212 Nancy Drew

4th of July Update

2006-07-05T19:25:00.000-04:00

But first, I digress. Mom and her friend Colleen are visiting Minneapolis/St. Paul for the day and they called me for suggestions on where to eat and I couldn't think of any places they might like. Part of the problem was that I could mainly thing of "ethnic" eateries like Taste of Thailand or Sawatdee, which they would not like. I'm not sure what my lack of memory means, but now it's really bugging me.

So, back to the 4th of July. Not feeling like hanging out on the FDR (essentially a highway with no bathrooms or chairs) on a really hot day and having been to busy to get tickets to get into work, I decided that I would try going on the roof of my apartment building. While the view was not as spectacular as it is when you camp out for hours near the water thanks to a big building between ours and the East River, it still saved a lot of time and was pretty comfortable. Also, from that vantage point, the fireworks were actually at eye level which was interesting for a change. And, we could also see the fireworks set off near the Brooklyn Bridge and by Battery Park in the distance. The best park was not having smoke or firework debris falling on my head.

Again -- Salif Keita

2006-07-02T14:17:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, I was lucky to see Salif Keita for the fourth time. This time, it was at the Apollo Theater in Harlem -- my first time there (to the Apollo, not to Harlem). This review in the Washington Post really sums up the concert even though it describes the DC show. You can also hear an interview from PRI's The World on the significane of his performace at the Apollo. Listen >>

In NYC, the show kicked off with a group of amazing drummers from Senegal. I didn't catch their name, but if I find out, I'll let you know. It was really loud and energetic, and I was hit with pieces of their bamboo drumsticks that flew off into the audience -- I was seated in the second row.

Once Salif came out, barefoot, it was fabulous as usual. I was a little disappointed that he didn't play my favorite songs, choosing to focus instead on more recent releases, which are amazing all the same. This time, he also featured the musicians playing with him, legends themselves.

When people started rushing the stage, I was really regretting being in the second row. I was seriously afraid of being crushed, but I should have expected that because this happens at all West African concerts and Salif, himself, was encouraging it. At one point, he embraced an albino boy on stage and it was really touching.

You can hear Salif for yourself in an interview, with music, on a recent version of WNYC's Soundcheck (fast forward 24 minutes unless you're interested in hearing an interview with Robert Plant. Listen >>

P.S. Happy Fourth of July!

Finally relaxed

2006-07-02T14:11:00.000-04:00

After two weeks of whirlwind activities, I'm finally feeling a bit relaxed after taking yesterday just to lay around. I expect more of the same today. I'll catch you up on what has happend since 20 June over the next few days.

First off, congratulations to Dad who finished a half marathon on 25 June. I have no idea how many times he has finished half marathons in his life, but to still be doing so at 61 is impressive.

E-Mail Surprise

2006-06-20T19:05:00.000-04:00

Every now and then, a nice surprise winds up in my e-mail box. The latest surprise is a visit next week from Fanny, a French exchange student who lived in Cedar Falls our senior year. We've kept in touch over the years from time to time and I have seen her in France two or three times. She lives in London now, but will be in NJ on a business visit next week. She sent a photo and she hasn't changed a bit (center). Neither has Cristina, another foreign exchange student from Brazil. That's her mom on the right and this was taken on Fanny's visit to Rio. Do they look great or what? They haven't aged a bit!

Another new neighborhood

2006-06-18T10:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I was invited to a BBQ hosted by an informal group of French-speaking Africans from work, mostly from Niger and Congo (DRC). Having never trekked to Roosevelt Island and since the weather was fabulous, we made the trip. We started out having to use the F train since the tram is not working at the moment. The station is VERY far underground, reminiscent of some of the stations in Washington, DC. Since I assumed the island was small, I was suprised to learn that we needed to take a shuttle to get to Lighthouse Park, a historic place, and then walk a bit more to the BBQ location. Turns out the island itself is two miles long. But, we had a good time with lots of food and music and nice, quiet views of passing boats and the Upper East Side.

An amazing find

2006-06-17T08:01:00.000-04:00

Last night, while scanning the NPR Blog Mixed Signals, I found this amazing site: PublicRadioFan.com. I routinely scout around the internet to find the archives of shows I like and missed, but this site allows you to see what shows are streaming at any particular time which is great because not all shows put their archives online for free.

Last night, I checked in and had so many choices -- This American Life, BBC, and more, but I chose the CBC's As it Happens and I wasn't disappointed. Did you know that Canada has its own gangs? I also heard about a woman who came home to a bear eating cereal out of a bowl in her kitchen. I love that show. Turns out they also have a "best of" podcast, too!

Now I'm going to listen to Zorba Paster On Your Health, a show I haven't heard since I lived in Minneapolis, but I seriously considered listening to Calling All Pets, a show I've never even heard about before. The choices are overwhelming!

Happy Birthday, Robin

2006-06-03T08:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was Robin's 30th birthday. So, happy birthday a day late! We'll celebrate together when she comes to visit NYC in a few weeks.

In keeping with my new tradition, I'm going to post an embarrasing photo of my family members on their birthdays. Here is one of Robin (and me), circa 1979 (I think). Robin is on the right and the photo was taken in Waterloo, Iowa.

Those scarves look hand-knit. I'm not sure where they came from and I'm sure I didn't appreciate the work put into them at the same time.

What is that?

2006-05-29T10:02:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I went over to Brooklyn to the Dance Africa 2006 bazaar. I was expecting to see lots of African items and was disappointed to see, again, that it was mainly West Indian, or Caribbean, vendors. Oh well. I did see a lot of nice African art and expensive fabrics, including some beautiful mud cloth. The best find, though, was some unrefined shea butter direct from Ghana. The woman selling it assured me that it would solve any skin problem I might have and I was really excited to try it out on my dry feet last night, but since I fell asleep on the couch, I don't have any results to report yet. I'm hesitant to rub "butter" on myself that seems like it might ruin the counch. Anyway, here is a photo of my find.

If it really works, I'll let you know. And don't worry. I'm not going to eat it. She warned me that I could eat it in Africa, but not here. Good to know, though there was zero chance I'd put something in my mouth that she scooped out of a dirty-looking gourd. You can click here for someone else's photo of a similar stand in Harlem or here for a similar stand in Tucson. Have I mentioned that I love Flickr?

Happy Birthday, Mom

2006-05-27T16:44:00.000-04:00

Today is mom's 60th birthday. I wish I were in Florida with her, but it's hot enough here in NYC for me... Anyway, she'll probably be visting NYC soon.

Just to embarrass her, here is a photo of the two of us taken a few years back. Mom is the one on the left, not the middle. :)

Feel free to leave birthday wishes for her here in the comments.

Congrats, Sam!

2006-05-25T08:24:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday, Sam invited me to celebrate his graduation (master's) at a cook-out in Brooklyn.

I didn't take my camera, so I, sadly, don't have a photo of me with Sam, but Sam did snap a photo of me with David, whom I hadn't seen since I moved from the Twin Cities. Have we changed? Not TOO much...

It was the one nice day is string of rainy days, so the afternoon was well spent. I also met another Luther grad, Scott, his family, and a bunch of Sam's friends. It was probably the most Iowa connections I've made since I lived there.

Cute Baby Alert

2006-05-16T06:51:00.000-04:00

I don't think I posted anything about Huon's arrival down-under at the end of March. As you can see in this picture, he's doing fine, as is his "Mum," Michelle, my former co-worker who moved back to Australia in December.

Doesn't it seem like babies are always cuter wearing hats?

Mistaken Identity

2006-05-15T19:31:00.000-04:00

As someone who, in her third year of work at this job, routinely answers to the names of Laura, Michelle, Susan and, yes, Jerena, I can totally understand this case of mistaken identity at the BBC. Pretty funny, but at little sad. Read it and watch the video>>

Building Update

2006-05-12T18:21:00.000-04:00

I should have posted pictures of the building between now and January (see last post), but I haven't gotten around to it. For a long time, I wasn't home when it was light out, except for on the weekends. Or, it was too cold to open the window.

So, this was the view out my bedroom window (circa 8 February) just as the demolition was finishing (remember it started before Thanksgiving):

Here's the view as of today:

It doesn't look much different than it did back in January, but in reality, the previous post was demolishion and now they're building it back up. They just laid some concrete last week.

