oh the places we'll go (or not go to again)

Part of my morning routine includes stopping at the local deli by my office to pick up a caffeinated bottle of soda. I have joined the ranks of folks who are dependent on this lil caffeine kick in order to function as a human being in the wee hours of the morning (1oam). It's amazing how much more "alive" i feel after taking a few sips! Well yesterday, while riding the subway to work, i counted my $1.50 in change which would be used in a few minutes to purchase this delightful beverage. I went to my deli, got my soda of choice (normally it's cherry coke zero but this time it was a diet orange sunkist - also quite refreshing!), and headed to the counter, where my deli man stands every morning with a smile on his face, to complete the transaction. I handed him my change at the same time as he said, "that'll be $1.75." !!!!! What?? How can that be? i thought in great distress. So i responded with, "$1.75, really?" He said the price for bottled soda was raised the day before. ALL bottled sodas would now be $1.75. Since i had already handed him the money, and since i have proven to be a loyal customer for well over a year, he allowed me to make one last purchase for the reasonable price of $1.50. I savored that moment, took it all in - my deli man, the soda, the purchase price of $1.50. This occurrance had been a staple in my day. And upon hearing, "that'll be $1.75," i knew things would never be the same.

The question i am faced with now is: do i resist price increases that americans everywhere are having to accept and find a new place to get my soda fix, or do i stay loyal to my deli man, accept prices for what they are and keep my morning routine in tact?

Oh how i am torn! I think some good meditation and prayer is in order...

bueller? bueller?? ...laurie? laurie??

I know, it's been a loooooong time since my last posting. It has been something i've thought about and wanted to sit down and compose such a post as this for, well, months. But alas, in the words of ferris himself,

"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

That pretty much sums up what i've been doing these few months - stopping to look around at life and to experience it to the fullest. It started with a concussion (no fun, no fun), moved on to a business trip to LA where i was reunited with a couple of special college friends, and then to a blossoming relationship with a great guy. This August has been weddings galore in DC, Orlando, and this weekend Seattle. My masters program for school counseling starts on Tues which will keep me occupied for the next couple years.

I am most definitely alive and kickin! Life is good. Looking forward to continuing to "live in the now"! (to quote another classic movie character) :)

shocking news - a forrest gump contradiction??

I have seen Forrest Gump many times. My friend cady and i quote it often. Perhaps one day, i'll do a post on "favorite movie blips" and share a few of the favs with you.

One reference, though, always leads me to pause and think "wait a minute..." Maybe someone can clear up confusion if it's on my end. If i raise a good point, then this blog will have served a purpose of cracking the code on one of hollywood's most beloved films. (brilliant!)

Forrest lets jenny know that he is headed to war. "They're sending me...to viet-naaam."
Jenny, worried, responds with: "Promise me somethin'. Whatever happens, dont try to be brave. Just run. Just run away."

Cut to the war scene. Forrest is brave! Forrest doesn't just run away! In fact, he runs back into battle many times to save his fellow soldiers, including bubba, which leads to one of the sweetest moments in the film. "If i had known that this would be the last time i spoke to him, i probably woulda thought of somethin' better to say... hey bubba." (awww, best-good friends are great!)

The next time forrest runs into jenny, he is in washington dc receiving the metal of honor. Upon their departure, forrest gives the metal to jenny.

"Jenny, I want you...to have this."
"I cant take your metal, forrest"
"But i got it just by doing what you told me to do."
(now this is the point when i pause and say "wait a minute..." Is it just me or did he actually do the exact opposite of what she told him?)

I'm left baffled everytime.

a definite "elaine" experience

At least once a week, my boss refers to me as the seinfeld character elaine. I think i must have some elaine tendencies. I cant exactly articulate what those are (other than my, if i must say so, exceptionally awkward, and therefore completely dead-on, version of the "elaine dance"). I recently had an experience, though, that i would characterize as "totally elaine".

