HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAPS!!!!!

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Sliding in under the wire...

Happy Birthday kaymyth!!!!!

Hope you have a great day! And may I say what an *amazing* year the Cardinals are having! While this may not be the year for the Red Sox, I would love to see the Cards wipe the field with the Yankees. Go Cards! There's still hope for the Red Sox too so "Go Red Sox!!" while I'm at it. Gotta be loyal. :D

I should probably update while I'm, you know, updating. I, at long, long last, have completed my thesis. It had hung over my head for well over a year and it was a quiet relief to have it gone. The process of completing it was so drawn out and complex that the feeling of accomplishment was spread out and by the end it was a bit anti-climatic though still wonderful. A week after I handed it in, I started a new job. There wasn't much time for wallowing in freedom. :) But it's a relief to have a job in the field for which I spent 3 years and lots of money being trained. And money, did I mention money? It's so nice to see it again, I'd missed it. :D

It's 10:00 pm now and I want to go to bed. Look what work has done to me. *weep* Maybe being a student wasn't so bad after all? :D

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Happy Birthday corrupteroffire!!!!!

Sorry I'm late. :)

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Updating at last, but not at all because daps forced me to do it. *cough* And I even figured out how to link another journal. I deserve many rewards. *g* (Disregard fact that it was easy, and that I'm clearly an idiot because it took 5 attempts to get it right. Stupid LJ FAQ. *kicks*)

Spring training has started! So I can give my first GO RED SOX on my journal. They played the Yankees yesterday and lost but these games are meaningless...*except* for the first couple of innings when the starting pitching was in. The Red Sox pitcher (who is only *trying* to be a starting pitching!!! He was only an occassional closer last year!) pitched three shut-out innings while the Yankees' pitcher (both a starting and relief pitcher for them) gave up 4 runs. Ha! I know it is way to early to start this but I just can't help it. :)

I sent out two resumes in the past month, have already interviewed with one and today got a call for an interview with the second. Yay. Only, *worry* about the interview itself. Is there anyone who likes being interviewed? Doesn't seem possible. The first one went ok but I suspect this second one will be more difficult. Both jobs sound stressful. But money would be nice. Fire bad. Tree pretty.

Animal kingdom update? The bird deserted us once the weather got warmer which is probably a good sign. Eagle, wild turkeys, foxes, hawks and some other unusual animal I've never heard of and can't recall the name of have all been spotted around town. The Boston Globe wrote an article on the number of unusual animal spottings here. Theories range from the unusually cold weather to development pressures. But I wonder. Isn't unusual animal activity suppposedly a sign of something bad? Or maybe I've seen The Birds too many times. *g*

It's snowing.

I saw the documentary My Architect a few weeks ago. I thought it was fascinating, in part because I recognized much of the Philadelphia scenery, because I've studied Louis Kahn's architecture and because he was my professor's professor. But aside from the personal connections, it was an interesting look into his life which I had never known anything about. He had two mistresses and two children by them, in addition to a child by his own wife. And none of them spoke badly of him, or resented him. Rather, they praised and defended him. Amazing. Of course his wife was not included since she has died, but she clearly knew about the other women before his death, so still remarkable. Excellent movie though, I'd recommend it to anyone but especially if you have an interest in architecture it will be extra enjoyable because they focus quite a bit on his buildings. It was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary so you don't have to go on my word alone. :)

And...done. :)

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Happy Birthday Daps!!! *smooooooooooooootch*

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I really need to do a proper update at some point...but this is not that point. :)

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President Match

Kucinich - 100%
Sharpton - 93%
Kerry - 89%
Dean - 83%
Clark - 83%
Edwards - 77%
Bush - 2%

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create your own personalized map of the USA
or write about it on the open travel guide




create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide

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New England Temperature Conversion Chart
60° F: Southern Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in New England sunbathe.

50° F: New Yorkers try to turn on the heat. People in New England plant gardens.

40° F: Italian & English cars won't start. People in New England drive with the windows down.

32° F: Distilled water freezes. Maine's Moose head Lake's water gets thicker.

20° F: Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats. People in New England throw on a flannel shirt.

15° F: New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in New England have the last cookout before it gets cold.

0° F: All the people in Miami die. New Englanders close the windows.

10° below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico. The Girl Scouts in New England are selling cookies door to door.

25° below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. People in New England get out their winter coats.

40° below zero: Washington DC runs out of hot air. People in New England let the dogs sleep indoors.

100° below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. New Englanders get frustrated because they can't start their "kahs."

460° below zero: All atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in New England start saying, "cold 'nuff for ya?"

500° below zero: Hell freezes over. The Red Sox win the World Series.


During our recent cold spell a Girl Scout actually did come to sell cookies! It was 0 degrees at most.

The last line made me laugh. Then cry.

Current Mood: amused

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More wild kingdom...
For such an urban area, there have been a lot of wildlife happenings lately. A rabbit appeared in the area a few months ago and its white cotton tail was spotted occasionally hopping around. We've never had a rabbit around before so it was a lot of fun. Until yesterday. When a hawk got it and left its remains on top of a bush. Horrible. :(

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Colder than something really cold...
It is currently -9 degrees Fahrenheit. The windchill is -40 degrees. School has been cancelled for tomorrow. It is really cold. And there is a tiny little bird huddled under the roof overhang of our backporch. It is perched on top of our outdoor motion detector light and is so small, I don't know how it is still alive. Even though it appears to be sleeping, I can tell that it is still breathing. We've fixed the light so that it will stay on all night and since it gets hot, will hopefully provide some comfort for the poor little guy. We can't think of anything else to do to help it. I don't know why he hasn't moved to a warmer climate, how he has made it so long during this cold spell, or why he had to leave whatever shelter had helped him survive until now. I just hope he makes it through the night. If he lives another 10 years, he won't encounter another night so cold.

