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Moving hard

So tired, need coffee. Where coffee? Where pants? Must go to work one more day. So hot. What Gaston?

Post funny photos later - lose verbs now.

Platypus.

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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, August 31, 2004 at Tuesday, August 31, 2004 | |  

Quote of the day....

From our friends at Yahoo - I found this story about French journalists held captive by Islamic militants interesting for several reasons. Not the least of which was this paragraph from the article:

Militants calling themselves the Islamic Army in Iraq demanded France revoke its law banning Islamic head scarves in public schools. They described the law as "an aggression on the Islamic religion and personal freedoms," according to the Arab TV station Al-Jazeera, which showed parts of a tape received Saturday from the group.

It's hard to make demands for personal freedom in your statements when you're HOLDING PEOPLE HOSTAGE! They should fire their PR guy.

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By: Alyssa | Monday, August 30, 2004 at Monday, August 30, 2004 | |  

Can packing make you nauseous?

I'm feeling kinda icky. Maybe I need a break. Maybe the Taqueria Mexico for lunch was a tactical error. Curse my taco love!

On the bright side, I've burned approximately 17 billion calories today furiously packing boxes and yelling "TAPE GUN!" to my husband.

Tonight a giant box of old papers awaits. I have two shredders lined up. I've already shredded 2 garbage bags worth of documents. Where does it all come from?

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By: Alyssa | Saturday, August 28, 2004 at Saturday, August 28, 2004 | |  

Linktastic
You're tired of hearing about my move. I'm tired of writing about it. So here's an easy entry - read other stuff!

Help DeAnn raise money by sponsoring her team for America's Walk for Diabetes. See, it's almost like instant good karma.

Save: If you're not sure you can give, why not save a few dollars at the pump and pass the savings on for research? See - it's like trickle down economics that works!

Gossip: Now that you've done a nice thing you can do some naughty things like read gossipy things about famous people. I would start with Defamer, then Gawker, and round it out with Fugging It Up.

Still want more? Fine, I'm a giver. Ask anyone.

Read about the horror that is the Dave Mathew's Band Bus debacle - it's really gross and the Chicago Tribune is all over it. (Registration is required, but it's free) The first person account by a Trib reporter about his experience on the doomed architectural boat tour is ghastly....

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, August 26, 2004 at Thursday, August 26, 2004 | |  

Empire of the ants

Six days to departure. Ants have arrived - well like 5 of them. They're in the pantry. I put down some traps . I figured 3 worked in a large space, they'll work just as well in a small space. It's like Insult meets Injury all over again. And more strangers wander through today. Good luck with that sale!

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By: Alyssa | at Thursday, August 26, 2004 | |  

Poor Man’s Bill Gates

So there’s a guy who gets on the bus at the same time and the same stop I do. I call him the Poor Man’s Bill Gates (PMBG).

He lives up the hill from me, but I’m not sure where. I suspect he lives in one of the really schmancy houses, but I’m not sure. I have not seen him down on my end of the street where the common-folk live.

I’ll paint you a picture.

PMBG looks very much like Bill Gates if he hadn’t gotten rich, gotten a wife, gotten cleaned up a bit and gotten into the shower on a regular basis. Every single time I see him he looks like he’s just woken up. He’s all White Rabbit that way – he runs down the hill every morning to the bus stop.

He wears these shoes that I thought might be orthopedic, but in fact are just ugly. He’s usually got his shirt only partially tucked in – and not in the way that shows off your snazzy belt buckle. He frequently ties clothing around his neck – shirts and sweaters – because in his haste to speed down the street he can’t put on all his clothes. When he runs he flaps his arms and he just runs like a spazz.

I’ve never seen him with combed hair. He’s got the worst bed head I’ve ever seen. Again, it’s not the sexy kind skillfully created with product – it’s what happens when you don’t brush your hair for days and days.

He does seem to shave, although I suspect he doesn’t really grow a lot of facial hair. He is skinny and scrawnier than Bill Gates. He carries a canvas briefcase that he constantly drops and is so full there’s a trail of stuff falling out if it. He’s like Pigpen.

