What's a blog?

So I was riding to work with a co-worker this morning and he asked me "what's a blog?". So I tried to explain to him and he was curious as to why anyone would want to read about my life. I ask you, why do you want to read about my life?

A main reason I haven't been blogging recently is because I thought I couldn't from work, but apparently i can. After spending 8 hours in front of a computer sitting in front of the comp at home to create a good blog entry is not high on my priority list. But my bosses question was just to appropriate for a blog entry.

Another aspect of my drive this morning was listening to NPR in which the newscaster referred to the talks at the G8 summit as a "zero-sum game". Maybe 502 has some real world applications after all.

It's another dreary day here downtown...makes my view of the construction on the Renissaince Center even more beautiful. Tomorrow we go out to lunch since it's Friday which should be fun and then it's the weekend. =).

Hangin' Round, Downtown by myself...

Today was my first day working in downtown Detroit. I've never been there by myself and it was kinda scary for me to drive there and park and everything. I ran into this lady in the parking structure and she could tell I was clueless so she directed me to the office building (they are connected). I got to my floor and my cubicle had no computer so I had to work in some guy's cubicle who was out for a while. His nameplate said 'Paul' and everyone kept coming up to me and saying "you're not Paul". Anyways, since I had nothing to unpack cuz I started at the old office last week and hadn't had time to accumulate anything I spent the day surfing the Internet. Since it is behind a massive firewall I can't get to a lot of stuff. But I did read lots of comics. I'm so productive, I know. Eventually I felt like being good and asking my boss for something to do, but he always gets annoyed with me when I ask him. Isn't that why I'm there?

Where it all began

So, last night I went to a party on a boat on the Detroit River. It was a lot of fun and a good excuse to get all dressed up (haven't done that in ages). Prior to embarking on the lovely 4 hour boat adventure full of drinking, dancing, and observing the bright lights of the city we went out for dinner. We went to a restaurant that my friend Steph likes by Wayne State called Traffic Jam. I told my parents that I went there and found out that it is where my parents went on their first date. Apparently they went there again on their 10th anniversary. My parents are so cute.

What it is to be BLUE

So today I had my training session for work (first day) at Blue Cross Blue Shield. It was a very very long day and I learned "What it means to be Blue". I learned a lot about corporate culture (very 501'ish) and Health Privacy INFORMATION. They talked about information a lot...and I felt like it was a smart plan to become an information professional!

I also watched a bunch of videos some extremely low quality. One was called FISH! It was about attitudes and work environment at the Pike's Market in Seattle. They throw fish there and apparently have a lot of fun. We were supposed to learn that work should be lots of fun.

I also felt quite old since I was the only grad student intern and the majority of the other interns were going into their junior year of college (same age as my lil' bro). Also, when I went to the drugstore on my way home from work I noticed a sign that said "You must have been born on this date in 1986 to purchase cigarettes". It just seems strange to me. People born in 1986 seem younger in my mind. Like I have been legally able to smoke for five years.

My Family is Crazy!

So today was Mother's Day and the entire afternoon I spent without my mother...she went golfing with my Dad. So my brother and I spent Mother's Day hanging out with each other. At least my Mom liked her present.

Then the entire family (aunts, cousins, and grandparents) all went to the Country Club for dinner. What a nutty evening! The funniest moment was when my brother's ex-girlfriend visited the table and awkwardness ensued. As soon as she left my grandmother said to my brother "You can do better". Hahahaha, I love my Grandma. The moment of total mortification was when my Grandfather was talking about how he had to give some medical verification for Pepcid AC making sex more pleasurable for women. He started talking about how people have upset stomachs at night, and that in the lying down position at night, the drug can make a woman more relaxed. My brother and I wanted to DIE!!!! And my Mom kept talking about how inappropriate this conversation was.

My cousin was by far the craziest of all...He was wearing his skater clothes. And as a 13-year-old who can't sit still, he refused to even sit at the table for the entire meal. We were taking a family photo and no one could even find the kid. I mean, he was strategically placed next to my 80+ year-old grandfather and grandmother on Mother's Day and couldn't even give them his company for more than 2 seconds.

Oh and my Mom signed the Mother's Day cards for my grandmothers with all the cats names. My Mom has become the epitomy of a "crazy" cat lady.

