100

Made it to 100 books for 2010 today (including 50 on Kindle, 18 on CD, and the rest in print, mostly from the library), and it looks like I will finish the year at 101 or 102. Thanks, work, for slowing down enough to let me read.

work day

Today is technically a work day, and I came in after the movers finished with Boyfriend's stuff, but the office is almost empty, and my inbox is very quiet. Tomorrow is the last official work day of the year, and I'm hoping this means that my clients are all laying low until next year.

big day

Boyfriend's furniture finally made the journey to the house, which makes things seem a little bit stressful and real, but also kind of exciting.

spontaneous

I decided to meet up with my sister at my parents' place yesterday (which surprised my parents and scored me some of my mom's cooking), and then my sister and I decided to head back to her place. I picked up Dungeness crabs on the way there, and we spent the evening eating crabs and hanging out with the kids while my brother in law was on call at the hospital. I spent the night and hung out for a few hours this morning. It was nice to have some unplanned, low-key family time, especially with my sister. We're both so busy with work, and she has three kids, so life is usually so hectic that we only have short, planned time together.

ho ho ho

Boyfriend and I went up to my sister's place and spent Christmas afternoon and evening there with her family, my parents, one of my cousins, and a friend of my sister's. It went pretty well -- I think that both of my parents liked what I gave them (which is not always something I'm sure of), the kids were in a present-filled haze of joy, and we all just ate and hung out. Eventually, we started goofing around, and my cousin grabbed Boyfriend's butt. Boyfriend has always done pretty well with my family, but I'm kind of proud that he has been elevated to butt-squeezing status. It may sound strange, but in my family, that's kind of a mark of acceptance.

fin

I had finished all of my Christmas shopping except for Boyfriend. I finally finished one part of his present (a framed picture from our trip to Palau and Yap) and gave it to him because I couldn't wait, and ordered the rest of it (a Kindle and cover) to be delivered in a few days. It feels good to have that all taken care of.

say cheese

Truffled Brillat-Savarin.

millipede

My coworker has a deep and amusing fear of millipedes. I printed a picture of one yesterday, cut it out, and hid it in her wallet. My only regret was that I wouldn't be there to see her reaction. Today was my lucky day, because she discovered it while we were at the nail salon, so I got to witness her little yelp of surprise and disgust when she opened her wallet. Merry Christmas to me!

weekend?

Finished work for the day (and perhaps even for the weekend) earlier than expected, and then went for spur of the moment pedicures with two friends from work. Now I'm settling in for an evening of reading, as I realized that I have four books going at the same time, and need to finish all of them in the next week.

unlikely combination

The ChromeOS netbook, when brand new, smells ever so slightly and inexplicably of some combination of neoprene and other scents that I strongly associate with dive gear. So basically, it's a gadget (one of my favorite things) that reminds me of diving (another one of my favorite things).

making a list

I'm going to just list some unrelated things:

1. Every day for the next six months will be longer, and it is only a matter of time before we can start leaving work before dark again.
2. Grooveshark is a pretty awesome app. It's like Last.fm and iTunes had a child. A child that got the best genes from both sides.
3. I love when Hyperbole and a Half gets updated.
4. Dinner with a friend is great, especially when that dinner also involves all-you-can-eat meat.
5. Although it really shouldn't be that surprising, it's still fun to randomly run into people unexpectedly.

my precious

I got an email before I came into work today, letting me know that I could pick up a Cr-48. I worked a ton on the launch, and am excited to try it out, thanks to some finagling by the business guy and the product counsel to help me scoot up the list.

the good news...

The bad news is that work kind of blindsided me today. The good news is that I managed to crawl back on top of it. The bad news is that the cafes were closed before I could get dinner. The good news is that I had enough energy to make dumplings at home, instead. At least there's good news, right?

rofl

No one makes me laugh as often, or as stomachache- and hyperventilation-inducingly hard as Boyfriend makes me laugh. No one else takes pictures of me sleeping so that he can show me how my feet look like giant marshmallows in the duvet. That counts for a lot.

new phone

I love gadgets, and it's kind of perfect that I work somewhere that keeps me supplied with new gadgets from time to time.

This time, it's a new phone. It's pretty slick.

Also, gone are the days when getting a new phone meant having to enter all of your numbers in again. Everything loads up automatically. I got my first cell phone in 1998, and it's so amazing how much more they can do now.

twelve days

Twelve days left in the year, and I'm about to start book #96. It's going to be a race to the finish. 100 just might happen...

wrap it up

I can call this a productive day, because I did the dishes and wrapped all of the presents I bought. It's also a successful day, because I didn't have to change out of my pajamas or leave the house.

shopping

I finished all of my Christmas shopping (except for Boyfriend) with a week to spare, and the only time I had to set foot in a store was to pick up wrapping paper.

messiah

They say that cleanliness is next to godliness. I am not good at cleaning. This means that my cleaning lady is the closest thing to god in my life, and she went to Mexico to get married. This meant that my house was slated to go for eight weeks without a cleaning. I can make as much mess in eight weeks as a normal person can make in months.

But salvation is at hand. Her cousin is going to come tomorrow (3-1/2 weeks since the last cleaning), and maybe again in the remaining time. Hallelujah!

90

I hit 90 books consumed in 2010 today. There almost three more weeks left in this year... 100 would be awesome but perhaps unattainable.

holiday cheer

Egg nog and karaoke!

night light

Boyfriend complained often that the mud room adjacent to the garage is always poorly lit. I finally got a photo sensitive night light to put there, and there's one problem solved.

canine companion

I love that my dentist lets me hold a dog (mine or hers, whichever one is around) while I'm in the chair.

schwag

One of my products had a big launch yesterday, and my business guy picked up schwag for me from the launch event. Super nice of him.

crabby

Two whole Dungeness crabs for lunch? Don't mind if I do...

dog's life

Received an Amazon package early today, a special dog heating pad, and I couldn't wait to tuck it into his bed, so Fiver got his present early. I hope he likes it.

highlights

The latkes and gingerbread cupcakes at dinner tonight were amazing.

ready

I have no idea how this happened, but I think everything I had to get done for my next launch got done early. That never happens.

simulation

Today has been a day of simulated perfection. It's cold and dreary out there, but I've barricaded myself in the bedroom with a humidifier and a space heater, drifting in and out of sleep between phone calls, meals, and books. It's pretty perfect in here.

lotr

My coworker's boyfriend is renting out a 300 person theater and showing the first movie from the Lord of the Rings trilogy to celebrate his birthday. Instead of presents, he just wants people to bring donations for Toys for Tots. I love the combination of fun, nerdiness, and charity.

counting down

Lots of things coming up, and I'm getting stuff done for them: a big launch, Christmas shopping, and planning for a friend's wedding shower.

heat

It took three hours to heat up, but the house is now a toasty 70 degrees. Can't wait for the space heaters I ordered to get here.

Also, the heated toilets at work have been making my days just a little warmer and cozier.

Can you tell I've been cold?

toothbrush head

Out with the old, in with the new.

contains soy

Delicious. Andes candy in a cup.

slow roast

Happy Thanksgiving! It's super sunny today, and my dog is happily roasting himself as I putter around the house.

mr. potatohead

I'm going to my sister's tomorrow for Thanksgiving. I only have to make one dish, mashed potatoes. I was actually a little bit worried about it, because I've been having wrist problems for about a year now, and mashing potatoes for fifteen or twenty people is not something my wrists would sneeze at (if they could sneeze).

