It's Official

Its official. I am now 27 years of age. Hooray! To celebrate the day of my birth, I bought myself a nice bottle of wine and plan to sit on my couch with the bottle and Mr. Weasley. If Maryland destroys Duke then that will make my birthday complete. When I told my co-worker my plan, he sent me this. Enjoy.

My Weekends in Pics

As promised, here are pictures from my past few weekends.

First off, my pictures from President's Day Weekend when Best Friend Ever and I visited Ken. We had such a good time, and I cannot wait to go back down to Wilmington, NC to party it up in the summer. Or perhaps sooner.

And here are the pics from Cancun Cantina. Look at how drunk Sean is! I love it!

Birthday Musings

As you all know I proclaim my birthday to be my favorite holiday and the most important day of the year (who needs Christmas?). I usually like to celebrate my birthday for the entire month and milk what I can with the free dinners (see dinner whore). And despite the fact that I have a countdown to my left, this year I’m not feeling my b-day. I’m rather blah about the whole thing.

Last year I was really excited for it. My friends and I decided to have a party at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds where Sean works. We decorated and had a really good time. But this year when it came to planning something, my heart wasn’t in it. I feel no hoopla surrounding this event and just find myself not very enthusiastic about my birthday.

I am officially entering my late 20’s. It’s kinda scary. I have been an adult for quite some time now, but I think this birthday is really hitting home to me that I haven’t been a pre-adult for a few years now. I already had my mid-quarter life crisis back in 2005 and I doubt I have fully recovered from it. I am more stable now than I was then (at least I like to think so).

As when you get older, I have more insight as to who I am as a person and continue to grow. Twenty-six was overall a good year. A lot of interesting developments happened for me and I learned a lot about myself through the whole process. I am slowly beginning to understand that it’s the journey and how we get there than the actual destination.

Maybe this is what happens when we get older. It is no longer about the party and how we celebrate the birthday, but just understanding that I have grown another year and seeing how I can make 27 the best year possible.

And I can’t say that I didn’t celebrate at all. Friday, Sean dragged Kiah and I to Cancun Cantina. Its not an establishment I would normally lounge at, but I had a really good time. It was definitely an experience. I will post the pics from that night in my “weekends in pictures post.”

And Saturday, Kiah and I had a nice dinner party with a few friends and a few rounds of Asshole. We planned everything very last minute, which for me was due to the fact that I’m so blah about it all. I thought the dinner party was a nice low-key way to celebrate and actually be able to enjoy everyone’s company for the evening. It was very grown up of us (ignore the rounds of Asshole). And sorry no pics from this one. Maybe when the actual day comes around, which is in 2 days, 8 hours, 49 minutes, 33 seconds and counting, I will be all about my b-day, and looking forward to my presents. BTW, Where are all the presents?

PS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIAH!!!!!

Captive of My Desires

I love me a good trashy romance novel. Johanna Lindsey is one of my favorite authors in this genre and I have read almost all of her books. I actually started reading romance novels back in middle school. My Mom read them and I started to sneak-read them late at night because my Mother thought I was too young to be reading them. She was probably right, but I love them!

I am more of a fan of the historical romance books than the modern days ones. It’s more fun for me to escape into another time period where romance was still alive. And the historical novels are quite accurate regarding facts and I get some of my best Jeopardy answers from them.

Captive of My Desires follows one of my favorite families – the Malory’s. Lindsey has written numerous novels on individuals within this family and they have become fan favorites. This book follows the dashing sea Captain, Drew Anderson, whose sister Georgina, is married to James Malory (for their love story you can read Gentle Rouge ). Drew is in London visiting his sister who has a houseguest – the beautiful Gabrielle Brooks.

Gabrielle is the daughter of a pirate (haha, I know, but still love them despite the cheesiness) and is in the market for a husband. Her father feels she will find a better match in London and asks the Malory’s for their assistance. Of course her and Drew are instantly attracted to one another. Drew is a notorious rake with a “sweetheart in every port” and is not looking to settle down ever. And so the cat and mouse games begin. Maybe this is why I like the chase so much. I have been reading about it since I was 11 years old.

Captive follows the typical romance plot. Gabby and Drew deny their feelings for one another. They end up in a great adventure with each other while their feelings continue to grow. Usually with Lindsey books, the female realizes she is in love with the man and at the end the fellow recognizes that he cannot live without her.

