Monthly Archives: January 2009

Concert on the Mall; Shopping at the Mall

Posted by Leaf on January 18, 2009 2 comments

Metro TicketHurrah!  Class is finally over!  At least until next week, but that’s a week away.  There was a big concert on the National Mall today, celebrating Tuesday’s Inauguration. Crowds on the Metro were comparable to rush hour only slower and a bit more chaotic as not everyone was aware of the unofficial rules of the Metro, not to mention where they were going.

I love it when people use the Metro though.  It’s so smart!

After class I went shopping at a nearby mall with a classmate. I suppose it’s sort of our newly established tradition to go shopping on the last day of class. But since I just blew a bunch of moolah on sales at the mall last week, I decided to reign it in today and just window shop. By the way, I received my VS purchase and am very happy with what I got. This was my first experience shopping for apparel online and I’m a pretty satisfied customer. I’ve always been reluctant to try it before because it’s hard to tell how the clothes will look on me and how it feels, plus, I enjoy normal clothes shopping. I may try it again though if there are better deals online than at the stores like this time.

Wrapping up the Winter Session

Posted by Leaf on January 17, 2009 None comments

This is the final weekend of my class. I just got back from 10 hours of blah, blah, blah and I am so tired right now. So the final paper I was struggling to write or even just outline, I didn’t quite get there, not even a workable outline. It was such a struggle I thought that perhaps today’s lecture would shed some light for me. No such luck. I’m just going to have to rely on b.s. alone. Again, the highlight of my day was chatting with the classmates, particularly when it was just the girls and it was just between us in the car. Who knew so much bonding could happen in such simple hour-long commutes?

Today on our way home at around 6 or 7PM, some streets in DC were closed. Traffic was a bit of a mess trying to get out. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like as we get closer to inauguration day. Celebrations begin tomorrow.

Back in the day

Posted by Leaf on January 16, 2009 None comments

My boss likes to reminisce about his old army days.  Most of the time, he busts out with an old-fogey “Back when I was” story. “In the Army we’d yada yada yada.” “There would never be this kind of issue in the Army because they blah blah blah.” He was a drill sergeant or something once upon a time. He said “you’d always get a few people who were ‘the smilers.’ They always got something to smile about and they look so stupid smiling about nothing.” But training people to fight to kill is very serious so on the first day he would yell at people to “Wipe that stupid grin off your face!  What are you smiling about?!  How about you give me some pushups and you can smile about that??”  The unbelievable thing is, he can’t even keep a straight face himself most of the time. But I guess once upon a time, he was a trained a-hole. I asked him if he’s ever tried those methods on his 12-year old. “No. It doesn’t work.”

Anyway, I have my annual review with him today. Hopefully he doesn’t wipe the stupid grin off my face by the end of it.

Today I am feeling…

Posted by Leaf on January 15, 2009 1 comments

Bummed. (Jealous).

Everyone is going away this weekend. They’re leeeaaving me!! To warm tropical places! I’ll be all alone. In the cold, dark Winter. They’re going to Taiwan, Puerto Rico, Belize, and New York (not tropical but still a vacation!). And me? I’m here. Trying to crank out yet another stupid five pager. The house will be a balmy 50 degrees and at night, I’ll be able to see my breath. I’m so saaAAad! :( It’s been 2 years since my last vacation when I went to Australia. Those were fun times. These days, I take vacations to the mall and fill my void with discount tank tops. As if I have any business wearing skimpy tanks in this 30 20 degree ice box. *weeping sad face* :( (

Boosting the Economy

Posted by Leaf on January 14, 2009 1 comments

Welp, I finished the paper yesterday. It’s five pages of suckage but it’s drafted. On to the next paper…
So because I had to watch a music video on Youtube between every two to three sentences I typed, it took me until 6 AM yesterday morning to finish the paper. Then I took a shower and went to work. Then Ann wanted to go shopping during lunch so I went and bought $200 worth of stuff at Gap Body. It’s so easy to shop when the prices are typed in red ink and on a sticker – a little too easy.
Going out of business sale
After work, I went to a going-out-of-business World Market sale. Everything was discounted and I felt like a vulture, picking on the misfortune of this particular store. I got a wooden ring for one dollar! And yet another pair of earrings. The count is at three. I’ve had my ears done for 2 weeks.