Today I was walking to the bus and I heard this weird noise behind me. It was kinda loud and unfamiliar, I turn around just in time to almost get knocked over by PMBG and he does his man on fire crazy run to the bus stop. I calmly step aside (before he pushes me aside) to let him pass.

Approximately 3 seconds later I join him at the bus stop – still a good 2 or 3 minutes before the bus comes. He’s panting and starting to flop sweat. I think it’s like 55 degrees out. The bus arrives and the bus driver lady gives him the once over. She shakes her head.

He stands on the bus for a minute and I’m overwhelmed with a sense of pity – no one wants to sit next to him. It must be like school all over again. Never getting picked for a team, never getting to sit with the cool kids.

If only PMBG would comb his hair…..the lesson I’ve learned is that grooming still counts.

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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, August 25, 2004 at Wednesday, August 25, 2004 | |  

I cannot stop clicking

I'm really avoiding the last of the packing. There's some crap - I mean, precious treasures - that must be packed in a box and carefully labeled.

Instead I'm just clicking that "Next Blog" button that appears on Blogspot hosted blogs. I don't have one 'cause I host this puppy myself. But if you go to my InterWeb pal Scott's site you can see the blue Next Blog button in the top right corner.

It's hard to stop clicking it. It's like a cross between a bad poetry slam and a train wreck. The good thing, my site sucks much less than I thought. So good on me.

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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, August 24, 2004 at Tuesday, August 24, 2004 | |  

Nick Lachey and the golden handcuffs

I realize I've come to this late - as there has already been much written and speculated about with respect to those crazy kids Nick and Jessica over on the MTV. But I watched a whole episode this season and I have come to the conclusion that Nick Lachey is a poor schlub.

He is trapped in a prison of his own making - latched to a dim-witted, overbearing fembot with golden handcuffs.

I saw the episode entitled "Nick and Joe" which features Nick on vacation with his wife and her entire family and hangers-on; Nick spent most of the trip with his father-in-law (and wife's business manager/pimp) Joe. It was the most beautifully edited half-hour of reality television ever. I'm sure they guy who made it for MTV was fired.

Joe spends all of his time on the phone because while he might have been a peanut farmer (or whatever) before pimping out his bimbo daughters, he's a big-shot now. Wifey can't be bothered to entertain or even interact with her husband so he's dispatched to the golf course with Dad.

Horror.... I mean really uncomfortable hilarity ensues. They golf, they have lunch, they go on some big boat and fish - approximately 40 words are exchanged between them. Awful.

So what's Lachey going to do? Jack and squat. He's married to a beautiful, wealthy woman who has become a star for being a) stupid, b) willing to be pimped for anything, and c) a gas bag. His wife rapidly eclipsed him on the famous meter and now he's trapped with her. He could divorce her and lose all hopes of fame and riches plus earn the scorn of America (or people under the age of 15). Or he sticks it out, hoping to get lucky....

I don't know how it will turn out but I won't watch anymore. Just one episode left a bad taste in my mouth - like a coyote's after chewing its leg off to escape a trap.

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By: Alyssa | at Tuesday, August 24, 2004 | |  

Insult, meet Injury

There are boxes everywhere. Seriously. And I lost the cat for a while but then I found her in the middle of the bed I'd made. She's just a lump and if you poke the lump a cat cry will emerge. It's sad.

So we got a call last night around 6. Someone would like to see our apartment today. Of course they would. This place is so dirty that you'd think it was abandoned. Nothing says hygiene like a bunch of nasty old boxes and garbage bags. I can't get out the front door right now because we have like 8 large trash bags loaded for a trip to the Goodwill tomorrow. Boxes are stacked to the ceiling and about halfway through yesterday we realized that I hadn't labeled everything with the cool label tape (available at your local UHaul store - I highly recommend it). So we spent an hour going through the boxes and relabeling them.

So we called the broker guy back and told him to come by.

Please, come see our apartment. We’ve only endured having strangers wander through it for 3 ½ months. No big – of course it’s not a bother to have people come early on a Sunday morning! I know we prefer 24 hours notice, but what do you care? It's in great viewing shape - if you can make it through the front door. Watch out for those boxes, wouldn’t want to have you trip! And please disregard that weird odor coming from the sink in the kitchen. That just started this morning, I'm sure it'll be gone by this evening.