When I first read Lindsey, I thought her books were fresh and exciting (I was also 11). Lately I feel they have gotten stale. She uses the same format and I think she needs to branch out and try a different approach. I still like to read them, but her last few novels just seem the same to me. But I’m not really reading them for their literary value. I read romance novels for the escapism and the emotions they invoke in me. Whenever I’m feeling lonely or depressed, I know I can pick up a romance book and relive the fairytale notion that there is a Prince Charming out there for all of us.

Weekend Getaway

This weekend Best Friend Ever and I went on a road trip down to Wilmington, NC. She was visiting her boyfriend Ken, and I decided to tag along and be the third wheel. Actually I wasn’t a third wheel cause Ken’s roommate, Derrick, and Ken’s friend, Torrin, was also there. So instead of a threesome we had a huge orgy! Good times!

Getting away for the weekend was exactly what I needed. I took off Friday and Monday, so it was a nice little break from work. And the drive down there wasn’t bad at all. We only hit traffic within the DC area, but once outside, it was smooth sailing.

All weekend all we did was eat, drink and sleep. I ate way too much food this weekend. And man, did we kill some bottles of wine. We drank at least two bottles a night and then some. We only made it out once to downtown Wilmington at night. It’s a typical small college town. There is a main drag of bars and drunk kids hopping from place to place. A lot of Marines also come to party in Wilmington with Camp Lejune being so close. (Ken is currently a Navy Doctor at Camp Lejune and will most likely deploy to Iraq within a year as a Flight Surgeon.) Man, I felt so old being surrounded by college kids. They have so much energy. Us old folks ended up leaving the bar around 12:30ish. We just couldn’t hang, and Derrick was wasted anyways, so it was time to hit the road.

I did get to ride on the back of Derrick’s motorcycle on Sunday, and that was so much fun. I haven’t ridden on one since high school. We didn’t go very far since it was really windy out, but it felt great to be on the back of one. It was such a rush, and I so want a bike now. It felt great to feel the wind as we picked up speed; I wanted to put my hands out like I was flying, but figured that probably wouldn’t be too safe. Such an andreline rush. Now I know why all guys want motorcycles.

It was such a fun weekend, and I plan on going back when it gets warmer and chill by the beach all day. I told Ken and Derrick that I was coming back with or without BFE. I told the boys to keep the spare room for me cause I will be back.

When I eventually upload my pictures and get the pics from Ken and Derrick, I’ll post a few from the weekend.

Adventures in Babysitting pt 2

This weekend I will be out of town and unfortunately for Weasley, his Grandparents will be taking care of him. No one else could do it, and I was desperate. So just like when I doggy-sat for my parents, I gave them a detailed list on how to care for Mr. Weasley. Here is my e-mail to my Mom and Dad:

Hi Mom and Dad,

Thanks for taking care of Mr. Weasley this weekend. I just need you to come over on Saturday and Sunday to take care of him.

Feeding Him:

• He eats 1/2 cup of dry cat food. The dry cat food is in my pantry, on the third shelf. I will leave the 1/2 cup next to it.
• He also eats half a can of wet food. There may be already a can open, and it will be on the counter next to the stove, wrapped in a sandwhich bag. He doesn't really like the current flavor he's eating, but give it to him anyways. Whatever he doesn't eat, just throw away. If there is not a can already open, then look on the floor in the computer room and you will find the cans.
• SUNDAY ONLY: Please give him a cup of dry food since I'm not sure what time I will be home on Monday, and don't want him to be hungry all day.

His Water:

• He doesn't like to drink from his fountain, so he may jump on the sink for a drink. If he does, just turn the faucet on low and let him drink.

His Litter Box:

• Please clean that when you come over. His litter box is in my old room. Put allof his pee (big clumps) and poop in a sandwhich bag (found in the third drawer in the kitchen). His scooper will be right next to the litter box.

For the Frog:

• His pellet food will be below his tank. Give him 4 pellets a day.

If you use the bathroom, please close the lid afterwards. Weasley likes to drink from there, and I don't want him too.

And Dad, when you go outside to smoke, please make sure that Weasley does not get out. Also when leaving, make sure Weasley doesn't try to run out.

He'll be happy to see you, so play with him for a bit. He loves his new toy with the feather/tail thing on it, and he loves his ball of yarn. Also if you want, you can brush him cause he likes that too.

I think that covers everything. Thanks for taking care of my little guy!

My Mom's response to my e-mail:

Just a small cat but lots of instructions I think Pepper and Bear easy to take care than wisss-leyy. Don't worry I will call you if I can not find anything.

