Cats Gone Wild

So I knitted up Molly a mouse & stuffed it with her scratching post shreddings, crumpled paper, and catnip.
You can see, she loves it.
Happy happy happy cat! She got into the catnip the other night. Very scary. Some of it got onto my jeans...I really, really need to get her claws clipped.
So yeah, it's Friday night and I am blogging. Between my cat and me...at least one of us has good buzz on. (Molly loves her catnip!)But there are friends at the door now, not all is lost. :)

Fragments on a Friday Night

Hungover...but not from drinking. It's a "sleep hangover": what happens when you unexpectedly stay up all night (last night, due to a sleep study at the consulting job), and make the very bad mistake of going to sleep during the daytime. Then you wake up at 3 pm, wondering what in god's own world happened? The clouded thinking, the turned-over stomach, the feeling that someone whacked you on the head with a 2 x 4. Then...right. It's a sleep hangover. Blah.

So. Forgive me if this is a bit fragmented.

Things from the past week:

1. My blog has gotten loads of hits this week. So, to all those who are finding my blog via googling "Steelers Haters": Fuck Yinz! Steelers Nation is alive and well! (And to all those who have found it via "Steelers panties": Welcome! Go Steelers!)

2. In the news: I heard this on the radio this morning, then found it online. Made me think of Baltimore's own videogamin' Standing Cheese: Nearly 1/3 of all parents play video games with their kids. He's more normal than one would think, apparently. Yay family time!

3. In the news 2: Speaking of normal, apparently all we online addicts aren't isolated losers after all...

4. Best work-related event: meeting Ms. T, an ex-prostitute in her late 40s (looks like she's in her late 50s). True if trite: this woman has a sweet charming Southern accent and a heart of gold. She told us tales of horror that went down like sugar (no pun intended), with her lovely graceful manner. I look forward to chatting with her over the next year of our study.

5. Worst work-related event: the NP nearly driving us over the top story of the parking garage. "UMMMMMM!!!" I yelled, as she accidently put her car into drive while looking into her bag. "NP!!!!!" CRASH!!! They really need to make bigger walls on that garage! It's 6 stories down!!!! Talk about living on the edge, eh?

6. Best Blog-related event: Happy hour, of course! Hurrah to all the bloggers, old and new, who came out. (Still waiting some few phones calls, though- come on people, don't let me down! ;) )

7. Special thanks to computer-problem-solver God Jason J Thomas. He is the man to talk to if you don't know WTF is up with your PC!!!

8. Most interesting restaurant of the week: Amer's Cafe in Overlea. Went there tonight with friends. Good food with a belly dancer and a tarot card reader for entertainment.

That's it. Nothing too exciting. It's OK though. Feb and March are gonna be hopping, and only a few days left in January. It all works out in the end, yes?

PS. Gotta give a little more Black and Gold love. Welcome to Steeler town, PA. Heh.

Last Call

I meant to do this earlier today...it's quittin' time at work. Come out to play! Blogger Happy Hour: Rick's Cafe, on the Square in Canton. All are invited! Hope to see you there!!!

Game Day!!!

It's 2 am. I am still wide, wide, wide away. And why?

It's all because of a football game. Silly blogger, I know. But there it is. I suspect I am only one of many football fans who are nervous and excited and just waiting for game time this afternoon.

Which Steelers team will show up? I have been through this 5 times since I got into pro football. Only once has my team pulled off a victory. We've been through several agonizing defeats, including one to the Broncos a few years back. The 2006 game will be either another agonizing defeat, or thrilling revenge victory.

It should be a great game- I think we will match up well against Denver. I have some hope, as Jake Plummer could easily be a Kordell Stewart in disguise. I think Ben R should play well, he has been admirable this post-season and his overall record is outstanding. The team is certainly firing on all cylinders. If they come out and play a game similar to last week- score early, play excellent defense- if they are as prepared and motivated and ready to go, I think my Steelers will take it.

But which team will show? The prepared team or the overconfident team of recent years' past?

