my moral standing is lying down

And I survived! It wasn't actually bad at all, though I highly recommend you have lots of stuff planned to distract you on your cleanse days. For me, Friday and Sunday were easy as pie, because I had stuff to do; I barely noticed the fact that I was drinking juice and not eating.

Saturday, however, was kind of awful because I had nothing to do. What I really wanted to do was go and be outside and hang out with friends, but you know what I do when I go out and hang? Eat. And drink. If I'm at home, I tend to snack. So being "stuck" at home most of the day on Saturday was not the smartest idea I've ever had. Rich was fiiiiine on Saturday; he had FFXIV to keep him occupied pretty much all day long. Eventually I kicked myself out of my funk by doing a short workout which really re-energized me and perked me right up.

I was never hungry and never felt physically tired or lacking in energy. Saturday was emotionally a bit rough, but it's hard to tell exactly how much that had to do with the cleanse. I did think about crunchy snacks a lot (a LOT), but I was never genuinely tempted to break the cleanse. And I talked about food all. the. time. But, you know, I love food and I love talking about it, so it wasn't a huge departure from the usual.

For the next week I'm doing a post-cleanse diet (same as the pre-cleanse diet) which transitions into/out of the juice-only cleanse. This means no chicken or beef, no grains (pasta/rice/bread), no dairy, no fried foods. I'm going to try to put it off for as long as possible, but my first order of fries has got to be a good one! (...maybe I should make a special trip to Pommes Frites in the East Village.)

If you're into Magic: the Gathering, Rich does a weekly column ("What We Learned") over on Hipsters of the Coast. This week he blogged about the juice cleanse and how taking care of your body makes for a better Magic playing experience.

For my dreams last night as I watched Trainspotting and then started to read his novel Filth just before falling asleep.

To wit:

I have a dream around 5am when I'm woken up by a fucking phone call -- a NYC number I don't recognize -- and once I've figured out that I'm going to let it go to voicemail, I've already forgotten the dream. But it was something with a complex adventure plot. Sigh, I love those.

Next dream: A woman gives birth to twins by different fathers; raises them separately (one of the fathers was married), and doesn't tell the twins about each other. They live in the same area so end up at the same elementary school. This isn't a variation on The Parent Trap, however, and they're fraternal twins who don't look all that much alike so they never realize they're related.

The dream then alternates between me pushing one of the twins' baby carriages while talking to the mother (I was never able to determine who the other twin was being raised by), and being a sort of fly-on-the-wall POV inside her house (in which the walls were painted in shades of yellow and green).

The last bit of this dream was just those last two alternating scenes before somehow segueing into a good five minutes of me trying to remember the word "rugelach" and imagining myself texting Rich to ask "what's the name of that kosher fruit cookie that starts with either an 's' or a 'ch' sound?" In the dream I kept saying "Schenectady" and "hamentashen" and then chastising myself, annoyed, because those weren't the right word.

Ahahaha, I'm glad I (eventually) remembered it (around 10 minutes after waking up) because clearly the word doesn't start with either of those sounds, though I was positive it had a "ch" sound in it somewhere.

You may ask why I was trying to remember the word rugelach; I certainly did. If you figure it out, please let me know because I haven't had rugelach in years and nothing has happened lately (or even a long while ago!) to prompt the thought of it!

I'm slowly becoming burnt out from my travel/event/social schedule. I have not reached the crash point yet, and I'm not getting sick or anything like that, but I can feel that I'm tiring a bit. I should slow down and take a break, but I can't seem to help myself.

Weddingcon was awesome! It's not really any different now that Chris and Carrie have tied the knot, but it is, too. Congrats to them once again. The day could not have been any more picturesque. The weather was cheerful and temperate; the bride and bridesmaids were beautiful; the groom and groomsmen were handsome. I'm sure there were some snags and hitches, but you couldn't tell from this end!

It was also a wonderful day of adventure! I love to play dress-up... and then get stuck in traffic on Canal Street between the Manhattan Bridge and Holland Tunnel for 2 hours! YAYE! Yes, that's right -- it took 2 HOURS to go THREE-QUARTERS OF A MILE! So wonderful. At least we were comfortable in the rental minivan. Eventually we did make it into NJ to pick up the rest of our party. And luckily, since we left so early from my house (10:30am), we actually made it to the wedding with 20 minutes to spare! That's right -- we got there at 2:40pm. So what should have been a 2-hour trip only took... what, 4 hours! I would have been heartbroken had we missed it. ;_;

Anyway, after the reception I drove people home, got back around what, 1am or so? I then returned the minivan to LaGuardia airport and got picked up and went on a drive to Pittsburgh! This was fun and frustrating for varied reasons which I will not go into here. But in any case I enjoyed the trip and had a nice chance to bask in the sun on a cliff by a railway bridge for around 20 minutes. I would have loved to fall asleep in the grass with the sun making me feel all cozy and warm. We only stayed in Pittsburgh for about an hour or two (we were picking something up), then turned around and drove right back.

