The games we play

Work here can be a little slow sometimes. Other times it's super-busy, but there's always the off-hour or two (or day or two) when not a whole lot is going on. Fortunately the people in the cubicles surrounding me are very creative:

The Spam Emails:
Literally: Spam. So you know when you go into the "Spam" folder in your gmail account? Usually there is a recipe that ranges from icky to totally vile. We like to email these to each other. Some examples:
Spam Vegetable Strudel - Bake 20 minutes or until golden, serve with soy sauce ("is it Chinese or German? Who can tell?")
Spam Confetti Pasta - Spoon SPAM mixture over pasta ("this is SO not kosher")

And my favorites by far...
The Pictionary Emails:
There really are no words to describe this one, but I will try. We didn't have internet for a day and a half last December, which is already a slow month anyway. So our solution was an extended game of Paint pictionary. Some samples (with answers...):

(Raphael from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)




(Kermit the Frog, performing "It's Not Easy Being Green")

(And the best one: Saved by the Bell, Hawaiian Style)

Never doubt the places a college degree will take you.

Reasons I haven't really been updating at all

1. Gina keeps getting "Alias" dvds from Netflix, and I am a wee bit obsessed.

2. I might be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder from an incident that involved stabbing my big toe with a salad fork.

3. I had to bake a lot of small cute dessert-like things for a bridal shower over the weekend. And I had to find all my summer tank tops to take to Texas so I don't die of heat stroke.

4. I'm working on my secret plot to take down UPS...they have messed with me for the LAST TIME. I'll show THEM "not a working address."

5. I got this really badass t-shirt that I have been wanting for just about forever, and I'm spending all my free time trying to figure out how to post a picture of it for you all to admire!

Technology is ruining my life

Well, that's not exactly it...it's more like, I am so reliant on technology, that when it's taken away from me, I get really annoyed. Like last night, we encrypted the wireless network in our house, and it now won't let me log on, even though my roommates can. Grrr. And in addition to that, I got my new cell phone in the mail (yay!) but couldn't activate it because my stupid internet wasn't working.

But onto the new cell phone - expect flickr pictures soon, because I have a camera phone! I know I'm like the second to last person in the U.S. to get one, but my love of gadgets is overruled by my cheap nature, and I was not getting a new phone until my cell phone company gave it to me for free with a new contract. I still have really no idea how to load things from the phone to flickr and then from flickr to here, but I think the possibilities of doing so are quite cool. And I'll be working on that.

I wonder what my first picture post will be? Oh the pressure...

On the radio

As I'm listening to the news on the way into work, the announcer is promoting an upcoming show.

"It turns out that people who eat less calories actually live substantially longer."

Snippet from Dr. Expert: "Yes, but the problem is that you're hungry all of the time. So really the result isn't necessarily that you're living longer, but maybe that it just FEELS a lot longer."

A real, less funny, answer

About a year ago, I kept getting all of this German spam in my work email box. The title that intrigued me the most was the one I chose as my subject.

Turns out, it's a real title of an article, published here in Der Spiegel (in English, of course). It's a sad story, and ultimately now related to me, as we just hosted four Turkish women determined to stop honor killings in their country. It is hard for me to fathom how such things could still occur.

Mostly I'm just feeling very fortunate right now.

Promise to return to happy postings soon.

When I was mentally composing this post, I had three things I wanted to talk about. But now I can only remember two. I think this is very indicative of my long travel day yesterday.

Speaking of which, there was this guy on the second leg of my flight. And it was a little windy and bumpy during the flight, especially at take-off and landing times. Poor guy was not taking it well. He started stream-of-consciousness talking to me, the total stranger to his right to whom he had not introduced himself, about all sorts of stuff. Particularly his anti-anxiety medication that he forgot to take. The bumpiness made me feel a bit queasy, so I didn't mind the conversation (if you could call it that, monologue with interjected "oh's" and "rights" from me is really more appropriate) because it took my mind off my own troubles. But let me tell you, it's a good thing I don't have any flying-related phobias, because on the way down he chose to cope by telling me flying horror stories. The one where the plane crashed in Charlotte because of a sudden wind gust when it was taking off (he wasn't on that plane, but lives in Charlotte). The one where the plane had to take off at the foot of a mountain in St. Martin's and was flying up at an 80 degree angle (he was on that plane). The one where the plane hit a huge air pocket over the Pacific Ocean and dropped 1800 feet, sending those not buckled in knocking into the roof (that one too). So understandably he was a little paranoid about flying, but I don't really see how recounting scary plane times helped. If we had a big lurch he would have to pause (while white-knuckling the tray table) to regain his composure. I guess I just find the whole story interesting because I didn't talk at all, he just talked to me, and I can't decide if it's something nice, like I have a sympathetic face, or less nice and I was the body that happened to be next to him.

