Is anyone really suprised by this?

You Are 72% Girly

You're a pretty girly chick, and you're not ashamed to admit it (or wear pink). But you're also practical. You can hang with the guys, as long as they're not too gross!

How Girly Are You?

Yeah, I'm really not either...

5 things I learned last week

Intended to be a weekly Sunday series, so knowing me, this will be "whenever I get around to it."

That being said, this week I learned that:

1. Orange and maroon is actually a most flattering color-combination on me.


2. Declining ice cream with an excuse of "I'm in training for a half-marathon" does not necessarily help you later on get beer out of the same person who offered you the ice cream.


3. But sometimes, it helps you get beer out of his cuter friend....


4. Sometimes guys like to get a clear coat on their toes.


5. I will never be too old to stop believing in or be inspired the beauty of the human spirit.

A Word from the Hokie Nation

Virginia Tech family members across the country have united to declare this Friday, April 20th, an "Orange and Maroon Effect" day to honor those killed in the tragic events on campus Monday, and to show support for Virginia Tech students, faculty, administrators, staff, alumni, and friends. "Orange and Maroon Effect" was born several years ago as an invitation to Tech fans to wear orange and maroon to Virginia Tech athletic events. We invite everyone from all over the country to be a part of the Virginia Tech family this Friday, to wear orange and maroon to support the families of those who were lost, and to support the school and community we all love so much.

Also, many young Engineering Professionals around the country are taking their Professional Certification exam this Friday. Many are young VT Graduates who have lost professors and friends in these awful events. As Certified Engineers will tell you, studying for this exam has consumed their lives for the last several months. To have this happen in the home stretch is simply not what they need. If you could please take some time on Friday to send some warm thoughts and good luck their way, I'm sure it will help and be appreciated.

The Dawg Pound ♥'s Hokie Nation!

April 16, 2007

There is a saying in the Hills of Virginia that "of course God is a Hokie fan. How else can you explain why the trees turn Orange and Maroon in the fall?"

Of course, there are other sayings about the only intelligent sign of life in Blacksburg being the mileage sign to Harrisonburg, how if you couldn't get into a "college" like UVA, you went to Hokie High, and how if you wanted a good date to the campus formal, you needed to tip early. But, then again, none of that is important right now.

What is important is that the illusions we had about our college campuses being safe were shattered in a few hours this morning. In what appeared to be an isolated incident at the time, some asshat with a gun shot his ex girlfriend in West Ambler Johnston Hall (West AJ). Then, two hours later, he was in the Engineering Building, taking at least 30 people with him as he went down in a "blaze of glory."

Again...asshat. We could talk about the selfishness of killing oneself, but seriously people, if you're gonna do it, please consider doing it in such a way that is personal and private and involves minimal clean-up. Of course, before you get that far, please also consider calling a suicide hot line like 1.800.273.8255 (TALK). These people can help. Let them.

In the days and weeks to come, I'm sure we'll learn more about this, the worst mass shooting in US History. We will come to know what motivated the gunman and what he was doing minute-by-minute. It will come to define a generation of college students in the way that Columbine defined our little brothers and sisters eight years ago and the way Kent State defined our parents. It will be talk-show fodder and a ratings booster (though really, ABC7 in DC, did you HAVE to use an orange and maroon crosshairs logo?) for the more insensitive of our mass-media outlets. Fox News, I can't wait to see what you come up with. Then again, maybe I can.

And slowly, life will go on in Blacksburg. The trees will turn orange and maroon again. We will drive down from Harrisonburg to see our first string be humiliated by their third-string. Exams will be taken, freshmen will travel in packs, mass quantities of bourbons and cokes will be consumed. UVA will still be full of themselves. Things will get back to normal...eventually.

But for a moment, a brief moment, don't forget to put your heart into the hills of Blacksburg. Then take your heart out. Put your heart back in and...well, you know the rest.

After all, commitment to healing and the brotherhood of all Virginians...isn't that what it's all about?

My Tivo thinks...

It's a common scenario with Tivo users: you tape a few things that are outside of your normal viewing range, and the next thing you know, your Tivo is suggesting that you fit a certain stereotype.

For instance, let's say that you have a thing for Michelle Williams. You start by taping TBS' daily dose of Dawson's Creek. Then, you realize that HBO is running both If These Walls Could Talk II and Brokeback Mountain. Add those to the list, and don't be surprised when your Tivo gives you a season pass to Queer Eye for the Straight Guy!

Thankfully I don't have Tivo. I shudder to think what types of shows it would recommend after it discovered my penchant for the Law and Order franchise, Homicide: Life on the Street, and all those reality crime docs on A&E. What I do have, however, is a new Netflix account (yes, I know, welcome to the 21st Century). And if my current top ten is any indication of my personality, then I'd have to guess that my Netflix account thinks that I'm an 80 year old British woman.

Actually, knowing the tastes of the last 80 year old British woman I knew, they wouldn't be far off....