Speaking of struggling stores, at the mall, I overheard a BCBG store manager say they’re going to have an inauguration dress sale starting today and if they don’t start making a profit soon they’re going to start cutting payroll. Stores are not doing very well these days. I went to Express and picked up 3 tanks with the inner support shelf for $7/each. They’re practically giving stuff away.

Difficulties

Posted by Leaf on January 13, 2009 1 comments

I am having such a hard time staying motivated with this class I’m taking right now. The class prior, Finance, I had the math excuse. This current class is purely reading and writing and I can’t seem to eke out a sentence let alone a paragraph and egads, five whole pages! I want to blame the weather, the dull course material, my cold, my job, the sale at Victoria’s Secret. Pretty much every externality I can think of right now, but the truth is, it’s just me, lacking focus and motivation. Blah. I will finish this paper. I will I will. Just made a pot of coffee.

First!

Posted by Leaf on January 12, 2009 None comments

BloomingThis is the first orchid bloom of the bunch this year. It’s only the second week of January and the third week of Winter but already we’re getting just a hint of Spring. Oh and even better, I’m not driving to and from work in the dark anymore! In fact, excepting for those rainy overcast days, I have needed sunglasses during my commutes.

And the moral of the story is…

Posted by Leaf on January 11, 2009 None comments

(Sample photo from the blue camera.)
Black MarketI have a story about this weekend. It started with a 2 GB memory card I got for free from some nerdstore grand opening last year. I put it in my pink Canon so the blue Panasonic could have a faster card. Mistake 1, using a crappy slow memory card I got for free. So this weekend, carrying only my pink Canon with the crappy slow memory card, I went to Blacksalt for dinner. Mistake 2, not stealing parents camera sooner. I planned to take photos of this important event one delicious bite at a time. But before the food came out, the memory card broke! NooOOoo!! All my photos from the beginning of that evening wiped out and my camera was useless. So I have nothing to show for that wonderful dinner except this business card. Incidentally, I picked up the wrong business card. Black Market is another restaurant of the same owners.

Talking about a restaurant is kind of incomplete without pictures. Nevertheless, I’m going to try because the food at Blacksalt was quite yummy and I’d recommend others to try it. Of course, we started with oysters on the half shell. Again, it almost goes without saying that this was the best part of the meal even though I still can’t do a lot of oysters (still trying to get used to the look and slurp of it). The standard oysters were even tastier than their fancies. Go fig. Next we had Bigeye Tuna Tartare. I don’t generally eat tuna but this was excellent. The tuna was melt in your mouth and it sat atop a bed of sushi rice patty which was crispy on the outside. The baby octopus and seared scallops were also good, cooked just-right tender, but my next favorite dish was Addie’s mussels. Oh wait, I think the scallops were better. That sauce was drinkable. The nice thing about all their dishes is, they have such wonderful sauces to sop up with the bread. Unfortunately, you also end up filling up on bread if you’re not careful. I wound up using a spoon for most of dinner because I wanted to get the sauce with everything. The skate wing was ok but geez by then we were so ridiculously stuffed it was like law of diminishing returns. No matter how full though – dessert. Flourless chocolate cake. Key Lime pie. Tiramisu. Yum. Yum. Yum. You jiggle a little in your seat to make room in your belly for these mini treats in their tasting dessert.

Oh the moral: Bring extra camera. Or bring extra memory card. Or don’t use a crappy memory card. And go eat at Blacksalt.

Faulty Slang Dictionary

Posted by Leaf on January 9, 2009 1 comments

“I’m gonna take my parent’s new camera cuz I’m sucha badass.”
“No. You’re just mean.”
“I know, that’s why I’m a badass.”
“No, badass is if you can put together a camera. Mean is when you steal your parent’s camera.”

New Camera!

Posted by Leaf on January 8, 2009 3 comments

New camera!
It’s my parents blue camera. I’m definitely going to steal it though, even if it’s not pink. It’s very user friendly and intuitive to figure out. I know, because I hate reading user manuals and I managed to tinker around enough to my satisfaction. And if you want a baseline, I’m clueless about Dungeons and Dragons. That’s how technically unsavvy I am.