G'day Milady!

It was a very very g'day...at the Renaissance Faire yesterday...but today I'm at work, sadly. Yes, I know, you all mourn for me but really, it's not so bad...except I'm coming down with something - a cold or some such nonsense - so I'd rather be lying on a couch doing nothing but dozing and wanting my mommy to come and nurse me back to health with hot cocoa and grilled cheese sandwiches, but unfortunately, its just me, a granola bar and a cup of coffee to go to be swilled on the E train as I am forced to go to work... ah well, such is life... yesterday was lovely and so that's good enough to make it a swell weekend. We took the bus at 10am and by 11 we were transported back to the 17th century where we were quick to fall in love with the very handsome and burly Renaissance Dudes all over the place...

So the formula to get us all giggly and flirty is:
the leather arm guards + a kilt + big black boots with a dagger or sword = SWOON-WORTHY!

Floating Head fell in love with the Watering Hole Man, who used the above formula plus served us beer and mead to cast his spell upon her... we bought some pretty jewels - of course - listened to some madrigals, tried on corsets but decided that the "ladies" were popping out WAY too much, had our fortunes told and we were given juju and got rid of our "bad" juju, strolled the grounds some more and then back on the bus for the city, where we had burritos and margaritas at - yes, Vox - Blockheads - and discussed the possible formation of the NYC extension of TAPS and then home sweet home...

So now I'm done at work, I hope the Mets are winning - I see our prayers have been working because they are still in first place...only one more week of baseball!! I'm heading home to drink tea with honey and hope I don't get full blown sick...may the rest of your weekend be filled with good juju!!

Oy Vey!!

What a day... I felt like I was going to pass out earlier, my adrenaline was PUMPING. I had so much going on and quick quick quick, fix this, check the configuration on this, get IT to come down. So, yeah, OY. VEY. I'm rattled. Today was the culmination of a month's plus worth of work, testing, fixing errors, etc and so now all I have to do is come in on Sunday for awhile, do some more testing and then - hopefully - the most stressful part of my year is done for a few weeks...then in November it gets tricky again... but! Renaissance Faire tickets have been purchased (though not a mug...yet....ha ha to Floating Head) so tomorrow morning, I shall have my fairy princess wings applied and will be flitting off to the enchanted woods of upstate New York, where I shall see many tall, strong boys with ponytails and beards dressed like medieval warriors and knights...swoon!

And that's all she (she being me) wrote! I'm going home to have a glass or two of wine and then hopefully to sleep after jumping for joy over a METS VICTORY. You people aren't praying hard enough out there for me and my Mets...last night's loss (i.e. CRUSHING MELTDOWN) made me very sad and a sad ole me is hard to deal with...

Just a short post to say: I'm TIRED. The month of September has - so far - been HARD. Tiring. Workwise anyway - I was here until close to 9 last night, got home just in time to see the Mets FINALLY win after a 5 game skid - they have to win and go to the World Series, because my dad said if they go to the World Series, he's on a plane if I can get tickets...how fun would that be? So, the Magic Number is now 10 and I'll say my prayers and cross my fingers and not hate on the Yankees, because this guy at work believes that negativity only makes bad karma for the Mets...so I won't think about them, just my Guys...

I have to work on Sunday but on Saturday, I'm hopeful about maybe going to the Renaissance Faire... que sera sera, whatever will be, will be...the future's not ours to see...que sera, sera....

One more reason to love Viggo Mortensen..

As if you need any more reasons, but this one is the bestest so far... so I'm watching him on David Letterman last night and I find out.. Aragorn is HUGE Mets fan!!! He tried to get Dave to go the game at Shea with him after the taping of the show and he teased Dave about being a Yankee fan and gave him a gold Mets pin ... aw, total SWOON...

From a S.I. interview in 2004:

You, Michael Vartan and Jerry Seinfeld have publicly proclaimed your love for the Mets. Explain how you got started.

Mortensen: I was about 11 when I came to the U.S. in '69. I got a crash course in baseball that October when the Mets won the World Series. Even though we moved to northern New York -- it was a Yankees town if anything -- the Mets were my team from then on. I've stuck with them through thick and thin. If I'm in town when they come to L.A., I'll see them play. It's not any easier being a Mets fan than it is being a fan of San Lorenzo. You have to have a lot of perseverance -- that's what being a fan is about. You can't be a bandwagon guy. When we began shooting Lord of the Rings in New Zealand in '00 there was a guy who taped the Subway Series games when we were working, and I would watch them late at night. God, that was hard to watch. It was crushing. Horrible. It made me want to kill some more in the next scene. Or at least kill a certain pitcher.

