspot.com/ (myself)
http://submarinewivesclub.org/ (to sympathize with the girls)

Welcome to the first 90 minutes of my day.

Bad football weekend, Good Basketball

Tears, my Redskins lost. Cheers, my Bison won (beating a final four team no less). Very strange seeing kids I knew at school on TV. And when I say knew, I mean I recognize them, saw them in the cafeteria, played intermural volleyball with, etc. In fact, I'm quite proud of the fact that my volleyball team beat McNaughton's team. That's right, and no one on our team was over 5'8". I had a mini-crush on Griffin (gosh, was he really a freshman when I was a senior?) because of his James Dean bad boy hair, but now that it's cut, I realize I'm completely over it. Anybody know what happened to last year's two assistant coaches?

Caveman Picks

Anybody can have a fantasy team. But can you win in a straight pick pool? My office does a pool, not based on getting points for upsets or anything, but a straight up 1 point=1 win pool. I pretty much suck at it, unless the week is full of upsets. I will tell you my strategy though, for at least I am ideologically rooted in my favorite teams.

Rule #1: Always pick the Redskins (I cannot deny the love for my childhood team and coach).
Rule #2: Always pick the Stillers (I may not say younz, but I do have a terrible towel - I missing the Bus, but I'm giving love to the reigning champs).
Rule #3: Always pick the Bears (Loved them since I was a wee one, love them now).
Rule #4: Always pick the Packers (I still have a crush on Brett Favre).
Rule #5: Always pick the Saints (They're like a pet hampster - I may love the dog better, but I still like the hampster and don't want to see it die).
Rule #6: Always pick the Broncos (Just for AK).
Rule #7: Always pick against the Cowboys.
Rule #8: Always pick against the Eagles.
Rule #9: Always pick against the Giants.
Rule #10: If any of the rules contradict one another in a match up, pick my favorite.
Rule #11: For all other picks, consider the mascots. Whichever mascot could beat up the other, pick that team (for instance, a Viking could step on a Cardinal - therefore Vikings get the pick. This usually means that all teams with numbers lose because a number is a pansy mascot).

I'm sure my rudimentary picks strategy dismays many football fans, and yet, I have come quite close to winning at least twice. I am proud to be the caveman of football picking.

Happy Thanksgiving Football watching!

BU vs. Wake

The good: 6 BU players scored in the double digits (on the court . . . ) and Vegotsky's 3 pointers in the first half.

The bad: The referees calling fouls on just about every single field goal attempt.

The serious (as Laura B. would say) ugly: The free throw line . . .I'm still shuddering it was so ugly.

Ode to a Submariner #1

Living in a submarine is like living in a time capsule.

You're packed away in it and buried (ocean, dirt, same difference). People start to forget about you, the sound of your voice, the curves of your face. The world above goes on its merry way and changes. The world series and elections are won and lost. Celebreties marry and divorce. War was declared as was a cease fire. And there you are in your floating time capsule wearing the same thing you wore when you left.

And then you are dug up (summoned by the powers that be at DoD). Maybe you've changed a little - your hair and toenails are longer, but the world has changed more. The woman that you love has cut her hair and painted her toenails and forgot how to kiss a little. You remember together until the next capsule is buried.

My Fall Line-Up

I used to not watch much tv. During undergrad I nearly stopped all together. But having a townhouse in the suburbs, a full time job and grad school homework, I find myself on the couch watching tv quite a bit. It all stems from doing homework while sitting on the couch. I turned the tv on for company and bada bing bada boom I have 4-6 shows that I now love to watch. Similar to how people make a "This is my playlist" list or a "On my I-pod" list, this is my tv list:

Sunday nights:
60 minutes
Nip/Tuck (I watch it Sundays, I guess it plays on Tuesdays and repeats on Sundays?)

Monday nights:
Nothing for now because of softball games, however food network during dinner and discovery health after the games fills the void of a real series

Tuesday nights:
Miami Ink

Wednesday nights:
ANTM
Project Runway (though not for long, tonight, the FINALE!)

Thursday nights:
Ugly Betty and/or
Til Death with Finch from American Pie and the brother from Everybody Loves Raymond (but when I went looking for the link I found out they had apparently cancelled it)
Grey's Anatomy (which I was totally opposed to watching since I generally don't like bandwagon things unless I was on first - but it was actually interesting and a fresh alternative to ER which should have been yanked 2 years ago)

The rest of the time I flip between channels 55-58 (Discovery Health, Style, Food Network, and HGTV respectively).

Many Uses . . .

Shelter, protection, getting high

Please do suggest alternate ideas for exterminating the umm . . . weeds.