Poor Weasley. This should be fun.

Hannibal Rising

Okay, so I’m kinda disappointed after reading Hannibal Rising. It did not live up to my wild expectations, which really sucks cause I think Thomas Harris did a disservice to all the Hannibal lovers out there. I have read all of the previous novels with Hannibal in it and when I found out that Harris was finally going to write about how Hannibal became Hannibal, I was super-dooper excited. Finally readers were going to get an in-depth look in Hannibal’s dark psychosis and understand what drives him to perform his evil deeds. Instead, Harris half-assed it and left his readers wanting more. I know I did.

I guess I set my expectations too high. I thought this book was going to show Hannibal right before his capture and the criminal actions leading up to it. I figured Harris would touch upon his childhood to show it shaped Hannibal into that man he is now, but Hannibal Rising mainly focuses on Hannibal’s childhood. We learn that Hannibal’s family is bourgeois and even at a young age possess superb intelligence. It is during World War II and his family must flee to their cabin to escape the Nazi’s. His family is eventually killed during a bombing raid and a group of renegade Nazi’s (is that even real?) hold Hannibal and his little sister, Mischa, captive.

To make a long story short, those group of men starving for food, end up killing Hannibal’s sister and eat her. Hannibal eventually escapes and is traumatized over what happens and is sent to live with his Uncle and his wife. Hannibal has nightmares over the incident, but cannot recall what happened to his sister. He discovers the truth and vows revenge upon the men.

And there we see Hannibal emerge as the cold calculating killer as he hunts down each man for retribution. Hannibal achieves his revenge and that’s where the story ends. But there are still so many unanswered questions surrounding him. I can understand that he seeks vengeance, but why does he continue to kill as an adult. What propels him to continue this behavior? Does he find pleasure in killings? Is it all just a game against the authorities? Did murder become an obsession for him?

I was left with so many unanswered questions after reading this book. And while those events of his childhood were important in shaping who he becomes, I feel the young man Hannibal in this book is completely different from the cold, calculated Hannibal Lector from The Silence of the Lambs. That older Hannibal had more charisma and charm and that’s why he was able to lure his victims into a false security of trust before he struck them down. This Hannibal is a mere shadow of what is to come, and perhaps that is what Harris intended all along. Overall I’m still dissatisfied with the beginning of Hannibal Lector and expected a much more chilling and compelling story.

Not Even Worth Rioting Over

Hell Yeah! Maryland beat Duke tonight, giving Duke their 4th consecutive loss in a row. But seriously, anyone at this point can beat Duke. I mean they lost to freaking Virginia Tech (granted Tech's program has steadily risen since joining the ACC), but losing to a castrated Turkey when you're a Blue Devil is just shameful. Hahaha, look at how pissed Mike Krzyzewski looks.

Here are some highlights from the ESPN recap. To read the entire article, click here.

• James Gist had 16 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Greivis Vasquez scored a season-high 18, and Maryland forced 17 turnovers in handing No. 16 Duke its most lopsided defeat of the season.


• The Blue Devils' previous three losses were by a combined nine points, but this turned out to be Duke's most lopsided ACC defeat since a 14-point loss to Wake Forest in February 2003.


• "Of the four games, the other three we had a chance to win," Krzyzewski said. "This game, something a little more extraordinary had to happen for us to win."


• After the final buzzer, the Maryland fans didn't rush the court -- an indication, perhaps, of Duke's fall from elite status.


• "They played with amazing energy, especially at the start of the game," Krzyzewski said. "The crowd, their team ... our team hasn't experienced that level of energy this season and it knocked us back."

My Mother's Gifts

My Mother has this great ability for giving me completely useless gifts. Now before you all say that I’m greedy and it’s the thought and generosity behind the gifts, I will agree with you all. Every gift my Mom gives me is a sweet and kind gesture and she places a lot of love behind it. I do appreciate it and love her for thinking about me when she buys me presents. But man, she sure has some crappy taste or just buys me things I just don’t need or will never use.

As I’ve gotten older, I truly value gifts that are practical, gifts that I can use on a regular basis. I don’t collect things and I hate clutter (ignore the fact that my apartment is always a mess). My Mother and I are the exact opposite. She loves to collect things and her house is full of clutter from her candlestick holder phase, to her chicken infatuation (she was born in the year of the rooster and loves anything that has a rooster on it. In her living room alone there are 13 items with roosters on it!), from her Swarovski crystals, to her newest phase of collecting pretty coffee mugs; my mother is a veritable pack rat. I have become more like my father in the sense that I don’t care/need sentimental gifts. And the worse part is I can’t really throw away the gifts or return/exchange them because my Mom will get offended. So instead, I have to keep them and put them on display in my apartment.

