[mis]adventures of yvette

Kulfi, Dal, Biryani - YUM!

2011-03-22T08:21:00.002Z

Indian food is divine. There are certainly some boring dishes I've tried and things I just didn't like, but what I've liked, I've loved. I remember loving the food when I was here way back in 2000, and it hasn't disappointed in the Andra Pradesh even though the food's different than that in Tamil Nadu.

Biryani is a Hyderabad staple. Apparently the city is known for it, and my oh my, is it good. Think of super long spicey marinated chicken with rice and spice and yogurt to cool it off occasionally. It's a little bit of heaven. I knew I liked biryani before I came, but having sampled "so so", "ok", "good" and "best" biryani (cause one must do a sampling of different preparations of the city's famous dish), I can seriously say that I love biryani. I'm not sure I appreciated the subtleties in the rankings that were provided by the locals giving me recommendations or feedback, but the difference between "so so" biryani and "best" biryani was noticeable even to my amateur palette. Basically so so was super spicy but without as much flavor as best which was both super spicy and super flavorful.

I've learned that I love dal anything. Dal = lentils. Lentils are not prepared well in most forms I've known before other than lentil soup. But dal whatever is good here. Nomnom.

And finally, there's my newfound love of cardamom. I was trying to figure out why I loved a few of the Indian desserts more than others, and then it dawned on me that the common ingredient was cardamom. But what really sold me on this, was the Indian equivalent of ice cream known as "Kulfi". Kulfi is a super custardy frozen dessert. It has many flavors but the "default" flavor is a nutty, cardamom-y, milky delicious confection. I vowed on facebook to make some desserts featuring cardamom when I get back to the USA, and my memories of Kulfi will hold me to this. I'm an addict. Thank god I didn't find it till the very end of the trip when the team here took me for Kulfi.

All in all, I realize my spice tolerance has gotten better. I can handle spicier foods than I thought I could and like them. But I also think that Indians really balance hot spice and flavor spice well. The food has been a real treat this visit.

NOM YUM YAY!

Holi & How to Carry a Flat Screen on Your Motorcycle

2011-03-19T12:38:00.004Z

Saturday I spent the day riding around touring Hyderabad with my "little" driver Giri. (Andrea asked me "Why little?" and he really is little - he's my height and is a total stick.) Giri was a great tourguide - he started off a bit hesitant to give me facts and point out things, but when he did, I kept asking questions or I'd ask him what something I saw was. Eventually, he figured out I wanted to see stuff - any stuff - just not shopping.

In all, I did see stuff - tourist attractions, historical monuments, temples, mosques and life happening.

I started off my day with Hyderabad's Salar Jung Museum. After paying the "foreigner" fee (which most places here have - 150 rupees for foreigners instead of 5 rupees for Indians) I wandered the museum. It was actually a rather nice museum. You have to consider that a lot of Indian history and artifacts has been carted off by other cultures or has been destroyed. It's only recently (think not even the whole past century) that they've started caring for their historical objects. And as such - the Salar Jung Museum was dang impressive. The painting styles of the kings' portraits were less detail oriented than their European counterparts. The relics and remains were fascinating and they had a huge collection. However, my favorite room was the one with the fabrics and my favorite piece was the Veiled Rebecca. The Veiled Rebecca statue was unbelievable. The pictures I've found online don't do justice to how fabric-like the veils are and the detail in that statue. I was dumbfounded. If you have an opportunity to see one of the versions of the Veiled Rebecca, do.

From there I went to Charminar, but seeing as I don't like heights I opted to not climb it - especially since it was over 100F and stuffy and ridiculously overcrowded. Frankly, the outside was prettier anyways. Holi was running rampant in that part of the city (eventhough it was technically the day before Holi) so the market was packed with tourists and everything was totally crazy. It's a very impressive sight none the less, but the area was enough to overwhelm the senses.

Next off to the less densely packed Chowmohalla Palace which is actually still used for functions, but much of it is starting to crumble. They've only recently refinished it so it truly shows you how things were let to fall apart and be stolen from. They've redone most of the majestic palace rooms into museum rooms talking about the history of the kings of Hyderabad as well as the general history of Hyderabad. Interesting stop.

We drove by a few things I wasn't interested in going "to" because frankly, the view from the car was better than the view from the bottom - such as the massive Buddha statue in the middle of the lake Hussain Sugar. I also just did a drive by of Mecca Masjid since I wasn't in the proper attire to visit a mosque and there was no way I was putting on more clothes since I was dying of heat.

We finally ended the day at Birla Mandir. It's a great Hindu shrine carved out of all marble and situated in and among some rocks on the top of a hill in Hyderabad. I had no idea Hyderabad was so hilly.

All in all, my tourism of Hyderabad was successful. In one day, I made it to every sight on the Hyderabad must see brochure I found - except for "Snow World" (seriously) and Golconda Fort (which I ended up seeing Monday with the team I'm working with here anyways!)

Through writing all of this, I'm not getting to the meat of why I love travel. I honestly do enjoy seeing the history, culture and art of a place, but it's not what fascinates me and what I think about afterwards. It's more of a foundation so I can understand the life that's happening all around me. And life really happens in Hyderabad...

Driving along random side streets in Old Town Hyderabad the walls were painted with pretty pictures of random stuff - from Hindu gods, to Gandhi, to flowers, to other colorful patterns. Along the top there was a border of about a foot tall repeating reminders to the locals. Things like "No Make Urine" jumped out, blending hygeine into a very prominent display and also reminding me that's why the historical areas don't have the same look of upkeep as their counterparts in America (along with being way older) or even Europe.

I mentioned Holi - and Holi was in full swing this past weekend. Holi is sometimes referred to as the Festival of Colors and is a celebration of the start of spring. It stems from the Hindu faith. Indians celebrate it by dousing each other in colors - primarily powdered colors like super neon pink. Many of these colors end up leaving permanent stains on your clothes, and you can see it on people's hands and in their hair for days afterwards. Driving through the streets, you'd see pockets of people "playing Holi" - chasing each other with handfuls of powder, already covered in splotches of pink, green and orange. It was ridiculous and looked so fun - but alas, I didn't figure out a way I could "play Holi" myself since I didn't know anyone who was participating in the festival.

The most ridiculous semi-Holi related sight I've seen, and a traffic miracle (given traffic in India, it takes a lot to surprise me) was the duo on the motorcycle. Speeding down the road, we passed two guys on a motorcycle. Both were barefoot. Helmets are never worn here - it's "too hot". And both were covered from head to toe in Holi colors. I think that alone wouldn't have shocked me - I knew it was Holi; barefoot and helmetless is pretty darn normal for motorcycle riders here; and traffic always entertains me. But this duo managed to find a way to stand out to me. Sandwiched between them, they had a brand new Samsung 40" flat screen TV in a box. I failed at snapping a picture in time, because my jaw just dropped. I've seen odd things carried in the little motorized yellow rickshaws, on mopeds, motorcycles and bikes here (think super long 2x4s, a bunch of 6 grocery bags hanging off the side, etc). But I did not expect to see a very expensive new piece of large electronics squished between two guys on a motorcycle who were colored pink. A favorite moment of mine.

There's more life that I see going on around me, but nothing else super specific to that Saturday and this post is getting awfully wordy. So I'll write more about the food and other observations later.

Namaste!

Working in India

2011-03-17T07:57:00.002Z

The year was 2000 and I was in India for 5 days - specifically visiting Chennai, Kancheepuram, and Mahabalipuram. I was but a naive student traveling with friends and living life fully. I thought I'd learned something about the culture, but not nearly as much as I know now.

The year is now 2011. 11 years of education, work and cultural awareness later and I'm back in India. This time I'm in Hyderabad for 10 days to work.

The experiences are vastly different - because I'm different, the country's different, and I'm visiting different areas.

In the past 11 years I've tried a lot of (bastardized in the US) Indian food from many regions of India, and grown to love much of it. I've worked with and become friends with Indians from India and Indians from America which has led to random conversations about norms, holidays, traditions, culture and the country. I've become more confident and outspoken too. So I'm looking at a different part of this huge country with different eyes.

I still see some things I remember - traffic that would make a New Yorker cry, COLOR everywhere, and many contrasts of life. The smiling little girl I met in 2000 outside Mahabalipuram is reflected outside my posh-apartment window in the happiness that is a community of metal huts.

I'm staying right next to the offices in a corporate apartment that's massive. It's the 4 bed, 4 bath penthouse apartment with a view. The living room alone is bigger than my first Seattle apartment. It really makes me want to throw a party and have my friends over and watch Ceri slide around on the stone floors. The apartment comes with service beyond your wildest dreams - a book to write down food requests to be filled the next day, daily linen service, laundry service, a driver whenever I want, and a cook for breakfast and dinner.

Yet looking outside my window, I see the contrast - that of finished beautiful office buildings mixed with vacant lots and half finished apartment buildings. The road I walk on to work would be a 4 lane road in the US, but here it's 4 lanes of chaos where most people go in the proper direction if it's convenient and it's filled with pedestrians, bikes, rickshaws and cars.

Embracing the contrasts is part of the culture shock. The security guard was shocked that I'd walked to the office eventhough it was a mere 2 blocks from the apartment - only because I walked in traffic like everyone else. My coworkers are shocked by my love of spice, eventhough I can't take it as hot as some of them.

And this is why I love to travel, to visit and see things that are so different and so mundane... like the head bobble that replaces the nod, the direct eye contact without shame of staring at the blonde girl with red skin on the road, and the shock of being genuinely thanked with a smile for providing me with service.

Ceri Antics: I broke my puppy's sit

2011-01-13T04:32:00.003Z

Ceri has been with me for almost 3 months now. In that time I've laughed a lot and cried a little because of Miss Ceri. I'm smitten, in love and enamoured with my puppy.

We do a few things in our time together - snuggle, train, go potty and play. However, with me being pretty sick these past few weeks and my lungs hatting more than bare minimum movement, I'd been skipping training like a bad puppy mamma. Little bits here and there, but she was way ahead of the curve for a 4 month old so I figured she'd be back to norm for her age when I got healthy.

Tonight was the first night we put in a full training session - we went back to basics to reestablish the clicker. And y'know what - my puppy's sit is broken. She was cycling trying to remember the words. It was absolutely hysterical. She eventually remembered sit, but for me it's funny cause she does it on command without training time and without treats all the time for me in our everyday getting along - like when I put the harness on, at the front door, and all sorts of other times. But that clicker came out and Miss Puppy could not remember what sit meant for the life of her. I was doing it just to remind her that clicker means food which she obviously remembered with so much excitement her brain switched off.

So, we're back to basics. She's got a pretty good vocabulary: Ceri, sit, down, off, touch, leave it, drop it, backup, dance, stay, go... Some are way better than others; but some are also super hard when you're a squirmy 5 month old puppy!! I mean, c'mon - I'm making her stay 4 feet away from me when I put a big pile of kibble on the floor and she can't move till I tell her "go". That's a good puppy so when she misfires, we just do it again.

And most importantly - I'm having fun. Whether my puppy nails every "backup" and "stay" or forgets how to "sit" or "touch" - she makes me laugh and grin. And then it's time to snuggle on the couch - the trick she taught herself that she's most proud of.

Ceri Antics: Tug of War with Mr Couch

2010-11-19T08:57:00.004Z

Meet my puppy. She's now a 3 month old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel named Ceri. She's 3.5 lbs of squirm, dracula teeth, the cutest fluffy ears and puppy facials.

Every other day she does something new that makes me laugh so hard I have to sit down or fear for my bladder control.

And for this reason, it's time I share some puppy antics hilarity with the blogosphere.

Ceri and I just came in to go to bed. As is common she likes to carry her leash upstairs for me (don't ask how we started this but it makes her prance).

Today when we got up the first flight of stairs into the living room she dropped the leash to chase something under the couch. She then proceeded to follow me up to the 3rd floor by grabbing her leash.

However, Mr Couch decided go get her back for trying to gnaw on him. Mr Couch had his big leg with Ceri's leash wrapped around it. Ceri was still in her harness with the leash attached and was trying to pick up the handle end so she wouldn't get it snagged and could carry it to me. Mr Couch had other plans and held that leash in place. This in effect meant Ceri played tug of war with herself.

She was so confused because I was not on the other end of that leash, but there it was showing resistance.

Good job Mr Couch - thank you for making me laugh at Ceri.

No Ceri's or Couches were harmed in the making of this antic. Ceri is now out of her harness and her leash is put away and she's starting to doze off in her crate.

My Bucket List

2010-01-22T19:15:00.016Z

I'm approaching the big THREE-ZERO this March and somehow this makes me think of the things I've done and want to do. I'm generally very good about going for my dreams even if they're totally nutty. Most of them are travel related - things I want to see or exeperience - some are life related... A lot of this list is more recent - aka post-college - however there are a few distinct memories from childhood of things I was convinced I must do, and since I've decided they were worth it. Let's see what's on my bucket list and what I've done....

From Childhood:

Undone	Done
Learn to figure skate (when I was 7 it was become a pro-figure skater; it's been downgraded)	Swim with dolphins - April 2010 Visit the Galapagos and see all it has to offer - June 2009 Visit the Grand Canyon - July 2005

General Travel (all the go-to's include touring the areas in general):

Undone	Done
Go to Australia Go to Morocco Go to Madagascar Visit all 50 states Go to Barcelona Go to Scotland Go to New Zealand Go to Germany Go to Switzerland Go to Greece Go to Thailand Go to Singapore Go to Tokyo Go to Turkey See the Pyramids Visit the Taj Mahal Go to Banff Go to Mt St Helens Visit Oregon Wine Country Visit California Wine Country Go to Patagonia Go to Argentina	See the Great Wall of China - October 2000 Go to Spain - July 1995 Go to Paris - July 2006 Go to London - July 2006 Go to Japan - September 2000 Go to New Orleans - June 2004 Go to Glacier Park - Long ago in a galaxy known as my 2 year old brain (aka 1982); want a repeat Go to Mt Rainier - October 2006 for the first time; then other times after that Go to Yellowstone Park - Long ago in a galaxy known as my 4 year old brain (aka 1984); want a repeat Visit San Francisco - August 2009 Visit Boulder, CO - March 2003 Visit Washington Wine Country - September 2007 Go on a safari in Africa - November 2000 Go to Ireland - I'm an overachiever since I've been lots of times starting in May 2006 with living there

Undone

Done

Go to Australia
Go to Morocco
Go to Madagascar
Visit all 50 states
Go to Barcelona
Go to Scotland
Go to New Zealand
Go to Germany
Go to Switzerland
Go to Greece
Go to Thailand
Go to Singapore
Go to Tokyo
Go to Turkey
See the Pyramids
Visit the Taj Mahal
Go to Banff
Go to Mt St Helens
Visit Oregon Wine Country
Visit California Wine Country
Go to Patagonia
Go to Argentina

See the Great Wall of China - October 2000
Go to Spain - July 1995
Go to Paris - July 2006
Go to London - July 2006
Go to Japan - September 2000
Go to New Orleans - June 2004
Go to Glacier Park - Long ago in a galaxy known as my 2 year old brain (aka 1982); want a repeat
Go to Mt Rainier - October 2006 for the first time; then other times after that
Go to Yellowstone Park - Long ago in a galaxy known as my 4 year old brain (aka 1984); want a repeat
Visit San Francisco - August 2009
Visit Boulder, CO - March 2003
Visit Washington Wine Country - September 2007
Go on a safari in Africa - November 2000
Go to Ireland - I'm an overachiever since I've been lots of times starting in May 2006 with living there

Events to Experience:

Undone	Done
Attend the US Open (tennis) Attend the Olympics in the USA Attend Carnivale in Brazil Take a bike tour of some wine country Throw a suprise party for someone Drive across the USA Hug a panda Hug a koala Ski in Montana	Attend Wimbledon - July 2006 (Agassi's last Wimbledon - and I was there for his last match....) Attend a bullfight - July 1995 Ski at Whistler - First time in March 2006, then a bunch of times after Ski in Colorado - March 2003 Attend the Olympics in a foreign country - February 2010 @ Vancouver for 2 Women's Ice Hockey matches and Women's Curling USA v Canada

Life Learning and Experiences:

Undone	Done
Get a Masters Degree Learn to surf Take a wine tasting class Own a german shepherd Own a house with a hot tub (bonus points for at the same time as any doggie)	Learn to kayak - White water in September 1998; sea in June 2005 and I'm not good at either Go white water rafting - September 2007 Go camping (Girl Scouts doesn't count) - September 1998 Learn to play tennis - Around the summer of 1987 although I'd like to take classes again Get a Bachelors Degree - June 2002 Own a house - March 2008

The Overnight Walk!

2009-06-29T20:01:00.003+01:00

I did it. I walked The Overnight Walk for the AFSP. http://www.theovernight.org/fundraising/yvette

It was an experience. I feel like a total champ for doing it and it's still kinda unbelievable. To quote a friend's message to me on Twitter "EPIC WIN" and I totally agree.

I flew into Chicago Friday night and met up with Carrie and Laura at the hotel around midnight as they were getting ready to go to bed. Being the person on west coast time, I was the lucky one - they were the tired ones.

We slept pretty well. I shared a bed with Laura - it was a bed that ate humans and made them into a sinkhole for the next victim. We called it the butt-trough since it created a nice divit right there. It was impossible to get out of and you definitely were made to snuggle by the bed even in the room w/o air conditioning - not so nice.

We didn't do much Saturday day time since we knew we'd have to walk walk walk our little tushes off that night. We got food and watched crappy TV and packed and prepped. Eventually we went over to Soldier's Field to get ready for the walk.

It was in the upper 80s and hot hot hot. I was carrying a rainjacket, hydration system and another layer that went unused. There were people lying in the grass, sitting around, checking in and talking and crying. Nearly all of us wore colored beads where each bead color recognized our connection to the walk and reason for participating - supporting the cause, struggling personally, loss of a friend, loss of a parent, loss of a spouse, loss of a sibling, loss of a child All were represented and sometimes in heartbreaking combinations.

We checked in, got our beads and ate our dinner watching the people and chatting. We're a bit twisted so there was much laughter from our corner And a bit of swearing and anger directed at our lost friend.

Then opening ceremony happened which was nice - just enough talking to get you ready to walk without enough to bore you. I missed some of the speeches though looking over at a group of people wearing a shirt with 4 different lost loved ones names on them - one lost as recently as June 11, 2009. Whoa.

Then we set out for our traipse around the city. We started by walking the waterfront area which was very pretty up to the pier. They had rest stops for porta-potties and water about every 3 miles. There were also snack breaks and a midnight "dinner" of sandwiches for us along the route. At first we were all bunched up and going so slow, wondering how we'd ever hit the 3mph pace. Carrie, Laura and I were determined though and we stuck together.

There were lots of groups walking together - families and friends. There were also a lot of solo walkers. After the first 3 miles I felt great - still going. Then the rain started - and it pretty much lasted the rest of the night (other than the last 2-3 miles). That wasn't horrid since it was so hot, but it wasn't what I was really looking for either. We kept on walking. We eventually turned off from the waterfront path and went through some parks over to the Chicago zoo. By this point Carrie's knees were starting to have a mind of their own and get a little funky. We kept walking. Walking walking walking. I made a really bad and really uncreative song about walking. They made me stop singing!

A few rest stops later Carrie was really sore and her knees were going to mush - literally - I felt them. We kept walking. The last mile before the dinner point, Carrie and Laura caught a van and I kept walking. I met up with a group - it was a solo walker, Amy from Chicago, and 2 of her friends who had joined her for a few miles. We walked, shared stories and laughed. Amy had lost her brother in November 2008. We got to dinner and I re-found Carrie and Laura, but lost Amy and crew.

Carrie decided to get back out and walk - she's as stubborn as I am! So walk we did. Laura by this point was also unable to truly tie one of her shoes since for no apparent reason (she trained better than I did by a lot!!) her foot was swollen and irritated. About midway through this 3 mile leg, there was suffering going on. I was a very determined shuttle van catcher making a committed sad walker face and signal. Y'see, not only did they have the greatest volunteers directing us through intersections and manning the rest stops, they also had volunteers in sweep vans picking up injured, exhausted or otherwise walkers. There were "unhappy walker" symbols to make to these vans. I made a very serious sad walker face to grab a van for us and we hopped in. Carrie's knees were no longer truly knees - at least the one I felt/squished. Thank god for great medical volunteers and sweeper vans.

We'd seen lots of dehydration victims along the way and were constantly being encouraged to hydrate. We did.

Laura and I got out at the next stop and decided to walk through downtown Chicago, letting Carrie catch the bus she'd take back to Soldier's Field to meet us later. I happened to see Amy again, this time without friends, so Laura and I adopted her. We picked up another of Amy's random Chicago-an friends around 2am in the middle of downtown Chicago - fantastic. At the final rest stop I lost Laura but I was stubborn. I was exhausted, well aware I'd be sore, but dammit - it was 2:45am and I was going to finish. Yes I was. So Amy, myself and Amy's friend (also a Carrie) set out walking... A little over 3 miles to Soldier's Field and we were routed back out to the waterfront. There was the most beautiful view of Chicago behind us, but my muscle control at this point was such that where-ever my head looked, my body turned. Aka, I knew I'd better not sit down or I wasn't going to get up and keep walking. Plod plod plod.

Finally, we heard cheering in the distance. Amy's girlfriend found us on the path just about 3/4 of a mile from Soldier's Field to encourage us to keep going - we were almost there. Holy hell I needed the cheering and encouragement of the volunteers to keep going, I needed to meet Nancy (Amy's girlfriend) who told us how close we were.

And then we saw the path into Soldier's Field. It was lit with luminary bags - white paper bags that we'd all gotten to decorate as memorials before the walk. I had 3 - one dedicated to Susan, one dedicated to my cousin Dustin, and one dedicated to all the families and friends who'd lost people but weren't there with us encouraging life in the middle of a random Saturday night. I made it I walked 16-18 miles (not sure how much I rode the van for - probably about a mile making my total 17 miles). We left Soldier's field at 7:30pm and I made it back in just before 4am. I smelled rank and I hugged everyone in sight.

It was a crazy experience. I'll do it again next year (minus the over hydration (see my previous post) that I experienced yesterday post walk.

We saw so many people all going through loss. We saw so many people cheering us on. We were all cheering for those left behind to survive and help other people not commit suicide.

We walked through quiet neighborhoods, beautiful waterfronts, the midst of downtown, old town drunkenville, parks. We put up with the length, rain, overly hot and humid weather and oncoming bike traffic. We did it - everyone. There were people of all ages and fitness levels walking. I saw a woman leave the walk only a few miles in - she was really old - definitely grandma aged. She started the walk not knowing how far she'd get just walking for the experience of it - and the pride of knowing she'd raised money for the AFSP to help educate about suicide. We saw walkers at the end who'd finished at 1am (no clue how - so not me!). It wasn't a race, it was a steady plod. a) I couldn't race 1 mile let alone 18 and b) it was the friggin' middle of the night!

I tweeted my experience on Facebook and Twitter.

The silliest quote of the night was from Carrie. "I'm wearing plastic, he's drunk. Who's having the better night?"

I can't put most of what I felt into words. Just know that it was worth it to me. It was so worth it I look forward to fundraising and walking again.

Even the fundraising experience was priceless - mostly because of all the emails you guys sent me. The encouragement and support had me in tears so often - made me feel like a truly loved sap.

Thank you everyone. For your love, your support, your understanding, your donations, your cheerleader skills when I was training or just a few days ago when I was tweeting the walk away.

Much love!
Yvette

Yvette "likes" weird sicknesses

2009-06-29T19:38:00.002+01:00

So since I apparently "like" (only in the sense of have frequently) weird illnesses, maladies and plagues, my body decided to give me another one. I mean finding out about mild lactose intolerance the "hard way", then being told I had swine flu when it was just good ol' flu wasn't enough for the past month. I mean going to the Galapagos with sunburn in the midst of that and elevation sickness weren't enough. No no no...

So I'm the girl who's stubborn and only 1 week after my 103 fever I flew to Chicago to participate in my walk thingy - the Overnight Walk benefitting the AFSP. I walked the whole damn thing (see my next post which will come shortly after this about that experience). I drank and porta-pottied my way through Chicago in the middle of the night to stay hydrated in the 70-86F weather.

There's my propensity for dehydration when I travel or exercise since I tend to over-caffenate and under-water myself. I was hyper concious of this taking on lots of Gatorade and a moderate amount of water during the walk. I didn't think I was drinking when I wasn't thirsty, but apparently...

I WAS!

After walking the 18 miles, I was exhaaauuuussted. I got done around 4am and we promptly went back to the hotel to crash. I smelled nearly as bad as my swimsuit from the Galapagos (see Confessions of a Skanktastic Swimsuit for context) so I claimed a shower. I climbed into bed around 5am and suddenly - without warning - realized I felt like crap and a few more fundamentally vulgar words. I was shivering madly, covered in a sheet and a blanket (considering the night before it was only a sheet and I was hot, that was a lot). I apparently was also whimpering periodically since Laura asked me what was wrong Head to toe in goosebumps I finally gave up and layered the down comforter across myself multiple times so as to not overheat Laura. I finally fell asleep for an hour.

I woke up sweaty and overheating - no surprise since I had the blanket on. I felt feverish and nauseated. I didn't wanna drink. I was shaking uncontrollably, weak and dizzy. After Laura got me sitting up and ice packed down, I finally thought "hospital time" so asked if I should go and they both emphatically agreed. At 7am I was in the ambulance on my way 3 blocks away to a fine Chicago ER. Carrie and Laura walked to meet me.. they WALKED after the night we had. I love them too!

