Answers

1) New England Patriots, Golden State Warriors, Carolina Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Rays, Tampa Bay Lightning. Carolina is not a state, and Tampa Bay is a body of water;-)

2) Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Utah Jazz, Boston Red Sox, Chicago White Sox, Tampa Bay Lightning, Colorado Avalanche, Minnesota Wild.

3) The Florida Marlins and The University of Colorado Buffaloes. The plural of Marlin is Marlin, and the plural of Buffalo is Buffalo. Marlins and Buffaloes are not words;-)

So, there you have it...and if any of this is wrong, take it up with the guy that gave me the questions and the answers. Consider this the first installment ever in "Tuesday Trivia".

Back to regular blogging tomorrow (or Friday)...

Total Nonsense

This is post #500 since I started blogging...that really seems like a lot. Like, really a lot.

Anyway, I should have something good for such a momentous post, but I don't:-P. I am super busy and have very little time to write, but I got tired of the spreadsheet I was staring at, so I am going to write quickly.

Actually, I have a fun exercise...prompted by the combination of a GoogleChat discussion with e.b. and some random trivia that my co-workers love to ask each other at lunch.

So, I pose to you the following sports-related, totally inane trivia questions. Answer in whatever channel you prefer, and there will be invaluable prizes for the winners (and by "invaluable", I mean "of no value".)

Questions are courtesy of my co-worker, and you can yell at him if the answers are wrong tomorrow.

1) Name all of the professional sports teams (NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB) in America that are not named after a city or a state (for example: the Boston Red Sox are from Boston, which is a city. The New England Patriots are named after neither a city nor a state...so there, I gave you one already. )

2) Name all of the professional sports teams in America that have nicknames that do NOT end in "s". One of them is right there in question #1;-)

3) Name two mascots...one professional and one college...that are grammatically incorrect. Not just misspelled like the Red Sox or White Sox, but actually incorrect.

There you have it...those are your questions. Maybe later in the week, if everyone has fun, we can do some non-sports questions. But those happen to be what the trivia buffs around here gave me yesterday....

Have fun:-)

Exhausted

I am so fucking tired I can barely think. And I have a lot of work that I should be doing, but that likely will have to wait until tomorrow because I am way too tired to do anything well. I slept very little on Saturday night and didn't get home until very late last night, so I am desperately in need of about 12 straight hours in my bed. Oh, and what greets me in my Reader this morning? A whole post about beds... Aaron, you are not helping!

So, today you get the nutshell version.

The Body and I got there with no trouble on Thursday. And the weather cleared just about exactly as we got there;-). And, miracle of miracles...our dresses still fit and required no last minute fixes.

Cookout with a lot of family members on Thursday, lovely. Beach all day Friday, also lovely. The rehearsal was ultra-quick (good!) and dinner afterwards was really nice, too. Very casual and a great time.

Spent some time on the beach Saturday morning before we had to get ready. Limo brought us to a really nice spa for lunch, hair and getting dressed. Munchkin was gorgeous...she gets prettier all the time. I made her get ready before I had my makeup done...because of the crying;-). Smoking Hot Roommate had to have hers redone...lol...she is not as good a planner as I am!

I can't even describe how good SHR looked. She is just so physically striking, and so confident, and she was just so happy. I know I have told you that she looks like Charlize Theron when she is all dressed up, but I am not even sure that does her justice (she has better cleavage than Charlize does:-P).

Wedding was beautiful! It was a little too breezy to have it on the beach, but it was perfect in the front yard (the house is right on the beach, but there is a large lawn on the opposite side of the house, and the house and some trees block the wind when it is a little windy.) The Boy was, in my totally objective and unbiased opinion:-), the best looking guy in the place. Something about tuxedos...

The reception was fantastic, too. I danced all night, got to spend some time with some people I don't see enough and didn't even drink too much (although that last part is open to interpretation). The Boy and I took a very, very long walk on the beach after it was over (OK, a medium length walk, but we stopped to sit on the rocks and drink most of a bottle of champagne for a while...we may have even made out a little bit:-P).

Big Sis gave a toast that was absolutely brilliant. I am going to try and get the whole text from her and post it...but it was just outstanding. And she has some a magnetism and is so comfortable in front of a room...it was really special. Not quite as tear inducing as her sister's was last year;-).

The party ran really late (like, until the sun came up;-)) which made it hard to get out of bed for brunch at like 9:30, but I managed. I even managed to look really cute! Spent most of Sunday just hanging out with people, packing stuff up and sort of winding down. Then I had to get a bunch of people to the airport last night, and by the time that was all over with and I had everything unpacked and yada yada yada, it was about 2:00, and that alarm came REALLY fast this morning.

So, that is my disjointed, exhausted rundown...I will try and do better tomorrow:-)

Of Mice and Men

My brilliant plan to collect the travelers and get to the beach last night didn't quite work out. We had some really bad storms and the airport got all backed up. The BFF's got in on time, and The Mouth was only about half an hour late, but The Body's flight was about two and a half hours late (much of which was spent in the air, circling...poor thing.)

