Psych

When I really want something, I have this tendency to psych myself out. When I'm on an interview I sit up straight, fold my hands in my lap, and smile... but not so big as to expose my Uvula or give myself a double chin. I am composed and professional and downright boring. If I was interviewing people, I would go ahead and choose the person I would want to hang out with, since we will be working together and I wouldn't want to work with a boring prude. I know there is a level of professionalism required for things like that, but I also think there is a balance of showing myself--you know, that girl who laughs louder than anyone else (and shows the uvula), the one who stands up in the middle of the day and stretches like a cat, sings two bars of whatever is stuck in her head, and sits back down like nothing happened. Since there is a writing job I am after, I have to write the samples. It's not something that's hard for me; in fact, they even suggest that my writing sounds a bit "snarky" (um, yes please). However, since I have been sitting here searching my brain for the creativity it is hiding, I figured I might as well blog to get the creative juices flowing. If I get the freelance job, awesome. If not, I have a job that I love and will continue to work at one way or the other.

My Day So Far

Until about five minutes ago, things were pretty swell. I woke up, worked out, and showered. This may seem like every day to you, however to me, getting all three of these done before work is a major feat. I usually only accomplish 1-2 per morning.
Upon arrival at work, I realize I am double-booked for jobs today. Problem. Call job that I will no longer work at after Dec. 17th(woot woot!), they agree that I don’t need to come in today. Problem solved.
Then, 20 minutes ago, a pipe burst at the office I am at.
Then, 15 minutes ago, I was feeling parched and needed to use the bathroom. NO WATER. So I drove to the other office to go to the bathroom (inconvenient much?!?!) and to get a drink, since water flows abundantly over there.
Whilst walking out of the main office that actually has water flowing freely, I look down for the first time today. What do I see? This:

That’s right person (oh please, no more than one of you is reading this) two different shoes! Equal in comfort, not equal in color. One is silver and the other gold. Aye, Carumba.

There are only 22 days until Christmas!!!

Yay!

Thankful

It may be a day or two late, but there is ne'er a problem with gratefulness. I had a particularly relaxing Thanksgiving day, with more food than I would ever need. I was surrounded by family as we preparred, ate, cleaned, and watched a movie. Unfortunately I don't really have extended family in the nearby vicinity, so holidays are normally a low-key experience. Sometimes I wish I spent my holidays with rooms full of people, but sometimes it's nice to spend the day in sweatpants and be a loud enough voice to choose the movie. However you spend your Christmas kick-off party (AKA Thanksgiving), it is important to actually stop and be grateful for all the amazing things we have been blessed with. Here are just a snippet of the many things I am thankful for:


1. My relationships. I feel like I have really great people who surround me, that genuinely care about me, support me, and challenge me. Thanks guys.


2. Work. Although I love one job and dislike the other, I am very grateful to be employed in this economy. On a near-daily basis I see hurting people who are out of work, need food, and are in desperate situations. I am glad that, although I would be more comfortable with more money, I am stable and doing fine for now. Grateful.

3. Fun things and laughter. I feel like I have fun with my life. I laugh a lot. Whether that is because I see humor in the most random things, or because my life is circumstantially more humorous, I am not sure. I am not one who does a lot of crazy, unique, or different things but I have fun and I laugh plenty. Life is pretty fun.

4. Literacy and entertainment. Man, do I love books! I can't imagine a world without the wonder of stories and entertainment. Therefore, I am happy to be literate because I think this is something many people take for granted. I know I do.

5. The most important, and this year's "I am thankful for"...God and his blessings. I know this encompasses a lot, but when I stop to think about it I am more than just slightly overwhelmed. God put me in today's world (as opposed to say, Europe in the 14th century), in one of the most thriving nations in the world. I am free to worship him, I have the a world of resources at my fingertips with the click of a mouse, and I have freedoms that I take for granted. Not only do I have multiple copies of the bible, but I have one on my phone. As a woman I enjoy equality and I can choose whoever I want to marry. I can wear a tank top in the summer. I complain because I ate too much on Thanksgiving (talk about first world pains). It just seems to be that since "for those who are given much, much will be required in return" (Luke 12:48) I have a lot expected of me. I better get on it.

