Monday, July 30, 2007

New York: Day Two

Day two in New York was pretty good. Naturally I spent most of the day in meetings. There is not much to write about when you're in a meeting from 9:00 to 5:30. But later that evening several managing editors took me out to dinner. Before I left Boulder, they asked me what kind of food I liked. I said that I pretty much like anything--Mexican, Italian, steak, seafood, whatever--and I told them to just surprise me because they know the city better. I guess they took "seafood" as a cue and they picked sushi. Hmm. I have mixed opinions about sushi. I love California rolls and I like sushi that has cooked ingredients in it. I'm a little uncertain about sushi with the raw fish and seafood. I think what really bothers me is the texture of the fish. Sometimes it is just to "mushy" for my liking. When I put a roll into my mouth and bit into cold, wet mush I was a little freaked out. I drank a lot of water than night and essentially swallowed a lot of things whole, but the sushi that was cooked was wonderful. And, naturally, it was wonderful and nice of them to take me out to dinner.

After dinner we all walked down to Union Square and hung out and talked for a little while, then we all went on our own ways. Union Square is about 14 blocks from my hotel, so I just casually strolled back and took in some of the sights and sounds.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

New York: Day One

My first day began very early in the morning. I woke up around 2:00 a.m. (right about the time when some of my friends were probably going to bed) to get ready for my trip. I took a shower and dressed myself up in decent clothes because I had to run to a meeting once I got to New York. At that time of day--or morning, rather--I wanted nothing more than to travel in jeans and a more causal shirt, but we do what we have to do. I had some time in the morning to have a decent breakfast (oatmeal, coffee, and orange juice) and I finished packing the last few things in my bags. The shuttle picked me up around 4:00 and I was on my way to the airport. As much as I hated getting up that early in the morning, it was nice to go to the airport and not wait in any lines. I walked right up to the United Airlines counter, got my boarding pass, checked in my bag, then breezed through security. Even though I had breakfast at home, I had a second breakfast at the airport. In the first place, I tend to get hungry every two or three hours. I either have a really fast metabolism or I have a tapeworm in my stomach. In the second place, I knew that I wouldn't get any real food on the plane and I also knew that I wouldn't have much of a chance to have lunch once I got to New York. So I decided to fill myself up as much as possible before I left. For the sake of ease and convenience (and also to satisfy a guilty pleasure), I just went to McDonald's for my second breakfast.

The flight to New York was a smooth one and it took only a few minutes to catch a cab to my hotel. Okay, I thought that traffic in Los Angeles was crazy, but New York and Manhattan is a whole different kind of crazy! People honk their horns for reasons that are both apparent and not apparent. Weaving in and out of lanes is normal. And missing pedestrians by a hair is nothing to be concerned about. I sat in the back seat of the cab saying Hail Marys and for some extra grace and protection I even said it in Latin. I made it to the hotel alive and in one piece, checked in, and freshened up a bit before I rushed off to my first meeting. Fortunately the office is just around the block from the hotel.

The meeting went well. I didn't do much but sit in the back row of a crammed conference room and took notes on all of the books that were presented. Fortunately the meeting only lasted a few hours. I met some important people, toured the office, and then went back to my hotel room to relax for an hour or so. The room was on the eighth floor and it was really nice and cozy with a very large bed. I then went downstairs and went to the Black Duck restaurant which is attached to the hotel. Since the company was paying for all of my meals, I decided to go big with my order. I had an "Espresso Rubbed Filet Mignon" on a bed of scallion mashed potatoes and seared spinach with a glass of Zinfandel. This was a huge plate of food which, in all, probably weighed about as much as I do, but I practically licked the plate clean. Nothing was left! My very sweet and nice waiter came to the table and simply said, "Um, I guess you don't need a take out box tonight." I assume he was wondering where I put all the food.

After dinner I walked around the block and down Park Avenue a little bit, but then went back to my hotel. It was a long day for me. The next day would be full of meetings, and I was tired and ready for bed.

Some of the Things I Missed...

Now that I'm back in Boulder and getting reacclimated to life in a smaller town, I've been looking around me and seeing all of the things I missed while I was in New York. For one, it is nice to see grass and trees as opposed to all that concrete. Oddly enough, when I did notice some trees in New York they were growing out of the roofs of certain buildings. However, when I was walking to The Met I was at least fortunate enough to see grass and trees in Central Park. But I prefer to see grass and trees everywhere. I also like the fact that I can look at the sky and clouds here without straining my neck to look straight up. And, naturally, what I missed most are the afternoon thunderstorms. Like clockwork, I started to hear the rumble of thunder around 3:30 and a little after 4:00 there was a light drizzle. And, as everyone knows, I love the smell of fresh air and rain!

