The Maiden Metallurgist

So Long Blogger

2008-08-04T16:07:00.000-06:00

Josh did a great job redesigning my site, but we were having so much trouble publishing to my new domain http://themaidenmetallurgist.com/, that I decided I'd finally had enough with blogger. Josh moved everything over to a new hosting service, and I'm no longer using Blogger or this address. So, update your bookmarks and come visit me at the new site. http://themaidenmetallurgist.com/

How We Found Our New Home

2008-07-31T08:21:00.006-06:00

Maybe you've noticed that things look a little different around here? Josh has been offering to do a little site redesign for a while, but until recently I haven't felt like I could take advantage of his offer. I mean, this is what he does for a living; I wasn't quite ready to take advantage of his generosity, and I certainly can't afford him. The day after we found (and applied for) the perfect apartment, we woke up, and Josh turned to me and said, "now that we're getting serious, I want to talk to you about something... I'd like to get you your own domain." Aww shucks. So he's in the process of doing some kind of internet voodoo, and I'll keep you posted. The day we went apartment hunting (Saturday) was proving a bit of a challenge. I'd found my (almost) dream apartment, and I was comparing everything we looked at to the apartment that got away. Couple that with the Most Unpleasant Rental Agent on earth and Saturday morning wasn't exactly a cake walk. Fortunately Josh didn't like anything we looked at any more than I did. Lunchtime rolled around and we decided what we really needed was a beer (Josh) and a mimosa (me). We shook off the morning's defeat, cleared our minds and took a nice long walk down to meet our (third!) agent. As cliche as this might sound, as soon as we met this new gal we were both immediately calm and knew she'd find us a great place. I was smitten with the first place she showed us, but when Josh's mouth twisted sideways I could tell he was less so... The next place we saw was amazing. One of those luxury high rises, state of the art everything. Our only complaint was it was... too nice? Wait, that's not a real complaint is it? I am here to tell you it takes all kinds. It was an amazing apartment, but we wouldn't have been comfortable there, we wouldn't have been us. The third place she showed us had hardwood floors, a dishwasher, a gas stove, garage included, in unit washer/dryer and central air. Both our jaws dropped and we asked what was wrong with it? With some trepidation, she mentioned that it was a "unique" space. That was definitely true, but we were just the unique people for it. We walked in, exchanged one of those conspiratorial glances and knew it was the place for us.

The Top Chef Tour

2008-07-30T09:39:00.003-06:00

One of my favorite things is to park myself in front of my television, dinner made cocktail at the ready, watching Top Chef. I love it. My mom loves it too, it’s one thing we share and we sit, phones at our sides to call during commercial breaks to dish and theorize and recap, but mostly to lament that we don't get to taste all that wonderful food. The folks over at BTC asked for volunteers in several US cities to go to the Top Chef tour when it rolled through town and I jumped at the chance to spend a half a Saturday getting some more Top Chef in my life. Saturday was a scorcher in Denver. The thermometer reached 99 degrees and I was plenty grateful to be in shorts and ball cap and not in long pants and a chef coat like Antonia and Ryan. They were both extremely nice and friendly and spent the fifteen minutes leading up to the demonstration signing autographs, posing for photos and talking to fans. You could tell they were both really enjoying their particular slice of fame. Having spent ten years working in the restaurant industry I can understand that. Rarely is this a glamorous business. Usually it is hot, sweaty work for long grueling hours. Antonia had prepared duck lettuce wraps for an earlier demo, and quipped about the difficulty of finding the ingredients she wanted, likening it to a quick fire challenge. Though it might be an inconvenience to pick up in the middle of their lives head out to Denver for the weekend, you'd never know it. Both chefs were extremely gracious and friendly. There were three shows scheduled for Saturday, I was fortunate to attend the third demo, hosted by Chef Ryan Scott. Throughout the demo he gave tips, sharing every trick he could think of to make us better cooks. For instance, make sure proteins are at room temperature before cooking. He was also sure to mention that when cooking meat in a hot pan, be sure to lay it in away from you as scars are stupid, not a badge of honor. To test doneness push the meat from the sides instead of the top, and slice against the grain Another tip, in response to a question from a lactose intolerant member of the audience, for a great corn chowder; after cutting the kernels off the cobs milk the cobs with the back of a knife, use the "milk" from the corn instead of cream. For great mashed potatoes add the potatoes to cold water, bring up to boil and then add salt. Instead of adding milk (cold milk can make potatoes gummy) add some of the reserved potato water and butter when mashing. Ryan, grinning ear to ear and talking a mile a minute made crostini topped with pickled cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and flank steak. Ryan's Crostini: 1 c. vinegar (any kind you like) Boil w/ 1 c. sugar and set aside Bring 1 c. oil up to temperature and throw in some slivered garlic and ginger (not paper thin!) Bring the oil off the heat and add the vinegar mixture Chiffonade some basil, add to the tomatoes, and pour the hot mixture over the top Crostini is toasted baguette with olive oil, salt and pepper Whip one pound of goat cheese with one cup of cream, some parmesan cheese and salt Spread on toasts, top with a thin slice of steak and some pickled tomatoes It was a great Saturday, and it was amazing to taste the food, I can't wait to try out this recipe at my next party.

Photo Essay Tuesday (The Byron Show Edition)

2008-07-29T18:15:00.004-06:00

Josh's best pal Byron is a wonderful guy, and a lot of fun. I think this week's pictures speak for themselves.

The Ultimate In Lazy Dating

2008-07-28T10:10:00.001-06:00

Friday morning things were moving right along according to plan. Josh went to the apartment rental service with me to keep me company and to offer his expert opinion on apartments. The agent that helped me out was a really enthusiastic and friendly guy, who took one look at my apartment wish list, laughed, and asked what I could live without. I was prepared to compromise, having been told that a Chicago apartment with all of the following (in my price range) was an urban legend:

Dogs allowed Parking Patio South facing windows Hardwood Floors In unit (or at least in building) laundry Close to train Gas Stove Dishwasher

The nice young rental agent spent about 40 minutes pouring though the listings and found five places to show me. We started with the one, he said, that he thought would be (almost!) perfect. It was. As soon as we walked in I was struck by how much it reminded me of the apartment where Jill and I used to live in Wash Park. Charming, vintage, and full of sunlight. The rental agent could tell I was sold and the corners of his mouth turned up into a self-satisfied grin. We went to see the next apartment because, well, it didn't seem prudent to settle for the first place I looked at. After the second apartment however, I was ready to forgo the remainder of the showings and sign on the dotted line. First months rent paid, lease signed I happily strolled out of the office ready to go explore my new neighborhood. A few hours later I got a call that the apartment had already been rented, and the listing just hadn't been updated. I'm a little embarrassed to tell you how hard I took this news. I was a bit heartbroken, I mean, I'd already decided where to put my furniture! Defeated and slightly deflated Josh and I headed downtown to see a movie. Eschewing the bus we decided to walk the long walk back to his place, keeping an eye open for "For Rent" signs. I was pouting about the apartment and hadn't noticed that Josh had been uncharacteristically quiet most of the day. As we waited on a corner for a light to change he started hemming and hawing the way he does when he is about to say something he considers of particular gravitas. Usually I'm pretty intuitive, and when he does this I know exactly what he's about to say. (The day he told me he was in love with me I knew exactly what was coming but it was too much fun watching him torture himself to find the right words to even think about helping him out.) This time, however I was so stuck in my own mind I didn't really see this coming. We'd briefly discussed moving in together before, but dismissed the idea as rash and foolhardy. Something over the course of the day must have changed his mind about that because that is exactly what he suggested while waiting for the light. Seven blocks later I was sold too.

Greetings From Chicago

2008-07-26T09:16:00.002-06:00

I've been in Chicago for a few days already, and so far I've been slacking on the photo snapping. Due largely to the fact that thus far I've been taking care of business. On Thursday I had work stuff to do all day and yesterday was devoted to finding an apartment. The story of how I found the perfect apartment and how it slipped right through my fingers is post unto itself. Any plans we may have had today (we didn't have any) are officially put on hold as the apartment search continues. It hasn't been all work and no play. On Thursday night we went to see Byron's show and I was amazed. It was really fantastic and very engaging.

Photo Essay Tuesday (Rockies! Rockies! Rockies! Edition)

2008-07-22T10:54:00.001-06:00

Staying the course (squeezing out as much Colorado as possible in the next month) Part of my crazy weekend included quite a few Rockies games. With Katie! And Kassie! And Daver oh my! Speaking of Daver, my friends have a long standing joke about Katie and her little brothers. Once upon a time, many moons age I may or may not have made out with both Kate and her (older) younger brother. At the time Daver was probably 13 or 14 and the joke became if I could only make out with Daver one day, I could pick up the hat trick. Sadly, five years later Daver is 19 years old and the joke hasn't died. Daver got this matching "tattoo" to show me his love. I still wouldn't make out with him. Next, my mom and I spent all of Saturday together before meeting my Dad for another Rockies game. Cute family picture! Mmm, foot long! "Liberty" dots. Oh, America.

The Casualties Of Summer

2008-07-21T12:46:00.008-06:00

I had a wild weekend, and I've got lots to share. Right now, however, I can only think on one thing. My remarkable sunburn. Thank goodness for Aloe Vera. I've been slathering it on all day. Last week Sarah and I met at GCB for a beer and she invited me to join her at the pool on Sunday. Tonight I'm joining her again to watch a little baseball, my third game this week. Hopefully we'll have seats in the shade.

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do (Or Not Really With Photoshop)

2008-07-17T09:59:00.002-06:00

Poor Ambre from Rock of Love 2, first she and Bret Michaels have broken up. And now, thanks to Josh's awesome photoshop skills, we've broken up with her too.

Bikini-Bod

2008-07-17T09:43:00.001-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about self image, about what's healthy, and what's maybe sort of expected of women. A lot of people seem surprised that I'd put pictures of myself on the internet in a bikini, considering I don't have a Gisele-like physique (actually, to hell with Gisele, I dream of having Stacy's body). Are we expected to be ashamed of our bodies if we have more than 2% body fat? And, hey, I use an anti-cellulite cream just like everyone else (not that it works). Certainly I (sometimes) have moments of dissatisfaction with my body, usually on a Friday night when I'm standing in front of my closet in my underwear bitching on the phone to Jill about having nothing to wear. But otherwise (and especially) when camping or running around in a two-piece (and anytime I'm naked) I feel great about my body. I don't know why, but when I'm drinking a cold beer and swimming in the freezing water and soaking up the warm sun my skin feels so good I just don't feel fat in it. So maybe that's what it's about, being happy with an imperfect body because it feels good and it's healthy and it can do amazing things, even without a six-pack.