So we get there and I was confused - I kept thinking I was dehydrated because I had all the symptoms... There was just one problem. I knew I'd consumed a metric ton of gatorade and water. Like holy hydration due to paranoia. But it felt like dehydration. Confused, naucous, whimpering, wanting to die rather than sit through that I got into the ER (with a very cute dr and a frazzled nurse) and eventually found out after being IVed and sitting around with Laura lying on the floor that I was OVER hydrated.

Overhydration is when you thin your blood out with too much liquid - especially water. So your blood levels get off whack for transporting oxygen On top of that your sodium level goes WAY down which causes an imbalance in cell osmosis since your cells start trying to re-sodium your blood stream etc to make up for your low sodium levels. It's a lot easier to treat than dehydration (eat salt and don't drink water or any fluid that doesn't contain salt, rather than a rehydration IV), however it feels vastly similar in symptoms.

Yup, I overhydrated. I still laugh and think it sounds ridiculous. I also know I was an idiot to think I was dehydrated, but whatever.

The hospital fed me saltines and told me to go eat potato chips all day and 24 hrs without water (if I needed to decotton my mouth I could swish and spit with water).

I'm finally off my water restriction and onto a mild water restriction where I'm supposed to drink as little as possible and stick to things like Gatorade as much as possible (Gatorade has electolytes like sodium).

So yeah, the sad thing about this is going to the ER and feeling like I'd rather die than sit through the way my body felt (ironic after a charity walk for suicide prevention - trust me, irony recognized), well, that entire fiasco made me miss my flight to NY yesterday. When I went to reschedule I had the realization that the rest the dr recommended was also probably a good thing and not something I was likely to get if I went running off to work and play hard in NY and then traipsing up into New England. So I'm missing my friends bigtime and wishing I could spend time with my peeps, but instead I'm in the Chicago airport on my way back to Seattle. Y'see, the cost of the flight change was reasonable for flying back to Seattle. It would've more than doubled my flight cost to do NY & VT. So that trip wasn't meant to be and I'll be visiting peeps at a later date for some good ol' friend time. I'm a sad Yvette in that I get ridiculous illnesses however I'm also starting to feel more human so that's probably good.

Sociology of Spanglish Charades

2009-06-23T08:34:00.003+01:00

It's been over 12 years since I last spoke Spanish. I don't count my holas in Cancun a few years ago at all - that place is annexed by tourism to English speakers.

My 2 weeks in Ecuador were filled with my atrocious Spanish. Every time someone would speak to me in Spanish I'd understand what they said and then on top of clamming up when trying to respond I just couldn't remember the right words. My vocabulary has gone to hell and hearing a word I'd remember what it meant but trying to pull that same word out of my brain was utterly futile. It was a very humbling experience; it was a very fun experience. It was insanely frustrating to my perfectionist side, embarrassing a lot of the time, slow, awkward, entertaining and a whole other gamut of emotions when trying to communicate.

Every Ecuadorian I talked to though was the most gracious person dealing with me - the bumbling American tourist who could partially butcher their language. They spoke slowly, repeated things, corrected my Spanish with the most manners ever and encouraged me more than anyone's ever encouraged me - to talk and learn their language. It was incredible - it was like they embraced me because they could tell me many many things and they wanted me to talk too.

I avoided speaking as much as possible. Except I spoke daily because it was just the way to get by - I found myself the translator so many times - most of the time doing more translating into English than Spanish, but sometimes just asking a simple question in Spanish. And sometimes I was translating for complete strangers in the hacienda or in the market.

I think the most amazing day of Spanish for me was when I went out in the Imbaburra Province with my bilingual guide Hans who had the most amazing grasp of English of any of the Ecuadorians I spoke to. He found out within 15 minutes of meeting me I understood him when he spoke Spanish so the entire day was an immersion in Spanish for me. It was probably one of the most amazing tours I've ever been on and that was no little part of it - the fact he was so warm, so inviting me into his culture, his community, his language - that made the day sparkle.

Then there were the other experiences I had speaking Spanish - and by other I don't mean bad, I mean utterly and totally hysterical. These were times that all put together rival the skanktastic swimsuit I wrote about last night....

On the ship my experience with Spanish was vastly different than when I was in the Andes. I wasn't the lone English speaker surrounded by Spanish. I got to speak English 90% of the time. However the only person in the "crew" who spoke English more than a few choice words (ie - shark, sealion, boat) was the national park guide - the other 7 crew members spoke Spanglish - Spanish with a smattering of English. They did it to varying degrees, some speaking at you regardless of if you understood it and others being very quiet.

I think of all the English speaking tourists on the ship, I probably understood the most. I know some of my shipmates were at varying states of learning Spanish, but I was talking to the crew at times. And my oh my - the crew was a cast of characters. Other than the pain-in-the-ass but really smart and a great storyteller national park guide, we had 7 other crew members - 1 woman in the entire group and the rest men. There were a few that stood out and come to the forefront of my story now because of my interactions with them.

So first of all I'll introduce Carlos the Engineer. Carlos dealt with all the mechanical and electrical woes of the ship. He also passed out life jackets, made sure we got in and out of the dingies safely, went snorkeling with us one day, spoke no English, helped Carlos the bartender / assistant captain get me flippers, hugged everyone on the ship, and talked at you in Spanish with tons of charades going on regardless of how much or how little you understood. He'd beam at me every time I went by to refill my water bottle cause I'd stop and have a 2 min convo in Spanish with him and he got to teach me some new words (which I won't write here cause I can't spell 'em - I learned sealion, snorkel, cactus, mask, flippers, dingy and a few others).

The second person to be introduced is Carlos the assistant captain who we saw in the role of bartender and dingy driver more than anything else. Carlos was on the younger side of our crew and he was really quiet. He'd stand at the bar grinning every day during happy hour, he'd monkey around the ship getting bananas down for banana pina coladas, he drove the dingy like a madman (his was the dingy to be in - so much faster than Gallos), and he only ever got really excited about the soccer game that happened when we were on our tour - he talked to me about that for quite a while when I had to ice my ankle after a snorkeling flipper stuck under rock incident.

Thirdly I'll introduce the least known character who provides the comic relief - Johan. Yes, like Hans I met an Ecuadorian named Johan. He was one of our cooks and we really never saw him other than at snack time when he'd give us our food / drink like little elementary school kids. He spoke less English than both Carloses combined and was very quiet - generally in the kitchen.

Finally, for names sake, our guide was Luis who spoke English fluently and was a pain in the tookus, but had the ability to be rather entertaining too. He also liked to try to get people to dance during happy hour. As my last post shows, I gave in right away since I'm a sucker for dancing.

So with this cast of characters in mind, my last 48 hrs on the ship progressed into what could only be described as the oddest set of occurrences I never expected on my vacation to the Galapagos.

Ecuadorian men are fans of the women and like the bad stereotype of the Latin man, just go with that image for a bit - but place it on the characters I've given you the briefest description of.

Now, on the last full day in the Galapagos, with only one night left on the boat, I'm walking along the beach relaxing, looking at sealions and mocking birds, enjoying the sun since I knew I had enough sunblock on. Luis is walking with me. All of a sudden this conversation occurred (much to my shock as Luis and I had a tenuous truce after our early snorkeling fiasco which I don't plan to write about here):
Luis: I have a question for you. Just one question. Hear me out.
Me: ooookay......
Luis: Do you like the crew?
Me: Yes, they're all really nice and helpful.
Luis: Do you like one person better than the rest?
Me: Nooo... They're all really nice. They're good people.
Luis: Are you sure there isn't just one?
Me: Yes, Luis, I'm sure.
Luis: I'm not so sure... but you're sure?
Me: They're all nice but there isn't one I like better. I promise...

At that point I'm holding back the peels of laughter that just want to emanate from my body. Am I back in elementary / middle school - seriously? Am I 12 again? Really? Did that pre-teen conversation just happen between 2 adults?? And I was part of it? And oh dear lord....

I tell Danielle; we giggle like preteens which is the only appropriate reaction to that other than the "seriously, are we 12?"

Later that day I'm reading out on the back of the boat after we eat lunch. Johan comes up to use his cell phone (yes, there was good cell reception in the islands even from the boat). A conversation occurs in Spanish which I'll translate / paraphrase here. Again, remember, I'm in the middle school twilight zone of the Galapagos - a place that occurs somewhere near Espanola Island when there's a woman on board who speaks some but not much Spanish and a bunch of lonely sailors.

Johan: Hi, I'm Johan.
Me: Hi.
Johan: Your name?
Me: Yvette.
Johan: Are you having a good trip?
Me: Yes.
Johan: Would you like to see the stars tonight?
Me: What?
Johan: Would you like to see the stars with me tonight? [yes, the clarification happened and was needed]
Me: Ummmm...
Johan: They're very pretty at night - the only light. Would you like to see the stars.
Me after stammering and forgetting all Spanish at the twilight zone I just realized I was in: I don't know....

End scene with Yvette walking (in my mind running) away.

Johan remained on deck and I hid in my cabin for a bit. He kept walking by the open window and smiling at me. Danielle was my bodyguard.

I ventured out on deck again wanting to get more air than our cabin provided and reclaim my reading spot, knowing Danielle would be along promptly. Johan passed by and asked if he could take my picture. With a big smile and a firm "no" he headed on his way and left me to my book.

Later that night I was out on the back deck alone again - dumb Yvette. I'd finished packing and left Danielle in our cozy snug little cabin to figure out her own packing thing. Most people went to sleep when the boat started moving and we were going, but it wasn't choppy so sitting on the deck in the gloriously fresh salt air seemed like a good idea. The crew knew I was there but left me alone - Johan just waved in passing, the captain asked if I was having a good night, Luis said to sleep well. And then overly friendly Carlos the engineer came by. He paused to say a few words and then continued on. But on his way back he stopped and asked if I wanted to climb to the top of the ship (generally off limits) and watch the stars with him. Holy f-in' a! Seriously? Amidst sparks of giggles (so glad my face wasn't visible most likely due to dim lighting), I strongly declined and he carried on his way. And, I'd like to add, there were no stars out with all the cloud cover that night. I sat out on the back deck for 45ish mins and not a single star was to be seen that entire time. Star watching? Pshaw snort giggle etc. Yes, I gave in to being 12 and laughed my ass off.

The next morning, still biting back laughter at the thought of the twilight zone Luis sat with Danielle and I as we were waiting to get off the ship. Carlos the bartender was around. Luis tells me in English to begin with but ending in Spanish... English part "you should learn Spanish"; Spanish part "because then he'll [Carlos] carry you away forever". I choked laughing as Carlos turned bright red. Luis never figured out I understood Spanish. I'd translated for Carlos a handful of times and had a full conversation with him about how I learned Spanish and about his obsession with football. Oh Luis, to think you never knew how many of your entirely inappropriate comments I understood. That one was just the icing on the cake!

Follow this up by our trip to the airport where upon getting all checked in by Luis and Johan, Luis goes around shaking hands and gives me a hug. Well this apparently caused Johan to grow some cajones really quickly because next thing I know he goes in for a hug (or so I thought) and plants a kiss on me. Shock. Shock I tell you. Just plain old shock. He hugged everyone else and all I could get through my head was "seriously? wow, guess he found his guts again..." along with more laughter.

Oh yes, sailors really do need to get off the boat more. Like seriously.

So there's my sociology experiment that says even when you can't communicate very well with people they still can confound you. And yes, I understood their words - I just was confounded by the surreal experience of being in the gorgeous galapagos with the random goings on of that 24 hrs. I was never creeped out; no one crossed lines; it was just beyond hysterical to me at the time and even to this day. I knew all I had to do was put on my swimsuit and I'd be safe from all advances.

Ahhh... now those are some memories of speaking Spanish in Ecuador I'll never forget. The brilliance of my tour with Hans, and the ridiculousness of Carlos, Carlos, Johan and Luis in the Galapagos. Thanks Ecuador. And thank you Senor for teaching me Spanish for 5 years so that at one point I was fluent - because it left enough Spanish in me to this day to know when I'm being randomly hit on - or to understand the history of a province... in SPANISH!

Confessions of a Skanktastic Swimsuit

2009-06-21T20:59:00.004+01:00

The living situation on the "yacht" (you'll see the reason for the quotes shortly) that we sailed around the Galapagos in were entertaining. It was a really nice little boat for 16 passengers, 7 crew members and 1 guide. However it was not luxurious by any stretch of the imagination - just comfy and pretty and well maintained for the most part.

We lived on all 3 layers of the ship. There were 3 cabins on the bottom, 1 on the main level and 4 on the upper level. They all contained bunk beds, a little shelving unit, life jackets and a bathroom that would make anyone clausterphobic. (Let's just say that even us short people didn't sit straight on the toilet cause then your knees hit the wall/door.) There was limited floor space - enough for 2 people to stand in but you definitely had to warn your roomie if you were trying to go around them cause a lurch of the ship (or just clumsiness) meant you were gonna touch in passing.

When trying to figure out the AC in the room we discovered just how tight our quarters were when Danielle from the upper bunk managed to kick me in the head. Ahh - memories of the many ways we nearly killed each other... This was a classic case of her kicking me and both of us nearly hyperventilating due to laughter, but the main one is yet to come.

Modesty went out the window within moments of entering our cabin. This being Danielle's and my first time spending more than a few hours together, it was all or nothing. Phrases like "warning, nudity ahead" were common. There was no bathroom discretion - note there was no standing room in the bathroom except the shower.

Now the other thing about these cabins was there were 2 temperatures - pleasantly warm with a sea breeze and humidity that kept the floor wet at all times or freeeeeezing with the little AC on full blast that didn't really help the humidity factor enough to dry out much of anything. Our towels never really dried (making the animal art they made from it everyday on the first half very cute but kinda gross too).

There were 2 main common areas on the ship. Most of the main level was a seating area and dining area and then on the upper deck there was a bar with another seating area. There were also a few lounge chairs out on the front deck but I avoided that area due to sunburn concerns. I was tomato-y enough already.

Now, I mentioned the towels not drying... And the intimacy of our cabin. However, this made for one unique situation for us. This may get gross and TMI for some people, but I find the memory still makes me laugh so hard I can't breath so I feel compelled to share...

So everyday we'd go snorkeling - generally 2 times per day. And we wore wetsuits we rented that hadn't been washed in who knows how long and were umpteen years old. Whatever. Afterwards I'd hang my swimsuit "to dry" in our bathroom knowing it wouldn't ever get dry. Everytime I put it on I groaned at the wet intimate areas which caused more giggling. About midway through Danielle took pity on me and used some of her clips to hang my suit out to dry after hers had dry. This meant hanging the suit in the main cabin rather than the bathroom in the open window so it'd pick up the breeze. Brilliant right? And thoughtful!! Man, karma had it in for us or something.

We came back from lunch to the most rank smell ever in our room. Ok, so it's questionable if it's worse than the duffel bag they gave Danielle to pack in (which of course we both smelled like the idiots we are - some people never learn that when one person says "eww - smell this" you really don't want to smell it not once, but twice). We walked in and gagged and laughed at the raunchiness that was our room. We thought Danielle's duffel had been let loose but it was safely in the rather smelly lifejacket cupboard growing something. And the smell emanated. I can't describe just how bad it was. I thought "maybe swimsuit?" but didn't take a good wiff thinking I would've noticed it just that morning when I wore it. Finally I gave in and smelled the suit and promptely ended up sitting on the floor crying from laughing because, yes, it was indeed my swimsuit.

I promptly swore I'd never wear it again and then realized we were going snorkeling later that day and there was no way I was letting my skanky swimsuit keep me from from the water. I washed it out in the shower with some detergent which calmed the smell but by no means got rid of it.

For the rest of the trip that suit was washed after every snorkel and still the smell lingered - not as pungent but definitely present.

When snorkeling, I only saw one shark.. most people saw a dozen. To this day I know I never would've been hammerhead bait because I smelled like rotten meat and they like it fresh. That's probably why I didn't see a shark - they swam away quickly when they smelled me coming.

The suit came home with me (my shoes did not - the shoe smell was a whole other story and Danielle and Amy are fighting their shoes - I didn't need another smell battle so mine are still growing somewhere in the Galapagos creating a biohazard). The suit is now hanging in my laundry bathroom. It's been through the washer 3 times. It doesn't smell. I'm still however never going to be able to put it on without smelling it and laughing.

Yes, I wore the skanky swimsuit. Maybe that's how I got iguana flu??

Puppy Love

2009-06-16T01:13:00.005+01:00

Sealions are the puppies of the sea (except the bulls). Arf arf!

When you first see a sealion being lazy on the bench at the "bus stop" where you pick up the boat you may think "wow, look how close we are..." Oh little tourist, you have no idea how close you'll be.

Sealions are everywhere - on nearly every island - they breed like rabbits. The bulls (males) have a harem of women who produce 1-2 babies every 9 months (same as a human gestation). We met our first inquisitive sealion when our guide made the arfing sound and a baby came to explore thinking his mamma had come back full of nummy-yummy milk (babies are left alone for ~3 days while the mom feeds etc - so they're anxious when feeding time comes around). Lil' McSealion-sons was a precocious lil' sealion looking up on of the girls skirts. I thought this was abnormal - woe is me.

Their cute lil' faces are really that cute in person; their whiskers tickle when they sniff you and their noses are wet with saltwater and slobber.

They aren't all cuteness and joy - they can smell rather... nasty! Like a farm really - mmm - manure.

However, then one waddles up to you on land and looks at you out of those big eyes with that cute lil' snout and you forget that it smells literally like shit and you say "awww". And if the sealion's really smart it does a little back bend thingie that is sealion yoga of "take my picture" and the tourist melts.

Now, after you've been thoroughly sniffed on land and deemed "not mamma" you then get to meet sealions at play. On land only the babies are curious - in the sea, you're everyone's toy.

Go swimming anywhere near a sealion and they'll say hi - right in your mask! Feel a tug on a flipper? Nah, that's not a shark - that's a sealion. They nibble on each other all the time and when you're snorkeling, you're just another playmate. They twine about each other and you so quickly it's disorienting.

My favorite was the utter joy of playing tug of war with sealions. At the time I was mildly broken having gotten my foot trapped under a rock in a cave. I decided to ride the dingy since I couldn't really kick. We ended up in a little cove that was protected from the ocean with about 6 sealions at play. Gallo (the sailor driving the dingy) had me toss the rope in to play tug-of-war with the sealions - they fought each other to have the rope and we pulled 3-4 sealions around at any point in time. Swollen immobile ankle forgotten I jumped in so I could see them playing tug of war better with me and I was at one end while they were at the other. It was utter delight - except I couldn't laugh or smile cause then I ended up with either a mask full or a mouth full of seawater... So I drank a lot of seawater.

Now I don't want a puppy - I want a sealion. A cute lil' prosh lil' sealion.

From the Galapagos Con Amor

2009-06-09T04:15:00.005+01:00

I´m in the Galapagos. I´m not speaking nearly as much spanish but I´m one of the only gringos on board who speaks any so some of the crew on the ship likes that.

I´ve been here for 4 days and we have 4 more left. It´s been fantabulous so far. I´ll regale everyone with pictures pictures pictures when I get back (I already have about 8gigs of pictures some of which are crap so be warned).

I´m not even sure what my favorite thing has been. I think the playfulness of the sealions when you swim with them is one (yes, nose to nose swimming). I think the crazy blue footed booby mating dance is ridiulous. I think it´s far far far too hot here. I´m not at all surprised that within 24 hrs I had massive sunburn and I had to buy more sunscreen.

The boat´s interesting - part luxurious and part cramped. The bunks make me laugh quite a bit since they´re so much tinier than Semester at Sea. But they´re big enough to get by so that´s all I care about. I don´t think I´ll ever desalinate though.

Our average day is 2 or 3 hrs of nature walks and 2 hours of snorkeling. I´ve swam with sharks although I haven´t actually seen one while swimming which makes everyone laugh since Amy and Danielle have both seen many many white finned sharks.

And those are my firs timpressions of the Galapagos. I´ll write more later when I have pictures to post with it. And yes, I love my underwater camera case - it´s coming in amazing for pictures. I definitely have at least 3 stellar pictures from that alone - sealion, angel fish and turtle.

Adios amigos mios.

De Agato Ecuador a Rhinebeck NY USA

2009-06-03T21:33:00.003+01:00

Buenas tardes from Ecuador. I´m in San Pablo Del Lago at Hacienda Cusin and I´m having a fantastic stay here.

I spent my first full day in Ecuador getting used to the altitude and being partially sick. I also hiked for 3 hrs which probably didn´t help things.

Yesterday was my second day in Ecuador and I took a 4 hour horseback ride up to see a volcano up close and in person. Sadly I have no pictures from the ride because it was rather treacherous and I was more concerned with staying on my horse and having it not break a leg than taking pictures. I´ll show yáll on Google Earth where it was.. Vulcan Imbrabura.

And today was the most whirlwindy of all. I went on a guided tour of the province of Imbrabura. Each town here is known for some form of artistry. I´m not a big shopper and I didn´t bring much cash with me so I didn´t come away with all the beautiful things I saw but I learned a ton from my bilingual guide Hans. He made me speak Spanish all day much to my dismay / embarassment because 5 minutes after I was in his car he found out I actually truly understand it and wanted me to practice. It was incredibly endearing really albeit I´m braindead now.

The weirdest thing is what makes the title of this post..... I went to a town called Agato today that´s about 30 mins from where I´m staying here. It´s famous for the weaving and the master weaver of the town gave me a demonstration that I can´t possibly describe othe rthan it´s truly authentic, takes crazy concentration and precision and looks incredibly hard. He makes everything from scratch in the Andean style. Well after the demo I went to his shop where there were some newspaper articles. One of the articles was about how he did a demo at the Smithsonian. And the other was a set of articles from when he, his daughter and his wife went to the Rhinebeck Crafts Fair in 1989. Yup, that´s right. This little old man from Agato Ecuador that weaves everything from scratch in the most beautiful way and his barefoot spinning wife who fed me popcorn have been to RHINEBECK. Holy small world after all!!! I was so floored with excitement I could barely explain to Miguel (the weaver) in Spanish that he´d been to my hometown. It was sooo neat and his wife was adorable and gave me a hug for it.

Ahhh this is a good trip already. Tomorrow I´m back to the capitol of Quito and then Friday I fly to the Galapagos with Amy, Danielle and our tour group for aweek!!

I´ve already seen condors and eagles and kestrels and lots of random farm animals and volcanos... yet I´m still excited for the Galapagos.

Adios de Ecuador.

Copy of the update email sent out for those reading along here...

2009-05-04T19:49:00.001+01:00

Hi all,

I just wanted to remind everyone of what I'm up to with training and preparations for The Overnight Walk to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).

I know you guys got my email in late February or early March explaining how I was taking nervous, stressed out, anxious energy and doing something that I saw as positive with it. So here's my update...

I've been walking a lot. Around the time I sent the emails asking for donations towards the walk I joined the gym because I might be slightly nutty but sanity kicks in when the thoughts of walking in the spring in Seattle crossed my mind; no way was I doing those mushy rainy training walks! I joined a foofy gym where I go 3-4 times per week (when I'm home!) to walk around 3 miles - sometimes more. I keep meaning to swim instead one of these times, but I like reading when I'm walking.

It's really hard to get out there walking. Last weekend when I was about 2 miles into a planned 10.5 mile walk I just wanted to catch a bus home - then I remembered Susan and how she'd kick my butt if I gave up on her. So I kept walking. At about 2.5 miles I was like "grrr" and nearly turned around to cross the street to catch said bus so I posted a message via twitter/facebook and my friend Cathy emailed to tell me to "keep walking"... so walk I did.. I didn't quite make the 10.5 miles cause I hit a smelly stretch (yay city walking) and turned around early, but I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised I made the 9.5 miles that I did.

This weekend walking was much easier - even in the torrential downpour since what I realized in the last 7 miles of last week's walk was that there are people rooting me on for doing this. There are lots of people like y'all who are my cheerleaders. And I'm a team player so I'm doing this for all of us. And yes, I'm a sappy cheeseball, but the truth is that this walk has been eye-opening to me for the amount of support I have. So don't forget to look around and remember your own support or remind someone going through trouble that you're there to be a silent cheerleader since that's so much of why I'm doing this Overnight 20 miles of excruciating excitement and pain.

So that's my blabbering update.....

If you want to keep up with what I'm doing let me know and I'll email out more random updates. Or check out my blog which I'm trying to update every few weeks with progress: http://yvettemn.blogspot.com.

You guys have been amazing with your support and I thank everyone who sends me well wishes or donations or thinks happy thoughts or shakes their head and smiles at me. And those sending donations along to the AFSP, well, I'm working it out so my donations are being matched! Yes, that's right - all my donations thus far (and higher) are being matched! So double thank you's for donating.

And if you were putting off donating to do it later - http://www.theovernight.org/fundraising/yvette.

Hugs & thanks,

yvette

another Overnight Walk related post

2009-04-21T00:53:00.004+01:00

So I'm still prepping/training/whatnot for the Overnight Walk in June in Chicago. I've met the fundraising goal the AFSP set and now I'm just fundraising since it's worthwhile.

I'm still training - granted it's been haphazard with the ski season winding down and travelling to CA for 9 days. But I got back out there this weekend and did an 8 mile walk and a 2 mile walk in the pretty Seattle weather we had (might as well enjoy it while I can) and tonight I'm heading back to the gym to walk s'more (I'd do it outside but it's knitting circle night so by the time I'm done with that it'll be dark).

I definitely would say I'm having motivational issues when it comes to anything > 3 miles in distance just cause it can get a bit tedious. Then again, Saturday my iPod Shuffle was out of juice so that probably didn't help matters when I started feeling blah around mile 2 of what was supposed to be 10 miles. But a lil' pick me up from Facebook and remembering everyone - friends, family and coworkers - who's donated their support or their words of encouragement made me stubborn enough to go on.

