1. OK. I wasn’t going to post today, but WOW. I don’t know how many people know what real estate prices in Manhattan are, but just for an idea they are more expensive than DC and a “hypothetical” 2 bedroom in DC is in excess of $1,800/month for rent. Then I hear that Cyndi Lauper, yes the Cyndi Lauper, is suing her management company because she’s upset her apartment costs $1,000 – she only wants to pay $500. What the heck? Admittedly the apartments in NY are under a system of rent control that is supposed to regulate how much rent can go up under a strict set of regulations; believe me, I really understand this. But come on! Who in there right mind complains about $1,000 for an apartment in NY? If you don’t like how much the rent is move somewhere cheaper, like out of NY.
(This is where the link to the story would have gone, but it was so long it screwed up the formatting. Sorry. Find a link, for now, at relevant magazine or google it.)
2. On a separate note, if you’re planning on being in the District in October you should go check out Lennon’s stamp collection. Yeah, that’s right. Apparently it’s so big it’s going to be on display at the Smithsonian National Postal Museum. I’m waiting for the National Gum museum, or maybe the National Water-Gun museum. I guess if you put Smithsonian National… in front of it and capitalize it all people will go see it. I mean, seriously I probably will and I don’t have any great interest in stamps. It just seems kind of cool. Sad, huh.
http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/collection/3a2i_acquis2005.html
For more interesting news blurbs check out:
http://www.relevantmag.com/
3. While you are there check out some of the articles also. They have an interesting review of the new TV show, “Rescue Me” which I have not seen yet.
4?. P.S. Yes I really posted this at 7:40pm because I just got back from meetings in Baltimore an let me just tell you, when you have a penny pinching client who insists there must be someway to do stuff that pushes the limits of the code minimums, you know you are in for a good time.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Monday, June 27, 2005
Infrequent Updates
You can all blame the recent dearth of posts (7 days between posts, what the heck is that?) on me being in NY and having way too much work to do. If you really want to you can also blame it on the lack of internet access at my house. Either way though I realize a week lapse is lame. So another sweet and low week recap:
Sunday evening I arrived in NY and checked into my hotel. It was a nice place, but not great, located a block south of central park. I never managed to go for a real walk in central park although I walked along the edge of it on my way to Borders on Wednesday evening.
Monday decided that taking a taxi to work would be much more efficient than walking, so I did. It took a little while to get everything set up at the office but I finally managed. The project that I was up there to work on, primarily, was the Ritz Carlton project in Baltimore. One of the partners in the NY office is coordinating it, hence me being in NY for a week. After work I went out with a couple of the people from the NY office and spent too much money.
Tuesday was pretty tame. More work, and after work I really just felt like going back to the hotel. I picked up food on the way back Ray’s pizza and that was that.
Wednesday was pretty similar to Tuesday.
Thursday we had our monthly technical meeting so they provided pizza for lunch. Who has ever heard of lasagna pizza? Not me, but they had it anyway, along with a lot of other weird flavors. What ever. The Hawaiian was good and it had whole pineapple rings and whole sandwich size slices of ham. Yum. After work I went out with the same people I had hung out with Monday, plus Sara from the DC office (who had to come up for the technical meeting).
Friday I worked all day and took the train home from Penn station, which is only a couple blocks from the office. I have mixed feelings about the train although in general I think it’s cool. It would be much less mixed if it were a later train or less crowded.
I spent the weekend recuperating from the week in NY and dreading everything I am going to have to get done this week. I also went to the National Community Church again. The people there seem really nice although the format is still a little bizarre. In truth it feels like it’s halfway between XA and a “regular” church service. There are a lot of parallels to both. Meeting in a church requires that they set up and tear down after each service and the worship so far has been acoustic guitars, a violin, and hand drums. Pretty cool. The messages have also been quite interesting, although I secretly wish there was a little bit more just reading and expounding on scripture, and a little less – “let’s apply this to life and take examples from other sources”. I don’t mean to say there isn’t scripture involved or that the sermon isn’t derived from and based on scripture, because it is. I guess I don’t know what I’m saying, so I’ll stop talking until I do.
That was my week in a nutshell. That was the sweet and low. I need to start updating more so these don’t have to be so flaming long and scattered. Sorry about that. I have done some writing lately that I’d like to post but recently I have become more frustrated with my writing. Whenever I take a look at what I’ve written all I can think is, “My, somebody is melodramatic and heavy handed.” It’s gotten worse, to the point where I stop writing half way through something because I’m so frustrated by it. I wish I could have taken more writing classes in college. If I go back to school (when I go back to school?) I would like for it to be for either English or literature. Sigh.