Have I mentioned how much I love to go for a drive? Whether as driver or passenger; it makes almost no difference.

Of course, last night sent me further down the burnout path. I took an impromptu trip down to Philly, met Steve (who was previously only a disembodied voice in the background of Jim's phone calls), helped Jim and Duncan unload a truck (most of it was done when Steve and I got there), went to dinner (hadn't eaten in over 10 hours at that point -- and btw, RHUBARB CRISP = AWESOME!), then drove for the next 3-4 hours. Got home at 4:30am! I'm just lucky that Jim didn't need his car (I dropped him off and then drove home by myself). If he did need it today I would've had even less sleep. Maybe even like none at all.

So I may have to return the car tonight, which is fine, though it means I won't get too much of a chance to rest up, either.

*headdesk*

Just booked (pre-paid in full) a hostel for the trip to London at the end of March.

I was a fucking idiot and put it on my debit card instead of on the credit card I intended to use. Luckily, I have some extra funds which I can move around a bit.

Still, jeez, I'm out of it. Even after sleeping for 12 hours last night. I skipped class and got home at 6pm, was asleep by 6:30pm, and other than waking up every few hours for a couple of seconds each, I slept all the way through til 7am this morning.

Which brings me to... my stupidity of the last several days.

Monday was mostly a relaxing day, but I must have already started coming down with a cold because I barely ate all day. 4.5 hours after waking up, I decided I'd have half a bag of chips & guac from Chipotle. And then half a baked potato and some chicken nuggets a little later. That's it. All day. Not my usual fare.

Stayed up til 4am on Monday night. Somewhat stressful conversation and only 3 hours of sleep later, and feeling like crap from all of the above. Plus a continued lack of appetite and headache. Rushed home to return the car to NJ. Discovered, when I tried to take out some money from the ATM, that NONE OF MY CARDS WORKED. So I drove over to borrow some money from parents, and realized I didn't need the money I had come to borrow -- because YOU CAN TAKE FDR NORTH TO THE GW BRIDGE INSTEAD OF THE TRIBORO. Therefore, NO TOLLS. Yeah, you can see exactly how on-top of things I was.

Finally made it to NJ, later than anticipated, and pretty hungry, with a headache. We went out for dinner, and despite the fact that I felt like I was starving, I didn't really eat that much, and that headache did not go away until I took some painkiller for it.

Left NJ -- not under the best of circumstances, but again, I maintain that I was not in my right mind -- at midnight and got to Port Authority 30 minutes later. Waited for the E to take me straight home. But since the E didn't come, and a D came instead, I figured, what the hell, I'll take this to 7th Avenue and wait for the E there.

Does the D even go to 7th avenue?

Ask me if I even cared.

So it stopped at 50th street and then at Columbus Circle. I got out there and walked west. Realized my mistake, turned around and walked east. Finally, gave up and said "Screw it; I'm taking a cab." Cab from Columbus Circle to home was only $16. NOT BAD. Got home at 1am, asleep by 2am.

However, yesterday at work I was even more out of it. Continued lack of appetite and general malaise. I realize I should not have lunch with coworkers in this state. I sound like an idiot. Hopefully they recognize that I was super exhausted (after all, I did tell them about my super exhausting weekend), and won't hold it against me.

So that brings me full circle, with 12 hours of sleep last night, but still feeling out of it today. Better than yesterday, but still. I should take a day off and get my shit together, but I feel guilty because I just had a 4-day weekend.

...

In a small bit of good news, I got the new Buck-Tick album this morning, which I am really looking forward to listening to on the way home tonight. Please to not be disappointed!

I had an interesting dream a week or two ago -- that I lived with Jhonen Vasquez in a large house about a 2-minute walk away from the beach. In one of the large hallways, there was a motorcycle on display -- something JV had designed for a movie. It looked all hardcore and badass, with tires very similar to the ones on the motorcycle from Dark Knight. There was a plaque attached on a stand which talked about the motorcycle, and had JV's autograph, as well as the autograph of the director of the movie.

RANDOM!?


Otherwise, I have quite a few events I'd meant to mention and never did. Like Anna's cookie party, which was lots of fun -- I had such a good time chatting with everyone; it's always nice to discover common interests... and common shoe sizes! Thanks again, Anna, for also allowing us to pick through your shoe collection and play dress-up!