Also, on an unrelated note, does anyone have any good book recommendations? Now, when I mean good, I do not mean anything written by this or this person, for instance. It is important that we delineate between "entertaining" and "good." The last really good novel I read (that I can remember, anyway) was The Kite Runner. I've also read some good memoirs, Reading Lolita in Tehran and The Bookseller of Kabul, so a memoir would work too. My brain has been feeling a bit like mush lately, and I'm not okay with that. Any thoughts are much appreciated. Gracias, merci, and thanks y'all.

For your reading pleasure

I'm am SO going out of town this afternoon. I'm beyond excited (not to mention ready) to do so.

Blogging is unlikely, so I will leave you with links to two of perhaps my favorite related posts I have found on the internet.

Mighty Girl and Harry Potter
Defective Yeti and Harry and other

You should also check out this.

And this. (Seriously, this guy is hilarious).

Hope all these keep you satisfied for a bit. Toodles!

irony

I have applied to a lot of random jobs. Some, I would have given my eye-teeth to just be asked back for an in-person interview (I am great in person, over the phone not so much I think). Others were sort of in the "why not" category - I was either over or under-qualified for them, they don't really relate to my skills set, etc. But usually they were related in some way to international development work, which is what I think I want to do when I grow up.

So today I get a call-back for a job I applied for in November (!) and it's with some policy council that deals with agriculture and international trade. Even I can't figure why they want to interview me for this...I have NO experience whatsoever with either agriculture or international trade. The closest I think I have come to agricultural experience is the cows that would graze on our back acre at my parents' old house. That, and the occasional hayride at Halloween. Maybe they think all Texans are farmers. Whatever.

But I'm wondering, why a call-back for THIS position?! There have been some places that look SO great, that I was SO VERY qualified for the position. Now I can't even find the original job description for this one anywhere, so I don't even really know what I'm interviewing for anymore. I'm still going, because primarily I think any interviewing practice is good for me, and also because I know so very little about what I have in fact applied for, that it could very well turn out to be something interesting. As interesting as international agricultural policies can be, anyway.

Sigh.

Come On! Feel the Illinoise!

Okay, so I'm a little mad at all of you. Why didn't anybody tell me that Sufjan Stevens was going to rock my freakin' socks off??!! Seriously people, when I think of the hours I've wasted listening to lesser music, I get a little depressed.

Yet I only need to crank up "Chicago" and hear the opening notes and I am happy again. And then I perhaps set the repeat and listen to it over and over again for a couple of hours.

My first meme-thing...does this make me one of the cool kids?

Four Jobs I’ve Had:
-coffee barista...twice
-summer nanny for 4 kids (which fits in nicely with this theme, no?)
-receptionist in posh British hotel
-substitute teacher

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over:
-Amelie
-Garden State
-Zoolander
-When Harry Met Sally

Four TV Shows I Love to Watch:
-Scrubs
-Grey's Anatomy
-Er...I guess Desperate Housewives
-Oprah (but only certain shows)

Four Places I’ve Been on Vacation:
-Yellowstone
-Florence
-Estes Park
-Monaco/St. Jean Cap Ferrat

Four Favorite Dishes:
(these are the first four that came to mind, not a definitive list!!)
-creme brulee
-fried chicken
-fatteh blahmeh (sounds weird, tastes like Lebanese heaven)
-queso and chips

Four Websites I Visit Daily:
-daily mumps
-hotmail (compulsively...)
-que sera sera (always optimistic for an update)
-Washington Post games (sudoku, anyone?)

