i noticed a few days ago that my driver's license wasn't in my purse. a day or two before that i had thought at one point that i had less cash in my purse than i remembered. today i put in three loads of laundry and headed to the bank for quarters so i could pay for the dryer. when i got to the bank, i realized that i still didn't have my driver's license...luckily i had my SAIC ID card. i cashed my erie insurance refund check ($72, score! it was my money to begin with, but found money feel good even if it was already yours...more on that momentarily) for $30 in quarters and some extra cash for tonight, and headed back to the apartment.
the money for tonight is for dinner and a movie: the JC-DC alumni group planned dinner at McGinty's and then discounted tickets to see pan's labyrinth at the AFI Silver Theater in Silver Spring, MD. only $7.50 for tickets! paul and i are trying to save money for car payments and weddings and other such important things, but i decided this was an allowable expense since it's one day after the sixth anniversary of our first official date, so we should celebrate.
so anyway, i get back from the bank and head straight to the laundry room (i like to be responsible, and also i was crossing my fingers that the large-capacity dryer would be empty - it was!), and begin unloading my two machined full of darks into the big dryer. i finished unloading the first machine (all paul's stuff) and started on the second, and sitting on top was a twenty dollar bill! that was exciting. i began to remember a walk paul and i had taken on tuesday, and that i may have put some money and my driver's licence in my pocket, so i crossed my fingers for the license to be here. i kept digging, and along with the license (*whew* i had been worried), i found another $31!! sheesh. i don't know why i put that much money in my pocket for a walk. but now with the refund check, money already in my wallet, and my newly laundered money, i will have plenty to use tonight at dinner without breaking out the credit card or disturbing my bank balance. i love found money!
speaking of tonight, time for a shower before the dryer is done!
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
i did it!!
i did it. i drove the matrix to work today, and then home in stop-and-go traffic in the snow! i can drive stick shift!!!
actually, i didn't just drive home, i drove to the library...and then to the bank, quite a bit out of the way, to rescue paul who had locked himself out of the car while he was using the walk-up atm. oh, and the car was still running. he was probably only about 6 miles away, but it was rush hour, so he had to stand out in the cold for 25 minutes until i got there. on the coldest day of the winter so far, in the blowing snow. poor paul. good thing i learned how to drive stick shift!
by the way, at the library, i got:
cat's cradle by kurt vonnegut (for paul, he requested it)
cold mountain by Charles Frazier (so that i can finally watch the movie without feeling guilty that i didn't read the book first)
the book of laughter and forgetting by milan kundera (because i keep hearing about it randomly, and he's also written a book called the unforgettable lightness of being, and with titles like that it has to be good. originally written in czech, translated to french by the author, and later into english with the help of the author)
eat, pray, love by elizabeth gilbert (for nawakwa book group in february)
started on laughter and forgetting first because i'm curious. just finished finally reading one of my mom's favorites, fried green tomatoes by fannie flagg, and i thoroughly enjoyed it. waiting for the next church book group book to come from amazon, the denial of death by ernest becker, which sounds heavy but interesting - i could go for a good dose of philosophy.
so much reading, so little time!
actually, i didn't just drive home, i drove to the library...and then to the bank, quite a bit out of the way, to rescue paul who had locked himself out of the car while he was using the walk-up atm. oh, and the car was still running. he was probably only about 6 miles away, but it was rush hour, so he had to stand out in the cold for 25 minutes until i got there. on the coldest day of the winter so far, in the blowing snow. poor paul. good thing i learned how to drive stick shift!
by the way, at the library, i got:
cat's cradle by kurt vonnegut (for paul, he requested it)
cold mountain by Charles Frazier (so that i can finally watch the movie without feeling guilty that i didn't read the book first)
the book of laughter and forgetting by milan kundera (because i keep hearing about it randomly, and he's also written a book called the unforgettable lightness of being, and with titles like that it has to be good. originally written in czech, translated to french by the author, and later into english with the help of the author)
eat, pray, love by elizabeth gilbert (for nawakwa book group in february)
started on laughter and forgetting first because i'm curious. just finished finally reading one of my mom's favorites, fried green tomatoes by fannie flagg, and i thoroughly enjoyed it. waiting for the next church book group book to come from amazon, the denial of death by ernest becker, which sounds heavy but interesting - i could go for a good dose of philosophy.
so much reading, so little time!