More on the actual trip soon...

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Mountains, Hills, and Grass...Oh My!

Well, I'm back from my trip to New York, and I had a fabulous time. The first few days were packed with long, exhausting meetings, but on Friday I was able to wander around and actually see the city. New York was a fun city, but I'm happy to be home where there are mountains, hills, grass, and fresh air! I'll write more about my trip in a later post...

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Breakfast

It is almost 2:30 in the morning and I'm about to eat oatmeal for "breakfast." This is wrong!

More next week... Until then, love...

Monday, July 23, 2007

Packing

This will be a quick post because there are still a few things I need to do tonight to get ready for my trip. I just inhaled my dinner, and now I need to do some dishes and tidy up around my apartment. There are a few more things I need to pack, but, for the most part, I'm ready to go. I'm not looking forward to getting up at around 2:30 or 3:00 a.m. to get ready for the shuttle that will pick me up around 4:30. I'm hoping that I can get at least a few hours of sleep tonight. And I generally hate to fall asleep in the close proximity of strangers (I'm slightly paranoid), but maybe I can take a nap on the plane. I tend to get nasty headaches if I don't get enough sleep. My head and brains are obviously very sensitive and tender. Some people have sensitive tummies; I have a sensitive head.

Anyway, the experience in New York should be a good one. One of the managing editors I've been working with has been organizing people and making arrangements to take me out to dinner. It looks like I'll be having dinner with at least two managing editors and also, essentially, the vice president of the publishing group. Not half bad if you ask me. And the VP asked me what type of food I like or to pick a restaurant if I know of any good ones. I wonder if I could get away with picking the most expensive restaurant in New York? Anyway this is all flattering. It sure beats the business trip I took to South Bend, Indiana, for the previous company I worked for. Although the trip to South Bend wasn't bad per se, a week at the Holiday Inn Express and dinner at Applebee's doesn't quite compare to a week at the Park South Hotel and dinner with the vice president of the company.

I'll be out of touch for the next few days, but I'll write more when I return. And I hope to have a lot of pictures from the Greek and Roman collection at the Metropolitan Museum!!!

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Green and Mean

While I was out shopping (this was a busy shopping weekend), I made a quick stop at Wild Oats to pick up a few things. I can across an ironic scene. Inside, the store is full of people shopping for natural and organic foods. They also pick up their eco-friendly household products like recycled napkins and nontoxic and biodegradable cleaning solutions. They are happy, healthy, and they love their earth. They get their goods, check out, pay their bill, then wheel their miniature shopping carts into the parking lot and...load up a giant SUV with all of their natural, organic, and earth friendly goods. I would say that 75 percent of the cars in the Wild Oats parking lot this weekend were SUVs. I try to do my part to buy natural and organic foods. And when possible I try to buy earth friendly products and I do my best to "decrease my impact" on harming the environment. I'll admit, I'm not perfect, and I'm sure there is a lot of things I do that is not so eco-friendly. But at least I don't drive an SUV!

Weather, Transporting Kayaks, and Big Men and Little Dogs

Weather: I just realized that it has been a long time since I've given the weather report. It's been hot, very hot, here in Boulder. It's hot to such a degree that it would be nice to sit in a bathtub full of ice water...or cold beer... But at least it is a dry heat, as they always say. I checked the weather reports for New York and temperatures when I'm there should be in the 80s with humidity around 60%. After living in Colorado for five years, I don't like humidity that much. It is also supposed to rain a few days when I'm in New York. Hopefully I can buy an umbrella in the hotel or somewhere near the hotel. I love walking in the rain, but not when I have to go to the office. It probably wouldn't be nice to sit in a meeting with drenched hair and clothes.

Transporting Kayaks: With all of the outdoors people here in Colorado, you think that anyone would know how to transport a kayak. Most people have roof racks and they simply tie the kayak down. Any smart person knows that the kayak should probably run the length of the car. But while I was out today I actually saw one idiot who, for whatever reason, tied the kayak across the width of the car. The ends of the kayak (I'm sure there is a word more technical than "end") were sticking out over the sides of the car like wings. Naturally no one wanted to get near this guy. I honestly want to know what made this guy think that what he did was a good idea...

