LOST

I...um...wow.

I need to watch it again.

Dear Netflix,

I totally appreciate the recommendations based on my past rental history, but I think you need to retool the way your choose these items. For example, just because I rented various seasons of One Tree Hill and The OC over the past year does not mean that I want to watch "After School Specials: 1976-1977" any time soon. Come on now.

Love and kisses,

Harmless Error

I'm not superstitious. But this is ridiculous.

This morning, when I was running in Riverside Park, moving to the music and enjoying the warmth of the sun on my shoulders, I stopped short because of something in my path.

A crow. Just sitting there. Chilling. Not picking around or eating. Sitting. In my path. Usually birds/squirrels/small children move out of the way when a person/bike/bigger animal or child comes whizzing by. Nope. Not this bird. He eyed me for a minute, turned around 360 degrees, and flew off, his black feathers gleaming in the sunshine. I began moving again. And suddenly I was cold.

I may have to do work tomorrow.

But I don't have to go to work tomorrow. And that makes all the difference.*

I've been a bad blogger this week. Family drama is uninteresting to anyone else, and nothing else has really held my attention lately. I almost went to see Indiana Jones today and would post a (probably tepid) review, but both the 7 and 8 pm shows were sold out and we didn't feel like waiting or seeing anything else. So we went to the nearest bar and flirted with sailors instead. Quite unfortunately, there was no dancing to Al Green. Honestly, I don't think these boys (and I do mean boys) would know who Al Green is.

Sigh.

Update: 12:35 am. Why am I unable to turn off The Silence of the Lambs on TNT and go to bed? Fuck. OOH! Catherine Martin, a/k/a the Senator's daughter who gets kidnapped by Buffalo Bill a/k/a Brooke Smith, is Dr. Erica Hahn on Grey's! Talk about learning something new every day. I want to join the FBI. Will they pay back my loans?




*In all honesty, Memorial Day is the one "yay it's a Monday holiday" for which I actually try to think of the purpose and meaning behind the day off. We all should. But I'm still glad I don't have to dress up and go to the office.

I'm 27.

And, for the first time in my life, I'm a big sister.

My father, age 67, and his 37 year old second wife, had a baby boy last night. I know this doesn't sound like anything out of the ordinary for those of us with screwed up families. But here's the kicker.

No one knew a baby was on the way.

Granted, we don't talk much. But these are the sorts of things you're supposed to, I dunno, TELL YOUR CHILDREN, right?

I think my sister is cracking up. She's been going through a very hard time at work, and this morning when I called her and told her that we have a baby brother, she laughed for about ten minutes, and then stopped abruptly and immediately said, "wait, you always wanted a brother, right?"

Yes, I did. WHEN I WAS TEN.

I know a birth is a wonderful wondrous miraculous amazing thing. I know that. But this is my fucked up family we're talking about. Anyone who knows me and us, and I've talked to many of them today, has had the same reaction: You're fucking kidding me/what the hell was he thinking/Are you high?

I realize I may see the kid and fall in love with him, but that doesn't change how I feel right now. Unbelievable.

Something big is coming.

Stay tuned.

Westlaw + Wine = Shenanigans

All I can say is it's a good thing my firm has a flat fee Westlaw account. Because when I type "bad ass" instead of "bad acts", hilarity ensues. No joke.

Hopefully no one will be checking my research trail history.

I don't know that many people.

So when someone adds me as a "friend" on Facebook, I'm able to identify that person right away as a remnant from the cornucopia of my life 99% of the time. But today I got an email that, let's call him "Mike", had added me as a friend on Facebook, and, as you know, I need to confirm that we know each other. I have no idea who this person is. Do people do this now? Has Facebook crossed over into the realm of networking with people you don't even know? Because the only reason I liked it to begin with was in order to keep track of and keep up with people I otherwise would never see again.

So I investigated a bit, and it turns out we went to high school together, and in fact have three mutual Facebook friends. However, I definitely don't remember him. And my high school was not big. I've never rejected a Facebook friend request, but there's a first time for everything I guess.

What do I do? I'm not saying I have to be close buddies with everyone I'm Facebook friends with. But I think I should at least remember, you know, speaking to the person.

I know I'm supposed to be anti-violence and all...

but can we just assassinate the leaders of Myanmar already?

Ya know, cost-benefit and all.

Sunday Soliloquy

I always read the NY Times' Modern Love columns on Sundays. They're full of angst, desire, regret, briefly held joy, but ultimately some kind of disappointment. Always a good read for the closet romantics out there. Today, the editors began running the winners of their College Essay Contest.

Here it is.

Finished? Ok. Something about this girl's essay makes me very uncomfortable. She's a decent writer - I'll give her that. But I kind of think she...might be a slut? (I know you judge people all the time so gimme a break.) She's a junior in college, so she's what? 20 or 21 years old? Unless she's exaggerating the number of guys she has [insert euphemism here - it is the subject of the essay], the girl has been... active. For a long time.

Now, I admit I'm on the low end of the spectrum when it comes to relationship experience. As someone in her late 20s, I alternate between thinking this is perfectly fine and I'm just one of those people who will meet someone fabulous at some point or another and know immediately that it's right, or on the other hand, there is desperately something wrong with me because I don't jump at every guy who smiles, winks, or nods at me.

Still, even this girl with all of her "experience" and whimsical yet disconcerting stories doesn't seem to have any more insight than I do. So what's the point? Those times where I have met someone and then a week later felt only longing and disappointment haven't propelled me any closer to what I want.

Moving on, I'm contemplating whether to join a running group for my training. I'm following an 18 week program, which doesn't technically begin until the second week of June. Right now, I'm just working on keeping my base steady. Yesterday I decided to just go out for as long as possible at an easy pace to see what I can do, which was about 7 miles. Decent for not having trained for anything in a few years, right? The benefit of the training group would only be for the long runs on the weekend. Although, at the height of training before the taper, I'll be running 10 miles on a Wednesday, which boggles my mind right now. The thing is, which I said to my mom yesterday cracking her up, I don't really like people. That sounds worse than it is. I have many friends who plan to be at the race cheering me on with T-shirts reading "Kick Ass Phault, [Harmless]". I kind of feel like no one's going to be running the marathon with me, aside from the thousands of other people around me who will also be in essence, alone, so I might as well get used to being on my feet by myself for hours at a time.

Finally, I'm refusing to post about work until I have something nice to say without immediately following it with something not so nice. Posting may therefore continue to be light for a while...