How I’m doing on my list of things to do

In January of this year, rather than making a New Years Resolution I was sure not to keep, I made a list of things to do. You can find it here. With one quarter left in the year I am evaluating how I’m doing and when I still need to do.

* see a ballet (going to see the Nutcracker – and the Rockettes, but they don’t count as a ballet)
* go to at least 4 Julliard performances (multiple more in the works)
1. Jan 13 – Chamberfest 2009
2. Apr 6 – Juilliard Orchestra
3. Oct 14 – Juilliard Jazz Ensemble
* snow ski at least once
* visit Boston
* visit DC
* visit San Francisco (Prob going to be 2010)
* Chicago for Easter
* Houston for Memorial Day or 4th of July but actually in March and again for the Tech/Texas football game)
* read at least 10 books (I need to get on this)
1. Atonement by Ian McEwan
2. American Wife by Curtis Steppenfield
3. Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
4. An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady (Laura Bush) (This was a follow up to American Wife, to see how much of it was actually truthful and how much was fiction.)
5. I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max
* knit my first pair of socks (one done, one to go)
* knit my first sweater
* participate in the race for the cure
* get below 130 (129 counts)
* be able to do the splits again
* work a job where I don’t feel like I’m recessing
* see the Frick collection
* Go to the MOMA
* Go to the Guggenheim
* Go to Brooklyn for more than taxes (Explored Prospect Park, ty very much!)

Also walked the Brooklyn Bridge, which wasn’t initially on my list, but was added in about March. I think I’m doing pretty well, but I still have a lot to do.

What a Wonderful Weekend

Friday night: 9 bottles of wine, 7 girls, 3 pizzas, 9 hours. Very loud. Lots of talking. Want to do it again immediately!

Saturday: Texas game watching at Hill Country

Sunday: NYC Race for the Cure

My week

I’m pretty busy this week!

Monday: Walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and get Grimaldi’s with Jill

Tuesday: Sit n Knit Meetup. I am making this:

Wednesday: 3 different Happy Hours/Parties for work
Thursday: Going away party for one of my colleagues who is moving to Chicago.
Friday: Kings of Leon concert at the Today Show

Saturday: 2 birthday parties and a wedding that I’m not going to be able to make it to (I’m really sad about that).

Busy, busy, busy

Aging

So I have a broken capillary on the right side of my nose. It goes straight out from my nostril. I also have what I think is an age spot that seems to be taking over my forehead – to the point that my roommate asked me if I have a bruise on my forehead. I’m getting a little paranoid that it’s skin cancer or something. While I’m sure it’s not, I might just get it checked out anyway. Anyway, my point is, I’m 26 and I’m old.

That leads me into the topic of the “quarter life crisis.” I would just like to say, I think it’s crap. Someone sent me an article about QLCs and I couldn’t get all the way through it. It’s crap. People blame irresponsibility and a desire to stay young forever on age, when in reality, we are immature.

Look at generations before ours. People were married, living on their own, raising children, working jobs, paying bills all by like 22 or 23. Now at 23 people look at you funny if you’re engaged. They say “you’re too young,” and we buy it. People make excuses for our irresponsibility, so we feel better and the cycle is perpetuated. We continue with our bad behavior, we live with our parents, we travel for a year, we live off of our parents, and all the while, our stupid decisions and mistakes are forgiven because we’re “young.”

30 years ago 26 was not young – at 26 you were expected to be an adult. Albeit, gender rolls differed 30 years ago from what they are now, but I don’t want standards lowered for me.

I basically think the whole “quarter life crisis” thing is crap, and I also don’t think it is a “crisis.” Now, acting out in your mid 20s is tolerated and almost encouraged now which really bothers me. It encourages a lack of responsibility and accountability. People have little to no expectation of what they can accomplish – or have to accomplish for that matter – in their 20s. No wonder people do terrible things in life and think they can get away with them – because we all feel entitled to x and that behavior is tolerated by society as a whole.

