just a few things

1. I downloaded Tetris on my phone when I bought it a month ago. I really LOVED that game growing up, so was elated to find I could play it on my phone. I'd say it's probably the source of most of my wasted time. Anyway, I set a new high score today and am now ranked #1660. I still have a ways to go, but imagine how many people have downloaded and play Tetris! In the grand scheme of things, 1660 isn't bad. I was quite pleased with myself.
2. If you're ever thinking of becoming a crack addict, see "The Fighter". Also if you're just looking for a good film with some genuine Boston accents. I enjoyed it.
3. I cried again during "What Not to Wear".

for your viewing pleasure

It was brought to my attention that not everyone had heard the Trick Daddy (also featuring Lil' Kim and some vintage Cee Lo Green) 2005 remix of the Talking Heads' 1975 song "Sugar on my Tongue". I just wanted to share this with the world:



And the original:

i see lots of biking in my future

Meet the new face of the Bicycle Coalition of Maine (BCM)! After "a national search that drew more than 65 talented applicants", MY MOTHER has been named Executive Director! After being board president for two years (unpaid), she will now be working full time (paid) for BCM and working to make Maine the most bike-friendly state in the nation! I'm so proud!!! If you live in Maine and are a bicycle enthusiast, think about joining BCM. Big things to come, I'm sure.

today in the kitchen

Went to a open a can of these bad boys while making a batch of chili... it had apparently been canned under some serious pressure (it's hard being a chipotle pepper...) because as soon as the can was punctured, adobo sauce infused with chipotle peppers shot all over the kitchen. It also shot right up my nose. It was quite the sensation. I guess if I had to describe it, I'd say it was like snorting a Chipotle burrito with lots of hot sauce that had been converted to powder form. I just thought you should know.

greendrinks + robyn

I went to a great event last night at the State Theater called Greendrinks. I pulled this from their website:

Portland Greendrinks is part of the international Greendrinks network -- an informal, volunteer-managed social networking group built around a common interest in the natural environment. It occurs on the second Tuesday of every month, starting at 5:30 pm. The goal of Greendrinks is pretty simple: good times shared among people working in, or interested in, environmental and sustainability issues.

My understanding is each month they pick a nonprofit to highlight and that nonprofit gets the proceeds from the event ($2 entry with a drinking vessel, $5 without) plus lots of publicity. The sponsorship the event gets is amazing (read: free beer). Last night drew a huge crowd, mostly young people (Andrew and I were slightly overstimulated) AND they were selling raffle tickets to benefit the featured nonprofit, Portland Music Foundation. I was feeling victorious so I bought three tickets, and I won! I got to pick from a variety of tickets to shows at the State. I now have two tickets to ROBYN on January 29th, which I was definitely going to purchase anyway, so this was amazing.

If you haven't checked out her newest album, Body Talk, do yourself a favor. It's without a doubt my favorite album to dance party to.

P.S. Yeah, I'm still alive, I've just been really busy being Santa's Elf and doing lots of other super awesome things.

this is what i did today

totally blogworthy.

I did that. Love you, Fran!

friendliness

One of the things I SO missed about Maine and cherish now that I'm back is how friendly people are. The UPS guy came yesterday to deliver a particularly heavy package and I kinda helped him maneuver it into the garage. When he left, he gave me the affectionate, arm fully extended, "point", which I warmly interpreted as "Thanks for the help, you're the best". I went to get my watch fixed at Albert's Jewelers and while Albert (presumably) was working away we talked all about our Thanksgivings, various turkey preparations, family, etc. It was lovely! On the sidewalk, everyone gives a hello or a wave or at the very least a head nod.

I'm not sure why that friendliness dissipates as you get closer and closer to major urban centers. I wonder if Portland/ Maine is just too small to not be friendly? Like if the UPS man was a jerk to me he'd feel bad the next time he came to deliver a package? Whereas in cities people move around so much you don't bump into the same people consistently? Or is everyone just in a bigger rush in the city and doesn't have the extra time for that "special touch"? I don't know, but I do know those small but sincere interactions really warm my heart! For realz.

today's bike ride- stops along the way

yum!

Bird Man + Fried Turkey

thanksgiving soccer

As some of you may know, every year on Thanksgiving I (pretend to know how to...) play soccer. This year was the 36th year of carrying out the tradition which started with my parents and their friends their first year out of college when they didn't have enough money to travel home or to cook a delicious meal. So, they said, let's just get together and play football! They continued this tradition every year until everyone started having kids and they decided football was a bit rough, at which point they changed the game to soccer. It's been funny watching the game change over the years, from a bunch of little kids running around to a bunch of super fit, strong adolescents, to a bunch of out-of-shape college kids hungover from the night before. Our parents, the founders of the game, have gotten slightly less limber and speedy over the years, but we all still come together to play every year, 10 am, Greely High School.

