Blogs are ADDICTIVE!!!

I've just spent the past hour scrolling through blogs. Man... they're addictive. Also, they make me just love humanity. There's some amazing stuff happening out there... even when it's incredibly banal and mundane. I fell in love with the Philipino guy in LA who just proposed to his girlfriend, and the chinese housewife who's husband cheated on her with his colleague and got his colleague pregnant, and the young political junkee in Tennessee working on a Congressional campaign, and the French girl just starting out in blogging, and the really bitter guy who goes shopping at the Salvation Army, and the countless others out there. I have to say, I'm in love with these people. If you're reading this, I love you too.

Quote of the Day

"Your dreams, your desire are not too big for you. They are just the right size."
-Regena Thomashauer, aka Mama Gena.

Pleasure Palace... Here I Come!

I have been feeling fantastically fine here in NYC. I've been strutting my stuff and just feeling like I was in my element. And then... all of a sudden during the past few days I've found that I'm in a funk. :( Boo.

So, here I am in my funkified state and I get a call from Elizabeth, super sister goddess who works at Mama Gena's Pleasure Palace. Wouldn't you know I've been needing some Mama Gena action. If y'all don't know who Mama Gena is, you should check her out at http://www.mamagenas.com.

How did Elizabeth know to call me? I figured that since I was in New York, home of the Grande Dame herself, I would see if I could check out the spot in person. I signed up for a free teleconference with Dame Lori on Man Training. I participated in that and was duly inspired. The call though was really just an extended pitch for the Advanced Man Training class that will be starting this coming Tuesday in New York.

Elizabeth called me today to see if I would be joining the class. I didn't feel like spending the money (Mama Gena, fabulous though she is, does not have cheap classes), but I've been feeling a little bit like my man training skills are not up to snuff. I always seem to have a man nesting somewhere, but my relationships of late have been neither sustained nor satisfying. If there are skills to be learned in this area, I sure could use them.

At first I hemmed and hawed. Elizabeth, fabulous salewoman that she is, convinced me to join. So, what do you know ... I've signed up for this class. Pleasure Palace... here I come!!!

I love the internet. You can find anyone or anything. As much as I hate rats... there are many pages of people who are serious rat lovers. One of my favorites is this rat poetry page. http://www.geocities.com/starrliz13/RatPoetry.html. I won't judge. To each his own.

Quote of the Day

"If you get angry over burnt toast, what will you do when your house burns down?"
-author unknown

Who's the Bad Ass of the Week? -- Triathlon Report

I don't like to toot my own horn (o.k., sometimes i do.;)), but this time it's really called for. I think I've earned the Bad Ass of the Week award for completing the Ventura Breath of Life triahtlon yesterday without any training! I am not quite as much of a bad ass as I thought I was. I believed that I could swim 1/4 mile in the ocean, bike 9 miles, and run a 5K without any problem and it would be easy. Well, it wasn't easy.
First of all, the swim was COLD (icey... "my feet and face are going to fall off" type cold) and it was somewhat long. I thought that 1/4 mile would be nothing for me, but about 3/4 of the way to the first buey, I realized that ... "Damn, this is really difficult. I'm not sure I can do this." Then I realized "I'm in the middle of the friggin ocean. I've got no choice." And I just kept swimming. I just repeated... "stroke, stroke, stroke" as I swam. Things improved slightly after that until I passed the second buey and realized that I was farther away from land than I thought and I still had all that way left to swim. I kept repeating my mantra "stroke, stroke, stroke." People were going all different ways around me. There wasn't much to sight to and I couldn't tell if I was bobbing and weaving throughout the ocean or if they were. Also, it seemed like I was in a wave pool or a swim treadmill. I kept swimming, but the land didn't seem to be getting any closer. It was super frustrating. I then realized there was a line of life guards on surf boards leading a yellow shirted path to the shore. I started swimming towards them. "Good job" they yelled as I passed. "You're almost there!" and I was soon (thought not really soon enough) on the shore.

