::
2008 3 November :: 10.47pm
:: Music: Snow Patrol :: A Hundred Million Suns
My feet are in a hot water bath with bubbles. They're wrinkly.
I didn't end up going to Ricky Gervais this weekend. I was way too tempted to just stay home for one day after 6 days of running around. So I sacrificed my chance to see Ricky. Kinda sucks, but I needed a full day at home.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner called me today (while I was in the NYPD lab) and asked me to come in for an interview for a Criminalist position.
Um, you're a few months shy of on-time.
I do find this amusing though, because I got the call from the NYPD back in June to come in for an interview for a Criminalist position...while I was in the Medical Examiner lab. Cyclical much? I love that word...say it...cyc.lic.al.
But it meant I had to make my first tough career decision today, only two weeks into the job. The position at the OCME was actually a promotion from the position I have now. Higher pay, but essentially the same benefits. I declined the position. It's difficult to rationalize to an outsider, but I think I made the right decision. In terms of my resume credibility, my allegiance to my current employer, and just avoiding all the hassle, I made the right decision. The pay difference is not huge, a few thousand dollars a year. I will be promoted to that position automatically at the NYPD after a year of service. I won't even have to interview for it. I don't want to have to go through that background check mambo jambo again right now. It took forever and was very time consuming -- a commodity I don't have right now.
So at the age of 23 I've already turned down a higher paying position out of principle, and because right now I just like things just the way they are. ::whew:: Let's hope I know what the hell I'm doing, eh?
I got some really awesome news today from some lady at Pace. Two of my photographs are going to be featured in an art gallery. They only chose 15 photographs (I don't know how many they looked at) but two of them are mine. They asked me to submit an artist bio, the title of the work, the equipment I used, and the monetary value for purchasing the photographs.
...um, Hi I'm Michelle. I use a camera. The name of my work is ... Untitled. My photos cost um...will you pay $5? $5 will pay for lunch. kthxbye.
Seriously though, what do they want me to say? They said I can send a resume...I'm wondering what they'll think once they find out I'm a scientist and have nothing to do with this field. It's pretty cool that people can look at my work and buy it if they like it. I don't really expect that to happen though. Maybe I'll make one cost like $500 bucks and some rich shmuck will buy one. Holla!
So tomorrow's the big day... ::ominous music::
I will be rushing to the polls after work but before Sep Chem--right in the heart of the NY rush hour. Yeah, that'll be fun.
halloween
Whew, what a long day Friday was. Started work at 7 am, then went straight to Conan O'Brien. We made it there just in time. The show was really great. It was the only taping we've gone to where we actually got to wait in line inside. Much better than Jon Stewart when we were in the freezing cold outside forever. As far as audience management is concerned, NBC was really organized. I'm going to write a Late Night Show entry sometime soon so I'll compare the show stuff later.
Anyway, I ended up right in the second row so I had a great view. Conan came out before the show to greet us and talk for a few minutes. He stood on the step next to me and shook my hand. Then he asked this other guy to stand up and give him a hug. After Conan hugged him, he looked at Jason and said, "Give him a hug too." So Jason stood up and hugged that random audience guy. Of course at this point Jason decided not to sit back down and instead held out his arms (like a small child) and looked at Conan. So Conan sighed and gave Jason a hug too. Then all three of them...Conan, Jason, and the other audience guy...had a threeway hug.
Freaking great.
Jason and I find it funny that when we met David Duchovny I got a hug and Jason got a handshake, but when we meet Conan O'Brien I get a handshake and Jason gets a hug. I got the better end of that stick. ;)
They don't allow photography in any of these studios but I snuck mine in and took a few shots. I even managed to take a few short videos. The first one is a quick one to show what it's like from the audience. The second video is when Mary Kate Olsen came out on set.
