december is going to be one busy month.
december 1: cambridge systematics holiday party. we started the month off with aaron's company holiday christmas party. not too shabby. it was held at the mit museum, which is pretty much your typical gallery space, but with a lot more science, instead of art. great photography pieces though. i'll admit i didn't actually take the time to walk around and really look at the exhibit, but the panoramic images all over the place of mountain ranges and whatnot were pretty cool. food was awesome. drinks were free-flowing. people were nice. fun times were had. finally got to meet the person who helped everyone connect the dots to realizing there were, in fact, two camsys/cube 3 couples in existence. still weird.
december 3: transition workload over to new malls project. deadline forthcoming.
december 7: work deadline for a student housing project in minnesota, mn.
december 7 - 9: yet another whirlwind adventure in post-sandy ny with the j-twin. likely with some christmas shopping in the mix.
december 8: get-together at the ktoad's new digs. unfortunately, won't be able to make this one due to previously mentioned whirlwind adventure.
december 8 - 15: hannukah celebrations with the magics.
december 9: hannukah/housewarming party at danny + becca's place. hopefully, i can make it back for this one.
december 13: 8pm showing of the slutcracker at the somerville theater with corey + gail.
december 14: 8:30pm showing of THE HOBBIT at the boston commons!!! i'm excited. can you tell?
december 15: 6:30pm cube 3 studio casino holiday party! time for my company's holiday party at one of the partners' house up in nh. and let me tell you, it is niiiiice. also super excited for this one. on the same night, at 8pm, is the oldenburg glögg party. glögg is apparently a mulled wine concoction that you set on fire before drinking it. also excited. hope we can make it after the cube 3 casino party.
december 20: get on a plane back to hong kong for christmas and new years!!! absolutely can't wait for all the delicious nommage that's going to be happening over those two weeks. it'll totally be worth emptying out all of my vacation time for this one trip. :) plus, it'll be aaron's first trip to hk. again, excited. :D
december 22: big kwan family gathering #1 in celebration of winter festival. jess also lands in hk this evening to join in the festivities.
december 25: big kwan family gathering #2 in celebration of christmas and grandma kwan's birthday! also, 2pm showing of the nutcracker performed by the hong kong ballet. this show has always been a holiday tradition. while everyone else shops and then congregates for pre-dinner mahjong, jess, mom and i sneak away for the nutcracker. but this year, aaron will be joining in the sneaking. and we're apparently in for quite a different show this year. the show has been revamped and redesigned to what looks like a darker telling of the story, so that'll be an interesting change to watch.
december 31: (likely) big kwan family gathering #3 for the new years countdown. new years in hk can get a little crazy every year (anyone remember the super riot in lan kwai fong that one year that got a bunch of people killed? yea. i don't want that...), so it's probably safer to celebrate and welcome the new year from the safety of our own home.
of course, there will be extra little shenanigans intermingled with those plans, but those are the big things that have been planned out in advance. then, that's it for the rest of 2012! and then...onward to new shenanigans in 2013!!!
such as:
january 5: jess, aaron and i hop back stateside and back to our lives and jobs and deadlines. le sigh...
january 11 - 13: aaron and i head back out to madison, wi for red eye! yay seeing more friends for more overnight ultimate shenanigans!!!
who has two thumbs and is excited? this moi. :)
Showing posts with label madison. Show all posts
Showing posts with label madison. Show all posts
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Friday, November 23, 2012
giving thanks.
job.
B.
home.
family.
friends.
ultimate.
health (ish).
kitties.
bunny.
boston.
madison.
mudderburn.
cmu.
mellons.
food.
socks.
hugs.
thank you.
:)
Friday, February 3, 2012
shipped back up to boston.
so on february 1st, aaron and i emptied out the apartment, stuffed what was left into the car, and took off on another journey: back to boston.
after two days of driving approximately ten hours each (day and person), we're back in beantown. we stopped briefly in pittsburgh, for the sake of having somewhere to rest up and crash, and to see some friends, attend our respectively practices as creepy alums and give puppy a break from the stress of sitting in her cage crammed into the backseat of an 03 camry.
tobyfair, she actually took to the drive a lot better this time (the last time being the pittsburgh-madison drive), and this one was twice as long. she's now sitting in my room adjusting to a) being out of the car, b) being in a different place altogether and c) hardwood floors. let's just say her first time taking a leap out of the cage and onto the floor was somewhat comical, in a sprawling, scrambling fashion. she has figured out that the hallway outside is carpeted though, and that she can use my suitcase to gain enough traction to jump up onto the bed, where she can quite easily wander around as she pleases (as long as nibbling on random things she finds is kept to a minimum).
considering this was my first time driving long distance, it wasn't too bad. i took my fair share of approximately half the hours, and i don't think i did too bad (except for one minor incident when the cruise control went creepy weird on me and temporarily wouldn't go off).
some photos from along the way:
on another note, being sick seems to have waited until i got back to boston to appear. i'm now somewhat sniffly and sneezy. gross. though i will admit that i'm glad i didn't have to deal with this while driving. that would've made things significantly worse.
future plans
+ superbowl sunday at brayden's new place out in worcester!
