Quiz time!!

It's late on a Thursday night and I'm still at work right now. Nights like these are rare (thank goodness!), but yet here we are! So instead of working on the project I have before me, I decided to take a mental break and participate in some quizzes I found online. Fun! Here are the results:

What Flower Are You?
You are a Sunflower. You are spirited and vivacious. Willing to do anything to help others be happy, and ask nothing in return. You always see the bright side of any situation and are the life of the party. It is impossible to feel down when you are around. -- Oh, how nice!

What Office Character Are You? (couldn't resist this one...)
You are Pam. You are sweet and likable, but your shyness makes it hard for you to express yourself sometimes. Regardless, you are always there for your friends and will usually come out of your shell to help anyone. -- I guess that fits...

Which Harry Potter Character Are You?
You are Fred and George. You're a joker at heart, but when push comes to shove, you know what's important.

What Beer Are You? (thought this one would be interesting for some reason...)
You are a Bud Light. You are fun, likable, and rowdy--and you can always be found wherever there's a party. You may be lacking a little in the sophistication department, but who cares, you are cheap and don't really worry about taste! -- not sure how I feel about that one...

Which Spice Girl Are You? (couldn't resist this one, I'm sorry)
You are Scary Spice. No one sets and achieves goals like you. Once you get your mind set on something there is no way you'll fail. You give 110% to all your relationships and to yourself as well. Most people get exhausted just by looking at your schedule, but keeping busy is what motivates you. You are always there for a friend and care deeply for those close to you.

What is your theme song?
Your theme song is "Soak Up the Sun" - Sheryl Crow. You are a very laid back person. You let life happen and just go with it. You are optimistic and think the rest of the world needs to "lighten up" and just take it how it's given to you.

Which Action Hero Are You? (ooooo!! this will be exciting!)
It's a tie!
You are part Chuck Norris. You fight for truth and justice with a custom truck and a never-ending supply of roundhouse kicks to the face! At the peak of your career you had your own cartoon, but what you'll be remembered for is a never ending supply of internet one-liners.
You are part Daniel Craig. Bond, James Bond. Keep up your suave style but don't forget to remain a bad ass. Money and romance is more your style, so don't get your hands too dirty. - hahahahah!!

Which Disney Villain Are You?
You are Lady Tremaine. You're the evil stepmother little girls have nightmares about. Hooray for you, who helped kids learn to love their birth parents and do everything possible to avoid stepparents. Next time, though, be careful not to get in between a girl and her dreams. -- interesting...

Which Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Character Are You?
You are Raphael. You have a sarcastic wit, but it can sometimes get you into trouble. -- big disappointment. Raphael is the worst of the four....

Ok, this is the last one. I have to get back to work...

Which Disney Pixar Character Are You?
It's a tie!
You are part Woody. You've got an overall well-rounded character, but your insecurity sticks out like a sore thumb. If you ever want to recapture your past stardom, you're going to have to accept that the game has changed and you'll need some help.
You are part Dory. You are naive and gullible. Wait, that's a good thing. Your ability to trust any stranger is a trait not many people have, but be more cautious next time a stranger offers to buy you lunch or you might find yourself in a fishy situation. -- ummm... I think I like the results?

Ok, for real, the last one:

What Instrument Will Lead You to Your Rockstar Dreams?
You should be a Pianist. You are relatively unassuming and tend not to attract attention to yourself. Level headed, you are the one who always comes up with a solution or compromise to a problem. With a massive amount of focused energy you are able to accomplish many goals with seemingly little effort. Your frequently annoying to others. -- hahah I'm annoying. How sad!

Hope you enjoyed that. I have to get back to work now...

