The Final Countdown or So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish

so, i'm in my final few days of "work" and i'm surprisingly saddened about the prospect of leaving. i mean, i've poured my heart and soul into this job, nurturing the trees with my very being, pruning them with my love and affection, and now i have to let them grow without me.


i'm just kidding. a more appropriate metaphor:

i work for an environmental organization that plants trees. a couple of weeks ago, we ripped the tree out from in front of our building in order to even out the pavement or some such. that's kind of how i feel about this place; rather than build upon the goodness that is here, or, you know, work with the tree out front to help it grow, we tear it from the earth and pretend it never existed.

deep, huh?



unfortunately, i kind of like some of the people who work here, though, and even though i know where they live, it will be kinda sad to not see them at work every day. my office is a lot like the show "the office" with its ridiculousness and quirky characters.

and i've learned things from being here. i've become a more well-rounded person (and not just a more rounded person, though all of the free bagels and lox does round out my physique quite a bit...) being able to juggle things like "supposed to be working" with "pretending to be working" and "just plain not working even a little bit" (which is what i'm mastering right now). i've also learned how to tell people i'm busy when i'm not because i don't want to do the work they have for me.

all in all, learning galore. and for a first job in the "real world" it hasn't been bad.

so, you know, so long. and thanks for all the fish.

Dear Diary or What I Ate Today

so, today i was chatting with mara and julie at dinner about how i was thinking of blogging on what i ate today. mara so lovingly reminded me that my old diaries used to be completely about what i ate on any given day.

i beg to differ, though. i distinctly remember writing a passage about how i "pine for" brady miller. no, really i used those words. and really, i had a crush on brady miller:

on the left

but what do you want? i was in middle school with raging hormones and a thing for thespians. and the whole "pine for" thing wasn't my fault, either. i mean, it was renaissance festival time. which reminds me of turkey drumsticks and brings me back to my point:

things i ate today

dear diary,

today was an okay day. i woke up before my alarm clock again, which was annoying because i wanted to sleep in. but it did give me a chance to take a shower, which i guess is okay, even though i kinda didn't wanna take a shower. i mean, i JUST showered two days ago.....anyway, i kind of wanted to nibble on something right away. i was actually kinda hungry, which is weird because i don't usually eat until i get into the office, but after getting my lunch ready (rice to go with the panang tuna pack i had at work)



and grabbing some fruit, i decided to just get going. it was nice outside.

so, i actually didn't notice that i still hadn't eaten anything by eleven, which, again, weird because i usually eat at nine thirty or ten. but, to be fair, i did try to have some strawberries around 9:15. they had gone bad, which didn't stop me from biting into one, anyway, but it was no good.

and then i DID have a handful of honey nut cheerios, which i shoved frantically into my mouth, but that doesn't count because i didn't get any milk to put it in, thus wasting time by going down to the fridge on the second floor, talking to becky about her fake child named jewish, and filling my stomach in the way i normally do with cereal and milk.


then at eleven, i went to the fourth floor for something (i forgot what by the time i got there), and when i left, i filled my water bottle AND took a piece of chocolate covered matzoh. i started eating it on the way down, but then when i got to my desk, i decided that it would go really well with my fuji apple, so i supplemented, taking a bite of matzoh then a bite of apple.

it was just okay.

twelve thirty brought on cookie walk '08 (part 1), a scheduled affair that took us back to levain bakery for delicious chocolate chip brioche and whatever everyone else got.

at levain bakery

now, i wasn't going to eat it until after i had lunch, but instead i ate in on the way back to the office. and then i wasn't hungry for lunch.

cookie walk '08 (part 1) crew

i did have some sugar snap peas. those were good.

i met julie and mara for dinner, which was nice because i don't get to see julie that often, and i really like my sister. we went to a thai place, and i ordered pad see ew, but they called it pad see eil, which was TOTALLY crazy! anyway, i ate way too much and felt sick after dinner, which sucked, but passover is starting soon, so i couldn't really take leftovers with me.

now i'm home and watching amelie. i love this movie, it's so pretty. i wonder if brady miller would like it....

that's all for now. i'll write more if i have any ice cream or something later. thanks for listening, diary. you're always here for me.

love,
erin


and yes, i really did sign my diary "love" and my name. sad. i know.

Run Gracie Run or The Big Finish

last night the worst thing happened. i was hanging out with debbie and becky (not the worst thing), and we decided to go to barnes and noble. maybe you've heard of it, it's a bookstore:




anyway, because debbie and becky are such good, close friends, i decided to share with them my (new) favorite book:


this book is AMAZING! it's all about campaigning and teaches kids the uselessness of the electoral college. what could be better?

now, becky has been subjected to this book before, as the last time we were in b&n and discovered that it exists, i made her read it and tell me how great it is. so when she wandered off mentally to look at other books, i allowed it. but debbie, DEBBIE failed me. she did NOT love my book. she made faces and didn't shed a single tear about the heartfelt ending. in fact, she may have rolled her eyes. what is this treachery? how can i be expected to maintain a friendship with someone who obviously has no heart???

well, i thought about it, and i've developed a theory as to the heartlessness of dear shifty-eyes. you see, the main character of said book, grace we'll call her (because that's her name), is

*SPOILER ALERT! i'm about to reveal the ending. if you want to be surprised, don't read on!*

a woman. i think that grace's big win in the end made debbie a little apprehensive, as she's an obama supporter:



i think she was a little intimidated when grace actually became president. and while there is certainly no excuse for picking on cute, little grace (i mean, she's a CHILD, and tommy gave her enough trouble already), this goes a long way toward explaining debbie's actions (or blatant lack thereof).

i forgive debbie, though, because she and becky bought me an amazing dinner and an amazing dessert and helped me to freak ira out. (we showed up at his apartment and demanded to be let in. luckily, ira has to be a good host, even if he is scared and doesn't understand what's going on....)



so, good luck, grace! i still support you. and debbie, i've decided we can be friends afterall.

unless i discover you have no soul....