Mary Kate Olsen was really dumb, holy crap. She seems pretty nice though, and kinda shy (surprisingly), but ... dumb. Like she had this beaded string around her head and Conan asked her about it and how she knows how to be fashionable and she was like, "I don't know, I think it's a necklace, I really don't know I just put things on.. ::giggle::"
Oy. She said other forehead smacking things but I need to watch the episode to remember them. The second guest was Will Forte from SNL. I had no idea who he was but he was really amusing actually. The third guest was an Extreme Pumpkin Carver guy. He brought out a bunch of awesome pumpkins he carved. It was really creative ... now mine looks like doody. This was probably the funniest part of the show. This guy uses power tools to carve his pumpkins, so he brought enough for Conan to do some. Watching skinny lanky Conan use those tools was hilarious. I don't know how it looked on TV but I was seriously cracking up. They were slamming down on them with these sledgehammers with faces on them and Conan was screaming and he kept throwing pumpkins around and into walls and cracking them open on the floor. All I could smell was pumpkin. The best power tool was the one he used to scoop out the pumpkin guts. Conan couldn't keep the tool under control and the pumpkin was literally whipping and vibrating all over the place. He made the Pumpkin Carver hold onto him while Conan held onto the tool. It was great stuff. I have the episode on my DVR so I'll watch it to see how it looked on TV. I bet it's funnier in person though.
So that's my Conan O'Brien experience. I was actually on TV earlier that day too. I was walking from the subway to Rockefeller when this news lady with a camera crew stopped me and asked if I had a few minutes. "Uh, ok." (No, not really.) She asked me if I would mind asking a question about the economy...any question at all, that I would like answered by Wall Street. So of course my mind draws a complete blank. I've had lots of questions, but with a mic and camera in my face...nope nadda. Then I look and see what news station station is on her microphone. Fox Business News. Oh lord. Freaking Fox News stopped me. I ended up asking a question (that they kinda told me to ask since I couldn't come up with my own) about renting vs. buying homes in today's economy. She's like, "Okay look into the camera say 'Hi Chris' tell us your name and where you're from, then ask your question." I did as I was told, all the while thinking Who the eff is Chris and why am I asking you a question?. Hey now that I think about it, that's what I should have asked.
So I guess I was probably on the Fox News channel sometime yesterday but I have no idea what show or when or why. Lovely.
After Conan, Jason and I jumped on the subway and quickly got ready and set up the apartment for the party. The costumes were great. Erich, well ... he wins. He just f'ing wins.
He and Kristen came as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, except the roles were reversed. Everyone did a really good job with their costumes. Jason and I splashed blood all over the bathroom tub. It was a big hit...when someone walked into the bathroom for the first time you just heard ahh omg! We also did some blood spatter on Jason to complete his Dexter costume.
We played some Flippy Cup, Erich made the most potent drink I've ever tasted (no joke), and we ate lots of tasty things people brought. Pictures with stories are on Facebook, because that's where the party stuff goes. I especially like the before and after shots of my apartment. :) There's a Conan album too.
And for the record ... As of this writing I have 21 freaking emails from Jason in my Gmail account that are notifications of him commenting and crap on my pictures.Hoooooooooly excessive.
Why do I have the feeling I'll be getting a notification about this entry, Mr. Rockwell? There just better not be 21 of them.... >_>
I got my first paycheck today and I think this is pretty fantastic: I can now finallyyyyy fully support myself in New York City without loans, without parents ... and still have money to save up for vacations/retirement/etc. Oh and I have that free health care plan thing.
Creamy.
Anyway, I have not written a real entry in forever it seems like. Full time work / grad school is kicking my butt. I got out of my Sep Chem lab early tonight (home before 11pm!!!) and am elated to be sitting on my bed without pants.
Jason decorated our apartment today. He did a really cute job, especially considering I didn't even know he was going to do it. Our Halloween party is tomorrow. Jason is dressing up as Dexter (hawt) and I'm dressing up as a naughty referee (because at our age this holiday is really Slutoween). We went to Ricky's to look for costumes last night and the line was out the door to just get inside. Then there was another line to get in their attic where they kept all the sassy costumes.
