Heartbroken

I read stories like these and I’m heartbroken by the endless chaos and lawlessness. Year after year rule of law, prosperity and hope for a better future go out the window. What happened to the first independent black republic in the world? 200 years of independence and what? I’m heartbroken because I miss it, the summers with my grandmother, the visits with my relatives, discovering my family history with every trip. The carefree summers spent rocking on my grandmother’s front porch drinking “limonade” and all the Avocados and fried plantains I can eat. Weekends at the beach and week nights visiting all the cousins.

It’s been 5 years since my last trip to attend my grandmother’s funeral. Her death, the destruction of the country at the hands of bandits disguised as politicians have made me reluctant to return. The chaos and lawlessness have run 90% of my family out to new lives in the US and Canada. There’s nothing left but the memories and I miss it so much. Will I be able to visit with my children one day? Not just show them pictures or tell them stories but show them where I spent the majority of my summers as a child.

Abidjan!

My old officemate and I used to randomly shout out Abidjan! (Capital of Ivory Coast) because of the song below. It used to crack us up that these French and Ivorian artists were representing their city like folks represent Brooklyn. What I love about this video are the two immigrant groups from different backgrounds coming together due to their love of music and their immigrant status and lives in ("Les Banlieue", Where a lot of the projects are) France.

It was our similar tastes in music that had us closing our office door if we were working late and just jamming to everything from Salsa to French hip hop and R'nb. I tuned her into this new Rai'nb mix coming out of France which took traditional Algerian Rai music and combined hip hop and R'nb rythms. To say American music has a big influence all over the world is an understatment. I was surfing on you tube and decided to play this video because it reminds me of my friend and old officemate whom I miss terribly. She moved to Morocco to be closer to her family and I can't wait until I figure out a way to visit her without breaking the bank.

Friendship

How many of us have them. I’ve been thinking about friends and friendships a lot lately and no wonder since it’s all over the internet and on everyone’s blogs. Falling out also seems to be a regular occurrence both in real life and in the blog world.

I don’t think I’ve been mad enough at a true friend to have a falling out with them but I have had a true friend stop speaking to me several times because of something she felt I did to her. She stops speaking to me at least once every two years and when she lived in DC it was at least once every six months I often wonder why she even bothers to continue the friendship. She’s also next level with the drama so I sometimes try to stay clear since I try to lead a drama free life. I’ve had friendships that over time have dwindled only to be re ignited once both or one of us decides to reach out to the other on a regular basis.

Sometimes distance is especially hard and if both people don’t put in the effort to keep in touch and update then it will just slide. I have a friend who lives in Las Vegas who isn’t an oldest and dearest friend from grade school but is one I made about 5 years ago. We hung out and spoke often when she lived in DC but now that she moved our friendship has continued but on an every other month catch up session. I actually have a few friends from H.S and college who I don’t speak to every day or even every week but still consider good friends and know if I needed something they’d do what they could for me. Sometimes we loose touch with people because we’ve outgrown each other or no longer have enough in common to sustain a true friendship. I was talking to a friend on IM tonight and she asked about a mutual friend that she no longer talks to. She said something to me that made me pause and think for a moment, “sometimes I think friends go through so much together there is nowhere to go but apart. Sometime you find your way back sometimes you don’t.” That and other aspects of our conversation reminded me that sometimes the level of friendship you have with someone in your mind and with your actions isn’t the one they have with you.

I’ve been thinking about my best friend from HS lately. I haven’t spoken to her in almost 9 years and lately I’ve wondered what she’s up to. If she’s married, has a child, if her family still lives in the same place. I can’t think of what really drew us apart except to say we grew apart; maybe a different out look on life and different directions. I’ve been thinking about calling her for the last six months but haven’t made an effort to. I think I still know her number by heart; I called it almost every day for the four years that we were in HS together.

Edit: I just called my friend from HS and she was so excited to hear from me. Just like I have, she's been thinking about me on and off for the last 9 years. She still lives in the same apartment and has the same phone number that I remember from HS (NYC's never move I swear!) lol! We're meeting for lunch next week when I go up for the holidays.

Thank You Jesus

God looks out for babies and fools right? Well god was looking out for this fool, Moi. Thursday evening I head home and of course traffic in Tyson’s is out of control so instead of the usual 40 minutes it took an hour and when traffic cleared up I was flying. Flying through a yellow/red light right in front of a capital police officer and since they’ve been given new powers to police DC along the Capital Hill area I was pulled over. The officer gave me a lecture about running yellow lights and gave me a warning. No points, no $75 dollar ticket.

Friday afternoon I left work early, braced the crazy winds and made a right turn slightly ahead of a guy who was gunning to make a left turn into the lane next to me. Right in front of me he lost control of his car and hit an oncoming car head on. I was a little bit freaked out but glad he was able to get out the car and it looked like the person he hit was also ok. Their cars however, not so great.

Saturday, a friend and I were driving along GW Parkway on our way to the Leesburg outlets and as I’m telling her about my Friday night metro adventure a deer runs out of the woods right in front of my car. I managed to break, not swerve into another lane and only appeared to have clipped the deer because he was able to run off. To say I was freaked out would have been an understatement.

Soooo Excited

Today I bought a garlic press. Yes, I know finally! j/k I’ve been eyeing this garlic press thing for a while now ever since I saw Dave use one on Food Network. This cooking thing has become my newest hobby and I forgot how expensive hobbies can become. That garlic press was $15 bucks! Then they’re the cookbooks, the spices that aren’t already in my cupboard and extra ingredients that I don’t buy on a regular basis just to try new recipes but it’s all worth it IF the dish turns out ok. My mom always asks me what I want for my birthday or for Christmas and I usually ask for a gift card from Banana, but this year I received pottery barn dishes for my birthday and for Christmas I’ve asked for a cooking class. I can’t wait until this Spring when they’re back in session.

Not only am now into reading and buying all sorts of cookbooks but I’m also glued to cooking reality shows. Top Chef is my show, so much so that it now comes before Law and Order on my TV viewing line up and that says a lot since 99% of what I watch on TV is L&O. Last Wednesday when I went to my dad’s for Thanksgiving I expected to get my Top Chef view age on but low and behold the good people at Time Warner decided that Chapel Hill wasn’t worthy of having Bravo on their TV line up but instead they got the Inspirational channel. Hmmm channel geared toward Gay men or an Inspirational Channel. Since I have a bunch of prayers out there for some friends going through a tough time, I’m going to refrain from saying out loud or writing on here what I think about that. I was a little pissed that the next town over which was literally two blocks from my dad’s place had Bravo on their line up. Either way, thanks to the miracle of Tivo I was able to catch up.

Monnie posted a few of her favorite Thanksgiving recipes and her “Southern Comfort Cake” caught my eye. Here’s a picture of my version. It was GOOD, slap your mama good!

La Reina

Celia Cruz is/was the Queen of Salsa and after listening to most of her last CD on the road this weekend I've come to the conclusion that if I could go back in time I'd be her back up singer. I can't sing, nor do I speak Spanish other then the usual 5 phrases you should know if you're in a Spanish speaking country but I'd have figured it out. Celia Cruz was amazing and had an amazing career, I'm just sad that I didn't discover her music until after she passed away.



So if anyone reading this saw a crazy looking chick in a silver civic on 95, it was the drums. They made me do it.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is enjoying a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!

Anonymous Request

A certain Anonymous Fly by night commentor said: "One liner: Show me the cats!". Well here you go. A day in the life of Pierre and Olivier.



Here Olivier is doing what he does best, beg for wet food. This meowling happens daily once at 7:00 AM and again in the evenings when I get home.


When he's not chasing his brother around the house at 2 in the morning Pierre passes his time getting ready for his evening job.


Apparently the light coming into the living room was too much for Olivier and he couldn't find his nap time eye mask.

Clearly all that fur doesn't help keep them warm so they have to snuggle up during the winter.

I HATE DELTA

My mom and I are heading to Europe for Christmas and we booked direct round trip flights from JFK to Brussels. I'm a loyal United customer because I have so many miles with them but they wanted an arm and a kidney for a flight from DC to Brussels so I thought hey it would be fun to go up to NYC for a few days hang out and then fly with my mom since the ticket from NYC only cost one arm. Best laid plans and all that jazz....

I just received an email from Delta saying they are sorry for the inconvenience but on New Years Day when we leave we're now flying directly to ATL then on to JFK. They suddenly canceled the direct flight from Brussels to JFK for that day. WTF?!?!? How much sense does that make for me to fly over NY only to go back to NY a few hours later then I eventually have to get back to DC a few days later, so I'm flying over two place I need to be. Oh and the customer service chick I spoke to who said there's nothing they could do and couldn't compensate me in anyway. Fuck you, die bitch.

How's that for being honest.

Not so Honest

I just finished reading Diva (in Demand)’s post where she has one liners about how she really feels about people in her life and started thinking about my own honest assessments of people around me. Despite the moniker, I’m not as Honest as I’d like to think. I hold my tongue a lot because I’m generally non confrontational and nice with people I know. I’ve had a former manager at work describe me as someone who is straightforward, honest, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I agree with her assessment to a certain extent but I’m not always straightforward or honest. There are a lot of things I hold back on because I don’t want to be confrontational or hurt someone’s feelings. It’s also because I can be judgmental (90% of which I keep to myself) because as I get older, I realize we don’t all have the same thought process nor do we need to.

