small steps
Lately I've been making a concerted effort to do some things outside of my comfort zone. High on this list is to stop overthinking things. For example, when I decide that I want to purchase something for the apartment, I must put in hours and hours of internet research on the product, looking at various brands, colors, alternatives, etc... It had gotten really bad, to the point that when I decided to buy anything it was no longer available because I had waited so long. Two weeks ago I was going through the same process with curtains. I had looked up about 15 different stores, pricing them and looking at different styles. I knew I wanted some from West Elm but for some reason I needed to keep looking. I finally decided I was going to get them and then discovered they were sold out online. I went to the store and bought them immediately. It's time to stop questioning myself and obsessing over every single decision. The next night Andy and I were at Target and we saw the towels that we wanted there. Normally I would have put off the purchase, gone home, and spent the rest of the night looking at solid white towels online. Instead, I just bought the damn things. I took this even further this weekend when I bought patio furniture off of craigslist. Who cares that it's 25 degrees outside and the furniture is now covered in 2 inches of snow? This may not seem like a big deal in the grand scheme of things but it's a step.
On a lighter note...today is Willie's birthday so everyone wish her a Happy Birthday!!! I don't think she reads the blog anymore but leave her one just in case.
In da club
Last night I went out with some of my co-workers for happy hour. We started out at the bar at the Algonquin Hotel where we had hoped to be served by Wong Hoy, New York's oldest bartender. He wasn't there, but the bar was nice, albeit expensive. This prompted a move to a different bar. We tried two typical, divish bars but they were both packed so we ended up at the Cellar Bar. Granted, I guess it wasn't technically a club but there was very loud music, dancing, and low tables. This to me implies club. The place was really nice and I had a great time hanging out with everyone but it made me feel tragically unhip. This may come as a shock, but I'm not really a club type person. First of all, loud music is annoying. By the end of the night, I could barely talk because I was so hoarse from screaming. My first mistake was probably trying to have a conversation...that was clearly not what I was supposed to be doing.
What I was supposed to be doing was dancing. One small problem...I don't dance. Ever since I was ridiculed by Ashley and Angie my supposed "friends" from law school after a wedding I refuse to dance. I don't think it's that my movements are that bad, it's just that they have nothing to do with the music. I have no rhythm. The one exception I made to this dancing rule was at my wedding. This was apparently a bad decision since at one point my mom asked why I "bounced so much" while I was dancing. Anyway, my co-workers kept trying to drag me out on the dance floor but to no avail. I did promise Karin that I would dance at her wedding, should it ever take place. I just don't like to dance. I did have a great time watching all of the white guys in their suits attempt to dance. Wow. It really takes effort to dance as badly as some of these guys were dancing but I have to give them credit for at least getting out there.
Labels: NYC sights
...and back
Pictures are up from our all too brief visit to Chicago. For the most part we just hung out with Kevin and Michele which is what we wanted. On Saturday we did ride the EL through Chicago which was cool and we walked around down by Lake Michigan. The lake is absolutely gorgeous. At one point Andy asked me if I had noticed the Sears Tower and I said, no, which one is it.... not my finest moment. Anyway, we went to the Field Museum and saw Sue, the T. rex, some man-eating lions, and a really cool exhibit called "Evolving Planet." Saturday night we had dinner with some friends of Kevin and Michele's. One of them has a really cool job at a liberal newspaper and the other is in law school, but had a really interesting job before that. This really brought me down for awhile....b/c frankly I don't have anything exciting to talk about in terms of my career. This has also been a major downer lately and dinner was just a really big reminder of that.
Sunday Michele and I had brunch and then headed back to the apartment to cheer on the Saints with some more of their friends who unfortunately, were Bears fans. Michele mocked all of Andy and my's football related superstitions. She made cupcakes for the game, half Saints colors and half Bears colors and at one point there was retaliatory eating going on until all that was left was my "touchdown cupcake" that I took a bite of every time the Saints scored. Unfortunately I still had half a cupcake left at the end of the game. Kevin cheered for the Bears, being from Iowa, and at one point I threatened to smash his "Honorary Cajun" mug. Everyone really got into the superstition thing, employing rally caps and even switching the seating arrangement. The insanity is contagious. We couldn't pull them to victory, but we still had a good time.
The flight home was uneventful but apparently it was the weekend for slow drivers. Our flight was delayed about 30 min. so we decided to take a cab home because it was faster than the subway......the subway would've been quicker. The guy said we were his last fare of the day and then he was going home. Well, his wife must beat him because again, it took over an hour to get home. I was fuming, yet again. The guy was slowing down in order to catch red lights, probably significantly increasing our fare.