Sporty Spice's Weekend of Fun

Yep, that's me, Sporty Spice - appearing for one weekend only, mind you. Friday actually wasn't so sporty, unless you consider eating 2 pounds of mussels a sport...I consider it YUMMY. But Saturday Floating Head called me at 10:30 to inform me that she scored free Mets vs. Astros tickets so woo hoo, I was off to an afternoon of hot dogs, beer, and the sweet smell of victory as Tom Glavine won #303. The next event entailed a walking tour of Historical Woodside, Queens - the childhood home of Floating Head and Jany - where nails were manicured to perfection, dim sum and durian* and smoothie fruits were purchased at the Asian Market, and then to Floating Head's pad where we watched yet another America's Next Top Model Marathon, making fun of the girls just like my mom and Miss Dassel used to do each year during the Miss America pageant. Oh, I know it's catty but it's just so much FUN. Sunday was the US Open Men's final - Roger Federer - of course - vs. Novak Djokovic. I wanted the Serbian to win - Roger wins everything and I always root for the underdog, so my cheering was loudest for The Big Serb. Plus, the Serbian fans are fun when they get loud and rowdy and excited, so I thought that would be fun to be in the crowd for. Roger won in straight sets, but it was actually a really tense, close, exciting match - a few points here or there, and The Big Serb would have won it and he seems to be the only player I've seen in a long time who even comes close to competing with Federer. And with a raise of the trophy, my Sporting Weekend came to a weary, yet well-spent, close.

* A note regarding the durian...do you know about this super smelly, mysterious fruit? It smells slightly rotten, tastes slightly oniony AND slightly vanilla custardy and I've been dying to try it since watching Anthony Bourdain eat it on No Reservations - he spoke about it like it was the most heavenly thing a person could eat. What made me more curious was the guy from Bizarre Foods. Now, I've watched that guy eat: a still beating frog's heart, guinea pig, ants, bugs of all kinds, brains, spiders, grubs, testicles from all sorts of animals and he SPIT THE DURIAN OUT and proclaimed it inedible!!! A STILL BEATING HEART he can eat...but not this fruit. Well now I've tried it and I can't say I love it (and I'm willing to eat a little more of it before I make up my mind completely, although it does smell godawful) it MUST beat out eating bugs. Snow White ate a spider when she was little so she must know for sure...I'll have to check with her on that!

This is why I despise and DO NOT respect either of the Williams Sisters...

Because of constant comments like these:

“She made a lot of lucky shots,” Williams said a moment later, a white baseball cap pulled low over her eyes, “and I made a lot of errors.” (MSNBC.COM)

So says Serena, after losing her match at the US Open earlier... neither one of them was taught any grace whatsoever - you never ever hear out of their mouths, "my opponent was the better player today". It's all about never giving anyone else credit - if they lose, its not because their opponent was superior on that day, it was due to lucky shots, bad umpires, and because they "chose" not to win. Its embarassing for them and I wish they'd both just retire so I don't have to see or hear their loud and tacky mouths anymore.

By the way, I'm going to the Men's Final on Sunday, so woo hoo for me ... most likely it will whoever vs. Roger Federer...now he's someone Venus and Serena could learn from. Pure class. Plus, look at what good hair he has...

Ah well ... let me stop reading irritating news on the internet and get back to work ... you shouldn't be reading this either if you are at work! Off the internet, you!!!

P.S. I just saw this on MSNBC.COM - seems I'm not the only one who thinks Serena is a bad loser... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20609303/

OH

MY

GOD!!

BEFORE

I

FORGET...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO SNOW WHITE, THE BEST SISTER I'VE EVER HAD!!! I LOVE YOU!!

This was supposed to be a difficult weekend. I was having “issues” which I don’t want to name here for fear that I will jinx myself because now things are more peaceful and I'm superstitious so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed and saying a prayer that all is well. Normally, when I have “issues”, work is a welcome respite – I can focus on little tasks and not think too much about my real life. But this was a long weekend, with a short day on Friday so I knew I had better keep myself busy or else I would fall into my tendency to sulk and stew and reinforce any and all negative behavior and feelings with a three-day long hermit-like Pity Party in Jackson Heights. So, as a result of All the Nice People in My World, I was kept busy, I was kept distracted, I was kept smiling and feeling good in the head and the weekend passed with little drama. Saturday in Astoria was a ton of fun at Cousin Megan’s House – we drank lots of beer, played Wii for about 4 hours, giggled a lot, ate some Movie Nachos at Superbad (which was Superfunny – but totally a “guy” flick in a lot of ways but really sweet at the same time) and woke up supersore from the Wii playing and isn't that sad? Sunday, I met Jany and Floating Head and we shopped and walked and went to the MOMA – which is just not my favorite museum, since I really despise most modern art – lets face it, most of it is pretentious crap, the three of us were in agreement on that – we are just the ones being honest enough to look at the square canvas painted all black and admit it, instead of the Wannabees who try to come up with interesting drivel to say about it. Then Jany invited us back to Forest Hills where she cooked us a lovely dinner in her lovely apartment. Yesterday, I met Floating Head – again! Isn't she sick of me yet? – for some spicy coconut salmon noodle soup at Republic and then we went to the sand mandala destruction ceremony at the Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art. FANTASTIC. When she and I visited here a week ago, the artist had just started and was working on the very center of the mandala and there was no one watching him really but now the room was packed and the actual destruction of it was beautiful. There were 10 traditional Tibetan dancers – men and women – who came and played instruments and sang and danced and stomped all over the mandala until it was smeared and dust was everywhere and no images remained. It was very powerful to experience, especially since I had such a negative week, it felt good to watch this. Let them stomp on all the things I’d like to get rid of as well! Bad vibes, begone! And so it is!