The State of Blahness

Not much to report on this end of the world...tonight, I'll be having some Japanese food and then free happy hour at the Museum of Design but I have absolutely no major plans this weekend, other than to go to yoga, go to Astoria to visit the abode of Cousin Megan (and maybe play some Wii) and then see Superbad - all of which should put me in a better mood. This has been a bad, bad, mad week. I'm praying for a beautiful, peaceful weekend that will make me feel less like wearing my UGH boots all the time and ready to kick ass at random, or wanting to push old ladies onto train tracks and wishing certain people would wipe their happy smiles off of their stupid happy faces ... sigh ... I know, I sound a bit bitter, well I've had a terrible week ... with one small exception that I hope, I hope, I hope...oh nevermind...the least said, the better....

"A religious person is one who contributes to the world some beauty, some joy, some happiness, some celebration that was not there before."
- Osho

May you all be religious at some point this long weekend - I know I'm hoping to be.

And P.S. to My Retired Persons: if you had been home this weekend, instead of on a three-week idyll in OveroyeLand, I totally would have hopped on a plane to see you..that's how EXASPERATED I am ... maybe some other weekend ...!!

A Good Saturday

After yoga, Floating Head and I had brunch at Maracas, where we did the anti-yoga thing (again!) of getting hungover by 3pm. Damn you Mexican all you can drink brunch!! It isn’t so much we drank a lot, we have both noticed that we can’t drink anymore – after 1 glass of something, it becomes like poison – we both get weary, headachy, tummy all upset. And therefore, drinking becomes less fun because what’s the point if you don’t feel good? Either way, we giggled a lot and then headed up to the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art ( http://www.rmanyc.org/home.cfm ) which is SUPER COOL. I ‘ll bet you’ve walked past it before, not knowing what lies beyond those glass doors. This is such a beautiful, peaceful space, I’d pay the 10$ admission fee to just hang out there for the day and chill before all the (mostly) Buddhist art. There was a guy playing beautiful Indian sitar music, there was an artist making a sand mandala and we sat and watched him patiently lay out the inner circle of blue and black sand – it will take 9 days for him to finish the whole thing. When he is finished, there is typically a destruction ceremony and so the beauty of the artwork is only temporary and like most things, fleeting. So check it out while you can - I suppose that’s the lesson :-)We could have watched him for hours – it was very calming – and usually this is done by Buddhist monks as a meditative thing and its easy to see why. But 6 floors of beautiful images, statues, objects – so I highly recommend coming here when you need to feel better or just to find some peace of mind.
Since the Good Saturday, the rest of this week has been crappy. I’m feeling down, tired, overwhelmed, etc. The Boss is out all week and there is so much going on at work that I’m trying to handle on my own without getting stressed out and yet, I seem to find myself running ragged. I keep trying to fight it out and hopefully, I’ll go to sleep and wake up to a better mood tomorrow. I think I just have that let-down feeling – I used to get it at the end of summer vacation, coming back from a trip, or that Sunday night feeling when you know you have to go to school tomorrow and you feel just a little bit blue.

Oh well to you Ms.BadMoodThat'sAllInMyHead. I say to you, with my fist raised: Om Shanti, BITCH. (ha ha..that's jsut for Floating Head to giggle over).

Where oh where has the summer gone? To bed, I hope, to have sweet dreams in hibernation until next June…the past few days have been November chilly, cloudy and rainy..the kind of days where you want to drink hot ginger lemon honey tea and sprawl out on the couch or bed and finishing reading that really good book you started in Arizona and can’t seem to put down because you NEED to know what happens next to Harriet and Hely (The Little Friend by Donna Tartt). But alas, you have to drag yourself into work where you really don’t feel like doing much more than staring out the window, watching the rain and the clouds and feeling pleased because its not hot out…but alas again, the forecast is for summer to come back this weekend, with temperatures back in the 90’s so you better enjoy this autumn preview while it lasts. And so I have. But at least August, crappy hot August is almost over, Labor Day is near, and that means summer is done for another year and I can get back to being cutely bundled in my fall and wintery gear.