Photo Essay Tuesday (Belated 4th Of July Edition)

2008-07-15T06:42:00.003-06:00

The 4th of July camping trip is an annual thing, and thank goodness. This year the festivities started at a free concert in Snowmass. After clumsily setting up our tent at midnight, Jill and I got a good nights sleep, but woke up pretty early... such is life when camping. There was cliff jumping, though Katie and I elected not to jump this year due to too fast water... Mak and Brandon were brave enough (read: drunk and foolish enough) to risk it. We did some hiking- Chester and I were friends. I was channeling the coppertone baby- with a road-y . Don't look too closely at this one folks! Cellulite city! Cassie, J.Paul and Pat, that little dog is a trouper. Hold the phone! Somebody call Sports Illustrated, I think I've got their next cover photo! Laying out on this rock is a bit more pleasant when the sun is shining. Ugh, melt your heart these girls are so cute. Brrr. It got a little cold. I guess that's what happens when you refuse to wear pants. We all got it together for a great big group picture. And finally, after three days of camping, we finally got on the river and went tubing!

Zipping Right Along

2008-07-13T11:04:00.002-06:00

I'm like one of those devices that runs on rechargeable batteries. I can go-go-go until I run out of juice, and then I need to recharge. That's just what happened this weekend, I didn't have anything left, I needed to relax. I've been trying to cram in as much Colorado-friends-family as possible before September 1, but it's really taken a lot out of me. I had plans Saturday night, but Saturday morning I knew I wouldn't make it. Instead I fired up the grill, watched Law and Order (shocking!) and went to sleep at a very reasonable hour. Mornings like this one, waking up early and not hungover make me wonder why I ever drink at all. I'm sitting at a coffee shop, I'm on hour three of solid thesising, and I'm zipping right along. I'll probably stay right here until my parents come for a visit this afternoon.

Dibs

2008-07-10T10:36:00.005-06:00

I've been plagued with insomnia on and off for as long as I can remember. When I was a little girl and I couldn't sleep at night, I'd rearrange the furniture in my bedroom. Now I just stare at the ceiling and try counting sheep. Last night I called Josh in the middle of the night. You know he must dig me because instead of being pissed that I'd woken him up at midnight, he was jazzed to hear from me. We started talking about my impending move to Chicago. I'm not going to lie, we talk about that a lot these days. What can I say, we're both excited. I think normal couples might be worried about logistical things like how such a big transition will affect our relationship, will we get sick of each other when we get to see each other all the time? Josh's big concern? Once we actually get to hang out on a regular basis and our stories start to overlap; who gets to blog about what?

Making It Work For You

2008-07-09T08:59:00.006-06:00

Last week I was feeling particularly frazzled and I've been having plenty of anxiety ever since. I've been laying awake, unable to sleep, for thoughts of work, money problems, etc., etc., etc. When I woke up at 4:30 in the morning yesterday I decided to something about it. I got dressed and came right to work. I worked hard all day, tying up loose ends and trying to pull things together. I was super focused all day, despite running on so little sleep, and as the day wore on I started to notice a few things. I was kicking ass, I was getting tons done, and the more I worked, the better I felt. After a very long twenty hour work day I slept a peaceful 8 hours last night, woke up nice and early this morning and came back to work again. Though at a more reasonable hour. Also, Katie found my camera and the money thing has seemed to work itself out. Go figure. I'll probably still have some anxiety for the next two months, but instead of worrying so much I'm going to channel that energy into more productive pursuits. I love when things work themselves out. They always do, you'd think I'd have that figured out by now.

Photo Essay Tuesday (No Photos Edition)

2008-07-08T09:00:00.000-06:00

Oh, holy cow this weekend was fun. Three days of camping in the most beautiful setting in Colorado. Three days of eating and drinking and laughing with amazing friends. Three days of sunning (gorgeous) and swimming (cold!) all followed up with a shenanigan-filled beer-fueled tube trip down the Colorado River. Unfortunately I can't find my camera, so I can't share any pictures! Even if I could find it, I only took a few pictures, and all the things I wish I'd taken pictures of I didn't so... This Photo Essay Tuesday is of the imaginary kind. Here's what I wish I had pictures of: Jill and I trying to set up our tent at midnight (and drunk to boot), hey it only took us three tries. The longest ever game of UNO, played on an island in the middle of a very chilly stream. Drinking too much scotch and then catching on fire (thank god Jared was there to put me out!). Don't worry! I only caught on fire a little, and said fire was dispatched with extreme haste, but I sure wish I had a picture of myself covered in the feathers from my down blanket. A bunch of grown-ups (says who?) playing slap tag in a park after two rounds of tubing. Katie has a hand print shaped bruise and I have an ass covered in busted blood vessels. Slap tag hurts.

Walking On The Sunny Side Of The Street

2008-07-03T08:38:00.000-06:00

Sorry I was such a Negative Nellie yesterday! I try not to get too down about work, I mean, it's just science after all. And not cure-for-cancer or renewable-energy type science, but just regular boring science that nobody cares about. So! In the spirit of lifting my spirits, a few things I'm particularly excited about: I got my ticket to Chicago on July 23! I think a Cubs game is on the agenda, as is finding an apartment and spending some much needed time with Josh (Cue porn-type music. Sorry mom if you're reading this. Sorry Josh's mom too.) Meryl Streep in Mama Mia! I love me some ABBA. Camping this weekend in Aspen. Last year's trip was good times, but this year Jill is coming up with me and we're going to do some serious relaxing. July 19th the Bravo Top Chef Tour is rolling through Denver and the folks over at BTC are hooking me up with a press pass. Suzie's wedding dress has arrived as have our bridesmaid dresses, I can't wait to see how they all turned out, I'm sure they are just beautiful. I have a huge presentation at work next week, which sounds like it doesn't belong on my list of all things awesome, but I'm looking forward to getting some good feedback and practicing for my defense. Thanks to everyone for such kind words of encouragement. I'll try not to let the man get me down in the future. Have a great weekend!

Dire Straits

2008-07-02T11:20:00.004-06:00

I am trying to be calm and not freak out about the overwhelmingly long list of things I need to get done before I move on September 1. Last night I was nearing an anxiety attack so I called my mom who always knows just how to calm me down. She reminded me that even though I have the next two months mapped out to maximize friend and family time things may not work out the way I'd planned. Turns out she was right, and I absolutely hate deviating from the plan. I'd planned on two short trips, one in July and one in August to find an apartment and get all my paperwork and drug testing etc. done so I'd be prepared to move; not to mention visit Josh. I've had to rework the schedule and plan for one longer trip instead. Which means that I only have one chance to find an apartment. Ach. ACH!!!!! But OK, I can make it work. Then I started listing all the research and thesis related things I need to finish before Friday and I started to feel that anxiety creeping in again. In order to spare my poor mom from talking me off another ledge I am taking a 15 minute break from working, listening to some music and venting a bit here. I'm just trying to keep in mind that even if I'm exhausted and completely burnt out come Sept 1, that still means I'm completely done with grad school (and being poor, don't even ask me about my financial situation right now; we're talking dire straits people). So OK. I'm going to take a deep breath and get back to work. UPDATED: I lied. I called my mom anyway. She told me to relax and stop trying to do so many things at once.

Photo Essay Tuesday (Good Old Friends Edition)

2008-07-01T08:26:00.004-06:00

Last week I was fortunate to catch up with some old , The Shrenks, who were passing through town, visiting from Texas. I finally was able to meet their two little girls. My friend Brandon, who is clearly angling for father of the year, letting his kid play with all the knives. His wife, my friend Amy who looked great, recently had their second child. I also got to catch up with Lisa, who was my little sister in our sorority in college. It has, sadly, been a while since Lisa and I got together, but I think we have plans for a couple nice cold beers at GCB before I move and I can't wait.

My Mom Kicks Ass

2008-06-29T19:37:00.006-06:00

I spent this weekend at my parent's house, and bright and early this morning(4 am!) we all got up to go cheer my mom on at one of her triathlons. She swam. She biked. She ran. She kicked some serious ass.

Dear Abby Explains It All

2008-06-27T08:22:00.001-06:00

I got an email from my gorgeous friend Kate yesterday:

David read this in the newspaper this morning and wanted me to send it to you:

DEAR ABBY: I am 38 years young and still single. I enjoy my friends, my freedom and rock concerts. My issue is that at the last two concerts I went to, I heard men -- or boys -- say, "Watch out. Here come the cougars!" I think this is insulting. Or is it?

Can you define a "cougar"? I don't know whether I should be insulted or take it as a compliment. -- STILL ROCKIN' IN IRVINE
DEAR STILL ROCKIN': A "cougar" is a woman who likes to date -- and aggressively pursue -- much younger men. Whether it's an insult, an accurate description or a compliment depends upon how you wish to be perceived. But from my perspective, the comments you heard were stereotypical and "catty," to say the least.

David is Kate's little brother who likes to remind us- at every opportunity- that he thinks we're old farts. Nonetheless, thanks Dear Abby, for clearing this up once and for all. And for the record, while Josh may be a younger man, he is certainly not a much younger man.

Essays and Eggplants

2008-06-26T09:47:00.004-06:00

Snuff (Chuck Palahniuk, Doubleday) was slightly underwhelming. I'll read it again to be sure, but I wasn't in love with it. If you're a fan, obviously you're going to go out, pick it up and read it, but if you've never read Palahniuk I'd suggest you start with Invisible Monsters or Survivor or Choke. I've started Alone In The Kitchen With An Eggplant, and so far I'm enjoying it immensely. It is everything I was expecting. I like collections of short stories, but I love collections of essays. I couldn't even begin to explain why, especially because I don't particularly care to read non-fiction. Perhaps I just like it in smaller doses. Last night I was talking to Josh, and I mentioned how much I used to love writing. Ten years of engineering school and nothing but technical writing has beat that particular talent out of me, but I certainly miss it. I enjoyed essay writing in particular. What I liked about it was mixing the pragmatic and factual with the creative and subjective. Planning and structuring and building a deliberate collection of words in the most effective manner, designed to convey a particular thought or feeling or opinion. I never could write fiction, even then; my brain is not inventive, but simply narrative. My English teacher in high school, the way his face fell when I told him I'd be attending engineering school instead of endeavoring in more creative pursuits, was maybe one of the best compliments I've ever gotten. Since hearing this, Josh has been really encouraging me to give writing a second chance. Frankly, he's pretty encouraging about everything, all the time, but this topic has really seemed to spark his interest. I'm thinking about it, but I certainly draw the line at sharing anything I write here on the blog (his suggestion), I don't think I could ever do that. I'm an engineer, not a writer after all.