A friend of mine just asked me for a personal favor that would have included lending her money until pay day. Except with my family, I have a policy of only lending what I can afford to give away. I felt very awkward telling her I don’t feel comfortable doing that and although I know she’s disappointed she says she understands my decision. I’m not sure why I felt uncomfortable saying no, which is another problem I have. My friend expressed that she would never put me in a bad financial situation and I believe her but in the back of my mind I thought, she succeed in putting herself in a bad situation financially so why can’t she clear up whatever issue it is that’s keeping her from buying something outright or with her own credit card unless its an emergency (this situation wasn’t an emergency). This is where I should have stepped in and told her what I just wrote but I stopped because I didn’t want to sound too judgmental (which I can be when it comes to finances) and if she made the decision to ask me for this favor then she’s probably justified the expense in her mind and nothing I would say would make her budge.

Everywhere around me I have friends and associates who don’t have the same ideas regarding sacrificing to reach an end goal that I do. In fact my mother would say I don’t have the same idea that she does and I consider her the ultimate sacrificer (is that even a word?). During our retreat we had a friend’s husband come in and do a basic financial planning exercise. If we called bad financial planning and decisions a disease I could honestly say a majority of the group is dying from bad decisions. Will anyone make the changes they said they would to get on the right path to their goal? Maybe. I’d like to think I have sound, fool proof financial habits but in reality I don’t. I sat down with a financial planner earlier this year after forking over big bucks and have a clear goal I need to strive for but find myself constantly tripping over my own feet. I’m trying an experiment as of December 1 (not including xmas presents which will have its separate budget) and I’ll see how successful I am.

Dear Blog,

I apologize for neglecting you over the last week and a half. I’ve been crazy busy with the Armenians who were in town but that’s not an excuse because I’ve been busy before and had no problem blogging. I’m not sure if I’m going through writers block or if I’m suffering from topic withdrawal. Life is good but I just haven't had anything really exciting to blog about lately.

This weekend I made my first Indian meal and it wasn’t too bad. As my own critic I thought the Ginger Chicken Kebabs I made were tasty but the Dal (Lentils/split peas) were ok. There was something missing and I can’t put my finger on it yet. I figure I’ll have to make it again this week and step it up regarding flavor. I made enough for dinner on Saturday and for my book club meeting tonight where only the Hostess and another of our friends showed up. Everyone who said they’d attend suddenly had other pressing issues to deal with. I’ll have to rethink my food choices next time I host it since I have so much food left over that I’m going to have to work hard to eat so it won’t go to waste. Maybe I’ll make those stuffed mushrooms I’d planned on making for lunch this week.

Saturday was such a gloriously fabulous day and I was able to spend a few hours outside, volunteering for the Washington Humane Society’s remote adoption unit. Basically we sat outside of a pet store in DC and let the dog’s cuteness attract potential adopters. I took the dog I was in charge of for a walk and managed to get a few people who were eating outside at the local restaurants to come check our booth out.


Thank god the elections are over, I’m so sick and tired of those attacking political ads that only lessen my faith in our country’s political system. No one talks about the issues anymore just about something the other candidate said out of context 20 years ago. I can’t imagine that the people of the DC/MD/VA metropolitan area approve of these tactics and we all need to stand together to get them to STOP! Luckily for me I live in DC and not MD otherwise I would have been bombarded by phone calls as well.

Remember a few months ago when I blogged about cheating on my hairdresser with a new person and a new salon? Well it’s been a blessing and a curse. The new place is great, I make an appointment and I’m usually seated in the stylist’s chair within 10 to 15 minutes of my appointment time. Now the curse is that I’m not used to going to a person who actually honors appointments so I’m not used to making appointments way in advance when I know the hairdressers I usually go to will take in most folks first come, first serve. So when I called yesterday to make an appointment with the stylist I’ve been going to at the new shop I learned that she’s booked until the 24th. At this place there’s no such thing as squeezing someone in unless there’s a cancellation. I guess I’ll have to schedule my appointments well in advance from now on.

America, America!

Have you ever driven or walked down a street in your town and looked at it through the eyes of a visitor? I’m doing that this week and DC looks a lot different to me; crisper, cleaner even. One of my colleagues from Arme.nia is here with a delegation of officials and since this is her first trip to the U.S. I asked her what she thought and her initial response was that it was surreal almost like a movie.

As I drive around DC I look around and see my adopted city through the eyes of my colleague and realize how great it is here. As I compare it to her home town it just reinforces what I sometimes forget when being bombarded by trivial political ads that don’t address the issues, when I realize that our politicians are spending our hard earned tax dollars on a lost cause. I realize that despite our issues we live in a great country.

Boo Boo the Fool

It’s amazing what some folks will do so they can take advantage of others. A friend of mine recently took a group trip to Jamaica and spent the majority of her time at the all inclusive resort. One night the group had tickets to a party off the resort and she met a Jamaican guy who happened to live in NYC. They chatted, danced and hit it off so they exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch once they returned to the US.

Upon returning to the US, my friend discovers that her uncle recently passed away and headed to his funeral. While she was away she received a call from the gentlemen she met in Jamaica. He’d wanted to see how she was and also let her know that he’d been mugged and lost his wallet, ID, credit cards and money. They conversed a bit more before he asked if she could send him some money and that he’d pay her back the moment he returned to NY. She told him she wasn’t able to and asked why he couldn’t ask his relatives since he was staying with them. He had an answer for that. A week or so later he calls her again this time he’s in NY and asked while they chatted if she could send him some money since he was having trouble getting to the bank since it was far and he didn't have any money to take a cab. When she asked why he couldn’t ask his friends there he stated that he doesn’t want to ask anyone for anything. Her response: “but you’re asking me”.

This is a man she met for about 30 minutes in a club and he felt comfortable enough to make her a target for his scheme. I don’t know this guy but all this is a straight up scheme and I’m assuming it’s worked for him before because I honestly can’t imagine a stranger having the nerve to ask my friend for money. You don’t know her, but there’s nothing about her that reads “boo boo the fool”

La Patte

Sain Supa Crew love 'em.

Jury Duty

I was summoned for Jury Duty sometime in August and postponed it for last Thursday. I figured the scenario would be the same as the last time I was “summoned”. I’d go down and they’d dismiss me in time for Oprah. I guess my juror number came up because I was the first person called and I was picked for to be the juror on a criminal case. Maybe I should play my juror number, who knows I might win a few dollars or a few million. Either way I learned a few things on Jury Duty, one of them is that the D.C. Courts need to revamp its system. The second is that even though I haven’t ridden a DC bus in years, toothless people and folks with jaundice still ride the bus. Clearly they haven’t given their liver a rest in ages. The courthouse is full of unsavory looking characters who smoke New Ports, and talk about their probation issues and getting clean before the urine test.

First it’s enough that you have to get there all “early 8AM” and shyt but there are NO snacks and they don’t give you bottled water. They have a few dial up lines in the business lounge but no wireless internet anywhere in the court house. I was a bit flabbergasted, are we not at the end of 2006? This seemed unacceptable, and I’m sending Fenty an email. I’ve heard that jurors in other cities are at least given a few basic necessities.

I knew the actual trial wasn’t going to be anything like it is on Law & Order or other TV shows but I was really disappointed by how slow the attorneys were. I felt like objecting a few times when the defense attorney kept repeating the same question, 10 different ways. More then 3 minutes of silence while you read your notes seems a bit much. I think both attorneys spent more time doing bench conferences with the judge then they did actually questioning witnesses or giving their opening statements. I can’t imagine having the task of prosecuting someone for a crime or defending them and my performance or lack there of, having a major outcome in their lives.

I did have a great time trying to figure out during the bench conferences what celebrities folks looked like and have decided that the prosecutor has a Pinocchio Nose, the first Detective to testify looked like a female Jaime Foxx and the Marshall assigned to the courtroom had a Steve Harvey hair cut.

Although I wasn’t happy getting picked, I did experience something new and did my civic duty.

Crack in a Bag

Yes, my friends this is crack in a bag. When I went up to NYC last weekend my mom had two bags on the kitchen counter. I finished one in 5 minutes and the other in the car on my way back to D.C. This is seriously crack in a bag and although I don’t promote addiction, if you have an opportunity try one or two. The only thing that may suffer is your waist line.

Rockland Drama Part 2

STOP

If you haven’t read part 1 then check it out here before reading this post.

For those who read part 1, here is the background story:

The mother of the bride asked her daughter, to ask the father of the bride to tell his wife that she was not welcome at the wedding. The mother of the bride gave these instructions the day before the wedding. The Stepmother’s son was a groomsmen in the wedding, she helped (via her husbands money, because his money is also her money, pay for the wedding), when my mom and another friend asked the Stepmother if she was going to the wedding back in July she said yes of course, I’m buying a new dress and everything.

27 years ago, the father of the bride met the stepmother at her cousin’s house when she just arrived in the US, they fell in love. He knew he was married and had a one year old daughter and stepson at home, she knew he was married and had a one year old daughter and stepson at home. He announced to his wife that he was leaving, divorced the ex wife and married the new wife. The ex wife just lost husband number two to divorce and was livid. So livid that my mom, when asked just shakes her head and says it was such a messy, messy divorce.