I'm babbling... so to summarize in bulleted list format:

The donations and support from every corner of my life has been phenomenal.
Outdoor training is good - when I bring music!!
Getting back to the gym tonight finally.
I think life will be calmer in the travel / crazy department and thus I can get back to an actual routine.
Thank you donors and cheerleaders!!!

http://www.theovernight.org/fundraising/yvette

training (and inadvertantly skiing) update

2009-04-01T01:47:00.003+01:00

So I'm still training for The Overnight... that crazy 20 mile walk I'm doing. http://www.theovernight.org/fundraising/yvette

It's going ok - I wouldn't say swimmingly but I'm not failing by anyone's definition even my own (and I'm my own harshest critic). I took a week off when I was working 13+ hr days and I haven't gone out on weekends due to skiing (yay!). I'm finding the gym to be a trying place to walk long distances unless there's good TV on. But it's Seattle and it's not nice out so I'm doing it there since boring is better than dark, wet and miserable. I can't wait for the days to dry out more regularly (and get longer) so I can do more walking outside. I definitely have some plans to walk to the local office (rather than driving to the further away office I actually work in) and to walk to the bus and do weekend farmers market walks (which I do all Spring-Fall anyways). I've definitely spent a lot of my weekend long-walk time skiing - but hey - the snow's been SUPERB! And that's cross training, right? ;) Except I think I want to mix up my weekday routine to have a bit more cross training there rather than always straight up walking.

Walking for a cause

2009-03-16T04:11:00.005Z

So Cathy requested that I mention how my walking training for the AFSP is going... and here's where I'm giving it!

Background:

When Susan died, I lost it utterly. An old college friend contacted me about the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) and how they have a 20 mile Overnight Walk to raise awareness of depression and suicide. This year it's the last weekend of June in Chicago. We leave at dusk and end our walk at dawn - bringing suicide into the light so people can talk. I thought about doing it for a long time but figured I'd never manage the logistics since it's literally 2 weeks after I get back from my Ecuador / Galapagos vacation. Except then some of Susans other friends decided to do it and form a team in her memory - so one morning I decided to go for it and sign up! Ever since I've been raising money. I need to raise $1000 in donations to be elligible to officially walk and I'm nearly there. My personal goal is $2500. http://www.theovernight.org/fundraising/yvette

So that's the background.

Now I'm working to get the endurance up to walk 20 straight miles through Chicago against my body's desire to sleep. I know I can do it. We have about 10 hrs and there are pit stops every 2 hrs with porta potties and water. In the middle they serve us lunch/dinner/snack/something.

I joined up at the new gym that opened down the street when it was still on it's gaining enrollment sale. I've gone just about every other day - only missing a day for skiing (mmmmm). So I've done a lot better than before.

I'm not a fast walker - never have been - and I hate running. But the difference is I *like* walking. So walk I have been. I can easily maintain a 20-ish min mile which is far faster than I have to go for the walk for a few hrs. I'm not sure yet that I can maintain it for 20 hrs. But I have a plan and I've stuck to it. I plan to walk 350 miles (ish) including the last 20 in Chicago in order to get ready and do this. This is around my vacation. I've walked 14% of that so far - aka 15 miles. I'm behind what I was supposed to be for training - but a big chunk of that is yesterday & today since yesterday I spent the day skiing and today I spent it recovering since I couldn't move my neck after a nasty fall. I expect to get further and further behind due to skiing in the next few weeks (since next weekend I go to Whistler).

And that's how it's going. I'm super excited and glad that I'm doing this - both the training and the actual walk.

Good for ya Cathy? *grins*

The Middleman

2008-08-26T05:58:00.002+01:00

There's a new show on ABC Family entitled The Middleman which is bloody brilliant! It makes fun of every scifi and sitcom out there in a way that's seriously not expected of ABC let alone ABC Family.

I watch the ironic, the cheesey and the embarassing when it comes to TV. There are a few TV shows which I recommend including Heroes, Weeds & Chuck, however, the one that has gone unmentioned from pop culture is The Middleman which America's pop culture has left un-named.

I'm amazed by the ability to make me rewind because I missed a single line of dialogue. There are many movies and tv shows out there that make me happy (ie August Rush which made me smile like a silly woman reading LOLCats) and even a few other ABC Family shows that should be deemed craptastic that I still deem worth of a slot in my TiVo recording, however this one is actually good. No seriously, I may giggle madly at post on icanhascheezburber.com but this is better because it seriously makes fun of both hour long soap operas, scifi geeky comedies and punaliciousness all at once.

It subtitles locations in a way that would normally be deemed cheesy and trying too hard, but in context makes so much sense. The puns are punalicious (quoting from the Seattle-ite on Project Runway - yes I'm admitting to my bad tv watching habits); the pop culture references are sublime; and the jokes don't try to hide themselves behind intelligence. They're just funny - they don't disguise the humanity, hillarity or geekiness behinde it. I guess the main thing going for this show is the unexpected embrace for geek-ity along with reasonably good puns and the fact that who the hell watches ABC Family???

I actually recommend it... SERIOUSLY!

my version of skewed world perception

2008-08-17T06:31:00.003+01:00

Lately I've been eye-ing a wintertime trip to Australia. The entire thing sounds perfect for me the way I've laid it out - especially given all my constraints.

I haven't booked yet for a myriad of reasons... yet there's one that stands out 'cause it makes me laugh and be aghast at myself (because I like thinking about myself in the third person apparently).

Australia seems too tame and mundane to me. WTF!!! Is this a trophy to be collected? It meets all my criteria for my vacation... but tame and mundane? This is what happens when I become the spoiled well traveled girl who's got a long list and thinks that Australia appears superficially the most boring of them all. All the rest of the reasons for my hesitation are more "normal" (fear, cost, trying to pick the right dates), but thinking it's so much more average than Thailand or the Galapagos or Morocco... I guess it will seem more normal being an English speaking country so there won't be the basic communication barrier, but I have a feeling bits of it will be completely different.

I make myself laugh with the thoughts of "oh how normal" reminding myself that it only seems normal due to my previous travel destinations. And then I remind myself this is the last continent I'll probably ever go to (Antarctica? I wouldn't say no to an all expenses paid by someone else trip there, but it's at the bottom of my list otherwise) And they have dang cute koalas (hopefully not nearly as nasty as monkeys who hide behind their cute faces).

travel bug caught

2008-07-02T07:30:00.002+01:00

I have the travel bug again and my list of places to visit is longer than ever... let's see what my brain comes up with on this midnight ramble so I can potentially plan myself a wee lil' vacation since I've accrued nearly 8 days...

Places near and far:

Galapagos Islands
Croatia - coasts and hiking
Turkey - Istanbul and around the country
Tokyo
Toronto
Austin, TX
Hawaii - don't care where - just want a beach break
Germany - the entire country tour
Carribbean Island - same as Hawaii plus a bit of wondering for some other personal history reasons
Singapore
Argentina - whereever Kim tells me to go
Portland, OR - can you believe I have never been? sacrilege!
Australia - not sure where in that big beautiful country - but that wouldn't stop me
New Zealand
Portugal

I don't have any upcoming travel plans other than those related to work.. Hrm.. Must find travel buddy.

rather than coding, I'm thinking about pictures and my own history

2008-05-16T21:52:00.004+01:00

In egocentric attempts to recover memories of times gone by, I started posting my Semester at Sea pics again to my Flickr account. I realized that all the photos I recovered via teh intrawebz back in Sept 2006 after the robbery didn't get organized correctly and I was missing a lot of pics and data about my Semester at Sea experience. (I'm also missing craploads of Dartmouth day pics and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they're backed up somewhere out there on CD in my one unpacked room.)

So I started reorganizing my MacBook at home to try to get a handle on my digital library of photos. And while doing that I'll be doing a country-by-country (re)upload of photos from Semester at Sea. I took down the old subset of photos so that I won't have dupes and this time I'm labeling as I go.

The amazing thing about this is that even just seeing what's captured in a photo of a moment sometime between September and December of 2000 brings me back to that place. I can remember where I was, what the food tasted like, how sunburnt or homesick I was, and all sorts of other trivial details. I'm able to recover data from my brain I didn't know I remembered like what monuments were called, when I saw them, and who that one random person I met for one hour of my life was.

I'm having my own egocentric "oooo wow that was fun!" set of photo flashbacks. And yeah, it's making the travel bug rear it's ugly head. Galapagos Islands seem of great interest to me at the moment as does traveling in Turkey - talk about diverse.

But thankfully I'm on my work laptop and no where near the digital library of memories, so it's time to go back to work so that Sunday when I'm recovering from a day of fun-in-the-sun and housewarming party I can lazily label and post more photos.

Stuff Yvette Likes

2008-04-25T03:26:00.009+01:00

Someone else posted in their blog items from the Stuff White People Like blog. I thought it was ingenious and went through the blog again to find all the stuff that applies to me! So here's the list in order from most applicable to least applicable to me from my point of view... The top 10-12 are pretty close - depending on the situation or whatnot.

Traveling (leaving tomorrow)
Gentrification (look at my new house)
Study Abroad (Semester at Sea)
Dogs (puppy!)
Outdoor Performance Clothing (I think between K2 and North Face I should own stock)
Recycling (yup, I'm a recycler)
T-shirts (woe is my closet)
Indie Music (anytime)
Apple Products (iPod, iPod Shuffle, MBP, MB, iPhone, iMac, iBook...)
Bad Memories of High School (therapy please)
Netflix (subscriber)
Wine (drinking it now - mighty fine)
Microbreweries (I live in the pacific northwest - of course)
Bottles of Water (goes with the recycling - it's expected)
Standing Still at Concerts
Living by the Water
Irony
Farmers Markets (ironic since I don't go that often)
Breakfast Places (ironic since I don't even eat eggs in egg forms)
Grocery Co-ops
Difficult Breakups (hehe!)
Modern Furniture (look at my recent credit card bill - then you'll understand)
Idea of Soccer
Plays
Expensive Sandwiches
80s Night
Apologies
Kitchen Gadgets
Arts Degrees
Having Gay Friends (but I do!)
Bicycles
Making You Feel Bad About Not Going Outside (I haven't been outside enough today... I even make myself feel bad!)
Japan
Diversity
Organic Foods
Being an Expert on Your! Culture

If you haven't read the blog - it's bloody brilliant! Go read it! And if you have then you'll know I'm pretty low on the scale with only choosing 36 out of the current 96 possibilities.

toe throbbing to the sound of a tennis ball smacking grass

2008-04-22T10:05:00.003+01:00

I was driving home tonight from work around 10:30pm with KEXP blaring on my radio and my possibly broken toes throbbing to the beat of a song I'd never heard before.

I kept thinking about my comment this weekend to a friend about how I'm stubbornly independent... and suddenly out of nowhere there was a flashback. I might have been stubbornly independent putting up a 2 person required for assembly and preservation of one's toes book case this weekend, but dang, I've always done things that are a bit on the ludicrous side of proving my independence... like going to Wimbledon.

I couldn't remember if I'd ever blogged about my Wimbledon experience during the summer of 2006. Apparently I had. Rereading the post I was amazed at how I didn't mention all the points during the night where I freaked out and nearly gave up... at the airport in London, in the tube station, missing the night bus, on the night bus, getting off the night bus at the wrong stop, walking in circles in a dark neighborhood with a scary drunk on the corner... those were all times I wanted to stop and go find a hotel where I could lock my door and hide and give up and cry myself silly with patheticness. Instead I called my mother once or twice for fortification - I figured if she was freaked out for me I could be less freaked out for myself - it didn't quite work, but it was a valiant effort eh? Poor poor mom!! I think I gave her a few heart attacks during my Wimbledon adventure.

I never really knew why I didn't give up - and I still can't fathom what kept me going. I think not having a backup plan was part of it; wanting to get to the dang tennis match since I'd so carefully read up on how the entire thing worked was another; knowing I might see Agassi live drove me on for a bit there too. But part of it was just wanting to do it - knowing that I could do it if I just kept going - even if the going felt like scary trudging - and that was that end of story.

In the end that's the night I slept on a sidewalk for a handful of hours before getting ridiculously sun burnt. I think of the entire escapade and laugh and wish I could do it again. So possibly broken toes or not, I guess I am stubbornly independent - and dang it's fun to feel your toe throb to the radio station as you head to your new home late at night knowing that persistence really is a virtue..... sometimes!

Scrambled Brain

2008-04-01T08:51:00.003+01:00

Disclaimer: Since I have a bunch of things I'd like to write about I'm going to start with a bulleted list of all these scrambly thoughts and see where it takes me.

I really like python. I like python a lot more than perl. And django just seals the deal after learning mason since it's so much nicer. Although I think I'm biased since the perl/mason I was doing was working off of a huge existing codebase of other people's code and most of the python/django I'm doing is brand spankin' new. But I'm going to stick to liking python regardless of my possible biases.
For the past year I haven't spent hours on end coding until today - I forgot how much it futzes with my brain and makes me feel all scatterbrained to finish up a really good productive day where everything I did was code. Now my job is much more random and although I get to code a lot it's not constant so I jump around more and I think that leaves me feeling less scattered at the end of the day since I was scattered during the day. I've always thought too fast - but now I realize it comes out differently when I'm coding or not.
The plasma tv I ordered didn't fit in my brand new house's brand new living room on the brand new mantle because the brand new beautiful ceiling was in the way since the dang new fireplace is way too tall. I sent it back with the delivery guys and have a slightly smaller HD LCD tv coming Wednesday.
I have fewer boxes and I'm officially out of my apartment. This is all due to my mother's good influence.
I have a shopping list 12 miles long and I'm really really good at spending money. Thank goodness I'm employed. If anyone asks me if I'm ever going to get thing B or K or Z though again I'm going to scream. I may have a job but that doesn't mean I have unlimited resources and I don't want to rush the enjoyment of the hunt for the "perfect" item. I may dislike shopping sometimes but I love love love researching and browsing so I'm going to enjoy it.
I'm starting crazy travel again. This all comes after making sure my hours are all packed - of course this means I need to go to CA, NV, NY, and who knows where else in the next month - let alone more than the next month. I already know I'll also be in CO, MT and OR as well this year sometime. Oh, thank you alaskaair for having my frequent flier miles. With you my dream of using miles to fly to Hawaii might come true. Now who wants to go to Hawaii? Oh, but before that I need to make my NV/NY trip reservations... I should do that now.
I told you this list would be a brain scramble - you're even getting stream of conciousness.
Goodnight.

oh there's not that much all nighter...

2008-03-15T02:55:00.003Z

Today I took the day off to pack and get some of the more annoying to pack things over to the house (so I wouldn't have to pack them well enough for movers). I was done with my first run to the house by 12:30 today and pretty much cleared out the downstairs other than the dishes in the dishwasher, furniture & books. I don't have much left right?

Ok, so I procrastinate.... and procrastinate.... and suddenly it's almost 8pm and guess what - I went upstairs and holy crap I have a lot of $#!* in my closet! How did it all fit in there and how the heck am I going to get it all to the house and holy crap I'm freaking out.

So what do I do? Well of course I need to write this blog post about it rather than tackling it. And then I'll make dinner and watch some TV. And maybe after that I'll go back to packing packing packing...

I wish I could just leave my car in the alley and slowly load it as I find stuff but instead I have to get everything that will fit in the car packed up then load the car. But it would get towed if I did that which would not be the way to end my night.

While most people are out relaxing on their Friday nights, I'll be making a trip or two over to my new house with crap in my car swearing at my tendency to procrastinate. So raise a glass to me to wish me luck getting an hour or so of sleep tonight and getting past my ability to procrastinate with the best of 'em!

well huh

2008-02-15T06:21:00.002Z

Today is the Hallmark holiday of Valentine's Day (Happy Valentine's Day all!) and I wasn't even the bitter single girl. I didn't have the energy since I somehow managed to let a flu I had last week turn into pneumonia this week (and I thought it'd just become a sinus infection). It's not horrid - just really ridiculously annoying and tiring and painful - ok, so maybe it is horrid. But y'know, I wasn't bitter a la single-dom since I'm embracing it - I was just a cesspool of germs. And to add to that, someone bought me dinner (including dessert) and gave me chocolate for Valentine's Day. I kid you not. I got my groceries from Amazon Fresh this morning, and they'd thrown in a free bag of chocolate. Then when I finally got hungry after not eating all day (not even my chocolate) I called for a pizza and when it arrived it was free and they'd brought me gelato too.... huh. Happy Valentine's Day to me. Now do cupid's arrows clear up my lungs so that I can talk without coughing? If I don't move, laugh or talk I can go quite a while without coughing....... but! Hehe.....

Puppies, Quilts & Houses

2008-02-06T21:48:00.001Z

On March 7, 2008 I will be a homeowner if everything goes according to plan.

Today I sat in the home-office of my fantastic real estate agents and initialed and signed so much paperwork my signature started to look funny to me. I was doing this with the cutest puppy begging for some loving with his head in my lap. An hour later my agent called to tell me the offer's been accepted with only one legalese change (doesn't effect me much at all - costs me a whole $20 - so yeah, I'm ok with that).

Today my mom started hand cutting out pieces to the quilt she's making me with her friends. They can't follow any nice pattern pieces to do it and make it easy either. They have to measure and cut every single awkward triangle in this quilt and it'll be gorgeous. It may take her 2 years since it is a queen size quilt of only odd dimensioned triangles, but it'll be heaven in purples and greys.

Today I spent a lot of money.

I want a puppy to love everytime I sign away my life. I want a puppy period!

OMGP0N13S!!11!!!1!!!!!1!

Christmas in the Single Digits

2007-12-03T03:04:00.000Z

I'm having a lazy Sunday at home - with a lot of emphasis on the lazy. I was flipping through the cable guide and didn't see anything, so I started channel surfing. I saw a snow explosion filmed with the color-tint of TV of the 80's and immediately recognized it as The Night They Saved Christmas.

1984 was the first time I saw this movie. Mom and Dad had to tape it for me. I'd watch it every day from Thanksgiving till Christmas from that year until much later. Mom probably still has the tape that finally dried up and died of overplaying (the only video I ever watched that often).

I've been in flashback land yesterday and today with the familial tragedy that occurred and the snow in Seattle; this just is more reminders of being a tiny lil' ragamuffin watching tv in the back bedroom and playing this movie over and over again.

So now I'm sitting here with a glass of wine watching the movie I grew up on. I'd fall asleep every night before Christmas wishing I could be one of the kids in this movie saving Santa and Christmas. And on Christmas Eve, even the years when I snooped and found the presents "Santa" gave me, I still went to sleep hoping there really was a Santa. I guess there's something to be said for good TV making you believe - this made me believe even when the Nintendo hidden in the back of Mom's closet should've told me there was no Santa.

It's a good night in my apartment remembering how nice it was to believe in Santa and how I later learned I made Mom sick of carrots (apparently they realized I was too smart to put them back or throw them out and knew I was a snoop, so Dad did the cookies and Mom ate the carrots - and I left a few cookies, but one carrot for every reindeer - EVERY reindeer).

Bittersweet memories of The Night They Saved Christmas.

how we justify consumerism

2007-11-01T03:24:00.000Z

Recently I had to choose between getting a gift certificate and a gadget. And I took a short time relative to others who are still deciding. But the entire thing spurred conversations on how we justify our choices and desires.

I have some addictions in life - quite a few really - but all relatively harmless except for to my bank account and closet space. I just know that I'm really lucky in what I've made of my life accidentally and on purpose because it lets me justify so many things in life I never thought possible (let's just say that I realized this year that insanity might happen)! But I am addicted none-the-less to books, music, gadgets, yarn, furniture/household goods and shoes.

I must say it's an eclectic list, but I'm also a huge justifier. I was definitely more stringent when I was on my teacher-salary-budget with what I could get. I would justify the music and books by using the gift certificates I earned with my credit card-ing rent, auto insurance, groceries and other necessities when I was on the teacher-salary-budget. But then I was only allowed to get what I had a gift certificate for. When I increased to engineer-salary-budget I was able to justify more and in more categories I hadn't ventured into before. Should I have been? Who knows, but I live with consumerism like everyone else and have commercial desires!

I now have ways of justifying every one of my addictions although at the moment I'm not allowed to buy yarn, books & shoes. This list changes regularly and I allow myself loopholes of justification. But I'm cut off due to an overabundance and lack of use on some categories. Yet I can give you justification for how I'd buy shoes, for example: "if I throw out / donate (depending on condition) 3 pairs of shoes, I can replace them with one I've been drooling over for the past 3 weeks." Or books: "it's a small local bookstore and they're fantastic and we need to support them since I adore them so and I found this book I wouldn't have found at Amazon.com so I have to support them right?" I don't currently know of a justification for yarn.

Price is a factor in some things I justify - like gadgets. Space in some. Need in others. So when I was given the option of a gadget without a price point, I honestly didn't know how to un-justify it. It was a gadget I've wanted since it went on the market and I could tell you a million reasons why, but I had 3 reasons why I "wasn't allowed yet". Two of these reasons were technical and one was sticker-shock. Take away sticker shock and I was left trying to figure out if my 2 technical justifications were strong enough to stand up on their own. There was the "I don't need this" and the "it's not perfect" versus the "ooo shiney pretty toy please let me play with it and have it for my very own" factor.

I realized that I let myself splurge with windfalls and normally hold myself to a more rigorous standard otherwise. I have too much crap (heh - need to clean out my closet and craigs list this stuff) already so it's pretty easy to keep myself from overdoing in some areas. But dang, we change our justifications in life so easily.

And that my friends, is why I will be the owner of one shiney gadget I've been drooling over, lusting after and just plain wanting for months - but I'd resisted it... until yesterday when I could "justify" it to myself.

gigglez

2007-10-10T19:03:00.000+01:00

I keep coming back to this one LOLCat pic and giggling madly.

I have no clue whatsoever why I find this one so entertaining. I think it's those cute kitteh blue eyes staring out at you. But whatever the case, I keep hitting "run" on my tests that I'm writing and then coming back to this picture and giggling.

*lulz*

after you

2007-10-09T06:57:00.000+01:00

Ahh - gender differences and being a gentleman or lady (depending on your gender).

I noticed something odd as I was leaving work today. No, the sky isn't falling a-la Chicken Little and I didn't break a finger nail... A coworker who I've seen before but never spoken to was also waiting for an elevator out of the office with me today. When the elevator dinged to announce its arrival as the doors slid open, he made the gentlemanly gesture of waving me into the elevator first. I smiled and entered the elevator first.

Now, this isn't the first time this has happened in or out of the context of work, but it struck me as odd. There's always protocol in who goes first through any door regardless of gender - however, I wonder if being female changes whether people let me through in front of them even if it's not logical due to some archaic gentlemanly notions.

Thank goodness there's a good chunk of the time where the guy in front of me at work lets the door slam in my face or just barely holds it open for me. Otherwise I'd start to wonder if it wasn't just habitual "mamma's boy's good habits" (sue me for stereotyping - I'm the one who got on the friggin' elevator first!) There are also the guys who hold open doors for anyone and everyone (not doorjams, real men) which also dissuade from this oddity, but it struck me today none-the-less.

Generally, I think I'd notice more if the person rushed to get on before me; in this instance I was perfectly comfortable being waved on as I would've been waiting for the logical order of "closest first" for entrance to the elevator. It was only on double-take that it struck me as "huh - yeah, right" and made me pensive. But I guess I've given in to not noticing my feminine right of way status since otherwise you get the awkward no-yous which result in the crash at the door which you thought you'd only see on Saturday morning cartoons until you're the participant in one.

So here's what I'm pondering as I go to bed tonight: ladies first?

knit two; purl two

2007-10-07T06:04:00.000+01:00

I've been disgustingly sick the past few days - and this isn't the first time this year I've been really sick. My sinuses really need to not get so easily infected when my body gets a virus. Bad Body!

However, it does mean I've finally made big progress on my scarf. I've had this scarf started for over a year. It's to match my new hat and mittens I'm also making. Ok, so I haven't started the hat yet, and only have 1.5 mittens, but the scarf's getting longer!

My problem with knitting is that I procrastinate and work in spurts. I love doing it, but I'm intimidated by big projects like cardigans or anything like that. So I have A LOT of yarn and projects in my head to do, but my gosh, no progress on any of them.

Pink scarf for Mom that was promised to her when I was living in Baltimore for her birthday - so that's more than 3 years overdue.
My scarf, hat and mittens that are my WIP and the project I'm currently working on.
Big red blanket (unstarted and I can't remember which pattern I was planning on when I bought the yarn).
Black hat (unstarted).
Blue bag (I think that I have a piece of it started somewhere, but I don't know where).
Blue belt (unstarted).

See! Lots!

And then there are all the bits of yarn that have no purpose. I think with one set of them I'm going to start learning to knit myself some stuffed friends. I figure stuffed friends that I knit and can take to the office might be kind of neat. So I'm going to do that with my purple yarn that I originally got to make a blanket but have since replaced with the red yarn.

I'm a knitter without a purpose. All the projects are for me other than the scarf for mom. And that makes them almost harder to do in that when I have enough hats, I have enough hats. And I'm a good knitter technically. I have all the skills other than those that are for fixing mistakes (and I'm taking a course on that in a month). I need a purpose for my knitting so that when I'm picking it up I can't procrastinate cause it's "just for me" (or the impossible scarf for my mother - why'd I choose that yarn???)

Oh well, at least my current projects are gorgeous - the yarn on this project is beautiful and really doing not much is making a great scarf - just knit two, purl two.

Y'know what? I'm procrastinating cleaning my room by being lazy germ girl who knits. But soon I'll need another skein of yarn for this scarf and I won't be able to continue without doing some room cleaning so I can get to the yarn (and hopefully find a borrowed pair of knitting needles!)

