actually, i have a lot to say, just no time to say it -- work has officially gone into "oh shit" mode and i will be spending most of my time here over the next week or two.
...which means that the swiss updates, austin-based adventures and miscellaneous stories to will have to wait for another time.
but randomly, you know how on long plane rides? you start to get a little stir crazy? maybe you need to move around a bit, stretch your legs, just get out of your chair for a bit? sure, i get it. but must you really do your entire calisthenic routine in the aisle right next to me? lunges, quad stretches, toe-touching, the whole deal? because that's what this guy did on my plane ride back from switerland. and i really didn't need to see his lumpy ass that up-close... and don't know if i'll ever recover from the experience.
it's just strange how people (maybe it's an american thing) are so concerned about personal boundaries/space... but when they're thrown together in certain forced-closeness situations (like a long plane ride) some people tend to throw caution out the window. i mean, think about NYC. there are a shit ton of people crammed into one tiny-ass space. and sure, you see people jogging along the hudson or doing stretches on a park bench. but do you see people doing push-ups on the subway? yoga on a street corner? no, because it's a public place, and the majority of us are too embarrassed to do such personal things in front of others.
that didn't stop this guy though, who also spent about 20 minutes of the time we spent sitting on the runway picking his nose. and i don't mean a surreptitious fingertip grazing the nostril surface. i mean knuckle-deep index-finger action, complete with inner swirling for better angling, a visual review of his find, and a casual flicking of said find onto the grimy carpet floor.
gross! go stretch in the back while waiting in line for the bathroom and then pick your nose in the privacy of the bathroom like all of the other normal people.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
urgent!
this doesn't really count as an update, but still:
i (finally) saw dreamgirls this wknd (two-second review: i liked it a lot. i didn't love it as much as i loved moulin rouge or chicago, but i definitely liked it and think it's worth watching. jennifer hudson-related buzz = totally deserved, jamie foxx totally creeped me out, beyonce = much improved over previous acting gigs, eddie murphy = very impressive and surprisingly likable in his role. probably not worth best picture though) and am dying to know:
DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THE STEVE URKEL CAMEO IN THE BEGINNING???
because that totally made the movie for me.
[cue memories of friday-night "TGIF" line-up, with the adorable blended family drama of step by step, the really not-that-cute laura winslow as steve urkel's love interest, etc etc etc]
i (finally) saw dreamgirls this wknd (two-second review: i liked it a lot. i didn't love it as much as i loved moulin rouge or chicago, but i definitely liked it and think it's worth watching. jennifer hudson-related buzz = totally deserved, jamie foxx totally creeped me out, beyonce = much improved over previous acting gigs, eddie murphy = very impressive and surprisingly likable in his role. probably not worth best picture though) and am dying to know:
DID ANYONE ELSE NOTICE THE STEVE URKEL CAMEO IN THE BEGINNING???
because that totally made the movie for me.
[cue memories of friday-night "TGIF" line-up, with the adorable blended family drama of step by step, the really not-that-cute laura winslow as steve urkel's love interest, etc etc etc]
Friday, January 26, 2007
um... there's no real theme to this one.
for some reason my job has decided to go and get all busy on me (WTF, people, it's friday afternoon and i'm still somewhat jet-laggy and tired), so in lieu of a proper post i give you photos of a new friend that i made while in switzerland:
(we look very happy together, no?)
my brother and i also contemplated new careers as full-time ice-people models:
...but thought that might be a bit chilly and decided to just stick with being sunglasses models instead:
by the way, speaking of new careers, i spent a majority of my day today interviewing prospective job candidates for an opening we have on our team, and i have just a little tip to those of you out there that may be contemplating a job search in your near future: when you send your resume to your prospective employers, make sure there aren't any typos on there. the "skills" section of your resume should read just like that, "skills," because "skillls" just makes you look kinda careless. and stupid. and this means you are not going to get my vote for the job.
sorry, sucka. better luck next time.
