::
2010 5 March :: 1.52pm
:: Music: The White Stripes - Little Cream Soda
Well every highway that I go down
Seems to be longer than the last one that I knew about
Oh well
And every girl that I walk around
Seems to be more of an illusion than the last one I found
Oh well
And this old man in front of me wearing canes and ruby rings
And it's like a dang explosion when he sings
And with every chance to set himself on fire,
He just ends up doin' the same thing
Well, each beautiful thing I come across
Tells me to stop moving and shake this riddle off
Oh well
And there was a time when all I wanted
Was my ice cream colder and a little cream soda
Oh well, oh well
And a wooden box and an alley full of rocks
Was all I had to care about
Oh well, oh well, oh well
Now my mind is filled with rubber tires and forest fires
And whether I'm a liar
And lots of other situations
Where I don't know what to do
At which time God screams to me
There's nothing left for me to tell you
Nothing left for me to tell you
Nothing left
Oh well, oh well, oh well, oh well
Oh well, oh well, oh well, oh well
Wee Irish boy crying by the side of the road.
A man asks "What's wrong?"
Boy says "Me Ma is dead"
"Oh bejaysus" the man says "Do you want me to get Father O'Riley ?"
Wee boy replies"No thanks Mister, sex is the last ting on me moi nd roight now."
hello seattle
Haven't had a chance to get my SLR out, so these are all crappy Blackberry photos. Hooray!
Enroute, over Washington state.
Chris, Stashia, and Tryson, our exceedingly gracious hosts. They're giving us their bed (no really, their own bed), one of their cars so I can drive myself to the conference everyday, treated us to dinner, donuts for breakfast, and like every other possible household item I could ever need. Indebted much?
Went to Scuttlebutt last night for some seriously delicious fish and chips.
PS: Your liver must die.
Jason's Scuttlebutt Sampler. Liver necrosis in 3, 2, ...
Sightseeing all day today, this city is very beautiful. Lots of pine trees and their apartment is right on Puget Sound.
storytime
Today during my lunch hour I went to Subway and was sitting there reading my beloved Wired Magazine minding my own business when I noticed a young black teenager maybe about 20 years old asking some people a few tables over for what I assumed was money. I see beggars, drug addicts, and homeless everyday -- I see so many that I'm more or less numb to it. We even have nicknames for the ones we see most often. Anyway, I noticed this kid approaching my direction so I went back to my magazine and hoped he wouldn't bother me. After asking the people at the table in front of me, the man at the table outstretched his arms and blocked the woman from the kid saying something like, "Hey Hey! We're having a conversation here!" Or something like that. At another table, a woman simply shakes her head and turns away. Finally he gets to my table and I get a close up of him. Just like most of the others, mouth crusty white, talks quietly with an earnest tone, always in a hurry, and I can't tell if he needs soap or lotion more urgently. "Miss, can I have a dollar for a donut?" I usually shake my head at these people and they move on. But for some reason because he mentioned the food, and I was sitting there with my loaded turkey sandwich and drink and magazine and a wallet in my pocket I didn't ignore him. I asked him if he was hungry and he said yes. So I told him to go pick out something and I would buy it for him. "Okthankyoumiss". Always in a hurry. He scurried up to the Dunkin Donuts counter (also in the Subway restaurant) and ordered something, I don't even know what it was, a donut or two. I came up and he asked me if he could get something to drink too. Sure. He asked for Hawaiian Punch. It was as if for a second, I only had a child with a sweet tooth. The cashier told him the amount, and he said "She's got it." I paid and he said "Thankyoumiss" and ran off with his donuts and Hawaiian Punch.
Just one of those moments.
Tonight after work Jason and I went to Broadway to see Race with James Spader and David Alan Grier. I really enjoyed it. The first bit of it I had a hard time getting into but I soon was locked in. There was a lot of humor, a lot of swearing, and a good deal of material that made you think about race in our country. It had a good mixture of it all. I only wish it had lasted longer.
I stuck around after the play as I'm prone to do when I go to Broadway. The actors always leave through the stage door and a small (sometimes not-so-small) group of people gather to get pictures, autographs, or watch them hurry into their limo.
And I caught James Spader for a picture. Boston Legal / Secretary spanking scene HOLLAAAAA! So OF COURSE I had to go and make him uncomfortable. He stood a few feet away and I said quietly, "Hey James..."
"Yes?"
::creepy tone:: "Are you married?"
