Proud supporter of the two day workweek

Ugh what a day....what a week, actually. I have to force myself to go home and run because otherwise I might end up in bed with a pint of B&J half-baked frozen yogurt watching Garden State just so I have a reason to bawl my eyes out.
I can only think of...less than....10 things that made today worth getting out of bed:

• turkey bacon and egg & cheese breakfast sandwich for half as much as it really costs b/c my coffee guy "Poppy" loves me
  
• it's Friday
  
• a super cute new shirt and new flippers to wear to work on "casual Friday" ha, as if everyday isn't casual for me now
• talking to a few more people, getting a few more leads
• actually saying "no thank you" to a job offer. it just wasn't the right move to make.
  
• hearing some of the good details of my friends wedding next sept. talking about weddings in general
  
• a competitive drinking game that encourages me to get wasted while raising money for my marathon charity....thanks J.C
• buying a new pair of running shoes after work to start this marathon training off right!
  

On a [few] things that REALLY annoy me

• When people refer to their baby's age in months. Look, I get it: that's how mothers "think" and that's how you track development until the age of three. However that is not how the rest of the world thinks and 18 months is also the same as 1 and a half years. Try this instead: round up to the nearest half-year when they baby is older than say...12 months?
• When people don't realize their cell phone is ringing even though it's blaring that obnoxious default Verizon ringtone. Silent or vibrate are the only acceptable ringtones between the hours of 9 and 5.
• The same people who have the keypad sounds turned on and send text messages (using ABC) all throughout the day
• Any ringer that resembles or references any song played on Z-100
• People who use their blackberries on the subway. Um, we're underground so unless you're playing Tetris, that thing is not working. Quit showing off and put it away; we're not impressed by your fancy technology. And while you're at it, take your cell phone off your belt, you look like a tool!

...Oh So Happy

The past ten days or so have felt like one big blur in the best and most fantastic way possible. With the exception of coming down with strep throat in the earlier part of this week, everything else just feels like it's falling into place. These moments seem few and far in between; when I really feel like I'm living at the speed of life and not, say, at the speed of wishing that something would like, happen already because I'm just so bored. In lieu of giving you every detail and because I can't honestly sit here and type out all of the amazing moments, I revert to my handy list:

• Seeing Moby spin an hour long set Friday night at a bar on Avenue C...for $10. Only. In. New York. (file under reasons I can't leave and move to Chicago)
• Spending the best five or so hours of the past, oh I don't know year, talking to a perfect stranger on a padded cushion on the floor of a new Hookah bar in the east village, who after all that time, turned out not to be so much a stranger but just well...almost perfect.
• Season 6 of Scrubs now on my iPod. Enough said.
• Sleeping for almost a full 24 hours
• Finishing and mailing the best friend's wedding invitations
  
• A few great sidewalk café dinners with some friends
• Children of Men, You Me & Dupree, Million Dollar Baby all in the same day (for the record, I was out sick for two whole days)
• Knocked Up, perhaps the funniest movie I've seen in the last five years
  
• Frozen yogurt for breakfast
• Finally letting go...in oh so many ways
  
• Leftover artichoke pizza and wine
• Strawberries and plums in the park
• A really great 6 mile run
• 7 a.m phone calls from somewhere in Europe, Russia or London
  
• Singing karaoke for the first time. Ever. (Noted that Man on the Moon, not exactly the best song to sing along to)
• Taking shots, plural, on a Tuesday night
• A few more e-mails and a few more phone calls
• The thought of switching careers
  
• Staying out way past my usual bedtime and [not] regretting it at work the next morning
• Sending all my donation letters out and already (!) getting a few responses
  
• Signing that confirmation letter that said, "Yes, I will run 26.2 miles on November 4." I'm IN IT NOW and there's no turning back....and I'm loving every minute of it

Conclusions

So Project No iPod has finally come to it's close and man, what a week it's been. The first and most important thing I've learned is: never, ever do that again. Ever. NYC IS LOUD! And it's not half as interesting as I thought it would be. Although, one day I did hear a girl telling her friend that she works out every Sunday for 7 hours. 7. So like. The entire day. At the gym. And she wasn't even buff or anything, she looked pretty normal to me. Nobody talks in the morning. Nobody. The only noise you hear is the announcements and the iPod next to you, the one next to him, and the guy 10 people down who is listening to Spanish radio....at 8:30 am. Too much.

