pregnancy randomness

I'm just about at that point in pregnancy now where I should be feeling the baby move at least once every day. Its movements are pretty strong at times - like to the point where I get uncomfortable and/or I can actually see little jumps in my belly or ripples across my stomach as it squirms around inside. My bellybutton is starting to come out, and it's been feeling a bit tender, so I've just started putting a bandaid over it. I'm hoping that it won't pop out all the way, but I don't think I'll be that lucky since I still have a good amount of time to go.

One of the more difficult and immediate adjustments to being pregnant was the sudden profusion of food restrictions...here's a short list:
- 3 servings of caffeine per day (chocolate counts towards this!) from the 2nd trimester on. Before that, no caffeine!
- no sushi
- no soft cheeses (brie, goat cheese,etc)
- no alcohol
- no deli meats (unless heated to smoking)
- limited types of cooked fish (no shark, no sea bass, tuna but not often, etc)
- food has to be cooked through (well done steak! :/)

During the first several months, I was really particular about everything I ate because the rate of miscarriage is higher early on, and even though early miscarriages aren't usually linked to food, everything just seemed a lot more precarious. Now that I've been able to feel the baby move more regularly, I'm less strict about what I eat. For example, I had Coke for the first time a few weeks ago. It was so smooth, like liquid gold. I had a sip of Isaac's sangria one night and a tiny bite of his oh so smooth salmon sashimi another night. And sometimes, we get free sandwiches for lunch at work, so I'll have deli meat. When we do get lunch at work, I don't like to stand around and open all the sandwiches to check their contents, so I kinda eyeball them and hope for the best. The other day, I accidentally had a ham and brie sandwich (sooo good, by the way!).

But the night and the day following the brie sandwich, the baby was unnervingly still. No flutters, no kicks, nothing. I started getting pretty worried and I remembered the bandaid on my bellybutton, and I thought that it might be causing the baby to suffocate, which makes no sense of course.

In the beginning, I had a hard time seeing how I would ever get to the point where I would love this baby. I knew I would eventually, but nausea and dizziness doesn't really inspire any affection. But as it's developed more and we've been able to see and feel its movements, I've found myself growing more attached to the baby. And its lack of movement that day solidified the growing realization that I think I'm learning to love this unborn and unmet member of our family.

It really does feel like a miracle to think that a few months ago it didn't exist, and that it's grown so much and I had nothing to do with it. I think pregnancy is helpful for the whole transition from a carefree adult to a parent with responsibilities. There are months for you to absorb the shock and to accept the coming changes, and then some time for you to just enjoy and learn to appreciate what is happening, and then some time after that to focus on the practical things that need to be done in preparation for the baby's arrival. That's not to say that we're ready or anything - I'm definitely glad to have nine months!

Definitely in the Top 3

HBO is genius. Something to whet your appetite:

don't blame me..i didn't create it!

In response to Crystal's post blaming me for her addiction to desktop tower defense, all I can say is that it's just an addictive game. I just play it - I didn't make it! Try it - you can submit your score to our group "junique" if you play Medium or Hard.

Warning: It's really pretty addictive though. Crystal obviously thought so. So did another one of my friends who shall remain anonymous..but who is also addicted:

a: no more!
a: i stayed up till 3 last night

and then in reference to the day before...
a: i played until i really really had to go out
a: so i skipped all the errands
a: very bad
a: i'm not playing any more games that you recommend
a: not until i have absolutely nothing else to do
a: hehe
a: alrite, one last game

the neglected thigh

Yesterday on the train, I was doing the polite thing and staring at the ground when I noticed a girl wearing a toe ring. I then got to thinking..girls, or people, put jewelry on every part of their bodies. There are earrings for ears, necklaces for necks, rings for fingers, bracelets for wrists, armbands for upper arms, anklets for ankles, and piercings for other assorted body parts. But the one place on a person where I don't think I've seen or heard of jewelry being worn is on a thigh. I've never seen a thighlet(?) or thighband.

Why not?

this is for crystal

oops..i kinda forgot about this blog..but our target audience reminded me that I need to get on it.

