merry christmas. love, sean.

me: is it time to go home, yet?
Sean: fuck me right?

lets get this shit

me: hahaha

so eloquent

Sean: people say i have a way with words

:)

One picture from the honeymoon in London: one of the places at the top of my list to visit

The Sherlock Holmes pub. Fantastic.

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

This is, oddly, a pretty good representation of our weekend...

First ornament on the tree! Thank you, Anne :)

Penguin!

Got our Christmas tree today! Luckily we had Emily with us to help (again!)

Pretty Providence (note: PPAC had little snow machines creating a small blizzard at their entryway)

here is how kurt announced to his office that the bagels for Bagel Friday had arrived:

From: Kurt Anderson
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 8:53 AM
To: Andera - Providence
Subject: A Friday morning Haiku

A quiet kitchen
Embraces brown paper bags.
The smell of baked goods

...my husband <3

ugh.

me: help

i'm falling asleep

do something

Oaxaca: something

me: NOT HELPFUL.

Oaxaca: can you tell I'm in a bratty mood today?

me: haha

well, you tend to like to try to annoy me

Oaxaca: try?

me: ...that's fair.

This is the view from where I sit of the next closest coworker...down that looooong hallway and under that exit sign is new coworker Jim's desk...everybody else is around the corner.

"That would be a good name for a jewelry store." -Kurt

Had lunch outside today. Afterwards, new coworker Jim told me he saw me and Kurt. "Why didn't you come over and say Hi?" asked I. "Oh!" he replied, "Because it's freezing outside and you're insane for staying out there for that long."

True is true.

Next to my bed when I woke up this morning...

my friend justin is a brilliant artist and photographer. here is a picture he posted in his tumblr for halloween that i am only just getting around to posting...



happy november, everybody.

First snow of the season...

Spotted in North Providence...

...yup.

Cape Cod

A few weeks ago, we went to Cape Cod for the day--Provincetown, to be exact :) Here are some pics to enjoy!

The bridge...

We walked out as far on this breakwater as we could, until we reached water again :)

finishing it all off with a beautiful dinner (and the best french fries i've literally ever tasted)

The Moms got a new kitten! His name is Henry and he is insane. Here he is on a quiet moment with Kurt :)

confession

i miss my old job.

following up a link with another link

Kurt shared a link with me this morning:



click the image and get a good chuckle (and a little extra confidence in Washington!)

former coworker and current buddy, oaxaca, recently shared with me a link to his "creative space." it's always interesting to get a glimpse into the inner workings of a mind you think you know pretty well--and to learn that you don't, really, at all.

anyway, click on the picture of the guy who looks like he's about 13 hiding behind his guitar for a link:

November, November...

New desk!! :)

...Broken computer :(

"I can has November?"

i've been a little MIA lately--unemployment has been a blissfully lazy thing for me--but i saw this today (sent by a former coworker) and couldn't not post it.

The end of an era.

ok, ed alliance. last day. let's see what you've got.

baby monkey

me: oh my god.
Sean: do you love that monkey or what
me: holy crap
Sean: when he falls off and chases the pig it is awesome
me: let's get a monkey
Sean: deal
me: excellent.

Underwear model?

This is from a while ago: Kurt and Mom playing with sparklers :)

She has an excellent lounge quality

sean, on why temporary unemployment might be awesome

Sean: imagine waking up in bed at 9:30

yawning, stretching, looking at your ceiling for a bit

me: haha

Sean: then getting out of bed and going to the bathroom and showering, long hot showers... you think to yourself "i can't believe i never used to bring my ipod in the bathroom before"

you get out get dressed in comfortable clothes to cook yourself a nice breakfast and actually enjoy your coffee

rather than slugging it in the car ride or being too late to even make a cup

you have the news on in the background however you aren't really paying attention because you are thinking about what awesome adventure you have planned for the day

you are going on a walk, you are going shopping at a food store you read about online that has the best cheese in prov

me: you're the best, sean

Sean: i don't know sarah... that doesn't sound too scary to me.

hahaha i was hoping to get that line in before you said anything but my comp froze

me: haha

Sean: help me run away

me: of course. what do you need?