I ended up bringing the early arrivers to Smoking Hot Roommate's place so that they could all get on the road, and then waited for The Body by myself. And proceeded to get kinda drunk in an airport bar and make her drive home...lol. At that point it was way too late to catch the ferry, so we went back to my place, grabbed some dinner and stayed there. It was actually pretty fun, in the end! We had some excellent girl time, and did entirely too much teenager-style giggling.

So, now she is still asleep (although I have to wake her soon) and we are gonna get on the road this morning. We can catch the 11:00 ferry and be at the house by 12:30...all in all, not exactly a tragedy:-).

Anyway, now I am really checking out for the weekend, although I will probably approve comments and may even post once or twice if I feel motivated over the next couple of days. Weather is looking pretty good as of now...keep your fingers crossed!

364 more days until another birthday...phooey.

I am starting to think that the MSN life expectancy calculator is not that complex...it seems to tell about half of people that they will live to b 102. Looks like Ys, Laurwilk, e.b. and I will be partying in the old folks home together. Sorry Annie, you are dying first...

I am grading my birthday as at least a solid B+/A-. Really, my only disappointment is that Munchkin or Tinkerbelle weren't around...but they both called, as did all of my out of town friends. I also got two cakes...one at work and one at Big Sis's house last night where they had a little birthday party for me. I got some lovely presents (including new sunglasses that I love so much that I am swearing at the clouds today...damn you!!! Damn you for postponing my fun!!!)

And, in addition to the necklace, The Boy gave me no fewer than five orgasms over the course of the day...hee hee. Maybe that grade above was too low...

Change of subject...how did no one tell me that Project Runway started again!!! (Imagine me doing a Homer Simpson "Marge, we are missing the chili!" dance right now.) Seriously, I missed at least one real episode, and I also missed whatever sort of casting shows they had. I caught the first episode in reruns on Monday, and was kind of unimpressed, hopefully they get better starting tonight.

Speaking of tonight, my super-long, wedding extravaganza weekend starts right after work. I am gonna jet out of here as early as I can and pack the car up (I have a LOT of shit to bring.) Then I am gonna head to the airport to get The Body, The Mouth and both BFF's...their three flights are all landing within half an hour of each other. Seriously, what are my chances of three planes landing on time..? Fingers crossed...

I also have to clean the apartment because two of The Rocket Scientist's cousins are staying here tomorrow night. I feel like we have done a lot of resource-marshaling for this...apartments and cars, mostly...

Assuming they get in on schedule or close to it, then we are meeting Big Sis and the Brain Surgeon and Smoking Hot Roommate and heading down together in two cars (well, that is assuming that you consider the monstrous Excursion that Big Sis rented a "car"...should we take bets on what kind of mileage a pack-t0-the-gills oversized SUV with five people and a seriously lead-footed driver will get? I will set the over/under at about 7 mpg...)

The Boy is coming down on Friday morning with his Sister, her wife, and the baby. His sister's in-laws are on vacation on the Cape this week, so her father-in-law is gonna hop on the ferry to come over and babysit and let them go to the wedding...isn't that nice of him? (He is really nice...someday I will tell you about him, not sure I ever did.)

102

Ally brought up a very good point in her comment yesterday...that today is, in fact, my birthday:-) Yay! Happy Birthday to me!!!

Not a whole lot of goings on...in each of the last couple of years I have had a bunch of friends in town, but I won't see most of them until later this week. Even Munchkin is back at the beach (she won her baseball game, yay!) so it is actually sort of quiet around my place. The Boy did manage to have flowers and a card and a present waiting on the kitchen counter for me when I woke up this morning, which was a lovely treat. He must have hidden it and snuck it out when we went to bed last night...

He gave me a really cute necklace with a flip flop charm...looks just like this one. And he gets points for being perceptive, since I mentioned that I thought they were really cute a couple of months ago. I like it...very summery!

And I already talked to Munchkin and Tinkerbelle (the latter set her alarm for 6:00 so she could be the first one to call me...how cute is she?). And there is now a lovely bouquet of flowers on my desk at work from the office. I also have reason to believe that there will be cake later on...and ice cream:-D.

The Boy and I are having dinner with the pretend family and his sister tonight, and then headed to meet some other people for a drink or two. So, all in all...a pretty nice birthday:-)

Oh, as for the title of this post...according to this, I will live to 102. And, if I gain 16 pounds, I will live even longer. So, back to that cake and ice cream...

Random Stuff Works on Mondays, too.

Meeting in half and hour, so you get only a quick post this morning...