I got on land and started to run through the sand... quite challenging after such a swim... and started stripping off my wet suit as I ran. "Monick!" I heard my name and saw my cousin Alex running towards me. "What are you doing here?" we asked one another. "I'm here to watch a friend," he said. As I grabbed the flip flops I'd left on the path he came up to me. I stopped. "Wow, I didn't know you were doing this race!" "Yeah." He seemed like he wanted to chat, but the clock was ticking. I looked towards the transition area. I looked at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, I've got to run." "Oh yeah right. You do your thing, girl." "Thanks!" I yelled as I ran towards the transition.

My sister Cookie and Ilyse's family were waiting with cameras in hand as I ran towards the transition area. "Where's Ilyse?" My sister called out. I shrugged and said "She's coming, I guess." I lost her as soon as we hit the water. I then smiled for the camera and ran for my bike. Ilyse followed soon after and I waited in the transition area for her to finish. We had decided beforehand that we would try to do the race together. She finished getting ready and we were off on our bikes.

The bike leg is our favorite part of the race and we felt confident as we started out. "This should be no problem," I thought as we sped down the path. We passed many people and some people passed us. As we rode, I kept waiting for the turn-around. I figured it would come "any minute now." We then passed a 5 mile marker. "What?" I heard Ilyse say behind me. "I thought this was 9 miles." "Yeah, me too! I hope we didn't get on the path for the olympic triathlon!" We kept going and going. I thought we were never going to turn around. About a mile and a half later we did.

As we rode back Ilyse said "at least we only have a 2 mile run." "It's not 2 miles, it's a 5K ... 3.1 miles." "No, I read on the website it was 2 miles." "I don't think so."

When we finally got back to the transition area, we asked a woman in our row "how long was that bike ride? Wasn't it supposed to be nine miles?" She laughed "That was 12.7 miles." "How about the run?" Ilyse asked. "It's 3.1 miles. It's a 5K," she said and off she ran. Ilyse looked slightly crestfallen. "It's not that bad," we said as we started running. Our legs felt like jelly.

A little into the run, Ilyse told me to go ahead and run in front of her. She is a bit slower than me and was going to run/walk. I started running. Again, I felt a little bit like I was on a treadmill. My legs felt like lead. My shins were killing me as were my achiles, my feet and basically everything below my waste. I started a new mantra "step, step, step" and I kept moving. It felt like a really, really long run but eventually I saw the finish line. As I came around the bend, I sprinted towards it. Who knew that burst of energy was in me? Oh yeah! I deserve the Bad Ass of the Week Award. Well, at least I should tie with Ilyse.


Ilyse and I at the triathlon.

The Latest

I think I may have brought in a new client into the firm. It might be a huge client too! Yeah! I don't know why this makes me deliriously happy, but it does. I feel like doing a jig.

On other news, I had a very fun night last night. I went to a firm cocktail party and brought my friend Jeroen as a date. A partner at the firm invited all the lawyers in the office plus a date to his house. I found it hard to imagine how someone in New York would have a space big enough for 200+ guests, but this guy had a 5 story brownstone on the upper east side. It was gorgous and looked like it belonged in one of those decorating magazines I love so much.

His daughters were hysterical and quite the entreprenuers. First, they stood at the door and asked everyone to give them gum in order to enter. Then, later, looking like little chipmunks with their mouths full of wads of gum they ran around the party with disposable cameras saying "Take your picture for a dollar?" Too cute.

After a couple of hours mingling at the party and oohing and aahing at the decor, Jeroen and I headed to the AVA Lounge at the top of the Dream Hotel. Now THAT is someplace that belongs in a decorating magazine. The decor was out of this world... from the giant column fish tank when you walk in to the gigantic blue backlit photos on every floor (I caught a glimpse of the giant eye, baracudas. If I was alone, i would have pushed every button on the elevator to check it out. Unfortunately you're never alone in this city.), everything was breathtaking.

We got to the lounge and I ordered my new favorite drink -- lychee martini -- and we started chatting. Alanna came and met us out. We had a good time, but I've decided that Alanna needs a little Mama Gena action. I've made her buy the book. I decided that by the end of the summer, she's going to be so utterly and completely reveling in her fabulousness that she's going to need a man stick to beat back her bevy of admirers.

The city that never sleeps...

Or maybe that's just me. I've only had one night free since I arrived in New York. Monday night, I got off of work at 9:30 p.m., took a car home, and got into bed. I was asleep by 10:00.