Four Places I’d Rather Be:
-napping on the hammock in my parents' screened-in porch
-sunning on a beach (any beach) with a good book
-skiing in Colorado
-drinking a margarita in Austin

Four Others I’d Like to Tag:
(I SO do not know enough bloggers for this...)
-Joi (who could use a break from lawyering)
-E (which, if she does it, I will post in her absence of a blog. But really, start a blog already, E!)
-Sarah (ditto)
-Holly

Yesterday, also known as "Polygamy Day"

Seriously, I had like four conversations or instances with random people yesterday about polygamy. It began at lunch. Granted, I was at lunch with representatives from five francophone African countries (Niger, Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo, and Chad, to be exact) and they asked me about marriage in the U.S. Whether or not we can get married wherever and by whomever we want. The concept of getting married in a garden or on the beach was really weird to them. They also wanted to know if men could be married to more than one woman at a time. Not legally, I said, at least that I know of. Actually (and I didn't say this) most of us find it a bit creepy to tell you the truth.

But then they started talking about the tribal societies in their countries. And how women have very few rights if they are unmarried, and how illegitimate children in their countries have no rights at all, even as adults. So in some ways, because there are other greater issues in the society, polygamous marriage is a bit of quick fix. I still am unclear how this works because it seems to me like there would always be a shortfall of women to go around for all of the men if each guy gets two or three wives.

So then last night I was flipping channels and saw a special on "Inside Polygamy" on A&E. So I thought, why not? And it was exactly what I thought it would be: women with long, bad eighties hair and long dresses, passels of kiddos trailing behind them, all talking about how great their common husband was. I think the whole system is complete crap, and I can't even believe that it still happens. But part of me feels really sorry for them, because even if I haven't personally experienced marriage, I least know that they are being cheated out of something, forced to share their family with other women.

But then, this only seems true when love is a factor. C, who used to work with me and as such was fairly heavily featured in other posts, also lived in Mali, and once told me that if she was in an arranged marriage, she would prefer that the guy also had other wives. That way, at least you would have friends. And you wouldn't have to deal with the husband all the time. The whole thing is a bit weird to think about, if you ask me, yet for some reason it keeps coming up in conversations. So I'm thinking about it. The concept that is, not becoming someone's third wife.

You go, Sarah Brown

Here’s the thing: as much as guys like to whine about how “girls only like assholes,” 99% of the guys making this complaint only like crazy chicks.

This is exactly what the other Sarah and I have thought for YEARS. We didn't phrase it quite this well, though.

Some Things of Which I Am Inordinately Proud

(in no particular order)

1. I have managed to floss and rinse with Listerine (in addition to brushing) almost every day for about a month now.

2. I intend to delete my facebook account.

3. I parked right next to the elevator in the parking garage this morning, where this other guy who drives a fancy sports car usually parks. Hey, it's not like we have assigned spaces anyway.

4. I can speak three words in Arabic, taught to me by some of the nicest men I have ever met - they were from Syria.

5. I consider myself to have a fairly good grasp on most goings-on in international affairs.

6. I got up before 7:30 this morning.

7. I went to both Target and Bed Bath and Beyond this weekend, and didn't buy anything frivolous.

8. I cooked dinner last night (with lots of leftovers), even though I wasn't really hungry, because I knew that I wouldn't have time to cook tonight or tomorrow night, and didn't want to waste money on eating out.

9. My friend brought me coffee from Jamaica, and I'm giving half of it to my mom for her birthday. Not only am I giving her really fancy coffee (which she will love) but I am ahead on the birthday shopping by more than two weeks!

10. Considering all of the things I always intend to bring to work with me each day, I don't think I forgot anything today.

Oh, ice princesses

Um, Canadian chick? The instrumental version of "Like a Prayer" was a bad choice. Seriously.

To my right, Gina informs me that the number reminds her of her 3rd grade talent show, in which she lip-sanc (lip-synched?) to either "Like a Prayer" or "Cherish" - she can't remember which one. She tells me to at least take into consideration that she was not the only lip-syncher.

***

Does anyone, when they think of Puccini's gorgeous aria "Nessun Dorma", also think slightly-slutty-hot-pink-outfit? Anyone? Anyone? Yeah, me neither.

***

Unrelated: I still can't distinguish between what's bobsled, luge, skeleton, etc. But two man luge? Looks a little uncomfortable. What is the point? To see how fast you can hurtle down the track with someone on top of you?

Snow Weekend

So kids, I've survived the winter storm that hit the east coast this past weekend. Well, I didn't just survive, I did great. Nothing like being snowed in and having no option but to lay around under blankets and watch movies and build a fire. That was a good time.

The only physical activity I did all weekend long was to dig my car out of the snow, because I knew the roads would be open again today and the thing is, if the snow melts a little and then refreezes overnight on your car, then you have to dig your car out of ice chunks instead of fluffy snow. I chose fluffy snow - much easier. It was also my first experience shovelling snow, which I can't say I really enjoyed all that much. It's hard. I'm a little sore today, to tell you the truth. But I feel it's a milestone.

