the fine art of procrastination

I can't fall asleep and am procrastinating deciding what my New Year's resolutions will be. Here goes another survey(taken from Angie):

JANUARY

1. Who kissed you on new years? Mel and I were talking about this the other day. I can't remember what I did for New Years last year. I know I was supposed to make an appearance at Dan's party and never made it. Was I sick? Either way, I don't know.
2. Did you have a new year's resolution this year? Yes, 4 of them and I kept 3 of the 4. Not bad.
3. Does it snow where you live? yessssssssssss
4. Do you like hot chocolate? umm, it's ok, sometimes
5. Have you ever been to Times Square to watch the ball drop? No, and quite frankly, it really isn't on my list of things to do.

FEBRUARY

1. Who was your Valentine? Jenne. We had a lets be happy that we are single and not in a bad relationship par-tay. Or maybe we just hung out and drank wine.
2. When you were little, did you buy valentines for your whole class?For sure and put candy in every envelope.
3. Do you care if the groundhog sees its shadow or not? Nope

MARCH

1. Are you Irish? nope
2. Do you wear green on St. Patty's Day? not usually, and if I do, it is only in an attempt not to get pinched
3. What did you do for St. Patty's Day in 2006? Went to Wrigleyville with Aaron et all
4. Are you happy when winter is pretty much over? I don't hate winter, but I like the spring better

APRIL

1. Do you like the rain? I love a rainy night. I like the rain hitting my face and really don't mind getting soaked as long as I am not going somewhere that I need to be dry. Storms are the best.
2. Did you play an April fool's joke on anyone?probably
3. Do you get tons of candy on Easter? no
4. Do you celebrate 4/20? nope
5. Do you love the month of April? it's alright, but not my favorite

MAY

1. What is your favorite flower? calla lilies
2. Do you like the spring? I love the spring
3. Finish the phrase "April showers": bring my birthday
4. What is the first color you think of when you think of Spring? pastels

JUNE

1. What year did/will you graduate from high school? do i really need to date myself?
2. Did you do anything fun during this month?oh yes. lots of travel and visitors

JULY

1. What did you do on the Fourth of July?i worked
2. Did you go on any vacations during this month? I went to visit my brother...always a good time
3. Do you blast the A/C all day? no, I am a window open kind of girl as long as it is 90 or below

AUGUST

1. Did you do anything special at the end of your summer?i went to Columbus to visit Aaron and attend his party which would have serious karmic retribution on all of us
2. What was your favorite summer memory of '06?So many. Lots of traveling and hanging out with friends. I think it was one of the best summers.
3. Did you have a sunburn? Oh yes. I think we all got burnt in Jamaica.
4. Do you go to the beach a lot? I like the beach, but not dirty beaches.

SEPTEMBER
1. Did you attend school/college in '06? nooo
2. Who is your favorite teacher? I've had a lot of good teachers, but I think my first favorite teacher was Mr VanBuskirk. He was my 8th grade history teacher and track coach. I hate the subject of history but I liked his hard ass ways.
3. Do you like fall better than summer? Fall brings college football...so, yesssssss.

OCTOBER

1. What was your favorite Halloween costume? Hmm...I like the creative ones that are plays on words and you have to figure out what they are.
2. What is your favorite candy? hands down, regular starburst
3.What did you dress up as this year? nothing

NOVEMBER

1. Whose house do you go to for Thanksgiving?usually my aunt and uncles, but I haven't been to turkey day in 3 years
2. Do you love stuffing? no. gross. it is soggy and i hate soggy foods.
3. What are you thankful for? happiness

DECEMBER

1. Do you celebrate Christmas? yes, but i have never understood why we don't eat birthday cake on Christmas
2. What is December 1st, 2006? i had the day off work, so anything could have happened
3. Have you ever been kissed under mistletoe?yes....and ang, i totally remember the danger zone in dan and einhorn's room. that was the best
4. Get anything special last year? yes. i didn't have to work and got to spend time will all my family. it was great.
5. What do you want this year? world peace
6. Do you like cold weather? yes, because sometimes you breathe in the cold air and you realize that you are alive...and i know that sounds really corny and it probably is, but that is how i think sometimes

movie reviews and a shout out to nate

I like to keep it short and sweet.

The Departed- brilliant and twisted. if you haven't seen it yet, do. soon.

Casino Royale- i like daniel craig as the new bond a surprising amount. the dialogue between vesper and bond, i loved. if he were alive, i would really want to have dinner with ian. and yes, we would be on a first name basis.

**I owe a big thanks to Nate. Tonight on the way home, I managed to leave my cell phone in the cab. Fortunately, Nate was online and and repeatedly called my phone until the cabbie answered it and Nate convinced him to drive it back to me. Now, I am perched at my window waiting for mr cabbie to return. I owe you big time, Nate. Thanks buddy.
So, after an hour and a half and the cab driver not showing up, I enlisted Tommy's help. He with the help of a friend was able to call my cell until said driver answered. Finally, with much help, I was able to get my phone back and pay this man a hefty fare. Thanks guys.

celebrating Christmas via phone

So, my Christmas started off on a high note. When I left work last night I had several Merry Christmas texts and voice mails. The first one received was from my brother...never put it past him to be super thoughtful.

This morning I was woken up by a phone call from my uncle wishing me a Merry Christmas and was then passed around to everyone in the family. Then, Jenne, my old roommate called and we talked for about an hour as it has probably been about 2 months since we have really had a chance to catch up. I also got to talk to Mel and Megan and received several more Merry Christmas texts and a few Feliz Navidads.

Then, work called and said that actually, I wouldn't be working today as too many people were on the schedule and it was my turn in the rotation to get called off. As soon as I hung up, I got a call from my cousin's little girl wishing me a Merry Christmas and was again passed around to the entire family. Feeling a little bummed that I got called off, my dad encouraged me to go out and do something.

So, I decided to pick up some Subway(i love it) for lunch and returning home, I had 3 missed calls from my brother. On the 5 hour drive home from my grandparents on Christmas it is tradition to set our resolutions for the new year. So, I got the call to state my resolutions. Of course, while I am on the phone with my brother, my mom thinks it is hilarious to also call my phone from her cell...and they are all in the same car.

Through work we get free movie tickets a lot and I have multiple that are about to expire, so I thought I would go see a couple movies that I have been wanting to see. I am pretty excited to see The Departed and Casino Royale. My brother was a little bummed that I was going to see Casino Royale, because we usually watch Bond movies together, but who knows when we would have time to see it together. My critiques of the movies to come later...if I can make it through 2 movies.

Alamo Bowl

I just realized that I am going to be home and get to watch the Hawks play in the Alamo Bowl with my family. That almost makes up for having to work Christmas.

The last time that Iowa played in the Alamo Bowl, they upset Texas Tech. What a fun game to be at. Aaron, Dan, Jill, Lauren, Angie and I road tripped to San Antonio, spent some time on the River Walk and went to the game. There is video of that trip somewhere, but hopefully it has been burned since then. OLFHND.

