I'm more than aware that I've been a bit on the impersonal side lately. The truth is I've been struggling a lot over the past month and I haven't really wanted to talk about it to anyone. I've been holing up in my apartment for weeks on end, playing video games, sleeping more than any human has a right to, and ignoring all of the things that actually need to get done before I head back to school next month. It's not a healthy way to deal but I've never really been big on burdening others with my problems. However, one of my favorite bloggers, Single Dad Laughing, reminded me this week that, when we set out as a blogger, we owe our readers everything, even the not so pretty parts of life.
I've been pretty down since my friend passed the week before my birthday. I struggled a bit to make it through the summer quarter and came nowhere near my usual dean's list standards. Money has been tight all summer which means I also haven't been to any archery lessons or gotten involved in anything else over the summer. I've been eating too much, sleeping too much, having nightmares and insomnia, my anxiety has been high, and my depression has been out of control. I'm feeling a bit lost and lonely and, despite all of the good things I've got going, I'm struggling to stay cheerful. I always come out of these funks eventually and I'm not asking for pity and I don't really want to sit and have a conversation with anyone about it. Just, if you've got a spare moment, send some good thoughts this way. Maybe it will help.
Friday, August 23, 2013
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Things I Love Thursday
Babysitting - Friday night saw me down good old Hyde Park with Miss Ivy while mommy and daddy had a much-needed date night. We played all night, had dinner and bath time, I watched her laugh until she snorted, and show off all of her new words (including getting ever so better at my name, yay!). There was only a very small melt-down for mommy which was quickly solved by some cuddle time with Ivan (her monkey) and curling up in bed while she crashes out in my arms is pretty much still the best thing that ever happens.
UFC Night - Saturday night, Daniel and I curled up on the couch with Sarpino's and the UFC fights. This may sound super boring to a lot of my friends but I love watching the fights and spending time with my fella.
ZSNES - It's been years since I had a good old SNES emulator up and running on my computer. Last night, I sat out my insomnia with a rousing couple of hours of Bomberman, it was oddly comforting.
Witcher 2 - All I can say is where is Witcher 3? The abrupt end of the fantastic story has left me sadly anticipating the next in the series.
Torchwood - Yeah, I know I'm way late to the game but I just started and boy, do I love having more Captain Jack than I know what to do with. Also, holy cow, this is way more terrifying than Doctor Who and I am super glad I haven't been watching this at night.
UFC Night - Saturday night, Daniel and I curled up on the couch with Sarpino's and the UFC fights. This may sound super boring to a lot of my friends but I love watching the fights and spending time with my fella.
ZSNES - It's been years since I had a good old SNES emulator up and running on my computer. Last night, I sat out my insomnia with a rousing couple of hours of Bomberman, it was oddly comforting.
Witcher 2 - All I can say is where is Witcher 3? The abrupt end of the fantastic story has left me sadly anticipating the next in the series.
Torchwood - Yeah, I know I'm way late to the game but I just started and boy, do I love having more Captain Jack than I know what to do with. Also, holy cow, this is way more terrifying than Doctor Who and I am super glad I haven't been watching this at night.
Monday, August 12, 2013
Post-Emily Post, A Monday Snark: Workplace Edition
I have been reminded today that some people have no idea how to appropriately function in the workplace so today I will be giving you all a few helpful suggestions.
1) As a new hire, do not come in trying to throw your weight around. Everyone has been here longer than you have and will not take kindly to you trying to take parts of their job or going around telling everyone what you will NOT be doing. They also know what your job entails better than you do at the moment so try to be a little humble and respectful.
2) Most offices prefer a team environment. So, unless it has been made very clear to you that there is an office hierarchy, treat the rest of your team as equals despite their position and educational experience. This will also make them more likely to help you when you eventually need it.
3) Don't shout across the office. The person you are shouting at could have someone in their office. Either pick up the telephone or get off your ass and walk over there if it's that important.
4) Personal calls are not meant for office hours. However, if for some reason you have to make one during the day, try to keep it short and maybe during your lunch hour. Also, if you're not going to leave the office to make the personal call, at least have the courtesy to close your office door so that you don't interrupt everyone else's day discussing where you will be meeting your friend for brunch next Sunday.
5) The office staff person (administrative assistant, secretary, whatever the hell you want to call it) should be your best friend. You should take the time to know their names and listen to and respect their opinions when they put them forward. They have control over EVERYTHING and can make your life as simple or as difficult as they want to.