Seattle kind of crazy

2007-08-04T21:08:00.000+01:00

I'm in Subway ordering my crappy Italian Sub (crappy in it's junk food Saturday kinda way). The guy in front of me says "hi" in that out-of-his-mind kinda way. I smile and say hi in a very distancing sort of way - the way that you are polite to those people you see in the Seattle streets who you can only guess are a wee bit not there - or a lot not there. I order my sub; all's grand. I get to the register make it a meal and the smiling crazy guy says "so when's the baby due?".. "Um, I'm not pregnant. Thanks." "Oh..." and he wanders out of the store. The second he's gone the register boy and I bust out laughing and I manage to choke out "wow, wonder if I'm having a boy or a girl and who's the baby's daddy?"

Welcome to Seattle. You get used to the new kinda crazy on the street. From my reaction my first week here of utter fear when a crazy guy chased me with plastic bags yelling crap at me, to being preggers 2x in 1 year (yes, someone asked me this earlier this year in the airport). Seattle really does breed it's own kind of crazy. If I ever really am preggers, I'm not sure I want the baby to be raised on Seattle water - it makes you nutty - truly nutty.

You see all kinds: the happy talk-to-you-like-they-know-you sorts; the hiding beer in trash cans sorts; the plastic bag chasing sorts; the talk to pigeons sorts... I'm sure other cities have their own forms of crazy, but I know more nutjobs in this city - and you recognize them and there's a naming-convention for them. Everyone knows who crazy whoever is and you wonder when you don't see 'em on the streets downtown where they've gone.

Ahh, the wonders of living in the middle of a city. Every city has crazy, but Seattle is just a bit nuttier than normal.

Happy Saturday!

teh intertubes

2007-07-29T19:04:00.000+01:00

I've been surfing all over the web lately - more than normal. I've been a "long time user" of things like IM clients of all sorts, gmail, Cute Overload, Blogger, flickr, rss feeds, and probably some other things I'm forgetting, but lately there's a social networking hype out there.

Maybe it's my current job making me aware of the wacky trends on the internet, or my friends blogging about them. Things like Second Life which scare me for so many reasons but which I comprehend none-the-less. Sites like Facebook where I've become an addict of my own accord. Then there's LinkedIn for business networking. So many oddities, interesting sites, weird trends (i can has cheezeburger? anyone) are out there and are just getting more hype.

So yeah, I don't have any interesting commentary to mention, but if you have any more weird / fun / creative / new sites for me to check out, pass 'em over...

In the meantime, meet my meez! She's the image posted with this entry.

pot + mom + cornbread = funny

2007-07-28T05:06:00.000+01:00

Mom and I are tv-aholics. I rented the show Weeds (a Showtime show) from Netflix since it kept getting recommended to me... And this is one of the best tv lines ever written or spoken:

You gave her my cornbread recipe? And she put WEED in it? NOBODY puts WEED in my CORNBREAD recipe!!!

You know you're not mommy's lil' girl anymore when you can watch a show with her that contains that much swearing and is about a pot-dealing-suburban-mother and you walk around afterwards getting ready to go out to dinner repeating "Nobody puts weed in my cornbread recipe."

So, yes, after 3 episodes this show comes highly recommended.

packing will be known as throwing things in the bag

2007-06-22T05:24:00.000+01:00

I have a bunch of nonsequitors in my head... Ok, more than a bunch - so I'm going to write a numbered list of what my head's doing now as I watch So You Think You Can Dance.

Massage: It's very odd to work in a place where you can get a massage and have it on your work calendar as if it's just any old meeting. Saying "oh, I've gotta run, massage scheduled" is perfectly acceptable. And then you walk down the hall, into a room, and get a professional table massage. Not to be crude in all honesty, but there's something ridiculously strange about gettin' undressed in just another room in your office. But mmmmmm massage good.
Training (aka butt kicking): There's only one word I say during training... Ok, that's not true, but my favorite is "ok". My trainer girl just tells me what to do and I say "ok." Apparently she can't always tell what I'm thinking or feeling due to this and the fact I laugh all the time. Then again, she showed me an exercise on the floor today and then flopped there and I told her that this exercise was called the confused fish and she was doing a "dead fish" by not moving. Let's just say that the confused fish exercise is much harder when you're laughing since it's all about sucking it in and squeezin' that butt for your "core." Training is hard though - losing weight is hard!
Roooooomba: My roomba is so nice to me. It's vacuuming while I'm watching crappy reality tv rather than packing. I love Roomba even if it does beep at me every now and then to ask me to get the cables out of it's innards when it tries to eat a lamp cord or something like that.
Packing: Yeah, so I leave tomorrow for the hellish travel adventure known as going to the Philippines. The actual destination is something I'm counting down towards and all that jazz, but the packing.... Yeah, let's just say I already asked that "people" not laugh at me when they see my over packing due to throwing crap at bag. Lazy! Still have a load of laundry to do too but butt kicking by trainer makes me very lazy feeling.

Ok.

Bye bye now.

Ok.

finger numbing reunion

2007-06-17T06:16:00.000+01:00

Many things are running through my head right now... I mean, it is 1am so that's not particularly surprising, however.....

I'm hoping the EBAs guy can get in the dorm with heaven (aka Tuscany bread).
I don't know how much I drank, but I passed the point of embarassment HOURS ago.
I had at least 13 drinks even given the above comment
Reunion has been surreal.
I'm hungry.

So yeah, I'm at my 5th year college reunion scarily enough. It's what may be considered a unique experience, but I think of it as absolutely normal. Who knows?

A few people who registered are no shows (yes, I'm a stalker, but I was also the web master for this hijinks). One of these particular no-shows upsets me greatly.

There's not enough time to spend with the people I care about though. They're staying over in hotels and went "back" far earlier than I, thus I didn't get the chance to enjoy their presence more than a quick chat over dinner or what not. Then again, I've met a lot of other kick-ass people I didn't know I'd remember and even befriended some Significant Others who are not from here. So I guess it's all going well.

Yeah, I have wishes and dreams like every girl. Including that I wish I knew where my cell phone was (I fear it got left at the home of the $2 margarita which I have always been a big fan of and paid great homage to tonight...) ~~However, it's MIA.~~ Update cell phone located

In the meantime, cheers to the >1/3 of my class that made it to reunions. It was great to see everyone from some of my bestest ever friends to my freshman year roomie. I lost my embarrassment about my sobriety state when I realized most people were at least as drunk as I was if not more so. Then again, I did kill my knee falling down a gravel drive to the hill where we had dinner which is rather unfortunate.

But, it was worth it because this place is beautiful and so great to be back in. There's only one regret I have, and that's not ruining my weekend - it just makes me want to do it again under other circumstances.

Anyways, I shall wait for my Tuscany bread now. Cheerio!!!

boston bad ideas

2007-06-14T19:07:00.000+01:00

I'm working from the Boston office today and tomorrow in order to allow myself to go to my 5th year college reunion (oof - old). Now, last night I flew a direct redeye here with only 5 hours of airtime which is lovely - however, if that's the only time you can sleep and you can only sleep after takeoff and before landing that's about 4 hrs of sleep. Add to the the comfort of plane seats and crying children, and that's what I'm running on.

So not such a good idea.

But Redbull is my friend and I'm ridiculously excited to see my friends here in Boston tonight and my friends up in New Hampshire this weekend!!! It's worth it long term, but this morning when my eyes were watering and my head was nodding, it was definitely NOT worth it.

Next weekend I'm going to be DEAD - as will all the people arriving the same day as me from various parts of the world. 24 hrs of travel - eep. I need a more comfy plane pillow - it's worth the investment since the cheapo one I got was absolutely WORTHLESS!!!!

little town wonders

2007-06-01T23:19:00.000+01:00

So, I have a new blog that I'm addicted to... letters from abroad

Maybe it's just me and my personal connection to the author, but I find this blog a general joy to read regardless of how sporadically it's updated.

Alicia (to me Lisi) is a lovely lady who was one of my first best friends when stretch pants and pigtails were the "in" things. We grew up together from early schooling to high school graduation and I knew her pretty well the whole time. Then we went off to our respective colleges and post-parental-living lives..

However, I've gotten news every year-ish on what she's up to when our mother's talk (along with her younger siblings updates). And the other day mom sent me a link to this blog telling me that Lisi had worked in Hungary and was now in Rwanda teaching. huhwha?!?!

Yup - it's true. And now I'm vicariously living through this blog and wondering what it must really be like.

The girl I knew when we played in her tree house over the stream or watched silly tv with after school is now a teacher in Rwanda! Dang! I think it's rewarding to know that from a small town in "upsate" New York, so many people have gone on to "big" things. I never think of my hometown as a place that creates people that thrive after high school, but I see it happening more and more. From the classmates living in Hawaii or becoming doctors, to myself (yes, for once I'll include myself), to Lisi in Rwanda, to another classmate counting turtles and studying their migratory patterns in Mexico, to the uber-successful Wall Street businessman I ran into over Thanksgiving, to Yale psycho science PhD students, to all the others I don't even know what they're now doing.... I guess the ghosts of my past are doing well!

I just wish there were more ways for me to cyber-stalk the really interesting lives of my classmates and go "wow cool!"

Now back to my daily life of geekitude in Seattle while wishing I was in Ireland... guess I need to make a living to support my wonky travel habits and worldwide relationships.

I have a problem.

2007-05-27T08:25:00.000+01:00

I have a shoe obsession.

The first step in resolving a problem is recognizing it. I have a shoe obsession. I'm not sure I want to fix this problem. Although having mentally planned out the shoes I'd like to take to the Philippines, I realized there's an average if 1 pair per day... and that's just NOT RIGHT. But I don't know which of the 8 pairs I'd cut - heck, if I cut one pair it's only to replace it with another since 9 pairs popped into my head.

Yes, it's true, I have more shoes than I know what to do with. The scary thing is that I wear them all as regularly as you can when you have a month's worth of shoes and some of them are out of season (winter boots are no longer necessary and flip flops are being worn after their winter hiatus).

But yes, a month before I travel I can already think of 8-9 pairs of shoes to bring with me.

I have a problem. Will Philippine Air let me check 2 suitcases so I can pack one with shoes?

#00FF00

2007-05-17T18:30:00.000+01:00

Girls dating geeks beware. I'm a girl and a geek thus I understand the phenomena, but it still makes me laugh quite a bit...

In late June I'm going to a wedding in the Philippines, thus I need a nice new dress. I love being able to dress up and am very excited by this prospect. It's an extension of my current shoe addition (btw - endless.com rocks for shoe purchases). Thus, I've already started looking for dresses (although I love clothes, I find it very hard to find cute youthful clothes that fit)! Very exciting.

I found a cute little jersey knit dress in white and green tropical print the other day and fell in love. Looks great on and is the perfect weight for a tropical wedding.

I told this very thing to boyfriend and he dutifully questioned wanting to know more. He understands my excitement. Except when I noted the colors of plain white and true green only in the dress he asked... "Green as in #00FF00?" (translation for non-geeks: that's the hexadecimal number representing green on computers).

I just about died of laughter while accusing him of being a geek. He agreed he's a geek and I promptly responded "I don't know!" and sent him a picture of a shirt that's the color green I'm referring to.

He's a good one - but he's also a geek. He's appreciative of what I like and am excited about, but that doesn't stop him from being him. It's the best of both worlds. I'm allowed to be a girlie girl, but at least I understand him!

It's good being a geek and a girl. And no, the color is not #00FF00. It's more of #009900 .

job... mmmm mmmmm.... good!

2007-04-12T03:18:00.000+01:00

What am I going to write about the new job? Well, not a lot of meat about the company because I like keeping my job and because of that I like keeping the company's secrets. Plus, there's the entier law suit thing and that's just messy...

So yeah... what can I talk about? Food. Yes, I work for that Cali employer now (granted, in the Seattle office) that has very good food. Apparently they recently went "all healthy" in their food department - but damn, this is good food. And right now I'm in the CA office where we have all these food options that it's so ridiculous. I get lost walking through the buildings, but it really doesn't matter - I just swipe a diet coke from one of the fridge's and go in search of a map.

In the meantime, I've determined that I don't know if Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke is any good. I mean, I had two today and I really couldn't tell you if it was any good - drinkable, sure; good, I dunno.

And I say I'm eating healthy - which as a whole I guess I am - until you look at my dinner of In 'n' Out and wine... classy eh? I'm just entertained because here I am blogging about food when I have a good job.

However, one of my friends told me "well, you haven't said a bad thing so far" - which is good. Because my new coworkers have asked about my previous job and it's been a dismal summary from my lips.

Then there's the part of me that's going "wow, I work here?" and "how'd I get this job again?"

public service announcement & tmi

2007-03-06T02:50:00.000Z

I feel the need to broadcast this so I don't have to deal with it myself...

I am so disgusting right now I don't wanna be near myself.

The shower is in sight - only the bathroom to pack (aka throw in a box). Woo!

"In summary, kegs are people too." -Nick

2007-03-02T02:20:00.000Z

I'm nearing the end of week two of freedom. I did make it back from Dallas on Sunday and managed to get sick freezing my a$$ off in DFW. So now I'm fighting a sinus infection and being more motivated than one person should be. Y'see, there are some exciting things going on so I'm getting all miss organized over here.

I've got 9 days to get myself all moved into my new pad and outta this pad so the closet's been cleaned and the filing done - I broke my shredder there was that much filing.

And what else am I doing? Well, bouncing and planning to go to Whistler of course. Although skiing and I are hit and miss lately for a variety of reasons, I'm still looking forward to the absolutely gorgeous snow covered mountains. David and I will be going dogsledding on Wednesday too which adds to the excitement.

And just because it makes my mom shake her head, I must add that I'm the beermistress for this trip. Last year my room was "the slave cave" - an old converted walk in closet that had a futon on the floor. This year I'm driving the beermobile since we have a house for 6 nights, 5 days that's housing 22 people (yes, it's big enough for 24). And what do you do after a long day of winter activity? You eat good food with your friends, sit around in the hot tub, and drink beer.... And 22 people over 6 nights is a lot of beer.

Apparently my mother thinks this is a zany idea and doesn't know how kegs will fit in the car, but as Nick says "In summary, kegs are people too." Thus, keg A and keg B (contents TBA) will be my backseat drivers for the last 2 hours in Canada since you can't transport alcohol over the border. I hope they don't get too rowdy back there....

I leave you the parting wisdom of my only human passenger on the drive to Whistler:

If we run out of fuel we can camp at the roadside and tank ourselves up!

Patience is a Virtue

2007-02-25T15:16:00.000Z

I am in Dallas. Why am I in Dallas? I don't quite know - it could have been one of many things:

my flight from Cancun which should've departed at 7am was delayed 2 hours
my flight from Cancun tried to leave on time, but they had mechanical difficulties getting ready to pressurize the cabin so we taxied back into the terminal and got maintenance for 2 hours
we circled high above Dallas where we were supposed to land for over an hour due to 50-60mph winds
we got rerouted to Houston since we needed fuel after circling Dallas and not being allowed to land
we sat at a domestic gate on an international plane for 5 hours because since we couldn't clear immigration & customs, we weren't allowed off the plane
we ran through customs and back to our plane to get back to Dallas since American flies NOWHERE from Houston that's of any use
I slept on the very cold floor outside security at DFW last night for a whole hour. Then I sat there for another whole hour waiting for everything to finish charging.
I'm on standby - I started as #37 on the list, and after the 1st flight out this morning I'm #12 so I'm not doing so bad, but I bet things start moving slower now

I have my trusty blanket that I found when I got in the terminal practically numb.

I want to curl up and go to sleep more than words.

I have hives and really need a shower, since the shower in Cancun was with chlorinated water and I'm allergic to chlorine. So I'm taking massive doses of Benadryl which aren't helping me to be more alert and at this point, they aren't numbing the itch nearly enough.

At least I have my computer so I'm in great demand by the peeps stuck with me to know what's going on since they won't tell us ANYTHING here.

Oh, and by the way - Cancun was great and I don't wanna go back.

i'm not allowed to change color - only my hair is

2007-02-19T22:43:00.000Z

So, I'm in Cancun with mom, except it's been a bit chilly..... As in much warmer than where we came from, but by no means go in the water weather. It's been overcast and windy windy windy. This needs to stop. Especially since tomorrow I'm jumping in the water regardless to go snorkeling and a lil' breeze won't stop me!

In other news, I have a few new best friends:

SPF30 so I don't change color to tomato (my hair can bleach if it'd like)
pina coladas - they're like alcoholic milk shakes
cheesey fries (gotta try to stay away from them! but yum)

What do the plans entail? Well, snorkelling and a boat ride to Isla Mujeres tomorrow. Then Wednesday we're going to some Mayan ruins on the beach - Tumul. Thursday and Friday damn well better be sunny so I can sit in the pool at the bar and swim around and read and lather myself in my best friend Coppertone.

Right now, I'm waiting for Mom to finish getting her free pedicure so I can go get mine.... what color shall my toes be? I never get pedicures so this should be entertaining - I've only had one before in my life. So I guess 2 things are allowed to change color: my toenails and my hair. My skin better stay basically pasty white though cause if it doesn't I'll be hurtin'.

to prove my point of my previous post

2007-02-06T19:43:00.000Z

Today I:

ate breakfast while on a concall
made some double sided copies
played with javascript to make a counter

See, now isn't that productive for you!

2 week notice explanation required

2007-02-05T23:48:00.000Z

So, I'm "working"... but in reality I'm trying to understand what employers get out of two weeks notice. I gave my two weeks notice and it's getting harder and harder for me to do work. Now, most of the reasons are my problems, but some of them are works.. For example, I'm oncall. Beeping doesn't help me work.

I'm musing over the fact that when I resigned from my teaching gig, it was much easier to be motivated to do the little things. Teaching classes, lesson plans, grading, exams, etc - they were all for the students. I'm not the type of person to jeopardize a kid's education just because I'm resigning and have the slacker-gene.

However, for my current resignation I'm trying to figure out how to keep going. I have a mental countdown going. Like right now I'm under 9.5 days. Really down around under 9 since the last Friday is full of exit interviews. But everyone knows I'm leaving so what's my motivation? I'm a generally responsible person, so that helps - but not nearly enough for some of the tedious tasks.

Does it make your employer feel better to have you for 2 weeks extra and pay that salary? I live in a state where it's employment at will and that's what my contract says.. so what's gained by them for this?

Can someone please explain the actual reason behind two week's notice. I get that it's respectful/polite/responsible - but those are all moral reasons. I work in big corporate America which is arguably neutral in morals - so what's the business reason behind this courtesy???

Back to the grind... my laptop tells me that on Friday 16 Feb at 5pm PST I will be done. I guess that's the finish line!

leavings and goings and new things

2007-02-03T22:30:00.000Z

So, I got a new job that I'm starting in the very beginning of April. I also quit my current job but my last day is Fri Feb 16. And yes, I'm very happy about this. Although I'll miss my current team because they're really awesome, it's time to head on out.

I'll still be in Seattle... so what am I doing for 6 weeks?

Week 1: Cancun with mom
Week 2: move prep
Week 3: moving
Week 4: Whistler
Week 5: chillin' in Seattle with a friend
Week 6: may head to Vegas for a few days with my mom.

Yup - that time's gonna fly by!

ho ho ho!

2006-12-26T19:35:00.000Z

So, I'm slacker-ific and haven't updated here - but I don't know if anyone reads this now that I'm in the States again.

Lots is going on: Seattle had a snowstorm (miraculously scary roads), a windstorm that took my power out for a week (woop!), and I've been travelling here and there.

So anyone who reads this that normally gets a Christmas card from me, they're in my room but didn't get written during the power outtage and since I leave for Ireland in 2 days for a week's vacation, they'll be New Year's cards you'll receive in the New Year. Like I said, I'm slacker-ific!!

Spent Christmas Eve Wii-ing on the roomie's new Nintendo Wii and Christmas day with family. Went to New York for Thanksgiving, went hiking in Rainier and was in VA hiking this fall and I'm heading to Dublin for New Year's. I've never stayed still - you're surprised why?

Hrmmmmm.... to blog or not to blog. Should I restart telling my stories here about downed trees and people doing 360s on the roads in front of me, and random crazy travels like the fact that in Jan, Feb & Mar I'm spending an entire week out of the country - 3 countries vacationed in in 3 months (Ireland, Mexico, Canada).

Cheers and Happy Holidays!!!

hi ho - hi ho - it's off on vacation I go

2006-10-12T02:16:00.000+01:00

So, my wirlwind of one-trip-per-month commences. This weekend's 4 day installment is my flight to/from DC to visit a good friend there and go bask in mountainy glory with good hiking, pretty foliage, excellent company, good food, and yummy drinks to end the day in a fabulous hot tub.

Yes, I need a vacation. Work's been one lil' bundle of stress lately so I was looking at this vacation as the time that would never come. But it's here!!!

Ok, so I've gotta go tie up some loose ends from work but I'm all packed and just antsy to get on the plane now.

Pretty East Coast Foliage and great great friend - here I come!!!

Although I lack the ability to pack light. I always pack just what will fit in my suitcase and I decided since I ain't carryin' the puppy to not go with my carry-on-sized rollybag because of my need for toiletries. Meaning, I managed to bring more crap. Go me!

songs you don't sing loud with the car windows down

2006-10-07T19:24:00.000+01:00

So, one of my coworkers leant me a CD by the artist Deirdre Flint. This CD is absolutely hysterical.

Last night driving home on empty interstates, I was singing along with a few of the songs - notably the first I sang with was "The Cheerleader" which is highly entertaining.

And then one came on that I'd had on repeat earlier in the day when I needed some giggles: "The Boob Fairy." Yes, I'm really not kidding you, there is a song entitled "The Boob Fairy." I'd pick the highlights of the lyrics for your reading approval, but really, there are no particular highlights - it's just all hysterical.... Although as Deirdre says in her own song it's just a metaphor:

This isn't a song about boobs. Not really. The boobs are just a set of metaphors to symbolize everyone's fear of human inadequacy. Hey! We've all felt the pain of being dissed by one fairy or another, so during the next refrain I want you to join in with your own fairy that never paid a call. Maybe it's the height fairy or the butt nymph. Men, maybe it's the pectoral or hair fairy or maybe some other fairy you just want to mumble about. Look, nobody's going to ask you to enunciate. And sisters, I don't want you feeling alienated because you happen to be full-figured. Just change the line to the boob fairy wouldn't let me be or the boob fairy became obsessed with me. Okay, here comes the refrain. Everybody join in.

I must say that I love driving on an empty highway and singing - it feels so free! And when I'm having a craptastic day, I sing lots. Granted, last night when I was singing this on my way home I was finally far enough away from the crap to be having a good day - but a gal can always use a bit of a laugh.... Because although this song might not apply to every female - especially not me - well, c'mon - you know you want to sing a song that ends with:

The boob fairy never came for me
No the boob fairy never came for me
Though the hip fairy came two times
and the thigh fairy came three
The boob fairy never came for me.

never judge a girl by her hair color

2006-10-02T07:08:00.000+01:00

So I was waiting for the movie I was going to see last night (Little Miss Sunshine) - and it was starting later than advertised, so I stepped into the bar across the way from the theater. It was a pretty swanktastic lil' bar so I got a girlie drink to pass the hour I had to spare.

A little bit after I arrived, a nice looking guy approached me at the bar to say hi. We started chatting, and I was entertained by being hit on in a swanky bar with all the pretty people around, but didn't think much of it. However, the conversation will have me laughing for a long long time.

Let's just say he's new in town because he works "in technology." And apparently he wouldn't go into detail about what technology is because I "wouldn't get it." So mystery mystery mystery... I mean, a girl sitting at the bar with a cocktail in hand must never be able to understand anything about technology!

Except, when returning the "what do you do for a living?" questions in my direction, I was the painfully point-out-you-just-made-a-fool-of-yourself girl who said "oh, I work in technology. And apparently it's this mysterious field that I might not understand."

He looked abashed and I continued "I mean, if you want to judge a book by her cover, then I guess I couldn't really do tech."

"Oh, so do you work in marketing for Microsoft?"

DINGDINGDING! We have a winner boys and girls!!!

"Actually, I'm a software developer who didn't sell her soul to Microsoft." (as I thought to myself "how's your foot tasting? would you like some vinegar to make it taste a lil' better?")

He was a really nice guy and all that - I mean, for a guy walking up to me randomly in the bar, I could've done far far worse. But damn, that was just too funny. At least he made himself memorable even if I did taunt him with his assumptions all night when he was so excited that he could not edit himself to talk about tech gadgets and such.

Apparently women don't go for geek guys. Apparently I look like a ditzy blonde.

Hrmmmm....... Now aren't all of you out there who know me and the oddity of this situation giggling? I mean, this is far too funny for words.

step away from the hand eating machine

2006-09-19T23:48:00.000+01:00

Yes, I'm blogging from work; yes, this is not an appropriate use of work time except I'm waiting for about 3 different things to finish and can't handle anymore tasks simultaneously in the workspace of my brain.

So, as I mentioned earlier I made my decision about which team to work for, and I find it absolutely fascinating but maybe that's just the geekette in me.

I'm getting out of the world of placing an order (cart, checkout, etc) to move to the world of fulfilling an order. In specific, I'm writing software designed to make everything flow through the systems and get from the people picking the stuff off the shelves out the door to the trucks waiting to deliver it to our wonderful customers. In other words: packing.

It's completely different compared to what I've spent the past 2+ years of my career here doing and I figured I'd go for it. I mean, who doesn't want to travel to Kentucky or Nevada or Tokyo to see different fulfillment centers and look at machines and try them out? I know I certainly wanna see how factories process boxes and talk about glue temperatures in meetings and how to regulate them via software. I really do find the entire process management aspect fascinating.