I was expecting to have another one of those nights last night. I was even planning on ... gasp!... watching television! I have a confession to make... I watched tv on Saturday. I never watch tv, but I'd finished my book and was at home by myself with several hours to kill. I turned on the home and garden network. I don't know why, but I was completely glued to the tv for 3 hours. There's no real drama on these shows, but I just NEEDED to know how the home makeovers would turn out. Would the couple be able to decide on curtains for the bedroom? Would the renovation really get completed in ONLY TWO DAYS!!! Can they make it on their BUDGET?!? Could he deal with the taupe wall color?! I had to find out!

So I was planning another suspenseful night with HGTV, when I got a call from my lovely friend Jen. She was out with another of my bestest friends from college, George. It was Jen's birthday (I'm a very, very bad friend because I completely forgot until she mentioned it last night). At first we were out with a couple of Jen's friends from work. Her fiance, Neal, came out to meet us. The work friends left and then the four of us went to Pravda, a very chic, neo-Russian vodka bar. We threw back quite a few vodka drinks, ate some yummy food (they have THE BEST chocolate cake... well, not quite the Le Biblo Moilleaux in Buenos Aires, but pretty damn close), and we reminisced of our debaucherous past. It was such a great night. HGTV will have to wait for another time.

Rat Sighting No. 4, 5 & 6

On my way back from Marble Collegiate last Sunday at the 34th St. Herald Square station I saw a bunch of little rats. I am going to assume (for the sake of my sanity), that there were only 3 rats running in and out of the little holes on the other side of the station. They looked like young rats and as they flitted to and fro I tried to breath and maintain my calm. I'm practicing zen and the art of subway rats.

In other, less disgusting, news, I might be bringing in my first client to the firm. My friend Sumiko (long ago friend from when I studied at Kyudai in Japan) wrote to me and said that she would love some legal advice from me ...for a fee! Now, I've spent the past two days running through a million beaurocratic hoops so that the firm can help her and her company. The problem is that the job is too small! Generally, we won't take cases unless they meet a certain (very high) minimum fee threshhold. I think I've managed to convince folks to make an exception. Halleluiah! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If this happens it will be very cool for all concerned.

Strip Show for Charity

Last night I went to see a strip show for charity. It's called Broadway Bares. Lovely Jason invited me. His partner, Joe, works for the charity that produces and benefits from this show -- Broadway Cares. It's a very saucy, raunchy burlesque show with amazing Broadway production numbers. It was lots of fun and provided me with plenty of eye candy (both on stage and in the crowd). Alas, it was all about viewing. The audience was probably 95% gay men (at the end, the announcer kept having to say "Don't forget to tip the women.") I believe the cast was probably about 95% gay men and women too. It was a lot of fun though. I had a blast.

First New York Rodent Experience

The following is a story I wrote in my writing class about my first New York rodent experience.

I'm really phobic about mice and rats. And I mean phobic! I think it started when I read 1984 in junior high. There's a part in the book where O'Brien puts a cage filled with hungry rats in front of Winston's face. The rats are squealing and if O'Brien pulls the front of the cage away from Winson, they'll eat right through his skull. I guess I must be pretty affected by the books I read because that friggin' book scarred me for life. I've been terrified of these damn rodents since then. Even hamsters kind of creep me out.

Anyway, I moved to New York for law school. The first year I opted for residence housing. I lived in the law school dorm and just felt like it would be the easiest way to make friends. It really was for me.

There were five of us living in this townhouse in East Campus. If you observed our suite, it would be like watching a season of MTV's the Real World. I was the black one, Jojo was the Asian girl, Ekin was the Muslim and from Turkey. Alex was a Jew – his family had defected from Russia five years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. He was also by far the oldest among us – he was 35 our first year of law school. Sean was half-Jewish, half-Christian. He was the son of longshoremen – a real blue collar union family. He dated Jojo (so we had some romantic intrigue) and he also turned out to be gay. But that's another story. I want to tell you about the fucking mouse that almost scared me out of law school.

So the first couple months of law school were fine – I mean they were as fine as the first year of law school can get. We lucked out. We had a great suite. Though we were all really different physically and culturally, we had similar temperaments and became good friends. Everyone called us the Dream Suite (to be distinguished from the hell suites that comprised the other groupings of stressed-out first-year law students). We made dinner together every night and were a shining example of racial and law school harmony.