+ continue writing more urbdezine articles.
+ successfully find a job.
+ find a new apartment.
+ move into said apartment.
+ finally adopt my adorable graduation puppy.
+ finally live the life i had been hoping for post graduating from college with an unfortunately-specific, though professional degree.
+ be happy.
+ call up them madison friends and have them come out for a visit (clambake!).
sounds reasonable, right? :)
after two days of driving approximately ten hours each (day and person), we're back in beantown. we stopped briefly in pittsburgh, for the sake of having somewhere to rest up and crash, and to see some friends, attend our respectively practices as creepy alums and give puppy a break from the stress of sitting in her cage crammed into the backseat of an 03 camry.
tobyfair, she actually took to the drive a lot better this time (the last time being the pittsburgh-madison drive), and this one was twice as long. she's now sitting in my room adjusting to a) being out of the car, b) being in a different place altogether and c) hardwood floors. let's just say her first time taking a leap out of the cage and onto the floor was somewhat comical, in a sprawling, scrambling fashion. she has figured out that the hallway outside is carpeted though, and that she can use my suitcase to gain enough traction to jump up onto the bed, where she can quite easily wander around as she pleases (as long as nibbling on random things she finds is kept to a minimum).
considering this was my first time driving long distance, it wasn't too bad. i took my fair share of approximately half the hours, and i don't think i did too bad (except for one minor incident when the cruise control went creepy weird on me and temporarily wouldn't go off).
some photos from along the way:
.jpg) |
| sad, empty apartment once again... |
 |
| rd leaving wilson bay apartments for the last time... |
 |
| rd in pittsburgh with the cathedral of learning! |
 |
| for old times with the money mellons, rd at a sheetz. |
 |
| puppybutt taking a nap in the backseat. |
future plans
+ superbowl sunday at brayden's new place out in worcester!
+ continue writing more urbdezine articles.
+ successfully find a job.
+ find a new apartment.
+ move into said apartment.
+ finally adopt my adorable graduation puppy.
+ finally live the life i had been hoping for post graduating from college with an unfortunately-specific, though professional degree.
+ be happy.
+ call up them madison friends and have them come out for a visit (clambake!).
sounds reasonable, right? :)
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
the gross, the hopeful and the adorable.
the gross.
yesterday, in my infinite wisdom, i managed to give myself minor food poisoning. so that wasn't fun. turns out, that pumpkin soup i made from scratch a little while back didn't keep as well as, well, anything. and this all had to happen about twenty minutes before i had to head out the door. so then i was just a mess of running around getting things ready so that i could leave and also running to the bathroom so i could throw up (with small breaks in between of standing/sitting/lying really still to see if i could calm my stomach down enough to leave. i finally got out and walked to andy's to borrow shaniqua to drive myself to the dchs for my volunteer orientation. for the first hour (of a three hour class), it was not good. i was very much regretting hauling myself out for it and wanted to bail. but after that, my stomach seemed to settle for the rest of the class. until i got back to andy's. on the walk back, my stomach decided to get a little more aggressive. then, when i got home, realized i'd puked up my only meal of the day and decided to try some light chicken noodle soup. apparently, bad idea. stomach got angry. i spent the rest of the evening lying on the couch miserable until i passed out into a gross-feeling nap. and then it was bedtime.
woke up this morning feeling significantly better, though not 100%, and thoroughly exhausted. i was tired enough and even after waking up, walking around, feeding puppy and, y'know, carrying on with my day, i still managed to pass out for another hour and a half completely by accident. decided to get out of the house. headed to starbucks for a nice, holiday peppermint mocha. which, by the way, didn't come in the signature red holiday cup! disappointing. vented to smingle, who's sitting in urban lab studio right now. hehehe. anyhoo. it's now 2:30pm. first meal of the day: an artisan breakfast sandwich. so far so good. no urges to get rid of it immediately.