So even though the trip was bookended with horrible car rides, it was still a lot of fun...We'll definitely be back to Chicago again soon! (for visiting only...don't get any ideas!)
Labels: travel
To Chicago....
I have returned from the Windy City, in a better mood and hopefully with a few less worries. We almost didn't make it to Chicago in the first place. Our flight left at 7 on Saturday morning so I arranged for the car to pick us up at 5:15. Of course we were packed and ready by 5:00. 5:15, no car...5:20, no car...5:25, no car...the phone finally rings and its the car service calling to tell us they're running late...yeah, no shit. The whole time I've been impatiently pacing up and down, now extremely concerned about missing our flight. I figure everything will be fine once we get in the car. It had snowed the night before and as we get in the car I see a cab skid through the red light in front of us...not a good sign. We start to creep down 5th Ave. It takes us 15 minutes to get to Atlantic Ave. which is about a mile. There is plenty of traffic on Atlantic so I figure the guy can speed up now..but no. He creeped along the entire way to the airport while cars are passing us going a normal speed. Things get worse once we enter the airport.....now there are lots of twists and turns which causes him to slow down even more...and remember that he was 20 minutes late to start out with. At this point I'm about to jump out of my skin. I seriously could have walked faster than this guy was driving. We finally get to the airport and check in at exactly 6:30 for a 7:00 flight. Then the woman at the ticket counter tells us that we have go upstairs, through security, and then take the shuttle bus to our gate. We get through security really quickly, surprisingly enough, and dart over to the shuttle bus. One is waiting, so I think we're going to be fine....but then, the ramp to the shuttle bus that could have been five feet long, literally has instead been expanded into about 6 switchbacks, making the resulting ramp about 30 feet long and only three feet wide. This made it impossible to pass the extremely small elderly couple strolling down the ramp or the patient Asian man patiently following them with a half-smile on his face that said...my car was on time and the driver was competent so I am in no rush to get to my gate. Halfway down the ramp the shuttlebus pulls away. We finally make it to the bus and I suffer the worst moment of the day, I realize I have lost my gloves. At this point I am hung over, working on four hours of sleep, and have had to suffer through an hour long ride to the airport and the elderly so I lose it. I bent my arms and clenched my hands into fists and literally shook...shook with anger. A look of shock passed over Andy's face which made me even more angry and resulted in me giving him an elbow to the stomach when he tried to console me. The bus finally pulled up to the gate at about 7:50 and we boarded immediately. Then we sat on the runway for an hour.....and this is why I LOVE flying.
Labels: travel
Doubts....and snow
Winter seems to have finally arrived in New York. This morning as we were walking out of the building I could see in the headlights of passing cars that it was raining and I groaned out loud. But when I opened the door and saw the parked cars and trees covered in a thin layer of white, I realized that it wasn't rain that I saw, but snow. I said "It's snowing!" and Andy said nothing. We kept walking and he was hunched over with a scowl on his face. I said "come on you love the snow" and he just grumbled. Thirty seconds later I looked over and he smiled and said "yeah, it's still really cool" So, the excitement of snow is not yet lost on the Langfords. In Brooklyn the flakes were tiny, bordering on sleet, but when I got out of the subway in Manhattan there were huge, puffy flakes collecting on the cars and the one planter on the street since there were no trees. All of the snow melted really quickly but it was nice to know that winter is finally here.
On a different note...yes, the blog yesterday was boring. No one really cares that I like spinach, but then again if you're reading this blog maybe you do because why else would you read this every day unless you cared about stupid shit about my life. Due to some recent events I can no longer blog about the things that are most "bloggable" in my life. There are tons of things I could be writing about that would be funny, upsetting, neurotic...things that probably made this at least readable and slightly interesting in the past. Unfortunately too many people know about the blog for me to write how I really feel about what's going on. I guess if I had more-self confidence maybe I could write more freely.
Earlier today I was reading the blog of someone I recently met and I was really jealous of how open and honest she was about the way things were going in her life. For example, I could write pages about why I now think that moving to NYC was a mistake but I'm not going to do that....I just don't have it in me anymore. So maybe I should give it up...I don't know....