Until then:
MikeyC>
Sunday evening I arrived in NY and checked into my hotel. It was a nice place, but not great, located a block south of central park. I never managed to go for a real walk in central park although I walked along the edge of it on my way to Borders on Wednesday evening.
Monday decided that taking a taxi to work would be much more efficient than walking, so I did. It took a little while to get everything set up at the office but I finally managed. The project that I was up there to work on, primarily, was the Ritz Carlton project in Baltimore. One of the partners in the NY office is coordinating it, hence me being in NY for a week. After work I went out with a couple of the people from the NY office and spent too much money.
Tuesday was pretty tame. More work, and after work I really just felt like going back to the hotel. I picked up food on the way back Ray’s pizza and that was that.
Wednesday was pretty similar to Tuesday.
Thursday we had our monthly technical meeting so they provided pizza for lunch. Who has ever heard of lasagna pizza? Not me, but they had it anyway, along with a lot of other weird flavors. What ever. The Hawaiian was good and it had whole pineapple rings and whole sandwich size slices of ham. Yum. After work I went out with the same people I had hung out with Monday, plus Sara from the DC office (who had to come up for the technical meeting).
Friday I worked all day and took the train home from Penn station, which is only a couple blocks from the office. I have mixed feelings about the train although in general I think it’s cool. It would be much less mixed if it were a later train or less crowded.
I spent the weekend recuperating from the week in NY and dreading everything I am going to have to get done this week. I also went to the National Community Church again. The people there seem really nice although the format is still a little bizarre. In truth it feels like it’s halfway between XA and a “regular” church service. There are a lot of parallels to both. Meeting in a church requires that they set up and tear down after each service and the worship so far has been acoustic guitars, a violin, and hand drums. Pretty cool. The messages have also been quite interesting, although I secretly wish there was a little bit more just reading and expounding on scripture, and a little less – “let’s apply this to life and take examples from other sources”. I don’t mean to say there isn’t scripture involved or that the sermon isn’t derived from and based on scripture, because it is. I guess I don’t know what I’m saying, so I’ll stop talking until I do.
That was my week in a nutshell. That was the sweet and low. I need to start updating more so these don’t have to be so flaming long and scattered. Sorry about that. I have done some writing lately that I’d like to post but recently I have become more frustrated with my writing. Whenever I take a look at what I’ve written all I can think is, “My, somebody is melodramatic and heavy handed.” It’s gotten worse, to the point where I stop writing half way through something because I’m so frustrated by it. I wish I could have taken more writing classes in college. If I go back to school (when I go back to school?) I would like for it to be for either English or literature. Sigh.
Until then:
MikeyC>
Monday, June 20, 2005
Short and Sweet
Sometimes when people just want the quick version of something they will say, “Give it to me short and sweet.” I wonder if I could get away with telling people to “Give me the sweet and low?” Furthermore, if I did this could I get sued by the Sweet and Low people, or how does that work? Any lawyers out there?
I will have to keep this Sweet and Low since I am at the NY office today, but here is a little recap:
1. Commerce Bank Situation. I haven’t gotten a new card, but I have put a stop on the old one. Since I have a bank in DC now, Wachovia, I am planning to wait another week or so, write a letter to close my Commerce account, and consolidate. I can’t think of any real reason to keep that account open, especially now that I can’t deposit OR withdraw money.
2. The mini-vacation was really great. I went to the Holocaust Memorial and it was really intense. After only the first exhibit I was so overwhelmed that I kept looking for the exit door and thinking, “I don’t really need to see the rest of this do I?” Despite this urge to turn my head, I made myself keep going through the exhibits until I ran out of time. It was a very sobering opportunity, and one that I think would have been best if immediately followed by reflection with others. Alas, I was by myself so I was forced to merely ponder the images by myself.
I also went to the Lincoln Memorial, and sitting on the steps with hundreds of others was forced to write very melodramatic, pseudo-philosophical notions in my notebook by the oppressive forces being exuded from the memorial. Some day, if you are bad, I will unleash these writings on the world. Pray that this never happens.
I will have to keep this Sweet and Low since I am at the NY office today, but here is a little recap:
1. Commerce Bank Situation. I haven’t gotten a new card, but I have put a stop on the old one. Since I have a bank in DC now, Wachovia, I am planning to wait another week or so, write a letter to close my Commerce account, and consolidate. I can’t think of any real reason to keep that account open, especially now that I can’t deposit OR withdraw money.
2. The mini-vacation was really great. I went to the Holocaust Memorial and it was really intense. After only the first exhibit I was so overwhelmed that I kept looking for the exit door and thinking, “I don’t really need to see the rest of this do I?” Despite this urge to turn my head, I made myself keep going through the exhibits until I ran out of time. It was a very sobering opportunity, and one that I think would have been best if immediately followed by reflection with others. Alas, I was by myself so I was forced to merely ponder the images by myself.
