greetings from the mitten
In Michigan visiting my parents for the first time since 2008.
I drove for the first time in six months, drank Faygo pop (because it's pop, goddamnit), and went to Meijer (omgmeijerlove). Every trip here starts the same:
Step 1: Fly to Michigan.
Step 2: Purchase copious amounts of fruit.
Step 3: Profit.
Sat in the backyard today. A backyard! With green things! It's so quiet here. And open. And Caucasian. I went grocery shopping and only heard one language. You know you're coming from NYC when you notice you're only hearing English.
I haven't seen gas prices in just as long. Has it gone higher? I think it has. I don't remember what it was last year.
It's strange how I can jump right into a car and it's like I never lost time. But I've always prided myself on my driving skills. Drove down 696 with the windows down, singing my little heart out. Natch.
The problem with so little time here is that I feel pulled in a million different directions. I always feel guilty. There's always family I don't spend enough time with or old friends I just don't get to see. It sucks. It's not really a vacation, just a rat race around the state.
There a lot of stores that have been around since my childhood that are closed and empty. Michigan's economy is definitely doing worse than New York. That whole GM thing doesn't help.
Jason is on the other side of the state, doing the same thing, running around visiting. I'm gonna see my ex-boyfriend, the old Brit, tonight. I think the last time we hung out was a year ago.
Said goodbye to Ariel. It sucks. I keep expecting to see her, A hundred times a day. I keep checking a crumpled blanket before I sit down to make sure I don't sit on her. Or expecting her to be there getting into the grocery bags, or watching birds, or trying to sneak out the door. It takes a second before my head hesitates my hand. She's just ingrained in my mind. It will be a long time before I'm used to this.
I do miss work though. I know, I must be sick. I appreciate the paid vacation time though. That's heaven right there. I raise my glass to the real world, because it certainly has its perks. I get a million questions about my job out here. Oy.
No I do not carry a gun.
No I do not see dead bodies.
Yes I see interesting things.
Yes I love it.
kthxbai.
Random Thought of the Day
My parents' shampoo looks like toothpaste. It's creepy.
dusk
This is for a night spent at the window listening to music, while dusk falls on the city. This is for doing nothing at all and allowing myself to enjoy it.
This is for letting the constant din of traffic fade away, letting the chatter of pedestrians and the unrelenting sirens keep their distance. This is for letting below fade away.
Sometimes people are layered like that. There's something totally different underneath than what's on the surface. But sometimes, there's a third, even deeper level, and that one is the same as the top surface one. Like with pie.
Heading to Central Park for sunshine, breezes, and reading if anyone wants to keep me company. Call or leave a comment here, as I will have my CrackBerry.
Had my first bad day at work in, well maybe since I started. Felt like everything was going wrong.
Well, I guess the day I found out my coworker was murdered was a bad day. But that was a different kind of bad.
I haven't eaten much these last few weeks. I don't know why. Just doesn't sound good. I keep eating cereal for dinner and I haven't cooked in I don't know how long.
I'm fine.
I just feel like getting lost in a book all night.
nypd softball
I joined an NYPD softball team a few weeks ago. We had a tournament last week in Queens. The teams were made up of different sections of the Forensic Investigations Division: Crime Scene Unit, Controlled Substances, Bomb Squad, Engineering, and Criminalistics. Some of the teams ended up being all cops while others were all scientists, so that made for some interesting plays. :)
I wonder if other people in the park thought a crime was committed...
In all, the cop teams beat the hell outta us geeks. But it was a really fun day and I got to spend time outside of work with my coworkers. Seeing your boss drunk and pitching the ball is priceless.
And there was so much shit talk it was redonk.
The event was so successful there are talks in the works about making a volleyball tournament this summer and another softball one in the fall.
No seriously. Here's the thing. Our kitchen window overlooks a tiny alleyway between our apartment building and the next. Consequently, our kitchen window also faces the kitchen window across the alleyway. For three years that apartment was empty, then a few months ago this young couple moved in. Sometimes we'd peek over and make comments about their stuff as they unpacked and set up the apartment.
Then one day I'm in the bedroom and I hear Jason say from the kitchen,
"Um, Michelle?"
So I go in kitchen and there is our lovely female neighbor ass-naked emptying the dishwasher. The dishwasher is next to the window. The dishwasher is low to the floor. This requires said neighbor to
bend over
in front of
the window.
So this was interesting. As the weeks have gone by, we have discovered that they enjoy doing dishes with the least amount of clothing on as possible. I've seen her naked several times but I haven't seen her manfriend naked. This was very upsetting since Jason was getting a free show.
Until today.
I went in there to get coffee this morning and BAM penis. He's bent over at the dishwasher of course. Butt to the ass to the naked.
This is when I realized our kitchen window was too grimy and I should promptly clean it.