The father of the bride made sure he was as involved in his daughter’s life as much as he could with every other weekends and two weeks during the summer. In fact growing up I resented my father and his actions after my parents divorced because I had a daily example of what it really meant to be a father who doesn’t live with his child (the father of the bride and stepmother live in the building I grew up in). According to the grown folks (my mom and her friends) the stepmother didn’t try to raise the stepdaughter and kept her distance when she visited. Growing up the daughter and the stepdaughter had a bearable relationship but not a close one.

On the wedding day the father of the bride was sad and at first I thought it was because he was about to give away his only daughter until I realized that his wife of 27 years was not in attendance.

Now that you’ve received more details (albeit third hand) does this change the answer you gave in Part 1?

Rockland Drama Part 1

I went to a beautiful wedding in Rockland county (upstate NY) this weekend and am a bit bummed that I didn’t have time to call some NYC bloggers or even see one of my best friends. I’ve learned a few lessons this weekend though, one of which is to read driving directions very carefully. However, on a good note, we ended up on the scenic route to the wedding.

Unfortunately the weekend wasn’t as tranquil as the surroundings would lead one to believe. Without going into details at this time, what would you do if your ex husband’s wife planned on going to your daughter’s wedding. Would you ask her not to attend?

I’ll wait a day for some answers before posting the behind the scenes story.

What To Do?

I’ve been chanting “better countries” for the last year regarding my work assignments. There are better countries out there waiting for a competent project manager among my team’s portfolio. Unfortunately those projects aren’t under my bosses’ leadership and around here folks have to look out for their own sub team members first, so I have a choice to make. Say no to an opportunity in Kiev and take my changes with not being 100% billable or say yes to Kiev and grumble with secured billability and employment. Kiev isn’t too far from Yerevan so maybe that would work.

At least the Kiev opportunity doesn’t start until the new year so I can hold on to my “no more work travel for ’06” stance.

Did You Know

Did you know that Kung Fu moves were based on the Praying Mantis’ fighting moves? That Lions will kill the cubs of a pride once they’ve taken over the pride because the Lionesses won’t be ready to mate if they have young cubs. That left alone without human contact dogs will revert into pack form.

That I’m suddenly more obsessed with Grey’s Anatomy then I was last season. I watched most of the second season but never saw the first season, which I watched in its entirety this weekend. I’ve put the episodes of Season 2 that I missed on my net flick list and my TIVO is holding episode 1 of season 3. I can’t wait to get home on Friday, have some take out Ethiopian and watch it. I’m so obsessed and anxious for more that I’m watching clips from season 2 on youtube. Isn’t that website great, just nifty.

That my taste buds have changed since I was a kid. I know most adults go through this, but I’m finally analyzing how different my taste buds are now. For example, today I shared a mixed salad plate with a colleague and ate raw cabbage. When I was a kid I never went anywhere near cabbage, cooked or raw. Now I’m even using it in meals I make at home. Spinach is another vegetable I never ate as a child. Now, I absolutely love, love spinach; sautéed with garlic and I’m in heaven. I didn’t start eating spinach until about 10 years ago. My mom never forced me to eat something I didn’t like so I’m gradually re discovering foods that I didn’t like as a child and this re discovery period called adulthood is excellent. I still hate carrots though. I wish I didn’t, because everyone says they’re a great snack but I can’t knowingly eat something that tastes like poison to me.

That I’ve always wanted to hug a monkey, well a Chimp to be precise. I watch all these animal planet shows where the zookeepers are hugging and playing with Chimps and I want too also. I don’t know why but I’ve always been fascinated with hugging cuddly looking animals. This is me after elbowing little kids out of the way at the San Diego Petting Zoo.

I guess I just need to make sure I don’t drink 4 beers before doing so like this dude.

That I’m only human and can be critical, selfish, the best friend you can have, easily annoyed and equally laidback.

Needs a Good Home

This is Mimi and she’s a three year old pure breed Rottie who needs a good home.


Her owner adopted her from the shelter a few years ago but now realizes that she cannot financially support the two dogs and numerous other pets she has. I’ve never met Mimi but a good friend of mine has and would readily adopt her if she didn’t already have two dogs and live in a one bedroom apartment. I’m seriously thinking of adopting her but my two cats are already neglected and with my travel and work schedule I don’t think I could give Mimi the love and attention she deserved. She gets along well with other dogs and cats and would love to be adopted by someone who would spoil her. If you know of anyone who is looking to adopt a pet send me an email at thisismehonest at gmail dot com.

I’ve been working all weekend on the final report for this project and am slowly going crazy. Hopefully everyone will have their sections to me by tomorrow morning so I can review, edit, send it off to someone else for more edits and feedback and can deliver it to the client by Thursday afternoon. I’m catching a plane back home on Friday and there’s no way I’m postponing my return flight home.

How It All Started

Last week I took an Indian cooking class at a local culinary shop and had such a great time. I’ve wanted to take a cooking class there for such a long time and managed to find a spot at one of the Indian cooking sessions. I love Indian food and am excited to get started with some of the techniques I’ve learned and the huge cookbook I bought. When I get back home (yes I am on another trip) I’m heading to a local Indian grocery store to buy all the spices I need.

I remember when I was maybe 11 or 12 I went to my first Indian restaurant with my dad. When I was about 10 my dad and stepmother moved to N.C. and I would go and visit them during the summer. My dad would drive up to NYC hang out for a few days with friends and family and we’d drive down to NC together. As a child and even more so as an adult when there was a plan in motion I wanted it executed with little to no deviation. Unfortunately my dad is not one to follow a plan or a schedule. This has been the basis for many fights until I realized that I couldn’t drill in a sense of time or respect for other people’s time into a grown man and learned to play the game to my advantage. As usual we’d scheduled to leave early in the morning and I was anxious to leave to just get there. I would have thought my dad would be also since he had to drive for 9 hours straight, but my dad’s lack of timing meant that we were still doing “one last thing” around lunch time.

Once he ran his last errand I kept pushing to get on the road and thought a quick lunch at McDonalds was all we needed. My dad who would rather starve then eat McDonalds wasn’t having it and insisted we sit down for a proper lunch at an Indian Restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village. I sulked and swore under my breath and went along with him to the restaurant. It was my first Indian meal and it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had. I remember eating succulent Tandorri Chicken, fluffy basmati rice and warm Nan and have been hooked ever since. I’m going to remind my dad of this story and next time he’s in D.C. “I’m making him full Punjabi dinner”(line from Bend it like Beckham).

Catching Up

I know I’ve neglected this blog and haven’t posted as often as I should. I do have a lot of topics flowing around in my head but as I think of them while I’m driving to and from work (I have plenty of time to think during my commute) I think out how I would write the post and promptly forget it the moment I’m in front of a computer.

London – Was fabulous by the way. The place is horribly expensive but wouldn’t be if the dollar/pound exchange rate was on equal footing. I know it hasn’t been in ages but 10 years ago when I went there for the first time it was a bit more reasonable 1.50 pound to the dollar instead of the 1.99999 to the dollar it currently is. Either way that place is just fabulous, and vibrant and full of life despite their typical gloomy weather. The question I should really ask myself about the weekend is: How many bottles of wine can two people drink in one weekend and I believe I lost count. What I love about Europe is that you can buy a good bottle of wine at a restaurant (despite the exchange rate) and it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Either way make sure you drink every last drop because as my girl Jonelle said before we left a pub near her house: “I know when my next meal will be but you never know when you’ll get your next drink” or something like that. I’d just drank a ½ pint of Guinness and shared a bottle of wine with her so I think that’s what she said.

While Jonelle was running her errands on Friday I hung out at the London Zoo and walked around town. The weather was really lovely and I just wanted to take in the sights, sounds and smells of London. I stopped in for a Bacon Sandwich (I know not on the diet but when in London) with brown sauce. They are soooooo good it’s ridiculous. Not sure if it’s the cut of bacon they’re using or if it’s that brown sauce (not sure what’s in it, maybe crack) but it’s sooo damm good. Saturday we went down to Brighton so we could see the sea. I’ve never been outside of London so it was cool to see another town. The streets were so quaint and after hitting up this Soul Food Restaurant where the food was on point. We ended up walking up to the rock beach (no sand at this place) and lying down on the rocks and taking a nap. The itis was that bad that I ended up sleeping comfortably on some rocks!

We went back to London that evening and went out with a friend of Jonelle’s and had a great time chillin’. On our way back to Jonelle’s we stopped by a bar in her neighborhood that plays hip hop and it always amazes me how hip hop has spread all over the world and not just the booty shaking stuff but some good stuff.

I left the next morning for D.C and am home until Tuesday when I get on yet another plane for what I am praying is my last work trip of 2006.

So I Voted

Today I voted in DC’s primary elections and am glad I got my vote on. I wont’ tell you who I voted for but I will say this. Whoever I voted for BETTER and I mean it, BETTER think about my interests. Getting rid of Ray Ray n ‘em from around my block, knocking down Hechinger mall and putting in a Whole Foods, Target, Pet smart, Barnes and Noble, and Ethiopian restaurant. That is not a lot to ask for and I believe this will bring money to the neighborhood and make it more vibrant. More retail (NO MORE ATHLETIC FOOT WEAR STORES) will also mean people like “moi” won’t continue spending our hard earned consumer cash in VA or MD.