Good thing Boyfriend is more of a housewife than I am, and has a stand mixer. He suggested that I use that to make the potatoes, and when I admitted that I didn't know how to use a stand mixer, he found YouTube videos of people making mashed potatoes with stand mixers and sent them to me. Assuming that I don't mess it up and send potatoes flying everywhere, crisis averted.

dinner for one

I had almost resigned myself to some "creative" lazy food tonight when I remembered the frozen soup dumplings and red bean buns.

foresight

Thank you, Mountain View police and Whole Foods employees for getting me in and out so quickly. Extra checkers and traffic guidance actually made the day before Thanksgiving a faster shopping experience than usual.

counting blessings

1. I discovered why my dog loves sleeping on the heating pad so much. I might have to get another one.
2. I had nori for breakfast.
3. I have a massage in 25 minutes.
4. I don't think I'll have much work over the long weekend.
5. It's almost Thanksgiving! Bonus: I don't think I really need to spend any extra time on counting my blessings this year, since that's what this blog does all year. I'm like a Thanksgiving overachiever.

phone home

Boyfriend forgot his cell phone when he left for the airport yesterday, so it's a good thing we can voice or video chat in Gmail.

wfh

I worked from home today, and my internet connection was surprisingly well behaved, considering that I used normal internet, secure VPN, wireless cell phone access, and VoIP phone the whole time without requiring a single reboot.

admission

OK, this one is a little weird, but for some reason, dogs smell a little different when they're sleeping, and I think it's kind of funny to see and hear my dog twitching and grunting in his sleep, and to smell his sleepy smell when he wakes up.

short week

I was a little bit sad that the weekend is almost over, as I've really enjoyed lounging around, but then I remembered it's a short week, and tomorrow will be more like Wednesday in a normal week.

gifted

Two of my best friends are getting married soon, and a combination of multiple dates and locations makes it trickier to decide what to give them. Large items are not suitable for international transport, expensive items are hard to fit into a travel- filled budget, and I always thought napkin rings were so impersonal. This is really a case in which it's going to have to be the thought that counts, so I've been thinking about it a lot.

With the first deadline approaching (bridal shower), I think I may have found the solution, provided that I can get my act together to actually get it done... a shower gift and a wedding gift that don't take up a lot of luggage space or break the bank, but which are more personal than napkin rings. I was starting to get worried by my lack of feasible ideas...

sunday

Seems like a perfect day to loaf around in bed, eating corn bread with honey butter and reading about food. Although I'm not sure what day wouldn't be good for that.

saturday

I slept for eleven hours last night, and then it rained all day, giving me an excuse to stay inside and watch a lot of TV.

new love

I introduced my dog to a heating pad for the first time, and I think he might be in love.

car wash

I have had my car for a little over two years now, and I've never gotten it washed. It's a source of misguided pride that it remains unwashed. I cheat a little bit, though. Tonight was the first time in months that I've had to walk to my car in the rain after work, and after I drove home, I parked outside instead of in the garage. I get a free car wash without having to break my no car wash streak.

us again

Boyfriend, who has been a big grumpalupagus all day, just sent me this picture, which is also of us. Guess which one is him and which one is me?

passing the torch

Our team at work has a new member, and I've had three meetings with her in the last week, each for me to transition a different set of deals to her. Maybe this will help me to play Whack-A-Mole (read: responding to client emails and closing deals as quickly as possible) better.

vino

We had a wine tasting in Riedel wine glasses led by Maximilian Riedel, and although I was initially skeptical, I was surprised and impressed by how much the shape of the glass affects the smell and taste of the wine. We did parallel tastings of the same wines in differently shaped glasses, and it was cool how each shape emphasizes or minimizes certain characteristics, which explains why a Chardonnay and a Pinot Noir taste better in different glasses. I wouldn't have believed it if we hadn't done everything side by side.

truffle

It's truffle season! We're going to a restaurant that has a truffle-themed menu for dinner tonight.

pork

I almost decided not to get dinner at work today, but I picked some up, and the slow-roasted pork was so so so delicious. Best decision of the day.

michelin

Just saw that Alinea, the restaurant we're going to over New Year's, got three stars in the new Michelin guide for Chicago, so we're even more excited about the meal than ever. Looks like right now, it's a 21-course tasting menu. I love the descriptions, especially this one: "BLACK TRUFFLE: explosion, romaine, parmesan."

pride

I went to an awards lunch today for a friend who went to law school because he wanted to change the world and make it a better place for minorities (Asians, LGBT, anyone who doesn't have a strong voice), and it was good to see his passion rewarded.

pt

I think my physical therapy might actually be having some positive effects.

indian summer

It's November, so this stretch of five or six days of sunny days in the 70s is extra-appreciated.

bookends

Today was a sunny day full of errands: doing laundry, dropping by the library to get more books on CD, going to Target for prescriptions and night time snacks, stopping by the bank to deposit a check and some cash, heading up to Stanford mall to get watch batteries replaced and buy a pepper mill, spending some time with the dogs I'm watching, and refilling my gas. 

The day was bookended with a great morning (my boyfriend woke up early to take dog duty so that I could sleep in, I found and ate some forgotten Cheetos, and I finished a good book) and a promising evening (homemade pizza and TV).

about time

Both of my watches ran out of juice at the same time, and I had to go a week without a watch, which drove me crazy. Got the batteries replaced today, and my wrist and mind are both so much happier.

cookie

How cute is this gingerbread Android that I had at lunch?

two words

Space heater.

celery

No one gets as excited over a stick of celery as my dog.

frabjous day

Awesome day at work: had some fun news, ran a successful training session, and had lobster pizza for dinner. Also, I managed to blindside a coworker with an awkward moment (it's a bit of a running joke to try to catch him off guard with random weirdness).

bubble world

I love my company!

gotcha

I thought that there was nothing good about changing the clocks back in the fall, since it means losing an hour of daylight in the evening (and don't tell me about the extra hour of sleep, because I always just sleep as much as I want on weekends regardless of what the clock says), but I discovered one good thing: I forgot to change the clock in my car, so I thought it was an hour later than it was, but then I came inside and realized that I have an extra hour before I have to go to bed.

christmas is coming

I think I found out what one of my Christmas presents is going to be!

double header

Tonight, I watched a beautifully filmed movie (The Fall, by Tarsem Singh), and when that was over, I started reading a beautifully written book (Ransom, by David Malouf).

android

I use this guy as a couch pillow.

listen

A good book on CD makes car time much better: traffic is no longer frustrating, and I don't get bored or space out as much on long drives.

us

This is totally a picture of my boyfriend and me. I'm the hyper one on the right. He's the puzzled one on the left.

done for now

The Giants won the World Series yesterday and I voted today, so I think that means I don't have to pretend to listen to any more conversations or skip any more articles about baseball or politics for a while.

it guys

We've got lots of tech support guys at work, and they are really good. Even better, they are curious, so if you bring them a problem they haven't seen before, they attack it with the kind of relish you only see in someone who really likes what they do.

trick or treat

As a general rule, I prefer to live in a child-free bubble world, but I have to admit that on Halloween, when they come to your door in costumes and full of happy excitement, and no one is screaming or crying, and they worship you as their almighty Candy God, they can be pretty cute. Surprising but true.

recap

• We went to a fancy dinner up in the city last night to celebrate our anniversary.
• Even though Boyfriend is one of those people who likes to get up early, even on weekends, so that he can get things done, today, he caved in to my preferences and lounged around with me until noon.
• After getting up, I finally went and got a long overdue pedicure.
• I went to the gym for the first time since February. I only did 35 minutes on a bike, but that's 35 minutes more than I've done in the past eight and a half months. 

boo

It's the last work day before Halloween, which means that there are lots of people (and dogs) who are wearing costumes. So far, I've seen people dressed up as Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch (a lot of Sesame Street), Speed Racer, a double rainbow, and a pack of people dressed as our CFO.

say it with flowers

It took my boyfriend a long time to get home from work yesterday, which puzzled me until he showed up with these. He hates rush hour traffic and usually refuses to go to Whole Foods when everyone else is there, so this is more than a bunch of anniversary flowers, it's a bunch of anniversary flowers and anniversary ignoring-things-he-hates-to-buy-me-flowers.

