Plant Life

I cannot keep a plant alive.

A few years ago I had a ficus tree and a Philodendron. Neither lived past the age of two months under my care. The ficus passing was particularly hard to reconcile.

So, I thought maybe I'd gotten better at caring for plants since it's been five years and I'm older and therefore, should be wiser.

A few months ago, I had a beautiful orchid, which I was told wasn't that difficult to keep up, at my desk. I've seen other orchids in the office and I've consulted with their owners for tips. I even asked the gardeners who maintain the lovely live plants on my floor. But a few short months as an orchid owner proved too much for me. Alas, my orchid whom I'd named "étoile" rotted.

So I'm at it again! This time with an ivy! Nothing says Cambridge, MA, quite like a beautiful ivy. And lucky for me, I hear they like to be dry.

Good. But how dry is too dry? I got off to a bad start with Ivy when I accidentally over watered her. And I was told to let her dry out and only water once a week. Okay. Well, when the leaves started turning white and then tan and lost any semblance of green, I thought, maybe it's time to water Ivy again.

This was last week and I shook off all the dead leaves, which now leaves (ha ha, LEAVES!) a pretty sparse looking plant. Sparse and dry. When I watered it last, I brought it to the bathroom instead of the coffee counter/water cooler where there's a full sink. I was embarrassed by my parenting neglect and thought the ladies' room would be empty. I have never seen it more crowded! I guess all the women on the floor decided that 2:30 was the time to use the lavatory. So, I'm trying to water Ivy and make small talk and of course I have to hear advise on what to do.

Just shut up! I didn't want to hear it!

I don't comment on others' clearly bad decisions at the office -- like wearing a scrunchy in their hair, or tapered suit pants.

Okay, I'm petty and off the subject. I'm just staring at Ivy wondering how I might right the wrongs...

I can't wait for the season to start!

I'm talking the rugby season. Like everyone else in New England, I'm sick of the snow (but still feel entitled to complain though I make no plans to move from the area in the near future). My reaction is that I want to tackle someone. Hard. Our first match (North Shore Women Rugby) is Saturday, March 28th. Less than a month away. We've been practicing indoors so we're all getting fit (and fine) but aren't tackling and only minimally rucking and mauling.

Sunday, I'm hoping to get outside, toss the ball around and, yep, tackle someone. It will be three weeks until game time and I'm nothing if I can't tackle someone -- it's key for the position I play.

Argh -- I can't wait! I wish the spring were here! I wish we were playing games already!!!

Some Thoughts

I'm wearing a button down collar shirt today that I got a few years ago, and I think it's time I took this work shirt out of rotation due to the yellow stained underarm areas... I'm trying not to spread my arms too much today so I'm avoiding describing anything that would require large sweeping hand motions and I'm lucky not to have any meeting or conferences or any interactions that require I raise my hand.

I've almost finished my personal email account transition from hotmail to gmail. I'm enjoying, but am still confused by, the conversation collapsing feature -- especially when it's to or from email addresses in which multiple people are involved. I'm on two email groups and it takes me a bit longer to realize if I've read a message or not.

My last admittance makes me sound like an imbecile, but to be fair, I have a horrible short term memory.

I have a selective accent. I like to say words with "orr" like I'm from New York. So, I'm hArrified about my hArrible short term memory. And, since I live in Boston, I might admit that I can occasionally act retaahhhded (although I really don't use that word -- only to illustrate my comment). Wicked.

Somewhere between graduating college five years ago and the present day, I've become less "screw the man" in my ideology and a bit more mature... or I guess practical in my thinking, which is unfortunate. Somedays I wish I could be less concerned with adult matters -- saving for retirement, making car loan, student loan, credit card payments on time, worrying what kind of home I'll be able to afford when I eventually get sick of renting. I wish I could return to the screw the man Lany of yesteryear... and not feel compelled to work a 40 hour, Monday - Friday job.

I love and hate reuniting with people on Facebook, because there's that part of me that compares myself to my old classmates. I hate that about me. I also hate that my friendships with some people make me feel inadequate -- and not because of anything the other person has done, it's just a difference of priorities, and therefore different lots in life.

This time I've spent writing my thoughts should have been devoted to a project that I really don't like at work. It's not the work so much, but that I'm not the one to make the final decision... I'm just doing the research. But once that decision is made, I'll have to be the one to hear the complaints from the stakeholders.

I wish more people would send positive comments. (I'm thinking about this project at work.) I just wish people thanked each other more... or thought first before making stupid remarks. And I wish I had the balls/stupidity to finally tell people that I DO think they're fucking morons, and I wish they were just as dumb to think that I was kidding, so that I wouldn't create a bad relationship.

I went to a casino for the first time ever on Saturday and won a little bit of money playing black jack, thanks to my mom's guidance. It was such a rush, holding the chips in my hand when I went to cash out. This will be a very occasional outing for me... and I'm glad to have waited this long to ever go. I think I have an addictive personality about some things... or to be more positive, when I get into something, I do it 100%. So.

