michellestar - Woohu.com http://www.woohu.com/~michellestar Woohu / Woohu.com http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620794 I will never ever write about tonight but I need an entry to mark it. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620794 Sun, 28 Feb 2010 01:54:14 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620733 Only been here one day and already took 300 photos. Oh bollocks. Today, wandered the stony beaches of Puget Sound and the pine mountain trails. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620733 Mon, 22 Feb 2010 01:08:32 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620724 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. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620724 Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:34:07 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620716 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. :) http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620716 Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:53:24 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620684 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. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620684 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:48:26 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620650 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. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620650 Sat, 13 Feb 2010 21:13:34 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620613 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. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620613 Wed, 10 Feb 2010 20:35:33 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620594 New episode is on in a bit. Last week for the premiere: They painted the numbers on the outside of the bar. That's commitment. Obligatory MikeFace. Also: nachojizz. Our group - Steve, Christine, Mike, Tiffany, JB, Amanda, Darlene 1, Darlene 2, AJ, Nick, Jason, and me. The bar gave us free Dharma shirts. I don't know why Tiffany's crotch is glowing. Nerds We got there early and scored the leather couch and projector room. Clips I took of the night: http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620594 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:33:17 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620578 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. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620578 Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:57:09 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620562 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. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620562 Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:34:21 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620541 Wow, work. Just wow. 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 http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620541 Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:55:39 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620510 I guess I'll post it here too. 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. Dorkmeat unite! http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620510 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:59:25 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620454 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. :: State of the Union | 27 Jan 2010 http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620454 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 23:44:26 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620396 http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620396 Sun, 24 Jan 2010 01:08:39 EST http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620356 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. http://www.woohu.com/readcomment.php?id=620356 Wed, 20 Jan 2010 20:16:12 EST