More Colombia

Yesterday was a more relaxing day- we had lunch and did some shopping, where I came across this home goods store whose name made me laugh.

Colombia has the reputation of being a dangerous country, but the only dangerous aspect I´ve observed so far are the roads. They twist through mountains and ravines, with traffic flying along at high speeds- it´s a bus plunge waiting to happen. If you look closely, there is some evidence of a country with a troubled past. The police and military are everywhere, and there are some strange laws designed to increase security. For example, everyone who rides a motorcycle is required to wear a helmet and vest with the license plate number printed on them. Also, when I changed some money at the bank, they photocopied my passport and took my fingerprint. Last night at a dinner party with Caro´s frineds from college, one told us the story about how he was kidnapped. "It wasn´t for very long," he said. How long? "Eight days." Yikes!

Okay, enough sensationalism. The people are typical Latin-style friendly, greeting each other with hugs and kisses. Luckily, I haven´t attracted nearly as much attention as I thought I would. After spending two years being the star of every show in Nicaragua, it´s a relief to walk around (relatively) unnoticed. My Spanish is doing okay but not great- I understand almost everything (except for jokes- has anyone else noticed that jokes are the HARDEST thing to understand in another language? I think the main problem is that everyone tends to talk faster and start laughing as they approach the punchline, so I´m often left looking puzzled while everyone else erupts into laughter. "Hey guys, I understood everything except for the funny part at the end."), but my speech is lagging way behind my thoughts. By the time I find the words for what I want to say, the conversation has moved on, so I´ve been much quieter than normal. I´m sure many of you agree that my listening skills could use some practice...but hopefully in a couple more days I´ll return to my normal loquacious self.

Anyways, today we´re heading out for a weekend at Caro´s family farm, so no more updates for a few days. Have a happy new year, everyone!

Santa Fe de Antioquia

Yesterday, Caro, her sister, and I went to a small colonial town a couple hours outside of Medellin named Santa Fe de Antioquia. Along the way, we drove across and old, Indiana Jones style bridge. Santa Fe de Antioquia is similar to some of the small cities I had seen in southern Nicaragua, with a church, market, and a plaza in the center of the town. Here are a few pictures, including one of my favorite car I´ve seen so far, and one of me doing a taste test of Colombian beers.
At night, we went to a dinner party at Caro´s brother´s house (since she´s the youngest of nine, there is never a shortage of siblings who want to feed us). One of Caro´s cousins plays guitar in a modern salsa band, so after dinner we went to a smoky, basement bar to hear them play. Good times.

Greetings from Medellin

Not much time to write right now, but I thought I´d post a few pictures from my first day in Medellin. It´s an amazing city, situated in the bottom of a valley surrounded by steep mountains, and it´s utterly unlike anywhere I´ve ever been before. Here are some pictures from a crazy cemetery we went to and from our ride on the Metrocable, a new branch of public transportation that connects some of the poorer neighborhoods on the steep hillsides to the rest of the city.

Very Merry

Happy Birthday, MJ!

My former roomate Maria turns the big dirty 30 today.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of her.

More Christmas songs

Okay, I'm obsessed.

1. Local politicians, including Ted Kennedy, Mitt Romney, Deval Patrick, and Mayor Mumbles sing The 12 Days of Christmas.

via Bostonist

2. Earlier today, I heard a Christmas song on the radio that I LOVED as a child and haven't heard in ages. Snoopy versus the Red Baron. I searched YouTube for a video of it and two results popped up.

The first: a normal, cute Peantus cartoon montage.

The second? Ummm, a video montage of male figure skaters Evgeni Plushenko and Alexei Yagudin portraying Snoopy and the Red Baron entitled Of Course You Realize This Means War!

The internet never ceases to amaze me.

Christmas Tunes

Here are a couple of my favorites:

John Denver and the Muppets do the 12 Days of Christmas like nobody's business. Even though the video is blurry, it's still worth watching. In college, a girl who lived in my hallway had a taped copy of John Denver and the Muppets Christmas special that she had made a tape recorder next to a record player that was playing the album. While it was recording, she left the room and the record started skipping, right in the middle of Miss Piggy singing "five gold rings." She walked back into the room and fixed the problem, but the taped copy had Miss Piggy singing "GO-old" fifteen times. It was spectacular.