Katie's Birthday Revisited

2008-06-25T08:07:00.003-06:00

Friday night Kate, Jill, Mak and I met four other friends at the Rockies game to celebrate Kate's birthday. Unfortunately, Katie wasn't feeling well, so while she enjoyed the game and a cautious beer, we all got rip-roaring drunk. We actually had great seats and it was a beautiful night for a game. Not to mention we were playing the Mets who generally draw a pretty big crowd. I was sporting the biggest hair ever. I mean we're talking Texas-Big-Bar hair here. I do believe Mak is mocking me with that wink... Seriously, look at these great seats! For some reason Jill and I decided to throw down with several spirited rounds of knocker boxing. She started it. Kate, the birthday girl, drives us all home at the end of the night, and we, well, apparently we're just about as cliche as they come. OK, one last thing. Now everyone drinks a little and gets a little bit out out of control sometimes, but during the Friday night postmortem with Katie on Monday, she informed me that as far as shenanigans go, Jill and I had nothing on our girlfriend J. J and her boyfriend were riding the bus back to Boulder after we called it a night. Our girlfriend J started feeling sick on the bus and she threw up. BUT, she didn't want to get sick on the bus, so she just puffed out her cheeks and held it in her mouth as long as she could. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore, and it was leaking out the sides of her mouth so she...swallowed it. I know, it's about the grossest thing I've ever heard. It actually made me a little sick just now to write it out. She's a totally normal gal too, not a dirt bag or anything. Or so I thought...

Photo Essay Tuesday (Arjewtino Edition)

2008-06-23T15:01:00.011-06:00

Just before I left town for Aspen a couple of weeks ago I received this tiny parcel in the mail. I was pretty excited, I knew it wasn't a bill; nor was it a jury summons. It was, at long last, Arjewtino's Baseball card! I thought and thought about what to do with such a significant piece of Americana... I tried framing it, but that seemed creepy... Then I thought about putting it in my spokes, but I couldn't find any clothespins... So then I thought I'd take advice from the man himself

you should buy one of those hard plastic frames to keep it in mint condition. or put it on your wallet so you can look at it anytime you want. i do.

Friday night it made its first appearance at a Colorado Rockies baseball game... And then, well, sorry... Turns out this Photo Essay Tuesday coincides with Arjewtino's birthday, so without further ado... Happy Birthday to you Happy Birthday to you Hap--- What's wrong? Oh, don't like chocolate huh? No problem, I'll take care of it for you!

28 is not 21! (And Books!)

2008-06-23T14:04:00.004-06:00

Friday night kind of ruined me for the rest of the weekend. Though I had big plans Saturday, I bailed in favor of curling up in a tight ball in front of my air conditioner and watching TV all day with Jill. We complained loudly and often about our merciless hangovers, and about how we seem to be less and less able to bounce back quickly. I finally peeled my ass off the couch around 5:30 to go get some miso soup to assuage the hangover beast. I've included this picture because every time I look at it I swear I can hear Josh say "Of course you took a picture of yourself eating soup. Why wouldn't you?" And I crack up a little. Fortunately I'll have one more chance to see The Shrenks on Monday before they head back to Texas. Sunday was also a bit of a lazy day. I cleaned the apartment and around lunch time found fridge and cupboards devoid of anything resembling food, so I popped out to the grocery store. On the way I had a hankering for a cup of joe and decided to stop in the local Boarders to pick one up. Stupid. I'm a bit impulsive, especially when it comes to books. I can't go into a bookstore and leave with less than a half a dozen new books. Today I can hold my head up high and proudly say that I left with only four books. Alone In The Kitchen With An Eggplant Snuff Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen The Wonder Spot So here's the thing. I've been waiting forever for Alone In The Kitchen With An Eggplant to come out in paperback. I adore reading about food. Sometimes when I get depressed I dig out my cookbooks and read them the same way I read novels. I know for a fact I am not the only person who does this. Julie and Julia falls under the same reasoning, coupled with the fact that I picked it up for $4.99. I was going to pass on The Wonder Spot. Even though I loved The Girl's Guide To Hunting And Fishing, I'd heard from Josh that Bank didn't really come up with a new story and subsequently The Wonder Spot was sort of a second rate rehash of her first publication. But... at $3.99 I couldn't resist picking it up. I've wasted a Sunday afternoon on worse books I'm sure. And finally, Snuff. As a bit of a Chuck Palahniuk devotee, I am pretty impressed with my restraint, I waited almost a month to pick this one up. I know some people who can't stand his writing, but I know more people who absolutely adore him. I have never read anything of his I didn't like, and I loved everything except Lullaby. Haunted was so sick I actually had to put it down and walk away several times (particularly during Guts).

Cougars?

2008-06-22T09:22:00.004-06:00

Friday night was Katie's 28th birthday, Happy Birthday! We went to a ball game (The Rockies lost...), then some bars. Somewhere near the end of the evening Jill and I went for a little walk to "mingle" and do some dancing. The dancing was kind of a bust, I think we are just too old for the bars in the one particular area we were exploring. We got picked on by some local youths (what's a yout?) and they teased us and followed us on their bicycles! What the shit! Jill tried to get in a fight with one of them when they wouldn't stop taunting her about almost falling (though she hadn't). I love when Jill gets all aggro when she's been drinking. Then we met some very young boys who were out at a bachelor party. They were trying (unsuccessfully) to lure us back to their hotel room for an after party (another thing I'm thinking we're too old for), but they must have watched The Pick Up Artist, because they kept insulting us thinking it would weaken our resolve. We're not those kinds of girls, we actually have some self esteem thankyouverymuch. They said we were, and I quote, "totally hot cougars." Dude! We are too young to be considered Cougars. Look it up yo!

Tuesday Night, Ladies Night

2008-06-20T10:53:00.003-06:00

Tuesday night Jill, Ivory, Suzie, Sarah, Laura, Tanya and I all met at Steuben's for our sort of quarterly meet up and catch up. I'd had a very late lunch so I only had the butterscotch pudding for dinner, but man was it good. The conversation included, but was in no way limited to, Tanya's honeymoon, Suzie's wedding, Laura's daughter and (6 year!) anniversary, Ivory's new house and baby, Sarah's new home and subsequent renovation, Jill's job search, and my impending relocation. It's so amazing, spending a great night with great friends who are all in such different places in life. It certainly illustrates what a rich and colorful tapestry life can be.

Sunshine!

2008-06-19T10:08:00.003-06:00

Despite our antics, we came out of the weekend with a few really pretty pictures. Mak and Shelly are just the cutest brother and sister. Just as we were waking up Saturday morning and contemplating coffee Mak showed up with a bunch of lift chairs. Why? Because he's Mak. Shelly got a lot of action in that shirt, and despite the terrible service we had a lovely time sipping mojitos in the sunshine. Seriously? I have some hot friends. Even though I'm clearly sporting the drunk face, I like this picture of Kate and me. Jill striking a pose in Shelly's sunnies. We all tried them on and had ourselves a photo shoot. Jill doesn't really love it, but I think this picture of Katie is great. Maybe I just like the quality of the light and shadows in her hair.

Blackout

2008-06-18T09:17:00.005-06:00

I didn't write anything about the pictures I posted yesterday because... well frankly I don't remember anything about the pictures. See, we woke up in the morning each day bummed because we forgot to take photos. We turned on our cameras- just to check- and we surprised by the bounty of inappropriate and awesome shots waiting for us. The thing is, I'm a big blackout-er when I drink. After a couple of cocktails things get hazy, after several cocktails my memory of the nights shenanigans is wiped clean. I don't actually mind much, I can be a little ridiculous, but even when I'm half in the bag I generally make decent decisions (well maybe not in my early twenties, but I do now...), and keep myself mostly out of harms way. Couple this new found, hmm, "maturity" lets call it, with the fact that all the gals out that weekend are in relationships, the opportunity for silly was there, but the chance of shady was very low. Still... I don't remember that big bear... I have no idea why Kate pantomimes biting someones boobs every time she gets a little drunk... I have absolutely no idea who those 19 year old boys are, nor do I have any recollection of riding them like a rodeo cowboy... I love lamb...

Photo Essay Tuesday (Out Of Control Edition)

2008-06-17T11:49:00.007-06:00

Living A Bit Above Our Tax Bracket For The Weekend

2008-06-16T19:25:00.010-06:00

Friday night Jill, Shelly and I piled in the car ( Murph too!) and headed up to a little town called Aspen. It was the weekend of the Food and Wine Classic and we were planning on hanging out in town, hitting the pool at The Sky Hotel, and volunteering to set up and tear down tables at a charity event at the Belly Up in exchange for tickets. All that would have made for a great weekend in itself, but then Katie went and did us one better. While she and Jill went to set up tables for the charity event... Mak and Jill went to Snowmass to see Mick Fleetwood and have a little faux-date... They snapped some photos... And shared a bottle of wine... Shelly and I went to the Saturday afternoon tasting! It was pretty much the coolest thing ever. We had wine, small tastes of food, enjoyed the A-MAZ-ING weather and unbelievable people watching. I swear I almost peed my pants when we saw Wiley Dufresne (then again sitting next to us at the worst breakfast ever the next day, shame on you Little Nell...), and Shelly practically jumped up and down screaming when we saw Hung. We met up with Jill and Kate and ended up at the concert later that night (a super fun Stones cover band), it was quite the debauched evening... Which ended with us at the Hotel Jerome acting like kids at four in the morning (the room was comped, we never, and I mean never, could have afforded a room at the Jerome on Food and Wine weekend) Capped the weekend off on Sunday with a very posh pool party, and then, when we finally made it back to the house Sunday night... The charming Mak had a gorgeous Thai dinner waiting for us.

Awesome

2008-06-16T14:35:00.003-06:00

This weekend I was overwhelmed with awesome. Seriously, I might even be awesome-d out. I have about 200 pictures to go through, but make no mistake, it's on the agenda. I just have to get through this pesky little work day first, but then, prepare to be assaulted with awesome. Until then you can entertain yourselves by clicking here.

Greenalicious

2008-06-13T07:36:00.004-06:00

After a looong, grueling week at work, I am looking forward to a nice mountain getaway. After work today Jill and I are heading up to Basalt to visit with Mak and Katie. Saturday night Kate and I are sort of volunteering at this event setting up tables and whatnot and then meeting back up with Jill and Mak. I haven't been up to visit since New Year's so naturally I'm quite excited.

Even More Chicago Stuff

2008-06-12T08:56:00.001-06:00

On the off chance that you weren't sick to death of seeing pictures of ME! ME! ME! here are a few more I really liked from Chicago, and then tomorrow I promise I'll move on to something else. Josh is such a trooper drinking his beer. He said he's practicing for COD FISH '08. Josh's brother was also a real treat to meet, he was very nice and wanted to make sure I was having fun all day. But, with cold beer and curry fries how could I not have been having a good time? Josh and Byron, I kind of like their mirror image smirks. I think this is where we all started to take on that drunk in the middle of the day look, I blame this frozen purple concoction. Sort of a Dimetapp flavored Slurpee. The fingerstache, always a party. I loved watching Josh working. I sat around and did crossword puzzles. I also enjoy his try anything once attitude. In this case it was a half-dozen Blue Point Oysters. I ate five of them, but at least he tried one. Ever patient, this might have been the 273rd self portrait in two days...

