Picture of The Day

Just a few weeks ago, the ground was covered in snow.  Snow has such a unique beauty and I LOVE when everything is covered in the quiet white powder.  But as of late, I have definitely become a suffering victim of Spring Fever!  This is SUCH a welcome sight outside my window!  If only the temperature would warm up more than just one day at a time to match the cheery sight.

The 'Tulip' Trees outside my window - Arlington, VA - March 2009

The Joys of Public Transportation

I have spoken before on the great fun it is to take public transportation on a regular basis.  While I am SO glad there is a good transit system in place where I live (otherwise I would be paying $15/day to park my car at work), sometimes I just can't stand it.  And I feel like I want to yell obscenities.  Take this week, for example..

Escalators are out all over the place.  The good news is that when an escalator isn't working, it turns in to just a regular flight of stairs, which is still usable. And while I walk up and down the escalators anyway, and this normally wouldn't be a big deal, it turns out that I am not the only person in the city using mass transit, and thus using the non-working escalators.  Those that normally categorize themselves as escalator-riders tend not to handle the walking up of the stairs very well. So there is a MAJOR backup to get on these things.  People are trying to haul their luggage, strollers, suveniers, etc up the stairs and having a very hard time of it.  I've missed my bus twice this week just because I've been stuck behind slow-moving, struggling stair-climbers.  There is one particular escalator at the Pentagon station that is hit or miss.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  I have had the thing quit working mid-stair-climb 3 separate times.  That is the most odd feeling.  I've got my stride, walking up the escalator, the handrail either moving not as fast, or faster than the escalator itself (why is this always the case?  Can't they link the handrail to the motion of the stairs so that they are at the same speed?  It baffles me), when ..................  stutter - STOP.  3 times!  Totally weird. 

Anyway.  So that is the escalator issue.  Next is the train issue.  It seems as if there is 'track maintenance' somewhere every day.  Which delays all trains.  And there's the common 'sick passenger on train' issue (tourists).  For some reason, 2 of the trains I've been on this week have broken down.  We get to a stop and the driver comes on the loud speaker announcing that everybody has to get off because the train is broken.  WHA - ?  So we all pile out of the train cars and crowd on to the platform...  and the 'broken' train pulls away.  This has me a little confused.  How does a broken train continue on its way down the track?  Was there somehow too much weight on the train?  Is it only broken when people are on it?  Very strange, I tell you. 

After all that frustration with the metro escalators and trains, and all the tons of people who are involved that I have to touch to squeeze by or through, I finally emerged out from the underground only to see my bus pulling away from it's resting spot.  Awesome.  Another 20 minutes for my next bus...  and the creepy old guy with the long gray stringy hair has the opportunity to watch and stare at me in the mean time...... 


and just for fun,  let's start this all over again tomorrow.

For more information, this pretty much sums it up.

Picture of the day

A big reason why I switched to this new layout was so that I could post really LARGE photos. (Thanks to those 2 people who support the new layout.) As such, I am going to start publishing blog posts that include just a picture and probably a brief little something about the photo. All photos will be ones that I have taken. There will really be no rhyme (as I hate rhymes.. or more specifically, I hate rhyming poetry) or reason (anarchy!) for the picture I post -- just what I feel like that day. So without further ado, a photo:

Ponte Vecchio - Florence, Italy - December 2007

Tweet Tweet

What the *BRAWK!* is with Twitter?  I don't really get it, but for some reason I feel like I should get on board with the rest of the million Tweeters.  I've tried many times over the last 6 months or so, but the wagon keeps throwing me off.  It first appealed to me because it is much like a Facebook status; just a quick 'here's what's going on' without the effort or time it takes to publish a blog post. 

I've added a little widget to my blog a couple of different times over these 6 months to show my Twitter updates, but each time, I've recieved some complaints about Twitter requiring people to sign in when trying to access my blog.  So I removed the widget.  I believe I've fixed that now, however, and you should see my Twitter updates at the bottom of this page.  Let me know if it's screwing everything up again and I will swear off Twitter forever. 

I'm giving this another GO because there are too many times when I think things are funny, but they don't deserve a full blog post to tell.  Twitter will solve this problem for me.  Any other Tweeters out there?  Give me some tips!  What is the @reply function?  I realize I'm going to have to put forth a little more effort in the Twitter function than originally thought...  ah well.  It's always something!