She's Back

Wow...so I didn't post at all in April! I totally suck. So we'll see how much I blog this summer. I will try my best for all you people who enjoy reading about my dull life. (no matt pun intended :-p)

Well let's see April was a chaotic month between end of term crap Jewish holidays, etc. Then towards the latter half of the month trouble was a brewin' in paradise (a.k.a) relationship problems. And of course that all fell during finals/final project time. Needless to say, I was not so happy. Didn't want to subject y'all to my bitterness so I intentionally did not blog at that time. Then, once classes I had nothing to do (and my finals week ended earlier than most people). So I really had absolutely nothing to post about.

Now since I went to NYC and others are done with finals, my life has picked up a bit. Let's see...NYC was fun, my friends sure do party a lot. But it was great to take a short escape from my life here! Definitely needed to get away. How ironic that my previous post over a month ago was about going away. The major excitement other than shopping, catching up with old friends, and hittin' up the nightlife was seeing Tony Soprano at a Bar (yes I know that is not his real name). That was pretty cool. He is such a large man...I felt very miniscule, even though I didn't actually speak to him or shake his hand.

When I got back...I had a bunch of Doctor's appointments and did my Spring cleaning of the apartment. That is still a work in progress, but the crazy end of the term made my apartment an absolute disaster. It will hopefully be ready to host a potluck dinner, movie night, or game night sometime in the near future! We'll see if Ursula is invited with her history of tormenting cats!

Stuck in Ann Arbor

Today the Michigan hockey team lost in overtime to BC and therefore is not going to the Frozen Four. This would have been held in Boston and given me an excuse to go visit my friends there. So now without an excuse to leave other than to miss all my classes this week and watch our basketball team in a tournament that isn't the "real" one, i'm here in Ann Arbor for the duration of the semester. I generally don't travel that much, and the weather is getting nicer but I'm feeling the end of term crunch rapidly approaching.

I think I need to do some fun stuff this coming week/weekend to make up for the fact that I don't have any exciting travel plans in the near future unless I just hop in the car and drive away.

For the last time: MY NAME IS NOT CARL

So I e-mailed one of my professors and he e-mailed me back saying "hi Carl". And of course this is not the first time this has happened. I know that I clearly used the i instead of the l. Maybe we need to design interfaces that more clearly delineate the letter i from the letter l. Grrrr. I am not a boy and I do not like being called Carl.

On a more pleasant note: it is currently 52 degrees outside. Don't ask why I am sitting in front of my computer at this very moment I should be out celebrating the warmth that I asked for yesterday.

Isn't it supposed to be spring?

Saturday marked the official start of spring (well on the calendar at least). Saturday was nice, but now it's turned back to winter weather. I'm starting to go stir crazy.... I need to run around outside and not freeze my tush off!

Last night was visiting days and we were taking the admits around ann arbor and it was sooo cold. There were people from cali and florida so wandering around ann arbor in the freezing cold prolly didn't entice them to come here. And we were all lame wanting to go home and do work or sleep at like 9 o'clock! We are sure a cool bunch. I mean c'mon we post pics of our profs at our parties, what could be cooler.

The strange dreams continue

So, in DC I had a wacky dream in which i screamed in my sleep thus waking the roommates. They had some pretty crazy dreams too. Srah thought that there had been an earthquake cuz she dreamt about one and woke up utterly convinced that there had been one. Yesterday I found out a bunch of my friends from undergrad are engaged and stuff. Last night I dreamt that a really good family friend (a frosh in college) got married and woke up convinced that she was married. Still believing that this was reality all day I asked her this afternoon and I think she thinks I'm crazy. She's def not married or getting married anytime soon.

In DC we attributed all these crazy dreams to the lead in the water. But since there isn't lead in the AA water, what is making these dreams continue.

Yay for Pictures

So, I've uploaded my DC pics and am not happy bout being back here. That means I need to go to school and do homework and study and all that crap. ewwww. So now I'm just gonna reminisce and stare at my pictures while I procrastinate.

Home at Last

Back in Ann Arbor and exhausted. Today was fun singing show tunes and oldies!!! Plus we had a yummy breakfast with Cynthia before leaving DC. What a fantabulous trip and I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow until my Dad brings up my cat. It is so quiet in my apt without him.

Thanks to everyone who went to DC with me...it was a great time!

It's my last day of work and last day in DC. So I'm gonna live it up! My boss gave me a present which was really nice. I'm definitely gonna wanna come back and see the museum when it opens. Where I worked for a week. Now I'm gonna go explore some other Smithsonian museums before an evening of sightseeing and partying. Although I somehow lucked out and got the first driving shift tomorrow, so i shouldn't get too trashed seeing as I'd like to make it back home safely. But then I guess I can nap for the rest of the ride.

