very simple

no actual photo class this week, due to a final show occurring for a prior class. I’ve done my homework for next week though, and will post those photos soon.

In other news, I feel like the tide is turning ever so slightly on the job front. Not that I’ve got a new job or anything that crazy (!), but it seems like there’s more opportunity out there, even if in small doses. I don’t want to get into too much detail because I think that starts crossing into the “blogging about work” thing that I’ve always tried to avoid, but, suffice to say, I had two meetings this week, which is two more meetings than I’ve had in the several months prior to this week. And it seems like there are more job listings that fall into my “wheelhouse” and that I feel comfortable applying for, as opposed to the months of listings for litigators and bankruptcy attorneys (both perfectly good professions, just not what I do). So I’m just generally feeling more positive, even if it’s still slow-going overall.

I haven’t been riding my bike as much as I’d like to, mostly due to the weather. We seem to be living in a period of alternating thunderstorms and heat advisories, neither of which are weather conditions that are particularly conducive to a leisurely bike ride around the city. but I am signed up for a bunch of organized rides in the next few months, so that should help get me back into the swing of things. I did spend last saturday volunteering for transportation alternatives at this year’s summer streets event, and got lots of people to sign up. That was a fun way to spend the day.

And in even more other news, yesterday was my baby brother’s 30th birthday. conveniently, I didn’t have to do much of anything except post on his facebook wall since he’s diving somewhere in Indonesia at the moment (yeah, his life sucks), but it’s making me feel a bit old. and nostalgic. how the hell did I get old enough to have a much younger sibling turn 30? But happy birthday, Jeff, wherever the hell you are!

I’ve got one hour and 35 minutes until, well, I turn 35. It doesn’t bother me very much, but at the moment I’m feeling a bit of a twinge. I had to fill out a survey a couple of weeks ago, and the age group category cutoff for my group was 34. The next age group up was something like 35-50. And that made me feel a little bit old.

On the flip side, it’s a holiday weekend, I have plans every night, and a bunch of people have said they’re actually going to show up to my get together on Sunday night (it’s not a party per se – I basically told a bunch of friends to show up at a bar at 9pm). I have smaller plans for my actual birthday tomorrow with my best friend and possibly my brother, but if I’ve learned one thing over the years, it’s to try to studiously ignore my birthday when it falls on friday the 13th. The last time this happened, which was my 30th birthday? I ended up working until midnight.

sad, sad news. The law firm where I got my start is officially dissolving. Sure, a group of us left a few years ago for greener pastures, but Thelen (or, really, to those of us who were around long enough in NY, Reid & Priest) was a really nice place to work. Heck, the people I work with now are the same ones I work with then – we essentially just switched offices (my boss would say that the era actually ended when Reid & Priest merged with Thelen Marrin, but the New York office remained largely intact at that point and day-to-day life was just about the same). Here’s hoping that the utility and energy folks that are still there land on their feet at another firm, and that someone steals the (really heavy) bronze bust of A.J. Priest before the doors get locked.

it’s that time of year again. the time when I get to annoy everyone at work by taking off two days in the middle of the week leaving everyone else to take care of things.

This Rosh Hashona, instead of sitting in temple all day, I’ll be taking my bicycle in to get fixed.  Because after visiting a friend yesterday afternoon who lives up in Washington Heights, I managed to get a massively flat tire.  And  yes, I know how to fix a flat tire, but it was damn near impossible to separate the tire from the tubing, so it became easier after about 20 minutes of trying just to carry my bike onto the subway.  it wouldn’t be that big a deal if I wasn’t scheduled to do 60+ miles in the MS bike ride this weekend.  Seems kind of important to have my good bike for that sort of thing.

I know it’s cliche, and unoriginal, and that I’m just one of many, but man-oh-man, i could watch Michael Phelps swim every day and just never get tired of it. I think that the last time I sat through this many hours of olympic coverage was the winter olympics in 1980. And that was a combination of it being the only thing on the TV in my non-cable owning house, that whole USA-USSR hockey thing, and the fact that my parents and I actually spent the week prior to those games in Lake Placid because my dad was tasked with setting up some sort of on-site art show his company was sponsoring for the games. Oh, and I was 6.

Well, it’s the last day of my vacation, and I’m just about ready to get back to work.  Things I did:

Movies: saw Wall-E, Wanted, Hellboy II and The Dark Knight (which was super fantastic awesome go see it now!).

Cycling: took several trips down to battery park, and up to fort washington.  In total, I biked about 70 miles over the past two weeks (usually in 12-14 mile increments every couple of days).  Also, about to sign up for the NYC Century Bike Tour.

Friends:  saw several friends, including one friend who I haven’t seen since college, and another who had a baby three weeks ago.  Also managed to catch a cold from another friend’s 11 month old.

Culture:  not quite as much as last year, but I did go see the Dali exhibit at the MoMA on wednesday.  That was pretty awesome.  Although my dad and I both decided that the films would make much more sense to someone if they were on drugs.

That’s about it.  I also read a few books, took a lot of naps, and generally learned how to not check my blackberry every 5 minutes.  oh, and I got an iphone.

Ok.  So I’m only one day in (not counting the July 4 holiday, which everyone had off), and I’ve gotten just about nothing accomplished, except…

Saturday:  ran my typical saturday morning errands.  Then took my bike out to the park.  where I proceeded to end up soaking wet when the skies opened up and dumped ginormous buckets of water on me when I was halfway around the park.  Needless to say, I only did one lap around the park (whereas I managed 2 on Friday).

Sunday:  helped my brother move into his new apartment, which consisted of (1) sitting in the car while my dad and brother actually carried everything upstairs, (2) putting together some shelves, and (3) buying my brother a sandwich.

Today: Half day at Bliss (deep tissue massage and super facial).  Extra added bonus of getting home to discover that my laundry hadn’t been picked up, so annoying phone calls about that.

Not a bad three days.  Particularly given that the two big things I had planned are now out of the way.  I just have lots of sleeping, bike riding, and meals with friends and family for the next two weeks.  Maybe I’ll go see the Dali exhibit at the MoMA.

My staycation started today, although since everyone is off today, it’s a bit too “weekend-y” in the city at the moment. When I took my bike to the park this morning (2 laps! 12 miles!), it seemed that every single horse drawn carriage (and the corresponding horsesh*t) was out on the drive. I’m very excited though. Over two whole weeks without having to do anything. Except visit a friend who had a baby the other day. And help my brother move. And clean out my closets. Somehow, as always happens, I’m going to get back to work on the 21st, and discover that I didn’t do half the stuff I originally planned to. At least this year I feel fairly certain that my stepmother’s company isn’t going to completely restructure, eliminating her entire department and cause me to spend at least 2 hours a day at my parents’ apartment teaching them the wonders of Gmail. Because I got to do that last year! At least I no longer have to sit around waiting for the cable guy tomorrow. Looks like it’ll be another good day for a bike ride (maybe this time I’ll remember to bring my camera).

And yes, my day at Bliss has already been scheduled for Monday…

…but I couldn’t be prouder

-48 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Poor (Failure) Take the test!

That’s right. I went well into negative scoring on the 1930s wife scale. Tee hee!

Link via Bitch PhD

Here’s hoping that everyone in the New York City area actually made it to seder on time, even with the pope in town!