Monday, January 22, 2007
Politico
As you may know, I listen to NPR all day while I'm at work. I need the background noise to fill up my lonely windowless office. Since I live near DC, I listen to WAMU, the NPR member station that broadcasts out of American University, and not surprisingly it has a lot of politically-oriented talk shows during the day.
I just listened to a discussion on the second half of To the Point about all the potential Democratic candidates in 2008, and I had some thoughts.
There are already a LOT of democrats who have officially declared their intent to run, formed committees to explore the possibility of running, or at least told reporters that they intend to throw their proverbial hats into the ring in the near future. I'm sure you've heard of Obama and Clinton, Kucinich is also running again, and another they discussed is Richards, the governor of New Mexico.
In the republican ring are McCain, Giuliani, and a few others...but the main candidate by far, and clearly the front-runner in the republican primary, according to the guests on To the Point, is McCain.
The Democrats, on the other hand, have a comparatively huge field of candidates with no clear front-runner. Obama and Clinton are the most talked-about names so far, and Obama has certainly created almost a mania among democrats...but there are other democrats who have very good potential to gain a lot of popularity between now and the primary elections:
Kucinich ran in 2004 and was not well-known only because the press inexplicably didn't talk much about him, according to On the Media, a WAMU show I heard on Saturday while practicing driving my new stick-shift Matrix. It's not that the press didn't like Kucinich; they simply didn't cover him much at all. If he can overcome that this time around, he could be a strong candidate.
Richards is the governor of New Mexico, and according to the guests on To the Point, if you lined up the resumes of all the current democratic presidential hopefuls without names attached, Richards would win hands-down. I'm not sure what makes that true, but they said that he has a really stellar resume compared to Obama and even Clinton. In addition, Richards is half Mexican, and should therefore have the same kind of "first-time-in-history" minority support that Obama and Clinton (black and female, respectively) are already receiving...altho, from a marketing perspective, it's unfortunate for Richards that his father wasn't the Mexican half, because as a result he has an American last name.
To the Point didn't discuss whether the large number of democratic candidates was a good or bad thing, but it seems to me like it could be a bad thing if your ultimate hope is to elect a democrat to the White House. My ultimate hope is to elect a decent and honest person who is not prohibitively conservative to the White House, and to that end I wouldn't be unhappy with McCain (more on this below), but let's assume for now that we're looking for a democrat.
Based on the information above, I think the large number of democratic presidential hopefuls could be a bad thing for the eventual goal of electing a democrat to the White House. Consider the primary elections:
Republicans vote on a choice between McCain, Giuliani, and a few others; McCain, according to To the Point, is the clear front-runner and therefore wins the republican primary with a large majority. Because of this, when the presidential election rolls around, republicans are behind McCain basically 100% because few of them voted for anyone else in the primary, and of those who did, most are still almost equally happy with McCain as they would have been with another republican.
Democrats, on the other hand, have a deeply divided vote in the primaries. New Mexico goes to Richards, and so do a few surrounding states; Obama wins a large handful of states; so does Clinton; so does Kucinich; and a small but significant number of votes go to other candidates, even though none of them wins an entire state. Whoever comes out as the overall winner gets the democratic candidacy, but there are a large number of democrats who were very excited about a different democratic candidate. They probably don't dislike the winner, but they are nonetheless disappointed that their favorite democrat won't be in the running.