NA holiday party was EXTREME FUN. Again, good times chatting it up with people. I would have liked to stay longer. Alas, the PATH beckoned. Gifts were exchanged and all was good. I enjoyed giving AJ a confusing anagram card along with his gift. Which was quite apropos coming from me, I think. I received a birdie hair clip from Judy (which is EXACTLY what I wanted), a BABY MINK SKULL hair clip from Anna (which is morbid and awesome~!) -- see pic here. I'm not a proponent of animal cruelty, and I'm assuming Anna did not go out and kill the baby mink herself expressly for this gift. Would it be gauche of me to say I had a mental image -- for a moment -- of road-kill being scraped off the pavement? Yes? I thought so; I can be gauche sometimes. It's fun. =D

AND AJ GIFTED ME THE DRESDEN FILES COMIC! AHHH! HOW AWESOME IS THAT? I, of course, devoured it in a day. That's the problem with comics sometimes. ::sigh:: But it was excellent and can't wait for more. I didn't realize, but they will be releasing re-tellings of the Dresden series starting with Storm Front in comic format.

Saw The Day the Earth Stood Still with parents on Xmas day; then The Spirit several hours later with a bunch of friends. Contrary to the opinions of some people, who may have taken the latter too seriously, I enjoyed it immensely. Loved the aesthetic/style/mood of it and it's randomness. I feel like the main character in the movie was its aesthetic and don't feel as concerned with the complaint that the characters lacked depth because I think they're supposed to be caricature-esque rather than fleshed-out.

As for TDTESS... It was pretty eh. I wasn't bored, but it was a boring film. I kept waiting for something to happen and then it ended. Could have done without the Christian symbolism/Biblic mythology, but nothing extremely offensive. Oh, except for the anti-technology "message", which was present, but not overwhelming... until the end. I'd definitely call it a waste of a good $10, but I'm not enraged like I was when I saw Premonition. ::shudder::

I'm still tweaking that chai butter cookie recipe. There was too much flour in that recipe; took out a cup and the cookies came out WAY better. Still a little too hard, though, so I'm going to add a tablespoon or two of water to the dough as well as lower the temperature from 400 to 350. I've got to get these cookies at least a little softer by Winter Johncon as my office potluck is on Tuesday (1/6), and I intend to bring these cookies!

Which brings me to the INSANELY ADORABLE dinosaur cookie (with optional poop) that was brought into being through the collaborative efforts of Maryann, Liz and myself.

More crafty things and possible book reviews later...

I am crossing my fingers about leaving early from work today. ARGH!

Bill Mahr's Religulous. Trailer here. I didn't hear about this til today, and didn't know that it would be coming out this Friday. I'd go see it Friday, but rock band party at my house is happening, so that's a no-go. But I will see it this weekend instead. It's actually perfect timing -- finally, a movie I can go see with my mom because I know we'll both enjoy it.

I came across this randomly in Youtube's Screening Room; The Pity Card is pretty darn funny.

A Tale of Two Cities is now a musical on Broadway. I absolutely love AToTC! The only Dickens I was actually able to get through. Haha. The Times has some clips up of an interview with the costume director (which isn't so interesting), but you get to see some costume designs. Broadway.com says individual tickets are available thru March 1, 2009, so I'd like to buy tickets to see it at some point... or maybe try the TKTS booth.

I watched the Couric interview of Palin this morning. OMG. I can't even say more than that. The VP debate is this Thursday -- I say we watch it at WR and play a drinking game. Any time Palin talks about "shoring up the economy", for example, might be a good prompt. ^_~ [edit: Judy informed me that the debate starts at 9pm, so we'll probably miss it, but I thought it was a good idea. I have to remember to set the DVR to record it.]



This 52nd Street branch of Go Sushi, a spot often-frequented by me, is now closed. =( I'm sad to see it go (no pun intended, I swear). I've noticed many a restaurant and store closing recently. ...I wonder if it has anything to do with the economy?

And to close, I love adore love AND adore Frankie Boyle and his accent too.

If you were not already aware, more (awesome!!!) pics of the Codpiece Place Housewarming can be found here.


I walk by the Rockefeller Guest House every single day on my way home from work and I think I noticed it once. What an interesting history. I'd love to see pictures of the inside and the courtyard in the back, but apparently they have rarely (if ever) been taken.

There's a contemporary art exhibition at the Initial Access gallery in the UK that I wish I could see. Wallpaper* published an article about the Lightness of Being exhibition today. Four artists' works -- in the medium of neon lights -- are displayed, recalling and reawakening my interest in Bruce Nauman's works from the late 60s into the 70s. (I had the pleasure of seeing "The True Artist Helps the World by Revealing Mystic Truths" while at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, earlier this year.)