I had an early morning conference call so I didn’t get to the polling site (a block from my house) until 9 and there weren’t any lines. There were however a gazillion supporters all wanting to give you a flyer with their preferred candidate’s position. I had to decline all of them; I read up on all the positions online and don’t need any additional paper at home. I’ve been home since Sunday night and haven’t even touched the months worth of mail I have sitting on my entryway table.

I think the voting process in DC needs a complete overhaul. There HAS got to be a better way. Wasn’t there a promise to revise the ballots and voting process after the 2000 election?

Step 1: Wait on line based on the first letter of your last name.
Step 2: Tell person with big binder your last name and wait 5 minutes as he tries to find “Honest’s Last name”.
Step 3: Refuse to let person butcher first name so after a while he gives up and says ok whatever sign here.
Step 4: Let him know my party affiliation and sign a separate card.
Step 5: Go to another line give person signed party affiliation card and voting preference (paper ballot or touch key).

Side Note: Have you seen those paper ballets? Way too confusing.

Step 6: Wait for the only touch key machine in the entire building! WTF?!!?
Step 7: Vote and collect my “I Voted” Sticker

All Things British

Last week I watched the entire first and second season of BBC’s The Office. You know the original the Office that was recently remade into an American sitcom. I haven’t watched the American version due to my numerous L&O and Food Network obsessions, there’s no time for new shows. Since I’ve been here without any L&O and Food Network, I’ve divided my TV viewing time between Animal Planet, BBC News and the Office Season 1 and 2 DVD’s I borrowed from a colleague here. I watched the first half of an episode and was pretty disgusted. Uhh I thought what a freaking ass the lead character was, I’d pretty much resigned myself to not watching it until the cable service in my apartment went out one night and I had nothing else to watch.

I’m so glad I was forced to go back and watch it because the show is hilarious. Sad, dumb even but hilarious! I’m now adding the additional seasons to my net flick list. Some British comedies leave me wondering WTF was so funny but the Office and Coupling are just extra hilarious in my opinion. Or maybe it’s because I’ve quickly grown to love all things British, except the pound/dollar exchange rate.

Tomorrow morning I’m heading to London to spend a few days hanging out with my girl J and I can’t wait to get there. Despite being unprepared for the weather, (It was still in the 80/90’s in DC when I left and it’s been about 100 degrees in Yerevan) it’s going to be a blast!

Language of Love?

Friday night I spent a few hours hanging out at my favorite bar here and met the boyfriend of one of the old waitresses. I remember her from my last trip here in May because I spent a great deal of time hanging out at this bar. I also remember that she barely spoke any English. She knew enough to say hello and when she waited on my friend and I, she used that international “want a drink” hand signal and I have mastered the way to order my signature drink in the former Soviet Union: Vooodka (using the O instead of ah sound) and Tonik (using the O instead of ah sound) so ordering was pretty easy.

The waitress is bilingual, Armenian and Russian and her boyfriend is also bilingual, French and English. Head tilt: I know she speaks like 10 words of English and he speaks 5 words of Armenian. How do they communicate you ask? I have no idea. According to some Armenian friends they don’t need to, they speak the language of love. I’ve had a few days to think about this and it still boggles my mind. Some couples have communication issues when they both have the same mother tongue so I can’t even imagine what it’s like to be in a relationship with someone I can’t understand and who doesn’t understand me.

This reminded me of someone I used to work with. He was Mexican and his wife was Turkish but they both spoke English fluently. I often wondered what they spoke to each other during arguments. Although they were both also learning each other’s respective languages I wondered when it came time for arguments how they coped. I speak French pretty fluently but when I was a child I was even more fluent since I spent so much time with non English speaking family members. However, when I was a kid and my cousin and I argued which was often we would argue in French but I would get so frustrated that I would automatically revert to English when I wanted to make a point. So I always wonder when arguments get to a boiling point and each party is feeling frustrated do they revert back to their mother tongue.

The Ring

I’m in a boxing ring, both a referee and a coach, caught between a rock and a hard place. The warring factions: the recipient client, funding client, and the boss. Being yelled at as I enforce the rules. The fans wanting to have their say. None of them understand each other and I don’t think they’re willing too actually. As I talk and cajole, ask them to view each others side, to make some headway I feel the weights getting heavier on my shoulders.

Today for a few minutes I longed for a 9 to 5 job one where I turned on my computer at 9:01 AM and turned it off at 4:59 PM without worrying about the work until the next day at 9:01 AM. That isn’t really what I want but these last few weeks have really tested my patience. It’s hard but so is life. This is what I want to do, it’s challenging but I wonder how much challenge can my shoulders bear. I’ve wanted to do this for as long as I can remember so I’m living my dream right? Maybe it isn’t the subject of the battle that’s weighing me down. Tax Administration, uh uhhhh! Maybe I shouldn’t be thinking only of better countries but of better subjects.

Oh So Livid!

It’s Friday, my day started out well, I was looking forward to attending a dinner party at a colleague’s apartment then off to hang out at my favorite bar here in Yerevan. All of a sudden I became livid about something I saw online.

Mwen te telment fache. Pou ki sa ou vle tande? Parceque geyen ou neg qui mwen te amoureux avec qui pa te remain mwen meme facon. Mwen decouvrit que neg la mette un profile sur l’internet la ak ou photo qui te pren la cay mwen. Merde. Get maman li.

After about 10 minutes of being pissed at what I saw I became pissed at myself for being pissed and for being so damn dumb. Have you ever been pissed at your own actions and/or feelings after you had a chance to really think things through. Uhhhh!

So as I sit fuming at myself then I get a “backhand to the face” kind of email from our client. It wasn’t so much the “NO” I received in the email but the “I wish you would spend as much time doing x,y,z as you do a,b,c”. Eyeroll. I could feel my blood boiling as I read the email and decided to close the window and respond on Monday. I’m not going to deal with it this weekend, either issue. I’m going to enjoy the weekend hit a few of my favorite restaurants in Yerevan and enjoy life.

Have a great and fabulous weekend!

The Case of the Stalker

Friday August 18th

Stalker: Hey Ladies
Us: Hey
Stalker: Ladies where are you from? Amerika?
Us: Yes
Stalker: Where you from in Amerika? Kansas, Nebraska?
Me: (Giving him a are you fucking kidding me eye. sorry square state people). We’re from D.C
Stalker: ah I want to go to Amerika, I want to go to Miami, I like Miami.
Me: (Eyeing his flower shirt, white pants and pointy white shoes) Well you’re certainly dressed for Miami.
Stalker: Where are you guys going?
Me: We’re meeting friends for drinks.
Stalker: Can I join you?
Me: uh no I don’t think so.
Stalker: Can I get your number?
Me: (frowning there’s something off about this dude) Uh no that’s not a good idea. Ok bye.
Stalker: ok bye.

My colleague and I walk into my favorite bar in Yerevan and meet up with some locals I’ve gotten to know on some of my trips here. After sitting down I look up and The Stalker has entered the bar. Luckily for us they don’t let random dudes in the place unless someone working or a regular patron can vouch for them and dude was eventually asked to leave. Fast forward about an hour and a half and my colleague and I are ready to head back to the hotel but who do we spot standing next to a tree across the street, pants glowing? The mufucking Stalker.

My first thought was ah I wish a mufucker would! I will get Brooklyn and cause an international incident. Common sense prevailed and my female colleague and I quickly hopped into a cab back to the hotel.

Saturday August 19th

My colleague and I are walking back to the hotel after hanging out at my favorite bar and spots a florist. (Corner Florist are open 24/7 here) She wants to buy a rose but the guy buying his girlfriend flowers insists on buying us one. We say thank you and we’re on our way. Half way back I notice a guy suddenly start walking slightly behind us. Me I don’t trust when someone suddenly starts walking near me in the wee hours of the morning. My colleague notices also and we cross the street. Dude continues walking in pace with us and for me that’s unusual. First people here walk very slowly, like they never have any place to be kind of slow and we were booking cause it was the wee hours of the morning. So finally I point out a bar that I went to once last year that had great music but was considered a gay bar. After noticing that the dude stopped when we stopped we ducked into the bar for a quick second. When we came back out 5 minutes later he was gone but we ran into the flower purchaser, his girlfriend and her brother who insisted that we go out for beers with them. It was 2:30 AM but after a while we both accepted and had a great conversation with them about life, Armenia, and the US over Red Bavaria brew which btw is quite delicious.

I've Got Nothing

I had a couple of blog topics floating around in my head during my flight from DC to London to Yerevan but I can’t seem to develop anything but a sentence or two with each. My flight was un eventful which is probably a good thing. The security check lines both at Dulles and the transfer terminals at Heathrow weren’t long and my luggage arrived at the same time that I did. I was able to take my books, laptop and some electronic stuff with me on board so thank god I didn’t have to pull my hair out due to boredom. All in all pretty un eventful.

The weirdest feeling was not having my lip balm or hand lotion with me. I never realized how much I relied on those things until I didn’t have them for 17 hours.

I’m here for three weeks so I’m sure I’ll have something blog worthy soon, hopefully. I’m exhausted and am looking forward to this weekend so I can sleep.

I've Got the Blues..

And I’m not sure why. I’m usually in an upbeat mood but today for some reason I’m just feeling pissy. Maybe it’s because today is my first day back in the office after being on vacation for a week. Maybe it’s because I’m leaving tomorrow for a 3 ½ week work trip. International travel isn’t the hotness right now and I hope I can at least take a book to read with me on the plane. I’ll go stir crazy with nothing to occupy my time for 17 hours.

