Hmmmm

Yeah, I have not had much time for blogging. Buuuut I swear that at times, I think of really great ideas for blog entries. Great ones! Not much consolation, is it?

I still want to write my "triage" entry, or series of entries. Triage, as you probably know, is the idea in medicine, particularly during war-time, that if you are dealing with injuries, you have to tend to the most serverely injured first, even if that means neglecting others for a while. I guess it's another way of saying "make priorities," only, it's for really dire situations, and has worse consequences.

What I've thought about is smaller-scale situations in my life. For instance, I work for a relatively small company. There are people whose last names I haven't learned - simply because they are relatively new - but worse, there are also people whose names I don't know at all, just because they are in a different department.

It would be classy and honorable if I actually made an effort one day to know everyone's name (even if some are just there for the short-term). Then again, if I spend the effort on that, it might take away from other more pressing aspects of work. (OKay, it's not a ton of "effort," but it still means making it a priority.)

At a former job of mine, the wealthy owner used to come in and putter around, asking everyone how they were doing, what their problems were, etc. Everyone found that amazing. Yet, I also know that he didn't really need to work, so he had more time to be generous. He also had a huuuuge network of people who loved him and supported him in whatever he did. So he had time to spread that love. But shouldn't I be more like him, palling around with everyone in the office? Would that make me more personable and a better worker, or a phony? It's something that, in a perfect world, I'd do - at least know a little about everyone in my company.

This is at the less significant part of the spectrum of triage. My bigger issue is that I'd like to - cliche on the way - "make the world a better place." But there are so many things that need fixin'...where to start? It's not like I can solve all the problems - best to just pick one small way to help, somewhere. Not at the expense of my loved ones or job, of course. But where to start?

That's an aspect for another post someday....

Disclaimer: I kinda just wrote that, not very well-organized, so judge it that way. Some of this just comes out. Maybe if I revised, it'd be more cohesive. Just my thoughts. Anyway, I wrote it on Saturday but am posting it Sunday. On Monday: Photos of fall leaves, as I went "leaf peeping" with the hubby. Unfortunately, the weather is not so conducive for leaf changes.

BASTARDS!!!

Most smartest

Most reality shows annoy me. But I found one that actually made me laugh.

It's called "America's Most Smartest Model" and of course, the purpose is just to make fun of models. I imagine that the models on the show realize that. They still want the publicity anyway.
The show judges models on their looks and moves, but also asks them history and spelling questions.

During the first episode, they had to walk the runway and say a list of things, with the category given by the judges. For instance, they would tell one guy "Kinds of dinosaur" and he had to walk the runway saying "Stegosaurus, brontosaurus..."

So anyway, during the course of this, they asked a French model to name things that smell bad.

He said: "Socks, trash, dirty laundry, dirty penis..."

At the end, Ben Stein said, "Did you say, 'Dirty penis'?"

The model replied, in his French accent, "Well, does it smell bad?"

Next, they asked a ditsy-looking woman to name things that were round. So she came out and walked the runway saying something like, "Grapefruit, balls, cherries, grapefruit, balls, cherries."

At that point, I broke down and started laughing hysterically. The Hubby just stared at me strangely. Thank God I didn't do this before the wedding or there might not have been one.

Anyway, don't forget to watch "America's Most Smartest Model" so that you can get your jollies pretending you are superior to people who look much better than you.

On another night, we are hosting trivia tonight. See ya!

Trivia

The Hub and I are hosting Tuesday Night Trivia on...well, Tuesday! So come play.

Information and directions here. The press release is a bit old, but the info is the same. Oh, it's in New York City.

Good readin'

My friend Jodi from elementary school only updates her blog occasionally, but when she does, it's REALLY worth reading. She is a stupendous writer, and very funny. If you remember Balki from "Perfect Strangers," read this entry dated Sept. 11. There's a surprise at the end.

Another friend of mine has a touching entry about friends or lovers who may be out of our lives, but left a lasting effect by teaching us something. Read it here.