Countdown: 9 days....


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By: Alyssa | Sunday, August 22, 2004 at Sunday, August 22, 2004 | |  


The real key to packing success is the appropriate label scheme. And that cool cling film stuff that you can wrap your furniture in - that's awesome.  Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | at Sunday, August 22, 2004 | |  


And here's the front foyer. This lovely foyer also has much storage available and you know, they just don't make them like this anymore. Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | at Sunday, August 22, 2004 | |  


Isn't the kitchen lovely? You can really get a sense of how much storage space there is. Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | at Sunday, August 22, 2004 | |  

In too deep

So I'm icing and elevating and packing, which is more complicated than expected. We've made excellent progress. Everything is in a shambles but Deeps and I are still on speaking terms, so that's good.

We slept heartily to prepare for today - and also because we're really lazy on the weekends. So far the list is dwindling. The front closet is packed, the bar is packed, most of the kitchen is packed, and I'm about half-way through the packing of the bathroom. Huzzah!

We still have 10 days until the move. Next weekend will be the more painful dismantling and packing of the electronics and the last of the things we were using until the move. Good God, this is going to be awful.

Last time was so much easier. I went to work and when I came home everything was packed. Of course, no one is shelling out big dough to move us this time - it's our nickel. But if I can ever afford to do that again, I'm doing it.

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By: Alyssa | Saturday, August 21, 2004 at Saturday, August 21, 2004 | |  

Look what you've gone and done

So I've been hobbling for most of the afternoon. I did something to my foot (right) and it hurts like he-double-hockey-sticks. I think I pulled a muscle, it's just sore when I walk normally. If I kinda walk on my tippy-toes (hee!) it's not that bad.

Needless to say you're not cool or going to wear sexy sling backs to do that. I think I did something to my peroneus longus tendon or possibly my inferior peronal....something. I Googled it. Thank God I can self-diagnose.

I also diagnose based on my friend's experiences. I know my friend Em did something similar to her foot and had to go easy and ice it for a while. And take some Advil - done and done.

Wait! I should wear heels! That's what this thing says....interesting: peroneal tendonitis. This just might work. I like it. Clearly I did too much at the gym yesterday because my foot is cheesed off. I'd been training and strengthening my knees and back to aid with the pending move. I had no idea my foot might betray me. Figures....I have them pedicured and pampered monthly and this is what I get in return. I even used over-priced foot lotion with those stupid socks.....

Now where did I pack my non-sensible shoes?

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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, August 18, 2004 at Wednesday, August 18, 2004 | |  

She so crazy

So my boss trapped a burglar in her office for a few minutes while yelling for someone to call the cops. Then the dude like wrenched the door from her and busted out and ran like hell for the exit. He escaped, but my eagle-eyed supervisor spotted a juicy thumbprint on the glass near the door.

She left me this weird email about it, I called her and she recounted the story. Apparently she chased the man out of the building (down five or six flights of stairs). She said it was a stupid to chase down a guy who might be armed, but that's my little lunatic. In the end, no one was hurt and she's spending the evening with the police looking at mug shots.

Don't try this at home.

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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, August 17, 2004 at Tuesday, August 17, 2004 | |  

Vigil for rattan

So we're pretty deep into the world of packing and moving. We hauled a great deal up from the basement to toss (it's Garbage Day!) including some old baskets that weren't in good enough shape to donate.

We dragged things out (we filled all 4 bins) last night for the morning pick-up. Within seconds of hauling out some questionable wicker/rattan baskets (and a wobbly baker's rack) we found a woman standing outside our house. She was fishing in her fanny pack for her phone. It was starting to rain lightly but she stood quietly, intently waiting for her treasure: my old baskets.

I heard her talking, emphatically to whoever was on the other line: I need you to get here now! We loaded our car with clothes for the donation drop and pulled away. I hope she wouldn't be there when we got back. As a former active dumpster diver, I knew she was going to take a huge load but as a pedestrian she was dependent on her ride. All I thought at the time was that she was clearly an amateur.