And then we ate lobsters.

crusty consolation

One consolation for the advent of fall, with its shorter, darker days and cooler, wetter weather is that it's lobster season (and Dungeness crab season starts in a couple of weeks, as well). Dinner tonight will be steamed lobster with plenty of butter and a side of TV.

milestone

Today is the two year anniversary of when my boyfriend and I started dating, which may not sound that impressive until you consider the fact that I've only ever dated one other person for longer than two years. This is the equivalent of someone else making it to their 25th anniversary.

life-changing event

I showed my officemate a little time- and paper-saving trick yesterday, and she is still inordinately excited about it.

recent records

Found this picture of Fiver from a few years ago. He was staying with my friends, and they caught him sunbathing. It's funny to compare the older pictures when he was slim and spry, with this one, where he's... not so slim. He's back somewhere in between now, in a happy-grumpy state of senior citizenship.

share

Found out over the weekend that Amazon is going to start letting Kindle users loan books to each other. I only have a few friends who have Kindles, but I'm still glad they're adding this. 

sweet dreams

I didn't sleep very deeply last night, but I had a lot of dreams that were funny enough to wake me up several times, from laughing out loud.

bright light

The moon is bright enough tonight that it casts visible squares of light through the skylights in my house onto the floor.

hearsay

My friend passed along a complimentary comment that her friend had said about me.  So sweet of her, and the secondhand nature somehow makes it seem more sincere.

nori and aloe

They've been stocking a lot of nori (crispy seaweed) and aloe drinks in the microkitchens at work lately, which has been convenient, as I'm on one of my periodic nori and aloe addiction cycles.

payoff

I've been going to get allergy shots for the last fifteen months, initially twice a week, then once a week, and now every other week, and there have been two benefits: (1) a decrease in my allergies to cats and dust (which was expected), and (2) a new indifference to needles (which probably should have been expected, but I didn't really think about it until I noticed that I no longer cringe and whine about getting shots, like today's flu shot).

inbox schminbox

I got my personal inbox down to 40, and my work inbox down to seven (a few of which are only there as reminders, so it could be even lower, at least until I wake up tomorrow with replies to everything I sent out and a batch of brand new problems). This is a new personal best, even better than when I posted this.

life in the spaceship

I have an aunt who sends out emails with subject lines like "Life in the spaceship." The body of the email is in Chinese, which I can't read. I love the randomness.

relief

My dog always gets really hyper and excited after I give him a bath, trim his nails, brush his teeth, and clean his ears. It's pretty funny to watch. It must be partly because he knows he gets treats after suffering through such mistreatment, but I think he probably also is just giddy with relief with having gotten through it, sort of the way I feel when I finish up at the dentist.

oldie but goodie

My favorite sandwich when I was little was peanut butter and brown sugar. No one else thinks it sounds good, but it really was the best. I haven't had one in many years, but I'm having one for dinner tonight!

archives

After looking through a lot of old pre-digital pictures, I decided to scan a couple and post them on Facebook. Based on the reaction, I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of the old pictures, so I'm going to start doing a few here, a few there. So many to pick from, I don't know where to start...

efficiency

I'm going up to the city tomorrow, and I managed to schedule the visit for maximum efficiency. One trip up to the city = lunch with a long lost high school friend, drive by meetings of two new babies, and dinner with my sister and her family.

first time

I was running late for a doctor's appointment today, and the only nearby parking spot was a parallel parking spot. I never learned how to parallel park, and although people have tried to explain the concept to me, it never registered. I always just find perpendicular parking, find parking at the front or back of a row of parallel spots, or get someone else to do the parking. Today, I had no options (and the spot was a pretty big one), and somehow, I managed to get into the spot without much back and forth, and to get the car almost parallel to the curb.

This may be the only time it ever happens, because I still don't know how I got the car into the spot, but I'm surprised and pleased, anyways.

t's and i's

I've felt a little bit guilty (for no particular reason) about not tagging the posts in this blog. I've always liked for things to be categorized and labeled (which you might not suspect, since I'm not always the most organized or neat person, but categorizing and organizing are not necessarily the same thing). Today I stopped feeling guilty and started tagging (work in progress). I've even started putting together another blog that my boyfriend thought would be a good idea. And I did this on top of all of the work (and random pre-trip madness) that I'm trying to wrap up before we go for a very quick trip to upstate New York for a wedding (I doubt we'll have time or Internet there, hence the rush to get everything done before we leave). I think I deserve a pat on the head.

distraction

I like when people I know have meetings in the conference room that's right by my office, because it has glass walls, and I can dance around and make faces to try to distract them.

lol

Oh, Internet, you always give me something to laugh about. I'm loving the Hyperbole and a Half blog these days, and wondering if the writer is my long-lost Caucasian brain twin.

81

My Kindle's "birthday" is on Wednesday, and I've been busy reading short books and polishing off half-finished books in my spare time. I just finished off one more, #81 (while cuddling with my snoring, paws-twitching-in-his-sleep dog), and I think that's going to be the final tally for Year One, as the next book I want to tackle is almost 900 pages, which is not going to happen in the next day and a half. I'm very pleased with 81, especially considering that my original goal was 40 books a year, which kept getting bumped up, first to 52, then 60, then 70 or 75.

tamed

A wicked beast of a deal (with a wicked beast of a lawyer) finally closed today.

clean

My two favorite pairs of jeans were in the laundry, and now they're clean! This is a big deal, since I wear jeans to work every day, and being forced to wear less-favored jeans was seriously irritating.

weekend update

In just one weekend, I've turned two drafts for an urgent deal, taken a nap, read a book, shopped for and attended a bling-themed party up in the city, had a long conversation with my boyfriend about my strange family dynamics, gone out for brunch, done two loads of laundry and one load of dishes, gotten a facial, gone to the library, and hit the ATM. Now I'm going to polish off books 80 and perhaps even 81. I should be a professional weekender.

first

I just heard an ice cream truck in real life for the first time.

records

I was digging back through old pictures last night, and came across a lot of funny memories. I need to get a photo scanner before the pictures disintegrate or are lost. They are already completely disorganized. There are about eight years of pictures in there, in no order whatsoever.
I found these pictures of my dog from about six or seven years ago, still looking young and spry.

work perk

There was a caramel apple station at lunch today. I find caramel apples to be messy and difficult to eat, so the woman chopped up the apple and gave me a bowl of caramel sauce for dipping.

less is more

I defriended an acquaintance on Facebook today, after many months of finding all of her Facebook activity supremely irritating (spammy messages, constant updates asking people to buy her prints or "Like" her gallery, awkward semi-nude profile pictures, and weird non sequitur updates straight out of the trash bin of a failed romance writer). I don't know why I waited until now, because it was so annoying for all of that time, and so satisfying once I finally told Facebook that yes, I really wanted to remove that friend. It's like finally killing a mosquito that has been in your room for ages -- it didn't really cause you that much harm, but you're so much happier once it's gone.