Also, if they keep this up I'm taking a picture. Oh yes, I'll do it. I mean really though, they're just asking for it. Our window doesn't have any blinds or shades or curtains and neither does theirs...so hello! I can see your pork sword dude.
The good thing about all this is that they are a young couple apparently obsessed with fitness since they are both skinny as hell. He has this like 10 pound container of whey protein nonsense and one of those pull-up bars in the door frame. (Conveniently it's the door frame that faces my kitchen window so my girly little heart still has hope he'll do pull-ups naked some day.) So at least they're fit and not the classic fat, hairy, naked old guy neighbor of jokes long past.
However, my boobs are bigger than hers. And girl, that's a problem.
for my friend
I had trouble finding the words to write this earlier.
My cat Ariel died this week. It hurts a lot to say, leaving me choked up. To others it's just a cat I guess. But she was 18 years old and has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.
When I was a child, a 4-year-old in preschool, I owned a cat book with all these different types of cats in it. I remember a huge fluffy white Persian cat on one page and some Siamese cats on another. My mom would read me that book at night. I started asking my parents for a cat. My mom told me that they were a lot of responsibility and when I turned five she would buy me a cat. They kept their promise and we went to a lady's house who had a litter of cats. I remember them all in her guest bedroom, rambunctious, climbing around, mewing. There was an orange one we looked at for awhile, but my mom said her eyes were too leaky. Then we saw this black and white tabby. We decided to take her home.
I held her on the car ride home in a blanket and she purred. I'll never forget that she purred. My parents let me name her and I picked Ariel because my favorite movie was The Little Mermaid. She became my best companion.
Maybe some people would judge me for being so upset over the loss of a cat, but as an only child sometimes all I had were my toys, my books, and my cat. She was like a sister to me. It hurts to let her go and even a couple days later I still cry while writing this.
The day I got her when I was five.
She died on Wednesday. She was not sick and in fact was very healthy despite her age. She was a lot slower and you could tell her legs sometimes bothered her but she would still play sometimes and ate well. She slept a lot, naps being her second favorite thing in the world, with petting probably taking first. She loved watching birds, flies, and staring out the window. She loved eating grass even though it made her throw up. She loved laying on blankets on the couch or clean laundry or my homework. She loved begging for food and eating turkey, tuna, cheese, and ice cream. I gave her the last of my milk in my cereal bowl every morning before school. She loved water in a dixie cup because it tasted better that way. She loved paper wads and flicking them around the couch and losing them in the cushions. She loved sneaking outside and scratching her back on the cement driveway.
She was a loyal friend, a good blanket, and a comfort. I don't understand life without her. I don't understand it still. I wish I could have been there and it hurts me to sit so far away and not have been there to comfort her. I know my parents took very good care of her and every phone call I made with my mom over these past three years I always asked about Ariel and my mom gave me the latest story about her laziness or demanding some treats or chattering at some birds.
I found out at work this week and it sucks not knowing what to do and having nowhere to cry. I came home and laid in bed all evening. I didn't eat for 30 hours straight, nothing at all. I just couldn't. There was no desire and my stomach was numb.
It was a blessing that she never got sick. She never lost her hearing or her sight or ever had any pain. She had a seizure the day she died. She never had one before and my mom called to tell me after it happened. She seemed to have recovered and was acting okay again. They petted her and she was responsive and moving around again. A few hours later she had several more seizures in quick succession. My dad was getting the carrier ready to take her to the vet and she passed away before they got out the door.
It hurts. I will be okay, just please don't judge me for hurting. I can view this as an outside person, as someone who doesn't know, and understand that I come across as too emotional. But she was part of my family.
Ariel, I hope there is a heaven. I hope there is plenty of grass that won't make you sick and lots of treats and birds and blankets. If I ever see you again I promise to bring paper. I'm sorry I couldn't be there. I miss you so much. I don't want goodbye.
Jason's parents fly into NYC tomorrow for a visit. I get to be a tourist all over again. Or as Jason's mom describes me: a wonderful tour guide with arm motions.
I need to do something about that middle America business. What is there to do in Kansas and Oklahoma? Oh bother.
Oh well, I'm halfway there! But those little splotches in the East are bugging me. Maybe I should rent a ZipCar some weekend. Stupid Delaware/Rhode Island/Maryland. A trip to DC would take care of two of them...hmm.
Back in the city tonight. Back to the hustle and bustle and NYPD tomorrow.
Except that this time when I wake up at 6am it will feel like 3am.
Also, 60 degree weather does not feel so warm anymore. Not after 100's.
Two day work week! Whoop!
Party with the criminalists Friday night in Queens, then Eric's graduation party at a beachside hall in Coney Island on Saturday. Eric's daddy was a big wig CEO of a major NY company so his grad party is probably gonna be redonk -- it's an open bar, for one.
I ganked Laura's conference ID so I could get some time on the interwebs. Now I'm surrounded by psychology nerds. Hooters has free wifi. Might go later.