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Fish are not Nature's most simple creature

Over the summer, we had some interns in our office to help with some demographic research our company was doing. While they were here, they decided to adopt a fish from the local pet store. They set him up with a cute little fish tank, some rocks, and a little groovy sea-tree and affectionately named him Schlomo, The Peace Fish. I feel like I've mentioned this before.... yes, I have. Ok, so moving right along... I have nothing against fish, however, this fish has caused me nothing but grief since the moment I got it. Actually that's not entirely true either. He's been pretty good to me, which less than I can say for how I've treated him. You see, a couple weeks ago, one of my co-workers got a McDonald's Happy Meal complete with a groovy little mini-Barbie. While observing Schlomo in his solitary existence within his little plastic fish bowl world, we decided it would be a good idea to give him some company, and what better company than a mini blonde bombshell? So we put her in there. Everything was fine for a couple weeks - Schlomo excitedly swam about her and Barbie's plastered grin never wavered, and all was good in the world. That is until one Monday morning I came into work only to notice that Schlomo's fish bowl was a decidely yucky colored green. Algae covered the walls and rocks - yuck. Something had to be done. And what could've caused this? Barbie. No doubt about it. I tell you, she fools you with her innocent all-American image; she's clearly up to no good. That said, I cleaned out the tank and it looked good as new. Barbie and Schlomo officially broke it off and so he was left again to swim along by himself.

Now that was about a week ago. And for some strange reason, the fish tank is back to that yucky colored green again. I don't know what it was this time, but I tell you one thing, marine biology is not my calling.

The picture doesn't really do it justice though - it seems worse in person...

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The Office

The Office is, hands down, my most favorite TV show. Ever. I'm sure I'm in the company of many others when I say this, but I can't help it, it's great! I could be the absolute worst mood ever, feeling down and dreary, and I put in an episode of The Office and it's like I completely forget myself. Erin, Katie, Ann and I used to do that when I was still living in Arizona. I had gotten all three seasons (there were only three seasons at that point) for Christmas from Lola and so we decided we had to watch all of them. So we did!! And it was so much fun. All the characters are so great, and most of them are quite lovable. My favorites of course are Jim and Dwight. From one of my favorite episodes, here is a picture of Jim dressing up and impersonating Dwight:


I've also decided to spread my Office enthusiasm to, in fact, my own office and purchase the 16 month wall calendar and desk calendar. I'm such a nerd that I'm writing about this, but it's the little things that I get excited about. :)

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Notes on the election

As everyone already knows, the presidential election is over and for the past couple days every political commentator, analyst, and journalist has exhausted their opportunity to put their two cents in on the results, why voters voted the way did, what they predict will happen in the future, etc. That is, except me. :)

Don't worry though, I'll be short and to the point... or at least I'll try to be. As I've heard many other people say since Tuesday, never have I been more proud to be an American, and I say that for a couple reasons. Since elementary school, I remember reading in history books about the great generations before us, those that endured the Revolutionary War and secured our nation's independence; the suffragettes who risked their safety and reputations to ensure women's right to vote; the many Americans that fought for our country in WWII and those that stayed home to provide and support the troops abroad all while maintaining normalcy as best they could at home; the many Americans, both white and black, that fought for Civil Rights; and the list goes on. I was proud of those that lived before me, who risked everything all for a better tomorrow. But thing about all that I read was that it was another generation, not mine. Granted, I'm not really old enough to have a legacy just yet and it is a little difficult to save the world when your biggest problems in life are trying to pass linear Algebra and keeping your room clean, but reading history made me want to leave my mark, whether it be individually or part of a collective group. For the first time this week, I felt as though I was part of something greater that had historical significance and would result in positive and progressive change for our country. We elected the nation's first black president and I can tell my children and grand children that I was a part of it; that's pretty awesome.

Not only was the actual outcome impressive, I was almost more excited about the activity that lead up to the election. Never have I seen (and yes, I do know that I am still quite young, but still) such an interest in a presidential election, or any election for that matter, in my lifetime. When I was younger, my mom would always take my brother, sister, and I to the polls with her when she voted. She would do her thing while we went over to the kids' section and filled out junior ballots, after which we each got an "I voted" sticker, which was what I was actually looking forward to most of all. But what I did notice, and more so as I got older, that voting wasn't really the cool thing to do. Whether it was apathy or a feeling of insignificance, most people didn't see the value in taking the ten minutes needed to cast their vote. However, that all seemed to change in this election. Like usual, campaign coverage started two years ago, typical for a presidential election, but so did the push to get people registered to vote and aware of the issues effecting our country and the world today. And what was even more impressive was the response. Movie stars, musicians, athletes, prominent social figures all worked to encourage people citizens to register and vote on election day. From what I've noticed, young people in the 18-30 demographic had a huge influence in the election, more so than ever before, through campaigning and getting the word out themselves. Whether or not your candidate got elected, it's important to notice that people have finally caught and realized that their vote does make a difference, that it makes a statement. And whatever the outcome, it was so neat to see how loudly and clearly the People's statement was. I honestly got goosebumps while watching the footage of the election, seeing the percentages and updates as they came in. I'm so proud of our country for finally realizing their impact and taking action, for actually caring about the outcome and their future.