free

The cafes at work were giving these away for free today! $11 seems expensive for a 140 page book, but free is a bargain :)

greater expectations

Despite the fact that I've been super-busy at work lately, and despite the return of TV, I've managed to hit 75 books, and I still have ten days to go until the end of my one-year cutoff. I'm thinking I might hit 77 or even 78. What's especially surprising is that more than half of those have been since early July. If I keep going like this, I should set my sights higher next year and go for 100 or 150 in a year.

say cheese

Mac and cheese for dinner! My sister and I used to eat it for lunch when we were home alone, my college roommate taught me to add cream cheese to make it richer, and my dearest friend in Zurich introduced me to Annie's, so it has lots of good associations. Plus it's easy.

weekend

I had a work thing last night, and the uselessly competitive side of me derived some satisfaction when my team won the trivia game. Got home, did some work, managed to fall asleep without pills (which, at least for me, is much harder than it sounds), slept harder than I've slept in months, and had hilarious dreams the whole time. I woke up convinced it was Monday, and was pleasantly surprised that it's Saturday.

prank hard or go home

This is what we did to the work station of one of my coworkers while she was on vacation. We put most of her things in there with her desk, chair, phone, and monitor, including her scissors and most of her knick knacks. It took her a while to get access...

back to back

I managed to book back-to-back chair massages at the end of a very full (but productive) day, and the double massages then went into overtime.

end of drought

And just like that, all of my shows have returned, and TiVo has lots of new shows waiting for me, as if the summer break never happened...

change

The first thing I do when I come home, no matter what time of day it is, is to change into my pajamas.

wag

There is little that is more heartening than an ecstatic dog who is happy to see you, thrilled to get a treat, vocally appreciative of your skills as a masseuse, tolerant of the indignities you visit upon him, and content to get tucked in at night in preparation for another day of the same.

more ahh

Pancakes in bed, some errands, grape soda, fresh pedicure, another book finished and five new ones to start.

ahh

This was the most frantic week I've had in a long time, probably since last November. Yesterday, after just getting a draft out under the wire, I went straight from work to a fun dinner and drinks with friends. Stayed up late talking, despite being exhausted (sustained brain work is so physically draining, which is something that never stops surprising me), then slept in. I stayed awake for almost two hours, then succumbed to an amazing, dream-filled three hour nap. Ran a quick errand, finished the tail ends of two more books, made dinner and watched TV with my boyfriend, and then he gave me a 90 minute backrub while we chatted and caught up on all of the gossip and nonsense that is usually scattered throughout the week when we're less busy.

So productive, but in all the best ways.

working for the weekend

Thursday and Friday were pretty much the same as Wednesday: Lots of frantic phone calls and meetings, lots of drafting, lots of forgotten meals -- I think I spent 24 out of 48 hours working on one document, (and a lot of other time trying to cram other work in between the Big Thing I was working on) which is kind of sad. But the important thing is that I got the most urgent thing out the door on Friday at 6:30, so I think I've bought myself a pass for the weekend :)

going to 11

I put in a really intense thirteen hour workday yesterday, got a ton done, got home, booked plane tickets for an upcoming wedding, did all of my physical therapy exercises, and still made it in by 9:30 today to do it all over again. Hoping that today will be more like a ten hour workday, but I'm pretty pleased with how much I've been getting done this week.

i like them odds

There's a good chance I'll close a dozen deals in the next week or so, which would be a huge relief.

Also, there were poached eggs with tomatoes and crispy parmesan wafers for breakfast in the cafe today!

greener

My town recently started providing compost pickup on recycling day, and stopped requiring that recycling be pre-sorted. It's getting easier and easier to be less wasteful, which appeals to both my lazy side and my environmentally guilty side.

new beginnings

Although I love summer above all other seasons, and have really been enjoying my gluttonous reading habit for the last few months, I have to admit that the appearance on my TiVo of a new episode of one of my most guilty TV pleasures gave me a real thrill, partly because I want to see the show, and partly because it is a harbinger of all of the other season premieres that are coming oh so soon.

dream world

I love when my boyfriend tells me about odd things I say when I'm asleep or falling asleep. It's always an amusing way to start the day.

Apparently, last night as I was falling asleep, we were having a conversation, but I started dreaming at the same time. He was answering some question I had asked, and I said, "You're interrupting my dream! I was dreaming about a giant ball of duct tape." I then told him to continue with his story. After he finished, I said, "What did I tell you about my dream before? [I had apparently forgotten already.] I was having such a good dream."

I'm curious what a "good dream" about a "giant ball of duct tape" would be.

aww

My toilet must have really missed me. It has reached new levels of song, sometimes whooping continuously for the full two minutes it takes for my electric toothbrush to go through a brushing cycle.

back to work

It's great to come back from vacation and have the first day back be a Friday. I don't think I've done it this way before, but it does make the transition smoother.

Also, tomorrow is my boyfriend's birthday, and while we were away, a bunch of our coworkers decorated his office for him. Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but those aren't presents. They just wrapped whatever happened to be on his desk at the time in Disney Princess wrapping paper: empty cups and beer bottles, dirty plates, USB cables, mouse pad, etc. It was pretty awesome. Thus inspired, I wrapped him in streamers. Unfortunately, he only kept the streamers on for a few minutes, saying that they were interfering with his ability to work.

home sweet home

We landed early, our luggage came quickly, we immediately caught a cab and got our car, then picked up my dog. Made it home, with only one minor mishap, when I had to borrow a neighbor's phone to get my boyfriend to come back when I accidentally locked myself out when taking out the trash. Oops.

Seven and a half days, six and a half books, seven dives -- not a bad way to spend a week. The nasty cough and the work weren't ideal, but it was still great to get away from my routine for a while.

Also, nothing makes me happier that I don't have kids than sitting near shrieking children on a plane. Such a relief to retreat back to my life, where most of the noise is made by me.

meat loaf

Earlier today, my boyfriend exclaimed in a horrified tone that he smelled "like a soapy meatloaf." I tortured him (and myself) by playing three or four Meat Loaf songs (did you know that some of his songs last eight minutes???) on YouTube. The sacrifices I make in exchange for the joy of tormenting him...

i spy

The hotel has wireless, and I've been logging in all week to stay on top of work, and last night, I opened up iTunes because I wanted to play a particular song, and I realized that some people in the hotel were sharing their entire music libraries with anyone else who happened to be logged into the hotel network and using iTunes. We spent an embarrassing amount of time snooping through people's libraries and snickering at (and playing parts of) their collections of Ace of Base, Spice Girls, ZZ Top, Megadeth, and Fine Young Cannibals.

recharge

Nothing like a fantastic night dive with mantas swooping and flipping around my head for 40 minutes, then a shower to wash the ocean away, then a solid nine hours of sleep, and finally waking up to an inbox that doesn't have a single email that requires immediate reply (yet). I'm sure stuff will start coming in, but for now, my vacation continues...

charge

I charged my Kindle and loaded it up with books before coming on the trip, and decided not to bring the charger, reasoning that it would just take up more space, and that there was no way I could possibly read enough to use up the charge in one week. You can read a lot before you need to charge it.

But I've been reading a lot. I'm halfway through my fifth book, and we still have three days (including a plane ride) to go. Being the type of person who is inclined to start worrying before anything actually happens, I was fretting about the possibility that the charge wouldn't last, and that I might have to buy a paper book for the plane ride.

