Blackberry: 10 Things I Hate About You

This week I went to a free creative writing workshop to see if I wanted to start taking classes with this program. It was pretty good, and I ended up writing a short blurb on our favorite modern technological leash: the Blackberry. The prompt was to write for five minutes about something uncommon that you hate. I'm sure many of you will understand.

"The red blinking light of my Blackberry haunts me. It's funny to think that the Blackberry did not exist ten years ago - at least, it didn't exist in my world. Now this electronic manacle is constantly and without question always there. Movie theater? There. My brother's graduation? There. On a date? There - along with me, furtively typing in a bathroom stall. How can one two-and-a-half inch by three-and-a-half inch device bring so much pain? The red light blinks. It could just be another administrative announcement - or it could be the end of my life."

Meh.

I got the shaft at work. Nice to feel so (un)appreciated.

This is an experiment.

So as some people know, I bought an ab-fab Prada bag about a year ago...and it is purple. And as many people know, I am typically anti-purple - just don't like the color, to be honest.

So out of curiosity, I googled my bag to see if it was still available (and to check that I really did get an amazing absolutely unbelievable price when I got it on sale at Barney's). Turns out there is NO online picture of my purse.

Thus, my experiment.

My purse: Prada Vitello Daino Bowler in Viola

My picture:

Now I'm gonna go Google it. :)

Jury Duty

And not the Pauly Shore* movie, either.

So I got a jury duty summons. Awesome. A GRAND JURY duty summons. One of my coworkers mentioned he knew someone who served on a grand jury for 30 days.

Yes, 30 DAYS.

I can just imagine the conniption the head partner is gonna have if that's how long I'm out.

I've never done jury duty before. Thoughts?

*P.S.: Whatever happened to Pauly Shore??

Deal of the CENTURY

So I just got back from spending Thanksgiving in San Francisco. As of Wednesday morning, I did not know I would be there. Allow me to explain: It wasn't until I got into work and looked up a flight on a whim that I discovered flights back to SF for Thanksgiving were INSANELY reduced. How insane?

I flew back for $240 roundtrip (tax + fees included).

Yes, $240. Like I said - INSANE. The only explanation I can think of is that, at the point where people are looking up flights that take off within 24 hours, they obviously are indifferent as to whether they fly out or not...which puts the onus on the airlines to convince/incentivize these people to buy a ticket (provided the airlines have empty seats still available, of course).

Being back in SF was great, and Thanksgiving with the fam was actually a lot of fun. I got to catch up with a lot of my aunts, uncles, and cousins, most of whom I hadn't seen since Christmas of last year. We played some card games at my dad's side of the family (Apples to Apples and Bang!), and my aunt made a wicked apple pie. On my mom's side, all of us cousins picked names for Christmas gifts, but the twist is that we are stuck with a strict $5 limit (before tax and/or shipping, thankfully).

Honestly, it was all very American-flag-waving-homemade-apple-pie (as, in fact, there was courtesy of my aunt) traditional holiday, other than a few dishes of eggrolls, dumplings, Chinese broccoli, and sticky rice, that is. It's funny to me (not in a ha-ha way, but in a hrmmm - something to think about) to think that we are but a generation or two away from our immigrant F.O.B. generation.

How long does it take for a family to lose its cultural roots? And how ironic is it that it will likely be later generations who want to find them again?

888 Week!

888! Very lucky!

I hesitate to jinx it, but this week has been pretty...lucky!

I raffled (or, more accurately, my friend raffled and gave to me) into amazing seats for the New York Rangers v. Phoenix Coyotes hockey game on Monday. ($210 each tix!) (Side note: Doesn't a "Phoenix hockey team" sound on par with a Jamaican bobsled team?*)

*bonus points for naming that movie!

Then...I found out I won a free night at a Fairmont hotel - ANY Fairmont hotel in the continental U.S./Canada. (~$400/night) I'm leaning towards one of these two. Lovely, no?

(Well, I should have outright won two nights, but due to a mixup in the back office, I am splitting the prize with the other person, and I'm STILL ELIGIBLE to win two nights for future contests - a good thing!)

