Are you my bathroom keeper?

OK, so at my office we have to walk past the security desk to get to the dirty dirty leprochaun-infested bathrooms. This is fine. Not a long walk, nice to get out of the room, look out windows, etc. Also, the security guards are nice people. The problem is one security guard in particular, let's call him ... hmmmmmmmm Gio (with a soft G sound).

So, Gio is a really nice guy. He's probably around my age, always says hello and makes conversation. He's just a leeeetle overly friendly. Like the time he asked to see my hands and then said, "what's wrong with your hands? how does a cute girl like you not have a ring on your finger?" or the time he said, "no disrespect, claire, but you looking really hot today." I WAS wearing a suit that day, and took it as a compliment. He says this to all of the girls I work with. Fine, he's bored, he's a guy, I understand. What I DON'T like is that I walk by him to get to the bathroom.

And he makes conversation every time. And I don't like having someone keep tabs on when I go to the loo, how long I spend there, etc. It makes me really uncomfortable. We have started avoiding going to the loo. Which, let me tell you, isn't fun. I drink a lot of water, Gio. Stop judging my bathroom trips.

i am an internet celebrity

now do i get to do lots of drugs and shave my head?

today i was buying a sandwich for lunch and a girl i don't know walked up to me and said, "you look really familiar, i know i know you from somewhere."

I said, "ok, but i have lookalikes all over the city. it could be someone else." (because i do. i have had people who know me really well walk up to complete strangers because they look just like me. i think it's the jew-ness and the glasses).

Anyway, she stood and stared at me for a second and then she said, do you know cc? i said i had knew of her and read her blog and that she was friends of my friends but we had never met. turns out, this random girl is the sister of the boyfriend of cc. she must have seen pictures of me on toby's or will's or josh's blogs?

anyway, now that i'm a celebrity, i expect to be able to do crazy shit whenever i want. and then blame the pressure and the paparazzi for it. be prepared.

also, that's really weird. right?

It's a poo sock.

Don't worry about it.

Here are some photos from the latest new hampshire! We began the drive with an obligatory trip to McDonalds, where Josh made friends with Ronald. They're like totally gay for each other.


We gathered with the Mohan clan for dinner on Saturday night - a delicious meal of Venison Pie was enjoyed by most (Erin had a nice veggie version). Sheena outdid herself. It was great. Here we are enjoying a chew with the fam. I think this is cocktail hour.


Sunday morning we enjoyed Donna-made crepes - delish! Here's Hayley, pontificating on the joys of a Sunday morning sled and a breakfast of crepes. Behind her is Zach Morris. For serious. That's his name. Every few minutes he would stop, turn to the side, and explain what we were doing to his imaginary friend. It was a little weird and awkward, but Hayley said not to say anything because he's a little sensitive about it.


On our adventure to Walmart, Josh bought a magical inflating shark. As you can see, it didn't really inflate as much as we had hoped, so we took it out of the gross thick water (that you can see dripping slowly off of the shark's snout. it was gross), so we took it outside and buried it in a snowbank (sorry, Tom). Come April, the Mohans will have a giant shark in their driveway! Super awesome!!


We spent Sunday morning sledding down the hill across the street. It was pretty fantastic. Here you can see our four-person toboggan team. We totally beat the Swiss and represented Jamaica in the Olympics.

It was a great weekend - the perfect break between interviews. Now we have Sheena's visit to New York to look forward to!!

hold please

hello yes. I realize that I haven't posted anything remotely entertaining in at least a month and I apologize. I have been going through the horror of horrors that is applying to graduate school and this past week and next week I have a bunch of what we in the biz call "interviews". This means that I've been obsessing about dress shirts, stockings, looking "intelligent", not talking to people about the three steps of "dick in a box", and generally selling myself to the highest (or only, we shall see) bidder.

In conclusion, I am a land of contrasts.

I will also be returning to the real world after my final interview on Tuesday.

We break now for a word from our sponsors - Erin, Josh and I are driving up to see Sheena in the NH this weekend. What better way to celebrate Presidents' Day than spending ten hours in a car to eat venison with the Mohans, only to drive back on Sunday night in time for yet another interview on Monday? There is no better way. Except, of course, if Man Pomerangay were coming with.

time to go through the spanking machine!!!

Today is Mr. Tobias M. Toby's birthday. Huzzah!!! One more year towards decrepitude! Here we are, happy with the lord of jerkville being in New York.

it's all coming back to me now

So, last Friday night we had Tera and Marty over for dinner. Much wine was drunk, also vermouth, absinthe, and beer. Maybe not the best decision making. Here are some illustrative photo-pictures The top one is Erin and myself trying to make my bed because I had had my laundry done that day and hadn't made it before the festivities began. Below you can see our new side project - the jugs with jugs band. There were, I promise, other people in the apartment. Sarah, Marty, Tera, and Josh also partook and did silly things. Some day we'll have evidence of that.

this is, ummmm, awesome

So this is incredible - the Norwegian government is funding the construction of a huge underground vault to hold a seed bank. First of all, this is a fantastic idea, as we are on the brink of destroying the planet. The next time a tsunami comes through and wipes out a seed bank in a single country, this vault can be used to replenish. Also, it's deep enough in the arctic mountains that nuclear war, radiation, ice sheets melting, shouldn't have an adverse effect on the structure or the viability of the seeds.

I feel like I'm in some kind of weird futuristic movie. Like Deep Impact, where we march by twos to the underground vault to wait out the meteor crash. Except it's just seeds. Sucks to the people.

The picture above is an artist's rendition of what the vault will look like. The design looks a little like the underground part of the pyramids. Again, awesome.

picture courtesy of NYTimes.com


Also, is anyone really surprised that the Pentagon made things up? I'm surprised it took this long for it to come out.

oh good. it's not just the side of the road anymore

So, our littering culture is now threatening to set off a chain reaction of explosions in space. Each collision of space trash will create more space trash, which will lead to more explosions.

China's latest anti-satelite test has apparently pushed us over the critical mass and has accelerated the danger. Sweet.

blatant self-promotion

I don't usually post these things, but we are playing a Dorkestra concert on Friday night (that's February 9th) with the french horn section of the New York Philharmonic. It's an all Schumann program, his Symphony number 4 (I think) and his Concerstuk for horns.

Now, I know what you're going to say: horns are for fanfares. you are wrong, sir. We rehearsed with the horns last night and they are so unbelievably awesome I kind of stopped playing at one point and was just grinning like an idiot.

So, in conclusion: when are you ever going to see the NY Philharmonic play for free with a pizza party afterwards?

Friday, February 9th at 8pm
Trinity School - 101 Columbus (corner of 91st and)
Tickets from me beforehand or pay $15 at the door.

super awesome fun time

the deed is done. the tickets have been purchased. we really ARE going to Istanbul in March. Sooooooo, Josh, I'm expecting a day-by-day itinerary.