Today, however, I discovered that my phone charger can actually charge my Kindle, which was a happy moment. It's such a strangely shaped charger, and I only tried it on a desperate whim. I can now read as much as I want to without worrying that I'll run out of battery at the beginning of my plane ride back. And now I know for the future that I can leave the Kindle charger at home and not get worked up over imaginary loss of book access due to excessive reading.

coincidence

We're in Hawaii! Tonight, we were at dinner, and my boyfriend started telling some story about when he and his law school roommate were climbing some mountain in Colorado, and all I heard was "climb" and "mountain," so I immediately asked him if they were singing "Climb Every Mountain" while they hiked, and he looked at me in a strange way and asked why they would do that, and what was the song from, and I then had to remind myself that The Sound of Music was not quite the formative experience for everyone else as it was for me.

After dinner, we came up to our room, and he flipped on the TV, and The Sound of Music was playing. Not only was it playing, but he turned the TV on at the exact moment when Maria walks into the Reverend Mother's chamber, right before she starts singing "Climb Every Mountain"!! I wasn't sure what it meant, but whatever it was, I was right. Right? Vague vindication is such a good feeling.

On principle, I insisted that we watch the rest of it, even though I've seen it a million times before.

ready or not

My gadgets are charged, my bags are packed, my dog dropped off, my library books renewed so that they won't be overdue, my Kindle loaded with new books, and I've finished all the work that I promised to get done by today, which will hopefully buy me time until we get to the hotel and back online.

I think this means that it's official: I'm going to Hawaii tomorrow!

In twelve hours, we'll be on a plane. In 24 hours, we'll be drinking the hotel's signature ginger ale. In 45 hours, we'll be diving. Sweet.

novice

I've learned a ton in the past two years, but the depth and speed of the knowledge of some of my coworkers still blows me away. I still learn something new almost every time I ask someone for help.

i love you tomorrow

Last day in the office before going to Hawaii for a week!

sweetness follows

I had to make a dish with heirloom tomatoes for a potluck dinner tonight, and I was feeling brave, so I decided to take on dessert. I've never made pies other than pumpkin pies, but my tomato tarte tatin came out rather well, and was a surprisingly convincing dessert, drizzled with a balsamic glaze and topped with whipped cream.

Also, a whole dinner themed around heirloom tomatoes can work really well.

forgiveness

My boyfriend didn't get mad at me for backing my car into the garage this morning, hard enough to nick my car and dent the garage door. His dog had popped into the garage through the doggie door, and was busily trying to find a way into the car, and I was so intent on not running over the dog that I hit the garage door, instead. So, at least the dog is alive and my boyfriend isn't annoyed at me.

absence -> fonder <3

I was in Vegas over the weekend for a bachelorette party, and just 37 hours apart (plus a terribly early airport drop-off, perfectly timed airport pickup, and homemade pizza upon my return) made me appreciate my boyfriend even more than usual. Also, going out in Vegas, which is teeming with desperate singles, reminded me of how lucky I am to have caught a fish that is so much better than all the other ones who are still in the pond.

small packages

Technology is so mind-boggling sometimes. My MP3 player, which is about the same volume as my pinky and costs about $50, has the same memory as the enormous state-of-the-art desktop computer we got in 1994, which cost around $3,000. I know that expressing such wonder makes me sound old, but it's still pretty incredible, and I can't wait to see what happens in the next ten years.

early delivery

I've been loving the music I've been downloading from my birthday credits on Amazon (like the track I posted yesterday). One album I was interested in was not available for download, so I ordered it, and it took a while to ship out, and then it wasn't guesstimated for delivery until next week. After all this waiting (I ordered it on August 12), it got here one business day earlier than expected, which was kind of disproportionately exciting.

song of the day

This song, played perhaps a dozen times this day, made this day much better.

gazpacho saga

The gazpacho was on the menu this week, and I had a ton. I even brought some home to compare the batch I made using the recipe the chef had given me. I emailed the chef to tell him I had done a side-by-side tasting, and that my version was somehow lacking in comparison, and he said that it was probably partly due to specific ingredients (my olive oil probably isn't of the same quality, for example), but also because every time they make it in the cafe, they fine tune everything to match the exact flavors of the actual produce, which you can't capture in a recipe.

That made me a little bit sad. I am not a chef, and when I cook, things can turn out well, but I just don't have the level of knowledge and understanding and artistry that it takes to deviate from a recipe and perfect a dish.

The chef then suggested that I go to the cafe sometime to make the gazpacho with the staff, so I could try to get the knack. Really? Really. He even offered to give a free cooking lesson to a group if I wanted to set one up. Really? Really.

Then I had an inspiration. Some friends and I get together pretty regularly for themed potluck dinners, and the next one happens to be themed around heirloom tomatoes. I suggested that he come to that, do a demo for us, and stay for dinner. That would be such a coup, if we could get a chef to start coming to our dinner parties, although it wouldn't be much of a coup for him, since none of us can cook at the same level.

So let's review. Just by asking questions along the way, I went from wanting a gazpacho recipe, to getting the recipe, to having it served at the cafe, to getting an offer to participate in making it, to getting an offer of a free cooking lesson, to perhaps adding a chef to our dinner party.

grownup life

One of the long-anticipated advantages of being an adult (and having food in the office) is that I can have chocolate pudding for breakfast if I want to.

mix

A good friend at work randomly sent me an MP3 he thought I would like, so I figured I would respond with a mix CD.

It has been too long since I've made a mix CD for someone. I love the whole process: guessing at what the person will like, picking out too many songs, weeding them down so that the mix will fit on one disc, figuring out what order to put them in so that they flow...

wait for it

One of the best and most agonizing things in life is waiting to see if a prank worked.

8.5

Number of days until we leave for Hawaii!

60

Just hit 60 books since getting my Kindle last October (48 of which were in 2010), so I'm way ahead of schedule. Dare I dream of hitting 70 by my Kindle's one-year birthday? I'm going to dream it right here, to make it more likely that it will happen. I've got six weeks.

crickets

We're having a heatwave after several months off what has been a relatively cool summer for the area, which means that I've been leaving the windows open at night, leading to my accidental reacquaintance with the sound of slow suburban summer nights. I had forgotten what dozens of crickets sounded like -- after years of city and apartment living, even solo crickets seemed surprising and out of place.

chicken with pants

It makes me inexplicably happy that somewhere out there, someone decided that there was market demand for little figurines of chickens wearing pants, and they went to the trouble of designing, producing, and distributing such pants-wearing chickens, so that anyone with two bucks can have their own dressed up chicken for an office decoration.

midsummer afternoon dreams

Is there anything quite like succumbing to the irresistible forces of an afternoon nap? It has happened twice this weekend, and the sleep was so enjoyable that I stayed under, even after realizing that I was having a nightmare, because it was worth it.

pizza night

It's pizza night, and my boyfriend makes the best pizza from scratch. I think I've earned some pizza, after doing two loads of laundry, shopping at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, and preparing a batch of gazpacho for tomorrow. I also picked up some burrata to eat with basil and heirloom tomatoes while we make the pizzas. We've both been busy at work, so it has been a while since we've cooked, so I'm looking forward to messing up the kitchen and eating some good food.

rofl

Also, another highlight of mini golf today was that my manager (who is already quick to laugh harder than anyone else) was actually laughing so hard that he was rolling on the ground. Funny things become even funnier if someone is literally rolling in the grass next to a miniature windmill, kicking his feet in the air.