Merry Christmas!

one word

One. Word. Survey. You. Can. Only. Type. One. Word.

1. Yourself: stace
2. Your sibling(s): bubs
3. Your mother: beautiful
4. Your Father: rational
5. Your favorite physical feature on others: smile
6. Your dream home: comfortable
7. Your best friends: amazing
8. Your dream last night: none
9. Your Favourite drink: water
10. Your Dream Car: none
11. The room you are in: bed
12. Your Ex: who
13. Your fear: kakorrhaphiophobia
14. What you want to be in 10 years: laughing
15. Who you hung out with last night: mulveys
16. Something you’re not: prissy
17. Muffins: blueberry
18. One of Your Wish List Items: vacation
19. Time: flies
20. The Last Thing You Did: phone
21. Your Favorite Weather: football
22. Your Favorite Book: cook
23. The last thing you ate: orange
24. Your Life: fun
25. Your Mood: tired
26. What are you thinking about right now: sleeping
27. What are you doing at the moment: typing
28. Your summer: adventuresome
29. Your relationship status: ask
30. Who You Are Now: me
31. Who You Want to be in Five Years: me
32. What is the weather like: chilly
33. When is the last time you laughed: today
34. Who should fill this out: Swope

christmas?!?! what's that?

I don't feel like Christmas is 3 days away. Maybe it's because I worked Thanksgiving or the unusually warm weather this year but Christmas snuck up on me. I still haven't finished my Christmas shopping, but I did get all my Christmas cards sent out.

I am working Christmas Eve and day. It will be fun to be with the kids on Christmas day and it looks like we will have a lot of kids at work this year. We have been unusually busy the past week or two.

It will be a little(or a lot) sad not to be with my family for the holidays. I always stay fully informed on the family happenings, as they call me every time something funny happens...which is a lot in my family. The best is when I pick up the phone and all I hear on the other end is my mom and brother laughing and trying to tell me a story, but they can't get it out because they are laughing too hard.

I hope everyone has safe travels this holiday season.

Do these things happen to anyone else?!?!

So, this guy I know is in the entertainment business called me the other day to see if I wanted to hang out this week and he had some promo tickets to a movie. So, I said sure. We hadn't seen each other since this summer, but thought it would be nice to catch up.

So, we met up for the movie and when he saw me, he picked me up and spun me around. I let out a little yelp. I don't think anyone has ever been so excited to see me, not even my parents after being away for a while. People that know me well know that I am not a very touchy-feely person unless I know you well, then can be very affectionate(he doesn't fall into this category).

After the movie we were sitting there talking and he was updating me on the new ventures in his life. He constantly has 50 different projects going on and is always trying to promote them...which is fine. Then red flags were going up left and right...it went something like this...grabs my hand and says...I remember the first time I ever saw you and heard your voice...blah blah blah...red flag red flag red flag...He then made it apparent that he is single(last time we hung out he was dating someone) and that he wanted 2007 to be our year....what?!!?

Umm, I thought we were just hanging out. Anyway, I let him know that we could hang out but that we wouldn't be a "we" in 2007. He then insisted on walking me to the L where he continues to profess his love for me on street corners and received several odd glances from people standing on the corner with us. Finally, the L steps were in sight and I was ready to head down them when I was trapped into another uncomfortably long hug. Finally, freed from his grip, he grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go as I went bounding down the stairs until his arm just wasn't long enough to reach anymore.

This guy might have a touch of the crazy.

[Edit] Less than 3 hours after getting home, I have an email in my inbox saying how great it was to see me today and he will be getting in touch with me soooooooooooon.

Oh dear.

Top 1%, that's me.

Following the special on dwarfism on tv tonight was a special on the world's tallest people. The average height of the American male is 5'10" and the female 5'6". Only 1% of the male population is above 6'3" and female population is 5'10" or taller.

That puts me in the top 1%.

I found out all kinds of interesting things. I could belong to a tall people's club and enter special tall people beauty pageants. While I don't think I will be doing any of the these things it did remind me of the fact, I am tall. The show talked about physical and social difficulties of being tall (I don't think that I am socially retarded). I have been told that I am too tall to date on a couple of occasions, but then again, I thought they were too shallow.

I like being tall...except when I need to buy new pants.

Stop by your local newstand...this issue is worth reading

Since graduating from college, I have been really bad at keeping up with world news and current events.

I have never had a love for history and am awful with geography. It is also really hard for me to catch the news because I work evening shift. The combination of these things can leave me dreadfully clueless with what is going on in the world sometimes...which is horrible(and embarrassing to admit) and I am attempting to work on it. Perhaps it will be a New Year's resolution for '07.

To start me in the right direction, I read the December 4 issue of TIME magazine from cover to cover tonight and really enjoyed it(I already know that I am a total geek). Here are some interesting things I read:

--People with personalized license plates or have names for their cars are more likely to express road rage.

--There was a thought provoking snippet on Ian Thorpe, an Australian swimmer that has 9 Olympic medals(5 of them gold) that has retired at the age of 24. Ian reported that he had met all of his swimming goals and wanted to start the rest of his life, stating, "You can swim lap after lap, staring at a black line, and all of a sudden you look up and see what's around. That's what it feels like for me."

--An interesting analysis of Bob Gate's options on the Iraq war as Bush's nominee for Defense Secretary.

--As of January, Henry Waxman will have subpoena power as the new chairman of the House Government Reform Committee and why that should strike fear in the heart of every government official.

--A great article on the irrational fears of humans and how they worry about the wrong things.

--Of course, I was interested in the article, The Year in Medicine A to Z. The most interesting fact I read is that driving while using your cell phone(hands free or not) is roughly the same as driving with the blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08%...the same amount that will get you arrested for driving under the influence in all 50 states and D.C. If that isn't a reason to hang up and drive, I don't know what is.

--Sewing is coming back in style. YAY!

--TIME gave Jay-Z's new album a bad review...but I like it a lot.

I'm going to go a little white trash on you

I love caffeine.

I am possibly an addict and I get withdrawal headaches when I don't drink it.

My preferred choice of caffeine is fountain pop. In fact, I would really like my own machine. Fortunately, I had the opportunity to work at a place that had a fountain soda machine and am well trained on how operate and clean them.

One of my favorite things about road trips is the giant truck stops with the giant fountain pop machines that have every flavor of pop(that is the white trash part, my love for truck stop soda machines). The problem with most fountain machines is that while they have 8-10 varieties of pop, only one or two of them are diet.

While out to lunch today, Megan asked me what soda flavors I would have on my own machine. Here they are:

*Light Minute Maid Lemonade
*Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi
*Diet Coke
*Diet Mountain Dew
*Diet Dr Pepper
*Diet A&W Cream Soda
*Diet Grape Soda
*Diet Tonic Water
*a couple of regular pops for my friends

On a side note, if you want the best fountain Diet Coke go to McDonalds. Hands down the best...at any McDonalds in the country. They have the carbonation to syrup ratio perfected.