He stuttered...and stammered, and then, "Uh, yeah, no, uh, I have a girlfriend and we have a kid." And I just started laughing, I couldn't help it, because he was just so whaaa. I told Jason that if Spader had said he was single, my next question would have been if he wanted to get a drink. So Jason says to me, so if Spader wasn't in a relationship you would have hooked up with him? Me: Well, I would have called you first and told you not to wait up.
^ I didn't ask David Alan Grier if he was married. Figured I'd embarrass only one celebrity per night. Also note: background creeper.
With that mission accomplished, I ordered a latte and wandered through Times Square for a bit. Freezing and crowded and alive, surrounded by a crowd that never dies, it's one of the most pulsating places on the planet. Oh yeah, and there was this giant heart thing made of ice just chillin there (har har).
While heading for the subway at Rockefeller, I saw a fairly large crowd around another stage door. The play was A View From the Bridge starring Liev Schreiber and Scarlett Johansson. I saw Liev Schreiber amidst a creaming crowd of women and snapped a photo from across the street. He's that blurry guy. No, the other blurry guy.
So now I'm back in Queens, and just spent the last however long packing for the flight out tomorrow. We leave for the airport in, ohhh, 9 hours from now -- Seattle-bound for the American Academy of Forensic Science conference and our Seattle friends we're staying with. I have next week off from work and I think tonight kicked off a pretty damn good start to the vacation.
So excited for some forensic learnin', a new city to explore, and old friends to see. :)
It's been almost a year since the murder. I can't believe it's been that long.
The day is still vivid, the moment I found out it was a homicide, the moment the criminalists on the late shift were told the news, the moment evidence was collected from the room I worked in, the moment the fear set in, it's all there.
This month's issue of Cosmopolitan:
It was in national sources right after the murder, but the media's been pretty quiet about it since. The trial is later this year, so I guess that's why there's an uptick in interest. They love the story, a forensic scientist murdered. It sells, I guess.
It's a strange thing, seeing her in a magazine murder story. Like it's not real, just a repeat of a story I've seen a hundred times: 20-something girl murdered in NYC. Except this time I've seen the girl in the picture animated and alive, and there's a truth behind it all.
There was some filming going on today at a pizzeria a block from my apartment. I don't know if it was film or television but if you're ever flipping channels and see a girl in a shiny blue coat and fur trimmed hood walking past a window behind a couple seated at a table over some pizza, itsa me. :)
The amount of stuff filmed in this city is redonk.
I was at Evidence Control picking up some cases and there is this one cop in the back with this really awful hacking cough. I hear him back there periodically and it sounds pretty horrible. One day I said to another cop, in a joking-type manner, "He should really get that looked at." And the cop replied, "9/11."
And it made me very quiet. Because I forget that I'm surrounded by the guys who were there that day. And that they're still dying because of it.
I was reminded of this moment today because I saw some newly released aerial photos taken from the NYPD helicopter on 9/11. He was the only photographer allowed in the air that day. I can see my school in the photos, with a huge rolling cloud of dust boiling over it. Imagine being in the dorms that morning, sitting in the morning sun reading before class and seeing a cloud of hate rolling toward you. What an awful thing. The rest of the picture is pristine. What a beautiful day and what a horrible contrast it makes.
In other news, snow days don't exist for the NYPD. New York City got dumped on pretty good today. I'm even impressed. Took this from my lab bench today where I do my analysis:
Walking through the snow made me smile. I love the crunch.
Mike made a label for his homemade chili. Pretty much the best thing ever.
Jason REQUIRES a game of Tecmo Superbowl to be played every year at our Superbowl party. I'm amazed that an original NES game looks as good as it does on our 50'' flatscreen. I would have thought the ratios would be all f'ed since this technology didn't exist when NES came out. Kinda cool.
Amanda's cupcakes. Droolfest and sprinklefuck.
Mom bought me those drunk cupmarkers a few years ago.
Quite handy after a few rum n' cokes, indeed.
A perfunctory photo I took showing everyone stuffing their faces and/or staring intently.
As Jason said on FB, probably due to the E*Trade baby.
In the past 21 days, I've worked 18. Three days off in three weeks, including every weekend and a holiday. Overtime pay and comp time in the bank. Ready for our party in a few hours. Thankful for friends. Thankful for laughter.
There are so many things, so many aspects, I could write for a long time. There's good and there's bad. But I'm going to keep it in because that's what I do. It's what I've always done.
I will take it and grow. My only option is to grow. I will find a way someday. I don't know where or how. But I have to make an impact. I have to. I have yet to prove myself. Even I am doubtful.
I hope I live long enough. I hope it's not all taken away.
Do these dreams have any meaning?
