Four for Four

I had gotten an email from Four Studio to attend a corporate happy hour. I emailed the gals and KDP, Blonde, and Sassy replied a resounding YES to the idea. Free drinks and apps. for an hour at a swanky/trendy LI hot spot? Why not?

We piled in to my car and drove on over.

The place was pretty crowded and the people gathered there were quite a bit older than our group. So, no hook-ups, no numbers. But, free drinks and an exchange of stories since I have not seen Blonde since late January and Sassy since late December. We talked, laughed, and,best of all, got to enjoy top-shelf cocktails!

Honu was doing something similar that same night. Blonde wanted to head on over but Sassy vetoed it and decided on Jackie Reilly's instead. So we went there for another hour and hung out while they grabbed another beer.

What came of the night? I figured out that we haul it over to Honu......20 minutes further north than Four and it is really the same crowd. What is the major difference between the two? Honu has access to other bars in the area but horrible parking while Four has complimentary valet but nothing else to go to when the crowd is not so hot.

I am opting for Four this summer...................especially when they open up for outside entertaining. Save the gas, go to Four.

CAT astrophe

I moved recently and am in the process of figuring out what is where and living out of bags, boxes, and piles. I am okay with it, but I am so lonely. And I figured it was time to bring along the cat. Sunny, my 27 lb shadow, was to have become "Commuter Kitty". He loves me dearly, but adores the family, too. So I wanted to do what all of those dog people do....have him go back-n-forth with me from the little house to my parents for dinner, tea, visits, etc.

I can not put him in a carrier, as he is too big and way too heavy for me to lift in one. So I bought him a harness and planned on walking him like one of those little dogs out to the car & then into the house. I bought a cat harness. Too small. So I exchanged it for a small dog collar. Still too small. That chunky needed a medium dog harness. Oh no!

I found him sleeping on his favorite blanket and thought it best to slip the harness on him at that moment. I then clipped on the leash and tried to make him get up and walk. Nope. I picked him up and put him on the floor. Where he rolled over like a huge water balloon. He reminded me of the little kids who you are holding and when you try to put them down they pick up their feet and its as if they have no legs. I tried for 5 minutes to get him up and walking. Nothing. He is the 300lb gorilla in the room.

I had to pick him up and carry him to the passenger seat. I put him in the car and ran around to the other side to get in. I started up the car and the wailing began. He cried all the way there & it was piercing......as if someone was beating him to death. He looked out the passenger side window and panicked. He tried to jump onto the dashboard and hit his head, landing back into the seat. He scrambled over onto me and tried to go up and onto the dash that way. I had to stop the car, put him on my lap, and then firmly hold him in place the rest of the way.

We arrived at the house and I, again, had to carry him in. When I put him down and spread the blanket that he loves so much onto the couch, he jumped right up and wouldn't move. I tried to coax him with food. Nothing. I tried a bowl of water. Nope. I wanted to give him kitten cookies. He wouldn't get up for them but yelled into the kitchen from where he was on the couch as if he wanted me to bring them in. So he ate them on the couch.

We settled in for the evening. If I got up....he got up. If I rolled over, he rolled with me. It was pitiful.

I had to leave him for 4 hours the next day to go to work............see how work is getting in the way?..............and I felt so guilty. I told my mom and she said he should come home. So I had to swing by to get her and driv eon over to the house. We went in and could not find him. He was under the bed and would not come out until he saw both of us and recognized the faces & voices. Oh so sad! Back on went the harness and mom had to carry him out..............for, once again, he acted as if he had no legs.

He rode on her lap all the way back and now won't leave her side. This is odd, as he usually does that with me. But, momis now the savior who brough him abck home from that wrethced palce where I had taken him.

So I am down one cat & rambling by myself now. Is there a lesosn in this Cat-astrophe? I am not sure yet. I'll fill you in if I find one.

Crak, Coffee, and KDP......a winning combination

So Wednesday night was when Crak and I were meeting for coffee. KDP had texted me asking what I was doing and I told her so she said she'd meet up with us later on.

I got to Starbucks and found Crak inside with her hot beverage and a bag of goodies. So I grabbed my usual and wanted to see what was in that bag. Yippee! TN stuff! Plans are in the works, but we have not discussed ANYTHING and plan on going in June. I don't think we have ever been this late with plans before.

She heard about my move & I heard about her dates. My only dating life. I am living vicariously through her right now when it comes to dating. Any advice for this part of my life? I was planning on signing up for Match........again.........after hearing that 60% of couples currently dating who are over the age of 25 have met via the internet. But then I heard (on the John Tesh program) that 35% of the people on dating sites currently, with pictures, are married and --- technically ---- looking to cheat. Great.

KDP arrived and the stories of skiing came out. We laughed. As always. That's why I hang out with these great women. I am always guaranteed to laugh. And, when it comes down to it, isn't that all we need?

See? Who needs to blow on dice when the odds of me having fun with friends over a simple cup of coffee is a guaranteed win every time!