Aaron Aaron Aaron

This weekend, while Aaron was in town, we hit up Michigan Ave to do a little Christmas shopping. Going with the assumption that we would have lots of bags when we left, I decided to drive instead of taking the L. Parking turned out to be quite a fiasco.

The first ramp we went in didn't have a single open spot and we got charged $13 for driving around to look for a spot. On the way into the ramp, you have to insert a credit card to get in. Well, I kept putting the swipe bar in the wrong direction and the man working there came over to assist me and Aaron told the man that I was mentally retarded. On the way out, we couldn't get out and I had to press the call assistance button and the conversation with the man in the speaker went like this:

Me: Hello. There were no open spots and we need to get out.

Speaker guy: You want to boing?

Me: Do I want to what?

Speaker guy: Do you want to boing?

Me: Do I want to what?

Speaker guy: Do you want to boing?

Me: Do I want to WHAT!?!?

Speaker guy: Do you want to GO IN?

Me: No! I am trying to get out!

Speaker guy: Let me press the button for you.

Mean while, Aaron is laughing hysterically in the background, because he also thought the man was asking me if I wanted to boing.

Next, we decided to park at the Hancock. We pull up and the man asks me to roll down my window, so I did. He informed me that he would have to check my trunk before going in. Aaron yelled out to him, "She has junk in her trunk." Again, thank you Aaron.

At lunch in Water Tower there was a Nutcracker on roller skates. Aaron pulled him over to me and made him take a picture with me. He was also wearing a button that claimed to be a hug therapist and told the nutcracker to hug me and he did. We all know how much I love hugs.

After lunch, we met up with Courtney and Chrissy and did a whole lot of shopping. We made friends with a guy working in Guess and he was very helpful as he took jeans off of a mannequin. I think I am definitely better at shopping for guys clothes than girls clothes and think I am now very well acquainted with every single style of guys jeans ever made.

i didn't think i was THAT picky

ilovepaperproducts!

i love journals and planners and stationary. especially handmade paper products.

i love my planner from last year and have had a difficult time finding a replacement for it(8 stores later, and i don't really like shopping...that much).

finally at borders tonight, i found not one, but two that i really liked. the covers weren't exactly what i wanted, but you can't always judge a book by it's cover, right? the big dilemma between the two was one had lines and the other had blank pages. i often like to doodle little pictures that correspond the event that i am attending, but i also like my writing to be very neat.

the deciding factor was the lined one had smaller spaces for saturday and sunday than the weekdays...i have more happening on the weekends than the weekdays, so i went with the blank pages.

let the doodles begin.

My Wish List

Incase anyone that reads my blog wants to get something for Christmas, here are some items that I would like but know that I am not getting(and won't be getting).

**The Gap Product(RED) cashmere hoodie in white(first choice) or cinnabar red. I like that it contributes to the AIDS effort in Africa and it is incredibly soft. I could live in this sweater. Even if you don't buy it for me, you should at least go to the store and just stroke it a few times.

**I am also in love the Product(RED) iPOD.

**A watch from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I like that it doesn't really look like a watch.

News I'm currently reading

Cologne Rules for Men, I love #10.

Just because she's a lesbian doesn't mean she won't be a good parent

Ex-spy's death...it wouldn't even be believable as a movie script

Ohio goes smoke-free

Eddie Murphy is Scary Spice's baby's daddy?!?!

Cardinals don't want no stinkin' Bonds

Make a loved one last forever

Urns of ashes may be a thing of the past.

Ashes to Portraits is a company that lets you send in your loved ones creamated ashes and they will mix them will a special oil based paint and create a painting of your choice. Just think, you can have your loved one's burned body smeared on a canvas and hang it on your wall.

I should have done this with my recently deceased pet.

**I would like to note that the artist is listening to an iPOD in the photo. Do you think you can request to have the artist listen to the deceased's favorite music while painting them to get a true sense of the person?

Plane lands because passenger passes gas

A plane had to land because a lady passed gas. It wasn't the stench of the gas that caused the plane to land, but what she did to try to cover the fact that she had farted.

Copy Cat

Many people have been posting on how quickly the year has been flying by. I have to agree.

I pretty much don't remember anything that has happened since I turned 25 in May. Maybe it is senility.

With only 20 days until Christmas, I have yet to start my shopping or really even think about it. Everyone might be receiving fruit of the month, meat of the month and cheese of the month gift subscriptions. Seriously. I usually take pride in getting people thoughtful gifts, but I have really been slacking this year. I haven't even sent out my Christmas cards or figured out what I want to write in them.

Maybe I was thrown off by that much advertised extra week of shopping in between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Perhaps, I thought, "why worry, you have plenty of time." We all know that I like to procrastinate with the excuse that I work best under stress...maybe I am subconsciously doing that. Who knows...any way you look at it, I'm behind.

In short, sorry if your presents really suck. I will make sure I get gift receipts and give them with my gifts.

St Louis without power due to ice storm

My brother was lucky to have power a few days longer than some of his neighbors, but he and Jill are too, without power now. I talked to him as he stayed in a hotel tonight.

Here's more of the story that has left close to 400,000 people without power for days now.

What will they think of next?

German scientists are in the process of creating a spray-on condom that should be available by 2008. The concept is pretty interesting.

Obama, Ludacris rap about AIDS

After speaking to students at Northwestern University yesterday about AIDS awareness, Luda met with Obama.

Updates and randomitis

--Today is world AIDS day. Do something.

--A little known fact about me is that I love Fanta grape soda, but I never really drink it because of all the empty calories. So, I was very excited to find Fanta grape Lipsmackers chapstick at Walgreens the other day. I feel like a 3rd grader when I wear it, but it is so great. It was a very exciting purchase for me.

--I got very exciting mail today. In an unmarked envelope, I received one picture without a message. It was a very funny picture and I laughed very hard. Thank you for whoever(and I know who) sent it to me.

--Today, my roommate and I put up Christmas decorations in our apartment. Our Christmas tree looks like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree with the old school fatty lights. It's just great. One of my all time favorite smells is pine tree.

-- I made really good coffee today.

--I learned how to play Rummikub today and love it. Megan and I also played 3 games of Scrabble. I love playing games.

Isn't she just a classic beauty?

 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Pretty much true

Your Dominant Intelligence is Logical-Mathematical Intelligence

You are great at finding patterns and relationships between things. Always curious about how things work, you love to set up experiments. You need for the world to make sense - and are good at making sense of it. You have a head for numbers and math ... and you can solve almost any logic puzzle. You would make a great scientist, engineer, computer programmer, researcher, accountant, or mathematician.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

we always knew i wasn't very girly

Your Brain is 53% Female, 47% Male

Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve

What Gender Is Your Brain?

karma

You Have Fantastic Karma

You are a kind, sensitive, and giving person. And all your good deeds will pay off - if they haven't already. But you're not so concerned with what you get in return anyway. You have an innate caring nature - and nothing can change that!

How's Your Karma?

