Continuing on my scintillating journey of discovery in the petroleum industry, I came across the following sentence while reading today and just plain had to laugh.
"Ostracoda are oligomeric aquatic Crustacea fully enclosed in a calcified bivalved carapace."
"Genius with a thousand helpers" (VP on unhealthy leadership structures)
"Congratulations! . . .Where is the course? . . . Do they let white people in?" (SVP to his daughter via cell phone)
"It's like she thinks with blinders on." (mean girls in subway)
Last time I was in Madison, I caught up with Adam over a rancher at Urban Pizza and he shared the most hilarious story about a woman's fuzzy blue purse. I jotted down this fabulous quote and found it today when I was cleaning out my wallet.
"Oh my God! You made a purse out of Grover!" - Adam
great stuff.
"At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book that string of confused, alien ciphers shivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader." Alberto Manguel
For some reason, this reminded me of the scene in one of the Narnia books where the kids are in the attic about to pass through the portal in the wardrobe.
If you haven't read the Narnia series, you should. Children's books are so much more meaningful when you're an adult. I recommend watching the movie Shadowlands (Anthony Hopkins) about the life of CS Lewis first. The book Through the Shadowlands is excellent too, it's by Brian Sibley, I think. Then after you read the Chronicles of Narnia, read Surprised by Joy and The Four Loves. It'll stretch your brain to a whole new perspective.
"The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards; and curiosity itself can be vivid and wholesome only in proportion as the mind is contented and happy." Anatole France
How sweet is she? You can't help but marvel at the universe when you see something this precious.
Mollie Kroll
(Incidently, I think her parents spent much of their college years wearing this very same expression.)
p.s. Uncle Mike won the pool. Does that mean he gets a year's supply of dirty diapers absolutely free, no purchase required?!
For the past 24 hours I've been trying to see Fahrenheit 9/11. I've stood in line at three theaters but all 20+ showings were sold out. The only tickets available are for the showings at 3am. Argh. That would make it even harder to stay awake at work.
It's Michael Moore, so you know upfront that there's an agenda, an angle and artistic liberties, but I admire the relentless passion with which he crafts his expression. And, I know this is going to sound twisted, but I also respect many of the deeply-held beliefs spurring today's extremists to action. However, that's a far larger story than I have time to get into tonight. Another time, perhaps.
For all my waiting, however, I did come away with a fabulous sticker. It looks exactly like the Bush-Cheney '04 sticker except it says, "De-elect Bush". I thought it was quite clever.
Baby Update: It's a GIRL!
Today our lives were blessed with the birth of Mollie Elaine. Daddy Kroll tells me that Mom and baby are both doing great.
Mollie was born at 2:30pm CST. She has ten pink fingers and toes, weighs 8 lbs 7 oz., and is 20.25 inches tall. And I know she's got healthy lungs, 'cuz I could hear her in the background.
I can't wait to squeeze you, Peanut. See you next week!
"We are faced with the challenge of overcoming our reputation as a corporate monolith that extracts profits on the backs of the addicted consumer."
- Mike Doyle, Canadian Assoc of Geophysical Contractors
I couldn't help but think that it could have been attributed to ______(insert company name here)______.
Something I never imagined I would be doing, let alone enjoying - reading the Annual Report on the Status of Academic Geoscience Departments.
Flying home for the 4th. I'm hoping to spend as much time as possible laying in the yard. Hell, I'm even willing to put on a pair of goggles and run the weedwhip just to smell the scent of fresh cut grass.
And this may sound silly, but I'm going to dig out my baseball glove and see if I can beg the little neighbor kids to play catch.
No baby yet.
Jason, Luke, Jill and Heidi are out of the running.
I now think that Momma Coo's wager will be exactly right. But, I mean come on, she does have an unfair advantage afterall.
(If that little peanut comes at 6am, can I be the first one to know? - Since it is 7am my time and I'm always up by then?!) *cheese*
I may be moving to Houston.
Tomorrow.
For the rest of the summer.
(To finish a major project for my AHC HR Internship)
Even I dislike me for working for an oil company, but I figure things work out in the wash because although I am working in the industry, my job is to make it more efficient/cost-effective whereas most of you are driving gasoline-powered vehicles creating the demand for the existence of the industry.
I'm not sure exactly how this will all play out with my job at Scholastic, but the reality is I can do their marketing project from outside the office. So, whether I'm downtown or out of state doesn't really matter.
You know the saying "You learn something new every day"? Well, I've been thinking about trying to make a daily entry celebrating that exact point.
Today I learned that 7 nations make up the United Arab Emirates. I'd list them, but then I'd probably show up on some CIA flag/monitor list. No one wants their taxes dollars wasted on my ramblings.
No baby yet.
Betting Pool status: Andy, Ayla and Jacob are out of the running.
Ironic sight: Crossing the street tonight, I passed through the median and sitting there on the bench was a homeless guy (the one who always wears the bike helmet with the rearview mirror) tapping away on a palm pilot.
On a somewhat related note, Maggie and I were meeting some of our classmates for drinks the other night after work in Midtown, and as we were walking to the bar we passed the rollerskate guy. And as I explained to her that he hangs out up by school a lot, I realized I'm far more New York than I want to be.