Although they start work at 7 a.m. and there are more than 20 workers there, the progress is going amazing slow.

Flamin' Hot Cheetos

2006-05-11T09:09:00.000-04:00

Heard this on NPR this week -- a segment about how kids are crazy about Flamin' Hot Cheetos, listen >>. I wasn't even aware that this variety of Cheetos existed. I have to say now I'm curious even though it sounds kind of gross. I'm not sure I want to eat something that "makes my booty burn," according to one of the kids they interviewed. Turns out there is a baked version.

Maybe my curiousity runs in the family. Someone named J. Mann posted this comment on Mixed Signals... Is you Uncle Jim? Aunt Judy? Jeff? I think Jessica is too young to write.

I've never gotten high from Flaming Hot Cheetos or any spicy food. Now I feel like I've been missing out.

Sent by J. Mann | 5-10-2006

Sunday

2006-05-07T18:09:00.000-04:00

Most of the week was quiet and even the weekend was quiet. I just finished some much-needed dusting and am feeling much better once I started taking Claritin again. Pollen was making me miserable!

Today, just to get out and enjoy the weather, I went down to Union Square to the Asian Pacific American festival. It was really crowded, so it was not that enjoyable. Also, I seem to be missing my sunglasses, turning me into a squinter on these sunny days. Anyway, I got a kick out of this crazy band called Peelander Z which was performing and blaring music all over the festival. These characters were dressed up in bright colored costumes and teaching the crowd a few words of Japanese while playing rock (?) music. Pretty funny. >> See what they look like on their Web site. Very crazy. They seem to have quite a following. I'm not sure if they converted me or if I'd actually pay to see them, but they did make me laugh.

Off to a slow start

2006-04-09T10:02:00.000-04:00

My Sunday ritual, which starts with reading the NY Times, is off to a slow start since there is a furry obstacle in my way. I think this is a subtle hint from Zazie that I should start cleaning right away. She can barely make it into the bedroom thanks to the piles of clothes on the floor.

Sunday Humor

2006-04-02T17:30:00.000-04:00

Maybe it doesn't take too much to crack me up, but I ran across these online postcards today while looking online for a place to buy vacuum belts in my neighborhood. I really do like my Oreck vacuum, but do I really want to send a postcard to someone? I thought about sending one to Dad who got me my cleaner one year for my birthday. Anyway, I have posted them here for your enjoyment.

Maybe I need a more exciting life. Today, as an excuse to get out and enjoy the weather, I walked 20 blocks down to the new Trader Joe's and actually STOOD IN LINE to get into a grocery store. I kid you not. I wasn't the only one. Anyway, once there, I made all sorts of impulse buys and ended up having to take a taxi home. It was worth it though. I can't wait to try out the cranberry lemonade.

New Blog I'm Loving

2006-03-25T14:08:00.000-05:00

NPR has a new blog called "Mixed Signals" that I'm really loving. It may turn me back into the NPR junkie I used to be. I'm still a junkie, but not to the extent I used to be. Working at CNN, I watched CNN all day and working at a more traditional reference desk, I got used to the ubiquitous library quiet -- as quiet as it gets with protestors outside your window.

Anyway, here are a few samples from this week:

Best tool ever -- I'm now seriously considering wrapping duct tape around the spot the boot has worn raw on my leg.

Someone really loves the '80s -- Now I won't miss VHI playing 99 Luftballons continously for one hour tomorrow.

Contingency planning, maybe taken too far -- I'm not longer going to lose sleep wondering what will happen "During any period when both the Archivist of the United States (Archivist) and the Deputy Archivist of the United States (Deputy Archivist) have died, resigned, or otherwise become unable to perform". Phew.

These are just a few of the useful tidbits I've picked up since subsribing to this blog in my Bloglines account. They also have "Don't Miss" posts for actual NPR stories when I actually find time to listen on my own time.

Elephants, again

2006-03-21T18:51:00.000-05:00

Last night I stood outside in the cold waiting for the annual elephant run down 34th Street. Since my building is right on the route, don't worry, I didn't do much walking since I was able to simply stand in front of the building, but I did do some pacing since it was freezing out and the elephants were about an hour late. The atmosphere was jovial, though, which made it all manageable.

The previous two years, I just watched from my window, but this year I wanted to get my own photos. Too bad the flash on my camera doesn't work well at night, so I have to rely on the wonder of Flickr to post photos that people taken right by me posted today. Yay! Even though I've seen this three times, it is still a surreal experience to see elephants run past your apartment.

People lined up in front of my building

The elephants arrive on 34th Street

Other nice photos from Flickr:

I Heart NY

Going into the tunnel on the Queens side: nice "suspicious activity" warning.

Gothamist has an apt description of the event as well, with links to more photos and even video so you can see the speed at which elephants can run in the cold. Poor babies. I do feel bad for them. This can't be what they want out of life.

Home bound

2006-03-19T15:09:00.000-05:00

Following doctor's orders to "slow down," I've spent most of the weekend inside and for that I have surprisingly little to show for it. Oh well.

I did get a chance to listen to Freeform Faust, the radio show of a fellow Luther grad on the Luther radio station, as he featured Sam. For other Luther pals, there is an interesting picture of Sam. There is also a funny picture of David from a few weeks back, to which I didn't get to listen. Writing about Sam and David reminded me of a roadtrip Sam, David, Rachel and I took from Minneapolis to Chicago one weekend in the late 1990s (I think) and while in Chicago we saw Faust and a bunch of other people. Fun times. Creative people.

On a more somber note, I also had a chance to watch The Constant Gardener, another DVD borrowed from the library. This movie made me feel the same way as I did when I watched Syriana, in that if it is remotely possible that these kinds of things happen in real life (and I think they might), it's just too much to bear.

The Latest Fashion

2006-03-15T20:35:00.000-05:00

What? You didn't know boots like this beauty were in style? The catch is that you have to break a bone in your foot to get one.

Yes, I have an inexplicably fractured sesamoid bone. So, this means very little walking for me. It also appears to mean very little sleeping as well, since it's not easy to sleep with a big, immobilizing boot on your foot.

At least now it's clear that something is wrong with me and not just my fashion sense. I've spent the last three to four weeks wearing tennis shoes at work since it hurt too much to wear anything else.

For the other walkers out there, foot pain that wakes you up in the middle of the night is not normal, nor is it a figment of your imagination. When it hurts to walk, as a general rule, it's better to go to the podiatrist sooner rather than later.

Nice Day and a Movie

2006-03-12T11:18:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I enjoyed the unseasonably warm day by spending some time at Central Park and then making lots of impulse buys at Whole Foods Market. Thank goodness I don't work at CNN in New York, because if I did, I'd probably make those kinds of impulse buys every day since they share the same building.

Then, I came home and watched a movie I borrowed from the library on the recommendation of many French teachers and students: The Barbarain Invasions or Les Invasion barbares. I surprised myself and understood quite a bit of the usually hard-to-understand Québécois. Not sure how I missed this 2003 film that won the Oscar for best foreign language entry. I think I was probably busy working long hours during the start of the Iraq war during my time in DC. Anyway, this is a thought-provoking film, though not really believable and incredibly sad. So, if you choose to rent it, you've been warned.

Rest in Peace

2006-03-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

From one legend (Dolly) to another... Rest in peace Ali Farka Touré, one of Africa's best known musicians.

If you have never given him a listen, please consider it. Here's more about him, thanks to the BBC. Read it >>

I like this description of him as an African cowboy:

Unlike many African music stars, he rejected the call of the bright lights of Paris, London or New York and always lived in Mali.

When he won his first Grammy award, he even refused to travel to the United States to collect his prize, saying:

"I don't know what a Grammy means but if someone has something for me, they can come and give it to me here in Niafunke, where I was singing when nobody knew me."

He then threw himself into farming, fishing and raising cattle in his home town.

Stuff on Zazie?

2006-03-03T18:55:00.000-05:00

No, Zazie wouldn't appreciate being featured in this blog displaying "stuff on cats." Here is one sample of what you'll find there:

I still do not approve of cats and clothing, but this hat is ingenious!