Missing, two clean hands

The stomach flu is going around at work and 1/2 of our patients have it, as well as 1/2 of our staff. This bug is part of the reason that I have been working so much overtime. It is knocking people out for about a week with non-stop vomitting.

I have been lucky to not get it so far and have been washing my hands so much that they might fall off. I really, really don't want to get sick.

Funny

40 things that only happen in the movies

Photoshopping contest

Worth1000 recently had a photoshopping contest, some of them are pretty good. Click here to see more.

Maybe I'll enter it one day.

Boy born with fetus in stomach

In a rare occurance(1 in 500,000 chance), a boy was born with a fetus in his stomach. It is a condition called fetus in fetu, where one twin begins to grow inside the other.

So fun

Look at these pillows that look like rocks! How fun would they be to dive on to? I bet I could sleep like a rock on these puppies.

Get more info on the rock pillows here.

An apology

I have recently updated the sidebar of my blog.

My friend Tommy had deleted his blog. After doing this, the link that formerly went to Tommy's blog then linked directly to some porn sight. This was going on for quite sometime before I was alerted to it by Rob.

Thanks Rob.

Sorry for any inconvience this may have caused any of you, including blindness.

Whooping Cough makes a comeback in Chicago

Several people infected with whooping cough

What's on your plate?

Since I was left to make my own Thanksgiving dinner today I had a salad with some turkey deli meat on it, white chocolate raspberry yogurt and a pomegranate.

I think they ordered in a big spread for all of us at work. I will probably just steal a little piece of pecan pie and call it a day. The truth is...I don't really like turkey all that much.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas

In a somewhat unexpected surprise today, I got called off work. I knew there would be a lot of discharges with the upcoming holiday, but didn't think I would necessarily get called off today. The positive side of not working today is that I will work tomorrow in which I will receive holiday pay and it was just nice to have a day off.

The weather was great so I walked down to State St which is beautifully decorated for the holidays and did a little shopping. I was able to snag a hot pair of heeled black boots for 50% off. Go me.

I am a little sad that my family will all be together for Thanksgiving tomorrow and I won't be there, but thanks to the invention of the phone I will get passed around to all of them. I just hope that all the kids at work will be able to have their families come and visit them.

i feel like my blog needs updated with something more than pictures, but right now i have nothing.

maybe i'll feel inspired tomorrow.

Gap photo shoot

Have you seen the new Gap peace ads?

We had a Gap Peace photo shoot. Mel is pretending to be Seal, as signified by her hood being up. If you ever see the Seal ad, you will see the resemblance immediately.

Peace out.

It's on my Christmas list

You can feed it a carrot and brush it's mane.

It's on my Christmas list.

It's a Fur Real friend.

Project Mel

Mel and I went on an exciting trip to target and I dressed her up and made her have a fashion show. This is one of my favorite outfits that we pulled together. 

Happy Birthday, Melita!

"It's true! I am turning 26 today...and yes, the first thing on my list to do is botox."

An apology

Sorry for the lack of blogging this week.

Work has been really busy and I logged in about 60 hours of work in the past 4 days. I am headed back to work tomorrow for a normal shift. Mel arrives tomorrow night for celebratory birthday events which will continue through Saturday morning when we part ways and I return to work Saturday evening. It has been far too long since I have seen my Melita in full force.

Chicago watch out!

I can see clearly now

After I got off of a marathon shift at work today, I decided I wanted some of the holiday coffee creamer to take to work. I ran to the previously posted about ghetto Jewel-Osco by my place.

Unfortunately, there are frequently people wanting to wash your windshield at that intersection, as was the case tonight. I was violently shaking my head "NO" that I did not want the man messing with my windshield. Well, he did anyway. Then I realized that man in the hoopty car next to me paid the man to clean my windshield for me. Ha ha. I just had to laugh.

Who says there aren't nice people in the Chi?

Megan took a 4 foot long tube of kettle corn into the game and shared it with everyone around us. She was a hit.  

Former Campers

I feel really old that some of my former campers are now in college, but it was great to see them for a short bit before the game. I love these girls. 

cookies

I made some chocolate chip cookies to share with the people we tailgated with. Matt's dad ate 17 of my cookies by half time. He took them into the game with him in his sweatshirt and had them gone by half time and was sad that I did not return to thier tailgate post game so he could have more! 

shorty

Megan was not tall enough to ride the go carts at Fun City. 

FUN CITY

My parents, Megan and I went to Fun City and ate at the Bugaloo Cafe on Friday night. It was my first ever trip to Fun City and let me tell you, it was fun. 

YOY Guy #4

We hung out for a short while the other night. No big news to report. Nothing to write home to mom about, but not writing him off either.

Just looking forward to this weekend in Iowa.

I-O-WA!

I am headed to Iowa City this weekend to attend the Iowa vs Wisconsin game in legendary Kinnick Stadium. The Hawkeye's haven't been playing up to my expectations lately, but I am very excited none the less. My entire immediate family will be there, my roommate is going with me and I am going to meet up with some friends from college and high school! On Iowa, Go Hawks.

Gross porno guy gets told NO

I used the "N" word again during the Year of Yes. It was the same night that that inspired the "guys are insecure too" post.

Let me start out by giving you a little history on this guy, we'll call him No Shame. My roommate and I were in this same bar a week or so ago and No Shame came in(by himself) and sat down between us and two random guys. No Shame started talking to us, as he had met us before and recognized us from the neighborhood. Not too long after he starts talking to us, he informs us that he filmed a porno when he was 17 and the 10 Anniversary of the porn was the week before. At first we thought he was joking and just awkwardly laughed at him. He wouldn't shut up about it and we kept giving him reality feedback about how that was something he shouldn't brag about and that we thought it was really gross. I even informed him of symptoms of STDs. The 2 random guys on the other side of No Shame were even telling No Shame that he was grossing them out, but he just kept on bragging like it was the highlight of his 27 year long life. We eventually left to escape this guy.

So, fast forward back to the other night. There were only about 6 people total in the bar, being the bartender, his girlfriend, my coworker and I and two randoms. Enter No Shame and his friend. After being there for a short while, No Shame's friend approaches me and tells me that No Shame likes me and is going to come down and ask me out in about 5 minutes. I nicely inform No Shame's friend that he doesn't need to bother, as I will say no. No Shame's friend inquires why and I explain to him about my last encounter with No Shame. No Shame's friend goes back down and talks to No Shame. THEN, No Shame still comes down and tries to ask me out and professes his love for me, in which I reject him and he doesn't understand why or how I could say no. It all ends with, "Can't we be friends?"

I have determined there are two basic forms of social retardation.
1) The shy guy that can never pull himself together enough to ask someone out.
2) The guy that knows he is going to get rejected and still repeatedly and shamelessly hurls himself at the rejector.

Accessory of the season

I have recently fallen in love with the headband and have proclaimed it as my accessory of the season.