C: i'm blogging about it now :P
J: hahaha
J: nice
J: i haven't blogged in a long time!
J: i kinda forgot
C: YEAH
C: U SHOULD
J: whoa
C: i've run out of material to read
C: tell isaac to get on it too!

sorry crystal! i'll work on it more - I don't want to face your wrath - i like my butter with no holes!

Noah vs. The Holy Virgin Mary in a Fistfight

Watch out for Satan. I think he cheats.
Also, try to unlock the secret character. I haven't gotten that far. Hint: It's not Jesus.

my eyes are tired, but i want more

I grew up reading a lot. Seriously, it was my favorite thing to do. My parent's house is filled with books, and they always encouraged my sister and I to read more. I remember going to the library and checking out the maximum number of children's books allowed (at the time it was 15) and then going back the next week to exchange them for more. Christmas presents always consisted of maybe 3 toys and 8 books. So now I love to read. As a byproduct, I'm not good at sports and I never learned how to ride a bike though.

After I left my parent's house for college, my appetite for reading declined drastically. Partially because I never bothered to find out where the library was in Pittsburgh, and I had run out of books that I was interested in reading. As a kid, I would just walk around and browse the shelves, looking for books that I hadn't read yet. As an adult, there are just too many books to do that with, and many of them are just boring or trash.

Lately, I've been feeling the need to read. In the past few weeks, I've been reading during my commute and sometimes at night, and I've finished a few books. Because I am too lazy to summarize these books, I've included excerpts of the editorial reviews from Amazon.com.

A Severe Mercy

"A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken, is a heart-rending love story described by its author as "the spiritual autobiography of a love rather than of the lovers." Vanauken chronicles the birth of a powerful pagan love borne out of the relationship he shares with his wife, Davy, and describes the growth of their relationship and the dreams that they share. As a symbol of their love, they name their dream schooner the Grey Goose, "for the grey goose, if its mate is killed flies on alone and never takes another."

While studying at Oxford, Sheldon and Davy develop a friendship with C.S. Lewis, under whose influence and with much intellectual scrutiny they accept the Christian doctrine. As their devotion to God intensifies, Sheldon realizes that he is no longer Davy's primary love--God is. Within this discovery begins a brewing jealousy."

I loved this book. It was wholesome, honest, and beautiful. I discovered it on a friend's blog where she had it listed as her favorite book.

In An Instant

"In January 2006, the Woodruffs seemed to have it all–a happy marriage and four beautiful children. Lee was a public relations executive and Bob had just been named co-anchor of ABC’s World News Tonight. Then, while Bob was embedded with the military in Iraq, an improvised explosive device went off near the tank he was riding in. He and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, were hit, and Bob suffered a traumatic brain injury that nearly killed him.

In an Instant is the frank and compelling account of how Bob and Lee’s lives came together, were blown apart, and then were miraculously put together again–and how they persevered, with grit but also with humor, through intense trauma and fear. Here are Lee’s heartfelt memories of their courtship, their travels as Bob left a law practice behind and pursued his news career and Lee her freelance business, the glorious births of her children and the challenges of motherhood."

Isaac brought this book home from Google. I wasn't particular interested in it, but once I started reading it, I had a hard time putting it down. Somehow it just captivated me and I ended up reading the bulk of it in one night. I like reading about people and how they handle difficult situations and what motivates and drives them.

The Mole People

"Alligators breeding in the sewers of New York City is an urban legend; thousands of people living in the tunnels beneath New York is not. Ms. Toth has written a compelling, compassionate and extraordinary documentary about the 'Mole People.'"

I bought this one to read while I was getting a perm, but when I got to the salon, I got distracted by the magazines and I ended up reading this one during my commute. It felt a little awkward to pull this out of my bag on the subway, not knowing if any of the people around me might be tunnel dwellers themselves and take offense to my choice of literature. I was really excited about this book, but I found out after I finished that some people believe that some of it is fabricated because her descriptions of tunnel layouts are not completely accurate. Even so, the book is a quick read and very interesting.