Wishful Thinking

2006-02-21T07:54:00.000-05:00

Someone wanted me to stay home from work today by conveniently curling up on my coat.

If only it were that easy, Zazie!

Try to ignore the rest of the mess...

Snowed in

2006-02-12T18:04:00.000-05:00

Well, not really. I guess it 27 or so inches is a lot of snow, but maybe the city is handling it so well that it doesn't seem like a big deal so far for me. I haven't really tried to go anywhere using any form of transport apart from my feet, though. We'll see how my walk to work is tomorrow, but so far I'm not worried. The snow has stopped now. Here are a few photos I took outside my window or in front of my apartment building.

Finally, a respite

2006-02-11T20:08:00.000-05:00

My long, stressful, politically-charged when full of long hours was capped off in an unusual way. Sam invited me to see a play at PS 122 -- my second trip there with Sam. I think the first time was back in 2001. The play was good, but even better was catching up with Sam. I'm lucky to have so many friends that are easy to talk to even after months and months go by. Mental note: Make more time for Sam.

Only in NYC

2006-02-09T20:24:00.000-05:00

Who says cats don't work? This one went undercover!

Isn't that police badge cute? Read the story >>

A Rare Find

2006-02-04T19:24:00.000-05:00

I finally received my rare find on eBay. I've been wanting this book for about a year since I checked it out from the library. It's no longer in print.

Here's a sample of what's inside (ignore my sad-looking digits).

Although I have sort of sworn off scarves and blankets for the time being, I may have revisit that decision to try out some of these stitches.

The only disappointment was the shipping time. The seller used "media mail," aka "book rate" and it took almost a month to arrive in NYC from California. The USPS Web site says that "media mail" takes 2 to 9 days, so I'm not sure what the hold-up was. See?

ENROUTE, February 03, 2006, 9:25 am, JERSEY CITY, NJ 07097
ENROUTE, January 31, 2006, 7:10 pm, JERSEY CITY, NJ 07097
ENROUTE, January 08, 2006, 1:37 am, BELL, CA 90201
ELECTRONIC SHIPPING INFO RECEIVED, January 06, 2006

I can't complain since I essentially got this book for free since I will only buy things on eBay if I sell something of mine first.

Another baby blanket...

2006-02-01T16:50:00.000-05:00

...and another cranky baby.

I didn't knit this, and I only know the baby in the "virtual" sense, but it's the same pattern I used! Remember?

Disturbing

2006-01-28T10:10:00.000-05:00

Friday was a new UN day remembering the victims of the Holocaust. The events were really somber and overall very thought-provoking. On Thursday night, I took pictures at the candlelight vigil where many survivors were in attendance. I felt uncomfortable snapping away. I really am not cut out to be a real photographer. Also in attendance was Dr. Ruth Westheimer -- the sex therapist! According to Wikipedia, her parents died in the Holocaust. I didn't take any photos of her.

Last night, I went to see the movie Caché. While I really liked the movie, feel it is really well done and am glad I saw it, I can't recommend it to anyone because it's really disturbing. If you are OK with being shocked and can tolerate a slow-moving film with subtitles (with a few horribly disturbing moments), then go see it. If you're interested in seeing it to practice your French, I understood every word, so it appears they were speaking very standard French -- not crazy street French. If you want to wait to see it on DVD, I suggest inviting someone over rather than watching it alone. If anyone has already seen it, leave me a comment to tell me what you thought. Am I right?

Cat Calendar

2006-01-24T20:13:00.000-05:00

Sarah in St. Paul sent me a surprise in the mail -- a cat calendar. She said she already had three calendars and it was a gift from her co-worker. The real reason is that she is a dog person. Since she has cat-sat for Zazie, she loves Zazie, too, because, yarn antics aside, Zazie really acts more like a dog than a cat. She said the cats in the calendar don't look anything like Zazie because she is so unique. What do you think?

There seems to be a slight resemblance to Miss November!

Seething

2006-01-23T20:09:00.000-05:00

About three weeks ago, I thought I'd embrace my inner environmentalist and recycle a sweater. Exhibit A: The ugly sweater.

Yes, I started the unraveling process three weeks ago. This is supposed to maybe take an afternoon, but I guess it takes longer when the sweater is made out of linen, gets knotted easily and doesn't stretch at all. Or, maybe I'm just slow.

So, last night I finished and was really excited to think about what I could possibly make with this yarn. I even considered selling it on eBay.

I went to bed, excited with the prospect of starting a new project today. When I woke up, this is what I saw. Exhibit B: A big, complex mess.

Being the perfect angel that she is, I assumed Zazie would never dream to jump up on the coffee table, pick up the yarn in her mouth and drape it all over the apartment. How this didn't wake me up, I'll never know.

Anyway, after I picked this all up, there is a big wad of yarn that I may not be able to re-roll. Exhibit C: The big wad (and a bigger furball).

Sigh. I'm really seething. I can't even get a picture without her diving in. Exhibit D: The dive-in.

Here she poses with her craft. Exhibit E: The yarn.

Or maybe she's just catching her breath.

Any ideas what I should make with this?

A small plea

2006-01-15T10:18:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, Monday, please keep Grandma Mann in Michigan in your thoughts and prayers as she undergoes a mastectomy. Some of you are aware of the previous difficulties she has faced in her 86 years, but she has proven herself to be extremely resilient so I'm sure it will all be OK. It's still unfair though!

The Fur is Deceiving

2006-01-14T13:22:00.000-05:00

Poor Zazie ran out of food this week, so I had to make an urgent trip to the Upper West Side to her vet's to pick up a bag. While there, I thought it might be a good idea to buy two bags to save time, even though it takes at least two months for her to finish a bag. I soon regretted that idea as I was walking back to the subway lugging 11 pounds of cat food -- for a seven-pound cat!

The fur is deceiving. She's actually quite small!

I'm not alone!

2006-01-12T21:28:00.000-05:00

"Fighting fires may sound taxing, chasing criminals demanding, but a new study says that working in library is the most stressful job of all." So says the BBC! Read more >>

Knitting Failure

2006-01-09T19:03:00.000-05:00

In the vein of having no shame, here I will document a total knitting failure.

Exhibit A: OK, maybe it doesn't look so bad here. What might not be so readily apparent is the fact that I chose not to pin the pieces together when seaming all the pieces together. Mistake! It totally didn't line up correctly at the end. I don't know how it happened. I must have been inadvertantly stretching one side or the other. Remember, dear reader, I am doing this as a form of stress release. So, the sack portion is a little disfigured. I couldn't be bothered to take out the seam and do it again.

Exhibit B: The straps. How long are those? I don't know because I didn't measure or count stitches. Mistake! If you're making two things the same size, it's a good idea to count stitches. They were originally so different in size, I had to knit a strap expandsion piece (my term, you can quote me) that I attached to the end of the shorter strap and that didn't turn out to well. Being lazy, I couldn't bring myself to frog them (rip them out, remember?).

Exhibit C (no image can convey this...): I used acrylic "wool." Mistake! Acrylic "wool" appears to be stretchy (see Exhibit A). Purses shouldn't be stretchy. I took this bag on a test errand to the public library on Saturday and when I put my books and DVDs in the sack at the check-out desk, the weight of the contents pulled the entire sack onto the floor, while the strap was still around my shoulder. How embarrasing! I started this as a practice piece for myself (last summer) and it took a long time, on and off. For a time, I toyed with the idea of giving it to someone as a gift, but now I see that would be mean. I guess this project will be staying in the confines of my own home.

In case you're wondering, the pattern is Zeeby's Bag from SnB.

NOTE: The Brontëesque language above is another thinly veiled attempt to shout out to Tim, my colleague. He hates that! Still no word if he knows about this blog.

Amazing Gift

2006-01-08T10:44:00.000-05:00

No, I didn't knit this.

It's a beautiful piece of fabric from Mexico that I intend to use as a shawl at work. I'll be the envy of all the other colorful-shawl wearers! Thanks, Mercedes! It's so beautiful! I was going to knit a shawl, but this is even better! Even though it's red (one of my favorite colors), you'll note there are many other colors woven in. It goes with everything!

Do you see the photo in the background with Mercedes in it? I only noticed it when I uploaded it to the computer. I didn't put it there on purpose. It's proof that my Minneapolis friends are often in my mind.