Either way, I am very happy that my team is still playing ball. Here's to a win tomorrow and another win afterwards to wrap up the season. And NO INJURIES!!! Denver plays rough, if Ben R goes down, all is lost. May the O-line stand strong tomorrow in Colorado!

Only 13 hours til game time, and 8 hours til the tailgate. GO STEELERS!!!

So BUSTED

Zenchick caught me redhanded...

When Hormones Attack

grrrrrr. Grrrrr. GRRRRRR.

Sometimes it is a rough thing being female.

The world would be OK if I had an endless bottle of excellent red zin, a vat of Swiss chocolate, a carton of very excellent British smokes, and a willing male who, if he could just wait for about 10 days, could be repaid for his suffering (because I would so willingly accept, well, the favors of a good male and a lot of football watching this weekend).

But no. Today I went shopping with my engaged girl J for a bridesmaid dress. It was one of those moments of pure horror. A saleswoman comes with you into the dressing room, you put on this big chiffon dress, suck in your breath and turn to look in the mirror, and: OMFG! When did I get this FAT?!?!?!? WHEN???? Just a mere two days ago I was down 5 pounds? WHA?!?!? (I mean, sure, bridesmaids dresses are MEANT to make any female near the altar disappear. And it's a nice enough dress. But, JESUS! A girl's self esteem is too often the direct inverse of her width, ya know? It's a sad but true fact. It's a wonder that the bridesmaids aren't the ones crying at the weddings!!!)

So. No alcohol. Too fattening. No cigs- but only because I had a few with the Brit and his wife to celebrate his birthday earlier this week, and I am doomed if I pick them up again. No chocolate- too fattening.

Basically, everything sucks. I mean, of course it doesn't. In Reality, things are just fine. But right now, I couldn't be more in an unbalanced hormonal neurochemimcal phase if I'd taken a hit of LSD. I am not seeing or feeling things clearly. It's just the way it is. It will be over soon.

In the meantime, I just hope that I don't quit my job(s), yell at my friends and loved ones, and one day wake up in San Diego because "I just needed a change"...must remember, all of this will be over in five days or so.

Also, I lied: I do have a bottle of red zin. I have drank two (ok, 2.5) glasses of it, calories be damned. If I could only scout out some chocolate...I think things will be just fine...just fine...

Cheers

I have a football tradition: I always toast my team at the end of the final game of the season. It's a goofy, sentimental gesture, my own small Thank You for another great year of football (well, it's also been a Thank God This Season Is Over a few times, too).

So it came to be, today, that I refused to buy a drink in the final quarter of the game today. I would not jinx my team by purchasing a Season's End drink. No no no. Not once during the last insane, gut-churning fifteen minutes. No beer, no knitting, no smoking, just paralysis. I wanted to puke with joy, then angst, then joy (but luckily, I hadn't bought a beer- in the end I guess it was for the best).

Was that football? Bad, bad calls by the refs; the Steelers D giving up a Colts TD and 2-point conversion; the Steelers O doing nothing with the next possession; the Steelers d blitzing the almighty f!ck out of Manning and getting the ball on the 2 yardline (mad, mad cheers and hugs all around); Bettis' INSANE FUMBLE, the Colts pick it up and get running (the season flashes before my eyes), and only a wild grab by our beloved QB stops a sure Indy TD for the game. THEN, THEN, the Steelers D steps up and forces the Colts to attempt a 46 yd field to go into overtime...and Mr. Reliable Kicker misses far wide. Mad, mad cheers and hugs all around.

OH MY FUCKING GOD. Terrifying, insane, wild game. I admit that I didn't expect my team to win, but of course I hoped for it. The Steelers live to play another Sunday, they have a shot in the Championship game. WOO-HOOO!! Go Steelers!!! Here's hoping for another Sunday of no drinks after the half, and a Season's End brew in the Superbowl!