Labels: me, NYC sights
spinach
When I was a kid, my mom never cooked spinach. I know that's one of those typical middle class kid stories...oh my mom always cooked spinach..i hated it...we fought...etc... Actually I never complained about eating any vegetables because I love them and they are delicious. Anyway, maybe my mom doesn't like spinach, whatever...we never ate it at my house. Then sometime in junior high my mom acquired a recipe for spinach dip that to this day is cooked every time more than 10 people enter the house. I don't care, I love that dip. My point is this...I never really ate spinach until I was in college and now...I love it! I will take any opportunity to eat spinach. When we go to a restaurant there are three ingredients that draw me to a dish...spinach, mushrooms, and basil. It's just weird how a lot of foods that I never ate until I was in college or until we moved to NYC have become staples in my diet...for example, spinach. Also, tofu, udon noodles, any kind of sushi, mussels, clams...all things I never ate until recently. I'm sure the fact that I no longer eat meat has something to do with it but it's still strange.
Labels: me
GEAUX SAINTS!!
If anyone was wondering why I posted in the middle of the Saints game on Saturday night, it was all part of my football supersition. Andy and I were watching the Saints game and while I was at the computer the Saints always did well, but as soon as I sat down on the couch with him, they would fall apart so I had to find ways to occupy myself at the computer for the entire fourth quarter. Obviously my plan worked and the Saints are in the NFC Championship game for the first time!! GO SAINTS!! Hopefully the days of the Aints are over. When I was a kid I remember Nancy had a bumper sticker that said "Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda, No Mora Excuses" which was a dig at then coach Jim Mora. Sean Payton is certainly a long way from that.
Last night Andy and I watched the Golden Globes, one of my favorite TV events. The Globes, the Oscars and the Emmys are some of my favorite TV events. I don't know why, I love these awards shows. Andy kept commenting on the content of the speeches or their length so I told him he needed to focus on more important things like making fun of the celebrities, especially their clothes. I picked an unfortunate moment to ask his opinion though because Sienna Miller was presenting at the time. I asked if he liked her dress and he said "i don't give a shit, it's on Sienna Miller." When Helen Mirren walked up to get her award he said she looked good, "for an old chick." We both agreed that she must have had some work done to avoid the old lady chicken neck. Also, Cameron Diaz looked like shit. We were in total agreement on that one.
Short movie review...Red Eye on DVD...1 out of 4 stars which means don't watch this movie.
Labels: football, tv
And Now a Movie Review
Since our Friday night drinking partners were out of town, Andy and I took the opportunity to see a movie, Children of Men. This movie has gotten really good reviews and tons of hype so of course I was expecting the worst, but instead, it was one of the best movies I've ever seen. The movie is set in a future where all women are infertile and humans face extinction. I've seen the movie classified as science fiction but there is nothing science fiction about this movie, and that's one of the things that makes it so great...it feels extremely realistic. Also, the intensity of the movie was insane. I was mesmerized, literally on the edge of my seat almost the entire movie. The movie was extremely violent but I didn't feel that any of it was gratuitous, it was all there for a reason. The society that was portrayed in the movie was obviously extremely different from the world we live in but at the same time it didn't seem that far off. I would give this four out of four stars...meaning a must see film.
Also, all of our Christmas pictures are up...over 200 of them so enjoy and then go see Children of Men.
Labels: movies
Book Review - It's Back
I stopped doing the book reviews a while back because I don't think anyone was really interested in them and frankly I don't really feel the need to talk about what I read but I think in the interest of preserving a record of my reading and recommending books I loved I will start talking about them again, even if it's just a sentence or two.
The book that I just finished was really the impetus for reviving the book reviews. We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families (Wish): Stories from Rwanda is a detailed look at the genocide in Rwanda. Every angle is covered, from the origins of the ethnic divisions that spurned the genocide to the international community's response. Instead of being purely chronological the book mixes individual's stories with the background and more technical information. This makes the flow much better. The book is not easy to read, after all it is about genocide, but it is fascinating and heartwrenching. While the book in itself was disturbing it also brought to light my very shallow knowledge of international affairs in general. The situation in Rwanda, and I'm sure most of the armed conflicts around the world are so nuanced that an article in the New York Times or a blurb on CNN really does nothing to better our understanding of what is actually happening in these places.
This morning I went back and reread the excerpts of My Life, Bill Clinton's outstanding autobiography that dealt with Rwanda and it was really amazing how I really didn't understand what I was reading the first time around. When he discusses refugees in Rwanda I realized that initially I had no idea who these refugees were. He also discussed peace accords which sound good but really didn't accomplish anything. Aside from knowledge about Rwanda I think this book really taught me that I need to look at things with a more critical eye.
Overall I give the book 3.5 out of 4 stars.