Mercedes also sent some chocolate called Mayordomo, according to the package, which she says is all the rage in Oaxaca (her Christmas destination) for making hot chocoloate. This a very timely gift for a cold New York weekend. I'll try it out this afternoon. Yum!

Speaking of Minneapolis friends, I got a holiday letter from Eva and Mike in Chicago -- Luther friends who also spent time in Minneapolis after college. I'm glad to hear they are both healthy and able to enjoy the very cute Aksel, their son.

David Letterman Talks to Me

2006-01-07T12:15:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not a stalker or suffering from paranoia like those people who really think TV personalities talk to them. But, last's night's Top 10 list, Top Ten Signs Your Kitty Is A Genius, may have been written as a way for Dave, or his writers, to re-affirm that they know me. Here's why, with my comments in italics:

10. Meows in six languages: the UN has six official languages

9. He's the only one in your family who could assemble your Ikea coffee table: I shop at IKEA

8. His whiskers are Bluetooth enabled: I've been thinking about using more wireless technology

7. He only purrs when "Meet the Press" is on: I'm a news junkie

6. Won 28 grand on "Jeopardy's Kitty Week": My name is Nancy and I've got the jones for Jeapordy

5. He rigged it so he's got 10 lives: I seem to narrowly escape unusual events, like the tornado in College Park in 2001

4. Earned the 2005 Nobel Prize in yarn-related sciences: Yarn? Enough said...

3. Keeps putting the dog on Ebay: EBay? Again, enough said...

2. Not only calls 911 for you, also calls Z-100 whenever you need your Aerosmith fix: Barb and I were asked to stop calling Minnesota Public Radio to win free tickets back in my Global Volunteers days since they thought other listeners should have a chance

1. Winces everytime he hears George W. Bush say, "Nuke-yoo-lar": I hate that!

See? It's uncanny!

Disclaimer: This post in no way implies I think Zazie is a genius.

Knitting Supervisor Duties

2006-01-05T17:59:00.000-05:00

I posted photos before of Zazie reviewing the finished knitted products. Here she is intently supervising the actual knitting process.

This is why I'm not more prolific!

New Years Day in Chinatown

2006-01-02T10:18:00.000-05:00

I normally have a strong aversion to spending any time at all in Chinatown, but I made an exception yesterday since I'm on a quest to find double 12 dominoes. I have looked about everywhere with no luck. They're either out or on back order or too heavy to ship economically. Chinatown was full of double 6 tiles, but no double 12s.

Since it was kind of chilly out, Chinatown was much more manageable than usual. It was still crowded, but bearable. I actually had fun browsing the stores and chatting with the vendors. Usually the vendors are kind of grouchy, but yesterday they were amicable and wished everyone a happy new year. I wish I had my camera to snap a photo of a cat I spied lounging on a shelf in the basement of one shop. Oh well.

The best part was finding all sorts of foods I hadn't been able to find. Disclaimer: I knew they would be in Chinatown, but since I didn't appreciate the crowds, I hadn't actually looked there. So, I stocked up on tapioca pearls, masaman curry, and lemon grass. Now I can attmept to make Thai food without leaving out important ingredients. Yay! I also scored some Aveeno soap, my favorite, for $1!

New Years Eve

2005-12-31T16:50:00.000-05:00

In honor of Michelle in Australia, I'm posting a photo of the snow she's missing that I took outside my window this afternoon. The flakes were HUGE. For a while, it looked like Kleenex tissues of snow coming down, rather than flakes. I don't think the picture really captures the flake size, but it does show the intensity of the shower.

I spoke to Michelle last night for the first time she left NYC. I shed a few tears, but it was nice to hear her voice.

I also had a good time hanging out with Renata, Ram and Ram's brother, Ganesh, visiting from Australia, who celebrated his birthday today. We had yummy pizza -- margarita with chicken. I don't usually think to put chicken on pizza, but I really liked it. Renata also made a huge salad and we watched Thirteen Conversations About One Thing. I can't really recommend this curious movie, but it was thought-provoking.

Poor Zazie will be ringing in 2006 with the sniffles. Here you can see she is miserable -- and a bit annoyed at me -- since I shut her in the bathroom with the shower on in an attempt to give her a little relief from congestion. I'm sure she'll thank me later.

Happy 2006 everyone!

Amy Rigby

2005-12-30T16:24:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I heard an interesting singer profiled on NPR -- Amy Rigby. I checked out her Web site and saw she was playing at the Lakeside Lounge, for free no less, on Wednesday. So I took the bus down and really enjoyed the concert, even though we were packed in the small lounge like sardines. I was shocked to see two middle-aged men get in a fight over a woman. Dramatic! This wasn't the type of crowd I'd expect to see fighting! Anyway, I urge you to check out her music. The songs are fun, yet poignant.

Boxing Day

2005-12-26T18:46:00.000-05:00

My trip back held a small surprise since Molly was on my plane from Minneapolis to LaGuardia. We were able to convince my neighbor to take Molly's seat and sit together.

Here is a picture of the knit gifts I made for my family. The scarves were for mom and Robin, the hat for dad and the thermal knit pot-holder was for Jeff. If anyone wants to know more about the yarn or patterns, let me know by leaving a comment. I don't feel like going into detail now.

I was really impressed with the hat. It was easy and quick. Dad likes to close his eyes in pictures...

Robin and Jeff enjoyed their Hawkeye regalia. Jeff liked his hat maybe a little too much. I hope no one mugs Robin for her new "Coach" purse.

I guess I like to close my eyes, too. Here I am with the librarian action figure -- a gift from Robin and Jeff. Her name is Nancy! The back of the box lists all sorts of librarian trivia. I didn't know Batwoman and Casanova were librarians.

An Unconventional Christmas

2005-12-25T09:11:00.000-05:00

For the first time ever, we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve and didn't go to church. Mom and I are leaving today, so we moved Christmas up by a day.

Our church also didn't appear to be having any traditional Christmas services, so, since we weren't in the mood for "new age" songs, we just stayed home, riveted by Mom's new game of Mexican train dominoes. We stayed up until 2:30 a.m. playing! I now have to get my own set. We also had a few rounds of Yahtzee and speed (the card game, not the illicit drug).

Mom was only home from Florida a week, so we also didn't bother with a real, or artificial tree. We just used our little ceramic one.

More about the gifts tomorrow or later in the week.

This was also the first Christmas in a long time without any felines to play with the wrapping paper. Star is hanging out with one of mom's colleagues in Florida and Zazie is holding the fort in Manhattan. Here's a picture of Star taken at Thanksgiving, which doesn't quite show how round she has become. I guess she likes Florida since she has put on several pounds!

More from Cedar Falls

2005-12-23T21:58:00.000-05:00

Today went by very quickly. Robin and I spent the day doing some last minute shopping.

I also finished a last minute knitted gift made from cotton. Note to self -- I don't like knitting with cotton. The mistakes are quite noticeable and it's not as pretty as wool.

Just got home from a great dinner at a downtown restaurant I had never tried -- Montage. I had a good citron martini and the seasonal pasta, which had craisins, sunflowers, cream and more. It was really excellent. Both my parents bumped into people they knew -- CF is small! We also stopped by the popular hang-out, Toads, where we saw more people we knew! I'm not surprised that Toad's doesn't have a Web site...

I also checked in on some blog subscriptions. Some weird things were listed, all from the British Medical Journal:

Didgeridoo playing as alternative treatment for obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: randomised controlled trial. Read it >>

Harry Potter Casts a Spell on Accident Prone Children. Read it >>

Epidemiology and prognosis of coma in daytime television dramas. Read it >>

For a second there, I thought it was April Fool's Day, but apparently these are legit.

Cedar Falls

2005-12-22T23:18:00.000-05:00

I made it to Cedar Falls with little incident. The day started off with three hours of travel to the airport by cab and a private bus line -- after waiting outside for half an hour. Then, the security line was insane. It actually went outside the airport, so I spent another half hour outside in the cold. I was still outside at 8:15 a.m. when my plane was scheduled to leave. A nice Port Authority police officer pulled me out, and everyone else in my situation, and we made it to the gate at about 8:40 where the plane was waiting.