I also went to the Lincoln Memorial, and sitting on the steps with hundreds of others was forced to write very melodramatic, pseudo-philosophical notions in my notebook by the oppressive forces being exuded from the memorial. Some day, if you are bad, I will unleash these writings on the world. Pray that this never happens.
3. I went to the National Community Church Sunday. I'll have to do a whole write up on that, maybe after I go next Sunday.
4. NY. I remember Christmas in the blistering cold in a church on the upper west side. Man, those were good times. Wait come to think of it, I’ve never been in NY at Christmas time, my hotel this week is a block south of central park, and I have yet to be in any of the churches NW of there. Other than that though, I know exactly how Ryan Adams feels when he writes:
“…But I tried to keep the overhead low. Farewell to the city and the love of my life - at least we left before we had to go…” Ah, yes…keeping the overhead low. Turns out, that is nigh impossible to do in NY.
Well, that’s the sweet and low.
Oh, if you would be interested in taking part in an online discussion of: The Chronicles of Narnia, hit me up with an email. I think that could be pretty saweet.
C. Foo!
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Meditations on Friday
These aren’t really meditations but when writing the subject line I decided it was catchier than saying, “I’m thinking about Friday”.
I find it interesting that each time a friend or family member comes out to DC I get asked the same question about what they should do, what things they should see. I find it depressing that each time I have to answer the same thing, “Uhm, I don’t know. After this week you will have done more touristy things than I have in 7 months.” That is one disadvantage to having lived so far outside DC for the first 3 months; I never wanted to come back here on the weekend. Now that I live closer you would think I might have done more. The problem however is that after work I don’t usually want to spend the remaining few hours of free time out exploring DC. “Why?” you might very reasonably ask. In which case I would answer you, “Because I am quite bad at doing things that involve me breaking out of routine.”
I realize how incredibly horrible this answer is, and what it says about my personality. In an effort to fight this, I will be dedicating this Friday to getting out of the house and doing stuff. I have Friday off work because it is the summer and it is my rotation to have Friday off. This means I’ve had to work extra M-Th, but not much more than I usually do. I’m calling this Friday my Vacation in DC. One day isn’t much of a vacation, but I’m hoping to ride my bike around the mall (area with all the monuments), and hopefully even go to the Holocaust memorial.
So if any of my family can think of things I should do on my “vacation” they should let me know. I’ll keep you posted on how things went.
Also worth noting:
-This weekend will be Ana’s graduation party (daughter of the friends I stayed with in LaPlata),
-Next week I will be in NY all week so if anyone has some cool places I should try to go, other than the usual tourist places I have already been to, tell me what they are.
-In two weeks Grant is in town for a few days. Good times.
I find it interesting that each time a friend or family member comes out to DC I get asked the same question about what they should do, what things they should see. I find it depressing that each time I have to answer the same thing, “Uhm, I don’t know. After this week you will have done more touristy things than I have in 7 months.” That is one disadvantage to having lived so far outside DC for the first 3 months; I never wanted to come back here on the weekend. Now that I live closer you would think I might have done more. The problem however is that after work I don’t usually want to spend the remaining few hours of free time out exploring DC. “Why?” you might very reasonably ask. In which case I would answer you, “Because I am quite bad at doing things that involve me breaking out of routine.”
I realize how incredibly horrible this answer is, and what it says about my personality. In an effort to fight this, I will be dedicating this Friday to getting out of the house and doing stuff. I have Friday off work because it is the summer and it is my rotation to have Friday off. This means I’ve had to work extra M-Th, but not much more than I usually do. I’m calling this Friday my Vacation in DC. One day isn’t much of a vacation, but I’m hoping to ride my bike around the mall (area with all the monuments), and hopefully even go to the Holocaust memorial.
So if any of my family can think of things I should do on my “vacation” they should let me know. I’ll keep you posted on how things went.
Also worth noting:
-This weekend will be Ana’s graduation party (daughter of the friends I stayed with in LaPlata),
-Next week I will be in NY all week so if anyone has some cool places I should try to go, other than the usual tourist places I have already been to, tell me what they are.
-In two weeks Grant is in town for a few days. Good times.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Throw Me a Bone Here!