Next up: I'm thinking about reading R.C. Sproul's "The Holiness of God" or the new biography of Einstein by Walter Isaacson. Oddly enough, I usually enjoy fantasy/science fiction or fluffy chick lit novels, but they usually go so quickly and tend to be somewhat formulaic. I guess I've been a little hungry for something more substantial than the latest Shopaholic novel. Any suggestions?

she wasn't that innocent

We just started a new sermon series at church this week. For as long as we've been attending, the pastor has been preaching on Mark, but he finished up on Easter and just started in on Esther this past Sunday.

This was the first time I've ever heard a pastor preach on Esther.* The last time I read Esther I was probably in elementary or middle school and I don't remember the lessons I got from the story at that time. Probably just that Esther was pretty and brave, everything worked out perfectly, and that the bad guy got what he deserved. Maybe I even wanted to be like Esther - pretty, a crowned queen, and brave. But there's so much more.

// The Book of Esther has no mention of God or any religious reference. He's noticeably absent from the story - and at points, it looks like the author goes out of his way to avoid religious reference or mention of God. Yet at the same time, there are many ordinary incidents that had to happen for the story to turn out the way it did so that the Jews would be saved and that God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 would be fulfilled. For example, in chapter 1 Xerxes got drunk. If he hadn't gotten drunk, he wouldn't have asked his queen Vashti to come and parade herself in front of his friends and associates. If Vashti hadn't refused to come out, then Esther never would've had the opportunity to be queen. If Esther wasn't beautiful, she never would've been chosen to be part of Xerxes' harem.

// In Persian Culture, men were valued for their wealth and power, while women were valued for their physical beauty. Our pastor noted that conservatives, liberals, Jews, Christians, secular and religious readers all think that Esther was a sellout based on her actions in the first two chapters. She was completely compliant and did everything the men (her cousin, the man in charge of the harem, and the King) wanted her to do. Vashti, the previous queen, had refused to come and parade herself before a horde of drunken men and was stripped of her crown as a result. But Esther hid the fact that she was a Jew and broke dietary restrictions and slept with a man she wasn't married to. Esther was guilty.

While it's easy to point at Esther and look at how she did all these things that were morally wrong, at the same time, you can't help but see that she was a woman in a male dominated society - what could she have done? If she wasn't completely obedient and compliant, she wouldn't have found so much approval with the King and the man in charge of the harem, and she could have been doomed to the life of a unfavored concubine which was essentially the same as permanent widowhood with no freedom.

She was constrained by that culture and her world, the same way that we're influenced by modern society - to be successful, wealthy, powerful, and beautiful. The example the pastor gave was the way that everyone chooses a mate. We first discount potential boyfriends or girlfriends by looks, and then we go from there and hope for character. Esther was loved by Xerxes because she was beautiful. The world values us and approves of us only if we fit the criteria of success and beauty that it has set out. But God just loves us - not because of anything, and he gave up everything so that we could know Him and live in His love.

// Even though Esther violated all of God's laws and commands at the beginning of the book, as the book continues, we find that God works with her and grows her and turns her into something great. So there's a message of hope and grace in this - that God continually works and gives his grace and doesn't give up on us, no matter how much we've screwed up.

So what can we take from all of this?
+ God's silence is not absence.
+ God's hiddenness is not abandonment.
+ God's love for us is not predicated by our achievements or our worth as the world sees it.
+ God doesn't give up on us no matter how much we've messed up or how screwed up we are.

I can't say that this sermon really hit me in any specific way, but the reminder of God's omnipotence, mysteriousness, and love and the overall message of hope is just what I needed. It's really easy for me to miss God's hand in my life and to wonder whether I've made wrong decisions, but I was encouraged by the reminder that He has a plan, even if I can't understand or see it. It's also easy for me to get caught up in the world's value system, especially considering where I work, and it was a good reminder for me to step back and bask in the assurance of God's love and my identity in him rather than anything else.

* He only preached up through Esther 2 this week, so there may be more to come...

free lightbulbs

If you haven't switched to CFLs yet but you want to, here's your chance. Home Depot is giving out 1,000,000 of them on Sunday, April 22!