Fairytale of New York by the Pogues with Kristy McColl. If I ever meet a guy who will get drunk with me and sing a karaoke duet of this song on Christmas eve, well, I'd probably marry him. Even if he had teeth like Shane McGowan.

Hide your scarves, everyone

My mom: You shouldn't wear your scarf like that.
Me: Why not?
My mom: Someone could pull the end of it and strangle you.
Me: Who, Mom? Who exactly is going to pull the end of my scarf to
strangle me? The mad Boston Scarf Strangler?

My mother is nuts.

The Baby Jesus Chronicles

I saw this story on the news last night and it cracked me up. Last year, a ceramic baby Jesus was stolen from a manger in Buffalo, NY. Almost year later, the baby Jesus reappeared on the doorstep along with a photo album entitled The Baby Jesus Chronicles. Looks like the little guy went on a road trip.

Payback for Years of Looking at Pictures of Cats and Babies on Other People's Blogs

My niece Maggie with Dash.

A.I. headed to Denver

Looks like The Answer will soon be a Nugget. Too bad; I was hoping to see him on the Celtics, Timberwolves, or Clippers.

Countdown to Colombia

Busy times...I haven't finished Christmas shopping yet, barely started the cards, and I just realized that I leave for Colombia in exactly one week. I'm going for two weeks and will be traveling around with my friend Carolina. Colombia is much safer than it used to be, but it's still not the best idea for foreigners to travel there alone. We'll spend some time in her home city of Medellin, visit her family's farm, and then fly out to the Pacific where her brother owns an eco-resort. Check out the website- looks pretty awesome, huh?

I will do my best to post pictures and updates, but the area in the Pacific we're headed to is very remote- no electricity, no phones, no internet.

I wonder what Justin Timberlake is giving Cameron Diaz for Christmas this year?

Who knew JT was funny? Watch this SNL skit and you'll find out.

Sporting News

I got an email inviting me to join NFL Bloggers, which is odd because I don't really write much about the NFL. But, in case you're wondering, here is my take on the NFL:

1. I am a New England Patriots fan.
2. I love everything LaDanian Tomlinson.
3. I despise everything Manning.
4. I hope the Chargers win the Superbowl this year and Eli kicks himself for refusing to go to San Diego. Didn't Archie ever teach him that a good running back is a quarterback's best friend? Fool.

Now, onto my favorite league, the NBA: A.I. is still on the market. Knicks and Nuggets brawl. Everyone overreacts. ESPN.com calls it "revolting." Please, it was just a couple of punches and some shoving. Seems like everyone loves a good baseball fight, whereas the sporting media is quick to dump all over the NBA anytime a fight happens. I'm not condoning violence, but the Knicks-Nuggets fight was no University of Miami and Florida International University (that one deserved to be called "shameful"- Kicking, stomping, and using a helmet as a weapon?) Carmelo's the only one that looks like a jerk this time around.

I watched some college basketball this weekend for the first time all season, and man, Greg Oden looks like he's 35.

Weekend Report

Friday- After a work holiday happy hour, I did a bit of bar hopping in Central Square and ended up at the Cantab. I should go there more often, because every time I do, I have a great time. Great live music, eclectic crowd, and cheap drinks- what more can you ask for? Framingham's legendary (I believe driving a yellow Cadillac with a vanity plate that reads "NUTMAN" qualifies one as legendary) Little Joe Cook finally retired, so Diane Blue and the Fatback Band now play every Friday and Saturday.

Saturday- I had a very suburban day- purchased and set up two Christmas trees, visited babies, shopped at the mall- followed by a late soccer game. My team finally defeated our rivals in a 8-4 rout, so that was nice. After the game, my roommate and I headed to the bar across the street for a quick beer or two, slow danced with old men to Frank Sinatra on the jukebox, and ended up staying up until the wee hours with the bar staff. Aaaargh- why am I such a drunkard??

Sunday- Woke up feeling like crap, took my grandparents grocery shopping, which took up the whole afternoon. I forget that the old folks don't move around so quickly. Popped in the lab for a bit, and now I am headed home to read more of Anna Karenina and ponder why I am unable to desist from acting like I'm 22.

My greatest fear, revealed

There is one thing, and only one thing, in this world that completely and utterly terrifies me.

The Carol of the Bells.

I can't even verbalize how much that song frightens me because the mere thought of it makes me want to hide under my desk.