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By: Alyssa | at Tuesday, August 17, 2004 | |  

Moving update #217

I thought they couldn't hurt me again - we're moving, it's over. But Deeps got a call from the current residents of our new apartment. They are staying an extra day (beyond their lease) and going to move out on the day we're moving in.

So before we had a single day to move. Now we have half a day, since the current residents (I call them bad hippies) won't be leaving when they're supposed to go.

To add insult to injury, I ran into our current landlord the other night and she thanked me for sending the last rent check (I had to hunt her down to send it, they left no forwarding information) and suggested that she'd forgotten we owed anything and I could have "gotten away with not sending it."

Thanks.... thanks a lot.

Grrr.....

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By: Alyssa | Sunday, August 15, 2004 at Sunday, August 15, 2004 | |  

Summer TV

So HBO has been pushing this new series, Entourage, and I happened to catch a couple of episodes the other night. The show is kind of weird - but not in the way you think. It's a pretty straight-forward show: adventures of rising Hollywood star and his hangers on. It's not really a comedy, but there are funny moments. It's not really a drama - but there are dramatic events.

I think that might be the weird part - it doesn't know what it is. The bigger weird part is something that the people over at TWOP have alluded to, the show doesn't really push a story forward and it's not a bad show, and when it's over you have a vague sense of having seen something happening. This kind of thing would not fly on most networks (HBO included - but Marky Mark is the executive producer).

Nighty Night is a show that hit the BBC earlier this year and has now arrived stateside - but not where you'd think. Deeps was searching for the Oxygen channel (!) last week to find it. He watched the first episode and suggested that I might want to catch it because it was "incredibly dark and funny." I caught the episode repeated the next day.

Let's just say if you like shows where the characters are pretty horrible (Sopranos) and yet weirdly compelling - you will probably like Nighty Night. It's so dark, the premise: A hairdresser discovers her husband has cancer. She decides to start planning for the future by going to a dating service. It just goes downhill from there.

If you've got that creepy Oxygen channel, check it out. Since it's a BBC show there are only 6 eps, so keep your eyes out for this one before it disappears.

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By: Alyssa | Thursday, August 12, 2004 at Thursday, August 12, 2004 | |  

Too much Splenda

I (over)heard this weird, partial conversation on the T last night.

Man: So I'm trying to eat better.
Woman: What have you given up?
Man: Uhm....(long pause, laugh) nothing yet. But I'm going to give up coffee.
Woman: Really?
Man: Yeah, I think that will be good for me.
Woman: I could never give up coffee I love it. I drink it every day.
Man: Just black?
Woman: No - I use soy milk and 10 Splendas.

I'm no scientist - but if you need 10 little packets of sweetener to make your coffee drinkable, you either need to switch up you coffee or just go for sugar.

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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, August 11, 2004 at Wednesday, August 11, 2004 | |  


Mmmm... spaghetti...

This adorable child is no match for my lack of maternal instincts. Nice try Cuddles..... Posted by Hello

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By: Alyssa | Tuesday, August 10, 2004 at Tuesday, August 10, 2004 | |  

Preparing to take the plunge

I did not buy or read any books about weddings or marriage before I got hitched to Deeps (either time!) and I've never read any of those baby books. But I felt like if we were going to take the next big step together - owning something more valuable than our car or mattress (we just paid that sucker off!) .... then I might need to know more.

I'm signing up for not one but two classes (I'm dragging Deeps along as well) about buying a condo and another about mortgages and finance. I bought this book called the Everything Homebuying Book.

Here's what I've learned from the book since I started reading it on the train this morning: I was not freaked out before I purchased the book and now I'm moving to Defcon 4 of freakout; I don't know how the math will ever work in my favor; I live in the 2nd (or 3rd - depending who you ask) most expensive real estate market in the country.

I'm seriously consindering picking up one of those wedding books now. Seems easier.....

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By: Alyssa | Monday, August 09, 2004 at Monday, August 09, 2004 | |  

Good news!

Look what I found when I cleaned out my closet - whew! I wonder how much I'll get for it at the garage sale....