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There is a problem with my socks. They only come in one size, so I am worried that they will be too big for me. I ordered them already, but I am not real hopeful. I can give them to Smoking Hot Roommate if they are too big. Actually I ordered two pairs, which violates my natural instinct against buying thigh-highs for 13 year olds:-P, but they were just too darn cute, and they will keep her legs warm if she is wearing a skirt to school in the winter. I suppose a smart person would have ordered one, and if it fit, ordered a second pair and if not, just given the first one to Munchkin. OK...this is way too much discussion of socks...but I really do think they are adorable:-).

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The beach was gorgeous this weekend, and I can't imagine how hot it was in the city. It was even hot at the beach...so hot that Big Sis described the weather by telling the Brain Surgeon (who wasn't there, he had to work) that "We are baking our tits off out here." I kinda liked that expression.

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Speaking of the Brain Surgeon...I have a story that will make all of us feel lazy and unaccomplished. Despite the name, he is not actually a surgeon, he is a Neurologist (but that is not as cool a blog name, and I like the effect of the two sisters marrying The Brain Surgeon and The Rocket Scientist...) In the course of his work, however, he comes across actual brain surgeons on a pretty regular basis.

He is also aware of Big Sis's natural compulsion to network, so early last week, he told her that he had met a new surgeon that he thought she should meet. The surgeon is a woman who he felt like she would like and she hadn't been in Boston terribly long and yada yada yada. It is also important to note that he met the surgeon while consulting on a case that he described as very complex that required a surgery that was very difficult and very advanced. The head of surgery (or neurology, or neurosurgery or something...I don't know exactly) had assigned her to perform the surgery.

Big Sis met her for drinks after work last week and reported one additional notable fact about her. And here is where we get to the kicker of the story...does anyone want to guess how old she is?

Let's try 30.....

What the fuck?!?!? God, do I feel useless.

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Munchkin came back from the beach with me yesterday. She was going to stay there for the whole week, but she has a baseball game tonight that she wanted to play in, so she came back, and Big Sis is going to be good enough to buzz her back to the beach after the game to save her from sitting around for two days with nothing to do until I go back.

I should note that she has discovered iced coffee, and considers it a mandatory accessory for any lengthy car ride.

Yes, I think she is actually 23...at least...

Un-related Friday things

Any of you that have ever bought anything from Victoria's Secret know that, once they have your name, you can expect a daily deluge of catalogs, each sporting a cover of an impossibly gorgeous woman in an impossibly gorgeous location looking utterly ravishing in something that would likely look ridiculous on anyone who is under 5'10" or over 118 lbs. I probably get 3-4 catalogs a week, many of them identical to one that was already sent, but now sporting a new cover. I am guessing that most of you have the same issue...Victoria love the mail.

So, yesterday when I got home, it was not at all surprising to find two separate catalogs in the mail. One was a summer swimsuit sale, and the other was the initial Fall catalog mailing. And it had this picture on the cover. Omigod! I giggled with glee! Are those not the cutest things you have ever seen? Striped thigh-high socks? I think they adorable, yet incredibly sexy at the same time.

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Went out with Smoking Hot Roommate and some of our friends last night...really fun! It was a good night to be in the few bars in Boston with outdoor spaces. And everyone seemed to be in a really friendly mood, too. Not sure why...but I feel like I met a lot of strangers (OK...I was with four incredibly gorgeous girls...I guess there is no real mystery.)

I also made a new friend, which always makes it a good day. There was a girl there that was out with three guys that she works with (she was clearly playing Wingman for the night...memo to guys: nice girls make the best Wingmen), so we sort of adopted her as one of us;-). Her friends were cute, but I don't think any of my friends were really digging them...but that's OK, because we liked her:-). Which, I guess makes her an outstanding Wingman, in hindsight... Anyway, she ended up hanging out with us for most of the night, and she just moved here after finishing school, and doesn't know that many people yet, so I promised to call her next time we go out.

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What the fuck is up with the stock market? When did it become normal to have daily 2% swings in both directions? The Boy (who spends his time trying to forecast these things) has actually held up pretty well so far. I think his portfolios are doing pretty well, and he hasn't let the stress of it get to him yet. But, just in case, I have some proven stress relief techniques that I am willing to break out in an emergency;-)

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Is there anything worse that the general coverage of business and economic news? I get surprised daily by how major news outlets can misunderstand basic things that they should definitely know. Hey...I am not that smart...and if I know something is dumb, then an editor somewhere should have caught it.

As an example, how about the recent discussion of Recession, and whether we are in one or not. Many large, reputable and presumably capable news outlets seem to treat it as if it is some subjective, hard-to-quantify event that requires an expert's aesthetic opinions to identify. But no...it has a technical definition, and all you have to do is check GDP growth to figure it out. Two straight negative quarters means a Recession...so far, none. Ergo, no recession.

I think the problem is that they use Recession to mean a sort of general "economic struggle", of which there are obviously plenty. But, it is just not the same thing, and they should know better. Here is an example...CNN published this story a couple weeks ago, saying that a recent poll showed that 75% of Americans think we are in a Recession.