More Chicago Stuff

2008-06-11T11:35:00.003-06:00

I'm kind of torn between telling you guys about how great my weekend was and keeping it all to myself. I had the best time in Chicago with Josh and I can't wait until I live there, I really think I'm going to love it. Well, in the summers at least. Saturday morning after the Lincoln Park farmers market we whittled away the morning at the zoo and the conservatory. Josh bought me a Sponge Bob Square Pants Popsicle for breakfast. We made some little kids jealous, they had to wait until after lunch, oh it's good to be a grown-up. When Josh's brother told us that Amber was in the bar I got all nervous and excited. I know, I know, pathetic. He said I should go say hi, but I stayed put on my bar stool. Instead she came to us. I didn't ask her any questions about Rock of Love, but I wished her good luck. Josh sat back and rolled his eyes at me, but humored me nonetheless. Josh took this picture of me at the conservatory. I know it's little cheesy and glamor shots-esque, but it's still very pretty. It cracks me up just how often Josh has his eyes closed when we try to take a picture. There is one picture from his trip out to Colorado in May where his eyes are closed and I'm making a ridiculous face that he has framed in his apartment that just cracks me up. Oh Berg. As cliched as this sounds, drinking coffee and sharing the Sunday paper outside on a beautiful morning is a little bit of heaven. Thank god for umbrellas, though we were still all wet when we arrived at our destination. Public transportation is also the tops. The trains and buses just run all the time. Wonderful. I was a little nervous about meeting Josh's best bud Byron. I'd been reading his blog, and I'd kind of assumed he'd been reading mine. He was every bit as charming in person as I'd expected. We ended up at a neighborhood RibFest, drinking beer, sampling ribs, willing the rain away... Oh the rain, just look at that crazy frizzy hair!

Photo Essay Tuesday (Random Things I Got a Kick Out Of In Chicago Edition)

2008-06-10T07:34:00.012-06:00

Chicago was unbelievably fun and amazing and I could go on and on and on, but it's a Tuesday morning and I've got to get to work. I took tons of beautiful pictures of the city and of Josh, his friends and myself, but I also took a handful of pictures that puzzled me, made me laugh or really just caught my interest. And here they are. I know, I know Chicago is the "Windy City", so I shouldn't be surprised that it was, well, windy. But man alive was it windy. So windy that it threatened to blow my dress right off (and it almost did once or twice, many a Chicagoan saw my color coordinated boy shorts), more surprising was that the powerful winds blew this giant tree right out of the ground. Look, I totally understand that I am outrageously immature and childish and I pretty much have the sense of humor of a 13 year old boy, but this Kangaroo and his giant balls made me think of Van Wilder, which reduced me to hysterics with the giggling. Good times. I don't know if anyone else in America watched Rock of Love 2, but Jill and I loved it; and hey we were pulling for this gal. Josh and I ran into her at a bar called the Lucky Horseshoe where she certainly stuck out like a sore thumb. For that matter I suppose I did too. It was certainly my intention to make a good impression on Josh's brother and best friend, but I'm not sure fawning over a reality TV personality was the best way to present my most fabulous self. Cheese curds. I've never had a curd before, never even heard of them, I guess it's a midwest thing... but oh mercy, I ate some serious curds this weekend. I'd like to say I was skeptical at first, might make for a better story, but that would be a barefaced lie. Cheese curds are delicious, and that is the final word on that. One of my favorite place we visited this weekend was the Conservatory at the Lincoln Park Zoo. I could have spent all day in there. I particularly liked these funny pod plants of which Josh snapped some photos. It was a lot of fun to have a partner in crime hunting down great picture subjects. This was my favorite plant in the whole conservatory, a coconut orchid. We walked into the room that housed the orchids and the air was perfumed with a most delicate fragrance I couldn't quite put my finger on... I turned around and stuck my nose deep in this plant and came away with a really subtle and heady coconut scent that I can still smell if I really think about it. Sunday morning found us sitting on an outdoor patio reading the paper, and call me old fashioned, but I was caught a little off guard by this article about water sports. In the paper. Yeah, those kinds of water sports. Finally, at the Rib Fest. Oh, how I laughed.

Snooze

2008-06-05T11:36:00.003-06:00

I've been working my tail off all week to make sure I get lots of work done because this weekend I'm going to Chicago! This week I was trying to get packed so I'd be all ready to go, but Kitty was having none of it. She just wanted some attention, so she got right in the mix and made sure she got some. Then she curled up to nap on the warm laundry I was folding. Since Murph usually gets all the press around here, I figured I'd go ahead and share these pictures. Have a great weekend, I'm sure I will!

Photo Essay Tuesday (Metallurgy Edition)

2008-06-03T16:43:00.008-06:00

People always ask me, "hey, what does a metallurgist do, anyway?" Well today I used a jaw crusher and a roll crusher to turn this big pile of big rocks into sixteen buckets of little rocks At the end of the day I looked like this Who's a pretty girl?

I'd Go Back And Kick My Own Ass If I Could

2008-06-03T09:10:00.002-06:00

I decided to start riding my bike to work in the morning. June in Colorado is so beautiful, especially in the mornings and evenings, I've been craving more sunlight (and exercise), and it's the perfect distance for a nice ride. Last night after work I decided to do a test run so I'd know what time I needed to leave in the morning. I slathered on some sunblock (a girl's got to be proactive about those wrinkles) strapped on my helmet and headed out the door. Not five minutes later my skin was on fire. My entire body was swollen and bright fire-truck red. Leaving my bike deserted in the parking lot I ran back up to my apartment, grabbed that sunscreen and immediately figured out what had happened. Back in the day (I'm guessing about 7 years ago, when I wore things like this to work) I had some seriously bad habits. I smoked like a chimney and I drank like a fish. Seriously my main food groups were vodka tonics and nicotine. Part of my job was to be thin and tan and I used to regularly go to the tanning salon. All of these things I am living to seriously regret. I can only hope that the extent of that regret is wrinkles and not, one day, skin or lung cancer. So at the tanning salon I'd grease up with this lotion that made your skin tingle and made you burn faster so you'd get a deeper tan. Unfortunately, this torture in a bottle was still, seven years later, in the back of my closet and in my haste to get out on my bike I'd mistakenly grabbed it instead of the sunscreen. Well the years must have intensified it, because I honest to god had a chemical burn. I spent the next two hours, teeth chattering, in an ice cold bath tub trying to calm everything down. Freezing on the inside, burning on the outside and cursing my 21 year old self for being such a damned fool.

And That's Why I Don't Really Trust My Own Judgment

2008-06-02T13:21:00.003-06:00

Due to some construction work today, I took the back way to The Home Depot. Driving behind a little shopping center in Golden I saw three seriously hot dudes in suits out behind a shop smoking cigarettes. Not that I think smoking is sexy. Actually I think it's quite vile, just, the guys in the suits were sexy. The thing is, they were also really out of place there. I started thinking about the shops in this particular center, trying to figure out why they might be there, standing around and smoking. Goodwill? No. Chinese Takeout? no. Nail Salon? Shoe Repair? Curves Fitness for Women? No. No. no. And then I remembered. Of course, the outpatient rehab facility. Of course I'd think they were hot. Go figure.

I Am Not Summer Ready

2008-06-02T10:10:00.003-06:00

So, I've lost my sunnies. This isn't major news, I probably go through seven pairs of sunglasses each summer, but I really liked these. You see, I have a really tiny head, like, I shop for sunglasses at tween stores. It certainly hasn't helped my cause that sunglasses are now the size of a small city. So yeah. I'm pretty bummed, I mean I've got some backups, but they're nothing like the perfect pair that actually made it all the way through last summer, just to be lost sometime this spring. I can't find any sandals I like. I know, poor me. I understand that in the grand scheme of things this is a relatively minor problem, but up until recently I actually had the perfect pair of summer sandals as well. The problem is that I'd had them for about three years, and they were all sorts of kicked. They were borderline WT when I bought them, but after a few years they really turned the bend into full on cheap and trashy territory, so I pitched them, and now I can't find a pair I like to replace them. Don't even get me started on the swimsuit issue. I'm choosing to deal with that problem by pretending it doesn't exist.

Irons In The Fire

2008-06-01T08:31:00.004-06:00

One of my girlfriends has two boyfriends. I say that with absolutely no judgment, she's not a shady lady, and if either of these men was giving her everything she needed she wouldn't need both of them, and if either of them had a problem with this she would rethink the situation. You see, she's not cheating, she's just keeping some irons in the fire. It's a pretty good policy I think. And one I used to adhere to as well, I'd always date at least three men at a time. It keeps you busy, you don't get too serious too fast, you don't end up obsessing about any one man in particular or wondering why he hasn't called because you're busy out with another one. As a matter or principle I think it's the healthy thing to do. What's the point of committing to one person you barely know, when you could get to know several people and find out if any of them are actually worth getting involved with. Some ethical questions certainly arise here, and I think the answers are personal choices. If you are dating several men do you explicitly tell them all or in this day and age is it implied? Do you sleep with one, or any of them? Do you introduce them to your friends? Like I said, that's up to you. What I like about the irons-in-the-fire mentality, is that the longer you date someone casually, the more you get to know them. If you aren't sleeping together and you have some other options, you might not be tempted to keep on with someone you don't really like just because you have nothing else going on. Usually when someone gets booted from the rotation it just makes room for someone new, but eventually one of your prospects might rise to the top and you may find yourself not wanting to date anyone else anymore. If so, woohoo. Now, as much as I like the irons-in-the-fire dating mentality, it can be exhausting. And it can be messy. So I've started to worry about my girlfriend a bit; how long can you keep up with two boyfriends? It's got to be tough, but hey, she's a tough girl, and she's got more energy than me.

Postcard From Santorini

2008-05-30T10:28:00.003-06:00

Nothing makes my day like receiving a piece of mail that isn't a bill. After work yesterday I got home to find this postcard from Santorini in my mailbox. Thanks Sequined! Have I mentioned I'm a little jealous? OK, a lot jealous.

Success!

2008-05-29T10:43:00.002-06:00

I have been struggling for almost three weeks to get a particular piece of equipment up and running to complete a very important part of my research. I have been trying everything I could think of and banging my head against the wall. I've been losing sleep and having nightmares about not moving to Chicago and staying in grad school here in Golden forever (mixed in with one particularly steamy sex dream about Tyra who, in the dream, was really a man...) and I've been taking a lot of heat from my bosses about not having my system up and running. Well last night, at the end of my day I finally got it working. Hurrah! So now I am revived and full of vigor and a new found drive to work it out. I even worked on my thesis until after midnight last night, so amped I was about making some new progress. So, I am looking forward to a particularly productive work day today, tomorrow, and I think this weekend. But, in a good way.