Aside from the last disc of The 10th Kingdom (it came highly recommended) and The X-Files: Fight the Future, (I'm officially hooked now), the top 10 is full of classic movies that I always intended to watch, but never quite got around to. There's Lover Come Back (Rock Hudson and Doris Day), I Was a Male War Bride and People Will Talk(Cary Grant). I'd have thrown in The Philadelphia Story (Cary Grant AND Jimmy Stewart!!) except that it's always on AMC (and yes, I always watch), so why waste the pick? Then, there's How Green was My Valley? (post WWII Welsh village), The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (a movie that I've tried to watch for years and can't seem to catch anything but the last half-hour of), Bobby, Little Children (finally, two modern picks), Interstate 60 (an indie from 2002), and Happenstance (because I love reading my movies when they star Audrey Tatou).

I'm also admitting to the Netflix people that I have yet to see several films that are considered "required" viewing amongst human society of a certain age. Like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows (which is NOT to be confused with Angels with Dirty Faces -- a different movie entirely) and The Journey of Natty Gann (which I may have seen years ago, but I have virtually no recollection of -- strange because you'd think I'd have remember a Jon Cusack movie!!).

So, obviously, it's going to take me quite a while to get through these, and I've got items on the list that aren't even out on DVD (like Grace is Gone and Stephanie Daley). In the meantime, I'm seriously enjoying learning about movies that Netflix swears I'm going to like and trying to psycho-analyze its psychoanalysis of me. For example, did you know that just because I liked Casablanca, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, and It Happened One Night, I was going to LOVE The Day the Earth Stood Still? Neither did I, but I don't think I'm going to find out any time soon. After all, Fox Mulder aside, you guys know how much I hate UFOs!

One of the benefits of being kicked out of your office for a week (the contractors showed up the first day of Spring Break to find the Ladies' Room ripped out and workmen applying power saws to the walls outside our cubes) is getting to watch a LOT of CourtTV. So far this week, I've caught the Maury-style reveal of Baby Dannielynn's father, the North Carolina AG throwing Mike Nifong under a bus, and this crazy-ass case out of New Jersey where this woman is accused of shooting her husband, chopping him up, and tossing the pieces in *matching luggage* into the Chesapeake Bay. No, don't put him in the crappy bags from your college days, put him in the easily tracable matching set. Sure, that's smart.

Of the three, it's the New Jersey case that has both fascinated and disturbed me most. Sure, Anna Nicole is good entertainment, and Nifong deserved to be disbarred the moment he started running his mouth and hiding evidence, but that case out of New Jersey is just really really strange. First off, she's adorable. No prison blues and oranges for her, she's always in these innocent little dresses and sweater sets. And you know, nothing says "innocent" like a sweater set. Actually, wasn't there an entire sitcom episode (possibly Murphy Brown) based on the innocence of sweater sets?

Ok, moving on. The second point is that she's got plenty of people lined up as character witnesses. The weird thing (which, of course, I've learned from CourtTV) is that the character witnesses comprise pretty much her entire defense. Instead of relying on alibis and evidence that distinctly say that the defendant DIDN'T do it, they're using these character witnesses to claim that the defendant COULDN'T have done it because, as they put it, "She's just not that kind of person." According to CourtTV, these are the types of people who are usually pulled out during the penalty phase, after conviction, when the court is trying to decide between ten years and life. Not good.

The third problem with the case is the fact that, despite her innocent attire and the parade of character witnesses extolling her virtues to the American public, she looks like a psycho!! Now, my poker face isn't that great, and my old boss used to send me notes to "smile" during meetings when our client started berating us for meeting old requirements when we were supposed to have read his mind and adjusted our deliverables to meet the psychic requirements, but this woman is out of control. Any prosecution witness that wasn't there thanks to a supeona was given a look that could freeze the Dead Sea. Seriously, if she was trying to convince the jury that she was sweet and innocent, it simply wasn't working. I haven't seen a face that evil since I ran screaming out of a Sunday school viewing of The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (the cartoon version, not the live-action one that came out a few years ago).

They're in the middle of the defense right now, and I believe that they'll be wrapping up next week sometime. If I had to make a call, I'd say she was going up river. Oh wait, that was her husband....

Viva...Atlantic City

I'm heading up to Atlantic City in two weeks ($50, private bus, let me know if you're interested in going because we have a few seats left), and I've been thinking about the different "activities" that should be keeping me busy during the day. When I go out to Vegas, I usually go with slots because they're so mindless that I can keep playing without losing too much cash, and the casino staff keeps bringing me drinks. It's almost like I'm making money.

But this time around, I'm not interested in slots. For starters, I'm going with a huge group who, if the "itinerary" for the day is any indication, will be plastered before we leave Maryland. Then, I'm auctioning off a bottle of Bombay Sapphire on behalf of a charity event that I'm helping with (because nothing goes together better than Catholic kids and booze, but that's another story), and I'm thinking of putting together a batch of Witches' Brew as my own personal contribution to the days' activities.

So, clearly, games of skill are out. I'd probably make a ton of stupid mistakes (19? Sure, go ahead and hit me!), and almost certainly get myself arrested by beaning some little old lady with a die , attempting to play craps. Roulette's a possibility, but spinning wheels and alcohol don't tend to go together real well either.