In the past month or two I have acquired close to 10 headbands differing in colors and sizes. I think the thicker ones(as pictured) are my favorites. They are so great and versatile. I get to be a little more lazy in the styling of my hair and they hold my hair out of my face. They can really save a bad hair day. Bad hair day? Headband to the rescue. It will be a sad day for me when they go out of style.

My blogs graph

This is what my blog looks like as a graph. You can make any website into a graph.

I think they are really pretty and would make fun stationary.

NEWS FLASH: Guys are insecure, too

After a 12 hours day at work, a co-worker and I went out for a couple of beers. We were sitting at the corner of the bar, by default we could hear the two twenty-something guy's conversation that were facing us on the other side of the corner of the bar. It goes a little something like this:

It was just two guys out for a few drinks and they were discussing girls. Not in a disrespectful way, but analyzing the beginning of the relationship and disclosing insecurities that the guy didn't think he was good enough for the girl. He was afraid that he liked the girl more than she liked him and his fear of being rejected by her.

It was refreshing to hear attractive men over analyzing girls much the same way that girls talk about guys.

A day off of work is a day spent in the kitchen

I've really enjoyed a lazy Sunday puttering around the apartment and spending time in the kitchen. I layed around all morning being lazy then headed out to the grocery store to pick up somethings to make meals for the week.

It's my new thing. I use one of my days off a week in the kitchen and make a couple of bigger batches of things so that I can eat off of them all week and not have to do so much cooking later. Today I made a 9x13 of eggplant parmigiana and a crock pot full of chicken taco soup(I have Josh to thank for the recipe on that one). I used some left over eggplant to make a home made chunky tomato and eggplant pasta sauce. Looks like I'll be eating good all week. I am also very pumped about the pita and hummus I bought. Yummm!

I think I am going to snuggle up on the couch and peruse some magazines that I just have had time to ready lately.

Neither here nor there

--I have officially updated to Blogger Beta, which I am loving so far. I am considering customizing my blog's layout a little more when I have some time. Don't be surprised if you visit my blog one day and it looks a little different.

--After being stood up by Guy #4 last night, one of my co-workers called to see if I wanted to hang out with her, her boyfriend and another co-worker. All being very fun people, I accepted the invitation. We headed over to Union Park, a bar and eatery that I have been wanting to try. The place was pretty dead, but we had a good time. We did a lot of discussing and planning of the work Christmas party. The co-worker and her boyfriend hosted it last year and everyone had a blast. Keno(the boyfriend) is all about going all out and suggested several themes. One he really wants is for everyone to wear something holiday themed. He also suggested a dress code of men wearing blazers or sport coats and the females have to wear head bands. Wearing your worst Christmas print or holiday pattern sweater was also thrown out there.

Yet another YOY update

So, Guy #4 had called and asked me to go out for a drink. I responded to the affirmative for this evening. As of 8:00pm, he had not called to verify or confirm or inform me of a time or place. A co-worked called and invited me to meet up. At 9pm Guy #4 called...I didn't answer because I was unsure of my answer due to late call time. Guy #4 left a message to call him back...called him back...he didn't answer. Forty-five minutes later and no response back from him...dude, you snooze, you lose.

Social retardation...not ok.

Forget it, I am going out with the girls. I see years of therapy in his future.

Another YOY update

So, in my last YOY update there were scenarios of 4 guys. Everyone was cheering for guy #4, but I had to later update you that I had not heard from him. Well, shortly after I posted, he called and apologized that he had been out of town. We have been in touch of the past 3 weeks, but never able to meet up.

So making an attempt to be ballsy, I asked him if he wanted to go for a drink the other night(Sunday). He said he needed to finish up some stuff then would call me back. I still haven't heard from him.

I am very confused by this male behavior. I have written him off as socially retarded, seriously.

Edit/Update: Guy #4 left me a voicemail today asking if I would like to go out for a drink. Wasn't that my idea on Sunday? He always seems to call right after I post on my blog...maybe he is stalking me. ;-)

Playing with my cuddly pets.

R.I.P.

Sadly, one of my cockroaches has gone to cockroach Heavan. Only two remain. With a life span of 2-3 years, I feel I will be losing the other two soon as the end of thier life span is quickly approaching, however, some live up to 5 years.

Mel sent me a link to an article about the 10 creepiest pets to own and my Madagascar hissing cockroaches made it to #2 on the list. Way to go boys!

The end of an era

Aaron informed me this week that Ford is no longer producing the Taurus. Apparently, the last one rolled off the line last week.

Tales from the ghetto aka the Jewel Osco on Roosevelt and Ashland

Today I stopped at the shady Jewel Osco(that I try to avoid) to buy a Happy Birthday banner for our monthly work birthday celebration. In an attempt to get into the birthday aisle I had to walk past 3 men and a woman. One of the guys turns and points to me and says "I would like to get some of that, a bucket of chicken with hot sauce and call it a day."

Let me tell ya, I turned around and gave that guy my number.

flying by

I can't believe that today is already Thursday!

I guess when you are gone from Sat-Tues, the week sneaks up on your pretty fast. I am excited for the weekend to be here so soon, even if I work most of it. Having Sunday off will be nice, though.

Happy Thursday everyone.

I would like to title this "Only in Iowa" but it happened in Illinois

While driving back from my parents house today, I was on I-80. Cruising along like most folk, I see lots of flashing lights(fire truck and several state troopers, about 18 authorities in all) up ahead and a semi turned over in the ditch,laying in pieces, on the opposite side of the road. In the median area, I see a black object that appears to be a body bag. I begin to feel a little sick to my stomach for the scene that I am about to arrive upon.

I begin to slow down and get much closer to the scene. The semi trucks in front of me come to a full stop and so do I. I look back over the road and see that the large black object in the middle of the road is not a body bag, but a cow. A large black cow laying down in the grass. I also see 3 state patrol men standing in the middle of the road on my side herding 3 cattle off the interstate, across 4 lanes of traffic and up the hill. As I began to leave the scene the men were still unable to get the one heifer to move out of the median.

I pulled out my camera to attempt to get a picture of this scene, but was too late. I am still unsure if the cattle caused the semi to go into the ditch or if it was a semi filled with livestock that escaped and decided to play on the interstate once they were free.

Either way, it made my drive more interesting.

Apparently it was a livestock trailer

I won't name any names

Because I work in health care, I hear a lot of stories that aren't often told to other people...Think bodily functions. I don't mind and usually find them humorous.

I had a friend that was doing some traveling and shared this story with me. While he was on his trip, he was having some gastrointestinal distress and had to use the restroom, a public restroom. After about an hour, this person had to use the restroom again and returned to the same public restroom. After exiting the second time this guy realized that he had dropped a deuce not once but twice in the WOMEN's restroom.

HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Iowa: You make me smile

My brother, grandpa and grandma. My grandpa making a hilariously cheesey smiel after I told him I wanted to see his teeth when he smiled. Notice the great Casey's soda cups. We stopped to "treat" ourselves on the way to the nursing home and took my grandma a soda, too.

Emptying the corn from the combine into the wagon.