Big Men and Little Dogs: Sometimes you can't help but to put certain impressions, images, or stereotypes in your head. You would think that big guys would like big dogs. While I was out today (again), I saw a sight that proved that theory wrong. I saw a guy walking a dog. This was a big guy. If he was a football player, I'd guess that he was a linebacker or a free safety. He was tall and full of muscles. You would think that he would have a big dog like a Great Dane. Nope. He was walking a little chihuahua that looked like it could probably fit in one of his hands. Just the sight of this giant man and this tiny dog made me smile.

The floor of my apartment is covered with page proofs, so I guess I better get back to work...

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Work, Travel, Tiny Bottles, and Security

Work: Well, this week has been quite busy, stressful, and exhausting. Work has been keeping me extremely busy, and one project in particular has been taking up all of my time. We're pushing the limits of the deadline, but (with the help of a friend and co-worker) the book should go to press on Wednesday. And this is just one book of many that I'm working on. I've been working a lot of long hours and weekends, and it's exhausting. Oh well. It will all get done.

Travel, Tiny Bottles, and Security: I leave for New York on Tuesday, and as it turns out, I will be going alone. Another co-worker was supposed to come, but I just found out that she is not going. This essentially means that I will be running from one meeting to another all day long. If another person was coming we could at least take turns and have one go to one meeting and another go to another meeting. But now I'll be going to all of the meetings. Most of my travel arrangements have already been made. All I need to do is call the shuttle service to make a reservation for them to take me to the airport. Meanwhile, I've been shopping around for those tiny bottles and travel sized items to take along with me. And, honestly, there are just some things I need that aren't available in travel sizes. Normally I don't like to check my bags when I'm going to an unfamiliar airport in an unfamiliar city, but I might have to this time. Because, God forbid, I need more than three ounces of some kind of gel or liquid! I'm all for security and keeping people safe when we travel, but some things just perplex me. Sure, maybe you can make a great bomb out of various liquids and gels. And, okay, maybe there is a threat if someone brings any liquid or gel of any kind in a carry on bag. So we are either forced to put these liquids or gels into tiny bottles or we have to check our bags. Ironically, though, if you had the inclination to carry on a 7-inch screwdriver or sharp, pointed scissors with 4-inch blades, you are more than welcome to. In spite of the fact that you can stab someone in the back or the ear with a screwdriver or slit someone's throat with scissors, these will pass through security without a problem. But don't you dare try to bring in a 5 ounce tube of toothpaste!

I suppose I should end this post before I get placed on a terror watchlist...

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Pooped

I don't have that much to say other than I'm pooped. But I just had soup and a sandwich for dinner, so maybe that will give me a burst of energy. I hope so, because I have to work again tonight.

Current drink: Barq's Root Beer
Current mood: the Mean Reds - you'll have to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's to understand that reference

Monday, July 16, 2007

Unwinding

Well, this past weekend was sort of busy, and things were really busy at work today, too. I took some work home over the weekend, but I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I wanted to or needed to. I worked hard today, but still had to take some more work home tonight. That's simply a sign of how much we have going on right now. The rest of this week will be incredibly busy for me as I try to get one of my messiest projects to press by Monday. And to complicate matters, I want to try to get everything in decent shape before I go to New York for my little business trip. I have wonderful co-workers who would be happy to keep my projects in order while I'm away, but I want to make it as painless as possible for them. We'll see how the rest of the week goes.

In theory and if I were smart, I would be in bed right now. I want to get up early and get into the office early to finish what I need to. But I'm feeling a little wired and on edge. So, instead, I'm here writing and having a glass of cognac and just trying to unwind a bit. I don't have that much to say, and I'm not sure if I'm even making any sense, but still I write. I'll probably have to edit this tomorrow...

Current mood: tired
Current music: Loreena McKennitt. An Ancient Muse.
Current drink: Remy Martin VSOP Fine Champagne Cognac

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Sights on a Windy Day

Earlier this evening I looked out the window and saw that the clouds were rolling in and starting to get darker. It was getting windy and a light rain started to fall. I decided to run out to get some dinner for myself before the weather got too bad. The wind started to pick up while I was driving, and as I was waiting at a stoplight, suddenly I saw an inner tube rolling down the street. It was then followed by a second, and I half expected a third to fly by with a small child still inside but had no such luck. For a brief history: A lot of people in Boulder like to spend their weekends riding down Boulder Creek in big inner tubes. That explains the presence of inner tubes in the city, but it was still odd to see them rolling down Arapahoe. I continued on my way and noticed that the Home Depot parking lot was full of shopping carts that were scattered and rolling in various directions because they were being pushed by the wind. Fortunately I was able to make it in and out Daphne's without getting drenched by rain or blown away by the wind. And the Chicken Ka-Boob plate with rice and salad was yummy!