So it's not something you can see anymore like when I setup the messages and shut off ordering to Louisianna after Hurricane Katrina on the customer facing website, but every day software that I write will go into effect making sure our boxes are packed with the right stuff on time.

But if we get your shrinkwrap wrong, or we put things in way too big of a box, or give you the wrong packing slip - please, for the love of Yvette - don't let me know unless we do it repeatedly! I'm not the one who's there getting my hands stuck in machines.

The way I ended my lunch meeting with my manager's manager today was with her saying "oh, good, then you know how to deal with childlike people who are tempted to stick their fingers in the electrical outlets to see if they're working." Bloody brilliant!

how to focus on food for 7.5 hours straight

2006-09-17T16:37:00.000+01:00

Apparently it's impossible to pick your own apples in the state of Washington which seems mildly wrong considering the location - but it did make for a good adventure yesterday. I went out with some friends thinking that the farm that said you could pick apples would let you pick apples - they did, from a bin.

So instead we went into their lil' Ma 'n' Pa garden and did some good old veggie picking: string beans, purple broccoli, some random radish, purple potatos, garlic and carrots. We also went bin diving for some apples. And then on the way home, grab some chicken and the makings for the pie crust, etc.

Then you go home and wash, chop, stir, peel, boil, bake, talk about baking and cooking, stir, fry, sautee, steam, etc. And eventually you end up with the most sinfully delicious dinner ever followed by one of the best apple pies ever.

I have never seen that many purple veggies - the potatos and cauliflower were fascinating to me especially since they became more purple as they were cooked. And I like cauliflower, I go through minor stages of cauliflower lust - however, this is beyond the wonderfulness of white cauliflower since there's just so much more yummy flavor.

Yum. So now I'm sitting here having just eaten a slice of apple pie for breakfast, and it's utterly delcious. And what do people do when they realize they have an entire second pie and have been talking about food for over 7 hours? They drink tea and plan the next night's dinner. So tonight we're having pie for dessert, however, we're having some combo of Indian food for dindin which we're cooking beforehand.

Here's my ode to food. Food is good.

mundane life

2006-09-13T01:49:00.000+01:00

So, I think I'm good at causing whirlwinds whereever I go. I never seem to be bored. Then again, most people would call my average Saturday or Sunday (sometimes both) boring when I do nothing. Perhaps this is because I just don't seem to know how to not be busy or try new things.

Now that I've recovered from the robbery - new laptop for home and for work, found my old craptastic digicam which is fine now that I'm back in the States, and am slowly making up a wishlist of media stuff and other little things I lost that I'd actually like back - well, things are still busy.

Between running around with friends like a madwoman, being a bad person and forgetting a friend's birthday, reading on the beach... and finding a new job!!! Well, yeah, excitement abounds.

I found a new position within my current company that I'm attempting to get. But corporate politics are a rather entertaining thing. Who won't step on whose toes; a manager (my manager's manager) coordinating the move for me who doesn't know me at all since he started while I was in Dublin; a crapload of possibilities for lil' moi who's terrible at making decisions; people pestering me about what's next. Let's just say that it's been fun (although my bladder told me to stop getting free coffee offa these people finally!) and I've learned a lot about the company - and frankly, it does my ego good - but sheeshush people. Hoops are everywhere and they're color coded but someone's dog ate the key.

So I'm just pottering along telling the truth in a straight forward manner that catches some people offguard (manager's manager) and now that I've decided what I want, well, I think I can certify myself as being clinically an insane masochist. I think I've said this before about a ton of things - but rather than going for the uber-easy team (one I'm practically been on before, it just has a new manager), or the somewhat easy team (the one I've worked with a lot on various projects - just not directly on their software), I'm going with the team where I get to start my connections from scratch. Oh yes, I've decided that I want "a challenge". Now, Yvette, let me remind you of all the other challenges you've undertaken in your life: college, move to MD, move to WA, move to Ireland, Semester at Sea, traveling alone in France, training an entire team of people technically senior to me in general tech experience, teaching.. but nooooo - apparently you're still young and stupid and want another challenge.

So here's to my new challenge. It's not official yet - but let's just say that I think that when someone mentioned going to a meeting about glue, I was sold. That's just too funny. "What'd you do today Yvette?" "Talked about the proper temperature for glue" Yeah. That's just so wrong.

some people think the states are so safe...

2006-09-06T05:40:00.000+01:00

So I've been told so many times that people are glad I'm back in the states because the states are so safe. I have proof otherwise.

This past holiday weekend - my first spent in Seattle - the house that I rent with 2 of my friends was robbed. One of my roomies was even home when it happened and had no idea, but thankfully he's ok.

So, petty crime and possibly even dangerous crime occurs everywhere. I'm lucky that this time it was petty crime (granted, it's gonna cost me a ton - they got 2 laptops and a camera as the main stuff, and then some other things like DVDs and CDs of mine). I'm lucky that no one was hurt, but let's say that it makes you question your safety anywhere.

Y'know, I was never of the mind that I'm safer in the States. You're not particularly safe anywhere if you don't take the proper precautions. And I have proof. I hadn't been in the states for 14 days when this happened.

So yeah, I'm at a loss for what happened and I'll never get my stuff back in all likelihood.

I'm ok - my roommates are ok. Yeah, I'm a little spooked and it's hard to adjust even though I got a new toy (new laptop - yum). But there's so much paperwork, so many questions, so much to think about - so yeah - it's not done processing in my head, but I'm here and I'm ok. Just thought I'd share a bit.

lazy summer days in montana

2006-08-30T21:53:00.000+01:00

Sat 26 Aug 20:30
“When the gravel disappears you’ve fallen off the map” –Mom

I guess that means that today we’ve proven that the world is as flat as the piece of paper containing our map while driving in Montana.

The goal: to visit some of my aunt & uncle’s friends.
The result: wondering if we’d managed to get on roads worse than those literally marked as “unsurfaced (inquire locally).”

Somehow we ended up going from the prairies of farm country Montana where I’m currently at visiting my relatives (Mom, aunts, uncles, and grandma) to the Bear(s) Paw(s) Mountain(s). (Pick your ‘s’ placement – you only get one and even the wildlife warden we met on the rez couldn’t tell us what ‘s’ was correct.)

We drove and drove and drove and didn’t find the cabin we were looking for so we kept going, following what we thought was a “gravel road” on the map towards a tiny town my mom and uncle remember going to rodeos in with my grandpa.

Heh – that was a joke.

I haven’t laughed that hard and long in a long time. This road got narrower, ruttier, rockier and cow-ier the further we went up it. Oh wait – was that a road? No, it was a logging trail. Ireland ain’t got nothing on this sucker since these were REAL mountains with switchbacks. And what were we driving these in? A lovely front wheel drive Ford Taurus. Brilliant!!

Going up a switchback past some cows, we started talking about where we were – no one was quite sure but my mom and uncle couldn’t remember ever going on this road in their lives. My aunt mentioned the need for GPS and my comment was “Your GPS would tell you ‘where the hell are you stupid humans?’”

Driving out of the Indian rez I thought we’d seen a lot of empty Bud cans and bottles. That didn’t have anything on what we saw as we crested the hill I’m surprised the little white Taurus that could made it up: an empty bottle of Southern Comfort. At that point, I needed oxygen from breathing so hard and we didn’t know whether to turn around or go forward. Apparently someone else let the liquor make that choice for them.

Mind you, we were driving in free range country – so when we stopped for a stretch and to let out some more laughter, I got friendly with the Family Bovine who were attempting to pass us on this tiny dirt logging path. By the end, the Dinner Family had introduced themselves as Mrs. Hamburger Bovine, Mr. RoundSteak Bovine and their two lovely children Lil’ RoastBeef and Ribeye Bovine. Ahhh – some good MOOOOS were had by all.

We finally made it out of the mountains after an exclamation by my uncle at another “huhwha” stop of “Sis, I don’t know which way to go. Relative to prairie, where are we?” – although we had no clue where as evidenced by the comment made by my uncle when we could finally see further than the trees in front of us “we’re out of the mountains… are we North or South of them though?”

We made it back to the teensy tiny farming town where we’re staying with Grandma only to need to stop for a refreshing beverage at the Redneck Club and Casino (I kid you not – pictures shall be had). American crap beer tastes like watered down crap at this point – wow, I never thought that’d happen.

In case you were wondering if I’d keep any of Ireland with me as I visit farm country USA – yes, I have. I caught myself saying bollicks in the car… and brilliant multiple times. Congratulations, Irish English, you’ve been introduced to the county of wheat country and ranch country Montana that has a teensy town my mom grew up in with a Redneck Club and Casion.

And to summarize my lovely day driving in Montana with my family: “I don’t want to know how they built this road, I want to know why!!!”

Sun Aug 27 09:30
Malt o’ Wheat

Mmmmm mmmmm good. There’s this wonderful substance that’s a bit grittier than Cream of Wheat which is perfectly amazing called Malt o’ Wheat. It was an uber-yummy breakfast. A bit o’ sugar and butter and we were perfectly in business.

I definitely love visiting Montana – so relaxing and fun. I just hope we get to play lawn golf today!!!

Mon Aug 28 11:25
Such a BIG town

My mother gave me directions to get to the grocery store and library today. I laughed so hard at her – she even drew a map. It’s beyond ridiculous here! C’mon mother – I think I c an figure out how to go 1.5 blocks to main street, turn left and follow traffic signs to stop at “the highway” and cross the tracks. Just tell me “about a block from the cemetery” or whatnot. Silly mother – you cannot get lost in this town. And the directions to the grocery store were beyond hilarious. First of all, I’ve been there before – many times. Secondly, it’s 3 blocks away and I’m odd for driving it.

Welcome to this huge metropolis of a sleepy town.

Mon Aug 27 21:33
Lawn Golf is tha Bomb Shizzle!

I can’t laugh anymore – it hurts – a lot. Lawn golf has to be the most ridiculous lawn sport ever invented. It’s not proper like croquet; it’s not random like bocce ball; it’s completely unique to play a game with piping and golf balls where you combine horseshoes and a bit of… ‘shrooms?

Holy holy holy – my lungs hurt and I sound like a lifetime smoker when I laugh because I’m hacking like a madwoman. Buckets of laughter were had by all… and then some! And yes, I was on the pink team and the pink beat the purple. It was siblings v. “the rest of us.” And you’ve never heard so many excuses or so much whining in however long you’ve been alive times 1000 years.

I can’t believe the stuff we said tonight – you would never believe me saying to the police officer across the street “sorry for disturbing the peace” after my mother decided to ask his councilwoman wife for more light to make sure the pink team wasn’t cheating. I told them to send her back to NY where they could handle crazy women.

Maybe I shouldn’t have sat at the Mint for so long friggin’ refusing drinks. I thought the Irish rounds system was bad – but at least then it’s you and the people you went in with – not the entire bar buying for the rest of the bar. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeesh. And American crap beer at that! Wooo.. Mom and I were doing well when we got home to eat with Grandma and then of course, there was Lawn Golf – the god of all sports. I should make myself a lawn golf set and have friends over for a bbq next weekend if there are people not concert going (and if I’m not concert going).

I think my lungs might be recovering, although I think an ice cream bar might be in order to make sure to numb the pain of laughing so hard.

I might be wearing purple pants, but pink still won at the brilliant game of lawn golf.

here & there

2006-08-25T07:18:00.000+01:00

So, how many flights can I take in the month of Aug? I'm going to be up to 6 next Wed.

Y'see, I got in Monday night from Dublin, and tomorrow night I'm flying to Montana - because, well, that's just the way I am. I travel far too much. Except I'm very apathetic about packing at this point. My room looks like a bomb exploded through my suitcases since I never unpacked (at least I did laundry!). And I really really really don't want to pack.

So y'know what? I'm not going to - I'm going to pack only the necessary stuff tonight (toothbrush, ID, deoderant and a book) and the rest is getting tossed in the general direction of my rollybag in the morning. Means I have to get up early, but my body's still not on PST so this feels disgustingly late (hi, it's 7:15am to my body in some senses - my alarm would've been going off at this exact time exactly one week ago) so I think a 6am wake up will be easier than my delerious and grumpy stay up tonight.

Oh, and did I mention all my other planned vacations for the year? Yeah - I think if I could always fly the same airlines, I might've become platinum this year.

Here I come Montana!

well hello to you to pst time zone!

2006-08-23T18:01:00.000+01:00

So, it's finally been over 24 hrs since I returned to the US. I can't believe I actually showed up in the office yesterday on what I'd guess was about 2 hrs of sleep. Sickness I tellya. And I even made it through till 6pm yesterday so that I could go out to dinner with a large group of great friends who welcomed me back to the states.

Granted, yesterday I wasn't supposed to do any work (about 2 hrs of work snuck in in the afternoon) but I answered the same welcome back questions over and over again. My desk had been raided by my coworkers who left their goods in an anonymous pile on the desk in the recent past knowing of my imminent return to the states. People were surprised to hear my voice or see me. I looked like crap twice over.. and somehow I managed to take the bus to work (but got a lift back to the house).

Don't know if my old work peeps miss me - but I'm oncall for the next 2 mins so they can't completely hate me since I took over 2 hours this morning (hey, I woke up at 7 before my alarm clock - and this after being up from 3-5 due to lack of sleepies).

But I feel much more rested.

Now I'm just scared of driving - because I'm still looking the "wrong" way when I cross the street. But my lovely car has been returned by it's fabulous baby sitters (thanks guys!!) and is begging me to drive it - specially since I need things like basic grocery goodnesses and to get my haircut this evening.

So yeah, I'm back in Seattle - it's pretty much the way I left it - I just missed the purty time of year since now it's overcast and gray out. But I'll deal since Ireland was worth it.

Ok - off oncall, so I'm safe to shower without wanting to throw my pager at something when I have shampoo in my hair and it goes off. Then, onto another boring day of work work work work work. At least the contrasts between the offices are amazingly apparent so that gives me pondering to use for procrastination.

my last 2 weeks living in europe... (lots and lots of stuff - aka long)

2006-08-22T05:26:00.000+01:00

I wrote this on the plane between Dublin and Atlanta today. Now I'm sitting on the couch in the main floor living room of the house we rent in Seattle. I'm here.

written at 1646 (my body's time) over the Atlantic 21 Aug

I just woke up to a snack of Haagen Dazs ice cream on my little trans-Atlantic flight and realized that I've lived the past 10 days in a blur of activity - none of which I've shared with the world. So this will end up being a very long blog entry probably - who knows - since I'm writing on a flight and where do I have to go? My battery's full and there's a really old episode of Alias on the inflight tv channel.

So, hrmm - what do I have to say? Well, there's France - you heard most of the things I wanted to write about the Riviera, but there's always Paris. And then there's my "last week in Ireland" and all the mumbo jumbo that involves.

France:

France's Riviera
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

I amazingly didn't miss my train from the Riviera to Paris or anything of the sort (grrr to the man in front of me who decided just now to lean back in his seat). Instead I arrived in Paris to find that my hotel was the cutest thing known to mankind. It was a little narrow "building" (more like a row house) just a few blocks away from St Germain (thus perfectly situated) with decor reminiscent of medieval times - including a coat of arms in the foyer. My room itself had a closet which was converted into a bathroom, a bed that was much larger than the room should hold and thus it was easier to walk across the bed than around it, a fake armoire and ceiling beams. Fantastic quiet street and beyond what I'd hoped for. I wandered to a cafe and a wine bar Monday night doing nothing special - just reading, writing and basking in Paris and a good glass of wine (or two).

Glace!
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Tuesday I attempted to go to the Louvre but having not read my little guide book carefully enough, I didn't realize that the Louvre was closed, so I saw the glass pyramids (they fascinated me - forgive me if you look at my photos) and then started to head towards Notre Dame only to find myself having to.... SIT DOWN... when a friend of mine from Dublin decided he was going to take an impromptu vacation and join me in Paris since it would work out for him. A visitor was more than welcome on this trip as honestly, I was getting rather lonely. In reality, I'll never do a trip that long alone again - it was hard to keep going at times. So that invigorated me to no end knowing that he was going to try to arrive Thursday morning and we'd have the weekend to explore as 2 people, which is vastly different than exploring as 1 person. So Tuesday flew by in a whir of walking walking walking and texting and seeing beautiful stained glass windows in St Chapelle and Notre Dame (the free tour in Notre Dame was wonderful!) and visiting the Conciergerie and enjoying some good ol' Parisian cafes. I also managed to eat a few crepes, some glace, have some wine and go shopping in the Latin Quarter that day before feetsies had enough.

Mr Eiffel's Tower
at Night
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Wednesday did find me at the Louvre - this time successfully getting in. I liked the outside of the Louvre more than the inside - and that's just sad. I think that the Met has a much more easily navigated layout and just as good of artwork. Yes, I did see the Mona Lisa and all that stuff. I also happened to run into a student I taught AP Computer Science to my first year of teaching which was surreal to say the least!!! I was just sitting in a sculpture garden in the Louvre reading having pushed my way through the crowds to see the Venus D'Milo and I was ready for a break when this former-student walked up to me and said excuse me and I knew how I knew him right away - I just couldn't place his name. I still can't place his name, I just know that he was late to my class (and school since it was 1st period) more days than you can possibly fathom. Ridiculousness and what an odd moment. That evening I wandered and window shopped in St Germain, I walked through Luxembourg Gardens and the Sorbonne and I sat in another Parisian cafe after having a glace that had a presentation to die for - the glace was nothing more than really really really good glace, but the presentation made it phenomenal. I then ended up doing my normal "dinner find" of going to a random cafe with a lot of people, and in line met a woman from CA who was also traveling in Paris alone (although she was unexpectedly alone) so we shared a table and after a delightful dinner we took a river cruise on the Seine which was really really pretty.

Getting ready to kiss
Picasso's Statue
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Thursday through a bit of well timed text messages and my thankfully good sense of direction and mental map, I managed to find my friend in the large city of Paris and we dropped off his stuff before beginning our wanders for the day. Our wanders took us to the Eiffel Tower where we had a picnic of crepes and then decided to "stare up the skirt" of the tower. He was indifferent about going to the top and I got scaredy-catted so I didn't make it to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Don't regret it though either. After some good lounging in the unlikely sun, we continued wandering to make our loop past the Arc de Triomph, down the Champs Elysees (with a stop for some coffee along the way) past the Louvre and some funny sculptures and then on for dinner in the Latin Quarter. Hours and hours later with a bottle of wine split between us, a lovely day had been had and no one was dead from traveling with Yvette.

Yvette Snogs A Face of Stone
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Friday brought us to another wander in the opposite direction - first I was aiming for the island that doesn't have Notre Dame on it in the Seine, but we missed that and instead ate paninis on the banks of the Seine where they should've been having a raucous Paris a Plage but where it was far too cool to lounge about outside scantily clad. Then we hiked on - having the destination of the Picasso museum in mind. It was marvelous and I made more kissy faces at statues on the wall. Then off on another ramble to see that section of Paris, stop for coffee, walk past the Pompodou Center and just enjoy our time in Paris. Nothing really eventful, but more laughter and smiles than you can possibly count.

Not Quite Pissed Yvette
& David with 4EUR wine
in Orangina Cans
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Saturday it was rainy. So after being lazy bums because of the rain (hey, it was a holiday after all!!! No need to rush around on a holiday when the point is to relax and enjoy!) we set off to wander I can't remember where. We ended up doing a lot of window shopping, Yvette did a lot of hopping on one leg (I bruised my knee by falling on a slipper step) so we were slow going and we collected edibles for a picnic that evening when we thought the rain had let up. Y'see, I was determined to get "a view of Paris" and since I didn't go up the Eiffel - Sacre Coer seemed like a must. A 4EUR bottle of wine (it was the only screw cap available), bread, brie, grapes and berries later, we were ready to head up the hill (after a quick stop for glace after all). We made it up to Sacre Coer after twisting and getting more lost in Paris than I'd previously been (who'd've thought it could be so hard to "go uphill") and with my body reminding me that I am very out of shape. The view was amazing except there were so many tourists you couldn't figure out where to put yourself. The sun was up, and I wanted to see the lights after dark so we sat down and drank our Orangina (being the lateral thinker I am, I wanted us to have non-clear repositories for our red wine so that we wouldn't get in trouble with the police or anyone should they come along. Apparently this makes me a "good lateral thinker").We had our lil' picnic and it started to sprinkle so we put up and umbrella and cowered under it with the food. 4EUR wine is as bad as it sounds. YUCK! But after the first can, it goes down pretty smooth... Trust me, this was unforgettable to the two of us on the steps!! I was staying remarkably dry so I wasn't worried about things, but my partner in crime claimed that he was acting as my "sanitary pad" (his words - I promise - too disturbing even after more and more wine). Apparently his rear was not so dry..... Tee hee! Somehow we managed to stay there and not get horribly wet till the last 15ish mins when our wine was gone - so we scurried down to the metro and went back to the hotel to get dry - and it was late anyways).

With a slow start on Sunday, we headed out to a leisurely lunch and then made our way to the airport oblivious to the recent changes in airport security for travelers due to the threats in the London area. We didn't run into anything other than ridiculously slow security that wasn't any different than normal (it was just the French!) so that was good. All good. And home to Dublin safe after what was a great trip - I got some good me-time in, I learned a lot about how I travel by myself, I had a fabulous time in Paris with my friend, I lounged on the beach, I saw what I wanted to see, and I went back to Dublin thoroughly relaxed and in shock of my imminent departure for the US only 8 days away.

My last week in Ireland:
My last week in Ireland flew by. I was oncall at work from 6am-6pm every day but Monday and I packed a lot into that time. I almost can't remember what. I worked only what was required (and in that time got mounds of work done - huh!), I laughed with my coworkers tons and tons, and I just had a good time. Went out for burgers to prove to an Irish bloke that you can eat any hamburger with your hands (after having seen him very politely cut his burger and chips and eat them with a fork a few weeks before). It was a challenge of sorts since these were massive burgers of odd shapes, and he wanted me to go for the one with chili on it. It all worked out for the best and that's what we ended up with. And I finished the entire burger eating with my hands without a single spot on me - much to his shock. Apparently this was a feat worth documentation from his point of view.

I also got some fish and chips to prove that the fish in the states is significantly better than that in Dublin, however, the chips are not.

Pissed Coworkers
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

I went on a final Irish pub crawl after my last day in the Dublin office (Friday). It was a much smaller gathering than I'd initially thought there would be, but all the people that I wanted were there with me - so that's what mattered. We went to a bunch of pubs and I got genuinely tipsy. We even went down the stairs and past the glass door at the pub I had the "unfortunate incidents" at. There wasn't too much embarrassment on anyone's part, but lots of drunkenness. And the night ended with some good ol' kebabs at a late night kebab house when pubs without late licenses were starting to close.

Wicklow
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Saturday was a rainy day so I took that to mean it should be a lazy day. And yesterday I was treated to a trip to the Irish countryside which I saw far far far far far too little of during my sojourn to Ireland. That was amazing - so pretty - and somehow it was mostly sunny the entire day. The company was fantastic, the views were brilliant, and it was a great way to end my stay in Ireland. I then went back to my apartment and did a whirlwind of packing.

Wicklow
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

And this morning, through tears, I departed Dublin and am now flying to Atlanta.

I've been busy and my head's been a swirl of thoughts. I wish I weren't leaving Dublin. I was planning on living there for 6 months, so 4 not only feels still a bit like giving up, but it also feels like I just didn't have enough time to do everything I wanted to do at an Yvette pace. Then there's the fact that I was finally finally finding my place in the world in Dublin - work's been great (and work not being great was the reason I'd been forced to decide to leave - grrrr to that), I've got friends, people ask me to "do stuff" and I'm still traveling a lot. I haven't had any complaints for my last month in Dublin.

Then again, I'm happy to return to my friends in the States. They'll all be different and some might not live in Seattle for much longer, but they're good people and I'm looking forward to hanging out with them again. I just need to train them to call me again now that I'll be back. I can't believe I'm going into the office tomorrow.

I know things I'll miss about Dublin. I know things I'm looking forward to about Seattle. I'm all torn up inside in some ways - but overall it'll work out. Life does what it's supposed to - I just have to kick it along sometimes. I'm wondering if I'm kicking it in the right direction at the moment.

Cheers ladies and gents!

Yvette & David on our Adios to Ireland for Yvette hike
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

less than 24 hrs remain

2006-08-20T13:11:00.000+01:00

I fly out of Ireland at 11AMish tomorrow. Everything's arranged. I'm just not packed. I have tons to say, tons to think about, tons to write. Right now, I'm sad to be leaving Ireland - very very sad. However, I'm also enjoying my last errrr hours here. Now, off for an excursion with a lovely friend so that I can enjoy this country a bit more for this trip. Have no fear, Ireland, I shall return to you and your people some day.

some people shouldn't be allowed to breed

2006-08-14T17:07:00.000+01:00

So, another story from France - one that horrified me and made my entire trip worthwhile on my first weekend on the beach in the Riviera.

Mind you, my time at the beach was a complete and utter treat to myself. I spent my days relaxing in the sun on a beach chair with an adjustable umbrella and my book or floating out in the Mediterranean where my feet couldn't touch the bottom. Nothing harsh. Just that, a huge salad with a glass of vin rose for every lunch, a glace on the walk back to my hotel in the late afternoon, and a nice dinner with a glass of vin rouge for dinner and possibly a crepe for dessert. It wasn't meant to be eventful, and my previous entry written while at the beach should've been the highlight of my relaxing time there. I had intended to summarize it in a few sentences about nearly naked people and seeing too many thongs, plus playing with children and enjoying the absolutely perfect weather that held out my entire time there.