After riding a round in the combine with my uncle to keep him company, I got him to pose for a picture. He has a pretty pimp combine.

While I was at my grandparents farm, my grandpa decided that the lawn needed mowed one more time before the winter. I am getting ready to gas up the beastly mower, but I can't lie...I only did about 5% of the mowing. I did other things while Josh did most of the mowing. It was really cold out too, about 34 degrees. I was bundled up. Here you can see the awesome ear flap cap I was wearing in an attempt to stay warm. Grandpa later explained to us all the benefits of having the grass cut nice and even before the first snow. Obviously it looks nicer, but it allows all the leaves that blow off the trees to blow straight off the yard. They don't get tangled up in the slightly taller and uneven pieces of grass.

Missing: One saber-tooth

On Friday night, there was a single-tooth saber-tooth dolphin sighting in Chicago. During Rob's short but very enjoyable visit, we were able to create a single tooth saber tooth shot, with sunken tooth included. I had a great time hanging with Rob!

Play it again, Sam

Aaron was in town last night on business, but I was lucky enough to get to hang out with him for a little bit.
In that time, we were able to form a band and play a few tunes. We have serious talent.

We do weddings, bat mitzvahs, and birthdays. Give our agent a call to book us.

....on a plane, that is...

I think this is pretty hilarious. Now, I really want to dress up as a bomb.

10 costumes that just won't fly
Having Halloween spirit is fine, but don't forget the common sense
By James Wysong
Travel columnist
Tripso.com
Updated: 12:01 p.m. CT Oct 18, 2006



On Halloween, most airline crew members are allowed to wear a costume to work. Some costumes are elaborate and well thought out, while others look like a last-minute throw-together. Sometimes passengers get into the spirit and dress up as well. Every year there is someone — a passenger or a crew member — who takes dress-up a little too far.

The following are costumes that I have actually seen at the airport, along with the consequences that followed.

Osama bin Laden. Maybe funny at a college frat party, but a little too close to the bone at the airport. The person who did this was — believe it or not — a pilot, and let’s just say it went over like a lead balloon. I laughed, not at his costume but at his surprise when he discovered the authorities didn’t think it was funny.

Drunken pilot. A passenger thought it would be clever to come to the airport dressed up as a pilot and hit the bars a good three hours before his flight. He met up with several passengers who were horrified when he claimed to be their pilot. He wasn’t breaking any rules, and nobody had the right to tell him to quit, although security was alerted and made sure he wasn’t really working the flight.

Police officer. Impersonating a law enforcement officer is illegal no matter what day it is, and with cameras and real cops all over the terminal, if you turn up in this costume, you are just a chicken waiting to be plucked.

Airline CEO. I wish I had thought of this one. A flight attendant dressed up as the tycoon from the Monopoly game and added a badge identifying himself as an airline CEO. He bragged about his pension during the whole flight, threw fake money around and laughed continuously at the other airline employees. Simple, yet brilliant.

Flasher. It may sound like a good idea, but keep in mind that indecency laws are strictly enforced. When a man from Florida wearing nothing but a trench coat flashed the women as he passed through the terminal, he was arrested. Apparently, he had been arrested before on the same charge, so maybe it wasn’t a Halloween costume after all.

Mass murderer. Dressing up as an infamous murderer in a public place, especially in an airport, is also a bad idea. On my flights I have seen Lizzie Borden, Son of Sam and Jack the Ripper. The best one was a flight attendant dressed up as a box of Cheerios carrying a fake sword. I am embarrassed to say it but, yes, he was a Cereal Killer.

Suicide bomber. Not funny, period! Two flight attendants dressed up as “I Spy” characters but ended up looking like terrorists with bombs. They were suspended when a couple of passengers raised a ruckus.

Anything explosive. Two gate agents actually dressed as bombs with a lit fuse. They worked the customer service desk and anytime anyone got angry, they would reply, “Be careful, I am operating with a short fuse today.” Surprisingly enough, the costume went over well, or I guess you could say that it didn’t bomb. Still, I wouldn’t recommend this stunt at the airport, especially these days.

Priest. A colleague of mine offended an actual priest with his “Father Ted” outfit. It wasn’t the costume that was the problem; it was the Catholic jokes that came with it.

The opposite sex. You may wear a dress as a gag on Halloween, which might make some people chuckle, but before you know it, you are sneaking out to catch the cosmetic sales at the duty free shop.

Any character of ethnic origin. Don Juan, a matador, sumo wrestler, geisha girl, Rastafarian (especially if you’re white), etc. You have to realize that Halloween is an American tradition, but when you are in an airport, you may come into contact with international passengers who could take great offense.

Feminine hygiene product. A man showed up at a New York airport dressed as a tampon. In fact, he made most people, including me, laugh out loud. However, small children kept asking their parents what he was, and I doubt the flustered parents were inclined to begin sex education at such a young age, much less at an airport. The costume also had drawbacks for the wearer; for example, sitting on the airplane was difficult, and he had to take his cotton top off because he was blocking the video screen.

Next time you’re flying on Halloween, wear a costume that will put a little smile on a crew member’s face. As long as it isn’t one of the previously mentioned get-ups, it might get you a free drink on the airplane. I have known many gate agents who have upgraded as many costumed passengers to first class as would fit. It’s in the spirit of “Trick or treat!” and all those grinning jack o’-lanterns.
Enjoy and have a happy Halloween flight.

Totally gross--Tales from the gym

When I was at the gym the other day, I was wondering how often people don't wipe the machines off after they use them. I always clean them off when I am done, but never before I start working out....a new practice that I will employ after I tell you about what I saw.

I am doing my thing on the elliptical(which is in the front row right before the nautilus machines), when a guy starts using the leg press machine right in front of me. The guy takes a paper towel from the wall and meticulously lays it across the head piece where he will be putting his head. He proceeds to do a set of presses then lays there and rests on the machine. While he is taking a break, he proceeds to start digging in his nose. This wasn't a normal swipe or wipe of the nose, but full-on finger in past the first knuckle digging. I was totally grossed out. He put his hand right back on the handle and did two more sets. When he was done, he took his head paper towel off, threw it away and DIDN'T wipe down the machine. So gross. If I got off the elliptical before anyone else used the machine, I was going to wipe and down and say something to that guy. Unfortunately, some unlucky guy made it to the leg press machine before I got off the elliptical. He also did not wipe it down, so maybe it was just karma that he used the boogery machine.

In fact, I didn't see anyone wipe down any of the weight machines, but 90% of the people wiped down the cardio machines when they were done.

All I know, is I am becoming a wiper-downer before and after working out.

I deal with autistic children all the time

Mutated gene raises autism risk, study finds

Pop pop poppoppop popitty pop pop

I don't know who created this, but it is GREAT! I can't take credit for it, I stole it from Angie's blog.

VIRTUAL BUBBLE WRAP

I prefer manic mode.

Sorry I forgot....

The YOY update:

I have been living at work lately, so there isn't much to say...

--a lot of people have inquired about previously posted guy #4...he never called.

His loss.