[Witty Vonnegut quote]

Someone please tell me why this was necessary?
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/04/16/kurt-vonneguts-lifefox-news-style/

This appeared on air the day after his death.
It's pretty bad throughout, but the kicker is at the end.

I want to say more, but the clip speaks for itself.

Soul-searching

If life begins at conception (i.e., ensoulment occurs at conception), when does said event occur for twins?

that's brilliant!

Isaac likes to tease me because he thinks I don't like anything if there are accents involved. Like I've never been able to watch "Snatch" without falling asleep because I can't understand it. Literally. And I never wanted to watch the British version of "The Office" because I couldn't decipher what they were saying.

But I do like some British exports. Namely their music. This past Saturday, we saw Bloc Party play at the United Palace Theater all the way up at 175th Street. They were awesome - they had a ton of energy AND they sound awesome live. I love their music, but I couldn't understand a word that frontman Kele Okereke said between songs. I wasn't alone though - I could hear the people around us asking each other what he was saying too.

The opening act was also very good. We missed most of Sebastian Grainger so I can't comment on that, but we caught all of Albert Hammond Jr.'s opening set. He's a lead guitarist for the Strokes, but he's touring with Bloc Party for a solo album that he produced. I just picked up his cd last week, and it's Strokes-esque, but slightly happier. I like!

In general, I've been listening to a lot more music since I've moved out to New York. Well, actually, ever since I left school. Pittsburgh was like a desert for new music. Every single station out there played Hoobastank's "The Reason" as every 4th song for at least 6 months. Whenever it played, it felt like someone was hammering an ice pick into my brain. Because of that and the general quality of radio play in this area, I no longer listen to radio. Weird - "The Reason" is the reason I don't listen to the radio anymore. Instead, I just focus on finding music for myself.

I've found that it's nice to have some music to energize me as I walk the long blocks to the subway or to distract me from being in such close quarters on the crowded train. It definitely helped the one time the back of my head was being used as a newspaper rest while my forehead was in someone's armpit and the bottom half of my face was practically in someone's huge furry hood. I just focused on the soothing beats of "Close Your Eyes" by the Chemical Brothers and it felt like I was alone on the train. Well, not quite, but the music helped.

By the way, I eventually did watch the British Office (good job, closed caption!) and it was pretty good. I can see why it was received so well by critics, but I have to say that I actually enjoy the American version of The Office better. Perhaps because I can relate better since our working environments are different within our countries. By the way, if you're home tonight, check out NBC at 8pm tonight - there's a supersized episode of the Office, followed by my new fave 30 Rock at 8:44pm.

bears galore!

Animals are so cute in the baby stage..except for insects. Insects are disgusting at all stages in their lifecycles. Back to the cute though...

i saw this one on 30 Rock (focus on the baby).


Knut!

He's so cute, right? It's crazy that some animal rights people wanted him killed. You'd think that animal rights campaigners would be all about keeping animals alive, especially a threatened species like the polar bears.


..and this is not related to bears, or baby animals, but it's also cute...it's repetitive for most of the clip, but one of the otters does something really cute near the end.

Seven Minute Sopranos

Here's a recap, before the final half-season begins:

fun with animals

This past weekend, we participated in two of our favorite pastimes: shopping and the Discovery Channel. We got some great deals through my work discount and spent much of our weekend at the store. In our downtime, we watched some Discovery Channel. Isaac has a sampler of Discovery Channel DVDS, and at first, I wasn't really interested in watching, but after about 2 minutes, I was hooked. In "The Deadliest Catch", which was actually made into a series on Discovery Channel, we witnessed the difficulties of snow crab fishing, an occupation which has been termed "The Deadliest Job In the World" because of the many dangers of fishing in the Arctic Ocean. I actually experienced a little phantom seasickness while watching the fishermen run around on the boat as it was tossed around 30 foot waves. It's crazy to see what fishermen have to endure so that I can enjoy a nice meaty crab claw.