I have an analogy for this...if you dropped 100 people out of a plane into the Great Salt Lake and didn't tell them where they were, and then asked "Are you in the Ocean?", many of them would say "Well, it is salty, so yes." Then, you turn around and say "75% of Americans say that the Great Salt Lake is an ocean." That still doesn't make it an ocean...an opinion poll doesn't make a lake into an ocean.

And in a larger sense, it doesn't really matter. Whether we are technically in a Recession or not make little difference to consumers who need to pay their bills. Just like, whether you are in an ocean or not makes little difference to the person who would like to, you know...not drown. So, why devote so much time to arguing it?

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How did I get off on that subject? That is an unnecessary level of analysis for a Friday;-).

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I just finished Blink by Malcolm Gladwell. Interesting...very interesting. Not nearly as good as The Tipping Point, and I am not really 100% sure what that I get the takeaways, but there is a ton of interesting stuff around brain function and decision making and stuff. I don't know that I would recommend reading the whole thing, but if anyone points you to any excerpts of it, they are probably worth reading (does that make any sense?) Has anyone else read it? Or any parts of it?

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Congratulations Mississippi. Better luck next year Alabama, try more McDonald's.

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When Nancy Pelosi and George W Bush argue about how incompetent the other is...which one is actually the kettle, and which one is the pot?

Attention all Readers; Today's Regularly Scheduled Porn Has Been Cancelled

Confession...I started to write (by request;-)) a very wordy recap of what went on in my bed late last night. Along the lines of this one from last summer (also by request;-)). But, um...I was kinda getting myself hot while I was writing it, and barely made it halfway through when I realized that this was going to a place that just wasn't gonna work out in the office...lol.

So, if you happen to be the devastatingly handsome man that requested the post, you are gonna have to wait a bit;-). Sorry about that (although...ahem...I am free for a long lunch today...I am just saying...). I will finish the story and put it in an email to you later on. And the rest of you, well, too bad:-P.

So, let's see, what else is new...? Munchkin is having a good time with her brother. I talked to her for a while last night, and she was in good spirits. I was a little worried before she left because she didn't seem quite as excited about this trip as she usually is, but she seems to be doing well. Her brother took the week off from work, and his wife did as well, so they have been hanging out pretty much the whole time.

She also got to see some of her old friends, which she was really happy about...there are still two girls that she talks to pretty regularly. She also saw the bulk of her father's family last weekend, and I get the sense that it might have been a little weird. She is old enough to have kind of figured out what happened when our mother died between me and her Aunt, and I think she resents the Aunt a lot because of it. I dunno...kind of hard to read these things from a distance.

She will be back tomorrow, though, and I miss her terribly! I certainly appreciate the free time, but I don't know what to do with myself if I don't have her to worry about every day:-). Once she is back, we are headed to the beach for the weekend. Actually, she will probably stay down there all week, so I will be without her again next week, too. That will be a short week, though...wedding festivities at the end of it;-).

Speaking of which...we are now less than 10 days away! Because of her inhuman powers of planning and organization, I am assuming that Smoking Hot Roommate has everything all set to go, but we will probably still take a few days to "prepare"...read: an excuse to take next Thursday off...hee hee. As far as I know, I just need to show up, get my hair done and do my part to punish the open bar...I think I can handle that;-).

I...um...got stuck in traffic

I was late to work today...which could be the first time in three years. During the school year, I am on a strict schedule and have to get the little one to school by 7:45 or so. She could get herself there on her own at this point, but it is on the way to work, and we like our morning walks:-)

And then that becomes such a habit that I usually run on the same schedule even when she is not in school. The result is that I sort of consider myself late if I get to my desk and it is not a few minutes before 8:00. Technically I have no schedule, so I guess I can't really be late...but whatever...

Anyway, back to the point of my story. I was getting ready for work this morning and noticed a blackhead on my chin while I was putting makeup on (and by "makeup", I am probably overselling the amount of effort I put into looking good every day...it is about a twenty second process that involves little more than lip gloss). Being a midget, I have to stand on my tip toes and lean over the counter top to get close enough to the mirror to see things up close.

Well, something about that motion gave The Boy a really special feeling and caused him to tell me exactly how much he liked that skirt (it is a pretty nice skirt...I am not gonna lie...it is a suit that Smoking Hot Roommate and Big Sis bought me last year and it is really, really nice!!!). Before I knew it, that skirt was crumpled on the floor, and I was leaving hand prints all over the mirror trying to balance myself on the vanity top and lustily instructing him to do very, very dirty things to me...lol.

So THAT is why I was late for work. And I am not going to apologize for it:-P. Did anyone else possibly have a better start to their day than I did? I doubt it...