I have to admit, I’m kind of tired and grumpy today. I slept horribly last night. I had a dream about my dog, Salty, the kind of dream where you feel like you are truly awake; she was laying on the bed and I could feel her snuggling up next to me and then I bolted straight up in bed and really woke up because that sensation startled me and I felt that pressure and warmth of her leave as if she jumped off the bed. Weird, right? It was oddly comforting too though because her presence seemed very real but then I felt sad about it when I woke up this morning because it made me think of her right before she died and then my cat Bianca too, how she was right before we had to put her to sleep. I could tell something was wrong with her because she looked sad and tired and didn’t move much and seemed to crave being outside all the time so she could lay in the sun. I always thought she knew she was sick and was probably cold and the Nevada summer sun was the only warmth she could get. Right before my parents took her to the vet, I found her sitting quietly by the shed in the backyard in a good sunny spot and I sat on the ground next to her and petted her for a long time and she just laid there, calmly and still, moving only to press her head against my palm and look up at me. And that was our little goodbye to each other.

Now its noon and to be honest, I’ve done very little with the day so far. Oh well. I’m going on little sleep, so I’m setting the bar low today – if I can just make it through on caffeine and a prayer until 6pm, and then I get to hop on the 7 to head off to the Mets/Padres game tonight…yippee!!! Screaming my head off and singing Sweet Caroline and a beer or two (perhaps a hot dog?) should make it all better…

Jake! Auntie Nikki says: HIT 'EM HIGH, HIT 'EM LOW, HIT 'EM WHERE GRANDPA”S PEANUTS GROW!!!!

A Blog Shout Out to the State of Idaho!

Since the vast majority of my readership is in Idaho this week, I thought I'd do a shout out a la Cash Cab - but using my blog, not the mobile kind - and say HELLO FAMILY!!! Mom and Dad are lucky ducks, they are getting all the kiddie fun and hugs and cuddles and playtime and getting trampled and licked by the doggies right now and I wish I was there with you!!!

LOTS OF LOVE to the Overoye Family and the Two Retired Persons!!! Have fun without ME!

More Arizona Pics, Courtesy of Floating Head

Beautiful Southwestern Sunset - this is one thing I miss about living in Nevada - the sunsets are just like the opal rings Floating Head and I bought...


SOOO windy at the Canyon...is Jany's wig going to fall off?


Taking the golf cart to Rawhide - WOOO!! The driver was speeding!!!


I'm a gunslinger!


Jany and I at the Grand Canyon


Floating Head and I being all Relaxi Taxi in the pool


Jany and I showing off our beautiful rings that we purchased

Adobe! The little car that's made out of clay!

"German engineering fused with Mexican know-how"...


SO I am back from Arizona where we repeated this jingle from a SNL commericial over and over and over and still cannot get it out of my head ... I have a lot to report - basically, I had a blast, not a single bad moment, just lots of sun, giggles, and rest, Native American-style but for now, here are some pics - we ended up doing a day trip to the Grand Canyon so I have a million awesome photos to choose from but these are my favorite shots:


Floating Head's big pink balloon cowboy hat from Rawhide!


Not a super flattering photo of me, but its a cute shot so I cringe and include it...


A desert sunset from our balcony





Saloon girls... we had one of those old-fashioned photos done - the flash in the picture is not a light emanating out of Floating Head, that's my flash as I take a picture of the real photo!


Cowgirls!


Me on my horse, Luna - pretty ain't she?


Jany the Cowgirl is looking back at me as I try to control Luna and take a picture!


View of the pool from our balcony - we spent most of our time in the water!


