April 28, 2006
Five on Friday for April 28, 2006
- 1. What is your favorite movie?
- Chocolat
- 2. What is the worst movie you have ever watched?
- The Island of Doctor Moreau
- 3. What was the last movie you saw in the theatre?
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Yes. Way back in November.
- 4. Sugared or salted popcorn? Or maybe butter?
- Salted and buttered. Although I have a weakness for microwave kettle corn...
- 5. Movie theatre or DVD?
- I used to love the theatre, but watching at home is so much easier now.
Posted by criminal at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2006
Beer Tasting Tonight
The Specialty Brewing Group behind the beers at OriginalBeers.com will be at two tastings in the area tonight.
First, Kinsale in Boston from 5:30-7:30pm. Jon will be there pimping the sample beers and talking brews (and probably baseball).
For the more northerly folk, some other members of the SBG will be at
The Nashua Garden on 121 Main Street from 6-8pm. The review at Beer Advocate includes directions and more information about the location.
Posted by criminal at 10:09 AM | Comments (1)
Things I Want This Week
- Ice Cream Briefcase
- Berry Belt
- All things Brown and White
- Birkenstocks, Birkenstocks, Birkenstocks!
Posted by criminal at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)
April 26, 2006
I Am a Bubble Blower
Find your own pose!
Posted by criminal at 12:52 PM | Comments (1)
April 25, 2006
Free Cone Day
If you happen to be lucky enough to live near a Ben & Jerry's scoop shop, today is free cone day. I'm terribly jealous. The closest participating shop is more than 20 miles away and I want a cone stuffed full of Ben & Jerry's so much...
And perhaps even better, they've started making a waffle cone scented candle for those of us who love the smell of freshly crisped cones.
Posted by criminal at 12:35 PM | Comments (1)
Web Design Tip #1
Never, ever make your viewer wait to see the information they request, especially if it's just text.
Posted by criminal at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)
The Life and Times of a Supreme Slacker
I'm getting to be such a slacker about my journal. And unfortunately, I don't feel that bad about it. There isn't nearly as much drama in my new job, and what drama there is usually involves publishers and can't in good conscience be published here. I mean, I don't want to be Dooced. And now that my thyroid problems are not nearly as worrisome (they're not gone by any means, but they're non-fatal and therefore less important) I don't seem to have much to talk about. Does anyone really want to hear about the aches in my hands, the late night yowling of my cat, or the sausages I had for dinner last night? Probably not.
Update:
- I've been feeling a dull ache in my hands and wrists for the last week, although swelling is minimal and there is no radiating pain.
- Tia has been displaying her midnight crazies for the past few nights just as we put our heads on the pillows. It's cute, but starting to get annoying.
- Jon made chicken (or maybe it was turkey) sausages with peppers and onions for dinner last night. They were surprisingly good.
- 1. What are your favorite ethnic/regional cuisines (Italian, Mexican, Thai, etc.)?
- I *love* Mexican food. Also Cuban and Indian. I think it's the liberal use of beans and lentils that does it for me.
- 2. When visit a restaurant serving that kind of food, what do you generally order?
- I am a total fool for Mole and carnitas in Mexican restaurants. Cuban restaurants kill me with their black beans. I just can't get enough of them: as side dishes, in soups, or in appetizers. In Indian restaurants I usually go for the buffet or sampler plates because I like just about everything (except goat curry and super spicy stuff).
- 3. Which ethnic food or dish is your favorite to make yourself?
- Baked Kibbeh - Soak one cup of bulgar wheat in 2 cups of warm water for 15-20 minutes. Mix with one pound of ground lamb or beef, one cup of diced onions, a half cup of pine nuts, and two teaspoons each of cinnamon and cumin. Add cayenne pepper and salt to taste. Fill a greased muffin tin with the mixture and bake for 25 minutes. Serve with hummus sauce (hummus thinned with olive oil and broth), cool cucumber and tomato salad, and pitas.
- 4. If you could travel to one country or region, just to experience the food, where would you go?
- Cuba.