Photo Essay Tuesday (Tanya's Wedding Edition)

2008-05-27T09:26:00.016-06:00

This weekend I had the honor of being a guest at the wedding of my friend Tanya to the luckiest guy I know, Nick. I was the most beautiful wedding I've ever attended. Tanya has graciously consented to my sharing with you some of my favorite pictures from the celebration. The wedding party walked this path into a clearing where the ceremony was held. This was definitely not the kind of wedding where you could arrive late and sneak in the back. It is too bad that Tanya's eyes are closed here (forgive me Tanya!) but I couldn't resist posting this picture of the look on her father's face. A picture could never do justice to the awesome setting they chose for the ceremony, but I tried. Seriously, how gorgeous is Colorado in the spring? I wanted to include this picture of their officiant heading away; I love that he's carrying his nalgene, it's just ubiquitously Colorado. I think I snapped twenty pictures of Tanya and they were all absolutely stunning. Kate was my date to the wedding. What a babe, no? We were sitting at the "Golden City" table with Laura, Ivory and Jamie. Sarah had on a gorgeous blue dress, but I didn't get any pictures of it. If this picture of Suzie doesn't say "get that camera out of my face," I don't know what does.... The music was wonderful, On Second Thought reunited for a couple of songs, Tanya and Nick danced the night away. As the evening went on there were lots of opportunities for pictures, like this great one of Tanya and her father... And even a few with our old sorority sisters. Every time I look at this picture I breathe a very heavy sigh of relief that I didn't spill that glass of red wine on Tanya's beautiful dress.

Babies! Babies! Babies!

2008-05-26T17:23:00.002-06:00

This weekend was all Babies! Babies! Babies! I dare you to hold one of these little guys and not get all googoogaagaa on them. This little cutie-pie is Emma, and I can't get enough of her tiny little toes! She makes all these little noises and farts a lot; which is waaay cuter when babies do it. The best part of other peoples babies, is you can hold them and tickle them and buy them little dresses, but at the end of the day someone else takes them home.

I Think I'm In Love

2008-05-26T14:31:00.000-06:00

Happy (?!) Thursday

2008-05-22T16:15:00.001-06:00

Bad day, schmad day. There is nothing that the company of your best friend, a bottle of wine and a modern day love letter won't take care of.

There's A Light

2008-05-22T11:07:00.001-06:00

I'm having one of those days today where I just hate my job so much and I'm just so over it (the antiquated equipment that doesn't work, the fruitlessness of this research so far, the unimportance of my work at all really) that I can't really even muster up any vitriol. All I really feel is an overwhelming urge to crawl back in bed and go to sleep for the next three months. Because I'm not really a fan of harboring this type of negativity, I've decided to remind myself of a little thing I like to call the bright side: Murphy has finally stopped getting sick all over the apartment (it's been a rough couple of days). Friday night I'm going to relax and grill with some friends I haven't seen much of lately. Jill is back in town from Texas. I haven't seen her in a month, and I have been slowly coming to then realization of just how much I miss her when she's not around. Not that it would surprise anyone to hear that. Tanya's wedding on Sunday. Because I had some prior plans I wasn't able to catch up with the gals for either the bachelorette party or the shower last weekend, so I am really looking forward to celebrating the big day. In three months I won't have to deal with the B.S. and politics surrounding a job in academia. I just have to keep reminding myself; I am not my work. My job is not my life. This is all a means to an end, and there is a light at the end of a very short tunnel.

Where DO You Think We Are, Exactly?

2008-05-20T16:40:00.005-06:00

Josh: Do you have Greek food here? Me: Um, yeah. Josh: Do you have Ethiopian food here? Me: Um, yeah Josh: Do you have... um... I can't think of anymore Yeah, and I'm the uncultured bumpkin. (We're in Denver)

Photo Essay Tuesday (Josh Edition)

2008-05-19T21:41:00.007-06:00

My big weekend plans for Josh's visit kind of fell by the wayside when, about 45 minutes after he stepped off the plane in Denver, he started feeling the ill effects of the altitude. So, instead of running around the city trying to see as much as possible we spent a lot of time sitting in the sun on my patio grilling and reading and just shooting the breeze. Not that I'm complaining. We did manage to take in some Golden. Well, my Golden, which really includes the big brewery, the little brewery and the grill on my deck. Katie, Kassie and J.Paul joined us to soak up some seriously beautiful weather. We played cards... We got a little sun... Seriously, you can't blame the guy for trying to shut me up, if only for a minute. The day grew longer and the beer grew stronger... Kate and Josh battled it for the title of 22 champion... Sadly none of us could remember all the rules! Enter Mak, tired after a big bike ride, but just in time to drink some beer and keep us all in stitches.

What Are Your Plans This Weekend?

2008-05-15T20:08:00.001-06:00

As a sort of preemptive measure against mentionitis, I've waited until now to say that Josh is coming for a visit tomorrow. I am super-de-duper excited. But that's not all folks, Katie (of Mak and Katie) will be in town, and we all have a dinner date with Suzie and Mike and maybe Tanya. Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! After weeks and weeks and weeks of studying, and working, and being a good little girl who stays in and reads Jane Eyre before going to bed at 9pm on a Saturday night I am all wound up and ready to go play. I have a very cute dress (less than $25, gotta love that Forever) and I plan on looking hot and drinking beer and sitting in the sun (please be sunny, please be sunny) and eating sushi and walking Murphy and getting coffee and grilling on my deck and hopefully some other stuff that I'm feeling a little too prude to share with you. So, have a great weekend. I'm pretty sure I will.

Sunrise 5:46 AM

2008-05-15T09:42:00.003-06:00

My first reaction to waking up at 5:30 this morning was to groan and bury my head under my pillows. Luckily I caught the quality of the light out of the corner of my eye before I fell back asleep. It was enough to get me out of bed, if only for a minute to take in the beautiful sunrise. Now that my time in Colorado is dwindling I'm finding that I'm more mindful of my surroundings. I am aware that I need to soak in as much Colorado-y goodness as I can, this sunrise was a good one to catch. This is a picture my boss took of me at work last week. Nerd alert. I think I need to work on my posture. I'll have to keep that in mind.

Conversation With My Dad This Morning

2008-05-14T12:37:00.003-06:00

Dad: We've got a pair of Robins in the back yard Me: Oh, that's nice Dad: Eh, they're fuckin' all over Me: (assuming he's speaking colloquially) Oh, that sucks Dad: No, they are fucking all over. Copulating. On the deck, in the grass, in the tree, in the garden... It can't take more that 30 seconds, but they just keep doing it Me: Yeah, that's enough. I've got to go

Ooh, Raveny.

2008-05-13T15:48:00.004-06:00

I have been hemming and hawing about coloring my hair to cover up those pesky gray hairs for months now. I was reluctant to do so because I haven't colored my hair in years. Once I let it grow out, I found out I had a really great natural color. Or, at least, I did until last summer. Turns out spending and entire summer drinking beer whilst floating down a river really does nothing for your BMI or your hair. My once beautiful, dark brown hair turned a sun kissed bright copper. I wasn't thrilled with it, but, remembering all those years spent trying to color my hair an auburn or copper, I figured I'd just go with it for a while. I had just gotten used to it, when along comes winter, and hair just keeps on growing. The new growth was the original, dark brown. So, dark on top, reddish on the bottom with the occasional wiry silver hair. This morning I'd finally had enough, it was time for a change. So, two boxes of natural instincts medium ash brown and ten minutes later I sit, newly raven haired. If only there was such a quick fix for forehead wrinkles.

Really?

2008-05-13T09:05:00.001-06:00

Tuesday, May 13th. Snow. Again. Oh, Golden.

I Don't Even Know Why I Was Watching It

2008-05-12T09:10:00.002-06:00

I spent some time Saturday with my mom. We weren't really doing much, she came over, we watched Wild Things on the WB in the afternoon. Needless to say, Wild Things doesn't really translate well to broadcast television, if I were to wager a guess, I'd say they had to cut out a good third of the movie. What was entertaining about the whole experience was how poorly edited-for-TV it was. They'd abruptly cut away from the scene and jump to another one, which left me explaining to my mom that, well, they had to cut that part out because it was a pretty graphic threesome, and this part was really just some gratuitous nudity. Nothing says I love you mom like a play-by-play of some girl-on-girl action.

Spring Cleaning

2008-05-11T19:51:00.002-06:00

I don't know why I have so much shit. I've been doing this thing where every weekend I take a bin of stuff to the Goodwill. I'm trying to simplify and get rid of stuff I don't use before I move. In doing this I just keep finding more stuff in my tiny apartment. I spent all day today ding some serious spring cleaning. The kind where you move furniture to vacuum and scrub the corners of the tub with a toothbrush. The kind of cleaning normal people probably do on a regular basis, but I let slide until it is absolutely necessary. And the reason it's so absolutely necessary? In 5 days I'm going to have a visitor (yippee!), and just because I have learned to turn a blind eye to the fact that everything in my world is completely covered in dog hair doesn't mean anyone else should have to.

God Wouldn't Have Given You Maracas If He didn't Want You To Shake 'Em.

2008-05-08T21:01:00.002-06:00

Is being a grown up everything you imagined as a child? Wait, is it anything like you thought it would be? I suppose for some of you it is, probably those of you who didn't spend the better part of a decade in college. Those of you who fell in love, got married and had babies. When we're little we see grown-ups, and we watch movies and our fantasy of adulthood takes shape. I blame Dirty Dancing. When I was little I had this girlfriend (not Jill) and she was kind of a bad girl, my dad used to say she was going to grow up to be a "slutty" girl, but I didn't know what he meant. He wasn't too off the mark, at the time at least, she always wanted to practice kissing. I have no idea what happened to her, she might not be a slutty girl at all, but I guess that's how I'll always think of her. We used to play make-believe, and we'd always pretend that we were OLD, 22! And that we were stewardesses, and that we had husbands and babies. And then sometimes we practiced kissing. I never imagined that my life would have so much depth, so much nuance. So many good friends, such a strong family. I never imagined it would be filled with such adventure, laughter. I never imagined that things wouldn't always work out with a dance montage. I never imagined I'd fall in love and have my heart broken and live to tell about it. I never imagined I'd fail at anything, but that I'd one day look upon those failures with as much pride as I look upon my successes. I also never imagined I'd be a better person for all of it. Thank god things didn't turn out the way I thought they would. They turned out so much better.

Warts And All

2008-05-07T08:33:00.003-06:00

Last night I turned in my last ever physics assignment. My last ever grad school paper. OK, there's still The Plan, so maybe I should say my last ever engineering grad school paper. It is an amazing feeling. Not that the hard work is over, there's still that one last little, nagging, deliverable... the thesis. But, my to do list only has one thing on it, compared to the 11 things that were looming last Thursday. These past few weeks have been kind of light on the blogging, volume wise due to school work, but content wise due to something else entirely. I've kind of met someone. I've alluded to it, but I've refrained from mentioning it directly. And the reason I've kept mum? He reads this blog. That's how we met actually. Normally I'd go on a date, give someone a little nickname, and tell you guys all about it. But... first thing in the morning when you read about it, he'd read it too. I'm not sure any budding relationship can withstand that kind of scrutiny, it's a lot of pressure. But at the same time, at least he already knows I kiss and tell, so that won't come as a surprise.

Who's The Boob, Me Or The Tube?