Sean: i bought a sleeping bag

so i just need some peanuts and a pocket knife

me: if you run away to here, you could get at least two square meals AND a bed

Sean: I WANT TRIANGLE MEALS

club sandwiches

tortia chips

grill cheese... cut correctly

done done done!

My three favorite faces

Ryan Snaps

Calling all Office fans--this is probably old news, but Kurt and I just watched this the other day and it's so brilliant, I had to post it; it's a movie trailer for a fictional film made up of clips from the tv show The Office.







...brilliant.

so, someday kurt and i will load our honeymoon-in-london pictures and i'll post some on here. until that actually happens, here's something kind of cool to tide you over:

http://www.thetrafalgar.com/roof_garden.shtml

we at least traveled through trafalgar square most of the days we were in london, so we decided our last hurrah dinner should be there--we stumbled across the trafalgar hotel a few days beforehand and decided to check out the roof garden and see if it would be a good setting, and when we went up the winding staircase, we found a group of people setting the scene for a photographer, who was taking pictures to be featured on their brochure and webpage. he took a break so we could take a few pictures of our own, and talked to us about what we were looking at and what a great space we were in. so, the pictures that link will lead you to are not just of the view we saw as we ate (and shivered) on a rooftop on our last night in london--they were taken on the very same day, with us standing right there.

Waiting for Carol...

today at work the entire office is required to attend a meeting discussing the "reorganization plan" for the next few months. extremely uninterested in giving the "miss america wave" when the topic of layoffs comes up, i've opted to leave at lunchtime and miss the meeting entirely, having instructed a handful of people to take careful notes and update me as to the goings on. it probably goes without saying that i am not excited about being here this morning at all, and am anxiously awaiting my escape time, which is the only reason why i'm appreciating the goings on that are thanks to my coworker, oaxaca:

early this morning, he walked by my cube, stopped, came back and said "so, did you figure out how i booby-trapped your cubicle, yet?"

"what? no!" i said. "i don't believe you."

"ok," he said, and walked away, whistling to himself.

i looked all over the entirety of my cubicle--opened drawers, looked in boxes, made sure he didn't affix a mustache to my obama poster--and found nothing. so, i took to gchat:

me: you are such a giant pain. there is nothing wrong with my cubicle.

Oaxaca: hee-hee

me: ...i hate you.

Oaxaca: you do not

me: will you just tell me you didn't do anything so i can stop looking around suspiciously? it's really messing with my chi

Oaxaca: ...then bend like the reed, muthatruckah!

me: UGH.

he then walked past my cube, looked in, said "warmer..." and walked away giggling.

Oaxaca: Nah....I didn't really do anything to your cube...do I seem like the person that would, oh, I don't know, read a little book titled, Office Mayhem, come to work early on a Monday and perform said mischief on someone I adore as much as you????

me: YES! obviously!
Oaxaca: I don't think so
but...maybe.
me: oh my god

why did i give you that?

terrible idea, stowell

terrible

this refers to a book i bought for a friend of mine several years ago for christmas, but never gave to him. instead, i (stupidly) gave it to my coworker as a joke.

i am reasonably certain he's just messing with me, but this hasn't stopped me from continuing to jump up and root around in one box or drawer or pencil cup or another.

i am having a very stressful morning.

Good weekend.

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Kurt and I went to visit my grandparents in Vermont this past weekend. Until about a year ago, I hadn't been to their house in about 10 years and I was simultaneously amazed and not at all surprised that it had changed almost not at all. Almost everything was exactly how I remembered it--things I didn't even realize I remembered were exactly the way I'd left them the last time I'd been there, a decade earlier and suddenly I found myself kind of sneaking around, remembering random things and going off in search of them and finding them, always, right where I knew they'd be.