Dad and I had a nice ride home, chatting about politics. Mom's friend Sue came over last night and we chatted some more.

Today, Robin and Jeff came and we went to China Wok. There, I ran into Dave S and his parents. Everyone likes "the Wok."

After lunch, we went to see Walk the Line, which had been recommended by just about everyone. I liked it and it made me want to read Johnny Cash's autobiography.

Tonight, we all played cards, as usual.

Transit Strike

2005-12-20T18:55:00.000-05:00

I am not at all affected by the transit strike since I walk to work anyway. I did notice a lot of traffic on First Avenue and many colleagues were quite late getting in this morning.

Christmas card honor roll:

Janet in Virginia
Kerith in DC
Jeff, Becky, Jacob and Jessica in Michigan
Michelle, Chris and Courtney in Florida

I also got a thoughtful card from my apartment management office, reminding me that 22 people who work in my building would appreciate a tip -- well, not in those words, but that's what they meant.

Tomorrow I leave for Iowa -- if I can make it to LaGuardia by 8:15 a.m. I'll try to write from there, but I'm not sure if Mom has an internet connection now or not now that she is an official snowbird.

Feline Tornado

2005-12-19T21:25:00.000-05:00

Today Zazie received a gift from the owner of Chivers and Alice -- The Cat Dancer Compleat. Read about it >>

This person has never seen Zazie because the gift is, according to the Web site:

For the kitty that displays the habits of a sloth and the girth of a hippo.

Anyway, she likes to go beserk and run around (even without the benefit of toys) and tonight was especially fun as evidenced by these two pictures. It's like a feline tornado picked up a ball of yarn and left this, and the cat dancer, in its wake.

As usual, when I got out the camera, she had to pose.

Please disregard the rest of the apartment. While it doesn't look like it, I DID spend a chunk of time cleaning yesterday.

eBay -- I'm sold!

2005-12-17T17:07:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, I cleaned out the hall closet. As I was heading to the garbage with some things that were hardly used, but definitely used, I thought, what a shame. Then, it occurred to me that I could try to sell them on eBay. The only thing I had to lose, apart from some dignity, was the time to set up an account and list the items. It took literally five minutes.

A few days went by and I saw a tiny bit of interest. Nothing too exciting. I was completely honest about what I was selling and answered the six questions that came in. Before I headed over to Brooklyn this morning, I decided to checked in and was shocked to see that some people had actually bid! In a rush to catch the bus down to 14th Street, I ran out thinking I'll figure out what that meant later.

When I got home, I was even more shocked to see that my items all sold for about double what I asked! This stuff was going to be garbage and now I made $75 in five minutes! Of course, I'll have to cart the items to work with me on Monday, but still! Who knew there was a market for opened shampoo and conditioner, a used electric toothbrush and unopened acne medicine!?!? I'm sold on eBay!

Julia, Renata and I (don't my friends have beautiful names?) had a good time together at the Holiday Craftacular in Williamsburg. We all picked up a few gifts and we even got free yarn and a crochet needle from Moda Dea. We also got a free tote bag. I love free things!

Here is one shot of Renata and Julia wearing their free tiaras.

Maybe I'll wear my tiara around the apartment and call myself the eBay princess.

We also had good pierogi.

Two Days I'll Never Get Back

2005-12-16T18:52:00.000-05:00

Early Thursday morning I came down with a terrible stomach bug and the last two days I've been sick as a dog. I'm finally getting over it, but I'm still pretty weak. It's never a good time to be sick, but this was particularly unfortunate because I have two knitted gifts to finish up and Christmas cards to write. I was too sick to knit. Since that is a hobby that entails sitting on the couch, you should now have a clue about just how sick I was. I also have a lot of work to do before I take time off for Christmas on Wednesday. I guess this is a sign that I needed to take a break.

Today's Christmas card shout-out goes to Anne, or Annie as she prefers, in DC and Grandma Mann in Michigan. Anne included a nice cat drawing in her card. Grandma included her knitting instructions for dishclothes. I've been knitting for a year and have yet to make a dishcloth. She swears that they're fun to make. We'll see. These instructions are timely because someone might just be getting a dishcloth for Christmas. Hmmm....

Two Hilarious Comics

2005-12-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

Today there were two hilarious comics that I felt were speaking directly to me.

Dilbert, see it >>

Get Fuzzy, see it >>

My colleague, who doesn't speak French, though that "chats" was a typo. In case you don't speak French, chats means cats in French.

Get Fuzzy is also speaking to my mom since she hates chipmunks, which reminded me that I never posted the photo of mom with Chip and Dale at Disney World last January.

Christmas Cards

2005-12-13T19:48:00.000-05:00

So far, I haven't done work on any Christmas cards. I've thought about it a lot, but I'm suffering from inertia.

Anyway, here's a shout out to Mercedes and Jason, Stephanie and Trent and Rachel and Eric who have sent me cards. You can even check out Rachel and Eric's Web site to see their letter online and their cute daugther, Sophie.

NOTE: Since I know so many Rachels, this Rachel is known as "New York Rachel" or "Paris Rachel." I wish I had a scanner so I could scan in some photos of Rachel and I together, but this photo (without her) from her beautiful wedding in Oneonta, New York, October 2000, will have to do. She also has posted some online.

Project #7

2005-12-12T20:34:00.000-05:00

If you're counting, I skipped a number. That's because #6 was a gift for someone. I'll have some other photos of gifts to post after Christmas.

Project #7 was actually completed more than a week ago and has already made its way to Australia as a "goodbye" gift for Michelle.

Note the plant the scarf is hugging. That's a cycad, a gift from Michelle to me. His name is "Dag" because she rescued him from our library and Murray nursed him back to health. I hope he does OK with me! I think I need to invest in some special nutrients for him. If anyone has any hints about caring for him, please let me know.

You'll also note that the scarf is extra long. Michelle loves extra long scarves. My intention was to make it even longer, but, well, you know.

Here is the pattern. While I really like how it turned out, I don't think I'll stick with chenille too often. It's not as giving as wool, so I spent a lot of time trying to work with tight stitches.

Sunday -- A Bust

2005-12-11T17:58:00.000-05:00

I had all these great plans for today. Work on Christmas cards (which I haven't bought yet), buy some gifts and run one errand. Here is what happened.

Michelle and Murray, who moved back to Australia on Monday, had asked me to take back their cable box. I happily agreed since I already got a free TV, queen-size bed, plants (see below) and bed-side tables from them. It was the least I could do. So, I looked online and saw that Time Warner was open on Sundays. I walked 10 blocks, carrying a heavy cable box, and found out it wasn't open. False advertising!

Rather than walk home, I headed over to Broadway to do some knock-off purse shopping for Robin. Once their, still carrying the heavy cable box, I discovered undercover police handcuffing people like mad. So, I changed my plans and just came back home. What a bust!

Here's a picture of Michelle and me on our last day *sniff* working together. Note the beautiful plant additions to my desk since they couldn't make the trip to Oz.

Final Florida Post

2005-12-10T11:17:00.000-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving, we went to the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa. While not a huge zoo, it was definitely a zoo of high-quality. Here is one photo:

We really enjoyed the baby elephant, the giraffes and the orangutans.

On the way home, we were unable to visit the bay due to poor navigation. But, we did pass through Ybor City and it looks like a fun place to explore and eat out next time. It reminded me of a "latin" Uptown à la Minneapolis, not NYC.

We interrupt this post...

2005-12-08T19:29:00.000-05:00

I hope to finish my Florida posts soon. My eyes have been really tired from work and the last thing I feel like doing is working on the computer at night.

Here are a few funny photos I took on Sunday, after the first snow. This poor dog was waiting for his/her owner outside the Kips Bay Borders store.

Here is a shot of the movie I saw being filmed in front of the Loews Kips Bay. The movie is Delirious. The blond actress is Alison Lohman.

Alligators and more

2005-11-27T16:36:00.000-05:00

Compared to the frozen plain that is Iowa (and the concrete refrigerator that is NYC), I'm so happy Mom has decided to move to paradise, just about 20 minutes outside of Tampa in a small town called Plant City. Here are a few photos of her new pad, the park and an alligator we spied (from a distance). Like fish tales, there are some disagreements on the actual size. Unfortunately, it's not so easy to see in the photo...