My Mother got me this little calendar thingy for my desk at work, but it’s really meant for the kitchen. So that is where I have placed it, besides it would’ve taken too much room on my desk. I never change the days like I’m supposed to. The last time it was changed was on Christmas and that’s because my Mom came over and saw that it wasn’t up-to-date, so she changed it herself. Its not really ugly, but I have no need for it.


This fish thing, she got for me while she was in Oakland visiting my brother. It’s horrendous and I have it sitting next to the TV. She said the fish reminded her of me because it was making a kissing face and has a margarita on the side. I think she was implying that I’m an alcoholic of some sorts.

This butterfly candle, she got for me when I first moved into my apartment. It currently lives on top of my bookshelf. She thought it would be pretty in my new place. While I love candle gifts and do use the candles she gets me, this is just plain gaudy. It reminds me of something you’d have in your dorm room, but alas, I now have it.


And for this year’s Valentine’s Day, she got me these two stuffed animals. I admit I have two stuffed animals on my bed currently, but that’s it! I stopped collecting stuffed animals when I was in high school. I feel like every year she gets me a stuffed animal and most years, I tell her that she can have it, and they end up scattered around her house. I think she thinks I’m still 12.

I hate to sound unappreciative, cause I know that she loves me and is buying me these things because she does love me. I just wish she would realize that I don’t need these things and perhaps buy me something more useful. Or better yet, just don’t buy me anything at all and make me a nice yummy dinner instead. When did I start hating random presents? Or when did my Mother start losing her art of buying me presents?

Eldest

Hooray, after what seemed like forever, I have finally finished reading Eldest by Christopher Paolini. The book was incredible, if a bit long-winded at times. The book picks up right where Eragon left off with the Varden having just defeated Durza and Eragon being hailed a hero. But their victory is short-lived and tragedy strikes, and Eragon must begin his training with the Elves as a Rider.

Eldest, mainly follows Eragon’s training with the Elves as he learns what it means to be a Dragon Rider. Eragon is taken deep into the forest where the Elves hide their stronghold, Ellesmera. There he learns the ancient history of the Riders and Dragons, how to use magic properly, and what he needs to do to overthrow King Galbatorix to restore peace around Alagesia.

While Eragon is off training, we find out the repercussions of him running away from his village after finding Saphira’s egg. His cousin, Roran, has refused to give himself up to the Razoc, and in turn, the entire village must now flee and head to the Varden for protection against the King. And on top of that, the Razoc has abducted Roran’s fiancé Katrina. Roran blames Eragon for all these troubles, not realizing what his cousin has now become.

This book is much more in-depth and shows Paolini’s maturity as a writer. The plot is more intricate, and the characters evolve into complex people and no longer seem so one-dimensional. You can almost sense that Paolini is Eragon, struggling to grasp with concepts such as love, duty, honor, morality, justice, what is right vs wrong, and writes all about it through Eragon’s eyes. It is well written and engaging, and I often found myself leaping forward because I couldn’t get to the end fast enough (this is a bad habit of mine, that I really am trying to curtail, but it was too hard with this book).

There are many plots twists and turns, and when you figure out why this book is called Eldest, you will be gasping. Questions that I had in Book 1, are getting answered and he does a great job of foreshadowing of what’s to come. At the end of this book, there is now another Rider who is bounded to King Galbatorix, and whose strength is double Eragon’s. Eragon and Roran are off to avenge their father’s death and rescue Katrina from the Razoc. Will Eragon be able to defeat this new Rider? Will he be able to overcome the truth of his parentage? Will him and Arya find true love? I cannot wait for the last chapter in the Inheritance Trilogy and look forward to Christopher Paolini’s future work.

Google-What?

Today, I was listening to Elliot in the Morning as he was talking about how Google is named one of the best companies to work for and how shitty Clear Channel is.

(Side note: I used to work for Clear Channel and my department was right next to Elliot’s studio, and when I worked there was not a huge fan of Elliot. But now that I’ve left CC, I actually enjoy listening to his show. His laugh still grates on my nerves, and I get the chills every time he cackles, but I really do find his show amusing.)