A long time ago I scored tickets to the Late Show with Conan O'Brien and it happened to be for his Halloween show, so Jason and I are going right from work tomorrow. Woot! So if you're around a tele at 12:35 am tomorrow, turn it on and play Where's Michelle. This is the last late show in NYC that I have not gone to, so I can finally rank them and write an entry about them all. I'm pretty lucky I get to see him before he moves to LA to replace Jay Leno. That will be happening pretty soon I hear. The guest is supposed to be Mary Kate Olsen, however. Oh bother. <_<
Then we have to get back home in time to change into our costumes and set up for the party. Speaking of parties, last weekend was the Pathology Party. It was a rambunctious, eventful evening. The pictures are on Facebook and I'll just leave them there. Here's my totally boss pumpkin I carved though:
This Saturday my friend Jordan is in NYC from Michigan, so we're gonna go out to dinner and maybe play some Wii. We make it a tradition to kick the living hell out of each other on Mario Kart. He says the funniest angry things when we play. Example: "What the hell does this cloud do? Oh it fucks me."
Then Sunday, Ricky Gervais is on Inside the Actor's Studio at my school so I'd really like to go. It all depends how exhausted I am from Conan, the party, and Jordan plus I really need to work on my lab report. So as much as I'd like to go, this plan is tentative for now.
Re: Forensics
Still getting crazy cases at the NYPD. Sodomy, murdered babies...it's all very real. PS: Old blood caked on clothes does not have a pleasant odor. Can't talk about my cases though, I can be general because let's face it--there's more than one sodomy in this city. We did have an arrest in one of my cases though. Another step forward. Another stack of new files in the morning. So it goes.
My weekends are pretty booked in November. I'm looking forward to sitting on my ass some weekend--all weekend--and watching the one million + 1 things on our DVR. We're so behind on House, Boston Legal, Pushing Daisies, Fringe, and other random shows it's not even funny. We'll probably catch up in December and January when I don't have school.
Oh! Speaking of which, Jason successfully passed his predissertation defense this week! One step closer to Dr. Rock. ;)
::
2008 28 October :: 2.06pm
:: Music: Led Zeppelin - Since I Been Loving You
My dad sent this article to me and some of my uncles today:
http://www.ornery.org/essays/warwatch/2008-10-05-1.html
My response: Looking at the recipient list just now, I found myself playing a game of "one of these is not like the other." I do appreciate the opposing viewpoint though. Mr. Card actually had me for a while, up until he started engaging in the same mean-spirited mudslinging and finger-pointing that he accuses our Congress of. To tell you the truth, I'm still boggled we're having this discussion when it comes to our Congress. The Democrats took it over four years ago and have gotten about as much done as the former occupants. It seems, at this point, we should be able to agree on one thing: that the majority of our elected officials are about as effective as the Detroit Lions (please note that this has been the true for both for approximately the same period of time). I can tell you one thing that your favorite bleeding-heart liberal nephew/son believes: he wouldn't have voted for that bailout plan if he was given the chance. God forbid the lenders (and the homeowners, for that matter) take responsibility for getting us into this mess. Then again, this in some way probably highlights my naive ignorance when it comes to macro-economics... I really gotta take a class in that stuff.
I can tell you one (other) thing though, it's never been a better time to be a poor graduate student living in one of the most expensive urban hubs in the U.S. Economic crisis? What economic crisis?
Oh, by the way, you can't give much credence to anything that Orson Scott Card guy says. He writes sci-fi. I read a book he edited about 'Lost.' Seriously. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Scott_Card What, are we going to start looking to Kurt Vonnegut for political viewpoints now? ;-)
I'm grateful for Danner boots. Eleven hours of standing, with maybe three or so to go, helps me appreciate the finer things. Fourteen days straight should cure anyone's romantic illusions about forensic science. I'm thankful too for gloves, the blue ones with no powder, as I examine a bag labeled human tissue to find the number. I must ensure that the number in the bag and the number on the bag equate. As I place the contents in a new bag, my partner twists the top, while someone else seals it with an Office of the Chief Medicial Examiner (OCME) label. In a perfect world, the numbers all match. The item moves down the line as an OCME investigator writes in a notebook, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer signs a pink form, and a Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) officer repeats the process, making photocopies. And so it goes for 12 straight hours. When we wear out, the night shift plugs in -- 24/7, with no end in sight. This is life in the forensic factory, invisibly toiling for a grieving public which is quietly being served. If the Danner company ever made something to comfort the human mind, I'd be the first to buy it. At least my feet feel good even when the numbers fail us. Even if the numbers always matched, in a perfect world, we wouldn't be doing this in the first place.