I found out that my skin has the ability to withstand direct noonday sun in the desert without any sunscreen and not develop any substantial sunburns. ORGAN WIN! I've only been here for a day and a half and I already have a decent tan. Mmm, no more pasty.
Just been relaxing poolside, walking around the city taking pictures, and hanging with the QC gang at night. Good times.
Jason was trashed last night. We assaulted some naked women statues. Mike and Tiffany too.
We made an arrest last night. It's been a month since her murder and not a day has gone by that I have not thought about it. I've had dreams about it.
I'm so proud. I'm so proud of the NYPD and the work we did on this case. It was kept under very tight wraps. Not much got out to the media over these past few weeks, which might have caused people to mistakenly think that the investigation was dead without any good leads. It was quite the opposite, with the PD staying quiet and collecting evidence so we could swoop in at the right moment and not scare away the suspect. I'm so proud of the patience and professionalism of the department. If we didn't have enough evidence to convince the court to keep him in custody then he would be released and could flee back to Ireland.
But he's in custody now. The story is bizarre.
And we have evidence.
I am so ready for this murder trial.
And since some people who read these articles think they know everything about the case and whodunit, please assure your CSI-watching selves that we know the value of probative evidence and what evidence will not qualify as probative in this case. Please, people. We know. Not everything is a goddamn conspiracy.
But for real, this is most fitting Memorial Day weekend news I can think of.
After work I'm off to JFK for a flight to Phoenix.
Haven't left NYC since 2008. Wootfest all around.
So during my lunch hour I decided to take a stroll outside. There's a park across the street from work that I usually go to, but today I decided to check out this old cemetery down the street. The graves are from the 1700's and one of the signers of the Constitution is buried there. It's hella old and awesome.
Anyway, it was super peaceful and sunny and smelled nice. There were pretty flowers and bees buzzing around and a gentle breeze. And then there was this Asian dude. He walked past me on one of the paths and said, "Taking a break from the land of the living?"
"...Uh huh."
So I kept walking. He continued down the path and I saw him looking at gravestones in another part of the cemetery. A little while later I started heading back down the path to get back to work, when he passed me by again. Obviously on purpose. He started talking about these brown gravestones that were really fancy and whatnot. He points them out to me. Uh huh, they're cool.
::silence::
"Wouldn't it be weird to say that you met your wife in a cemetery?"
...
...
My Head: WHAT.THE.FUCK.
My Mouth: Yeah, that would be weird.
::silence::
"You seeing anyone?"
"...Yes."
Then I shit you not, he freaking booked out of there. Not just away from me, but out of the cemetery. He didn't say goodbye, or have a nice day, or even "ok". He just freaking ran away.
Then I had to go back to work and tell everyone that some Asian creeper nearly proposed to me in a cemetery during my lunch hour.
So a little while ago tonight, Remy was roaming around the bedroom and decided to scavenge for some booty, in the form of my oranges. She is insatiable. I guess it's our fault since we're always giving her food (she had a pickle earlier today, among other things.) Anyway, I grabbed the camera and recorded some of the sass. Added some old-school Death Cab for Cutie.
There is also a Remy's Banana video from last year. I would say that she has a penchant for fruit, but really it's for foodstuffs in general.
Hiya. Going beautifully. Staying busy enough, even out of school (ain't that some sh--).
Should update soon. Things to say. Sorta. Like non-important bloggy things.
Hey, flying to Phoenix in less than a week. Woot.
Grandpa had another heart attack. Mom has the flu, of the non-oink variety I'm sure. Grandma has shingles. People in Queens keep getting sick. Seems to be breeding ground for swine flu. Keep shutting down schools, and people on respirators, and mask-wearing subway riders (why is it always the Asians?). Bah, whatevs. That's why I got me leukocytes.
edit
Whoa! Just found out Kate had her baby this morning -- a few hours ago! Even though you'll probably read this way later since you'll be a little, uh, busy. Congrats girl! I can't wait to have kids someday. :)
what lies in the shadow of the statue
HOLY FREAKING LOST!
SEASON FINALE ... INSANE.
There are no words.
Except maybe an omfg plus a squee and can i has my breath back?
Jason and I invited all the Losties we knew to watch it with us at the Lost Bar since I didn't have a chance to go to all season because of Wednesday night classes. I could finally go for the two-hour finale jizz fest last night. Some criminalists from the PD came and some friends from Pace, so I got to merge two groups of friends over some common Lost love. The bar was freaking packed. We won the drinking game so everybody scored some free shots of some wacky jungle juice concoction. There was screaming and gasping and zomging and bouncing and clapping and cheering.
Got home after midnight so I'm running on...oh hell, I don't know. But I really should head off to work now.
I can't believe I have to wait until 2010!! And then it'll be over forever. ::sob::
