stuf

1. Travel

I’ve racked up almost 4000 miles (3737 miles) of air travel in the past 3 weeks.  Plus the hundreds of nautical miles I traveled a couple of weeks ago.  I feel kinda awesome for having done so much travel in so little time.  Not all of it was for fun, though… as a matter of fact, I just got back from a 4-day work trip to Duke University for our New Fellows Conference.  Thanks to a flight cancellation and a 1 hour layover in Cincinnati, I picked up an additional 500 miles on that trip.  I wasn’t too thrilled about the change of plans, but I’ll happily take the extra 500 miles.  My goal is to reach 10,000 miles by the end of October.

I’m at 8388 right now.   Only 1612 left.  If I fly home and take a trip to Atlanta in the next 2 months, I’ll be set.

Oh – and also, I’ve decided that I enjoy flying.  Before, I kinda dreaded it – mostly the take off and landing.  But over the past few weeks I’ve developed this newfound appreciation for pilots and the massive beasts they fly.

2. Friends

Jessica is coming!  TODAY.  Get excited.  While she seems to be pretty lax in her planning, I’m quasi-freaking out (more like thinking nonstop) about what we can do to fill the time.  She’s staying until Sunday, so we only have a short 60 hours or so to take on NYC together.

3. Work

I’ve been at my current job for a year.  I can’t even believe it.  Hooray for me.  Here’s to another year of helping people save the world.

** I promise to write something more fulfilling next time… there just isn’t much going on in my life right now.  Oh well.

randomisms

Ha.  I just made up that word.  Anyway, the past 2 days have been filled with more random things than usual.  I think I’ll document some randomness here. 

Random #1:  This is Ed.  He’s a former stray cat.  On Monday, one of my colleagues found him roaming around the street and rescued him from the dangers of city life.  Yes, she brought Ed (a stray cat) into the office for the day.  Not only did we give him a safe place to stay, some people bought him food, kitty litter and a couple of toy mice.  We even named him.  By the end of the day, we had to take him to the vet to get checked out.  Of course, it was sad for the cat-lovers at my job, but it had to happen.  If anyone is interested in adopting Ed (I’m serious) let me know.  I’ll get you in contact with the right people. 

Random #2:

I discovered a new flavor of Vitamin Water!

(This is a very big deal)

It tastes just like pineapple water, which I guess is the point.  Very tasty.

Random #3:

Remember that shot I had last week when the needle came out of my arm?  It left a very nasty looking bruise on my arm.  I rarely get bruises, so this is really strange for me.  I sorta feel like I have an alien marking on my arm.  I’m on day 6 of the bruise.  It’s not going away any time soon. 

Awesome. 

PS: It’s really hard to take pictures of your right arm with your left hand (when you’re right-handed).

Random #4:

My money jar is almost filled!  I try to use whole dollars as much as possible so I can add to my money jar (also called the laundry bank).  Originally, this was my Amazon.com money jar, but I think I might do the fiscally responsible thing and put the change into savings.  It’s not much, but it’s something.  Every little bit counts.

random in my head

I’ve been downloading the most random assortment of music lately.

Example – Here’s a list of the songs I just downloaded:

• On The Street Where You Live – Dean Martin
• Edge of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks
• Roots (the entire CD) – Curtis Mayfield
• Glitter in the Air – P!nk

What is going on in my brain?

it’s my turn

Since Libby has generously tagged me in her meme thingy, now it’s my turn to be super cool :)

I guess I should kinda follow directions…

Rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP.

Hmm… Six non-important things about myself? That could be difficult, especially with my me, in list form page, but I might be able to come up with something.

1. I have an irrational fear of earthquakes. I call it irrational because I became afraid of them before I was ever in one. During undergrad, the state of Virginia was hit with 2 earthquakes (seriously) and I was 100% freaked out. Until then, I thought I could avoid them (by not traveling anywhere near the West Coast) – but now I realize there’s no escape. Crap.

2. I love sharpies. Yeah – the permanent markers. I don’t have every color, but I very badly want every color in every style. It’s a slightly weird obsession.

3. When I was 15 or so, I was cleaning my parents’ George Foreman Grill after dinner, and the top of it fell on my wrist and totally burned the hell out of me. I still have the scar – almost 10 years later. I don’t think it’s ever going away :(

4. I’m absolutely terrible at flirting. Yeah, I fail.

5. When listening to my ipod while walking (which is nearly always) I like to walk in step to my music. I blame my years of marching band. Sadly, if the song is too fast, too slow, or in a weird time signature, that doesn’t happen.