Labels: books
Bad Fans
Last night Andy and I watched the beginning of the LSU v. Alabama basketball game. For anyone that doesn't know, LSU's best player is Glenn Davis, whose nickname is Big Baby. At the beginning of the ESPN2 coverage they were showing the Alabama student section and they had the typical "Roll Tide" signs and they were all wearing their Alabama t-shirst. Then they show a guy who's holding up a baby doll, probably about 8 inches high, obviously meant to represent Big Baby and he's punching the baby in the head. I know the guy wants to show his distaste for Big Baby but I'm pretty sure a warning bell should go off...like, maybe punching a baby in the head isn't exactly the best way to present yourself on national TV.
Yesterday there was a mysterious odor all over Manhattan. It smelled like gas so of course everyone thought there was a gas leak somewhere. The smell was especially bad around the place where I spend 10 hours a day. Of course, everyone had to make the requisite New Jersey joke....big stink, of course it comes from New Jersey...what a shithole, etc... People who are from New Jersey always get defensive about this, but then you know what, as reported in today's news, the stink really was coming from New Jersey. If you've ever taken a train from New York to Newark or Jersey City, this would not surprise you. It's a disgusting wastepit over there. So New Jersey, keep your nasty stinky smells to yourself.
Andy and I watched the first half of last night's national championship game. After Florida forced Troy Smith to fumble Andy lept up off the coach in excitement and then looked at me like I was crazy because I was half asleep in the chair. I can't pull for Florida. I just can't do it. I don't have it in me. Looking back, I'm glad they won but I had 0 excitement about the actual game.
Labels: football
weekend, weekend, weekend
I've been waiting to get back into my flip flops after the cold weather but who knew the opportunity would arise so soon? On Saturday I wore flip flops, a skirt, and a long sleeved t-shirt. The high in Brooklyn was 72 degrees....72 freaking degrees. While I enjoyed the warmth I think the weather being weird is throwing me into a funk. On Saturday after we ran some errands I slipped into super-pissy mode. All i wanted to do was lay in bed for the rest of the day. That NEVER happens to me. Luckily Andy is literally the most patient man on earth since I capped off the pouting by picking a fight with him about the arrangement of furniture in the apartment. So we spent the rest of the afternoon rearranging the furniture and it does look better.
Yesterday we went to the Met to see the exhibit "Cezanne to Picasso" which didn't focus so much on the evolution of the art itself but instead a dealer in Paris named Vollard. It was really interesting to learn about his influence on the art world. He was definitely someone behind the scenes that you wouldn't normally hear about so that was really cool.
Tonight is the BCS National Championship game and to tell you the truth, I couldn't care less who wins. Not just because LSU already played but because bowl games ended last week! Why is this game a week later? It makes absolutely no sense to me. The NFL playoffs are going on, college basketball is gearing up...it just seems like there's a disconnect to this National Championship game. This morning Andy was saying that if there was anything better on TV he probably wouldn't watch. I agree...
Labels: football, NYC sights
Bad Language
Pretty much everyone who knows me knows that I have pretty foul mouth. Cursing doesn't offend me but any sort of slur...even slightly racist or homophobic really annoys me. Which brings me to one of Andy's most annoying habits...using the word "gay" to mean bad in some way. Now I know Andy has nothing against the gay community and has gay friends but for some reason this word is stuck in his vocabulary. For example, Notre Dame is "gay" the fact that Nick didn't like Superman Returns is "gay" etc... So, as a New Years Resolution I asked Andy to break this habit because of the homophobic undercurrents. In order to do this, we had to come up with a substitute for "gay" which is now "frat." I came up with this (you probably could have guessed that) sort of to throw it back in the face of the whole fraternity culture which I think is where he picked up "gay" even though he wasn't in a frat. So now, Notre Dame is frat and Nick is so frat for not liking Superman Returns. I haven't seen the movie, this is Andy's opinion. Andy has so far successfully executed the use of frat on two occassions and I haven't heard "gay" out of his mouth since. Let's hope he can keep it up!
Labels: andy
I am sleepy today. You know why? Because I was up until 12:30 this morning watching THE TIGERS!!! kick the crap out of Notre Dame. Ending the season with a win is always nice because who wants to spend 8 months dwelling on a loss? Not me.