another day at work

I spent the first part of the day doing pro bono work, helping senior citizens get financial power of attorney set up, and the second part if the day playing mini golf, air hockey, and arcade games, and drinking Icees with my coworkers. I forgot how good Icees are, and I somehow managed to win at mini golf.

vicious cycle

I love when my dog suddenly starts snarling and chasing his butt in frenzied circles. He did it a few times at work today, and as always, it cracked me up.

six years

My dog has been coming to work with me for six years now, and having him at work makes both of us much happier. Drafting is better with a dog in your lap (except when he farts).

advice

Talking to people who want to apply for a job in our department always reminds me of why I wanted this job so much in the first place. It's reassuring to step back and look at the big picture and remember how it felt like to be an outsider, then a newbie, and then to finally feel like I had started figuring things out. I've come a lot further than I thought I would.

be prepared

Nine solid hours of sleep go a really long way towards preparing me for a day full of meetings. 

magazine day

My boyfriend is staying at his old house tonight, and my monthly mindless magazine came in the mail today. Perfect timing.

flow

It's always a relief when some of my deals start closing, especially after a few weeks of gridlock. Even if I'm doing the same amount of work each day, there's a psychological boost if a day's work results in signatures and closed deals.

even better

I won't have to make the gazpacho myself, because the chef just emailed me and said he's going to put it on the menu next week.

ask and you shall receive

After obsessing about the gazpacho they used to make at the tapas-themed cafe at work for over a year, especially after that cafe stopped serving dinner last year and more recently, announced that they were going to change their theme altogether, and after telling myself countless times that I would have to ask the cafe staff for the recipe, I randomly saw and recognized the chef at his new cafe today. I must have looked at him for a second too long, because he noticed and made eye contact in a way that made me feel like I ought to say something, so I said the first thing that came to mind, which was to tell him that the gazpacho at the old cafe is the best I've had, and to ask him whether I could get the recipe. He said I could just email him and he'd send it to me. And he did. And it was at a normal person scale (not cafeteria level, no need to work off a recipe that initially asks for 100 tomatoes), so I might actually make it soon.

Next time, I should spend less time idly obsessing, and more time just asking.

flower power

Wow, lavender chocolate is pretty interesting. I like it.

where is thumb man

For some unknown reason, I always liked those shirts and jackets with the little hole for your thumb, but for some other unknown reason, I never had one, until recently. Not sure why I like them so much, but they make me happy whenever I wear this sweatshirt.

serenade

My toilet has learned how to sing -- a long, aching, resonant howl -- and every time I flush it, I have to listen and giggle as it does its best impression of an amorous steamship. It's really quite impressive. Then again, my family has a history of unconventional appliances, including a shrieking freezer, a whooping toilet (probably a long-lost cousin to this one), a self-starting TV, and most recently, in my last apartment, a hyperactive washing machine.

there's the rub

I just used my company-issued free birthday massage credit (it never lasts long in my account), and it went overtime, and it was wonderful. Going out for a last dinner with my remaining visitor (one left on Tuesday, and #2 is leaving tomorrow), and I can already taste the deviled dates.

our song

Ever since last October, when we went to Hawaii and the resort played this song many times a day, my boyfriend and I have heard it everywhere: in restaurants and stores, on the radio, on TV, and we have come to the inevitable conclusion that it must be "our song." It's a good song.

We're going back to the same resort in a few weeks, and we're wondering if they will still be playing it. If not, it's OK, because I downloaded it.

discount soundtrack

I received some Amazon gift credits for my birthday this year, and I've already bought a couple of Kindle books, but I have also decided to make a concerted effort to download some songs I've been listening to a lot on YouTube, and some complete albums of new music. I then discovered that lots of albums are $5 each for the next couple of weeks, including some that I actually want, which will allow me to get that much more music (and still have credit left over for even more books). I love music, books, and presents, and I love a bargain, so this is kind of a magical moment.

satisfaction

It is admittedly somewhat satisfying to honk very loudly at someone who drove his BMW from his driveway into the street without looking, forcing you to brake hard enough that your dog flew across the back seat. It is tempting to go back tomorrow to honk at him some more. Revenge is a dish best served loud.

free upgrade

Why is it that I like my house and office, but I like them even more if my friends like them? Nothing has changed, but hearing good things about them makes them better, somehow.

wine

We went wine tasting today on our way back from our trip up to Cyrus, and both places where we stopped had some really interesting (in a good way) wine, and I bought a couple of bottles to have another time. We got back in time for me to show my friends around our revamped office and then grab dinner.

so full

Lounging at the hotel where we're staying for the night after eating so much food that I look pregnant. I've been too busy hanging out and having fun to update since Friday, which is my favorite reason for not updating.

almost there

If my brain and I get along for the next few hours, we will make it to the weekend, which will be full of good things (and hopefully not too much work):

(1) Sleeping in on Saturday

(2) Two of my favorite people arriving on a jet plane Saturday evening

(3) Hanging out with those friends (and a few others) Saturday night

(4) Going up to Sonoma on Sunday for dinner at Cyrus

(5) Three-day weekend (taking Monday off!)

(6) Wine tasting in Sonoma on Monday

aloha

Even though I came home from work a little bit cranky, my boyfriend still gave me my birthday present: an extremely silly poem (which I'm not allowed to publish online, but have posted on the refrigerator) and a surprise trip to Hawaii in four weeks. Now that's what I call a beamish boy.

icing on the cake

An afternoon meeting turned out to be birthday cupcakes :)

2^5

It's my birthday! I like some numbers more than others, and 32 seems like a good one. Here's to the power of two.

The year has started off well so far -- the dogs didn't bark to wake me up, my friends have been sending funny emails and quick message on Facebook, I had a good lunch with some coworkers, and a negotiation call ended up being with a lawyer who was a law school classmate of mine, whom I had just run into a couple of weeks ago. It was one of the smoothest calls I've ever had.

I hope these are indicative of how the rest of the year will go, at home, with friends, in the office, and at work.

early

My parents sent me flowers for my birthday, which is tomorrow.

no on 8

My exciting moment of the day was finding out that Prop 8 was overturned. It has no practical effect for me, since I'm straight and not a big believer in the institution of marriage, but it just appeals to my sense of justice and logic.

routine

It's always been convenient that my boyfriend and I work in the same department, so that we see each other every day, but it's so nice to know that now I'll get to see him every night, too.

democracy

I find it hilarious that in an online poll of my department to brainstorm ideas for ways to reward people for good work, one of the current leading ideas is: "Dress up [the general counsel] for a day in the outfit of your choice."

at the car wash

The guys were having a dude moment, washing a vintage car in the driveway. I asked them to do "sexy poses, like girls in silly movie scenes about car washes," and this is what resulted.

time capsule

One of the side effects of being a pack rat who moves a lot is that I have a lot of boxes full of random things that represent various phases: boxes from law school, boxes from when I lived in midtown, boxes from Switzerland. I generally give up on unpacking before I get to the last few boxes, but this time, I did a more thorough job, which meant that I got to rediscover some old memories with good friends as I unearthed, among other things, photo booth pictures, a magazine from Argentina, postcards from Russia, a volume of printed and spiral bound emails. I've had some pretty good times with really cool people.

this is it

By engaging in another mad session of unpacking yesterday, preceded by a morale-boosting dance party with my dog, I unpacked most of my remaining boxes. Today, my boyfriend moved some furniture into the guest room (just in time for our guests this weekend), and he'll move the rest of his stuff in gradually.
The place is looking less like a storage locker or skating rink, and more like a home.