I can’t remember the last time I was in an “uhhhh” mood and didn’t know what caused it. One of our admins came into my office to discuss something and when she droned on I could feel myself tensing and I literally had to keep myself still because all I wanted to do was turn back to my computer and ignore her.

Whenever I need a pick me up at work and head for the vending machine for a bag of cheetos. There is nothing like that crunchy cheesy goodness to help me feel so much better BUT as part of my eat well, live well, loose weight goal I’m ignoring my need and drinking a bottle of water instead and eating a mini bag of popcorn with no butter (Just 100 calories MNM).

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day.

Mom’s Say the Darnest Things

Mama Honest is the bestest and although she can be worrisome on certain issues she really is the best mom a girl could want. My parent’s were born and raised in Haiti and both left in the early 60’s and eventually immigrated to the US in 1970 after they’d met and gotten married in Europe. Despite 36 years in the US their accents are still pretty thick. They also have a habit of mispronouncing words or incorrectly using certain phrases in conversations.

When my dad was visiting me a few weekends ago a friend of mine came by whose parents are also foreigners and is used to accents. After she left she commented that although she laughed she had no idea what he was saying. My dad says that we “people” hear with an accent and he speaks perfect English.

Yesterday my mom and I stopped at Circuit cit.y to buy a flash drive for her laptop and I reverted back into my childhood and asked her to buy me a DVD. When she said no, this led to a funny exchange with the cashier and ended with my mom saying and I quote “She’s a working girl; she can by her own DVD”. I saw the puzzled look the cashier gave my mom and when we left I had to tell my mom she just told the cashier I was a prostitute. As you can imagine she was a bit embarrassed but I’m used to these scenarios with my parents.

A long time ago my mom was telling me a story and kept repeating “It’s a meat, a meat”. When I was a teenager and my mom or dad was telling a story and they weren’t clear or didn’t pronounce something and I didn’t understand I’d just ignore them and keep moving. A few years later my mom repeated the “it’s a meat” story and when I finally stopped and asked her what in the world she was talking about she said “meat, you know not necessarily true, fairy tale”. It finally dawned on me that she was trying to say “Myth”. I was like “Ma its Myth” and she’s like yeah that’s what I said “meat”.

Unfortunately the French language lacks “th”

Anxious

I’m taking the week off (kind of) in honor of my Honest Mama visiting from NYC. I started my semi vacation on Friday afternoon and it’s already Wednesday evening. Where did the time go? Yesterday my mom and I met some of my old colleagues for lunch outside of the agency I used to work for in downtown D.C.

As I sat on a bench and waited for our appointment time I ran into an old colleague that used to work for my current company but now work's for our major client, my old agency. Who says you can’t go from the private sector to government. Suddenly a certain weird feeling over came me as I watched more and more people go in and out of the office building with those familiar badges. I felt anxious, nervous even to be back where I started my career and the building I spent so much time in for the first three years of my DC life. Where I learned my lesson that you shouldn’t get your meat where you get your bread, and learned that sometimes in life you need to make a change.

Lunch was great and hanging out with my mom has also been great and I’m going to be sad to see her leave on Sunday. It’s funny but when my mom is visiting I forget I’m 32 years old and revert back to being a kid. Who am I to argue if she doesn’t think the kitchen floor was scrubbed hard enough and wants to do it herself, not I. Who am I to argue if she wants to vacuum and scrub even though I cleaned like a demon before she arrived? I am truly a spoiled kid.

Secrets and Such

I have some and no, I won’t tell you people otherwise they won’t be secrets. I’ve learned over the years that the only way to keep a secret is to not tell anyone, not a soul. Sounds pretty simple doesn’t it? Unfortunately some people don’t realize that you can’t tell people your secret and not expect it to get out. The following scenario has me shaking my head and trying to find the right moment to let the secret teller know that the supposed secret and its details she confirmed telling to only a handful of people have crossed continents and found its way across the Washington DC metropolitan area.

Secrets that involve sex, scandal and work colleagues are hot and too juicy to just let slide for most people. They’re like trying to grill asparagus with sesame oil, you’ll get a lot of smoke and if you’re not careful fire. That’s why I always say: “Don’t get your meat where you get your bread”. Do you really want your love life talked about at the water cooler, dinner parties and across the pond?

Cruel

The world is a cruel, cruel place. I’m not talking about the war going on in Lebanon against innocent civilians, not talking about the probable (actual) civil war going on in Iraq. I’m talking about my fucking (yes I’m livid) air conditioning unit going out yesterday. Light flickered, then no more air. At first I thought ok maybe it’s going through that kick on, kick off cycle since I have it on auto. It never came back on; I lowered the temperature to make sure. Turned the thermostat on and off, went outside to turn the unit (thingy) on and off, and turned the switch off at the electrical panel and zip, nada. Lights are working, innanet is still on, cable and Tivo are working so I figured it’s my air conditioning unit giving up.

At 7 AM I call the heating and cooling people a friend recommended and they give me an 8AM to 12PM window. Lawd Jesus! It’s hot here, as my girl Mu would say “It’s as hot as two squirrels fighting in my cleavage”.

Hallelujah the cooling people come at 8:30 thinker around bill me $110 including a gas surcharge fee (da hell) and tell me there’s nothing they can do because the problem is with Pepco (DC’s electricity company). Apparently I have partial power going into the house so things like my air conditioning unit and my dryer aren’t working. I call Pepco get a computer asking me to give all the info, say yes or no and god forbid if you ask a question the computer will hang up on you. So I call back and finally yell enough for “operator” that I get a live person who tells me there’s a problem in my neighborhood that isn’t scheduled to be looked at until after 1PM. I guess I’ll go into the office now to cool off.

The world really is a cruel, cruel place.

Humidity, Porta potty’s, LCD Projector’s, and Gumbo

Saturday night I thought I was going to a regular old back yard barbeque until I found myself smack dab in front of a “door” girl. You know the girl who collects the money after security goes through your bag or gives you a pat down. I think it was the Hostess who first noticed that there was also a porta potty there near the “entrance”. I use the term “entrance” loosely because the party started in the alley way. (Note: DC is full of alleys and most houses/apts have alley’s behind or beside them).

I guess they needed the extra room since the evite had at least 500 invitees and when I checked the address right before going to the party almost 300 people RSVP’d yes. The party was outdoors but I swear I could feel the humidity engulf me when I joined the crowd at the bar. Yup in the alley they set up a Tiki style bar. Oh and on the back of the hosts’ building the fight was being projected by an LCD projector and on the side of the house next to their building the same fight was being projected by a 2nd LCD projector. Apparently that’s how they roll. I guess we’re going to have to scrounge one up for next year’s birthday beach bash.

When we got there the food was pretty much gone since we waited around for these late broads before heading out to the spot. After one of the hosts told a tale of being burned while making gumbo but we didn’t have any sympathy for him. There was a tale of gumbo but we didn’t see or taste any. No sympathy from me, for all I know the gumbo wasn’t real or it wasn’t good. Either way we went out for Ethiopian afterwards to feed our addictions.

Friends

You ever talk about the people whose blogs you read as “someone you know” because you don’t know what other category they’ll fit in and you don’t want to let on that you read blogs because the next question people will ask is “Do you have a blog and if so can I read it”? The Hostess and I read some of the same blogs and often when we’re with the crew we might mention something someone blogged about or a situation someone who blogs was in and I always feel a bit awkward when trying to explain the person I’m talking about.

It appears that Friends and Friendship is the topic du jour on blogs (the Hostess’) and on GMA. It’s made me reflect a bit about my own friendships and how they’ve evolved over the years as my friends and I grow older, relocated to different cities and are living our adult lives.

When I was a kid, my best friend was the daughter of one of my mom’s friends. Although she was 18 months older then me we played together and hung out from the moment I could walk until my freshman year in H.S when our friendship just drifted apart. I was the nerd, the goody two shoes who got good grades and didn’t do anything to get in trouble while she was the rebel, the one who hung out with boys from around the way (i.e; thugged out drug dealers). We started drifting apart when we were still in the same junior high but when she moved to H.S we stopped hanging out together period. My mom would always wonder what was wrong and why I never called Mickey and I didn’t know what to say. In reality Mickey stopped returning my phone calls, or when we chatted she made it obvious with her attitude that she didn’t have time for me. I was extremely hurt but realized that it was probably for the best because I didn’t care for the ghetto folks she started hanging around. A few years later I finally told my mom why Mickey and I were no longer friends. Mickey died in 2002 rather unexpectedly and I do regret not even at least trying to keep in touch when I returned to Brooklyn after college.

When I was in H.S and even college I spoke to my friends every day, several times a day. I remember my mom asking me in H.S if I didn’t see a friend at school because I was on the phone with them for 3 hours several times a week. I don’t even remember what was so important or what we even talked about for so long. Now I don’t expect to spend so much time with friends on the phone, we all have busy lives, work, relationships etc and all that takes up time. I have a few good friends some I’ll even consider best friends scattered around the country and at times I don’t talk to them for weeks and when I’m traveling it’s even longer then that. I don’t get upset when I haven’t heard from them for a while because I can always pick up the phone and call them. These are people that I know will do what they can if I need help. They also understand when I can’t accommodate their wants or needs and understand that I will when I can. I feel that friendships should be a give and take relationship and should also be easy. It shouldn’t be a burden but a blessing.

