gifts and such


[1] i gave my nephew a “Learn to play the Harmonica” kit for Valentine’s day. That boy has been driving me crazy from sun up to sun down with that thing. Note to self: next time you give a kid a musical instrument, do it on your way OUT THE DOOR.

[2] i ended up at Wal-mart with a (very) platonic friend. The first two things this fool picks up (sans cart people) are condoms (with the warming lubricant he pointed out excitedly) and baby oil. He insisted that they were not to be used together, i however asked the employee hanging around the toiletry aisle if she could point him to the rubber sheets…freak. Continue reading gifts and such

Good Eats: Rasta Pasta

I actually had Spaghetti Carbonara tonite (more on that later) but I get requests for my favorite recipes all the time. I made this last week for a certain someone who shall remain nameless. This is one of my favorite self-styled recipes. It is a great summer pasta or easy first-time cooking for a date dish. Pretty hard to mess it up, and easy to adapt to your taste. So share with me one of your favorite recipes or let me know how this one turns out for you. Continue reading Good Eats: Rasta Pasta

Memo to New England

Would somebody please send a memo to New England to turn on the heat? I mean really, is anything under 40 degrees a temperature or is it a warning that Hell is freezing over? Is all this snow necessary? I’ve finally found a place where it is okay to wear those fugly Ugg boots everyone was into last year. That being said, it is day 2 of my adventure and I am having a ball!

infatuation

Some of yall (all 3 of you who are reading this) know how much I love Malcolm Gladwell (aka My Baby’s Daddy). The NY Times has profiled him and my love grows stronger every day. I met him in 2005 when he came to speak as a Batten Fellow. I stalked the event planners so much (and impressed them with my knowledge of all things Malcolm) that they allowed me to drive him around for the afternoon. He was amazingly gracious, a gifted orator and a total cutie pie what with all that “absentminded professor hair”.  I read Tipping Point in 2003 and finished Blink a few months ago. He’s inspired a rash of books that “create a highly contagious hybrid genre of nonfiction, one that takes a nonthreatening and counterintuitive look at pop culture and the mysteries of the everyday” Here’s a little bit of the reason why I’d walk over hot coals to bring him cold water: Continue reading infatuation

Hoos Who?

I can’t even remember why I applied to UVA, aside from the fact that it was a large state school that sent me an application. Being fairly agreeable in nature, I obliged and applied to only two schools: UVA and Virginia Tech, our largest in-state rival. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I had no idea of UVA’s stature in terms of national rankings, reputation for excellence etc. All I know is that I was admitted to both schools and UVA seduced me easily with the Spring Fling admitted student weekend and promises of late nights playing cards and eating dominos pizza. I imagined deep discussions about politics and race, surrounded by more black folks than I had ever shared a classroom with. We were fed and courted and entertained. Everywhere we went there were dozens and dozens of other black folks! And this taste of college life was over a weekend so there was no talk of classes, homework, alarm clocks or meetings…bah, whatever. I couldn’t be bothered with such details. Little did we know that this would be the best weekend of our young, black collegiate lives and that 80% of the black folks we saw that weekend…well, could you tell them we are STILL looking for them? Continue reading Hoos Who?

100…99…98 Things to do (pt. ii)

I finally finished moving my worldly goods into storage. Next time I attempt this type of insanity I will build in a few weeks between the time I depart and my last day at work. I’m so tired that I’m silly.

[1] I am officially a Hobo. I haven’t slept in the same place the last two nights and I had to change into my work clothes at work.

[2] The lease for unit “A” of The Dupe is signed and it only took a few glasses of wine, some pasta and a shared piece of german chocolate cake.

[3] I have at least two projects lined up for the next couple of months. One is new and should flex my brain a bit, the other is one of my passions and I’ve been working on it for a few years. I’m hoping to bag at least two more projects in the next couple of months, more for the interest factor than the money. I have a couple of “irons in the fire” as they say and am excited about all of them.

[4] It turns out that insurance won’t cover my Malarial meds It’s $174, but I have been told you can get prescriptions filled pretty cheap in Mexico so I’m probably going to get the goods south of the border.

[5] I received my last full-time paycheck on the 1st. Is anyone else terrified? Me too.

I couldn’t have said it better myself

The Double Life By Don Blanding*

How very simple life would be
If only there were two of me
A Restless Me to drift and roam
A Quiet Me to stay at home.
A Searching One to find his fill
Of varied skies and newfound thrill
While sane and homely things are done
By the domestic Other One.
*an excerpt

Highs and Low(e)s

Have you ever had one of those weekends where you are amazingly productive and get more stuff done than you did all week only to realize that none of the things that you accomplished were on your “to do” list? Yeah, me too.

1. This weekend started off pretty chill. Friday night I hung out with some friends and everyone was in one of those moods where you are happy to be around people but are into different activities. We were at K’s house and she was framing pictures, her roommate D was laying in the floor putting off working on her dissertation and I was researching stuff for my trip on the computer. We would occassionally say something to the other two basically to confirm that everyone was still awake and still cool with our low key arrangement. I went home and slept like a baby. Little did I know how much I should have savored that night’s rest.

Continue reading Highs and Low(e)s

100…99…98 Things left to do

Le Passport! It arrived!

Le Vaccinations! They hurt like hell!

Le Time! It is flying!

I am trying to wrap up and pass along dozens of projects at work. It is bittersweet. I am at once both sad to be relinquishing the reigns of my duties and at the same time my soul continues to lighten in direct proportion to the load. It will be interesting to see how I define myself without a full-time job. As a single, child-free, semi-workaholic, I can admit that alot of how I see myself is tied to my work. I suppose I will have to either a) find a new way of looking at myself in the world or b) find another job. Uhm, er, let’s go with option A. At least for a little while.

Continue reading 100…99…98 Things left to do