still can't even think about that pumpkin soup without wanting to throw up. so i'm going to have to ask aaron to help me get rid of it so it doesn't bring back those gross feelings...ew.
the hopeful.
before that debacle with the gross happened, i had an interview at eppstein uhen architects at their milwaukee office in the morning. first off, it was my first time to milwaukee. and hey, it's nice. cute. kinda like a smaller, less schnazzy chicago. i took the badger bus there since i hadn't driven on the highway before (i only just started driving on the beltline) and wanted to see what the trip would be like before i did have to make that trip by car on my own. btw, not bad. i totally could have driven there and back perfectly fine. damn me and my habit to second guess myself. anyway, got to milwaukee. started walking my way over to where the office was located in the third ward. so here is my interpretation of the third ward. it's like a combination of pittsburgh's south side and the strip district. or how i initially put it to aaron, "like the south side, but less kitschy", if that makes sense. cute historic district with art galleries, stores and coffee shops, and a couple of architecture/consultant offices sprinkled around. it's nice. i could totally see myself working there. even with the commute from and back to madison every day. the commutes would suck, but the drive itself is actually kinda nice.
so the interview: the interviewer definitely made me nervous with the number of time he emphasized that it may take some time for them to judge their need for production people. but anyhoo. the interview was for a production role at the milwaukee office. it would essentially be taking architect drawings and sketches and developing them into more technically correct drawings in revit. it would be a temporary position. but all the same, i need a job. and he did mention that it was definitely a good thing that i would be willing to work in either their madison or milwaukee office. because their madison office is the newer, smaller one and they were looking to expand, hopefully soon. again, like all architecture, it would depend on the demand. but i would love a position with this company. the more i look into eua and talk to them and learn more about them, the more i really, really, really want to work for them. their portfolio looks awesome. they have plenty of projects that really speak to me and attract me to want to learn more and be a part of them. and now having been to their milwaukee office, i love their office. it just seems like a really fantastic place to be everyday for work. i really don't care that i'd have to commute for almost three hours everyday just to get between home and work. i'm really hoping that all came across in my interview, because i think i sometimes come across as super understated, which would be bad in this case. i want this job. so badly. i'm super excited about it. and really hope it can happen soon. i really want to be able to get moving on doing architectural work again. as stressed as i was in school, i still liked what i did. and very much want to be able to get going in doing it in a work environment. i would do anything. seriously.
fingers crossed. hard.
the adorable.
as i mentioned in the gross, i had been on my way out the door when the onset of disgusting hit. i had been scheduled for a volunteer orientation session at the dane county humane society beginning at 6pm. i've decided to take on more volunteer opportunities while simultaneously actively working on my job search. so i hit the road, still feeling queasy. and after the trip this morning convincing me that i could totally make the drive to milwaukee, i was thinking really hard about jumping on the beltline to give it a shot. i was still iffy about it until the i headed out after being sick at home and realized i was already running late, and my longer route avoiding the beltline may not get me to the shelter in time. so i decided to suck it up, my nerves about getting on the beltline and the queasyness.
now for the actual adorable. i got selected to be a canine companion at the dchs! i'm super excited. since all my plans to get a graduation puppy when i moved out here got shot down by the fact that finding a dog-friendly apartment was near impossible, i was hoping to get back in interactions with some adorable pups until i could finally get my own again. now i can! i still have to schedule training with my coordinator, but the gist is that i get to volunteer multiple times a week to play with dogs and pups, take them for walks, socialize them and whatnot, and also just, in general, help out at the shelter with cleaning dog dishes and supplies and doing a little laundry. i'm okay with that. fair trade. i am super excited to get started. even though i'm starting out just as winter is about hit. whatever! puppies!!! :) hopefully i can do it for long enough so then get more experience and volunteer at a more advanced level or in more than just one area. :) so excited. :D
so that was my day yesterday, very much full of super ups and downs, excitement and terrible then more excitement. as long as i don't think of pumpkin soup for a loooooooong while, i think i'll definitely be able to chalk this one up as a positive. :)
yesterday, in my infinite wisdom, i managed to give myself minor food poisoning. so that wasn't fun. turns out, that pumpkin soup i made from scratch a little while back didn't keep as well as, well, anything. and this all had to happen about twenty minutes before i had to head out the door. so then i was just a mess of running around getting things ready so that i could leave and also running to the bathroom so i could throw up (with small breaks in between of standing/sitting/lying really still to see if i could calm my stomach down enough to leave. i finally got out and walked to andy's to borrow shaniqua to drive myself to the dchs for my volunteer orientation. for the first hour (of a three hour class), it was not good. i was very much regretting hauling myself out for it and wanted to bail. but after that, my stomach seemed to settle for the rest of the class. until i got back to andy's. on the walk back, my stomach decided to get a little more aggressive. then, when i got home, realized i'd puked up my only meal of the day and decided to try some light chicken noodle soup. apparently, bad idea. stomach got angry. i spent the rest of the evening lying on the couch miserable until i passed out into a gross-feeling nap. and then it was bedtime.