6) Don't be afraid to ask for help. Your coworkers are way more likely to be cheerful about helping you before you screw up something huge.
7) Communicate, communicate, communicate. Do not assume that everyone is on the same page. Thanks to this lovely little thing called the internet, it is extremely easy to get the information out there. Trust me, most people would rather have too many emails than have to constantly guess as to what's going on in the office.
Thursday, August 8, 2013
Things I Love Thursday
Free at last - Finals are over, I passed my classes, and I can do whatever I want with my free time through the end of September. I can't wait to get back to archery lessons this weekend, take off a little of this lazy/bad eating weight, and get some projects done around home that I've been putting off.
Old friends - My dear college friend, Colby, is home for a couple of weeks. A ton of the college crew went out to our favorite Logan Square dive bar and had drinks and caught up for the evening. These guys mean a lot to me and have pulled me through some really rough times and it was good to see them.
Mini break - Mom and I took a long weekend. All I wanted was to go somewhere outside of the city that had a pool (literally the only requirements I had). We checked into a hotel in Schaumburg, browsed at the mall, spent more money than we meant to at IKEA, swam in the pool, slept in super comfy hotel beds, and had a ton of good food. It was great to just get away from the city for a couple of days and do things I would never do at home (like eat cheesecake in bed).
The best pet sitters - I couldn't have gone last weekend if it hadn't been for the fabulously wonderful Dann and Elise, who took my little Penelope for the weekend. I am ever so grateful that I have friends who are willing to take my yappy princess into their home.
Pacific Rim - When I got home, Daniel and I finally made it out to see Pacific Rim. What a kick ass monster movie. Amazing monster vs robot fights, nerds with tattoos, strong female character that can beat the crap out of you, Ron Perlman....seriously, do you need any more reasons for it to rock? Many apologies for anyone around us in the movie theatre that was distracted by the Kermit-like arm flailing going on where we were sitting.
Old friends - My dear college friend, Colby, is home for a couple of weeks. A ton of the college crew went out to our favorite Logan Square dive bar and had drinks and caught up for the evening. These guys mean a lot to me and have pulled me through some really rough times and it was good to see them.
Mini break - Mom and I took a long weekend. All I wanted was to go somewhere outside of the city that had a pool (literally the only requirements I had). We checked into a hotel in Schaumburg, browsed at the mall, spent more money than we meant to at IKEA, swam in the pool, slept in super comfy hotel beds, and had a ton of good food. It was great to just get away from the city for a couple of days and do things I would never do at home (like eat cheesecake in bed).
The best pet sitters - I couldn't have gone last weekend if it hadn't been for the fabulously wonderful Dann and Elise, who took my little Penelope for the weekend. I am ever so grateful that I have friends who are willing to take my yappy princess into their home.
Pacific Rim - When I got home, Daniel and I finally made it out to see Pacific Rim. What a kick ass monster movie. Amazing monster vs robot fights, nerds with tattoos, strong female character that can beat the crap out of you, Ron Perlman....seriously, do you need any more reasons for it to rock? Many apologies for anyone around us in the movie theatre that was distracted by the Kermit-like arm flailing going on where we were sitting.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Post-Emily Post, A Monday Snark: Transportation Edition
So, for a large part of my adult life, it has become abundantly clear to me that a lot of people are lacking a specific type of knowledge: common courtesy. There are rules, some of them unspoken but lots of them should have been taught to us at a fairly young age, that people just either don't know or choose to ignore because they think they are somehow special. So I've decided to dedicate Mondays to this particular topic that plagues my life. This week I am choosing to focus on transportation.
Walkers:
Crosswalks are there for a reason, please use them. Don't cross in the middle of the street or when the light is red, you are endangering your own life and the lives of others and that extra five seconds it would have taken to walk to the corner or wait out the light is not going to make that much of a difference in your arrival time. Walk with purpose and watch where you are going. There is truly nothing more obnoxious than not being able to pass a slow walker because they wander about on the sidewalk or being run into because someone is looking everywhere except the direction in which they are walking. If you bump into someone, be nice and say excuse me. Remember that you are NOT the only person/people trying to use the sidewalk. If you are walking in a large group (or even as a couple), try to not take up the entire sidewalk and give room for faster people to pass you by and, if you see someone coming toward you, maybe give them a little room instead of driving them off into the grass/road.