I was checking out a link I got in my most recent email from Apple (that Siren company that continues to do everything in its powers to worm its way into my wallet - DIABOLICAL!!! NO I WILL NOT buy another computer yet, so stop taunting me with your beautiful colors, your sleek designs, your suave operating systems, and your scrumptious ad. campaigns!) about a new site/service they are offering to professionals dealing with color concepts. In this link there was a more-than-vaguely interesting article by this dude named Bilbao. Anyway, his thoughts on color vs. black and white do a good job of approximating my own, so in lieu of actually posting them, I'll just point you towards his short little article; it's worth reading.
http://www.apple.com/pro/color/palettes/bilbao.html
MikeyC>
http://www.apple.com/pro/color/palettes/bilbao.html
MikeyC>
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Grumble Cakes...breakfast of champions
Sorry I haven’t been updating my blog much lately. This week has been rather hectic. It was my first week back from vacation. I’m having to work on some stuff that sort of piled up; we had back to back meetings that lasted half a day Wednesday; my parents have been in town; and now I’m trying to schedule a helicopter flyover/24 hour sound observation in Baltimore that I’m going to have to rent a car for and go set up. This weekend, however, will be thoroughly enjoyed. That I promise you. Also, depending on where I’m at (my place or the Milster’s) I may even have a blog update for you!
MikeyC>
MikeyC>
Monday, June 06, 2005
Ketchup or Catsup?
Whew.
This is one of those blogs where I get to play catch-up since I slacked over vacation.
I just got back from Lawrence for Tim and Rachelle’s wedding. It was a fabulous outdoor ceremony and the rain held off until everyone had moved inside. Then, once everyone was safe there was a massive lightning storm that, in the flat Kansas landscape was, to quote a wonderful friend, amazing. In addition to the actual wedding, I had the preceeding week to see old friends, eat at the best Lawrence restaurants, have a memorial day barbeque, play some football, visit Clinton Lake, and even a few moments of rest and relaxation. It was about everything that could be hoped for in a vacation, and more than could be hoped for in seeing good friends. I may post a sort of post facto entry from something I wrote while chilling on Tim and Rachelle’s new deck.
Also, I just got back from lunch with my parents. It felt to good seeing both of them, and they even came bearing presents. I am now the proud owner of my very own tea infuser and a wonderful tin of “Hand Blended Cranberry Orange Herbal Tea” from The Tao of Tea (complete with rose hip, hibiscus, chamomile, orange peel and cranberries). I’m sipping some as I write this and it is splendid. Mom, Dad – If you’re reading this, good choice (oh, and thanks for the lunch as well, I hope you enjoyed the restaurant!).
Although I have tried my hardest to call my parents at least once a week I have occasionally failed and it felt really, really good to see them. It was a little odd to see them in DC since I associate them with St. Charles, but it was really nice. Now I can think of them being in DC as well as St. Charles.
Last things last. While in Lawrence I had a few moments to think and reflect which I don’t get as frequently here in DC. As a result of those moments of silence, the people I was privileged to be around, and the situations I got to be a part of, you may be subjected to a few rambling blogs in the near future that aren’t at all practical, sensible, or even interesting to large quantities of people. Should this happen, I apologize.
MikeyC>
This is one of those blogs where I get to play catch-up since I slacked over vacation.
I just got back from Lawrence for Tim and Rachelle’s wedding. It was a fabulous outdoor ceremony and the rain held off until everyone had moved inside. Then, once everyone was safe there was a massive lightning storm that, in the flat Kansas landscape was, to quote a wonderful friend, amazing. In addition to the actual wedding, I had the preceeding week to see old friends, eat at the best Lawrence restaurants, have a memorial day barbeque, play some football, visit Clinton Lake, and even a few moments of rest and relaxation. It was about everything that could be hoped for in a vacation, and more than could be hoped for in seeing good friends. I may post a sort of post facto entry from something I wrote while chilling on Tim and Rachelle’s new deck.
Also, I just got back from lunch with my parents. It felt to good seeing both of them, and they even came bearing presents. I am now the proud owner of my very own tea infuser and a wonderful tin of “Hand Blended Cranberry Orange Herbal Tea” from The Tao of Tea (complete with rose hip, hibiscus, chamomile, orange peel and cranberries). I’m sipping some as I write this and it is splendid. Mom, Dad – If you’re reading this, good choice (oh, and thanks for the lunch as well, I hope you enjoyed the restaurant!).
Although I have tried my hardest to call my parents at least once a week I have occasionally failed and it felt really, really good to see them. It was a little odd to see them in DC since I associate them with St. Charles, but it was really nice. Now I can think of them being in DC as well as St. Charles.
Last things last. While in Lawrence I had a few moments to think and reflect which I don’t get as frequently here in DC. As a result of those moments of silence, the people I was privileged to be around, and the situations I got to be a part of, you may be subjected to a few rambling blogs in the near future that aren’t at all practical, sensible, or even interesting to large quantities of people. Should this happen, I apologize.
MikeyC>
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