The King Is Dead

It didn't go down as Legend Would Have It: Tom Brady and the Pats weren't dethroned by professional nemesis Peyton Manning and the Colts. No, the King was killed by a team led by furry Jake "The Snake" Plummer in the high, rare air of Denver.

Ah, this is why the game is played. It gives me the slightest glimmer of hope for today's Steelers-Colts match up. On paper, the Colts are The Team. They are the best team in football. The Steelers technically should get shredded. Manning should throw on our weak secondary all day long.

We'll see. I hope Manning throws a long bomb on the first play, just like he did on MNF, only to have Ike Taylor intercept it. That would be a perfect start.

If it's not gonna be an Indy-Patriots Championship game, maybe the Fates will put up a Denver-Pittsburgh match-up. I have every single neurotic, superstitious trick going on for a Steelers win. I might even make up a few more.

Yeah, Manning is the obvious choice to take up the top spot, but anything can happen. Plummer and Ben R will have a shot, and of course whoever ends up playing for the NFC in the big game. It's all up for grabs now. I love football!

Any Given Sunday, and I hope today is one of those days where the upstart underdogs take the game in Indy.

Time to head off to the Steelers bar. GO STEELERS!

PS. Special shout out to blogger Cosmic Shambles, who is a lot of fun to watch a non-Steelers/Ravens game with, and to Dizzie Izzie's in Remington. They have Sierra Nevada pints for under $2.50, and PA favorite Yuengling for under $2.00. What a bummer that there are only 2.5 weeks of football left until September.

Road Trip (eek!)

So we (as in the Best Friend and I) were told earlier this week that we have a Friday presentation to give in Philly...and by "we have a presentation to give" I mean that I will stand up in front of a bunch of strangers and give a little talk. The BF comes along as support. We were told to show up, but we have no other info: we're not sure exactly what they want us to talk about, we don't know how long we have, and we're not sure when they want us (they said "sometime between 11-4").

Nervous much? This is for my consulting job, so we are bringing down everything we have on the one particular product in which this Philly group has shown interest. I am *so* not into public speaking on the best of days. Ikes!!!!

Oh well, at worst it will only last until 4 pm tomorrow. Well, OK, I could totally bomb it, and lose my consulting job. But why look at the dark side? It could all just as easily go smashingly well, and my bit of profit sharing could increase because of it. Yay?

There is a big benefit, anyway. My poor grandmother ended up in the hospital last weekend, and she hasn't gone home yet. So I will be able to go see her after the presentation. She had surgery yesterday, and is doing well now. She's got a while to rehab before she can go back home with my mom and dad, but at least that journal has begun. I would have tried to go home to see her this weekend anyway, but now I'll have a day's head start.

So one rough day left in the workweek to go. Then, assuming that the family is doing OK, it's back home for a weekend of Football. Definitely something to look forward to!

Home Visits

On days like these I love my job.

We just got back from a Home Visit in one of the working class neighborhoods. Met up with an adorable couple in their late 70s, who survived a fairly wicked car accident a few months back.

It's really something to enter into someone's home as a researcher. It never fails to amaze me how some people will welcome you in, show you around, and answer some very personal and even intrusive questions willingly and generously. They know we are there to collect as much information as possible. At times, I feel badly about it, because it seems so invasive. Today, I felt quite the opposite. Maybe because the people were elderly and seemed to want to open up.

This was a couple who had been married for 50 years, and probably lived in the same house for all that time. Their home was clean and tidy, but stocked with family pictures and very cool familial artifacts, such as the name board from the husband's father's Harbor tugboat (circa 1940) on the wall. The husband was a carpenter, and he had lovingly worked his trade throughout his house. Beautiful cabinets, chairs, tables, window edgings- his work was everywhere you looked. He quietly but proudly pointed it out, when asked about his line of work.

"Technically, I'm retired. That just means that I get to do what I want to do now."

"Sounds good to me!" I laughed.

"Well then, let me grab you a beer and we'll sit out back and I'll answer your questions, young lady!" (He called me Young and offered Beer! What a gem!)