My birthday is coming up and I'll be 28. I'm overall content where I am in life, but I always wonder what the next is for me.

I've been collecting redeemable bottles at my desk to help out my rugby team's bottle drive fundraiser and it took me practically three months to collect $2.

I can't wait for spring to be here. I could be having an awful day, but if it's sunny and mild outside, that silver lining trumps all. My body was tricked last week into thinking it was spring and while I had nothing spectacular to look forward to one particular day, I was just so happy. I can't wait for that Saturday or Sunday to come when I can walk outside without a coat -- just walk around my neighborhood and people watch while I eat ice cream.

I locked myself out of my home this morning and disrupted my morning routine. I LOVE my morning routine. I am anal retentive or mildly OCD about getting ready for work. I am absolutely not being sarcastic when I say I enjoy keeping a schedule in the morning. And since this morning's circumstances delayed me about 40 minutes (closer to the time more people leave for work), my favorite neighborhood coffee shop was busier (yes, though delayed I stopped for coffee), and the T was that much more crowded.

I'm now going to return to my research project.

Taxes

I just attempted to prepare my 2008 taxes online. I've done it myself for a few years and it's been straightforward: I'm single with no dependents, I only have 1, maybe 2 W2's, and I haven't owned anything of significance. I also never reported the interest paid on my student loans, which I know means less of a return for me, but I couldn't figure it out (I'm not very good with holding onto forms I get in the mail)... so anyway, it's never been all that confusing.

The only differences this past year were that I bought a car and reported the excise tax paid and I bought (and sold) company stock through my employee stock purchase plan.

So, I don't get who these people are that both Turbo Tax and H&R Block are talking about when they say they've found their clients an additional $2500 of returns. Do you have to own a home? A hybrid car? Have 3 kids? Be a student?

I have no idea. I know I'm not one of them, though.

Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA

This morning is an example of the quintessential New England wintry mix.

Commuting is easy for no one between snow covered sidewalks and slush covered streets, it's a day best spent in your flannel sheeted bed surrounded with books, music, movies, coffee, and, if you're lucky, a cat to curl up beside you... and if you're even luckier, a loved one to share your coziness.

Well, since I didn't have the foresight to bring my laptop home last night, I trudged into work.

On any other day, walking ten minutes down Prospect Street to the Central Square T Stop would be no big deal. Even in the rain, this is manageable, not ideal, but manageable.

Ugh, today sucked. I guess drivers didn't realize that they would still splash the pedestrians on the sidewalk. This time, it wasn't just rain water it was dirty slush that actually sticks to your pants.

And, I've said this before (not in blogging but to myself... and my therapist) Cambridge does not have enough sewers... neither does Somerville! You know where the sidewalk descends to meet the street? Why is there no sewer there? My only thought is it has something to do with the subway. Those puddles are practically of manhole depths! And you have no way of knowing how much of your foot will be submerged unless you just walk right through or see the poor guy ahead of you have his entire calf engulfed.

When I decided to write about the morning's commute, it was intended as a call to drivers on Prospect Street to stop being self-centered schmucks and move away from the puddles in the lane closest to the sidewalk, especially when they see pedestrians brace themselves by using their umbrellas to cover their legs.

So, there's that, but this has also turned into a call to city planners: I beg of you, I plead you, to research the feasibility of more sewers!

Out there

From: Mamlok, Elena
Sent: Wednesday, December 10, 2008 11:06 AM
To: Mamlok, Elena
Subject: Confidential PowerPoint left at the printer

Hello all,

Just wanted to announce that a presentation stamped “Confidential” has been left out, in the open, on the file cabinet next to the printer – the printer our entire department uses.

And if you ask me, it’s a load of crap.

See you at the holiday party!

Elena

Red Eye

I went to Aurelia's Oratorio yesterday at the American Repertory Theater associated with Harvard. It was phenomenal! If you have the opportunity, go see it while it's there! Really, amazing.

Just a moment before the show began, the seat next to me was occupied by the ticket holder and next to her, her friend. I overheard this stranger say "Just because I'm using eyedrops doesn't mean I have to stay at home".

Ew.

She then proceeded to use a sort of wet nap but with much stronger smelling disinfectant to clean her hands and then took out a tiny bottle of eyedrops. This bottle was smaller than those bottles of re-wetting drops you use for contact lenses. It was the sort of size that holds a quantity big enough for say... a dosage of medicine you might need for a 10 day period.

I think the woman next to me had conjunctivitis! And she sat down just moments before the show started that she didn't have enough time to take care of this issue in the bathroom! Had there been more time, I would have expressed my discontent and utter grossedoutedness (it's a word.). Instead, I shifted over as much as I could in the other direction while in my seat and made sure not to use the arm rest that connected our chairs.