so i'm off to Argentina tonight. all that packing and shopping is finally over and done. maybe now i can get some sleep... hopefully on the plane.

i tend to be an overpacker. my aim is to plan for any plausible situation and to then pack the corresponding clothes, shoes, medicine, snack, gadget, entertainment, toiletry item, etc. that may be required. this leaves me with a big pile of stuff to bring with me. that's why 2 am last night found me going through piles covering my entire bedroom trying to figure ut what i actually needed....

uh oh, gotta go. finish this when i get back?

it's snowing in New York City! well, more sleet than anything. The best part is that it had to warm up in order to snow, so that's a plus.

On my way to work on Tuesday i saw that the farmer's market in Union Square was running, which was weird because it only operates on M/W/F/Sat. Well, whatever. But when i went over at lunch to pick up a snack (i'm addicted to these Amish/Mennonite pretzels), i saw that the market was just a movie set. The security had a heck of a time convincing people that they couldn't go in and shop because the market was full of people buying stuff (movie extras), and it looked like all the usual vendors were there.

It's too bad because i really wanted those pretzels.

c... can't... stay... awak...e....... and i'm only 7 minues into office hours at work. how am i going to last the day out? too much late night autocad. i WILL go to bed early tonight. i keep saying it, but tonight's the night. maybe...

i have momentous news! instead of buying something at the Barney's Warehouse Sale today, i paid off one of my student loans! granted, it was the smallest one, but it's gone forever. i got my federal tax return back yesterday and i saw that i only had about $500 left on the loan, so i thought, why not? thanks mom and dad for your help.

over the weekend, new york city got it's biggest snow storm ever: 27" of snow! did i get out of work? church? did the schools close? NO. everything still happened because the subways never stop. No snow days for the kids here, but i guess they make up for it with all their religious holidays. church on sunday was pretty empty, but a lot of people came despite the fact that the blizzard was still happening until the afternoon. it was kinda funny to see times square in a blizzard and to walk in the street to avoid the snow.

i wish i hadn't missed the strangest part of the storm. My friends at church said that there were thunder and lightning during the blizzard. No one had ever seen that before, including my pastor from canada.

This week and next is restaurant week, and i took advantage of it monday night with some friends. the idea of restaurant week is that you get a chance to try out some of new york's pricey restaurants with a three-course, fixed-price lunch($20) or dinner($35). That's usually much cheaper than you'd normally pay, and you still get to choose among three items for each course. The 10 of us tried out a sushi place in greenwich village (sort of). the food was pretty good, and dinner with friends is always fun, but it wasn't the best meal i've had. it was, however, one of the pricier ones. and i was stuffed.

and that was the last food i ate. now it's thursday, and i'm reaaaaallllllllyyyyy hungry. but the 3-day fast ends tonight after church, so i should make it another 5 hours, right?

i've been reading about the auto show going on in detroit right now, and i wish i could be there to see all the new designs and outrageous concept cars. but just walking the streets of new york you get to see lots of stuff. i always see the newest models, sometimes even before i know they've been released. and with all these wealthy people around i see the high end stuff too: corvettes, big BMWs, Mercedes (SL's, the new curvy CLS, lots of AMG too!), and Audi A8s. Sometimes they're even tricked out. Yesterday i saw a huge Maserati. A while ago i saw a Maybach parked in an outdoor lot, which didn't make sense to me. yesterday i also saw a recent Acura NSX. two weekends ago a yellow Lamborghini Gallardo drove by as i was shopping. It's been a while since i've seen any Ferrari's... maybe when spring comes they'll be out.

obviously i didn't resolve to post more often in the new year. but it's my blog, and i'll blog if i want to. wow, that sounded so... anyway, the site was down for a while. okay, it was only like a day. whatever.

winter finally came to new york city. last week we had temps in the (high) fifties, and then suddenly it was gone. now it's frigid, and everything is snow and ice-covered. it's a good thing i bought a new winter coat! i was getting tired of wearing all black like every other new yorker, so i found a jacket in bright blue. it's really bright. it's a water-proof shell over a zip-in down jacket. you should be jealous. thanks mom and dad and holly and chris for the cash to buy it. yes, it took all that! but it was on sale, so that makes it okay in our family, right?

