Happy Halloweeeeeen!!!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here are a few links where you can carve your own pumpkin.

Pumpkin Carving 1

Pumpkin Carving 2

I will post some pics from the Halloween festivities later today.

Smoking while pregnant? WHY THE HELL....

There is a woman in the doctor's office downstairs who is about 7 months pregnant. And I just saw her smoking away. I am really bothered by this.

I don't have a problem with the several friends of mine who smoke. They are considerate about us non-smokers when smoking around us. To each his/her own. But when it comes to pregnant women smoking, I am extrememely bothered by it. Here's a Q & A from the American Lung Association about smoking while pregnant.

WHY???

I see SKY!! I see SKY!! (and ice on my car)

This morning, it was a chilly 34 degrees when I went out to my car to start it up. There was a thin layer of ice on the windshield. Welcome to FALL.

There is a HUGE silver lining in the clouds today. It's called SUNSHINE and BLUE SKIES. Really lovely. I am doing an errand at lunch just to be in the sunshine.

:-)

Rain, rain, go away...

Here's a recap of the weekend. But first, I must speak on an opportunity I let go. We just got a new phone system in the office. Along with a new phone system meant new recording for the company's general voice mail and extra lines. I was given the opportunity to do it. I passed it on to another co-worker who I felt had a better voice. In retrospect, was that a completely dumbass thing to do? Perhaps it was. I only regret not doing it a little bit. I guess if I am blogging about it, it meant more to me than I care to let on. I am sure Evil Kdar is laughing about it as I speak. Anyhooo, I really think my co-worker has a better voice. I am also so out of practice and touch with doing professional sounding VO. Sigh.

Onto the weekend recap....

Due to thunderous flooding and rain in the Southeast area, Sherri didn't come up. It was for the best. The weather was really sucky. REALLY sucky. I spent the whole weekend inside watching tv and movies. I did go see "The Aristocrats" at an 11:45 pm showing Saturday night. It's not a movie for the faint of heart, morally sound, or people who hate South Park humor. I have to say that I thought great moments of it was HILARIOUS. All rather gross, but I knew that going into it. Freakin' ass funny. OMIGAWD. So wrong, so wrong. But funny. But so wrong.

Sunday I went to church, saw "Elizabethtown", which my friend Alex worked on. That was his 3rd film with Cameron Crowe. I would put more down here about it, but I really want to talk with Alex about his experience on it first. It wasn't spectacular or life changing. I thought the music was pretty good and there were a few scenes that I really, really thought were great. (More on that later.) Overall though... hmmm. Not the best Cameron Crowe movie. I wish he would break out and do something really crazy and different.

It rained Saturday. It rained Sunday. Oh, another fun thing I did Sunday was help my landlady decorate the front of the house with Halloween stuff. Not sure if I will be setting up shop to pass out candy or some other junk to the kids this year. I probably will. I don't have anything going on.

I do need a costume. Any ideas? I am looking for something timely/newsworthy and possibly politically incorrect.

Apple Fest and No More Client P!

HOLY MACKERAL! It's been ages since I wrote. Well, here's the latest from the other week... I will post the apple fest pics later.

Saturday 10.8.05 -

I was off to a late start. I didn't get up to Meg and Wick's until almost noon. As she had to leave for work by 1:30, we zipped through the Apple Festival. There was a long street blocked off with vendors along the side of the road with their wares. There were lots of non-apple related things - food like the Blooming Onion to those doggone craft things that all look alike with a country theme. You know the ones I am talking about. You see them at EVERY fair/festival across the country. I am curious to see what kind of crap you can get at fairs around the world. We had a good time. I also had an apple doughnut and cider. I also bought a pumpkin pie and ate a nice 1/4 of it by the end of the evening. It was soooo gooooood! Didn't have time to pick apples, but I will do that with Sherri this coming weekend, I expect. After the festival, I came back to my apartment and watched a blitz of movies. I also went to the movies in the evening. I am almost movied out.

Sunday 10.9.05-

Carrie joined me at church. I signed up for a retreat that is in November. A)I hope I remember I signed up B) I hope I have a good time. I think Carrie will go too. After church, I came home and ate lunch. I had some errands to do and spent the afternoon lounging and watching the rest of my Netflix. I actually started reading "The One Minute Manager' for inspiration

Tuesday 10-11-05

WONDERFUL news! As of the end of the day, I am FINALLY done with Client P! Onto more crazies!!! Let the games begin!! Wait - they are still going on. The funny thing with Client P was that the problem was on their end the whole time (well, at least for the past two weeks). I LOVE it! I so wanted to tell them to F-off but realized that might not be a good thing to do with my time.