Garfield Was Never This Controversial

I was going to write about the Obama cartoon in The New Yorker, but I don't really have the energy. Plus, I have a feeling that I am in the minority on this, and I am not in the mood to be picking any fights. I will happily discuss it outside of this forum (including my brilliant insight into why this has touched a nerve with Obama's supporters so acutely), but I don't see it as a subject that really lends itself to this blog.

Unfortunately, that doesn't leave me with much to write about...lol. The Boy and I spent quite a while on a little pleasure tour through the contents of the magic box in my closet;-) and I could gladly write about that. But that could get out of hand really fast...and far be it for me to be publishing content that you shouldn't be reading at work:-P

Speaking of that...his realtor is coming over later this week to start the process of selling his condo. He will get a quick list of anything he should fix or change to facilitate the listing, and then they will list it and hopefully sell it pretty quickly. And that, of course, means that he needs a place to live:-). Hey, I have an idea!!! Why don't you come and live me me? Er...us?

I am sure I will have more thoughts on this later on, but for now I will limit it to saying that I am 100% looking forward to it. I am very happy that I pushed it back and have lived alone with Munchkin for a while...that was the right thing to do, but I am now very ready for him to move in. We are sort of planning on Labor Day or sometime around there as a move-in date, but to be honest, it will probably be sort of a process. There is no reason for there to be like one drop-dead date (unless his place is sold, obviously, but it won't close before Labor Day regardless).

I also have to go over there and definitively identify things that are coming here and things that are either being given away or thrown out. His bedroom furniture is beautiful and used to be his Grandparents...so we either need to keep that or send it back to his parents, for example. And he has great sheets! Those are definitely coming with him. So, that will take me a couple hours someday, I am sure...but I can get to it some other time.

So, I have that to look forward to...and I will keep you posted on how it goes!

One week until my birthday:-)

The Lullaby of a Beating Heart

I feel like I haven't written a Sunday night post in a while, but I really should do it more often...it is one of my favorite times to write. I am usually pretty relaxed, and don't have a whole lot to distract me. On top of that, Munchkin is away and The Boy just left a little while ago (he has to be at the airport at 6:00 tomorrow...would a good girlfriend drive him?) so I am all by myself.

The Boy made dinner tonight, which is kind of a rare occurrence. But he did a really good job! I should encourage him to cook more often! Hopefully his "rewards" will sufficiently motivate him. Oh, who am I kidding? He doesn't have to work that hard to get laid, and he knows it. I couldn't play hard-to-get if my life depended on it...lol.

So, the weekend was really good. The weather was gorgeous and the beach was beautiful. Really, it was about as nice as it could possibly be. I think I was on the beach basically from about 9:30 in the morning until about 6:00 on Saturday. I got a lot of sun, but I was good about the sunscreen, so not too much.

If I digress for a moment...can we talk about outdoor showers for a second? Is there anything better? I don't mean like a public, open-air shower just for rinsing off, I mean a real enclosed, fenced-in one. I don't really know what makes it so nice...I guess it is the combination of the sun and the water maybe...? This is one of the rare occasions when I am not primarily talking about the erotic potential, either (although, there is that, too;-))...I mean in a totally non-sexual way. I think the intended purpose is probably to keep the indoor plumbing from getting clogged with sand from the beach, but I generally shower outside down there whether I have been on the beach or not.

Another total digression: I am not a cuddler. I have never been a huge fan of sharing a bed with someone (stop laughing...) because I need my space, I get too hot, I fidget and generally just get uncomfortable. Mostly, if I am in bed with someone, I just can't get totally cuddly...I need my space (except with Munchkin...maybe because she is little:-))

So, generally, when I am with The Boy, I make a good spoon for about 10 minutes, and then I scooch over to my own side of the bed to actually sleep. On Saturday, though, I crawled into bed, curled up with my head on his chest and slept until the sun came up:-). Could I be evolving as a sleeper? Probably I just never got hot because the window was open and I didn't have any sheets on me...but I choose to believe in some deeper psychological explanation involving subconscious comfort and happiness and sappy stuff like that:-P

I guess that makes for a random and sort of nonsensical weekend recap, but it all makes sense to me:-D.

I miss Munchkin:-)

Yesterday, Kristen Bell...today, Adriana Lima...

Happy Friday everyone:-) I feel like every Friday in the summer should be treated as a holiday. Complete with the "not working" part... I guess I will have to work on making that a law some day.

Munchkin got the the airport and got to Chicago safely and easily, so I am on my own for a week or so. She actually had a run in with a quasi-famous person who she probably now counts as a close friend;-) but it is too complicated to tell the whole story in this forum.

Anyway, as we all know by now, when the cat is away... (in this example, I would be the mouse:-P). So, when The Boy came over for dinner, I figured that an appropriate outfit for me would be this, and this, and these. Not those exact shoes, but you get the drift. And no, I don't quite fill them out like Adriana Lima does, but pink is a pretty good color for me... Needless to say, dinner was a little bit delayed...hee hee.