Bell Rock, outside of Sedona, one of the major "vortexes" in the area




The Grand Canyon




Me on the Death Cliff, as Floating Head called it - basically, a few steps to the back of me and its bye bye bye... I'm going to guarantee my mother likes this shot of me because I'm wearing a hat and she likes me in hats ... I like it because I look really happy, which I was

Floating Head, having a quiet moment alone with the Canyon





Jany!

How can a rainstorm bring NYC to its knees?

You can read this article in Newsweek to find out how - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20182206/site/newsweek/ - unbelievable, yes, the rains were heavy, but this is ridiculous. The whole city should not stop running just because it's WET. When people make the argument that this city is becoming a third-world country, it's hard to argue with them on days like this...

I decided to wait it out and not even leave my apartment until the morning rush had ended and I still didn't get to work until close to noon. And it was disgustingly hot and humid. UGH. But tomorrow is my last day until Arizona and so let's focus on that, shall we?

Crumbling infrastructure...the question is, what will fall apart next? I'm scared to find out.

Rattled, Sweaty, and Tired

So my weekend was not calm, cool, and collected. I initially had no plans and yet that boring schedule turned into:

Seeing The Bourne Ultimatum - highly recommended, very action-packed and fun - walking to Chinatown (where I "Crossed Delancey" but did not meet a Pickle Man - Mom!) for noodle soup and red bean buns, then browsing in stores in Soho, then getting up early on Sunday - despite being really tired - and trying to fit in one chapter of Harry Potter and cup of coffee before rush rushing to yoga at 9 am, and having train delays and run running, only to get there at 10 am on the dot and seeing Floating Head waving to me. We had both forgotten that they are closed on Sundays for the month of August. DRAT! So...we decided to go to the Buddhist temple in Chinatown for our spiritual dose for the day since we couldn't go to yoga.

After receiving our good fortunes (probability of success: excellent!), we headed up to Chelsea for brunch and then up to 72nd and Columbus for a street fair where goodies for our upcoming adventure to Arizona were purchased - a sun hat, a cute top, a cute skirt, etc... one fruit smoothie later, we head downtown to yet another street fair in the 50's and then we passed out and sang "east side, west side, all around the town...". Well okay, thats not true, but we were weary and so headed back to my neighborhood for Indian food at the Jackson Diner. Then it was home - thank god! - to take a 30 minute power nap and to gear up for finishing Harry Potter and watching Tom Glavine win his 300 game - he's a good guy (unlike some OTHER noteworthy baseball players who had a big weekend - ahem, A-Scrod (thanks to Vox for that nickname) and Barry Roid King Bonds -EW - and it was fun to watch him reach that amazing milestone.

BUT, at the same time I was watching that, I was getting very emotional over Harry Potter. I won't go into details just in case anyone reading this hasn't read the book yet, except to say that I loved this book, I think she did a terrific job at completing the storyline - I felt heartbroken over "The Prince's Tale" chapter and I got quite teary-eyed over the "The Forest Again" and "King's Cross" - I didn't expect to, but I did. I wasn't really into these books at first, but by the Prisoner of Azkaban, I was hooked and now here I am, sad that they are finished. Oh well, two more movies to look forward to...

And that be the end of that...now its Monday and I'm just holding on until Thursday night when I am officially in vacation mode...

Calm, cool, and collected

These three things are my aspirations for this weekend:

I'm hoping to stay calm and peaceful by going to yoga for the next two mornings..so far, its been two weeks in a row that I've gone to a class without the assistance of Floating Head - she hasn't had to babysit me or bribe me to get up and go.

I'm hoping to stay cool by mostly staying indoors or in a heavily shaded outside area and finishing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows...I'm on chapter 10 and I must know what happens next...plus I have to finish it by Friday, when I leave for Arizona...

I'm hoping to stay collected by getting myself packed and ready for Arizona and just taking care of a few "Nicole" things before I go...this week has been an alright/pretty good sort of week and I want to keep the vibe going into the weekend...I tend to lose my focus for some reason when I have too much time on my hands...so lets see how well I do when I get back to y'all on Monday...

Adios Amoebas!