I had to refuse the offer, of course. But it was heart-warming to talk with these people, to get to listen in on their lives. They were old-school Baltimore, alright; cheerful, happy, quiet, hanging out with their friends and neighbors (seriously, they had several visitors pop in during our 3-hour stay). No gripping about the accident, or pains, or troubles. Just a general pleasure in talking and showing the artifacts of two lives well-lived. Some people really are remarkable.

Still Life With Men

Well, I haven't blogged much on the whole guy thing lately, outside of the New Years post. I have quite a way with the guys, as you may know. Let me tell you a little about my most recent experiences with Single Men over the past month.

Best Christmas gift from a Single Man: a pair of warm socks and cozy flannel PJ bottoms...no top. Was this a message? I don't know, the man himself didn't give them to me personally, and he never showed up. But hey, it's the thought that counts, right? Very interesting...

Best New Year's conversation: I hadn't talked with the Ex for weeks, but he called on NYE afternoon to say Hello. I had a new bed delivered from Ikea that morning, and he offered to put it together. I know it's not a good idea to have your Ex put together your new bed...but he's a lot faster with that kind of Guy Stuff than I am. He had it together in 30 mins flat, and I went out and bought him a beer for his troubles. At the bar, we ran into a girl, L, we knew back before he and I were Exes. She was on her own, and she sat down and joined us.

L: "So, you guys are back together?"
Ex: "No, we're divorced."
L: "Oh! I didn't know you had gotten married!"
Me: "No, we skipped getting married and went straight for Divorce. Much cheaper."
L:"OK....so what are you doing here?"
Ex:"She's buying me a beer because I put her new bed together."
L: [looks at us strangely]
Ex, wryly:"Yes, I put together her new bed. She'll be f!cking someone else on it, soon. Some homo guy, not me. He'll have a smaller penis than I have. Oh, and she won't tell me about it because she'll be afraid to hurt my feelings."
L: [Looking around, as if to transmit, "Help Me!"]
Me, to L: "Yeah, we're just friends. You can see how it's working out."
Ex: "Yeah, but so what. At least you had the decency to buy me a beer."

Two years ago, I realized that the man I loved was in serious trouble. One year ago, I couldn't stand to be near him, I was too angry and frustrated. This year, he's a little bitter, but was OK with how things stand. And I think we finally are getting balanced. We've regained our friendship without slipping past the boundaries. I'd say this is a decent progression. And with any luck, he'll be right, and I'll have a new guy soon (and if so, I will tell him about it, I don't think his feelings will be all that hurt). Maybe he'll surprise me and get himself a new girl, too. Then I'll know things have turned out OK.

Best Experience with a Single Guy: ooh, definitely the past few dates with the tall, smart, funny, hot guy. I am too nervous to come up with a name for him on the blog yet- maybe soon, if things progress. I don't want to Jinx it by giving him a good name, then having him disappear.

Last week we met up after work- I was so shaky that I went to hang with the Artist and drink some calming tea in the hour between work ending and the time me and the guy were to meet up. I'm nervous because this guy is so serious about what he is looking for, and it sounds similar to what I am looking for...it's like Conscientious Dating, or Dating On Purpose. Which, as I noted in my last post, is very different from my old way of doing things, the Way of the somewhat Casual Relationship Hookup.

It's all good, though- I mean, I don't want to keep dating and dating, world without end. Purposeful is good. Purposeful is how I want to do it. It's a happy surprise to find someone who is promising, who has the basics (smart, attractive, secure, funny, good communication) AND who seems to want the same things I do. Now it's just moving forward to see how things go. So far there seems to be a good rapport, and I am definitely feeling some chemistry on my end. This might turn out to be a good year.

HA! A real blog post, and not a word mentioned (except here) about football. It's about time, eh?

Post as if it's Your Last...

...cuz this might be it for the Steeler football posts until September. So here it is: GO STEELERS!!! Did you know that Troy Polamalu and Carson Palmer were roommates in college for 3 years? Yeah, they know each other pretty well. I hope TP has a big game, cuz if the Bungles are able to successfully pass, it's gonna be a great day for Steeler haters and a national day of Mourning for Steelers fans everywhere.