No, I think it's more like a ghost
That's been following us both
Something vague that we're not seeing
Something more like a feeling
There’s a dream that I see, I pray it can be
Look cross the land, shake this land
A wish or a command
I dream that I see, don’t kill it, it’s free
You’re just a man, you get what you can
We all do what we can
So we can do just one more thing
We can all be free
Maybe not in words
Maybe not with a look
But with your mind
Listen to me, don’t walk that street
There’s always an end to it
Come and be free, you know who I am
We’re just living people
We won’t have a thing
So we’ve got nothing to lose
We can all be free
Maybe not with words
Maybe not with a look
But with your mind
You’ve got to choose a wish or command
At the turn of the tide, is withering thee
Remember one thing, the dream you can see
Pray to be, shake this land
We all do what we can
So we can do just one more thing
We won’t have a thing
So we’ve got nothing to lose
We can all be free
Maybe not with words
Maybe not with a look
But with your mind
Hydrogen bomb. Time travel. Satan. Smoke Monster. Death by impaling. Body switching. Gunshot. Gunshot. Magic sand. Alternate universe. More Satan. Magic water. Resurrection. Satan.
::
2010 3 February :: 5.25pm
:: Music: Hockey- Song Away
I'd like to let you know I'll always be straight with you/ I stole my personality from an anonymous source/ And I'm getting paid for it too, I don't feel bad about that.
Make me a deal and make it good for me,
I won't get full of myself, cause I can't afford to be.
This is small town music, this is big town music,
He's ahead of his time, you know... but, he can't use it...
If only he could prove it.
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
It's just a song away.
See what your man has done to the world,
See what the world has done to your man.
You know I'm leaving you, you don't need me,
Lovin' you wasn't always so easy.
This is believe me music, this is forget me music,
This is who can love me, you know, this ain't no roxy music.
This is new form music, this is old form music,
This is I paid attention not some makes his prediction music.
Oh, he could let me use it.
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
It's just a song away.
Not wanting to write a truthful song over an eighties groove,
I'd like to let you know I'll always be straight with you.
I stole my personality from an anonymous source,
And I'm getting paid for it too, I don't feel bad about that.
Give me my chance back.
This is on the rise music, this is novelty music,
This is who can blame music, I don't get fooled by it
This is "where'd you go" music, this is "come home" music,
This is down to the wire I'm such a perfect angel music.
Who really tries?
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
It's just a song away.
Ah well,
This is success music, and what's it to ya?
My lawyer always says these are the facts about the future, well....
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
Tomorrow's just a song away, a song away, a song away.
It's just a song away.
Heading to the LOST Bar tomorrow for the premiere. Read: insanity. If there are any New York Losties who want to join the troop of nerds heading out there tomorrow, let me know via Woohu | FB | BBM | YouTube | Gmail, and it'll get to me.
Here's the video I took a few years ago for the Season 4 finale to give people who haven't gone an idea of what it's like there. If you haven't found out who's in the coffin by now then this would be, um, a giant f'ing spoiler.
Thankful that he is my President.
That's all I will say about that.
Unfortunately, too many of our citizens have lost faith that our biggest institutions - our corporations, our media, and yes, our government - still reflect these same values. Each of these institutions are full of honorable men and women doing important work that helps our country prosper. But each time a CEO rewards himself for failure, or a banker puts the rest of us at risk for his own selfish gain, people's doubts grow. Each time lobbyists game the system or politicians tear each other down instead of lifting this country up, we lose faith. The more that TV pundits reduce serious debates into silly arguments, and big issues into sound bites, our citizens turn away.
No wonder there's so much cynicism out there.
No wonder there's so much disappointment.
Found my very first gray hair today.
Mmm, degradation.
I think it's remotely plausible that I've had them before but never known about it because I've been dying my hair since 8th grade, more or less nonstop. Even when it's near my natural color, it's dyed. So I've been finally letting my natural color grow out and POP! There she grows.
For some odd reason, I'm not at all upset about it. I was just sitting on the subway a few days ago looking at someone with salt and pepper hair thinking that it looks nice, kinda distinguished, and that I look forward to having that look someday. Not at 25, but c'mon, it's only a hair.
Anyway, with the rate of madness at work right now, I'll be gray in no time.
Bronx to testify tomorrow? Maybe twice? Or once Friday? This is what I get for offering to pick up a case that no one else would take from Evidence Control. Whatevs, I don't mind. I enjoy sitting on the train with a coffee, going over my casefile. A nice day out of the "office." Those lawyers don't scare me anymore. :)
Did I ever mention the ADA from my previous testimony sent me a really nice letter? The kind you hang over your desk to be a reservoir of smiles.
