Sunday, October 23, 2011

I'm still not sure what normal people do during the Fall...

So tonight I took my friend Joseph out to watch some football. It was a big day for me, and probably a good number of Seminole fans like myself, as Christian Ponder started his first NFL game today. I mean, Joseph and I needed to catch up on life in general as I hadn't seen him in nearly a couple weeks or something outrageous like that, so it seemed like the perfect event.

This post isn't about how well Ponder played. Or about me reminiscing about him as a college player. It is merely to say that I was posing thoughts to Joseph, mostly of the one-sided nature as he could care less about professional football, and the girl at the table next to us finally said something. A simple question of "did you go you to Florida State" and "what year did you graduate?" quickly followed. I engaged her and her pals in conversations. They too were Florida State alums just out out there to watch Ponder play, not necessarily Vikings fans.

I love this city of how-ever-fucking-million people it contains because of great little stories like that.

Promises, promises

So I know like forever ago that I promised to post about my moving adventures. This was brought to my attention when I was looking over other posts that were started by not complete (mostly my upcoming post detailing my adventures with my friend Sue that transpired on the same day as the book buying incident featured here).

Here's the thing. That happened so long ago that it seems a bit ridiculous to include it now. So instead, here's the mini version. I had to get a new apartment. Had two days. Found one. Got a moving van. Did a bunch of the moving myself with sporadic help from my friends Erik and Joseph on both ends of the move. I ended up covered in bruises, which were hilarious to explain to coworkers and customers. Many people assumed I had been beaten and I was asked on more than one occasion if I needed to talk about anything. They were relieved when I assured them that I did not have an abusive boyfriend (hard to have an abusive boyfriend when you don't have a boyfriend in the first place) and that it was more because I'm a huge klutz.

It took a couple weeks to get organized, but the roommate and I made it work. Oh, and during this time I started new jobs. So that was fun too. And by fun, I mean crazy and at times incredibly stressful, but I tend to be far too optimistic and happy-go-lucky (sometimes for my own good), so I made the most of things.

Okay, back to my regularly scheduled programming of working on my results chapter of my thesis. And/or maybe finishing that post about the other day...

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Everyone knows that I should not be allowed in bookstores. Ever.

So I was working on making a post about my adventures with my friend Sue, when I remembered I meant to post about this first!

Things that are facts about me. I should never, ever be allowed to enter a bookstore unsupervised. Here's the thing. I was on a mission. I was out to buy a book. One specific book. A book I mentioned at the end of this post. Honestly, it's tradition. A new Palahniuk book comes out and I have to have it that day.

So I arrived a bit earlier than my friend and happened upon a bookstore. Figured it was a perfect place to pass the time. My love of bookstores prevents me from just walking in and asking for the book I want. Instead, I'd rather wander around until I find it myself. This is where disaster happens. I can't find the book. Anywhere. So I'm walking by stacks of books, seeing titles that I would consider reading. Then that thing that always happens happened. I saw a book, and almost without thinking about it, I picked it up.

How could I not?! It's John fucking Waters! It was after this that I found the new release section. And there was no copy of Damned anywhere! Time to ask the clerk. Walked up, book in hand, and asked. She was just as surprised that they didn't have it. At least I didn't leave empty handed. Best part about all of this was when I finally met up with Sue. Told her how I went looking to purchase Damned. Her eyes moved to the book in my hand then back to meet mine. We laughed before words were spoken. Her niece looked confused. I explained my bookstore disease and how Sue did not need the explanation. She still seemed confused, but was willing to let it slide.

After our adventures (which will be detailed in another post), we parted ways. First stop for me? You guessed it! Another bookstore! I was not about to accept defeat. Big chain bookstore totally had it in stock. Purchase was made. And I got out of there as quickly as possible to avoid the risk of purchasing yet another book.

It was all I could do to not start reading it the second I walked out the door. I waited until the subway, which I took to Times Square. I had tentative plans to meet a friend there, who ended up getting delayed. Fine by me. Two hours of just sitting and reading? Perfect. Times Square also provides the added benefit of still being crazy well-lit after the sunsets, leaving me with no time limit on my reading light.

And sometimes random people affiliated with Godspell will cease handing out fliers for a quick performance of "We Beseech Thee".

And as if it couldn't get any more New York, on the way home there was some filming going on in my neighborhood. The PA that made everyone on the sidewalk stop walking as to not interrupt filming said it was for a TV show. Here's kind of a blurry picture of him and some of the lights in the background.

Quite the day.

And if you really want to know, yes, I already finished Damned. Guess I'll have to move onto my next book.

Monday, October 17, 2011

This meal gets its own post

Something I left out of the GrubHub mention from earlier was one of the greatest options they have when you're ordering on the site. As you're checking out, they ask if you would like the delivery place to forego the cutlery and napkins. The reason? Oh, it says right on there about how you care about the environment and that is why you are making that choice. For this, I might try to use them more often.

Added bonus was that the place I ordered from did not use styrofoam contains. Instead they use the plastic ones that I can reuse to store my own food if and when I ever cook. Twas a good night of ordering food. Go me. Go GrubHub. Go Chinese food place.