(we look very happy together, no?)
my brother and i also contemplated new careers as full-time ice-people models:
...but thought that might be a bit chilly and decided to just stick with being sunglasses models instead:
by the way, speaking of new careers, i spent a majority of my day today interviewing prospective job candidates for an opening we have on our team, and i have just a little tip to those of you out there that may be contemplating a job search in your near future: when you send your resume to your prospective employers, make sure there aren't any typos on there. the "skills" section of your resume should read just like that, "skills," because "skillls" just makes you look kinda careless. and stupid. and this means you are not going to get my vote for the job.
sorry, sucka. better luck next time.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
um... right
i'm in that weird post-travel purgatory where your body is back in familiar surroundings and going about its familiar routines but your mind seems to be wandering in some no-man's land. it's not still in switzerland per se -- i'm not thinking about "hmm, what should i have for dinner, veal, pork, or beef? should i have my potatoes boiled or au gratin? to sauerkraut or not to sauerkraut?", my shins aren't sore from a day of being trapped in ski boots, my head isn't automatically converting everything from swiss frances to U.S. dollars, etc. -- but it's definitely not here in austin, thinking about my client's businesses or really cleaning out my e-mail or deciding whether i should be optimistic and make new year's resolutions or just avoid the topic altogether.
instead, it's just kind of... vacant. i haven't unpacked. i haven't cleaned my apartment. i started going through my mail and decided that would just have to wait. i was thrilled to find out my hearty little fish was still alive and then neglected to feed him my second day back (sorry, cowboy). i haven't gone grocery shopping and have been living on a diet of canned soup and granola bars (at least it's not meat, which i think i'm giving up for a while... or at least red meat anyway). the most productive thing that i've done is download all the pictures and videos off of my camera and burn them onto a CD. but otherwise? i'm wandering around aimlessly, slowly trying to acclimate myself back into this austin-based life of mine.
switzerland was great. it had a rough beginning and a rough end, but the in-between was all on the up and up. it's a beautiful country, with idyllic little towns, cities that are clean and beautiful and refreshingly modest, staggering mountain peaks and sparkling rivers and lakes. the travel books' claims that you can set your watch by the swiss train system really is true, and things just happen very efficiently overall. it's this strange combination of impressive efficiency / innovation (the swiss ski resorts are incredibly well-designed) on one hand and idyllic nature-centric small-town life on the other (meat, potatoes, hard work, neat and tidy, etc). you get the feeling that the swiss will always do okay for themselves, no matter what. no one's being particularly extravagant, no one's being particularly extreme... everyone just does what they do really well. it doesn't seem like a particularly friendly place, but it's not unfriendly either.
the general itinerary was fly to zurich, take glacier express train to zermatt, spend 5-6 days skiing in zermatt, train to interlaken, two days in interlaken (with a mountain excursion up to jungfraujoch, "the top of europe"), train to zurich, zurich for one night oh just kidding stupid united airlines cracked cockpit window idiots two nights. it was a great vacation -- tons of skiing, tons of down time, tons of eating, hanging out, playing cards, etc. i spent a lot of my down time trying to get through a book called "snow." it won the nobel prize for literature, and very deservingly so, but it's a tough read -- and made me overly pensive for much of the trip.
one of the highlights (i promised a story!) came on our first or second night in zermatt. after a hearty dinner (the swiss don't mess around with their food -- food is served piping hot, in sizable portions, and usually comes with seconds, no questions asked), the fam decided to wander around the little town for a bit to see what we could see. we ended up in the zermatterhof hotel, one of the nicest hotels in town, and went into the lounge for an after-dinner drink (a digestif, if you will -- kat, will you?). the lounge had a token cheesy guy at the piano with a microphone, a synthesizer, and a misguided belief that he was the next burt bacharach, or something. after several drinks i was FORCED by my family to go up and sing a song with a dude... one song turned to two... two songs turned to three... there were several glasses of champagne involved... and then this french-speaking woman at the bar started making requests and buying rounds and making me sing more.
i noticed that there was something odd about this woman. she seemed to have no problem speaking up (asking me if i knew anything by celine dion or requesting a specific carole king song), and the bar staff, although extremely friendly and accommodating to all of the patrons (this was a pretty nice hotel), seemed to jump at her every command. giovanni (the italian burt bacharach, genius of the synthesizer) had told us at one point that he was going to take a quick dinner break but then mysterious french-speaking bar woman requested something and the dinner break was no more.