I'm taken with Jason Rhoades' installation, and Tracey Emin's I know, I know, I know -- this photograph of it, in particular:



[edit1:] I need to get to the MoMA or the Guggenheim soon. I just saw the modern/contemporary art exhibits at the Met a few weeks ago, and I doubt they've changed yet. And obviously I'm in the mood to view me some contemporary art. If anyone's interested in going on any particular day, let me know!

[edit3:] Oh-oh-oh! Just saw that there will be some Bruce Nauman included in a new exhibit at the MoMA: Here is Every. Four Decades of Contemporary Art (9/10/08-3/23/09).

[edit2:] Oh, and in keeping with the art theme of this post. LOOK AT WHAT MORGAN DID! FUCKING STARRY NIGHT IN ICING ON CUPCAKES!



[edit4:] Also, van Gogh's Starry Night, coincidentally, will be on display at the MoMA from this Sunday until Monday, January 5th.

I try not to post "news" items too frequently, but this is pretty awesome:

http://consumerist.com/380745/judge-calories-to-be-posted-on-fast-food-menus-in-nyc

I cannot wait to see this take effect!

It was quite a weekend. Judy stayed over on Friday night in order to bake cookies on Saturday morning. Then Ben came over and baked a cake, and the cake was not a lie. Though it almost was, until John showed up to save the day with chocolate frosting!

So yeah, it was mainly Rockband and Brawl, with a side of Portal for me. <3! Lots of talking and hopping around, dashing in front of the big TV to a chorus of "you screwed me up!"

Thanks SO much to everyone who showed up at the party! And most especially, thanks to everyone who came from far away, and who braved the bus without knowing where they were going, and who brought their game systems and games, and TVs, and air mattresses, and food, and liquor! Speaking of which, Morgan and Joe -- you left your liquor at my place! I'm not sure when or how to get it back to you, since it's so much, but just let me know -- we'll figure something out!

I'm sure that Judy will have some pics up sometime this week.

Was that you, Chris, who put back together my Carbon Dioxide monitor after I knocked it off the wall and couldn't figure out how to put the battery cover back on? (Update: Was told by Chris that it was Cube Chris.) Hahaha. Thanks, btw. =D

And thanks to Will, without whom I may have forgotten to buy the Izzard tickets! (*gasp!*) Though I'm slightly disappointed because the seats are all the way in the back and on the side. =( But tickets were almost all sold out, so... Anyway, for those of you who haven't paid me for those tickets yet, I'd appreciate it as soon as possible. My bank account thanks you. =D

It seems that Katsucon was not the end of my insane busyness. Last night I had an awesome time at dinner with Yoshi, Jamael (of whom it has been decided that Jerry is a clone, rather than the actual same person, though I'm still skeptical), Will, Raheem, and Maryann. It was really great to see people I haven't seen in what feels like freaking forever, and most especially Jamael, whom I don't think I've seen since the first time he left! Over a year ago?! Yeah -- it was Black Friday 2006! Crazy.

We went to Nyonya, a Malaysian restaurant on Grand between Mott and Mulberry, in Chinatown. It was yummy, especially since I haven't had Malaysian in a long time, but IMO it doesn't compare to Taste Good in Elmhurst, or even Penang in Chinatown. I think the flavoring is more mild. Still, I was more disappointed with the roti canai/chicken curry and the satay beef and peanut sauce than the spicy thai/hainan chicken that I got for my meal. And the hainan rice is actually better than the hainan rice from either of the other places, so I guess I would say each place has its strengths and weaknesses. I'll have to try the belacan from there one day.

There was one poor fish in the fishtank right behind our table who kept swimming around upside down. It really turned into a hot topic at the dinner. I suggested they might have an item on the menu called Upside Down Fish; who knows.

Split with them around 8, but I had other things to address and ended up leaving the city around 10pm. Maryann and I must have gotten home at just about 11, but we still had other things to take care of and ended up getting to sleep at like 1am. So I'm kind of falling asleep at my desk a little this morning. =/ Japanese class is tonight, which I look forward to, but I know I'm not going to be very animated since I'm already starting the day by being beat. Hopefully I'll get a second wind.

I have something to do every night this week, dammit. But I think Saturday I'm going to sleep late and do nothing but stay in. Maybe watch some anime. I am somehow in the mood to watch anime. Who has seen Tactics? I caught an episode on CN and it looked kind of dramatic and silly. I seem to be in the mood for it. (Though the voice acting was quite painful to hear.) I could try and finish Spiral since it's along the same lines of dramatic and silly.