Now back to Breaking Bad. Already on episode 4, which is pretty good given all of the breaks I have taken this evening.

Welcome to tonight's edition of combining many of the running themes of this blog into one possibly horrible hopefully awesome post!

Today has been one of those days. Everything piles up at once and you aren't really sure what step to take next and what is taking top priority. I should have known when I woke up and my tongue ring was missing. Apparently, drunk me (or asleep me, not sure which) took it out because I found it in the window sill. Seriously, who does that?! But that wasn't the cause of me going "what the fuck?!" for most of the day. After a day of attempting to work but too much stress occupying the parts of my brain that I would use to write code and/or discuss results.

How do we remedy this? Why, with the calming effect one wine. That's right! Ingredient one in the themes is drinking while blogging. Ingredient two is a little more subtle and involves me avoiding doing work by doing things like watching TV (well, Netflix) and blogging about it while drinking wine. Oh yes, I have hit play on a new show on Netflix. That's the third element. I thought about watching a movie, but totally did the whole thing about not having the time to rope myself into a two hour flick. Truth be told, I'll probably end up watching more than one episode.

Here is where I wish Netflix had some sort of randomizing type button. Like, I would love to be able to put a handful of shows or movies or both, and then hit random to let Netflix tell me what to watch. These are the things I think about when I don't have cable.

Now for some specifics:
- Wine: Cupcake Cabernet
- Show: Breaking Bad
- Work that I'm avoiding: Making graphics for my results section

I hit play on this and almost stopped it but was kind of hooked right away from the opening sequence. Also, I've been meaning to watch this show for a while because I've heard nothing but great things and because it was created, written (at least the first episode, too lazy to look up the details), and directed (again, at least this episode) by Vince Gilligan. I had looked his name up before (when I first read about the show) because it looked familiar. Not only did he work on the X-Files, but wrote some of the really great mythology episodes. Shit. I think I just outed myself. And now I kind of want to watch that. Maybe I'll switch to that next or later.

Photos! That's another running theme! Here's one I just took of the clouds outside.

They're crazy interesting. Like this show.

I'm starting to feel better. This glass of wine is half empty. Also, this is my first apartment I've ever lived in where I didn't have wine glasses. Even when I didn't drink wine all the time, I had wine glasses just in case. Thought about using a coffee cup for hilarious reasons, but it didn't seem right. Instead I'm using a regular glass.

Chinese food? Might have to happen. More updates later. Maybe.

Update: So I find it kind of weird that they've censored this show. Like, I understand that it was on AMC and maybe they can't say shit, but this is Netflix! And how do they handle it with the DVDs? Isn't this supposed to be like the DVDs? I'm confused. And that's not just the wine talking.

Also, ordered some Chinese food via Grubhub because I'm too lazy to call someone and talk to people. Point and click is like the extent of it. And it was totally worth it because they send you an adorable email saying that they heart you and what kind of car they'd like to be. Yeah, totally consider that an advert for them. Or a recommendation. Whatever. Food incoming in like 45 minutes. Worth the wait. Going to be amazing!

Friday, October 14, 2011

Laundry day is a very dangerous day

I have been saying for days that I need to do my laundry, which, by my usual standards, puts me ahead of schedule when (not if!) I accomplish getting it done today (since normally it takes me at least a week of saying it's laundry day before it happens). I would have done it days ago (honest!), but I was lacking in quarters. So, today, before I left work, I hit up the bartender for some quarters out of the drawer. Win. Also, I got cut so it's pretty much like a day off even though I had to go in for an hour and help set up. Whatever. Day off! First day off in like nine days. Yay!

But that diatribe is not the point of this post. The point relates to me feeling guilty about lying. And about me feeling bad for being an asshole. Or something like that.

So I was on the train heading home, rocking out to some Cake, and kicking some serious Free Cell ass, when this woman begins her progression through the car asking for change. Well, I didn't know what she was asking, but when she got to me it seemed like her mouth said "got any change?" to which I shook my head and went back to my conquering of the cards. Then my mind went on hilarious inner monologue mode of what I would do if I were a complete asshole. I could have been all, "why yes, I do have coins, but they're for my laundry though, so back off!" but that seems unnecessarily harsh. Also, she would probably kill for some clean clothes. Or maybe just the quarters. She seemed to nice to do something like that, but I probably seem to nice to have a thought like that.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

This should be about victory, but (spoiler alert!) it isn't

Remember this post? Well, I was thinking I should stake claim to that blog name just to have it for whenever I'm bored enough (aka avoiding work enough) to make a blog about the little things people could do to lessen their carbon footprint. Or something else where helpful hints and instruction would be the focus. Maybe cookies recipes. Who knows.

BUT! Some asshat already has it! And he deserves being called an asshat because there's nothing posted in the blog! Well, there's one sort of almost post that is just a "more to come!" post. Excuse me, bro, but you can't have "more to come" if there's nothing there to start with. Try again. Also, the post is from 2004.