I also realized that I take the same exact train everyday. Which freaked me out because it means I am literally so ingrained in a routine that it's not even possible to catch the train before or after the one I catch. The reason I know this is becasue the conductor makes the same happy-go-lucky announcement about having a safe and glorious day upon approaching Grand Central. He also comments about not letting "mr or mrs light fingers take what is rightfully yours." That was the most depressing part of my week: realizing that everyday I was on the same train and that so far, this day has started the same way that the day before it had. And the day before that. And the day....With my iPod on, at least I can naively believe that I'm on a different train and thereby...switching it up and my life is not pigeon holed into making it to work by exactly 9:00.

I ended up having to make an excel sheet to keep track of the iPods I counted and everything else I listed, and believe it or not, it was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Here is the breakdown by totals instead of by day (it's just easier for me that way):

• how many people ask me directly for money on the way to and from work: 12 (mostly the same people everyday, including the woman who lives on my stoop)
• how many iPods I see (white ear buds only as this is the only fail-proof way to ensure it is, in fact an iPod, and not one of them crazy zunes or whatever): 312 (this was tricky becasue more people than I could have ever imagined have some other device other than an iPod and many people who DO don't use the white ear buds. This must be a direct result of the NYPD's warning to switch to black so thieves don't know it's an iPod. A zune goes for much less on the black market) I'm kidding. They are the same.
  
• how many times I hear the F word, in any of its many forms: only 5
  
• how many times I hear "stand clear of the closing doors please": 27 (a couple of times I had to catch the 6 instead of the express)
  
• how many times someone approaches me for directions: 1 (west is that way)
  
• how many times I can hear the music of the person next or near to me: 13 (never ever good music, by the way. Ever)
  
• how many times someone steps on my foot: 7 (number of times they apologized: 0)

So there you have it. And might I suggest sticking with Ira Glass and whatever else it is that keeps you sane in the morning. Thank you Steve Jobs for changing my social perspective and making me a total recluse on my commute :)

On Things that Suck

• Not being accepted to the NYC marathon and now having to raise $2500 to race for charity. I guess where there's a will there's a way. At least next year I'll have an auto-bib.
• Breaking hearts and being heart broken, either way you shake it, it sucks.
• Spinning a carefully crafted, beautiful web until a gentle breeze knocks it down.
• Doing work that other people don't want to do, and being way over-qualified (and too far in student loan debt) to have to/want to do any of it in the first place.
• Being undermined, underappreciated, underwhelmed.
  

Experiementation

I've decided to change up my commute and stop wearing my iPod to drown out the city, but instead listen to what people are saying, take in the noise around me and try to more carefully observe what's going on around me. Of course, this is only a temporary experiment for I already know that this can't and won't last more than a week. I started it on Tuesday and am already craving my music, or my NPR/This American Life postcast fill. Especially when, like this morning, I'm stuck sitting next to the man who at 8:45 am decides is the proper time to bust out singing R&B music without headphones; that's right, he just felt like singing a Capella for the entire ride. He started out with something awful by I believe, R. Kelly, and then moved on to another something awful by the infamous Usher, and finally the last song, a rendition of something by Boyz to Men, which I unfortunately missed the ending to because we were [finally] at my stop.

I'm also trying to keep track of certain things (some of which I cannot take credit for thinking of) like:

• how many people ask me directly for money on the way to and from work
• how many iPods I see (white ear buds only as this is the only fail-proof way to ensure it is, in fact an iPod, and not one of them crazy zunes or whatever)
• how many times I hear the F word, in any of its many forms
  
• how many times I hear "stand clear of the closing doors please"
• how many times someone approaches me for directions
• how many times I can hear the music of the person next or near to me
• how many times someone steps on my foot

I think that should be enough for now, as it is, that's a lot of things to have to keep track of in the morning when I'm only half awake and in the afternoon, when I'm still only half awake from having spent the day here, in front of this beautiful 30." I think I need a notebook.
Stay Tuned...