woke up this morning feeling significantly better, though not 100%, and thoroughly exhausted. i was tired enough and even after waking up, walking around, feeding puppy and, y'know, carrying on with my day, i still managed to pass out for another hour and a half completely by accident. decided to get out of the house. headed to starbucks for a nice, holiday peppermint mocha. which, by the way, didn't come in the signature red holiday cup! disappointing. vented to smingle, who's sitting in urban lab studio right now. hehehe. anyhoo. it's now 2:30pm. first meal of the day: an artisan breakfast sandwich. so far so good. no urges to get rid of it immediately.
still can't even think about that pumpkin soup without wanting to throw up. so i'm going to have to ask aaron to help me get rid of it so it doesn't bring back those gross feelings...ew.
 |
| vox populi vox dei | milwaukee county courthouse |
the hopeful.
before that debacle with the gross happened, i had an interview at eppstein uhen architects at their milwaukee office in the morning. first off, it was my first time to milwaukee. and hey, it's nice. cute. kinda like a smaller, less schnazzy chicago. i took the badger bus there since i hadn't driven on the highway before (i only just started driving on the beltline) and wanted to see what the trip would be like before i did have to make that trip by car on my own. btw, not bad. i totally could have driven there and back perfectly fine. damn me and my habit to second guess myself. anyway, got to milwaukee. started walking my way over to where the office was located in the third ward. so here is my interpretation of the third ward. it's like a combination of pittsburgh's south side and the strip district. or how i initially put it to aaron, "like the south side, but less kitschy", if that makes sense. cute historic district with art galleries, stores and coffee shops, and a couple of architecture/consultant offices sprinkled around. it's nice. i could totally see myself working there. even with the commute from and back to madison every day. the commutes would suck, but the drive itself is actually kinda nice.
so the interview: the interviewer definitely made me nervous with the number of time he emphasized that it may take some time for them to judge their need for production people. but anyhoo. the interview was for a production role at the milwaukee office. it would essentially be taking architect drawings and sketches and developing them into more technically correct drawings in revit. it would be a temporary position. but all the same, i need a job. and he did mention that it was definitely a good thing that i would be willing to work in either their madison or milwaukee office. because their madison office is the newer, smaller one and they were looking to expand, hopefully soon. again, like all architecture, it would depend on the demand. but i would love a position with this company. the more i look into eua and talk to them and learn more about them, the more i really, really, really want to work for them. their portfolio looks awesome. they have plenty of projects that really speak to me and attract me to want to learn more and be a part of them. and now having been to their milwaukee office, i love their office. it just seems like a really fantastic place to be everyday for work. i really don't care that i'd have to commute for almost three hours everyday just to get between home and work. i'm really hoping that all came across in my interview, because i think i sometimes come across as super understated, which would be bad in this case. i want this job. so badly. i'm super excited about it. and really hope it can happen soon. i really want to be able to get moving on doing architectural work again. as stressed as i was in school, i still liked what i did. and very much want to be able to get going in doing it in a work environment. i would do anything. seriously.
fingers crossed. hard.
the adorable.
as i mentioned in the gross, i had been on my way out the door when the onset of disgusting hit. i had been scheduled for a volunteer orientation session at the dane county humane society beginning at 6pm. i've decided to take on more volunteer opportunities while simultaneously actively working on my job search. so i hit the road, still feeling queasy. and after the trip this morning convincing me that i could totally make the drive to milwaukee, i was thinking really hard about jumping on the beltline to give it a shot. i was still iffy about it until the i headed out after being sick at home and realized i was already running late, and my longer route avoiding the beltline may not get me to the shelter in time. so i decided to suck it up, my nerves about getting on the beltline and the queasyness.