Public transit riders:
No, no one likes the public trans. Buses and trains are often crowded, uncomfortable, and smell of whatever odd combination of homeless folks, hippies, to-go food, and various bodily odors have passed through that day. But we could at least all try to make everyone's trip as pleasant as possible. So let's start with smell: wear deodorant (no one wants to smell your b.o.), almost no one likes the smell of patchouli so maybe you could leave it for home, your perfume/cologne/extreme floral scented hair spray/etc may smell really great to you but there are a ton of people that are highly allergic to those type of scents so either tone it down or don't wear it when you're going to be in small enclosed spaces, if you have to eat on the bus maybe you could go for a nice sub sandwich or yogurt instead of that can of tuna, and try to save those huge raunchy farts for when you get back off of the trans. You do not need more than one seat. If you are completely healthy individual, please give that seat up to the elderly, people with tiny children, people on crutches, or pregnant women. Use your indoor voice, no one else wants to hear your conversation and we probably don't think your inside joke is as funny as you do. When we're all packed in like sardines, squeeze in to all of the empty spaces and try to accommodate people trying to leave at the next stop.
Skateboarders/runners/rollerbladers/etc:
I understand in a town like Chicago, it is difficult to find good places to participate in these types of activities. However, speeding down the sidewalk on the busiest part of Belmont and expecting everyone else to get out of your way is just douche-y. Go to a trail or a skate park or find one of the several less inhabited sidewalks to enjoy your activity on and, if you happen to be passing a walker, notify them in plenty of time which side you are coming up on and try to be kind about it. We're more likely to move for you, if you don't act like we are intentionally ruining your day by walking on YOUR part of the sidewalk. (also, see prior walkers paragraph on crosswalks)
Bikers:
First and foremost, if you are riding on the road (which, in Chicago, it is illegal to do otherwise), YOU HAVE THE SAME RULES AS CARS. It is not appropriate to drive in between lanes of traffic because you think that you are somehow entitled to get where you're going ahead of everyone else that is also waiting in the line of traffic. Also, stop signs and stop lights are not suggestions, they are laws. Every time you blow through the stop sign and narrowly miss running over an innocent pedestrian in the crosswalk, baby Jesus kills a puppy. If for some reason, you are riding your bike on a sidewalk, realize that you are the one in the way, not everyone else. If the sidewalk is super crowded, might I suggest getting off and walking your bicycle like a polite human being? If you run into me with your bike because you are too rude to share the sidewalk/roads, I will throw your bike in front of the nearest bus and make you watch as it is smashed to bits.
Drivers:
Pedestrians have the right of way...ALWAYS. Even the obnoxious douche nozzles that cross in the middle of the street when you have a green light, you cannot hit them no matter how satisfying it would be. However, if someone is in the crosswalk and you have a stop sign or light, do not blow through and scream out your window that they should watch where they are going, you are actually in the wrong. Use your turn signal. Obviously you know where you're going but that guy about to hit you in the ass doesn't know you're turning if that little light isn't blinking. If you are, for whatever reason, unclear of the rules of four way stop signs, maybe you could give yourself a quick refresher. Traffic weaving is obnoxious and, again, will not actually make that much of a difference in your arrival time. Your horn is for emergencies ONLY. If you use it for anything else, you should be punished with a plague of boils.
Anything I missed? Any suggestions for future Monday snark that you'd like to see?
Walkers:
Crosswalks are there for a reason, please use them. Don't cross in the middle of the street or when the light is red, you are endangering your own life and the lives of others and that extra five seconds it would have taken to walk to the corner or wait out the light is not going to make that much of a difference in your arrival time. Walk with purpose and watch where you are going. There is truly nothing more obnoxious than not being able to pass a slow walker because they wander about on the sidewalk or being run into because someone is looking everywhere except the direction in which they are walking. If you bump into someone, be nice and say excuse me. Remember that you are NOT the only person/people trying to use the sidewalk. If you are walking in a large group (or even as a couple), try to not take up the entire sidewalk and give room for faster people to pass you by and, if you see someone coming toward you, maybe give them a little room instead of driving them off into the grass/road.
Public transit riders:
No, no one likes the public trans. Buses and trains are often crowded, uncomfortable, and smell of whatever odd combination of homeless folks, hippies, to-go food, and various bodily odors have passed through that day. But we could at least all try to make everyone's trip as pleasant as possible. So let's start with smell: wear deodorant (no one wants to smell your b.o.), almost no one likes the smell of patchouli so maybe you could leave it for home, your perfume/cologne/extreme floral scented hair spray/etc may smell really great to you but there are a ton of people that are highly allergic to those type of scents so either tone it down or don't wear it when you're going to be in small enclosed spaces, if you have to eat on the bus maybe you could go for a nice sub sandwich or yogurt instead of that can of tuna, and try to save those huge raunchy farts for when you get back off of the trans. You do not need more than one seat. If you are completely healthy individual, please give that seat up to the elderly, people with tiny children, people on crutches, or pregnant women. Use your indoor voice, no one else wants to hear your conversation and we probably don't think your inside joke is as funny as you do. When we're all packed in like sardines, squeeze in to all of the empty spaces and try to accommodate people trying to leave at the next stop.
