The Fighting Irish

Here is Irish.  

She is 20.

In human years...you would be 96.

This girl is amazing.  

Rats

I get to order supplies for a corporate company.  Now, being the supply kleptomaniac that I am, this is a treat.  Paging thru catalogues and surfing the employee site feeds every bit of shop-aholic inside of me.  I get the power to decide what pens you use and if you get to write on college ruled paper or grade-school "I'm learning how to write the alphabet" ruled paper.   I get to decided if I want to have plastic covered paperclips, which are very girlie, or the sterile metal clips, which come in two options...smooth or rippled for better gripping.  I am prone to get the girlie ones just for spite.  I get the executive decision of picking out staplers, tape dispensers, pens, pencils, scissors, letter openers, rulers, notebooks, highlighters...the list goes on.  I also get to buy the organization tools to make the supply closet pristine.  If only I had a corporate account at "The Container Store" the office supply closet would far surpass my closet at home.  In fact, it already does surpass my home because the items I purchase are "free".  There is no need to enter the $800.00 bill into my spreadsheet at home...or at least conveniently place the receipt on the pile of disorganized papers on my desk at home waiting to be entered into my spreadsheet.  

There is always a small thrill placing that order...and excitement that rips thru my body knowing that very soon pastel colored post it's will be sitting on my desk waiting to be used. 

The downside of my pristine supply closet are the rats that invade it.  The rats that invade my work of art are the mature corporate geniuses that work for my corporate company.  They are geniuses to me because they work in Technology.  That is a word that doesn't sit will with me...Technology...it's all so matter of fact, such a science, such a garbly gook language, that only a mind resembling a vortex could operate within Technology.

These genius rats invade my closet with no respect for the art of organization, the art of the order, or the art of genius it takes to order just the right pen or just the right ergonomically fit stapler.  They tear thru the plastic coverings on the post-it notes only to leave behind the garbage like a overused tissue.  They empty boxes of pens only to leave the torn up boxes cluttering the shelves.  I guess since rats don't have opposable thumbs they are unable to open the boxes that hold the pens like a considerate human.  No, they need to shred the box into smaller pieces to grab the pen in their mouth and scurry out of the room before anyone shines a light on them.  

Which brings me to another thing...where is the rats nest that holds all the supplies?  Without a doubt I will proudly carry the shiny new supplies to the supply closet and put everything away with great care and thought, only to return 3 days later to find only crumbs  and droppings left.   Where have they gone?  Where is the King Rat and why is he demanding that the closet be emptied as soon as it is full?  How does he know that it is full?  Damn him, and damn his followers...they love stealing everything and leaving a mess in their wake only to have this college graduate clean up their mess and start the process all over again.  

I am convinced that this huge corporate company has rats.  I base my conclusion on that no human being I know would ever make such a mess at such an upstanding company and expect another person to clean it up.  Everyone here is respectable and kind and wouldn't scurry to a dark corner once a light hits  their beady little eyes...

The A Train

Tourist run amuck in the city.  They slow you down, they get in your way, they bring their children...

..riding the train when a family of 4 get on board.  They were strapped in with their fanny packs and sneakers.  They were blonde and blue eyed complete with 1 boy and 1 girl.  The boy, about 7, clearly enjoyed too many Chicken Mc Nuggets.  

As they rode the train the chubby one was swinging on the pole. All of a sudden he stopped dead in his tracks and started staring at me.  Then, to my amazement, he stuck his tongue out and licked the pole!  LICKED THE POLE!!  I looked at his parents and they were paying him no mind.  

I looked back at the chubby one and he had this maniacal look in his eyes and he stuck his tongue out again and proceeded to clean the pole, all the while he was staring at me.  I made a face at him like,  "EEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWW, no, no, no, no, no, NO....GROOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSS!"  I then mouthed, "Don't do that!"

The chubbster then lifted his fat little hand and flipped me off.  FLIPPED ME OFF!!!  I gasped..he laughed.    

Go ahead kid, lick away.  Lick your fat ass off. 

Creature from the Black Legume

Here is The Bean. It was brought to my attention that Mickey Mantle had made an appearance and Bean did not. Mickey is a showman. He loves the spotlight. Bean, not so much. There was much forcing to capture this shot of her. Lot of flying fur and meowing. Her real name is Josie. It's a long story of how she went from Josie to Bean. I blame the husband, the nickname fanatic. He can tell you the path on his own blog if he wishes.

I am still picking fur out of my mouth from trying to capture the money shot. eck

Ignorance is bliss?

New York City's Board of Health approved a measure that will require restaurants in the city with 15 or more locations nationally to display calorie count information next to menu items. The New York Post quotes Margo Wootan, nutrition policy director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest: "It's going to get a lot easier to make informed choices at New York City's chain restaurants this spring."

This sucks.  

I can no longer feign ignorance that my chocolate chunk cookie from Starbucks is no big deal.  It hits the charts at a "measly" 420 calories.  

NYC as of March 31st has begun to post the calories of items on their menu.  I have to say...it makes a difference.  My choices have been altered.  I went into Chipotle on Saturday craving a steak burrito bowl.  mmmmm...beef.  My usual:  Steak, rice, black beans (my mouth is watering), tomato salsa, hot sauce, sour cream and guacamole.  All of that = deliciouso.  As I stood in line I saw that my burrito bowl, depending on what I get, could range from 250 calories to 850 calories.  850 calories?!?! Holy Crap!!!  I changed my order.  I dropped the sour cream and guac and half the rice.

One of their slogans is "Contains Only Real Food".  Yep...if you aren't careful, real fattening food! 

Today, I stopped at Starbucks with my dear friend Cristina.  We had been shopping at a flea market and desperately wanted something cool to drink and something sweet to eat.  We 'settled' for 2 double chocolate chip cookies.  (1 for each)  They are 2 bite cookies at 80 calories a pop.  I hate to admit that the tiny cookie was amazingly delicious.  I had it finished by the time I got out the door. As a sugar addict I was bummed that the experience was over but by the time I hit the next block I was happy that I hadn't consumed another 340 calories.  

In a way, I am grateful to know how much I am putting in my body.  Awareness is key.  I also know that when I actually commit and purchase my 420 calorie chocolate chunk cookie (and I WILL!) I will savor every last crumb...

I just won't commit as often.