Good Times

This weekend I continued the birthday celebration our third annual Birthday Beach Weekend. We went to “ssshhhh” can’t disclose the location for fear of folks discovering it’s greatness and ruining it. You know how people do J. We had about 23 city people show up although the forecast called for thunder storms. Other then the wind messing up our tent set up and the monsoon that occurred in the middle of the night the weekend was a great success. For some reason it gets better and better every year. Next year we’re going all out two nights in a row!



If there was a blemish on the weekend it would have to be the fly that kept creeping into my boy’s truck on the way home. I haven’t thought about it until recently but what is the purpose of a fly? Besides flying by your ear and causing folks to start flinging their arms all over the place what is their purpose?

Hustle and Struggle

Hustle and Struggle that’s what I heard for five minutes as I tried to contort my body into a position designed to work my ab muscles. Damm it hurt so bad! Have you ever tried doing sit ups or ab exercises when you’re out of shape in that area? It feels like someone is trying to rip your guts out. Power through the trainer yelled out. I’m seriously trying really hard, no pain no gain right.

I’m on a mission to get this 32 year old body back into shape. I don’t want to be that chick; you know the one who let herself go after she turned 30. I want to be in shape and get my metabolism back on track so I’m not huffing and puffing after climbing a few flight of stairs. I want to get myself together so I feel confident and can stop cursing myself in the mirror because my clothes are tight.

My goal is to loose 20 pounds in 3 months, can I do it? I believe I can, if I put my mind to it and not use my constant business traveling as an excuse to not exercise or eat well. The only depressing thought is that I’ll need to do this for the rest of my life.

Celebrating!

Yesterday (July 16th) was my birthday so I spent the weekend celebrating and just enjoying myself. I got lots of well wishes and calls from friends and family and they all reminded me that there are people out there that love and care for me. Next weekend the crew and I are heading to the beach to go camping. It's funny to imagine a bunch of city/suburban dwellers descending on a national park to go camping and fishing but we clearly love it since we keep going back.

It's amazing but no matter how old I get (32 this time) I still feel like a little kid when I get presents and am treated to Happy Birthday wishes. Although I don't expect gifts from anyone other then my parents, it's still nice when I receive them. One down note is that I didn't receive that talking Geico Gecko I asked for. It would have been great for us to chat about pie and chips all evening.

Waving to EJ the DJ Happy Birthday!

It's Official!

I got promoted....yippeee!

After being on an airplane every month (except for December and March) over the last 12 months, I'm getting official recognition. I've also moved up to a deluxe (not so much and I'm still sharing) office with a view of traffic on Rt 7 in VA .

Romance

I just finished watching Bride and Prejudice for the 100th time I think. I watched my netflix copy of Pride and Prejudice last night and then had to whip out my copy of the Bride and Prejudice movie, much better. I think it’s once of the best movies out there. What more can one want, there’s love, romance, conflict, fights, song and dance. The best of what Bollywood has to offer.

So instead of crunching numbers and trying to get profitability get well plan in place for work I’m sitting here dancing along to one of the most romantic movies ever. Hell this has made me miss my dose of Law & Order for the evening so you know something’s up. Maybe I’ll watch it again.

I heart Romance

Grimace / Vegas

Grimace

I woke up this morning and snarled. I was up when I didn’t want to be and the first thing I thought of was that my internet wasn’t working at home after I’d spent 2 hours on the phone with the router people, my car was in dire need of an oil change, my house was a mess, I need to buy new blinds, and the seal on my back door is cracked so every time it rains heavily water leaks into the kitchen. I learned all of this when I returned home from Vegas on Tuesday.

Just bitching and moaning to myself, I turned on the news and realized that today was the first anniversary of the London bombings and stopped. This time last year I was happy go lucky excited to be back in London on my way to the Tate Modern to see the Freida Kahlo exhibit, wondering why there were so many sirens going off near me. The news coverage reminded me that I should be thankful, I have my health, my family is well and I need to stop and just power through life’s little inconveniences.

______________________________________

Vegas Recap

Vegas was great! But not so crazy that I can’t talk about it. I actually went to visit a friend that moved there about 2 ½ years ago. I’ve wanted to get out there to visit for a while so I just made it happen last weekend. We went out my first night there but I was so jetlagged and exhausted from my work trip overseas that my girl and I pretty much hung out and chilled the rest of the weekend. It was great, seeing what people who live in Vegas really do. Funny thing is that they do the same stuff we do. We hung out at her condo complex pool, went out for breakfast, went to her friend’s BBQ, went sightseeing on the strip, and went to a movie at one of the “locals” casino.

Highly Annoyed

I’m typing this while I wait for my flight from Vienna to depart to D.C. I’m annoyed because the ground crew folks were trying to “check” my carryon suitcase. The plane is full they said, it’s too heavy and too big. Fuck you ground crew dude I bought this suitcase because it could go on board with me. Well I didn’t tell him that but I did tell him if I didn’t need the items inside I would have checked it and told him to go get other suitcases then come back to me.. He didn’t like that and I don’t give a fuck. Great, the flight is full that means you’ve made some money today, congratulations. When I boarded the plane so did a bunch of people with carryon’s the size of mine. Now how pissed would I have been if I’d listened to the rat bastard. If the airlines didn’t have a habit of loosing luggage I wouldn’t have to carry stuff on board with me aside for my purse and laptop but you can’t trust these fuckers to actually have your suitcase at the destination especially when you’re switching airplanes.

One of my assets or faults is that when I put my mind to something especially when I’ve paid for something I don’t like to hear no or you can’t. I paid $2,650 for this roundtrip ticket, sure it’s not my money but whatever the amount paid should mean something. 1) That I could take a carryon that was within the carryon weight limit 2) I can get a glass of wine on the plane without having to pay for it. Now that I’m on this rant I CANNOT believe how cheap airlines have become now. If you’re on a flight within the U.S. you have to pay for your meal if you’re in economy. Gas prices have gone up but so have ticket prices so I don’t understand how they’ve gone barebones, I might as well take greyhound (ok maybe not). In fact I think I’m going to write a letter on their website to complain about the cheapness. I love giving feedback. Can’t you tell I hate airports? I like getting to my destination but I hate airports and I hate airlines. Cheap bastards!

Oh and I start the process all over again tomorrow when I get on a flight to Vegas.

Belgrade Rocks!

I went to Belgrade last weekend to hang out with some friends and partied like a Rock Star! Still relatively cheap by U.S. standards, Belgrade is Eastern European’s official partayyy city. I’d been there, two years ago during the late fall and had a good time but this time I wasn’t ready for how vibrant and crazy it can be during the summer. I woke up on Saturday morning at 4:00 to catch a 6 AM flight got there at 7AM, ate breakfast and immediately began walking around with one of my co workers. Took a 15 minute nap, went for Sushi at a restaurant owned by the son of one of Serbia’s most notorious war criminals, then hung out at one of the gazillion out door café’s to watch a world cup game. Got together with the team from my company for dinner then off to experience some of the city’s night life.

First stop, this really cool outdoor café then off to one of the many nightclubs that are located on a barge along the Danube River. I’d heard about them but this was crazy, several barges were completely renovated into techno/house clubs complete with crazy light shows. I’m not overly fond of house or techno but I busted out my circa mid 1990 house moves from when I actually liked listening to that type of music. I’m dancing along with the crowd and suddenly look up and realize the sun came up and it’s freaking 5:30 AM and I’d been up for over 24 hours.

I get back to the apartment try to sleep, wake up around 11:30 and head out for lunch, more hanging out and sightseeing. I had to get to the airport by 8:30PM and wanted to maximize my time in Belgrade so I powered through with lots of cappuccino’s and red bulls. It’s Wednesday and I’m still tired from the weekend. I’ve looked at my calendar in an attempt to figure out when I’ll be able to sleep in and not worry about being somewhere and have scheduled 10 hours or more of uninterrupted sleep time for Saturday, July 8th.

Are They Talking About Me?

So I’m sitting here in our project office doing what I do and there’s chit chatter all around me but I don’t understand what anyone is saying. My vocabulary in Macedonian consists of maybe 10 words, Hello, Good Morning, Good Evening, Thanks, Please, Check Please, Waiter, Water, Left, Right, Straight, Holiday Inn, I am an American, I don’t speak Macedonian, I am fine, how are you, Good, Yes, No. Ok maybe more then 10 words but you get my drift. I don’t speak the language and I’m not expected to.

I’m used to being in spaces where the people around me are talking in a language I don’t understand. I’m used to feeling illiterate because the signs around me aren’t even in a Latin alphabet and maybe that’s why I can tune people out so well even when I’m home and everyone around me is speaking in a language I can understand.

Maybe this is also why I don’t understand why people complain about going to the nail salon or whatever place operated by foreigners and feel that they’re being talked about. (Side Note: Which they probably are lol, especially those with crusty feet). One can argue that they’re in the US and need to speak English, yet no where else in the world am I or others expected to speak in the local language when we’re with other Americans or English speakers. Maybe other countries are more tolerant because their languages aren’t spoken by gazillions of people.

I’m not sure where I’m going with this, except to say we as Americans need to be more tolerant of other languages especially if the people talking aren’t addressing you.