Current mood: no complaints
Current music: random selections from my iTunes library -- currently Dave Matthews "Crash Into Me"
Current drink: Silk Soymilk - random, I know, but good for me.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Exhausted

This has been one very exhausting week at work. We knew that we would have two new employees starting in our department on Monday, but we were surprised to learn that a third would also join the team. We're all really excited to have some new people in our department, because we certainly need the help. But anytime you have new employees, it takes a lot of training to get them used to our systems and procedures. Fortunately the people we hired are all very smart and bright and seem to be picking things up very quickly. They are already starting to take on a few projects, and I'm sure it won't be long before they are carrying full loads. So the week was full with training and welcome lunches. But it was also full of unusually and extraordinarily long meetings. Several meetings we had this week lasted about two hours. When you're training all day, having longer-than-usual lunches, and two hour meetings, you don't have much time in the day to do any work on any of your own projects. I was still able to send a book to press and able to send manuscripts or page proofs to authors or freelancers, but I was a little stressed and frazzled as I tried to do any of this. Needless to say, I brought home a huge box of manuscripts and proofs that I need to work on this weekend to make up for time I lost during the week. I guess it will be an exhausting weekend!

But, to blow off some steam and to try to relax a little, a very lovely friend and I spent last night having drinks and dinner. We first went to the Purple Martini and had some appetizers and wine. (We decided to pass on the martinis last night.) We then went to Laudisio, an Italian restaurant, had some more wine, and shared some calamari, a salad, and a bowl of risotto. This had to be the best dinner I ever had in my life! The calamari was perfect, and I can't even find the words to describe the risotto other than "it was heaven." The night was absolutely wonderful. Good wine, good food, good company, and good conversation. It can't get much better.

Current mood: tired
Current music: Tori Amos. Scarlet's Walk

Monday, July 09, 2007

Ensnared

Night falls like a blanket
And Gaia sleeps
By moonlight and shadows we meet
Falling upon a carnal bed
Starving, we feed this hunger
Ravenous, gluttonous
Insatiable...
Hephaestus casts his net
Ensnared, entangled
We are locked together
Mocked by Olympus
Let the gods and goddesses laugh
Or rather
Let them look on with envy
For we are one

Leave the Sigmas at Home!

I think I've written a post about this before, but I just have to write about it again. I must repeat how much I hate it when people use Greek sigmas (Σ) to represent the letter E. People do it all the time in advertising. They use sigmas in movie posters, store signs, business names, you name it. There is a new show on ABC Family called "Greek," and, yes, they are falling into the sigma trap.

Σ does not equal E!! Yes, the Greek lettering might look cool, but it is WRONG! It's WRONG and it's STUPID! And any advertising executive or creative "genius" who comes up with this should be fired! They should be fired and forced to take a real Greek class! IDIOTS...

Current mood: disgruntled
Current music: Holly Brook. Like Blood, Like Honey
Current drink: Barq's Root Beer

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Etched with Love

Hot thunder throws peace into chaos
Shaking the shadowed earth
Hypnos takes flight upon black wings
Morpheus descends
Cyprian-born goddess, golden Aphrodite, rises
The winged boy flits and flies behind
With a wry and mischievous smile
I stir and wake
Opening eyes, seeing
A beautiful face, shining,
Etched with love
Your eyes that scatter grace upon me
The gentlest touch sets fire beneath my skin
Rushing, coursing through my blood
Eros, loosener of limbs, irrepressible,
Steals my sight
Deafens my ears with a mad pounding beneath my breast
My mind, awash in a storm...
Rose-fingered Dawn waits
As Athena holds back the hours
And steadies the Night

--just a little poem with a nod to Sappho and Homer

Friday, July 06, 2007

The Lover's Tale

I've been going through a little drought with my own poetry, but here is a small portion from Tennyson's The Lover's Tale that I like.
In that I live, I love; because I love
I live: whate'er is fountain to the one
Is fountain to the other; and whene'er
Our God unknits the riddle of the one,
There is no shade or fold of mystery
Swathing the other
Those first few lines--"in that I live, I love; because I love, I live"--that is how I try to live my life.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Recovery