Anyway, all was fabulous until the first time I saw the mouse. Jojo and Sean had already seen it. They were afraid to tell me about it because they knew how I was. One time in the subway, we'd seen rats the size of cats and I'd almost started crying. Anyway, I was alone in the kitchen and I saw the mouse pop it's head out of one of the stove top burners. I screamed like a little girl and ran downstairs into my bedroom. The mouse was probably more scared than me and popped back into the stove. At the time I didn't think about the mouse being scared, and as I paced around my bedroom I imagined it coming and eating my face.

Jojo heard my screaming and came into my room to comfort me. I was absolutely horrified. Not only did we have a mouse, but it was coming out of the stove – where our food came from! Can you get any more gross than that?

We discovered the hole through the kitchen cabinet where the mouse came in and saw how it got to the stove. I keep telling myself there was only one. Thinking about more than one is just too upsetting.

Jojo and I went later that night to buy traps. The rodents in New York are too smart for those though. That stupid thing managed to pull off the cheese and evade the trap. It was mocking me.

About a week later we were all sitting in the living room working quietly. I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. The mouse was scurrying into the living room. I started shrieking and pointing my finger in it's general direction. I hopped up on the chair like some woman in a 1950s sitcom and just screamed, "Please kill it! Please just kill it!". My roommates tried to chase it out or catch it and it ended up running back into its hole. When the mouse was gone I slowly calmed down and got off the chair. I think my roommates were going to make a joke about it, but when they saw how pale I was (I was a black girl with a completely white face) they comforted me instead.

I was really all nerves at this point. I was afraid to go into the living room and kitchen – especially when I was alone. I felt slightly better in my bedroom, but still felt uneasy. In fact, the whole rodent-infested city made me nervous. I was jumpy as hell.

I went to talk with the housing people about the hole where the mouse was coming from. I mentioned the mouse to the building handyman and he basically laughed at me and said something to the effect of "We'll try, but this is New York. Rodents are a part of life. You should be happy it's not a rat." As you can probably imagine, that was not the answer I wanted to hear.

A couple weeks went by and I became really distraught. I started seriously considering leaving Columbia and transferring to Georgetown so that I could live with my parents where I knew they had no rats or mice. Final exams were coming up and I couldn't eat, I couldn’t sleep and I couldn't study. I felt like I was losing my mind.

Desperate times calls for desperate measures. This is when I decided to visit Julia Spring. Julia Spring was the law school shrink. During our first-year orientation she'd introduced herself to the class and mentioned that she was available if anyone was dealing with any stress. Law students, stressed out? Ha! I remember smiling and thinking it was funny that the law school had a shrink. I imagined that poor Julia often sat in her office alone and knitted or surfed the internet.

Now I needed to go talk to her. I felt like my life had become a battle between me and a mouse and the mouse was winning. I was losing – I was losing my sanity. I went to knock on Julia Spring's door. She had a very nice inviting smile and told me to come in.

I sat down in her guest chair and sheepishly told my story. I mentioned that I was going crazy and that building maintenance was not willing to help me. She was very sympathetic and said she'd see what she could do. While I was sitting in her chair she called the head of the residences for the law school and informed him of our mouse situation. She asked him to take care of the hole behind our stove. He said he'd look into it. She looked at me kindly and asked if that would make me feel better. I said "I think so. Yes," I said softly.

I thanked her and she said that I should come back if I still felt worried about it. I ran to my next class and an hour and a half later returned to the dorm. When I opened the door, I heard a strange man's voice upstairs. I walked up to the kitchen and found Sean talking to a handyman who was just finishing up patching the hole. Evidently Julia Spring's phone call helped. The hole was patched up and the mouse was never seen or heard from again.

It helped much more than just the mouse situation. With that hole patched up I was able to sleep and comfortably. I guess Julia was rather useful after all.
At my graduation three years later, I saw her standing in the crowd. I gave her a shy wave and smile as I walked out of the auditorium hall with my family.

