au revoir

We're heading out tomorrow afternoon. So, like, see ya when we get back.

Posted by jennj at 07:06 PM | Comments (3)

it's all my mom and dad's fault. really.

Star Trek fans protest cancellation of Enterprise.

Wow, I wonder if they ever thought that this kind of thing would happen when they launched their original letter campaign to save the original show. Go figure.

I'd ask them, but they're driving up to Galt, CA to take care of funeral arrangements for mom's mom who died yesterday. You're probably thinking, "Isn't that your grandmother?" Well, no. See, "mom" is really foster-mom. Some day maybe I'll draw a schematic for ya...

Posted by jennj at 01:34 PM | Comments (2)

long time, no see

Saturday night we met up at an Indian restaurant in Norwood, MA with an old friend of mine and his wife. The last time I saw Paul and Anne-Marie was seven or so years ago. Before non-blogging husband. We lost track over the years as seems to happen a lot in my friendships. And it's not like anyone does anything bad or wrong, it's just life happens. And obviously it's nothing like distance that really got in the way, they live in Plymouth after all. Anyway, as always, when I hook up with friends I haven't seen in awhile it was like no time had passed. As a matter of fact, I felt that we didn't have enough time and next time we'll have to get together at our house or theirs in order to have more time to finish conversations, etc.

So, having only lived in MA for 9 years, how did I meet Paul? I met him waaaayyyy before I moved out here. Yup, online on BIX back in the late 80's. Met in person (like my bud Joe) at the '89 World Science Fiction convention in Boston at a BIX dinner. Over the years, kept in touch online. Paul also spent one year working for M$ in Seattle overlapping my time there.

So, this was nice. And I'm looking forward to finally making it to Plymouth, MA as a tourist!!! Haven't seen that fabled rock yet...

Sunday (and yesterday, which was a holiday) was pretty much an entire freakin' day of doing school work so that I could get as far ahead as possible before the vacation. And did I mention that I can't wait to go?

And we're definitely going to see the Millau Viaduct!

Posted by jennj at 08:39 AM | Comments (7)

i'm going to sing the doom song now

doom doom da doom doom da doom doom

One of the classes I'm taking this semester is microeconomics (accelerated version). It was bad enough that the instructor put the following graph in the online content *before* he'd even gotten to the freakin' syllabus:

Then, I go in and read his intro on the discussion board, and read this:

"and, oh yes, I find financial markets fascinating (although due to the fact that a dollar of capital loss creates much more disutility for me than the utility created by a dollar of capital gains, I'm basically a financially conservative, "buy & hold a diversified portfolio" type of investor, rather than a market timer )"

Holy shit, dude. That paragraph, for me, can be summed up as "Blah blah blah dollar blah blah blah portfolio blah blah blah investor". My GPA is soooo fucked.

Posted by jennj at 02:37 PM | Comments (10)

it's got fangs! it can leap! look at the bones!

I need some humor in my life. Lemme know what your answers are. So, without further ado:

you are the cute but psycho happy bunny. You
adorable, but a little out there. It's alright,
you might not have it all, but there are worse


which happy bunny are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Posted by jennj at 01:57 PM | Comments (4)

the final push

I'm burned out. Very burned out.

In a week, we'll be heading out on our south of France vacation. The way I feel, tho, is we could be going to the armpit of the universe and as long as it was away from work and stress, I'd be okay with that.

Usually the excitement of going on vacation is about the unknown, exploring a new place (or enjoying a favorite place), meeting people (or spending time with people we love), sites to see, etc. Getting away from work, for me, has been just a tiny part of the vacation and why I'm going. I love travel and that's the motivation for me. But this time, I can't freakin' wait to get away from my job. And I don't like that. I'm not even sure I know how to feel about it cause this is not the norm.

However, the good news is that one of my projects went live today, a day early and only $32K over budget. And I don't feel bad about that cause this was our first protocol with this vendor. Lessons learned, that's my rationalization. Fortunately, my boss agrees.

In order to accomplish this, tho, I worked too much. And I told my boss that I'm not doing this again. Anyway, the final push is finishing up our operational documentation/presentations today and training the clinical monitors tomorrow. And then my role lessens considerably for this protocol....yay.

Posted by jennj at 09:35 AM | Comments (4)

lying, bullshit and things to do

When I was at B&N awhile ago, I perused a book, "1,000 Things To Do Before You Die". Curious, I flipped open to a random page. Two items on that list were: "Thwart a mugger" and "Spend a night in jail". I realized this book was not for me. a) I'd like to never even be in a situation where I'm being mugged in order to accomplish this and b) I'd rather not spend anytime in jail - even for civil disobedience, which I infer is what they are talking about regarding jail. I'm not willing to stand up for my rights to the point of jail. I'm a chicken. On the other hand, if things continue the way they are, maybe I could find myself being arrested for protesting. I don't know.

