Taken last weekend at Valley Forge Park (where else???)

Labels: animals, hobbies, Philly burbs, pictures

Am I the only person around here who is endlessly amused by video footage of people falling down?

Comic gold!

Labels: funny stuff, sheer idiocy, technology

Despite my considerable stagefright, I am responding to the meme challenge that Rob (Angry Buttons) has issued.

He stated the rules more clearly and succinctly than I ever could, so read up on them to see what it's all about.

Taking it one step further, I've chosen a theme for this meme. It is "Myspace icons that I've Found But Never Posted." Off we go!

Bad grammar, cute picture

One of my many "Hi" icons, never used


Tell us something we DON'T already know...


I love retro animation with funny captions


This made me howl loud and long.

And I'm now tagging:

1. Teri

2. Cayman

3. Fraulein N

4. N in Phila

5. Kate

Labels: funny stuff, Memes, pictures, technology

Accents absolutely fascinate me. I've been trawling YouTube for videos that contain examples of different American accents lately. Some of them really crack me up.

To wit:

Boston accent (obviously)



Baltimore accent (a little less well-known, perhaps, but definitely familiar to me after listening to this)



The elusive but highly confusing Pennsylvania Dutch accent:



And this one of two British girls have a grand old time attempting a "standard" American accent. This one's pretty funny, I actually laughed out loud a few times. Especially during the last thirty or so seconds during the "chips" vs. "crisps" vs "fries" part.

Labels: funny stuff, hobbies, technology

What a loss.

I found out about his death around 5:30 p.m. yesterday, but was honestly too stunned to mention anything about it here.

Then I accidentally came across a video on TMZ that showed his body being carried out of the apartment building where he was found. I couldn't watch it; I found it very tasteless.

I read this morning on my favorite celeb/pop culture boards that his family found out about his death FROM THE MEDIA. How awful is that?

I hope those paparazzi vultures will leave them and Michelle Williams alone so that they can grieve privately.

Labels: bad news, celebrities, gossip

First (semi-significant) snowfall of 2008...though it was all gone by mid-afternoon today.

Labels: local news, pictures, winter

Someone asked me to post my iPod workout playlist, and I'm more than happy to oblige.

Here's what's currently in rotation in my ears (loudly) as I assume the launch position for Week 2 of C25k. How loud? Loud enough so I can't hear myself panting!

Face to Face by Daft Punk
Stranger/Aude vs. Vission Radio Mix by Hilary Duff (I knooooow...but the remix is bangin, yo!)
Feel It by The Tamperer (which inspired the title of this post)
Cry for You by September
Calabria 2007 by Enur
Again by Kim Leoni
The Creeps/Fedde le Grande Mix by Camille Jones
I Want Your Soul by Armand Van Helden
Put 'Em Up/Extended Mix by Edun
Apologize/Remix by Timbaland featuring OneRepublic (good cool-down song)

These songs make me want to MOVE!

Labels: fitness, music, technology

Last night I dragged myself to the gym at 7 p.m., despite the cold and rainy weather and the fact that I was exhausted from the housework I did all day.

Luckily for me, the thirty minutes went by in a flash. To me, the funny thing about working out is that even when I’m feeling crappy or sleepy and completely unmotivated to hit the gym, at the end of every workout I’m always glad that I did. It’s just getting started that’s the hard part. Just like anything else worth doing in life, I suppose.

So one week down, eight more to go! Tomorrow night will be W2D1, in which I alternate equally between walking and jogging. That means ninety seconds of each for twenty minutes, plus a five-minute warm-up at 3.5 mph and a five-minute cool-down at 2.5 mph.

Labels: fitness, goals

So I did my second walk/run of the week tonight.

I felt MUCH better this time. I recovered from the run cycles faster than I did on Monday night, didn't get light-headed, and best of all, NO SIDE STITCHES! Hurray!

The one little problem I had tonight was that my pants kept sliding down my ass every time I started to run. Hee. It was very distracting and I'm sure I looked like a putz because I had to keep hitching up my pants. Next time I have to make sure the pants I wear are a little snugger.

So in other news, I've been effing swamped at work. We're moving tomorrow, and today was just pandemonium at the office. Not to mention that I have to start producing, proofing, printing, stuffing and mailing about 2,000 participant account statements from 12/31 in the next week or two.

The other thing I wanted to mention was that yesterday I got home and there was a small UPS box addressed to me sitting on my front step. I racked my brain trying to think of what it could be, and then I remembered. A week or so ago, I ordered this, the "champagne" of teas.

I first encountered this particular brand and variety of tea in Asheville, NC when I was there with my mom in August. We had a delicious dinner at a cute little restaurant called Bistro 1896, and this tea was one of their house teas. The server brought it to me in a beautiful, slender glass bottle and presented it to me with a flourish, as if it were a fine wine. I had to try hard not to snicker.

I have to tell you, I was deeply skeptical upon first glance. The packaging was gorgeous, sure, but the color of the tea was so pale that I couldn't believe it would have any kind of flavor at all.

Until I poured some, added some sweetener (love my Splenda, or "cancer powder" as I am wont to call it) and took a sip. It was absolutely delicious, subtle and fruity! Like black tea bumped up a couple notches.

I wound up drinking two sixteen-ounce bottles of it during our meal, all the while making my mom crack up because I kept referring to it as the "cham-pog-nee" of teas, as was touted on the label of the bottle.

I enjoyed it again in September at Gallagher's Steakhouse in the New York New York casino in Las Vegas, and it was even better-tasting than I'd remembered. Ambrosial, almost.