- 5. Where would you not want to go because of the food?
- Japan. They eat far too many fishy things for my tastes.
- 1. Have you filed your taxes yet?
- Technically, Jon filed them for us a couple months ago. I had almost nothing to do with it, other than getting copies of a couple forms to him since we filed jointly.
- 2. Do you use e-file or the old fashioned paper forms?
- I've been using e-file for the last few years because it's so much easier (and faster!).
- 3. Do you do your taxes by hand, with the help of computer software, or do you hire an accountant or tax firm?
- I can do them by hand and have in the past, but the advent of TurboTax online and similar applications has made doing them by hand seem downright uncivilized. I like knowing that I could do them if I had to.
- 4. How soon do you do your taxes? Are you a procrastinator or do you do you start them before you even have all of the supporting documents?
- I may be a procrastinator at heart, but I think the latest I've ever waited was April 1. I traditionally do them after my birthday, but Jon was even speedier this year.
- 5. Imagine you were subjected to a tax law like the Stamp Act of 1765. Would you be willing and able to give up your favorite beverages (coffee, Diet Coke, etc.) and manufactured goods in a boycott like many women did during the American Revolution?
- I never realized how involved women were in the American Revolution until I read about the huge boycotts they organized in Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. They were some seriously dedicated women. While I'm sure I could give up shopping or soda, I'm not sure I would want to. It would have to be in support of a large movement and a lot of people would have to participate. We're so dependant upon manufactured goods these days that it would be hard to organize a truly successful boycott. I mean, unless a significant percentage of the population participated, the world wouldn't notice. That's probably why I respect the women of that era so much, because they were able to move so many people to make those sacrifices for the good of the colonies.
- 1. Do you wear any footwear that exposes your feet?
- My toes love to be free! I have a hard time finding shoes that fit, so finding sandals that fit is a little easier because you only have to fit part of your foot instead of the whole thing. Plus, my feet just breathe easier when they're out in the air.
- 2. Do you prefer flip-flops or slides?
- I'm a flip flop girl, but I enjoy slides too.
- 3. Have you worn sandals yet this year? Is there a special time when you traditionally break them out?
- I wore flip flops to the scrapbooking retreat I went to in early March and loved it. I've also worn a pair of slides a couple times this week now that the weather is nicer (I can say this only because I waited almost a week to answer these darned questions).
- 4. What are your feelings on the increasing popularity of flip flops and their appearance at the White House last summer?
- Personally, I don't mind seeing flip flops everywhere. But then again, I believe in dressing for comfort and have never placed much stock in what the fashion rules. I actualy wore thong sandals to my wedding -- patent red with kitten heels -- and loved it. I think the problem here is the perception that formal flip flop wearers don't respect the people around them enough to wear something nicer. They do think flip flops are nice.
- 5. What kind of shoes are you?
- I'm comfortable loafers, duh. I guess I'm not carefree enough to be flip flops. Perhaps they need to add Birkenstocks to the list...
Posted by criminal at 09:41 AM | Comments (3)
April 21, 2006
Five on Friday for April 21, 2006
Posted by criminal at 12:06 PM | Comments (2)
The Digital Life
After years without a printer &em; four to be exact &em; I finally broke down and bought one. I've been toying with the idea of getting a ridiculously cheap one for the past few months but started thinking about it more seriously over the last few weeks. Last night I went to Best Buy and picked up an HP Deskjet 5440 photo printer. It's a few steps above the $30 printer at WalMart that first inspired the idea, but it's totally worth it. Of course I started by printing several borderless 4x6 photos to test it out. They're fab. Now I don't know why I waited so long to get another printer and enjoy the fruits of the industry I work in.
Posted by criminal at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
April 19, 2006
Stats
Tip of the day: Web site statistics should never be calculated by hand with unreliable data.
That said, I think I'm going to need a big, fat drink. Soon.
Posted by criminal at 10:21 AM | Comments (1)
April 17, 2006
6 Hours to Go
I've been watching 24 this year and I'm getting tired of it. The last few weeks just feel like filler to build us up to the end, which is still a few hours away. I just want these next six hours to be done already so Jack Bauer's world can go back to normal. As normal as it can be anyway.