Mom's house

Another view

View from the front yard

The alligator

Another view. I say he was about 30 pounds. About the size of a medium dog.

Me in front of Parksdale Groves. No relation... I'll have to go back in January for strawberry shortcake.

Visiting Courtney

2005-11-26T20:27:00.000-05:00

I just returned from a Thanksgiving trip to Florida. I'll fill you in on more highlights in the days to come once I get more photos organized. To start, here are some photos of me visiting the newest family member, Courtney.

Courtney with her mom and dad. For those of you reading this who are not relatives, her mom, Michelle, is my cousin. Do we look alike? In these pictures, we have the same smile!

California Photos

2005-11-21T19:09:00.000-05:00

Here are two quick photos I snapped in San Jose. I didn't have time to take any others and when I did have time, it was dark out. If you click on the photos, you'll see a bigger version.

I didn't notice this guy taking MY photo outside the convention center.

Across the street from the convention center. This shows a bit of the city's architecture, the palm trees and you can sort of see the mountains in the background.

End of California Trip

2005-11-19T19:29:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back in NYC now. I didn't summarize Thursday because my brain simply shut down. Three days of trying to soak in everything I heard from everyone was just too much. It was like all of grad school rolled into three days (minus the reading and writing).

It's hard to identify a highlight. It's a toss up between Dave Snowden's final keynote address (From KM to Sense Making: From Efficiency to Effectiveness) and the Web Slam, in which many people from big companies showed off their intranets. We got lots of ideas!

Jesse James Garrett also gave an interesting presentation on The Frontiers of User Experience.

Also worthwhile were Delivering Innovative, Productivity-Enhancing Intranet/Extranet Opportunities by Shiv Singh from Avenue A/Razorfish.

I also enjoyed Practicioners Bet on Intranet Trends.

The day was capped off by a crazy visit to a Moroccan restaurant with my supervisor. The food was great and the conversation was fun. No utensils were used for the five course meal. Also, at the end, a belly dancer came out and convinced everyone to dance at various points. I'm not sure what the other diners felt about the two librarians seated together. Hmmm. Ours was the only "table" (we were actually seated on pillows on the floor) that had no men. Here's the link. If you're ever in San Jose, I highly recommend it.

More from California

2005-11-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

I'm surprised by:

--the typos and spelling errors in some of the presentations.
--the outfit choices of some of the presenters. I was shocked to see CEOs wearing tennis shoes and jeans!
--people taking digital photos of each slide of powerpoint presentations. Is that really necessary?
--cars do not watch out for pedestrians at all.

I attended these sessions today:

Cool Tools for Collaborative Teams by Whitney Tidmarsh of EMC Documentum, Tim Kapp of BayHill Group, Stacey Johnson, of Zen Consulting (the youngest-looking president ever!), and Bob Pierce of Interwise.

Organizational Culture—Not a Problem by John Bordeaux of SRA International.

Governance: Developing and Operating a Model for a Global Company by Tom Barfield of Accenture.

Success Communities of Practice with Darcy Lemons of APQC, Chelsea Hunter of Ernst and Young and and Yair Dembinksy of Rafael.

Building a Common Culture with Richard Jaross.

Today, all presentations were interesting and highly worthwhile. The best part was Hubert Saint-Onge's keynote address. He was such a dynamic speaker. The topic was The Conductive Organization: Focusing on the Customer.

I'm so impressed that the speakers are all eloquent and clear. I usually associate these skills with politicians and professors, so it is refreshing to see speakers who are actually working and practicing what they preach. In fact, I don't see how they can be so innovative and work at the same time.

Although I have been carrying my camera around, I have taken any pictures... Some people are posting their pictures on Flickr, though. See them >>

Knowledge Management

2005-11-15T22:12:00.001-05:00

Here is a stream of consciousnenss post from San Jose, California, where I'm attending the KM World and Intranets conference. KM stands for "Knowledge Management" in case you're not in the "know."

Day one was very interesting. It really is a luxury to be able to listen to people talk about their interests and work and to ask questions. These are the sessions I attended:

Thinking for a living: Keys to Knowledge worker productivity keynote address by Tom Davenport.

Social networking and knowledge transfer: What Blogs Bring to Business and KM by Bill Ives.

Making a business impact with blogs. This was not so interesting. I wasn't impressed with Amanda Watlington, so I'm not bothering with creating a link.

Intranets for Global Collaboration and Knowledge-Sharing by Jane McConnell, who was instrumental in our own intranet overhaul. I also learned that she is a former Iowan living in Paris.

EVA -- The intranet investment friend. Not useful for me, because no one at the UN is trying to make a profit.

R & D Activity for the intranet. This was notable because I asked a question about federated search engines to Raul Valdez-Peres, the CEO of Vivisimo and Clusty and he said I asked a good question. I also heard from Ross Mayfield, CEO of SocialText and I was impressed by his presentation on Wikis. I need to investigate this more.

If I wasn't so exhausted, I would write a little about this, but I can barely keep my eyes open! This three-hour time change is not so easy and the trip from NYC to San Jose was excruciatingly long. I didn't get to sleep last night until 3 a.m. EST!

San Jose is very nice and clean -- from what I've seen so far. The light rail system is easy to use, but I still wasted $10... Long story. And, I didn't have to buy any food all day because our hotel has free breakfast and they fed us all day at the conference. Nothing is free in New York!

I have one of our library laptops with wireless access. I'm so spoiled. It's really nice!

I don't know what I was thinking. I only brought summer pajamas because I still wear summer PJs at home, but it's cold here in my room! I wish I had some sweat pants, or a track suit (as my Austrlian colleagues would say)!

Zazie creates work

2005-11-13T17:13:00.000-05:00

Since I probably won't feel like doing laundry next weekend after a week in California, I decided to do several loads of laundry to make sure I'll have clean sheets available for Zazie's catsitter extraordinaire, Molly, who will be staying chez moi over Thanksgiving. When I got back from another dryer run, I found this:

Zazie is snuggled up on the pile of clean sheets, making sure I'll have to wash them again next weekend... Who says cats are low maintenance? This one likes to create more work for me!

Rice Update

2005-11-12T18:32:00.000-05:00

Yes, the rice is gone... In case you missed my first post, click here to see why this is worth mentioning. I guess I like rice!

Three Cool Things from Africa

2005-11-10T19:55:00.000-05:00

Need I saw more?

Cool pictures of Liberians voting peacefully. View >>

Liberians electing the first female president on the continent. Read about it >>

Camel Library. See it >>

One sample image (via the BBC):

Sunday in Central Park

2005-11-06T16:18:00.000-05:00

I've been sidelined by a potent cold, so I didn't write much this week. The weather was beautiful today, so even though I was coughing and sneezing, I ventured over to Central Park to watch the marathon. It's so inspiring to see these amazing athletes, especially those with physical challenges.

Here are a few photos. They went by so fast, so I didn't catch the winners... As you can see, I had a pretty good vantage point.

And a few other photos from the park.

Turtles sunning themselves

Premature ice skaters (no snow has fallen yet)

Halloween Past

2005-10-31T14:10:00.000-05:00

I came across this old photo while organizing files this past weekend. Happy Halloween! As Rachel, the nun, will remember, this was the night (Halloween 1997) I fell down a flight of concrete stairs. Ouch!

Zazie is not partial to costumes, but you can see still had to be in the middle.

Quiet Weekend

2005-10-30T12:06:00.000-05:00

A nice, quiet weekend after a busy, busy week. Another busy, busy two weeks are foreseen, capped off with a whirlwind trip to Silicon Valley to attend a conference. Whew...

In case you wonder where I spend my time now, here are a few photos of my new workspace.

Note: I am no longer right next to a window, but that's a blessing since water comes in the windows every time it rains. My desk is a little austere at the moment, but the blank space will soon be filled with plants thanks to Michelle -- *sniff* -- who is leaving for Australia within the month. Sigh.

