does anyone read friday posts??

...because my thought is whenever I hit "publish" on a Friday, approximately three people will read it, including my mom. I forgive you, though, if this gets the "Mark as Read" - just sayin...

Anywayyy, I am NOT a morning person. Especially when I find gray hairs. Like this morning. TWO.

Tweezers please!!!

Do you ever run into people in the morning who are all chipper and perky and just feel annoyed?? Well I do, pretty much anytime I encounter one of these so-called "morning peeople" until 11:30am or so...

For example, this morning - after finding said gray hairs - Bondi and I are headed to the car when Miss Apartment Manager (M.A.M) uber-excitedly intercepts us in the foyer. Seriously, she must have had about 12 cups of coffee with happy pills.

M.A.M.: OOoohh, it's KLONDIKE!!!  His coat is soooooo gorgeous!!
Actually his name is Bondi. Whatever.
ME: Grumble.grumble.
M.A.M.: What do you feed him to make him so shiiiiiineeeyyy????
BTDub, at this point she is squealing. And ba-geezus, do you really want me to go into this??
ME: Dog food.

Actually, that's a lie. I just WANTED to say dog food. I actually mumbled a quick response and walked out the door mid-sentence calling "Have a nice day!" as an afterthought. **PHEW**

Anywayyy, it is Friday night and I am at home with Shiraz (yup, that's code for Yellow Tail :-) doing this while Mr. Joe is having "boy time". He just texted me to say he's coming home and I said 'Don't worry about it, I'm blogging' and you know what my silly Blackberry Bold on T-Mobile did?? It CHANGED "blogging" to "logging". The nerve!!!

Seriously? What decade are we in? Do people really use the gerund (oh, yes i did say gerund!) "logging" more than "blogging"? Why thank you, Blackberry, you're so much smarter than me!!!

*WTF* How is "blogging" not in the dictionary of a mobile phone in 2010? C'mon Blackberrry/T-Mobile. Get it together. Be professional.

PS: There are a shit-ton of other words the BB always changes on me while texting, but they're escaping me right meow. Must be el vino :-) Does this happen to you?

quick thoughts on haiti

There's been a lot of buzz about the earthquake in Haiti... because shit.. it's devastating and sad! But the buzz is bothering me a bit too... and here's why:

Haiti has been raft with devastation for years, no decades, now. This is NOT news. Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the world, and hundreds upon hundreds of people - men, women, children - die there every day due to poor drinking water, easily preventible and treatable diseases, etc. But the mainstream media is covering the earthquake as if these people's lives have been devastated by this natural disaster, when in reality, their whole lives have been pretty damn destitute, earthquake or not.

A few years back I read this book called Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder. It is a biography of the incredible Paul Farmer... a doctor who has devoted most of his life to helping the people of Haiti (as well as other disease-ridden impoverished countries).

A quick summary:

"At the center of Mountains Beyond Mountains stands Paul Farmer. Doctor, Harvard professor, renowned infectious-disease specialist, anthropologist, the recipient of a MacArthur "genius" grant, world-class Robin Hood, Farmer was brought up in a bus and on a boat, and in medical school found his life’s calling: to diagnose and cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. This magnificent book shows how radical change can be fostered in situations that seem insurmountable, and it also shows how a meaningful life can be created, as Farmer—brilliant, charismatic, charming, both a leader in international health and a doctor who finds time to make house calls in Boston and the mountains of Haiti—blasts through convention to get results."

It's a good book. You should read it.

Anyway, I'm not sure now what the point of this little rant is. Just sayin' ... the world is an f*d up place... and it's sad and tragic that this happened in Haiti. But Haiti's been sad for a long, long time... I wish there was more awareness (and action) in general, not just in times of "crisis" ... because really, it's a perma-crisis over there.

And don't even get me started on Africa!

in case you had any doubts...

DISCLAIMER: This post probably won't be interesting to anyone except me... just sayin'

I'm obsessed with my dog Bondi. He comes to work with me, and he sit's like a little man in the front seat of my car just about every where I go, he is my perfect little spoon in the evenings, and when it comes to social events, if I can take him, he's coming!! And you never know unless you ask...

Speaking of, did you know you can bring your dog into any Nordstom or Macy's??? It's kinda inconvenient if you're trying lots of stuff on.. especially because Bondi has this bad habit of sticking his nose into other people's changing room stalls.. I imagine that could be somewhat alarming to the unsuspecting nakey person! But for the most part, we just make lots of friends, and sometimes convert dog-scared people to Bondi fans.. that's my favorite!!

Anywayyy... In case you had any doubts that I'm a crazy dog lady "dog person" let me just say... it's true. And I can prove it. Here is a sampling of January from my camera:

Bondi with his beloved bear.

Bondi with Mr. Giraffe and mommy.

Bondi snuggling with *lucky me*

Joe and Bondi... on a walk along Elliott Bay.

New Year's kiss. Had to throw it in there :-)

No, Bondi was not with us, but he did join us later!

Can you tell he's not a fan of his new sweater?