now for the actual adorable. i got selected to be a canine companion at the dchs! i'm super excited. since all my plans to get a graduation puppy when i moved out here got shot down by the fact that finding a dog-friendly apartment was near impossible, i was hoping to get back in interactions with some adorable pups until i could finally get my own again. now i can! i still have to schedule training with my coordinator, but the gist is that i get to volunteer multiple times a week to play with dogs and pups, take them for walks, socialize them and whatnot, and also just, in general, help out at the shelter with cleaning dog dishes and supplies and doing a little laundry. i'm okay with that. fair trade. i am super excited to get started. even though i'm starting out just as winter is about hit. whatever! puppies!!! :) hopefully i can do it for long enough so then get more experience and volunteer at a more advanced level or in more than just one area. :) so excited. :D
so that was my day yesterday, very much full of super ups and downs, excitement and terrible then more excitement. as long as i don't think of pumpkin soup for a loooooooong while, i think i'll definitely be able to chalk this one up as a positive. :)
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
since i could hold my head up high.
so it's been awhile since i last updated. mostly because, well, there hasn't been much to update. but here goes:
what's the same.
i'm still unemployed and actively job-searching. it's still eating away at my soul and will to keep doing it. i'm still playing ultimate. i still have a bunny who poops like a maniac on crazy pellet-inducing laxatives. i still want a kitty but am in no financially-sensible state to adopt one.
job searching.
economy has been messing with the job search, which makes it super unfortunate, but i'm doing as much volunteering as i can i guess. i'm volunteering coordinating winter workshops for the madison trust for historic preservation, while also building with habitat for humanity dane county/habitat young professionals every other weekend. i've also been in contact with nps lowell to discuss potentially doing some work for them remotely, but so far they're still working out their budget so see if that's even going to be a possibility. fingers crossed.
hot yoga.
i restarted doing hot yoga at the studio on willy st. there happened to be a groupon around the time i was trying to find a place to do some restorative, low-impact workout nearby so i jumped on the chance. its been great. i really love it there. the instructors are awesome. and its actually gotten me into practicing at home every morning too. unfortunately, my groupon deal is running out and, while they're offering a deal for groupon users for their first month of membership, i still can't afford it because a) i'm unemployed and can barely make rent anyway and b) the deal is only for the first month out of a three-month obligatory contract/commitment. boo. so i'm doing what i can for now and am crossing my fingers real hard that i'll find a job soon that a) i'll really like, b) will be able to support me financially and c) allow me to afford the things on my to-do list, ie. adopt a kitty, keep doing yoga and pay for my ultimate expenses.
fall league!
so since i last updated, summer league and the club season ended and fall league has both started and finished. aaron and i both played in two back-to-back leagues because we both realized that one game per night twice a week wasn't really enough, especially considering the club series had ended already. our early co-ed team, why did it have to be snakes, finished the season going 7-8 and trailing off at the end due to multiple injuries on the team, including myself. our night owl team, snake eyes, fared a little better by finished the season with a 9-9 record. we started out strong, hit a huge slump in the middle, but then locked it up and finished strong again by winning through playoffs to win the championship. :) we then went on to play the other division champions and won on universe to be big boy finals champions. and this was when we were missing toby and sarah, two significant assets to the team, and only having 3.5 women, as i was still coming off a sprained ankle and could only run at about 65%. all in all, a decent season. apparently it became snake eye's thing to only win close games. all of our playoff games went to universe. so our final plus-minus came out to a whopping +3. whoops.
visits!
aaron and i got to have a fun visit from corey + gail this past weekend. it was definitely good to see them an take them around madison. although, as we soon realized, there isn't all that much to take them around to, especially since their trip was under 48 hours long. :P turns out, the shorter the trip, the less we really want to spend significant chunk of it sitting in a car to get places. saturday night was a lot of fun. dinner at graze with andy, jake, melissa, shultz, sarah and brando. then hanging out and wandering down state st to the chocolate shoppe. this probably wasn't the healthiest weekend, but it was a good one. :) can't wait for more visitors.
------------------------------------------------------------edit------------------------------------------------------------
so going through old posts, i realized i actually could post videos. and this one is too good to miss. the video is only really the first seconds, but i don't really have the capabilities to trim it right now.