Later, we watched "Living With Wolves" (watch the video clip!), a documentary about two filmmakers who spent 6 years living in Idaho with a pack of wolves. It's actually pretty captivating, except for the storyline about their romance. I could have done without that. But the wolves are interesting and cute, even, and you get to see their personalities and a little bit about wolf society. It was fascinating.

Watching the intimate lives of wolves awakened my usually dormant interest in animals and I ended up perusing Wikipedia to learn more about various animals. I learned some random things. For instance, did you know that a group of tigers is called a streak? Or that hyenas eat their prey alive? Or that a single well-placed kick from a giraffe can shatter a lion's skull or spine? Or that zebra's stripes act as camouflage from lions who are colorblind? Well, maybe you knew, but I had no idea. It was a feast of information for me. So just now, I checked the TV schedule for tonight, and while there are no animal specials on, National Geographic is airing "In the Womb: Multiples" at 9pm tonight. I saw a commercial for this a while back, but forgot about it. Fortunately, National Geographic is airing repeats, so if you're at all interested, you can catch the showing tonight or next Sunday.

wherein "The Hills" causes me to think about life

I've been watching "The Hills" lately, and it's brought a question to mind..

How important is it to be honest in your friendships?

In the show, Heidi is seriously involved with a guy (Spencer) who is, in the words of her best friend LC, "a sucky, sucky person". He's tried to hook up with another one of their friends and various other girls at clubs while dating Heidi, but she insists that he loves her. Since LC has shared her distaste for Spencer, her friendship with Heidi has suffered greatly.

So..what if you think your best friend's significant other is a total ***[insert your derogatory descriptor of choice]***? If they were having a problem with the SO and asked your opinion, would you tell him or her in the interest of total honesty and to try to open their eyes? Or would you just keep your opinion to yourself?

If you tell your friend your honest opinion, then..

// if they end up together in the long run despite the fact that the S.O. is a *****, your already stated opinion could cause a rift in the friendship

// if they break up, you helped your friend out of a bad relationship, but you're a little bit at fault for the demise of the relationship, right?

// not necessarily exclusive from the other two scenarios above..your friend is hurt and offended and cuts off communication with you..basically, you damage the friendship - and it's possibly irreparable.


If you don't tell your friend...

// if they end up together in the long run, then you may regret never sharing your opinion at a point when it could have made a difference

// your friendship is not as open and honest as the other person thinks it is..so there is some imbalance there

// you will have to bite your tongue forever everytime the ****** S.O. hurts your friend


what's the best course of action here? what would you do?

**note: i'm not actually in this situation..but i thought it was an interesting dilemma

other questions: how honest are you with friends who have been known to receive critical opinions badly?

happy PI day!

hey guys,

check it out! bloomingdales updated their website!~!

it's SOOOOOO cools, y'all!!!!

*edited to add..

original design:


updated design:

A thousand words

I've begun to have a growing appreciation for Helvetica these past few months...

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Perfect. (If that sentence rendered as Arial for you, shame shame)

My slight obsession with typography, and Helvetica in particular stems from 3 things:
1. Learning to draw text
2. Going to Switzerland last year for a day
3. Reading The Scourge of Arial. A most interesting read.

Basically, the idea is that Arial is a cheap bastardized knock-off of the perfection that is Helvetica. Stop using it. Hey, wake up! Stop using it.
If you're interested, take the quiz and play the game. There is a slight problem, however, and that is that Helvetica is not free. The price you pay for beauty...


One more thing. I'm lucky to post this entry on the same day that the Helvetica movie premieres at SXSW.

Yes, I'm serious..

..and I want to see it.

..Is it me, or is the entire Internet in (central?) Texas right now?

+1 Austin

Casimir Pulaski Day

Today is Casimir Pulaski Day.
Illinois schoolchildren rejoice.

+1 Chicago

more random links..

This person feels strongly about popsicles. I can totally relate. I feel the same way about candy - although I can't say that I've ever been able to tell the difference between the same brand of candy purchased at different stores.