breather

I'm going to give myself a night off to eat leftovers and Cheetos while watching bad TV and reading children's books. I've got a solid week of work behind me and a solid weekend of unpacking ahead of me, so tonight is a night for just me.

these little piggies

I decided to get a pedicure to reward myself for a week (and upcoming weekend) of hard work.

win

I was in a meeting a little while ago, and had a sudden epiphany: it's Friday! I couldn't completely stifle my excited reaction. My job is great, but that doesn't diminish my love of weekends.

hatched

It was indeed a productive day. I even correctly estimated the amount of time it would take to get the work done, which somehow makes it even more satisfying.

counting chickens

This is going to be such a productive day.

a thousand words

I love looking through pictures of me and my friends, especially if those pictures were taken during trips to random places like Yap or San Sebastian.

scot

A morning conference call is so much more enjoyable if one of the people has a Scottish accent.

let it slide

I've finally come to terms with the idea that I can't keep my Google Reader unread count at 0 -- there's just too much Internet and too little time. I managed up until February, when I went on a two week trip, and haven't been able to keep up since then. For a long time, it was over 1000, but now it's under 300, and I've decided that if that's one of my worries, then my worries aren't so bad.

working like a dog

Work has gotten really busy, but my dog (and his "coworkers") always provide fun company and distraction during the day (during one meeting, my dog lost interest in the discussion, and started wildly chasing his tail, much to the astonishment of the other meeting attendees).

Here are a bunch of them scrambling for treats from our biggest resident dog lover.

And here is my dog with my boyfriend's dog, sitting on the couch in my office, waiting for something interesting to happen. They gave up after a while -- apparently, dogs don't like watching humans drafting contracts.

comparing notes

I hang out with a lot of lawyers, but almost all of them are coworkers. I rarely spend time with groups of lawyers who are at other companies or law firms. I did that yesterday for the first time in a long time, and listening to the amount of discontent (or at least the desire to appear discontent) expressed by this group of law firm lawyers was both depressing and uplifting. Depressing because I know some of these people, they were my law school classmates, and it's sad to see them feeling trapped and dissatisfied with how things have turned out so far, and uplifting because it really is good to keep a sense of perspective and to see the life I've avoided living.

unpackrat

I spent about four or five hours unpacking and arranging some more of my stuff this afternoon. I really avoid packing and unpacking as much as possible, but I have to admit that the fifteen boxes I got through made a big difference, and the place is starting to look more like home.

We went to go see Inception again, and had lots of new theories and levels of theories. I wish this movie were based on a book so that I could read it and have something more concrete to base my theories on, especially if it followed the general rule that the book is always better and more complex.

groove

It's weird, but sometimes, I like when I have a ton of work to do, and I get in a groove with it, and just cross item after item off of my To Do list. You'd think that I'd rather just not have anything to do at all, and while I admit that downtime and slow periods are great, there really is something satisfying about having of ton of things to do and then actually doing them.

seven years

I've been a lawyer for seven years now, which I find somewhat unbelievable. I feel lucky that I had a short and liveable time at the firm, and I've had two jobs that both qualify in my mind as once in a lifetime opportunities for a young lawyer. Lawyers tend easily towards bitterness, it's in our personalities, but so far, I have no regrets.

again again

Today is the second time in less than a week that I've put on my jeans and found money in the pocket. Perfect timing to sign up for a chair massage at the end of the day...

mgmt

I have a really good manager, which makes a huge difference when things get tough. If a call goes really badly, I know that I can tell him all about it, he's got my back, and he will laugh even harder than I do at some of the ludicrousness that happened. 

watched

My conference call had some spectators.

morning

Mango guava peach smoothies and poached eggs over steak in the cafe, sour gummy bears and aloe drinks in the microkitchen, and a happy, lazy Bernese mountain dog (not pictured) in the lobby. I will assume that these are good omens.

cooking for fun

I have never been the kind of person who could be depended on to cook dinner and put it on the table every day, as evidenced by the large number of dinners-for-one that consisted of gummy candy or stale cookies, but I do like to cook as a hobby, rather than as a necessity. There is something simultaneously exciting, soothing, and satisfying about finding a new recipe, deciding on small improvements, looking for the ingredients, and trying to make the final product resemble the intended dish, although never within the estimated amount of time. Even better if I'm cooking for the next day, so that there's no pressure to finish in order to eat. Instead, I can graze on other things picked up while at the store, like olives stuffed with garlic, a runny cheese, and slices of a sourdough baguette.

easily pleased

It's so easy to make his day.

inception

I love doing something that I think will be OK, and then have it turn out to be unpredictably fantastic. It's not really something you can plan, which makes it even more special when it does happen.

I am usually satisfied that I got my money's worth if I walk out of a movie theater having been entertained by a movie that turned out to be moderately smart, decent to look at, and not terribly inane. I am occasionally pleased if a movie exceeds that standard and is either smarter, prettier to look at, or more clever.

It is very rare, only once every few years, that I walk out of a theater thinking that perhaps I ought to have paid more, and that perhaps I ought to go see it again, because I probably missed a lot the first time around, because it was all so smart, beautiful, and clever, that I couldn't soak all of it in at once. Last night was one of those nights, and I won't say anything else about Inception, because part of the experience is watching it without having any idea what's going on, but it was smart and beautiful and clever, and we walked out of it and talked about it for at least an hour afterwards. The special effects, chases, and fight scenes were well done, but instead of being the main players in the movie (as is the case with so many movies now), they were just supporting members to the brains of the movie -- the ideas, the plot, the characters. It was just amazing.

I'm not a big movie person, but it's movies like this one that make me think, "Oh, I can see why some people love movies so much, it's because of movies like this." Completely entertaining without being dumbed down, with lots of things to think about afterwards, so that it keeps you entertained for a long time after the movie is over.

haha

Hit up an Indian buffet and a comedy club with some girls from work, and the joke that stuck with me is, "Do you think female suicide bombers get the same job benefits as their male counterparts? Because honestly, who wants to do a good job and then get rewarded with 72 male virgins? 'Does this feel good? No? How about this?' Better make it 72 experienced men for the female suicide bombers."

rewind

I've been on a mission to read as much as possible, and a few things have really helped that mission along: Kindle, vacations, summer hiatus for TV shows, and the mobile library van. Also, once I got in the habit of reading more, and started meeting and exceeding my goals, it became hard to stop. I have to admit that I slowed down for a while, though, when my reading choices started getting really heavy. I was reading a lot of long, dark books about the Holocaust and serial killers and civil war, and they were well-written and thoroughly researched, but sometimes, it's hard to push yourself through several 500-page books about how terrible people are and how much evil can happen to good people. I'm glad I read them, and I know I'll be going back to those kinds of books in the fall, perhaps, but for now, while it's summer and everything is made of sunshine and breezes, I'm going through a decided backlash, and my last few books were written for children. I love kiddie lit -- everything makes sense, things never get too complicated, and everything always turns out OK in the end. (And also, the books are so quick and easy that my tally is going up really quickly. It's not cheating, as long as the books are over 150 pages. That's my rule, and I'll stand behind it).

crack ho

So many crackable parts!!

office

This is what work looks like today.

noms

Lunch looks good today.

cyrus

I made a reservation to go back to one of my favorite restaurants in a few weeks. My boyfriend and I went with a close friend while he was in town last September, and now we're going back with that same friend and his newly minted fiancée, who is also super-special to me. Birthday weekend, friends in town, and excellent food -- it's going to be great. 