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Places I've been...
Copied from, well, seems like everyone is doing it. :)

I've always wanted to write this down somewhere so this seemed like a good impetus. So much still to see!!

Bold = Visited
Underline = Lived
Italics = driven through, had a layover, took a train through, etc...

1) Alabama, 2) Alaska, 3) Arizona, 4) Arkansas, 5) California, 6) Colorado, 7) Connecticut, 8) Delaware, 9) Florida, 10) Georgia, 11) Hawaii, 12) Idaho, 13) Illinois, 14) Indiana, 15) Iowa,16) Kansas, 17) Kentucky, 18) Louisiana, 19) Maine, 20) Maryland, 21) Massachusetts, 22) Michigan, 23) Minnesota, 24) Mississippi, 25) Missouri, 26) Montana, 27) Nebraska, 28) Nevada, 29) New Hampshire, 30) New Jersey, 31) New Mexico, 32) New York, 33) North Carolina, 34) North Dakota, 35) Ohio, 36) Oklahoma, 37) Oregon, 38) Pennsylvania, 39) Rhode Island, 40) South Carolina, 41) South Dakota, 42) Tennessee, 43) Texas, 44) Utah, 45) Vermont, 46) Virginia, 47) Washington, 48) West Virginia, 49) Wisconsin, 50) Wyoming, and 51) Washington, DC.

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A New Year
It's been a decadent day. I woke up after 1:00 p.m., made myself waffles (from scratch, yay me) and then read for several hours. Next I soaked in a bath until I had finished my book and simultaneously perfected my prune impersonation (note impressive multi-tasking). Finally, I had a light dinner while watching Notting Hill and discovered (re-discovered? curse my poor memory!) deleted scenes at the end of the videotape. It was a nice surprise (maybe poor memory not so bad). All day I've been sleepy from the late wake-up time even though I only got 7 or 8 hours of sleep. Last night was fun but fairly low key since most of the people at my friend's party (including the host) were either sick with colds or recovering from them. My garlic roasted potato skins were a big hit though and so my very critical inner chef was pleased. I had expected to stay the night but at 3, when I was completely sure I was sober enough to drive (hadn't had a drink for 3 hours), and with everyone else asleep, I decided I really wanted to sleep in my own bed. The drive home was slightly scary because of the weaving cars that accompanied me on the roads but I gave them plenty of room and had no problem. So ended another year. They seem to be coming fast and furious now. Wish they'd slow down.

Happy New Year to all!!

Current Mood: sleepy

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A start
I'm not quite sure why I decided to start one of these after resisting for so long. I think I just got tired of posting anonymously. I'm not sure how much I'll end up putting on here but I thought I should at least give it a try. If anyone is curious, my icon is a picture of the swan boats in the Boston Public Gardens. They operate on the little lagoon during the summer, taking passengers out for a lap while real ducks and swans swim alongside hoping for bread. They are one of my favorite bits of Boston and so I thought I'd like to put them on here. By no means am I saying that I am swan-like. My neck is normal sized and considering how clumsy I've been lately, graceful is not a word I'd use to describe myself. Anyway, here goes my first volley...

Today I went to see Return of the King and enjoyed it very much. As everyone else has said, the visuals were fantastic (except for some slow mo shots that bothered me and a couple of off shots) and it was nice to finally see the 3 year long story end. I hadn't previously read the books so I didn't know the story or how it would finally conclude and I was getting a bit impatient! Since I hadn't rewatched the first and second movies prior to today, I had a lot of trouble remembering names that were mentioned and the significance of certain things. For instance, why were the elves leaving? I remember it came up in the second movie but I couldn't remember the reason. Also, ***spoiler for Return of the King*** I was confused about why Frodo and Gandalf went with the elves. **end spoiler** Finally, I had trouble hearing some of the dialogue. I don't know if it was the theater I was at (it's a brand spanking new one though with all the bells and whistles so it seems unlikely) or the film itself but it was distracting. Also distracting was the fact that someone was smoking in the theater and I kept smelling it. The smell itself wasn't overwhelming or that annoying but I couldn't help noticing and wondering if they would get in trouble, drown us by setting off the smoke detectors, etc. Since smoking has now been banned even in bars here, I think I'm extra sensitive to it.

I hadn't been allowing myself to read lately as punishment for not working on my thesis but since I got a book for Christmas, I haven't been able to help myself. It is called Almost French and is about a journalist from Australia who, while traveling for a year in Europe, meets and eventually marries a man from Paris. What is interesting about the book, which I am only part-way through, is the process of acclimation she is going through living in a city so different from her own country. Having lived for short periods of time overseas, I can relate to some degree but her experience is much deeper than mine and so more interesting. National differences are so interesting to me, both culturally and architecturally that I'm just drinking it up. The bad thing is that it is bringing on my wanderlust and I can't afford to indulge it right now. Oh to have unlimited time and money...

Alright, I'm even boring myself here so I better quit and wait until I come up with something more interesting before I post again.

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