Captain #1, Harry

Captain #2, Mike

Pure intensity

Joey the amazing goalkeeper

something to ponder

I went to see a career advisor last week, and she asked me a question I hadn't really thought about before. She asked me to think about about my role within an organization or company versus the organization or company itself- which is more important to me? For example, if I had a great job working with people and performing tasks which were fulfilling for me, would it matter if Exxon Mobil (the enemy, obviously) wrote my paycheck? That's a pretty extreme example, but the point is, do I need to feel like I've contributed to the greater good at the end of the day, or would I be happy by simply being in a position which was challenging and professionally fulfilling? For the last two and a half years I've worked for a government funded exchange program which I truly believed contributed to small but important perspective changes from foreigners about the U.S. I constantly met brilliant people from around the world, many of whom I really believed were doing amazing things to make the planet a nicer place. Before that, I worked/ interned for GirlSportWorks, the UN's World Food Program, Maine Audubon Society, Environment Maine, and the Organization for American States. ALL of these places have a mission which involves a cause. I suppose that's what I've always been naturally attracted to, and to be honest, I'm really NOT sure I could make the switch at this point. I also wonder if my age has something to do with it- I'm young and have very little responsibility. I only have my mouth to feed and no mortgage. Does this make me more selfless and more likely to work for little money but for a cause I believe in? Does solving- or helping in any minor way to solve- the innumerable problems this country and world has seem so important to me because I don't have a family to think about? And will those priorities shift as I DO have to be more selfish about time and money? Not sure...

I would love love love to hear your thoughts about this one!

i love this so much

JENGAAAAA!!!

So I hadn't played Jenga in at least 10 years, but Ben and I found ourselves at a cozy little bar in New York which happened to be hosting Jenga night. You got a free round for signing up, plus the competitive 10 year old Jenga player in me got a little excited about the prospect of taking down the entire bar in this wood removing and stacking game. We ended up winning multiple rounds to land us in the CHAMPIONSHIP game (very exciting!) which Ben lost for us (our competitors were very Russian and very serious), but it was really fun and made me want to bring the tradition to Portland. The other fun thing was the championship game was played on a table everyone in the bar could see (so every move was scrutinized), and was played in Giant Jenga format (each Jenga stick was about a foot long). Good times.

my 19 hours in boston

Karina invited me to come down to Boston for a family dinner. This consisted of Karina, Frannie, Jeff (Karina's boyfriend), Jeff's two sisters and his brother-in-law. Jeff's sister Courtney and her husband Tim hosted us in their beautiful apartment. Theme of the night? SUSHI! Karina (and Fran?) are quite the expert sushi chefs, so they volunteered to show us all how it's done.

GROCERY LIST
Sushi Grade Fish (we got tuna and salmon, cooked some shrimp, and had some crabmeat also)
Sushi Rice
Veggies you like in your sushi such as Cucumbers, Carrots, Avacado
Spicy Mayo
Seaweed paper (not sure this is actually called seaweed paper, but I think it's a good visual)
Your favorite accompaniments: soy sauce, pickled ginger, wasabi, etc.

Check it out:






SO YUM! And really easy! Definitely going to try this at home.

to do

stormy night + daylight savings

This is my alarm clock which I've had since I was 10(ish). To set the time you have to hold down the "CLOCK" button and then "HOUR" or "MINUTE", depending on which one you set. To set the clock back an hour, as one does during fall Daylight Savings, you have to press it 23 times. Because the clock is old and has been through young years of sticky fingers and my adolescent years of candle obsession (read: wax everywhere), all the buttons are a little touchy and sometimes you finally get to the 23rd hour but then it skips forward an hour, right where you started. Anyway, point is, I really hate changing this particular clock and usually put it off a few days. However, we had this crazy rain/ wind storm last night, and lost power. Not totally sure when that happened but, here's the crazy thing: it came back on at EXACTLY midnight! When those kinds of clocks get disconnected, they restart at 0 hours, or midnight. When I woke up this morning, the time was blinking (meaning it had been disconnected), but it was exactly right!! I was so pleased.

(productive) things i've done in my first week of unemployment

1. Campaigned for Democratic Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (she won)!
2. Gone to Whole Foods every day and made dinner: Cauliflower & Chickpea Curry/ Stew, Brussels Sprouts, White Beans & Cheese, Roasted Squash & Parsnips with a delicious maple glaze, and a Pumpkin Barley Soup. Everything was super yummy. My mom grew a bunch of butternut squash in her garden. It's delicious.
3. Did all my parents' dry cleaning, and was surprised (pleasantly? unpleasantly?) that the woman running the show there spoke English fluently (first language, in fact).
4. Consolidated three jars of honey into one.
5. Analyzed the family cell phone bill and brought it down $200/ month. My dad had no text message plan and my brother's plan had 500 texts a month and was sending over 1500 a month. You do the math. We're all on unlimited texts now.
6. Taken one zillion pictures of Desmond.

Well, hello!

It's my new blog!! I've been dying to blog again since I left Cusco last year and consequently ended my "Elise in Cusco" blog. I was waiting for a brilliant idea to come to me about what this new blog could be about, but it hasn't yet, so I've decided just to go for it. I'm blogging on the premise that being unemployed will expose me to some unique opportunities less accessible to those who work. Hopefully these experiences will be exciting to write about.

I'm also writing under the belief that guilt is a human emotion and that if my blog knows (= no blog post) that I watched The View, Gilmore Girls, Rob & Big, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Full House, Tyra and Ellen in ONE sitting, I'll be more likely to take advantage of my time.

I make no promises that this blog will rock.