Take, for example, all the people who encourage not getting serious and “exploring your options” – in both relationships and work. How is it benefiting anyone to sleep around and not get serious? Isn’t the point of dating to find a mate, if you will? I don’t see how sleeping around does anything but hurt. Sure, it’s gratifying in the moment and it might feel good, but what’s beneficial about it? As far as work, I don’t see how not getting serious about a job can be good. That can set you back and who really wants to be the 30 year old just starting their 1st real job? Or why would you want to start a job that’s not going to lead to the career you want for your life? Why waste your time?

There are so many arguments from so many points, and it can be really interesting. Regardless, I don’t think the way 20 somethings act is the direct result of a crisis, I think it is a title that was kitschy and cute that caught on. Because of that people have made bad behavior acceptable. It makes things interesting. I like to see how people who don’t adhere to this mindset make it in life as opposed to people who do make room for a QLC.

Oprah Visit

Friday, tbf and I went to the Oprah show. His sister works there and got us tickets. It was a show without guests in the studio which was a little weird.

When you get there, you go through a line where you check your coat (anything you take in the studio besides a purse you have to wear – can’t hold – and you can’t take it off). Then you go through a purse check where they go through and basically take out anything electronic and anything you could possible write on or with. They took my book, my DS…everything. They check it and you get it back when you leave the show. Next, you go into a waiting area and sit and talk until they are ready to seat you for the show. They call all the people who are sitting in the floor seats individually and before everyone “else.” The floor seats had a much, much higher concentration of black people/women than the rest of the audience, which the majority of was white.

I think I signed something that says I can’t talk about the show, so I won’t – but I will say all the guests were all “on” via Skype. (I think it’s really amusing that Skype is so big as of late – I learned about it fall of 2005.) The guest also had pretty depressing stories. There wasn’t much that was “inspiring” or “uplifting” about the show. At one point during a “commercial break,” she turned to the audience and said something to the effect of, “I’m so glad the world is so screwed up or I wouldn’t have a job.”

Afterward, Oprah was very talkative. There was some woman who was like worshiping her and kept telling her how she [Oprah] has made it ok for her [the woman] to be a black woman in society and be strong. She kept saying, “Like, you’re Oprah,” and “Don’t you know who you are?” These people worshiped her – very weird. Then there was a girl who stood up and was telling Oprah that she wanted to be her. Oprah said, “but you can’t be me, cause I am. You should be the best you.” She went on to ask her what she wanted to do with her life (she was 23) and the girl told her broadcasting. So Oprah asked what she was doing now and the girl said she was working in engineering. From there, Oprah sort of picked on her about the whole career thing and how she doesn’t think the girl actually wants to be in broadcasting or she would be doing everything she could to be there. She was like picking on her, but at the same time, clearly trying to get her to open her eyes and really figure things out. She then took pictures with the two woman and it was over. Back out to get the contents of my purse and my coat.

All in all it was a really cool experience to get to see how it’s all done and see what all the show entails. I enjoyed myself and would definitely go again. I’m sure that the experience is totally different with a guest physically on the show as well.

Oh, one thing I forgot: At some point during the taping, Oprah said she thinks Michelle Obama is the most qualified person to be the first lady, ever. Really Oprah, ever? Wouldn’t that really have been Martha Washington?

I could have been a big fat man

This morning the polls in NY opened at 6am.  I decided to get up and go before work because I am meeting a friend for a drink after.  I knew that too close to 8 there would probably be a really long line, so I set my alarm for 6:15 and was in line at 6:39.  The line went all the way down one side of the block, around the corner down another side, and around a second corner and down about another 20 feet.  While in line a woman in her late 20s with pigtails and a “Vote” tshirt on stood along the line with an Obama sign.  The people running the poll told he she couldn’t be there.  She asked why and asked if they could walk while they talked, thus walking along the line with her sign. 

