Death & Taxes

Ah yes, how does that saying go, something like; "The two things that are sure in life are death and taxes", I think it goes something like that. Well for those of you who still are in school or bought houses or have other ways to claim deductions.... YOU SUCK! For the first time ever we are going to have to PAY income tax. Despite everything they took out of our paychecks it evidently wasn't enough. For those of you who haven't experienced this feeling yet, remember how it felt to land on Income Tax in Monopoly, well now multiply that feeling with it's your real money, the money you worked all year to earn. Yes, that's pretty much how it feels.
Gone are the days of looking forward to this time of year and the extra money we get returned from the government. And now I ESPECIALLY don't want to make a donation to politicians or the president.
Growing up sucks, death and taxes seem more frequent,closer and hurt more. Maybe our parents just protected us more from it before.
But for right now, I'm just mad about taxes, maybe some other time we'll have a depressing post on death and dying, it seems to have been particularly close this year.

City of Falling Angels

Beware of falling angels
– Sign outside Santa Maria della Salute Church, prior to restoration.



John Berendt took 10 years to research & write his book on Venice. He arrives in Venice the night after the Fenice Opera House burns. John does his personal investigation into the fire, which authorities fluctuate between negligence and arson, and the lives that were affected. He follows Venetians and expatriates from America & England, long ago authors, artists, & architects; and those trying to save Venice and it’s various art forms, before they sink into the canals of history. He observes the groups & individuals from eccentric to average, yet nothing is written in a “traditional” non-fiction/historical style. On numerous occasions I had to remind myself that this is for real, not something he has made up in his imagination.

Favorite Character: John & the lyrical way he describes glassblower Archemede Seguso, who uses his glass as his mourning for the Fenice.

Despicable Character: Jane Rylands, social leech who uses unsuspecting old ladies, under cover of kindness & caring, to advance her own standing.

Wegman's

It's my favorite grocery store, if I had to pick one. They have so much good food, fresh fruits and veggies, and it's clean. It seems like I always have interesting experiences in Wegmans.
My latest one happened today. I was standing in line at the cash register and a little old lady walked by, then turned around and came back, she touched my arm, I turned around. She said; "I wish I had skinny legs like yours so I could wear those jeans", "Well, thank you", I replied (how else could one respond). She continued as if I said nothing; "But I'm 83 now so I can't". "You look wonderful for 83", she smiled and walked away, pushing her cart.
I must insert that they were my favourite jeans (Bluenotes, a Canadian company) and my favourite boots (Nine West).

Evaluations

Most every job I have worked at they have a yearly evaluation for their employees. My current employer feels that it is effective to have each employee fill out their self evaluation and then meet with their supervisor to compare and discuss. I've avoided doing it, I've picked it up and looked over it probably 4 times over the last two weeks. I meet with my supervisor tomorrow morning at 9:00 am. I have to do it NOW. And yet, once again, I am tempted to stuff it back into my overflowing brown plastic memo box on my desk. I have always found these tedious and torturous, but this one, at 6 pages is definitely the worst, not only is it check boxes, but then I have to give supporting evidence of WHY I am at Above, At, or Below expectations.
Eric Clapton just came on Launch. I'm going to procrastinate for another 9 minutes and 7 seconds as I dream to Wonderful Tonight.

Grant

I got the grant!
Here's the first public announcement!


LEARN TO TRI
March 12th, 2006
9:00-4:00 (registration starts 8:30)

Women's introduction to triathlon. Central NY is booming with triathlons, come and learn hot to train for your first race or improve your beginning base that you have already started. Local experts in the field will be sharing their knowledge. Come see how friendly and supportive the triathlon community is.

Blog Game

This if from my friend Katie. Here are the instructions on her blog:

You search Google Images for some specific words, and then post the picture that comes up first. Well, in my case, I bent the rules a bit and posted the most appropriate picture that came up on the first page. (I also bent the rules)

The town I grew up in (for the first 6 years):


The town I live in now:


My first name:


My grandmothers' first names:




My Favorite Food:


My Favorite Drink:


My Favorite Smell:


My Favorite Place:


My Age:


The Year I Was Born:


My Pets Names (Bullet, Charlie, Dakota, Shadow, Logan, Avalanche, Sam):

Red Rose Tea

Last week at work a co-worker informed me that she had restocked the kitchen and she had gotten tea for me. Restocking the kitchen simply means replenishing the coffee, tea, sugar and creamer. The next morning I went to the kitchen to see what she had gotten, I smiled as I saw the box of tea. Red Rose, the usual brand that Nanny drank.