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By: Alyssa | at Monday, August 09, 2004 | |  

Packing 'em in

I've finally caved and started packing in earnest. Deeps has been doing it for a few weeks, but this morning I started to break down the contents of the kitchen: the pantry, the cabinets, and the dreaded lazy Susan. We've come to terms with one thing - we have a lot of hot sauce. I am the proud owner of 16 bottles of spicy hot sauce, 4 bottles of salsa, 3 bottles of less spicy hot sauce and a jar of queso dip. And like 7 cans of fat free, low-sodium chicken broth.

I'm also light 6 bags of clothes. I've been dumping clothing all year, so I was surprised to have so much that I could still part with easily. The thing that was shocking was that some of the stuff hasn't seen the light of day in years - and it hasn't aged well. Did I really lug some of this stuff from Chicago? That's the problem when someone else packs your stuff - there's no editing.

Well, we're editing now. Deeps was inspired and started pawing through his massive shirt collection. Let me declare publicly that he has more clothes than any man I've ever met. He loves a shirt. He loves some good pants. And now he loves shoes. Let's just say that his clothes housing needs outpace mine by a factor of 2.

On the bright side, he's finally parted with some really horrifying clothing options. I have no idea where some of these shirts came from - but I can tell you where they're going. Deeps was delighted to purge so much. He turned to me with a big smile his face afterwards.

"You know, now I've got room for a few new things."

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By: Alyssa | Saturday, August 07, 2004 at Saturday, August 07, 2004 | |  

Afternoon delights

Cuddles tried to pull a fast one on me. We arranged to meet during my trip to Chicago and after work I hustled down to her 'hood to hang with the kids, catch up, and have dinner with her and BIL (brother-in-law).

The kids were in full tilt and fun when I arrived and they were ready to eat. We quickly pulled together a fine meal for them that involved lasagna. Macaroni quickly sucked down some food while I coaxed peanut into eating most of her food. Both ate with great aplomb but only 'roni really committed to the process by carefully grinding pasta and sauce into his face and hair.

When it was over he looked a lot like the guy from Seven who died from gluttony. Except without the creepy music and lighting effects. We determined a simple wipe down was not going to get him or his sister (who wore considerably less food) clean.

I was getting wise to Cuddles. She wanted to give me baby fever. We feed the kids and bathe them and read them a story and put them to bed. They're well behaved and adorable and how could I not want to toss the Seasonale away and start planning my family of 5 immediately?

Peanut doesn't go to bed without a fight, but 'Roni goes down pretty easily - so I go to put him to bed. There were a lot of steps involved which I skipped, but I fed him and rocked him as he went quickly from drowsy to coma. I looked down at his sleeping face - all cute, round and baby. I felt the twinge of - Awww..... But then, nothing else. I even thought: I should be feeling something here, shouldn't I?

In the end, the children were sacked out, BIL was ready for dinner and Cuddles failed - but I got a night of great dinner and conversation. Plus pictures of the kids with spaghetti on their heads. I think those pictures will come in handy later….

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By: Alyssa | Friday, August 06, 2004 at Friday, August 06, 2004 | |  

Growing up isn't easy

Especially if you're the creepy daughter of a former mob boss. As expected, I had nightmares about Victoria Gotti. She kept trying to make me get blonde extensions and ripped out half my hair.

Scary.

There was a a point in the show when she talks about her father, and how she wishes he was around to help her discipline her boys. She said something along the lines of they boys would never treat her father this way, he'd take care of things. Sure he'd take care of things - with a guy named Vito and a .45.

I realize we all have somewhat idealized views of our parents, but surely she is not that naive. Or maybe she's just that dumb. Either way - yikes.

In other news: Chicago still has great food!
Delight Thai food was had by myself and the lovely I. from Connecticut. We wandered about in the heat and humidity and then chowed down on some delightful curries and noodles. It's going to be hard to go back to the sub-par Thai food when I get back to Boston

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By: Alyssa | Wednesday, August 04, 2004 at Wednesday, August 04, 2004 | |  

Chicagola

Good grief it's hot. And humid. And hot. I landed and skeedaddled out of O'Hare toute suite. Then when arriving on the north side of the city, near my office I checked into the hotel (not the usual place, not even the back up place but option #3). Let's say it is.... not nice. It's not terrible but when my boss found out where I'm staying she urged me to try to switch as soon as possible. Luckily, the AC works in the rooms (not that it actually works anyhere else in the building) and I was greeted by a lovely spider.

