I heart San Diego

Reasons why I am content:
1. The breadbasket at the restaurant kicked ass.
2. I can still feel the wine I had nearly two hours ago.
3. Typing on a laptop from a hotel room makes me feel like a Very Important Businessperson.
4. When bills come I get to whip out my newly acquired company Visa card, (see VIB, above).
5. Tomorrow I get to go for a long run along the bay.
6. The hot tub is just twenty meters from my door.
7. My new bestfriend Sheraton Hotels gave me a long list of options to compensate for the AC troubles last night, from which I choose the cheapest but most valuable late checkout, so I don't have to store my luggage behind the desk and roam but can bask in the AC and king bed luxury a little longer.
8. After a marathon day of sessions and lectures, tomorrow's tasks are easy-peasy.

Chilling in my nuddypants

I'm in San Diego for a conference and my surprisingly nice room has been surprisingly hot despite my best efforts to use the thermostat. When I got back from dinner (Persian, yum!) I decided to camp out in my PJ tank and underwear for awhile, giving the room one more chance to churn out the cool air. Finally, exacerbated with the system, I got into my PJ pants and picked up the phone to call the front desk. Yes, it felt wrong to talk to the concierge in my undies, as if help would immediately arrive and I'd be caught in the nuddy-pants.
[For the record, I had no trouble e-mailing sans pantalon. But yes, I'm still wearing the PJ pants so don't get excited.]
UPDATE: The front desk told me how to override the system, but it still didn't work. So the Maintenance Man is coming out, and for the Man, I put on a T-shirt over the tank because I don't want him getting any ideas.

Uno más

Mexico was wonderful - the family got along great, amazing food, gorgeous sun... altogether very relaxing. I didn't really how much I needed it (how irrational and tense I'd become) until I got home. And despite my prejudice about the banality of going to beach town Mexico (during spring break, of all times) I was delighted with the culture and wanted to learn more.

Many an hour spent here graciously accepting drinks from the attentive poolboys.

Husband and I also got endless fun from our do not disturb sign, which read something like "no molestation por favor."

Retraction: Please disregard the end of the previous post about the beating up of ex girlfriends -- it was written in haste and with deceptive information.

With great sadness...

we note the passing of Rocky, who has cheered my life since age 11. Discriminating, handsome, clever, and distinguished, his loss leaves a great hole in our household.

Wishing I had an Uncle Vinny

Funnies:
1. Husband received an e-mail from Alma Mater that began, "Hell, Mr. Husband Husband. You will want to get registered soon for the next..."
2. I was going to tell you about a funny work e-mail and then I remembered... no writing about work on your blog. So, I'll just leave you with this, the signature I added:
"I'd hoped that we could come here and reason together. And as a reasonable man I'm willing to do whatever is necessary to find a peaceful solution to this problem." Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando).

Not so funny
1. Want to beat up in a don't-mess-with-my-brother/family-who-was-going-to-take-you-on-an-awesome-vacation-to-Mexico my brother's ex (as of yesterday) girlfriend. Am worried about my big bro.

Talking 'bout a revolution

Over lunch I was reading Local Daily Tribune online and saw the word "co-ed" in a story. Co-ed? What decade are we in? And although I do not make a habit of pestering people, I couldn't resist the little innocent Author's Name link at the bottom. So I emailed him, saying I was curious why he used the word. He replied, saying he's not sure, but the word does get used at Local Daily Tribune (apparently despite it's relatively good reputation) and he'd mention it to his editor. He then replied just minutes later saying that the story has already been changed; behold the power of the internet. Wow! How's that for a quick and respectful response!

Reason #37 that Husband is awesome: He realizes that having spent twenty-four hours on a bus doesn't preclude him from the dinner rule, i.e., s/he who arrived home first is in charge of dinner.

Small things that I very much dislike and which can ruin parts of my day if I'm not careful #3: returning things. I was very chagrined to realize that when I used my new Aveeno Positively Radiant Moisturizing Lotion this morning that it was not the Aveeno Positively Radiant Daily Moisturizer that I wanted. I'm dreading asking for a return, especially since it came with a free body wash sample I've already used. Courage, son... courage.