...turns out that this woman (christiane) is the HOTEL DIRECTOR, and that she and her husband manage this hotel. we chattted for a while (a chance to practice french? mais oui!) and she (very kindly) kept telling me what a beautiful voice i had and eventually told me that she wanted me to come back next winter and maybe work as a singer in her hotel.
from advertising exec to hotel lounge singer... hmm... then again, i'd be in the heart of world-class swiss skiing and working in the best hotel in town... put giovanni/burt out of a job, poor guy... start wearing sequined dresses and beehive hairdos...
career change, peut-etre??
instead, it's just kind of... vacant. i haven't unpacked. i haven't cleaned my apartment. i started going through my mail and decided that would just have to wait. i was thrilled to find out my hearty little fish was still alive and then neglected to feed him my second day back (sorry, cowboy). i haven't gone grocery shopping and have been living on a diet of canned soup and granola bars (at least it's not meat, which i think i'm giving up for a while... or at least red meat anyway). the most productive thing that i've done is download all the pictures and videos off of my camera and burn them onto a CD. but otherwise? i'm wandering around aimlessly, slowly trying to acclimate myself back into this austin-based life of mine.
switzerland was great. it had a rough beginning and a rough end, but the in-between was all on the up and up. it's a beautiful country, with idyllic little towns, cities that are clean and beautiful and refreshingly modest, staggering mountain peaks and sparkling rivers and lakes. the travel books' claims that you can set your watch by the swiss train system really is true, and things just happen very efficiently overall. it's this strange combination of impressive efficiency / innovation (the swiss ski resorts are incredibly well-designed) on one hand and idyllic nature-centric small-town life on the other (meat, potatoes, hard work, neat and tidy, etc). you get the feeling that the swiss will always do okay for themselves, no matter what. no one's being particularly extravagant, no one's being particularly extreme... everyone just does what they do really well. it doesn't seem like a particularly friendly place, but it's not unfriendly either.
the general itinerary was fly to zurich, take glacier express train to zermatt, spend 5-6 days skiing in zermatt, train to interlaken, two days in interlaken (with a mountain excursion up to jungfraujoch, "the top of europe"), train to zurich, zurich for one night oh just kidding stupid united airlines cracked cockpit window idiots two nights. it was a great vacation -- tons of skiing, tons of down time, tons of eating, hanging out, playing cards, etc. i spent a lot of my down time trying to get through a book called "snow." it won the nobel prize for literature, and very deservingly so, but it's a tough read -- and made me overly pensive for much of the trip.
one of the highlights (i promised a story!) came on our first or second night in zermatt. after a hearty dinner (the swiss don't mess around with their food -- food is served piping hot, in sizable portions, and usually comes with seconds, no questions asked), the fam decided to wander around the little town for a bit to see what we could see. we ended up in the zermatterhof hotel, one of the nicest hotels in town, and went into the lounge for an after-dinner drink (a digestif, if you will -- kat, will you?). the lounge had a token cheesy guy at the piano with a microphone, a synthesizer, and a misguided belief that he was the next burt bacharach, or something. after several drinks i was FORCED by my family to go up and sing a song with a dude... one song turned to two... two songs turned to three... there were several glasses of champagne involved... and then this french-speaking woman at the bar started making requests and buying rounds and making me sing more.
i noticed that there was something odd about this woman. she seemed to have no problem speaking up (asking me if i knew anything by celine dion or requesting a specific carole king song), and the bar staff, although extremely friendly and accommodating to all of the patrons (this was a pretty nice hotel), seemed to jump at her every command. giovanni (the italian burt bacharach, genius of the synthesizer) had told us at one point that he was going to take a quick dinner break but then mysterious french-speaking bar woman requested something and the dinner break was no more.
...turns out that this woman (christiane) is the HOTEL DIRECTOR, and that she and her husband manage this hotel. we chattted for a while (a chance to practice french? mais oui!) and she (very kindly) kept telling me what a beautiful voice i had and eventually told me that she wanted me to come back next winter and maybe work as a singer in her hotel.
from advertising exec to hotel lounge singer... hmm... then again, i'd be in the heart of world-class swiss skiing and working in the best hotel in town... put giovanni/burt out of a job, poor guy... start wearing sequined dresses and beehive hairdos...
career change, peut-etre??
Monday, January 22, 2007
we now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging...
