Have you ever thought about how, from our perspective, the world is moving so fast that we don't really have the time to dwell on the past, so as soon as news is 5 minutes old we're not supposed to really think about it anymore?
But, have you also taken the time to ponder that a piece of news could be very old but if you're hearing it for the first time it's fresh and brand new to you so all the emotions that others have had the time to process are now a fresh wound for you?
Paul Newman has been dead for, what, a few months now? (Actually, a month and a half.) And I'm sure there's somebody out there who knows who Paul Newman is, cares a mild to moderate amount about him, and would be devastated by this piece of information if they visited my blog and read it.
Unabashedly without segue…
Wednesday morning Dawg dropped me off at the 71 Ave subway stop because he is nice and loves me a lot (nope, more than that) and this kind gesture was promptly rewarded by me getting on the F train instead of the E train. I ended up at 21 Queensbridge. Let's take a look at where that is on the map:
I got on the F train at the brown circle by mistake, but should have got on the E. I noticed my mistake when my brain finally flipped on and realized E trains only have row seats, not side-by-sides. I rode all the way to Roosevelt (the purple circle) then almost got off to transfer to the correct train but thought I'd stay on for one more stop because Roosevelt is such a pain in the ass with crowdedness. And now we've learned our lesson that it's because Roosevelt is a hub before the trains all split off. I suddenly found myself — surprise!!! — splitting off (the red circle) and ending up at 21 Queensbridge where I hopped off the F to get my bearings. I took the Mount Sainai pocket subway map that Dawg lovingly gave me out of my pocket and studied the options. And all by myself I figured out that I needed to take F to Lexington/W 63 Street, go street-level and walk to W 60 St and re-enter the subway, then ride the 6 train to Lexington/W 53 so I could transfer to the E train and ride it the rest of the way to 7 Ave — greeeeeeeen circles. I was so proud of myself that I figured that out all by myself and was only 10 minutes late to work… or, rather, the first person there. HA.
While I was transferring from the F to the 6 I read an email from the director asking me to fix something on some laptops. I didn't know the history of the problem so I troubleshot it the way I knew how… and "accidentally" resolved a problem that has been plaguing my company for months, was going to cost them thousands of dollars, countless tech hours, and lots of headaches for our employees. All that is gone now, because I did things The Poppy Way. I will definitely be reminding my boss about this come raise time. He also gave me full responsibility in a project I've been spearheading but felt stifled by my need to ask permission for everything I was doing. So… a very good day.
After work I met Dawg at europa cafe for a quick bite before he had to go work an event. I miss him a lot lately, and I'm really excited by the chance to meet up with him in Manhattan on the days we can't spend our evenings together. I had more to say on this subject but it all came out sappy so I'll spare you the details. Let's just say: I love Dawg — a lot — and a bunch of people at the corner of Broadway and W 53 St got to witness that.
I know everyone wants photos of the party, but I didn't take any. I was too busy being dressed up as a geeky Princess Leia who killed a storm trooper, hence the bloody hands, so instead I offer the Avitaween 2008 group photos to you. This weekend was incredibly amazing. I think it topped other blogger group events for me because of the close bonds I formed with so many people. Also, I got felt up by Hilly despite the No Touching the Poppy rule.
And now for a condensed recap.
– begin weekend –
Fly to Orlando.
Go to Hilton and check in many, many hours earlier.
Learn there is a Star Trek convention in the hotel.
Take a nap. A sleeping nap. Only sleeping. Sleepy sleep.
Wake up and eat hotel food.
Receive txt from Brad that we shouldn't eat the hotel food. Meet up with bloggers (Janelle, Sheila, Becky, Karl, Christine, Crys, Delmer, Turnbaby, Brad, Mikey/LeSombre, Dawg, and me) for drinks at the hotel bar, drinks and steak and coconut coated onion rings at Bahama Breeze, more drinks at the bar and invitation to see the Star Trek vendor show a day early.
Bedtime that involved more than sleep, but no stories necessary.
Wake up, eat a pound of bacon for breakfast at hotel buffet.
Go to the Elephant Bar to meet Jen from For the Birds and her husband Andy to eat vegetable stir fry with tofu, shop for geeky boots and Dawg's costume, and buy pantyhose.
Go see Zack and Miri Make a Porno with many people (I didn't care for it, surprisingly). Rush to the hotel to prep for the party.
Go to the party to see old friends, meet new friends, drink too much, eat too little (RSVP NEXT YEAR, PEOPLE! OR THE FOOD DOESN'T LAST LONG ENOUGH! ), and sing karaoke.
Go home with Finn and Mister M at 3:00am.
Have a very good bedtime. (A very good bedtime. Wow. World rocked. whee!)
Wake up early, realize time change means it's even earlier, txt Mikey about eating breakfast.
Eat breakfast with Mikey, Christine, Dawg.
Say bye to friends.
Go to airport… or try to anyway and wait 20 extra minutes in traffic because of two bad accidents due to rain.
Get to airport to change our 8:55pm flight to a 5:30pm flight — success!
Eat chicken fettucine alfredo and chicken parm at Macaroni Grill in the airport.
Go home.