Sidenote: A good friend recently bought me a box of runts, which I love and haven't had in ages. I eagerly opened the box, and started snacking away. But when I hit the green one, it wasn't lime! They changed the green runt to watermelon! Now I feel like the whole box is off balance. The lime green was a great contrast to the other super-sweet runts, but now everything in the box is super-sweet! Well, actually, I don't know about the blue raspberry (another new flavor) - why do all these classic candies keep adding blue raspberry to their flavor lineups? I don't like the blue raspberry jolly ranchers either.

Ever played Line Rider? This person has obviously played it. A Lot. The music sucks, but it's impressive.


I'm not really a cat person, but this is still adorable.

if it's not too much of an inconvenience...

A few weeks ago, I and I finally sat down and watched "An Inconvenient Truth." We'd been meaning to check it out for a while, but we kept pushing it down our "things to watch" queue because of new episodes of "The Office" or "30 Rock"(more on this later) or a brief obsession with "Venture Brothers". But we eventually got to it - and it was eye-opening. In case you're unfamiliar with the movie, it's an Oscar-nominated documentary about climate change. And Al Gore is the star.

This is the first time a movie has really made me think about my lifestyle. A lot of times I think we use more energy than we expect in the course of our day-to-day decisions.

For example, I never really gave organic or local produce much thought - mostly because it tends to be more expensive and i always associated it with hippies, but after considering the environmental costs involved with shipping produce from distant locations and comparing it to the higher price of local or organic produce, I think buying local or organic is a better choice if it's affordable.

I recently read this article about the cost of bottled water. I'm glad I prefer Poland Spring, but I'm sure it's not all that much better.

We're already using CFLs (better known as energy-saving lightbulbs), and we're toying with the idea of supporting green energy through our company, but we need to get more information about it.

Anyway, please watch this movie. Don't put off watching this if you can. And don't plan to watch this and keep postponing because someone keeps "subconciously" thwarting your efforts to see it. That happened to us with Hotel Rwanda. (hint: Don't attempt to watch this movie with Bryan).

In his review, Roger Ebert writes, "In 39 years, I have never written these words in a movie review, but here they are: You owe it to yourself to see this film. If you do not, and you have grandchildren, you should explain to them why you decided not to."

Blind vs. Deaf, or Technolo-Gee Whiz

Question: would you rather be deaf or blind, if you had to choose one or the other? J and I have been having this conversation for the past few weeks, she preferring to see, and I preferring to hear. We go back and forth, naming the pro's and con's of each, but eventually our discussion degrades, Godwin-like, into an contest of who can name more famous blind or deaf people, and whether "Ray Charles + Stevie Wonder + Andrea Botticelli > Beethoven". (Helen Keller tends to cancel herself out.) So far, everyone we've brought this discussion to has sided with J. They are all wrong.

I should add a disclaimer at this point, stating that I mean no offense to anyone who suffers from either of these disabilities, and that I highly respect anyone who has to overcome such obstacles in life. I just happen to think that for a deaf person, there are more obstacles.

Anyways, this brings me to the second point of this post: over the weekend I came across two new technologies that give sight and sound to your computer.

sight
Behold! Delicious Library!
This is a Mac-only program that uses your computer webcam as a barcode reader to scan, organize, and index your books, music, dvds, and video games. The software costs $40, but there's a free version that we've been playing with. Very addicting. The free version has a limit of 25 items, but J doesn't read and I don't listen to music, watch movies, or play video games, so we're good for now. One of the more interesting features of the software is that it has a nice library-like checkout system. That way you can tell who still has your copy of, say, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah! (sorry Cheryl).

sound
Hark! Midomi!
This nice piece of online software has you sing or hum part of a song into your computer's mic, and performs a search to find that song. Finally, a way to get that annoying song that you can't find the name of and then when you try to sing it to other people your singing sucks and they have no idea what you're talking about cause you're off-key and even if you were on-key the part of the song that you actually know could be any song ever. Try it out. Example, my boss at work decided to sing "Like a Virgin" into my coworkers laptop, and seconds later "Like a Surgeon" (Weird Al) showed up as the top hit. Pretty good!

Go Bears!