...except not at all because i'm STILL IN BLOODY ZURICH. the local time is 9:54 pm, and i am coming to you live from the glamourous park inn hotel near zurich airport, the tab for which is being picked up by united airlines WITH WHOM I WILL NEVER FLY AGAIN.
caps lock too much for you all?
long story short, i am supposed to be somewhere over the atlantic right now. i would be a little tired, sure, but i would be comfortably settled on the plane, with maybe a cocktail in hand, finishing up my book and thinking about the two big meetings i had awaiting me at work the next day.
but instead, here i am, in a funny airport hotel with a built-in mcdonald's, and whose color scheme seems to be the more primary colors you can squeeze in, the better. the design is actually pretty neat -- very cheerful ikea meets sparse swiss/german design aesthetic. the shower is a tall cylindrical column with a curved sliding door and built in bench.
but sorry, why am i wasting valuable post space talking about the airport hotel? the reason we didn't make it out of zurich today is apparently united airlines noticed at the very last possible second that there was a "severe crack" in the cockpit window. JUST A TIP, UNITED MAINTENANCE PEOPLE: maybe you should check those things when the plane first comes IN to the airport, not when the plane is about to LEAVE. call me crazy, but that strikes me as a good idea.
many long lines and angry words and frustrated sighs later, they were unable to book me (and my parents) on any flights that would get us into austin (or DC) at any point tonight, so we had to admit defeat and take our stupid little voucher to chez mcdonald's. and here we are.
more on my actual vacation another time, since i am being a typical self-centered american who is hogging the free internet and i am starting to feel slightly guilty about it (then again, it doesn't look like anybody's waiting so who cares?). there are lots of stories to tell, and i want to make sure i do each of them justice, so i will have to save the meat for another post.
in the meantime i leave you with these Tantalizing Glimpses into the coming stories:
1) swiss food = meat, potatoes, and beer. lather, rinse, repeat.
2) i become a lounge singer in zermatt
3) i nearly die on a ski slope
4) glaciers and glaciers of ice
5) the korean take-over of interlaken
6) zurich, city of incredibly clean water and modest buildings
wish me luck tmw. if united doesn't get me out of here on schedule i swear that i will make them RUE THE DAY they decided to cross me.
punks.
caps lock too much for you all?
long story short, i am supposed to be somewhere over the atlantic right now. i would be a little tired, sure, but i would be comfortably settled on the plane, with maybe a cocktail in hand, finishing up my book and thinking about the two big meetings i had awaiting me at work the next day.
but instead, here i am, in a funny airport hotel with a built-in mcdonald's, and whose color scheme seems to be the more primary colors you can squeeze in, the better. the design is actually pretty neat -- very cheerful ikea meets sparse swiss/german design aesthetic. the shower is a tall cylindrical column with a curved sliding door and built in bench.
but sorry, why am i wasting valuable post space talking about the airport hotel? the reason we didn't make it out of zurich today is apparently united airlines noticed at the very last possible second that there was a "severe crack" in the cockpit window. JUST A TIP, UNITED MAINTENANCE PEOPLE: maybe you should check those things when the plane first comes IN to the airport, not when the plane is about to LEAVE. call me crazy, but that strikes me as a good idea.
many long lines and angry words and frustrated sighs later, they were unable to book me (and my parents) on any flights that would get us into austin (or DC) at any point tonight, so we had to admit defeat and take our stupid little voucher to chez mcdonald's. and here we are.
more on my actual vacation another time, since i am being a typical self-centered american who is hogging the free internet and i am starting to feel slightly guilty about it (then again, it doesn't look like anybody's waiting so who cares?). there are lots of stories to tell, and i want to make sure i do each of them justice, so i will have to save the meat for another post.
in the meantime i leave you with these Tantalizing Glimpses into the coming stories:
1) swiss food = meat, potatoes, and beer. lather, rinse, repeat.
2) i become a lounge singer in zermatt
3) i nearly die on a ski slope
4) glaciers and glaciers of ice
5) the korean take-over of interlaken
6) zurich, city of incredibly clean water and modest buildings
wish me luck tmw. if united doesn't get me out of here on schedule i swear that i will make them RUE THE DAY they decided to cross me.
punks.