Medieval Manor

Last night, I went to Medieval Manor for MJ's surprise birthday party. I had never been before and didn't know much about it. Turns out it's a full theatrical show... complete with a singing king, jester, and wenches. It's definitely not for everyone- hokiness with a large dose of sexual innuendo- but our group had a lot of fun. The beer flows like water, and there is no silverware, so you have to eat everything with your hands. The food was good, too, although I ate so much of the early courses I barely touched the chicken that came at the end. Here are some pictures:

Cool Stuff

If you like Ryan Adams (whose name is unfortunately similar to Bryan Adams, not that I don't appreciate the musical genius behind "Summer of '69" and "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You"), you can download or listen to an entire concert here. Highly enjoyable stuff.
(Thanks, Dan!)

You know how I love the annual dangerous toys list? Well, here are the Most Dangerous Toys of All Time. My favorite- the kiddie Atomic Energy Lab. Man, my old chemistry set pales in comparison.
(via Freakgirl)

Loads of music fans are blogging their Best of 2006 lists with tracks available for free download. Here's a good top 50 I found... it's very indie (I haven't heard of most of the bands, then again, my hipster days are long behind me.) but I did snap up #48....I Don't Feel Like Dancin' by the Scissor Sisters..one of my faves from the past year.

Lastly, intrepid travelers Kevin and Karen are in the midst of their world tour and have some great photos from India up.

All I want for Christmas...

is a trade that brings A.I. to the Celtics! Danny, if you do this for me, all will be forgiven. Just think of the possibilities....people would actually start caring about the Celtics again, a massive increase in ticket and merchandise sales (I, for one, would rush out an buy a Green Iverson jersey- I wonder if they'd unretire Dennis Johnson's 3?), and most importantly, the Celtics would start winning. Not maybe in three or four years when the young players reach their potential., but this season. Oooh, and the local sports media would have a field day....someone else besides Manny pick on. Allen being Allen. I can almost hear it already.

Here are a couple of articles speculating where The Answer will go. If he doesn't go to the C's, I'd also be happy if he went to Minnesota. I'd like to see him and KG get a chance to win a title.

Is is sad that while I was running this morning, I created this whole fantasy where A.I. got traded to Boston and I ran into him at a bar and sent him a drink to welcome him, and he was so impressed by how fun and cool I was that we became friends. I even went as far as imaging where I would take him- Hey Allen, want to go to the Hong Kong tonight? Or maybe somewhere more low key, like Matt Murphy's?

Looking for a good laptop

My desktop at home died a few months ago, and I've decided to replace it with a laptop. I've never had a laptop before and, despite this whole blogging thing, I am far from technologically savvy. Looking to spend less than a grand, and sorry Mac lovers, I'm sticking to PCs. Any recommendations or things I should know, like about batteries, wireless cards, or whatever? I've had decent luck with Dell computers in the past, but I may be able to get a lower price on Sony or Lenovo.

Ooooh, that smell

Okay, so I walk into the lunchroom at work, and something smells BAD. Like, you know when you throw away some old food and forget about it, and forget to take out the trash, and the trash can is sitting in the sun, and a few days later you lift the lid and WHOOOSH, and wave of disgustingness rises out and slaps you in the face? Okay, so maybe not that bad, but you get the idea: the distinct odor of rancid, spoiled food.
A bunch of my friends are sitting at one table, and a few other people I don’t know as well are sprinkled about the lunchroom. I sit down and say “Ugh, what’s that bad smell?” Everyone is oddly silent. I continue “Seriously, don’t you guys smell that?” No response. “Maybe it’s the trash.” I walk over and sniff the trash can. Nope. The refrigerator? Sniff that too, to no avail. A leftover fruit plate on the counter? Negative.
I give up and return to my seat. “What the heck is it?” Carolina finally answers “It doesn’t smell bad, it just smells, um…different.” I respond “No, it smells bad! Like, rotten!” Finally, I notice that my co-worker Andy is giving me the universal SHUT UP signal, you know, the one where you move your hand in slashing motion across your throat.
Then, and only then, I realize that the horrible smell is actually emanating from some girl's lunch, and everyone else had already figured it out before I walked in the room. I never would have made such a production about the whole thing if I had known the source. Now the poor girl will probably never eat in there again. In my defense, I hadn’t fathomed the possibility that someone would be deliberately eating something that smelled like rotting carrion. As soon as she left, my friends DIED laughing about the entire incident, especially the part where I went around sniffing everything in the lunchroom.