Vacations always go so quickly. And I still think this one was particularly strange since it is Spring Break and even at the end of it, it is not Spring. Although I can't complain about having a week off of school. =).

Oh and for a fabulous description of the entire trip: Srah's Trip Diary

Hello from DC!

So, it's been a while. Right now I'm in my office at the Smithsonian museum of the American Indian. I've been working here for the past 4 days doing grunt work and making a dataase for tribal museums around the country. I have really enjoyed DC especially since I haven't been here in years. I miss being near a fun city that had lotsa cool places to explore :-p. Monday i saw Tom Daschle speak at the National Congress of the American Indian. It was very interesting to hear him speak although it was about healthcare and I'm not for a national healthcare system. I guess I'm just biased because my Dad is a doctor and I have good health insurance and accessible healthcare. Yesterday I went over to the storage facility for the museum and actually got to see the collection. There were so many amazing things there like 3 story totem poles and boats and weapons and beaded clothing. I got to see everything up close and got a personal tour by one of the native americans who worked there. Oh and it's amazing they have 800,000 items all from one guy's collection. Although he was kinda a jackass for taking people's stuff and invading villages, the stuff is awesome!

Last night we had the alumni reception and the food was absolutely terrible!!! But it was fun, one of the alums went to my high school. and they recommended some restaurants for us. We ate yummy food last night, and I had leftovers today. Right now I'm finishing up for the day so we can hit up the town this evening. Only 2 more nights to party. Although I will enjoy sleeping in my own bed in a room that actually has heat. Our hotel is a lil' ghetto...like there are missing walls in the hallways and our bathroom door knob is not attached. And last night I had a nightmare of someone breaking into our room. Apparently i was actually screaming in my sleep.

Well, time to head out. Tomorrow's my last day of work and my boss is going to let me leave early so I can go explore the other Smithsonian museums. She's so cool. But shhhh...we're not supposed to leave work early :-p

Wahoo...Ursula is coming tomorrow =)!!!!
We're doing lunch on Friday =). (now u have no excuses for forgetting..teehee)

I've been bad at blogging...I was really sick last week so didn't feel like bitching about that and now I have insane amounts of work so I don't wanna complain bout that.

Tonight my bro and I are finally doing our weekly dinner after weeks off. And there's a BBall game tonight so it should be a fun evening.

Tomorrow is ice skating after class. I e-mailed my professor for that class asking for notes. And he responded calling me "Carl"...grrrrr. I should go up to him on Thursday and be like hi, I'm Carl. Oh and did I mention he was my advisor for this term. I think I'll be choosing a new one for the future. One that can read!!!

Today I spent the day at the Detroit auto show. Haven't been in years and the modern cars don't seem as futuristic as they used too. It was still fun to play around in all the cars. They didn't even let you touch the Ferraris and Bentleys, but it was cool to see them. The show was soooo crowded since everyone was off school today and it was the auto show's last day. Despite the crowds I still ran into a girl I knew at MIT. Crazyness.

Oh and we were supposed to go to Greektown, but we didn't have time. I can't wait till we actually go since I haven't been there in years either. Yeah I know I'm from Detroit, but I never go there. We're all such suburbanites. hehehe.

So I am seriously bad at blogging. I wait ages between updates. I guess I haven't been in a reflective mood these days. Too busy settling into my new classes and avoiding snow or freezing temperatures.

So at MIT we didn't have classes for the entire month of January. I am soooo missing that right about now. I already am too lazy to do my work and am already behind in reading. Seeing as the semester just started...we're in for some fun here.

On the bright side, I got a new car!!! =D (same as my old one). Now that I finally have transportation I need to think of exciting places to go. Well, maybe I'll just hibernate till the snow is gone (yes that will definitely be a while).

It's nice having a long weekend (finally have people to partay on a Sunday night with me). Seeing as I pretty much don't have class on Mondays the day off isn't so exciting, although I do think that MLK did some amazing things! I was supposed to be in DC right now livin it up with Cynthia, but my ride there didn't pan out, so I'm here in Mich. Although my Spring Break options are the 2 missed trips I've had the past few months. So it'll be NYC or DC although some people keep suggesting New Orleans seeing as it's Mardi Gras. hmmm....that would definitely be warmer, but also more expensive (not sponsored by SI). I also don't know if I am really into running around and flashing people.

Car accidents are the suckiest!!! I just found out Ursula is in the hospital from a car accident. grrrr :-(. She was so worried when she found out about mine but i was fine... poor Urs is in ICU. All of us at SI miss her dearly!