This picture is one of those things; a really strange doorstop that has sat on their staircase as long as I can remember. It's kind of fish-like, with this bizarre face and weird expression. It's a strange thing to see, and feel immediate comfort, and yet...

how work feels today

I'll bet you wouldn't even miss me if I died, she said. Depends on if you'd been grumpy in those final days, I said & she tried to look sad but I saw the smile anyway.

figuring it out

so, on friday i was called into a meeting in which i was informed that my position at the education alliance was being eliminated and that i was being laid off. i can't promise to have a great attitude about this in the coming days, while i hurry to apply for new jobs at the university and elsewhere, but i will say that sean has, per usual, found exactly the right ways to make me feel better:

me: two months is a long effing time to go without a job

Sean: right

but if you are collecting unemployment you are fine

me: well, true

Sean: plus you will probably do some things you always wanted too but couldn't because of work and shit

me: hahaha

or i'll show up on your doorstep and ask you to tell me stories

Sean: hahaha, right things you have always wanted to do

hahaha

me: hahahaha

so true

i'll keep you all updated on whatever ends up happening. for now, any positive vibes you want to send my way (or suggestions of jobs i should apply for!) will be well received.

Favorite street downtown

one of my coworkers (who i'm particularly good friends with) has a name i'd never heard before working in my office: oaxaca. my brother in particular is amused by this as he enjoys both the cheese and the location. anyway, said coworker made reference to his middle initial this morning, and when i inquired as to what it stood for, this is the answer i got:



Amra is my middle name. See, when I was born, I didn't have a name (well, I had my secret name, but my parents hadn't picked out a known name for me yet). My dad was a huge fan of the Conan books. He started calling me Conan (funny that you were calling me that a few days ago). This drove my mother nuts. Then, they agreed--and probably the last thing they ever agreed on--to call me Oaxaca. My dad got to slip in Amra as my middle name. In the Conan books, a group of people Conan encounters name him Amra, which means Lion in their language. Since I'm a glorious Leo (born in August)--YES LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME, AM I NOT GLORIOUS????--and, according to the hippy charts my mom was into circa 1972 I'm a tripple Leo--YESYESYES I AM REGAL I AM WONDROUS I AM THE CENTER OF IT ALL AM I NOT GLORIOUS???--so, I'm sure it seemed appropriate without sounding to much like a fictitious comic book character to my mom.

And that's the story of Jesus.



...sometimes, i really don't mind coming to work in the morning.

gchat makes these conversations look kind of funny

Sean: i have a great story for you

me: oh yeah?

Sean: ready for it?

me: yes.

Sean: ok soi was on the subway yesterday going to the bowling allie

me: alley

continue

Sean: and like always i have my ipod on, but it isn't really loud. so i can hear the people around me and my music

me: right

Sean: i have it on more so that no one talks to me.

haha

Sean: so I stand in the doorway of the subway and i notice that the bench next to me has like 4 or 5 little black girls in bathing suits and like 2 moms sitting with them

the girls are like 4 to 7 years old
so the train is stopping and i notice the moms grabbing their bags and stuff. so i start moving out of the way

and i see all the little girls stand up and one of the girls takes an extra couple steps backwards and ends up about 2 feet from me

so she turns around and looks up at me and i smile back at her

the girl's face drops and it turns white

and she is just staring at me and starts yelling for her mom

and i can hear all of this but i have the ipod on so i am ignoring it

and i starting thinking... what the hell did i do

me: hahaha Sean: there wasn't even contact between us, she never came closer then 2 feet away from me

but i don't know what is runnign through her mind

me: did you like, get home, look in the mirror and realize you had your voldemort mask on the whole time or something?

Sean: yeah i start thinking like, do i have to actually talk to the mother or something and convince them that i didn't touch her.

me: oh my goodness

Sean: so she keeps saying "mom, mom, mom"

and her mom starts saying, "lets go, get off the train"

so she starts walking away and i hear "mom, spiderman, that was spiderman"

me: HAHAHAHA

Sean: hahahahhahaha

me: that's incredible
Sean: i was pretty pumped about it

...Like that firework over the freeway/I could stay here all day but that's not how you feel...

new haircut!

IT'S SO SHORT!

last day with long hair...

well, it happened

Favorite XKCD frame. Butterfly from Elizabeth. Poem from Oaxaca.
Regina Spector lyrics. CD from Aaron. Grade school photo of Linda. Love.

First day of summer...we're ready!

Coolest guy around?

World Cup...