Fortunately yesterday was a holiday because for most of the day I was feeling under the weather. It is a strange thing with me. I can work hard and work myself into the ground, and I suppose adrenaline and stress keep me going. But once the weekend hits, or, as in yesterday's case, once I have a day off, my body crashes and completely shuts down. This has always happened to me. It happened when I was in school, when I was in grad school, and it happens occasionally now that I'm in the working world. Basically I just get a nasty headache. If you can imagine what it feels like to have an elephant stand on your head while a buzzard tries to pluck out your eyeballs, then you'll pretty much know how I feel when these headaches hit. Whenever this happens I usually just sleep. There have even been times when I slept for three days without moving from my bed. I slept for most of the day yesterday, but managed to crawl out of bed late in the evening to force some toast and juice into my stomach. I even managed to stand outside my apartment to watch the fireworks they were shooting above Folsom Field at CU. The "boom" of the fireworks occasionally rattled my brain, literally, but it was a nice show and pretty to watch. I immediately went back to bed once it was over. I still managed to go to work today in spite of still feeling slightly dizzy in my head. Unfortunately I had too many meetings and too much work to do, otherwise I might have stayed home. I started feeling better through the day, though, and now I'm feeling much better. A little tired, but better. Needless to say, it was a relatively quiet Fourth of July.

Current mood: tired
Current drink: Barq's Root Beer
Current music: Kelly Clarkson.
My December. --an awesome CD no matter what the idiots at her record label might have thought!

Monday, July 02, 2007

It's one thing to be a morning person, but...

Work and Travel: Last night I made all of my reservations for my trip to New York. The hotel room is reserved and the flight is booked. When making arrangements for my flight, I was reminded that the biggest problem with flying east is the fact that you lose several hours with the change of time zones. My flight arrives in New York at 1:00 p.m. eastern time, but that means my flight leaves Denver at about 7:30 a.m. So if I want to get to the airport at a reasonable time to check in and make my way through security, it would probably be good to get there around 6:00 a.m. But it gets worse. My best and pretty much only way to get to the airport is by taking a shuttle. In order to get to the airport by 6:00, I have to catch the 5:00 a.m. shuttle. And, naturally, I can't just wake up and step onto a shuttle. I need to wake up at a reasonable time, probably around 3:30 a.m. (MST), to get myself dressed and ready, because once I step off the plane, I have to rush to our New York office to attend a meeting at 3:30 p.m. (EST). Even is you subtract the two-hour time difference, that's still about ten hours of getting ready and travelling. Sigh. Why couldn't their offices be on the west coast?! Oh well. Arriving after 1:00 and having to attend a meeting at 3:30 will be a little rushed and hectic, but I think the people in New York know that we might be running late. I say "we" because another co-worker is also making the trip, but I'm not sure if she will be on the same flight yet. Anyway, all we can do is hope that there won't be any slowdowns through security and that the flight won't be delayed.

And on a random note: a very happy birthday to my beautiful friend. Toto pectore te amo. Mille basia, mea cara!

Sunday, July 01, 2007

More Clouds and Sunsets




This and That...

Here is another one of those "this and that" posts...

Workouts:
After a few interesting days of intense soreness and the inability to move certain parts of my body, I'm feeling much better. I didn't let my sore muscles slow me down and stuck to my workout plan and routine. Naturally, the more you work out, the less sore you get, so my body is feeling much better these days. I'm feeling better, too, and I've been sleeping great.

Work and stuff: As I've mentioned in a previous post, I'll be going to New York later this month for a business trip. I've already received approval to stay an extra day (to go the Metropolitan Museum), and I'm even more excited because I don't have to use a personal day or vacation day to cover it. The extra night in the hotel will have to come out of my pocket, though, but it will be worth it. Also, to prepare for my trip, I went on a little shopping spree yesterday to buy some nice new work clothes. From what I heard, New York is a little more fashionable than Colorado, so I wanted to try to dress the part...not that I will ever be considered chic and fashionable, but I still want to look nice and impressive. So I bought myself some new "power" clothes. And, okay, I also went to Victoria's Secret to get a few things, but a girl needs "power" underwear to go with the power clothes.

Domestic day: I don't have anything exciting planned for the day today. This will just be one of those domestic days where I try to do things around my apartment--cleaning, laundry, cooking, etc.

That's all...

Current mood: rocking out and empowered in my power underwear...
Current music: Melissa Etheridge. Lucky