After we got back home from our trip, I started researching this tea. I've seen tins of several flavors of Republic of Tea at Panera and World Market, but I couldn't seem to find the Darjeeling tea anywhere in any stores. And forget the bottled tea. I learned that it's only available wholesale to white-tablecloth restaurants...or I could buy a case of twelve bottles directly from Republic of Tea--for $50 (!!!!).

So I finally got around to buying a tin of the loose tea from them last week. I'm going to try to make some iced tea with it on my own. The customer service representative who took my order on the phone warned me that I'd never be able to duplicate the precise flavor of the bottled tea, because the company uses some special triple-filtered process to brew it. But she said that it would still taste great.

We'll see...

Labels: fitness, food, goals, shopping, travel

Last night was Week 1 Day 1 of the C25K plan.

I walked at 3.2 mph for five minutes for my warm-up. Then I jogged at 5.5 mph for sixty seconds and walked at 2.6 mph for ninety seconds. I did this cycle for a total of twenty minutes, and then walked another five minutes at 2.5 mph as a cool-down.

I didn’t experience any difficulty for the first two jogging cycles, which surprised me. I felt good, not winded at all, although it did occur to me that I need to invest in better sneakers and a better sports bra.

Cycle three of jogging was a wee bit harder, but still went quickly.

Cycle four came and I was getting antsy, I won’t lie. I started feeling fatigued. Still not winded, but my legs suddenly felt heavy and weighed-down, and I developed a side stitch that hurt like a bitch (nice rhyme, huh?). I repeatedly chanted to myself, “No one ever died from a side stitch, no one ever died from a side stitch...”

Cycle five was the last jogging cycle of the workout, and the only way I made it through was by convincing my brain to temporarily take leave of my body.

I walked slowly, slower than I’ve ever walked before, for the final five minutes on the treadmill, trying to lower my heartrate.

When my time ended, I hopped off the machine and turned grab an antibacterial wipe out of the bucket on the floor behind me, and wound up nearly planting my face on the floor. I was totally light-headed. Somehow I managed to avoid embarrassing myself in such a manner, and I grabbed my stuff and headed home.

This morning…no shin splints! YAY! I can do this!

I’ll be doing W1D2 on Thursday evening.

Labels: fitness, goals

In my neverending quest to discover new workouts that will not bore me to tears, I have found this beginner's running program, which I have decided I will start tonight at the gym.

I used to run track when I was a kid (NOT cross-country...there's a big difference between the two!) and I loved it. I kind of miss it, actually.

Plus, many fitness sources I've investigated suggest that running/jogging is the fastest, most efficient way to get in better shape. I figure that if I combine this program, which seems challenging enough but not to the point where I couldn't stick to it, with a revamped weightlifting routine, I should get good results.

Also, if I should ever find myself in a situation which requires me to run (sociopath with an ax chasing me? Gerry Butler driving past my house?), this type of exercise can only help.

Does anyone else care to join me (in starting the program, not in chasing Gerry Butler)?

Labels: fitness, goals

A year ago today, I was fired from a job that I honestly believed I would retire from.

I was gutted. I'd never been fired before, and I hadn't received any kind of warning about it from my boss.

I left work that afternoon, sobbing so violently that I could barely drive. As soon as I'd arrived home, I headed straight to my computer, not even taking off my coat. I sat down, updated my resume, and immediately sent it to three firms whose job postings I'd found online.

Four days later, I had two interviews set up. I wound up cancelling one of them because after some consideration, I decided I wasn't interested in the job. But I did go to the other interview, and that's how I got here today.

Despite the stress of my job (and there is LOTS of stress!), I can honestly say that I love what I do. There are some aspects that I could definitely live without, but overall I enjoy going to work and can't imagine not doing it. I've gained so much good experience from this job, and I've definitely grown professionally. I also managed to get the NASD Series 65 certification, which is something I certainly wouldn't have done if I were still working at the old firm.

Next week, our office is moving to a new building. I will have my very own office, which excites me--Milton is a nice guy and all, but lately I've been jonesing for some privacy. Not to mention these days he's not only murmuring the song titles and artists' names for every song, but also has been singing along to a good bit of them. Argh!

One year ago today, I was frightened and extremely depressed. Inconsolable, really. I couldn't have imagined how well things would turn out for me. But once again, the entire experience has shown me that everything really does happen for a reason.

Labels: accomplishments, memories, work

Technology continues to amaze me. I don't know why.

Take, for instance, the incredible information you can get from a sitemeter. You can see all kinds of details on your visitors. I'm still tickled when I see people not just across the country, but AROUND THE WORLD, stopping by to check out my site.

I currently use several different kinds of meters: Sitemeter, Statcounter, and OneStatFree. They're all different and useful in their own way, although I think that Sitemeter and Statcounter are best. I can tell from the stats when my regular readers have been here, and in fact have labeled most of the active participants for ease of recognition. Like right now, Teri, I can see that you're here. Hee!

Lately, my curiosity has definitely been piqued. There's someone who's been Googling my name plus the name of this blog and visiting here intermittently over the past month. This visitor has been spending quite a bit of time checking out both this blog and my previous one. I suspect (s)he is in either Delco or Montco, lives near or on the Main Line, uses Comcast as their ISP, and uses Windows XP and Internet Explorer 7.0.

I do have a few ideas of who my mystery reader might be, but it would be waaaay cool if (s)he said hello...or even just shot me a prvivate email.

Labels: opinions, technology