However, that's not the case.

In the middle of the afternoon I was out floating on my back in the water having just reapplied my SPF 50 (mmmm - unburnt Yvette for once!). I was all happy in the sun with the absolutely perfectly refreshing water rising and falling with the wake from various boats passing beyond the line of bouys that indicated the boundary of the swimming area to separate it from the boating area. This should've been perfectly reasonable - most people were in near the shore where their feet could touch ground, but I've always loved floating or treading water - I guess it's my buoyancy.

However, on this fateful day, a little girl was out floating on a raft - just your basic flat lie on your back sort of deal that so many people have. Her parents were relatively nearby - perhaps they could touch the ground (I could see it through the clear sea water, I'm just short) but their daughter most definitely could not have. I'd have guessed she was in the 4-5 year old age range.

This little cutie had no buoyancy devices at all. She fell off her raft. I was scarily closer than her parents when this happened and made it to her first, dragging her up as she sank to the bottom. Her little self didn't struggle thankfully, and my lifeguard skills kicked right in. It was very very easy to keep her afloat as she choked and sputtered and vomited sea water all over my arms (these are the sorts of things you don't notice until the hecticness of the rescue is over - it was sort of surreal to walk onto the beach and realize I was absolutely nasty and in need of a shower). I can't believe that I remembered my skills from 10 years ago when I got my life guarding certificate. I'm definitely not certified now, so I'm glad everything went ok - and I'm very thankful that she came up breathing so I didn't have to drag her into shore at a rapid pace. Plus, the lifeguards on the beach met us when I got to the point where I was able to touch bottom and hold her up with her parents following behind me. So they took over the care of her from there while the parents babbled at me incoherently.

I cannot believe parents could do such a thing. I'm torn between being insanely grateful for my swimming abilities and lifeguard training versus being horrified and outraged at the girl's parents. You do not do that with a small child.... NO MATTER WHAT! This is why some people shouldn't be allowed to breed.

But now, everything's safe and sound. There's no harm done to anyone involved. I managed to go in and get cleaned up in the employee restroom of the nice little place I was sitting at - and they didn't charge me for my chair or lunch at that place either. So it worked out in the end for the best - fairy tale ending.

If I never have to do that again, I will be beyond happy. Once is far more than enough. Good luck lil' cutiepie I dragged out of the Med.

written on the beach in juan les pins, france

2006-08-14T16:54:00.000+01:00

Disclaimer: I wrote this while in France actually in my paper journal. I thought it was cute.

Today I ate lunch with a smelly Frenchman; then I was hit on by a cute blonde German lass over a before-dinner cocktail (mm - pina colada on the beach). They were both delightful; they were both 4 at the oldest.

After lounging on the beach for an hour or two I went to get lunch. The large party in the cafe at the table next to me had a herd of small children - one of whom was fascinated by me. I don't know what the thrall I have over the 4 year old male is, but after exchanging smiles he crawled into the chair opposite mine and helped himself to a piece of bread. His father was utterly horrified and turned red hearing my horrible French (aka nonexistent French with an American accent) reassuring him it was ok.

My little friend chattered at me for the duration of my meal and giggled at every word I uttered in either English or French. Delightful!

I continued my day relaxing in the sand and floating in the sea.

Then, waiting for my restaurant d'jour to open, I found a little wannabe tiki bar where a little towheaded German 2 year old climbed into my lap unexpectedly as I demurely sipped my drink and wiggled my toes in the sand. She kept trying to feed me popcorn from my lil' popcorn bowl they gave me on the table..... except she'd sucked on every piece first. At least her parents could speak English so they knew I wasn't upset at my newfound lil' friend. Adorable!

Today was a very cute day.

home safe in Dublin

2006-08-13T19:01:00.000+01:00

Hi all - thanks for all your concern over travel after recent events with airline security. I wasn't aware of any potential problems until I got home and read emails from friends and family. I didn't have any problems in the airport and we made it through to the flight all clear. Nothing out of the ordinary other than the slowest security checkpoint I've been through in a while. But hey - they're French!

I'll write more later. Right now, off to look at the heaps of laundry awaiting me.

safe in paris

2006-08-08T16:44:00.000+01:00

I made it to Paris tre bien. (those of you that speak French, please pardon my butchering of the language that I don't actually know.)

The Med was lovely - I have blog entries to type up and post when I return from lazy evenings drinking wine and watching the sun set over the water with sand in my toes.

I'm currently resting my lil' toesies before I return to walking in Paris. Today's tourism is done and now it's wander time. I have a nutella crepe in hand - so I'm all set to go.

Although I did a whole lot of relaxing on the sand and swimming while in the Riviera I have more stories from that portion than from my train ride and day in Paris. Go figure!!

And I'm all chipper cause a visitor is joining me later this week in Paris only to be dragged to the top of the Eiffel Tower and to other random Parisienne spots du jour. Mostly I mention the Eiffel Tower due to my fear of heights and my determination to get to the top anyways - so I'm greatful for the distraction on the way up and as I shakingly approach the edge with stoic determination. Yes, I really really hate man made heights! Take me to the steps of Sacre Couer for a view that won't petrify me at first. At least I've finally given up going up the inside of cathedral domes due to the fact I never get over that one no matter how long I'm up there.

Ahhh - feetsies good to go again. Aur revior! (errr - adios since I know I'm spelling that right. And I'm slowly learning this French keyboard thingie)

smelly french keyboards

2006-08-04T21:57:00.000+01:00

I lack the ability to type on this keyboard... and I thought Irish keyboards were hard enough but dang these misplaced as ms and ws.

Yes, I'm safe on the Mediterranean in France's Riviera and it's hot and beautiful. I have 8 more days in France and tomorrow I'm spending the entire day on the beach.

Adios (yes I know that's the wrong language.... but I keep nearly speaking in Spanish to people).

today's PSA: rotating baa-ing sheep are brilliant

2006-08-02T12:21:00.000+01:00

I hear baa's coming down the corridor towards me as I sit at my desk after getting to work rather late this morning due to utter and extreme laziness. Yes, it is an Irishman walking towards my back corner of the office with a sheep - a sheep that baas when you rotate it. Wiggle the sheep: it baaas; rotate the sheep: it baaaas. Irishmen and their sheep.

I think I've finally found my niche in this office. It's rather perplexing to me because this is about the same amount of time that it took me to find my place in the Seattle office... however, now I'm about to leave Dublin. Hrmmm...... I sit here laughing all day long and working away at a nifty little project that keeps me both confused and happy. Maybe I'd even make friends here.

But at the same time, Seattle's still a good home for me. So who knows - life happens and I'll go with it - having spent the past hour listening to the gentleman who sits next to me mutter about another coworker being brilliant.... for his moooing and his rotating baaaaing sheep!

i like my balcony

2006-07-30T14:49:00.000+01:00

My balcony is my favorite part of this apartment. It's shaded, a bit breezey due to the height, and has a nice lil' chair and table for me to relax. And since it's been so disgustingly hot here lately and I have no fans or the like to keep this place cooler, well, it's about the only hospitable part of my apartment.

This weekend I'm stuck "under house arrest" since I'm oncall. It's not been a problem so far. I enjoyed a relaxing Friday evening before the oncall started at 0600 Saturday. And then Saturday I got myself paged and paged and paged again in the morning, and kept napping, and finally collapsed into a heap of Yvette mush around 1830... Did wake up for a bit - but I feel much more human since I've spent far too many nights this week awake late - including a 5+ hour long walk home one night when I was distracted talking to a friend.

Mmmm - fresh grapes. Strawberries may have failed me, but I just went downstairs to get myself a few nibbles for around my apartment and came back with lovely fresh and juicy grapes.

Don't really have much to do today. I should look through my France plans and make sure I haven't missed anything - but shoulds are shoulds and I feel like reading my book instead.

Just a normal weekend for me. Carry on.

will someone bail me out of jail when i get back to the states?

2006-07-27T19:25:00.000+01:00

I will cross the street anywhere no matter what direction the traffic is going. Walking my short jaunt home today, I realized that if I were in Seattle, I'd have been arrested numerous times within the .25mi that I walked today (yes, I'm an American - I don't do metric) - and that's a shorter walk than normal due to getting a lift part way.

I avoided crosswalks. When I was crossing at a crosswalk I never saw "the green man" - always the red man - although I think there was a hint of yellow at the second of the two crosswalks I managed to cross.

It's so sad that I've timed my walk to the best crosswalks on the way to the Luas in the morning... and on the way home in the evening there are certain ways that I've noticed are faster - including one crosswalk that you'd never expect to be so short because it's got 2 islands to pass over.

So when I arrived here, ironically I was confused as to which way to look before crossing the street. Now I look and walk without fear and, in Seattle, they arrest for that sort of behavior. So, when I get back to the US and get arrested for jaywalking, who will take my phonecall to pay my bail?

10 things I've learned living in Ireland

2006-07-25T00:26:00.000+01:00

Always check the milk's consistency before pouring it on your cereal - chunky smelly milk happens far far far too fast in this country for some unknown reason.
Do not use the word "ride" in any context - you're just better off not doing it. It'll cause you greate embarassment when you find out what you've just implied. (Yeah - just did this one - still blushing from it - dagnabbit.)
A pint is relative.
Never underestimate the will power of an appliance; and never assume that you can use appliances you were once familiar with. Appliances in Ireland don't like cocky users and are disagreeable.
Jaywalking is a way of life. If you've been to Vietnam before, you will be well prepared for the average Irish street crossing for nothing compares to a Vietnamese intersection and a pedestrian trying to navigate to the other side of the road. However, jaywalking is practically encouraged here and I'm out of the habit of looking for a guard before doing so - since they seem to ignore this feature. Although I don't recommend jaywalking until you have the ingrained knowledge of which way to look before crossing the street.
Drive on the left. When crossing a street look right THEN left.
Swearing isn't considered impolite (or even swearing it seems) when you replace vowels with 'e' or add an 'e' to the end of the word.
Don't bother buying strawberries - they'll be moldy the second they leave the store and this will frustrate you because you're craving strawberries (ok, so this isn't an Irish thing - but it's a current frustration since I went to cut up the strawberries I bought yesterday that replaced the ones I bought Sat and again they were furrybad).
The Spar employees don't know how to wrap a wrap. Prepare yourself for a tortilla with toppings that drip in some form of paper.
Not all Irish accents are made equal; and sometimes they're so unequal that Irish can't understand each other even when speaking English.

I will write more later - I'm in a listy mood where I can see upcoming lists like "what I will / won't miss about Ireland", "what I'm looking forward to / not in the States" and the like. But a few of those have been swimming in my head for a while....

first is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest (don't ask me what fourth is)

2006-07-23T18:55:00.000+01:00

I have overcome the pitch&putt challenge. Tracy, I kept thinking of you - how much you guys would LOVE this activity. Heck, even I loved it - the States definitely needs to adopt that one. There's part of me that wishes I could find time and companions to go again because it reminds me of my fascination with bowling: I'm ok at it, it's funny to watch, it's social, and no one's ever very good at it so no one's competitive.

So, the game really is a shortened version of golf (not mini [errrr crazy] golf). My dear friend who invited me along described it thus in an email to me:

Well, it's a sort of semi-golf for people who don't or can't take golf seriously and want to have a bit of fun hitting a ball around instead of wearing silly clothes and looking all serious. Smaller course; typically you rent a pair of clubs when you arrive and you don't pay too much attention to keeping score.

That really is the perfect description.

So I walked over to get a ride and we hit the road south to pick up the other two guys who initiated this venture.

Ahhh - the Irish bloke - such a rare breed - these two were fantastic.

So, the four of us headed off to the course to rent our pair of clubs: a wedge of some indiscriminate sort (I only know that much because the guys were talking about how it was too much of some kind of wedge) and a putter (which I'm familiar-esque with from mini golf outings [Seattleites - we are so going to play minigolf when I get back]). We each got two balls and a bag of tees for the group. Equipment: check.

Now, I have never actually hit a golf ball any distance. I have never desired driving a golf ball anywhere. I am a putter (and only an amateur at that). So I begged out of the starting position and watched. Somehow, I managed not to make a complete fool out of myself on that first hit. Although I must say that I'm glad that those balls bounce since I didn't see much air for the first few holes.

To assuage curiosity:

No, it did not take me more hits than my age on any single hole.
No, it didn't even take me double digits on any single hole.
No, I did not lose any balls to any sort of obstacles (that was my lovely friend's job)
Yes, I always forgot to take my tee when I was done.
2nd, I came in second out of four after the bloke who actually golf golfs which is just short of a minor miracle. I do not know what this is a sign of. Other than that I can twirl around in circles like an elementary school girl singing the title of this post: first is the worst, second is the best, third is the one with the hairy chest!
No, I didn't ever fall over laughing; however, I did laugh a whole lot (my lungs are burning from the past week-ish of laughter).
Yes, I did get a par 3 on one hole.

pitch&putt is brilliant - and it's not just because I did well. It needs adoption in the states just like duckpin bowling needs to expand its horizons outside of Maryland. I miss that game too. So, I guess I'll go back to mini golf and fondly remember my time on the pitch&putt with 3 wonderful, handsome and hilarious gentlemen.

Thanks for the fun frolic to the pitch&putt frequent friend with a broken sarcasm and rambling detector! *grins*

pray for me - or laugh at me - take your pick

2006-07-23T09:54:00.000+01:00

I'm sitting here surfing the web having just decided to try "something new" that sounds highly entertaining and like a possible source of great embarrassment. pitch&putt. Don't ask me what it is - for I shall tell you when I get back - although I've heard that it's a shorter less serious version of a golf like game. Although all my Googling for what this is with pictures has been to no avail. Perhaps I shall provide some if my p&p party doesn't object to dorky pictures!

I'm sitting here giggling and grinning like a Cheshire Cat yet again at the prospect of something outside on a magnificent day that is utterly new to me.

I guess I should make sure I have sunglasses or the like so I might be able to see the ball... Yeah - that might be a good thing to do.

Pray for me to have good stories - whatever your version of good stories is - when I return! *blows kisses all hyper like*

what happens in bed is supposed to stay in bed.....

2006-07-22T13:22:00.000+01:00

....unless it's as innocently funny and entertaining as last night was!

Mind you dear readership, I know some of you may be a bit shocked by what's to come - so this is my single line of "warning" if you will.

After work I found a willing victim (to be referred to throughout this entry as my fearless companion) to go out for a Friday evening pint. We stopped by a nice old pub only to find the courtyard packed with people of the same Friday evening mind as we were: socializing over a refreshing pint. So instead of putting up with the overly stuffy and sweaty pub interior we moved on to look for another venue. My fearless companion recollected another pub he'd been to that would probably be slightly less packed and a bit more temperate. So I merrily followed along.

We arrived at what he remembered as being a jazz club and found it very quiet in comparison to the last place we'd stopped. I immediately noticed some differences in this place than what my fearless companion remembered from having been to a jazz club: the rainbow pride little flag, the Dublin Pride poster, and the lack of anyone female. I kept my talkative mouth shut about this subject, waiting for my fearless companion to chime in on his opinion for I was far too entertained (my apparent word du jour) by the setting and waiting for him to notice the surroundings. He grabbed us pints and we flopped back in comfort on these massive red couches filled with cushions made to resemble huge circular beds. Lounging with a pint of beer, talking and laughing ensued... until one of us mentioned our surroundings. Thank goodness my fearless companion was not freaked or weirded out by the new style of the jazz club. Although the setting did make for eeeenteresting jokes and conversations.

We had a few more pints while lounging on our massively huge couch with comfy cushions; we did end up staying in this same location for our entire evening until it was time for the Cinderellas to leave the ball.

There are some details of this adventure, that no matter how innocent they were, shall be left up to your imaginations (and they truly are innocent - I assure you). They just added to the ambiance of the evening to make it memorable.

We managed to have a few pints over many many hours - and I had an excellent time!

office + music

2006-07-20T16:40:00.001+01:00

If the office were always this chill and entertaining, I think Dublin might be able to convince me to stay. Y'see, the friends issue is overcome-able, but the office is a different story - since my work permit only allows me to work here in Ireland and that leaves me trapped. And it's not always like this... but when the cat's away, the mice will play one coworker just said as he skipped out a bit early - and I totally agree. Although the 4 people in my end of the office who were here today should never be left in the office without supervision - we're like a class of unfocused second graders - at least from my point of view. Hilarity abounds in bad jokes, procrastination, and talking. Good times.

In the meantime, I've gotten down to the work at hand (ok, so I'm writing a blog entry at the moment) and I look so silly sitting in my chair dancing to the same song on repeat..... for hours.... Smile...it confuses people is a great CD and I really like the first single off of it: I Wish I Were a Punk Rocker (with Flowers in My Hair). At least I've finally just put the iPod on shuffle and now I'm getting some good ol' Tegan & Sara. Ahhhh...... back to work - focus... forward... steady hold....

Look Ma! I made a decision!!

2006-07-19T09:17:00.000+01:00

So, I talked to my sleep deprived mother this morning (hi mom!) and talking to her always helps me make decisions even when she says nothing (so should I say talking at her?). I am not making any plans for this weekend. I'm tired of making plans. If I feel like going to Galway on Fri then I'll go. If I don't, then I won't. Either way, I'll be happy with that decision since it's not being forced outta me now. And either way I'll have an excellently spiffy weekend. Decision! Accomplishment in the morning!

exhausted decisions

2006-07-17T20:21:00.000+01:00

I think I've finally hit a combination of culture shock, lonely homesickness and exhaustion.

Walking home today I kept people watching per norm. I did my normal ridiculous amount of jaywalking while humming to myself (literally). And all of a sudden, I walked by a stream of people who just made me say "Toto, we're not in the States anymore." I've hit culture shock twice before in my life: once about the 2.5 month mark of Semester at Sea - somewhere on the ocean between Kenya and South Africa which culminated with Thanksgiving on the way out of port; the other happened about 2 weeks after I got back to the States from Semester at Sea. I guess 2.5 months is about the time it takes for me to realize that I'm living somewhere entirely different but oh-so-similar to my "old life." I find myself being more restrained, yet feeling like I'm an oddity at the zoo. I feel flamboyant here comparatively which is very odd. So there's the culture shock of it: it's just time for it and it's not good or bad, it's just a piece of travel that you've gotta get through when you're in a new place for long enough. Guess this means I'll get to look forward to American culture shock again too, eh?

Lonely homesickness: well, that one's pretty self evident. But again, par for the course and I can deal with it. I have met some good people in and out of work - so that's good.

And then there's the exhaustion - I've been going like mad for the past 2.5 months between traveling and work, it's insane. I have 3 more weekends here and in my head today I put together what to do over that time and came up with the fact that if I'm going to make it to Western Ireland, I have to go this weekend. And I think of that and sigh with frustration because I'm tired of going. I know I'll be back to Ireland someday - but when? Do I take my chances and skip it on this trip? Or do I push myself through the exhaustion and go. I have plenty of options for day trips this coming weekend if I don't head to Galway. So we shall see. Right now, I'm not making any plans; I'll give myself another few days and follow my gut. It's not like I haven't done anything while I've been here!

And there's always more culture shock for me to find even if I stay close to Dublin. I can go plenty of places to stare at people in confusion and feel like a flamboyant outsider. Heck, even in the office I feel like the alien. Then again, there's a lot of back story there not to be published in any forum, however, the entirely male dominated atmosphere makes it "interesting." I can't quite describe how it differs from the male dominated atmosphere of the Seattle office, but it definitely does. I guess it's got that "all boys' club" feel to it - and being one of only three women in the entire office (and the only one on my end of the office) makes that very obvious - especially when the guys get to cracking jokes. Now, I'm not saying that I'm uncomfortable or weirded out - frankly, I think they're absolutely hysterical and I end up laughing so hard I can't see my computer screen at my lil' corner of the boys' club world. But being the gushy girl who ooo's over Cute Overload or adores hugs more than anything in the world, well, let's just say that I don't have enough of the one-upping attitude to not feel like the freak in the circus.

So I can end this on a more upbeat note (I promise Tracy - I'm smiling more than frowning - don't be saddened), I shall leave you with a link to a picture on the aforementioned Cute Overload that had me melting with cuteness into a lil' gooey gushy Vette: Blobule!

non sequitors supreme

2006-07-16T17:52:00.000+01:00

Ok - so painkillers with caffeine apparently have made my brain a bit hyper and jumpy today - it's highly entertaining. (Yes, I managed to somehow get my back hurt in my Fri night stair-slide - BAD YVETTE - bad Hoegaarden).

My non sequitors of the day that just keep rattling through my head begging to get out:

Never ever stay up till 5am talking to friends from the States and then expect to get up at a reasonable hour the following day.
I guess this means that getting out of the city will have to happen another weekend. C'est la vie. However, I only have 3 more "unplanned" weekends in Ireland and two of those I have to stay in Dublin (oncall for one of 'em and packing the other one). So how am I going to do the things still on my list? I guess I need to get myself to Galway that one other weekend - time to plan - except I can't remember what weekend I'm oncall - excellent.
I really really really want a cheese burger.
I want to go to Montana if I can right after I get back to the States - I just wanna relax there and see family. Yes, I'm insane to want to travel more right when I get back home.
I can't decide if I want to blog when I return to the states. The original intent of this blog was to avoid sending mass e-mails when people wanted updates - to let everyone choose what to read. However, it's been rather fun to blog here. So something to ponder ponder ponder.
I tried and failed to see Pirates of the Caribbean 2 when I went out wandering today. Maybe some night this week since I'll need to unwind from oncall hell. Hopefully it'll be another quiet week like the last. But 2 weeks of back to back secondary is not my idea of heaven. Oh well, my primaries are smart and capable so hopefully I won't be needed for more than drudgery and question answering. *fingers crossed*
I'm going to go enjoy my dinner on my balcony now - it is absolutely brilliant out.

That's all - back to your regularly scheduled programming.

one makes mistakes

2006-07-15T13:49:00.000+01:00

We always make our own mistakes in life - for one reason or another - and there are things be learned from them. There are days I wish I could teach others via my lessons so that they don't end up with my mistakes. But that wouldn't work out.

Why am I thinking about this now of all times? Well, because I'm supposed to be spending my last day doing "touristy stuff" in Dublin today and figuring how to get out of the city tomorrow for the day... However, I'm sitting gingerly on my couch shaking my head and laughing at myself. My derriere is sore, my embarrassment from a good night of drinking is enormously high, and I'm still smiling. Y'see, I'd love to teach all my younger relatives that I'm so protective of that making a fool of yourself when drunk is what tends to happen.

And I shall elaborate on two tales of why I should be and am embarrassed:

Yvette walks into a glass door. Like the birds I used to giggle at flying into the front of my parents huge house of windows, I was the bird who stepped back and shook my head and started laughing and then turned that laughter into tears of laughter when I couldn't get enough oxygen and admitted my gracelessness to my other erstwhile companion of the evening. Unfortunately, there was a witness who knew me so I'll never live it down - so I might as well enjoy laughing at it. I can't believe my silly witness bought me another beer after witnessing that.
The reason I have a sore bum is that I forgot my purse inside the last pub of the evening and had to go back down the stone steps to get it. Unfortunately, when one's wearing slippery flipflops and has no sense of balance, one falls down said stairs on her rear. As they say in one of my favorite musicals RENT, "I regret this news." Ouch. I think my other erstwhile companion witnessed that one but was far far far too kind to laugh at me then about it (then - we'll see if this gentlemanliness is maintained). I definitely think it's a good thing I'd decided to put myself to bed before this incident because it means maybe I was kinda able to think at the time. And to bed I went - after walking home that is - I didn't join any bums on the street.

These are the kinds of hysterical "harmless" (in a sense) escapades that remind me that everyone makes mistakes. Just so long as we don't cross into that harmful world, we're all good. Now, if only we could learn from each other's mistakes rather than having to be inquisitive humans who try everything. Oh wait, I don't even learn from my own mistakes half the time!

Ok - time to psyche myself up and get out into the sun to wander and do something with myself. It's another quiet and alone weekend for me so I might as well go people watch. Anyone wanna teleport in to keep me company in my ramblings? I promise, I don't need any alcohol to prove highly entertaining (which is a good thing, because there's none in my near future - I'm protective of my lack of dignity).

Author's Note:
In walking around the wonderful city of Dublin today doing some window shopping, and reading in the park and exploring other corners, I realized that my embarrassment from last night shall remain with me longer than just it's normal "morning after". Unfortunately, I shall not forget my skid down the steps at the bar last night - either in my mind or in my body. No amount of padding makes sitting on the hard ground comfortable. Aye yai yai. This author is damaged goods.

my toaster; my friend

2006-07-15T12:51:00.000+01:00

I have not encountered any problems with my toaster in Ireland - it has been the one appliance that's tried and true and that even this American can figure out. I'm happy it relenquishes my bagels/bread when I poke it's little red button. So toaster, for my last month in Ireland, keep working WITH me, not against me. Thank you lil' toaster.

what to do... what to do.... wax philisophical and thoughtful perhaps?

2006-07-13T19:17:00.000+01:00

I'm all pondery (yes, that is a word - I don't care if it's in the dictionary or not) now that I'm leaving Dublin. I don't feel like a failure at my job here (I'll tell you in a week or so if I feel like I've been a successful disseminator of knowledge and "stuff") - so that's good - mission one mostly accomplished. However, there were 2 other reasons that I moved to Dublin that were more important to me than the job (I mean, the job only pays the bills, right?):

getting to travel as much as I feel like to places I'd really like to go but don't normally have the opportunity to go for a "long weekend"
getting to try living a different life - not just the kind of swap I've had when I moved from NY -> NH -> MD -> WA, but a swap in a big sense where historical differences make it a different culture and the diversity is entirely different

I'm not sure I succeeded at these two goals (in my opinion - YMMV).