Actually, I really should clarify - I barely shovelled anything at all. The homeowners association to which our landlord pays his dues had everything cleared at 10 am. But I still had like a foot of snow on my car, and once I brushed it all off, there was a big pile of snow all around my car that I had to shovel into the grass, otherwise it would refreeze (as discussed previously) and then my car would be trapped within ice speed bumps of my own creation. Plus our toolish neighbor left Gina a note about shovelling the snow from around her car - she had encroached a whole half-an-inch into his spot, and god forbid that a speck of snow should be near his Jetta. So I also shovelled to allay the wrath of the toolish Jetta owner (doesn't it just make you shiver in your galoshes?).

My apologies for the non-sensical nature of the above. I'm still sleepy from too much lazing around this weekend. And s'mores. Too many s'mores.

Breaking News: I still don't like Bob Costas*

Say it with me, Bob:

"La Bomba" = Alberto Tomba
"La Bamba" = Richie Valens

Very good.

*For the Olympic commentary anyway. I've been told he's good at network sports.

While trying to avoid the "State of the Union"

They made a Home Alone 4?!

Bulletproof Monk? Seriously, that's a movie?

Bastards pre-empted "Scrubs."

Ah, "South Park" it is.

[happy sigh].

So wrong, yet so right

Earlier today at work, my cell phone rang. It was a "202" number (DC area code) but I didn't recognize it. Thinking perhaps it would be an annoying question from an interpreter that didn't understand the concept of calling my office phone during office hours, I let it go to voice mail.

A few minutes later, I checked my voice mail box. The message was from a woman who had apparently gotten my number from a mutual friend. She said that I had left her a message about job possibilities a few months ago, but that the message was hard to understand and she wasn't able to get more information about me until now. Also, she said she never received my resume by email.

Okay, now I have sort of applied around to change jobs, but have never called someone. Ever. I don't have any contacts to call, really. So I decided to call this nice woman back and let her know she has the wrong Rachel. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hi, this is Rachel. I received your message, but honestly I have no idea what this is about."
Her: "I am SO sorry - I got your number from Jane* but she must have given me the information for the wrong Rachel."
Me: "Oh, it's no problem. It was such a strange thing - but I have been sending out resumes, so I thought maybe it was for me. Out of curiosity, where do you work?"
Her: "At [insert name of really great development organization I totally want to work for here]."
Me: "Um, well...um, I would actually also like to do international development work, so would it be totally out of line for me to send you my resume as well?"
Her: "Sure, why not. It's been a few months anyway, so this new Rachel may already have another job."

FINALLY the Rachel mix-ups have happened in my favor. And I totally submitted my resume for someone else's job possibility. A little sketchy, I think, but if I get the job, it may be the just about the best story ever.

*Not actually her name. Don't really know anyone named Jane, so seemed a safe bet.

Movie love

Voilà, ma petite Amélie, vous vous n'avez pas les os en verre. Vous pouvez vous cogner à la vie. Si vous laissez passer cette chance, alors avec le temps, c'est votre cœur qui va devenir aussi sec et cassant que mon squelette. Alors, allez-y...*

After much of my raving of what a great movie it was, Gina rented Amélie and we watched it last night. I'm not sure that she loved it with all of the crazy enthusiasm that I love it, but I think it's a little hard when you have to read the whole movie. Which is why there are no Japanese films in my top ten list (well, the language thing, and there are other reasons too...).

At the moment, the above line is my favorite, although there are some others that are also genius and may soon win out new favorite status. Just writing it above doesn't do it justice - you need to hear the crouched old man with his slow, gravelly French voice saying it for the full effect.

I was wondering why I like it so much. Maybe because part of me identifies with Amélie - dreaming is often easier than doing. But then the moral of the story is, without doing, you don't get Nino. And I also have a big ol' movie crush on Mathieu Kassovitz, so, you know, lesson learned.

*My attempt at a translation: Look, my little Amelie, you don't have bones of glass. You can take life's knocks. If you let this chance pass by, with time your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton. So then, go...!

Does THIS make me an adult?

So I may have found a new threshold in my search for what makes one a grown-up:

I, ladies and gentlemen, for the first time in my life, owe money to the IRS. That's right, OWE. No refund. Dammit.