So that leaves...what? Texas hold 'em? I've played plenty of friendly games and online tourneys after a few glasses of wine. It's a distinct possibility I could hold my own. Plus, I've memorized most of the rules, if not the exact order of what beats what (two pair beats trips, right?). I could probably hold my own at a table if I found one with a small buy in.

But still, there has to be something else that I haven't yet thought of. Beyond, of course, wandering the boardwalk and pretending to be a Miss America contestant. Then again, the pageant hasn't been held in AC since 2005(?), and I haven't aspired to put a crown on my head since I was 17.

Right, so if there are any ideas, let me know. Otherwise, I'll just stick to slots (and the free drinks that come with them).

Satuday's Date

I don't ask for much.

All right, maybe I do, but I don't think I ask for much, at least on a first date. A little coffee, a little conversation, and a little bit of a sense that the person I' m actually caffinating and conversating with actually, you know, plays.for.my.team.

Since we're talking about this, you can probably guess that the person that I went out with on Saturday was "questionable." Unless, of course, I've totally missed a world where a straight man admits that he's obsessed with Broadway Musicals, and wanted to know which ones I was in, and if I was interested in being in his next one.

As far the rest of the conversation, oh wait, there wasn't. Well, I suppose you could count the "interview portion" where he started to realize that he was sounding just a little flamboyant and started grilling me about work as conversation, if I wasn't so scared.

I tried. Really. To steer the conversation into another direction. ANY DIRECTION. Sadly, it was not to be. I talked about Homicide: Life on the Street, which somehow jumped straight over Law and Order and found itself squarely on the door of Rent. Literature launched a decidedly one-sided debate over what was the better show: Phantom or Les Miz. I decided not to go with travel: If we were about to enter an Oklahoma! or South Pacific arena, I knew I wasn't going to be able to withhold myself from running screaming from the coffee shop.

The evening wasn't entirely wasted, though. After I left the coffee shop, I escaped to the bar where I started writing (best way to get noticed: write quietly to yourself in a crowded bar). I met a fellow writer who asked to see some of my stuff and give it a bit of a critique. I sent him the voting story, and I'm debating sending some of the others (like the lonely lawyer). If you've got suggestions, feel free to put 'em in the comments!

Do you believe in Faries?

That bitch owes me big.



Anyone who's seen the Mary Martin version of Peter Pan knows the scene...

"Do you believe?" he cried.

Tink sat up in bed almost briskly to listen to her fate.

She fancied she heard answers in the affirmative, and then again she wasn't
sure.

"What do you think?" she asked Peter.

"If you believe," he shouted to them, "clap your hands; don't let Tink
die."

Many clapped.

Some didn't.

A few beasts hissed.

In case you were wondering, from now on, I will be one of the hissing beasts.



Today was the O's Home Opener, and of course I missed the game. Strangely enough, it was my choice. See, Arizona just got back to town, and while he was gone, he didn't mention anything about the game. Then, the "pajama game" happened, and I thought that he wasn't as into me as I was into him. So I decided to give him up emotionally, but since he was out of town, we didn't exactly have the conversation that completely ended the situation.



But still, in order to have gone to the game, Bea and I would have had to come up with our own tickets. Then we would have done this whole switching around thing where we would have been in the "good seats" for half the game and the "bad seats" for the other half.



Small problem, Bea and I never found tickets.



So, there we were, resigned to not going and making plans to find a sports bar to go watch the game at. Until I got the most random text last night: What's the plan for tomorrow?



Tomorrow? I thought we weren't going! I thought he had completely forgotten about the plan since he hadn't mentioned anything about it in six weeks.



Frankly, I shouldn't have been surprised. After all, this wasn't the first time he had pulled a stunt just like this...tossing out a half plan, ignoring me for an extended period of time, and then coming out of left field with the idea that I had somehow agreed to the whole thing.



Almost immediately, I decided that I wasn't going to play this game again. I was honest: Bea and I never found tickets, and started the debate amongst the group.



At one point, I threw out the idea that "If he was a 'gentleman,' he'd give US the tickets, and let us find cute boys." Imagine my surprise when, just after I hit the "SEND" button, he called with that very idea. Well, not the cute boys part, but he offered to let us sit together, and he'd take the odd-ball ticket on the other side of the stadium.



I was tempted. Very tempted. Then, I started thinking. Would it really be right to take the seats? After all, it wasn't like he was going to get another shot with me. If I took them, he may have interpreted that as a signal that I was willing to play along with his totally screwed up sense of what's supposed to happen when someone shaves her legs and flies 3,000 miles to see someone else.



So again, I was honest: Way too cold to go today. And I started to convince myself of that very fact.



Until, of course, I actually went outside to meet Bea at the bar. The weather was actually gorgeous. A little chillier than the normal start of the season, I suppose, but certainly managable.



So really, it was down to the ethics fairy. She was the whole reason I decided to miss the game.



Does anyone have any bug spray?

Big Day

Just wanted to wish my Jewish friends a very Happy Passover. In case you're not familiar with the story, here it is.

And just so the Gentiles don't feel left out, Happy Opening Day! Dare we dream that the O's can take it this year??