McCain for the republican race is a reasonably moderate candidate, so I think that if the scenario in the above two paragraphs were to play out approximately as discussed, McCain's chances at winning the presidential election would be MUCH much higher. In fact, I'd be almost surprised if he didn't win, because the republicans would be strongly behind McCain, but the democrats who weren't as strongly behind their nominee could be more likely to vote for McCain as a moderate candidate.
This isn't an angry rant, because I wouldn't be terribly upset if McCain were our next president, especially if the house and senate were both democratic...however, I would really like to see two democratic houses AND a democrat in the White House so that a bunch can get done right away in 2008...and I also want the democrats to have a real chance at proving they can run the country really well and with minimal corruption (unlike the republicans since 2000). As long as the house, senate, and White House aren't all the same party, it will keep corruption to a minimum, but it will also probably keep any really important legislation from passing (like energy issues, taxes, and hot-button issues such as abortion and gay marriage that could really have an impact on the daily life of the country). So, while I wouldn't be upset to see McCain in the White House, I would be very sad to see the republicans get a majority in either house, and I would really prefer to have straight democratic rule for a while.
::edit::
According to the NPR program on during my drive home (All Things Considered), Clinton is the current front-runner of the democrats, McCain is not quite as strong as To the Point believed, and Clinton is a polarazing force because of a pole that found many Americans wouldn't vote for her under any circumstances. They also mentioned Edwards, a democratic candidate I had forgotten about because they didn't mention him on To the Point. They re-emphasized the impressive resume of Richards, the governor of New Mexico.
What do you think? I welcome thoughts from republicans, democrats, and especially moderates! I would consider myself a moderate liberal...is that too contradictory?
I just listened to a discussion on the second half of To the Point about all the potential Democratic candidates in 2008, and I had some thoughts.
There are already a LOT of democrats who have officially declared their intent to run, formed committees to explore the possibility of running, or at least told reporters that they intend to throw their proverbial hats into the ring in the near future. I'm sure you've heard of Obama and Clinton, Kucinich is also running again, and another they discussed is Richards, the governor of New Mexico.
In the republican ring are McCain, Giuliani, and a few others...but the main candidate by far, and clearly the front-runner in the republican primary, according to the guests on To the Point, is McCain.
The Democrats, on the other hand, have a comparatively huge field of candidates with no clear front-runner. Obama and Clinton are the most talked-about names so far, and Obama has certainly created almost a mania among democrats...but there are other democrats who have very good potential to gain a lot of popularity between now and the primary elections:
Kucinich ran in 2004 and was not well-known only because the press inexplicably didn't talk much about him, according to On the Media, a WAMU show I heard on Saturday while practicing driving my new stick-shift Matrix. It's not that the press didn't like Kucinich; they simply didn't cover him much at all. If he can overcome that this time around, he could be a strong candidate.
Richards is the governor of New Mexico, and according to the guests on To the Point, if you lined up the resumes of all the current democratic presidential hopefuls without names attached, Richards would win hands-down. I'm not sure what makes that true, but they said that he has a really stellar resume compared to Obama and even Clinton. In addition, Richards is half Mexican, and should therefore have the same kind of "first-time-in-history" minority support that Obama and Clinton (black and female, respectively) are already receiving...altho, from a marketing perspective, it's unfortunate for Richards that his father wasn't the Mexican half, because as a result he has an American last name.
To the Point didn't discuss whether the large number of democratic candidates was a good or bad thing, but it seems to me like it could be a bad thing if your ultimate hope is to elect a democrat to the White House. My ultimate hope is to elect a decent and honest person who is not prohibitively conservative to the White House, and to that end I wouldn't be unhappy with McCain (more on this below), but let's assume for now that we're looking for a democrat.
Based on the information above, I think the large number of democratic presidential hopefuls could be a bad thing for the eventual goal of electing a democrat to the White House. Consider the primary elections:
Republicans vote on a choice between McCain, Giuliani, and a few others; McCain, according to To the Point, is the clear front-runner and therefore wins the republican primary with a large majority. Because of this, when the presidential election rolls around, republicans are behind McCain basically 100% because few of them voted for anyone else in the primary, and of those who did, most are still almost equally happy with McCain as they would have been with another republican.