In total I was in line for an hour and 40 minutes.  I’d never seen a voting booth like this one – I assume the old fashion kind.  I stepped in, pulled a lever, turned some knobs, pulled the lever again and was done.  I’m not 100% confident in that process, but it’s all I’ve got.  There were only 2 voting booths, which is why it took so long.  When I walked in to the room I was handed a card and told to write my name on it.  I then presented it to the woman with the voter registration log who found my name and asked me to sign below my signature that was already there.  Then I walked into the booth to vote.  I was never once asked to present and ID, which makes me a bit uneasy.  We’ll see tomorrow how it all goes.

Either way my vote doens’t really matter.  NY will always be a democratic state, just like Texas is always a republican state.

What I did this weekend:

Sorry, no knitting this time.  Still working on the same shawl I’ve been working on for a few weeks.  I actually went out Saturday night for a friend’s birthday party…but now I’m sick.    I also went to the Jets v. Patriot’s game yesterday and sat in the 15th row of the 40 yard line.  The seats were sick…and the game was a lot of fun.  I had a hard time picking who to root for because I wanted to root for the Jets because they’re a New York team, but my fantasy QB is now Cassel (since I had Brady and in my world he’s all but dead) and my defense is the Patriot’s D…also, I went to school with Wes Welker and I want to see him do well.  Ah well, either way it was fun.  Oh, and we sat by the old New York state governor George Pitaki.  I have no idea what his views or beliefs are, but I’d vote for him…his son was wearing a UT hat!  Hehe.

I <3 boys named Chris

Mike, this is not an opportunity for you to mention anything involving someone with the initials CG.  You did not always know it.

With that said, last Friday was my first summer Friday.  Regardless, I got up at 6am like any other day.   this  case though I did not put on my tennis shoes and call my bf to make sure he was on his way to the gym.  Instead I put on a pair of jeans and some sandals and made my way up to Rockefeller Center.  I know a producer at the Today Show and he hooked me up with tickets to the Chris Brown concert.

See, for whatever reason I have this irrational, not ok, totally pedophile crush on Chris Brown.  So I got tickets and went to the show.  Didn’t have to wait in line or anything!  Thing about public concerts though is the screaming “tweens.”  There was this tiny girl who decided to wedge herself in between me and the girl in front of me.  There wasn’t enough space, but she made it happen.  Glad she was a solid 9 inches shorter than me.  Every time CB even blinked in our direction she would jump up and down (sometimes on my toes) and scream at her friends, “OH MY GOD, HE LOOKED THIS WAY!!!!”

So the concert was pretty cool and watching him perform is pretty great, but really, I can’t handle teenagers like that.  I’ll continue to enjoy the summer concert series from the treadmill, but I’m really glad I got to go at least once.

SATC

I have tickets to see the show at 7pm tonight!  Can’t wait!!

I’m a cool kid!

Last Wednesday night I met up with some co-workers to play volleyball in an urban league.  I have played volleyball once in the last year, but played ALL THE TIME before I moved here.  I love that we have a team at work!  I felt like I played really badly, but they told me I did well.  I blame my feelings of inadequacy on having essentially not played in a year.  I miss my sand volleyball days from grad school!  Wednesday nights were my favorite nights.  About 20 of us would meet up at a nearby church with car sterios on full blast and beers.  We played for hours.  I will never forget the night it started to rain and we decided to play anyway, we played while it poured.  My shirt was too thin and light, so I borrowed one from a guy friend.  Those are some happy memories!

Thursday when I was getting ready for work I noticed that my forearms were bruised and I couldn’t quite decide how I would have done that the night before.  Later that day I realized my red and blue bruises were proof of my setting skills.  I can’t swing worth a darn, I always hit square into the net, but I sure can set, so that was my roll all night.  I honestly enjoy having that responsibility.

My bruises are gone, now, but I was just given a copy of the team schedule.  Very few are handed out to a very select few.  I can now plan ahead and arrange to attend all the games with a team who wants me there.  I’m so excited for more happy memories to be made!