Friday, July 28, 2006

another year wiser

my dad called: "just checking to see how you're doing. you're on the downhill slide towards 50 now"

me yesterday (age, 25)
















me today (age, 26)

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

too much time on our hands

it doesnt happen often, but sometimes clinic is a little slow. recently, it was one of those days. becky is leaving and moving to hong kong. the poor girl is going crazy because her husband has been there for 3 months. anyway, this is what happens when a communicable disease nurse, an hiv case manager and myself have access to plastic penises and too much time on our hands.

i'm going to miss becky. notice my cleverness in staying behind the camera [phone].

Thursday, July 20, 2006

I MET MO ROCCA!

this is quite possibly the most hideous picture of me ever taken, but you get the point. miriam says i have "ovaries of steel". i think even she was quite embarrassed. i had no problem begging the head usher to get us better seats, asking the sound manager to give a note to mo, or shouting out infront of almost 3,000 people that i made AND was wearing a t-shirt that says "MO, you ROCCA my world!" to which paula poundstone replied, "how could i confuse this place with charleston, you guys are sooo much classier"
thanks to wfae, npr and of course "wait wait dont tell me" for making this happen.

yes, i'm a geek.

UPDATE: 07/21/06 8:50am
ok, now that i've had a little sleep and the geeked out adrenaline has worn off a little, i thought i might be able to put together a few more thoughts. so yes, miriam and i went to a live recording of npr's radio news quiz show, wait wait don't tell me. we hadnt even got out of the parking deck when wfae staff (local npr affiliate) noticed and complimented our homemade t-shirts. we stuck out in the sea of maturely dressed, public radio listeners. our tickets were for the 3rd row in the top balcony, not exactly primo. i guess years of working with needy people has taught me that you might as well ask for what you want, the worst thing that can happen is you end up with what you have. its only up from here! (an example of how this works: i begged my way onto oversold flights for nate's wedding). after i charmed the head usher into giving us the unsold "hold" seats on the floor, we made our way up to the stage where our FABULOUS t-shirts got the attention of one very kind sound engineer. feeling not at all shy, i asked if there was anyway we could get on stage for a picture with mo, and he looked around and offered me a notebad on which i quickly scribbled a note to mo. he promised to pass him the note before the show. the show went on, we laughed at all of the politically incorrect humor, cheered as the cast made fun of and complimented the south, and miriam even let out a token "OW! OW!". after the show, they had an open mic for audience members to ask questions. i jumped up and down waving my arms, begging for carl kasell's attention. miriam slumped in her seat with embarrassment. my inner-dork would not rest! alas, i made ourselves known to the crowd. the erupted with applause and laughter as i read our shirts aloud to the crowd of 3,000. and i got my wish, we met mo rocca, carl kasell and paula poundstone!

as we walked out of blumenthal on the greatest adrenaline buzz ever, the very kind sound engineer came up to us and asked if we got to meet mo. he said he had given him the note before the show, and mo was very cool about it and definitely flattered. mo said "if anyone asks me what charlotte was like, i can honestly say, they have a lot of love". and we do, we really do.

Monday, July 17, 2006

"if we were gay, we would tell you"

contrary to popular (e.g. weird neighbor guy and t-nat) belief, miriam and i are not gay. and today she sent me this article about another fabulous female duo that had to answer the same question. so what if two very attractive, single, educated, and not to mention wildly entertaining women decide to spend their every waking minute eating blueberries and sushi and watching brokeback mountain, together? if we were gay we would be prancing around telling everyone. i would probably even give in and wear a pink shirt that announced so.

*thanks to oprah for the quote in the title

Friday, July 14, 2006

moe money? no problem!

i can hardly believe my good fortune lately. i have several times referenced my favorite burrito joint. just a short year ago, there was only one in the q.c. now, there is one just blocks from my not-so-new place of employment, and two, that's right DOS within 3 miles of mi casa. (ok granted that's not as overdone as the 5 chick-fil-a's in the same radius, but still).

life is good.

next thursday night, i have a date with mo rocca. dont.be.jealous. well, actually i have a date with tlmc and t-nat (aka boycott boy). i'll have to sit in between them so they don't argue all night. we're going to see a live recording of "wait! wait! don't tell me!". i know, we're the coolest kids in town. tlmc and i are considering making "i heart mo" signs and t-shirts, we want to get on stage. well actually tlmc wanted to throw her panties on stage. she's crazy.

shameless plug.

thats right, t-nat has a book out! i'm very excited for him. i was totally an insider on this project from the beginning. (i was even consulted for the cover artwork and author bio picture. tee didnt like my idea for either). i'm not smart enough to provide a true literary critique. i have the same opinion i do for books, movies, poems, and music. i like what i like. i'm just not deep enough to say anything else. but its super. i definitely recommend it. the way i see it, you have two choices, you can either order your own copy or wait till i send you one for christmas. (but you know how slow christmas is). so don't wait, order yours today!

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

and it wasn't even snowing

my trip to michigan, plagued with cancelled, delayed and missed flights, midnight to 4am drives through the middle of nowhere left me completely exhausted and yet re-energized with optimism. i spent hours in a sobbing heap in airports from the q.c. to detroit rock city (and all points in between). should you ever find yourself in desperate need of a favor from a airline staff, i find that tears and sweet southern charm will get you bumped up in the stand-by line much faster than fits of anger (just ask the other passengers who weren't as charming as i).

i made it to tussin michigan, the site of the wedding at 4am, just 4 short hours before the wedding. nate and erin had found out just days before their wedding that their photographer wasn't going to be able to come, and i was inspired by their calm and optimistic attitude. they said "we're going to get married, spend time with the people we love, photographer or not". this is why these kids are going to make it.

as the groom's official "attendant of honor" i sobbed nearly the entire ceremony. except when the early morning heat and humidity (in michigan, who knew!?!) kept nate from getting his wedding band on, and i burst right out in hardy laughter through tears. the priest turned and said "its ok, we know you're tired".

that afternoon, we changed into shorts and bathing suits and spent the afternoon and evening and the rest of the weekend for that matter, boating, canoeing and playing on lake michigan. after about my fourth beer sunday night, i hugged nate and we shared a short and heartfelt conversation about how much we cared for each other. my heart spent several of its college years pining after him, but settled for a deep and meaningful friendship. his strong hug and gentle tone acknowledged that we had done a lot of growing up together and how thankful we were each for the other, as friends. i told him how happy i am for him and erin, and know that they are perfect for each other. and i meant it. it was a little like closure and a little like a new start. nate is one of those friends that i know i may go years without seeing, especially when he and erin start the peace corps next year, but i know, when we do see each other again, it will be like nothing has changed.

in the meantime, i am ecstatic to have mims home. its just like old times. staying up too late talking about boys, vowing to lose 20 pounds by our end of summer beach trip, solving the world's problems sitting on the longest.couch.ever. and shh... i even sorta missed her messes.

oh so somehow, i got handed the job of photographer. stop.laughing. ok, so maybe michigan isn't so bad after all.