Found it at Value Village for $3.95 (so random) - score!

Chillin' on his dog bed, by Epoch Design

New Years - Bondi and I playing Up the River, Down the River.

Bondi was concentrating cause he hates to drink beer.

My sexy boys, chillin' on New Years Day.

Love.LOVE this pic of Joe :-)

More Up the River, Down the River and Catch Phrase..

at my new favorite bar: Twilight Exit

Cheap drinks, tater tots, pin ball, a photo booth, and *dog-friendly*

Doesn't get much better than that!

Gangsta dress up.

Bondi is such a tolerant little spoon :-)

Love this guy.

Joe and I - clearly enamored with Bondi...

at my new 2nd favorite *dog-friendly* bar: Summit Public House

Bondi's eyes match my shirt!

We like other dogs too. Meet Cooper! ..and Teia... :-)

Precious. Just sayin...

And this is Tanner, the newest addition to the family.

Our girl Sophie is in the background...

...and this crazy-dog lady is my mom.

I don't know where I get it from! :-)

good news!

Good News!!!

We finally have a Christmas Tree* in our apartment. Yuppers, folks. I came home last night and there was a little Christmas Tree in the window by the dog bed... it even had lights and some ornaments random stuff hung on it! Yay :-) Good job, Joe!

Bad News...

1. Upon closer inspection, this *Christmas Tree (besides being TINY) is actually not a tree at all, but rather just a large Rosemary Bush from Whole Foods. Not complaining... just sayin.... Coincidence that Joe likes to cook with rosemary? I think not.
   
2. I'm pretty sure Joe only gave in and got this Christmas Tree bush because he was in.the.doghouse. and not because he hadn't gotten a tree yet. But that's another story...
3. I actually beat Joe to it because I.just.wanted.a.damn.tree. so I came home with an 8" tall (Seriously!) lil' guy from QFC. I splurged on it - $5.99 - but I figured, heck! It came with 3 ornaments ;-)
   

Moving on, I'm gonna go head and call this lil rosemary. bush. slash. christmas. tree a WIN anyway... in the spirit of the Holidays!!!! meh... and my mini Christmas tree is now chilling on my desk at work:

Don't judge me. I'm messy.

In Other News...
Good: Happy Friday!!!
Bad: I spilled coffee all over my jeans this morning :-(
Good: Said coffee spill matches my apparently coffee-colored Uggs-of-the-Day.

Yes, I took this pic while driving. So what? :-)

Lastly... I Am Soooo Flipping SORE!!!

I mean, kudos to me for actually going to Crossfit Wednesday AND Thursday... I guess. But Wednesday was a brutal leg workout with crazy lunges and squats and "wall balls" (google video Crossfit Wall Ball!) and then yesterday was a "benchmark" Angie:

   100 pullups

   100 pushups

   100 situps

   100 squats

And today I can't sit. Or stand. Or lift my arms above my head. Or turn my body. Seriously... it's awkward! The bad kind. I mean, really... I should have a handicapped parking sticker for days like this because it's so painful even to get in/out of my car, let alone walk!!!

Please just picture this.. it literally takes me about 30 seconds to get in or out of my car. No kidding.  I think I'm dying.


It can't be that bad, you say? Ummm... It's so bad that last night - just an hour or so after the workout, read: before soreness even really set in - my 89 year old grandpa (who I'm pretty sure is almost blind) asked me if I was limping!!!!

So yeah. That's all I got. A rosemary bush for a Christmas Tree and a body apparently saturated with lactic acid. Good times. But TGIF, or whatever ;-)

point in case.

So a Facebook friend distant acquaintance from college updated her Facebook status the other day saying:

"Funniest site ever: www.dukerejects.com"

Out of curiosity, I checked it out. It was a "a href" redirect to www.unc.edu - University of North Carolina Chapel Hill's website. Sooo funny!!

This is point in case for me of why DUKE sucks. Sure, sure.. it was a "great education"... but not really!! Certainly not $160,000 worth of education.

With the exception of a few - literally, I can count them on one hand - most classes were taught by professors TAs who didn't give a shit about their students or the same material they'd been teaching year.after.year. In short, Duke 'courses' were pretty much nothing more than what I could have taught myself out of $200 textbooks.

But that is not my point in case. Not only was the education not so great... but the people kinda sucked too. Not all of them, of course. Some of the people I met there will be bridesmaids, life-long friends, etc. But can't you find that at any college??

Most of the people at DUKE - the sad majority - are like Miss Facebook Status Updater (point in case). They think their shit doesn't stink and, oh, because they go to Duke they're better than you. Certainly better than anyone at a *GASP* State School like UNC.

It's not that many of the students at DUKE aren't incredibly smart and special... "the best of the best"... or at least seem that way to impressionable freshman. Hell... three of the five girls in my dorm pod freshman year were their highschool class presidents.

But there are also a hell of a lot of really dumb and snobby men and women kids there whose rich daddies bought their admission. Oh, and they'll be sure to tell you they went to Exeter and ask you what your daddy does when they meet you. Quaint.

Just sayin'