2008-05-06T12:30:00.005-06:00

As you are well aware, in a few months time I'll be packing up and relocating to Chicago. I am more than excited about this for many reasons, but the biggest reason (today at least, it seems to change regularly) is the opportunity to change my lifestyle. Right now I'm bogged down with grad school stuff. I work a long day, more often than not lately I take work home, and work all night while zoning out in front of the TV. I rarely used to watch TV, and never had cable until about 2 years ago when Monday Night Football moved to ESPN. Then I took the plunge; and while I used to listen to music, read everyday, take long walks with my dog, and visit museums, now I pretty much just watch Law and Order. All the time. So I have decided that the number one thing I am going to do when I move is leave my TV behind. I've really thought this through, any can't miss shows I can catch online, and Bronco games probably won't be shown in that new market anyway. I have a whole pile of books that have been waiting patiently for this semester to be over ...

Just How Much Do Opposites Attract?

2008-05-05T11:10:00.003-06:00

Lately I've been thinking about the idea that opposites attract. I understand an initial attraction to someone who is different from you, the excitement, the rush of something new, a passport to a whole new world. But after the flush of newness has worn off, what chance do opposites have for happiness? And at what level does it really start to matter? Is it as basic as adventuresome foodie vs. picky eater? Or gym addict vs. couch potato? City slicker vs. country bumpkin? Is lifestyle choice more important? For instance, how do you spend your Sunday? Watching football? Camping in the back country? Strolling through farmers markets? Enjoying a museum? Sipping mimosas? Cleaning house and doing laundry? Are religious differences a concern? How about political differences? I don't have answers to any of these questions, but I'm a rather adventurous sort, so maybe I'll do some research and find out.

Professor Snootarium's Crazy Vocabularium!!!

2008-05-04T11:07:00.001-06:00

This weekend I've been having a marathon cram session, trying to finish up all of this semesters work. Lucky for me Josh was busy working too and we spent the day intermittently working and entertaining each other via email. What started as a lighthearted challenge- who has a better mastery of the English language, a bigger vocabulary- over the course of the day turned into a full blown idea for a child's board game targeted at the snooty intelligentsia. Which turned into maybe the coolest thing ever; eleven hours after we started our conversation yesterday morning Josh sent me an email. A prototype if you will, so awesome it left me speechless. You have to check this out, if you guys don't already read Berg With Fries, today would be a great day to start.

Reason #683 That I'm An Asshole

2008-05-02T11:19:00.003-06:00

Earlier this week my dear friend Frannie called me to tell me he'd be in Colorado this Wednesday. The last two times he was in town, I was out of town on interviews, but this time I was in town, and we made tentative plans to meet for some dinner and a long overdue catch-up. This week was my last week of classes. Ever. Well, not ever, there's still The Plan, but yesterday I took my final engineering class. In addition to finishing up classes, I have a stack of work to get done by Monday to finish up the semester. That is to say, this week I've been toiling away in a sweatshop of my own making to finish up my degree. Finally. Now I'm not offering this as an excuse for what happened, because as far as excuses go, this is truly scraping the bottom of the barrel. But I forgot he was coming until about 10:30 last night. I was mopping my kitchen. Trying to squeeze some chores into my overly packed week so as to not devolve into a life filled with trash and squalor. I was standing in my kitchen, singing along with George Michael, wet socks, mop in hand, when I remembered my friend Frannie. So please, Dear FranMan, consider this, mea maxima culpa, my sincerest of apologies. I'm sorry I'm such a dillweed.

Paralysis By Analysis

2008-05-02T08:16:00.000-06:00

I just about gave myself an ulcer this last week going back and forth and back and forth and back and... well you get the idea, about which of 2 great jobs to take. Countless phone calls to my parents to debate the merits of the two jobs, the pros and cons, back and forth, back and forth. My dad calls this paralysis by analysis. Yesterday morning was the (original) final, drop-dead decision date, and do you know what I decided? The same thing I decided a week ago, I'm moving to Chicago. I signed the acceptance letter, told the other company thanks, but no, and there you have it. As soon as I hit send the massive, crushing stress I was burdened with disappeared. Don't get me wrong, I've had one or two fleeting second thoughts, but I keep in mind one thing my mom told me. "What ever job you choose, you'll regret not taking the other one, that's just the kind of person you are." I'm not sure I want to be that kind of person, but, it is what it is. At least now I can go back to focusing on my thesis. Damned Thesis! So anyway, sorry to all of you who have listened to me hem and haw, and thanks to all of you who have given me your advice.

Questions

2008-05-01T08:48:00.003-06:00

I have a journal (that I never write in) full of playful questions meant to provoke and inspire. I came across it the other day while I was looking for another book, and gave it a little flip though. I read this question and laughed out loud. Q: Once when you were ill and said you would change if only you got well again, what did you mean? A: Oh, the dangers of binge drinking. I wonder if binge drinking is a new phenomenon of if our grandfathers also binged but didn’t have such a politically correct, clinical word for it. Last time I was ill it was the direct result of a bender that was the direct result of my favorite girl in the world’s broken heart. Don’t judge, are you telling me the first thing you do after a break up isn’t get pretty and hit the town to get your flirt on? That’s what I thought. So we don our Thursday’s finest, hike up the girls, slick on some gloss, dig out the heels and the jeans that make your ass look like you spend at least six hours a week in the gym (I don’t), and hit the town. An order of mussels, $5 happy hour wine, then on to a couple of artisanal cocktails, a dark and stormy or two, a couple vodka & sodas, then pitchers and pitchers of beer. The particular bar we were patronizing is normally overrun with college aged boys on Thursday nights, but this particular night it was packed to the gills with attractive 30-ish men. I suppose this could have been a beer goggles situation, but an abundance of hottitrons is the way I like to remember it. I also remember that we were the only girls in the bar. Now, I know this can’t be true, but I can honestly say we took no notice of any other women in the joint. We’d only been there an hour before we both had our little harems set up. Jill on one side of the bar, playing skee-ball with her group of admirers, me on the other with mine, watching basketball and pelting them with peanuts (we were at The Walrus). This is where things get a little dicey. The next three or so hours of the night are gone, pfssst, vanished. I do know at five-thirty that morning Jill and I woke up, fully clothed (thank god!) in a hotel room with three strangers (two men, one woman) to the not-so-dulcet tones of the hotel’s fire alarm. I guess she left then, I went back to sleep until about 8 when I had to hard-core walk of shame it out of there. I mean hard-core. Knee-high boots, mascara smeared all across my face, bra stuffed in my purse, and some serious bed head. I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, preferably before any of the strangers woke up so as to avoid any awkward conversation, so I grabbed my bag and figured I’d use the bathroom lobby. I forgot about the (very nice) hotel’s (very large) lobby. I clip-clap-clopped across it’s expansive hardwood floor in my stilettos, trying my best not to garner the attention of the businessmen and hotel staff who I am absolutely sure, at this point, think I’m a hooker; cleaned up the best I could and made my way to the car. I drove the whole way home with the air conditioner on full blast, praying I’d make it home before I got sick. I made it as far as my parking lot, parked the car, and threw up in the bushes 20 feet from my apartment. What followed that day was worse than any hangover I ever had after any frat party in college. It was worse than any New Years Day. It was worse than any day I can remember. I have never been so miserable. I’ll spare you the details. Jill was in equally bad shape. We both called in hung over to work and spent the day on our respective couches occasionally calling each other and wondering how we ended up in such bad shape. In retrospect, it’s no wonder we got so sick the next day, but, hindsight is 20-20. I literally cried I was so sick. I swore, that day, I’d never drink that much again. I swore I’d never wake up in a stranger’s hotel room again, whatever the circumstances. I swore I’d change my ways. Harrumph.

Sequins

2008-04-29T21:02:00.003-06:00

Lately I've been spending a lot of time getting to know a very cute boy. We talk, a lot, swapping stories like a very long first date. He recently brought it to my attention that many of my stories are, ahem, a little bit unbelievable. In my defense, while I do tend to exaggerate a bit, I limit my creative license to things like, "god, I was waiting for like six hours!" or "Seriously, I think I ate a hundred cookies!" Last night I was telling the story of a job I once had as a showgirl at The Rivera casino in Blackhawk, CO, and how ridiculous a job it was. This was not like a take your top off and dance type of showgirl, my duties included holding up those number signs at boxing matches, taking pictures with jackpot winners, and walking around the casino talking to the old folks. He just started laughing, a derisive laugh that indicated he absolutely did not believe this latest tale. So to prove to him that I am not a barefaced liar, I emailed him this picture this morning: Please note that those are not my real boobs, I strapped them on when I got to work each day. In fact, they had sequined bras with various degrees of padding, little padding for the more well endowed, and padding the size of a small child's head for girls with, um, girls like me.

Grapefruit

2008-04-29T08:30:00.000-06:00

This is sort of an addendum to the why am I such a commitmentphobe/ big ole' bag of crazy post. Recently I was enjoying part 2 of a very long, very good date with a boy that I have had a very big crush on for quite some time. I don't remember when exactly the following transpired, but I think we were laying in the sun on top of his fluffy white comforter talking about the contents of his book shelves. A little *giggle* *giggle* *kiss* *kiss* super cutesy, a little out of character maybe, but hey, I don't necessarily tell you guys all about all of that. So this very cute boy takes this opportunity to broach the subject of our seeing each other more regularly. (In a super cute awkward-ish way btw, very attractive) I think the normal reaction to a boy you like expressing interest in seeing you more often would be something like "well yes, that would be lovely" or "Yeehaw!" Not that it needs to be said, but normal reactions aren't exactly on my speed dial. My reaction? Something more like "well, I don't really know about all that..." What? Why? Because I'm Awkward!

Nuts!

2008-04-28T20:23:00.002-06:00

Oh my god! Why am I such a commitmentphobe? It is near crippling for me, having to make a decision that will affect my life more than a week into the future. I feel like nobody is surprised by this statement. I thought my little issue was strictly related to my romantic entanglements, but that is apparently not the case. It is a far reaching affliction. Why must I resist change? Why do I have to try to analyze every single teeny tiny possible factor? Why do I have to try and control or plan for every possible outcome? I think I'm just fucking nuts.

Waffler

2008-04-28T18:00:00.003-06:00

OK, so I've had a tiny crisis of faith. I was so totally sure this morning that I'd made the right decision regarding accepting the job in Chicago... until I called the HR rep at the other company to tell him thank you but no. We talked for quite sometime, and he made some very good points... And I told him I'd rethink my decision and get back to him by Wednesday. And now I really don't know what to do. The jobs are perfectly disparate, one pays quite a bit more but comes with a much, much higher degree of uncertainty and much less stability. Oh and three times the vacation each year.

The other pays less but is for a very large company, lots of security and stability, in a town where I could see myself having a perfectly lovely life. Albeit one that's completely new and outside my comfort zone, but exciting at the same time.

Drumroll Please...