May Ben R and Bettis and Ward and all the 'burgh guys dominate. I'm in my black and gold, hoping that I get to do this again next weekend.

Gotta get going to the Steelers bar. I will put up a non-football post soon...

UPDATE: Well. That was a helluva game. Very bad news on Carson Palmer- bad injuries, he might not be back for the start of next season. That is not how I wanted my team to win, and it's sad news for those who just love to watch the game. No one wants to see a talented player like Palmer go down like that. The Steelers may have pulled if off even with Palmer in, our offense did a pretty good job. The D, though...ikes. It was a dog-fight until the 3rd quarter, when the Steelers took over.

One thing is for sure, the Steelers are now the #1 most hated team in Cincy.

I'm glad to have another game in the season. I don't know if anyone can stop the Colts, but I'll be hoping that the Steelers manage it next week.

Year in Preview

Here's hoping that in 2006:

1. the Steelers play a whole lot better and destroy the Bengals and all other opponents to win the Big One this year.

2. I improve my time management: work smarter/not harder, and be home a lot more.

3. I lose 15 pounds, manage to run 5 miles (consecutively, not just 5 miles over the whole of 2006 like 2005), and continue to not smoke. Oh hell, I'll never manage to run 5 miles straight, I will change that to "Take several leisurely walks of at least 8 miles." I might actually do that.

4. I take at least one good non-business-related trip somewhere out of state this year.

5. I find myself a nice guy who I like and who likes me back and who is able/willing to get into a relationship.

Well, 1 and 5 are not entirely in my control, but I can do 2-4! I can!!


2005 went by so quickly! It's hard to really think about it, it seems like it hardly happened. I remember last New Year's so well, this year was much more quiet by comparison. Still, 2005 did have some shining moments.

For instance, in 2005 I stepped away from the computer and actually went out and met some bloggers. This was one of my better moves- the Baltimore bloggers who I've met have been great. I've made some good friends via this blogging gig, which is funny as I never expected to ever break my anonymity when I first started blogging. It's been a worthy trade-off, personally.

Also, this year also some of my older friendships have deepened. I have been fortunate to hang out with the Best Friend a lot more often, and my friendship with the Artist has deepened considerably, which has been a wonderful gift.

This year I also learned that I am totally in the dark when it comes to guys. Or, at least I am clueless when it comes to dating men who are over the age of 30. In my 20s, I had the whole guy thing down flat. It was so easy: you met someone, indicated your interest, they indicated their interest, you started hanging out, and fairly quickly and painlessly started up a nice relationship. See? All that in 5 easy steps.

It appears to be a little more complicated now. I think I get stuck on the 2nd and 3rd steps, where the two parties indicate interest in each other. I was dating a guy a while back, but it didn't seem to really go anywhere. I took this to mean that he wasn't very interested, and yet he gave me several lovely Christmas presents. Before receiving the gifts, I hadn't heard from him in weeks. Apparently I misread him. Very confusing.

Also, there is a guy now who has sparked my interest. He's all tall and smart and funny and hot, and just seems like a really good guy...so I indicated my interest. And (yay!) he seemed to reciprocate... but things aren't really that clear. It's like suddenly I can't read. What constitutes interest? I have thought that no interest existed when apparently it did, and I would hate to think that someone was interested when he really wasn't. Or worse, ruin a guy's interest because I was trying too hard to get clarity (e.g., getting all nebby and hassling him).

I guess maybe we all get more cautious as we gain experience? Grrr! This all is so much harder than it used to be!

At any rate, here's to a new year! I hope that I will continue to hang with the bloggers in '06, and maybe I'll even figure out the guy thing this year as well. If I could do those two things, plus achieve a workable balance with my jobs, this would be a remarkable year. Here's to a fun, healthy 2006! (And for all Steelers fan, may we see a Black and Gold Superbowl!)