Can't Imagine

On Thursday night my girl Vicki called me up and after listening to me bitch and moan for a minute or two about my blue tooth thingy not working, told me her mother passed away that afternoon. My heart just fell and I could feel the tears starting to flow. It was expected but you can you really prepare yourself? Her mom had breast cancer a few years ago and was in remission until about two months ago when they discovered that the cancer had returned and spread so quickly that there was little the doctors could do but send her home and make her as comfortable as possible.

The minute I got off the phone with my girl, I called my mom to tell her and also say “I love you Ma!”. I can’t imagine what it’s like to loose a parent. I know eventually that everyone passes but sometimes I selfishly think I’d prefer to go before my mom. What would I do without her, who would I have 100% and unconditionally in my corner if I didn’t have her. My mom is my rock and although she’s 250 miles away I know I can reach out and give her a call or get in my car and 4 hours later I’d be at her doorstep.

It’s been just my mom and I, the dynamic duo for so long, us against the world surviving together since my parent’s divorce over 24 years ago. Sure we have little squabbles, and that probably isn’t the right word but after 32 years I’m sure I’ve driven her crazy (my teenage years) as she’s driven me a bit crazy as mom’s do occasionally, but life without her? I can’t even imagine.

Skopje, Macedonia

I'm here for the next two weeks.



I have lots of blog topics floating around in my head but I'm jetlagged and crunching on a presentation due to our client on Wednesday. Until then, DobroVece

My Musical List

So many people in the blog world do a top 10 of their favorite, rappers, groups, songs and I figured it was time that I got on that bandwagon and present my own list. Although 99% of the people reading this won’t know who I’m talking about, this is my top list.

In my opinion the best French Hip Hop group out today is Saian Supa Crew. They had a concert at SOB’s in NYC last night and I missed it and am pissed! I didn’t think they would ever get to the U.S because really we’re not ready. Other then an occasional reggaeton song we don’t play any foreign language music on the airwaves on a regular basis. Saian Supa Crew is true hip hop, as I would define it as I compare them to some of the today’s hip hop artists here in the U.S and in France. None of that bling bling I drive whatever newest car is out there with rims for Saian it’s more social consciousness that drives some of their songs. They’ve got an American hip hop, funk, African, Caribbean vibe going and since I love all those things I’m loving Saian’s music. If you click on their name it will take you to their website and you’ll get a sample of the greatness.

Now on to the best of Zouk, the one and only Kassav’. They put Zouk music on the map (well the global map minus the U.S.) whenever you ask someone around the world who listens to Zouk which group started it all they’ll tell you Kassav’. I’ve been listening to them before I even consciously realized what music was and how much it would mean to me. Kassav’ is Zouk, so much so that they sell out the Zenith in Paris that makes Madison Square Garden look small whenever they perform. Once I reach big baller status, I’ll fly out there next time they have a concert. Lol!

Now the top Haitian bands I grew up listening to from the moment I could even understand what music was. When I reached an age where I could make choices I stopped listening to them as much and because of school discovered American music, R&B, Hip Hop, Rock etc, (Damm I loved the 80s), but I as I got older and reconnected with my roots I went back to listening to the greatest Haitian band of all time, Tabou Combo. Another great Haitian Kompa (type of music) star is Sweet Mickey, I saw him the one and only time I went to Carnival in Haiti and he was off the hook crazy. I’ve also seen him in concert here in D.C. and he rocked the house despite being an hour and a half late. Emeline Michel is my favorite female Haitian artist and I’ve been lucky enough to see her perform twice here in D.C. such a spectacular voice.

There are lots more but I’m done for now.

Trying to Mack

My siblings spent the weekend with me before departing for a summer in Guatemala. Side Note: Lucky Bastards. On Saturday a friend of mine dropped by and hung out with us for a while. I warned my siblings, their cousin and our aunt that my girl was a bit crazy but she was lovable. She gets to my house and is her usual hilarious self. Before she got there I warned her NOT to flirt with my little brother. I know he’s 23, grown, although not a “grown ass man” and can take care of himself but he’s still my little brother.

As the night progresses my brother, sister, friend and I move from outside to the living room to play cranium. Everyone else left and we’re sipping on some wine and trying to figure out between the four of us how to play the game. Throughout the night my girl and my brother are flirting and after repeated “please people” I don’t want to hear this shyt they ignore me and we continue to play Cranium.

Honestly, I was disgusted and although I knew nothing would come of it because my brother is broker then broke, hasn’t finished college and my high maintenance 31 year old girl who only pays attention to dudes who make more then six figures wasn’t going to step to him but damm I don’t want to see my little brother trying to get his mack on with one of my friends. NOT ACCEPTABLE so I did what any big sister would do in that situation, I cock blocked. Yup I did, when it was time for my girl to leave we both ended up walking her to her car.

After we got back into the house, my brother fell into bed in the guest room and was like “she’s hot, I like her”, my reply “yeah she is, but not for you, now go to bed, I'm turning off the lights".

Lazy Sunday Afternoons

I treasure “me” time because I often go without it. There’s always something to do, places to be and obligations to fulfill. Once in a while I long for the weekends or even a day here or there where I can veg out and recharge my batteries. Today was that day. I had to drive my siblings to the airport at 7:00 AM this morning, returned by 7:30 and got back into bed where I dozed on and off until about 11:00. Playing in the background was the sound of various Food Network hosts, telling me how easy it was to make whatever it was that they’re whipping up on screen.

When I can, I spend my Sunday mornings/afternoons watching the Food network, my newest obsession. It’s amazing as I look back over the last few years and realize how much my cooking style has changed, evolved and how much interest I’ve taken into trying new recipes. I’ve always loved having small dinner parties and entertaining but I usually stuck to the usual, some sort of chicken and rice dish, salad, and/or fondue. Now that I’m an avid Real Simple and Food Network junky I’m always itching to try something new and interesting. I’ve gotten so into it that when my mom took me to a fancy restaurant last weekend, I just went on and on about how the chef “plated” the food and how the colors worked so well in the Seared Center-Cut Tuna loin with Ginger Piperade and Parsley Wasabi Sauce. The Wasabi sauce looked great among the other colors of the dish but didn’t have much taste. Clearly, I can be a guest chef on the next Top Chef contest. Lol!

Now, whenever I walk into a bookstore, my first stop is always the cookbook section. My evolving interest in cooking isn’t a new career interest but is definitely a hobby I intend to pursue with great interest.

I Won!

My first ebay item…and I’m extremely giddy. I’m not exactly sure if I actually need a new pair of cropped jeans but I have a new pair of cropped jeans from Banana. I’m also bidding on a dress but I have another day and a half to see if I’ll win that one. Let’s hope it’s it’s actually what I bid on when I get my shipment. Either way I’m pretty excited and feel like I’ve “done” something. Maybe that’s how ebay has become so successful. Tapping into the competitive and entrepreneurial nature of some folks.

A friend of mine buys and sells things on ebay on what I swear is a weekly basis. She’s always sending me links of things she thinks she needs and I could never understand the phenomenon. Now that I’ve actually won an item I think I might start looking in my closet for things I would normally have sent to the Salvation Army but can now sell on ebay!

Ching Ching!

So what are YOU?

I took a work sanctioned training course last week and learned that I’m an ESTJ based on the My.er’s Brig.gs personality test for organizations. I’m a logical, analytical, decisive, and tough minded individual. I enjoy working with others to organize details and operations, am task focused, and responsible. I can’t say I learned a great deal about myself in that class but I can say I finally have a set of letters I can associate with my behavior and it spells A.N.A.L. lol!

The older I get, the more I learn about myself and the more I reflect on the type of individual I’ve become and what I like about myself and what I need to work on. Although this course was focused on the “work” me I have to admit I found the whole concept of this personality test and it’s results fascinating. I’m not sure I agree 100% with my ESTJ classification because I scored a “slight and moderate” in each category but I do think the Extraversion, Sensing, Thinking and Judging characteristics aren’t too far off the mark.

A Sad Note

I had such a fabulous weekend and what I felt sad about isn’t so much at the fore front of my mind anymore. I haven’t forgotten what happened but I’m no longer amazed by it and just realize that my idea of friendship is quite different then someone else’s. Before I begin I have to say there are always two sides to a story and this is my side.

Some of you who read this blog knew I was having an open house BBQ this past weekend to finally celebrate the grand opening of the patio chez Honest. A good friend of mine decided that she was going to come up from N.C. for the w/e and hang out, only problem was that I’d already booked my guest room she couldn’t stay with me as she normally does. I knew she had friends and family in the area so I wasn’t too worried and suggested that she should ask one of them to stay over. She’d expressed concern about drinking and driving and I offered up my room for the night of the bbq/party. I can’t mix her with a lot of people so her staying for the entire weekend wasn’t an option. The day before the party she changed her RSVP to maybe and IM’d me that although she was indeed coming up to DC she wasn’t sure if she would be able to make my party because she hadn’t set her plans for Saturday afternoon yet. I was a bit confused because I thought her plans for Saturday afternoon included my shin ding but realized that what she was telling me was that she was coming to my party if she didn’t find anything better to do. This from a former roommate, a friend I let stay on my couch of my studio apartment for over a month while she was doing an internship in D.C, this from a friend I’d been there for since 1996.