But I fled quickly and hit the posh movie theater where I was delighted to find Harold and Kumar go to White Castle was playing. It's funnier than it I expected and I can say it's a solid matinee viewing.

But the best part was a delightful evening at the Olive Mountain where I ate the best hummus of my life. It was creamy and rich and full of flavor. Tomorrow night I've staked out the Thai place of my dreams....

PS
Victoria Gotti is scary, I hope she doesn't give me nightmares.

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By: Alyssa | Monday, August 02, 2004 at Monday, August 02, 2004 | |  

How High?

So I had my exciting doctor's appointment which involved a fasting cholesterol test. I'm officially a grown up. Yaay for me. I'm hoping that the ol' LDL/HDL number is below 200 otherwise, Doc G. is going to bust me.

I also talked my doc into prescribing me the Sesonale - I love the idea, but the costs are pretty high and my insturance doesn't cover this particular product. I will say that upon disclosing to close lady friends that I'm switching I've become the belle of the ball with many inquiries. In the name of science I may have to pay the extra $$ to learn if it really works and if the money is worth the avoidance of hassle.

Don't know what Seasonale is? Use Google.

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By: Alyssa | at Monday, August 02, 2004 | |  

Business travel for lovers

The Blog will be coming to you from Chicago for a few days. I'm flying out to do some training seminars with my Chi-homies. It should be super fun.

I'm trying to figure out how to make it a semi-vacation by squeezing in trips to fine restaurants, visiting some friends, checking in with Cuddles and Co. and seeing a movie at one of my favorite movie theaters ever.

One of my colleagues also lives out on the East Coast and she and I have a similar agenda when we come to Chicago for work. At the top: How many places can I eat at while I'm here?

I desperately miss the fantastic Indian food that was just a couple of miles from my old stomping grounds. Same for the top-notch Mexican (we were regulars! We didn't even have to order!), the dreamy Middle Eastern delights offered up for a paltry $6 for lunch and the best shumai you may ever eat at the cute Thai place.

Boston has the fish thing down. I'm loving the fish. And pizza. Yaay pizza! They're good with yankee fare - meat and 'taters.Plus there's good Italian. We've found passable Indian - but it pales in comparison to the feasts we once had. But everything else - well I'm sad about the Mexican and Middle Eastern and Thai. The conditions here are very bad. I've driven miles and miles for the prospect of a decent taco or falafel. We're ethnic food eaters. We don't love a pot roast. We love a great chile relleno or shish taouk.

So I fully expect to pack on a few pounds during my visit to Chicago. I'll visit Jamba Juice and the amazing cajun place for breakfast. Mmmm.... grits. I'll catch up with my co-workers and I fully expect to learn stuff. Then a few days later I'll fly home and walk those pounds off. I'm learning to love new food - I'll head over to my favorite place for lunch (I call it Fish) where the bartender knows me and I get the Mako.

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By: Alyssa | at Monday, August 02, 2004 | |  

DNC roundup

So I worked at home the whole week because I hate a crowd and have only recently started to come to terms with the reality of living in Boston. It's not Chicago. I tell myself every morning when I wake up.

Friday morning the Boston Herald ran a headline proclaiming that it was safe for the Bostonians to return home.

While I was huddled inside my ai-conditioned apartment, others were having hilarious adventures. Like this poor jerk - he had trouble with the MBTA which I loathe on good (non DNC) days.

Ben Affleck was everywhere. Seriously - he knocked on my door sometime on Wednesday and was all, hey just wanted to see how you're doing. He was everywhere. Along with the 12,000+ people with media credentials. I figure that was about 1:2 media to delegate ratio (tops) and about 12: 1 media to protestor ratio.

I talked to my parents on Saturday and filled them in.

ME: So the DNC is over and everything is normal now.
Parent 1: You and a D&C? Are you okay?
ME: (pauses - processes) Wait what? Not a D&C? No the D-N-C, the Democratic National Convention.
Parent 1: Oh, I don't pay attention to that stuff...

Me either.

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By: Alyssa | Sunday, August 01, 2004 at Sunday, August 01, 2004 | |