------------------------------------------------------------end edit------------------------------------------------------------
etc.
other than that stuff, life has pretty much been the same. hanging out with mad udderburn folks. job searching. hanging out with B. more job searching. figuring out christmas vacation. figuring out a possible trip to ny to visit jess and anna. more job searching. preparing for my first madison winter. planning for my first madison thanksgiving (weird.).
just a little extra something.
what's the same.
i'm still unemployed and actively job-searching. it's still eating away at my soul and will to keep doing it. i'm still playing ultimate. i still have a bunny who poops like a maniac on crazy pellet-inducing laxatives. i still want a kitty but am in no financially-sensible state to adopt one.
job searching.
economy has been messing with the job search, which makes it super unfortunate, but i'm doing as much volunteering as i can i guess. i'm volunteering coordinating winter workshops for the madison trust for historic preservation, while also building with habitat for humanity dane county/habitat young professionals every other weekend. i've also been in contact with nps lowell to discuss potentially doing some work for them remotely, but so far they're still working out their budget so see if that's even going to be a possibility. fingers crossed.
hot yoga.
i restarted doing hot yoga at the studio on willy st. there happened to be a groupon around the time i was trying to find a place to do some restorative, low-impact workout nearby so i jumped on the chance. its been great. i really love it there. the instructors are awesome. and its actually gotten me into practicing at home every morning too. unfortunately, my groupon deal is running out and, while they're offering a deal for groupon users for their first month of membership, i still can't afford it because a) i'm unemployed and can barely make rent anyway and b) the deal is only for the first month out of a three-month obligatory contract/commitment. boo. so i'm doing what i can for now and am crossing my fingers real hard that i'll find a job soon that a) i'll really like, b) will be able to support me financially and c) allow me to afford the things on my to-do list, ie. adopt a kitty, keep doing yoga and pay for my ultimate expenses.
fall league!
so since i last updated, summer league and the club season ended and fall league has both started and finished. aaron and i both played in two back-to-back leagues because we both realized that one game per night twice a week wasn't really enough, especially considering the club series had ended already. our early co-ed team, why did it have to be snakes, finished the season going 7-8 and trailing off at the end due to multiple injuries on the team, including myself. our night owl team, snake eyes, fared a little better by finished the season with a 9-9 record. we started out strong, hit a huge slump in the middle, but then locked it up and finished strong again by winning through playoffs to win the championship. :) we then went on to play the other division champions and won on universe to be big boy finals champions. and this was when we were missing toby and sarah, two significant assets to the team, and only having 3.5 women, as i was still coming off a sprained ankle and could only run at about 65%. all in all, a decent season. apparently it became snake eye's thing to only win close games. all of our playoff games went to universe. so our final plus-minus came out to a whopping +3. whoops.
visits!
aaron and i got to have a fun visit from corey + gail this past weekend. it was definitely good to see them an take them around madison. although, as we soon realized, there isn't all that much to take them around to, especially since their trip was under 48 hours long. :P turns out, the shorter the trip, the less we really want to spend significant chunk of it sitting in a car to get places. saturday night was a lot of fun. dinner at graze with andy, jake, melissa, shultz, sarah and brando. then hanging out and wandering down state st to the chocolate shoppe. this probably wasn't the healthiest weekend, but it was a good one. :) can't wait for more visitors.
------------------------------------------------------------edit------------------------------------------------------------
so going through old posts, i realized i actually could post videos. and this one is too good to miss. the video is only really the first seconds, but i don't really have the capabilities to trim it right now.
 |
| andy decided to give aaron a ride. what would possibly go wrong? |
 |
| smile and wave for the camera! |
oh right. that. that's...bad...?
------------------------------------------------------------end edit------------------------------------------------------------
etc.
other than that stuff, life has pretty much been the same. hanging out with mad udderburn folks. job searching. hanging out with B. more job searching. figuring out christmas vacation. figuring out a possible trip to ny to visit jess and anna. more job searching. preparing for my first madison winter. planning for my first madison thanksgiving (weird.).
just a little extra something.
from thisisindexed.com by jessica hagy
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
one more time WHOA!
so this post originally was supposed to be about how i finally got my madison public library card and borrowed my first book as a resident of madison, wi.
but no.
the madison public library system has got to be one of the most inefficient and uncooperative library systems i've ever encountered. seriously.
so i've been here for almost two and a half weeks now. but unfortunately, i can't actually apply for an official state id/license until i have proof of residency that goes back at least 30 days. that said, the public library will let you apply for a card, but they'll just have it mailed to your residence instead of just handing it to you over the counter then and there. i was okay with that, so i applied, gave them my address and went on my merry way to wait until that little piece of plastic would show up in my mailbox.
never happened.
two weeks later, still no library card.
"what's up with that?"
turns out, for some unknown reason, the card couldn't be delivered to my place. my name is on the mailbox, the address on the envelope is correct. how do i know this? it had gotten returned to the library in the mail and the man i was talking to at the counter was currently holding it and waving it in front of my face.