Got to talk with Brooklyn SVU today. Making my first calls to detectives. I'm assigned to rape cases in the Trace unit for now. Probably transfer to Controlled Substances in January for my 6 months of training.
Saturday is the big Movie Night party I planned for my Pathology class. I made up fliers and everything, passed them out at school the last two weeks. I hope we all fit in my apartment. My professor gave me an apple pie to have at the party. Super nice, n'est-ce pas?
Jason and I have mucho shopping and cleaning to do. But really I could just sleep for two days.
I was talking to a student today who has shown up for only a handful of classes this semester and who is serious jeopardy of not passing if they choose to stick with the class as opposed to withdrawing. I felt like I was taking an empathic, but firm, stance on their performance thus far in the class. Then, after the student left, the instructor after me remarked about how nice I was to the student, and that she is a lot tougher/meaner in those situations. Normally, I would have felt discouraged by that, but I'm finally to a point to where I'm comfortable enough in that it just felt more ironic than anything else. It's true, though... except in very rare cases where they really piss me off, I don't know how to be an asshole. I blame my upbringing for my inability to be a true sonuvabitch while in a position of authority. On the other side, I've been on the other side on the coin for most of my life, and I know, or at least believe, that management by intimidation and outright dick-age doesn't work that well either. Where's that thin line between democratic, authoritarian, and outright pushover? I'm still learning. I guess we all are.
Another question: Where's that line between resolute and stubborn? I've always believed in upholding your values, whatever they may be, but when it comes at the cost of everything else, when do you just give in, mostly because that thing just doesn't matter to you enough to get all bend out of shape over? I know I'm sounding overly dramatic, and it's not meant to be. Once again, this is just me evaluating my own behavior, trying to strike that perfect balance. Funny me, I keep thinking an evenhanded temperament is the true key to an utopian society.
In any event, my stomach is screaming at me. Time to feed the beast.
P.S. The titles for the first six episodes of Season 5 are out, and are as tantalizing as usual. Check them out behind the cut. And if you don't know what show I'm talking about, maybe you should take another look at my journal background.
Brooklyn -- you got some sickos. As in, wear some freaking metal underwear if you go out alone at night.
By some amazing stroke of luck, my apartment is in the precinct with the lowest crime rate in NYC. (!!) Queens is where it's at, son.
When I read the Metro on the way to work every morning, I see my own cases in the newspaper.
There's nothing quite like sitting next to a drunk Mexican on my way home. I think a spectrograph of his sweat would show that a large preponderance of it is ethanol. Aka, you reek dude.
Le tired.
Gonna watch some tele with Jason then go fetal.
Ah hahahaha! slob on my knob
Best. fellatio euphemism. ever.
I just finished the house-cleaning of my Gmail account that's been ongoing for a little while now.
I now have a mere 66 total messages, which has to be an all-time low since I started teaching.
Meanwhile, I have 462 messages in my trash...
day five
I left home at 6:30am this morning.
Worked at the crime lab for 8 hours.
Traveled one hour to lower Manhattan.
Had 5 hours of night classes: Pathology & Professional Issues (aka death on a stick)
Traveled one hour home.
Walked back in the door at 10:30pm.
Wash rinse repeat.
>_<
I've been trying to sort out my health care plan and pension plan. These grown up things are confusing.
Tomorrow is the Sep Chem exam of dooooooooooom. I have never managed to be a procrastinator my entire life, and I'm thanking myself immensely for it right now. I'm way too exhausted to study. Still makes me want to die though.
Interesting subway experience today. There's always people doing strange things for money down there but today I saw this guy roll in from the next car with a cart covered in red velvet and gold tassels. I'm dozing off listening to my iPod, but I heard him roll past me. He goes to the middle of the car, toots some weird horn thing, then starts doing magic tricks. This isn't really the weird part because I've seen magicians on the subways before, usually doing card and ball type acts. But this guy, he pulls a freaking live white dove out of a hat. Then this giant full grown rabbit pops out of a box, it's nose going a mile a minute. You should have seen that poor rabbit's face.
omgloudnoises
Basically.