Coming home from the city to my quiet apartment, i decided to stop by a restaurant to get some take-out. I chose a quaint french place nearby, decided on a salad (a big salad??) and placed my order. The hostess keyed in the order, gave me the total, and i handed her my credit card. "Oh, we actually arent taking credit cards right now." (sigh) I had cash at home, but nothing with me. Rather than heading to an ATM and throwing my money away on those dang ATM fees, i decided to change the order to delivery.

My apartment is about a 7 minute walk from this restaurant. I did my usual power walking and presumed that i would be quite a few minutes ahead of the delivery guy. So i called a friend, chatted outside and then headed into my building's lobby. I quickly noticed a delivery guy speaking to the doorman (never thought i would say i had a doorman!!), but i thought to myself "there is no way that my delivery guy would be here now!" After another couple of minutes, i figured i should check. It was indeed him! He had just left the building, and I caught him just before he was about to jump on his bike and ride away with my dinner. I apologized, which he got the gist of but didnt totally understand because of, what i would soon discover, our language barrier. He spoke NO english.

My cash was in my apt, so i gestured for him to follow me. Once in the apartment, i grabbed my money and handed him the $20. He indicated that he didnt have any change. A delivery guy with no change?!? How can that be? We tried talking to convey our points of view, but since he spoke no english, this conversation was hopeless. I stood there hoping he might give in and say (well, or gesture), "just take the food. It's my mistake that i dont have change, so go ahead and enjoy. You shouldnt be punished for my unpreparedness." No. Didn't happen. So we headed back down to see if the doorman had any change. No luck. But fortunately the guy speaking to the doorman did! He handed me 4 five's, 3 of which i gave to the delivery guy.

My salad cost around $11.50. So in my attempt to avoid the scam of an ATM fee, i spent about $3 more than i would have spent had i given in and paid the fee! (double sigh!) But that's not the end...

As i said "au revoir" to my (actually spanish) delivery guy, i received a call from the french restaurant. "We have a delivery guy there trying to get your food to you. He's been waiting for a long time. What's going on??" I finally got a word in and explained that the food/money exchange had just taken place. The woman sounded very annoyed about the whole situation. I have a strong feeling that my face and apt number will not be leaving their memories anytime soon, which means that my days of enjoying delicious french cuisine are probably over. It was a good run. I did enjoy the "big salad," with the exception of the anchovies.

But like elaine, i may try to beat the system by creating a new apartment number using the trash room across the hall.

thank you dream!

It has been brought to my attention that i have been majorly slacking on my blog the past few weeks.  And with the lingering of my last post, i wanted to make it clear that i am alive and doing quite well, having survived the tick-tock of the clock as it moved me into this "dreaded year"... and to be honest, so far so good!  It's not so bad afterall.  I am embracing this age, taking ahold of it and trying to own it as much as mrs. bedazzled "owned" her tacky sweater (but rest assured, i have no desire to actually own one of those sweaters).  In fact, to my surprise, i recently had a moment of complete thankfulness about being this age.

It was brought on by a dream.  A dream that was brought on by a conversation i had with my coworker and boss which involved me swimming across the hudson from ny to jersey, which i have never done.  Yes, this conversation sounds rather odd and it lasted a good 3-5 minutes! (note references in prior posts to my "crazy" office.)  So that night, i dreamt that i was about to embark on a journey similar to this "hudson-cross," except i am not completely sure that it was in fact the hudson i was crossing.  The water in my dream did have quite a murky look to it, and made me question what i was jumping into and why the heck i was jumping into it.  I'll say this - it certainly wasn't the mediterranean!  So for posting purposes, we'll call it the hudson.  I had a backpack which must have been filled with the necessary "river swim" equipment, and i was saying good-bye to my good friends megan and joel, who were bidding me adieu from the dock.  (M&J, please never allow me to swim in any kind of hudson-like river in real life, let alone travel to jersey! -just a little joke, jersey folks.)  As i was about to make the jump into the water and begin my swim, M&J wished me a happy birthday.  This birthday they were referring to was the one i will have a year from now.  I was turning yet another year older!  With backpack in hand, i jumped... and sunk, rather far down that i found myself panicked that i wouldn't make it to the surface in time to take my next much-needed breath of air.  Feeling more nervous, i picked up the pace to swim to the surface.  This was no easy task since i was being weighed down by my backpack... but i made it to the surface in time! And then i heard scott & todd in the morning blasting from my radio and realized that it had all been a dream.  And for that moment, after having felt like i was even a year older than i am, i was incredibly thankful, and proud, to be my actual, so-called "dreaded" age.