Crazy Dream

I don't usually talk about my dreams because -- let's face it -- most people aren't really interested in hearing your dreams unless it involved them or was really funny.

But the dream I had last night was just too crazy to allow to drift off in to forgetfulness.

So it was this:

I, my family, my extended family, and even my extended family's family was in this big open outdoor area with sand dunes. I was ready to leave, but the TaeBo instructor from my gym was on top of one of the sand dunes doing something to call attention to himself and was blocking my way out. Annoying. I climbed to the top, shoved past him, put my body into a half-squat, swung my arms backward and was ready to leap from the top of this dune to the sand below. Just as I sprung off, TaeBo guy yells, "NO!" Too late. I am in the air. But when I land, I am immediately sucked down this deep sandy tunnel. Crap!

I'm sitting there for a while - in the sand tunnel, trying to assess the situation, trying not to panic, when I realize that nobody is going to come rescue me. I'm breathing real shallow so I don't breathe in all the sand. Then I start to move. I quickly find out that if I move too fast or with big motions, the sand will all collapse in on this sand-tunnel and will trap and suffocate me. "Don't panic, don't panic", I say over and over and over again to myself. So I S L O W L Y start moving my arms in a slow swimming-motion and step up with my legs one at a time, very carfully. Only allowing myself to consciously think of 2 things; 'breathe shallowly' and 'don't panic', I make my way to the opening at the top of the tunnel. Finally I'm free! Cheers erupt from all over. "She made it! She's alive!" And even though I am overjoyed and immediately sucked in to the excitement of the crowd, I realize and remember that nobody was really looking for me or trying to help me. Odd.

I meet up with my sisters and my mom who are all hugs and smiles. Then they proceed to show me the items they purchased while I was struggling to save myself. They notice that I'm not too excited to see their clothing purchases and quickly put 2 and 2 together. I'm upset that they went shopping while I was fighting for my life. "Well, we weren't sure if you were ever going to get out or WHEN you were going to get out, so we thought we'd go shopping without you instead of waiting for you forever." Ah... like this makes me feel better.

*FLASH* Totally different scene. I'm sitting with my Personal Trainer on a balcony with a wrought-iron railing off the side of my house in WA (which really doesn't exist -- the balcony, not the house.... I mean, not NOT the house.. the house exists. Just not the balcony. In real life, that is) and we are just chit-chatting like we normally do in real life after a work out. But this time we're in regular clothes on this balcony and he asks if I want to go out with him that night. I get all excited and feel a smile creeping up on my face when he says, "But I have to warn you. ... You're still friends with some of your exes, right?" "Yeeaaaahhh," I say. All hesitantly. He says, "Well, my ex-girlfriend is going to be there, too. But we're totally just friends now, so it's no big deal. We dated for 3 months and broke up last week. But there are no feelings anymore." I'm thinking, OK.... Not really buying it, but if he wants to show up with ME, fine..... Then he continues, "Oh, and my other ex will probably be there, too. We dated for only a month and we broke up a month ago." As soon as this information processes, I exclaim, "Wait! You said you dated Ex #1 for 3 months and broke up last week. AND you dated Ex #2 for a month and broke up just last month. That means you dated 2 girls at the same time?!?" I'm feeling a little disgusted. He clarifies, "Well, yeah, but before them there was Steve." Me: "YIKES!"

*FLASH* I am now inside some big warehouse, but it is furnished like a home. The people I stayed with in FL for my birthday (in real life) are there; the twin girls playing the drums and guitar on Guitar Hero World Tour. I see my old flame, Jordan, across the way. My heart is beating a bit fast as I look at him. I'm in a little bit of a trance, longing for him to look over and see me, when I hear somebody telling me, "He doesn't want to date you again." I'm still staring at him while my brain rejects the information I was just told. Things go blurry.

THE END

Anybody want to try to dissect THAT? Haha

SNOW!

We finally got our first real snow of the season a couple of days ago. It was all so pretty! I love the fresh snow. Everything seems peaceful and it transforms regularly boring-looking things in to something magical. A few pics out of my window that morning:







PS : Tell me what you think of the new layout... After 2 years, I wanted something different. And this lets me post BIG photos if I want. :)