The high point of my weekend, so far, and I expect it will not be beat, was watching the movie Shopgirl. I wasn't too excited to see it, but I love Steve Martin, so I reluctantly went to the late showing last night and wow! What a fabulous movie. It was hilarious, sad and thought-provoking at the same time. I normally don't like Claire Danes, but she gave an exquisite performance and Jason Schwartzman is so funny. See it without delay! Learn more >>

Blanket for Courtney

2005-10-23T19:05:00.000-04:00

I am assured that Courtney Claire, who made her debut on Thursday, likes her blanket, but it's not readily apparent in this photo. Maybe she's camera shy... I hope to travel to Florida to see her and her mom (my cousin) soon. Of course, I hope to see her dad and my mom as well...

Project #5

2005-10-19T17:55:00.000-04:00

AKA Birthday Gift for Mercedes. Of course, it's not as nice as a visit to Minneapolis, but it will have to do for now!

Mercedes received her package so now I can post the photos of my latest project. I used Lion Bouclé in taffy.

Please note, the hole is intentional, see:

Of course, no knitting photo sharing would be complete with the knitting supervisor's inspection. Here Zazie completes her work.

Cat Close-ups

2005-10-18T19:19:00.000-04:00

Ran across this in Flickr -- cat close-ups. Some of them are really beautiful and striking, but maybe that's just because I'm a cat-lover... Some look like Zazie!

See them >>

And then I saw this... I'm serious, people! Cats don't like sweaters!

More Wedding Photos

2005-10-17T19:31:00.000-04:00

Could she be any more beautiful? Jeff's not so bad himself...

Which one of these people works inside and doesn't tan well? Hmm.

I'm not sure what we're laughing at here.

See some of my favorite photos taken by the professional photographer >>

Redbush Tea

2005-10-11T19:38:00.000-04:00

Now that it's getting colder, I'm going to try to drink more tea since it's supposed to be so healthy. Today I tried redbush tea, something I've been curious about since reading the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency books. Turns out I'm not so original...

Recently, the tea industry has seen yet another resounding rush for Red Tea. Within the past year, sales for Rooibos tea have spiked about 70 percent. This is due partially to the fact that, of course, that tea is "hot," but also for more surreptitious means found in Pop Culture. Widely acclaimed throughout the media and a New York Times Bestseller, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith extols the delicious qualities of naturally sweet Rooibos tea. Set in Botswana, Africa, The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency is the first book in a series (of the same title), wherein the main character, Precious Ramotswe, frequently entertains clients and visitors with a cup of what is referred to as "Bush" tea or "Redbush" tea (these, as we know, are colloquialisms for Rooibos). The enormous success of this series seems to have catalyzed a remarkable demand for Red tea, bringing Rooibos tea once again to the forefront of the beverage world.

From the May 2004 Tea Muse, a monthly tea newsletter -- that's not a joke! Read more >>

Anyway, the tea is OK, but the first drink tasted like hot Kool-Aid. It has a "natural allergy-fighting quality." Hmm.

Any other teas I should try?

Project #4 -- finished

2005-10-10T19:57:00.000-04:00

I haven't posted any knitting photos lately even though I finished this one back in August. This baby blanket (Bernat Baby Coordinates in "Lovely Lilac" -- how original!) was done in the basketweave or checkerboard pattern (depending on who you ask). Basically, it's knit 5, purl 5 over and over and over and over and over again. I cast on 150 stitches and used small needles, so this project (a gift for a relative-to-be) took me about six weeks!

Detail/Close-up

Knitting Cruelty

2005-10-01T17:36:00.000-04:00

As a cat-lover, I subscribe to the "Cat of the Week" RSS feed from the About Cats Web site. Normally, I don't see anything worth mentioning, but this morning I was shocked to see this sad sight.

Now, this cat, Caspar, is cute and apparently "loves to dance," but, come on, does he love to wear sweaters? I don't think so. I'm not even sure if he can walk in that thing! Read the description >>

Ideas, please

2005-09-30T20:39:00.000-04:00

Next Wednesday, I am scheduled to give a 10-minute presentation in my French class on any topic. Any topic at all. Any ideas? I'm fresh out. I'm thinking about doing something on knitting, but that would entail learning lots of new vocabulary and I don't want my classmates to think I'm a dork.

International Visitors

2005-09-24T17:40:00.000-04:00

Using a free counter on this blog, I am able to see that some non-US visitors have visited my blog. I'm not sure why. I wish they would have left a comment and told me how to say "hello" in their language. So, welcome international blog readers!

Bonjour, Canada! Hello, United Kingdom! Hola, Bolivia! Ho bo, Singapore! Salut, France, France! Okuro-kuro noh, Malyasia! Gowwa, Kuwait! Buenos dias, Mexico! Gidday, New Zealand!

Zazie's new source of heat

2005-09-19T18:29:00.000-04:00

I had a touch of good luck today as we got sent home early due to an unexplained power failure. Rumor has it there was a fire, but I didn't see any smoke and firemen stationed in front of the building were just standing around -- as usual. They also did not evacuate the black cars parked out front, so I assumed we were safe. All the same, the computers and phones didn't work, so after waiting around two hours, it made sense to go home. My back was sore (I blame the easily 30-year-old chair at the downstairs library help desk), so I took advantage of this new-found time to lay on the couch with a heating pad to see if that helped. It didn't. When I got up, Zazie, ever the heat-seeker, curled up on it and hasn't left since.

When I got out the camera, Zazie, the natural model, had to pose -- notice she didn't leave the warmth.

Congratulations, JM and Yichun!

2005-09-18T21:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, my French colleague Jean-Michel and his new wife, Yichun, treated 60 people to an amazing Chinese banquet in honor of their recent wedding. I met lots of interesting people at the table since they placed us with people they thought we wouldn't know. The Chinese people demonstrated the proper way to eat everything. In fact, I think they were horrified to see some of the antics of the Australian, Russian and two Americans at the table. I have to admit that I wasn't adventurous enough to try the tripe, frog soup, quail or carp, but I did try most of the rest of the 10 main dishes and even more appetizers, which were all very spicy. After eating for almost four hours straight, I had to roll home. Here are a few photos:

The happy couple

The feast

Alex (Russia via Australia), Nancy and Johanna (Germany)

Good luck, Mr. Ng'ang'a

2005-09-14T13:23:00.000-04:00

85-year-old Kenyan Kimani Ng'ang'a just started school for the first time and has the goal to become a vet. Wow! This guy is so cool. I'd love to meet him! And now he's in New York and traveled around Manhattan in a school bus with 100,000 paper cut-outs from children around the world to promote universal education. Read more >>

If you want to learn more about what some organizations are doing to promote equality for all school children, click here >>

Murder Mysteries

2005-09-08T17:59:00.000-04:00

I've finally gotten back into the reading-for-fun business. I unintentionally took a few months off. It's easy to let the newspaper, magazines and TV take over my reading time, but now I'm back on track. The New York Times recently ran a story on "chick-lit murder mysteries" and it inspired me. I guess I felt like combining light reading and Law and Order. If you don't know what chick-lit is, read about it >>

So far I have finished two books and here are short reviews:

Killer Heels by Sheryl J. Anderson. This was a really funny book set in the New York magazine world. It's an easy read and the story was engrossing with lots of cliffhangers at the end of chapters. I didn't want to put it down. The first line gives you a bit of what the rest is like: "I always knew I’d make my mark on the world. I just didn’t expect it to be one of those chalk outlines they draw around dead bodies." I definitely will read the following book as this is the first in a series.

Knit One, Kill Two by Maggie Sefton. This one is less interesting if you're not into knitting. It was featured in the Times article, but was recommended on a knitting e-mail list I used to read but left because the posters really annoyed me. The plot was decent and I found myself turning pages quickly, but the dialogue between the characters is kind of off. I'm not sure who the audience is for this book. Probably the annoying people on that list. It was totally G-rated and I don't know anyone who talks like the characters in this book. I thought I would identify with the protagonist (a knitter in her late 20s or early 30s who lives in DC), but I didn't. That said, I probably will read the following book as this, too, is the first in a series and I did like the knitting angle.

On a related note, why are why so many mysteries written as series? If they're not police officers or detectives, how do the characters keep running across so many murders? I suspect I may see a pattern as I keep drilling through the chick-lit.