TGIFFFFFF!

First I have to say that I can't wait for Client B to be gone. We are finishing up a little project for him. He was upset because it wasn't done EXACTLY like he wanted it, which I understand. But he just aggravates me, so no matter how legit his changes are, he annoys me and I find that I am a little snappy with him. Just so tired of nit, nit, nit picking. LEAVE ME ALONE. I suppose when I am actually done with the project I WILL be done with him as well. Whew!

Client P - I sent them some information based on my chat with Vendor A yesterday. I kept checking my email for a lashing or beating from the information I sent. Nothing. Nothing at all. We get to have a chat with them in the morning on Monday. I can't wait!!!!

Client S - Good bunch of people. I have been enjoying working with them. But like most car salespeople, they want to get as much as they can for as little as possible. (Who wouldn't?) I MUST get them done next week, or somebody will have my hide.

Friday. Did I mention it was Friday? Not only is it Friday, but it was also PAYDAY! I am going to book my flight for Houston!!! Yippee!!! And tomorrow there will be apples to pick with Wick and Meg. And though I know I have gained more weight, I am releasing myself of guilt for tomorrow's eating. Maybe I won't even go to WW. No. I have to go. But PMSing that I am, I don't really give a rat's ass what I weigh this week. Nope. Don't care. Would rather feel bitter, depressed and crave chocolate and other sugary delights. Sunday, I can commit to eating better. Yes, yes. I can do that with the next meal I eat. However, I am throwing the whole day out the door. I am going to buy some apples to mail out to my CA posse.

And more leaves are turning. I am sure I will see some lovely ones when I drive up to the Apple Festival. Yippeeee!! Apples!!!

Something thoughtful...

It's not easy being green.
Having to spend each day the color of the leaves.
When I think it would be nicer being red, or yellow or gold,
Or something much more colorful like that.

It's not that easy being green.
It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things.
And people tend to pass you over because you aren't standing out like flashy sparkes in the water or stars in the sky.

But green's the color of spring,
And green can be cool and friendly like.
And green can be as big as a mountain or as important as a river
Or as tall as a tree.

If green is all there is to be
It can make you wonder why,
But why wonder?
Why wonder?

I'm green
And it will do fine... it's beautiful
And I think it's what I ought to be.

My brain is churning and leaves are turning...

So, against my boss' preference and my better judgement, I am still working on a Client P issue. I have control issues, I think. It's not that I enjoy being tortured. But I am one of the few people with the knowledge. The amount of time it would take to explain it I could be working on the resolution of the problem. The problem Client P is having is legit. They are not being asses about it. The "fleeting" thingy, isn't showing what they want it to show. However, when talking with our Vendor Ohio, they tell me that the info isn't even there. So, now we have to explain that to an already annoyed Client P. That will be fun. I can't wait for that chew-out session. Hopefully they will be able to see for themselves that the information isn't in the place they think it is. Bottom line is that I spent too much time with their issue when there are other people who should be handling it. I have other projects to work on, so now I feel I need to make up the time spent on Client P so I can deal with Cient E and Client PL and the other people. Never a dull moment. It's another day of being overwhelmed with too much to do. Got to meet the monthly goal. Don't forget to check the QXA12-4 box when you are setting up a Princess Package. You must alter the flux capacitor when uploading the whozzimagiggit that is part of the Pauper Package. And please wipe your ass before leaving the bathroom (I just had to throw that in...) On the plus side, we had a meeting about Halloween stuff. Sounds like we will have some $$ to play around with. Ouch. My brain hurts.

The leaves are slowly beginning to turn. That is neat. I was driving to work this morning and saw that there was a bunch of yellow where just Monday had been green. I think I will bring my camera tomorrow and take pictures. This weekend I will try to take more scenic pictures as I stroll around the Apple Festival.

Client P and Montreal relief – pour les films!

These past few weeks, you might have been able to guess from my blog that I have been a bit depressed. No, it wasn't PMS. It’s depression. And yes, I know there is help for it. And yes, I suppose I should get my head examined. Some of it was spawned by Client P’s seemingly never ending project. Some of it is crap in my head. In any event, I think I worked about 12-14 hours every day over the last few weeks to catch up with the Client P project which was due last week. Two Fridays ago, I was scrambling to get things done, but the time flew by and so did the deadline to turn on Client P’s new sites. I felt bad, but I am the only one to blame. Let this be a very big lesson to me. I postponed some of the work on her project to the point that I ran out of time. Plus the client is bi-polar and can be a real bitch. That should have been the main reason to NOT procrastinate. But that’s just the way I am. Something I really need to work on.