Weekend Report

Friday- Went to see the new niece (adorable!), then headed back into the city for the joint end-of-season soccer party with the two outdoor teams I play with. Drank a ton, gave out ridiculous awards to my teammates, and stayed out until the bars closed. Good times.

Saturday- Slept in, hung out all afternoon at the hospital with my sister and baby Maggie, played soccer, went to a Girls' Night party at my friend Meg's house.

Sunday- After a lazy morning, I took advantage of the gorgeous weather by going for a run along the beach. Worked for a few hours, now I'm headed home to make some chicken pot pie.

Introducing...

My new niece, Margaret Clare! ( to be called Maggie.) Although my sister denies it, I claim that she is named after me, since Margaret is my middle name.

Momma and baby are both doing well.

History of the cell phone

Here's an email from my sis who works at a technology company in Southern California:

Holy Cow!

I just met the inventor of the cell phone. He's a little older man who asked me where the bathroom was so I took him there. After I left, our president informed me of who I was chatting with....Marty Cooper. To think he was inspired by Star Trek!

Look him up online-crazy!

"And while some young Trekkies dreamed of space, others were more interested in the gadgets onboard in the year 2300 and would make it their life’s work to bring these toys off the screen and onto the streets. According to Shatner, booking a date for Friday night and fielding inquiries from casting agents got a lot easier thanks to an industrious Trekkie named Marty Cooper. Cooper, a chief engineer at Motorola, understood that people were inherently mobile and would never want to be chained to their desks, tethered to conventional telephones. Captain Kirk and his USS Enterprise colleagues were on to something with their cordless “communicator” with voice recognition technology. Inspired by the brick-like device, Cooper invented the first mobile cellular phone, giving birth to the start of a communications revolution."

Smorgasboard

A bunch of things on mind as of late:

Saw Volver last night- the new film from legendary Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar. Loved it! I won’t give away too much of the plot, because I don’t want to spoil anything. The film’s cast is almost entirely female, with Penelope Cruz playing the lead character Raimunda, who works odd jobs to support her teenage daughter and loser of a husband. I never thought much of Cruz in American movies, but in Volver, she is outstanding, as well as absolutely stunning. I now have a new woman-crush. Raimunda and her sister Sole venture back to their hometown, a rural village where their parents died in a fire, to visit their senile aunt. After the death of their aunt, a mystery begins to build, with the ghost of Raimunda and Sole’s mother making an appearance. Volver seems to be Almodovar’s tribute to the female gender- all of the women are strong, independent characters, who capably tackle the obstacles that life flings at them, even when it comes to disposing of a dead body (there is definitely some dark humor in the film). One of the most poignant scenes is a group of women moving a refrigerator- at some level, it’s funny to see Cruz, all hair and makeup and boobs, struggling with a heavy object, but it also reminded me of all the times my sisters and I, or the girls in my dorm in college (no co-ed dorms at Notre Dame) and I would work together to accomplish something normally considered “men’s work.” Then we’d all strip down to our underwear and have a pillow fight.

My sister Kerry is scheduled for a Cesarean today- keep your fingers crossed for a healthy, new niece. I’ve now officially hit the age where everyone around me seems to be having babies. Babies, they’re the new weddings.

Christmas shopping: Only one gift purchased so far. I got one of these for my dad.

Oh, want to know something I hate? Those g-damn Belden jewelry radio ads. “I almost cooked it!” Vomit.

Something else I hate? Backpacks on wheels. If you're toting one of those things and you're between the ages of 12 and 60, you are a dork.

Happy Friday, everyone!

Meatball sub: a haiku

tasty meatball sub
warm, saucy, and delicious
you make the best lunch

Survey Says

Here’s the situation:
A friend of mine from grad school meets a guy, he asks for her number. She gives it. He calls and asks her out for drinks. They meet up, each have a couple of drinks, he pays the tab. They meet up again for drinks; she picks up the tab. He calls and asks her out to dinner. He chooses the place, and when the time comes to pay the bill, he reaches for his wallet and she goes for hers. Everyone knows that she merely being polite and is making what is essentially an empty offer. He’s supposed to say, “No, I’ve got it.” and pay the tab. Right?? Everyone except for this guy, apparently. She slowly extracts her wallet from her purse, pulls out a $20, and hands it to him. He takes it and gives her a couple of ones in change.