In some ways I did. I've been to London twice, to Northern and Southern Ireland, I'm going to France, I've explored the city of Dublin pretty thoroughly - and all this in 3.5 months - so that's doing pretty well there. If I had my full 6 months + here, I would've done more (Scotland, Germany and Barcelona being the three objectives).

And I did get to try living in a different culture - it's been an absolute blast. What I've seen, I've liked - but again - not long enough. Not long enough for things like being called "love" by shop attendants to not make me giggle - not long enough to register the abnormal for an American as normal for my little sphere in the world. I haven't made friends outside of work and I just recently started making friends inside work - there's just not enough time for that in 3.5 months with everything else.

So, time is my enemy in this case. I'm choosing to go to my "home" since that's what Seattle is to me now. Ireland doesn't get to be it - so when I say "home" I mean Seattle - the city I know, love and enjoy. For 3.5 months, I did a lot. I've laughed, traveled, worked my butt off, learned a ton and then some, picked up some new phrases (to everyone's amusement),

I have a little over one month left. In that time, my only plan thus far is to spend 9 days in France in August traveling all over that country (it's something I've always wanted to do and I don't know why - so I'm going to do it dagnabbit!) However, these past few days I've questioned what it would take to make me really happy that I came here - what's left for me to do? I have things I might do, but I want to make a list of things I really really don't want to miss out on:

enjoy the people around me
get myself over to Western Ireland to Galway and the surrounding area (so I can say I've been all over this island)

That's it so far... I guess that's enough. I have a weekend of oncall stay at home evilness coming up too before I leave - and then there's the packing & moving segment of this expedition. But only two things? Is that really it? Only one of them is concrete - the other one is my favorite though between people watching, smiling, laughing and talking - it's what makes me happy. So I guess that's it. That's what I need to do in the next month. I can do that. Sounds good.

Seattle, I'll see you sometime Monday Aug 21 - the same day I say "until we meet again" to Irish soil. Ireland, I'll be back - have no fear.

Aren't you entertained by my first "thoughtful" entry in this blog? How abnormal compared to travel-logs, ineptness with appliances and funny stories. I shall have more of those another day.

back to seattle?

2006-07-11T20:20:00.001+01:00

So, although I'm officially an Irish Immigrant who can work her washer on the first try and oven too - well, I'm flying back to Seattle in mid August (19 or 20). It's time I guess. It's a bittersweet return to the states that I'm very torn over. I didn't give Ireland the chance I wanted to as a place - and I was just starting to get used to living here and having fun in the process. So I'm very disappointed at that. On the other hand, I'm returning to amazing friends. The technical details are still WIP - but I'm not changing employers. Tis just time for me to go back to Seattle (sad and happy).

How do I feel? If you couldn't tell by now - I'm shocked, happy, sad, disappointed, looking forward to my friends and altogether just trying to make the best of it.

To my Seattle friends reading this, see you in a little over a month!

Update: My flight to the states gets me in on 8/21 in the evening.

World Cup Semis: France v. Portugal - with the French!

2006-07-10T15:16:00.000+01:00

I'm lying on my couch like the lazy bum I am this weekend watching the Men's Finals of Wimbledon: Nadal v. Federer. I don't know who to cheer for!! Eeep - I love both of these players - so I'm just cheering for a good game.

I feel like I've been a massive sports fan lately - y'see, I'm in Europe and both the World Cup and Wimbledon are going on. I watch more tennis than I do football/soccer - but it's impossible to avoid World Cup hype in Ireland eventhough the Irish football team didn't even come close to qualifying for the qualifiers. To be PC and on of "the cool kids" at work, you have to know who's playing when, which coworker's rooting for what team, and have at team to cheer for. Google's been my friend in helping me track matches on my Google Homepage; I knew who my coworkers were rooting for; and I chose to cheer for England for no reason other than why not? (although now I'm cheering for France in the finals - but we'll get to that in a sec).

So - when in Europe do like the Europeans - and watch the World Cup Final! (I'd better so I know if mom's going to get stampeded in Italy when the Italians play France tonight... poor Mom - she might be traumatized if she still doesn't have luggage and deals with her first trip to Europe with the Italians winning/losing to the French [I'm not sure which would be more traumatic to my poor mother]).

So, like the other night - I'm off to cheer for France. Now, I'm only cheering for France because (a) my name's French, (b) my boss is French and so into football and the World Cup, (c) I know a cheer in French 'allez les blues' (or however you spell that - "go blue!") and (d) I might be killed if I go to Sinnott's to cheer and cheer for Italy - and I really don't feel like having a hot Frenchman murder me - not the way to go.

Sinnott's
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

For the semis the other night when France played Portugal, I went to see the game with my grinning boss, another one of our coworkers and bossman's friends. It was an absolute riot. We shoved our way into Sinnott's Pub: the place to watch France play if you're a French fan in Dublin. 45 mins before the game, the doors were shut and no one else was let in (thankfully) because it was packed that full; 45 mins before the game I was sweating like I was in mile 10 of a marathon and listening to the French sing their "fight song" and learning how to properly cheer for the French (and I must admit, I can say 'allez le blue' and hum the fight song after that match). We were sardines and we smelled horrible. But we swayed, cheered, sang and drank Guinness as one (ok - so I drank Kilkenny - the brewery had been going strong at work that day so I was too naucous thinking of Guinness). The French fans were absolutely fabulous and I had a great time screaming at the big screen tv's with them, going through some good ol' Irish pints and laughing as bossman shook his head at the tv in the second half muttering that the French were "crap". Such an envigorating evening.

So, I figure to get in tonight for an 7pm kickoff, I should get there around 4. However, I really want to see the end of the Nadal v. Federer tennis match - so I'm going to take my chances, get ready on commercials and scurry up to Sinnot's right after the final point of this championship to cheer for the French. Now, what clothes are comfy for jumping around, getting beer spilled on me, getting friendly with my neighbors and probably dying of heatstroke while watching football? Hrmmm - the problems of being a female football fan in Dublin!

Q is for Queue; T is for Tennis; W is for Wimbledon

2006-07-09T10:35:00.000+01:00

Q is for Queue - a line.

Queue
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

I spent a significant chunk of my 48 hours "doing Wimbledon" in queues of various fashions. Let us see what they were: queue for plane boarding pass; queue for security; queue for boarding; queue for Wimbledon (this one gets 10x the queue points since I slept in this queue); moving queue for Wimbledon (it gets a second mention since I walked 2 miles in this queue); strawberries and champagne queue; ice cream queue x 2; water queue x infinity; bus queue; hotel check in queue; boarding pass queue; security queue; boarding queue; immigration queue; bus queue.

Q is for Queue - a very very ginormously long line. And my new favorite word because it's bloody brilliant!

Friday June 30 I had a flight booked to fly from Dublin to Stansted (the furthest airport from London's center that's still a London airport) and get in at 9pm-ish. This would mean given the getting to the center of the city and then out the other side would take me 2 hours. So I should be in line by 11pm with my sleeping bag, Pringles, Crazy Creek Chair and water bottle. Did you notice the convenient use of the word "should" in that last sentence? I did.

Instead, my flight was delayed 45 mins on the ground in Dublin before we could board. We then sat for over an hour on the plane waiting for London airspace to clear enough for us to take off since they knew otherwise we'd just circle over London. I was a bit apprehensive since I knew that the Tube stops running at 12:30am and that was my planned route to the grounds. I managed to get into the terminal at Stansted London at around 11:30 and had to catch a 45-50 min train down to the center of London next. Excellent. Done. It's now 12:20am Sat morning and I'm in Liverpool Station in the center of London asking if there are any more trains running in the Tube that night. A lovely woman told me there would be one more Westbound train running although it wasn't going where I wanted - but it did get me a whole lot closer. I went to the platform.

On the platform with a lot of random people (and a lot of drunks) I stood apprehensively checking my map trying to figure out where I would exactly end up in the city if I got out at the various stops on this line. I also was trying to figure out if I was going to chicken out and get out and find a hotel for the night rather than the line - knowing I still had an hour to go. And the train didn't come... and it didn't come... and it didn't come.... Finally, the couple standing next to me went to the "Help?" phone and dialed the terminal attendants who told us that they "couldn't find the train, but were trying to locate it". Ummmmm - how does this happen exactly? How do you lose a train? Especially a train in underground tunnels that has an electronic tracker? Was Liverpool Station one of the points on the London Triangle where tube trains disappear? 10 minutes later they announced that the last train was cancelled and they were closing the station and we should please leave. WHAT? Oh, and the reason that they were canceling the last train was that it had hit a person at the previous station so was out of service for the night. Ok, someone was definitely having a worse night than I was.

Plodding towards the stairs with the herd, I grabbed my map to figure out where I was and try to figure out what I was going to do - I honestly had no idea. The couple next to me was muttering about something and I asked them a question about the best way to get to point X (I don't remember where it was - but it was a place I'd located that looked like it would get me on my way to a hotel - I was giving up.) However, a young man next to me told me about the "night buses" and they were the best way to get around London at night. He asked where I was going and when he found out Wimbledon, he offered to escort me most of the way there since he was heading home and was taking the bus himself. We started talking about tennis and music (he was heading home after playing with his band that night) and had a grand ol' time walking to the bus stop. My lovely tour guide in the middle of the night in the middle of London was a 19 year old musician who lived with his parents named Amir. Very nice guy. We got to our first change and he showed me where he was going on the map and where I was going on the map (same line, different stops - mine was further than his). He also showed me how to read the various schedules. The bus came....... and the driver wouldn't let me on because I didn't notice that this was a place where you had to pay in advance. My little tour guide Amir continued home and I was stuck somewhere in the middle of London at a crowded bus-stop alone at 1:30am.

Can't go home, nothing to do but continue. Thank you Amir for teaching me how to read the bus lines. I grabbed the next bus going to the area of Wimbledon and stared intently out the window trying to read the bus stop signs with frustration (it was dark, I was tired and they were all in random places). A drunk got on who was also going to the stop I was (I'm a good eavesdropper) so I started watching him and the signs. I got off at the stop and there I was in the midst of a dark town with no one around wondering where to go. I couldn't figure out where to go - but after looking at every possible sign and talking to a woman sitting on the street corner (don't ask how that happened - I was too tired to notice) I found the long long queue of tents and sleeping tennis fans. I walked a mile (calling my mother on this walk to reassure her that it was all fine after all and that her daughter would be sleeping on the street that night - the reassurance every parent wants to hear in his/her lifetime). And finally, I came to the end of the queue, got my queue number and my "A Guide to Queuing at Wimbledon" booklet (a souvenir I will keep for as long as possible). It was 3am. After giggling at the length of the line (I was #804 in my line - only the first 750 are guaranteed the option of getting tickets to a showcourt) with the woman Tamara sleeping next to me in queuing sidewalk slab #805, I passed out for a whole 2 hours of sleep.

They woke the line around 5:30am to get everyone to pack up. Those of us "towards the end" (not at the end anymore - by the time I woke up at 5:30 the last person in the queue had a card numbering over 1000) were to be ready to move in 15 mins as the moved the line forward. Mind you, I didn't realize this at the time, but we had a 2 mile queue walk in front of us since they no longer form the queue at the gates.

Flowers of Wimbledon
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

We rambled up to the place where we would sit for an hour while the stewards got the ticket situation sorted out. From 5:30am-9:30am in the queue, I met some great friends who I'd see all the rest of the day at Wimbledon. We were the middle-of-the-night queuers: we weren't as insane as the Centre Court Queuers (those who were at the front of the line and would be guarenteed the option of Centre Court) and we weren't as ambivalent about our tennis watching as the Clean Queuers (those who arrived that morning and got in the queue after the 2 mile walk). We were a merry band: me, Tamara - the Italian from London, Jo & Yvonne - the Scotts, Nadia - the Aussie, and a merry band of Aussies and Brits whose names I can't recall. When we sat down at 7:30 for our "break in the moving queue" we got out our various stashes of snacks and breakfast foods for our version of a continental breakfast: Pringles (my contribution), jelly beans, cherries, strawberries, crackers, some chocolate-y M&M like things, and other junk foods. Breakfast at Wimbledon has an entirely different meaning for me.

Yvette w/ Court 1 View
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Finally, I found out I would be able to purchase tickets for Court 1 if I'd like. Now, the lineup for the day's matches included what would turn out to be some amazing matches: Agassi v. Nadal, Mauresmo v. Perry & Roddick v. Murray. Mauresmo v. Perry was on Court 1 - so I took that. And I soon found out that buying queue tickets for Wimbledon gives you absolutely the best seats in the house - equalled only by those given to the family boxes. I was sitting right at the net line in the front row of the ground level on Court 1. It was absolutely unreal.

The Hill
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Around 10am we got into the grounds and our gang of sidewalk queue sleepers decided who was going where - I ended up being the only one going straight to "the hill" (aka Henman Hill or Murray Mound) because since I didn't have a Centre Court ticket, I wanted prime hill seating to watch what would eventually turn out to be Agassi's last Wimbledon match. I didn't make it to the hill till 11am due to the queue system. This was honestly the most amazingly organized queue system I have ever encountered. Maybe it's the name? Or maybe it's the queuing brochure?

Watching the Screen
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

I sat there watching people, the monitors and taking in the 30C weather. It was marvelous - absolutely brilliant. I struck up a conversation with a lovely mother/daughter pair behind me who were having a bottle of champagne and some strawberries before lunch and their venture onto Centre Court to see the Agassi match. Hearing that I was so envious of them for seeing Agassi, and the fact that I was a rare individual - an American Agassi fan (it wasn't a lack of Agassi fans, it was a lack of Americans) in the crowd - they offered me a glass of champagne. Mmmm... Then I went to get real food for lunch and came back only to befriend the massive table to my right on the top of the hill. We all had prime viewing spots - and suddenly after eatting my lunch they're making a champagne run and ask if I'd like to get in on this - sure! I'm at Wimbledon - the place where the Brits joke that the hoity toity people go to drink champagne and eat strawberries all day. So I grabbed us some cheese and crackers to add to our strawberries and champagne feast as the match of the day started: Agassi v. Nadal.

Nadal
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

The fans at Wimbledon are a different breed of sports fans - respectful and ridiculously loud. They are devoted and happy and nice people. I had an amazing time cheering, watching the match, talking to my newfound friends, drinking, eating, lathering on sunscreen (it was disgustingly sunny) and just having a merry time.

I saw Nadal beat Agassi; I saw Mauresmo beat Perry; I saw Murray beat Roddick. I caught a glimpse of Venus Williams practicing before her match on one of the back courts and I saw a game of Martina Navitalova playing. I was in T for Tennis heaven.

Agassi Says Goodbye
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

At the end of the Roddick v. Murray match, I was exhausted. I'd slept only 2 hours in the past 40 hours - and I had to go find my hotel. So Tamara (who I'd spent a good chunk of the day with) helped me find the tube station and I made my way back up to Stansted Airport since I was staying at an airport hotel that night for my Sunday morning flight out. This time, the transport was much easier and I made it to the hotel without more than a few average queues.

I flew home Sunday after some more queues on an airline I hope to avoid in the future (they were delayed 2 hours getting me back to Dublin - not a great track record - and they had the rudest employees I've ever encountered on an airline).

So, my W for Weekend at Wimbledon was absolutely superb. Would I do it again? Of course! Like you have to ask? You and I both know I'm crazy - especially since next time I'd get to the queue earlier in the day to enjoy more of the queue evening picnic and party atmosphere and to have a chance at Centre Court tickets. But even if you're only going to be a Clean Queuer and aren't insane like me and aspiring to be a Centre Court Queuer, I recommend going to Wimbledon if you ever have the chance. Amazing tennis - amazing atmosphere - just a great time!

My new words Alphabet

2006-07-02T17:00:00.000+01:00

A - arse
B - bloke, brilliant, bop, bookmaker, bugger
C - craic, chips, crisps, chipper, cheers, carpark
D - dodgy, daft
E - Eire
F - feck, football, fiddle
G - gents, guinness, gab, grand
H - holiday
I -
J -
K -
L - ladies, lad, loo
M - mobile, motorway
N - nappies, nick, nip
O -
P - pint, pub, post
Q - queue, quay
R - roundabout, ruggers, rubbish
S - snog, salud
T - toilet
U - underground
V -
W - WC
X -
Y -
Z -

Am I insane? Oh wait - rhetorical question.

2006-06-30T10:34:00.000+01:00

Tonight I'm headed off to Wimbledon to try to get a ticket to get into one of the courts for tomorrow's matches. Mom's going to "page" me with the court numbers for my 3 favorite players so I can make an informed decision about which show court I want to get into. And if I don't get a court seat, I'll still pay to get a grounds ticket and make it a marvelous picnic on the lawn with the massive screens and the random posh fans.

I'm just having a minor problem with my packing. Hrmph. Stupid Crazy Creek chair hates me and won't squish into my bag. I guess it's padding is too good for my own good. Everything else fits beautifully. Wish me luck and a rain-free night with my sidewalk camping adventure! I'll take pictures of my fellow line cohorts (if there are any! tee hee).

triumph!

2006-06-29T08:36:00.000+01:00

I can now turn on my washer to do wash on the first try! Or at least I did last night! YAY! However, now I'm concerned about what appliance is going to have attitude next. Eep!

Irish American... errr?

2006-06-27T22:15:00.000+01:00

Question of the day:
I am now an Irish immigrant. And because of the way the Irish immigrated to the US, that sounds weird having spent my entire education learning about history from a US point of view. But I hold an Immigration Card registering myself as an Irish Immigrant with my picture and stats!

So, if I can't be an Irish American because that sounds funny.... does that mean I'm an American Irish(wo)man? Discuss!

Amusement of the day:
On my way to the immigration office this evening after work I decided that if I was going to sit and wait for someone to ask me what the heck I'm doing in Ireland yet again, I'd get food. And I was passing the chipper which everytime I walk by it it has a massively long line and if I'm with a native Dubliner (or someone who's lived here a few years) they always say how it's their favorite chipper in Dublin.

For once, the line wasn't out the door - so what the heck. I wasn't at all impressed with my first experience with fish and chips (chips amazing; fish yuck) but I figured I'd give this lil' Isle another chance. I got up to the counter and said "cod and chips please" and the server turns to the fryer and grabs both and throws 'em on a piece of paper. Great, dinner is served. Except then he looks up at me and says "wowwwlanddinit?" "Excuse me?" "awwwwwwlonnnnalinit?" "uhhhh - please?" What do you say when you know that you're speaking the same language as someone but you don't have the foggiest notion of what they're actually saying. Here were the possibilities: "Hi, do you like axe murderers?" "Are you free tomorrow night?" "Have you seen my dog Rover?" and any other set of dodgy responses. So, being the brilliant love I am, my response was a hesitant please... yeah - that was smart Yvette - real smart!

I see the salt come out - ok, that's good. Then the vinegar comes out - thank goodness I've taken a huge liking to salt and vinegar on my chips or crisps. And finally my fish and chips are wrapped up in more paper than goes on a small army of spoiled children's Christmas presents. Ooooooohhhhhhhhkay... "salt and vinegar on that?" - that's what he said. Phew - I don't have a date with a random Irish chap I can't understand. And I'm not going to be a story on Unsolved Mysteries: Ireland. Safe this time.

Oh, and the chips were brilliant - the fish - again, not so much.

And Finally, a Story to Make My Mother Sit Down (mom, sit down please):
I have now been told by multiple people that they don't ever think I'm leaving Ireland! I just want to run away screaming when I hear that. First of all, I agreed unofficially to stay for 6 months. Many people know that with the immigration issues, I was only officially here for 3 months unless my work permit got approved. Now that it has, I keep getting e-mails asking "so, how long are you there for?" Honestly, folks, I don't know. I'm really really really enjoying travelling in Europe - but that's the glossy coating over what is my real life - where day in and day out I go to work and have to like what I'm doing and who I'm doing it with. And where I come home and want to have people to talk to. Right now, it's a bland bland life especially in comparison with my shiny Seattle life. So I don't know how long I'm staying - no one does. I'm hoping to know in a few weeks. I know that I am legally allowed to stay and work in Ireland until Dec 24 '06; I know that I am supposed to stay through the end of Oct in Ireland if I go by what I agreed to when I took this position; I know that I will stay till the end of Aug since I'm going to France for a week in mid-Aug and that's easy enough and soon enough.

Will I stay till the end of Oct? Stuart says "uhhh - yes, you're one of us - you'll stay". Jeremy says "oh, you're going to become addicted to it - I can see." Most other people reserve their opinions. So for right now, I'm taking one of my American Irishwoman liberties and pleading the 5th!

Appliance of the Day:
Once again, my washer/dryer/thingie is the appliance of the day. In 2 months (yes, it's been that long) I have yet to get it to turn on to wash on the first try (I think I've got the dry thing down). It's holding my current load of laundry hostage again (ok, so it's been hostage since Sun night, I just ignored it all day yesterday) and although the light indicates "wash" and another light indicates "power" and another light says "door locked" and the dial's set to 90-mins regular colors, the dang thing isn't making a sound. Now, I know very well that it sounds like I live on an airport runway when my washer is running - so this is not good. I wish the manual would aid me, but alas, it is no help and for all I know it's written in Gaelic. Ok - off to battle the washer!

Drive on the Left, Don't Make Boats that Sink, Wear Sunscreen and Climb on Rocks - Northern Ireland

2006-06-25T21:50:00.000+01:00

Nissan Micra & Vette
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Hello friends, family and random web-surfers! I'm still alive and finally remembered that I haven't told my tales of Belfast and the Antrim Coast in Northern Ireland. So here goes - after a weekend of relaxing after my whirlwind travels in my happy lil' apartment in Dublin and a Friday night doing the Irish pub crawl, I feel revitalized and I remember all the tantalizing details.......

So, as you can tell from previous posts, I was very apprehensive about driving in Ireland / Northern Ireland due to this "wrong side of the road" deal. But I was determined to do it since everyone mentioned that the Northern Coast is hard to get around via bus and public transportation and it gets pricey quick. Plus, Amy was visiting for this trip so I had a great navigator; and my Aunt Bonnie had given me an atlas of Ireland which thankfully also contained Northern Ireland for my birthday so I felt ready to go! We got to the rental car agency bright and early Wed morning to find that we were getting a compact 4 door car (whose tail you see in the photo next to me): a bright red Nissan Micra with a spedometer and odometer in kms and the gear shift on the "wrong side" but the pedals on the "right side". It was parallel parked in the lot, but I was a silly American and asked the lovely Irish bloke working the counter to pull it out so my first experience in the car wasn't bumping into another car trying to unpark the dang thing. And we hit the road.

We thought we were lost in Dublin - but after going off any map we had trying to find N1 (or M1) or any route to the airport since I knew that was off of N1, we finally found the little plane marked signs. I had been convinced we were going south rather than north and that we'd be stuck in Dublin all day. The drive was then uneventful until Belfast where I think I made every bad turn possible - but which Amy saved me from getting lost when we finally spotted our hotel. 3 hours later, and we were there.

Anti-Bush Murals on Falls Road
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

We got our room and set out to orient around Belfast. That first day we just walked to the city centre and then decided to walk ourselves by the murals on Falls Road which depict the political and social leanings of many of the people and struggles in Belfast. It wasn't at all odd or scary or anything that most people would think. Our little tour book gave some decent explanations and we walked a few miles checking out the landmarks (including a chipper which Clinton made famous by shaking hands out side of it with some IRA political figure). Both of us were amazed by the anti-Bush murals and the pro-Palestinian murals. The other ones of the recent struggle that has been so publicized in the states were also rather interesting since they were real - covered in grafitti and oh-so-emotional.

We headed back to the city via bus and decided that since like in the Republic of Ireland, everything closes at 6pm, we'd act like the locals - when in Belfast, act like a Belfastian (or something) - and go to a pub or two for the rest of our evening. We hit up White's Tavern first which the friendly gentleman at the tourist information center had recommended highly to us. It was great.

Amy in our Crown Saloon Cozy
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

We then went to the "most famous" pub in Belfast - rumored to be the oldest (which we later learned was untrue) - the Crown Liquor Saloon. It's an old men's only saloon with mirrored windows on the outside and cosies with bells for ordering on the inside where you crawl in and have the option of closing the little door for privacy. We had a few pints before giving up our corner nook where we'd sprawled to head off to another pub closer to our hotel - we were heading towards home. After another Irish Coffee for Amy and a Stella for me, we were done for the night and went back to the hotel to plan our next day in Belfast.

Pictures of Strife
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

We got up and headed out to catch a bus tour of Belfast and the surrounding area offered by a local youth hostel. We found out that our book had the wrong times for it, so while waiting we headed to Queen's University to hang out in the botanic gardens and see the rose garden.

Then we hopped on the bus to have our tour guide give us a great history of the struggles in Belfast, the beauties of Belfast and an awful lot of talk about the Titanic. Yes, the Titanic. The city of Belfast is apparently famous for making boats - the most famous being the Titanic. "They didn't sink it, they made it. The iceberg sank it." I could not get over my hysteria at the stories they told. One great little excerpt from Lonely Planet Ireland about Belfast's enthrallment with the Titanic was pointed out to us later in our trip when we were staying in our Ballycastle hotel by a hysterical German man:

The Iceberg Cometh
Will the city that launched the Titanic become the city that lassoed an iceberg? Belfast artist Rita Duffy hit the headlines in 2006 with a plan to tow an iceberg from Arctic waters to Belfast Lough and moor it there as a sort of art installation.
To her, the sinking of the Titanic marked the beginning of Belfast's decline; the iceberg would symbolise all that has sunk Belfast, in particular the sectarian conflict that has blighted the city for decades. She hopes that as the months pass, the gradually melting berg will symbolise the possibility of a thaw in the hardened attitudes on both sides of the sectarian divide, and the melting of the currently frozen peace process.