Back to the story, so anyhoo, Fortune magazine named Google the number 1 place to work for. For the full story, click here. Elliot kept talking about the Googleplex, which is the name of their corporate office and how gigantic that place is and how it has anything and everything a person who works there could ever need. The Googleplex offers 11 different cafeterias, in house daycare, individual lap swimming pools, in house physicians and dental care, doggie daycares, in house masseuse, 24 hour help desk for hardware, hair salon and the list goes on. The Googleplex has so many freaking amenities; employees never want to leave there. And why would you, if you could take an hour break during the day to get a massage and then head back to your desk to tackle your next project. And mind you, all of this is free, its one of the perks for working there. Unfreakingbelievable.

How do I get a job there? I’m going to have to compete with the 1,300 resumes Google receives in a day. That’s 9,100 resumes a week, 39,000 resumes a month, and 474,500 resumes a year! Good lord, how do they weed out the real candidates from people like me who just want to chill out in the lounge and play pool all day?

It was hilarious listening to Elliot talk about Google and comparing it to Clear Channel. One of my favorite lines, “The only reason we were able to have a Christmas Party this year is because we promised Hard Rock Café that we’d air an hours worth of free commercials cause we’re too cheap to actually pay for one.” He had listeners call in who worked for Google and had a friend of a friend who worked there, saying that security around the Googleplex has tightened because Yahoo employees were sneaking in the cafeterias for some free lunch. How great is that.

Well I did hear that my company just bought a 46 million corporate jet. Perhaps the CEO will let me borrow it on the weekends. And for my friends who still work at CC, Elliot’s points were funny and valid, and I hate to admit that I agreed with him.

I heart JT!

I was in the middle of writing my post on Justin Timberlake's Future Sex/Love Sounds Tour and decided halfway to see if Kiah had written about it. Yup, she had, and did a much better job than my lame feeble attempt. So click here to read her description of the show since I decided to forfeit my efforts. She even went on-line and found pictures of him and a clip of the show! Wow, and all I kept talking about was how hot I thought JT was and how I wish I could have his love-child. But I will post my pics from the show, and if you look hard enough you can almost imagine that its Justin. You can tell that we were sitting up pretty high, but I'm amazed at how well my zoom is!



Overall the show was awesome! Justin rocked it. Kiah and I were dancing for most of the concert even though it was hot as hell in there. The girl next to us was drunk and so funny. She kept saying to her friend, I heart Justin, I heart Justin over and over again. It was funny. There was some guy a few rows behind us dancing his little heart out for JT. Maybe next time, we'll get better seats.

A Random Survey

KJ posted this awhile ago and now I am.

1. When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought? Do I really have to go to work today?
2. How much cash do you have on you? $13
3. What's a word that rhymes with door? Is it weird that I came up with Whore.
4. Do you label yourself? Yes, I'm the anti-homemaker.
5. Dark or bright room or somewhere in the middle? Bright room, I have to have all the lights on when I'm in a room.
6. Why is there always a missing question? Probably because the person who created this couldn't count and is a tard.
7. What does your watch look like? I have several. The one I wore today is Bulova, gold and silver chain, and also shows the date.
8. What were you doing at midnight last night? Reading Eldest.
9. Where is your nearest 7-11? Who cares?
10. What's a word that you say a lot? "Crikes"
11. Who told you s/he loved you last? I think my Mom.
12. Last furry thing you touched? Mister Weasley.
13. How many rolls of film do you need developed? Do people still own film cameras? Isn't everyone digital?
14. Favorite age you have been so far? 18 because I was a senior in highschool and had age of majority so I could write my own notes to get out of school.
15. Your worst enemy? Me and the lady who works for Fedex and the lady who works for Sprint (my clients are driving me nuts right now).
16. What is your current desktop picture? Mister Bear.
17. What was the last thing you said to someone? Do you have an extra DVD players lying around? (to my Dad asking for a new DVD player since mine just broke right now while I was in the middle of watching Project Runway, freaking Mintek, what the hell brand is a Mintek? Freaking cheap Dad that buys Korean made DVD players)
18. What's the last song you listened to? Angel by Robin Thicke
19. What time of day were you born? I was born an hour before Leap Year.
20. What do you do when vending machines steal your money? Curse the vending machine Gods who are mocking me.
21. Do you consider yourself kind? Yes except when stoopid people piss me off.
22. What's your life motto? I'll fucking cut you Bitch! and I want nothing and everything.
23. Name three things that you have on you at all times? My i-pod, phone, hair clippeys.
24. Can you change the oil on a car? Nope.
25. When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it? My Christmas cards.