Quote of the Day

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

I met Alana for dinner last night. We went to a yummy Moroccan place on 40th & 9th called Tagine. There was a belly dancer there. For her first dance she danced with a sword. She put the sword on her head and shimmied around and moved up and down without the sword falling. It was pretty impressive. During the second song she grabbed Alana and me to belly dance with her. It was fun to strut my stuff and show off some of my belly dancing moves. Twas definitely a good night.

Rat Sighting No. 3

On my way back from dinner at Spice (delicious and supremely inexpensive asian fusion restaurant at corner of University Place and 10th St.) with Eleonore, Craig Fagan, Athena, and Eleo's friend Wendy, I saw another rat. There is construction going on on the corner of my block... the Hearst Corporation's new headquarters is going up. As I started walking under some scaffolding a fat rat peeped its head out and started to cross the path. It saw me and dashed back in through the hole in the wooden wall. For a second I thought it was waiting in attack to leap as I passed by to bite my face. I pushed thoughts of this out of my head and confidently walked on.


I believe the rats I've seen must be a larger cousins of the Norway rat. I am cured of my phobia, but upon seeing this chart, I decided that I never want to go to Norway.

Drunk Narcolepsy

I have a problem with drinking... namely when I drink I get dead sleepy. I get so sleepy that I can be falling asleep while I'm having a conversation with someone! Is that normal?! Potentially I'm just over tired from my hectic social and work schedules or maybe I'm just drinking too much.

I took Eleonore and Visham to Pacific Echo last night. I had two lychee martinis (I'm getting addicted to those things) and then we went back to my apartment. I had a sip of beer and started falling asleep. I know Eleonore has seen me like this and doesn't take it personally. Hopefully Visham didn't think I was just absolutely bored by him.

Nothing I can do about that other than relax on the booze a bit. Not a bad thing! At least I'm not driving here!!


Eleonore and I at Pacific Echo. I'm already getting sleepy here.

Weekend in New York (sorry this is a long one)

I had a lovely weekend in this fair city.

FRIDAY
On Friday evening, I met Jojo to hear Steven Lee's lovely wife, Helen play violin. She performed in a trio with a cellist and a pianist. It was absolutely amazing. My favorite was this hauntingly beautiful Shostakovich piece. I was absolutely riveted.

After dinner, Jojo and I walked downtown to a yummy Turkish restaurant with a hard to pronounce (and remember) name. I asked Jojo to remind me this morning as we were running through Central Park. I've already forgetten again.

SATURDAY
On Saturday I spent much of my day lying on my couch and reading "The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing," an awesome and very fast read. At first I felt slightly guilty about not "doing much" with my afternoon, but then the skies opened up in these impressive thunderstorms and I was very happy to have an "excuse" to do nothing. I wasn't completely a sloth. Jason came to visit my corporate pad and we spent a couple hours catching up on my couch and in a local Starbucks. As always he made me laugh big belly laughs.

Saturday night I went to a tasty Vietnamese dinner with Jeroen at Mekong in the East Village. Mekong was fun. In addition to having very tasty food, it has a beautiful, bohemian set of locals who you could tell made the restaurant their second home. It was fun people watching and they had a very tasty lychee martini. After dinner Jeroen and I walked to meet Ekow, Marlene, Meredith and Joe at another downtown hot spot. I didn't catch the name of that bar, but they also had tasty lychee martinis. After a couple of those, I stumbled into a cab and made my way home.

SUNDAY
Sunday morning I went to church at Marble Collegiate. It was nice to reconnect to what had been my spiritual home in law school. It's such a positive space. I was happy to note that though Dr. Caliandro was not speaking, it still felt like receiving a pep talk or a hug from God. I even stayed for their 20's/30's group meeting after session. It's called "Bagels and Bibles." Normally, I eschew anything that even appears remotely to be Bible Study, but this was really a great experience. Everyone had some very deep and revealing insights about the sermon and the passages read. Though I didn't agree with everyone and everything, I was greatly enriched by the experience.