Fun filled week ahead

Today is my day off from work...and a much needed one, as I have been working some overtime in the past week. The kids at work are more than entergetic and I feel like I talk all shift and none of the kids hear me. Whew. My voice box needs a rest.

I was pretty productive today. I reorganized and cleaned out my bathroom. Who knew how many 1/2 empty bottle of products I had living in the cabinet under my sink. I don't think I will have to buy any body wash, shampoo or conditioner for a while if I just use up what I already have. I also de-cluttered, dusted and vacuumed my bedroom and did a couple of loads of laundry. I am much less stressed when everything is in place.

I have a pretty exciting week coming up. Aaron is going to be in town giving a talk at Loyola on Wednesday, then I get to hang out with him for a bit when I get off work before he catches an early flight back to C-Bus Thursday morning. Friday, Rob will be in town for a conference at Northwestern and staying on Friday night. I am headed to Iowa on Saturday morning to spend a few days with family and celebrate my grandparents birthday's that are on the 25th and 31st of October. I am sure lots of fun farm pictures will be posted after the trip.

Stay tuned.

News worthy

5 found shot dead in Iowa

Cards take 2-1 lead in series against Mets

(Product) Red raises money for AIDS in Africa

Flesh eating bacteria kills 3 in New Zealand

You know you owned one

Yesterday when I was talking to Mel on the phone and she was packing to head to NC for an interview, I jokingly asked her if she had packed her lucky rabbit's foot to put in her pocket so she could stroke it during the interview. After we laughed at the thought for a little bit, we wondered...What ever happened to the lucky rabbit's foot? and Who ever thought that was a good idea?

The idea of a rabbit's foot on a keychain is just repulsive, but I definitely owned one. They were everywhere and in every possible color. I remember them being sold at Santa's secret shop at school where you could go to buy cheap presents for your parents for Christmas. I would like to give Oscar's to the millions of parents that pretended to enjoy opening an obnoxiously dyed rabbit's foot keychain from their kid for Christmas and acted excited.

I am sure that the disposal of lucky rabbit's feet is directly related to the landfill overflow problem plaguing the US today.

Dear Mr and Mrs Starbucks

After hearing one of my coworkers rave about the pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks, I was compelled to try it, despite not really liking pumpkin pie. My favorite fall drink from Starbucks has always been the hot caramel apple cider and will always be.

I give the pumpkin spice latte(i got it with nonfat milk and minimal whipped cream) a B for accuracy. It tastes like a cup liquid pumpkin pie. Every Thanksgiving since I can remember, I always think I want to like the PP, but then two bites into it, I think...man, this is gross. It does smell delicious. This year I am sticking to the pecan pie...well, probably no pie. I am a little sad that I will not be with my family for Thanksgiving or Christmas this year. Due to distance and work requirements, I am averaging making it to Christmas every other year and haven't been to Thanksgiving since I graduated college.

As for price and service, I give the latte a D. $3.75 for a tall(Starbucks smallest advertised size) latte? Ridiculous. I could have gone to Subway and gotten a 6" sandwich with change to spare...a much healthier and filling choice. Also, I requested a SHORT pumpkin spice latte...a cup size that Starbucks does not advertise but offers most of their drinks in for a cheaper price and lower calorie count. And really, most of their drinks are so sweet that I can't drink all of a tall. Well, the man behind the counter(baristas is how I believe they refer to themselves) informed me that a short was not an option. Well, dillweed, the sign for how to make the latte is on the side of the machine which is in open view to me and in fact gives the instructions for how to make it in the short version...2 pumps of the pumpkin flavor and a shot of espresso.

I will not be buying another pumpkin spice latte anytime soon and might return to my boycott of Starbuck's ridiculous prices. Bring Java House to Chicago. I like the independently owned coffee shops much better.

And what is their logo. Is anyone else creeped out by the mermaid-ish girl that is the center of their logo? I AM!

It's Pat! I mean Liam!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/tv/rivercity/scenes/liam.shtml

My roommate's brother Pat is on a show in Scotland called River City. The website is featuring him this week with an interview. Check it out.

Congrats on the big break Pat!

A Simple Show of Hands fromthe NY Times

ON a brisk autumn afternoon, in the shadow of the marble arch in Washington Square Park, a couple visiting from Ohio walked along holding hands like two teenagers going steady, decades after “going steady” went out of vogue.