integration

Kindle for Android! Now I can read even for a few minutes when waiting in line somewhere without my Kindle.

sushi surprise

A small sampling of the huge dinner my sister and brother-in-law had last night. Hand rolls, soup, recipes from Nobu and Momofuko, pie from Tartine...

laugh it off

Sometimes when I do something especially boneheaded, often as a result of my contrary and speak-first-think-later nature, the best thing is to talk to a friend who can laugh about it with me. Some of my funniest memories come from my own acts of unthinking stupidity.

direct

There is finally a direct flight between San Francisco and Zurich, and this is what it looks like.

tgif

When I was a few years younger, I would maximize the benefit of traveling by trying to leave on a Friday afternoon and get back on a Sunday evening (or even a Monday morning), sometimes several times a month, and regardless of how many time zones I was skipping. I have no idea how I did that. I got in this afternoon, and am so glad I have a weekend to recover.

home

I made it home and found out that my boyfriend and dog made it before me, so I had a welcome committee, and my boyfriend had put fresh sheets on the bed and dinner on the table. I didn't get business class on the flight home, but at least I got it once I got back :)

booty

Some of the loot I'm bringing home.

brb

I have less than a day left here, and it's always hard to say goodbye to friends and past lives, but it's good to know that I'll definitely be coming back for a wedding in the spring. I usually leave a place not really knowing when I'll be back next, and somehow, knowing makes the parting more sweet than bitter.

heavy

I bought 12.5 kilos (over 27 pounds) of gummy candy at my favorite shop in Zurich. The shop owner is one of my favorite people in Zurich -- always friendly, always nice, always willing to put up with my fragmented German.

next to godliness

It's so good to have a serious shower after getting back from a little road trip.

bonus round

Four day weekend, even though the 4th of July fell on a Sunday this year! We went to an amazing thermal bath resort for two days, did lots of relaxing and soaking and hanging out, and my friends got engaged while we were there, and it was just a really sweet and happy time to play third wheel.

scenic route

We took a wrong turn on the way home, and it was so beautiful that we had to get out and enjoy the scenery for a few minutes.

observation deck

I love seeing good things happen to good people.

a room with a view

This is the awesome view from the balcony of the hotel room where I'm staying tonight. My friends and I decided to escape into the mountains to go to the thermal baths.

explosions in the sky

Saw fireworks two nights in a row -- last night from above, in the mountains, and tonight from below, by the river.

timing is everything

How perfect that I am in Zurich while all of the following are happening:

(1) A four-day weekend for 4th of July (I'm a US employee, so I get US holidays while I'm traveling)

(2) Beautiful summer weather (less common in Zurich than in Mountain View)

(3) A dear friend's birthday

(4) Zuerifaescht, a huge city-wide party that only happens once every three years

(5) The summer party for the Zurich office (jamon iberico and champagne are my favorites, but there are also bouncy houses and goofy sunglasses)

barfussbar

For my first night back in Zurich, we went to my favorite bar, which is a women's swimming pool during the day, is set in the middle of the river, and has amazing views and a lovely breeze. Lots of old friends showed up, and we started making plans for the rest of my stay.

like butter

It's gratifying to come back to Zurich and see that everything still runs and works the same way -- smooth, like butter. It's the Swiss way. Nothing has changed, I still know my way around, a lot of my friends are still here, and it's going to be a good week.

bump

I'm waiting to board my flight, and the desk paged me. I went up and asked what was going on, and I had been inexplicably bumped to business class, which is HUGE when you're on a full 11-hour redeye!

twenty hours

By this time tomorrow, I should be asleep on a plane, perhaps somewhere over the Midwest, and on my way to Zurich.

pb&c

Reese's cups in the microkitchen!

hurts so good

Whoever said that money can't buy happiness never used that money to pay for a really good massage, which then went overtime.

in the black

I just realized the other day that after ten years of being in the red from law school loans (and more recently, buying a car), 2010 is the year I made it back into the black. I still have student loans (government loans have such low interest that it isn't really worth paying them off yet) and a car loan, but my bank account balance is higher than my debts. I finally have positive net worth!

meet the parents

My boyfriend's parents met my family for the first time tonight, and it all went really smoothly. Quick postmortem seems to indicate that everyone liked everyone else.

bargain

I bought a pair of shorts today that were on sale, and when I went to pay for them, they were another 30% off!

relief

It's always such a relief to finally do something you were putting off, and then find out that it wasn't as complicated or time-consuming as you had anticipated. I came into the office today to do some work, and it took less time and mental power than I could have dared to hope. Whew.

glorious apollo

My dog loves to sunbathe, and is content to spend hours lying in whatever patch of sunlight is available. Even better is if I drag one of his beds into the light for him.

shiny

The pedicure lady did a really good job today, and I like the color. The picture doesn't really do her work or the nail polish justice.

on track

After getting a Kindle last October, I set a goal to read at least 40 books a year. Since then, I've been reading books on Kindle, mostly, but also listening to books on CD and reading physical books from the library, and I've kept up an avergae pace of a book a week, which means I'll hit the 40-book target really early. It's great to set a goal to do more of something that I enjoy, and then exceed expectations.

dumplings

Quick, easy, cheap, and always delicious.

good day

New office building, summary judgment, and champagne.

yt ftw

Internet: 1, Old Media: 0.

It was an exciting day at work today.

good deed

I got two packages at work today, but one of them wasn't for me. The store accidentally sent someone else's package to me, in addition to mine. I was a tiny bit tempted for a moment, but then called the store, had them fax me a new shipping label, taped it up, and sent it back out. The shock in the sales girl's voice that I had called to tell them about the mistake was worth it.

soon

Whoa, I'm going to Zurich next week! That's really soon. It's been over a year since I last visited, so it will be really good to check in with my crew there. And to stock up on my favorite gummy candy.

work in progress

Still in the process of settling in, but my new office will suit me just fine.

different comfort food

Comfort food, like my mom's pork roast, has always been an easy way to make myself feel good, but it only recently occurred to me that there could be other kinds of comfort food.

When I was young, we didn't have cable TV, and we only had a handful of movies that my parents had recorded off of broadcast TV, including such kid-pleasers as The Ten Commandments, Tora! Tora! Tora!, Ben Hur, and On Golden Pond. My sister and I, during our summers at home, generally gravitated towards Gone With the Wind, a compilation of Christmas specials, and above all, The Sound of Music. I'm not sure that it's possible to count the number of times I've watched that movie, partly because we liked it, and partly because there was nothing else to watch. My freshman year of high school, our school did a production of the stage version, so it became even more deeply ingrained in my memory.

Until this year, when my niece got into musicals, it had probably been at least 20 years since the last time I had seen the movie, but I can still recite some scenes line for line along with the actors (and, to the chagrin of my boyfriend, lyric for lyric during the musical numbers: "Happy are they, lay-dee-o lay-dee-lee-o! O lay-dee-o lay-dee lay-dee-lee-o!"). Seeing it again with my niece made me realize that the movie is the audiovisual equivalent of comfort food for me, so I ordered it through Amazon -- although it's really just by chance that it played such a big part of my formative years (although I don't think Tora! Tora! Tora! really had any chance), putting it into the DVD player takes me back to a time when the worst thing to worry about was whether Nazis would catch the Von Trapps after the big concert. 

Watching it is like catching up with an old friend (and discovering new things about that friend, since I had only ever watched it on a bad VHS tape on a small TV, with scenes cut out to make room for 1980's commercials -- it's very different when it's been remastered, with no cut scenes, on a big, widescreen TV with a real stereo system).