Thursday, January 11, 2007
peace out, girl (and boy) scouts
so long, farewell, auf wiedersehn adieu. i'm off to switzerland in the morning (and by "in the morning" i mean "my taxi is going to be here in less than six hours so maybe i should go to bed already), eating lots of cheese and chocolate (although not together, ew), riding picturesque trains through even more picturesque mountains, shushing down wide slopes, hanging out in idyllic little swiss towns and chillin with the fam. oh, and getting reacquainted with a real winter, which honestly scares me a little bit -- i think i've gone a bit soft in texas -- but at least i get to bust out my trusty austrian snow boots and puffy down jacket.
be good while i'm gone. and think good thoughts for cowboy. even though those 7-day feeding pellets seem to be working okay, i am always paranoid that i'm going to walk in the door from the airport and find the little guy floating at the top of his bowl.
if time and internet connection allows i will send you all some love from the land of the switz...
be good while i'm gone. and think good thoughts for cowboy. even though those 7-day feeding pellets seem to be working okay, i am always paranoid that i'm going to walk in the door from the airport and find the little guy floating at the top of his bowl.
if time and internet connection allows i will send you all some love from the land of the switz...
also, because i am a nerd
i went to this awesome new restaurant last night called woodland. it's right in my oh-so-hip-and-austin soco neighborhood (78704!), and i came to work today determined to tell my fellow 78704-dwellers about it.
so what did i do? did i casually mention it during water cooler conversation? bring it up during post-meeting chit-chat? no, and no. instead, [see post title], i sent them an email about it and i am now going to share that email with you, my lovely three readers!
[can you tell that i'm procrastinating? can you? because i am. and as soon as the hellish dark swirling vortex known as back-to-back meetings starts in the next 30 mins, i am going to be so screwed.]
and thus i present you with my unofficial review of woodland restaurant:
***
to my fellow SoCo area-inhabiting friends:
in case you haven't already checked it out, last night I went to the new Woodland restaurant (toward the southern end of the strip near the Farm to Market organic grocery store) and I really liked it! the design is definitely a bit kitsch/theme (I mean come on, there's a freaking tree growing in the middle of the place) but it's still warm and inviting and I thought the food was pretty good.
you MUST order the southern friend oysters app -- battered oysters served with this amazing lemon serrano vinaigrette -- perfect light and kicky contrast to the batter. I also had a fantastic champagne cocktail called a French 75 and a delicious blue cheese burger with fries (which, oof. perfectly seasoned burger but I definitely felt a bit gross afterward).
there was a bit of a wait (about 30 mins?), which surprised me for a random Wed night but I'm guessing that people were anxious to check out the new kid on the block. we sat at the bar -- which had a great staff -- and then ended up in a cozy little booth.
anyway, just thought I'd pass that along!
yours in SoCo-area foodie-ism,
jennifer
(who sometimes wishes she could be a restaurant reviewer for a living)
***
ONE IMPORTANT ADDITION: i forgot to mention in my e-mail review that the staff was all decked out in woodland-ish gear, e.g. flannel shirts or earth-colored tees, which amused me immensely.
so what did i do? did i casually mention it during water cooler conversation? bring it up during post-meeting chit-chat? no, and no. instead, [see post title], i sent them an email about it and i am now going to share that email with you, my lovely three readers!
[can you tell that i'm procrastinating? can you? because i am. and as soon as the hellish dark swirling vortex known as back-to-back meetings starts in the next 30 mins, i am going to be so screwed.]
and thus i present you with my unofficial review of woodland restaurant:
***
to my fellow SoCo area-inhabiting friends:
in case you haven't already checked it out, last night I went to the new Woodland restaurant (toward the southern end of the strip near the Farm to Market organic grocery store) and I really liked it! the design is definitely a bit kitsch/theme (I mean come on, there's a freaking tree growing in the middle of the place) but it's still warm and inviting and I thought the food was pretty good.
you MUST order the southern friend oysters app -- battered oysters served with this amazing lemon serrano vinaigrette -- perfect light and kicky contrast to the batter. I also had a fantastic champagne cocktail called a French 75 and a delicious blue cheese burger with fries (which, oof. perfectly seasoned burger but I definitely felt a bit gross afterward).
there was a bit of a wait (about 30 mins?), which surprised me for a random Wed night but I'm guessing that people were anxious to check out the new kid on the block. we sat at the bar -- which had a great staff -- and then ended up in a cozy little booth.
anyway, just thought I'd pass that along!
yours in SoCo-area foodie-ism,
jennifer
(who sometimes wishes she could be a restaurant reviewer for a living)
***
ONE IMPORTANT ADDITION: i forgot to mention in my e-mail review that the staff was all decked out in woodland-ish gear, e.g. flannel shirts or earth-colored tees, which amused me immensely.
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