So, the question is, do you find something inherently wrong with this scenario? I say YES. I’m not saying that the man should always pay- obviously once a couple has been dating for a while they can take turns or whatever. But come on! They don’t really know each other, he invited her, he chose the restaurant, the assumption follows that he will be footing the bill. Also, she’s a grad student (translation: broke) and he has a high-paying job. It just seems so tacky! I can’t get over it. Dude must be a cheapskate at heart.

For the record, it was not me. If it were, I would be telling you about the shitshow of a date I went on instead of asking a survey question.

Bonus question: Does the phrase "Synchronize Swatches" mean anything to you? (No cheating via Google.)

Basketball Round-Up

Congratulations to Dwayne Wade for being named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year. I would have chosen someone else, but hey, I like D-Wade. My sisters both went to Marquette and have been fans of his for a long time. At least they didn’t give it to Tiger or Lance again. BO-ring.

If there’s an award for Best NBA Blogger, it should definitely go to Gilbert Arenas. An example from his blog:

You know, I like Morrison. He reminds me of a throwback. You know, your old throwback Larry Bird type of player. That’s what he is. The way he walks, just his hair and mustache, it reminds you of a ‘70s player and its kind of funny watching him play. I mean the kid can shoot and score. I’m a fan already. I got to hang out with him in Vegas for Olympic tryouts. He hung out in my room a couple days playing video games all night. You know, so, me and him are very cool.

Oh yeah, and it seems like all the Bill Simmons clones are calling for Celtic coach Doc Rivers’ head. Even started some lame-ass petition. What is it with internerds and petitions? I’ve had enough! Fire Doc! Trade Manny! Keep Manny! Release the Wonder Years on DVD! (Ok, I signed that one.) Well, if you can’t beat em, join em. I have written a little petition of my own:

Dear Celtics Fans Who Bitch About Doc Rivers,
There is only person to blame for the shitshow that the Celtics have declined into, and that person is Danny Ainge. Doc Rivers didn’t hire himself; the C’s only ended up with him because Ainge forced out a much better coach, Jim O’Brien. Ainge is responsible for dismantling the popular and successful team and (2002-2003) then attempting (unsuccessfully) to remedy that error by making a series of crappy trades. Now I know what it feels like to be a Knicks fan. (Although, strangely, Ainge seems to be exempt from the criticism that’s being heaped upon Isaiah. (As for an aside within the aside, one of the most surreal experiences in my life has been hearing my mom utter the statement “You know, that Isaiah Thomas is extremely good-looking” when she walked in the room where my dad and I were watching an NBA all-star game. I was amazed that she knew who he was. Not quite as amazed as the time I saw a Nicaraguan woman squirt breast milk into a little boy’s eye because he had a speck of dirt in it, but that one’s pretty hard to top.)) Anyways, Ainge is to blame for the recent demise of the Celtics, so quit whining about Doc.

Sincerely,
Eileen

P.S. “Shitshow” is my new favorite word.

Links!

The 50 Greatest Commercials of the ’80s. Har!

This article made the front page of the Boston Globe, with good reason. Saving baby Mariam tells the story of a Navy medic who finds a baby girl in Iraq with a birth defect that requires surgery to save her life. He is determined to save her, and when he gets killed by a bomb, the marines in his unit continue his mission.

Book suggestions by LibraryThing. I rated a bunch of books on amazon.com, but the suggestions that they give me tend to stink- the majority of them are books by the same authors or other editions of books I've already read and rated (Oh, you liked For Whom the Bell Tolls? We recommend the Cliffs Notes version!). I like this engine a lot better- you enter a book and it gives you similar books you might enjoy (caveat: the search engine uses a database created by people who submit their personal libraries, so if you the book you list isn't all that well-known, it will not appear on the list.) For example, I entered Bel Canto by Ann Patchett and got these suggestions:

1. Atonement : a novel by Ian McEwan
2. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
3. The magician's assistant by Ann Patchett
4. The hours by Michael Cunningham
5. The secret life of bees by Sue Monk Kidd
6. Empire falls by Richard Russo
7. The poisonwood Bible : a novel by Barbara Kingsolver
8. The patron saint of liars by Ann Patchett
9. The red tent / Anita Diamant by Anita Diamant
10. The time traveller's wife : a novel by Audrey Niffenegger
11. White teeth by Zadie Smith
12. The shipping news by Annie Proulx
13. Never let me go by Kazuo Ishiguro
14. The kite runner by Khaled Hosseini
15. The amazing adventures of Kavalier and Clay : a novel by Michael Chabon
16. Girl with a pearl earring by Tracy Chevalier

