thought he was a jerk for hating on the fussy toddler seated behind him unti'l the little old lady next to him muttered "Shut the fuck UP!"

One year in Harlem

Well, it's been one year in Harlem now. You would think I'd be used to hiking up six flights of stairs by now, but you'd be only half right. I'm good as long as I don't have seven bags of groceries to lug up with me. (You would also think I would have learned to go to the local Pathmark with greater frequency and less severity, but you'd be wrong.)

Still bright and sunny---although apparently I'm located next to a construction site for the next year or so as the MTA rebuilds (from the ground up) the new Mother Hale Bus Depot next door. Right now it's just a big pit.

Anyway, that's whats going on up here. Maybe I'll try to write more on this thing going forward.

Abby

Abby
Originally uploaded by hawkwild

Spring Cleaning

Well, the parents are coming to NYC on Friday, and unless I want my mother to cry and then spend all day Sunday cleaning my apartment, I need to clear away the detritus of the winter. It's amazing how things pile up.

I do think, however, that it's time to go to bed. No point in pulling overnights when I'm not getting paid for them.

Lunch Today (I hope!)

OK, this is what I anticipate having for lunch today. After working the overnight (!) I'm hopping on the airport bus and going to LaGuardia, flying to Savannah, and then going with my family to The Lady and Sons, Paula Deen's southern cooking restaurant. Seeing this Flickr photo posted by another user makes me HUNGRY, even at 4:16 am.
The Lady & Son's, Savannah
Originally uploaded by trent_maynard

Happy Easter to my Peeps

Wow, my very own sunrise service, right here at the Front Desk!

In other historic news, I ate my first Peep (ever) today. It was very sweet.

I was inspired to purchase my first ever six-pack of Peeps today by the Food Network show "Unwrapped," which today had a special about all manner of Easter confections. They featured a "Peep artist" who makes huge constructions and collages out of Peeps. It made me wonder what I was missing out on. The answer: tooth decay.

Happy Easter to all!
Peeps
Originally uploaded by Chatdurouge

Chrysler Building as seen from the Alex

New York from the 26th Floor
Originally uploaded by boboroshi

So, this is where I've been spending my nights lately. Not on top of the Chrysler Building, but on the overnight shift at The Alex.

I really hope they hire a new overnight manager soon, because overnights kinda suck.

You'd think I'd have more time to blog since spending hours and hours with nothing to do in the lobby of a hotel, but you'd be wrong. Perhaps this is the start of my next big blogging phase.

Fast Food Nation R Us!

It’s time to revisit my goal of staying away from fast food restaurants, methinks.

A particularly disastrous outing to Wendy’s today has precipitated this particular “never again” moment. Nasty, NASTY food. Yuck. Happily, the sick feeling is staying with me to make me remember why I gave this crap up in the first place.

So, no more fast food—with the exception of lowfat Subway (hey a guy’s gotta eat something).

Wish me luck.

See more progress on: stop eating fast food

Holiday Temptations

And…it’s that time of year again!

I’m down fifteen pounds (yay!) and now the Holiday Season begins. I’m really going to try to be good this year. When I sat down with the nutritionist, it was amazing how often I was “treating” myself to various things. She pointed out to me that if you treat yourself all the freaking time, it’s not really a “treat,” is it?

She also pointed out that cheese lurks everywhere and that you can consume an amazing amount of calories just by going to Starbucks once or twice a day. Yikes!

Here’s hoping my holidays don’t turn into “open season” on bakery goods and hors d’ouevres!

See more progress on: Lose 30 pounds

Things are going well on Nutrisystem

Down 9 lbs so far, being fairly strict about following their rules. Except still putting cream in my morning coffee, and having low-fat (not non-fat) dressing on my lunch salad (the non-fat dressings at my lunch place are all nasty!) Enjoying the routine, the variety and the simplicity.

See more progress on: suceed in using nutrisystem

More Coffee Needed

More Coffee Needed
Originally uploaded by bullish1974

This very accurately describes my state of mind at the moment. It's getting to be time for the mid-afternoon Starbucks fix. I keep thinking I'll kick it, but every day--*pow*--the 3pm doldrums set in.

It does seem to be less noticable now that I'm eating very little sugar....the sugar roller coaster effect I think really exacerbates the whole "slump" thing. So hooray for progress.

Still, can't function without caffeine.....must work on that.

Uncle Jay Explains the News - September 3, 2007

Uncle Jay explains the concept of "recess" and reveiws the awesome work ethic of the hardest working Congress in America: Congress!

read more digg story

Document Review

Paper Stack
Originally uploaded by Crittz

After a brief respite from document review in the form of drafting some discovery responses, it looks like it's back to document review for me. Joy.

At least it's less stressful than producing work product; your work product is in the form of little Post-It Flags attached to the important documents. It's quite relaxing.

Popcorn

They are all different
Originally uploaded by Rune T

Just enjoyed this picture, and if you know me, you know this is work related. Sort of.

Stormy Weather

Dark clouds and lightning over NYC skyline
Originally uploaded by John P Sullivan

It seems appropriate that today was gloomy and rainy and stormy. There was a bunch of thunder earlier in the day, but I'm not sure it was anything THIS dramatic. Still, always fun to find a great picture on flickr and share it, especially when it helps move Larry Craig off the top of the page.

That's what I get for being topical and then not posting for a week. Yuck.

Barney Frank on the Craig Kerfluffle

"It’s one thing to say that someone can’t be trusted to vote without being corrupt, it’s another to say that he can’t be trusted to go to the bathroom by himself."

--Representative Barney Frank, on why he thinks that embattled Idaho Senator Larry Craig should serve out his term.

From the Schadenfreude Files

Old news by now I guess, but I just love this whole thing with Senator Craig, R-Idaho.

Also, why do the Republican hypocrites involved in these things always look so creepy?

read more digg story

Finished!

Finally finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows tonight. Quite satisfying is all I’ll say. I think she ended the series very well.

Now I should proabably get to bed . . . .

See more progress on: read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Spa Day!

Spa
Originally uploaded by austinite

So last year for my birthday, my lovely parents got me a gift certificate for a day spa, which has spent the past 11 months stuck to my refrigerator.

Well, today's the day! Salt scrub, facial and massage, here I come! Heading off to Dorit Baxter in just a few minutes, to return refreshed and relaxed!

The Problem Isn’t Mr. Maliki

If President Bush took the time to study the real lessons of Vietnam, he would not be so eager to lead America deeper into the quagmire he has created in Iraq.

read more | digg story