Democrats, on the other hand, have a deeply divided vote in the primaries. New Mexico goes to Richards, and so do a few surrounding states; Obama wins a large handful of states; so does Clinton; so does Kucinich; and a small but significant number of votes go to other candidates, even though none of them wins an entire state. Whoever comes out as the overall winner gets the democratic candidacy, but there are a large number of democrats who were very excited about a different democratic candidate. They probably don't dislike the winner, but they are nonetheless disappointed that their favorite democrat won't be in the running.
McCain for the republican race is a reasonably moderate candidate, so I think that if the scenario in the above two paragraphs were to play out approximately as discussed, McCain's chances at winning the presidential election would be MUCH much higher. In fact, I'd be almost surprised if he didn't win, because the republicans would be strongly behind McCain, but the democrats who weren't as strongly behind their nominee could be more likely to vote for McCain as a moderate candidate.
This isn't an angry rant, because I wouldn't be terribly upset if McCain were our next president, especially if the house and senate were both democratic...however, I would really like to see two democratic houses AND a democrat in the White House so that a bunch can get done right away in 2008...and I also want the democrats to have a real chance at proving they can run the country really well and with minimal corruption (unlike the republicans since 2000). As long as the house, senate, and White House aren't all the same party, it will keep corruption to a minimum, but it will also probably keep any really important legislation from passing (like energy issues, taxes, and hot-button issues such as abortion and gay marriage that could really have an impact on the daily life of the country). So, while I wouldn't be upset to see McCain in the White House, I would be very sad to see the republicans get a majority in either house, and I would really prefer to have straight democratic rule for a while.
::edit::
According to the NPR program on during my drive home (All Things Considered), Clinton is the current front-runner of the democrats, McCain is not quite as strong as To the Point believed, and Clinton is a polarazing force because of a pole that found many Americans wouldn't vote for her under any circumstances. They also mentioned Edwards, a democratic candidate I had forgotten about because they didn't mention him on To the Point. They re-emphasized the impressive resume of Richards, the governor of New Mexico.
What do you think? I welcome thoughts from republicans, democrats, and especially moderates! I would consider myself a moderate liberal...is that too contradictory?
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Stickshift
i can do it! i can finally drive my new car!!
i took it out on my own on saturday...almost immediately it finally clicked and i can now start from a stop, even on a minor uphill, without stalling or jerking. i haven't taken it out on any major roads yet because i'm a bit nervous about, say, turning left into traffic, but soon i'll be wizzing around like a pro!
i feel like i've accomplished a major life skill i was previously lacking. yay!
i took it out on my own on saturday...almost immediately it finally clicked and i can now start from a stop, even on a minor uphill, without stalling or jerking. i haven't taken it out on any major roads yet because i'm a bit nervous about, say, turning left into traffic, but soon i'll be wizzing around like a pro!
i feel like i've accomplished a major life skill i was previously lacking. yay!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
christmas present shout-outs ::edit::
since i shouted out paul's family and rachel for their christmas gifts in the last post, i thought i should make a more complete list of all my continuing enjoyment of christmas presents
i'm using my mini vera bradley wallet-on-a-string from mommy k as my main "purse" now, except when i need a real bag, at which point i throw it in the big floppy eddie bauer bag that ninny got me for (i think) christmas 2005.
i use my aveeno chapstick daily (stocking stuffer from the 'rents)
paul and i had a delicious cassarole for dinner last week made of needed-to-be-used eggs, bread, milk, cheese, and onions and baked in my very first le cruset piece of kitchenware, a mini cassarole from aunt judy
i've cooked pasta three times so far in the pasta pot we exchanged for the waffle iron that ninny got for us (we already had a waffle iron, but we LOVE the pasta pot!)