2008-04-27T17:56:00.002-06:00

I'm moving to Chicago! I'm super relieved to have finally made a decision. Though now the pressure is on to finish up my damn thesis. I just want to hit the fast forward button and skip ahead to July. Since that's not really an option, I'll just have to settle for spending my spare time daydreaming about the big stuff to come. Big stuff like where do I want to live? What kind of apartment in what kind of neighborhood can I find? Will I make any friends? How about dating, should I make a conscious decision not to date for a while so I can build my own life and not rely on someone else for stimulation? Or is that just silly and am I simply over analyzing (as I am wont to do)? I like the idea of being alone in a big city. Dressing up and taking myself to dinner, spending a Saturday at the museum and a Sunday walking Murphy and exploring my new neighborhood. Sipping coffee in coffee shops and trying new yoga classes. I have this idea of myself, country mouse in the big city, and I'm really excited to move from my little city of 17,000 people to the almost 3 million strong Chicago.

Fries With That?

2008-04-24T22:26:00.007-06:00

My little trip to Chicago went really well. I had about a half a day of business to take care of, and the rest of the time I spent checking out the area, trying out the commute, and taking in some of what Chicago has to offer. One thing Chicago had to offer on this particular visit was a little of this guy's company:

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2008-04-24T21:47:00.002-06:00

Oh holy moly. Two weeks to make a decision has turned into 2 days. California has turned into Rochester, New York (but only for six months, then, who knows where). So. Now I just have to make a decision. You probably know this but I have a huge problem with commitment. So how am I supposed to make this kind of commitment in two days? I thought I had at least a week. They are both good offers. There is really only one dilemma. The Chicago job is in a much cooler location, the other job comes with a larger salary. What to do, what to do?

Rice Prices

2008-04-24T10:50:00.002-06:00

What's hotter than making out to Fiona Apple? I can't think of a thing... maybe making out to NPR. Oh Marketplace, talk nerdy to me.

Road Tripping

2008-04-24T10:00:00.000-06:00

How cool are road trips, these folks at 50 Bloggers in 50 States are planning a road trip to travel the country, and meet lots of strangers. I'm jealous because I think this sounds really fun, right up my alley. I was also really excited to see which other Colorado bloggers come out of the woodwork, but so far, we're a little slow on the uptake.

Getting Down to the Wire

2008-04-22T08:03:00.004-06:00

This afternoon I'm heading back to Chicago. I am going for a tour of the facility where I was offered a job. I'm flying in a little early and getting a rental car so I can check out the area, maybe check out the commute, and hopefully by the time I get back on Thursday I'll be able to make a more informed decision about weather or not I want to accept the job.

Hi-jinks (Pretty Mild Actually)

2008-04-21T10:09:00.005-06:00

I was planning on staying in this weekend (again!), but Katie called. Any weekend that Katie is in town is a weekend that my plans go right out the window. I went to dinner with her at her Grandmas house. She has this fabulous huge family. They are super loud and loving and they're all in everybody else's business. Katie has something like 20 cousins, there are 2 great big kids tables, and all the grand kids (ranging from, I'd guess 7 or so, up to almost 30) sit at these 2 kids tables. The best thing about Katie's family though is Katie's mom Deb and her sisters, "The Aunts." Those birds are a trip. After dinner and birthday cake and lots of present opening (they were celebrating 6 birthdays) Katie and I, as well as Kate's brother and his girlfriend, met Jill at my house to pre-game before heading to Denver. The rest of the evening is a blur of drinking, dancing, and hamming it up for the camera.

Nonsense

2008-04-19T15:56:00.002-06:00

Would someone please explain to me why I'm afraid of bugs. I don't understand. I am a non-nonsense kind of gal. But still, every single time I kill a bug I shudder. And please don't leave me any comments about how wrong it is to kill bugs because we're all god's creatures. I don't care, no bugs in my house.

California or Chicago?

2008-04-16T13:43:00.001-06:00

Lately I have been singularly focused on work. Work now (finishing up eleventy-five homework assignments, finishing my research and writing my damn thesis) and work in the future (What, where, for whom and for how much). Work now is just some sludge that I have to muck through to get to the greener pastures. This building, these labs in which I spend all of my time, feel like they are shrinking. The people here are driving me mad. I am just itching to be done. I could bitch and moan about it, but instead I’ll focus on bright side. The bright side being, now that I have a deadline, a goal, and actual end in sight, I have renewed motivation to get this over and done with. Work in the future is super exciting. I’m waiting to get an offer from the company in California (sometime this week). I am obsessed. Every time I check my e-mail (which is about every five minutes these days) I’m not checking to see if a friend or cute boy has dropped me a note. I am looking out for one thing and one thing only. This weekend, during the Beerfest (a spontaneous, spur of the moment thing, I’d grounded myself for the duration of the weekend, but I have weak resolve) I watched Jill and Kristy flirt with cute boys from the sidelines, barely paying attention. Instead I was making pro and con lists in my mind. I changed the topic of almost every conversation to ‘California or Chicago?’ I have until May 1 to make a decision. Hopefully once that happens, I’ll get my brain back.

Not Was I Was Expecting

2008-04-14T19:32:00.001-06:00

My favorite things about this weekend: Making a new friend, Grant, this weekend. The first thing she said to me was, "I've heard a lot about you, you'd better not disappoint me." My friend Brandon's reply when I told him I was moving in July, "No, you're not." Waking up covered in golf-ball sized bruises, but having no memory of how, where, when or why I got any of them. A complete stranger bringing a bottle of Alize to the party to impress me (it worked). The random guy at the Beerfest who tried to get both Kristy and Jill into bed. And by both, I mean together. Kicking off our shoes and doing inversions at the bar (something of a tradition).

Last Night's Win

2008-04-14T16:37:00.001-06:00

Rockies 13- Diamondbacks 5 Thanks Rockies, that means Taco Bell is having 4 tacos for a dollar. And that means I'm having tacos for dinner tonight.

Everyone is Good at Something

2008-04-14T08:20:00.000-06:00

Sometimes it takes someone else to point out something that is right in front of your face, something that, for whatever reason, you can't see clearly. Two weeks ago, after my friend Sameera's birthday party, Kate and I walked back to her hotel. She was in town for a conference and had a beautiful room at Denver's historic Brown Palace Hotel. It was 2ish when we got back to the hotel, and we were expecting Kate's friend (and my friend too) Sarah, who was arriving late from Aspen. I think Sarah got in about 2:30, so we weren't really sleeping yet. We spent a minute or two chatting, and we were brainstorming potential ways for me to get out of a lunch date I had planned for Sunday. Sarah remarked that I always seemed to be going on dates, and asked if I ever actually had relationships. Half-drunk and half-asleep I nonchalantly responded "No, I don't do that." Then I sat up. I don't do that? That can't be true... can it? And if it is, how could I be so cavalier about it? I've dated a few fellas, had some sort-of boyfriends. If you count boys who barely make it to the three month mark boyfriends. For one reason or another that's about how long it seems for me to either lose interest or decide, unequivocally, that it's just not right. Turns out that without really noticing I've been single for five years! No wonder I'm so good at it.

Murphy's Law

2008-04-11T08:44:00.001-06:00

The hotel I stayed at this week, which should have been billed to the company I was interviewing with, was mistakenly billed to me instead. This bill subsequently put my unsuspecting (and quite paltry to be honest) checking account into the red. So, the overdraft fees have been piling up, and I've been trying to get a hold of someone, anyone, who can help me rectify this situation. I'm mean come on! I'm in grad school, I'm not exactly rolling in the dough. So I'm telling my gal pal Jill about the situation and she says "I find that's true in my business too (mortgages), the people who need the money the most are the people who this shit happens to the most. It's Newton's law, you know?" ... ... ... "Wait, that doesn't sound right..."

Opportunist

2008-04-08T09:18:00.000-06:00

Right now, right this minute, I'm getting ready to go to California for another interview. I'm very excited about it, but having another offer (for the job I've been lusting after for months no less) has really taken the pressure off. Now I'm more interested in finding the perfect job for me, and less worried about finding any job at all. A quick follow-up about my last post. I made a flippant comment about dressing like a skank and I think it came across a bit opportunistic. I decided to wear something tiny because the last time I was out with Kate I went to a nightclub in a turtleneck, and I felt old. Saturday I felt a little age inappropriate (a little mutton dressed as lamb if you will) but these random boys kept buying me drinks, so I guess I'm just saying, I wasn't trying to scam anyone, I guess that is why girls dress like hootchie mamas. It was not deliberate, but it was fruitful.

A Few Things I Learned This Weekend:

2008-04-07T09:17:00.004-06:00

A Few Things I Learned This Weekend: Three dogs is two dogs too many for this girl. Going on a date with a boring guy who is really nice is still going on a date with a boring guy. A push-up bra + a tiny top = free drinks (I suppose I knew this once, but it's been a while). Room service is the tops. Drunk girls are annoying, and they look ridiculous. Unless you are also drunk, in which case you are all excellent dancers. I love going to bed at 9 pm.

The Best Thing I Heard All Weekend

2008-04-06T12:23:00.004-06:00

Friday night while hanging out with my friend Katie I was exchanging some text messages with a cute boy I (sort of) know. He sent me a text saying he was going to a gay strip club. Katie intercepts this particular message and the following transpires: Kate: What is it with you and your crushes on gay boys? Me: Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's not gay. Kate: *snorts* I've heard that one before. Later that night I told him she was calling his sexuality into question, to which he replied, "I LIKE VAGINA!" Made me laugh.

The Stupid Girls Club

2008-04-04T13:34:00.004-06:00

I'm at home right now in the middle of the day watching The Bad Girls Club on VH1*. How self indulgent of me. Well, I'm also working on homework and some stuff for my thesis. As far as I can tell this is a show about some slutty twenty-something girls with drinking problems and anger management issues. One girl peed in another girls catchup. That's not a euphemism. It makes me wonder, why, if you routinely behave so badly, you'd agree to be filmed while doing it. And live in a house with six other girls who are ostensibly as much of a train wreck as you are. I though about it, and thought about it, (hey, thesis writing breeds procrastination) and I think I've come up with the answer. These bitches are crazy and stupid. I don't mean crazy like, MySpace stalking crazy, I mean crazy like lets call family services and take away her kids crazy. I don't mean stupid like, what's a Laplace transform? stupid, but like cheating on your baby daddy on television and then crying when he finds out. Or telling strangers how much you love anal sex (strangers on tv!). Or admitting that you were once in porn (on tv!). Or peeing outside a nightclub in front of the cameras with all the lights shining on your drunk ass. I can't believe some of this drama, and I lived in a sorority house for 2 years. These bitches are nuts. I feel like I'm an enabler for just watching this crap. *not VH1, the oxygen channel. Which is so much worse.