So I guess that's the first time I can say I've seen rabbits and birds pop out of hats in a tunnel underneath NY. He made some decent money too.
I find it amazing that if I go in the hallway of our apartment and walk down all the way to the other end of the building (approximately 50 feet), I can still clearly hear my iTunes playing. And yet, we've never received a complaint about the noise. For that reason alone, I'm not sure I ever want to move.
I want to ask you
Do you ever sit and wonder
It's so strange
That we could be together for so long
And never know, never care
What goes on in the other one's head
Things I've felt but I never said
You said things that I never said
So I'll say something that I should have said long ago
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
(At all...)
You could have just propped me up on the table like a mannequin
Or a cardboard stand up and paint me (paint me anything)
Any face that you wanted me to be
See, we're damned by the existential moment
Where we saw the couple in the coma
And it was we who were the cliche
But we carried on anyway
So sure I can just close my eyes
Yeah, sure, trace and memorize
But can you go back once you know?
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
(At all...)
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
You don't know me
You don't know me
If I'm the person that you think I am (Ahh....)
Clueless chump you seem to think I am (Ahh...)
So easily led astray, an errant dog who occasionally escapes and needs a shorter leash then
Why the fuck would you want me back?
Maybe it's because...
You don't know me at all
(Ahhhh, ahh...)
You don't know me, you don't know me
(Ahhhh, ahh...)
So what I'm trying to say is
What I'm trying to tell you is not going to come out like I want to say it
Cause I know you'll only change it
Say it
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
(At all...)
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
You don't know me
You don't know me at all
(At all!)
for steve
I promised my friend Steve I would upload this video this weekend. It's yet another testament to my love for secretly filming people. For those who don't know, Steve is our quirky friend with some autistic tendencies and he's an ... um ... avid Michigan fan. Do not doubt his obsession. You will lose. We've been friends since we dormed in First Fox at WMU and lived in an apartment together my sophomore year. He moved to NY before we did to become a German accountant and help me with my taxes every April. ^_^
Later that day, Steve, Jason, and I accomplished an epic feat. We were playing Super Smash Bros Brawl on the Wii when we decided to see what the longest brawl could be (other than infinity). It was 99 minutes. So we took it on.
My thumbs were sore, my eyes glazed over, and my mouth parched, but we made it damn it -- all 99 minutes. I hereby dub thee the Greatest Brawl Match Evar!
(Jason won.)
(Jerk.)
Steve and I were both Kirby's. Have you ever listened to Kirby scream for 99 minutes straight? I have. Times two.
day four
Worked my first overtime. Mmm, accruing vacation time.
I was moved to the trace unit. My new supervisor is awesome. He showed me around the gym downstairs. I will be using it, but I'm kicking myself for investing in the gym down the block from my apartment. I bought the membership this summer before the whole PD thing. Whoops. Too late now.
He's really really nice and changed my tour of duty from 0800--1600 to 0700--1500 on Mondays and Wednesday so I can make it to my Pathology class on time. My previous supervisor wouldn't do that for me. I'm lucky I got moved. In case people are like wtf, why is it called "tour of duty"? It's because the NYPD is considered a paramilitary operation. We have a rank of command and refer to each other by rank when we want to be proper. (My official title is Criminalist DeMerse.) I don't know, I didn't make the rules. The time is military and when we clock in and out we use specific codes like EOT: End of Tour and PFD: Prepared For Duty. It's all very formal. Kinda strange.
Well Jason is currently yelling at me via Google Chat to, I quote:
get that cute butt in motion ... i want snausages
end quote.
We're going to the Beer Garden tonight with the Queens gang. It is what it sounds like, an outdoor garden with lots and lots of beer pitchers plus sausages and other German food. All Jason can talk about is these freaking sausages so I should go.
::
2008 16 October :: 2.34pm
:: Music: Sons and Daughters
To everyone who will never see this:
(This isn't about you. If you think it's about you, it's not. It's about a certain vous.)