Vladimir Milivojevic for The New York Times

Locked in People moving in tandem across the city. Some see hand-holding as a public announcement that a couple is approaching. Others see the maneuver as an ideal way to snake through a crowd.
When a stranger asked why they had chosen to join hands during their stroll, the man, Dave Findlay, looked at his wife of seven years and answered in a word: “Connection.”
Or as the Beatles sang back in 1963: “When I’ll feel that something, I want to hold your hand.”
Those simple lyrics turned an expression of teenage longing and first romantic steps into a No. 1 hit. Yet today, when Justin Timberlake is at the top of the charts with “SexyBack” and the digital airwaves are filled with steamy lyrical declarations (“I’m into havin’ sex, I ain’t into makin’ love” sang 50 Cent in “In da Club”), couples like Dave and Carey Findlay still intertwine fingers, kiss palms and link pinkies as they meander through parks, cross streets and snake through crowds.
“Hand-holding is the one aspect that’s not been affected by the sexual revolution,” said Dalton Conley, a professor and chairman of the department of sociology at New York University. “It’s less about sex than about a public demonstration about coupledom.”
Nowadays hand-holding has attracted the interest of scientists who are studying its effects on the body and mind. And sexual health educators say it is a much-discussed topic among gay students who now publicly hold hands more than ever before but still must consider whether they want to declare their sexuality.
“I think it remains more important in an era of perhaps more liberal sexual norms,” Dr. Conley said. “It remains this thing to be doled out.”
To hold someone’s hand is to offer them affection, protection or comfort. It is a way to communicate that you are off the market. Practically speaking, it is an efficient way to squeeze through a crowd without losing your partner. People do it during vigils, marches, weddings and funerals.
Usually it connotes something innocuous and sweet about a couple and their relationship. In rare instances, it takes on added potency, such as when President George W. Bush held the hand of Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Crawford, Tex., last year — an act of respect and affection in Arab countries — reminding some people of the film “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which depicted the Bush family’s close business ties to Saudi leaders and which ignited conspiracy theories.
But, over all, few things are more innocent than a child grabbing the hand of a parent, for protection, direction and, as Mr. Findlay put it, connection. And with many children these days closer and more outwardly affectionate to their parents, chances are you have spotted a mother and her teenage daughter and perhaps even a father and his adolescent son ambling through a mall, scurrying through a crosswalk or strolling along, hand in hand.
Adult children and their elderly parents also hold hands, for balance, support and as a sign of love.
As for romantic couples, the opinions about hand-holding are as varied as fingerprints. But most people agree that it has merely changed, not lost favor.
“I think that for sure college students hold hands just like the old days,” said Sandra L. Caron, a professor of family relations and human sexuality at the University of Maine in Orono.
If they do, it is likely only after they are deep into a relationship — not in those early days of budding romance, when a touch of hands was the first act of intimacy between a couple. That was the hand-holding that the Beatles wrote about. (Followed swiftly by the sexual revolution, whose equivalent anthem might be The Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend the Night Together.”)
Among more than a half-dozen students at the University of Maine, there seemed to be two universal truths: that hand-holding is the least nauseating public display of affection and that holding hands has become more significant than other seemingly deeper expressions of love and romance.
“It is a lot more intimate to hold hands nowadays than to kiss,” said Joel Kershner, 23. Because of that, he said, reaching for someone’s hand these days has more potential for rejection than leaning in for a smooch at a party where alcohol is flowing.
Libby Tyler, 20, said it was “weird that hand-holding is more serious,” but true. “It’s something that you lead up to,” she said.
There is nothing casual about it any more, said Rachel Peters, 22. “Hand-holding is something that usually people do once they’ve confirmed they’re a couple,” she said.
But if that is not complicated enough, where you choose to hold hands also has meaning, the students said.
Drew Fitzherbert, 21, said that public hand-holding “shows that commitment not only to you and your partner but everyone else in the community.”
Dr. Conley of N.Y.U. agreed. “In the dark movie theater, in the dorm room, that’s a very different social act,” he said.
Are people holding hands as much as they once did? That’s impossible to quantify. But Gregory T. Eells, the director of counseling and psychological services at Cornell University in Ithaca, said he didn’t think so.
“I see more people on their cellphone than holding hands,” he said, adding, “To some extent we are trading real face-to-face relationships, where there’s touch and body language, for electronic ones.”
Peter Shawn Bearman, a professor of sociology and the director of the Institute for Social and Economic Research and Policy at Columbia University, said that hand-holding in crowded cities like New York may simply be impractical.
“Maybe if the proportion of hand-holders has indeed gone down it has more to do with density (of humans) than the devaluing of hand-holding as a romantic signal,” he wrote in an e-mail message.
Whatever degree of hand-holding may be happening, there are good reasons to cultivate the habit — reasons would-be hand-graspers may wish to pass along to their hands-in-pockets partners.
“Based on what we’ve seen, when we get more physical intimacy we get better relationships, whether a mother and an infant or a couple,” said Tiffany Field, the director of the Touch Research Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine.
Even monkeys understand the importance of a hand squeeze every now and then. In “Good Natured: The Origins of Right and Wrong in Humans and Other Animals,” Dr. Frans B. M. de Waal, a primatologist at Emory University, wrote that some monkeys hold hands in reconciliation after a fight.
James Coan, an assistant professor of psychology and the neuroscience graduate program at the University of Virginia, has studied the impact of human touch, particularly how it affects the neural response to threatening situations, and said the results of a recent study were more dramatic than he expected.
“We found that holding the hand of really anyone, it made your brain work a little less hard in coping,” Dr. Coan said, adding that any sort of hand-holding relaxes the body.
The study, which will be published this year in the journal Psychological Science, involved 16 couples who were rated happily married based on the answers in a detailed questionnaire. The wives were put inside an M.R.I. machine and were told they were to receive mild electric shocks to an ankle. Brain images showed that regions of the women’s brains that had been activated in anticipation of pain and that were associated with negative emotions decreased when their husbands reached into the machine.
“With spouse hand-holding you also stop looking for other signs of danger and you start feeling more secure,” said Dr. Coan, who led the study. “If you’re in a really strong relationship, you may be protected against pain and stress hormones that may have a damaging effect on your immune system.”
Perhaps it is why so many people crave it.
Blogs and online forums are rife with complaints of those who say their significant other does not want to hold hands. “When we go out, we always have a blast, but the one thing that bothers me is that he never holds my hand in public,” writes a woman on a “love advice” forum on www.lovingyou.com.
For older couples, letting go of hand-holding may be one more sign that they are pressed for time and too swamped for little acts of intimacy.
“When do we make time to hold hands?,” said Dr. Eells of Cornell, talking about his own marriage of 15 years. “Not very often.”
The couple is often busy shuttling children to and from school and extracurricular activities, not strolling through parks like characters in a Georges Seurat painting.
Sometimes, though, even errands provide opportunities. Recently, Dr. Eells said, he and his 9-year-old daughter were caught in a downpour after her cheerleading practice. The two grabbed hands and raced off into the rain together. When they finally splashed over to the car, the damp girl turned her face to her father. “That was awesome,” she sighed.

Friday's events

Most people probably don't care about this, but it might be the highlight of my week. I am getting my hair cut today and couldn't be more excited. It has probably been 3 months and my hair is just gross. I love my hair lady and have convinced multiple other people to start going to her as well. I hope she doesn't get so much business that she can't take me anymore. I should really stop referring people.

It's about time for a YOY update

I reported a few weeks ago that I was going to get back into the YOY full swing.

Well, I did. Here are the updates!


Man #1:
Right after confirming that I was going back to the YOY, I met a guy at the bar who seemed really nice and smart. Well we hung out one night and talked and everything seemed good, but then I saw him out and about a couple of more times with minimal acknowledgement to my existence. Wierdo. His loss. I am sure he will be in therapy 20 years from now and it will all come back to him not calling me.

Man #2:
While in Iowa City on Saturday, we were watching the game at Donnellys. In the middle of the game a quite intoxicated man came up to me and told that I was beautiful and asked me to dance. I laughed and said, there isn't any music on, the game is on. He said he wanted to dance anyway...well, being that it is the year of yes, I popped out of my chair and danced with him. He wanted me to leave and go meet up with his friends at another bar, but I was hanging with Anna and Mel and the game was on. I felt the dancing was "yes" enough.

Man #3
Later in the night on Saturday, we went to an establishment called Jakes where I ran into a guy that I had a couple of classes with my freshman year in college. We talked for a while and were talking about our love for Iowa football and I informed him that I get to go to a wedding reception in the press boxes at Kinnick next year. At this point he invited himself to be my date at the wedding. I said, sure, why not. We exchanged numbers...I am betting he won't call...and that is ok. It was a fun interaction.

Man #4
Being the super cool roommates that we are, Megan and I played Scrabble last night then decided to go to the neighborhood bar for one drink. Once we got to the bar it started pouring, like Hurricane Katrina style pouring rain. So we stayed for a second drink, when the two nice guys sitting next to us started chatting us up and we disclosed to them that we had been playing Scrabble. One of the guys apparently loves board games and keeps them in the trunk of his car. So we encouraged him to go get Balderdash and he did...in the middle of the tsunami. The game wasn't in his car but he did have a kickball. Sadly, we couldn't convince enough people to play kickball in the bad weather. Board game guy and I hung out for a while longer then decided we had to brave the weather, since it was pouring out and we were already soaking wet, we decided to dip our feet in the fountain, jump in puddles and dance in the rain. We exchanged numbers and had a lot of fun. I think I would say yes to this guy again.

There you have it.
Update complete.