Is lying better than bullshitting? According to this guy, yes.

And this makes him, Mr. Frankfurt says, potentially more harmful than any liar, because any culture and he means this culture rife with [bull] is one in danger of rejecting "the possibility of knowing how things truly are." It follows that any form of political argument or intellectual analysis or commercial appeal is only as legitimate, and true, as it is persuasive. There is no other court of appeal.

Posted by jennj at 02:17 PM | Comments (3)

valentine's day

Valentine's day can be one of the cruelest days of the year. When I was in my teens and early-mid twenties I cared passionately about Valentine's day. If I was dating a guy, we had to Do Something. There had to be Some Sign that we were In Love so that Everyone could See. And when I was single on this holiday? It sucked. Try as I might to convince myself that it was some stupid commercialized holiday, I couldn't buy into it. I had bought the whole package, hook, line and sinker. It sucked being single on Valentine's Day. Sucked. But as a single person, you couldn't wallow in it. You had to show a brave face. Or, at least I thought one did. I always had a bright moment, tho, single or not: a good friend would always send me a valentine's day card. Even though he and I never dated, were just friends, and the card was platonic, it made me feel good. SOME guy out there was thinking of me. I also would get phone calls from other male friends, too (Most of my friends growing up were male). It was nice.

So thank you guys. You helped make me get through the Valentine's Day suckfest when I was single. It meant a lot to me.

So, we don't really celebrate it much. If at all. nbh always sends flowers to work. I like that. It's not the only time of year he does it, so, that's actually cool. And it's not always roses. I like all sorts of pretty flowers, so he usually picks a nice mix. He's the best.

We will probably do laundry tonight, I'll do my homework, he'll play video games, we'll cuddle with the kitties and then go to bed. I don't think we'll go eat out, probably fix a simple meal at home.

And so it goes for Valentine's day in our house.

Posted by jennj at 10:40 AM | Comments (8)

kitty city

There's a Hello Kitty store on Newbury Street. I did not know this. I bought stuff.

We went into Boston today. Had lunch at Moody's Falafel at central square and then headed to the commons to walk around. We also walked up Newbury Street and down Boylston.

I took a picture of the frog pond and a cute kitty sitting on a doorstep. Click to see...

Posted by jennj at 09:09 PM | Comments (6)

finally. some direction.

Finally. I will be officially switching my voter registration from independent (actually, MA calls it something else...can't remember right now) to Democrat. Miracles do occur. I never thought the DNC would be smart enough to get Dean to head it.

In other news, yawn.

Posted by jennj at 11:59 AM | Comments (6)

stench and women's lib

Okay, if you're riding on the train and you know it's going to be crowded, please try to make every effort to contain the stench from your lunch made from last night's leftovers. Jeebus. I actually got up and moved to another location on the train and *stood* for the trip, instead of sitting next to this person.

Martha Stewart is a symbol of women's lib and progress, I have decided. Why? Because she's shown that a woman can be jailed for insider trading as well as any man. Thank you, Martha. We've come a long way.

Update: She was not convicted of insider trading. My bad.

Posted by jennj at 09:31 AM | Comments (32)

i hope someone cares

I'm busy right now. Work. School. NBH. Life. Friends. I mean, jeez, I've got *two* conflicting work dinners to go to Thursday night, so I picked the one that has the best menu. I'm so popular. And because the project whose dinner I'm skipping on Thursday is also having a shindig tomorrow, I'll be going to that. Gotta make everyone happy.

So, if you care that I'm not posting for a few days, I'm flattered.

I leave you with delicious weenies!

Posted by jennj at 08:57 PM | Comments (2)

why are you torturing me like this? why?

They're making Evil Dead 4. Kick ass.

Thanks, betnoir!

Posted by jennj at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)

is it just me?

Is it just me or should this parent be charged with something?? She let her four year old son steer from her lap. Later in the evening/early morning he took the car out for a spin to the video store all on his own. The article makes it all sound like it's "cute". Awww...look what bubba did. And why didn't she know he wasn't in the house at 1a.m.? How did he get the keys? A *four* year old. I'm not sure what she'd be charged with, mind you. Reckless endangerment? But jeebus, it sure as hell isn't "cute". Nor do I think this behavior should be ignored. Can you imagine what he's going to get away with in the future?

