Dreadfully, woefully unlucky

This evening Kate and I spent quite a bit of time taking new photos of her for the Lit House website and just to have as headshots. Just wanted to report, by photo, that I’m one of the luckiest guys in the world:

Psychic Cacophony

Yesterday afternoon and into the evening, I helped Shannon move back into her building of 3000 flags. We cleaned the ceiling fans, unpacked boxes of kitchenwares, scrubbed down a totally grotesque toilet – the usual new apartment stuff. After a few hours of such activities, our attention turned to pizza and Riesling and sitting down at a table. So we rustled up quarters and singles, called Dominoes and rejoiced at the arrival of our delicious pie (the Riesling having already been opened an hour in advance.)

What started as a food break quickly turned into an actual sobremesa of chatter. The topic was, of course, life in the city versus life in the country. This is a common thread in most conversations I’ve had of late and was most definitely brought on by my return from Philadelphia. As I was explaining the sheer joy I feel at knowing there are so many people living and dying at every moment in such a densely populated place as a city, Shannon was simultaneously describing the crushing weight of sensing millions of thoughts all at once. It seems odd that we would both come to the same conclusion as to what makes the city good/bad on the first try.

I guess I wonder what this psychic cacophony means to other people. Does anyone else sense inherently the presence or absence of a population? Good or bad? Could this be the basic difference between people that prefer to live in a rural setting or an urban setting?

Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Philadelphia

If you’d have told me just a few years ago I’d actually enjoy coming to this city so close to New Jersey, you would have received nothing but a hearty belly laugh. But, driving in today on I-95 (the speed limit there, too, no?) I experienced, again, a chill up my spine when the Philadelphia skyline peaked over the horizon. Though it’s dangerously near to the Garden State, apparently full of unattractive people (read) and full of god awful attitudes, this place has become a new second home over the last few months. I will say that Chestertown gets bonus points in my book for having the good sense to be only an hour and ten minutes or so away!

So, you may ask, why am I here again? Well, today began the twice-canceled final two days of my InDesign training. Since I’m the only person in my class, it was a really great one on one session with the instructor. We mostly went over things that she finds really useful in the print preparation process and ways in which Acrobat can be used to aid in the tasks related to sending your jobs to press. It was very informative and, if nothing else, gave me a good vocabulary for talking with printers in the future. We even took lunch together today and probably will again tomorrow.

This trip very nicely coincides with my birthday, which is tomorrow. Kate’s coming up in the evening to go out to dinner. We have a reservation at Susanna Foo, which comes highly recommended by Lindsie. Afterwards, if it’s not too late, we may check out art supplies or save the shopping for the morning. Hopefully, Saturday afternoon will be spent at the residence of Ms. Weaver and maybe out and about for a little East Falls exploring.

And, I must say, I’m really stoked about the great deal I found on my room for this entire affair. For the same price as the somewhat disappointing and less convenient (for walking) hotel of last time, I’m staying at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel. I didn’t actually read the history of the building, but there is a grand marble corridor leading you to the lobby, completed with a large bank vault door at the end. The hallways and rooms are totally Art Deco and the entire effect is something out of a film noir meets The Matrix. And the views! I lucked into a corner room and, uh, wow:

And, of course, I had to spend at least a good portion of my first evening here shopping. I made it to H&M, Zara, Diesel, Urban, and Puma without even getting lost. Granted, they are all on the same side of one street, but still!

Sometimes I’d Like To Be Suprised…

Departing this afternoon was very nearly the stupidest idea I’ve ever embarked upon. When I parked my car six hours later, it looked as if I had driven Klaus into the murkiest part of a secluded swamp. I wonder what the Eastern Shore drivers thought had happened to this speeding silver VW? Why was this the case? Well, the first two hours of my trip looked something like this:

That’s right, a fucking blizzard. It cleared by Altoona, but spending an extra half hour trying to get to I-80 because I couldn’t make it up the last hill before the main road really set the tone for this entire journey.

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Holiday Greetings!

Merry festivities to all, dear readers! Enjoy the copious amounts of food and booze as much as I am thus far!

