who knew?

that there is some sort of VHS swap going on in my lobby. while i fully admit to still loving my 13" TV+VHS combo, i was not tempted by the crap titles on offer. 

thirsty?

somehow, i managed to collect 4 bottles of water and an iced tea on my desk by the end of the day today. 

candle in the wind

as elton john would sing, "Goodbye, [insert name here]." 

it is with fondness that TFAAF says goodbye to Dora the cat. so named not for Dora the Explorer, but for the Spanish translation of "power washer" - a.k.a. Super (Hidro) Lavadora. 

she was the queen of queen street. sometimes finicky. often aloof. but she was rescued & loved & had a good life. 

we hope she's in kitty heaven hanging out with midnight rainbow girl, ron & nancy, jim, oreo, boise and all of the family cats over the years.  

table topic #17

in honor of the season premiere of the amazing race tonight here is this weeks table topic, from the travel topics edition:

17. Who would you want to be your partner in a race around the world?

hmm...interesting question. you have to choose these things carefully. i think i would choose my brother-in-law. my sister & i would probably get into a few stand-offs (sorry, sweets). but i think my brother-in-law and i are equally resourceful and just polite enough to not kill each other. unless, of course, he questions my sense of direction. 

scarily bad (checkout edition)

now, i understand the psychology and marketing behind an impulse purchase. and the fact that the checkout is prime real estate for this - magazines, gum, chocolates, etc. 

but hard cover books at the checkout? and, "Blonde Ambition: The Untold Story Behind Anna Nicole Smith's Death," no less? 

quote of the day

from last week's group breakouts:

"wait, you don't watch TV? you don't read Us Weekly? what do you, like, do?"

rain rain go away, redux

this weather is not doing me any favors. i do not do well with humidity. 

case in point, my hair - freshly washed and styled no less - looks like cross between sir isaac newton & louis XIV right now. sigh. 

mmm...politics

so, in case you couldn't tell from the comments, i went with something sweet, instead. "bipartisan cookies," to be exact. yum. 

what would martha do?

in an effort to care more about the elections, i'm planning on watching the debate to night with my peeps. 

now, don't get me wrong, i am entirely pro-democracy and intend to exercise my right to vote come november. i'm just not a huge fan of politics and platitudes. 

but, back to the dilemma. what is appropriate to bring to a debate viewing party? is it an intellectually challenging wine & cheese sophistication? or, should one go with a chips & beers "we the people" route? wwmd?

rain rain go away

it's a rainy fall day in new york. but new york isn't quite committed to it. 

when i went out for coffee earlier it was that annoying please-either-rain-or-don't type of rain where you're not sure if you should put up the umbrella or not, but there is mist on your glasses. 

 

on the return, it was the annoying why-isn't-my-umbrella-working-the-rain-keeps-coming-up-under-the-umbrella rain. let's hope we dry out soon. 

in an absolut world

i suppose that this means that since taxi drivers are so crazy, it'd be much more ideal to have full harnesses in the back. 

but i like to think it's because taxi rides should be just as fun as roller coasters. 

the ultimate disaster movie

i will watch "the day after tomorrow" any time it is on. it is the ultimate disaster movie. disaster to the 25th power if you will. 

here's just a sampling of the plights of humanity that are contained in just 2 short hours:

deadly hail 

catastrophic tornados

instantaneous freezing 

plane crashes 

torrential rain 

transportation chaos

widespread flooding 

tidal waves 

super-storm cells

shipwrecks & errant supertankers 

familial separation 

unrequited love 

pediatric cancer

a new ice age  

reverse border crossings 

burning books

blood poisoning

and, of course, the pièce de résistance – rabid, hungry wolves

always watch out for the wolves, people. if there is anything i've learned from this flick, it's to always watch out for the wolves. 

you don't see that everyday

another reason i often feel dwarfed in new york - giant balloons in central park!

good deal? or recipe for disaster?

sundays may be meant for drinking, but looks like weekdays are all about shots. check out this tempting offer down on the sidewalk. sweet deal? or big trouble? 

(thanks, MB!)

big up to the LHC

much like the niche marketing that was the intersection of tacos & fine art photography, we have an excellent example of two seemingly unrelated worlds colliding - physics & hip-hop. behold the large hadron rap by alpinekat:

here's what i consider the highlights:

- guest narration by prof. stephen hawkings 

- excellent sample of "It Takes Two" by the illustrious DJ E-Z Rock & Rob Base

- the fact that "antimatter is nowhere to be found"

- the fact that, turns out, gravity is "weaker than weak". this disturbs me. it is apparently 10 to the 25th power weaker (that's 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 if you are counting) than the Higgs force. 

we are destined to be sucked into a black hole, aren't we?

ps - shout-out to new TFAAF reader, MB for sharing this vid! 

what's worse?

the fact that the ice cream in the center is "green apple gummy bear" flavor? or, the fact that the color is a nuclear shade of booger? 

oh david brent, you are so wise

current circumstances have reminded me of one of the best lines from david brent:

"I thought I could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it was just some bastard with a torch, bringing me more work."

here's to 2010, kids.   

OPP, take 2

so, mixed response to the last OPP posts. but, i'm still totally fascinated by them. thankfully, i now have a new scanner, so the image quality is way better. here's a second:

She learned a valuable lesson at an early age - you can never have enough pool toys. 

hello, it's me

thanks to last in london for introducing me to FutureMe.org. 

it's a website whereby you can send a note-to-self email to, well, yourself. as a prolific journal writer who loves retracing her steps, i was intrigued. 

last week, i received the following email to future me/now current me:

The following is an e-mail from the past, composed on Thursday, March  6,  2008 and sent via FutureMe.org

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

Dear FutureMe, 

Interesting experiment. It's 6 months from your birthday. You are writing this from your Ikea couch, watching the 10 o'clock news & facebooking. 

You just picked up a book called, "How did I get so busy?" which wants you to take stock of your life & try to do what matters most to you. Can you do it? Have you done it?

A few other questions...Have you gotten your Eames-esque kitchen table yet? Hosted a game night? Gotten your deposit back (sore subject)? A dresser? Any progress with you know who? Will you make it to New Zealand? 

Don't forget your goals!

Stay strong, 

Current Me 

 

is it just me, or does this seem sketch?

i believe "friendship meetings" are Quaker gatherings. but "friendship party"? with the "no refunds" bit, it looks like you are on your way to joining a cult. 

why i feel old, part 13

quote from a training session last week, in which teams were charged with finding similarities amongst the group:

"we're all from new york state. and we were all born in the 80s." 

needless to say, my group couldn't claim the latter. 

why i feel old, part 14

the nominees for the 2009 rock & roll hall of fame were just announced. can run-dmc and metallica really be eligible? has it been 25 years?! 

table topic #16

easy one this week:

16. Do you have a lucky number? 

yes. it's 6. i think it stemmed from a game of yahtzee from many, many years ago. multiple yahtzees scored with 6s. and ever since i've considered it my lucky number. it probably has no more luck than any other one. but hey, you never know. 

i know it's graffiti

but she's kinda cute this one. 

oops ups

should i have tipped off the UPS guy that he was getting a ticket on the other end from horseback?