Afterwards, I walked towards the subway and found myself entering into a sample sale. I went in initially because they were advertising a designer called Liu Jo and I thought I might be able to find something for Jojo there. I soon forgot about Jojo when I spotted this absolutely amazing Calvin Klein dress. It was a flowing peach fantasy -- one of the ones that you would see on a Hollywood starlet on Oscar night. In fact, I wouldn't have been surprised if I HAVE seen a Hollywood starlet in this gown staring at me from the pages of Vogue magazine. The price tag said $3,360. The sample sale was selling it for $395. I went into the dressing room and tried it on. I felt like a fairy princess. The color made me look like a dream or a summer day and the flowing dress just made me melt. I put it back on the rack. What would I do with a dress like this? Also, the spaghetti straps were funny.

I picked up a couple more items and went to the register. The dress stayed on my mind. I asked the woman about the straps. She said she'd help me try it on if I wanted. I went back to get the dress and she met me in the large make-shift dressing room. I shimmied my way into the dress and realized the problems. Two of the spaghetti straps had come unhooked. She promised me a further discount. I couldn't think of any reason why, but I HAD to have it.

So, I now own a gorgeous couture Calvin Klein evening dress and am $180 poorer for it. I have to find a reason to wear this dress. My friend Jen Rose suggested that I throw on the dress and a tiara and just wear it to Starbuck's or the grocery store. At the very least, I can throw my own black tie party for it. I will find an occasion to wear this dress. I can't wait!!!

I showed off the dress (not on me, but from the shopping bag) later that night at dinner. I went to meet up with Eleonore, Luke (a fellow attorney we'd met in Argentina), and several other friends. Jojo came and also met up with us. At dinner everyone agreed that I'd had no choice but to buy this dress. I absolutely agree.

Another day another rat

I saw another rat scurrying through the subway. It might have been the same rat... going on its morning jog. Just as before, it ran in front of the stairs and down a hallway, through the slit under the door into a little room where they're housing electrical equipment. Again I felt quite unaffected by it, but then I started thinking about being in the little room with the rat and got minutely freaked out. I started breathing again and feel that generally speaking the phobia is gone. What a relief!

It's raining cats and dogs out here today. The good thing was that it was so hot and steamy in the subway that all the wrinkles in my skirt just went away. I guess there are some benefits to the weather here.

Yesterday morning I went for a nice 4-mile run with Jojo in Central Park. We started at Columbus Circle, ran around the reservoir and made our way back. It was really great. Then after work I went to get a massage (I've had a stressful couple of weeks) and then met Eleonore, who is in town from her travels around the world, for dinner. We, and two of her friends Wendy and Jill, went to Brick Lane in the East Village. It was absolutely divine Indian food. Yum. For the first few minutes there was no talk and we were all making those appreciative groans and grunts you hear when someone is eating something particularly delicious.

I'm very happy here.

Rats!

I think somehow I was cured of my rat phobia. I was walking through the Columbus Circle Subway station trying to get to the 1 subway train heading downtown this morning when I saw a fat rat, about the size of a small squirrel, scurrying about 100 feet in front of me. It ran across the stairs, down a wall, and through a door. I saw it's shadow hanging out in the door frame. I did not scream. I did not get anxious. I did not grip my bag in terror. I did not start hyperventilating. I think I'm cured. I calmly kept walking, finding the rat to be almost... cute and just kept thinking what a proud day this is. I almost felt sorry for the rat. It was obviously afraid to be running around so out in the open. Or maybe it was not afraid... hovering in that door waiting to strike at it's next victim. Just playing. I'm cured! Hurray!

On another note... I went for drinks last night with Ekow and Jeroen. Before that I went to the Whole Foods in Columbus Circle to grab some groceries. It is a beautifully displayed store. I wanted to buy everything I saw -- the veggies, fruits, freshly-baked breads, exotic imported cheeses, and other gastronomic delights were so enticing. I was limited by the size of the liliputian baskets they give you and the fact that I was hand carrying the bags home (only two and a half blocks, but still.) It's probably a good thing anyway, it was EXPENSIVE! There is quite a disparity between the cost of fruits and vegetable in California and in New York. Yowsers!

I ran home, dropped off the groceries, changed and then ran to meet Ekow and Jeroen. What a great night for my ego. These fine lads... quite the ardent metrosexuals... between waxing poetic about the new pieces of fine cow-hide upholstered furniture they'd just bought, spent much of the night telling me how wonderful and fetching I was. I almost couldn't fit out of the door when we left... my head was just that big. Ahhh, I'm loving New York.