Posted by jennj at 03:52 PM | Comments (2)

ugh

After two months of trying to be caffeine free to support sis (she doesn't care either way), I'm back to coffee. I think I have to have some sort of amount of caffeine in my body in order to function. Nice experiment, but need my coffee.

Football. I used to be a fanatic about the Minnesota Vikings. I became a fan when I lived in MN for a few years in jr. high and throughout the rest of my teens and early twenties followed them big time. But, since my mid twenties I haven't really followed any sports (used to be a MN North Stars fan too, until the bastards moved to Dallas) religiously. I don't call myself a fan now. I mostly end up watching a game here and there on a Sunday afternoon if I'm home. But I rarely miss the Super Bowl.

So, at the last minute (like friday evening invites), we had seven us at our house enjoying a super bowl party. The meal consisted of Joe's french onion soup, jenn's parmesan herb crusted lamb, jenn's garlic green beans, scott's salad, bob's salsa bean dip thingy and cindy's chocolate bundt cake. Everything was good. I mean, EVERYTHING.

And one of the best parts: High Definition TV. Oh my god, watching these games on HDTV is freakin' awesome. We finally got it through our cable company cause I got irritated a few weeks ago. I got irritated cause we were watching the AFC championship game, I turned away for a few seconds and Brady threw a bomb. And they didn't show a fucking replay. Since we were watching the HD not through the TiVo or any other DVR, there was no replay option on our end either. And, I want HBO for Bill Maher and Deadwood. So I win. We got the cable box.

Today? Got into work at 10a.m. Heh.

Posted by jennj at 10:43 AM | Comments (5)

cerebro

I constantly click on links from posters on other people's blogs. Complete strangers. I know you all do it, you can't fool me. Anyway, while reading a post on Ulrika's (smoochies) blog, I clicked on ckd's journal and he had a link to a Boston place I'd never heard of and now must go see. I wonder if I can spot the mutants. If there's enough interest, I am thinking of organizing a group in April (too much shit going on for the next two months for me to have time to organize). Send me an e-mail. If there's no group interest, nbh and I will probably head out on a whim soon.

Posted by jennj at 11:52 AM | Comments (6)

various stuph

I just found out that someone I know whose last name is Dix is marrying a guy whose last name is Johnson. "Hello, will you be on the Dix side of the aisle or the Johnson side?" *giggle*

I called "Battlestar Gallactica" "Battlegar Stallactica" this evening when asking non-blogging husband a question about it. I tell you, I've got verbal dyslexia. I'm patient zero.

And I had a great time at dinner last night with Mark. I love it when I get to see Mark. I even had him all to myself, as nbh had a bad day and wasn't in the mood for company. Mark, dude, we have GOT to hang out more together. I love how, even after all these years, we can still laugh, open up and have a good time. I loves ya, man.

Posted by jennj at 10:56 PM | Comments (5)

does this blog make me look fat?

Conversation between non-blogging husband and myself late last night.

Me: "Hey, I want to talk to you about something."

nbh: "Okaaayyyy...."

Me: "So, my manicurist Nubia is from Nicaragua. She's a very smart woman who has traveled the world and her first husband was a diplomat. Anyway, you know the post I wrote about my experience at the nail salon and that woman who ranted about her husband?"

nbh: "Um...uh...."

Me: "Oh hey, did you think that post was funny??"

nbh: "Um....I think so?"

Me: "oh my god. Did I just come up with a modern equivalent to "Do these jeans make me look fat?"?"

Posted by jennj at 09:35 AM | Comments (0)

remote grieving

Dudes. This guy has "invented" a way to call someone's grave and "talk" to them. Just in case you can't make it to their funeral.

My favorite line: Unlike the recipient of the call, the line is very rarely dead. teehee.

Posted by jennj at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)

i've had it

I'm tired of dealing with missed deliveries, wrong deliveries, mail screw ups, etc.

I'm going to talk to the USPS to find out about changing our street address.

We're #15. Martha, our neighbor at the end of the driveway is #15B. And the neighbor at the next house is #15 1/2.

We have our mailboxes and houses clearly marked with the appropriate numbers. We even put our LAST NAMES on our mailboxes.

Doesn't seem to fucking matter.

Hmm. I wonder if this can even be done. We shall see.

Posted by jennj at 12:47 PM | Comments (2)

the real reason we shouldn't privatize social security

I was trying to remember why it would be a good reason for us to not privatize social security. I knew the article I wanted was on spacekitten's site.

I found it: born suckers

We should be paper bombing everyone in the U.S. with this article.

Update: One word. Amtrak.

Posted by jennj at 12:13 PM | Comments (30)