6. I cry at everything. Sappy movies, cute puppies, airports (watching people greet family and friends), saying goodbye to friends… all of it makes me, at least, a little teary eyed. And sometimes my eyes just water for no reason. I have constantly wet eyes.

Okay, I think I’ll be a rebel and not send this out to exactly six people (how about one special blogger who likes surveys and memes?). I hope this meme isn’t attached to one of those chain letters that promises sudden death if I don’t follow the rules exactly. Yikes.

Have fun, toshspice :)

nyc ain’t so big after all

There are over 8 million people in New York City and somehow, I always run into people I know.

Last summer, I ran into one of my uncles (who was running with one of my younger cousins in tow) around Central Park. Only one of my several uncles lives in NYC, so that was really random.

Two nights ago, I ran into one of my friends from high school (in Roanoke, Virginia – almost 500 miles away from here). Wow. I graduated from high school almost 7 years ago. Yuck.

Seriously? How am I pulling this off? Maybe I’m just awesome at being at the right place at the right time.

it’s 12:42am, and I’m bored

I stole this from one of my blog pals, Kay. Thanks :)

Anyway, questions:

1. What did you do 10 years ago?

- 10 years ago from today? Oh gosh – I was 14 and just finishing up 8th grade. Maybe this was the summer when my choir sang at Carnegie Hall… I think it was. That was an interesting trip – being a tourist in the city I was born in.

2. 5 items on your to-do list today:

- apply for jobs, buy coffee, go to the gym, call my uncle, and read. My life isn’t too exciting right now.

3. Snacks I enjoy:

- Recently, I’ve been eating a lot of watermelon. I need to stock up on some next time I’m at Whole Foods.

4. What would you do if you were a billionaire?

- Take care of my family. Of course. Whatever they need, I’d cover. I have a fairly large family, so hopefully I’d have some money left after this.

- I would take all of my closest friends on a trip to wherever. Basically, we’d hit up every continent.

- I’m definitely into the house renovation thing – I’ve always wanted to do something like that.

- Pay off grad school loans.

- Buy a new wardrobe. and a new computer. and an ipod touch. and a miniature pig. and an awesome loft in New York City to live in…

5. Places I would live:

- Costa Rica; Valencia, Spain; anywhere in England; Washington DC (one day); Hawaii

6. Bloggers I am passing the challenge onto are:

Whoever feels the need to answer these questions. Go for it, ya’ll.

random post 1: I need more wigs

I only have 2 wigs and I need more.

Check me out:

I forgot to smile.

I bought that wig a few years ago when I decided I wanted to be a witch for Halloween.

And then there’s this one:

I’m sorry it’s blurry… (and I didn’t smile again).

I got this one last year – for Halloween, of course – when my roommates and I decided we would be the 3 stages of Britney Spears. I was the final stage, when she was kid-less, single, and wore a pink wig. Ha.

I really need to expand my collection… just for fun.

when I get bored

If you couldn’t already tell, one of my favorite pastimes is exploring DC (and taking random pictures). Today was no exception – I was in the middle of writing a paper, then felt the urge to go to U Street.

By the way, I was just there last night. And last Thursday.

But first, I had to get some coffee from

Actually I wanted to come here to see a couple of ex-Murky Capitol Hillers, Anne (A-bo) and Reggie (they migrated here for jobs after Murky’s big seizure). Luckily I found Reggie, but no Anne.

After downing my iced latte and super delicious oatmeal raisin cookie (costing me over $5) in under 5 minutes, I made my way to U Street to 3 of my favorite stores in DC:

Go Mama Go!

Home Rule, and

Pulp (my favorite of the 3).

I absolutely love this store. It has the best variety of cards I’ve ever seen. They also have a lot of quirky things…

Yeah.

Despite my urge to buy these lovely Mexican wrestler heads, I left with only 2 cards.

And that was the end of my homework break.

another random one

One of my roommates got me these salt and pepper shakers from Venice. I know they’re also sold in several places online, but these are special (they’re Italian). Thanks Beth!

Anyway, they’re supposed to be hugging, but every time I look at them I can’t help but think that they’re making out. Except, who would design salt and pepper shakers that “make out” with each other? (Not that hugging salt and pepper shakers are the best idea either, but still…) I can’t bear to separate them, mostly because they look like little leaning ghosts.

So yeah, I can’t wait to start using them in my new apartment (which is 3+ months away). I’m sure they’ll be a good conversation piece.