Somebody call an EMT

Actually, unless you need CPR or a ride to the hospital, you would be better off calling a paramedic. We throw those terms around interchangeably, albiet flippantly, don't we? Well stop right now and learn the difference, because you may be offending a well-educated person and not even know it!
Here is the difference: EMT stands for emergency medical technician. This means in case of emergency they can do CPR, drive you to the hospital, and assess the situation to the best of their knowledge. What is their knowledge? You might wonder. Well, to become an EMT you have to take an EMT training program, and pass the test. A paramedic, on the other hand has to be an EMT for X amount of years, go to paramedic school, and pass the state and national tests. Both of these require extensive amounts of training and work, but obviously becoming a paramedic takes more work. Paramedics administer drugs and can pronounce people dead. Paramedics essentially take the first few years of medical school in a matter of months.
An easy way to remember which is which is think of a technician- you wouldn't want your ultrasound technician to deliver your baby now, would you?* Paramedics are hard-working folk, who do not take kindly to being clumped in with the technicians. It's a touchy subject. Now that you know the difference, you won't offend a paramedic by calling him an EMT. I know that you didn't mean to, none of us do. For the interest of saved feelings, let's get it right folks.


*This may be a totally inaccurate analogy, but I'm not sure...just go with it.

Two things that I love

The more I post the more I realize just how uninteresting I am. This is why I rid of my Facebook account; so I wasn't looking at the fabulously presented lives of others. It could be because I don't take pictures of my whole life and make it seem cooler. When I am simply baking bread pudding for a co-worker's birthday, I don't post 14 pictures of me with an Anthropologie apron on and flour on my nose so you think I'm so cute and fun. I just bake it and be on my way. Tangent over. However boring my life may seem, in the course of this last week I have come across two things that I absolutely LOVE and encourage you to check out immediately.
1. Pintrest.com Wow and double wow. Pretty much all I have been doing at work lately is scrolling down on this website (multi-tasking of course while I answer questions and transfer calls). It is like the whole world's tumblr on one website. There are crafty ideas that I admire so much but will never attempt. Except maybe at Christmas. I am slightly more crafty at Christmastime. There are funny pictures, bumper stickers, make-up tips and tricks, recipes...just ideas of all kinds galore! This website is seriously probably the best one you will ever come across--aside from this one, of course.
2. The movie 50/50. I haven't seen a movie and enjoyed it this much in a VERY long time. Even though when I saw "The Town" I adopted in to my top 5 immediately, I wasn't this passionate and emotionally vested in it. 50/50 was such an incredible balance of comedy, drama, great script, excellent acting, and all around fabulosity.(Yes, I made that word up. It is now a word according to me, and I'm sure Webster will be next to adopt it.) We all know I have a strange fascination with Anna Kendrick, and Joseph Gordon-Levitz sure does have great taste in movie roles(10 Things I Hate About You will forever be one of my favorite chick-flicks). I highly encourage you to see this movie, and I hope it gets a few Oscar nods when the time comes around.

Long Post Part 2

Welcome back to the second installment of my ramblings about New York! It probably took you the whole week that I haven't blogged just to finish that last post, so without further adeu (or any pictures) here is a continued list of my adventures:

-I visited Time's Square. We actually went there several times, and it is essentially a giant tourist trap but, hey! We were tourists. There are two Starbucks there. I went to both of them. Also, ya know the ball that drops for New Years? The giant one that is illuminated with glitter and lights? Well, spoiler alert! It's like the size of my thumb, it is so flippin' small. I was looking everywhere for it, and our friend had to point to the wee lil' ball so I could see it. If I got close I'm sure it's way bigger, but compared to all of the massive screens, advertisements, and other musings in the square, the ball is quite miniscule.
- I ate a hot dog from a hot dog vendor. Check double check and yum.
-I found out what "Little Italy" was all about, and walked through "Chinatown". We walked through Chinatown pretty late so, although we saw it, we didn't get to experience it like I would have preferred. Evidently, Little Italy is all about the food! We ate at a delicious restaurant, where they served the biggest shrimp! Seriously, I need to post a picture; these things were almost the size of my fist. I think we might have been the server's first table ever--this guy didn't know his head from a hole in the ground, but it was fun nonetheless.
-See the Brooklyn Bridge: I cannot say for certain. I know this sounds dumb, but I don't know whether or not I saw this. I am fairly certain I did because I spent time equally between Manhattan and Brooklyn and I know that there were several bridges, one seemed more prominent than the others, but I still don't know if that was it. If you look up pictures online they all look the same.
-I took time out to remember the tenth anniversary of 9/11. We actually went to ground zero twice; once when we first got to New York and again on 9/11. It was insane to walk the grounds where thousands died--to know that my feet were touching the same area that bodies lied after they jumped from 80 stories up. I imagined all the dust and debris and cleaning... it was very emotional and overwhelming. On 9/11 we woke up and tuned in to the ceremony that took place for the families, including the unveiling of the fountain. At night we went down to ground zero and walked around the area. They had two beams lighting up the sky where the towers were, that could be seen for miles I'm sure (even when we went back to Brooklyn that night they were bright as ever). The lights were thick and looked like the towers, but they were slightly see-through, reminiscent of ghosts. I feel like I am the youngest age that truly knew what was going on that day, and I can remember it in full vivid detail. Even my friends who are a year or two younger than me recall not being able to watch the events unfold on tv in class. I remember not doing any schoolwork-- we just watched the television in every class. I am very grateful that I am old enough to really remember.
-I absorbed the awesomeness that is the New York Public Library. But I only got to absorb it from the outside! Go figure, this was the only place in all of New York that closes at five, and I got there at 5:15. I wish so badly that I was able to go inside-- it looked so cool! The outside is positively the most beautiful thing in New York.
- I visited with friends that have been missed. I cannot thank our friends enough for letting us stay with them! We spent part of our time in Brooklyn and part of our time in Manhattan. Both sets of friends were so hospitable, such great tourists, and so fun to hang out with! We really had the best time, and we wouldn't have been able to afford to make this trip if it weren't for our awesome friends.
Other cool things we did:
- We saw Grand central station. So many movies have been filmed there, it was rad to see it in person. It really is gorgeous.
-We ate a TON of the most delicious pizza. Evidence of this can still be found on my forehead. Breakouts ensued.
-We walked down 5th Avenue. This is supposed to be really famous and cool, but honestly I didn't give rip. The only reason we walked down it was because we were passing it, and it was the route we were taking. It's just a bunch of high end retail stores. Like an outdoor South Coast Plaza.
-We went to an AWESOME exhibit that the New York Times headquarters had for 9/11 of photos, videos and memorabilia. That was so cool to see all the pulitzer prize winning photos that were so moving.
-We ate at a Sri Lankan restaurant. There aren't any in Orange County (or anywhere that I know of), so I was excited to find one in Manhattan! Unfortunately, it was over priced and not nearly as tasty as I expected. It was authentic, but it was just like being served by a Sri Lankan who is a bad cook as opposed to a Sri Lankan who is a good cook.
-We got lost. A lot. When we first arrived, we went so far the wrong way that the subway system ended, and not in a good area. Pretty sure there was blood on the side of the train. Fortunately we encountered two super nice guys who were around our age, and they showed us how to properly navigate back. The stereotype of New Yorkers being rude is completely false as far as I experienced. I encountered some of the most friendly, kind people while I was there.
-We went to hipsterville USA aka Williamsberg. The whole state was hipster, don't get me wrong, but this place was out of control. I don't even remember much about the city (although it was quite pretty) except the buns, giant glasses, off the shoulder baggy shirts, boots with undone laces, and leggings galore.

Fun fact: I had the song "Marching Bands of Manhattan" by Death Cab for Cutie stuck in my head the whole time.


I really cannot wait to go back!