Skateboarders/runners/rollerbladers/etc:
I understand in a town like Chicago, it is difficult to find good places to participate in these types of activities. However, speeding down the sidewalk on the busiest part of Belmont and expecting everyone else to get out of your way is just douche-y. Go to a trail or a skate park or find one of the several less inhabited sidewalks to enjoy your activity on and, if you happen to be passing a walker, notify them in plenty of time which side you are coming up on and try to be kind about it. We're more likely to move for you, if you don't act like we are intentionally ruining your day by walking on YOUR part of the sidewalk. (also, see prior walkers paragraph on crosswalks)
Bikers:
First and foremost, if you are riding on the road (which, in Chicago, it is illegal to do otherwise), YOU HAVE THE SAME RULES AS CARS. It is not appropriate to drive in between lanes of traffic because you think that you are somehow entitled to get where you're going ahead of everyone else that is also waiting in the line of traffic. Also, stop signs and stop lights are not suggestions, they are laws. Every time you blow through the stop sign and narrowly miss running over an innocent pedestrian in the crosswalk, baby Jesus kills a puppy. If for some reason, you are riding your bike on a sidewalk, realize that you are the one in the way, not everyone else. If the sidewalk is super crowded, might I suggest getting off and walking your bicycle like a polite human being? If you run into me with your bike because you are too rude to share the sidewalk/roads, I will throw your bike in front of the nearest bus and make you watch as it is smashed to bits.
Drivers:
Pedestrians have the right of way...ALWAYS. Even the obnoxious douche nozzles that cross in the middle of the street when you have a green light, you cannot hit them no matter how satisfying it would be. However, if someone is in the crosswalk and you have a stop sign or light, do not blow through and scream out your window that they should watch where they are going, you are actually in the wrong. Use your turn signal. Obviously you know where you're going but that guy about to hit you in the ass doesn't know you're turning if that little light isn't blinking. If you are, for whatever reason, unclear of the rules of four way stop signs, maybe you could give yourself a quick refresher. Traffic weaving is obnoxious and, again, will not actually make that much of a difference in your arrival time. Your horn is for emergencies ONLY. If you use it for anything else, you should be punished with a plague of boils.
Anything I missed? Any suggestions for future Monday snark that you'd like to see?
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Things I Love Thursday
Bollywood - I have never in my life seen a Bollywood film. Last Friday night, Daniel brought me along to his Bollywood movie night. I was inundated with more Bollywood gossip than I knew what to do with and given a run down of which actors were awesome and which actors I should hate and then watched the beauty that is Om Shanti Om. I kind of think I should have been born in a different culture.
The plebeian pestilence machine - Otherwise known as the bus. I have discovered that *some* people are not huge fans. This has led to a large amount of hilarious text messages back and forth about the horrible perils of the poisonous purveyor of malevolence.
Zombies - I took Daniel down to Hyde Park to meet my sweet Ivy and play Zombicide with Tim, Sarah, David, and Steph. A glorious time was had by all including fabulous middle eastern food, baby snuggles, good company, and squashing zombies with cars. Much apologies to Daniel and David for leaving them behind to be mobbed by the zombie horde. My flight or fight response kicked in. ;)
Good produce - I took a long trip to Whole Foods on Monday, spent my birthday gift card (and then some), and got some fabulous produce that I'm looking forward to cooking. As soon as I pick up some shortening, there will be blueberry pie, my dears.
Doggy pals - Last night I finally got Penelope over to Dann and Elise's to meet Stella and Roxy. The girls had a nice long walk and then laid on the couch with us getting to know each other. I am so lucky to have friends that are willing to put up with my tiny queen while I'm out of town for a mini-break.
T-minus 6 hours - That's right, ladies and germs, the summer quarter is spiraling to a close. My stats final is in the hands of my professor and in about six hours, I will be speeding home to forget all about my behavior genetics final. This has been a little bit of a challenging quarter but I'm pretty sure I'll be receiving my usual high marks and I have most definitely earned the next seven weeks of no classes.
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