"can i have it?" (can i? can i have it? can i?...can i?)
nope. they still needed proof of residency. remember the part where i haven't been here for 30 days yet? yea. i explained as such and further explained that this is why i applied to have it mailed to me in the first place. i also walked out specifically to check on the damn card situation. library dude's solution. "we'll just hold on to it here until you bring in your proof of residency, 'kay?"...um...excuse me? you're holding it in your hand. so the usps screwed up and apparently don't know how to read a mailbox. my bad? not really. and seriously, i came back in person to ask where my damn library card was. okay, i get that its not proof, but it means i haven't bailed from the city. and as much as i want my library card to borrow books for free, i really can't picture any scenario where i would camp out in madison, wi (outside a library that isn't all that nice to begin with) for two weeks, just to pretend i live here, get a library card and then steal then shit and peace out of town with my vanload of stolen books. if that's your idea of plotting to steal shit to sell and get money to live on, i hate to tell you this, but you're doing it wrong. very, very wrong.
moral of the story: GIVE ME MY GODDAMN LIBRARY CARD.
let's just say that, at this moment in time, i'm not in any mood to head out yet again to wave my proof of residency in front of library dude's face to finally get handed my mail.
but no.
the madison public library system has got to be one of the most inefficient and uncooperative library systems i've ever encountered. seriously.
so i've been here for almost two and a half weeks now. but unfortunately, i can't actually apply for an official state id/license until i have proof of residency that goes back at least 30 days. that said, the public library will let you apply for a card, but they'll just have it mailed to your residence instead of just handing it to you over the counter then and there. i was okay with that, so i applied, gave them my address and went on my merry way to wait until that little piece of plastic would show up in my mailbox.
never happened.
two weeks later, still no library card.
"what's up with that?"
turns out, for some unknown reason, the card couldn't be delivered to my place. my name is on the mailbox, the address on the envelope is correct. how do i know this? it had gotten returned to the library in the mail and the man i was talking to at the counter was currently holding it and waving it in front of my face.
"can i have it?" (can i? can i have it? can i?...can i?)
nope. they still needed proof of residency. remember the part where i haven't been here for 30 days yet? yea. i explained as such and further explained that this is why i applied to have it mailed to me in the first place. i also walked out specifically to check on the damn card situation. library dude's solution. "we'll just hold on to it here until you bring in your proof of residency, 'kay?"...um...excuse me? you're holding it in your hand. so the usps screwed up and apparently don't know how to read a mailbox. my bad? not really. and seriously, i came back in person to ask where my damn library card was. okay, i get that its not proof, but it means i haven't bailed from the city. and as much as i want my library card to borrow books for free, i really can't picture any scenario where i would camp out in madison, wi (outside a library that isn't all that nice to begin with) for two weeks, just to pretend i live here, get a library card and then steal then shit and peace out of town with my vanload of stolen books. if that's your idea of plotting to steal shit to sell and get money to live on, i hate to tell you this, but you're doing it wrong. very, very wrong.
moral of the story: GIVE ME MY GODDAMN LIBRARY CARD.
let's just say that, at this moment in time, i'm not in any mood to head out yet again to wave my proof of residency in front of library dude's face to finally get handed my mail.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
you've got to share it, so you dare it.
B took me around the epic systems campus yesterday. let's just say, it's....epic. ha. the entire campus consists of a series of buildings named alphabetically as if part of a galaxy. they start at andromeda, borealis, cassiopeia, and work their way around to heaven, isis and kohoutek...so far. their two main parking structures start at the end of the alphabet, so the assumption seems to be that their going to make their way to the middle of the alphabet before the campus is finished. and all of this is connected by a huge outdoor courtyard. but here comes the real doozy.
we saved a baby duckling!!! :)
so there was a family of ducks in epic's lake/pond thing. with a stream, a couple of little waterfalls and one large waterfall leading into it. the stream goes through the courtyard. as we were wandering through the courtyard, we find one little duckling swimming itself in circles because it is clearly lost. it looked so sad! and confused! and scared! and here are two awkward humans trying to catch it and herd it back to its family! then a family of three with two dogs comes by. we fill them in on what we're trying to do. so they help. strangely, its the dogs' whining that attracts the little duckling enough for him to leave the water, where me, B and the mom play hardcore defense on this tiny guy for long enough to herd him into a tight circle and for B to sweep him up! seriously. best. D. ever. we quickly powerwalk him back to the lake, to drop his squeaking self into the water, where his mom promptly starts quacking back at him. except his terrified, confused self abruptly turns and swims away from his mommy. the dogs start barking. duck-mom gets scared and turns to swim the other way. its only at this point that the duck who looks like two crazed beagles aren't his mommy. and the duck who looks and sounds like a duck is, in fact, his mother. cue the most adorable beeline this duckling could make towards his mommy and his four other siblings. we saved his life! it was awesome.