Breaking Up Is (Not So) Hard To Do

2008-04-03T11:28:00.003-06:00

I am a big, big, big advocate of not settling, not even a little bit when it comes to men, so imagine my surprise when, yesterday, I scheduled an interview for a job in Elko, NV at a large mining company. I told myself, I may not get an offer from either of the companies that I really want to work for. A girl needs a backup plan after all. So after 2 phone interviews I gave in and agreed to fly out and visit. I told the HR rep I'd look at weekends and get back to her. I'll admit, the prospect of landing in such a small town in the middle of nowhere really wasn't very appealing, but it was still preferable to ending up jobless and broke. The idea of settling down in my new double wide in a town with nothing but a Wal-mart and one bar (a strip club actually) made me uneasy, but I was trying to keep an open mind. I'd begun repeating my new mantra, "back-up plan, back-up plan, back-up plan." Until I got an e-mail last night with a job offer from last weeks interview. (Woohoo!) Suddenly I was horrified that although I'd rather be single forever than settle for the wrong man, I'd considered settling for what was certainly, glaringly, obviously the wrong job. So first thing this morning I called the HR rep back, and broke up with Elko, NV.

I'm SO Not Going

2008-04-01T19:50:00.002-06:00

I just got an invitation/announcement for my 10 year reunion. I think instead I'll just get drunk and watch Romy and Michele's High School Reunion again.

Time To Break Out The Bissell

2008-04-01T11:57:00.004-06:00

Despite the fact that I have beaucoup things to get done in the lab today I'm taking an extra long lunch. Why, you might ask? Because really, it seems irresponsible. Well the reason is this. I came home for lunch today (like most days) and the Murph dog has thrown up all over my apartment. I'm talking everywhere. On the living room carpet, in the closet, on the sofa, in my bed, on my winter coat, everywhere but the kitchen and the bathroom. Because it would be easy clean up were he inclined to get sick on the linoleum. But no. And I can't fault him, his brain is the size of a walnut. And in a short while I'll have no choice but to head back to work and it just breaks my heart, because when he's sick he gets all sweet and crawls into my lap, and looks up me with his huge puppy dog eyes and tries to sleep right there. And it melts my heart for just a second, until I look around and realize he might just be sleeping in my lap because it's the only surface in my apartment upon which he hasn't already thrown up.

Good Stuff

2008-03-31T16:51:00.006-06:00

This weekend was full of good stuff. First Suzie, Jill and I had a nice dinner at North. i might have been a tiny bit under dressed for the joint, but in Denver you can get away with that. After dinner, this motley crew met up to catch a burlesque show. It was great, sexy but not vulgar, kitschy and a little bit campy. I left the show wanting to sign up for lessons. Sunday morning we met for brunch and endless mimosas. For a normal group of folks endless mimosas might mean two or three, but not us. Maybe ten mimosas and four hours later we left brunch to get on with the beautiful day. Some servers might have resented or relentless camping and blatant abuse of the endless mimosa situation, but our server was the most pleasant server I've had in a very long time.

Raise Your Voice

2008-03-29T10:22:00.001-06:00

Though I had fantastic plans last night to catch a play in Denver with some friends, the uncooperative furnace in my lab had different ideas. So instead of dinner and a show, I picked up a bottle of wine, had a big bowl of popcorn for dinner, and hit the sack early. So, yeah, sorry to those of you who come here looking for excitement. But, early to bed means early to rise, and to great effect. It is a beautiful day here in Golden, Colorado, and I'm feeling particularly self indulgent. A nice walk with Murph kick started my morning, and instead of coffee I'm sipping a glass of wine for breakfast and watching Raise Your Voice. Shameful, I know. Before you judge me too harshly, I spent many years toiling away in the cello section in the dorkestra, and it was never as cool as it is in this cheesetastic teen flick. Plus I'm a huge sucker, even bad movies tug on my heart strings. Lets just add this to the list of things I couldn't do were I in a relationship, and then, it somehow seems OK.

Pinot, Malbec, Muscato Oh My

2008-03-28T08:38:00.004-06:00

Considering how much of this I did last night at dinner: I am surprised I feel so gosh darn chipper this morning. Last night my parents and I went to dinner, I was planning on hitting up the local Mexican joint, Tequilas, but my mom sounded kind of disappointed when I said that. She's still bummed about missing out on restaurant week because I had the flu. So i got us a reservation at Vita, a she she kind of place in the Highlands. It was great. We had lots of great food, and lots of good wine.

Let Me Be The First To Wish Me A Happy Birthday

2008-03-27T07:42:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday today to Murphy, Sandy, Jill's mom Roxanne, Mariah Carey, Quentin Tarantino, that annoying guy I met on Monday who had no problem using ethnic slurs at a dinner with nine strangers, Jamie, 123 Valerie, and of course, me! I'm usually the kind of girl who celebrates her birthday with a whole week of shameless self-promotion. This year I'm kind of busy, so a long weekend will have to suffice! I think birthdays are a good time for reflection (and it's cousin direction) and this has been one amazing year. I have been trying to spend my free time having as much fun with my peeps as possible (forgive me for using the term peeps in an actual sentence), because I don't know how different my life will be next year on my birthday. I'm planning on moving and starting a new job, but who knows? I might accidentally fall in love, get married, and have some babies. I might inadvertently step out in front of a bus and check out for good. Wow, I didn't mean to get so morbid on you there, my point is just this; let's live every week like it's shark week.* The Festivities: Tonight I'm having dinner with my parents. Saturday night we are going to The Pink Elephant Room to see the burlesque troop Burlesque As It Was. We have a reservation and they'd like us to be there by 9 or 9:30, and don't forget they take cash only, so be prepared. Sunday morning we are going to saunter down to French 250 for brunch and endless mimosas. I've got my eye on the Croque-Monsieur. I think I could eat hollandaise sauce everyday. I think my pants might not agree. If I haven't invited you to join me yet, consider this your invitation! *Seriously, I can't stop watching 30 Rock. It gets funnier the more I watch it. But someone please, for the love of Pete, help me get Muffin Top out of my head, we're going on 4 days now.

Gloating About My Youthful Visage

2008-03-26T11:16:00.000-06:00

I think I heard the phrase “You’re how old? Wow you don’t look it!” about twenty times in the past 24 hours. I heard it first from the bartender at the airport bar who served me a creamy Guinness. Then from the seven 22 year old boys I had dinner with Monday night. Then from interviewers several times yesterday. I could see them doing the math in their heads, and since they can’t ask, I volunteered the information. So impending birthday or not, I am leaving Chicago feeling sprightly, young and super cute (because of my cute interview outfit). Metallurgy is a pretty dirty business, so it’s fun to get dressed up for once. BTW, big shout out to the lovely lady who invented Spanx. Bless you. I was the only person at the interview (there were nine of us) who’d ever been to a steel mill before. If you’ve never seen an operating mill take my word for it that it is an awesome experience. And I don’t mean awesome in the parlance of the ‘90’s, I mean awe-inspiring awesome. Particularly a big operation like this one, where the steel is made, cast and rolled all in one place. We’re talking giant slabs of steel, ten inches thick and 30 feet long. So hot that from 100 feet away they still let off enough heat to make your face hurt. Those huge slabs are then roughed and rolled thin (about a half an inch) and then rolled up into those huge rolls of sheet metal you see hauled by semi trucks. These rolls come out of processing still hot, a thousand degrees, and take days to cool. It was really fun taking the tour with these kids who’d never seen anything like that before. Walking the length of these huge mills, jaws dropped to the floor. Especially the mechanical engineers who don’t really know anything about the steel-making process (it’s just like magic!). **As far as the ugly shoes are concerned, I don’t think I’ll burn them. You never know when I’ll be in need of leather-soled shoes again, and it was bad enough spending perfectly good money on these, I’d hate to do it twice.

Muffin Top

2008-03-24T13:36:00.003-06:00

I'm at the airport right now waiting for my flight to leave in about an hour. I always think it's funny that I tent to arrive at the waaaaay too early, while Jill tends to cut it waaaaay too close. As a result, I end up sitting around waiting forever, and she ends up missing some flights. I'm sure there is a happy medium in there somewhere, but I like to think of that little dichotomy as a sort of metaphor for our relationship. We've been friends for more than 20 years, so you'd think we'd have more in common, but, not really. I am the proud new owner of what might be the worlds ugliest shoes. I bought them for my interview tomorrow. They are hideous. My slacks are a little tight too. I don't wear them very often, so it's always kind of a crap shoot. I tried them on last night and this popped into my head: But that might just be because I'm OD-ing on 30 Rock lately.

Oh Blerg

2008-03-23T15:18:00.004-06:00

He called and wished me a happy birthday today. I suppose that would be nice if today was my birthday.

Delete

2008-03-21T10:15:00.003-06:00

A few months ago The Boy dropped completely off the face of the earth. Not that I really blame him. There was the unfortunate "job" incident, the drunken Christmas cards, the mixed messages, and the fact that we never once hung out while we weren't wasted. Still, when I found out he started dating a 42 year old I'll admit I felt a little rejected. But there was still MySpace, and The Crazy. Between his MySpace updates, friend status', and bulletins I want to smack him in the mouth. So I did what might be the utmost in passive aggressive childish behavior. I deleted him from my MySpace friends.

My Pre-Weekend Update

2008-03-20T17:17:00.004-06:00

I'm super stressed about work right now. My bosses must think I don't do anything at all. They keep giving all of the credit for the work I've done to my two undergrad assistants. The other day in a meeting one of my bosses actually gave one guy a pat on the back (literally, not figuratively) for the oxidizing roasts he did on the ore. Or, more accurately, the roasts I did on the ore while they were all at a conference. ------------------------------------------------------------------- On Saturday night this little guy started chatting me up at the Leslie & the LY's show. He was very pleasant, and after the show I joined him for a drink at this great underground jazz bar next door. He was fun to talk to, and I gave him my phone number. However, I didn't expect him to call, because at some point during our conversation I said he was "just a little guy." Now, you know how much dudes love that. And even though I like little guys, how was he to know? So imagine my surprise when he called me up for a date this Saturday night. I'll let you know how it goes. I already laid the ground work though, I'm interviewing for a job out of town, I don't know how long I'll be in Denver, I'm not looking for anything serious.... ------------------------------------------------------------------- Next Monday I'm heading out for an interview in the Midwest. I'm flying into Chicago, but my hotel is in Gary. I was hoping my hotel would be somewhere near the airport. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't care one way or the other, but I was looking forward to meeting up and enjoying a cocktail with this guy. So that's a bummer because now I don't think it is going to happen. But wish me luck on the interview!

Twitter

2008-03-20T11:51:00.002-06:00

I'm trying to get into the whole Twitter thing. So far I'm not sold. With the interviews I have coming up and the prospect of moving to a new city, I've started following some other bloggers in cities to which I might potentially move. Just trying to get a feeling of what people do in different parts of the country. I can't quite get past feeling a little creepy and stalker-ish, especially because I hardly ever update. So if any of you are also trying out the Twitter, you can follow me. If you want to. Not that I'm very interesting.

That's a Nice

2008-03-20T10:39:00.005-06:00

I missed a call from my dad this morning:

Hey, this is your dad. It sounds like over the past few days you've had a lot going on, kind of a rough time. It sounds like you needed a hug, so that's kind of what this is, a sort of virtual hug since I can't be there to hug you for real.

Awww. It actually made my eyes well up. Thanks.