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Happy Halloween!!

In general, I wouldn't say I was a big fan of Halloween, at least not any more. Of course like any half-way normal kid, the idea of dressing up as someone entirely different than yourself and going from door to door asking for free candy, and actually getting it, was awesome and seemingly too good to be true. But the thing is, when a good thing is good, don't stop to wonder why, just enjoy it.

Unfortunately, no good thing lasts forever, as is evident in the fact that if I tried to dress up today at the ripe old age of 23 going from door to door asking for candy I'd either be considered crazy or creepy, both of which mean basically the same thing. Now a days, Halloween is seen as a holiday where guys dress up in the most gross costume they can find, either drenched with fake blood or whatever, and girls dress in as little clothes they possibly can while still keeping the slightest resemblance to whatever character it is they were trying to dress up as. That just isn't appealing to me at all and personally it's way too cold here in Boston to even think of dressing up, or maybe I should say, not dressing up.

But enough with the negativity. There are many reasons why I really do love Halloween. I'm not sure when it started, or even how it started, but a tradition began when I was younger and in elementary school when Erin and Katie, and I remember Kim, too, would all get together around Halloween and make decorations, carve pumpkins and, if I remember correctly, baked cookies, or something of along those lines. It was always so much fun, in fact we even made jack-o-lanterns together last year, and I'm sure if we were all within a 45 mile radius of one another, we'd get together and do it again this year.

And like I said, I used to dress up when I was younger, and I fondly remember my brother going as a "dead Confederate soldier" something like four years in a row, and my mom putting my sister in the already-outgrown dragon costume from five years prior. I myself, was a witch for at least three times during my youth, although I don't think it was consecutive years. So ya, we recycled costumes, but there was nothing like coming home that night and trading and bartering candy with my brothers and sisters - I never liked licorice or Twizzlers so I used to pawn it off to one of them in exchange of course for the more highly-demanded Butterfinger or Kit Kat. And then being able to take candy to school with you for lunch, even if you didn't eat your sandwich first, but instead chowed down on a package of Whoppers. Oh, it was good to be a kid!!

For now though, Happy Halloween to my brother and sister and to Erin, Katie, and Kim of course!

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J. Mraz

Earlier this summer, Lola had gotten me tickets to see Jason Mraz in concert here in Boston for my birthday, the concert of which was just this past Friday. He's been one of my absolute favorite artists for several years now. I've been a fan of his since his first album release back in 2002, but I had never seen him perform despite the fact that I lived just outside NYC for four years while in college. But nevertheless, I was finally given the opportunity to see him live and it was so awesome! He has such a stage presence and is amazingly gifted when it comes to writing music and lyrics, it was definitely one of the best concerts I had ever been to - it was so much fun! While I tried to take pictures of him, none of them really came out very well since my camera (which is a few years old now and slightly outdated) couldn't seem to take a clear picture of him in the dark theater. Therefore, I had to hi-jack a picture from the concert from someone on Picasa. I hope that's ok...

Here he is in all his fabulous musical glory:

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It's not very nice, but I couldn't help but laugh.

Publish Post

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Note to self...

Limit the number of years you choose to keep a job that requires staring at a computer all day. I don't want your eyes to fall out by the time you are 28.


I would say that half the days I spend at work, probably less, I am sitting and staring at a computer screen all day. I understand that technology is important in today's society and in actuality there will be a lot more of it in the next twenty years, making it so that most tasks we undertake during the regular day will somehow involve computers, etc. in way. But man, I've been sittting at my computer all day, save for maybe a total of 30-45 min. It's now 4:15P, I got in the office at around 9:30A. I'll make sure my next job will require less computer-screen staring so that my eyeballs don't explode before I'm 30.

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