FINALLY, I raffled (or, more accurately, my friend at work raffled and then can't end up going) into half-court Club seats for the Knicks OPENING game tomorrow. ($240 each tix!)

So that's like...winning a buncha money without doing anything! Cool!

Thoughts on which Fairmont hotel I should choose? Old Quebec looks beautiful... :)

How much is that doggy in the window? (Ruff ruff!)

On Sunday, I walked my dog through Brooklyn.

"What dog???" you may ask.

As part of Improv Everywhere's latest outing, 2000+ people walked invisible dogs throughout Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill on what turned out to be a surprisingly pleasant Sunday afternoon. After awaking to a damp and rainy morning, I was expecting to be fairly miserable while spending the afternoon outdoors. However, Mother Nature cooperated, and the outing was so much fun!

Here is my account of the afternoon, with my favorite encounter copied below:

I was walking by a place of religious service, and it had just been let out. A group of old guys were on the steps. Corky the Yorkie-mutt had just stopped to sniff a tree nearby.

Old Guy 1 – Lady! Hey lady!
Me – Hi there! What’s up?
OG1 – What…what is this?
Me – He’s a dog. His name’s Corky.
OG1 – But I mean…what IS this?
Me – A dog. I got him at the shelter.
OG1 to OG2 – It’s a dog. Do you see it?
(OG2 shakes head.)
Me – He’s very friendly. (pats near Corky’s head)
OG1 to me – Do YOU see it?
Me – Of course. He’s right here. He’s black and brown. (wiggles leash a little)
OG1 is taken aback – He’s…he’s moving.
OG1 to kid who walked up – The dog is moving.
Me – I think he likes you.
OG1 – Can I touch him?
Me – Sure. He’s friendly.
(OG1 bends down.)
OG1 – I…I don’t feel him.
OG1 to group – Do you see the dog?
(Everyone in group is either bewildered and frowning, bewildered and giggling, or shaking their heads.)
Me – Maybe he’s shy.

*****

Finally (because everyone loves pictures!), here is Corky (my invisi-Yorkie-mutt) hanging out with a feline friend. :)

Trazzler/NYCGO Writing Contest - I'm a semifinalist!

So I entered into this writing contest to win $10,000 and a two week trip...to NYC. Yes, to those astute folks out there, I am already in NYC, but who am I to sneeze at a free hotel room for two weeks *coughs "where I can throw a hotel party or five for my awesome friends who help me make it to the FINALS of this contest" coughs*.

Anyhoo, I'm now a semifinalist! Out of ~900 entries! The way to make it to the next round (the Finals!) is to have as many people as earthly possible "wishlist" my trip entry on the website Trazzler. I've copied the link below and the easy steps to "wishlist" my entry about my experience watching the sun rise over the Arabian Sea when I went to Oman earlier this year.

It's soooo easy to "wishlist" my trip and help me along with this stage of the contest that I hope you'll take a minute or two to do so. Here are the steps:

1) Click the link below.

http://www.trazzler.com/trips/users/odderie/ras-al-jinz-oman-in-ras-al-jines-oman-om

2) Click the green "add to wishlist" button beneath the picture of my Tropical Punch-painted toes.
3) Sign in - you don't even need to sign up for a new account because you can sign in using your Facebook information.
4) If you could click the link above again just to make sure you were registered as a "wishlist," that would be great. After that, you're done! (I think!) :)
5) (optional) Please spread the word to all of your friends, Romans, countrymen, lovers, family, guy who serves you coffee, cats-who-lolcat-and-log-into-

websites-and-use-their-paws-to-vote-on-stuff, etc. Please twitter to all of your friends! Under 140 characters: "Help @odderie make it to the finals of the @Trazzler / #NYCGO contest - "wishlist" her trip here: http://bit.ly/6ZEeJ Thanks!" Please work it into your routine at karaoke! You know what to do! :)

Thanks so much to everyone, and I hope to spread some good news soon. Hope all is well in the blogosphere! :)

Now Paging: odderie's New Profession

j/k - not quite.

But...I've decided to sign up for some acting classes. Particularly stage acting.

California Dreamin'

I'll be back in CA August 11-15. LA and SF. Let me know.

P.S.: On an unrelated tangent, Nico smells like body lotion.