We ended up going out after that, and I got a little bit too drunk and have a moderate hangover today. We caught up with some of my friends that I haven't seen in a while, and when The Boy went home at a reasonable hour, I went against my better judgement and stayed out pretty late. It was actually really fun, although we didn't really do anything but hang out in a few bars and chat. We didn't even go anyplace to dance or meet boys (one of my girlfriends just threw her fiance out...so we were sort of on an anti-boy trip...especially after The Boy and the other two guys that were with us left:-)).

Yada yada yada, suddenly it was 2:00 and I was pretty buzzed and now here I am at work wishing I hadn't done that. Ahh well, shit happens. Fortunately, it is a slow week and I have sold Boss Foxy on a spa lunch, which will totally get rid of this hangover! We may even bring some of the other girls in the office (Admin could probably use a massage!!!) if we are feeling social.

I don't have a whole lot other than that. Headed to the beach for the weekend and the weather is looking gorgeous. Full crew...except for Munchkin:-(...meaning The Boy, Smoking Hot Roommate and The Rocket Scientist, Big Sis and The Brain Surgeon, Papa Bear and some assorted family and friends of theirs. Should be a good time!

I hope everyone has a safe and happy weekend!

If You Read This, I Promise That There are Links to Pictures of Kristin Bell!!!

I guess maybe it is too hot out for serious talk? Not a lot of response to my downward spiral into the relevant yesterday...or maybe I should have just waited a day to take on Jesse Jackson and his off-the-record sniping at Obama. On that note, if you have ever asked "Who is finally going to be able to call Jesse Jackson for what he is and tell him to shut up?"...well, we may have our answer;-).

So, let's totally change the subject and address a new shameful addiction of mine. I have read a lot about SSB (secret single behavior) lately, and while I don't really have anything that I would be that embarrassed about (nor am I, in the technical sense, single), I certainly have habits that I know should be embarrassing.

And recently, I have developed a new one. What is this habit, you ask?

Gossip Girl.

I know...I know...you don't have to tell me. The show is awful. Absolutely atrocious. The dialogue is terrible. The stories are asinine and predictable. The characters are barely even one dimensional. The cliches are beyond obvious. The acting is somewhere between poor and mediocre. The people aren't even that good looking.

But somehow...I just can't stop watching. The clothes are outstanding, and it is narrated by Veronica Mars. So it has those two things going for it. (What can I say, I have a soft spot for itty bitty blond girls that can be sex symbols:-P) Beyond that, I have a hard time pinpointing the attraction. But I am hooked, and there is nothing I can do about it.

So there, I have come out of the closet. As a Gossip Girl fan.

Unless there is some kind of Gossip Rehab, I am gonna have a hard time kicking this addiction. But hopefully my admission can help some of you gain the strength to admit to your own struggles. Maybe even a few of you have the same problem that I do...and maybe, just maybe, we can get through this together.

Back to The Serious Stuff

I haven't written a good politics blog in a while, and I feel like I am overdue to air my developing thoughts on the Presidential race. Maybe the reason I haven't written is because the race has become so completely unwatchable.

There was a time that I liked both of the candidates. I liked McCain's experience, his commitment to principles and his toughness. Obama was fresh, energetic and free of the partisan shackles of so many lifetime politicians from the baby-boomer generation.

And then what happened? Well, I guess I still like those things about McCain, but we also have to recognize that he is really, really old. And he would look so much like a one-termer that I just can't see him being at all effectual. His own party barely tolerates him, the opposition obviously dislikes him, and the 2012 election cycle would basically start a week after he took the oath of office. I still like the way he talks about controlling spending and curbing entitlement growth, but that is about it. He has admitted to being an economic novice, and I am not a huge fan of either his social or foreign policy ideas...not a real good combination.

As for Obama, he looks more and more like a shallow opportunist all the time. He was an unapologetic liberal during the primary, but now he is suddenly in favor of faith-based social initiatives? And maybe NAFTA just isn't as bad as he first thought? And industrial regulation is a cumbersome detriment to business? Funny how these things didn't come up during the primary when he was trying to win union votes from Hillary Clinton...

I also can't see any way that the government doesn't expand dramatically if he is president. A quick scan through this (which is actually really good!) shows $150 billion over 10 years for renewable energy, $10 billion to bail out homeowners with bad mortgages, $10 billion for local infrastructure along with a $60 billion infrastructure investment bank. Also, he has promised $65 billion for universal health care, $10 billion for tuition, and a $50 billion economic stimulus (which begs the question...if you hated the last $180 billion one, why is another $50 gonna help?). That's ok though, since he has pretty much promised to raise every tax he could possible think of;-).

And there are times where he can't get out of his own way. He is adamantly opposed to privatizing social security...but he is in favor of the government matching retirement savings for low income workers. I actually sort of like the principle...but if I were to call it "expanded social security and privatizing the expansion," would I really be wrong? It is government-funded, private retirement accounts...sounds pretty similar to me.