another year is almost here...oh dear!

In honor of my (gulp) birthday being just around the corner, i thought it fitting to pause for a moment and reflect on life and the past year. "It has gone by so fast," as they say. Or in saved by the bell terms, "it seems like only yesterday we started..." Yes, i do get sentimental on these annual momentous occasions. (although, my cat mia isnt letting me get too sentimental, as she is meowing to get my attention so i'll play with her... "in a second, little one") Back to reflecting... What new insights did i have? How did i grow and change? Any "firsts"?? (food poisioning comes to mind! oh, and of course, joining my bloggy bloggy friends in the blogging community)

Truth be told, this is my "dreaded" birthday year. In talking with friends, it seems that many of us have an age which we have defined in our minds as "that age" which will separate us from "the old days" and bring us into "an older stage of life." The actual age is different for everyone and well, most of us are not ready for it when it comes knocking on our door. That's me this year. And tonight, as i try desperately to hold on to my current year, which has suited me well, i know that my only option is to surrender to destiny's knock, open the door graciously, and well, be a good host to this new phase. (glad i tidied up!)

I know that "i'm young," that "i have my whole life ahead of me," that i'll look back at this post in one year, five years, fifty years and smile at how melodramatic i was (and all of those other sayings we hear "the older generation" pass down to us - which we will inevitably pass down to the next generation). But darnet, it's my birthday, and not just any birthday but my "dreaded" birthday, and i'll be how i want to be and say what i want to say! (now how's that for dramatic??)

They say a watched pot never boils... perhaps if i get one of those going, i will be able to beat time at its own game! (or i'll just end up staring at a pot of water for a really, really long time. Not really my idea of birthday fun.)

Fine. I surrender! Bring on the birthday!! :)

walmart update

My college's fight song was introduced during my first week as an incoming freshman. There i stood, along with the other newbies, in elkins auditorium, singing this tune over and over and over again. We sang it at least five times. For most of us, who were all about our new school, ready to create lasting friendships and great memories on this campus, this was a little cheesy, but fun nonetheless. For my much more cynical college friend, who didn't exactly "take to the campus culture," i imagine that this was probably the first moment he questioned his college choice ("group sing-alongs?? what the...??"). :)

The final word in the song is "victory," sung "vic-tor-eeeee!," and the "eeeee!" practically jumps up an entire octave from the preceding note. As we all struggled to hold on to the words and figure out the notes (sheet music would have been helpful), it was virtually impossible to stay on key thus causing the song to end, well, on a bad note. And even to this day, i still haven't figured that note out.

As i have transitioned away from college life, this fight song has stayed with me and on rare occasions, the "vic-tor-eeeee!" sound pops into consciousness. This happened a couple of weeks ago when i heard the news - that walmart had dropped the case against the woman i blogged about on march 29th. Thank goodness! Now, I would be naive if i thought that walmart's change of heart had to do with a recent visit to see the wizard. There were indications that thousands had blogged about and petitioned to boycott walmart as a result of this case. Were those at walmart who changed their minds then most likely looking out for their own interests? Um...yes. But sometimes i believe we have to take what we can get, focus on this woman and her family who have finally been given the justice they deserve, and be excited about that. SO...

My congratulations, well-wishes, and prayers of thankfulness go out to this family!