A mutual friend came to my party and mentioned seeing her for cocktails earlier that afternoon and mentioned that she was indeed coming to the party. The next morning I wake up and noticed that I have three missed calls from her which started at about 1:00 AM. We’d been partying since 4 PM and since we’re old now and the last person left my house at midnight I was knocked out and didn’t hear my phone ring. I called her back the next day and she sounded nonchalant and was shocked when I told her the party ended at midnight. When I told her I couldn’t believe she didn’t come to my party she gave me the excuse that she thought it wouldn’t end until 2 or so because the last time she hung out with some of the people that attended my party we left their house at 2AM (that was New Years and we didn’t get there until 11:30), she also used the excuse that my 30th birthday party ended late as well (btw she wasn’t there and just assumed it ended late). After I repeated several times that I couldn’t believe that she didn’t come to my party she kept saying she thought it was going to end after 1 or so and that she had dinner plans and then went to a movie. At first I found it extremely hard to believe that she came all the way up to D.C. and decided to wait until after midnight to show up to a BBQ that started at 4 of her supposed road dawg. It’s not worth analyzing but I did wonder for a second why she’d go through such lengths? To prove a point? To teach me a lesson? I have no clue but what I do know is that despite the obvious attempt at a snub I had a “perfect” weekend and a drama free one.

A Day Off

Where do I start? I had such a fabulous weekend and was finally able to fully enjoy my backyard. My weekend consisted of hosting O and XXXXXX, BBQ’s, lying by the pool, Margaritas, Strippers, grilled corn and amazing guacamole. By the way I make amazing guacamole and good kebabs. I had such a fun filled weekend that I can’t believe my day off is over in a few hours and I have to get back to work. Unfortunately there was a sad note to the weekend but I don’t want to ruin this wonderful weekend and will blog about it later this week.

Conspiracy?!?!

Early Sunday morning I woke up and started a crazed day of running errands and cleaning my house. At 8:30AM I sat on my office/guest room floor and shredded pesky marketing mailers and a gazillion offers to ruin my credit. Through paper jams and plain “it just ain’t working” moments I finally shredded the mound of paper under my desk. As I sat there on the floor for an hour and a half I bitched and moaned and generally complained to myself about the need to even shred your mail particularly credit card offers.

Identity theft is real, hell despite money making industry identity theft protection has been I know companies that offer those services are just capitalizing on a growing fear of inconvenience and lost money. So I need someone from a company or industry to blame and it hit me as I waited for my overheated shredder to cool down that the credit card companies are in bed with the companies that make shredders. I’ve been through two shredders in less then 4 years from all that damm mail I get. Clearly I’m not interested in any of the credit card offers I get almost everyday from the SAME credit card company but I realized that the more I get, the more I shred and therefore the more shredders I’ll end up having to buy.

If there’s someone in charge of those credit card offers in the mail and someone who works for a company that manufactures shredders reading this, just know I have my eye on you and your capitalist ways. I SEE YOU!

The Yard Project

For the price of a grilled chicken sandwich meal from Checkers and a pitcher of britta filtered water my friend hooked up my backyard flower beds. I did pay for the "stuff" but I didn't have to do much but help occasionally.

Before












After













Now I just have to get my house clean in time for my BBQ next weekend.

So I Cheated

I didn’t want to but I didn’t have a choice. It had been 9 weeks since my last relaxer and I was desperate. I like my regular hairdresser really I do but I’ve had enough. Enough of the inability to fit within MY schedule, the constant rescheduling, and I was sick and tired of not being seated in the “chair” until almost an hour plus after my appointment time. I started going to my hairdresser in October of 2002 after staying up until 6 AM trying to remove my micro braids on my own. Although I’d hacked off patches of hair in sheer frustration when I was removing my braids, she managed to bring my hair back to life and to it’s healthiest state since I started relaxing my hair.

In October of 2004 I cheated for a few months after my patience with the constant overbooking wore thin only to return crawling back after my hair started breaking. Well I cheated again on Monday mainly because I knew I couldn’t wait until “she” was ready to see me. I went to a new salon and within 15 minutes of my appointment was seated in the chair and 2 and ½ hours later I had a new do. The results weren’t as great as with my regular lady but I had a nice trim and I wasn’t frustrated from sitting there waiting with other overbooked clients. Will I cheat again? Probably I’m going to give this place another try to make sure the timing wasn’t a fluke and hopefully they’ll learn a bit more about my hair and things will work out fine. I’m tired of driving all the way to suburban MD and waiting and waiting and waiting just for a hairdresser appointment.

I always say “never let a straight man do your hair” – Do others feel that way?

Quick Update

I just returned home and I'm crazed. I haven't been able to read all of my blogroll nor have I had time to even put together a proper post. I have lots of ideas just no time to put them down on the blog in a coherent fashion.

I might post something tonight or tomorrow. In the meantime I'm trying to catch up on my life and trying to figure out how to move to London for a year and get paid in pounds.

My Cheers

For the last three weekends I’ve gone to this little bar in Arm.enia called Texas Bar both Friday and Saturday nights. Imagine a Saloon in the middle of some Podunk town in Texas and there you’ll have Texas Bar, on a downtown street in Yere.van, Arm.enia, in the middle of the Caucasus, 500 miles from Baghdad, within spitting distance of the Iranian border.

The wood benches, the peanut shells on the floor, the dried tobacco leaves adorning the ceiling, pictures of BB King smoking a cigar, an old Texas license plate and the friendly wait staff make for an inviting atmosphere. The music is loud and good ranging from blues, to country, to swing, to Latin pop and the occasional pulp fiction soundtrack. The waitresses dance with the patrons in between orders for local draft beer, vodka shots, espresso and my favorite drink, the Vodka Tonic. I guess folks should drink Jack Daniels but despite the music and our surroundings we’re still in Yer.evan and Vodka or Beer is king.

There’s just something about this place that draws me back every weekend night and sometimes during the week. I don’t think I’d go to a place like that in D.C. so maybe it’s the company there, friendly people, a colleague and some cool Arme.nians I’ve met during my frequent trips here. Whatever it is about this place, time stands still. You walk in at 11 PM and next thing you know you’ve danced up a storm and they’re starting to shoo people out because it’s 4 AM.

I’m heading home next Friday and one thing I know I'll miss is my Cheers.

My Pesky Little Battle

Growing up I was what most people would call thin. Not skinny thin or anorexic thin but just thin. From puberty to my sophomore year in college I stood at 5’ 3” and weighed in at less then 110 pounds. The summer after my sophomore year this all changed and the word “thick” was suddenly associated with my name. While I was thrilled at all the extra attention I was getting from dudes, my mom and her wallet weren’t thrilled. I was suddenly requesting additional funds for new clothes and she suddenly realized that my frame no longer fit within the “insert my mother’s maiden name” family size.

As my metabolism changed and the sudden weight gain that came along with it, the comments from my mom about how I was becoming more and more like the “insert my last name here” ‘s. That I had a “derriere” like Aunt so and so and that I need to be careful otherwise I’d get fat like Aunt xyz. None of these women are fat but were a lot bigger in height and size then my mom or her family. I scoffed at the warnings and would tell both my mom and her sister that I was fine and could loose the weight any time I wanted to. I wasn’t worried after all I’d always been “thin” and I just figured it was that freshman 15 that finally arrived late, it was all those biscuits I ate and all that sweet tea I drank because after all I was going to school in the Soufffff, home of the great pulled pork BBQ and Fried Chicken. In my case that freshman 15 was actually a sophomore 20 and as much as I though I’d loose it I never did.

After college I moved back home and started eating a lot healthier then I did at school, I eventually moved to D.C. and my eating habits remained the same although I hooked up with this crazy crew and my drinking habits increased. My weight battle with what I call the “pesky 10” started. I finally decided to do something about it and started my gym campaign. Since I worked as an onsite contractor for a government agency I was able to use their gym facilities everyday during lunch or after work. Hell I never had A LOT of work to do so taking an hour and a half at lunch time and hitting the gym was never a problem. 3 ½ years ago I moved over to doing the same type of work for a consulting firm, my commute doubled, my work load tripled and I stopped working out and since I had to drive to work was constantly in my car and gained 20 pounds. I’ve lost 10 of those 20 and am still battling to loose the last 10. I’m unhappy with my weight and know that I need to get it down before I get any older and it starts getting harder and harder.

My biggest issue is motivation. I’m lazy when it comes to the gym, I'd prefer not to work so hard there. My time is precious as it is and between work and my social life I barely have time for ME, let alone a gym routine which I’ve realized will be a ‘lifetime thing’ and not ‘just a loose those last pesky 10 pounds’ thing. I know this because I’ve been battling these last 10 pounds for the last 3 ½ years. Unfortunately my family thinks they’re trying to motivate me but instead it sounds like badgering and those methods I ignore. Last year I got home from visiting my mom and called her to say that I’d made the drive from NYC to D.C. safely hung up and began unpacking. My phone rings and it’s my mom.

Mom: You said you’re going to the gym.
Me: yeah I am at work
Mom: Well maybe you should get a trainer because whatever you’re doing it’s not working.
Me: Ok bye mom I’ll talk to you later.

This after I’d been going to the gym for four straight months. Those of you who read my old blog and this new one know that I can get really motivated and focused but the minute something else interferes with my gym focus I immediately fall of the wagon. I review it over and over in my mind and know that it’s a continuous battle because my heart isn’t into it, I haven’t gone over to the double digit wardrobe yet, I’m still on the cusp. Unfortunately knowing what lies ahead and that danger of going over that bridge hasn’t enabled me to get my heart into it and I’m not sure what will.