Quote of the Day

"Let us so live that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry."

-Mark Twain

I slept in a mercifully cool room last night. Air conditioning is a beautiful thing. ...I woke up early this morning and went to yoga with Jojo. I recognized the teacher. I asked if she was in LA and she was. She used to live in LA. We decided that we must have seen each other in yoga classes. I think there's more -- if she's a singer/songwriter, we were in a woman's singing/songwriting group together. Now that I think about it, I'm sure that's it. What a small world!

I'm really happy to be in New York. I love the energy of this city. I'm just jazzed walking down the street listening to my new iPod. I have a perma-smile on my face.

I'm in NYC

I landed in NYC last night. I'm a little jet-lagged, but generally quite happy to be here. I spent the better part of the day figuring out the "lay of the land" in the New York office and now have my new office more or less set up.


Here is a picture of my view from the office.

Last night I didn't sleep well. I couldn't figure out how to turn on the air conditioning. I fiddled with the radiator and then ran around the apartment in near hysteria looking for a thermostat. It was so hot! I decided that there was no air conditioning in the apartment and threw open the window. It helped a little bit, but I still had to sleep on top of the covers and could barely breath. I decided at night that no matter how much I might seem like a prima donna, they were going to have to move me. I couldn't imagine that the firm would be so inhumane as to expect me to stay in an un-airconditioned apartment during a NYC summer! Evidently, they wouldn't. I'm supposed to talk with the building super later today about getting it turned on. Thank goodness. One sleepless night is more than enough for me. I'm so sleepy right now.

Quote of the Day & Other News

"It is never too late to be what you might have been."

-George Eliot

I had my jewelry sale/garden party. The garden party was very nice, though I was exhausted and not feeling my perkiest (had the unenviable combination of getting my period and feeling hungover). Also, I was a little nervous about the fact that I hadn't packed yet. Did I mention that I'm going to New York tomorrow?

Anyway, the garden party was lovely and enjoyed by all. The jewelry sale was not as good. I did not sell that much. I guess my prices are too high. I'm disappointed, but that was the point of the party... to test and see what the proper price point is for the stuff. I will try again, but may not be able to do so until I get back from New York. I'm going to give my sister the ability to sell for me. I might be even willing to cut my prices in half. The important thing is to get rid of the inventory and start making some profit.

What else? The boy I've been dating is being transfered to Chicago. Sometimes I feel doomed to be single. Some partners at my law firm told me that I'm "partnership material." I guess I can just work really hard right now and not worry about dating or think about the jewelry business. ... hmmm... Nah! That would be no fun. I might as well just slit my wrists if I'm going to do that.


Picture from my jewelry party

Home Depot Ire

I wrote a nasty letter to Home Depot today. I'm sending it to Robert Nardelli, the Chairman, President and CEO of the company. It's not a nice letter. It's extremely factual and I don't engage in any hyperbole or undue venting. I do however name names and just spell out in plain detail every single mistake they made in the last month that I've been dealing with them (I have 12 line items). Anyway, I hardly expect to topple the Home Depot empire or have anyone fired. I just want these people to get better training and to receive some discounts for my troubles. It will be interesting to see what happens with the letter. I signed it Monick T. Paul, Esq. Signing things with Esquire often makes people take notice. Funny thing, no one likes getting letters from lawyers.

I think I must be very stressed out this week. Normally, I let these things roll off of me like water on a duck's back. The past couple weeks though, I have not been able to let it go. There have been too many mistakes and I've wasted too much time and maybe I'm not dealing with other more stressful issues and Home Depot is a relatively easy target. Well, I'm rarely a squeaky wheel. I've noticed that squeaky wheels get more grease. This will be a good exercise for me in asserting myself.

You, my faithful audience, will definitely be apprised of the results. Speaking of faithful audience, is there anyone out there? I think Jill reads this from time to time. Every once in a while I'll get a verbal comment or a written comment from a lone soul mentioning one of my posts. It would be nice to know I'm not writing to myself. Then again, sometimes there's a freedom in knowing no one is reading. It's like a private journal that I can access from any computer.

New iPod

I got a new lime green iPod mini. It's everything I hoped it would be and more. :)