Posted by criminal at 10:06 PM | Comments (0)
April 14, 2006
Benign
The nodule in my thyroid is benign.
My nurse practitioner called with my results while I was on my way home last night. For a split second I didn't believe her, but there it was. She said benign. Not suspicious, not malignant, but benign.
benign
Then the cords of tension that had been wrapping my chest so tightly for months released. I could breathe in the warm spring air without worrying about surgery or chemotherapy. All the pain and hassle to find out that it was not cancerous? Totally worth it. I still have to go in for quarterly ultrasounds and bloodwork to monitor the growth and function of my thryroid, but that doesn't seem so bad now.
Posted by criminal at 11:21 AM | Comments (7)
Five on Friday for April 14, 2006
Taxation Without Representation
Posted by criminal at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)
April 13, 2006
Five on Friday for April 7, 2006
Spring Fling - Sandal weather is nigh upon us...
Posted by criminal at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)
April 10, 2006
FNA
I may have put on a brave face, but Friday's FNA totally wiped me out. I went in planning to take just a half day for the actual procedure and ended up wimping out before I made it out of Worcester County. And I like to think I have a high tolerance for pain and discomfort...
First, the whole procedure was much more formal than I expected. We started with a simple ultrasound followed by a consultation with the resident radiologist. He explained the procedure to me, had me sign consent forms, and laughed at my bravery when I said I planned to go back to work. Once everyone was in the room -- the ultrasound technician, an ultrasound trainee, the cytology technician, the anesthesiologist (to make sure I had no complications from the local), the resident radiologist, and the attending radiologist -- we got started.
After being masked off with those little surgery towels and swabbed with betadyne, I was given a local anesthetic (or two) to numb the area. One of those was delivered deep into my neck and hurt quite a bit. That's when they pulled out the big guns. The resident radiologist used the ultrasound tranciever to guide a 22-gauge needle, which is about three-quarters of a millimeter in diameter, into my thyriod to take the first couple samples. This sounds easy peasy, but once they have inserted the needle, they jiggle it around to make sure it's full of tissue. Each sample was set into a slide and examined immediately to ensure it was good enough to be evaluated in the lab. Once the resident was done fumbling around, the attending got a shot at me too. I hate to say it, but it was obvious that he had significantly more confidence and experience. Once they were done, I was cleaned up, given a bandaid and emergency instructions, then sent home.
I called Jon before I even left the parking garage to let him know everything went OK and that I was heading back to work. But by the time I got off the phone with him I could feel the swelling in my neck growing. I stopped to pick up lunch at Moe's (and really, who can't resist the opportunity when in the neighborhood) with every intention of taking it to work. Except I couldn't even make it to 495. When it became evident that I couldn't turn my head to check my blind spots, I decided to get off the highway and take some Tylenol. I ended up eating my lunch in the Solomon Pond Target parking lot and wandering inside for a bathroom break and pain killers. I called the office to let them know I wasn't going to make it in and gave up on my day.
At that point I couldn't even hold my head up or touch my neck because it hurt too much. All of that needle-jostling really did me in. The swelling was even evident through a turtleneck sweater. I had to buy a v-neck sweater because the turtleneck quickly became too tight. Luckily it went down after another hour or so, enough that I felt comfortable driving home. I made it through dinner with Jon's family that night and a wedding in southern Connecticut on Saturday (which I had to wear a turtleneck sweater to in order to hide the ugly bruise on my neck). At this point only the thyroid area is still a little tender and fading to a brilliant yellow-green. It really only hurts when my neck muscles are stressed, like during a yawn, sneeze, or sit-up, so I figure I'm doing well.
Still no results, but I hope to have them within a day or two.