of course the delicious pizza from the last entry, the pizza stone is the best part of that kit, it's nice and big and beautiful. we also used the alton brown DVDs megan got for paul to make an AMAZING batch of baked macaroni-and-cheese that was the perfect companion for the succulent pulled pork paul made last weekend.
of rachel's gift we've so far eaten the tortilla chips in the salsa verde and used the tapenade for the pizza sauce, which worked really perfectly.
i have a picture of greer above my tv in the cute little doggy picture holder han got me in france
i used my borders gift card from paul's family to get a much-needed dictionary to keep by my bed for nighttime reading when i don't feel like getting up to use the computer to look up words
i haven't yet used any old navy gift certificates...i'm waiting until there's an article of clothing that i really need, because i need to be spending as little money as possible for basically the rest of 2007, so hopefully the gift certificates will come in handy to satisfy a craving.
also haven't used the amazon gift certificates...tried to use mine to purchase a friend's long-overdue wedding gift from amazon.co.uk, but it wouldn't work, i assume because they're only good at amazon.com.
well that's all i can think of at the moment...let me know if i forgot anything. time for bed. past time for bed, in fact, but we had a late dinner after doing laundry and walking all the way to hollywood video, browsing the store for two movies (buy one get one free this week!), and walking home, then taking 90 minutes or so to cook beef and barley soup. ok so good night!
::edit::
paul just used our new full-sized food processor (also from his family) to make the best hummus he's ever made! he's only made hummus a couple other times, but this time is far superior...it is probably a combination of the experience and the food processor...the full-sized fp is definitely the reason it's much smoother and a better texture this time. Yay food processor!!
i'm using my mini vera bradley wallet-on-a-string from mommy k as my main "purse" now, except when i need a real bag, at which point i throw it in the big floppy eddie bauer bag that ninny got me for (i think) christmas 2005.
i use my aveeno chapstick daily (stocking stuffer from the 'rents)
paul and i had a delicious cassarole for dinner last week made of needed-to-be-used eggs, bread, milk, cheese, and onions and baked in my very first le cruset piece of kitchenware, a mini cassarole from aunt judy
i've cooked pasta three times so far in the pasta pot we exchanged for the waffle iron that ninny got for us (we already had a waffle iron, but we LOVE the pasta pot!)
of course the delicious pizza from the last entry, the pizza stone is the best part of that kit, it's nice and big and beautiful. we also used the alton brown DVDs megan got for paul to make an AMAZING batch of baked macaroni-and-cheese that was the perfect companion for the succulent pulled pork paul made last weekend.
of rachel's gift we've so far eaten the tortilla chips in the salsa verde and used the tapenade for the pizza sauce, which worked really perfectly.
i have a picture of greer above my tv in the cute little doggy picture holder han got me in france
i used my borders gift card from paul's family to get a much-needed dictionary to keep by my bed for nighttime reading when i don't feel like getting up to use the computer to look up words
i haven't yet used any old navy gift certificates...i'm waiting until there's an article of clothing that i really need, because i need to be spending as little money as possible for basically the rest of 2007, so hopefully the gift certificates will come in handy to satisfy a craving.
also haven't used the amazon gift certificates...tried to use mine to purchase a friend's long-overdue wedding gift from amazon.co.uk, but it wouldn't work, i assume because they're only good at amazon.com.
well that's all i can think of at the moment...let me know if i forgot anything. time for bed. past time for bed, in fact, but we had a late dinner after doing laundry and walking all the way to hollywood video, browsing the store for two movies (buy one get one free this week!), and walking home, then taking 90 minutes or so to cook beef and barley soup. ok so good night!
::edit::
paul just used our new full-sized food processor (also from his family) to make the best hummus he's ever made! he's only made hummus a couple other times, but this time is far superior...it is probably a combination of the experience and the food processor...the full-sized fp is definitely the reason it's much smoother and a better texture this time. Yay food processor!!
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