Urban Wheelchair Stories

2005-09-07T18:00:00.000-04:00

One of the more unusual parts of my day is walking the 10-12 blocks to and from work. I see too many funny things to post about, but today something really struck me as odd -- an abandoned wheelchair on an essentially abandoned block. Someday, that block might be a new UN tower, but today there was simply a wheelchair, which appeared to be in working order, just sitting on the corner. I didn't see any signs of trouble or anyone who looked like they needed help, so I just kept walking. Then I wondered if I was part of some sort of sociology experiment. Or perhaps whoever put it there suddenly regained the ability to walk.

It reminded me of a wheelchair encounter I had in Minneapolis about six years ago. Some of you have heard this before. One day, I can't remember where I was going, I encounted a man in a wheelchair at the corner of 22nd and Lyndale Avenue and he seemed to be having trouble pushing himself up the steep hill. I asked him if he needed help and he asked me to push him one block. At the time I didn't think about his original location, just outside a liquor store, but after the first block it was obvious that this was a wheelchair wino. And a scary one at that! To make a long story short, he made me push him all the way to Hennepin Ave. Four steep blocks! At Hennepin, he wanted to go somewhere else, but I just pushed him, with his bottle, to side of the sidewalk and went on way, to the horrified looks of the drivers stopped at the light. Perhaps that's why I did my best to ignore the wheelchair I saw today.

Project #4

2005-09-04T14:42:00.000-04:00

Zazie assists with project #4. "Baby-sitting" yarn is apparently tiring work!

Speechless

2005-09-03T15:48:00.000-04:00

I haven't really written anything about Katrina because, basically, I'm speechless. My emotions range from shock to disgust to embarrassment to sadness.

I think most people have donated something by now if they are able, but if you haven't, I'll recommend UNICEF and Lutheran Social Services.

Of course, other generous knitters have compiled lists of reputable charities on their Web site, called Give a Little.

Dull is Safe

2005-08-31T18:16:00.000-04:00

Earlier this month (7 August), I blogged about how some people think my neighborhood, Murray Hill, is dull. Well, dull is safe. Should you break out in full-body hives, have your throat close and experience a drop in blood pressure, you're able to just waltz over to the emergency room and not bother with a pesky ambulance. I know this because I did it on Sunday. While I was frustrated because they made me wait around for six hours and gave me some medicine at the time that I thought was not appropriate for an allergic reaction, I did some research and it turns out they did everything right.

Dental Phobia

2005-08-30T19:00:00.000-04:00

Considering the horrific tragedy unfolding in the South due to Hurricane Katrina, I feel silly writing about dental phobia, but for me it's a serious a problem. I didn't go to the dentist for two years and now I have to pay the price by getting cavities filled... Apparently I'm not alone. Did you know that Thursday is Dental Phobia Awareness Day? Read more >>

I'm such a geek

2005-08-26T13:51:00.000-04:00

My fanatical devotion to Jeopardy has paid off once again in an invitation to try out for the show. Keep your fingers crossed for me on 8 October... This time, I actually may try studying in advance and memorize the first ladies in order, some potent potables and all world capitals. We'll see.

Tale of the Tiles

2005-08-24T14:04:00.000-04:00

I don't normally read the Wall Street Journal because it publishes inaccurate, out-of-context editorials written about my employer on a regular basis. But, this week Stefan Fatsis is covering National Scrabble Championship and it's pretty interesting -- if you like Scrabble. Today's installment profiles one of the finalists, who happens to be Thai and Fatsis explores how a non-native English speaker has gotten so far. Read more >>

Incidentally, Fatsis' book Word Freak is on my to-read list.

iPodZazie?

2005-08-22T19:28:00.000-04:00

I'm very tempted to create an iPodZazie, but I can think of better things on which to spend $19.95. They're still pretty cute, though. See some >>

The "iPodMyBaby" is going too far.

Stitch n' Pitch

2005-08-20T13:06:00.000-04:00

Seattle knitters took their projects out to the ballgame. I have to agree with one of the participants when she said "Baseball doesn't require 100 percent attention." Read it>>

Karate Cats

2005-08-19T18:28:00.000-04:00

Bénédicte, who's not a "cat-person," sent me this video. It's pretty funny. You may have to download the new Google video viewer, but it's worth it. Watch it>>

This one's pretty good, too. Watch>>

Tempting Fate

2005-08-18T14:06:00.000-04:00

I'm going on record by writing that I have now hung up photos of friends and family in my office. This means that I will probably be asked to move offices within the month. If that happens, I will let you know.

Dull is beautiful?

2005-08-07T11:46:00.000-04:00

Today's New York Times has an article about my neighborhood, Murray Hill. Apparently it's dull. The fact that that's news to me probably means I'm dull, too. Hmm. Read more >>

The article says that living in Murray Hill "is like living in the third most happening neighborhood in Minneapolis." Actually, I MISS living in Minneapolis, so I must be REALLY dull. I lived in the Whittier neighborhood. I don't know if that the third most happening neighborhood or not, but it's possible. It certainly wasn't the most exciting neighborhood.

I think living in New York is exciting enough. There's no need to be totally immersed in the craziness. But, I'll try to do a better job of reflecting some of the exciting things I see in Murray Hill in this blog from now on.

Yikes! Rice!

2005-08-05T19:14:00.000-04:00

Imagine my surprise when I saw the HUGE amount of rice (11 pounds) I inadvertantly ordered when I bought my groceries online. I do like basmati rice, but this may be a bit much.

I'm not sure this photo actually conveys its size, so I included a regular-size can of beans for comparison.

Soup in the Summer?

2005-08-03T17:55:00.000-04:00

Yes, because it's easier than cooking anything with the oven...

I recently remembered this slow-cooker recipe I like for "Beefy Cabbage Soup." I think a better title would be tomato, cabbage soup with beef. Anyway, I made it this morning to have for supper tonight and as I threw everything together, I wondered if brown rice would be an OK substitute for white rice. I didn't try it, but if anyone has any thoughts, please let me know.

I'm back...

2005-08-02T18:31:00.000-04:00

Wow. I didn't post for a long time. July was a busy month. The most notable event was my sister Robin's wedding, which turned out to be a beautiful event. See some photos >>

I may post more photos and stories later. It was a lot of work, but it all turned out very well.

Other than that, I'm back and work and it is still *hot* out.

Yesterday, while walking to work, I saw a yellow, fuzzy caterpillar. In Manhattan! I was really surprised. He was just crawling along on the sidewalk. I wanted to pick him and put him somewhere safe, but I looked around and no place was safe, so I left him to his own devices. I wish I had my camera with me, though, to document the sighting. My cell photo takes worthless photos...

I'll try to be better about posting in August.

Songs in my Head

2005-07-12T15:52:00.000-04:00

Today's New York Times has a disturbing article stating that hearing songs in your head is a mental condition called "musical hallucination." Is this really a mental problem? If so, I think most people are afflicted. In fact, some songs are so suggestible that right now I have Don't Cry for Me Argentina playing in my head because it is mentioned in the article... This seems like it may be a frivolous use of therapy time. Read more >>

Sushi Salad and Salsa

2005-07-09T15:30:00.000-04:00

Last Monday I went to a picnic in the park with Bénédicte, Brett and Noah. These are the two recipes I modified from Cooking Light magazine.

Sushi Salad
2 cups uncooked sushi rice (next time I won't make so much rice)
2 cups water
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup (2-inch) julienne-cut peeled English cucumber
1/4 cup minced red onion
1 sheet nori (seaweed), cut into 2-inch julienne strips

Rinse rice thoroughly in a sieve and cook as normal. Cool.

To prepare dressing, combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through garlic) in a small bowl. Combine cooled rice, dressing, cucumber and onion in a large bowl. Sprinkle evenly with nori.

Black Bean Salsa
1/3 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped cucumber
1 can diced tomatos with jalapeno
2 tablespoons chopped celery
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; stir well. Cover and chill 2 hours.

Project #3

2005-07-06T18:21:00.000-04:00

I have a patient cat (see photos for proof). When she's not busy gaining back the three pounds she lost (only one pound left), she is a knitting model.

Here Zazie shows off Project #3, the headscarf from Stitch 'N Bitch

Another view.

This was a good project to practice increases. It took forever to get the first increase done, but one I realized I was making it too hard (as usual), it was pretty easy. Did you know there are free knitting videos online? I used the video, and a trip to Borders for help.