And here's a real loud "vic-tor-eeeee!" to you!

we didn't start the fire!

Tonight, while watching one of my singer/songwriter friends rock the house (acoustic guitar style), i was nudged by a friend at the table to take a look at the sweater of this sweet senior citizen who arrived midway through the set. (Note: my friend's music is relevant to this generation! The senior crowd was there to see the following performer rock the house - cello style.) This sweater was one that immediately triggered the word "b-dazzled" in my mind. You know, the rhinestones, multiple colors, excessive shine. Her shine was arranged in the shape of three crowns. I looked over and couldn't help but smile. You know when a really posh person can "pull off" something quite atrocious? Well i realized that this senior (and well, most seniors) can pull off this kind of sweater! She rocked it - sweet old lady style! Not many in my circle could pull this off, but she did. I also realized that there will come a day when i too sport the b-dazzle sweater. And i hope to "own it" in the same way this lady did.

Several minutes later, the same friend who pointed out mrs. b-dazzle's sweatshirt indicated to them that a napkin was illuminating from their senior table - fire style! The senior gentleman (mr. fire) looked down at these starting flames quite taken aback. My friend grabbed a glass of water and poured it on the table. The fire was out. (whew!) The three seniors (mrs. b-dazzle, mr. fire, and mrs. oblivious) turned around to our table, thanked my friend, and expressed to us their surprise at this event. "We had no idea!" "We were so focused on the performer, we didn't see the flames!" "We did not see that at all!"

So yes, the greatest generation certainly has wisdom to offer. They have earned their right to wear tacky sweaters and speak out at inappropriate times during church. And i'll be darned if i try to take these rights away from them! (shoot, i'll do all i can to be assured that these rights will still be in place when it's time for me to cash in my birthday candles.) But we, my generation not only didn't start the fire; we helped put the fire out!

the singer/songwriter mentioned in this post is katie arnold. She rocks! (katie arnold style) Check her out at www.myspace.com/katiearnoldmusic.

mamma mia!

Today marks the unofficial fourth birthday of my darling cat, mia! Happy Birthday Sweet One! Why "unofficial?" you may ask. Well, allow me to provide you with the answer...

her story:

Mia spent the first two years (roughly) of her life in the bronx (what, what!!). She was a bronx baby. Grew up on the mean streets. Apparently developed such prodigious street smarts that she was even too much for her adopted sibling to handle! Since she and "mr. how could you not love your adorable sister?!? cat" apparently battled it out more times than their owner would have preferred, the owner made the choice (and clearly adorable, sweet, charming, hilarious had no impact on the decision) to seek out a new home for mia. Said owner was my old roommate's co-worker at the time. So my roommate anna received the mass email looking for those interested in adopting mia. Anna, also a fan of cats, and i considered the possibility of bringing mia into the big city to live with us. After giving it some thought we decided that we would proceed with the adoption! This was about two years ago. When the owner brought mia to us, we asked about mia's birthday. Her response "um, it was sometime around now, two years ago." (mostly helpful information, mostly...but that would have to do.) Thus, mia's unofficial birthday is today!

After the drop-off, mia was frightened and hid under my bed for two days. Attempting to gently coax her out did nothing, so, at the suggestion of my mom, i used the ole' tough love tactic and pulled her out against her will, assuring her that i was nice and that all was well. She quickly made the adjustment after that. (thanks mom!) When anna and i were no longer roommates, it was evident then that i would take mia with me. Mia has been such a joy to have in my life. She's adorable! (to back up this statement, see pics below)

precious!

like any girl, she's very protective of shoes

making my bed is cause for celebration

putting my clothes away is cause for a good afternoon nap

Happy Birthday Mia!!

corporations

When i picked up my friend's copy of Fast Food Nation last year, while cat-sitting, i had no idea that i would be as affected by it as i was. It shocked me! We all are familiar with the nutrition side of the "anti-fast food" argument. Yes, fatty food is bad for me. I get it. That is why i do my best to eat everything in moderation. So when i started reading this book, i was relieved to read (in the intro, i believe) that this would not be the author's focus. He would be tackling topics that effect everyone, not just those who eat fatty foods. I hope to re-read this book and blog on some of Eric Scholler's points from time to time but that will be saved for other days. The primary eye-opener for me, though, was to learn about the way these major corporations have set themselves up to essentially control the world. Frightening!