How to Charm Me [on the sidewalk]

Walk at the speed of turtle or better yet stop walking all together because you are:

• sending a text. I promise if you use T9 you can walk & text at the same time
  
• e-mailing/crack-berrying
• a lost tourist
• reading AM NY or Metro. Honestly it's a free newspaper, how interesting can it be?
  
• talking on the phone (look it's 2007, if you can't walk & talk at the same time, maybe you shouldn't be privileged enough to own a cell phone)
• walking more than 2 across i.e. a group of 13 year old girls from the 'burbs wearing matching lime green t-shirts that say "Milton Middle School's First NYC Trip" who also think the sidewalks are just like the hallways where you can, in fact, walk with 9 other friends and not get in anybody's way. Newsflash: You're in my way!

Well at least...

Tragedy strikes again. But, rather than dwell, I'll look to the bright side. There is no other choice. At least:

• the sun is shinning today and the roof didn't leak yesterday
  
• Old Navy sells bathing suit 'separates' so I can buy two different sizes (it makes a bigger difference than you may realize; not all of me is "extra small")
• nice weather is forecasted at the Jersey shore this weekend & for my mom's Birthday
  
• payday is Thursday
• I get to see my family tonight for an early Birthday dinner
• It's not too hot for a 5 mile run to clear my head
  
• New York City has some of the best hospitals in the country

You gotta take what you can get [or] a somewhat lame weekend in review

• The phone finally started ringing, the e-mails finally started coming...
• Posting my second best 4-mile race time-a mere 9 seconds off my PR
• Eating some really good Thai food and having some pretty good laughs
• The Snorks, The Jetsons
• Sleeping in. And taking naps.
• Buying a new plant, whom I named Penelope.
• Having too many drinks at happy hour, eating too much Mexican, and riding on the subway too drunk
• Meeting some fun new people

Summer Want-Haves

• Free Shakespeare in the Park: Romeo & Juliet
• gold flip-flops
• the perfect pair of red peep-toe sling back shoes to match my polka dot dress I'll be sporting to a few weddings this summer
• seedless watermelon slices
• The Decemberists, live in Central Park
• a trip out to the island to see Jocelyn
• an entire day spent by the pool lazily sipping...something
  
• a big, red shiny tomato sliced thick with salt & pepper
  
• a visit to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens
• checking off quite a few books from my self-imposed summer reading list
• banana splits
  
• a picnic in the park
• book club on an apartment roof-deck
  
• Great Adventure and a ride on Kingda Ka
  
• a drama-free wedding for my best friend on August 11th
• a delay-free flight out to Denver for my cousin's wedding on August 12th
  
• a Yankees game or two
• a brand spankin new 20" iMac
• a few leads and maybe even a few offers. or just one offer. one is all I need
  
• a great day at the beach, a great week at the beach
  
• sidewalk café dinners, raspberry cosmos and laughter till well after sundown
  
• a few fantastic 10-mile runs
• shinny new race shoes to break in
• acceptance to the NYC Marathon
• a great start to the marathon training season (July 1)
  
• ice-cream cake
• sparklers and fire works by the bridge on July 4th
  
• Coppertone, Banana Boat whatever just the need for some SPF
• a day off just to do nothing but relax and enjoy summer
• bamboo plants springing to life
• tickets to the US Open after Labor Day
• a fun Labor Day weekend getaway, perhaps to Seattle or Portland
  
• a decision, a made-up mind, a confident feeling
  
• a few half marathons added to the calendar
• another long weekend in Chicago, this time with my Mama
  
• a day on Lake Hopatcong for old time's sake
• water skiing
  
• dinner at the J-house and a few margaritas
  
• yellow cake with cool whip icing, blueberries and strawberries
• dirt with gummy worms
• a meteor shower
• a wish upon a star that actually comes true
  
• a long run on the beach after sunset
• a fun summer fling or a blossoming blissful romance