I slipped the cellophane off the box as my water heated in the microwave. I was surprised to find a little ceramic figurine amongst the tea bags. As I pulled it out I had a flashback to my childhood. Nanny had many toy boxes and drawers in her house as well as knickknack shelves. In and on any of these, one could find miniature ceramic animal figurines. I remember playing with them but never thought of their origins. Here, in the kitchen at work, I found where they came from. Red Rose Tea. Made by George Wade Pottery of Burslem, England.
I now have a male rhino on my office desk, a whimsie.

Who are you?

What breed of horse are you? Find out!

Bodyrockers

They're the band that performs one of my favorite songs to run to right now, I Like the Way. I heard it on an Alias episode a few months back and as it was playing I said, "That would be a great song to run to". SO after some digging online I found a video clip. Do you know how many songs out there are called I like the way you move? A LOT!

But it was worth the time.
If your looking for a personal best, this one should get you moving.

Narnia

We saw Narnia yesterday afternoon. I expected to be disappointed, I had read the books a number of times growing up and from what I saw in the previews it was NOT what my imagination had created. But I was pleasantly surprised, it was very good.
I thought that the Unicorn Peter rode in battle was the same horse that played Shadowfax in Lord of the Rings. After much snooping online I found out that Shadowfax was played by two horses, the main horse;16 year old Andalusian: Demero, he was used for all the key shots. The galloping shots were of a 12 year Thoroughbred cross: Blanco. Unfortunately Demero died shortly after filming, July 2003, from stomach cancer. I could find nothing on Blanco. As for the Unicorn, he's George. Doesn't sound like George had a great start to life but he sure has bloomed. Check out his story here.

Syriana

I'm struggling to even know what to write that will be significant enough. This movie is amazing. At first a little slow, and confusing as to how everyone is connected. It follows the story of a number of different people: an almost retired CIA agent, an energy analyst and his family, a company lawyer and his clients, a dying sheik and his two son's who wish to replace him, and Pakistani immigrants. One of the interwoven themes in all of their lives was hopelessness. The CIA agent let down by his agency, the energy man and his family loss, the lawyer and his ideals, the sheik's sons ideals, and the Pakistanis that to get jobs must learn Arabic, which is taught in Mosques where they are preyed upon by the "inner groups". Everyone is trapped by what life has handed them.

One thing that I found amazing was how the film presented different views and did not judge them, what they are is what they are, nothing else.



Interesting Facts about Syriana:

- Movie is based on the book See No Evil by Robert Baer
- The movie was filmed with two hand cameras
- The MID Foundation was hired to teach the characters Arabic & Farsi
- Filming in the Middle East took place during Ramadan, tents were set up so that those not observing could eat without being seen
- Casablanca, Morocco doubled as Beirut, Lebanon & Tehran, Iran

Resolutions

I didn't make any! I thought about it, there are things I would like to do this year, but they're more goals than resolutions. I think of resolutions as things we want to stop or change. I have a list of things I want to do or accomplish this year...but haven't written them down yet. There's been a lot of research done on goal setting and achieving your dreams and most agree that by writing them down and looking at them often, they will more likely be achieved. Some even say you should share your goals with others to even further increase the likelihood of follow through. I have lots of dreams, anyone that knows me has heard one of my latest and greatest. CHEERS! To finishing in the top 5 of my age group in a race, getting Charlie lightly started under saddle, and reading a French novel from cover to cover. And your's?

The Pink Panther

I bought Andrew “The Pink Panther” box set for Christmas. What was I thinking? Very slapstick and great for a late night silly movies, I’m just not as obsessed with them as… some people. Poor Peter Sellers, you can’t help but laugh at his foolish moves and hilarious accents.
In a nut shell if you’re looking for something funny, and like comedy along the lines of Monty Python or Trains, Planes, & Automobiles you’ll very much like this one.
It helps if it’s very late at night or you’re already feeling in a goofy mood. If one or both of these are not met I would pass on it for the night because you’ll just find it stupid.


We'll see how Steve Martin does in February with the new version, Kevin Kline is in it as well whom I really like. I'm not so sure about Beyoncé.