And just to be safe, I checked out a slightly different variation. Also taken. By a guy with like five posts. They're not terrible, but they're from 2007. Seriously guys, I'm possibly going to help people. You know with "here's how to make recycling in your home easier" or "here's yet another successful cookie recipe". But let's face it. Most cookie recipes are successful. Because cookies are delicious.

Book lovers with organizational OCD will totally understand how awesome this news really is

It's no secret that I am a fan of Chuck Palahniuk. I have read all of this non-fiction books, many of them more than once by a bunch. Initially, I read the books by borrowing them from my cousin. Once I realized that I wanted to reread the books, I started purchasing my own copies to build my collection. I started with one of the new releases, which meant that I had to buy a hardcover. I shouldn't say "had to" because, in all honesty, I love hardcover books. Given the choice to purchase a hardcover book or a paperback, hardcover every time. I don't care that it's more expensive, heavier, or harder to fit into a small purse, they look better on a bookshelf. Actually, I think they look better in general. And I tend to carry huge purses, so there goes that argument. I could also probably use the work out of carrying around the heavier book as I an aversion to gyms and going for runs and such. As for the expensive thing, books really aren't that expensive and I'm spending the money at all, what's a few extra dollars for pretty.

In building the Chuck collection, however, there's a snag in the plan. One of his earliest books, Invisible Monsters was not released in hardcover form ever. Like, even at initial release. I've been wanting to reread it for so long, but couldn't justify purchasing a paperback copy. I mean, it would throw off that whole section of my bookshelf and we can't have that! So for years I have gone without. Until today. Well, not quite today, but sort of. Today I learned that they are rereleasing Invisible Monsters in June 2012 as a hardcover edition. There was also something about it being a remix edition too, which is fine. According to Chuck's website, the added chapters and whatnot bring the book to the level that he desired for its initial release (if you're interested, I highly recommend reading about his early career and the process of writing and publishing both Invisible Monsters and Fight Club).

Needless to say, I'm so fucking excited! Collection will be one step closer to being complete on the 11th of June in 2012. Until then, I can purchase some of the others, reread my favorites, etc, beginning Tuesday when I buy his new release Damned.

I shit you not...

This post is about bathrooms. Yes, that's right. Bathrooms.

Maybe it's just me, but sometimes you come across a public restroom (or maybe private ones too, I don't have any examples of those so I'm not really sure) that is interesting. I say interesting because that seems like it would cover all bathrooms, from ugly to awesome. Now, I feel like some people might find it weird that I'm taking photos in a bathroom. I mean, it is a private space and not usually the prime photo taking location. I think that adds to the fun. When I walk into a great bathroom that begs to be documented, I have to snap the photos without other people seeing. While some people might not mind, I'm sure a significant amount of people would be totally weirded out by someone taking photos in a bathroom. However, the other night, mission accomplished!

So the other night, I ended up in a very famous New York location (not going to reveal it here, but guesses on the location based on the bathroom photos welcome). After some time of enjoying a bit of food and drink, it was bathroom time for the usual reasons. The second I entered the door I almost forgot about the primary objective because I was so enamored with the hilariousness of the bathroom. Seriously, check out the hand drier!


I'm not sure if that color yellow is still even in production any more. And I should have expected something like that given the entrance to said bathroom. The outside was made to look like it was a single person outhousey-type stall thing, but that was just a facade.


So that's the view from inside the bathroom looking back towards the entrance. What I noticed as I was about to leave (and of course stopped myself in order to snap a photo) was that this little faux-atrium to the bathroom had no roof over it, so you can plainly see the neon sign that indicates that the ladies restroom is through this magical door.


That neon sign might give away the restaurant location if one has been there before and was observant enough to look at all of the neon signage on display all over the restaurant. Ooh! You know what will really give it away? My favorite part of the bathroom.


It begs the asking of so many questions. Like, where exactly do I dispose of my sanitary napkins? Right there in the regular trash? Why is there a picture of a hotdog as part of this sign? Wait, were there even the little bins inside the bathroom? (I forgot to check so maybe there were, maybe there weren't. I saw this sign as I was washing my hands.)

All of that was very exciting. I apologized to my dinner companion about it taking a bit longer than usual for me to hit the loo and explained that it was because I had to take photos. Then I changed the conversation topic so as to not have to the address the possibility of a "you were doing what?" question that might have arisen. Especially because this happened again in the same evening at a different establishment.

But seriously, how could I not document this place's bathroom?!


Random black and white photos all over the wall! Graffiti!! Bright red doors!!! A toilet paper roll just out outside of the stalls!!!! And that toilet seat!!!!!

Those exclamation points aren't probably all necessary, but it was totally a crazy bathroom. And it wasn't all black and white and red all over, the main door was blue.


Overall, very visually intense, but so awesome. I might have mentioned that I had encountered a second photo-worthy bathroom to my friend, but I'm not sure. Many beers were consumed at that point and I was in a rush to meet another friend at a different bar (it was quite the busy Tuesday evening). Tragically, that bar did not have an interesting bathroom. Well, I didn't see it. I just asked the bartender. That's the kind of thing I do sometimes.