Not everyone's religion is your religion. You can't just push your views on me and I can't just push my views on you.
I believe in God. But my god seems to be a little nicer than your god. And if that makes me wrong, or a heathen or whatever, I don't care. I'm living in a happy, nice world with a happy, nice God who loves everyone, where free will means free happiness and where people are happy and love each other. If that's not a world you like, that's fine because it's my world. And I'm happy here.
I just don't understand why anyone would want people to not be happy.
I don't understand how what you do makes you happy. Does judging others make you feel better? Does alienating your friends and family make you happy? If it does, then that's fine. I'd only ever want you to be happy. But if it doesn't? Why do you keep doing it?
I would also like to thank my multitude of well-wishers on Facebook these past few days regarding the NYPD. Your words bring smiles and your warmth is surely welcome.
Prediction: I think McCain will be declared the winner of tonight's debate. I will have to wait and see tomorrow though.
Don't worry my 95% liberal friends, I'm not flip flopping on my previous voting choice but I will say that McCain said a lot of things tonight that I do agree with. Yet another reminder to myself that this battle within is never quite resolved. I really can't emphasize enough that people need to listen to the candidates for what they're saying, not for the labels we place upon them. We write people off too quickly sometimes.
To the McCain campaign: You would have had a good chance of getting my vote if it wasn't for your VP pick. I cannot and will not accept that.
To Obama: I believe in your vision of this country and I'm willing to give you that chance. I don't like your VP pick very much either, but it's better than Palin. I am hesitant at times over your sometimes repetitive and overly-simplistic answers -- and this comes from someone who thinks it's best to keep things simple.
I know it seems that I can be hard on Obama at times, but I've always tended to be hardest on my own, no matter what we may be referring to. A testament to this is how hard I can be on myself. I think more people need to be responsible for keeping themselves in line. Unfortunately this is not the case, as can be seen with all the blind republicans and democrats out there spewing hate for reasons they don't understand.
A moderate I will remain.
And yes, I wholeheartedly believe that is the most human place to be.
day two
awesomeness. everywhere.
i've never been so geeked to get up at 6am.
i probably won't be saying that after a week ... heh.
But for now, I'm eating CheeBurger CheeBurger (omgdeliciouslove) and an oreo mint cookie dough shake. And watching Fringe. (omgnerdysci-fi-love) then watching the last presidential debate.
PS: My train schedule is nuts. I end up making a ginormous triangle, from Jamaica to Lower Manhattan to Forest Hills. The J train has spectacular views of Manhattan though. I crossed the East River at sunset and it was golden. My love for this city will never cease. I will take a video someday. Promises.
day one
I officially have a salary, health insurance, life insurance, a fancy NYPD badge, and was sworn in today at headquarters to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I am now part of the largest municipal police department in the entire world -- there are 53,000 employees.
We serve and protect the five boroughs of New York City -- a population of 8 million people and an area consisting of over 319 square miles.
Of which there is one crime lab.
Today is a memory I will carry always.
I have lots of things I want to blog about, but everything is happening quickly these days. I just want to say that I love the people I know. That about sums up everything I wish I had time to blather about. Here's to the Forensic gang, Pathology, the Grommet boys, and of course my dear Jason.
Off to class now. Starving and still feeling guilty for spending money. I think this will take some getting used to.
Note: Today is exactly 3 years and one day since I got my tattoo. It has a significance that I cannot ignore.
Ok, yes I never go on here anymore, but to be fair, I really am not on the internet that much because I still have the computer i started college with and it is...tired.
Here Are my comments on the last couple entries by my Miche;;e though...
CONGRATS ON THE JOB I LOVE YOU.
You saw Jenny Lewis? *jealous* I am so into Rilo Kiley right now and I really like her new Cd too.
As for the whole HArry Potter thing, I could take it or leave it. I like the world of HP as a whole. The guy who plays him is sorta whatev.
I do want to come visit, but right now I am having trouble paying y bills...I guess that means I should ge a real job, but I have no idea what i want to do so I am havign a tough time. I have a really great support sysem here though, so I am optimistic.
I am sorry I suck at woohu, but here is my entry. Enjoy.