Finally, a few weeks ago, the New York Times stopped forcing people to pay to read their old articles, so now you can pretty much get anything. Including some of my nutty pieces. Despite the serious headline, this is meant to be funny.

Have a great weekend! It's supposed to be sunny and cool, and I'm hoping the leaves will be purty.

Artistic genius

It's a fun tradition at weddings to leave disposable cameras on the tables so your guests can take their own pictures of each other, then leave the camera for you to develop.

We figured we'd get some good photos, and some awful ones.

But never did we predict the level of genius that we'd see when we retrieved our photos from CVS yesterday!

WOW!!! Clearly, this photo of a young man's shoulder is meant to evoke the burden that all of today's youth must "shoulder" in a changing and sometimes dangerous society.



The question asked by this astoundingly profound shot is quite obvious. Maybe we all have the capacity to hear, but do we really LISTEN?




While some of us are at our best at a wedding, others are just a shadow of themselves. Clearly the photographer here was a brilliant philosopher.



Okay, let's stop sugar-coating it. This person was just holding the camera backwards. DUH!!!

Bliss

I've been married a week, and so far it's great.

That's really no fun for you to read about, is it? Maybe I should write more about past bad dating experiences...I'll change any names to protect the innocent.

Is it hot enough for you? What are we fall-leaf loves to do? There are still moments of beauty in the trees along the highway -- crimson-studded branches and splashes of Golden Delicious yellow.

Okay, no time to write more. If you had to work today, I feel your pain.

That's just swell

Looks like someone wrote a paper on Carrie Pilby in 2004 and is now selling her paper on-line for $15! At least she got an A minus.

Well, I must go back to cleaning and ironing now.

Aftermath


My dress when I finally got out of it at the end of the day.

Gorgeous flowers I got at work yesterday from my new hubby.

Incidentally, the candy you are looking at on the second shelf is dark chocolate peanut M&Ms, which I had been curious to try. They actually taste very similar to regular peanut M&Ms; the dark chocolate doesn't make much of a difference.

I'm married

As of two days ago.

To the Boy: I'm very lucky to be with you and I love you (I guess I should call you The Hubby now).

I am extremely honored and humbled to have so many good people in my life...I have already received photos from a few of my wonderful friends, and I'm nearly speechless at how wonderful everyone is. Thanks to everyone who attended, to those who sent good wishes, and of course, to anyone reading this.

Don't worry, I won't change...except that I will now mostly write about ironing, vaccuuming, sweeping, and standing by my man.

I of course have much more to say, too much for a blog post. To The Boy, I love you and thanks for marrying me. And for putting up with a blog.

Oh, just a few things:
-I wore sneakers under my wedding dress and no one complained. Our guests did an impromptu hora to "Born to Run" at the end of the night and it was perfect. I got my veil inexpensively at a craft store (a suggestion from the best man's wife), and no one left the wedding saying, "Gee, I enjoyed the music and people and everything was beautiful....but the veil wasn't very good." So, resist the pressure of the wedding industry! It's about you and your spouse and your loved ones. That's all.

Sweatshirt weather at last!

Well, that was a long moment of silence...

Blogging will continue to be brief this month.

The Boy and I visited my alma mater this weekend, and we went to a Mets game. It was fun.

I am really posting this on Sunday but dating it for Monday, just so y'all know. I do that sometimes.

Hope you have a good week.

Peace

Blog-moment of silence today.

College life

Students at Harvard used to get a university-issued pillow when they moved into their dorms. But this year, Harvard is discontinuing the practice. They should have gotten rid of it years ago. Aren't Harvard freshmen smart enough to bring their own pillow to school?

Ferry good

Last Saturday, the fiance and I took the free ferry from NYC to Governor's Island, a former military base off the Manhattan coast. It's now full of empty brick buildings while the city decides what to do with it. They give free tours during the summer. The last tours were this past weekend.

A fortress from the War of 1812.

Then, Sunday, he took me to a Staten Island Yankees game. They played the Brooklyn Cyclones, a Mets affiliate. It was one of the more fun stadiums.