Last week, I received an email from my cousin (which was forwarded to many of you) about the horrible treatment of a walmart employee. The shortened version of the story is that this woman, who's son recently died in Iraq, was in a car accident eight years ago which left her with severe brain damage. She was awarded $417,000 (after legal fees) to pay for her longterm care. In the fine print of walmart's insurance policy, there is a clause which gives walmart the right to recoup from employees the money they paid towards their employees' medical care. So walmart sued this woman for the $470,000 - and won. This woman is now forced to give basically all that she has to a multi-billion dollar company. The family's attorney appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, but they unfortunately refused to hear the case.

I was horrified to hear this. Yes, walmart has the legal right to collect this money. It was in the insurance policy. But was it ethically right to take this woman's money? No. Absolutely not.

This is walmart's response from the cnn.com article (http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/03/25/walmart.insurance.battle/index.html?iref=newssearch):
"Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley, who called Debbie Shank's case "unbelievably sad," replied in a statement: "Wal-Mart's plan is bound by very specific rules. ... We wish it could be more flexible in Mrs. Shank's case since her circumstances are clearly extraordinary, but this is done out of fairness to all associates who contribute to, and benefit from, the plan.""

This quote exemplifies an aspect of the corporate setup that i find to be very unsettling. Men and women allow themselves, on behalf of their company, to act in extremely unethical ways - but since it's "on behalf of their company," they are able to wash their hands of the situation and take no responsibility for it. These ceo's need to come out from behind the curtain and own the way their "company" is unethically treating others. To hide behind walmart's "plan," like this spokesman did, instead of showing human compassion for a family who has suffered enough, is outrageous. What's even more outrageous, though, is that, in the end, walmart wins.

After hearing about this, I felt compelled to forward my cousin's email, which asked people to reconsider shopping at walmart. That's how i will leave this post as well.

bridges

I watched a feature on the travel channel a few weeks ago about the top 10 bridges in the world. It was fascinating! I found myself hooked after five minutes. They took us all across the world to get a glimpse of these amazing structures. Where in the world would the next stop be? I was on the edge of my seat in anticipation. And i am proud to report that the Brooklyn Bridge made the cut (holla!).

I took special note of one bridge in particular: The Sydney Harbour Bridge. This bridge is the widest longspan bridge in the world, with its eight lanes of traffic. It was the tallest structure in sydney until 1967. "But why take special note of this one?" you may be asking. The answer? The Climb (as the aussie bridge-folk call it). This was the appeal for me - its walkway on top of the bridge. So you can actually climb over it! I love hikes and heights, and i'm always up for a good challenge with a magnificant view as the reward. So when i heard about this bridge, sydney was added to my list of "must-go" places. (Not to mention, places with fun accents always earn extra points!) Another selling point was seeing that this funny guy had made the trek...

The bridge's website, http://www.bridgeclimb.com/, includes a section written for those who suffer from agrophobia. They say that the Climb "has helped thousands overcome their fear of heights." Interesting...

Well, as i read this and then noticed two decks of cards nearby, i could not help but ponder my generation's fear of bridge - the game, that is. Most are aware of my great appreciation for bridge. It is a game i would like to play more often but the problem is that rounding up a group is not easy (unless i venture to the nearest senior center. Perhaps not a bad idea every once in a while, but don't know how ready i am to fully embrace "the senior life" in my mid-20's.) Therefore, this is where i shall make an unabashed plea to my generation.