Do you know, coincidentally, that "Talking 'bout a revolution" is my wake-up song? I put it in years ago and never changed it. But I usually don't hear it - I'm masterful at waking up minutes before, or hearing the CD start to spin.

Work? Zzzzzzzzzzz

It's just little old me at my house. Husband is off gallivanting in D.C. with his Kennedy Center and his pool parties and his twenty-four-hour bus rides... leaving me to wallow in frequent get-togethers with friends, and plentiful movie watching and naps. At first I felt somewhat lost, and buried myself under a comforter with Gemma Bovary, but an hour and a half later, when the book was done, I roused myself and things have been fine.

Next week is las vacaciones. After all this time, I'm not sure I'm ready. Yes, I'm duly stressed (the headache frequency... let's just say it's easier to list the times I haven't had a headache...), yes, I'm not too far from being ready to pack and tie up ends around the house... I'm just not sure I'm really ready. Incredibly excited? Can hardly sleep? Ready to weather the unexpected annoyances that happen when one travels, especially with family? I think it's just that I'm knee-deep in work, and unsure about leaving it. However, once I am on the beach with drink in hand, I'm sure it will be like, "Work? Zzzzzzzzzzz."

Tea is my mood ring

Black: tired
Green: repentant, i.e. ate too pieces of chocolate and want to feel cleansed
Chamomile: stressed (even though I don't really like chamomile, the stereotype is soothing)
Wild sweet orange: hungry
Peppermint: peaceful, just ate garlic
Ginger and lemon: normal

My tea stash includes:
Green: hoji-cha(loose), genmai-cha (loose), Yamamotoyama green tea, Tazo Lotus, Tazo China Green Tips, Tazo Zen.
Black: Mix of apricot, snow monkey plum, and pineapple (loose), Tazo Awake, Tazo Chai, Earl Grey (loose).
Herbal: ginger and lemon (loose), Tazo Calm, Tazo Passion, Tazo Wild Sweet Orange Blackberry (Choice), Licorice Peppermint (Choice), Stomach Ease (Yogi), Pandaberry (Republic of Tea).
Ginseng (Good Earth).

Disclaimer: I don't really favor Tazo teas, I just bought a sampler at a post-Christmas sale.

Ethnic jokes are verboten!

It's Friday night and I'm wrapped in my robe (it's cold in the office) and nursing a beer while I surf the internet. Today wasn't particularly stressful but it made me fretful and anxious, and I couldn't get my heart rate to go down. I don't want to get an ulcer at age thirty. So I made some nachos for dinner and had Kozy Shack for dessert and vegged out with the cat.
Husband, whose twenty-pound Shelby Foote The Civil War: A Narrative is blocking the keyboard, should be home in mere minutes and then I will cast off my robe and reincarnate as hip urban socialite.
So what have sites have I been visiting, you ask? I won't list the new blog I found as that is sort of verboten in the blogging community (I said "verboten" in front of a Jewish friend today and felt immediately ashamed. Is that strange?) I can tell you that I was looking for The Perfect Eye Shades. And of course, now that I have the Platonic ideal of eye shades in my head, I'm reticent to actually purchase a pair, knowing that a more perfect pair must exist out there and I'll regret my purchase. Do I want glam (silver shimmer) or always-posh black? I definitely want soft and luxurious, comes-with-its-own-case-and-earplugs, and no rhinestones or feathers or embroidered "Princess" or "Wink wink." How often I've longed for these... for the quick lunch hour nap, for the road trip, the plane, and de-stressing while riding shotgun in rush hour traffic.

Going to Paris is like getting an appendectomy

Hospitals are a lot like airports, I discovered today. For instance:
1. You log a lot of time in uncomfortable chairs next to strange people.
2. You want to check in and see how things are going with the desk, but know they don't want to be bothered.
3. You have an irrational anxiety to stay close to the unit/gate, even though you know that the results/flights won't be ready for over an hour.
4. You pay too much for parking and food.
5. There are endless mazes of corridors and terminals, and suspicious unmarked doors.
6. The time of day doesn't mean anytime beyond its relation to how long you've been waiting.
7. There's a pervasive smell of coffee, cleaning agents, and recycled air.