sigh...
then we carried on our tour of the campus. i found katy fallon (bitner)'s office and have now creeped on her whiteboard. i guess i'll wait and see when she finds it and figures out it was me. ha.
p.s. heaven has a big metal slide between the second and ground floor. it is sick. at the suggestion of andy, we both go down head first. crazy! and strangely hilarious.
i'm not sure i have a favorite building yet, but i absolutely love the courtyard. adorable duckling aside. :)
we saved a baby duckling!!! :)
so there was a family of ducks in epic's lake/pond thing. with a stream, a couple of little waterfalls and one large waterfall leading into it. the stream goes through the courtyard. as we were wandering through the courtyard, we find one little duckling swimming itself in circles because it is clearly lost. it looked so sad! and confused! and scared! and here are two awkward humans trying to catch it and herd it back to its family! then a family of three with two dogs comes by. we fill them in on what we're trying to do. so they help. strangely, its the dogs' whining that attracts the little duckling enough for him to leave the water, where me, B and the mom play hardcore defense on this tiny guy for long enough to herd him into a tight circle and for B to sweep him up! seriously. best. D. ever. we quickly powerwalk him back to the lake, to drop his squeaking self into the water, where his mom promptly starts quacking back at him. except his terrified, confused self abruptly turns and swims away from his mommy. the dogs start barking. duck-mom gets scared and turns to swim the other way. its only at this point that the duck who looks like two crazed beagles aren't his mommy. and the duck who looks and sounds like a duck is, in fact, his mother. cue the most adorable beeline this duckling could make towards his mommy and his four other siblings. we saved his life! it was awesome.
sigh...
then we carried on our tour of the campus. i found katy fallon (bitner)'s office and have now creeped on her whiteboard. i guess i'll wait and see when she finds it and figures out it was me. ha.
p.s. heaven has a big metal slide between the second and ground floor. it is sick. at the suggestion of andy, we both go down head first. crazy! and strangely hilarious.
i'm not sure i have a favorite building yet, but i absolutely love the courtyard. adorable duckling aside. :)
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| random sculptures all around campus |
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| ditto. |
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| probably my favorite part of campus |
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| there's a lake... |
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| we later saved her baby! |
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| nice. |
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| NY subway-themed. |
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| no idea what this was. |
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| but it was in "Heaven"... |
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| i don't remember which buildings these are... |
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earlier in the day, we also headed out to the farmer's market out by the capitol. there was so much stuff! we only got a little to hopefully make some tasty fried rice and/or pizza for dinner tonight. we also got some fresh radishes for little puppybutt. :)Thursday, May 26, 2011
turn the lights out on this city.
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| the state capitol |
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| our apartment complex |
the city is super walkable, and if not walkable, then bikeable. the five bajillion bike paths that network around the city certainly help. i haven't tried biking anywhere yet, but i figure i'm going to get a hang of not getting lost on foot first before i try biking on the roads of this new city.
btw. i just let puppy out of her cage today since she's been stuck in her cage for awhile (read: since the move from pittsburgh) while i've been unpacking. she seems to be having a good time exploring and, in general, being adorable. hmm...now she's hiding. oh well.
in general, madison so far reminds me of the ville (wellesley), but multiplied a few times over in a directional, somewhat gridded network. everything is still pretty small scale. only two starbucks that i know of. one cvs. couple of walgreen's. other than that, mostly small, independent stores. definitely a few fun looking places. a bunch of different food places i want to try out.
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| an old theater downtown |
also, got to jump right into a mad udderburn practice on sunday. man, i am out of shape. at least, for the most part, that seemed to the only thing that was wrong with my game. seems like i'll be primarily be playing a handler role with this team. haven't decided if i like that or not yet. otherwise, they don't seem to have a huge, if any, contingency of female handlers.
elsewhere on the ultimate radar, jess put me in touch with tyke, who seems to be part of a group looking to start a women's team in the area, which i might be super interested in. it might give me a chance to play a more versatile role, whereas, with udderburn, i'd more likely be filling whatever role they need at the moment since they have already have quite a large roster. hopefully, the women's team will be having a scrimmage or something soon so i can try both sides out before i make a solid decision. clearly, the series is also going to make a difference. i want to make to sarasota. i want to go to nationals. both groups sound hopeful. this ultimate scene is all new. so here's to making the most of a blank slate. :)
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