Wow- pretty good! I've read and enjoyed 12 of the 16 on the list. LibraryThing also has an Unsuggester- you enter a book you own and it lists a bunch of books that you are unlikely to own. I entered East of Eden by John Steinbeck and it listed a whole bunch of fantasy and religious books I've never heard of.

link via RT

Weekend Report

Friday- Even though I was combating a slight cold all week, I decided to go play soccer for three hours in the pouring rain. After the game, I met up with my college friend Teri and her husband Dan, who were in town for the weekend. A few teammates came along, and since we were still wide awake when closing time hit, we embarked on a mission to Chinatown for some cold tea. In Massachusetts, it is illegal to serve alcohol after 2AM, but some restaurants in Chinatown serve beer into the wee hours, using the prohibition-style code name “cold tea.” We stopped in a couple of restaurants and asked if they served cold tea, and they said no, so we continued our quest until we entered a place filled with tables of Chinese men drinking red wine and smoking cigarettes (smoking in restaurants has been banned in Boston for a couple of years now) . Bingo! We ordered up some cold tea and a pupu platter.

Saturday- I suffered the consequences of a late night out on top of a cold, and woke up with absolutely no voice whatsoever. Teri, MJ, Ern and I met up for a very long lunch at Figs in Beacon Hill, and then walked around the common and Newbury Street. I then attended my first holiday party of the year, which was a lot of fun, even though I couldn't really talk to anyone and was forced to practice my listening skills. Later on, we met up with Teri and Dan once again at the Black Rose for some beers and traditional Irish music. A little teeny guy bought me a beer, which cracked me up because I was wearing heels and pushing 6 feet.

Sunday- I paid the price for staying out late two nights in a row, and woke up feeling like absolute shite. I drank Gatorade, tea, and ate saltines and laid around on the couch all day watching movies. Clerks II was pretty much what I expected- dumb, silly, but funny and endearing in a nostalgic way. Back in the day, I LOVED the original Clerks, so I would recommend part II only to true fans of the original. If you didn't see or didn't enjoy the first Clerks, do yourself a favor and skip Clerks II, because you will hate it. Randal was more obnoxious than I remembered and Dante was still sort of whiny, and yes, it was crude, but the dialogue did have its moments- I loved Randal making fun of Lord of the Rings, and the whole p^&%y troll bit cracked me up. And you may have heard about the donkey scene, but it actually wasn't as disgusting as I predicted it would be. Man, that Joel Siegel must be a prude if that was too much for him. Rosario Dawson is a great addition to the cast as Dante's boss/love interest.
After Clerks, I watched Proof, starring Gwenyth Paltrow as Catherine, the daughter of a brilliant but insane mathematician. She has spent the last few years of her life caring for her mentally ill father, and upon his death, finally starts to deal with her own life and her suspicion that she may have inherited both his gift for mathematics and his emotional instability. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a former student of Catherine's father who is searching through his former mentor's rambling notebooks to see if anything substantial lies within the madness. Hope Davis is Catherine's perky and domineering sister, who returns for the funeral and treats Catherine like a mental patient. Within the father's office, they discover a notebook containing a remarkable proof, and when Catherine announces that she is the author, no one believes her. At first I was skeptical of Paltrow's ability to play a 27-year old American academic- I assumed that she would be too old and too glamorous for the role, but she is completely believable and the angry, emotional, and brilliant daughter of a genius. The movie comes across as a bit too slow and stiff, something I've noticed in other films based on plays (Proof's writer David Auburn won a Tony award in 2001), but overall, I enjoyed it.

Conversations on the elevator at work

Random man, observing me press the 8 button: What's on the eighth floor?
Me: Diabetes and bacterial toxins.
Random man: Sounds lovely.

Acquaintance: What's up?
Me: A package I'm waiting for was delivered to this building but didn't have my room number on it, so now I have to go floor by floor searching for it.
Acquaintance: That happened to me once, but it was a human appendix.
Me: Oh.

Ah, the fun of working in a medical center. Speaking of, there are red ribbons all over the place for World Aids Day.

In other news, I've been fighting a cold all week, and I'm feeling very blah. But hey, it's Friday, so things are looking up.