FYI: i don't know if i'm going to make it through today. i didn't have any chocolate in my lunch today, and now i feel like i'm starting to freak out. i didn't really realize i was such an addict. maybe i can fake an errand and leave the office to pick some up. hmmmmm....

the strike is on. subways and buses are not running starting today, so all 8 million of us are suffering. I rode my bike to work and went half-numb in the process. when i got to the manhattan side of the williamsburg bridge, the Red Cross was there serving hot drinks to all the walkers, cyclists, and rollerblader (i only saw one). one of my room mates planned to walk over the bridge but got picked up on the way, probably because cars can't enter manhattan unless there are at least four people in it. another friend had to get the airport today. she offered the driver a $70 fare, but halfway there said it was going to be $150! what a scam. The best is my coworker who just stayed home. he's the smart one. i'm sooooo jealous.

growing up, my brother often made fun of me because he said i put my feet up in the air while i slept. you know, one knee sticks up, and you cross you other leg. well, it looks funny when you do it under your covers. it's like a big tent.

recently i've been sitting up in bed and falling asleep with my chin dipped down. then i wake up, probably when my neck gets tired, and think, "what the heck?" and then lay back down and go back to sleep. it's really quite obnoxious. i wonder why i do it. am i subconsciously trying to make myself get out of bed?

i entertain myself. for instance, i just tricked myself with email again. you see, i often email internet links or small pics or notes to myself... you know, things that i come across at work that i want to remember or have at home or come back to later. so i send the email, and soon after my computer beeps telling me that i have new mail. but it's like i forget that i had just sent something to myself. instead, i'm always like, "oh, new mail! i wonder what it is?" and then i see that it's from me. doh! i'm an idiot.

COWS IN SPACE?
being friday and all, i was perusing the internet when i came across a few news stories that seem to support this idea. First is the story in the New York Times (nytimes.com) about scientists finding pockets of methane haze on Titan, one of Saturn's moons. Then the idea came together when i saw this funny story about where methane (can) come from. this one's for you, ryan: (from msnbc.com)

HEADLINE: Scientists working on cure for gassy cows; Food additive could reduce methane emissions dramatically

STORY: LONDON - Cows belching and breaking wind cause methane pollution, but British scientists say they have developed a diet to make pastures smell like roses — almost. (...)

A 12-month commercial and scientific evaluation of the additive has just begun, but he said if it proves successful it could be a boon to cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions.

“In total around 14 percent of global methane comes from the guts of farm animals. It is worth doing something about,” Wallace said. Other big sources of methane are landfills, coal mines, rice paddies and bogs. (...)

In New Zealand the government in 2003 proposed a flatulence tax, with methane emitted by farm animals responsible for more than half the country’s greenhouse gases. The plan was ultimately withdrawn after widespread protests. (IT CONTINUES)

too funny... farting cows are destroying the earth! AHHHHHH! i guess i knew about this, but seeing the story was just too funny. and maybe there ARE cows in space.

today is the last day of november, the month that produces the best human specimens. and while some snow flurries did fly on thanksgiving, it's been in the 60s the last three days. i LOVE global warming.

so now i am 2x2x7 and definitely feeling old age creeping in. or maybe it's just that i played football twice over the holiday weekend. i've got bruises, aches, and (even though i really do go the gym all the time) lots of sore muscles. and lots of very muddy clothes. now i have to figure how to get the mud off my shoes. buy new ones? :)

i hope you're not done buying me christmas presents... because i could use extra presents this year. no reason really, but more gifts is better than less gifts, right? that, and the fact that the post office lost/didn't forward/stole two of my birthday presents. those bass dass-turds!

today is tuesday. but because the holiday means a three-day work week, today is hump day. So today is kinda like wednesday. but since tomorrow is the last day of the work week, you could think of today as thursday. so have a good tue/wed/thu today.

Happy Thanksgiving... you. This year be thankful for what you have and for what you don't have. But don't just be thankful come thursday. I don't know about you, but i have sooo much to be thankful for that ONE day of thanks just doesn't cut it. So what do you say we expand the holiday into a week of thanksgiving? Seems more appropriate, right? okay, then, i guess we can't go to work any more this week, because now the entire week is a holiday. Thanks!

...if only life worked this way.