I had decided earlier in the week to not work this past weekend and to go check out the International Film Festival in Montreal. Elissa was interested in going with me, so we planned to meet at her house Saturday morning. After I went to WW (no gain, no loss) I packed up a few things (as we didn’t know if we would stay or not) and headed to Elissa’s house. I think we got on the road around 11:30. We got to Montreal in under two hours. At the border, the border dude/guard asked me why I had California plates. (Note to self: next time Elissa drives!) I told him I had just moved to Vermont. I showed him my passport and he didn't ask for further identification. I did have my Vermont DL available but hoped he wouldn't ask for that. I could just see the questions. Then I had visions of being tagged or flagged somehow. Maybe the next time I go they will tell me that I need to get the plates fixed? But he didn't ask any other questions and we were on our way! Viva La Canada! Fantastique! We had no trouble finding the theater, thanks to Elissa’s keen sense of direction (and the nice street map.) The area the theater was located in is full of shops, restaurants, lounges and clubs. It reminds me of downtown Burbank, but with a few high-rise buildings mixed in. The Cineplex Odeon was one of the theaters hosting the festival. Between Elissa’s and my French, we were able to successfully park the car, pay the parking dude AND buy our tickets for the first screening. There was a schedule that helped out with our film plan. It was hard to decide as we didn’t know the directors, actors or even really the story or theme of the films, but that didn't matter. We were in Montreal!!!

We decided on a Chinese/Canadian film called "Eve and the Fire Horse". It was a really great story about a young girl faced with two different religions and cultures. We took a break after the film to wander the streets of downtown Montreal. Made me wish I had kept up my French. If only I could read what was on that sign.... We opted to check out a few cathedrals and a few stores and in one I found two snowglobes and come chocolates. It was a swell dollar store.

The second film we saw was a German documentary called,"Winter's Children - the Silent Generation". It was about a filmaker's journey to reveal the secrets that his mother held about her Nazi father. I thought it had a good premise. However, the story really wasn't edited very well and the mother really didn't have that much to say about her father, who was a director of re-education for the Nazi party in his small German village. Just not that interesting. I am sure somebody will try to get it nominated for an Academy Award.

The third part of our film adventure brought us to a series of shorts made in the Middle East. There were about 10 films. Mostly the themes were about terrorist bombings. There was one really good one about a pregnant woman who turned out to be a suicide bomber on a bus. No dialogue other than ambient background noise and breathing. The last story, "Rain is Falling" was a sweet and sad Morracan story about a little girl who carries water miles from a well to her sick mother. Then, just after the doctor leaves, the rain begins to leak through the roof. The girl puts containers all around the dirt floor to gather the water. Then she checks on her mother who is in another room. A single trail of water begins to gather and starts to fall just over the mother's head. The girl takes her mother's water glass and holds it over her mother's head to protect her from the rain. At the end of the film, the water glass is just about to overflow, and the girl takes a sip. The end. I really enjoyed watching the films as they inspired me to get on the ball with my short script. I think I will see if I can get somebody to make it. I don't really want to make it myself. Then again....

After the movieating, we strolled down the boulevard and stopped in a
restaurant for dinner. We could read the menu easily for under the French it had a rough translation of what the food was. I took no time in ordering something so touristy of me I am sure you are rolling your eyes - quiche and crepes. OMIGAWD. They were delicious!! I would love to go back there and have more. In fact, I think I could have eaten a whole quiche pie myself! It was really tasty! Elissa and I split the food and after a little café au lait we hit the road for home. Had no trouble passing through the border.

The drive home was thanfully uneventful. I was glad Elissa had her Ipod. We had fun playing tunes. I would love to get one of those. Maybe Santa will bring me one for Christmas. I think I was in my apartment by 11:30 or 12:00. I would really love to go back to Montreal really soon. Maybe Sherri will want to pop up there with me in a few weeks?

This past weekend - Nickel Creek!!

This past weekend I found cheese nirvana. Cheese Traders is the most awesomist cheese place ever. They have cheese ends and pieces from Cabot cheese at incredibly low prices. Unbelieveably low. At the regular grocery store it costs $2.79 for 8oz of Cabot cheese. At the Cheese Trader, you can get about 2 lbs for $3-4!!! Sure, it's an ugly lump to look at. Might even be hard to grate. But it is cheese. And good cheese at that. Who cares what it looks like! They have all kinds. I also bought spatzel, which I have been looking for ever since I found it at Ikea ages ago.