One guy's apparent homer was declared foul.

A foul ball flew over our row.

Unpleasant-ville

Apparently, much of the school board in Pleasantville, NJ got arrested this morning for alleged corruption. I don't know where Pleasantville is, but I guess you shouldn't move there for the schools.

More importantly, when I have more time - some photos from a fabulous weekend with the Boy. Including baseball. This was not our seat:

Linkage

Jon the writer told me he got inspired and wrote a first-day-of-college post of his own. It's very good.

A friend of mine published excerpts from her own elementary school diaries , which are more biting than mine. (Scroll down a post or two.)

Have a great first week of September, everyone!

Sold!

I really don't sit around all day checking on how my books are selling. But it occurred to me to check this because I haven't done so in a very long time. Is this true? If so, I want my check! Hahaha.

Note: It's still available on Amazon, so it's not really sold out.

Scott Baio's back

The Boy was kind enough to forward me articles about my favorite reality show. Scott Baio will be returning for a second season. I may not watch this one. But anyway, here's the dirt. Warning: Spoilers!!!

Coupons

During my first few days of freshman year of college, it was sunny, bright, and contradictorily cool. We kept waiting for rain, and there was none, which was good for us suburban kids who weren't used to all that walking around in a city.

Several days were reserved for freshman orientation before classes began, and this orientation included "diversity training" on the grassy college green (where we designed our own skits about racial sensitivity), last-minute dropping and adding of courses, and "campus safety" seminars. There was a tree-lined brick walkway that ran the length of campus, past the Book Store and the main freshman dorm, and along the way, people stalked us trying to invite us to their club, sell us something, offer us membership.

During the first few days of school, everybody wanted us.

If we walked on the brick walkway, we'd get accosted by coupons: The local pizza restaurant, wing joints, bagel shops. Credit card companies set up desks to offer us gifts if we'd use their card, now that we were suddenly independent (probably not such a good idea). Clubs and non-profit volunteer groups begged us to be members.

And there were jobs. "JOBS!" the pink fluorescent flyers screamed, "$12-$15 an hour!" The $15 an hour one involved delivering newspapers on campus from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. before classes, a great way to earn yourself a reputation on your dorm floor while everyone else slept late. There were jobs editing the faculty newsletter, sitting in the dorm computer rooms, and working in the dining hall (which meant a nice discount on meal plan).

One night during orientation, there was an event at the Christian center with free burgers and a showing of a Monty Python movie. Of course, all the non-Christian freshmen came too, because it was yet another free dinner, a way to avoid spending money when people were throwing so many freebies at us.

Everybody wanted us. We were the future.

And we wanted each other, no doubt. Some of us had boy- or girl-friends back home, but not most of us. We were 18, without our parents for the first time, and our hormones were still raging. So there we were, with thousands of people our ages, of similar backgrounds, suddenly sprung from the stuffy halls of high school and shedding the social labels of nerd or geek or jock. Everyone wanted to sell things to us and get to know us.

It really felt like a beginning.

We could do anything from here, and some of us were bound to be successful at it. Those groups, credit card companies, and employers knew it. We were ripe for the picking. Get 'em while they're young. Feed 'em, stuff their mailboxes with offers and event notices, give 'em a plastic blue and red rape whistle if any of their late-night activities go too far.

It was an explosive, exciting time for those of us who'd been mired in the limitations of high school. It was the beginning of independence.

For some students, it was a time when they realized they didn't know how to handle that newfound independence and flunked out. Others started a romance within a few days and never ended it. Some just went through school and had a good time. Some prepared to make a lot of money. Some filled their heads with knowledge and didn't know what to do after graduation.

But no matter what happened, beginnings are nice. We didn't know which path we were about to take, only that it was all ahead of us and not much was behind.

That feeling comes back to me every year around this time, when everyone looked at us as the representatives of the future, and we knew anything could happen in love and life. You don't have to be 18 to believe that, but when you are 18, it sure helps other people feel that way!