I decided that I wanted to have fun tailgate food for the game but a nap before the game intervened so Andy and I picked up Thai food. I don't think curry is a traditional tailgating food but it was delicious. We did tempt fate a few times before the game...instead of the traditional Beam and coke pregame drink we had Jack and Coke (courtesy of my fantasy football winnings), because there was no Beam at the Thai restaurant; I wore a new, untested t-shirt; and Andy almost put a sweatshirt on which is unheard of! Thankfully I stopped him. We were so pumped up for the beginning of the game. After the first touchdown I realized that I was jumping up and down on the couch and had no clue how I had gotten there. Then I got really nervous when Notre Dame tied it up at 14. I think that the touchdown we scored right before the half was the difference maker. That really changed the momentum and allowed us to dominate for the rest of the game.
Terry Bradshaw and Howie Long were in the booth for the game which I had anticipated would be disastrous. Instead, Andy and I both really enjoyed it. I thought they were funny and they actually talked about football and made real football references instead of the dumbed-down commentary we usually get.
It was another great win for the Tigers and probably the last game for Jamarcus Russell who is getting a ton of hype after last night...more than pretty boy Quinn. I guess we can hope that now the media will wake up and stop glorifying Notre Dame season after season. It won't happen but we can hope.
All right, that's the last football post of the year except for the Saints.
GEAUX TIGERS!!!Labels: football
Football Finale
Well this weekend was the Championship game for my fantasy football league and to say that The Vegeenas lost is an understatement. They got DESTROYED. The game was pretty much over after Tiki Barber scored 42 points on Saturday night so I didn't even bother following it on Sunday. The final was 145-66 I think. I am still proud of myself that I finished second in the league, considering this was my first season. The best part is that I won $75...well, actually just $40 because I never put up my money at the beginning of the season. The other downside is that one other person hasn't paid yet so I've been forced to collect my winnings from them as punishment. Oh well, it's still $40..if I ever get it.
In other football news LSU plays Notre Dame tonight in the Sugar Bowl!! Very exciting!! Everyone that I've heard is predicting that LSU is going to win which makes me nervous...I like being the underdog. I don't want LSU to get hyped up too much.
As an unfortunate distraction from the Sugar Bowl, Nick Saban accepted the coaching job at Alabama today. I don't want to be pissed about this, but I am. I mean, rationally I know that Saban doesn't have any loyalty to LSU, to him it's just another job...who cares. But he lead LSU to a national championship which was a huge deal, especially to people who have been following LSU all of their lives. Saban left to take a job in the NFL...that's fine...I understand exploring other opportunities, but then to turn around two years later and take another college job, in the SEC, at ALABAMA...it just feels like a stab in the back. Once again, I know this is irrational, and my main fear is probably that he'll bring AL back and they'll start beating LSU again. It also makes me mad that two weeks ago he emphatically said that he had no interest in the AL job, just like he said about the Miami job when he was at LSU, but then they throw bags of money at him and he changes his mind. Coaches need to learn to just shut their mouths when asked questions like that...it just makes the decisions they make later look suspicious.
OK, done with the ranting, I'm over it...
GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!Labels: football, vegeenas
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years. Andy and I rang in the New Year at a party Chuck and Christina threw at their apartment. The night started off on a bad note when I was informed my Christina that several of the girls would be wearing skirts, implying that I should do the same. It's not that I hate skirts or don't own any but when I'm going to a party where I don't really know very many people, I want to be comfortable and skirt does not equal comfortable. When we got there Christina was the only person wearing a skirt and I realized she only told me that to force me to wear a skirt, knowing that I didn't know anyone else at the party so i couldn't call and ask them what they were wearing.
Anyway, the party was very nice...they had tons of food and good wine. At midnight we went on to the roof of their building so we could see the fireworks at midnight in Manhattan and in Brooklyn which was really cool.
After midnight however, things took a turn for the worst. For some reason the guys went in the back and played darts and smoked cigars while I was stuck in the living room with five other females. It's not that I didn't like these girls, I liked them all but they've all known each other for years and I've known them for 4 hours. Plus there was a lot of "girl talk" which frankly I am not used to. At one point, the conversation turned to episiotomies...don't know what that is? yeah, i didn't either and I don't recommend looking it up. Everytime Andy would come back for a drink I would flash him the "help me" look but it took three or four times before he caught on. I'm just not used to males and females splitting up at a party...maybe because the friends we've had before all knew each other whereas this was a close group of girls and the guys were just sort of thrown together...I don't know...it was just very out of the ordinary for me to be sitting around talking with five females. I like to play darts, I like a good cigar every now and then....
Overall though I did have a really good time and it was nice meeting Christina's friends that I hear so much about. I guess I better get used to the girl talk since I'm in a book club with most of them now.
Labels: new years