Nick

Devotion…

So, have you had a Fuze beverage? I’m just checking, because every once in awhile, I bump into someone that has yet to discover the magic that is Fuze. Made from delicious fruit juices in delightful combinations like “Dragonfruit Kiwi” and “Mango Mellon,” these drinks promise to keep you alert, slenderized and energetic. I’m not sure if they deliver on all of these fronts, but I can tell you that a bottle typically packs a day worth of vegetable nutrients and serves pretty well as a lunch replacement if you juts can’t leave your desk. They also have the amazing ability to stay delicious even when warm, clearly showing they are intended for the poor cube drone. So spectacular are these treats that Kim and I used to split them as a work day pick me up several times a week – and this would often become the sincere highlight of our days.

Well, recently I introduced Lindsie to the glory and splendor of Fuze. She, of course, was smitten and professed her love for the liquid manna to me today. Being that it’s a very slow week for office workers everywhere, we crafted this fan letter and submitted it moments ago:

Dear Fuze People,

We love everything you stand for: you make our day complete and what’s more, you complete our lives. Your delicious beverages are there for us each morning, cold and refreshing. Even better, after a long day of office slavery, your magical liquid is still tasty as ever when again our lips meet back at the cubicle.

In short, Fuze may be the single best drinking product we’ve ever stumbled upon in our grocer’s refrigerated section. And for that, we owe you a undying debt of gratitude.

Tearfully,

Nick & Lindsie

I received an automated “we’re reviewing your letter” reply. We shall see if anything more comes of this. Hopefully it will be better received than my letter to Bravo asking why Tim Gunn’s Guide to Style adverts have a bunny playing the drums looming behind everyone’s favorite stylist for no apparent reason. I’m sure that was filed straight away into the “complete nutter” bin… I needed to know, though!

Bravo, I’d still like to know. What gives with the bunny?

On frozen fingers and fresh-made dinners

Wednesday night brought a much-anticipated (and once canceled) event to the lives of Kate and I: Matthew and Robbi came over for dinner! Hoorah! The festivities really began on Tuesday night, with prep work including much chopping, mild tidying and such. Note, I said much chopping – this will be important in a moment. On Wednesday, I crept out of work a bit early and let myself in to Kate’s residence. Bella watched intently as I did some last minute organizing, prepared the butternut squash-apple soup and set out a fish/forest/babushka themed tablescape. I was being so very, very efficient and safe throughout all of this household activity that I was beginning to get suspicious of my continued mishap-less state by the time I moved on to slicing the mini buns for our chicken-apple burgers. Then it happened. On the last slice of the last bun, I took a good gash out of my thumb.

“Why does this always happen?” I thought, followed quickly with: “Where did I put Kate’s bandages?” and a hearty “Fuckingfuck!”

With the bleeding under control, I welcomed first Kate back to her own home and then, shortly after, Matthew and Robbi themselves. We had fantastic conversation, they enjoyed delicious treats (Italian sodas finally uncorked) and eventually we moved on to XBox 360. This is where things really got enjoyable. I made our guests tea and Kate informed them of how the death machine that is Halo 3 functioned. Matthew gave it a go, exploring the more watery parts of the initial level. Robbi gave herself vertigo exploring the landscapes. We switched to Elder Scrolls IV which proved to be a bit more entertaining. After showing how to feed on old ladies and generally be ineffective at navigating a simple house, I let the Swanson-Behrs have at designing their own characters. Old Bagolà and Pancho are monuments to this endeavor. 🙂

Today, today, today. *sigh* Five hours in the cold and the cat room produced Episode 8 of Think Pawsitive, the Kent County Humane Society‘s monthly-ish public access program. Nancy, Brian and I filmed and photographed until our fingers were ready to fall off. I was terrified to see what my inbox/voicemail light would look like on my arrival back to campus. Luckily, though, the gods of Friday were good to me and I was able to leave on time, with a poinsettia, no less (a prop for explaining holiday pet hazards.)

So, on to a snowy weekend, hopefully spent delightfully warm as the weather turns apocalyptic. Wish me luck!

I didn’t remember that I forgot

Sometimes my favorite thing is being reacquainted with words that I had, until just recently, been unaware that I once knew. Today’s word is “cryptid,” which coincides nicely with Dusty’s post below.

The Geeks of Our Lives

So, I stumbled upon this great collection of geek icons today. I consider them to be like collectibles of their own right (maybe I should have grabbed the “Collectible Geek” on my way through?) In any case, I snagged all of the geeks that combine to make me and have made this very useful infographic for your perusal.

Which geeks are you? Take a look at this great poster and Flickr set by “ExtraLife” and marvel at just how many different kinds of geeky you really are.