If you live in the Baltimore-DC area, you must, must, must go line up to see SUFJAN STEVENS for FREE at the Kennedy Center on Feb. 5. The ticket giveaway is this Saturday the 27th at 9am, but I suspect you'll have to line up a lot earlier than that. I've been seriously considering coming down to VA this weekend and the weekend after to be able to see this show, but I doubt I'll be able to make it since I'd have to do it alone (Feb. 5 is a Monday).

J and I were lucky enough to see him in NY back in November, and ... sublime.

The horns at 1:54 of this Majesty Snowbird clip (sadly not the whole song)...


Edit: I really want to say more about this song, because it overflows the room, making it much bigger than it is. It's the kind of thing that makes you wish you had more ears to be able to hear in threereo; these videos do no justice.


I really hate to be a video linker, but I have to end with one more:


That song is Chicago. Apt.

thursday tv on friday nights

Thursdays are the best night of TV. Unfortunately, the networks all compete with each other by putting their best shows out (leaving the rest of the week empty on my tv schedule), so all the shows really lose in the ratings. Thankfully, Survivor finished its "race wars" season so the 8:00-9:00 timeslot is less packed these days.

I'm actually going to be out tonight, but I'll catch up with everything on Friday. It turns out that Fridays and weekends are my favorite times to stay in. I'd heard similar sentiments from people who lived in the city before I moved here, but I never understood until I lived here too. I have nothing against B&Ters (bridge and tunnelers -ie, people who need to take a bridge or tunnel to get to Manhattan), but the city just gets really crowded on Fridays and Saturdays. Movies are constantly sold out on weekends and sidewalks and restaurants are packed. I hate navigating through hordes of people on the streets and putting up with long waits at restaurants when I can go easily go any night of the week. So Fridays are my stay-in night, or maybe they'll soon be a small group night, if Isaac and I ever get around to signing up for one.

Anyway, Isaac's sister, Lanie, is in town, so we'll be heading out tonight instead of being glued to the TV the way I usually am, but here's a quick TV guide for those of you who stay home on weeknights and go out on weekends.

What I'll be Tivo-ing:
8:30 The Office (nbc)
9:00 Scrubs -the long-awaited musical episode! (nbc)
9:30 30 Rock (nbc)

What I'll get later:
9:00 The O.C. (FOX)
8:00 Ugly Betty (abc)
9:00 Grey's Anatomy (abc)

In other TV-related news, The Hills is back! Tune in for the spaced-out misadventures of LC and Heidi. I totally missed the premiere on Monday, but was alerted to its return by an awesome recap at TVGasm. The recaps make the show worth watching...

960 minutes

What's the best season of 24?

I watched the first season and was really put off by Kim Bauer, and the soap opera predictibility/craziness of the 2nd half of that season, so much so that I've never wanted to watch another season. I've heard that other seasons are better/different though, so I'm thinking that I might be willing to give it another chance. I want to watch a good season though, so which one is the best and is the show really worth watching?

convince me.

i don't smell gas

Am I the only one in the city that didn't smell that gaseous odor yesterday? Yes, apparently. And I walk to work. And there were conference rooms when I got there that had signs that pretty much said "it smells in here." And emails. And news. Maybe everyone else was crazy and imagining it because there was no odor when I left the house.

Don't worry, anyone who doesn't live or work in New York. You didn't miss anything, I don't think I did.

Then again, I think I'm alone on this.

i smell gas

This morning when I left our building, I smelled gas. We live on a pretty busy street, so I didn't think much of it. It was the kind of pollution smell that you get when a truck drives by, so I figured it was due to the traffic. As I headed towards the train which is about 2 and half avenue blocks away from where we live, I realized that it still smelled like gas. Truck pollution doesn't usually last that long, so I thought maybe the smell was just stuck in my nose, like the way a bad taste sticks in your mouth sometimes. Maybe I was crazy and imagining it because the odor was so strong when I first left the house.

But then, Crystal sent me this article. I'm not crazy! Yaay! But the source seems like it's close to where we live, which isn't too good. I hope it doesn't lead to anything crazy like the manhole explosions in Soho.

edit: I'm definitely not alone.