Yesterday, I saw to things that struck me as fantastically ironic.
First, my first sighting of a Ferrari blazing down the street. It was forest green.
Forest green is a color for sensible cars (like my own which is collecting dust in a shed, wishing I would come home and free it). If you were dumping a wad of cash on a Ferrari, wouldn't you get it in black, red or silver?
Second, and merely two blocks down the street, I saw a NYPD Cushman.
Now, NYPD bullet-proofed Hummers I would understand and agile off-roading horses I understand too. But Cushmans? Why? What is the point of a vehicle that can't outrun anything, would get stuck trying to get over a curb, is too small to haul stuff in or barricade anything, and still pollutes the earth? Buddy, Copper, Pal, get a bike.
Well, the time has come to pass yet another milestone on the road of life. In 5 days, Baby Kroll is scheduled to join our family of friends. I'm so excited, I can't wait!
And just for a little fun, I'll let you in on what the wager pool looks like as of tonight: (fear not, Ma & Pa Kroll have placed their bets too)
Player - Gender - Weight - Length - Birthday
Michelle - girl - 7 lbs 4 ozs - 19 in - Jun 9, 6:17pm
Dave - girl - 15 lbs 3 ozs - 23 in - Jun 12, 3:00 am
Angela - boy - 6 lbs 9 ozs - 19 in - Jun 12, 3:30 am
Daddy Andy - girl - 8 lbs 4 ozs - 22 in - Jun 12, 4:00 pm
Ayla - boy - 8 lbs 2 ozs - 20 in - Jun 12, 8:25 pm
Jacob - boy - 8 lbs 5 ozs - 19 in - Jun 14, 12:12 am
Chad - girl - 6 lbs 13 ozs - 20 in - Jun 17, 12:01 am
Jason - girl - 7 lbs 9 ozs - 21 in - Jun 17, 2:04 am
Luke - girl - 9 lbs 11 ozs - 23 in - Jun 17, 3:42 am
Jill - boy - 7 lbs 10 ozs - 21 in - Jun 17, 7:00 pm
Heidi - girl - 7 lbs 11 ozs - 21 in - Jun 18, 9:14 pm
Jan - boy - 7 lbs 13 ozs - 22 in - Jun 18, 11:37 pm
Laura - boy - 7 lbs 6 ozs - 21 in - Jun 19, 6:12 am
K.Shuda - boy - 7 lbs 11 ozs - 22 in - Jun 19, 10:35 am
Mommy Carrie - boy - 8 lbs 8 ozs - 22 in - Jun 21, 6:00 am
Polster - boy - 8 lbs 6 ozs - 22 in - Jun 22, 11:59 am
Uncle Mike - boy - 7 lbs 5 ozs - 22 in - Jun 23, 6:35 am
Mandy - boy - 7 lbs 10 ozs - 21 in - Jun 24, 8:19 pm
As you can see, Michelle is already out of the running. And, I'm pretty sure that Dave's bet on a 15-pounder coming outta Carrie's teenie little body is safely a non-contender.
What's the prize anyway? I'm not sure we ever determined that. The first dirty diaper perhaps? Spit-up/burp rag? A spare booger sucker? Or (and I'll say it only because I know the guys have already thought it) the little chunk of umbilical cord that finally falls off the belly button? eeeewww.
Anyway... you'll notice that my wager lists the latest birthday. (Baby Koo's estimated arrival date is June 15.) But I know that Carrie was born about 2 weeks late. You see, she was supposed to have my birthday and I was supposed to have hers. So, she was late and I was early, and the rest is history.
Looking forward to the new chapter. . .
Already love ya, Peanut, and I don't even know ya yet.
"Good Morning," I said. "How are you?"
"Today it's good to have an ammunition belt," that's what I thought he said, and I laughed.
After thinking about it a while longer, he may have said, "Today it's good to have an air conditioned office."
I never thought I would see the day, but my computer at work is a Mac.
Me. A Mac user? whoa.
Just goes to show that the laws of the universe don't apply in Soho.
Why are wrestling shoes all the rage in NYC? No one even knows that's what they are. It's annoying.
It is bizarre how obvious some holiday trends are here in the city. And Memorial Day is one such holiday that I am just downright grateful for. Not only is it a quiet, somber holiday, it affects the city in other ways as well.
It's a bank holiday and even the markets are closed. So, the 4 million or so people that usually commute in to work on Mondays don't bother to journey to my island, they stay home. Add to that, the who-knows-how-many hundreds of thousands of people that left my island for the long weekend. On top of that, no one says, "Memorial Day? Let's go to New York!" So there are a few hundred thousand less tourists. And finally, sailors. Fleet Week. Need I say more?
All in all it was a fantastic, calm, beautiful weekend. This place is far more enjoyable with 5-ish million fewer people. Okay, so there are aircraft carriers in the harbor, but on land there is less trash, less people, less cars, less stink, shorter lines, open seats on the train. All this = MUCH BETTER MANHATTAN!
Now here is the right man for me. His name is Reggie and he greets me in Soho every day with a smile. And, he teaches poetry!!!
Sure he's blue, but he's got a big horn!
I love working at Scholastic. Reggie & Amanda - together forever.