THE FOLLOWING IS FROM NOTES I TOOK WHILE WAITING FOR THE SHOW ON SATURDAY NIGHT...

7:40. I am sitting on the stairs to the bar of Higher Ground wating to see Nickel Creek. I had forgotten to buy a ticket today at work so after the Cheese Trader, I came over (it's right next door) and waited in line, hoping to get a ticket to the second night of the show. There were signs everywhere that said it was sold out. That was sucky. Then after about 15 minutes of waiting in the line, they began to let us in. A bouncer dude asked if anybody was looking for tickets. I raised my hand and he motioned me out of the line. A woman had 4 tickets she couldn't use and they were for last night's show (which had been delayed by about 2 hours as one of the performer's flights was reeeeeaaaallly late.) I wrote her a check and was in!
MOMENTS LATER...
The woman talking to the guy behind me said that on Tuesday night they had Drag Bingo. I have got to check that out at the Red Square bar, if they still have it. LOVE IT!
8ish - The first act is Leona Ness, she's a guitarist chick with dude who plays just about everything else - drums, percussion, trumpet, keyboard etc. She plays for about 40 minutes and it takes them about 20-30 to set up for NC. I am thinking back to the days when I went to the Lido with Kitty to see some comedians and saw NC for the first time. They were still in their teens. I remember being really impressed with their talent though I was not a bluegrass fan. Their album came out about 4 months later, which I got as soon as I could. I remember they had to carry their own equipment at the time. I am so happy to see how they have grown. I saw them last year at the Hollywood Bowl. They are on their 4th album. Glad they are in Burlington. I was going to hang out with Sherri this weekend, but she's not a fan of the band or music so we rescheduled for two weeks from now. We will go apple picking.

9:10 they play! They have so much energy and play long riffs (I don't know my music vocabulary for jamming for long periods of time, but they did it.) They played mostly from their new album, which I bought. Burlington was amongst their first stops on their Fall Tour. Isn't that nice, to think of us? I never really liked bluegrass until I heard them. It's toe tappin' tunes. Even the ballads are really good. It's ALL good. (How do you like my really articulate description of the show?)

They played until about 11:30. I am so glad I went!

SUNDAY

I can't say much about Sunday. I went to church where it was Missions Sunday. There was a woman doctor who talked about her experiences in Africa where she helped people for two weeks. Very tough job. She seemed really eager to go back to help next year. She is finishing her residency at the university here. After church I took a three hour nap, which was a pity as I had only planned on a little snoozer. It was a lovely day out, but by the time I got up, I didn't want to venture outside. I did watch a whole bunch of movies and even managed to go to the theater.

Really exciting weekend, wasn't it?

Fair and art pics - my exciting city!

I should have posted this stuff ages ago, but at least they are here....

A few weeks ago, I went with Carrie and her brother, Jim to the Chittenden County Fair. Here’s Jim.

According to my sources, this is the biggest fair in the state. It ain’t no LA or Orange County fair, nope. Even Ventura’s fair is massive compared to this. Still, they had some pretty big headliners come and perform – Tim McGraw for example. (No, I didn’t see his show.) There were pig races, lots of cows (see photo) and the mid-way section had some decent looking rides,

All in all, it was a good fair. I had a good time.

After the week of the fair, Burlington had what they call the ART HOP. Around the few blocks where my office is, various buildings and businesses displayed artwork. It ranged from metal sculptures to wall hangings of oil, pastel and… stuff like this wonder. The talent of the artists varied from my kind of first grade drawing (I can only make stick figures) to some people with real, marketable talent. I walked around with Wick and Meg for a couple of hours to see the sites. There were a few bands and refreshment stands. I was really impressed with just how many people showed up for it. In my office building, the three of four floors’ hallways are covered in artwork. It’s really cool to walk around every day and see this stuff. Here are a few more examples.

A PARADE FOR A STREET?

Omigawd, this morning the neighborhood had a parade for one of the streets, which I guess turned 100. A PARADE FOR A STREET? It's an annual event. There was a band, firetruck, Shriners, and a bunch of people whose purpose was unclear. Very odd. Took about 10 minutes. Then it was over. Nothing there. They had done a bunch of repaving over the spring and summer. That was another reason to celebrate. The whole rennovation cost about $6 million dollars in state and local $$. Maybe I missed something, but I don't understand why it cost that much to repave a street.

I have been productive - did my laundry, went to WW (gained) and went grocery shopping. Now I am off to see "Junebugs". More on that later.