Blowin' Dice

If you read Crak's entry, then you understand why I am posting this. I wasn't planning on it, but I have been thrust into the situation.

Crak & I have not seen eachother nor have we really chatted much lately due to schedules. I called her on my way to the Farm on Wednesday to confirm for coffee later on that evening. I was five minutes behind schedule and racing like a madwoman to the campus. While we chatted, I made the comment that I am finding this whole "work thing" to be getting in the way of me living. You know, truly living. Getting ready to go, taking books and papers, finding parking (in Guam I might add), and then schlepping all the way in to a classroom to discuss poetry is just not doing it for me right now. Don't get me wrong: I LUV my Farm kids. They are great. I enjoy talking with them, discussing poems with them, and having random tangents as a group. But I have no energy for it anymore.

I am not sure what I want to be when I grow up.

So it went from there. I said something about winning the lottery. And then I think it went to becoming a personal shopper for someone......because I like shopping and I would have no trouble using someone else's money to assist them in buying the right presents for friends, famly, and special persons. Crak pointed out that they may even throw something my way every now and then. Nice!

And then it segwayed to going to Vegas or AC and trying to attach myself to a high roller/whale and asking if I could be the girl who blows on their dice before rolling it in a craps game (or any game that involves dice). And it went down from there......the conversation....PERVS! How? I am not sure. How well would it work for me to stand on the LVB with a sandwich board that says "I'll blow on your dice for ya". Yeah. Needs work. Lots of work.

Any advice? Suggestions? About the job thing..........not the dice or the blowing on them.

Fresita-licious!

I bought a bottle of a sparkling strawberry wine a few weeks ago & was saving it for a special occassion. I'm not sure, anymore, what constitutes a 'special occassion' and found myself wanting to open it today for no other reason that I wanted to.

Oh. My. Goodness.

It was soooooooooooo yummy. A chilled wine that is gorgeous in color and in aroma, this bottle had sold itself. The packaging alone is festive. It was a frosted bittle lottle with pretty reddish liquid inside and red foil covering the top. The minute I opened it, I was hit with a fragrance of fresh-picked strawberries.

It bubbles and fizzes and those bubbles release more of the fresh summertime scent.

I enjoyed it in a little aperitif glass and now I yearn for the long, warm, endless days that will soon lay ahead with me sipping this chilled wine of choice.

Fear & Loathing In L.I.

Have I mentioned how much I despise my students? I received email afer scathing email this past week from those who "were not satisfied" with their grades and how they "already contacted the dean because she will do the right thing".

Was 'doing the right thing' doing the work that had been assigned at a collegiate level?
Was 'doing the right thing' keeping up with posts that would be worth 40% of your final grade? Would 'doing the right thing' be having read the syllabus and knowing fully the responsibilities to earn the grade of your desire?
Would 'doing the right thing' include reading the seven announcements, the two extra ones strictly for posting, and the two emails that told you as a class that you were not even close to earning the 40%?
Would 'doing the right thing' be contacting me when your midterm eval was an "F"?
Would 'doing the right thing' maybe be contacting me with an appropriate worded email as opposed to the nasty ones I received?
Would 'doing the right thing' be the dean not entertaining the students (I use that term-students- VERY loosely) and sending the students back to me to discuss the situation first?

I have been summoned to the provost's office at 11:30 Monday morning. This doens't look well for me.....I did my job, have copies of the announcements, emails I sent, and the syllabus that was posted the first week. I have copies of the students' emails. I did my job and I did it well. Yet it will be me who pays a huge price tomorrow. I may be jumping the gun. They may just warn me to not have such high standards next time. They may pressure me to change the grades. That isn't good in that it undermines me completely as a professional. I'd be sunk each semester simply because people would be able to say "Oh, you don't like it that you did not do any work and she had the nerve to fail you? Take it to the provost...he'll do the right thing". They may remove me at the end of the semester. They may remove me now.

The waiting game is taking its toll on my sanity.

Ever want to just run away? Wanna come with me?

Is She Kidding?

So the prostitute at the center for the Spitzer scandal is upset that her Myspace photos were published in newspapers? Is she for real?

And the media is making repeated statements how she "stands to make a fortune over this whole incident". The one being that she is the 'girl who brought down the governor'. Ummmm......is everyone forgetting that what she was doing while she 'brought him down' was, and still is, illegal? Should she be able to make more than she already has from her....cough cough.......business?

I am not passing comments on her looks, as so many have.

But I am going to say that it is pathetic when a 22-year old can make such a life choice, roll the way she did, get upset over the media attention , and then laugh all the way to the bank while two of her songs get air play & are being downloaded at alarming rates. She is making $.70 off of each $1.00 song purchase, by the way.

Side note: I have to stop listening to Z100 now because of their lack of morals/common sense in this situation.

Go home, little girl, to your well-to-do family life. Put your clothes on. Find some morals. And stop whining about the media when you made it clear to many who knew you that you wanted to be famous anyway. Well, sweetie, you got it!