This game is amazing!
It's both enjoyable and challening.
It's not as difficult to learn as many of us were raised to believe.
It wasnt always a "grandparents-only" game - they were youths once too! (and part of a freaking cool generation if you ask me.)
For those gamblers out there, you may not know that it was common to bet on bridge games. (and my grandma won her quarters fair and square)

But sadly, bridge seems to be fading fast. [Insert shocking statistics] It served a generation well for many, many years, and i believe that it can do the same for us. So let's "bridge the gap" between the generations and pick up this game!

As you're walking or driving around today, pondering life perhaps, I encourage you to take a moment and give bridges some thought. Plan your next getaway to sydney or call your grandma to talk strategy. ("How did you win those quarters??")

Consider the possibilities.

office pranks

In a city that is fueled by mega financial companies and cut-throat corporations looking for their next million, my little office is anything but. In fact, this little office of mine is something that i imagine i will be blogging about rather frequently since loads of crazy schenanagans take place there. (Costume Friday, for example, is a weekly event. Sweatshirt day is tomorrow. My London, Fall 2000 sweatshirt will have to do the trick.)

Anyways, something my coworkers and i have not ventured into is the joyful bliss of "the office prank." You know, the old "stapler in jello" trick, or the "quarters in the phone" routine. (Yes, The Office provides many a good idea!) Well today, the office prank ship set sail and made a nice first showing. It was motivated by one of my coworkers and i being left in the office during lunchtime while most others were out to lunch on the company's dime. I make it sound like we were the two misfits who had to face our punishment or like we were "the young ones" who haven't reached the same level of adulthood as the others. Not the case. There actually was a very legitimate reason for leaving us behind during this particular lunch. Nonetheless, we bid adieu to those heading out to enjoy a scrumptious meal (for free!), while heating up our leftover Easter dinner (him) and munching on the second half of our mediocre wrap (me). And frankly, we felt the (totally exaggerated, we know) injustice of the situation! So we started brainstorming possible office pranks. We tried taping the chairs to the floor. No good. Our test chair didn't stick well and it would take up too much tape (we try not to be wasteful at the Midpoint/Beaufort office). We considered other alternatives, but after a few minutes decided to utilize google.com. "Office pranks" was the search term.

After reading through a few options, we settled on a simple yet effective prank. In fact, it's one that i highly recommend! It involves a small post-it and a computer mouse (i like that i felt the need to specify "computer"). Place the post-it on the bottom of the mouse. This causes the track-ball to be ineffective and the mouse cursor does not move. This is what Kevin and I did to the mice (mouses?) of all four lunch-goers (including one of the company's VPs). On each post-it, we wrote "and this is why you always bring kevin and laurie to lunch." When they returned, we got the reactions we had hoped for! Slight confusion for a short amount of time, followed by a good laugh...

(Had i been working at one of those mega financial companies, i may have had to add "followed by a good firing, followed by a good eviction from my penthouse apartment, followed by a good tarnishing of my reputation." Whew, glad that wasn't the case! I love my job!)

a little bit of blog

This was my first choice for a blog name. I thought it was catchy and clever, not to mention one of my favorite people in the whole world suggested it. But alas, feeling very much like Forrest Gump on a school bus, it was "taken." I think the name i have settled on, though, will be quite suitable. I hope for this to be a fun, enjoyable, contemplative, and anti-corporation filled blog for everyone. Hopefully this post will not be the first and last!

I've never thought of myself as someone to follow the crowd (follow that bird, maybe). Until now. Some of my closest friends now have blogs. I have known about "blogging" for quite some time, but never considered starting my own...until "everyone started doing it." It's as if it's become the cool thing to do and now i'm wondering "am i one to be enticed by the allure of being part of the cool crowd?" Maybe. However (and more likely) perhaps i have really appreciated hearing about these friends' lives and thoughts, and have wanted to provide for them the same...NYC style! So blog world, my little life and etc. will now join you!