Posted by criminal at 04:08 PM | Comments (2)
April 06, 2006
High Cost of Living
I saw dozens of for sale signs on my way home yesterday and it got me thinking about house buying again. I feel like I need to start becoming a more informed consumer, even though a house is still more than a year into our future. So I went to Coldwell Banker's site and started searching the region for housing priced below $250,000. We're young newlyweds so that's about as much mortgage as we can afford right now. That pretty much limits us to little condos in New Hampshire and nearly condemned old houses in Lowell and Nashua.
Tired of looking at all the condos I was finding, Jon suggested I look at the other areas where AB does business. I had to wipe drool from my face several times. $250k will get you 3500-square-foot homes with 3 or 4 bathrooms, in-ground pools, and huge manicured lawns in Cartersville, Georgia. Ditto for the Houston, Texas area and nearly as good in Jacksonville, Florida and Columbus, Ohio. Not to mention Baldwinsville, New York, Fort Collins, Colorado, or St. Louis...
I know that the cost of living isn't as high in these areas and that my salary would probably take a hit if I moved there, but it really makes me skeptical about buying here. We're expecting to spend $250k on a tiny little place here, but it's harder knowing that it could also get us a huge place somewhere else. Or that we could get a not-so-tiny little place for a whole lot less.
Saving toward a house has really been on my mind lately. I mean, I love my apartment and could live there for a few more years pretty happily if it weren't for the fact that we're not getting any equity out of it. I'm not sure any of the pricing matters right now, but I want to be prepared when the time comes to buy our first home.
Posted by criminal at 02:28 PM | Comments (3)
April 05, 2006
Baby Got Back
And to brighten this cold, miserable spring day, a little Lounge Against the Machine, courtesy of Gillian's wicked Google Video habit. Did I mention they do weddings and corporate parties?
Posted by criminal at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)
Flaky
It is snowing. Hard. The first few lonely flakes hit my windshield as I got off the expressway and the rate has steadily increased all morning. While I feel bad for the guys outside trimming up our trees, I can't wait to see if the few crocus buds outside our apartment geep a light dusting of snow. Because honestly, there's something amazing and beautiful about seeing those lithe green leaves and tiny blooms peeking up through a layer of fresh snow.
Posted by criminal at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
April 04, 2006
Chris...
I really dislike it when women use the name Chris. Sure it's a great nick name, but when used on business cards and correspondance (like e-mail footers) it has little to no context. I don't know if I'm dealing with a Christopher, Christina, Christian, Christine, or Christal. And maybe it's just me, but I like to know the gender of the person I'm going to be talking to before I talk to them. Expecting Christopher and getting Christine throws me off just enough that I start stumbling on my own words. So while I support gender equality and believe that a person's gender should not have anything to do with their work, I need to know what someone is before I call them. It's kind of a double-standard, but it drives me nuts.
Posted by criminal at 04:06 PM | Comments (2)
April 03, 2006
It's a Date
Finally, I have an appointment for my FNA. I'll be heading down to Worcester tomorrow for some pre-test bloodwork and then again on Friday for the actual procedure. For some reason, the idea of having a needle stuck in my neck is starting to give me the heebie-jeebies. Needles don't bother me, and I'm perfectly OK with having blood drawn. But sucking thyroid tissue out of my body through a tiny needle is making me slightly queasy. I'm sure I'll be fine by the time I go in on Friday.
Posted by criminal at 03:37 PM | Comments (3)
Small Savings
The biggest downside to this whole daylight savings thing, aside from the lost hour of sleep, is that I feel like I should be wrapping things up for the day. But since it's only 3:30, I still have another two hours of work. I almost wish the phone would ring so that time would seem to pass faster.
Posted by criminal at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)
Williams Sonoma Easter Jelly Beans
Flaors: lemon, key lime, tangerine and pink grapefruit
Size: These beans are the perfect size, slightly larger than a Jelly Belly bean, but not so big that you feel like you're chewing forever.
Color: Bright and citrusy, but not too saturated
Texture: Crisp shell and smooth, chewy center
Overall Experience: These little beans have a bright, natural citrus flavor in their soft centers, which melt in your mouth. Each one tastes better than the last.
Rating: 4/5
Posted by criminal at 10:24 AM | Comments (0)