Amy & Yvette at Belfast Castle
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Belfast Castle
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Our driver gave us a very interesting take on the Belfast political and religious tension both as it was and how it is now - he was great in that he didn't seem to color it from my perspective at all with his own opinions. We also got to go to Belfast Castle, to some random buildings, to see the murals again and to cross the border between zones a few times.

Looking up the skirt of the Belfast Hope Statue
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Having seen some interesting statues and sights from our bus: a leaning clock tower, a Big Fish, the cranes used in making the Titanic: Samson & Goliath, and a beautiful hope statue, we wandered to see those before figuring out what to do for the evening.

We headed off to grab a quick bite to eat before joining up with a pub tour of Belfast for the evening where we stopped at 6 historical or interesting pubs in Belfast and had drinks at half of them. Crown Saloon, White's Tavern (both again), McHugh's, Bittle's, Kelly's and one other I can't find in my photos. We ended at McHugh's and having bonded with our fellow pub tour crawlers, we stayed there for quite a while drinking and laughing: it was an American Air Force gentleman stationed in Greece, 3 Norwegians on vacation, a random Brit and a Scottish Stag Party that left us with no end to our laughter the entire time. We got drunk being fed drinks by our newfound friends - and at the end of the evening I found the bathroom with it's Ladies ("seats down") sign on the door and not for the reason I would've liked. I give you this gory bit of detail because when I returned downstairs to our merry band, I asked Amy if we could head back to the hotel where I continued to be violently ill until 7am in the morning and sleeping on the bathroom floor miserable and unable to hold down water. Not only had I gotten myself drunk, I found out via the course of the evening after there was no chance that there was anymore alcohol in my system that I was utterly dehydrated and burnt to a new shade of red that would make tomato(e)s envious.

Cliffs of the Antrim Coast
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

After an hour of sleep, I woke up when we were supposed to check out and drive to Ballycastle to our next destination - the Antrim Coast. I wasn't sure I could get out of bed, but I managed. And we proceded up to our hostel in Belfast. I was drinking water - but that was it - the world was green with my dehydration and I couldn't get enough fluids into my body. Before stopping at our hostel, we decided that we'd test Yvette's going power (it was vacation and it was gorgeous) so I put on full skin covering (long sleeves in 80 degrees aren't fun, but they were necessary) and we started going from picturesque spot to picturesque spot.

Me and the Castle Ruins
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

We climbed illegally down to a castle ruins, stopped at the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge which Amy crossed (I was too dizzy to handle that one with my fear of heights) and went scrambling over some rocks before I was too exhausted to continue and we went to find our hostel. By the time we reached the hostel at 5pm I thought I might die (or need to go to the hospital) as the lovely hostel keeper greeted me literally with the first words coming out of her mouth being "Love, you look horrible." Amy and Siobhan, our hostess, got me settled into our hostel room which Siobhan was nice enough to give us a private eventhough that's not what we'd booked since I looked like death itself and I promptly passed out at 5:30pm and woke up for 15 mins in the middle of the night for a rehydration session before promptly falling back to sleep till 10am. Yes, I needed that - I was human the next morning. Thankfully, this didn't mean Amy got stuck in the hostel as she went out with the random other people staying in the hostel to hear some traditional Irish music at a local pub.

Giant's Causeway
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

The next day, being a new person, we went to crawl and climb all over the Giant's Causeway which is this gigantuan basalt rock formation formed by the rapidly cooling volcanic rock, basalt, being dropped into water. It forms geometric towers of rock that look incredibly unnatural along the coast and in this one location, there's so much of it that it looks like only giants could've made it (thus the name). We then headed to another castle's ruins to see more coast and finally to the beach for a nice flop in the sand. We ended our day on the Antrim Coast with dinner and then I figured out our route home.

One of my views from the driver's side
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Glen Arriff Waterfalls
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Driving back to Dublin, we decided to take the Eastern Coast scenic road that's windy windy windy (both curvey and full of wind gusts). We also took a detour to see Glen Arriff with it's waterfalls on a 4km hike (yes, I was obviously nearly human - although still tired). The drive was just as spectacular as anything we'd seen and I was thrilled beyond belief to be driving right on the edge of these coastal cliffs through quaint towns and gorgeous farms and countryside. We didn't get lost again even entering Dublin and that was the trip.

I'm human, and my coworkers claim that I should never again be allowed to travel since I seem to either get massively ill or detained at the border. But this coming weekend I'm going on another adventure where all I know is that I'm flying el-cheapo to London with only a backpack; camping outside the grounds to Wimbledon in the line to the grounds in order to try to get one of the 500 court tickets or 6000 ground tickets they reserve for the day-of sales; and then hopefully making ti back up to the airport outside of London to stay in a hotel before returning to Dublin on Sunday. Who knows what'll happen - who knows if I'll get in, or what people I'll meet in the line or if it'll rain??? But I've got my sleeping bag, backpack, flashlight, clothes and Crazy Creek Chair so it'll be "a story". And at least this time I don't have to fear reentering the country...... because..... I was APPROVED for my work permit to stay in Ireland officially!!! So I'm here homesick or not - until I decide to flap my wings and return to the states. But before I do that, I'm going to WImbledon (at least to camp), to Galway, to France (the trip's all reserved) and whereever else I get the whim to go before I turn into a bird and return to Seattle.

And if you're still curious about more photos of our adventures in Northern Ireland, find them in my Northern Ireland Flickr Set.

London on Parade

2006-06-18T14:50:00.000+01:00

A lot of watchers
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

So, to take a break from chores while I pray that I don't get paged, I figured I'd start with my journey to London from 2 weekends ago.

The basics are that I spent 3 days 4 nights in London wandering, doing touristy things and cultural things, and enjoying the fantastic weather in a fun city. All my pictures from that wacky adventure which I took on my cell phone ('cause my camera still wasn't here) can be found on Flickr.

King's Cross Tube Sign
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

So I got into London Fri night without problems and made my way to Kings Cross to find my hostel. I was staying in an all-girls dorm (thank god - boys are dodgy). Everything was copisetic, so I slept on my top bunk and the next morning woke up to 80 degrees and sunny for the weather outside. Perfection! I grabbed my London Pass to save myself mega bucks on transportation (3 days of tube transit) and on entrance fees (everywhere I wanted to go for 1/3 of what it would've cost me to buy the individual tickets). Then off I went walking - it was far to beautiful out for me to take the tube!

I was aiming to ramble South of the Thames to the Globe Theater and a few art galleries before crossing over to the Tower of London. However, none of these excursions actually happened when I got sucked into watching the practice parade for the Queen's Birthday. Y'see, I heard the sounds of a marching band - very traditional - when I passed by this massive gate structure. I didn't realize where I was or what was through the gate, but I followed the throngs of people in to see what the ruckus was. There - lo and behold - was a royal guard marching band all decked out and playing great music. And the people lining the street were friendly and let me know that this was the first of three practice parades for when the Queen would celebrate her birthday. It looked more interesting than the changing of the guard when I realized I was in St James Park which leads up to Buckingham Palace so I wandered down the way towards the palace, stopping everytime I band came along and chatting with various guards. I finally ended up standing right in front of Buckingham Palace with another lovely American woman watching the festivities. My three favorite things were (a) the bands which were mounted on massive horses. I was in awe. (b) the guards who stood along the sides of the road that weren't your average police were hysterical. They were in the hottest looking outfits with their fuzzy tall hats and they wore massive backpacks which I soon realized were connected to the phone handsets in their hands! I thought it was too funny - these things were massive and when they walked all regimental they did it with the phones in hand as if they were some gun or sword or something weapon like. I just giggled. And (c) I saw Prince Charles riding his little horse. Apparently the royals normally ride in one of the later practice parades, but for some odd reason he rode with this one. I was so shocked I couldn't take a reasonable picture.

Domes of St Paul's
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

So after a few hours of this I wandered off towards the Globe to see what else I could fit in from my original plan. I skipped the Tate and went straight to the St Pauls Cathedral. I attempted to go to the dome to see the roof, but alas, I hate heights - instead I sat through a 30 min eucharist ceremony just cause I could and my feet needed a break. Then off to the Globe only to find they had a matinee in progress so I couldn't get inside. Instead I bought half price tickets for the next night's performance and wandered off to the Tower of London. But I got side tracked by Vinopolis which is a wine tasting tour / museum which was highly entertaining and a very refreshing stop (also free on my London Pass - whoda thunk?)

Taming of the Shrew
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Finally, I headed North back across the Thames to Regent's Park (skipping dinner - I was too late for that) to catch the showing of Taming of the Shrew in the Shakespeare in the Park series I'd gotten tickets for. It was absolutely beautiful out with the sun setting as the play progressed and the light breeze and fairy lights all around the theater. It was marvelously comfortable and they even ended up having a bbq being served at intermission so missing dinner wasn't traumatic when I grabbed a sausage and glass of wine for dinner. I fell in love with the theater then sitting in the sunset watching a hysterical production with my glass of wine in hand - it was so enjoyable.

Sunday I decided to catch up with some of the things I'd planned on doing the day before. So I headed straight for the Tower of London in the morning, found out that the Beefeater Tour I wanted to take was on hold for 2 hrs while all the yeowman went to mass so I went to mass too - what the hey! It was a beautiful ceremony and very very formal. Then I went and saw the Crown Jewels (wow wow wow) and finally caught my Beefeater tour which was my favorite touristy thing! Then I decided to head over to Kennsington Palace by way of Notting Hill. After wandering the shops, I stopped for a picnic lunch overlooking the mini lake in the midst of the gardens. Finally, it was time for me to go to the theater again for a showing of Coreolanus (I hadn't heard of it before either) by the Royal Shakespeare Troupe at the Globe. I was going purely for the experience, but I had a great time with another dinner in my seat and wine and good company (cute lil' American boy sitting next to me).

And finally Monday I wandered over to see Big Ben and the Parliment Building. Then it was into Westminster Abbey (wow - that place is miraculous) and then time to do some good ol' shopping in Covington. I did some shopping, some window shopping, and some cafe sitting. Finally I ended up at the theater yet again but this time to experience a London musical: Evita It was the first preview performance and again it was amazing.

And finally I traipsed back to Dublin Tues morning to meet up with Amy. I had 73 pictures on my mobile, a farmer's tan, and I nearly wasn't readmitted to Ireland due to the fact I still don't have my work auth and in my sleepy state nearly didn't explain myself correctly (eep - that would've been disasterous).

"Drive on the Left"

2006-06-08T16:37:00.000+01:00

So, my car has a little sticker that reflects on the right hand side of the car saying "drive on the left" with a little arrow. It's a tiny little red car!!! The pedals are the same, I sit on the right side, the blinker/windshield wiper thingies are all mirrored from the US versions, and the most disturbing thing is that the gear shift is on the left. That one still makes me reach for my door - but maybe that's because I've only backed up a total of 2 times so far.

And we only got lost entering Belfast - miraculous! Amy is brilliant with a map.

Another random saying from the UK: "set down area" - load and unload zone

Oh - and why does Northern Ireland have all it's roadsigns in miles? My car's spedometer doesn't even tell me miles!!! Dare to be different I guess? Silly silly rebelleous country.

I'm going to innundate people with pictures and stories once Amy leaves - between my 70 pictures and 3 days in London; then at least 70 pictures and 4 days in Northern Ireland - yeah - it's going to be a lot.

wrong side? "go left!"

2006-06-07T09:59:00.000+01:00

London was absolutely lovely!

Amy arrived safely and we just wandered through Dublin talking since she's done most of the touristy things in Dublin when she visited last summer.

And today - well, today should be absolutely brilliant! I get to drive on the "wrong" (aka left) side of the road from Dublin to Belfast......... Amy's job is to navigate and remind me to "go left" at the roundabouts. My job is to remember to stay left every other time.

Do you think we can do it? I do!!

Northern Ireland here we come!

Apparently I've picked up "brilliant" and "lovely" in my vocabulary... In addition to "mobile" Amy can't cease to laugh at me!

teaser reminders

2006-06-04T22:35:00.000+01:00

So, this is a teaser of my 2 days in London.... I wouldn't have posted it 'cept I'm sitting at a computer emailing it to myself so I'm going to be a tease!

So, let there be nonsequitors.

I want a beefeater teddybear; I saw Prince Charles; mounted marching band; Shakespeare in the Park - Taming of the Shrew; Globe Theater - Coriolanus; random hostel stuff; blisters; Kensington Gardens; Tower of London & Yeowman; my new British friends; the cute American boy I shared a blanket with tonight at the play (like I said, I'm a tease); friggin' heat; St Pauls & London Eye and why I hate heights; more church than in the past 2 years combined; there are loud drunk people behind me in my hostel.....

Ok - this is the stuff I know I need to write about.. One more day in London and then I fly back to Dublin and meet up with Amy so I can continue my vacation adventure.

I've definitely walked > 25 miles these past 2 days......

Friday: Rugby in the Office

2006-06-02T10:17:00.000+01:00

You wouldn't think an office full of 2 computers per person would encourage having me learn rugby in the middle of the very narrow corridor. Especially since I'm not athletic and part of that means my inability to catch. Football, sure I can kick and run - but catching? Rugby? All of this was instigated by my lovely French boss and Irish colleague who were all too amused to watch me get hit in the stomach the first time they threw the rugby football at me unaware....

Ahh - good times in the office.

More updates to come - I've been pretty boring lately, but life's picking up today since I've got travel travel travel coming up. First I'm off to London tonight and will be there through Tues morning - lots of exciting plans. Then Tuesday Amy arrives in Dublin and Wednesday we head up to Northern Ireland for 4 days. It'll be lovely to have a week off - especially since it's supposed to be 75 and sunny my entire stay in London. Skirts here I come!

Ode to my Oven Accompanied By County Cork Pictures

2006-05-30T00:21:00.000+01:00

Rainy View of the Blarney Castle Watch Tower
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

So, I finally took the time to put up with using bluetooth between my mobile and my iBook to get my photos off my phone and onto my 'puter. It was a tedious process, but since the cord doesn't have Mac compatible software, it was a requirement. So, to go with my earlier tales of woe in Cork - here are some of the pictures. One from my rainy Sunday in Blarney and one from my sunny Saturday in Cork. Enjoy the pictures.

And since people keep wondering - does my stove work? Will my stove ever work? How is my stove?

My oven would like to report that it is merrily able to cook me delicious food now that it turns on. About 2 weeks ago I finally gave in and e-mailed my landlord to ask if there was "some secret to Irish ovens". He responded by calling me that evening to ask what was occuring and when I explained to him my predicament he "hrrrmmmed" for a moment and then scheduled to stop in the next evening to have a look and drop of the manuals that I didn't have for my appliances.

I was utterly and completely humiliated at having to ask this question - it's an oven - it's got 2 dials - how hard can it be??? But no - it just blinked at me stating it's proud mastery of electricity but refusing to heat.

So when my landlord arrived the following night I wasn't surprised at my feeling of dread that this would be one of those "let's see how American Yvette is" events in my welcome to Ireland. And, as to not disappoint, the oven obliged with being a lovingly odd European appliance.....

You have to set the clock on the oven before you can get it to turn on. No matter what. Who'da thunkit?? Not me!!!

My landlord deftly set my clock and turned on the oven and there was a light and heat and everything!!! Blonde moment!

Somehow, the completely wordless oven needs it's clock set before it will turn on - and apparently it's this way to make it "the same throughout Europe"... ummmmm..... ok..... I still think it's weird. But my oven works wonderfully and I've been cooking in a lot now!

Cork City Centre
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

And as my third trick for this evening, I'd like to once again proclaim that the rounds system in Ireland is entirely dangerous and very fun. Tuesday night I went out with a few coworkers to celebrate a work related triumph although having just gotten over food poisoning - I stuck to Diet Coke and water. Wednesday night I saw the Editors in concert which was absolutely amazing!! Thursday night I went out for yummy yummy Indian food. And Friday night I went out for "a pint". (The "a" part of that qualification is a complete misnomer - no matter who says it.) And then I spent the rest of the weekend doing chores, relaxing, trying to figure out what I'm doing with Amy when she visits and we head to Northern Ireland and making sure my entire weekend in London is all setup (I leave for London Friday night).

slow moving Monday

2006-05-29T14:44:00.000+01:00

I think I might be the only person who feels guilty about having a housekeeper come once a week. Seriously - it was a shock the first time, delightful the second, and now I just feel guilty! It makes me want to be cleaner! She's a delightful woman who speaks no English but does a lovely job at picking up after me. I just have to remind myself that this is her job and even if I'm not the one paying her fee someone is. And I'm honestly not ridiculously dirty or anything - she just does a few dishes, counters, sinks and sweeps. But but but.... I'm so spoiled!

Weekend in Cork

2006-05-22T21:00:00.000+01:00

I decided Thurs afternoon that I was really going away this weekend - not just thinking about it - and made room and train reservations for Cork in Southern Ireland. So Friday right after work I took off for Cork.

It was a trip with badness on the beginning and end, but a perfectly pleasant middle:

I had my camera stolen somewhere between Dublin and Cork on Fri which confounds me because it was in the bag between my legs the entire ride to Cork. (or I lost it - which I'm just as likely to have done) I didn't realize this till I was leaving the hotel the next morning. I wanted to sob with frustration. My new baby camera!!!
Got to the hotel and checked in. I started laughing uncontrollably when I did my normal "I'm in a hotel test the bed by flopping on it" entrance to the room. That was the most abysmal bed I've ever spent 5 mins on, let alone 3 nights. Ughs. Well, I guess I only really spent 2 nights on it since last night I didn't really sleep at all. Thank god the rest of the hotel was acceptable and the staff was friendly.
I was across the street from what has turned into my favorite pub ever. It just had so much character. There were lots of "regulars" and non-regular locals there. Both Fri and Sat (yes, it's sad that I went two nights when I thought I'd only go Fri - but it was that much fun) there were local musicians just sitting in a circle playing their hearts out. Mmmm - random Irish music with cute ass flutists who wink and buy you a pint. Good Fri night and pretty good Sat night (no flutist - so it didn't live up to it's preceding night).
Spent Saturday walking - I walked soooooooo disgustingly much. It was gorgeous and sunny out and Cork is an absolutely lovely city. I'd share pictures if I had them. Ok - so I have a few but I don't have the cable to get them off my mobile. The highlights were the pretty quaint local church I wandered into somewhere just outside the city centre, and the Cork City Gaol. Had an amazingly yummy dinner and then went back to Sin E.
Woke up to pouring rain Sun morning with 2 options for things to do: go to Blarney or go to Kinsale. I was either going to not-kiss the yucky Blarney Stone or go take a long walk on the beach and their surrounding hills. Due to the rain, I decided that Blarney would be more fun and because of this got to sleep in. Grabbed the bus to Blarney and did the touristy romp to the top of the castle where I hung myself upside down (eeep) over the air (and some safety rails) to air-kiss the Blarney Stone. I wasn't kissing that thing - germs! Then wandered the grounds forever in the rain (so pretty) and grabbed myself a great lunch at the local pub before catching the bus back. I was rained out, so after stopping in 2 stores for some shopping, I caught a showing of The DaVinci Code and grabbed pizza on my way to the hotel.
Got back happy and ready to go home to my Dublin apartment. And then hell broke loose in my stomach and I didn't sleep. So I spent all day today in bed or the bathroom hating life itself.

So that's that. If I ever figure out how to get my low-quality pictures off my mobile, I'll share with you a favorite or two.

Rainy Sunday

2006-05-14T14:36:00.000+01:00

After staring in consternation at the gazillion buttons and knobs on my washer, I managed to turn it on! There were no circuit breaker switches to confound me. It's now making spinning sounds like I've never heard before.. if it eats my underwear I'm going to be seriously upset!

I might not be able to turn the oven on (still) but at least the more important washer is now supposedly washing my clothes.

Oooo - it sounds like a plane turning off after landing... I'm concerned!

Yvette's First Irish Pub Crawl

2006-05-13T18:12:00.000+01:00

From Lonely Planet's Guide to Dublin

Pub Etiquette

The rounds system - the simple custom where someone buys you a drink and you buy one back - is the bedrock of the Irish pub culture. It's summed up in the Irish saying, 'it's impossible for two men to go to a pub for one drink.' Nothing will hasten your fall from social grace here like the failure to uphold this pub law. The Irish are extremely generous and one thing they can't abide is tight-fistedness.

Another golden rule about the system is that the next round starts when the first person has finished (preferably just about to finish) their drink. It doesn't matter if you're only halfway through your pint, if it's your round get them in.

Your greatest challenge will probably be trying to keep up with your fellow drinkers who may keep buying you drinks in every round even when you've still got a clatter of unfinished pints in front of you and you're sliding face first down the bar.

You should be aware that banter is the fibre of sociability. 'Slagging', or teasing, is the city's favorite pastime. If you can give as good as you get, they'll love you. Remember to pack a wad of self-deprecation, for they'll warm to you much quicker if you don't take yourself too seriously.

And now I'll start with a guide to how to be a single and alone traveler in Dublin:

Spend a few days not smelling the brewing stench of the Guinness Factory.
Walk around and watch for people standing outside pubs with pints and cigarettes. The pub with the fewest dodgy blokes standing outside is probably a winner.
Now that you know your destination for dessert, go get a good dinner in you because that Irish beer is good strong stuff and drinking it on an empty stomach isn't advisable - even if you're only planning on one pint. And if you have a glass of wine with dinner, you're just acting like the locals because it is Friday night after all.
Go find that pub that you were eyeing earlier and once you find the right door, enter, stop, scan the crowd and find yourself a perch on a barstool right near a friendly looking bartender.
Order a pint of Guinness. Put it down to let it settle out.
While waiting, look left and right to see who's there - and if there's a nice looking person start talking to him or her.
Continue talking and start drinking the Guinness that is now beckoning you.
Ireland is a land of merry chaos - go with it.

And that is how I had a fantastic night of pub-crawling in Dublin. More specifically, that's how I started an unimaginable night rambling through Dublin.

I walked through the yucky rain to the crepe stand I really wanted dinner at, but they were closing so I went to the Italian joint next door. After a nice dinner I decided to walk to a bar I'd seen walking around Dublin my first night here that just really caught my eye: The International Bar. I squirmed my way through the smokers and drinkers on the stoop (there's no smoking inside establishments in Ireland). At first I didn't see any empty places to sit, but I worked my way to the back of the pub and found a stool. I ordered my first Guinness - and let it sit obviously to let the bubbles fall through appropriately. I'm rather amazed that I could actually drink Guinness after the atrocious smells of the past 2 weeks. But I did.

There was a local entertainment paper on the bar next to the woman sitting to my right. I asked her if I could see it to check if it was dated through this weekend. It wasn't, but we struck up a great conversation. The guy she was with came back in having gone out for a smoke and we were all just chatting away and drinking our pints.

2 (or 3? can't remember) pints later we'd talked pretty much every taboo subject you could think of for an international contingent to talk about in the first acquaintance: politics, American politics, religion, sexuality and the perceptions of one country on another. My lovely drinking companions were Siobhane and Paul - 2 native Dubliners - although Siobhane now lives in Berlin and was on holiday so had gotten together with Paul to catch up. However, my new "welcoming party" to Ireland decided to move onto another pub and next thing I know Siobhane has one of my arms and Paul has the other and I'm being dragged half a block away to Grogan's Pub. It was PACKED! And after Siobhane spilled a pint on some rather unattractive lady's lap and picked up a round for our table, we were back to chatting away. Some more pints later we had flipped through the entertainment guide for this weekend (Grogan's had it) and decided to make our way to The Sugar Club which was a short hike away. Swigging down the last of our pints, we were off...

After traipsing silly-illy through St Stephen's Green, we made a quick top off at Hartigan's because crossing the street was looking daunting to Paul. Ran into Paul's brother and some of his brother's friends so they bought us our fortifying round. This was a true no-frills pub which my lil' guide to Dublin describes as follows:

This is about as spartan a bar as you'll find in the city, and is the daytime home to some serious drinkers who appreciate the quiet no-frills surroundings.

Then we finally made it across the whole 2 lane street to the Sugar Club and after grabbing a great table towards the bar - we managed to get drinks and started listening to a kickass ska band. Siobhane dragged us both to bring us down to the dance floor and we alternated songs dancing and drinking for the rest of the evening. Since it was a club license, they were able to serve beer past the pub cutoff of 2am so I was there until around 3am when I finally bid my newfound Dublin friends cheers and grabbed a cab back to my flat with 2 new phone numbers in my mobile and many wishes to have my visit Berlin by Siobhane.

Talking to my mother quickly (thank you mother for putting up with your rather hysterical daughter) I dragged my drunk ass to bed. Woke up at 9am with a hangover that could kill a cow having had at least 10 pints last night...... After a rough day, I finally got out of bed for a "final" time at 4pm feeling human. And now that I've fortified myself with a yummy sandwich and tea I feel human again.

Now that's one hangover I earned by participating in the Irish National Sport: Drinking and Pub Crawling... and I don't regret it in the least!

Traditional Irish Men Served 12-3

2006-05-13T17:16:00.000+01:00

Traditional Irish Men Served 12-3
Originally uploaded by yvettemn.

Ask and ye shall receive. You asked - so here you go! Who wants which man? They are traditional smoking, drinking, Irish men with accents!

I was just walking from dinner to a pub in the rain in the City Centre when I found where all the male prostitutes stand??? Hrmmm....

The pictures a little blurry because I was laughing, it was raining, and I hate snapping photos with subjects that are human that are unaware they're being photographed. So I didn't go for a take2. But it gets the point across.