More happy bedtime before my first day of work.
– end weekend –
I had my first day at work today. It went swimmingly. I am the first female IT Guy to be hired there. I had a turkey sandwich and Utz honey barbecue chips for lunch. I tried to shoe shop for an hour and a half before work but never found a shoe store. Ummmmm… I watched some crazy bitch yell at a pregnant woman in the production area. I took the sardine can from W 53 St/Broadway to 71 Ave for steak dinner and it took a veeeeeeeeeery long time to get there because the train before our train was busted so twice as many people were trying to load onto our train then we had to wait for the busted train to get off the track. Still couldn't find a shoe place. I have a new laptop! And an ID card that doesn't have my photo on it. I'm getting my Blackberry tomorrow, presumably. I need to decorate my workspace. I now have a cube instead of an office with a door but it's huge and I get to listen to fun conversations all day so I'm actually happy about it. I think I mentioned that I have a boyfriend about 167 billion times today.
I still enjoy riding the subway.
Please vote. It's the law.
Thank you soooooo much to Adam and Amy and everyone who helped with the preparations. The party was fanfuckingtastic!!!!!!!!!
After Sunday's shoot Dawg and I went to M&M World and Hershey then had steaks with his parents then we went home and I asked him to tell me stories about his life before I knew him so he did.
And because there are so many links in this post I just target="_blank" 'd all the links. You are welcome.
I now have a fourth child: A 20" 2.66GHz Intel Core Duo iMac with 4GB memory, a 500GB hard drive*, and 8x double-layer SuperDrive. I also added the 3 year warranty, Microsoft Office 2008, and GUITAR HERO 3**!!!
I've been thinking about this for months now. I had the computer in my online shopping cart at 2:00am, after having put a computer in a cart a few times before, but this time I was very serious about the purchase, just wanted to sleep on it. I talked with Dawg about it earlier today, and he told me what I thought all along: I will be happiest if I buy a Mac, not a PC. I could have gotten a PC for MUCH cheaper, but after 6 years of specifically supporting Macs and therefore lugging one around with me every single day of my life for that 6 years I have become a Mac snob. I can't switch to the PC for my daily use. I can borrow a PC, but it can't be my main machine for play. I toyed with the idea of getting a MacBook or MacBook Pro, but the expense isn't worth it to me. Dawg says I can borrow his laptop if I want to blog in bed, and practicing my sharing skills is a very good thing. Plus, when I get a job it's very likely I'll get a laptop from them to use, so… there ya go. Even if not, I can just get Parallels and load Windows onto the machine as needed. But I need a computer, and this is the very first computer I have ever purchased for myself. I've always had hand-me-downs or work computers for my daily use.
I am sooooo psyched, very happy, can't wait for her to arrive!!
*I have a 500GB myBook external drive already, sooooo… I technically have 1TB of space — w00t!
**Yes, I already own Guitar Hero 3, but I'm smart and ordered it again, and now I have two guitars for the price of two copies of the same version of software (but only one in New York)! Now Dawg and I can play together, wheeeeeeeee!!!
Update: The internet was down. I had to reschedule to Thursday. No, I'm not kidding. How fucked up is that? Yah, pretty fucked up. Oh well, I'll just ace it on Thursday instead.
Following up the Predictions post, I'd like to tell you a little tiny bit about what happened.
I'll be very drunk at some point today
Break Boy mixed up the Serendipity 3 Frrrrozen Hot Chocolate Dawg gave me for Valentine's Day with Bailey's and Kahlua then Dawg, Break Boy, His Lovely Wife, and I all drank that. Then Break Boy made me, Dawg, and himself a concoction of cointreau, pineapple-orange juice, tequila, and peach schnapps. When I said there wasn't enough tequila in mine Break Boy added another 1/2 cup of the stuff to mine. I woke up with a headache.
I'll be very full at several points today
Dawg's comment before leaving back to the city: "I feel like I ate a horse."
I'll be very caffeinated at two points today
I had iced coffee on the way over then had chocolate cake for dessert after dinner.
I'll beat Break Boy at one or more GH3 pro battle songs (woot!)
I honestly don't remember if I beat him at anything, but I think I did. I was high on life for half the time and drunk off my ass for the rest of the time.
I'll be very happy every single second of the rest of this day
Yes, I was actually happy from 11:30pm Friday night to 5:30pm today, minus a small pouty moment at around 4:30pm. (I'm allowed to pout on Sundays.)
I'll wake up a very happy Poppy with a very warm Dawg next to her
And I didn't even wake him up until 9:45am.
That one makes me snicker snicker snicker and think of the last Wii party with Break Boy and PiC trying to cream each other on the Wii court. I do believe PiC ran into the partition behind him and almost smacked His Lovely Wife in the face with his forehand. Luckily she was not holding Too Legit to Quit at the time…
Cannot wait until next Wii party, which won't happen if I don't organize it. Hmm.
I know everyone wants photos of the party, but I didn't take any. I was too busy being dressed up as a geeky Princess Leia who killed a storm trooper, hence the bloody hands, so instead I offer the 
Meet up with bloggers (
Rush to the hotel to prep for the party.
), and sing karaoke.