My real issue with him is...where are all of the new ideas? This looks like pretty basic Democratic policy stuff...wealth redistribution and expansion of government. Where are the revolutionary policies that will combine the best of conservative and liberal thinking into the "practical, not ideological" solutions that he has promised? I sure haven't seen it yet, and I have to admit, I am pretty disappointed in that.

So far. November is still a long way off...

My head hurts less today

Good morning everyone:-) I am feeling a little better today, so we can go back to speaking in regular volumes again. I am still exhausted and need another solid night's sleep to get myself caught up, but I am much more myself today.

Munchkin had a baseball game last night, which could end up being her last one. She is going to miss the next one because she is going to Chicago for a bit, and if they lose, their season is over. Otherwise, she will have another game when she gets back. As for last night, it meant that I got to sit out in the park with The Boy and watch the game. Smoking Hot Roommate dropped by for a bit to make fun of me for being sick (bitch!) and also to bring me dinner (nice girl;-) I take back the bitch comment). She is much more capable of staying up for three days in a row than I am... But I already knew that.

So, let's see...Munchkin leaves Thursday and is coming back the following Friday. She is definitely looking forward to it, but she is not as bonkers as she has been in previous years. I feel like her relationship with her brother is changing, and I am not real sure what that will mean in the long run. I see potential problems...but I will just have to wait and see on that. Maybe she is just growing up and doesn't want to be away from her friends for a week.

And then, after that, we can get ready for the Wedding of the Century:-) Which falls almost exactly one year since the last WOC, and almost exactly one year before the next (mine:-)). Something about that last weekend in July...

shhh! i am trying to sleep over here!

hi everyone. please don't talk too loud. my head hurts. a lot. and my throat hurts, and most of my joints do, too. i am not thinking that this will be a very productive week. taking tylenol cold and a whole bunch of vitamin c drops in anticipation of getting sick didn't really help that much. or maybe it did, and this was supposed to be much worse.

as you may gather, the weekend was awesome, but i way overdid it. i just cant stay up for three straight days and get that drunk and not pay some consequences. i knew that, but i still felt like it would be a good idea;-)

we had a blast. the weather was kinda blah...some sun, but some rain, too...but the company was great. much trouble was caused, and i am happy to say that i was responsible for very little of it.

that's all for now. please keep it down...

Updates and loose ends

Tying up some open issues before the long weekend.

1) Admin and the saga of the creepy old man: I had lunch with Admin yesterday, which I don't do terribly often, but honestly should do more. We girls need to stick together;-) There aren't that many of us here! She didn't have a whole lot to add, and was as irritated by the whole thing as I thought she was. She certainly appreciates the willingness of the partners to stick up for her, but honestly didn't really feel like she needed any sticking up for, and would have been more than willing to let the whole thing go without further comment after last Thursday.

A couple of you asked about the laws surrounding firing ("sacking" as my English readers have noted...please continue to pepper this blog with you adorable lingo...I love it!!!) and I have to admit to knowing only the slightest bit about it. As far as I know, you can fire someone for anything, but they can also sue you for anything;-). On this front, I left out some details in hopes of not coloring the discussion...the guy in question qualifies as a minority, and is over 55. Which means even if the Bank is in the right, they run the risk of a costly and way-too-public age or racial discrimination suit around his termination. Would it happen? Who knows...but large firms are absolutely terrified of having to defend that publicly.

Anyway, I guess it is sort of a dead issue at this point.

2) Car Shopping: Big Sis finally bought a new car, and Smoking Hot Roommate is close. I am not supposed to broadcast that, though (but, yes, I will gladly tell you via email or IM:-P). The important thing is that I will enjoy borrowing it. That is what really matters.

3) BFFg and the Boy I Met in Vegas: A while back, when I was in Las Vegas for work, I met a guy from a firm we were working with who is very sweet, very cute, and very eligible. So, I set him up with one of my two oldest and dearest friends. They went out a couple of times and hit it off pretty well. But then they sort of got sidetracked...he had some work issues, and she went through a super busy stretch and they both sort of thought that the other wasn't really into it that much.

Well, he called her last week to see if she wanted to catch up again, telling her basically "I was trying to think of a reason why we didn't go out again, and I really don't think there is a good one." She had sort of been thinking the same thing, so they went out again last Saturday, which she described as "Absolutely phenomenal. I really like him." She is coming in for the bachelorette party this weekend, and is going to give me the complete rundown. But it looks good for the moment:-). BFFb says that she is totally smitten...we shall see.

4) Totally fired up for the weekend! As mentioned, BFFg is coming in for the party, and The Body and The Mouth are both coming as well...I haven't seen either of them in WAAY too long. Add in a bunch of SHR's friends from around here, and many funs will be had! And just enough single girls for the prowling to remain interesting;-).

In the meantime, The Rocket Scientist's bachelor party is this weekend as well. They are headed to the Cape to hang out and do some golfing. As of now, The Boy is planning on joining them on Saturday, but he could get motivated and go for the whole thing. I think they are taking a party bus to one of the casinos on Saturday night, and I am sure they will find their way into a place like Zachary's or the Foxy Lady, too (Google them if you can't figure it out). Us girls are so much classier...lol.

That's about it...hope everyone has a happy, healthy and fun Fourth of July! I will catch you all on Monday (maybe).

Scandal, deux

I have an update on yesterday's doings. After the morning meeting, Boss Foxy and I snuck off for lunch and she filled me in on what went down. As suspected, the partners here said that they wouldn't do business with the Bank so long as he worked there. Since it is a very large bank, they offered to simply shift him around so that we would never come across him, but that wasn't really what the Partners were going for.

As I mentioned, they are very protective of their employees, and have killed what could have been profitable deals because of behavior that was deemed unacceptable towards one or more members of the firm. The recruiting process is extremely long, very involved and...um..."thorough. Generally, before we hire someone, they interview with every person in the company, and their spouse will likely meet at least half of the firm, too. There is an enormous effort put into getting the right fit.

And the results speak for themselves...no one ever leaves for a similar job. Once someone comes to work here, they either work here forever, or they go into a totally separate kind of activity. Once guy left to run his alma mater's foundation, one left to run another non-profit, and a couple have left to take operating roles in former portfolio companies. Once you have made it through the hiring process, you are most definitely part of the family and will be treated as such.

Therefore, it is not a huge surprise that they would act so aggressively towards someone that wronged a member of the staff.

The Bank, however, is kind of between a rock and a hard place. They can't fire the guy without risk of a lawsuit, because he didn't really do anything that is unquestionably fireable. Sure, pissing off a key client could be taken as that, but simply hitting on someone is not illegal. And it is a very large bank that doesn't want to risk the lawsuit. Not to mention that they would like to be seen as standing up for their employees as well.

Most likely, they are really hoping that he quits...that would solve their problem nicely.

So that is where it stands now. We are, for the time being and foreseeable future, not a client of that particular bank, and won't be as long as he is there. I can tell that Admin still feels bad about the whole thing...she just didn't want to be in the middle of anything, even if it wasn't her fault (unless you hold her responsible for being so incredibly good looking...lol.) I actually have a lunch date with her today, and we will chat about it if she wants to:-) I will report anything else I hear...

I hope today is as exciting!

Scandal abounds!

So, we seem to be having a little bit of a scandal at work....well, not really totally at work, but it involves work. Not sure much will come of it, but it is somewhat awkward (not for me).

I guess to start, I should tell you about one of our admins. For story purposes, we will call her "Admin". To be clear, our admins are extremely capable, very highly qualified and very well paid (they probably make more than I do.) All have lots of experience as executive assistant-types, either to business folks or government folks. Most of them are over 50.

The Admin in question, however, is only 33. She is also about 5'9", and absurdly good looking. Like, super hot. And very striking...very tall, very curvy and, I dunno...she just cuts a very stunning figure. Usually, people sort of stop for a second when they first see her.

The other relevant party in this story is a guy from one of the banks that we work with regularly (to loan us money:-)). A married guy who, I believe, has a couple of kids. I have noted to myself that the guy can be a little creepy after he has had a drink or two, and gets very flirty...to the point of being borderline unprofessional. I may have even talked to Admin about him specifically at some point in the past. I am not sure.

Last week (Thursday, maybe?) Admin and one of the partners here (neither Papa Bear or Boss Foxy) were at some kind of a networking event and said Banker was there. I guess the generally-borderline flirting crossed substantially over the line, to the point that he invited her to sneak away to a hotel room with him. And he didn't like that she kindly told him to fuck off (Actually, she probably did do it kindly...she is much more polished than, say, I am.)

There may have been some terse words, but she didn't actually say anything more about it to anyone. The issue only came to light because this guy's boss, who somehow knew, called the partner here to apologize and tell him that the guy had been reprimanded. Since the partner hadn't heard any of this, he asked Admin, who reluctantly told him the story.

If nothing else, the senior group here is fiercely defensive of its people, so the five partners huddled quickly and decided that they would terminate our relationship with this particular bank so long as this guy worked there. They said that they would remove him from our relationship, but the partners have said that won't be acceptable.

So now, a couple of the muckety-mucks from the Bank are in the conference room with all five partners trying to somehow salvage the relationship. No idea how it will turn out, but I have a feeling that the partners will hold firm in all of this.

Meanwhile, I don't think Admin is real happy about it. I think she liked it better when she could have just told the guy off and moved on...she seems a little embarrassed by the whole thing, and doesn't want to be that kind of a distraction.

Plenty of entertainment for me, though:-)